Ask Veritas Prep Admissions Consulting

Nationality - Indian
BTech - BITS Pilani - 8.04/10 GPA
GMAT - 750 (Q51/V40/5.0 AWA)
Work ex - 2 years
Since I have relatively less work experince, I am not able to provide bulleted points higlighting my career progress and achievements. Instead, I am providing a slightly detailed account of my job till now, hoping for pointers to present it in most effective manner.

I have recently completed 17 months in an organization which is the world leader in manufacturing of Agricultural machinery. My departent is responsible for providing software solutions for agricultral operations, with main focus being US markets .I joined as a member of a batch of 15 engineer trainees (all from IITs and BITS - top Indian Technology Schools) and for the first 5 months we were put through a rigorous training programme, following which I was adjudged to be the best new engineer trainee for scoring the highest aggregate score in all internal and external evaluations.
Following this, I joined a team which is resposible for creating a software product to provide software solutions for precision farming needs of large scale American farmers. I have continously been evaluated as one of the highest performers in the team despite my relative new comer status. Withing 12 months of joining, I was promoted from Engineer Trainee post to Technology Analyst and have recieved multiple recognitions and rewards from my superiors (both official and unofficial) for my innovative thinking and positive attitude towards work.

This job has helped me gain a good deal of domain knowledge related to agriculture field, and helped me to understand and appreciate the shortcomings in this sector in India compared to the developed world.

My performance has helped me get strong recos from the country head of my department and my manager.

ECs :-
Probably the biggest achille's heel in my application.

1. Event Manager at College Technical Fest
2. Member Publicity and Public Relations committee for college cultural fest
3. Member of debating and literary club in school (too old i guess).
4. Tutored the son of my housekeeper throughout middle and high school (while my father provided the financial help to put him through school) and helped him finish school and get a respectable job in hospital staff.

Long term goal : I aspire to become a successful investment banker and recently started treading the path by enroling for CFA Level-1 (still to write, preperations underway).

Considering my average acads and less experience, I am realistic about my chances at full time MBA (although I do plan to make best possible applications to some top b-schools which have Early Leaders programs), I wish to enquire about my prospects if I do apply to these programs at GSB,Johnson, Tepper, Haas and probably a few more realistic ones.

Also I want to seek advice regarding MFE programs in some top B-Schools in US. I am very interested in persuing one such program, in all honesty only because it would give me a launchpad for a career in Finance and an opportunity to later apply to a top B-School with a strong profile in a few years time .Although these programs donot give too much importance to work ex, they give due importance to performance in undergrad mathematics and related courses like probability and numerical analysis. Although I have been strong in mathematics all throughout my student career, I didn't concentrate too much on these courses at college and ended up with grade point between a B or a C in these subjects. I want to know if it is at all prudent for me to aim for these programs and is there a way for me to offset some of the negative impact of these scores by highlighting my other accomplishments in mathematics and related fields (have a gold medal in an international mathematics olympiad, scored 100% in high school exams and also performed well in GMAT quant section). I will greatly appreciate some advice to shortlist schools for MFE or MFin programs.

Thanks and regards
Ashish

You are being too hard on yourself. Your academics are strong and your career progression is impressive. Your ECs are fine. Many schools are placing less emphasis on ECs because they are difficult to verify. Your goal is to show that you are well-rounded and have interests outside of work. I will admit that another year of work experience would further strengthen your application package. However, if you plan to apply to schools that do not require at least 2 years of experience then you should focus on your ability to lead, innovate, and meet your goals.

I do not know a lot about MFE programs. However, I will say that instead of spending the extra time and expense to pursue two master's degrees, you should consider an MBA with a strong finance focus from a school like Stern or Columbia.

Your schools choices look reasonable. Be sure to clearly define your career goals and to articulate exactly how each program can enhance your knowledge base to help you meet your goals.