Profile Evaluation!

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Profile Evaluation!

by aditya2789 » Tue Aug 28, 2012 10:26 am
Hi,

I am a 23 year old male from Chennai India. This is my profile:

Academics
1. GMAT - 760 (Q50 V42)

2. Chartered Accountant (CA - similar to CPA)
Level 2 - All India Rank 40
Level 3 - All India Rank 26
Both of the above put me in the top 1% of those who wrote the exams (around 60,000 each level)

3. B.Com (3 year degree, simultaneously done along with CA i.e just need to write the exams with classes being optional) - First Class

Work Experience
Chartered Accountancy requires 3.5 years of full time work (called Articleship in CA lingo)in an audit firm.
I did mine at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Chennai between 2007 and 2011.
1. During the 3.5 years of articleship - Was part of the audit teams of many big clients such as Ford, Cognizant and other multinational companies. Solely completed the audit of a few small companies in the third year, with direct interaction with the Partners.
The work I did in SOX assignments during this period was appreciated by review teams from PwC UK and US.

2. Post completion of the 3.5 years and qualification as a CA -
a. Joined back PwC as an Associate in September 2011. Was given the responsibility of solely handling the audit of the Revenue process, a high risk and key process of an SEC Listed entity, for the SOX assignment (Revenue of around $6billion). Involved high amount of interaction and coordination with PwC US and quality of work was highly appreciated.
b. Promoted to Assistant Manager on 1st April 2012, in a short span of around 6.5 months, which is one of the fastest promotions from Associate to AM, also making me one of the youngest AMs (at 23).
c. Part of a team of around 20, with responsibility of reviewing the work done by Associates and those doing their Articleship, and also coaching them.
d. Designated the L&E Champion of my team (Learning and Education), responsible for identifying training needs for the team, organizing and/or conducting technical sessions and ensuring the team is updated technically. Complete responsibility for structuring the exercise for the team was given, with monthly reporting to the PwC Assurance Head of South and West India.

Achievements
a. Was awarded the GEM (Going the Extra Mile award) at PwC, during my articleship, for excellent performance, commitment and documentation skills. This award is given to exceptional performers across designations upto the Manager level.
b. My performance has been rated as 'Beyond Expectations' in all my appraisals done by the Partner and Senior Managers.
c. Quick promotion and recognition (As detailed above)

Extra Curriculars, Hobbies and Interests
Not much I can talk about. Have completed 6 grades of the Trinity College of London exams for Western Classical music on the keyboards. Also, used to play the keyboards for a rock band and had shows in and around Chennai and in Bangalore, Pondicherry. However, this was a while ago and I've become a corporate sell out since then :)
Like travelling and have travelled to most of India including a trek in the Himalayas and a short backpacking trip with friends to the UK.

Post MBA Objective
Would love to work in Strategy Consulting, providing solutions to CEO level problems, for which an MBA would broaden my perspective and provide the necessary skill sets.
Also, would like to use the knowledge and experience gained in the MBA program and in the Consulting career to be in a position where I can sucessfully start something on my own at some point in the not too distant future.

Concerns
1. I plan to apply this year for Fall 2013. At the time of application I would have only 1 year of post qualification experience. However, I have worked for 3.5 years in the same firm (PwC) while pursuing my CA. Will this be considered as full time work experience?
2. The Undergraduate degree (B.Com) is a 3 year degree and a degree where I only had to appear for the exams. Had to take this up since I did my BCom along with my CA which involves full time work. Will this have any impact?
3. Will my lack of any significant extra curriculars have a major impact?

I am targeting top US schools. Please evaluate my profile and let me know which schools I would have realistic chances in, based on which I can do some research and try to narrow down.

Please forgive if it was too long or detailed, but I wanted you guys to have as much info as possible which would help you evaluate my chances..Thanks in Advance!
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by milimbamission » Wed Aug 29, 2012 8:08 am
Hello,

Thanks for the detailed info. Let's break down your profile:

Academics: Very strong GMAT which positions you pretty well. The BCom is not ideal, but there isn't too much you can do about that now, right? :) I think you can overcome it.

Professional experience: Generally speaking, the auditing profession does not allow for a lot of leadership responsibility or teamwork. However, since you've accelerated your career and are now in a management position, I think you'll have an advantage over others coming from this industry. Really focus on your leadership experiences here. And yes, I do think your Articleship will count towards full time work experience.

Extracurricular/community: As you've mentioned, there's not a lot in this bucket for you. It's definitely going to be a noticeable gap in your profile, but it's possible to overcome it, especially if you have strong personal stories that can show your strength of character/interests/passions. The band is pretty interesting and might make for a good story, depending just how long ago it was.

All in all, I think your GMAT is very strong and that as far as CA goes, you've got an edge on other candidates. I think you can definitely try for a top 20 program (University of Michigan, Darden, Chicago; probably not HBS/Stanford), but I would also suggest adding some safer programs to your list as there are enough 'wild card' things in your profile (lack of extracurricular/community, BCom, CA generally not the most leadership oriented profession) that could work against you.

I hope this is a helpful start!

Best of luck,
Mili
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by aditya2789 » Wed Aug 29, 2012 8:51 am
Hi Mili,

Thanks a lot for taking the time and giving me a detailed response. Appreciate it.

I have a couple of quick queries.
1. Do you think giving it another year will help? If I stay in the same job, though I will not be eligible for a promotion, I will be doing some additional work involving leadership aspects. If I decide to move to another job (in a different field - maybe transaction advisory), I'll have to start fresh and I don't think I'll be able to show anything major in a year.
2. The music stuff was around 4 years ago. I could have a couple of interesting stories (like not losing hope when playing empty pubs to playing a show for 200 people), but I'm worried they won't really be amazing game changing stories!
3. Is there any way of assessing where I would be more likely to obtain scholarships, so I can factor that in too while shortlisting schools? Though I realize I should concentrate on the ROI, it would definitely make a difference.

Lastly, other than H/S/W would the other top 10, say LBS or Sloan be within reach?

Thanks a lot!

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by milimbamission » Tue Sep 04, 2012 2:50 pm
Hi,

I don't see much advantage to waiting another year to apply in your case.

Re: music story -- could be a good one! Depends what your other options are. This would get into true consulting territory but if you want to discuss briefly with one of our team members, you could sign up for a free consult: https://www.mbamission.com/consult.php

Unfortunately, I don't have a great way to assess where you'd be competitive for scholarship. I'm sorry not to be of more help there!!

Best,
Mili
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by aditya2789 » Wed Sep 05, 2012 8:46 am
Thanks a lot Mili! Appreciate it!

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by milimbamission » Mon Sep 10, 2012 7:24 pm
Sure!

Mili
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