Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

Hi there folks,
I'm glad to see Veritas here. I went through the website and filled out some information, but never heard back . I'm currently researching consultants and would love to know if one of the experts here can give me some quick feedback.


My Profile :
GMAT : 740(Q:49,V:41) AWA : 5
GPA : 65% aggregate, Mumbai University (Bachelors in Engineering)
+ 3.9 GPA from Clemson University. (Masters in Computer Science)

Areas of interest : Tech product management (short term), startups (entrepreneurship)

Work Experience : (4years+)
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Current job: (over 2 years)
Large Financial Firm
Assistant Vice President,
Software Developer.

Education :
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Masters in Computer Science
Clemson University,
GPA 3.9
Selected as member of Upsilon Pi Epsilon, an International Computer Science Honor Society.
Received Teaching assistantship and tuition waiver right when I applied from India. (Fewer than 5% of international get the same offer)

Bachelors in Computer Science and Engineering
RAIT, Mumbai University.
Top 10% of class. Taught classes in a private organization during my final year.


Extra Curricular :
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GradschoolsMap.com [Founder] (Since 2007)
A map based graduate schools listing website, that offers students information about various graduate programs in the United states in a convenient manner. Targeted mainly at internationals who are not familiar with the geogriphical layout of this country and sometimes apply to schools without even knowing where the schools are located.

Local Non-Profit [ Volunteer/Technical Director] Since 2007.

Letters:
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Current Supervisor (Senior vice president)
Local Non-Profit (chief of staff)

Personal:
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Born,brought up in Mumbai,India. Moved to South Carolina in 2002 for Master's degree. Lived in Chicago,for a year. Work for a scottish bank in stamford,ct. Have been residing in the US since 2002.

Target Schools : Sloan, Yale, NYU, Columbia

Whaddaya guys think?

Hi Mukher,

Thanks for your post. Sorry to hear you had trouble getting in touch with Veritas. If you want to PM your information, I would be happy to pass along and have someone contact you immediately.

Regarding your profile - you have excellent credentials and you are a great candidate for the schools mentioned below. As you know, you are in the "Indian IT applicant" pool, which is one of the most competitive. Since all of your 'stats' are inline (good GPA, GMAT, Work Experience), focus on differentiating yourself in your essays. How is your background and interests different from other applicants. What is unique about your story?

With regards to your LOR, a letter from a non-work activity is fine, but make sure they are able to speak to your strengths. If they haven't written MBA LORs before, provide them with examples and possible talking points (in fact, you should do this for any recommender)

I would also strongly recommend applying to these programs in R1. Spend time attending school events / campus visits to demonstrate your interest in the programs.

Regards,

NP

Hi Mukher,

I'm a Veritas Instructor who is in business school right now, in Babson College's Fast Track Program. I found that, besides my strong grades and my 750 on the GMAT, one of the top factors that contributed to my admission was forging a personal relationship with admissions and key professors.

Back in late 2005, I knew I wanted to go to business school for entrepreneurship, but I didn't know where and I hadn't even taken my GMAT yet. I started calling top schools for information. I was surprised to find that most of them wanted to chat with me about my background and qualifications, and then invited me for informational interviews.

I decided to do informational interviews with four schools. One involved a visit to the campus, where I met current students, and the other two were with other prospective students. This experience allowed me to weed out one school based on the quality of my fellow prospective students and the seeming disinterest of the staff in chatting with me about my background and goals.

As for the other schools, though, going to the informational interview turned me from a stack of stapled papers and a number to a face and a story. Especially when you are in a highly competitive applicant pool, I recommend adding the personal factor.

Best wishes,

Tatiana

Thanks Nikhil, Tatiana.

I'm glad you guys are here on the forum. If I need more info about Veritas, I will definitely pm you guys.

--Mayukh