My Chances ?

[Sudan.M]

Sudan M

Here is my profile, as brief as possible!

GPA: 3.0 Majored in Information Technology, Engineering, India

GMAT: On September 2009 : Target Score - 680+

Resume Highlights:

Worked as a Pre-sales Consultant at a I.T & Telecom Services company as a first job. Track record of 4 jumps with additional responsibility in period of 2 years. Worked with a small team and a great boss who still is an inspiration.

Spearheaded the Knowledge Management initiative which was not part of the standard roles and responsibilities (Sharepoint) for the entire company. Still is being used by the entire company (400 + employees across the world) today!!!

Had to take time out from work for 6 months. Was diagnosed with Cancer, underwent Chemotherapy and surgery. Now cured!


Open invitation to return to existing job was present but instead chose to be involved in 2 startups with dual roles one as a Business and Technology Advisor (Part time ) - Knowledge Management and Outsourcing (HQ - Atlanta) and the other as an Business Partner (Executive Director and Head for the Indian Corporation) for Audio Visual Systems Integration Company headquartered in Dubai, UAE and entered into the Indian territory.

Relinquished the role as Business and Technology Advisor due to strategic differences between management .

Currently involved in only one startup as full time Head for the Indian Entity (2.5 Years+) . Started with One office in India and now has built a successful independent team for 5 Branches across different geographies. Our Company has now become one of the leading integrators in India whose client list speaks for itself. As a member of the Board directors, I report to the CEO and the rest of the board in the Head Quarters, UAE.

Recently, involved as a Strategic Business Advisor for the launch and setup for The Exclusive Yamaha Musical Instruments Distributor Show room in India for 2 locations. Responsibilities for it included due diligence for contractors, showroom location, interior decoration, branding and marketing are few of the areas involved as the Strategic Business Advisor.

There are lot of learning experiences working in the startup! But I do think it's appropriate to list them all here.


Other Interests:

Avid fan of and play tennis . Love the game !! Traveled extensively across different geographies like South Africa, Japan.


MBA B School Wishlist:

Personally a big fan of Standford because of their learning culture and beliefs.

Other Bschools being considered include Wharton, Columbia, Chicago and Michigan.

Do I stand a chance?

[mbaMissionJessica]

Hi - thanks for your question and congratulations on beating the cancer!

You have a really interesting profile - on the one hand, an overrepresented demographic with weaker than average gpa and GMAT, and few community activities, contrasted with really interesting and varied work experience with solid results and very clear demonstrated leadership. You also have entrepreneurial and international experience which are quite appealing to the schools.

I think your list of schools is ambitious and you may want to add a couple of still excellent but slightly lower tiered schools, if your goal is to improve your odds of going to business school next year. Ross is a reasonable choice for you, but the rest are stretches. Since you have so many interesting stories and experiences that demonstrate leadership, initiative, risk-taking and personal drive however, I still think it is worth applying. You may just want to apply to a couple of stretch schools though and add a broader range of schools to your list, again depending on your goals.

Here are a few blog posts that might help you:
On writing the optional essay: https://www.mbamission.com/blog/2009/03/ ... mistake-2/
On offsetting your demographic:
https://www.mbamission.com/blog/2009/05/ ... sentation/
On incorporating personal stories:
https://www.mbamission.com/blog/2009/06/ ... stories-2/
On the importance of community activity:
https://www.mbamission.com/blog/2009/05/ ... -sentence/

Best of luck

[Sudan.M]

Thanks so much for your reply! I am still working on the GMAT so hopefully that can be improved. I did not to be honest write a lot about my community activities. But here are some of the highlights. It might not be much though..but I would be delighted if you could provide your feedback

Community Interests:

To be very fair my time as an entrepreneur has limited my activities for external community activities.

Instead in my current organization there are a significant number of employees in the lower pay scale and from relatively impoverished family backgrounds.

In relation to that the company has started facilitating time and education workshops which include sponsoring higher degree education for select employees from poor financial background, subsidizing education for some of their family members, providing them support for children's welfare and education.

Other welfare initiatives driven by the company as a result of my intervention is health insurance, workplace safety measures and workplace insurance. These elements might be standard for the developed nations but are surprisingly absent in the SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) in India.

Significant initiatives which I have spearheaded also include:

Embedding Green AV in our solutions for energy management for our clients.

Optimization of supplier network to have suppliers with Rohs (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) compliance to make our products sold to the clients environment friendly.

As a company there has been conscious efforts for reducing our carbon foot print whether be it by optimization of logistics supply chain and travel, Usage of energy efficient solutions within the company.


I do significant amount of help but unfortunately it's been in the mostly in the form of donations towards the tennis courts employees at the Club - especially towards the ball boys and tennis markers who are traditionally from the bottom layer of society. But I do not wish to highlight this as the time being spent with them for this is limited.

[mbaMissionJessica]

Thank you for writing back. The way you use your company to support economically disadvantaged staff, and how your demonstrate clearly your other corporate values, sends a compelling message and yes does go a long way towards filling in that community activity gap. If you can bring the GMAT up I think the only remaining question will be your GPA and you can use the optional essay to address that. Since your other experience is strong and the GPA was a while ago, your candidacy (with the new information you added today and an improved GMAT) is much stronger. My discussion about the risks still stands, but I do think this new information makes me feel more optimistic about your odds. You'll want your essays to be extremely compelling and strong in how you tell your story and be sure to showcase the many different and interesting aspects of your background.