Profile Evaluation Please

[shivaz]

Thank You in advance for your time and comments

My Profile

Indian/Male/25

EDUCATION:
Bachelor in economics (Delhi University): GPA: 3.0
CFA level 2 candidate; Scored high grades in level 1 exam

GMAT: 730 Q50/V38

EXTRA CURRICULAR:
Represented School teams in soccer and basketball in high school
Won a few of University/college level debating/other competitons

SECRETARY- College Econmoics Society (during undergrads)

WORK EXPERIENCE:

A total 4 years as a Propriety Equity Trader(NYSE/NASDAQ listed stocks):-
1 year for an India based start up :this business was new in India when i started working
3 years for the Indian subsidary of a Chicago based firm
Started as a trainee quickly moving to being
Associate; Presently : Senior Associate
Mentored trainee tarders for 18 months

Part of a four member Trader Advisory Committee : a team which advises to management on trading related policies.

VOLUNTEER WORK:
Active volunteer for one of the biggest NGO's in the world for the past 10 months.
Earlier volunteered for a small city based NGO for an year

Post Mba Goal: Hedge fund/Investment Banking(trading and sales)

I am targeting(Fall 2010)
USA : Columbia, stern, Cornell, Tepper, Booth
Europe: IESE, Said, Manchester

QUESTIONS FOR YOU:

1) Is my choice of schools in line with my profile?
2) If NO which other schools should i look to target?Which ones among the above schools are a stretch?
3) How much of a concern is my low GPA? What more can I do to make up for it, given that i did well in CFA level 1 exam.

Thanks once again for your time and comments.

[AppReview]

Hey,

Quick Question: how did you convert your GPA to a 3.0? Even if you got a 3.0 GPA from college in India, this would be looked at from the Indian perspective and thus a 3.0 from DSE (I guess?) is not the same as a 3.0 from a US university. If you got a percentage (which is normally the case) anything above 60% is fine, with of course the more the better.

All your other stats look great for the schools you are targeting - Even Columbia, although Columbia is almost always a stretch for everyone

Points:
1. Make sure you are able to justify and differentiate the NGO work. Each Indian candidate writes about an NGO in their Resume and the adcoms know that over 50% of the people just get a certificate or are faking information.
2. Your extra currics look a little weak or maybe you haven't stressed on them too much. This is more in terms of the quality of participation (prestige of events for example) than the quantity.

You should do well provided you submit a solid admissions package.

More than happy to answer more questions via phone. All the best.

Best,
Ankit
Founder - AppReview

[shivaz]

Thank you for the reply

I did some research work on converting %s into GPA and hit a website which showed a table linking Delhi University's Economics % with an equivalent GPA.However, i am sorry for in a sense misrepresenting my bachelors score.I was looking to give an approximate measure.

I am a little confused about the evaluation.Thus wish to make a few points:

1) My percentage is : 52%.I know its low but Economics(honours),Delhi University is a very low scoring course in a largely low scoring University.For example, 60% in Eco is not the same as 60% in B.com.So probably the website indicated the approx GPA quite closely.

2)I am little surprised to hear, "weak extracurriculars." Due to constraints in space it is not possible to mention details of extra curricular activities however i can assure that most competitions mentioned sports or otherwise were all competitive and the leadership position held prestigious too.

3)My volunteer work is genuine and unique, and one of them invloves a leadership position.

4)At work too i hold a leadership position and have led a major policy change in the management.

Does the new information cause a change in evaluation.Can you answer the previously asked questions with the updated information.Is it relistic to add booth and tuck to the list?

Thanks once again for your time and effort

Finally, you mentioned of speaking on the phone. How can we proceed with it?

[AppReview]

Hey,

Re your points, please find the answers below.

1. A 52% will probably be seen equivalent to somewhere around 3.5 GPA. It would be classified as a Second Class qualification, above 60% being the norm for first class. If this is not the case with DU (which would be quite unusual as normally univs all over India have this classification) nothing much can be done about it. Grading works country wise, not university wise. So you won't be able to help that. However if you want to bring out this side (tough course etc.) mention this in the optional essay space. But be sure to write this only if you have genuine pointers (low % vs. high class rank).

2. In my last post I did write that you haven't explained your extra currics well enough. Which means the qualitative factor isn't clear and that is what I meant by weak. Didn't mean to say that they were weak as such Your extra currics are fine.

3. Great!

4. Your profile is good so that's not a big problem. It's all about positioning it well enough. We can definitely speak sometime. Our email address is in the signature below. Please email and we can schedule something.

Regards,
Ankit
Founder-AppReview