Please evaluate my profile

[RumpelThickSkin]

Hi Lisa,

Have read your profile evaluations of other aspiring candidates and they have helped me get a feeling of B-schools were looking for. So decided to ask you to evaluate my profile - thanks in advance for this!

Undergrad - Honors Top Australian Uni (High GPA, won the Best Honours student award) - So pretty solid. Not sure how Australian Universities are viewed in the US, tho.

Work Ex. - 3 1/2 years Consulting Market Research

1st Job - Have worked in Kuwait (for $2 billion company) in the market research department- 1 year
Post - Based out of Shanghai, China for a botique market research consultancy (use methodologies developed at HBS) -
1 year
Have been working really hard on kick starting their operations (THE COMPANY IN SHANGHAI) in India - 1 1/2 year - current job - 1st employee of India operations, set up office / Business Development (multinational clients)- the whole shebang really and still working hard to maintain revenues.

GMAT - Not taken - hoping 700 + I am working hard and confident I make it close if not over.

Nationality - Indian / Australian Permanent Resident

Extracirculars - Nothing except being a runner (not sure that counts:-) . Possible weakness

Recos - Will get it from my current MD and Director from previous comp. Should be pretty good.


Do I stand a chance at the following schools (My final picks will be from this lot)

1) HBS
2) Kellog
3) NYU
4) UCLA
5) Stanford
6) Berkley

Safe school (probably need a few more here - have not done my research)

1) Wisconsin-Madison

Look forward to hearing from you!

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear RumpelThickSkin,

Based on your post, I would say you have done a pretty good self-assessment of your profile to date. Your undergraduate transcript and work experience are strengths for you, especially your international work experience with solid leadership. The potential weakness will be the extracurriculars; while it is good you are a runner for your health, it does not add much dimension to your application. Schools like well-rounded individuals with varied interests. So, you might want to find a community group to get involved with immediately. The other question mark is your GMAT since you do not have your score yet. For your top 6, a score in the 700s is a must to be competitive as these are all highly selective with averages over 700. An an international student, it is even more competitive to be offered a seat at these schools, so your essays, interview, and recommendations are absolutely critical in helping you stand out from the competition. Finally, you should probably identify at least 2 additional schools that are reasonable to safe options. There are so many great programs that get ranked in the 15-40 range which might offer you what you seek in an MBA program. I encourage you to continue doing some school research to identify those schools to round out your list.

Best of luck,
Lisa

[RumpelThickSkin]

Thank you Lisa for your kind and very practical advice!!! Many many thanks!

[RumpelThickSkin]

Hi Lisa,

Sorry to trouble you again I wanted to follow up on this post. I have added Richard Ivey to my list and plan to apply early decision. GMAT still not taken practice scores hovering around 700 but I know that is no guareentee. My test is on 8th May Do you think I am competitive for admission at this school?

Thank you in advance,
RTS

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear RTS,

Yes, I think with a strong GMAT score and strong overall application package you are competitive for Ivey. Good luck on your GMAT!

Regards,
Lisa

[RumpelThickSkin]

Sorry to pull up this old thread. I completely blew my GMAT (530) but had already applied to Richard Ivey before I got my score. I had a very strong application with recommendations from people in senior management position located in 3 different countries and represented cultures. Do I have a chance with this score?

[Lisa Anderson]

It is hard to say since I did not see your application, nor the rest of the applicant pool. However, your score is significantly lower than the school's average and that might be hard to overcome. You will have to wait and see what Ivey says. In the meantime, you might want to schedule another test date and try for a better score. If you feel you can do better, it might be worth scheduling the test and then emailing Ivey to ask them to hold your application until the new test scores are received.

Good luck!
Lisa