Request for profile evaluation

[back2school670]

Hello,

I would kindly request you to review my below profile.

Profile : 25/Male/Indian

Education : Bachelor of Engineering(IT) completed with 3.67 gpa(converted using one of the softwares online) from Mumbai university.

Work experience :
-Worked with Infosys as a Systems Engineer for 2 years(Microsoft Corp. as a client). Interacted with clients and internal Microsoft employees from various parts of the world.
-Currently working with an NGO - Pratham, which operates in the child education sector, as an Associate since 8 months. It's the largest ngo in India working towards this cause with over 5,000 employees. I work in one of the smaller verticals within the organization which works towards providing vocational skills to underprivileged youth. My job description includes fund raising, communications, donor relations, marketing, etc.
-Will have a total of 4 yrs of work ex when I join the b-school.(Shifted to an ngo because of an influential book i read and decided to take such a sharp turn. Did not feel i was making an impact being in IT)

GMAT : 710(Q49, V38)

Extra Curricular activities :
-Was the annual day coordinator for my undergrad college with over 600 guests attending the event
-Was a part of the organizing committee within my cluster in Infosys which had more than 300 employees - conducted various informal events under the employee engagement program
-Volunteered with a few other ngos in India for a few days
-Helped my uncle in his textile export business - automated a few processes and handled an important consignment in its entirety
-Was the event head in various events in undergrad college
-Head of the undergrad college badminton team, member of my class volleyball, fooball and cricket team, won medals in swimming, judo, skating during my school days. I like playing a lot of sports, as is apparent.

Post-MBA goal : (Short term)Work for a social organization with a global footprint in the program implementation and donor communication profile. Get to know perspectives and challenges faced globally. Connect my current ngo with the global organization and work towards expanding its scope of operation. (Long term) Start an organization of my own which will help provide vocational skills to the underprivileged youth in India, as that's what motivated me to join the current ngo.

Target schools - Top 20 b-schools in USA. Not sure if my profile is well suited for the same. Also, would love to look at schools inclined towards CSR or social entrepreneurship.

Please suggest the schools(including any specific ones) that are well suited for my profile and my goals.
Any other advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Jon@Admissionado]

Overall, things look very solid for you. Good GMAT, good work experience, that is a bit more interesting than straight It. If you can really show your passion for non-profit/social entrepreneurship, then that can help you out.

I think your biggest challenge will be "Standing out from the crowd" though. Now, I KNOW you have some great and unique stories in you, but so far 710 + IT + Pratham = a pretty good candidate, but not necessarily an AMAZING one (which is what you need for top 20 programs). Ans a lot has to do with narrative of course. So if you can get out the right narrative, show them who you really are (and of course, impress) you will be off to a good start.

As for schools, you can go to ANY Top program that appeals to you, as social/entrepreneurship is pretty common for all schools. Of course there are some programs that are very well known for their non-profit strengths, like: Yale, Stanford (very long shot), Kellogg, Hass, Mendoze, Ross, HBS (very long shot)...

I also suggest having a look at this: https://www.beyondgreypinstripes.org/rankings/index.cfm

Hopefully these thoughts should get you started off, and if you have anything else, just drop a line!

[back2school670]

Hello Jon,

Thanks a lot for such detailed evaluation!

I have a few questions in response -
Would a higher gmat score(730-750) make a considerable difference in my candidature?
Even with a good narrative are Stanford, HBS, and the like long shots for me?
If yes, what in your opinion might help me get that leverage(more work ex/more extra currics/..)?
Do you think visiting these top schools personally would be worth it(as that would take a lot of monetary investment from my side being a native of India)?

Thanks,
Yatin

[Jon@Admissionado]

Yatin,
A higher GMAT will help you out. A 710 and 750 are quite different scores. That having been said, they won't magically get you into Stanford. Schools like HBS and Stanford are pretty much long shots for almost everyone. And the profiles you see at these schools most commonly are (Valedictorian at most prestigious school + good family + great GMAT + very high success at job + ) So it's tough. For the rest of us regular folks, we just have to do our best. And cross our fingers

At this point the things you can add to your profile that will help you most are:
1. leadership
2. success.

So if you are leading LOTS of people to do important stuff, YES that will help you out. and yes, if you found your own NGO and fundraise 100K in one year and build three new schools YES that will help you out greatly.

Hope this helps,

[back2school670]

Hi Jon,

Thanks a ton for the reply. I really appreciate your help. Sorry for the much delayed response though.

Regards,
Yatin

[Jon@Admissionado]

You got it buddy. Happy holidays.