Profile evaluation please

[tanviagrawal]

Hi Admissionado!

Following is a quick summary of my profile:
- GMAT score: 720 (Q49, V39, AWA not known yet)
- Qualifications:
Chartered Accountant (Qualified in 2010)
B.Com.(Hons), Shri Ram College of Commerce (2006-2009)
- Work experience:
2 years post qualification experience with a Big Four firm: 1 year in audit as a senior associate, 1 year in Risk Consulting with a recent fast track promotion to the post of Assistant Manager.
Chartered Accountancy also includes 3.5 years of full-time training. Of this 3.5 years, I did 1.5 years with a Big Four firm. But I guess B-schools do not count this as professional work-ex.

- Career goals: Aim to get into Corporate Finance or Management Consulting. In the long run, I wouldn't mind a business leadership role in the industry.

Professional achievements:

- Got promoted to the current position within 10 months of joining the Practice. The regular promotion cycle is about 2 years.

- Have in-charged one of the first financial reporting support clients of the Firm which involved establishing operational and review processes, contracting vendors, calibrate client expectations etc. Due to excellent client management, the engagement has grown to become one of the largest ongoing engagements of the Practice and other practices of the Firm are also able to leverage our client relationship to offer their services portfolio.

- Was part of the engagement team that was investigating one of the largest financial statement frauds in India in the recent time.

- Possess experience in working on audits of large sized companies belonging to diversified industrial sectors including FMCG, Newspaper Publishing, Real Estate and Hospitality. As part of conducting audits, visited various manufacturing plants thereby gaining valuable operational level exposure

- Was amongst the first few trainees in my batch at the Firm to independently handle an audit assignment - Successfully in-charging a team and carrying out the audit of 8 group companies.



Academic achievements:

- Was amongst the 9% and 10% students passing the exam of the total students appearing in CA Intermediate (Nov 2008) and CA Final (Nov 2010) examinations respectively.
- Secured a First Division and was amongst the top 20% of my batch in the 2006-2009 batch of Bachelors of Commerce (Honours) course in my college and secured 72% in aggregate while pursuing Chartered Accountancy during college.
- Won scholarships for being a school topper in class XII and scoring above 90% in Class X.
- Won the Scholar title for 7 consecutive years (2000 - 2006).


Queries:

- Is 2 years of post qualification work-ex enough to aim for a good b-school? I personally feel that this might not be enough for the top 10 US schools.
- Do you think Europe is good bet, given the economic conditions? I will be financing MBA through an education loan and therefore don't want to take chances with post-MBA employment.
- Will it be realistic to aim for a scholarship in either US or Europe? If yes, which schools should i look at?
- Do you think that my profile would be competitive for Asia schools? I'm looking at ISB, HKUST, NUS, Insead (S'pore). These schools also seem attractive for their cost of education.
- I'm 24 years old right now and almost any school I join, I will be one of the youngest kids of the batch. B-school grads have warned me that the youngest people in the batch find it quite hard to succeed in campus placements? Do you think this is true?

Thanks for your time!

[Jon@Admissionado]

Queries:

- Is 2 years of post qualification work-ex enough to aim for a good b-school? I personally feel that this might not be enough for the top 10 US schools.
- Do you think Europe is good bet, given the economic conditions? I will be financing MBA through an education loan and therefore don't want to take chances with post-MBA employment.
- Will it be realistic to aim for a scholarship in either US or Europe? If yes, which schools should i look at?
- Do you think that my profile would be competitive for Asia schools? I'm looking at ISB, HKUST, NUS, Insead (S'pore). These schools also seem attractive for their cost of education.
- I'm 24 years old right now and almost any school I join, I will be one of the youngest kids of the batch. B-school grads have warned me that the youngest people in the batch find it quite hard to succeed in campus placements? Do you think this is true?

Thanks for your time!

First of all, congratulations on your great GMAT score!!! Glad you got that out of the way, aren't you??


Let me take a shot at your questions, one by one.
- Two years is probably a bit on the low side. Any reason you can't wait until next year???
- Europe is fine. Despite the newspapers, we haven't seen any drop is hiring statistics from Top European schools, so if you prefer to build your career in Europe it can be a good option.
- Yes. As for schools - depends on a) your goals b) your preferences (for location program type and the like) and c) the strength of your profile, so it's a bit early to suggest schools.
- You will probably be just as competitive at Asian schools which will be likely easier to get into than Top US schools.
- Well, like I wrote, you are a bit young to apply, maybe wait a year?