Evaluation for top 10 programs and will CFA clinch the deal?

[Mondy]

Hi ,
I have posted my resume below. Please go through it and let me know what will be my chances for applying next year(Apply in Sept 2014).
If I was to write CFA level 1 in this December and CFA level 2 Next June and then apply to b school. Will I be able to get a sure shot admit in one of these schools.

Gmat score-730

Education:
Indian Institute of Technology
Bachelors of Technology in Mechanical Engineering, Batch of 2012
CGPA of 7.2 out of 10 on an absolute scale

Work experience:

General Motors,India
Sales and Marketing Team,Associate Manufacturing professional 3
May 2013 - Present
"¢ Worked on improving sales and operations planning through better market intelligence and risk balance
"¢ Managed factory shipments for 4 product lines via allocation process to maximize profitability
"¢ Managed tire supply, supporting target inventory turns and meeting customer needs
"¢ Planned for optional attachments reducing 1 product lane availability time by 2 weeks

New Capital Introduction - Infrastructure, Associate Manufacturing Professional 2 July 2012 - June 2013
"¢ Project manager for construction of a 30,000 sq feet office building(project worth INR 100 million)
"¢ Managed a workforce of approx. 150 people including engineers, architects and site supervisors and ensured their safety.
"¢ Solely in charge of project planning, critical path analysis, design selection, technical due diligence and quality.

XYZ Automobile parts company-Intern May 2011 - July 2011
"¢ Identified the bottle neck operations and drafted a plan for introducing supermarkets with appropriate WIP
"¢ Optimized the inventory batch size and achieved an average increase of 33% in inventory turns for 3 Pareto parts
"¢ Suggested changes in Forging Press that can potentially reduce die changeover time by 50%

IIT Coaching Academy, Mumbai-Intern June 2009 - July 2009
"¢ Addressed seminars and counselled students about engineering entrance exams and IIT-JEE preparation
"¢ Took lectures in Mechanics and General Organic chemistry for 11th grade students

Social Initiative:
Setting up of a Village Water management System
"¢ Identified a water source and made storage arrangements up to 40,000 litres.
"¢ Setup a distribution network providing direct water supply to over 200 houses.
Village Welfare Association- Program Strategist


"¢ Contributed to the selection of 13 students for food and education funding.
"¢ Responsible for setting up student performance monitoring and feedback system and providing mentorship.

Extracurricular activities:
"¢ Vice-President Education of Toastmasters Club
"¢ Core team member of Young GM club, responsible for organizing sports, social and brand advocate events
"¢ Fitness and Diet enthusiast; Took seminars to increase awareness about nutritional value of food and health among employees
at GM
"¢ Event coordinator for Weightlifting/Powerlifting at IIT Annual National Sports Festival 'Aparsh2012' , captaining the
university team to first position in weightlifting.

Entrepreunership exp:
I have made brochures and set up a website for a family business. I was instrumental in landing 3 customers and increasing the turnover from $30,000 to $ 75,000 in one year.

[Heidi Granner]

Hi Mondy,

Thanks for your post.

I'd be happy to provide feedback on your profile.

Your academics (GMAT score, undergraduate school and GPA) should help you be competitive but not stand-out at top 20 US MBA programs.

Your work experience will help you differentiate from other Indian engineering applicants since you have focused on more of the sales and marketing rather than technical side of business. Specifically showing your impact and highlighting your interpersonal skills will be a great way to highlight your experience. Also, your entrepreneurial experience with your family business will show that you understand how to get things done. That said, students at top MBA programs average 4-6 years of work experience. You might consider delaying your application an additional year so that you will have at least 4 years of work experience upon matriculation. This will not only benefit your application but also help you be more competitive once you are on campus recruiting for jobs.

Your extracurricular activities should be a strength to your candidacy. Having both leadership experiences and community volunteer activities are areas the admissions officers look for in an application. Continuing to focus on areas where you can show impact in the coming years will be important.

Regarding the CFA - the test actually does not carry very much weight in the MBA application process. It can help an applicant if they have low grades / GMAT and/or if they are targeting an investment management career. Otherwise, I suggest spending the time instead on excelling at work and in extracurricular activities.

I strongly recommend waiting to apply until at least fall of 2015 (for Class of 2018). Otherwise, you will likely be significantly sacrificing school quality. With a couple more years of experience at work and extracurricular activities you should be competitive at top 15 US business schools.

Best,
Heidi