Profile Evaluation by the Best Admissionado

[AmitMalhotra]

Hi Experts@Admissionado,

I am Amit, 27 male, from India. I would like to know the competency of my profile and need the guidance for applying in universities. My profile is as below:

1. School info:

Class X - Marks-72% , completed in 2003
Class XII- Marks- 66%, completed in 2006

2. College info:

Bachelor of Technology (Electronics and communication) from Krishna Institute of Engineering and technology, Ghaziabad, India, Marks- 71%, graduated in 2011, ranked 2nd in batch.

3. Significant college and post-college extra-curricular activities or community service, especially leadership experience:
Coordinator and member of various college student committees and societies. Volunteered for National Service Scheme (NSS) and Pulse Polio Removal Programme.
was a member of football team of school. Actively participated in various extra curricular competitions and won several prizes(including 1st prize in skit and GK quiz at inter college level). Also participated in various theatre and mime organised in college.
Have done certification in project management during job after college.

4. GMAT score : 710

5. Brief description of your full-time work experience. What do you do?

- I am a Wedding Photographer,I have been doing this from last 5 years and have shot close to 1000+ weddings till date.While this was a passion for me which turned into a business later,I had to hire a number of people to carry out day to day activities for this.As of now a total of 33 people work for my company and we shoot close to 100 weddings a year.

- Along with that i have also founded a company called "Wedding Meet up" which organises gathering of people from all the different segments that make up the wedding industry in the city.Currently we have over 6000+ members to it and we conduct over 6 gatherings annually.It has received massive success in previous year and as helped many vendors to strengthen their businesses.

6. Target programs.
MBA at Harvard,LBS.


7 When you plan to apply?
R1/R2, 2016

8. Post-MBA goal.
Either finance or General management , probably in a company focused on operations, infrastructure, real estate or oil and gas.

Thanks in anticipation.

[Jon@Admissionado]

Hello there Amit,
Very good to hear from you.

So first of all, I think you should realize that as an Indian applicant you are applying in the toughest applicant pool there is. And secondly, that as a wedding photographer, you will be at a severe disadvantage to the majority of your co-applicants. I would say that getting accepted to any school in the Top 20 is near impossible. And LBS and HBS are entirely out of range. Sorry if this is direct, but I feel if you know this know you will save yourself much trouble.

So you are looking more at something between Tier II and Tier II schools. Which is totally fine actually. Everything depends upon your goals and what you want to do.

Your MAIN objective in your application then will be to prove to schools that 1. You are prepared to do an MBA not having come from a business professional background. and 2. You NEED an MBA for you to attain your goals.

Do that, and you will have a shot at some of the schools I mentioned above,

Best,
Jon

[AmitMalhotra]

Dear Jon,

May be you are a graduate of Harvard yourself but your evaluation is not right.May be your evaluation is just based on monetary symptoms.
Being a Wedding Photographer brings more dimensions to the table but not disadvantage.I am surprised at your reply which makes no meaning for me !
I hope to write back to you soon and make it easier for other applicants about the decisions.

Thanks !

[Jon@Admissionado]

Dear Amit,
I do understand that this is not the answer you had hoped to hear, but nonetheless, this is how B-schools operate. The schools would much rather take someone who is coming from one of the big firms, like banks of consulting companies, than a freelancer, and it is better if you take that into consideration before you apply,

Best,

[AmitMalhotra]

Dear Jon,

Well,You must also know that you are not the only one who have evaluated my profile.First of all i am not a freelancer,I am failing to understand this,How you assumed this.Just to clear you again,it will be great if you can go back and read my profile.Also,Adding to the above I had sent my profiles to a few alums of some top colleges as well as to admission officers of some schools.It should not surprise you but you must have heard that class needs to be diverse in nature.So,according to you if everyone coming from big firms, like banks of consulting companies and major IT companies make a unique profile and unique stand in the class,you are wrong.My friend,you have failed as a admission consultant.Experience,at work matters.The quality matters more than quantity Jon.A true school admission officer have those things in mind while selecting.I have few examples of INSEAD & Harvard admits with a background in Music and Dram respectively.Please take a note they did not come from Big firms.I am sorry that as a admission consultant you are failing with the idea of convincing anything beyond the students coming from big firms & top IT companies can only make it to top schools.Stop Demotivating students with your idea because you think so.
I will be keep this chain open and will like people to read more about it.I really expect a reply from you on this.I will be happy to post my admission offer here soon ! So that i am the last one to smile.Also,remember there is nothing which can't be done.All it takes a strong will !

Thanks

Amit Pandey

[Jon@Admissionado]

Amit,
I only hope that I am wrong too. I can only report to you based on my previous experience and knowledge.
I believe you have a big challenge in front of you, but nonetheless I wish you the best of luck!

Best,
Jon