I think you posted this to the wrong forum.
-Adam/Amerasia

No problem!
-Adam/Amerasia

Hello Aringo Consultants,
I would appreciate your input on my profile , my profile is as follows:

GMAT: 680 (Q50 V32), AWA (6.0)
Undergraduate Education : Mechanical Engineering, Top University in Asia
GPA: 2.5
Postgraduate Education : Mechanical Engineering, Top University in Asia, Gold Medalist
GPA: 3.95

Nationality: Indian
Age: 28

Work Experience: 7 years at matriculation (hopefully applying for Fall 2013) in new product introduction roles.
Current Work: GE Water Thailand. Involved in developing new products in the Water industry and government related projects in different sectors.

Job: I am a technical Lead at GE Water heading global team of experts.
Extra Curriculars: I was the captain of my university cricket team. I head several green initiatives in GE. I am business development officer in another NGO. I was on management committee of the school council. I play professional cricket as vice-captain in the Malaysian League.

Int’l Experience: Worked in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and United States.

Planning to work after MBA in product management preferrably in the Energy Sector and want to get an MBA from Top US business school.

Do you think I have a better shot at the LGO/MEM programs compared to the normal MBA?

Preferred list:
1. MIT
2. Wharton
2. Duke
3. Columbia
4. Darden
5. Tepper

Hi Paul,

I just appeared my first attempt at GMAT and scored 660 [Q 50 and V 29]. I know completely screwed up the verbal section. I may consider retaking test if this score does not take me anywhere.

Here is my profile:
Age: 27
Sex: F

Academic performance:
10th: 90%,
12th: 81%
degree in engineering with 71%

Work experience:
6 yrs work experience in software testing in 3 different companies in Bangalore
Have won numerous awards for my performance during this tenure.

Extra Curricular Activities:
Was good at sport during school.
During school have won a number of awards for essay writing, general knowledge and science quizzes.
During engineering I won the college chess championship.
Was a part of Teach India champagne, which was aimed at educating poor children, for few months, however had to withdraw later.
Never got a chance to participate in any other social activities due to busy schedules.

Ambition:
I want to get into either IT management or completely change my stream to finance.

Do you think I have a chance of getting into ISB? I can not afford going abroad for my MBA, so ISB is my only choice at this moment. Any suggestions to improve my profile would be great and I will try to implement them.

Hi Paul,

Would really appreciate if you could evaluate my profile. I intend to apply this year and im having a real tough timing placing myself. Please see my details below.

Background: Indian/IT/Male (Unfortunately)

Education:
Schooling in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Kindergarden to 12th grade)
Undergraduation from NIT, Trichy (highly reputed university in India) with a poor GPA – 6.15

GMAT: 710 (49Q, 39V)

Work Experience (4.5 yrs by 2013) :
– I let go of the job I got on Campus to join a start up that was planning to build wealth management solutions for the Indian Market.
– Played multiple roles during my stint at the start up. (Developer, Client Support, Business Analysis and finally Team Lead)
– After 2 yrs in the start up, wanted to explore the wealth/portfolio management business at a global level and hence looked for Business Analyst jobs in MNC’s that catered to the biggest firms.
– Got recruited as a BA for a Fortune 500 product company (The first BA the company recruited for Wealth Management in India and the youngest globally)
– The company was contemplating moving to AGILE mode of development, took up the responsibility and made sure the upper management take the final step without second thoughts.
– Was made the BA for one of the most sought after products of the company
– Delivered product awareness lectures to the entire group, an initiative taken by me and my manager.
– Identified the lack of a singular source for any product information, in the process of building the same.
– Won an appreciation award within my first year.

Extra Curricular/Social Activities/Sports:
– Marketing Manager (part of a 5 member CORE team) in college for a national level cultural festival, led a team of 50 ppl.
– General Secretary for the Rotaract Club in college
– Infrastructure Manager for the Entrepreneurship Cell in college.
– Won multiple competitions in the intra-department cultural festivals
– Post college dint do much during my time in the start up as I worked nearly 60-70 hrs a week, but took part in multiple CSR projects in the new company.
– Part of the company’s internally groomed NGO.
– Part of the college and company Football teams.

I plan to pursue a career in portfolio management or consulting.

I know as an Indian applicant my GPA/GMAT are on the lower side and so not quite sure what my chances are at any of the big schools. Keeping that in mind I shortlisted the below schools. Please evaluate my profile for the same.

Dream : Fuqua , Darden, Stern
Realistic : Tepper, ISB, Kenan-Flagler
Safe : Kelley (Plan to add more, not sure yet)

Thanks

Hi Paul,

I am the Ankit from India. I gave my GMAt Yesterday (first attempt). I got a 620 Score (Q 44, V 31). Please find below my Job profile

Work Exp : 5.5 Years ( 5 Years in IT Software Testing, 6 months Process Consulting)
GPA : We dont have GPA system in my college ( 62% , my college follow the strict University of Pune scoring system, The highest in the unversity is about 76%, that made me in the top 20 percentile of the class)

I am not looking for any european or US schools, my focus is on Asian schools as due to some constraints i cannot live far away from India.

My target earlier was

1. HKUST
2. CUHK
3. Nayang
4. NUS

Please let me with this score should i apply to any of these. Also are you aware of any schools in the asian region where i can apply with this score.

Hi Paul,

I would greatly appreciate your thoughts on my profile. I am currently considering retaining the services of an admissions consultant and your insight would be very valuable. Here are the particulars:

760 GMAT Q 48 V 46
3.96 GMAT at Canadian university (3rd and 4th year) attended a college prior to that and got a diploma in accounting during 1st and 2nd year – GPA there was more like 3.3-3.4.
Work experience as project coordinator working for a real estate development in Victoria, BC – kind of a unique position that also includes creating information systems and managing customer accounts for a nascent microutility owned by the development.

I have a second contract job where I do research, analysis and the creation of presentation materials for a management consultant (an FCMC) regarding exit strategies for owners of SME’s.

Extra-curricular: Worked as strategic advisor, financial agent and social media strategist for a city council election campaign – our candidate got a spot on council against a strong field where all 8 incumbents were running.

Have given marketing and branding lectures (3 hrs. over 3 1 hr. sessions to a group of local entrepreneurs who do not qualify for regular credit but are seeking microloans as part of a community lending program). I intend to do this several more times before matriculating (and because I love doing it, certainly not just as a check box on an MBA application).

I have several other volunteer work kinds of things that I won’t go into in detail, the list goes a bit deeper but the aforementioned are I think the most salient extra-curric.

Finally, my GMAT verbal was 99th percentile and I really do believe that I can craft stellar essays – weak essays, at least from the perspective of the craftsmanship of the writing, will not be a problem.

Would appreciate any thoughts on where you think I stand and which schools I should target (I would like to find a good fit for a great experience and an opportunity to transition into management consulting).

A manager of MBA Admissions at one of the schools that I requested my GMAT score be sent to, Richard Ivey, contacted me within days of me finishing writing the exam to set up a phone call, so I do have an indication that that school sees me as high-potential enough to warrant contacting early in the process.

I would be interested in you thoughts about my chances in the US top 10 and how and where to minimize weaknesses.

Hi Paul,

I’m graduating from undergrad this week and was wondering, based on my stats, what I could do to improve my chances over the next few years. I don’t want my life to revolve around going to b-school, but I would like to know if you have any tips for things I should look into on the side. I would like to go to H/W/S or Haas/Anderson if I do not meet the H/W/S criteria, but was wondering where you feel I would be most competitive if I don’t fit the bill for any of those.

My stats:
- Starting with an elite buyside equity research firm (~$100 bil. AUM), would like to matriculate in 4 years
- 730 GMAT (48 Q, 42 V), just took it
- 3.65 GPA in Finance from unranked state school (Magna Cum Laude and Beta Gamma Sigma)
- President of undergrad Finance club, Treasurer of Fraternity, several awards for leadership
- 5 undergrad internships – 1 in investment banking M&A, 1 in investment banking public finance
- Private Pilot
- Starting professional prep. non-profit for highschool students

I know it’s a little early to be thinking about this, but I’d love to hear your opinion on what I could do to improve my application. Thanks in advance for your help!

Thank you very much Adam!

I am Arun, a second year engineering student.I’ve got few queries.Most of the forums don’t help you in building an "A College accept profile".Can you help me out ?

I wish to get a Masters in Financial Engineering from top colleges like Stanford.How do I make my profile a sure accept at top schools.

This is my profile:
Education : 2010- Present Saraswati College of Engineering.Kharghar.Electronics and telecommunication Engineering.
1st semester – results expected.
2nd semester – results expected.
3rd semester – results expected.

2006-2008 -Swami Vivekanand Junior College, Chembur.12th std – 71.33 %
1994-2008-Swami Vivekand high school, Chembur.10th std – 84.13%

Work Experience
Managed a local football club in Mumbai Divisional Football Association (3rd division).
Supported a group of First year Engineering students in Math.
Worked as an Assistant Business Research Analyst at Eswar Software Solutions. (2008-2010) .
I have captained my college football team at national level.Ran marathons,finished em too.Participated in various cyclothons.
I am planning to give GRE in october.I need to improve on my acads.But apart from that, How good is my profile ?
I plan to get involved in community services,aiesec membership,an internship in finance sector,also going to work as a teacher (part time) in a listed coaching class,and be an NLP practitioner.what in addition do I need to do to get a sure accept ?Do i need to do any certificate courses ?

Hello Paul,

Hope you are doing great! I just finished my GMAT today and got a score of 720 (Q48, V40). Just wanted to keep you informed.

Many thanks.

Hello ,

Below is an excerpt of my profile.Please evaluate my profile and provide your valuable feedback/suggestions

Name:Gopal Panigrahy / 30 Y/ Male

Citizenship: INDIA

Qualification: B.E in Computer Science and Engineering- 78%/2004 (75% is the score for distinction in the university).Just adding this point, if it is noteworthy. The highest percentage attained in the CSE stream was 84% and I am ranked in the top 5.If required can get a recommendation letter from the university.

Query: I understand Adcoms use various merit methods to convert the percentage into CGPA/GPA for evaluation. So, I am not quite sure, on conversion, how the CGPA/GPA would look like. Please provide your comments on this.

Work Experience: 7 years 9 months of experience in Insurance/Accounting and Telecom software development industry.

Gist of my WE:

Overall International Exposure: 1.5 years at various locations such as Liverpool/London (UK), Dallas (TX) and Los Angeles (CA).

Current Exp:

Project Manager – SAP services at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for a European Telecom Client.

Duration: 1.5 Years

Managing a team of 20+ associates

I have contributed significantly towards the revenue growth by acquiring many multimillion dollar projects and by successfully executing them. In the last 3 quarters (Q2-Q4), the team size under SAP Services portfolio has doubled and revenue realization has stayed quite higher than the corporate set figures.

Prior Exp:

Business Development Lead at Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)
Duration: 4 Years
Software Engineer at Accenture Services Pvt Ltd
Duration: 2.2 Years

Awards & Recognitions:
1. Certificate of Appreciation (innovation – MCCA MMS project) – CSC India, 2010
2. Certificate of Appreciation (innovation – MCCA RFR project) – CSC India, 2010
3. Certificate of Appreciation (Delivery) – CSC India, 2010
4. Special Recognition Award – CSC United States (At Client Location, LosAngeles), 2008
5. High performance Delivered Award – Accenture (RSA Client), 2007
6. Instant Karma Award – Accenture, 2006
7. Super trooper Award – Accenture, 2006
8. JSE Achievers Award – Accenture, 2005

Query: Please provide your feedback on my WE.I would still like to invest a year to shape up my WE, if required. Basically I would like to do anything that can help me offset my low GMAT score.

GMAT Score:

GMAT 1: 470 (Q48,V11)
GMAT 2: 630(Q48, V28)
GMAT 3: 600(Q48, V24)
GMAT 4: 660(Q48, V34)

I do not wish to retake the test. I am done with it. It is not that I have given up, but I feel I am shelling out lot of my valuable time to attain the 700 mark. Although 700+ is a strong criteria for many good colleges,I would like to manage without that score.

Query: I am targeting for only 1 year MBA programs. Please advise on the colleges that I can apply in India and abroad. I understand that I need to be more specific on my question. But at this very moment, I am not able to figure out the best chances I have for the top 30 colleges.

Extracurricular Activity:

Member of a voluntary organization (in TCS) that works for various social causes. I mostly contribute towards educating homeless children and arranging funds from TCS – associates by demonstrating various social problems through articles in newsletters, cultural events etc.

Since a decade, I am working in one of the rural areas for various developments, such as facilitating a library, drinking water etc. There are many areas that I have worked and I can provide an elaborate list of my work. Well, I am not sure if any proof of such activities will be needed, but I can get a recommendation letter from the govt appointed committee.

Query: Please comment if such involvements can add value to my profile. I am ready to invest more number of years, if required, towards any other suggested extracurricular activities.

Why MBA? :

Short Term Goal (5 to 10 years): Business / IT consulting. To gain Industry exposure in the realm of setting up, reforming and executing various business models operative across different industry verticals.

Long term Goal (10 years +): Establishing a firm that would engage in various business consulting activities. Also, I have the aspiration to establish a network of non-profit consulting firm (driven by the above mentioned profit organization) that would engage in helping various small industries to establish (particularly in rural areas).I have not really got the framework on paper but I am working on it. The idea is to pool the knowledge and experience of many people like you and me into a single stream that can make few lives better. The motive is “To make one single place better to live”.

Query: In sum, this is what I have in me and this I want to do. I understand that I may not make into the top notch colleges because of a low GMAT score. But I would be happy if any decent college (that would mind accepting my profile) can help me to reach my goals.

Please comment/advise on the B schools that I can apply. Please, also, comment on my profile and suggest any improvements that can make my profile better.

I value your time .Thanks in advance

Cheers,
GKP

hi Paul,

gave my gmat yesterday..got 720(Q48 V41). Now faced with the question – which schools am i looking at with this score and my profile!?

Profile:

male/23/ Indian

Undergrad: ( B. E. -Chemical Engineering) – from Manipal Institute of Technology (among the top 15 colgs in India) – 2010
– graduated summa cum laude

Masters: (M. Tech. – Energy Studies) – from IIT Delhi ( among the top 3 colgs in India) – 2012
– gpa of 8.63/10 ( among the top 5 on the class)
– completing the course in may 2012

GMAT: 720 – Q48 (80th percentile) and V41(92nd percentile), AWA (expected >5)

Work Ex: None as of yet. Aiming to apply for Fall 2014.
– Gonna work as a Consultant in one of the Big 4 consulting firms from June 2012 ( So can clock in 2 years work
ex. by the time of applying to colgs)

Projects:
- conducted an energy audit of a petroleum refinery for 6 months, the observations and sugestions of which resulted in significant savings for the refinery. (Undergrad project)
- developed a new diesel fuel (diesel microemulsion fuel) as a part of Masters project.

Extra Curriculars:
Positions of Responsibility:
- Was the President of the Student Council during Under Grad. – work involved conducting fests, student welfare activites, community service activities, etc.)
- Management Captain of a team that designed and built a baja to take part in the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) International Baja Competition 2009 (ranked 62nd out of 120). Work involved procuring funds for the project, advertising, budgeting and a lot of co-ordinating with the colg authorities.
- Secretary of a National Technical Club (Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers)
- M. Tech. Representative in the Students Affairs Council during Graduation ( Masters program)

Sports:
- a career in free style skating (1995 to 2004)- won national level prizes (gold – 11, silver – 8, bronze -6)
- badminton player – member of the colg team during Under Grad.
- Chess: ranked 16th in the state level open chess tournament

Could you pls give me an idea as to which schools could i consider "safe" or competitive or stretch with this profile and a 720 on the gmat?? I am very keen to pursue an mba in technology management or human resource development.

Thanks!!

Well, you have listed 10 schools, so you are cutting a huge chunk leaving few to add and a lot to try to parse. I think what you have to do is work backwards, meaning figure out the schools you love, want to attend, and will best help you in your pursuits, and then master the process of standing out within those applicant pools. Your profile is very common, unfortunately, so it’s not as if you can pick some schools that will be "easier" to get into or where you will stand out immediately. The Indian/Male/Engineer background is arguably the most ubiquitous at every school, so while looking outside of big cities (Tuck, Ross, Duke, Kelley, etc.) can be helpful at moving away from huge pools in your demo, the real trick is in standing out within that demographic group. In other words, don’t fight reality, just accept that tons of people will look like you at the profile stage (seriously, go through our thread and note how many profiles are basically just like yours – note that being in London for work does help and gives you some separation though) and then work to stand out from that point forward. I’m going to quote from another post because I just worked through the three steps for doing this a few days ago. So rather then retype it, I’m just going to paste it here. This is where your app will reach a make or break stage:

Hope this helps!

Best,
-Adam/Amerasia

No problem!
-Adam

Hey M,

Thanks for reaching out. Sorry this post got missed somehow – I hope that even a delayed response is a helpful response.

Your whole plan of attack seems very much on point. I am personally a big proponent of dual degree programs, not just because of the ROI (such an MBA specific way to think about things), but also because of the holistic learning and development that takes place when you use different models of instruction. Adding a Kennedy School experience to an elite MBA, for instance, is going to have an exponential effect and likely make your time in school 3-5 times more valuable rather than just twice as good, via double the degrees. JD/MBA programs are similar, as are MBA/MPP combos. I’m sure there exceptions, where there are diminishing returns for the extra time and money, but considering that the MBA is the least "academic" of the big masters programs, adding a really thoughtful course of study can really open the mind.

And, of course, it can have real "paper" value as you move forward, but I truly believe that is secondary.

Now, as for how to approach it, the key is to really make your case for why both degrees are necessary. We work with a lot of dual degree candidates (especially for the HBS programs – JD/MBA, and HBS/Kennedy – and for the extremely popular Kellogg JD/MBA) and what is often missed is that dimension of really spelling out why the secondary degree is so critical. Many candidates approach it just like an MBA application and forget to showcase the need for the accompanying program. This probably seems like common sense, but you’d be surprised how easy it is to fall victim to a "pure MBA" approach, especially since so many joint degree admissions processes piggyback closely to the MBA process.

Be thinking about how your goals, interests, learning style, and perspective (the teaching you will be doing to and for your peers) lend to the joint degree. If you do that, you will be able to showcase proper career goals, transferable skills, key program traits, and – most importantly – nuanced understanding of program DNA. And you will be off and running.

I respect and appreciate that you have shortlisted your schools and you don’t want to compromise that list – rather waiting and reapplying if need be. I don’t think it will come to that, based on your profile, but you are wise to be selective and bank on your youth.

The only thing I would say is open your list to include MIT and its dual program with Kennedy. Same city, incredibly elite institutions, and what a great combo of learning opportunities. Here’s a link: http://mitsloan.mit.edu/mba/program-com … -programs/

Good luck!

Best,
-Adam/Amerasia

My profile:

Age 27, India
GMAT = 710

An Engineer –> B.Tech ( Electronics and Communications) from Central University in Delhi,India

Work Experience = 4 years Telecom Industry, Cuurently posted in London for past 1 Month and till Next year.Got a promotion and was handling part of management role in the previous project.

My goal would be to work in general management.

As per my GPA goes its 7.7/10 in my graduation and this is my third GMAT attempt.

To further diversify I want to be a Telecom Consultant after my MBA to be precise.

I am planning to get involved in the community services soon, I used to do it in India independently teaching poor children and not got associated with any NGO, which I am planning to do so this year here in London.

Or any other information or opinions from you are welcomed.

Can I get into the top 20 B Schools, primarily targetting ISB, NUS in Asia and Tuck,Kellogg,Sloan,Haas,Fuqua,Tuck in US and LBS,Said in UK.

Can you let me know am I doing an appropiate selection or please let me know the universities I should target.I am interested in both 1 year and 2 year span of education

Hi JJ,

Thanks for reaching out. I’m going to be honest here, based on the target GMAT score you indicated, the quant aspect is the not the biggest issue. You need an overall score of at least 670 to feel good about the way your application will be read in the process. I have posted this before, so you can probably find more detail on it, but you risk being "screened out" (usually informally) if your score is below a certain threshold – usually 660 or 670 is that cutoff. What I mean is that readers have so many files to go through and its so incredibly rare for a GMAT score below their 25th percentile to be an admit, that often an admissions officer will just sort of skim (at best) a file with a score in that range.

If you can score above 660 or 670, that puts you in a range where maybe they wish it was higher, but at least they can’t ignore you. They have to see what you bring to the table. And THEN you can start to worry about the way your profile will be received. Are you "ready" for an MBA – both professionally and academically (thus, the quant profile)? Do you have the traits they are looking for? Do you understand the DNA of the program in question? Are you goals powerful and persuasive? Are you showcasing transferable skills that will make you a badass in consumer goods? All of this becomes relevant the minute your file is going to get a fair and thorough read.

No adcom is ever going to say "if your score is below X, don’t bother because we’re not reading it carefully," but the logistics of the process pretty much dictate that this sentiment is true. When you are on file #60 for that day and it’s a 630, you are pretty much thinking "okay, this person has no shot, I can read it in 15 seconds and move on." That’s why you always here that while a GMAT score can’t really "get you in," it can definitely keep you out.

I’d focus on upping that GMAT score in a more holistic manner, not worrying so much about showing quant skills, but just getting the raw number that keeps you safe. If you are thinking 650, then 670 is surely within range.

Finally, taking a course or two in the quant arena is a nice way to balance out your profile and show that you have those chops as well. However, someone going from advertising to consumer goods isn’t going to be valuating companies or putting together actuary tables, so the only threshold you have to hit is "can he do the work in the classroom and not fall behind." In other words, continue to focus on your overall profile and don’t drill down so much on the quant issue, which may or may not even be mission critical given your path. (Disclaimer: at schools like MIT and Haas, you will have to hit a higher bar on showing academic aptitude in the quant arena – those are schools that have proven at times to be more paternalistic on this point than most.)

Hope this helps. Study hard, get that score, and you’ll be ready to tackle the rest of this daunting process.

Best,
-Adam/Amerasia

Hello,

Thanks in advance for reading my post.

I have a peculiar problem with respect to my transcript.

By mistake, my undergrad university mentioned my father’s name with a suffix (the practice is too common in india to justify to anyone) in one of the mark sheets (first year of graduation). My name in rest of all my documents including 2nd year, 3rd year mark sheet and even on the degree certificate is the same without the suffix. when i approached my university for mark sheet, they suggested that it will take some time for them since they will have to first correct your father’s name and then we will issue your transcript.

the deadline for school to which i have applied was 30th april, i consulted to them initially and concerned person suggested that "you apply with notarized mark sheets and we will review your application on the basis of notarized mark sheets, and you can be interviewed on the basis of submitted mark sheet".The concerned further mentioned that conditional offer will be given if you get through and you have to submit your transcript in a given time frame.

Now, the concerned person i interacted with is away and now the person i am interacting is saying that they can not review my application without transcript and i should delay my application by a year, i am really surprised to note how easily they say "delay by a year".

i really found this a non professional attitude, but the problem is that i can not become aggressive in my communication to them since both are admission directors and i am not sure that anyone them might interview me ?

please guide

thanks

very helpful! Thank you.

Hi,

I am hoping to get your thoughts on my profile for the above schools (Harvard, Wharton, and Stanford) and primarily whether it would be worthwhile to retake the GMAT, since I’ll have time.

-While male, graduated from an Ivy with a degree in Political Science and 3.8 gap (magna cum laude)
-Have worked for 3 years at a bulge bracket investment bank in New York
-Will be working for a reputable west coast private equity fund starting this summer (2-3 years)
-Took the GMAT this week and scored a 740 (46V, 46Q)

My main question is how important is the 80% / 80% split I’ve recently read about on these boards. My 46 in quant was only 73%.

I’m content with my overall score, but given that I only studied hard for 5-6 weeks in order to take the test before it changed, would it be worth my while to dedicate more time to studying in order to boost my quant into the 80th percentile. I am hoping that my 5 years of work experience in finance will be enough to prove quantitative aptitude, but as I’m really only considering an MBA if its from one of the above 3 schools, I’d willingly re-study for the test if it was going to be a weak spot on my application.

I’d obviously rather spend my time focusing on more meaningful endeavors, and also wonder what kind of message re-taking a standardized test after achieving a score I’m relatively happy with would send.

Thank you for any advice or thoughts you can share!

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Personally, I believe that our School Guides are the best in the industry. Simply put – our paper is more than just a break down of essays or a regurgitation of student body and employment stats. Instead we placed our well-thought-out insight into actionable steps – expertise based on our interaction with our clients and with the program.

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Download: http://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/mba_r … ead_guide/

Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti

Hi jforsland:

I believe that you are underweighting the effect that your sabbatical can or will have on your candidacy. Additionally, it is going to be hard for me to tell you if three and half years of work experience are enough. Why? Because I have no idea what you want to do in future and upon graduation from an MBA program. If your current work experience is related to your future goals, then generally speaking 3.5 years of work experience is definitely enough.

So let us talk about your sabbatical. Is this really going to advance your current career, as well as your future goals? I am sure that you could make the case it will contribute to your future MBA classmates, but would it convince a recruiter that you have been desired skills to realize your short-term, post-MBA goal? Again, I cannot really answer this for you because I do not really know what your goals are upon graduation.

Let us look at this yet another way. If you were on an admissions committee, would you admit someone who just "quits" their job? You might be able to rationalize a "yes" answer, but not you consider that everyone else applying will pretty much have a job – at least all the competitive applicants will for the most part. The admissions committee is going to view it as a gamble. Remember, schools like certainty and a reach for as many sure bets as they can. There is a reason why business school classrooms are filled with students from banking and consulting – these folks are sure bets.

If we remove your sabbatical/extended vacation from the question, I really do not see a reason for you to wait another year. I mean, do you really see a compelling reason to wait another year? The only thing I got from you was that you were "leaning" towards winning another year. That does not really instill in me a sense that you have good reasons for applying this year or next year. Remember, the admissions committee is keen to understand why this is the critical year for you to apply.

Here is something else to consider – simply waiting an extra year means expending time that you will never get back. What happens next year if you apply and to not get into the schools that you want? Now you run the risk of being considered slightly old for an American business school.

Another thing – what happens if you cannot get a job that is better than the one you have now after your sabbatical? If shit should hit the fan real hard, you are going to look like a doofus. Every move you make in your career should be on the up and up. If you start zigging and zagging, you are going to submarine next year’s candidacy. That’s fo shizzle.

This is my advice – unless the sabbatical you take advances you toward your career goals, then reconsider taking the time off. If I were you, I would continue working and volunteering in your spare time. There will be plenty of time for extracurricular exploits during the business school experience. Wait a few more months and once you are in business school, then quit your job.

E-Mail me at MBA@Amerasiaconsulting.com if you would like to discuss further during an initial consultation.

I will get off my soapbox now, and you make the call. Go forth and prosper.

Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti

Hi AmarSharma:

Thanks for reaching out to me. I am not quite sure that I clearly understand your background. Are you saying you have to MBA degrees? If this is true, then this is rather unprecedented. I have worked with plenty of Indian applicants who already had an MBA from an Indian business school. However, I have never met anybody – except for you – that had to MBA degrees. You must really love school!

The biggest question that you are going to have to the admissions committee at top business school is why you want an MBA. Specifically, you will be able to tell them how a new MBA will get you closer to your short and long-term goals. I always say that the MBA is a forward-looking degree. You have to really guard against signaling to the admissions committee that you are looking for an escape hatch. That is, what you have done in the past is not working and now you are looking for someone to throw you a life jacket. If the admissions committee gets a whiff of this sentiment, they will view your application as an account to simply rearrange deck chairs on the Titanic – a sinking ship. I will be honest with you – this is the feeling I got from your post.

With regard to developing your plan of attack – this is something that cannot be developed in any meaningful way through a single post. It plan of attacking clearance the order schools to which you should apply, a hedging strategy covering a range of schools, a timeline, a meeting schedule, discussion of each essay for all schools, a strategy for approaching your recommenders, analysis of your strengths and weaknesses, as well as a number of other topics. This would take several weeks and only after I had a thorough understanding of your personal and professional backgrounds.

Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti

Hi salilshrivastav:

It seems like you have a lot of decisions on your plate. I would love to be of more assistance to you as you decide what your European business school is right for you, or even in the MBA degree is your best option. However, I know the limitations of my professional experience. Unfortunately, I do not have expertise with a number of the schools that you list below. Therefore it is going to be extremely difficult – if not impossible – to tell you what your best options would be.

I do appreciate you reaching out to me, and best of luck with some very important decisions.

Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti

Let me know how it turns out.

Hi pascalchristian:

The right time to lock down a consultant is sooner than later. In reality, it means conducting your due diligence while studying for the GMAT. While I would put off constructing essays et al until after the GMAT, I would decide on a consultant before that date. The major reason is that good consultants tend to hit their max load by end of May for Round 1 (in my experience at least.)

If you would like to set up a prelim call, just email me at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com.

Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti

No…Ideally, you should refrain from repeating posts to keep the value of content at its maximum.

Hi Paul,

I believe I have got a little unique profile and hence really need your help.

I have already taken GMAT and scored 740, now I am in the process of applying. Below is brief about my profile.

I did a 4 year course in IT from University of Delhi, one of premier universities in India. But my GPA was poor very poor. Kind of 1.2 on 4 point scale, reasons being the scoring pattern in my course, even the topper had something like 2.7-2.8 GPA. 2ndly my health problems during that time. Quite honestly the 3rd reason would be lack of confidence.
After my graduation I decided to augment my degree, with an MBA before trying for job. Got a good score in entrance exam for Indian B’schools.But due to bad past academic performance and lack of work experience and bad strategy I got into an average b-school. There I really worked hard, got GPA 8.4 on 10 point scale. I was class rep, quiz winner etc etc.
Got into an IT company did well, shifted to another IT MNC, did reasonably well. But then I felt that my growth is getting restricted because of lack of a good b school name. The opportunities I am getting inside organization are also limited for the same reason. I am at least 2-3 levels below where I should have been. So after 6 years of work experience, I decided to do another MBA (1-year) to grow in my IT, particularly IT consulting.

I have been getting lot of advice from all the quarters, for example 7 years work ex. is a lot most b schools will not take or then struggle to place you, getting in MBA from IT background is very difficult, Indian b schools (ISB, IIMs) are not good etc. etc.

Hence I decided to get some real help, and advice from the right source. Kindly help me make a POA. As to what b schools I shall target (considering IT and consulting as my targets)? I am inclined for Indian b schools ISB, IIMA. And, how shall I target them? I will have close to 7 years of work ex. when I start my MBA.

Regards,
A

Paul,

Please provide an assessment of my profile and give me your honest assessment on my chances at my dream schools. If you think I am missing a school that I should apply to based on my profile/aspirations, please let me know.

My dream school list is: HBS, Booth, Stanford, Wharton & Columbia in that order.

I am a US citizen but I grew up in India and went to High School there. I came back for University and have been here ever since.

I graduated from Temple University in December 2007 with a BBA in Finance with a 3.47 GPA and University Honors and Business Honors.

While in school, I worked fulltime in the hotel industry and got promoted several times and held significant leadership positions within a 4-diamond hotel in Philadelphia including roles managing Front Office Operations, Revenue Management, Food & Beverage Management and Operations Management. I spent 5 years with this company. Since I was working full time, I don’t have any college related leadership experience.

After I graduated, I went to work at a Johnson & Johnson (fortune 500) in their Finance Development Program. This was an amazing experience which involved several 8 month rotations in different functions and different geographic regions. During the program I was promoted from Associate Analyst to Analyst. After I graduated the program, I was promoted to the position of Senior Financial Analyst. I was one of the people responsible for starting an Asian Finance Affinity group and had several leadership opportunities related to this. After another 5 months, I helped the company fill a critical need position in cost of goods sold analytics. In this role I had lots of international exposure as well as dotted line direct reports who were right out of school.

After a year of doing this, I got an offer from a Alcoa for a role focussed on analysis and senior mgmt reporting for a business with $2B in sales. I accepted this role and have been in it for around 6 months now. I spent almost 4 years at JNJ and will have around 2 years experience at Alcoa by the Fall of 2013 (when I intend to matriculate).

I intend to take the CMA by June 2012 and may also join a few committees in the IMA to get some broader leadership experience.

I scored a 740 on the GMAT with a 49Q, 42V split and 6 on AWA.

I think my biggest profile weakness is that I don’t have any significant volunteering or community experiences.

I also need to think about why I want to get an MBA and what my post-MBA aspirations are. I currently work in Corporate Finance and would be OK with coming back to Corp Finance, but my preference would be to move into Management Consulting.

Thanks,
AbeinOhio

It is. Is that not allowed. :/

Isnt this a repost?

Hello everyone,
So here’s my MBA story:

White male/32/gay (does this matter?)/GPA 3.005/attended a University of California school/GMAT aiming for at least 700 (practice tests have been around there and still a month and a half before test.

So my story goes that I went off to college, didn’t really know what I wanted to do, started in Pre-Med (hated it), did fine first year, then my father passed away (suicide), my grades plummeted, I changed major to Theater, got decent grades, Dean’s list quite a few times, ended up graduating with a 3.005 after 5 years (the dad thing REALLy messed me up). I moved to New York (persuing the dream-dream didn’t happen). Worked for a Major hotel at the Front Desk for 6 years (the money was suprisrisingly REALLLY good – so didn’t take opportunities for advancement, although I was Shift Lead, had highest upsell record and enrollment in loyalty program 4 years in a row-huge deal to the hotel, not sure about Grad Schools), transferred to a Sales position at an even better hotel. Along the way I’ve cross-trained in several of our sister properties: 2 years in Marketing, 1 year in Copywriting, took Graphic Design/Marketing Courses at NYU (all A’s). I have 2 bosses that will no doubt write rave reviews for me. I have quite a few extracurricular going on for me: was published in 6 literary journals, wrote a novel (that never got picked up), an accomplished pianist (creativity and marketing is where I shine), was a gymnastics coach and team captain, was an assistant manager during college, am the first one in my family to graduate from college (let alone grad school), took part in Leadership Development Program at UC. So I’m at a point where I’m sort of trying to spin everything into an example of leadership (ie: holding the family together after father passed away). My question is: clearly my GPA is lacking, and I’m not so sure that schools are going to be thrilled that I was a Theater major. Also I don’t really have any official management roles. I wanted to apply to some top schools, but is it a lost cause? I have no doubt I could craft an outstanding essay, I’m just worried about how to phrase/spin the content. I wanted to apply to Columbia and NYU (both close to me), Georgetown, UCLA, USC, and Booth. Boston University and Boston College (both backups). I’m applying first round. Any advice is much appreciated.

Also, I failed to mention that I began this whole application process 3 years ago, but ran into some medical issues. Which are now resolved. (It’s been a difficult life to say the least. But hey I’m still here. And that’s somehing. )

Many thanks Paul. I have submitted my application yesterday. Keeping my fingers crossed.

This reply is hidden until the winner is announced.

Hey enigma123:

These types of situations can suck. You’re trying to burn the candle at both ends, and getting a lukewarm reception with the GMAT.

None-the-less, I would the to apply to the executive program at London business school. The fact remains that executive programs have been hit hard by the economic downturn. A lot of companies have stopped sponsoring their "executives." Other senior manager types have not really had the opportunity to broach the question with their superiors. Everyone is worried about his or her job, or even perhaps their company going out of business. It’s just has not been a good fit you or the "distraction" of an executive MBA.

So what does this mean for you? It means that admissions committees or executive programs – who have traditionally been very flexible in their admissions requirements – are now much more obliged to see the merits of your candidacy. I cannot speak specifically for the LBS executive admissions committee, but I believe that they are very much the same boat that I know other executive admissions committees are in.

Long story short, I think your chances are better than you believe. Definitely apply.

Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti

Paul,

I have some basic questions on my profile,

I am 24 year old male who is planning to apply to B-Schools for fall of 2013. I am currently preparing for the GMAT, I have been improving steadily since I started and am now getting around 670′s on practice tests. I am fairly confident when I am finished preparing I will get around a 700.

My profile – Graduated with a 3.75 from Purdue University in Hospitality and Tourism Management (top 2 school in the US for this major). I know it is a not a typical major for MBA schools but I graduated with a good GPA, did very well in all of my accounting/finance classes (all A’s). I also had a minor in design/consulting for the Hospitality industry.

Upon graduation I worked as a manager at a resort for a year, then took a job as a hospitality consultant doing mostly design work for restuarants and hotels (curently for a year but plan to keep working for another year and a half until 2013 fall). I am curently starting a transition for training for a promotion.

My goal upon getting an MBA to move into the consulting/marketing fields, most likely for hospitaltiy industries as I have background and experience in this industry.

I am involved in volunteering at some places but not to many organizations. I plan on joining some additional professional organizations in the near future (most likely after my GMAT Prep and test).

Provided that I can achieve around the 700 mark what types of schools should I be looking into? I would love to attend a top 5 to 10 school but am concerned on my lack of quant in school and workplace. Would more of a top 25 schools be more realistic?

What types of schools should I look into if I don’t achieve a 700 ,more in the range of a 650 to 670? I am worried how much my lack of Quant my hurt my profile, any thoughts?

Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.

Hi,

Thank you in advance for taking out the time to evaluate my profile. I am sharing below my background so you can
i) evaluate my profile,
ii) identify strong areas and improvement areas (and subsequently how to address them)

a) Work Experience: I have 78 months of work experience in the IT and Consulting area. I currently work for one of the Big 3 IT and Consultancy company. I currently work as a project lead for a 7 member team and has been promoted twice in the organization.

b) International Work Experience: 10 months of consultancy and lead experience for a leading insurance client in U.S for a million dollar project.

c) GMAT: 660 (Q: 47, V:34)

d) Education:
I have
-a Bachelors in Computer Science Engineering with a GPA of around 3 to 3.2 with a first class with distinction
- Two technology certifications

e) Activities outside Profession:
- I have been an active organizing volunteer for the CSR wing of my organization and college for which I actively teach for school kids
- I have won two software presentation competitions during my college days.

f) Programs considered: Technology management in ISB ,NUS, Nanyang, S.P Jain.

g) Goals: I would like to work as a product / program manager for a product dev company.

Also please answer my question about my international exposure?. Is the exposure good enough for the target schools?. I may get an opportunity to work in U.S again as a consultant. can you please let me know whether working as a proj lead at offshore / as a consultant at onsite will improve my chances?.

Hi Paul,

I will really appreciate if you can please tell me what are my chances of getting into the September 2013 of Exec MBA of LBS? My profile is below:

Age: 34
Sex: M
Nationality: British
GMAT: 520 (Q 40 & V 21)–> Taken today. Very disappointed. But can’t do much. Very intense work commitments. Not trying to use this as an excuse though.
Undergraduate Degree – 1995-1999.
GPA – 2.5
Work experience: 11 years
Management Experience: 9 years
Team Size management: 15-22 people.
International experience: Worked in Prague, Netherlands, Germany, UK and India at managerial positions. Managing teams spread globally.
Budget Management: Approx $10 Mill.
Expertise: IT Consulting.
Extracuricullar activities: Lead the teams responsible for aid distribution for Chernobyl Children Trust.
String alumni and other recommendations.
May get the company sponsorship.

Thanking you in anticipation for the swift response to this email.
E.

Hi,
Can you please provide me a short feedback on my profile?
Here is a brief on my profile:
Automotive Product Engineer – 7 yrs work at at matriculation. Worked with Robert Bosch Gmbh, a

fortune 100 and world’s leading automotive company for 5 yrs and at a Harman Becker Automotive for over a year and half. Interacted with teams in Apple, BMW, Volvo, Ford and Aha Mobile. I

am currently involved in the technical integration of a new company by Harman.
8 months of international work experience, and coordinating with teams across multiple time zones and mentoring

a team of 4. sufficient leadership experiences One of the youngest members in the team, but shared the responsibilities that are typically done at a higher experience level of 7 years. Acted as a

liaison between the teams in India and Germany.
GMAT – 710 ( 39V, 48Q 4.5 AWA )
GPA – 3.0 ( India Non IIT )

Post my MBA i look forward to work in the auto industry although in a different role.

My Short term goal after an MBA is to enter into the product management / operations management in the automotive industry and formulate the strategies for business development of the auto

companies in the BRIC countries.
In long term I look to rise to a senior management role like a chief strategy officer in the auto company and help identify the next growth avenues for the

company and push for auto industry consolidation

On the extra curricular I was associated with an NGO, teaching kids for 3 years and now I am establishing a CSR department in my new

company. I will be the representative of my company to the NGO. I am also a member of the Net Impact and take care of the Net at Work initiatives of the chapter.
I have also presented many

whitepapers and presentations on business strategy of auto companies in China and India
I plan to apply to UCLA, Ross, Haas, McCombs, USC Marshall, Rotman

Do you think I have a fair chance of making any to these schools? Do you think I should improve my GMAT score given that my profile resembles to the ubiquitous Indian IT Male?

Can somebody also evaluate US vs Canada scenario, given the fact that canada is much friendly in terms post employment prospects for international students.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Hi,

Thank you for taking the time out to review my profile. Following is a brief description of my resume:

a) Work Experience: I plan to apply for 2013 batch and will have approximately 5.5 years of work experience at the time of joining. I currently work for one of the world’s biggest banks as a Business Analyst (Consulting) in Risk Management & Investment Banking. I have worked for two flagship projects that form the backbone of Risk Management in my organization. My profile is concentrated more in analysis and micro management.
I started my career as a developer but jumped to the analytics side (not an easy thing to do here)

b) International Exposure: Don’t really have any significant international exposure except from the occasional business trip and exposure to a multi-cultural environment.

c) GMAT: 700(QA48,VA38).My first attempt and and I think I underscored by at least 30-40 points. Wouldn’t mind retaking in July end.

d) Education:
I have Bachelors in Electronics & Telecomm Engineering(University Of Pune) and graduated with a first class. This can convert to approx a 3.2 to 3.3 CGPA

I have also cleared CFA L1(US) and CFA L2(US). Am appearing for L3 in June 12.

e) Activities outside Profession:
-Involved actively in CSR activities in my organization as a participant but on a continuous basis (since the last 3,4 years)

f) B Schools: Stern,Ross, Tepper,ISB and NUS are on my radar.
I am planning to get in Consulting (Finance) post MBA

Could you evaluate my profile and suggest if the above mentioned schools are apt?Will it make sense if I retake the exam and aim for 750+?

This reply is hidden until the winner is announced.

I am considering applying to B-school for next year (Fall 2013) but am wondering whether the 3-3.5 years of work experience I will have at that point will be sufficient.

With my below profile, does it make sense for me to wait until Fall 2014?

My Current Profile:
-730 GMAT (44Q 47V)
-3.5 GPA from USC (International Relations)
-2.5 yrs work experience in account services/project management at software firm, will add either 1 or 2 more years in operational mgmt field (moderate career/industry change– the main reason why I’m not sure if 3.5 years is enough). I am leaving my current job in a month to travel, volunteer more heavily, take some extra math courses, and search for a new job. I anticipate that I will be unemployed for 3-4 months.
-1+ years on board of local non-profit, various other "selfish" EC’s
-Target schools are Kellogg, Columbia, and Haas, among a few undecided others.

Any advice? I am leaning towards waiting, but if I have a good chance next year, I might just go for it.

Also, with my profile, are top-10 schools a real possibility?

Thanks in advance.

Hello everyone,

First of all this is a great forum, thank to all the contributors!

Few days ago (after a serious amount of stress) I finally took the GMAT and with enough surprise I achieved a fairly good score:

700 (Q42 59th V44 97th)

First of all I am very happy I took the GMAT previously to get into a Msc (nearly 5y ago) and got a 580 that was cause of a bit of depression (thats why I did not retake it). On my first attempt verbal went really bad (29) and thats why, when I decided to retake it, I mostly focused in improving my verbal score.

I am quite happy now and planning to apply to a top tier school (HBS / STAN and even Columbia) however I am quite worried about my low quant (42 is like 59th percentile).
I have an Italian Bsc in Law and Economics with 3.9+ gpa and solid scores (A or A+) in math, microecon, macroecon, finance and accounting. I have a Msc in Stretegic Management between France and Germany (with some time spent in England and Argentina). I am a former semiprofessional rugby player and I speak professionally 3 languages + 2 on a casual conversation level.
I am currently working in a top tier consulting firm that yearly send at least 6 candidates each to HBS and Columbia (Not familiar with figures from other uni). I am planning to get recommendation from a client (CEO), Senior Partner and possibly my Math professor during my Bsc (Italian luminar that teaches in Ivy league UNIs as well)

At first I thought that my profile was solid enough to achieve my target schools however reading this forums I started to sadly realize that my supposed "excellent 700 GMAT" score is not that good as it is "Unbalanced" .

I see two option sin front of me:

1) Retake it – which I really dont want, as I have a clean 700 with my old 580 expired, preparing it was really stressing, the test is changing soon and I am honestly proud of my 97th percentile verbal as a non native english speaker

2) Back up my application with quantitative stuff, Bsc subjects records, highlight quantitative intensive project I took part in and the recommendation from the Bsc math prof

What do you think?

PS I admit that the Q score could be improved by a couple of points ( i kinda panicked during the quant part, however would really a 65 or 70 percentile change that much?)

Hello friends,

I am currently looking to change my professional career path and am looking for a way to get back into finance (worked at a popular equities trading firm in Austin, TX for 18 months). Since then I’ve jumped into an entry level sales job at a reputable tech company and have progressed my way into several promotions. I currently am on management (Assistant Manager, in charge of training and development) right now (a jump from $35k to $65k in two years if that matters) and while the experience has been very helpful and rewarding, it hasn’t stimulated and challenged me as much as my time spent at a financial-related firm.

Here are some potential stats I’ll have at the moment of possible enrollment:
27-28 (Asian-American male) at moment of possible enrollment – I’m 26 now.
690 (41/41) – Signed up for June 1, 2012 Exam for a shot to raise my Quant.
2.64 economics gpa from UT-Austin – Will take 3 additional courses to get my "Business Foundations" Certificate from the McCombs Undergrad Department (Finance, and 2 Calculus courses).
~50-60 months of experience depending when I apply
Extracurriculars: National President of my Fraternity, Marketing Coordinator for Texas Exes (Alumni group), Seasonal Basketball Coach for i9 Sports group

I know there are some holes in my profile and can handle the criticism. I am definitely excited though to get everyone’s opinion on which top 50 programs I can look at or what I can do in the next two years to become more competitive? I am currently researching UT Austin, Texas A&M, and UT Dallas in-state and NYU and Harvard up north. I can’t control my downfalls as a college student but am certainly looking to exploit every opportunity I can within the next 2 years to improve my overall profile. What’s your opinion? Thank you, Paul.

Hi,

I have been considering to apply for MBA programs for several years and finally I decided to apply. I would be glad if you could evaluate my profile:

1. GMAT Score: 700

2. Timeline: I am planning to apply on Round 1 for all schools.

3. Education: I was awarded to a Fulbright scholarship and have a Masters degree from Carnegie Mellon in Technology Management with a GPA 3.96/4.0 (%5 percentile)

I studied Computer Science and Management as a double major in Poland, my home country with a GPA of 3.86/4.0 being 1st in class in both programs.

4. Work exp: I worked as a software engineer at one of the top IT companies’ Global HQ in San Francisco bay area for 1.5 years, then because of my Fulbright status, I needed to leave USA and my company transferred me to Switzerland. I worked several months and moved back to Poland and worked as a Product Manager at one of the relatively bigger Polish companies for two years. I have a total of 3.5 years work exp.

5. E/C: I play drums and have had a band for almost 10 years. I used to play soccer in a major team’s youth squad. I have participated to many volunteer events.

6. Certificates: ITIL, ADF

My current educational/professional background can open doors for me in terms of functional management but I am more interested in general management and strategy at IT companies. I love California and my two target schools are Stanford and Berkeley. Though in the east coast my top choices are Harvard, MIT and Wharton. How competitive does my profile look with respect to those schools? Do you have other recommendations for me to think about?

Thanks

PS: My GMAT score 700 is of 50 Q and 34 V. Now that I know it would look nicer if the score were distributed evenly, I was thinking whether I should retake the test.

On the other hand, I already hold a Masters degree from a reputable US university and have work exp in a top tech company in USA, which all I hope would convince adcoms to neglect the imbalance in my GMAT score.

Am I right in my judgement or should I retake the GMAT?

Hi Paul,

I am 24 year old Indian Female working in IT industry with a work experience of 2 years and GMAT score of 720. I work in a Fortune 500 company one of the largest in its field. I also started an NGO with the help of colleagues but I am the alpha prime of the organization which is doing very well. I am from a family with a business background and would like to integrate traditional business practices with more modern approaches and start up new ventures in our company while continuing my philanthropic work and taking it to a national level. My cgpa is 7.4/10 from a NIT which is a premier institute of India and I participated in national chess competitions, pursuing tai chi and know 5 languages overall. Please do evaluate my profile and tell me which colleges I should apply.Or is it advisable for me wait a little longer? Will it be better if apply as a non-profit candidate than an IT professional? Thanks in advance!!

Hi Paul,

Thanks a ton. This is really helpful, especially the point about schools that also have the benefit of a public policy school.

I’m a little worried that my GMAT score will be the key factor that cuts me out, given that I’m Indian!

Regards
Anupama

Hi

Nice profile!

I have also applied for emlyon

I too have same interests as you!
Have almost same profile as that of yours!

Looking for entrepreneurial specialisation either masters or MBA will do.

Am retaking GMAT by this month end as I have only 530 v bad verbal thou!

Do let me know where you end up going . May be we can get in touch.

Good luck !

Posted from my mobile device

Hello,

I am an Indian guy (25.5 years)with close to 3.5 years experience till date. I have experience in the marketing field and also running my own successful venture for a couple of years. Excellent acads till date, low extra curriculars. GMAT – 640 mostly due to a bad verbal day, but got a 8.5 on ielts. I would love to work in Europe for 2-3 of years after graduation and then move back to entrepreneurship…maybe kickstart a new venture.

I am confused between the following:

1. Should I go for Masters or MBA- I have an interview shortlist for the Grand Ecoles ALL schools and am applying for MBA as well at some.
2. Already accepted for the WHU program, however, it being last minute I was unable to get the visa processed for their Apr 2012 start date
3. Already applied to EMLYON and HHL Leipzig. The target schools I have in mind are Mannheim, ESMT, RSM Erasmus
4. I am looking for good networking and decent scholarships if available, at the schools I will apply
5. Is it worth applying to the UK schools, with the visa restrictions effective from Apr 2012.

Considering my profile and career goals, which school might be ideal for me?

Thanks
Salil

lol. Good stuff. Cheers!

- Paul Lanzillotti

Dear Mr. Paul,

My sincere thanks for providing a detailed and honest feedback on my candidacy. I agree with the point you mentioned about the EU schools. I am right now concentrating on my GMAT which is in a month from now.

Again, many thanks for your time and patience.

PS: I dont dunk (being 5’6), however I was the vice-captain of my school’s basket ball team but that ofcourse was a long time back… )

Hi Paul,

I’m applying to the HBS 2+2 program and wanted to know what you think my chances are. I’d love your candid feedback.

Top 10 undergraduate business program; 3.7 GPA
GMAT 690 Q-49, V-35
1st generation college, asian male

Internship experience:
1-Finance/Accounting analyst Fortune 50 Healthcare company
2-Business Analyst Fortune 10 Retail company
3-Business Analyst Fortune 50 CPG company
4-Private Banking Analyst Top BB I-Bank

Volunteer Experience: 2 year humanitarian leave in Asia, learned to fluently speak, read, and write the language

Extracurricular: lots of school clubs, and community volunteering

Work: Accepted full-time BB Investment Bank

I’m just a little worried that my GMAT score is a little low in comparison to the average. Thoughts?

Hi Paul,

I am planning to apply for business school for start in 2013

1) I graduated in 2010 and went straight into a graduate position at a top 3 British Bank (focussed on Emerging Markets), which has done incredibly well in the crisis – it is the largest foreign bank in India, China and the Middle East. After a few months they moved me to Dubai, Where I did rotations in the Investment banking and PE departments, for two years (as well as brief rotations in risk and operations). I was recently transferred to the Investment banking desk in London. By matriculation in 2013 I will have 3 years of work exp, between here and Dubai (including a brief 3 month professional training Malaysia and China)

2) GMAT : 700, considering retaking.

3) College info: I read BSc (honours) Economics (international) from a top 20 Russell Group university in the UK, and graduated with a high 2.1.

This included a Erasmus exchange scholarship(which was offered to top 15 students in the business school) to study economics at a top university in Sweden for a year.

4) In 2009 I set up a small charity with a couple of friends, to build and renovate schools and libraries in target countries. We have built and renovated Libraries include Pakistan, Zambia and Kenya.

I am British of Libyan origin and have been very active during Libya’s year long revolution. I am a member of the ‘AngloLibyan Business Initiative’, which has conducts seminars and workshops offering consulting advice and information to start-ups in Libya. I am also a member of a prominent youth NGO based in the UK, with the aim of giving the youth a voice in Libya – and have attracted multi-million dollar funding and support for international governmental and non governmental organisations.

I have had small entrepreneurial ventures such as purchasing a small pizza restaurant during my second year of university with some investors, and spinning it off 2 years later for a healthy profit. As well as starting a very small branded clothing venture whilst in Sweden for the international students

5) I am currently a CFA II candidate and hope to have the charter by matriculation

6) I am very interested in the MBA/MPA-ID 3 year course at HBS and HKS. I was wondering if you had an experience with that? Also Wharton and Stanford have a 2+1 MBA+1 year MPA with HKS which are highly appealing.

Otherwise Pure MBA wise i am interested only in HBS, Wharton, Stanford and Booth. I am willing to wait and reapply two or three times until i get in, before setting my sights a little lower. (I am currently 24)

7) My ambitions after graduating, is to work in VC/PE in the US for a few years, before transitioning into a quasi finance-governmental role in Libya, either as part of the SWF (LIA) or in the Libyan Foreign bank, with the long term goal (hence the MPA) of working in the finance ministry or the central bank.

Thanks again,

M

Thanks Paul, you always clear my doubts. Cheers again.

Will keep in touch.

Regards
Sarvesh

Hey sjaianand:

I appreciate the breakdown provided. It definitely helped digest a number of components critical to your candidacy. I also appreciate the level of detail provided around your travels and extracurricular activities. The one thing I need a better understanding of is your goals. For the purposes of this evaluation, I am going to assume that you will follow a very traditional routes and look to move into management consulting after your MBA.

Another thing that your initial post told me is that you are not clueless. I believe that you have a level of sophistication that is partially the product of your international travels. What will separate you from the rest of your countrymen is the depth of this international experience, and more importantly, how you speak to it on your essays. To be completely honest, the trend that I believe (I have no significant dataset to back this up for now) I am witnessing is that Indian applicants who possess no significant international work experience are at a bigger disadvantage than most Indian applicants would believe. Some may challenge me on this, but by the end of this year I hope to have a data set large enough to justify my hypothesis.
Anyway, your international work experience indicates your ability to work with and lead a lot of difference types of people, in different environments, is something you have to stress your application. The fact that you are now you based out of the US will definitely bode well with American admissions committees. I say this because I believe that recruiters (and by extension admissions committees) definitely look favorably on Indian applicants who fit in well with their American colleagues and employers (ie. you are a known quantity in the office.) Anyway, for the sake of brevity, I will move on from this point as you have it covered.

Another thing that tells me that you are sharper than the average knife is your desire to accelerate your MBA experience. Given that you are now 30 years old and that you do not plan to be a career switcher, you need to focus heavily on maximizing your ROI. I assume that you are making a pretty good salary right now and it really makes no sense to take two full years out, especially with a family to support. So I am in full support of your desire to attend the one-year Kellogg program.
I also think that you should look heavily to programs in the European Union. A lot of the schools have over 90% international representation. However, what a lot of the schools lack are applicants who have spent significant time working in the US. You will be considered an applicant from India, of course. But your State-side work experience definitely looks even more attractive to admissions committees in the EU.

A few more points.
If you are going to have trouble breaking 700 on the GMAT (not because you are dumb, but rather because you seem to have a a lot of responsibility between work and family) you will also do better applying to programs in the EU (who don’t go as ape-shit over super-high GMAT scores.)

Your corporate social responsibility experiences will not be discounted because you did then at work. In fact, I believe that it may work out to be the exact opposite. Think of it this way – business schools always claim to want the types of leaders who seek to use business as a tool to change the world. Of course, business and society are the two main subsets contained within "the world." So if you already used your workplace as a conduit for your social responsibility initiatives, you are doing exactly what they want. See how that works? You are a poet – and you didn’t even know it! That rhymes, by the way. Word up.

Seriously, you seem like a very well-rounded individual. Like a boss, you know Six Sigma principles and Indian classical music. The next thing I expect to hear from you is that you can dunk. I’ll look for that in your reply to me. If I had a little sister, I would let you date her! But you are married and I don’t actually have a sister. Okaaay, moving on …. before this gets weird. lol.

If you would be interested in speaking further about your candidacy, and of course how I can help you, please e-mail me at MBA@amerasiaconsulting.com.

Respectively,
Paul Lanzillotti

We meet again Mr. Mehta!

I hit on this a little in one of our earlier posts. Your 3 years of work experience might not be considered enough at LBSINSEAD and/or Oxbridge. It basically puts you at the low end of their age range. Our of all the EU programs you just listed, LBS is going to give you the best bang for your buck – considering that you do want to go into finance.

My recommendation with any specific school, especially schools where you might have a little more difficulty determining your fit, is to go to the career center website for each respective school and pull their employment report. Look to see the number of students going into finance, who is hiring them and for what roles. I believe that if you had a few more years of work experience, your best that’s what lie within the UK. This is because I believe that the UK government provides no cost work visas to anyone graduating from an MBA program in their country. You can’t beat that deal – if it is still in play.

Thanks for the compliment – if I am your "first and last", then you are my ace in the place, or alternatively, my man with the MBA plan!

Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti

Hi chemE42:

Basically, your 730 GMAT score is good enough to get in to any top 10 and the program and you are also a member of the 40/40 club. What I like most is that it is evenly distributed – so you know your math and you have a good grasp on comprehending the nuances of a reading passage, for example.

What I find particularly interesting about what I read is this – I believe that you may suffer from underestimating your abilities. However, take that statement with a grain of salt because – well – we just met. For example, your GPA is not low for a chemical engineering major. I wouldn’t expect that it would be if top of the class, but a 3.17 GPA is nothing to take lightly. Remember, not all GPAs are created equal. So when you look at the average GPA for any top business school, the statistic is misleading. I’m going to go out on limb here as a mechanical engineering graduate myself. Call me crazy, but it is much harder to get a 3.17 and chemical engineering, than it is in Classic Greek Literature. Additionally, not all engineering degrees are created equal. I remember that some of the darker days of my youth were spent studying organic chemistry, and even classes like Properties of Polymers. Hold on – I just puked a little. Anyway, I remember the engineering pecking order of difficulty being something like this – nuclear > chemical > electrical > mechanical > industrial > engineering management. Given the relatively standardized curriculums across any credited engineering programs, there will be little room for grade manipulation or inflation. So the bottom line is that your degree is a desirable one for any business school program to have and to hold.

Now, when you start throwing me your management experiences within the oil and gas industry, along with any rate personal leadership stories you may have, your candidacy begins to look very compelling to any top 10 business school. I know corporate rotation programs may have you on the run, but make sure you take a timeout to pursue other interests within the office – from leading an off-site team bonding initiative to organizing a group or African-American Engineers at Chevron, etc.

BTW, any top 10 business school will help you get your foot in the door at a top management consulting firm. If you want to look toward sustainability and resource productivity, I would focus on schools like Kellogg, Ross, Duke, Tuck, Stanford GSB and Haas. UCLA is a backup, so is Cornell. The thing about applying to backup schools is that they often throw a crapload scholarship money at you.
Anyway, you sound like you have your stuff together. If you would like to discuss your background further, please mail me at MBA@amerasiaconsulting.com.

Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti

LOL! Sweet! I look forward to speaking with you when you elect to go for the MBA. Until then, good luck!

Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti

Hi Paul,

I was hoping to get some advice from you on what type of schools I can target, based on my experience and goals. I know you probably hear this a lot but please be brutally honest! Thanks in advance. Here’s a brief description of my profile:

a. Age: 25, Nationality: Indian, Gender: Female, GMAT: 690 [writing it again in 2 weeks]

b. Work Experience:
- Worked at a top global bank for just over 2 years in Consumer Banking. As part of the Management Associate Program based in Singapore, I was given the opportunity to take on the role of Product Manager for a relatively new product (primarily a sales & marketing function, with some operational responsibilities) and I was able to grow the product accounts base by more than a 100% in the first year. I was lucky enough to be given direct managerial responsibilities early on and I took on a team of 4 sales staff to help grow the product further.
-While working with Citibank, I also actively involved myself in community service activities (my part-time passion at the time, which I’ve recently converted into a full-time one). I led the Citibank Community and Volunteerism committee and mobilized funds and volunteers to conduct city-wide events involving over 4,000 people annually. I also conceptualized and led an expedition of 14 members from Singapore to India to spend 2 weeks in a slum, building houses and interacting closely with the residents of the slum community. These were both extracurricular activities but I’ve put it down here to show why I decided to make a switch to the development sector.
- I now work full-time at an India-based Education Non-Profit with international presence, with over 7,000 employees based across India. I run a nation-wide program for vocational skilling of underprivileged youth and directly assist the CEO with overall budgeting, planning and analysis. I lead a team of 10 people to carry out these responsibilities and I have been selected for a program for the 35 top leaders in the organization from across the country.

c. Education: Undergraduate degree – dual major in Information Systems Management & Marketing at a top university in Singapore with a GPA of 3.63/4.0 with a Magna Cum Laude distinction

d. Goals: I’ve very recently also set up my own education related startup based on a profit model but it’s at a very nascent stage. I’d like to take it to scale and expand. In order to do this though, I need to build a strong international network, and build my management, finance and entrepreneurial skills that an MBA program will give me.

e. Extra-curricular activities: Music – Singing (Occasional performances as vocalist with different bands and I used to lead an A Cappella group in college). Provided remedial teaching for a year to a group of disadvantaged children in Singapore.

Hope this is not too much information! I’m also a little concerned about financing options at different schools.

Thanks again. Hope to hear from you soon.

I live in San Francisco, but really want to relocate to NYC and attend Stern’s part-time program. The problem is, Stern’s notification date isn’t until Aug 15th (and I assume classes start early September). I’ve already applied, in hopes that they will notify me before notification date, but that isn’t guaranteed.

I have already been accepted in USC, which isn’t my first choice, but it is a great alternative. Additionally, I am trying to network and look for job opportunities in both regions, but I don’t want to make a decision on a job until I know where I will be attending school, which is my first priority.

My question is, should I try to contact the AdCom and ask them to make an earlier decision? Will they listen? Given NYU’s late notification date, I can’t be the only applicant in this situation, right? I wrote about my situation in the optional essay, but I’m afraid they wont read it until it’s too late. Would it be pushy/rude to call them and inform them of my situation? NYU is my first choice, but I am afraid I will have to settle for my second choice if I don’t hear of a decision earlier than Aug.

A few years back, I posted my stats without a GMAT score just to gauge my chances at a top 10 program. Well I now have a GMAT score of 730(46Q, 44V) and a little under two years of experience, and would like to better understand the range of schools that I should consider.

Graduated with 3.17 gpa in Chemical Engineering from smaller private university(Few extracurriculars). Currently have two years of experience as business analyst for a top multinational oil company(think Chevron, Shell, ExxonMobil), and have had leadership positions within a few organizations within my company. I plan on applying to schools in 2014, and hope to matriculate in Fall 2015.

I do understand that my GPA is on the low side, and hope that my GMAT score/work experience can help offset that. I plan on applying to HBS, Kellogg, Tuck, Haas, and Ross. In your opinion, does my GMAT put these programs out of reach? Also are there any other programs that you recommend that I consider? Post GMAT, I am interested in management consulting, as well as strategy positions in alternative energy.

I appreciate any advice that you can offer.

Hi,

Thank you in advance for taking out the time to evaluate my profile. I am sharing below my background so you can
i) evaluate my profile,
ii) suggest target schools and backup schools (I have a few in mind)
iii) identify strong areas and improvement areas (and subsequently how to address them)

I saw the below format adopted by one of the fellow members on this forum and that it helped understand the profile better. Hence sticking to the same format.

a) Work Experience: I have 90 months of work experience in the IT and Consulting area. I currently work for one of the Big 3 IT and Consultancy companies and am based out of US. I am a Project/Program manager and lead the Portfolio management office (PMO) for a $40 MN account. My consulting experience revolves around Project/Program management and also setting up Operations/PMO offices from scratch. In the past, I have successfully delivered complex programs running into millions of $$ and have also managed the Program Office of the CSO of one of the most reputed IT consultancies.

b) International Exposure: I have been based in the US for the past 2 years handling multicultural clients. I have also traveled for projects in the UK and have spent 1 year meeting and handling (by way of conf calls) clients in UK. I have spent 3-4 months in France while I was an exchange student and have traveled across Europe during my leisure time.

c) GMAT: I had taken the GMAT once in 2004 and scored around 660-680 range. Since it was more than 5 years ago, I dont think it counts. I am taking the GMAT again in a month from now.

d) Education:
I have
-a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management and
-a Bachelors in Electronics Engineering.
In my PGDBM I scored around a 6.ish GPA and in my Engineering, I secured a 1st class (60%-70%) in Mumbai university, which is considered extremely strict in scoring.(I dont know how to compare/present this in the light of other universities that may not be as stringent in thier scoring)
I am also a
-certified Project Management Professional (PMP),
-LOMA FLMI (L1) certified and
-a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (though a non practising one).

e) Activities outside Profession:
-I have been the Governance lead and an active organizing volunteer for the CSR wing of my organization from 2008-2010 during which I have organized many field trips to over 5 different projects that our NGO works with. I had laid out the governance model of the CSR and streamlined reporting, financials etc in those 2 years.
(I hope the fact that the CSR was my organization’s social work, will not make it count under my professional activities. There was no compulsion to join and it was purely a voluntary choice).
-I was the Finance-in-charge and Sponsorship lead for the College committee for 2 years in a row.
-I led the Jamming (music) group at my organization in the years 2009-2010 where I brought together as many as 20 people every week and we played/created music.
-I have won umpteen number of singing competitions (solo and duet) and a number of Instrumental competitions.
I am trained in Indian classical music and can play 5 different musical instruments (only 1 of which I have recd formal training on, rest are self-learnt). 2 of those instruments, I have played and can still play at professional levels.
-I have led my college’s musical club for 2 years. I was also a part of a band that was formed when I was in college where we created fusion music.
-I have represented my college as its contingent leader at many inter collegiate events.

f) Programs considered: I am very keen on a 1 year course like that of INSEAD, Kellogg 1Y. I am looking to start the program asap (Eg. starting Jan 2013)

I am 30/M/married and with a kid, dont know if that matters at all. Kindly do share a frank evaluation of my profile focusing on which areas need to be strengthened. Again, thank you very much for your help, support and time. Hope to hear from you soon.

Hey Paul,

I can completely see why you get the reviews you do!!! You picked up the subtle (or so I thought) hints I dropped and hit the nail right on its head that most others didn’t. WOW!!!

Yes, there is a wanderlust in me that’s been there for a while and I believe that moving away from home- which I love btw- will help me out immensely to grow as a person. Which is also why giving up Fuqua seemed so hard, even when I have quite an interesting job offer with a startup here at home. This just sprung up on me now (in the last few hours) and now I’m not sure the decision to come to the US will be so easy as this work ex may differentiate me from the scores of others who apply (because there are bankers who apply in hordes to B-School, right?). It has to do with business development and investments- the flip side of banking and sounds like a good opportunity.

The only good thing is that the firm has agreed to let me defer joining by a couple of years when I told them about Fuqua. So I guess going to Fuqua now makes more sense as I have a backup here at home if things don’t go as planned.

I just want your thoughts on the matter given the job offer and the possibility of a deferral so I can finally set my mind on one thing and not spend my time and energy making pro/con lists and arguments for both sides.

Thanks for everything, Paul.

Manoj

PS- Do not be surprised if I contact you for help with my MBA app in the next half decade!!!

This reply is hidden until the winner is announced.

Hey Manoj:

Okay, I think I understand what might be part of your motivation. You basically want to get out of India and spread your wings a little bit. I admire this. I actually find it quite refreshing and I believe it is something that you should do while you are young (and have relatively smaller amounts of responsibility.)

To be honest with you, I believe that professional and personal charity insight are important. But if one had to give a little bit, I would say that you would want to subjugate professional development, so that you could work on who you are as a person and experience more of the world has to offer. In my opinion, this is what is your decision to attend Fuqua. To be clear, this is not a bad motivation. If it ends up being a mistake – which I do not necessarily believe that is – you will have the rest of your life to cover.

So to answer your question about having too many Masters degrees – admissions committee will not look upon this unfavorably, for the most part. You just want to explain how an MBA will add value on top of the degrees that you already have. This can be done to the optional essay when the time comes.

Let’s face it, you won’t regret moving to the US and going to school. You really can’t lose. I hope that Fuqua’s career center is as good as they claim. This will definitely help you gain an H1 Visa upon graduation – if that is what you require to work in the US. If you can pull this off and then work in the US for two or three years, you are golden.

So I suppose I’ll be the first one to say it – Welcome to America! Pretty soon you’ll be a Dukie, cheering at basketball games and listening to East Coast rap like a boss. Holla.

Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti

Hello Paul,

First off, thanks much for your reply. Secondly, thank you for your shout out about my name. It’s a first!

I have one follow-up question after reading your reply. What if I feel (after much deliberation) that right now that my best option is the Fuqua MMS program? I know this is more like instant gratification with my eyes more on the short term but I think that it will be a good move to go to Duke this summer. It is a great school, which boasts consistently high placement records, opens up 2 entirely new geographies for me and I’d be getting international experience too. Given all this, I also want to know if the MMS now will definitely close the door to a M7/Top 10 MBA later on because of the 2 Masters I’ll have (the one in Econ now and the MMS itself) and because the adcoms will look at me as a degree chaser? And by later on I mean 4-5 years after graduating from the MMS.

I completely understand (I couldn’t agree more) about gaining work ex but isn’t the MMS only a detour to the same path? I also feel that the MMS is something that I have in hand now and I’m afraid to trade it off for something that is uncertain in the future, as things stand.

Do help me out please (again) with your insights/opinions given this new info and question.

Thanks much in advance,

Manoj

Manoj:
I love the name! Unique and really cool sounding – but I digress.

Of course, there are a few ways of looking at this and it all comes down to expected outcome. First, I want to address your expectations of landing a front office job. You need to take a long term view of getting the job that you really want. A career is just that – something started in the short term with an eye on the long haul. However, I believe that you are getting ahead of yourself and grabbing at anything that will accelerate your move into the front office. You are also negating any affect from your goals changing – that is, getting closer to the front office (or into it) and not liking the direction you are headed. Knowing this takes experience, which you lack.

The most important thing to consider is to not make moves that will limit opportunities in the future – no matter what they are or where you think you want to be in 5+ years. him him him him this is why you if you really do not want to attend anything less than an MBA program. Think of the MBA as a Swiss Army knife. By going to Fuqua MMS program you are basically getting a spoon or a fork, but you are not getting all the tools you’ll need. Not only is the curriculum restrained, but you will be in an environment where your classmates have little to add with regards to work experience or professional leadership. IMO, its a lot of time and effort for relatively less return over the course of your career. This means that you are limiting the probability that you will ever get into your desired front office job.

I would work on gaining experience and figuring out what you really want to do. Perhaps it won’t change from your current goals, but at least you will know for sure. Then you will be able to weave a more convincing story for any MBA admissions committee.

Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti

Hey gladiator999:

Well, I can tell you this – you have the potential to be an exceptional candidate. The only caveat is of course – your GMAT score. Your lower score also puts you out of the running for merit-based scholarships.

You need to retake the GMAT and even if you are applying this fall 2012, you still have time to retake the GMAT once, maybe even twice – depending on your current level of GMAT-readiness.

Your current work and extracurricular experiences are excellent. However, you (and me) need to have a better understanding of your goals. I always like to say that an MBA is a bridge to your future goals – so what are your short and longer term goals? Remember that your current experiences as a Customer Care Executive need to (in some way) support these goals (along with an MBA.) I would encourage you to start thinking about how your current experiences can support a consulting career.

I am not sure how long you have been out of undergrad or how old you are, but you should shoot higher than the list you propose – if you can get a higher GMAT score. I believe that INSEAD and LBS would be good choices, along with Oxford and Cambridge. If you are not too much older than 30 years, I would encourage you to apply to top 15 US schools (again, with an improved GMAT.)

Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti

1) Brief description of your full-time work experience:
11+ years of Experience in IT industry, promoted 2 times. Good reviews. Current position: Team Leader

2) GMAT: 680 (took 3 times)
3) College info:

Undergraduate: University in Russia, degree: Engineering Management, GPA: I am not sure how to convert 5 point system to GPA. Grades are good though.

Graduate: DePaul University, Chicago, Masters in Software Engineering, Project Management Concentration, GPA 3.79, With Distinction

4) Volunteering in technological project for local community. I take various classes each year to maintain PMP certification.
5) PMP certified since 2009
6) Booth (Evening) Kellog (Part-time)
7) Your post-MBA goal: Lead large-scale software projects

Questions:

The main questions is whether I need to retake GMAT. I feel that 700 is realistic, but the preparation time can be well spend working on the application. Please advise.

planning to retake gmat

I know that it is kind of early for me to supplicate for a profile evaluation considering that I have yet to earn my BA but I would like to know where I stand. Accordingly, I will keep it short. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Nationality:Turkish
Age:22
Gender:Male

Undergrad:Economics/Top university in Turkey
GPA:~3.30
GMAT:760 (Q:51/V:41)

Virtually no leadership experience.
Little bit of volunteer work.
Basically, extracurricular activities are not my strong suit.

I am considering to apply at fall of 2012 and by that time I will have 6 months of work experience. The reason why I am so impatient is that I will probably be underemployed and/or in a job that is inconsistent with my career goals.

Post MBA goal: Management consulting, preferably in US but Canada or Australia would do as well. Other than that, location does not matter.

Given my background, where could I expect to be accepted?

Dear Experts,

I hope you are having a great day! I took my GMAT 1 week back and scored a 690.
Please advise me, based on my GMAT score and profile, on the following;

Which schools should I be targeting? I prefer North American schools but please advise other options too.
What are the areas that i should work on further?
Financial assistance/Scholarships is a must for me. Please advise on this too.
Will my age be a big factor?

About myself: Bangladeshi Male /31 years / Around 80 months’ industry experience

GMAT: 690 (Quant: 49, verbal 35, AWA yet to receive. TOEFL-have not appeared yet.

GPA/school: I hold a first class degree in Bachelor of Science (Computer Science & Engineering) from the University of Dhaka. It is the top university of the country. But I’m not sure how this result (first class 44th position in a pool of 75 students) translates to the GPA.

Target schools: Please advise.

Professional background:

Total WE: 7 years

WE-1: BBC Media Action (Formerly world service trust) a Non Profit Organization.

Duration: 1 year as Project Manager (Senior Manager Grade). Worked in different projects at both home and abroad. Currently working in a project to reach 25 million people of Bangladesh and improve their economic conditions. Also working in health and environment improvement projects. Leading a team and recently acted head of department.

WE-3: Grameenphone (Largest telecom operator in Bangladesh with a 35 million subscriber base) of Telenor group (No. 6 Telecom operator in the world)

Duration: 4 years, last position was Manager Product development, Technology division. Launched numerous innovative products, worked in different projects as project manager (saved 1.3 million in a project with a innovative solution which didn’t cost a penny to the company)

WE-2: Grameenphone IT (Largest IT Company of Bangladesh)

Duration: 2 years, last position was Project Manager (Specialist), Commercial division. Worked in different technology projects both at home and abroad. In one of the projects there was a situation where the project was in dire straits and the Fortune 500 vendor failed to deliver. It was a prestige issue to the company and I stepped in (sounds familiar? ) and took the challenge. It’s was an extremely tough situation as my reputation, job and the company reputation hinged on the project. The project came out successful, with exact deliverables and perfect timing.

Work experience/visits in countries: UK, India, and Malaysia.

Know 3 languages.

Community Service:

I’m involved with an organization that funds the poor but meritorious students for further studies. These students are chosen from the reports of national news papers and patronized till the undergrad admission. I have so far patronized 2 two students with the funding and necessary mentorship.

Extracurricular Activities:

Guitarist and front man of a band. Have one mixed album and 3 music videos aired in national television.
Organized the first Technology Transfer conference in Bangladesh. The participants came from 12 different countries.
Captain of undergrad department cricket B team.
Composed the Company theme song for previous company.
Published numerous poems in school, college, university publications.
I’m a Oracle Certified Professional

Area of interest: I am interested in pursuing a MBA in Finance.

Thanks a lot for all the help in advance!

Hi Paul,

This has been the best analysis of my resume. I would like to sincerely thank you for taking the time out to evaluate my profile.

On the outset, thank you for the confidence that you have shown in my candidacy. This was my first GMAT
attempt and i will certainly try and improve my score based on your recommendation.

You are spot on with your analysis of EU schools. I am trying to focus all my attention on US based institutions.

I am still confused about my schools since i have a pretty long list. Is it possible for you to categorize these schools as "safety", "reach" and "stretch" so that i get an idea on the schools i need to stress on.

I am also worried about my employer reputation. My bank is an Indian bank with offices in Asia. It is one of the oldest and reputed in India but internationally not a big name (no name at all). I hope the schools look at the quality of my work rather than the reputation and brand name of my employer.

Again, Thank you for the awesome analysis. I wish i can crack this B-School code. I reallly wish..Cheers

Hi sarveshmehta,

While your rank and marks as an undergraduate school are solid, I would consider retaking the GMAT. As an applicant within the hyper-competitive Indian applicant pool (more on this later) you should definitely aim for a score 20-30 above the school’s average GMAT. Since it wasn’t stated in your post, I am unsure as to whether this is the first time you have taken it. If this is the best score out of a number of attempts (let’s say 3+), then you will instead have to rely on the other facets of the application to improve your appeal to an admissions committee – such as your marks and performance within grad school.

Your 3 years of work experience – especially because it is within investment banking (PE at that) – does set you apart from the traditional Indian IT applicant. With respect to sheer work months, you already know that US programs will likely consider it ample experience. I know you said that you were confused with the what EU programs wanted to see. Don’t be, as it is really pretty simple. They want to see an average age of 28 or 29. In fact, a lot of EU programs have a hard and fast minimum work requirement to consider you for admittance; making you the runt of the pack in that respect.

The international experience you listed should not be sold short. It’s up to you to leverage those experiences in your essays. Of course this requires you to examine how the programs you are applying to ask you about your work experiences. If the essays lean heavily towards international experience, team diversity, cultural barriers, etc., then you may come up a little short if asked to provide multiple examples. Review each school’s current essays and see what stories you can form – without repeating the same international example. Besides the school’s average GMAT, that should help you short-list your schools.
Another point I wanted to make regarding diversity/empathy/cultural cohesion is simply this – I would also recommend avoiding making comments about the greater amount of prestige a junior-level investment banker in India is given in comparison to an American one. This is what I call an absolute statement, one that can be viewed as possibly extreme, and as an irrelevant comparison. At any rate, this is not a statement that will win an American admissions committee over because it won’t be convincing with any banking recruiters. Consider this – what question could an adcom ask that would illicit this perceived fact?

Your history of social involvement is spot on with respect to advancing your goals. However, what will ensure that it is not viewed as a junket is your personal connection to it. Rhetorically – is there something in your past or present that compels you to get involved? Make sure it does not seem like a contrived means to an end.

If you can do this you stand a good chance of breaking into private equity – which is about the hardest field to get into. Remember that PE is often a red flag with adcoms, as the jobs are hard to come by. But based on what I’ve read it seems that if anyone is on track to do it, it is you. However, I would encourage you to bring it up a level and focus more on IB. It increases your chances of getting a job and that increases your chances of getting into school.

One more thing with respect to your goals. While your goals are admirable, they make me wonder why you would choose to go to a business school located in the US (and thus rack up a big bill), only to return to pursue a niche industry that is not likely going to yield a salary high enough to justify the expense.

In the end, when considering the hallowed world of private equity, its all about prestige and pedigree. This means your list of schools should be a subset of these 6: Harvard, Columbia, Chicago, Stanford, Wharton, and MIT. Examine each school’s stats and career center employment reports. Look to see what programs yield the greatest number of graduates that pursue private equity. Outside of these schools, Yale, Darden and Tepper are okay choices. But if you are going to add schools like Duke to the list, you might as well add NYU or Cornell before Fuqua.

Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti

Hi,
i wrote gmat a few months back and got a score of 660(Q-45,V-37).First I would you like to get acquainted with my profile:
Qualification : Post graduate diploma in business administration (hr)- 66%
Bachelor of Commerce ( hons) 57 %
[/b]
Work Experience : More than 7 Years
Captain in Army ( Artillery) March 2009-till date
Lieutenant in Army ( Artillery) March 2007- March 2009
Senior Customer Care Executive ( bpo) 1 year
Customer Care Executive 6 months

Extra Curricular : Moderating a group meant to help the retired army officer in finding a
Job. Started this group 2 years back and has more than 540 members at present with most of the members contributing in a positive manner.
: Helping Battle Casualties and war widows.

Hobbies : Acting
: Listening music
: Playing Soccer, tennis, cricket.
Being in army i have participated in various operations and have always produced positive result. I
have led teams consisting of 150 men and have worked in a difficult terrain and varied situations. My biggest strengths are being positive, flexible ,adaptive to any situation and a helpful team member.
Please evaluate my profile for
IE
IESE
INSEAD
NUS
OXFORD SAID
CAMBRIDGE JUDGE
MIT SLOAN
HEC PARIS
IIM Ahemdabad/Bangalore/Kolkatta
ROTMAN
KELLY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
KENAN FLAGLER
Melbourne School of Business
AGSM
[/b]
I have applied to Isb in November and got interviewed in January but couldn’t make it to the final. I haven’t applied to any other school thereafter.
Shall i go ahead with this score and apply or give GMAT again and apply with a better score. Moreover what are the chances of getting a scholarship with the present score.

Hiya,

Thank you for taking the time out to review my profile. Let me give you a brief on my resume so that you can have a better understanding of the same:

a) Work Experience: Currently working for an Indian investment bank as a PE/M&A analyst. I am planning to apply for 2013 batch and hoping to work till early 2013. I would have gained ~3 years of work experience (front end investment banking) which I think should prepare me to apply to a business school. I have worked on various deals, some of them have been the biggest in their sectors in India and also been part of the bank’s business development exercise. Was solely responsible for originating a see side mandate for an Indian sugar company ($20 mn)

b) International Exposure: Apart from my one year stint in the UK during my masters (A top British Uni), I don’t really have any international exposure. Having said that, I do work with a lot of mid-market and boutique investments banks in US and UK which might count as “international exposure”.

c) GMAT: I have a GMAT score of 710

d) Social Involvement: I have worked with C.O.R.P for one year teaching English in a municipal school in Mumbai and a six month internship with a microfinance firm as a principal manager for new initiatives and business develoment covering rural areas and villages in the state of Rajasthan, India. Helped setup special help groups and also led firms communications with international peers and VC funds

e) Investment banking background: Mid-market investment banks in India give a better profile and exposure to its analysts as compared to their peers in the US and Europe. I have worked on live deals and also been a part of the business development exercise of the bank which is rare in global banks or US banks where analysts have a limited role.

f) Education: BA (Economics) Top of the class and university topper at Mumbai University, one of the oldest and prestigious arts and science college in India. Masters in Finance and Economics from a top British b-school.

g) Schools short listed: – Wharton Business School

- Yale SOM

- MIT Sloan

- Chicago Booth

- Kellogg

- Tepper School

- Columbia

- Duke

- Darden Virginia

I am still confused about schools in the UK (LBS, Judge and Oxford) and how much work experience they require since the average age in those schools is way higher than their American peers.

post MBA plans: I plan to venture into private equity. Funds that focus on upcoming and untapped sectors like Education and Micro finance in India. This way i can leverage my investment banking back-round tracking the education sector and my micro finance stint to add value to these "niche" funds.

I also plan to continue as an external adviser to the micro finance company i worked with and help them in their expansion plans which are already underway.

Please do let me know if my choice of schools is apt for my resume. Your thoughts will be deeply appreciated. Thank you again for all your help and support.

Hoping to hear soon from you.

Sorry forgot to mention about my post MBA plans:
I plan to venture into private equity. Funds that focus on upcoming and untapped sectors like Education and Micro finance in India. This way i can leverage my investment banking back-round tracking the education sector and my micro finance stint to add value to these "niche" funds.

I also plan to continue as an external adviser to the micro finance company i worked with and help them in their expansion plans which are already underway.

Hiya,

Thank you for taking the time out to review my profile. Let me give you a brief on my resume so that you can have a better understanding of the same:

a) Work Experience: Currently working for an Indian investment bank as a PE/M&A analyst. I am planning to apply for 2013 batch and hoping to work till early 2013. I would have gained ~3 years of work experience (front end investment banking) which I think should prepare me to apply to a business school. I have worked on various deals, some of them have been the biggest in their sectors in India and also been part of the bank’s business development exercise. Was solely responsible for originating a see side mandate for an Indian sugar company ($20 mn)

b) International Exposure: Apart from my one year stint in the UK during my masters (A top British Uni), I don’t really have any international exposure. Having said that, I do work with a lot of mid-market and boutique investments banks in US and UK which might count as “international exposure”.

c) GMAT: I have a GMAT score of 710

d) Social Involvement: I have worked with C.O.R.P for one year teaching English in a municipal school in Mumbai and a six month internship with a microfinance firm as a principal manager for new initiatives and business develoment covering rural areas and villages in the state of Rajasthan, India. Helped setup special help groups and also led firms communications with international peers and VC funds

e) Investment banking background: Mid-market investment banks in India give a better profile and exposure to its analysts as compared to their peers in the US and Europe. I have worked on live deals and also been a part of the business development exercise of the bank which is rare in global banks or US banks where analysts have a limited role.

f) Education: BA (Economics) Top of the class and university topper at Mumbai University, one of the oldest and prestigious arts and science college in India. Masters in Finance and Economics from a top British b-school.

g) Schools short listed: – Wharton Business School

- Yale SOM

- MIT Sloan

- Chicago Booth

- Kellogg

- Tepper School

- Columbia

- Duke

- Darden Virginia

I am still confused about schools in the UK (LBS, Judge and Oxford) and how much work experience they require since the average age in those schools is way higher than their American peers.

Please do let me know if my choice of schools is apt for my resume. Your thoughts will be deeply appreciated. Thank you again for all your help and support.

Hoping to hear soon from you.

Hi Paul,

My GMAT appointment is in April, but I’m anxious to know your opinion about my profile. Bear with me, this is a little long.

Indian, Female, Age 25, applying for the 2013 intake
3.5 years of work ex, 2 years in TCS and presently an associate consultant at Siemens Healthcare. Will have 5 years of experience on matriculation.
2 promotions in 3 years.
Undergrad: Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering, 7.99/10 CGPA (first class), from a non IIT but well known university.

I grew up in the Middle East and then moved to India for my undergrad. Was founder and co chair of a social venture in college that conducted outreach programs to disadvantaged children. This organization continues and is in its sixth year now.

I’ve been in the healthcare domain for almost 4 years. At TCS, I got to do mostly IT stuff, except for four months when I handled the entire financial and project management operations for an account and received a lot of praise from my account managers.
I wanted to pursue a career in healthcare, so I took up my current job at Siemens. My career growth has been very swift here. After my first year, I was promoted and awarded Best Team Player of the year in my department. I should add that I am 1-2 years younger than my peers and I’m currently in the top 20 percent in my department of a 100+ people.

My official role is to test our product before it is shipped, but I handle a lot of responsibilities that are outside of my job description. I began mentoring new hires when I was 6 months into the job. I also give a couple of presentations from time to time. I’ve worked on our product from conception to shipping and I’ve handled 80% of our testing work by myself. I’ve created a couple of processes that has helped reduce our turn around time from days to a matter of hours.
I haven’t been on an international assignment, but I have a multicultural team that I work with on a daily basis. I also help out my colleagues with their presentations and communication skills, and occasionally, I’ve sat in for my manager and taken decisions on his behalf. Also, I analyze and interpret volumes of data, so I’m very comfortable with graphs and excel sheets

I did a brief stint with an NGO that helps integrate blind people into society, and with a non profit that provides free counseling and placement services to physically and mentally challenged people. I am now working with a couple of friends to set up a social venture that provides employment to the physically challenged. I am also involved in rolling out corporate social responsibility initiatives in my department. If successful, this will be the first time in 10 years that our department will have a CSR program in place.

Other activities: I’m the breadwinner in the family. My mother decided to go back to college, and I’m supporting her with tuition and I help her out with her coursework and presentations. I also play the cello. I speak intermediate French and I’ll work to make myself fluent in it once the GMAT is over.

I’m interested in healthcare product management, the roles that require a lot of marketing skills (what I want from the MBA) and technical skills (what I have). This is a natural progression for me. That said, I don’t want to be pigeon holed or end up with few options and so I’m not looking at healthcare programs, but rather at your general MBA with healthcare electives.

Since I want an all round experience, Tuck is my first choice. Other colleges would be Ross, Goizueta and Fuqua. This is all assuming I get a GMAT of at least 740. But I’m concerned that these colleges are out of reach for me.
What do you think Paul? Could you also suggest any other colleges that I should look into? Sorry about the long post and thanks so much for your help!

Pru

Hello,

I’m in a (possibly) unique situation. Do Help!

I’ve applied to both Fuqua’s MMS program and the LBS MiM program. I’ve got admitted into the Fuqua one and have an interview with MiM (which I’m sure I’ll crack). Here’s where is my major dilemma. The job markets in finance are weird in India and undergrads (I know mine is a masters degree but it is for all intents and purposes an integrated undergrad course that I came to right after high school) are not taken into roles in the front office in finance, which is where I want to make a career for myself. Also moving internationally is not an option because of the stricter visa laws that have come into place and I’ve been trying like a fiend to get that international experience.

Essentially my problem of choice is that I stay back home (either get a job in finance or work for a startup handling business development and finance) and then apply again for an MBA a 3/4 years down the line. Or I take up the Fuqua program for a year, gain international experience and break into the US geography. If I do take the second option, it’ll be purely for breaking into a new geography, getting practical academic exposure and getting a job. But there also is the fact that I’ll already have two masters degrees (after the Fuqua degree) and the possible overlap of curriculum with an MBA program, which might make it much more difficult to get into an MBA program later. I need help/advice/insights on how to proceed and what to do.

So my questions are essentially is the MM+4/5yrs of Work Ex+MBA (should I want to do one later on) is really that hard a sell? I’m guessing there’ll be quite a few people like me from now/in the near future given that the more prestigious MM program (such as Fuqua MMS/LBS MiM) were started 3-4 years back. So realistically what are the chances if breaking in to a good MBA program with an MM in hand? And will international exposure gained from the pre-experience program be not worth it/won’t be of value add?

I’d be grateful if you reply with your insights (I know it’s a personal decision to make but want expert insights to ensure that I make the most informed choice)

Manoj

Hi vijay10vignesh,

I’ll be honest with you, based on what I see here- the amount of thought that you have put into asking this question, it’s really hard for me to give you a relevant answer.

This is why- admissions committees will grade you on your work experience, your leadership experience, your commitment to community, your marks, your GMAT, your goals and the relevancy of the school to all of the factors that I have mentioned. The question that you have asked me in your initial post demonstrates a lack of initiative and foresight on your part. I apologize if this frank advice strikes you as harsh or perhaps uncustomary, I just don’t want to set you up for failure and that is the path you will head down if you don’t start asking the right questions. Just so that I am clear, I will give you a very specific example of what I am talking about. The first thing that you have to know about European business schools is that they seek applicants that have a higher number of work experience years. This is one of the most basic pieces of information that you should know about European programs. If you look at applications from these schools, you will see that many of them have a minimum work requirement. You will also see that the average age of the student body is much higher than your age. What does this mean for you? Several things- you have not done that much research, you don’t have enough work experience, and that your low grades and GMAT score are just the beginning of your problems.

You need to have a sit down- with yourself. You need to realistically evaluate your competitiveness by first understanding what questions you should ask. I have mentioned this to several of my clients- no one will care more about your application than you will. For heaven’s sake, look at the grammar that you used in your post. I could barely understand what you were asking. I know that you were probably in a hurry and that this forum is anonymous, but take some pride and consideration in an effort that will benefit you and your chances at a school. I mean this in the best possible way.

Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti

Hi niladri1976,

This is a difficult question to answer based on the amount of information you have provided me and the assumptions you are making. My value to you as the applicant is in evaluating your fit with your goals and a specific set of schools. You are asking me to do a basic level of research that you should be doing on your own. While I am certainly capable of providing you information as a researcher, I will not be as exhaustive as a simple Google search would be. To be honest with you, you have to take a greater interest in your candidacy beyond submitting an unsophisticated question to me. I do not mean to sound mean or demeaning, but no one will care more about your candidacy than you will. It is your future and you need to take a better interest in it.

You are making a lot of assumptions that are simply off. Admissions Committees like consistency. Why on Earth are you switching from banking to Human Resources? It’s irrelevant whether or not you want to get into Human Resources. It is completely irrelevant whether or not an Admissions Committee thinks that YOU can get into HR. The point is that any advice that I would give you about a specific program would be completely useless to you.

I do not like setting people up for failure and simply giving you a list of schools will justify your current way of thinking. What you should so at this point is figure out a short list of schools that are good one year HR programs. Come back to me with that short list. Additionally, tell me what current experiences you have that are relevant to your future goals in HR. Provide me some other information that I can evaluate about your personal background. When you do all this, then I will be able to be of value to you.

Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti

hello,

I am planning to apply for msc in management in 5 sai b schools in france and essec b school,i finished my ug this yr and i have oly 5.94 gpa in a 10 point scale from anna university chennai and my gmat is around 650 im good in extracurricular activities i need to know will i get admit in any bschool,of sai lik hec,em lyon,escp or essec so pls guide me about this