Ask Jeremy @ MBAMission.com - What it takes to get to the best global business school

MBA
321
Nixbert,

Thanks for your inquiry.

Generally speaking, I recommend that candidates attend schools in the regions where they want to work. HBS would open doors to Europe about as well as LBS or IMD would, but Tuck or particularly Tepper would not.

I think that you should be competitive at both IMD and LBS schools based on your profile. If you are concerned about your knowledge of the schools, I recommend that you contact them and get in touch with student ambassadors. Most schools are quite forthcoming and encourage prospectives to learn more they want to ensure fit just as much as you want to, if not more.

Please be careful to illustrate how your post-MBA role will be significantly different from your current role. Technology consultant is quite broad and if they dont get a sense of your career progress, then they will question your ambitions. They want to know that they are backing someone who will outperform, not someone who will be content in their existing position. Further, be more particular about your long term goals what type of company? Why?

I apologize for the delay in getting back to you.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBAMission
www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBAMission
hi Jeremy

pls accept my compliments and thanks on your excellent inputs in this forum. I have gained so many vital insights by just being a silent reader here.

I have some specific ques for you, however first here is my profile

Sex : M Age : 30

Acads
Engineer from a top college - 66%
XII - 66%, X - 83%
Merit certificate by CBSE for being in top 0.01 percentile in science.
Merit based Scholarship in Engineering degree for topping the class.

GMAT - 700 (Q47 V40)

Work-Ex
- 7 years of experience in IT field including 4.5 years of international experience in U.K. and few months in Japan, Switzerland and HongKong.
- Worked extensively as an external consultant with one of the fortune 100 investment bank.
- Rich experience in global interest-rate derivative trading platform.
- Handled project for automating fixed-income security operations for national Stock Exchange of XXX (sorry cannot reveal name of the country)
- Currently Head, Center of Excellence for application certification.

Extra Curricular
- Extensive experience in acting and directing street plays.
- Important performer in travelling performace troupe (street plays) when in school as part of adult literacy campaign in villages.

Recos
I will be able to get strong recos both from my supervisor and client(Manager at fortune 100 bank for which i worked as consultant).

I am aiming to build a career focussed more on EU and Asia-PAC region than in the U.S. (mostly because of my experience). In short-term I see myself as a consultant in techno-financial domain and in the long-term i aim to start a company of my own.

I have already submitted my app for INSEAD in R2.

Keeping above in mind, which US/European schools with strong international focus do you think i have decent chance at? Do keep in mind that even if I choose to study at a US school, i will be more interested in non-US specific jobs.

As of now I am thinking about INSEAD, Michigan(Ross), Tuck and CMU(Tepper). I haven't been able to make up my mind either way about IMD and LBS. I must admit that my reservation about LBS, IMD arises from lack of sufficient info about these schools when compared to US schools. How will i be able to justify "Why LBS" type of ques, given my lack of insight into these schools. Will you be able to point me to some useful resources in this regard?

One part of my application where i see a clear weakness i my lack of extra curricular and social work ever since i started my job. Is there any strategy to offset this?

Lastly do you think I will be able to wave off TOEFL requirement because my univ degree was in english and also because I worked with a well known investment bank in U.K. for more than 4 yearas


Many thanks in advance

nixbert
322

Hi,

Can you provide some information on the canadian MBA and the job scene there. I have an admit from York Schulich. I have contacted several people but i am getting a divided opinion which is confusing.

My Profile is :
GMAT: 740
Work Ex: 3.5 yrs with GE capital and Oracle IT consulting
UnderGrad: B.Tech (comp sc)
Undergrad%: 79.5 (honors)
Extra Curr: Sports and community service.

I am planning to specialize in COnsulting with focus on strategy.

Regards
Jaspreet

323
As reported in Bloomberg this morning, it pays to be an MBA.....

Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission

www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBAMission

MBAs May Get Record Pay as Citigroup, Goldman Recruit


By Brian K. Sullivan and James M. O'Neill

March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Wall Street recruiters can be as aggressive as professional football players, says Chris Eitzmann, who will receive his master of business administration degree in May from Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business.
``Once given the offer, you are getting anywhere from two or three to four phone calls a day,'' said Eitzmann, 29, who graduated in 2000 from Harvard College and spent three years in the National Football League. ``They want to know if they can talk to your wife. Can they have their wife talk to your wife?''

Competition for MBAs from banks such as New York-based Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. may push starting- pay packages above last year, when graduates averaged a record $186,174 in total compensation at Harvard Business School and $183,000 at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. It also is prompting universities to crack down on the timing and number of on-campus recruiting events.
``There has been a tremendous uptick in the companies' presence on campus,'' said Roxanne S. Hori, director of career services at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Illinois. Banks and consulting firms are particularly active, she said.

Recruiting grew so intense at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School that some companies were holding 10 to 15 events each over two months, said Michelle Antonio, director of the career management office.

Limiting Events

The Philadelphia business school, ranked first in the world by London's Financial Times for seven years running, limited the number of events this academic year to three per company. Wharton also delayed the start of on-campus recruiting until late October to give students time to settle in.

``We wanted to reduce the frenzied perceptions by some students that they had to attend all 15 events to show they were really interested in a particular company,'' Antonio said.
Companies are moving beyond the usual campus consulting clubs to host joint events with student groups in biotechnology or international affairs. Some firms set up tables at the local Starbucks Corp. cafe for 20-minute pitches over coffee, or commandeer a spot in the school's atrium, Hori said.

Eitzmann, who played for the Cleveland Browns and the New England Patriots, accepted a job with Tudor Investment Corp., a Greenwich, Connecticut-based hedge fund run by Paul Tudor Jones.

`Overwhelming at Times'

Eitzmann said the recruiting experience was ``overwhelming at times.'' He declined to name the suitors he spurned.

Citigroup, the world's biggest financial firm by market value, responded to the stresses on students by combining social events with educational offerings such as case studies.
``We felt it was important to make our events education- focused so the students feel there's some value to them,'' said Caitlin McLaughlin, global head of recruiting for

Citigroup's markets and banking unit.

The goal in ``the war for talent'' is to be on campus once a week to every other week, hosting events, she said. At a school such as Wharton, Citigroup might bring as many as 70 of its professionals for an event for 300 to 400 MBA students.

``The students from the top schools will always be attractive to us because of the proven track record,'' said Janet Raiffa, head of campus recruiting for Goldman Sachs, which last year posted the biggest profit ever for a securities firm.

Record Pay Packages

Salaries and signing bonuses for newly minted MBAs nationwide were the highest last year since the data have been tracked, said Bob Ludwig, a spokesman for the Graduate Management Admission Council in McLean, Virginia. The average salary was $92,360 and the signing bonus was $17,603.

Additional income such as stock-purchase plans takes average pay packages even higher. Schools gather the information using surveys of their most recent graduates.

``It is a really good time to be an MBA,'' said Andy Chan, assistant dean and director of the MBA Career Management Center at Stanford, near Palo Alto, California.
It's a simple case of supply and demand, said Richard Schmalensee, dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management in Cambridge. Sloan posted a total average pay package of $148,081 last year and that may rise again this year, he said.

Northwestern's Kellogg School reported average total compensation of $150,942 for its graduates last year. The Wharton School reported $167,607, and Columbia University's Graduate School of Business in New York, $169,194.

``I see the demand just going through the roof for this kind of talent,'' said Paul Danos, dean of Dartmouth's Tuck school in Hanover, New Hampshire. His MBA program ranks ninth in the world, according to the Financial Times 2007 ratings.

``The big edgy kind of firm, the finance firms and consulting firms, they create programs that really capture that talent,'' Danos said. ``They push the bonuses, they push the base salaries.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at [email protected] ; James M. O'Neill in New York at [email protected]
Last Updated: March 13, 2007 08:42 EDT
324

Hi,

I am not sure whether this is the right place to ask my question...but let me ask... :)

My simple question for the experts and Alumini is:-

Do I even qualify for an MBA at Wharton or Harvard orTop 10 B-Schools...?

My profile:

Age: 26

Education: B. E (Information Technology) with 69.9% from a very ordinary college in Madhya Pradesh. (I had 6 backlogs during the first 3 years of my engineering though none in the final year).

Schooling: 10th (71%) from a KV in Delhi (Mathematics 90% Science 81%)
12th (62%) from a KV in Delhi PCM (66%). Subjects PCMBE.

One year spent in a B.Sc (General) course in an ordinary DU college before starting BE (IT).

Started working as a Customer Support Engineer for a big client (a Call center) through a small infrastructure company (PC Solutions) on local desktop support for 3 months in 2003.

Moved to HCL group and worked as a Server support engineer for 2 years 9 months for a fortune 500 client (AMD). Visited US twice for 90 days each on a Business visa in 2005.

Moved to a consulting company and processed H1B in 2006 and started working as a C#.Net developer for a financial client on the east coast (Last 3 months).

I was not very active in Extra-curricular in School/College.

As for certificates I have one National Talent Search Competition certificate in Mathematics in either 9th of 10th Standard with 60% marks. One NSS (National Social Service) certificate in 12th for just being a member of NSS. One CRPF marathon certificate.

I think this is the best place to ask my question becayse here I can get honest and unbiased answers.

Thanks,
Harish

325

Hi! Jeremy,

I am very confused. PLEASE HELP/ADVISE:
Female, 34, resident of Maryland, GMAT 660(49,29). Maters in Physics (univ. of Delhi, India), MS (Media, mid level US univ.) 2 yeasr work ex in India, 7 yeasr work ex in US in a non-profit for fire fighters, decent extra curriculars, and decent GPAs. Curr. salary 75K

I have been admitted to UNC-Kenan Flagler and UMD so far. awaiting response from NYU, Cornell and Texas- McCombs. Interest in consulting or finance or strategy.

Shall i take admission this year in UNC or UMD or shall i take GMAT again and re-apply next year... and try to get in top 15.... please help/advise.

Thanks,
Sanju

326

Hi! Jermy,

I am very confused. PLEASE HELP/ADVISE:
Female, 34, resident of Maryland, GMAT 660(49,29). Maters in Physics (univ. of Delhi, India), MS (Media, mid level US univ.) 2 yeasr work ex in India, 7 yeasr work ex in US in a non-profit for fire fighters, decent extra curriculars, and decent GPAs. Curr. salary 75K

I have been admitted to UNC-Kenan Flagler and UMD so far. awaiting response from NYU, Cornell and Texas- McCombs. Interest in consulting or finance or strategy.

Shall i take admission this year in UNC or UMD or shall i take GMAT again and re-apply next year... and try to get in top 15.... please help/advise.

Thanks,
Sanju

327

Hello Jeremy
I am a bit confused and definetely need help.
I am a Software Engineer with one of the leading IT companies in India. I have international experience in UK and Denmark. I scored 640 in GMAT (QA-47, VA-31 and AWA-4.5) and I had applied to 5 univs for Fall 2007 MBA program. I have a total work exp of 4 years as of now with international exp counting to about an year. My academic record is decent (GPA 3.4)and i graduated from a pretty good Engineering college. Also, i have decent extra-curr and community service. I work as a teacher during weekends in a school.
The schools i applied to are Tepper, Krannert, McCombs, McDonough and Smeal. I applied in R2 to these colleges and i thought my essays were pretty impressive. But i have been rejected my all these schools without even an interview. Currently none of the schools have even come out with the reason for the reject coz they are all buzy with the application process. Though i have not lost hope and am bound to put up a better application next year, to be rejected without even an interview is quite shocking. I believe my low GMAT score and not applying in early deadline or R1 are the main reasons.
Please advise. I know it can be very difficult to assess the reasons as to why i might have rejected given the limited details, but i would appreciate whatever little direction to improve my chances over next year.
Thanks
Kehsibha

328
Thanks for your inquiry.

There was an article on PGG a while back about how Indian women are actually under-represented at top business schools. I think that your personal profile, combined with excellence in so many areas (academics. communtiy service, extra-curriculars), should create a compelling story for a top-15 business school. I caution you though; it is often better to focus on a few of your accomplishments or at least tie in the most important ones, instead of trying to create a superficial list of ideas or overwhelm the committee with a bunch of unrelated accomplishments. In other words, I would not write essays about editing, blogging, world youth peace, education for all, etc. You will need to find a coherence in your story without creating ambiguity.

As for when to get started, there are definitely steps that you can take now to improve your chances for next year. On my website, I have an entire section on "long term planning" which you may find useful.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission

www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBAMission
Hi Jeremy!

Thanks, you've been so resourceful I already have an idea as to how I must go about it! I'm an MBA aspirant with one year of experiment. I hope to take my GMAT around a month from now.

Acads: 84,95,79 - awarded for proficiency in Mathematics during my Higher Secondary, nominated for Best Project Award during undergraduate studies.

Extra Curriculars: I have participated and won in contests across the talent spectrum but for sports - Oratorical contests such as Talk Your Way to Japan; my poetry is published at Sulekha.com - Connecting Indians worldwide. Read write Blogs, Groups, Classifieds, Yellow Pages, Movies, Travel. In the following months I hope to make use of a Japanese course I have won.

Leadership: I've been an executive member of significant college bodies and Editor of the College Editorial Board, have been the Employee Contributions in charge for the Editorial Board at the IT company I worked for and have been a member of Leadership forums such as People first. I was also one of my state's representatives for the World Youth Peace Summit 2003 held at India.

Social Service: I started an education-for-all project in college with a group of friends. It has been passed on to the college's social service board now.

Work Experience: I have worked with a major Indian IT Services Company for an international client of high standing. I worked on a trade promotion project and an in-house delivery excellence initiative, and was awarded for my contribution in the creation of a Request For Proposal to our client.

That's about it. I hope to do an MBA in one of the world's top 20 B Schools and being a woman from a South indian family, I do not have much time! Please let me know when I could start and what I could do to make my profile worthy of that dream seat!

Thanks and Regards.
329
Thanks for your inquiry.

Your question is fairly broad, but I will do my best

1. I am not sure if you are planning to stay with your existing firm, but if you are, you might contact your HR department and try to discern whether you need a top-MBA to advance your position. Many firms are content to sponsor education programs or even Executive MBAs and believe that the knowledge is more necessary than the cache of a brand name school.

2. If you aspire to work in the US, then you should probably seek out US MBA programs; European schools offer great educations, but make it far more difficult to find a US-based job.

3. With respect to community service, I would suggest that you simply get involved in activities that call to you. There is no right activity the end result is what is important. Schools want to see that you are a leader that you had your impact. If you are not inspired by your community service, you wont have that impact.

4. Your reasoning is fundamentally sound, but I would tone it down a bit. You want to be a bit more diplomatic and discuss your professional growth with an introspective personal/professional angle.


Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission

www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBAMission
Hi Jeremy
Iam currently working for an IT co in US and planning to start preparing for a MBA degree from a b-school abroad. My profile:
The good part:
1. I hv a workex of 3.5 yrs in the IT industry with abt 1 yr in a client facing position.
2. Excellent academic background which includes an honors degree from an NIT..
3. Above average performer at work and I can certainly get gud reckos from my managers.

The ugly part:
1. I dont really have a gud Extra curricular track record
2. No community work of any sort :neutral: ..
3. Average communication skills (No exp in public speaking)

Only reason iam going for an MBA is to fast track my career in the IT field itself while moving towards program management and client partnering roles. (not sure if this reason will be gud enuf for the schools)

So here r the questions to you:
1. Will it be worth doing a MBA from school ranked 20-50 from US?
2. Will european courses suite better for my kind of profile?
3. I want to be involved in some sort of community service while Im in US. How can I take up that?
4. Is my reason to do an MBA gud enuf to be acceptable to even these schools?

Pls feel free to give ur frank opinions.. as I need to make a decision whether I shud go for it or not. Iam planning to give GMAT in May-Jun 2007..
330
Thanks for your inquiry.

With some time to plan, I suggest reading our Long Term Planning entries on our website. Hopefully you will pick up a few-tips that will help you along the way feel free to check in if you have any questions.

http://www.mbamission.com/MBALongTermPlanning.asp

Having reviewed your profile, I think that INSEAD might be a bit of stretch, but only because you come from such an over-represented group. It does not seem to be out of reach, because you have solid international experience, a strong GMAT and the CFA on your side. I think that you should be quite competitive at your remaining target schools. One important step that you might take is visiting these schools so that you can learn more about each and truly personalize your applications.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission

www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBAMission
Hi Jeremy,

I would like to thank you first for the expert advice you are giving in this formum. It is really helpful.
I have tried to go through as many post as possible and want to get some views on my profile and how can it be improved further
GMAT :720
% age engg.:71 %
Work exp: 2.4 yrs now (s/w engg(SAP) what else :smile:)
Will be getting a promotion by the time i start filling the app.
Onsite : 6 months ( 3 months Swizz, 3 months Germany)
Extra cirruc. : Was the captain of the cricket college team,member of the placement comm.
Community service :Nil :neutral:

Have cleared CFA L1 (US) in this Dec and getting ready for the assault on L2 this June :grab:
Hope this is some diffrentaitor in my profile.Will this help ?

I'm basically intersted in MBA( Finance) and a course of around 1 yr will be good for me .
My dream college is INSEAD aiming for Jan 2008 or maybe for Sep 2008.Other colleges which I would be trying are Oxford said,judge cambridge,RSM and SDA Bocconni
What are my chances in these colleges ?

Also what else could I do to improve my profile as i have some time left .
Should I go for a language course and maybe learn German/Franch. WIll this help in the application ?

I am also planning to do something to improve on my community service but I want to know is it really very important to show this in the application?

Thanks for replying,
Sam
331

Dear Jeremy,

Warm greetings. I was expecting your feedback soon but I guess OTrinity and Sam 81 skipped my place in the waiting list. If I am correct, there is an order of evaluation according to when posts are made. Mine was made before my quoted fellow global citizens. Hopefully, Ill read your valuable comments and advise next time you post on this thread. Thank you in advance for your time and attention.

PGuru

Profile

Peruvian citizen, 31 years old.
Academic background
BVSc and Licenciado in Veterinary Medicine from Universidad Mayor (Chile). This university is ranked top 3 nationwide among private institutions. Got a 5.5 out of 7 (3.16 GPA), Top 10% of my class (140 students)

Diploma in Financial Administration from ITESM (Mexico). ITESM is the leading business school in Latin America. Got 95 out of 100.

MSc in Development Studies from Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand). Awarded a full NZAID Scholarship (Govt. of NZ, only 10 scholarships for the whole Latin American & Caribean Region) . Got an A- final grade (A+ highest).

MSc in Political Science - Public Policy track at Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru (PUCP). PUCP is the top Peruvian university. Finished coursework, already working on my thesis. Degree completion expected July 2007. Graded 14 out of 20, very good marks form Peruvian standards. Studied while working PT and FT.

Additional qualifications

Certificate in Entrepreneurship Development from Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDIIndia), Ahmedabad, India. Awarded a full ITEC Scholarhip (Govt. of India) . Stayed for 2 months and visited Dehli, Mumbai, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Agra (Taj Mahal can only be compared with Macchu Picchu!).

Other small certificates in bovine biotechnology and stock markets (yeah, sure, I love diversity!)

Work experience

Currently working for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as an Avian Influenza Project Consultant for the Andean Region (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Peru). 1 year assignment

Short term consultant (2 weeks) for the World Bank. Reviewed, amended and submitted a US$19.4 MM project on behalf of the Peruvian Trust Fund for National Parks and Protected Areas (PROFONANPE) towards the creation of the new Peruvian System of Natural Protected Areas.

Consultant for the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Developed a US$1.95 MM project in environmental financing on behalf of the Latin American & Caribbean Network of Environmental Funds (RedLAC) (4 months + 2 months follow up).

English and Spanish teacher for Berlitz and British-Peruvian Cultural Assoc. Taught at Diplomatic Academy of Peru, Embassy of Canada and top companies in Peru. (1.5 years). This was a harsh period, I was underemployed - no jobs in Peru during those years. However I feel very proud cuz I performed at the highest level and was permanently ranked as best teacher by customer feedback.

Research Assistant for an Inter-American Development Bank project in Risk Disaster Management. 6 months.

CARE (Not for profit global institution), Consultant (6 months) for a Livestock Development project in rural Peru. Developed an artificial insemination strategy to improve dairy production of peasants.

Relevant Internship
Embassy of Peru to New Zealand, Foreign and Development Policy Analyst (1 year). Prepared fortnight foreign policy papers submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru about New Zealand and Pacific Island States issues. Provided direct advise to the ambassador on a wide range of topics.

I scored 8/9 on the Academic IELTS (270+ TOEFL?)

Have never taken the GMAT, will do so in August and October (if first score is pathetic). I believe my score(s) will range from 550 to 650. I dont expect more (worst case scenario, consider a 550 GMAT).

I will get amazing references (one from a client, another from a supervisor)

Most of my professional experience has been as a project consultant. I have visited, studied and worked in countries/regions such as Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, US, Europe, India and New Zealand.


Teaching Experience

University Lecturer at Universidad San Martin de Porres, Lima since August 2006 up to date. I teach a social science course entitled "National Reality" for engineering undergrad students. My course was assessed as outstanding by the universitys academic office and will become a core course in March 2007.

University Tutor at Victoria University of Wellington, NZ. I tutored geography and social science students in the course "Development in the Asia-Pacific Basin". Taught social development issues with a focus on APEC Latin American countries.

Why MBA? Because I want to have increased choice in my career direction. Additionally, I want to frame up my previous experience and skills with a practical degree. Business development and top-notch management skills are critical for the promotion of social, economic, political, environmental and even cultural development of nations. Of course, this is a very (I mean very) brief and simple statement but it basically contains my main motivations.

Hope to find a reply. Thank you!

332

Lapsus, I forgot to mention my targeted schools. These are, in order of preference:

1. Judge Business School, Cambridge
2. Said Business School, Oxford
3. IMD
4. INSEAD
5. Ivey, UWO

Many thanks

333

Hi Jeremy

Your work here is absolutely amazing. I am grateful to you for providing us with the much-needed valuable insight into essays. I'm definitely going to read those posts before applying.

I request you to evaluate my profile and advice me on my prospects at the following schools: Stanford, MIT, Wharton.

A description of my profile follows:

Educational Background:
1.) Schooling in Bahrain (The middle east) - Spent about 18 years of my life in the Gulf.
2.) B.E. Computer Science (Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra) - 8.5 CGPA. Ranked 2nd in the Computer Science Dept. (This value translates to 90.2% as per my official transcript)

Professional Background:
1.) Cognizant Technology Solutions: 2 years.
-- Technical Team Lead in my 2nd year with CTS (Team size of 5).
-- The project that I lead had zero defects.
-- Customer satisfaction increased by 150%. This stat was obtained by the customer after a survey.

2.) Hewlett-Packard STSD (R&D; Division) - 7 months (by 2008 September, I will have completed 2 years with HP).
-- (I am strengthening my profile here by taking a lot of initiatives. So I can take credit for those only after they materialize)

Other professional experiences:
1.) 2 months summer intership at Aeradio Technical Services, Bahrain.
-- Studied GPS systems, airport baggage scanners etc.
2.) Executed many freelance software projects for the Bahrain Coast Guard.
-- Projects for inventory control.

Extracurriculars + Recent activities:
1.) Online mentoring of students (children) in the U.S. (telementor.org)
-- I have mentored Grade 6-8 students by helping them out with their school projects. Some of these students are challenged. Moreover, education increases their awareness of the severe consequences of drug and alcohol abuse.

2.) Active member of an NGO. We will be conducting a play in Bangalore (Rangashankara - a professional theatre). The performers are children from the slums. I take pride in saying that I am the music director of the play. (I have learned classical piano for 6 years - Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music)

3.) I was the Team Activites Manager in my project account at Cognizant. (Led about a 30 member team that included Managers :)). This was purely extracurricular.

Other highlights:
1.) Public relations officer of the Student Chapter of IEEE at BIT.
2.) Hosted several cultural events at BIT.
3.) Member of the university music band.
4.) Member of the university chess team.
5.) Won the Best Programmer award at Unnayan - An international tech meet held at BIT.
6.) News Reporter for Unnayan. Articles were published in The Hindu (a leading newspaper in India) under an assumed name.
7.) I have also received several academic awards during my schooling days.
8.) Grade 6 classical pianist.
9.) I can read and write French.

Test Scores:
GMAT - 730 (Q 49 - V 40) AWA 5.5.

Future Career Aspirations:
1.) Work with a Video Game Development company like EA, Activision etc.. for about 4-5 years. (Yes, I still play games 😃 )
2.) Set up a game development company of my own. If I become successful I will also set up an animation studio. I'm in the process of writing a business plan for the same.

I gather that my future career aspirations are slightly different from the traditional career paths. But they are entrepreneurial in nature and require an MBA, which has a technological focus apart from other courses.

I joined a product development company (HP) to learn more about the life cycle of a product. I am really keen on becoming an entrepreneur. I have also kept other schools, such as Babson, in mind. Recently, I came across Acton. Acton sounds like a great school.

That's about it. Kindly advise me on the same.

Thank you for your time.

334
Thank you for your inquiry.

I dont think that you need to judge your professional performance on the basis of your promotions; as long as you have been having your impact, you should be fine. I know that this is easier written than done, but you should be persistent in the next while and take initiative wherever possible. Try to live by the old adage give an inch, take a mile. If anyone gives you an opportunity, take it and run with it.

From what you have provided, I dont get a sense of distinctiveness from your profile. Your GMAT will be average; your work experience seems fine, but unspectacular; your grades are below average and community work is mildly different, because of the yoga. MIT and Dartmouth seem a bit out of your reach; Cornell and NYU are possibilities; your safeties should be just that safe.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission

www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBAMission
Hi Jeremy,

First off, I want to thank you for giving such great advice to people on this forum. Your significant time investment is duly appreciated.

I would like your opinion on my situation.

I am 23 years old, Indian (permanent resident) and residing in Massachusetts. I graduated from UMass Amherst with a BBA in Finance and a 3.0 GPA. I took the GMAT a month ago and scored a 700 (48Q/38V) with a 5.5 AWA.

As of right now, I have 2.5 years of work experience. My first job out of college was as a bookkeeper/staff accountant for a very small online retailer. Although the position and company sound unimpressive, I had a lot of responsibility on my shoulders for my first post-college job. I worked there for 1.5 years. Currently, I am a property accountant for a medium sized private real estate investment firm based out of downtown Boston, and have been there just over one year. While my day-to-day responsibilities don't have as large of an effect on the company, I am much more immersed in accounting and am responsible for the timely/accurate reporting, etc of a $100 million dollar investment fund.

I am shooting for a Fall of 2008 enrollment in an MBA program, at which point I will have a little over 4 years work experience. I suppose in this time I can try/hope for a promotion but up until now it seems my work experience pales in comparison to what the average student at a top school has. I have not really had much leadership opportunities due to being on the lower rungs of the ladder, besides perhaps training/overseeing of new hires.

I recently got involved in the community and I spend ~3 hours per week teaching kids about Indian culture/traditions and even yoga. As far as extracurriculars, I am really into cars, love wrenching on mine and regularly take part in sanctioned racing events with it.

I would prefer to stay in the northeast for schools and Massachusetts is home to many great ones itself. I am looking at MIT, Dartmouth, Cornell, NYU, and as "safety" schools - Boston College and Boston University.

I would like your opinion on what you think my chances are at the first four institutions. Also, what do you think I can do to strengthen my profile? There is almost a year and half till I would enroll but applications would be due in 8-9 months. I'm not sure if this is sufficient time to really work on anything.

Should I hold off till Fall of 2009 to perhaps get more/better work experience?

Thanks,

Anj
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As a general note, if you have an urgent request, it is best to contact me directly instead of through the forums. My contact info is available below.

In this case, MatBombay, I hope that your decision-making with UMass went well.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission

www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBAMission
hi jeremy


Please evalutate my profile and suggest me required course of action as soon as possible

Regards
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Hi Jeremy,

I got selected to MBS( Mannheim business school, Germany) European MBA with 6000 Euro Schol. The 2 terms out of 4 terms will be in partner business schools, like Copenhagen Business school, Warwick business school, ESSEC, France, IIM Bangalore etc.

Howz it. I also have offer from CEU , Hungary, athens university of economics and business, Greece with 5000 Euro schol.

Alos got a admit offer from NTU-Waswda dual MBA program at Singapore in technology management.
Now its between MBS, Germany europen MBA and NTU -Waseda dual MBA Singapore.
Pls advice if you have ne idea about MBS Germany. How technology management program in NTU- Waseda, Singapore. I have done M.Tech from IIT Bombay. Currently working with GE.

Kapil

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In todays Wall Street Journal, Jon Weinbach writes about the growth in the background check industry, specifically pertaining to undergrads and MBAs --The Admissions Police. While this article may strike fear into your heart, the bottom line is that it is only a threat to the guilty. Schools are not seeking to interrogate the innocent, but to find the obvious fabrications, lies and mistruths. If you have been honest as you should have been then rest easy.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission
www.mbamission.com
646-485-884
Skype: MBAMission
The Admissions Police
Wary of lying applicants, universities are cracking down. Jon Weinbach on background checks, plagiarism screens and the cell number that exposed a sham.
By JON WEINBACH
April 6, 2007; Page W1
Before mailing out acceptance and rejection letters over the past week, thousands of colleges and graduate schools conducted their usual reviews of test scores, transcripts and essays. But less publicly, admissions officers focused on something else: police databases, plagiarism checks and reports by private-investigators.
There's a new age of vigilance in academia. Spooked by incidents including guidance-counselor fraud in Los Angeles, blatant plagiarism at MIT and campus crime in North Carolina, colleges and graduate schools are shoring up their admissions process. In an era when applicants seek an edge with $500-an-hour "admissions consultants" and online essay-editing services, schools are using their own new methods to vet prospective students. Much like corporations that have been burned by CEO rsum scandals, universities are tapping into the burgeoning background-check industry to verify what's written -- or not -- on applications.
The University of California system, which enrolls more than 30,000 college freshmen each year, now conducts random spot checks, asking about 10% of applicants to verify activities, grades or facts from personal essays. Last year, five Division I athletic programs began using a law firm to conduct background checks on high-school recruits. And this school year, Harvard's undergraduate admissions staff added a former professional background checker. "We look at essays with a certain degree of skepticism," says HarvardCollege director of admissions Marlyn McGrath Lewis. "We're not shy about checking further."
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Continued....


An Honor Code
No organization tracks admissions transgression, and university officials say most applicants are honest. But finding the exceptions has become harder as the number of college applications has grown. The Education Department projects 3.2 million Americans will graduate from high school this spring, up from 2.6 million a decade earlier. Record numbers of applications were reported this year, from the Ivy League (including Harvard and Dartmouth) to the Big 10 (Northwestern) and Pac-10 (Stanford). "You can't verify whether they put two or three years into the chess club," says Richard Shaw, Stanford's dean of admissions. "To a great extent, it's an honor code."
GO FIGURE
A look at strategies for college seniors to stand out during on-campus job recruitment.2
But threats to that code often start in high school. According to a 2006 survey of 36,000 high-schoolers by the Josephson Institute of Ethics in Los Angeles, 60% of students admit to cheating on tests, and more than 30% say that within the last year, they've copied a document from the Internet. Students are "far more brazen" today, says Michael Josephson, a former law professor who founded the institute 20 years ago. Schools at all levels, he believes, have become soft on cheating: He cites a desire to give students a second chance, a reluctance to commit resources to cracking down and the fear of crossing parents who direct anger at schools, rather than at kids, when improprieties are brought to light. "What you allow, you encourage," he says.
Last year at Campbell Hall, a 63-year-old Episcopal school in North Hollywood, Calif., long-time college counselor Vince Garcia was fired for putting false information on student recommendations. Mr. Garcia, who was well regarded by colleagues at other private schools, cited awards students hadn't won and quoted teacher comments that were false or copied from other recommendations, says the Rev. Julian Bull, Campbell Hall's headmaster.
The school subsequently rewrote recommendations for 55 students and notified colleges that had received the forms. None of the admissions decisions were changed. Mr. Garcia declined to comment on the episode or Campbell Hall's actions but says he remains "committed to working with students to find the best path -- for them -- into higher education." Mr. Garcia is now an admissions officer at CaliforniaLutheranUniversity in Thousand Oaks; Matthew Ward, the school's dean of undergraduate enrollment, says the school is confident Mr. Garcia has "the appropriate level of accountability to be an asset to the team."
'We've Seen It All'
Business schools have taken the lead in cracking down. After a couple of cases of B-school admissions fraud, corporate security firm Kroll started a Global Academic Verifications division in 2003. Kroll now does rsum checks on accepted students for about 20 business schools, including Wharton and Columbia. "Fake degrees, grade inflation, employment titles or dates that aren't true -- we've seen it all," says Kroll's Brian Lapidus, who oversees the division. Medical schools have also raised their guard. Last June, the Association of American Medical Colleges asked all of its members to include criminal background checks in their admissions processes.
RED FLAGS
Does a student look too good to be true? View a sample application, with some of the telltale signs of exaggeration3 that schools say they look for.
Admissions officers say they have ways to identify heavy-handed parental editing, embellishments and outright lies. Tainted applications can be easy to spot because they lack "internal validity" -- a polished essay may raise eyebrows, for example, coming from a student with mediocre English grades. A simple Internet search can be used to spot-check athletic activities or scholastic honors. The latest innovation: downloadable SAT writing samples. Since the standardized test added a written component two years ago, colleges have been able to compare students' writing proficiency on their SAT essays -- more or less guaranteed to be their own work -- with the prose that accompanies their applications.
The pressure to create a memorable application is growing as admissions brochures trumpet the importance of factors such as leadership, writing ability and out-of-school activities. As a result, colleges have helped fan the perception that exotic pursuits and flawless essays are more important than ever. Lloyd Petersen, a former director of admissions at Yale and Vassar, says the crush of applications "forces people to do things that they wouldn't normally do."
Modeling Experience
Filling out applications, Charlie Covey mentioned his nascent modeling career. The high-school senior in Roswell, Ga., says he signed with a modeling agency in Atlanta last fall, though he hasn't yet booked a job. On the advice of a private college counselor, he added the agency to the applications' "work experience" section. "I've done headshots," says the 18-year-old, who has been accepted to the University of Georgia, University of Southern California and New YorkUniversity. "I felt kind of bad because I didn't have tons of stuff like a lot of my friends."
Last year, Sonia Minden's heart fluttered when she received a solemn letter from the University of California undergraduate admissions staff. The note asked her to verify the experience she wrote about in her application essay -- an archaeological dig in Switzerland led by a Stanford professor. Ms. Minden, who had a 3.8 GPA and edited the literary magazine at CapuchinoHigh School in San Bruno, Calif., says she thought the letter was tantamount to a rejection. It also raised suspicions among her friends. "They were like, 'did you lie?' " she says.
Ms. Minden, it turns out, was among some 7,000 applicants the UC schools randomly picked for its authentication program. The students are instructed to submit material to confirm details in one of seven application categories, such as volunteer history and personal statements. Though the program started in 2003, there's barely a mention of it on the UC application. (One sentence in the instructions notes that students may receive a "request for further information.") Susan Wilbur, the UC director of undergraduate admissions, says the point is to "send a message that we're committed to the highest degree of integrity."
Ms. Minden says the certification process was disconcerting mostly because she didn't see it coming. "It was kind of a stressful time," she says. The professor who led the dig wrote a letter on Ms. Minden's behalf, and now she is a freshman at her first-choice school, UC-San Diego.
Some transgressions are clear. A few years ago, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology asked applicants to come up with their own essay question. Two picked an identical topic: "What if Superman had sex with Lois Lane?" Both students excerpted material from "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex," an essay by author Larry Niven. Both were rejected. Marilee Jones, MIT's dean of admissions, calls the episode "hilarious," but worries that colleges have helped ratchet up the pressure of applications. In an effort to discourage puffery, she reduced the number of lines MIT's form gave students to list extracurricular activities. "Kids felt like they needed to fill up all of them," she says.
For all the steps colleges are taking to safeguard admissions, they're also eager to boost applications -- which in turn increases their "selectivity" rate, an important factor in school rankings. Some colleges fear that aggressive screening could scare off potential students, says John Barrie, chief executive of Turnitin.com, a Web site that high schools and colleges use to check papers for plagiarism.
The nine-year-old site, which screens more than 100,000 student papers a day, added an admissions-essay service in 2004. Over the last three years, Mr. Barrie says, the site has screened more than 27,000 admissions essays, and found 11% included at least one-quarter unoriginal material. Mr. Barrie says about two dozen schools now use the site to check admissions essays; none of the institutions would agree to be identified.
Universities are only the latest institutions to scrutinize candidates. The background-check industry has mushroomed since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, as criminal and rsum checks have been added to the hiring process of the likes of Starbucks (it plans to check aspiring baristas) and Wal-Mart Stores. The National Association of Professional Background Screeners, founded four years ago, now counts more than 400 members; in the early '90s, there were only about 30 players in the business, says the trade group's co-chair, Robert Capwell.
The growing number of Web sites devoted to the admissions industry has made it easier for students to plagiarize material and trade in misleading gossip. Ivyessays.com, a professional essay-editing service, also lets students buy packages of sample essays grouped by theme, question or school. The $12 "Harvard" package includes 10 essays and five short-answer samples tailored to the school's application. (Ivyessay.com's writing is meant to be used as a sample, says editor in chief Adrienne Dowhan.) On chat boards like collegeconfidential.com, topics range from "How to impress admissions committees with your extracurriculars" to "Should I tell them that I'm Jewish?"
Telltale Cell Number
Bari Norman, an independent college counselor based in New York and Miami, says she occasionally sees parents tacitly encourage their children to stretch the truth on applications. The most troubling cases, she says, involve students who feel they're at a disadvantage because they're not lying. Last year, a white client in Miami was distraught because her friends were falsely identifying themselves as Hispanic. "She asked me, with a straight face, 'Why can't I do that?' " says Ms. Norman, a former admissions officer at BarnardCollege.
Admissions officials at the Haas School of Business at UC-Berkeley saw the desperation first-hand. In 2003, admissions director Jeff Pihakis tried to call an applicant to tell her she had gained admission. After several failed attempts, he reached a woman who gave him a cellphone number for the applicant. Looking again at the file, he saw the number he'd just been given matched the number the applicant had listed for a purported boss. That led Mr. Pihakis to uncover other fabrications, including false job titles and fake stationery for the sham company. The admissions staff ultimately investigated all 100 of the students it had admitted, uncovering four more applicants who had misrepresented themselves.
The next summer, Kroll approached the school about providing background checks. Since then, all accepted students have had to pass an "employment and background verification" -- and pay a $65 fee -- before enrolling. In the past four years, only one has been rejected. "We were hoping it would be a deterrent," says Mr. Pihakis. "And it has been."
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Hi Jeremy

Thank you for all the vital info tht u are sharing.

I'm currenlty working in an IT company in India (which has a global brand name in consulting and IT). It has been just over a year since I joined this firm directly from a top ten engineering college. But over the past year the work here has been minimal, and I have mostly spent my time on "bench" (as a reserve resource for future projects).

I have a chance to make a shift from this (mostly technical) job to another firm (govt firm) where I will be getting alot of managerial work ex (i will be absorbed as a management trainee). How much does the job profile matter over the brand name of the firm one is working for? Do top b-schools prefer people from well known brand name organizations? Will working for a less reknowed company jeopardize my chances of getting thorugh a top -school?

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Thanks for your inquiry.

I think that you may be shooting a bit high, even if you do manage a 730 GMAT. You have no extras amid an incredibly competitive field -- a field which differentiates itself through extras. Although you have strong professional accomplishments, many others do as well and scores alone wont make the difference. What do you think makes you different/special? I hate to be so blunt, but unless I am missing something, I think that you could reassess.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission

www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBA Mission
Hi Jeremy

Request you to please comment on my profile for MBA in the USA/Europe. Plan to apply for this Fall

Education:

1. B.E. Electrical from National Institute of Technology, Karnataka in 2004 with GPA of 3.6/4 ( 7 best College in India. Stood 6th in my Branch)
2. Class XII : 87.6%
3. Class X : 87% . Topper in School

Profession :

1. Product Marketing Executive : Larsen and Toubro Ltd. (July 2004- Oct 2005)
Was part of the Fast Track Program. Handled All India Support for a Newly launched product. My contribution was recognised. Ex Boss can vouch for it.

2. Sales Engineer - Industry : Schneider Electric ( Oct 2005 - Dec 2006) : Handled Sales for Mumbai worth Rs. 150 Million . Highest Sales in the Western Region. Key Account Manager for 3 of Schneiders Biggest Accounts.

3. Sr. Marketing Engineer : Schneider Electric ( Jan 2007 Onwards ) : Responsible for Product marketing for Western Region. Own Target of Rs 600 Million. Youngest Person in the company with such profile.

Extra Curricular :

1. Member, Toastmasters International
2. Very Good Extra Curricular Record in College. Branch Rep for 2 Years. Secratary for 2 College Clubs. Editor College Magazine. Numerous prizes in Intra/Inter college events.
3. Social Work : Nothing on record. Helped lots of people/friends find jobs.


GMAT :

Plan to take it up in May 2007. Expect 730+ Easily.

Keenly looking at Schools for consulting/Marketing. No Co-signer option is a must.

Schools Targeting :

1. Kellogg
2. Insead
3. Ross
4. Darden
5. LBS

Request you to please advice on my fit and suggest more schools which are reachable for my profile.

Thanks for the Advice.