Thanks for your inquiry. Your professional work is certainly impressive and differentiated. However, I tend to follow the two strikes rule everyone is allowed one weakness; if you have two, you are most often out when it comes to a top-school. In your case, you have very low grades, no community service and an existing pesudo-MBA. It would be difficult for a top-school to rationalize choosing you ahead of another candidate who has strong professional experience, high grades, extensive community leadership and no MBA. I would never write never, but I would write, highly doubtful. Sincerely, Jeremy Shinewald MBA Mission www.mbamission.com 646-485-8844 Skype: MBAMission
Dear Jeremy, I have read through lot of your responses and I appreciate your time & blatant response. Since mid 2006 I have been contemplating to write GMAT with Ivy League schools in mind, however my study was broken thrice at crucial stage and finally I decided to better wait to apply in Oct 2007 than to rush through in Dec 2006. My background:
26 years old, male, 5+ years of experience by Oct 2007.
My school grade are decent Xth th 80 & XIIth 85%.
My college grade is poor 50%
I did a PGBDM in marketing (2years full time class room & management trainee program) & started working and there on my academic was good & work experience has been above average (compared to peers)
I think I should manage 700-720 in my GMAT in June 2007.
No community service
I want to know from you if I stand any chance of getting admitted to Ivy League given my background, most of which I cannot change at this stage. In order for you have understanding I am giving you details of my work experience: 1.While pursuing PGBDM (equivalent to MBA) from Wigan & Leigh UK (from their Delhi campus) I was the only one who got placed for a management trainee program (even before the course began) at an Indian IT company. I had excellent learning in my 10 month span working with top business associations of India. I was selling new concept & training products. 2.I landed up being offered almost 20 times my stipend as an Admin/Office in-charge of American software co, and this was a fulltime employment unlike the previous traineeship. Given my past sales exposure & my interest in pursuing sales carrier, I started assisting sales to cos which had office in US & UK by being India point of contact. Given the past experience of my Co being cheated by previous Admin Mgr, I was soon promoted as General Manager, and later made Additional Director as Indian Co required a signing authority for various legal & govt purposes. The size of this team I am heading has been 3-5 people. I have been youngest GM at the age of 23 & also youngest sales manager. Independently selling $100k to a million dollar deal to businesses. Though our India operations hasnt done extremely well but we have been profitable and sailed through difficult times in 2006 where two of our international were closed. We are now expanding (adding staff) as my last years have started showing results. By the Oct this year I would have set up an international help desk in India to help reduce our technical support expenditure. I am not from McKinsey, Citibank ..etc. neither am I working in a top co in our telecom/IT field. In fact the very reason I want to do MBA from Ivy League is to join such cos. I can have recommendation letters from my current boss VP of Sales residing in US, my CEO again in US & Director of my MBA institute. I can justify the timing (& need for 2nd MBA) however my college grades are pathetic. Am I being overly optimistic, rather unrealistic in dreaming about HBS? Given my working hours (India time until midnight) & travel, I would probably be very happy if I get to study for 2 hours every day & hence I dont think I would be able to join a community service. Your thoughts?
Thanks for your inquiry. I dont have any particular insight into the Schulich job scene, but my knowledge of the Canadian post-MBA job scene in general is that it is quite robust on par with the U.S. business schools. Further, international candidates have an easier time getting visas in Canada vs. the U.S. Still, keep in mind, you should be primarily concerned with the job scene two years from now, when you would graduate, which is quite difficult to predict. Sincerely, Jeremy Shinewald MBA Mission www.mbamission.com 646-485-8844 Skype: MBAMission
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.
Harish, Thanks for your inquiry. I must be blunt again I dont think that you are HBS or Wharton material. HBS and Wharton are looking for standout candidates candidates who have achieved something remarkable thus far and show promise for similar disproportionately strong achievement going forward. In your case, you have very average grades and work experience and no extras at all. I am not sure how you could compel a top-school to accept you. Sincerely, Jeremy Shinewald MBA Mission www.mbamission.com 646-485-8844 Skype: MBAMission
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.
You certainly have an interesting profile and I would not rule out a top-15 schhool, but your age may become even more of a factor going forward. The question of deferring your acceptance is incredible personal and involves all sorts of considerations family, financial, etc. I am not sure that I can offer you an answer on this one Please keep me posted on your status with the remaining schools. Sincerely, Jeremy Shinewald MBA Mission www.mbamission.com 646-485-8844 Skype: MBAMission
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.
Regards from Lima, Peru. I still cant understand why was I bypassed in this forum, hopefully wont be due to my nationality. Anyways, I was expecting some input but I guess it wont happen here, at least not anytime soon. Too bad....
Firstly, I would like to thank you for wonderful job you are doing at PG.
Please go through my profile and let me know if I stand any chances of making it to Top 20 US B-schools
My Background:
* Excellent Academic background 88% in my 10th class, 95% in class 12th and 83% in my undergraduation (missed the university rank by 0.5%)
* Engineering graduate(2004 Pass out) in Information Technology.
* Right out of the college I was recruited by Indian IT major company. Stayed there for less time (5 months - I have strong reasons to explain 'why' - in my essays)
* Joined US IT/Telecom major company as s software developer.
Current status/Progress in near future:
* Till date have been working on flagship products of the company with globally spread out team. So have good experience of interacting with people around the globe.
* Will be making a move to 'Pre-sales' team of the company focusing on Asia-Pacific sales, as a 'Technical Marketing Consultant'. I am the youngest and the first non-MBA employee to be promoted to this role in my organization.
* Will be applying for B-schools only in 2008 (after completing 4 years exp)
* Will be taking GMAT in 2 months and I have the confidence to pull off a 700+ score.
Extra-Curricular:
* Have setup my own online forum dedicated to bibliophiles. Working on it to build it up as India's No. 1 information portal/establishment on Books, Authors, Bookshops in India. Currently I am talking to authors, publishers and retail book dealers to setup a common information/promotional platform for books. Few online bookseller giants have approached me for partnership b/w their site and my forum. (My post MBA plans are also inclined towards publishing media)
* Chess is my passion and have won few certificates in 'Rapid chess tourneys'. Represented college chess team at university level.
* Avid musician (Have passed exam in a musical instrument) and I continue to pursue it till date
Community Service:
* Animal activist
* Opening up a community service wing of my online forum to instill the reading habits/musical interest in children.
I still have 1.5 years to build up my profile. So please let me know my chances of making it to top 20 US B schools. Also, if you can spot out any loopholes/weak points that I can work on, it would be really helpful. Appreciate your efforts.
1) is there any distinct advantage of doing an mba from a global top 20 bskool over say IIM A or B?
2) is doing an mba in say the USA gonna make it impossible for me to come back and work in india? (assuming that i have family responsibilities and that i'd like to get back to india asap) I've heard that indian companies dont value mbas done abroad.
3) will it be tough for me to put to practice mba knowledge from one country (say USA from a top b school) for a company in another country (say india)?
4) will it be that only foreign companies established in india would employ me if i want to work in india after having done an mba abroad?
5) abt the money factor, do b schools abroad ever offer any fees aid?
i know these sound like juvenile queries but i really need these answers bcos these things do confuse me a lot.
UNDERGRAD: good grades again....81.5...approximately 3.7/4 (gpa wise)
PGDBM: have dun a post graduate diploma in business administration rite after my undergrad (marketing) joined a multinational blue chip company after my pgdbm related to the IT field
I have good community service..part of two social srvice organisations for close to 4 years now.
have progressed well if not really well in my career and now have close to 6 years of exp the thing is i want to now get into general management/ strategic consulting and work in an international environment ( i want to work in an int company in a mid or senior level management post)
and i also have entrepreneurial ideas for the future
so based on this wat are the schools that u wud recommend to me....(gen management/SC) ..and i also want to kno whether having an earlier pgdbm wud be detrimental to my admission chances.....tho i have a strong reason for pursuing this second mba (want to do it only from the top 10 in the world)
************************************** Education: Bachelor's degree in Engg from the University of Bombay, India Work Ex: Will be 6 Yrs when I start school in Sep 08 2 Yrs in India + 4 Yrs in the US Experience Category: Indian IT professional (How big a drawback is this?) (Decent Career Progression) with a few awards at work GMAT: 720 (96 %ile) (49/90%ile Q, 39/88%ile V), AWA 6.0 Acads: First Class in Engg, 88% in 12th, Merit ranker in 10th (All in all average I think) Decent Extra Currics: Very Active during Engg., not as much at work Social Service: Mainly in the form of monetary donations. ***************************************
I want to pursue an MBA in Finance or Consulting and plan to apply to schools in the top 20. 2 Dream Schools (Top 6-7) + 4 Schools in the 10-20 range + 2 Backups
Can you comment on the following ? 1) My chances given the distribution of schools I plan applying to. 2) Whether I can get a TOEFL waiver, given my experience and profile 3) What my approach should be while selecting the schools 4) Is my selection of school mix commensurate with my profile? Suggestions required.
Please be blatant where required. Appreciate your help with this.
PeruvianGuru, I apologize for missing your post. It was a simple oversight I go one by one and answer. Because I missed it the first time, I was on my way to the second post and would have caught it then. I happened to catch your last post and think that it was a bit out of line. I have helped several Peruvian clients and have no anti-Peruvian biases (I spent a month in Peru in 2001 and loved it! Since, then my parents and brother have both gone on my suggestion!). Anyway, onto business. You are applying to schools that are very international in nature Oxford has a question about international events as part of its application. Considering your depth of international experience, you obviously are a very strong candidate. You are about as international as a candidate can be. The way I see it, your candidacy is quite strong but you will need to explain why exactly you need this MBA you need to be much more clear in your goals. I want to have increased career choices is not enough. You need to really hone in on what you want to do and why you want to do it. Further, you have several degrees and certifications already; you will need to be very clear in the fact that you NEED this MBA and that you are not just a degree/certification collector! All in all, I think that if you score a 650, you should be a good candidate for every one of your schools, except IMD, which is more competitive than the rest. Again, I am sorry that it took a while for me to respond, but there is one of me and thousands of you. I try to get back to everyone as soon as possible, but paid clients always are a priority. I enjoy the message boards and provide free services whenever I can! Sincerely, Jeremy Shinewald MBA Mission www.mbamission.com 646-485-8844 Skype: MBAMission
Dear Jeremy:
Regards from Lima, Peru. I still cant understand why was I bypassed in this forum, hopefully wont be due to my nationality. Anyways, I was expecting some input but I guess it wont happen here, at least not anytime soon. Too bad....
Thank you so very much for your honest, helpful and knowledged response. I was mentioning citizenship issues with no intention of blaming you for bias but for what I (wrongly) supposed as PG websites policies (priority for Indian students). I do apologize for not being very clear in this regard. I am also happy to know that you have already visited Peru. It is a beautiful and extremely diverse country which will receive tourists (and investors!) with open arms.
As for your advise, I have very strong and structured reasons to apply for an MBA and my previous degrees do allow me to achieve my short and long term professional and personal goals. Of course, I reserve them because they are personal. GMAT is my main concern but Ill try to do my best in order to get that 650.
Last but not least, you are absolutely right; business is business but your free advise is gratefully taken. Warm regards from cloudy and hectic Lima.
My name is Sitanshu. I am 23 years old and am from Mumbai. I want to do MBA (specifically a twelve month program) So i thought ISB would be a nice school to do it from. Can you have look at my profile and tell me my chances 10th 86% 12th 64% Ty B.Com 71% (not too many people get this) GMAT 660 Cleared M.Com Part 1 I am involved in our family business for which i stay in Hong Kong since the past two years.I handle all our operations in Hong Kong such as ,sales, general administration,sometimes even sourcing from the local market, etc. I have two years of full time work experience, and three years part time work experience. I guess i am bracketed in Entrepreneur, so i will not be competing head to head to with all you IT professionals. Hey do you think do you think my position would be better, in case i convince ISB that i would not be looking for placement post graduation , as i would continue with the family business.
First of all, a big thanks for participating in this initiative, Hope to benefit as much as I can from this thread.
I may be far too early in posting this..I am about to complete my Bachelors in Engineering & haven't written GMAT yet.. Am gonna take up an overseas offer in UAE this summer & wish to apply for all the top international B-Schools (Harvard, Wharton, Kellogg, Stanford, Chicago etc etc) with decent work-ex (lets say 3 years+).
I wanted to know when would be the best time to take the GMAT test..?? As in..do the top B-schools have anything against good GMAT scores which were achieved, say 2-3 years before applying..or does a good GMAT score retain its worth for as long as it stays valid..??
What is the least amount of work-ex which would give me a fair (to be interpreted as "sufficient") chance at getting admission into a premier B-school..??
My Background: 10th : 91.2 % 12th : 95.9 % Bachelors (B.Tech in NIT Trichy) : CGPA of 9.43 (/10)
My profile is F, 25. 2+ yrs work ex in Automotive-manufacturing in operations management. My GMAT Score is 760 (Q51, V45). AWA 5. I did B.Tech Hons + M. Tech from IIT Kharagpur (among top 3~4 engg. colleges in India) and a GPA of 7.94/10.0. My extracurriculars are in cultural fest management and hostel management + a little of theatre. I am also scheduled to take 1st level CFA exam in Dec07.
a) I am planning to apply for Jan-2008 session in INSEAD in R2. b) Also, I am planning to apply to top 10 US B-Schools for 2 yr full time MBA program (yet to do intensive research as to which ones to apply to)
Pls tell what do you think about my chances of making it for (a), also what additional in my profile could help me improve my chances for (a) & (b).
Worked as software engineer with Oracle Corp, India for 21 months. Quality of experience - average, though I think I can manage a decent recco.
Shifted to a leading European I-Bank in Mumbai. Have completed a year as an Analyst in the investment banking team. Quality of experince - Outstanding. Will manage a strong recco here.
GMAT: 780 (Quant: 51, English: 46)
Have completed a couple of NCFM modules and plan to appear for CFA 1 in Dec07.
Average extra-curriculars at college.
Community service - zilch
I intend to apply to the following schools this year:
Wharton (dream app)
Chicago (dream app)
Columbia
Tuck
Stern
Based on your past experience, could you please advise on the below:
1. Chances I stand at the above schools 2. Things I need to work on to better my chances. 3. Other schools I can target with a Finance specialisation in mind.
At MBA Mission, we are proud to have a close relationship with ManhattanGMAT, the worlds largest GMAT-exclusive test-prep provider. Recently, ManhattanGMAT launched its own Blog and interviewed MBA Mission, about our thoughts on the past year in MBA admissions and how candidates can gain an advantage in what is shaping up to be an even more competitive year. The interview can be accessed via the link below. http://www.manhattangmat.com/blog/ Sincerely, Jeremy Shinewald MBA Mission www.mbamission.com 646-485-8844 Skype: MBAMission
Kehsibha, I don't have enough information to critique your application. I would be more than happy to provide a "ding report" for you. Please contact me offline to discuss how this process works ([email protected]). Sincerely, Jeremy Shinewald MBA Mission www.mbamission.com 646-485-8844 Skype: MBAMission
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
MBA Aspirant, Thank you for your kind feedback. Considering your rather typical career track and lack of career "extras," I think that Stanford is unrealistic (though I never say never) and that MIT and Wharton will be reaches. You seem to achieve in everything you do and have distinct international experiences, community involvement and career goals, coupled with strong scores, so you should be competitive in BusinessWeek's 8-15 range. Meanwhile, Babson should be quite realistic and even safe, particularly if you pander to their sense of entrepreneurship. In short, I see your profile as consistent and strong throughout, but lacking in the "wow" department. Prove me wrong - where is your "wow"? Sincerely, Jeremy Shinewald MBA Mission www.mbamission.com 646-485-8844 Skype: MBAMission
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.
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.