Hi Jeremy,
I have been following various posts on this thread and I must thank you for the amazing work that you and the team are doing in helping us in getting our queries answered.
I am planning to apply to US B schools and certain B schools in UK next year. Based on my profile below, I would like to know the prospects and my chances at the top20-25 schools in US and top 5 schools in UK.
GMAT: 700, AWA 5.5
TOEFL: I will be taking TOEFL in July.
Academics:
Xth Grade: 90 %
XIIth Grade: 93 %
Engineering (B.E in Information Technology): 72% (From a Top college in Mumbai) ( Stood first in my college for two consecutive years)
Work Experience:
I have got 4.5 years of work experience (2 years in a leadership role) as of now and am currently working as a Lead Analyst for the Largest Mobile company.
Extra Curriculars:
I have been involved with an NGO in the past
I have won intercollegiate events during my Engineering degree
I have been judge the best employee in the organisation in which am working currently
Entrepreneurship:
I am currently working with a friend of mine on an internet startup. We plan to make it operational in the coming 6 months.
How good a chance do I stand in the top MBA programs and which colleges should I target?
Awaiting your reply.
Regards,
IMD2BI2IMA
Hi Jeremy
I am looking at B School admissions for the Fall 2010 Class. Hence, I am looking at applying to top B Schools across the world in a few months' time.
First, my profile in brief:
Education:: Bachelor of Engineering, Electronics ; 2007; Grade:79%
Work Expr:: a) Top Automotive Software MNC
Software Engineer
July 2007-Till Date (Hence, 3 years by the time coll begins)
Managerial activities undertaken, but not official.
b) Family managed business - Electronics & Lighting solutions
Worked part time during undergraduation, and now, in business development activities.
Co-established new units to expand the business.
Regarding my profile, I have a few specific questions. It will be really great if you could please guide me on this.
1. I have a GMAT score of 680(Q-48,V-35) in the first attempt. Shall I try and better this score, or concentrate on the rest of my profile?
2. Will the family business experience contribute to the diversity of my profile?
3. Will an onsite trip(to Germany) for 3 months duration impact my profile in a huge manner?
4. Will my professional experience duration(3 years) be a barrier if I want to try certain high profile schools like INSEAD, HEC Paris, LBS, etc.
5. Will a good GMAT score account for the above 3 points? If yes, what GMAT score is good enough for that?
My Last year's application status::
1. Rochester-Simon (Waitlisted)
2. Maryland-Smith (Waitlisted)
3. Ohio-Fisher (Waitlisted)
4. Iowa-Tippie (Rejected)
I gave up on my applications after that, because I felt I deserved better schools. I also had got into the admissions cycle pretty late next time, something I do not want to do this year.
Thank you in advance. Your responses can be really helpful to me.
hi Jeremy,
Thanks for the Initiative taken for PGs. I want to ask one generic question.
This will be applicable to almost all MBA aspirants.
I am planning to do MBA in next 1-2 year from Ivy collegs either in India/US/Europe.
I am from IT sector with a 'not-so-good' college. My question is how i can improve my profile in order to make myself equip for applying to ivy league colleges keeping in mind that my academic college is not so good.
Few of the things i am doing is:
1. Industry best certifications - I just completed my project Mgt certification from PMI.
Now doing oracle ERP certification ( as i am working as Tech consultant in ERP domain).
2. few Extra Curriculars like Joining Public speaking club.
I have 3 yrs of IT experience and i am MCA. By the time i will join MBA college i will have around 4-5 yrs of exp.
So i have 1-2 yrs with me to improve my profile and get to the level where i can apply for TOP MBA colleges. I need your valuable suggestions /Tips on how i can improve my profile.
Thanks abd Regds,
HMG
Hi,
I am a M.sc,B.ed guy. I have 3 years of teaching experience in Mathematics.My dream is i want to become an M.B.A graduate from one of the premier b-schools.I worked for IIITS.Now i would like to work in financial sector so i wanna to do mba with domain finance and HR.Give me your valuable advice. is my profile fit for global bschool degree?am i in right track to do mba?
Hello Rahul,
Thank you for your inquiry. You have a strong GMAT score and unless you think you can get a significantly higher score, I do not think it is necessary for you to retake the test. If you still have concerns about your score, I would look at the range and median GMAT scores for the students at the schools you are interested in, to see where your score fits in.
In order to provide a reasonable assessment about your profile, I would need to know something about the nature of the work that you do, your career trajectory and the impact that you have had at work. Also, your college activities, and definitely your high school accomplishments and activities, are probably less relevant for a graduate school application. For your applications, you should focus on the activities that you have made a significant investment in since you graduated from college. For instance, some applications require that essays be written about experiences that have taken place in the last three years.
There are hundreds of business schools in the U.S., so it would be very difficult to provide a list of schools that might interest you without any knowledge of the criteria you are looking for. I recommend that you begin your research of U.S. MBA programs by reviewing publications that profile a large number of schools, including U.S. News and World Report and Businessweek. They will give you an idea of the background of students at each school as well as what each has to offer in terms of resources.
Sincerely,
Akiba Smith-Francis
MBA Mission
646-485-8844
Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insiders Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php
Hello Rahul,
Thank you for your inquiry. You have a strong GMAT score and unless you think you can get a significantly higher score, I do not think it is necessary for you to retake the test. If you still have concerns about your score, I would look at the range and median GMAT scores for the students at the schools you are interested in, to see where your score fits in.
In order to provide a reasonable assessment about your profile, I would need to know something about the nature of the work that you do, your career trajectory and the impact that you have had at work. Also, your college activities, and definitely your high school accomplishments and activities, are probably less relevant for a graduate school application. For your applications, you should focus on the activities that you have made a significant investment in since you graduated from college. For instance, some applications require that essays be written about experiences that have taken place in the last three years.
There are hundreds of business schools in the U.S., so it would be very difficult to provide a list of schools that might interest you without any knowledge of the criteria you are looking for. I recommend that you begin your research of U.S. MBA programs by reviewing publications that profile a large number of schools, including U.S. News and World Report and Businessweek. They will give you an idea of the background of students at each school as well as what each has to offer in terms of resources.
Sincerely,
Akiba Smith-Francis
MBA Mission
646-485-8844
Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insiders Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php
Hello Jeremy,
Thanks for the reply.
I am working with the European Semi-conductor gaint, ST Microelectronics as a software engineer.
My job includes is to write the software to validate a system or a chip designed by our hardware teams.
Currently, I am working on automotive applications, specifically applications meant for GPS systems in high-end cars...
Before this , I was working for some printer applications.... developing algorithms for printer related imaging....
All in all, I have had a decent growth in my company. But no leadership role in my 3 years of career.
Impact that I have had on work is not very significant, but I am recognized as a very good team player who keeps himself as well as other around him motivated.
An honest assesment..... 😃
Hello,
Based on the limited information I have about your profile, it seems as though you have very good grades from college as well as a solid GMAT score and have been doing extremely well at work. It will be important for you to distinguish yourself and your recent achievements through your essays, highlighting the experiences where you have been able to make a significant impact on a person or group. Your entrepreneurial experience is also something that will add to your candidacy. Whether it is a successful venture or not, you will have learned a lot from the process of starting a business.
One potential weakness in your application is that you seem not to have done any community work in the past few years. If that is the case, depending on when you plan to apply, you may still have time to change this, perhaps picking up the work you did with the NGO in the past. As I mentioned in an answer to a previous post, there are hundreds of U.S. business schools, so it is difficult to provide a list of schools that you should consider applying to. I suggest reading a publication like U.S. News & World Report or Businessweek, which provides rankings and profiles of a large number of business schools, both in the U.S. and internationally.
Sincerely,
Akiba Smith-Francis
MBA Mission
646-485-8844
Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insiders Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php
Thank you for the additional detail. It seems as though you have been a solid team player at work, contributing in a technical capacity in a number of areas. It will be important for you to highlight the contributions you have made at work in your essays. Although you have written that your impact at work has not been that significant, I encourage you to think broadly about the contributions you have made.
That written, one of the things business schools are looking for is candidates who have made a significant impact on the organizations in which they have worked. Considering that this may be a weakness in your candidacy, you might want to broaden the set of schools that you are considering applying to, in order to choose a set of schools where you will be competitive.
Sincerely,
Akiba Smith-Francis
MBA Mission
646-485-8844
Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insiders Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php
Thank you for your question. It will indeed be helpful to many business school applicants. There are a few things that you can do to improve your candidacy over the next few years. Since you mention that you studied at a not so good college, you will want to demonstrate to Admissions Committees that you can do the work required by a rigorous business school curriculum. You should aim to get the highest GMAT score that you can to bolster your undergraduate academic experience.
You should also take on leadership roles at work when possible. This does not necessarily mean that you must get a promotion (although that would be great), but rather leading a team or taking on additional responsibilities so that you can have a greater impact on your organization. You might also want to become involved with a community service organization if you are not already involved. Lastly, remember to develop or maintain close relationships with the people with whom you work or have worked so that youll be in a better position to ask them for recommendations when you apply to business school. Its great that you are thinking of what you can do to strengthen your application two years in advance. Best of luck!
Sincerely,
Akiba Smith-Francis
MBA Mission
646-485-8844
Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insiders Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php
Hi Akiba,
Please help me identify 'stretch' (difficult to get in), 'reach' (fair chance of getting in) and 'safe'(relatively easier to get in) schools from the following list of my targeted schools:
Chicago Booth
Kellogg
Columbia
Tuck
MIT
INSEAD
CMU
ROSS
Darden
Yale
Here is my profile:
Indian/IT/Male Age 29
GMAT: 750(Q51,V40) AWA 5.0
Acads:
- Gold Medal for topping the Mechanical Engineering (from not very well known institution)
- Runner-up at the national Paper Presentation Contest
Work Experience:
- CRM Consultant with one of the top Indian Software Firms, International Exposure - 2.5 years in US
- Progressed through various roles of increased responsibility.
- Leadership experience of around 5 years. Lead teams of different sizes - last one being 15 members team.
- Currently working as a Pre-Sales Consultant. Played a critical role in winning a 20 M USD deal.
- Leading a community of experts for a particular CRM Product area across the organization
- Editor of the Organization wide News Letter (My own initiative)
Extra-Curriculars:
- While in College, as a member of National service Scheme, lead various initiatives such as Polio immunization, Blood Donation Camps and organizing lecture serieses.
- During the final year, as a core member of Career Services Team, was responsible for generating manifold increase in the job offers at the college.
- Core member of 'Organizing Committe' for College Cultural Festival.(Lead various event committees too)
- Giving back to alma-mater - Mentoring students on Career Service, Higher Education and Industry-Academia connect
- Teaching to under-priviledged children in the slums.
Will really appreciate your help in categorizing these schools, so that I can finalize my shortlist.
Thanks in advance,
zoro
Hi Akiba,
Can you evaluate my profile and suggest some improvements as well as target schools for Round 1 applications ?
GMAT - 780 Q50 V47
5 year Masters in Mathematics and Computing (Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi) - Not so good GPA (on the uptrend)
CFA Level 1 candidate - June 2009 (Awaiting results)
Work-ex - 4 years by June 2010.
Working in a growing organization. Domain - Banking. Role - Business Analyst (Risk Management / Data Analytics).
International Work-ex - 1 year in US for a project with a top US bank.
Worked with different facets of banking and in different geographies. On the flipside, I do not have any major managerial experience or a fortune 100 brand name on my resume.
3 summer internships in Korea, Spain and Denmark (10-12 weeks each). travelled extensively and can speak five languages with some degree of competence.
Extra-curriculars - Strong leadership roles in college and some innovative activities outside college. Some community involvement post-college (No-leadership roles). Working on this aspect.
Expectations from MBA - to gain know-how of business, to be part of an effective business network, strong global brand-name that is recognized in the Indian market as well, the overall experience.
Desired post-mba role - Consulting role in a top consulting firm.
Long-term - To start my own consulting practice with focus on asian market.
Schools that I am looking at right now include: Tuck, MIT Sloan, Haas, Yale SOM, INSEAD, London Business School, Kellogg and Chicago.
Thanks for your efforts.
Regards,
Tank_I
Hello,
Thank you for your inquiry. Your 780 GMAT score will help compensate for what you describe as a not so good GPA. That written, you went to an excellent school and pursued a challenging course of study and your grades improved over the years.
It seems that you have international work experience and participated in some community service activity since college, though you did not include the detail about what you are doing. I would not be as concerned about the fact that you do not have managerial experience if you can demonstrate that you have been able to have an impact on the people or groups with which you have worked.
Your ability to get in to the schools you listed will come down to your ability to tell your story and whether you can demonstrate to the Admissions Committees that you have significant achievements at work and outside of work, which can certainly come without a title or managerial role.
Sincerely,
Akiba Smith-Francis
MBA Mission
646-485-8844
Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insiders Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free Consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php
Hello,
Thank you for the information you provided regarding your candidacy and your detailed questions. In terms of your questions, your decision to retake the GMAT should be based on the schools you plan to apply to and whether you think that you can improve your score significantly. Im not sure if you plan to reapply to the four schools you mentioned or if you plan to apply to LBS, HEC and INSEAD, but I would look at the range and average GMAT scores of students at the schools you plan to apply to in order to see where your score fits. If you believe that you can improve your score significantly if you retake the test, without compromising your ability to focus on other parts of the application, I recommend doing that. Three years of work experience should not be a barrier to getting into the three European schools that you mention.
I do believe that your family business will positively contribute to your profile. I am sure that you have many experiences about achievements and lessons learned running that family business. I am not sure I understand your question about a three month trip to Germany, but it should not negatively impact your application. Assuming that you are able to continue to work on your applications while you are in Germany, it should not hurt you and might give you an interesting experience to write about in your application essays.
Sincerely,
Akiba Smith-Francis
MBA Mission
646-485-8844
Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insiders Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php
Hello,
Thank you for providing a great deal of detail on your candidacy. You seem to have a strong profile, with good grades and significant and varied leadership experiences both at work and outside of work. You should be competitive at all of the schools that you listed, though I would consider the schools in the top five of the rankings to be reach schools (as they are for most people).
It will be important for you to convey your story in a way that distinguishes your candidacy and also paints a cohesive picture about who you are and why you have committed yourself to the activities youve mentioned. In addition to knowing that you are capable of doing the work and seeing a record of achievement and leadership, schools are interested in learning who you are as a person. It is important to keep that in mind as you begin working on your applications.
Sincerely,
Akiba Smith-Francis
MBA Mission
646-485-8844
Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insiders Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free Consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php
Hi Akiba ,
Just a small request, please quote your reply against the original post. It will help us understanding whom you are addressing/answering.
Thanks
Hi Akiba ,
Just a small request, please quote your reply against the original post. It will help us understanding whom you are addressing/answering.
Thanks
hey what replies, it looks like some bot to me
I don't think the poster (human/machine) is even reading any queries but simple posting templates at random from some pre-prepared auto replies
God knows what make them further advertise their expertise? :drinking::drinking:
ANdy
Hello MBA mission team,
I have 5 years of industrial sales, marketing & business planning experience in India, currently working in Middel east Asia ( 3rd job) with each job I had increasing role, deliverables & exposures. I am planning to apply next yr so by the time i will reach bschool (hopefully) i will have apprx 7 yrs of work exp. I am B.tech (chemical) from IIT Bombay (2004) with several cultural & leadership accolades during college. I have worked with NGOs in past 1 yr and planning to work over here in middle east as well. After MBA im looking for international role in business strategy, imarketing, business development & strategy consulting roles. I have shortlisted IMD, Insead, LBS as I am looking for 1 yr programmes,
- Please let me know ur views abt my profile & few specific questions -
- Is IMD, Insead gud place for carrer changers
- Infact is 1 yr MBA a gud choice for carrer changer
- Is it true tht at LBS & Insead consulting & finance cos 'usually' select guys who come frm same bckgrnd pre MBA
- I dont want to apply to top 10 in USA coz usually i have seen thy prefer gud/great acaedemics & 3-5 yrs of stellar work exp - pls advise me if this perception is correct
-Are thr ne other gud MBA programmes with internship option, gud carrer services & truely international programme which i shud consider
- Wat r ur takes on Kellogs 1 yr MBA prog
thanks
NJ
Hello...
Thanx for taking time out to answer so many queries...
My question-
I left my previous job around 7 months back...my supervisor left the organisation a month before me.....would it be ok to take a reco from him considering that neither of us work for the organisation any more ??
Thanks,
Siddharth.
hello
Can you suggest me some good business schools for marketing/strategy/industry focused and who generally consider people with a higher work experience? I know about Kellogg and Ross for Marketing and IMD as an industry focused school. Can you suggest some more schools in US and Europe?
Regards
LK
Hello,
Thanks for your inquiry. It's a bit difficult to provide a comprehensive evaluation of your profile without the details of your grades, either from college or the GMAT. It does seem that you have been successful professionally, perhaps receiving a promotion in your most recent job. One thing I want to caution you about is that if you apply to business school five or six years after college, I would advise you to focus on the "extracurricular" activities and volunteer work that you have done since graduating. In general, we advise applicants to focus on their achievements in the past 3-5 years and some schools actually specify that in the instructions for their essay questions.
In terms of your questions about one year MBA programs being good for career changers, I think that MBA programs in general are helpful for people who want to change careers as you will be exposed to classmates and professors who can give you insight into the career(s) you are exploring. It will also be easier to reach out to companies as a student than a professional who works in a completely different field. That written, one year MBA programs may not allow you to do the lengthy internship that full time MBA programs permit. Summer internships help students learn more about the company and industry they are interested in and can lead to an offer for a full time job.
Top ten U.S. business schools do look for candidates who have made a significant impact on the people and organizations with whom they have worked, in addition to having good grades. They don't necessarily require 3-5 years of work experience as you mentioned. Most of our experience involves working with candidates who are applying to full-time MBA programs, so I am not as familiar with one year programs that I could recommend to you. Kellogg is an excellent school, with a great reputation. I recommend you research the program you are interested in to determine whether it offers what you are looking for. I hope I have answered all of your questions.
Sincerely,
Akiba Smith-Francis
MBA Mission
646-485-8844
Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insider's Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free Consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php
Hello Siddharth,
Yes, it is OK to ask your previous supervisor for a letter of recommendation. The AdComs are interested in getting the perspective of someone who has worked closely with you and your previous manager should still be able to provide that perspective even though neither of you work at that company any longer.
Sincerely,
Akiba Smith-Francis
MBA Mission
646-485-8844
Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insider's Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free Consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php