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Free MBA profile evaluation

Posted: January 31st, 2012, 11:55 am
by MBACrystalBall
Free MBA Profile Evaluation by MBA Crystal Ball

New Process: Folks were sharing unstructured information that made it difficult for us to review profiles. So we've changed the process a little. Please do NOT post your profiles on this thread. Click on the link below and fill up the form instead.

Profile Evaluation Form

Getting a response here is a privilege, not a right. We'll respond when we get some free time from our regular commitments. So be courteous and patient.

Demonstrate to us that you've done your homework before filling the form and you'll get a more practical (and enthusiastic) response from us.

If you are the more focused types (who realises that the others posting here are direct competitors) and if you are looking for some serious personal attention and mentoring, check out our MBA MAP application strategy and MBA Essay Review & Editing services.

We'll work together to improve the odds of success in the super-competitive world of international bschool admissions.

Free or paid, we'll try to make our association as fruitful as we can.

Let's start the party!


We've been providing free MBA advice on many leading MBA discussion forums including GMAT Club and Beat The GMAT. And each of them has had a fantastic response with hundreds of posts and tens of thousands of views from from serious Indian MBA applicants.

Several of the MBA admissions consulting reviews that we've got can be linked back to these sites. So we thought it was high-time we started something similar on our own website.

In order to keep the discussion focused and productive, it'll be great if you could share the following details:

- Your qualifications: degree, academic performance
- GMAT score: quant/verbal break-up, AWA
- Work-experience: Industry, role, number of years
- Major achievements at work and/or outside
- Career goals

Once you've shared this data, list out your specific queries and concerns. Generic and open-ended questions ('what are my chances', 'what GMAT should I aim for') will get you philosophical reactions more than actionable suggestions. That won't help either side.

Re: Free MBA profile evaluation

Posted: January 31st, 2012, 6:23 pm
by rg123
Hi,

Guess I'm the first one to post on this thread!
I'm a senior undergrad in India and applying to HBS 2+2 in Round 3 (this April). I've appended my profile at the end of this email. My concerns are about the Why MBA essay:

Post-MBA, I'm hoping to get into VC in India, particularly in early stage tech-startups that emerge from student research in universities (also called micro-VC). I've set up a fund in my univ to do somewhat the same thing - find high-potential projects, source funding and team them up with experienced mentors, but my dream is to build viable businesses out of these projects. I've experience as head of technical clubs and also set up a new club here from scratch. Also experience working with a top robotics start-up in India. I'll have 2 years of IB experience when I join HBS too (provided I get in :P).

My question is, does this come across as a convincing argument? Does my background fit in with the kind of career I'm looking to build? Will HBS buy it, and if not, what do I need to highlight to increase my chances? If this looks totally unconvincing, what are other possible post-MBA options I could research?

Regards,
rg123


Profile summary
-------------------------------------------------------
Academics:
- GMAT 760 (Q50, V42, AWA 6.0)
- Undergrad: IIT, GPA: 8.8/10, Electrical Engg
- Ranked in top 200 from 320,000 in IIT's entrance exam
- Couple of scholarships
- School topper (from 120 students)
- 2 publications (1 at a conference, 1 being submitted)

Internships:
- Summer Analyst, Quant Trading Desk at Top BB Inv Bank, converted to full-time offer (accepted)
- Research Intern in mathematical finance at the quantitative methods research group of IIM Ahmedabad.
- Intern with a TED fellow developing computer vision algorithms at a robotics start-up

Leadership/Community Involvement
- After clearing IIT's entrance exam, set up a free forum and assisted more than 200 students and parents from my home state (where I ranked 2nd), where students had little exposure to IIT and results were extremely poor
- Co-founder and convener of a tech-club at IIT in sophomore year - grew the club from 0 to 600 in a single year
- Rose to become the head of five technical hobby clubs - including astronomy, aeromodelling, electronics, coding, etc. Managed a team of 30 students; initiated and organized events for 5000 students
- Founded an innovation fund to provide students with funding and mentoring for technical pursuits. This program has led to successful projects with publications in international journals and participation in major events
- Won the Institute's Organizational Award for my impact on the institute's tech scene
- Institute mentor to 10 freshmen undergrads - to help them transition to campus life; selected to a team of 70 from 350+ applicants
- Part of IIT's social service team for an year - visited villages to promote technical aids developed on campus
- Led the web team of a (failed) start-up in the summer after freshman year

Miscellaneous:
- Karate Orange Belt
- Avid web developer for some 7 years, done a bit of freelancing
- Amateur astronomer, photographed transits/eclipses with a telescope
- Trained in Indian classical music for 3 years
- Interested in speaking/debating, won many competitions in school

Re: Free MBA profile evaluation

Posted: February 1st, 2012, 12:47 am
by MBACrystalBall
Thanks for the first post, buddy. And what a way to kick-start it!

When folks start off with, 'Harvard is my dream school...' the rest of the story (profile, accomplishments, potential) that follows generally doesn't sound as exciting. But in your case, the rest of the story is as fascinating as your goal.

Your profile reminds me of my colleague at MBA Crystal Ball, MG. Like you, he's also been a superachiever in whatever he has taken up. Though I don't think he's learnt any martial arts, so you have an edge there :-P

Alright, gushing over. Now let's roll up our sleeves and dig in. You've taken the chance to share a lot of personal data on an empty thread. So I'll be extra nice to you.

Let's start off with the acads. Top notch. So let's skip that.

Extra curriculars. Very interesting. You've had a chance to demonstrate your leadership potential on several occasions and the scale of impact is nothing to scoff at.

The internship with the bulge bracket investment bank will be a feather in your cap. All in all, a lot of things that Harvard Business School loves in its applicants.

Now your main question - Why MBA. This is an area that you'd have to think about just a little more. What works for you is the fact that you have been exposed to the startup world - with your event management (tech club) activities, robotics startup involvement, innovation fund etc. Great work. The only disconnect that could happen is between the Ibanking trading role that you'd be taking up (i.e. the skills you'd be picking up in the corporate world) and your aspirations to get into VC.

Contrary to popular perception, Ibanking roles may not do much for aspiring venture capitalists. The skillsets and the intuition required in the high-stakes trading business (in an Ibank) are very different from those required to pick winners in the seed/early funding stage. There's very little 'finance' in VC. It's more about being able to look at a thousand business plans and putting a finger on a couple that you can put forward for the consideration of your esteemed bosses in the VC firm.

Harvard gets a lot of applications from entrepreneurs, many of them would have very strong profiles (like yours) and experience/aspirations that might be (only slightly) better aligned. Your best bet would be to highlight your understanding of technology (if you are aiming for the tech VC arena), trends, an awareness of how the US VC industry operates and your passion for field, then you'd be a strong candidate.

One other point which you haven't asked about, but I'd like to point out anyway. You are applying in Round 3, which is generally considered a no-no, specially for international candidates. Unless you can show them that you are an outlier or a diversity candidate, applying too late in the process can work against the strongest of candidates.

Having said that I think you have a very strong profile. I'm sure you'll get into a great program, if not immediately then in the regular full-time 2 year cohort after a few years. Continue the good work and stay in touch. I'd be keen to know how your career pans out.

Re: Free MBA profile evaluation

Posted: February 8th, 2012, 12:46 am
by rahulg83
Hi,

I am targeting MBA starting in fall, 2013, and have been doing a bit of research on schools other related contents for the past 1.5 months. Following are my details:

Qualification and academics - Decent. Bachelor of Technologies from JSS, Noida in Electronics and Communication Engineering. Graduated with 75.5%, Honours (top 5% of the class)

GMAT score
- 710 (Q50,V35). AWA is 5.5. The problem is that I've given GMAT long back, in July'09. Will it impact my chances?

Work Experience - By Matriculation, I'll have 6 years of full time work experience. Currently, I've 4.5 years of work experience in Infosys/Wipro in Quality Assurance, all in Banking and Financial Sector. While in Wipro, I've worked for Standard Bank of South Africa as a Test Lead for 18 months, and was one of first 3 Wipro team members sent to Johannesburg to setup our project, which basically is to test the Core Banking Solution (Finacle) to be implemented in 18 African Countries, starting from Nigeria and Namibia. I was given Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) portfolio, and my task involved managing testing of all CIB systems interacting with Finacle.

During the tenure in South Africa, following were my most significant achievements:
1) Testing of Bank's Trade Finance Solution's integration with Finacle, Nigeria. I managed such quality testing, within a short duration of 2 months (the ideal time-frame is 6 months), that the development design was questioned heavily by the bank, and the integrated solution couldn't go-live with Finacle, whose going to production was must. Although a bank's loss in short term, it was seen as a major achievement for us as a testing team, and bank recommended my name to test the future retrofitting of the solution, whenever it comes.
2) On a similar lines, I was a contributor in delaying the go-live date for Finacle, Namibia, while testing another system. There were innumerable problems in design, and without compromising on quality, we managed to track each and every one. Finally, Standard Bank (Namibia) has to negotiate with Central Bank of Namibia for delay in go-live, so that the quality automated end-to-end solution of this particular peripheral's integration with Finacle can be achieved.
3) Received client award for excellent contribution in testing, both for Nigeria and Namibia.

The most peculiar aspect of the above two examples was to convince the bank business in such a way that they look for long-term profits, rather than short-term numbers, while retaining the reputation not only with Central Banks, but with its clients/customers. As a member of a service provider company, I lunged into a different platform to consult the stakeholders on what is right and what is not.

Right now, I've returned back to India, and leading a team of 5 people here and working for Bank's payments QA for next 4 countries. I am one of the two Offshore members chosen by our management to interact directly with the business on behalf of the team, for consulting Offshore team members, as well as current Onsite folks.

Extra curricular activities
:
1) During college, I was the member of the core group, who successfully managed to pull the sponsors for our college Annual Fest. Although, it sounds pretty odd, our college did not have any initiatives for fests etc. until we pitched in and showed the management that why an "Off-week" is required.
2) Member of the college as well as Infosys soccer teams.
3) Although I am in Chennai currently, I am whole-heartedly supporting (Financially as well) a NGO named Let's Live Together, which is based out of Bangalore, and takes care of adoption of homeless pups and kittens. I am moving to Bangalore on 1st of March, and planning to launch an initiative and a camp in Wipro on behalf of LLT. I'll also volunteer each and every adoption drive of LLT. Dogs are my PASSION, and I believe that this is my greatest chance to do something for the animals who give unconditional love to us, without questioning!!

Career Goals - I'd definitely like to make a transition from a service based industry into a full-fledged consulting/strategy role. I love Banking, so I wouldn't see myself diverging from the domain. But, I see myself involved in making Strategic Decisions for a leading International Bank. Yes, I agree that during the course of one's MBA, the focus can shift, but if everything goes as per the plan, this is where I see myself after 5 years. We, as Wipro Employees, definitely do informal consulting, as I mentioned in my above examples, but the bank always takes it with a pinch of salt. This is one restriction I want to break.

The most dreaded question in front of me right now is - 1 year or 2 years. I know that a 2 year MBA should give a lot of time to think, and steer your career as the situation/economic environment demands. I am inclining towards 1 year, but I will be shifting focus completely from IT to consulting and this is where my doubt arises for 1 year. Will I get sufficint time to do so??

I have still not filtered out any specific schools (Of course, I've quite some time to do so now), and will start to sketch out specific options in couple of months' time, depending on where my research leads me into.

I am already 28 now, and by the time I start my MBA, I will be touching 30, so personal priorities do have a certain weightage here. :)

Please evaluate my profile. Although, you might find it too long and boring to read, this is another aspect I am working on - how to market yourself in as less words as possible, so please pardon me for now. ;)

Re: Free MBA profile evaluation

Posted: February 9th, 2012, 3:33 pm
by MBACrystalBall
rahulg83 wrote://..you might find it too long and boring to read, this is another aspect I am working on - how to market yourself in as less words as possible ;)
I agree Rahul-bhai. You've pasted the equivalent of 3 full-length MBA essays :-)

// GMAT score - 710 (Q50,V35). AWA is 5.5. The problem is that I've given GMAT long back, in July'09. Will it impact my chances?

This would be a 3+ yrs old GMAT score. Technically, it'll still be within the 5-years validity range, but some schools might prefer a more recent score. Their websites will specify this.

// I'll have 6 years of full time work experience

Your entire experience has been in the QA/Testing area. The career track out there is a little different from many who'd be talking about the coding/business-analysis/design/implementation. The skills you have developed in that role are also a little different from the other IT folks.

What's good about your role is that Finacle is a solid bank-in-a-box product that would allow you to learn a lot about how the various banking processes work. That's some good domain knowledge.


// Extra curricular activities

You've got plenty of good stuff out here. In your essays, be careful that you don't dump all the data for Adcoms to figure out what's happening. Squeeze out the juice and hand it over to them in a nice, long, appealing glass.

// Career Goals - I'd definitely like to make a transition from a service based industry into a full-fledged consulting/strategy role.

If you've got the domain (banking) fixed, then that allows you to explore many options around it. Good!

//The most dreaded question in front of me right now is - 1 year or 2 years...I am inclining towards 1 year, but I will be shifting focus completely from IT to consulting and this is where my doubt arises for 1 year. Will I get sufficint time to do so??

The big advantage of 2 year programs is the internship opportunities you get. Having said that, if you look at statistics for 1 year programs (available on their websites), a big chunk of guys manage a career change in the shorter duration as well.

It's just that a 1-year MBA will give you very little time to 'waste' and you'll have to be on your toes right from the word Go.

// I am already 28 now, and by the time I start my MBA, I will be touching 30, so personal priorities do have a certain weightage here. :)

You could still have a mix of 2 year and 1 year programs in your Bschool shortlist. Take into consideration the country you want to work in as well. If you want target 1 year European programs, then it'll be tough for you to transition into the US for jobs. And vice versa.

Re: Free MBA profile evaluation

Posted: February 12th, 2012, 8:43 pm
by joinashish
Kindle analyze my profile and suggest me the colleges where I may apply

GMAT score: 710 ( Q=50; V=35)
Citizenship: Indian
Age: 31
Class-X: 85.4% from C.B.S.E.
Class-XII: 77% from C.B.S.E.
Degree: B.Tech (Electronics Engg.)
College: KNIT Sultanpur ( a state govt. college)
Year of graduation: 2004
Percentage: 71% (ranked 7 out of a competitive class
of 60)
Marital status: Married
Years of experience: 8 years

Current Employment Bharat Petroleum Corporation limited (a govt.
(2006-present) enterprise and a Fortune 500 Company) as an
Assistant Manager.
Experience: Oil & gas Sector-Cross country pipeline projects
encompassing designing, tendering, planning,
engineering, and site execution, liasioning with
statutory authorities.

Past Employment Shyam telelink Limited( now MTS)
(2004-2006)
Experience: (Telecom service provider) Worked as a node
incharge,handled the customers complaints & new
connections,lead the 6 members technical staff.
Extra Curricular activities:
•Participated and won various events at school and
college level,
•presented paper at college and also represented BPCL
at AIMA.
•Attended various camps in NCC at school.
•Won distinction certificate in National Mathematics
Olympiad Contest.
• Was the member of Organizing Committee of National
level fest organized in the college.
•Was the member of Training and Placement team of the
college
•Won first prize in Paper Presentation In the event
organized by I.E.E.E. chapter of the college.
•Won various prizes in different events at college and
school level.
•Executive of Literary council of the college.
•Played in volleyball team at regional level at
school.

Re: Free MBA profile evaluation

Posted: February 13th, 2012, 6:32 pm
by MBACrystalBall
// GMAT score: 710 ( Q=50; V=35)
Citizenship: Indian
Age: 31
Degree: B.Tech (Electronics Engg.)
Years of experience: 8 years
Current Employment Bharat Petroleum Corporation limited


Thanks for sharing your details, Ashish.

Can you also please let me know what your post-MBA career plans are? Are you looking at a change of industry, geography, role?

Re: Free MBA profile evaluation

Posted: February 13th, 2012, 10:44 pm
by joinashish
My current role: I am working in Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd since 6 years in Engineering and Projects department. I am in management cadre on the role of Assistant Manager. My responsibility is to deliver the maximum output within the scheduled time and that too by keeping the safety practices and quality measures. This job is very demanding and challenging in nature but I like challenges, so it suits to me.

My reason for MBA:

1. Everyone wants growth and I am not an exception. Presently I am managing the contactors, clients, subordinates and statutory authorities, so why not with a specified expertise and degree and that too from a reputed university/college.

2. Presently I am working with a Public sector undertaking (PSU) i.e Bharat Petroleum Corporation ltd. Though company culture is very transparent, it can not stretch itself beyond its limits which are reflected in its delayed promotions and lack of acknowledgements. I want to get rewarded as per my efforts.

3. Presently I am posted at Bharatpur which is geographically a very small district. So, I want a fixed location with a role which adds my value with the passing years.

As per your Question:

1. As far as, industry is concerned, I have no problem with the oil and gas sector.
2. Geographically I am seeking a decent location where I can get settled.
3. I look forward to change my role in the same sector to consultancy, energy trading, business analyst or project management.

Kindly suggest me the colleges in which my goal and profile fits. I am considering both 1 yr and 2 yr programs. Thanks for your kind cooperation.

Re: Free MBA profile evaluation

Posted: February 13th, 2012, 11:46 pm
by MBACrystalBall
//My current role: I am working in Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd since 6 years in Engineering and Projects department. I am in management cadre on the role of Assistant Manager.

Thanks for the additional inputs, Ashish.

//My reason for MBA:

Your overall thinking is going in the right direction. But I think you'd need to fine-tune that story a little more. To get you started, based on the list you have outlined, you might want to start thinking about the following questions:

If find the going a little slow in a public sector company, can't you just move to the private sector and experience life onto another track? It can have a direct impact on many of the concerns you have outlined.


// As per your Question:
1. As far as, industry is concerned, I have no problem with the oil and gas sector.
2. Geographically I am seeking a decent location where I can get settled.
3. I look forward to change my role in the same sector to consultancy, energy trading, business analyst or project management.


It's good that you like the Oil & Gas industry. That puts you in an under-represented applicant pool. It also gives you an advantage when you will be talking to prospective employers for a post-MBA job.

One concern for 2 year programs in the US could be the age. You'd be 32+ when you start the MBA and 34+ by the time you graduate. While your classmates would be 5-6 years younger. So in your situation, I'd focus more on the 1 year programs. Quite a few for you to choose from in Europe (check out the Oxbridge options, IMD and the Spanish schools), if you can live with the uncertainty of the economy.

The other excellent option if you want to be in India is IIMA PGPX.

Irrespective of your bschool shortlist, you'd better start working on the GMAT and get it out of the way quickly. Once you have your GMAT score, you will find out if you are competitive for many of these schools.

Re: Free MBA profile evaluation

Posted: February 15th, 2012, 9:30 am
by kmatt
Hi,

Im working for a company called Halliburton. This is in the oil and gas sector. I have completed 16 months here. My designation is an MWD Engineer. My job is basically to drill deviated wells for oil or gas. Currently I am the project lead for a CBM project in West Bengal. Prior to working for Halliburton I was working for a company called ITS Energy services. I was working as a Sales Engineer for 10 months, before deciding to jump to Halliburton to gain hands on experience.So my cumulative experience is 26 months. But by the time I matriculate I would have around 46months of experience. I graduated in 2009 from Mumbai University, completing B.E. in Mechanical. My GPA is around 3.2. I gave my GMAT recently and scored a 700 and 5 on AWA. I will be retaking the exam to try for a higher score.
My goal is to work in corporate strategy or Business Strategy for oil majors like Chevron, Exxon, BP... My future goal is a consultancy start up for mid level oil companies, that struggle to to grow in the Indian market as it very different from the international market.
My target schools are: Yale, Darden, McCombs, Tuck, Kellogg, Ross, Duke, ISB. and Id also give Harvard a shot.
What are my chances at these schools?

Thanks :)