May 30, 2015
Jun 1, 2015
Jun 1, 2015
alanjensen wrote:Hey Alex,
Is there any benefit to networking with a former dean or director of admissions?
I am interested in HBS, Wharton, Booth, Sloan, Columbia, and Tuck.
At 1 of the 6 I have a connection to one of the former deans of the business school and at another a connection to former director of admissions.
Is there any benefit to getting a meeting with either of them to:
1. Better understand the type of applicant each school looks for. (I believe the answer here is yes)
2. Improve my odds of admission? If I am able to meet with one of the former dean's and have him/her put in a "good word" for me, would that impact my admissions decision?
In my industry this would be a no-brainer if I was trying to get a new job, but I am not sure if it would be looked down on in the MBA admissions world.
Also is there any benefit to having notable alumni from the school's vouch for me in the way of additional letters/calls to admissions/the school? I work with alumni from each of these schools, some very prominent ones. I already know who I want to write my LORs, I have worked closely with them and believe they can write a better recommendation, but I have other colleagues who are very successful & prominent that I have worked with less who would be willing to send additional letters to the schools on my behalf, but I haven't worked as intensely with them so I feel other options are better able to describe my skills, accomplishments, and impact.
***Given I have a competitive profile for the school to begin with***
Thanks!
Jun 8, 2015
Jun 8, 2015
yashvardhan90 wrote:Hi
Please evaluate my profile
25 (male)
Bachelor's in computer science engineering from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra.
GPA : 6.89 out of 10
Senior software engineer at Samsung Electronics ( 2 years).
I've developed a graphics benchmark application which measures the performance of graphics processor of a Smart TV, this was the first any such application was made for a TV as earlier it existed only for smartphones.
Along side my work as a developer I've taken up additional responsibilities like releasing the whole code base to the main upper level branches. We have multiple stages from where the code is pushed up regularly after thorough verification. I've the sole ownership of this verification and merging of code for a huge module which includes around 35 teams from all around the world in Samsung. This is a very rigorous task as code changes are made every minute and they are to be catered immediately.
I'm also a Global Workplace Agent for my group which consists of around 300 employees, where my task is to organize parties and events at company level.
I've been promoted every year.
I've co-founded two companies with my brother.
Co-founded a marketing company at the age of 18 which went on for 2 years.
Co- founded a rubber band manufacturing company at the age of 21, I looked after product manufacturing and all the technical aspects of the product like creating and improving the product, maintaining the quality in mass production.
I've a GRE score of 316, I've not taken GMAT yet.
Post MBA goals :
Short term : Switch to consulting.
Long term : To be an entrepreneur.
1. What are my chances of getting into top B schools.
2. If I should try for this year or the next. I would have 3 years of experience this year and 4 if I apply next year.
3. Please suggest which schools are achievable for me
Jun 18, 2015
Jun 24, 2015
Jul 18, 2015
Jul 22, 2015
Engr2012 wrote:Hi PrepMBA, Please evaluate my profile
Introduction
I am a 28 year old Indian male working in Canada for last 3 years in a top tier aerospace company. I intend to apply to top 15 schools for MBA in USA.
GMAT Score
650 (Q49, V30, AWA 6, IR 7)
690 (Q49, V34, AWA 5.5, IR 4)
Planning to retake and targeting 720+
Education
- UG GPA: 74.6% (top 10%)
- Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering
- Delhi College of Engineering, Delhi, India
- Won many extra curricular awards
- Master's GPA: 3.53
- Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering (Thesis based), 2 publications.
- McGill University, Canada
Work Experience
3.5 Years in a top tier Aerospace Company (Employs 30,000+ people and has 100 sites across the world)
- Working as Lead Certification Analyst (certify interiors for business jets for their structural integrity), making sure that the products conform to the regulations and industry standards.
- Manage a team of 5 engineers (for 1 program) and indirectly a team of 10 engineers (for 2 programs)
- Promoted to the above post after only 10 months of experience, pay raises double the usual amount for the past 2 years.
- Led 2 teams of 3 engineers each to oversee update of important company directives, guidelines and manuals that dictate the manufacturing and quality standards of the company.
Strong International Exposure
- Lived, Studied, Worked and travelled to multiple countries
- Nominated (only engineer) to go to France and USA to represent the facility at intra-company conferences and international symposiums
- Worked in International teams and leading a team of Engineers (located in UK, USA, France and Germany) to develop next set of methodologies that will save the company a lot of money once implemented.
Extracurriculars
- Tutoring kids at risk subjects such as Maths, Science and English from grades 3 to 12 (been close to 10 months now, 4-6 hours per week, volunteer basis).
- Team member of company's soccer team
- Teach professional and technical English (related to Aerospace Industry, both written and spoken) to colleagues after work
- Learning French and Spanish over the weekends
- Member of tennis and squash teams of YMCA and play as a member of Montreal Squash League
- Teach colleagues from work tennis after work
- Leading a team of 15 volunteers since 2013-14 for a community heart and eye checkup camp , held once every year for 3 days. This is a free event for anyone who wants to participate.
Post-MBA Goal
I plan to transition from Engineering based role to a management / strategy role in retail/technology. I wish to leverage my experience of leading diverse teams and apply the vast knowledge, exposure and experience I have gained in managing different product portfolios in retail/technology.
Target Schools
- Columbia (Early Decision) NOT POSSIBLE
- Chicago Booth STRETCH
- Stanford NOT POSSIBLE
- UCLA STRETCH
- UC Berkeley STRETCH TO NOT POSSIBLE
- Wharton STRETCH TO NOT POSSIBLE
- Cornell POSSIBLE
- NY Stern STRETCH TO POSSIBLE
- Kellogg STRETCH
- Duke Fuqua (Early Decision) POSSIBLE
- Michigan Ross MORE POSSIBLE
- CMU Tepper MORE POSSIBLE
- Yale SOM POSSIBLE TO STRETCH
All the above schools Round 1 or Round 2 , 2015, Full Time MBA
Questions
1. Do you think I have a decent shot at the school of my choice (listed above). It will be of immense help to me if you can categorize the schools above as
1) Not possible, forget about it!
2) Good Chance
3) Not at all easy but can be given a shot
2. Also please advise which schools I should target in Round 1 and in Round 2?.
3. Please also advise which other schools (not listed above) will help me achieve my career goals.
Aug 23, 2015
Sep 12, 2015
Sep 14, 2015
Sep 16, 2015
pria131 wrote:Hey Prep MBA,
Can you please help me in evaluating my profile :
Indian female
Grades :
Xth - 91%
XIIth - 88% ( Have been on scholarship since class 8th in school)
Undergrad ( NIT kurukshetra ) - 7.93/10 (2008-2012) Gpa 4.0 according to WES
GMAT - 720 (Q50, V38, IR5)
Work experience -
* Have been working in Samsung from the past 3 years
Have had 2 promotions in 3 years
First as a software developer, then moved into Pre-sales consulting owing to my interest in Marketing.
In that I worked with Samsung Sales division in APAC regions, assisted clients and partners in Dubai, SA, Thailand, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Singlehandedly set up a whole Enterprise business conclave in India marketing Regional HQ, Worked with directors of engineering of Hyatt, Oberoi, and Taj hotels.
Demonstrated Samsung solutions in events, conclaves, summits to CXO's of different verticals.
* Member of cultural commitee in Samsung, Won the best innovative project of the Quarter for a project, Winner of many cultural competitions held in Office.
Extra Curriculars -
* Won accolades for Dance from age 6, Working as a dance instructor in a Dance studio.
* 2 District level prizes in Arts, College level athlete( won 10 medals ) in NIT sports meet' 09, '10, '11
* Head of 3 committees in tech and cultural national level fests in NIT.
* Started a society for teaching Underprivileged children of College's workers. This has been published in a local newspaper of Kurukshetra.
* Working as a UN online volunteer for a research project on Women Situation in Thailand.
* Represented North Zone ( 4 states ) In a national level General knowledge Quiz held in Hyd.
* 1 district level prize in Analytical ability (scholarship given).
Working on my startup idea as well ( It would be completed by the end of the year )
Post Mba goal - I want to enter into Brand management or marketing.
My target schools are - Kellogg 1 year program, ISB, Insead, HEC paris, NUS, NTU, LBS, Oxford.
I even want a partial scholarship for these programs.
Can you please tell me about the shortcomings in my profile and how can I be the good fit for these above schools?
Do I need to hire consultant for the essays or should I try writing them on your own?
Sep 16, 2015
Pillarsofcreation wrote:Hi Alex,
Thank you so much for taking out the time to evaluate my profile. My credentials are:
Gender : Male
Nationality : Indian
Age : 29 years
Academics :
Xth - 83%
XIIth - 87%
Graduation : Chemical engineer from IIT Delhi (Consistently ranked among the top 2 engineering universities in India)
CGPA - 6.5/10
GMAT - 740
Work experience :
Total 48 months
* 1 year 8 months as a Proprietary trader at one of the largest prop trading firms in India. Not very famous outside India though.
* 2 years 2 months as cofounder of an educational startup that grew to 60,000 monthly users. Did not not raise venture funding. The startup has been closed.
* Managing director of family investment firm for the past 6 months. This is part-time so I don't really know how much it counts.
Extra Curriculars :
* Director of a family run Non Profit organisation that is working towards the prevention and eradication of Encephalitis. It's a small organisation currently and work has been limited to 3 districts in India.
* Captain of hostel soccer team.
International Exposure:
3 months as an International Research scholar at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Activities & Interest:
* Traveling : Have traveled to more than 15 countries. Into exploring cultures and understanding the values and traditions of people living in different parts of our beautiful planet.
* Soccer.
Post MBA goal - Product Management at an established technology company or a high growth startup so that I can learn valuable skills I am currently lacking, and which along with the lessons from my previous startup enable me to create an organisation that significantly improves the lives of people involved.
My target schools are - Wharton, Berkeley, Kellogg, UCLA. My main considerations are Location (Silicon Valley) and placement in technology companies.
I would love to know your view on my profile, preferably the weaker points and things that can be done to mitigate the weakness in my profile.
Again, thank you for doing this.
Sep 21, 2015
Nov 24, 2015
Dec 16, 2015
Jan 4, 2016
Feb 28, 2016
Mar 7, 2016
evilphilospher wrote:Age : 25
Educational Qualifications : Bachelors in Applied Petroleum Engineering
CGPA : 2.97, Equivalent percentage : 79.40%
Year of passing : 2012
Location :India
GMAT:710
10th: 89.8%
12th: 86.4%
TOEFL: 115
Work Experience
4 Years (By the time I will start applying it will be 5 yrs) in Reliance Industries Ltd. (India's largest private company with more than 40000 employees)
- Working as Workover Engineer (planning, executing and managing drilling and workover operations of oil and gas wells)
- Managing a team of 20+ engineers directly and more than 200 employees indirectly.
- Managing 200+ sites and 10+ Rigs (In-charge of all rigs).
- Revised and implemented operations procedures that led to reduction in down time from 15%(approx) to <2% effectively saving more than $5,000,000
- Take mentoring classes for new recruits (fresh graduates) and provide training to them about different oil and gas field operations.
Extracurriculars
- Teaching orphans, underprivileged children and illiterate adults via NGO subjects like Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Computers( More than 3 yrs now.)
- Team member of project's Table Tennis and Badminton team.
- Organized Free Health and Eye checkup camps, and Blood donation camps in various villages in India since 2013 , held half yearly. (Through company's CSR policy)
Target 1 : Full time MBA 2 years at a leading college
Target 2 : M Finance at a leading college
My questions :
1. An honest opinion about where I stand
2. What could I do to improve my case ?
3. As per my case, which are the schools that I should be looking at ?
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