Ask Sia Admissions : Ask Admissions Consultants - Page 2

PROFILE EVALUATION

Basics
Male, 24, White (Ukrainian, Jewish Immigrant —> American Citizen)

Undergrad
Hunter College (Macaulay Honors Program) in City University of New York (CUNY)
Major: Computer Science, Minor: Political Science
GPA: 3.94, GRE: V - 168, Q - 170, AW - 5.5

Awards
- College Valedictorian
- Hertog Scholar
- Goldsmith Scholar

Experience
- Software Engineer at Bloomberg for 3 years (full-time)
- Adjunct Lecturer of CS at Hunter College (part-time in evenings after Bloomberg)
- iOS Developer Intern at Foursquare (full-time summer internship)

Extracurriculars
- hackNY Fellow 2015 and Mentor 2016 & 2017 (Social good + tech organization)
- Moot Court Team Co-founder at Hunter College

Miscellaneous
- Stanford Summer Session Student (GPA: 4.0)
- Technology-based research in (1) Geography lab and (2) Computer Vision/Robotics lab
- Tech projects including MORPG game (college Capstone), un-“filter bubbled” news app (Facebook Journalism Project winner)

Recommenders
- Team Lead at Bloomberg (MBA & MS)
- Assistant Professor of CS at USF (MBA & MS)
- CS Chair at Hunter College (MS only)

Post MBA/MS Goals (Note: I am applying to MBA and MS in CS dual or joint degree programs)
- Globalizing volunteerism across disciplines through a design-thinking, civic-tech based startup
- CTO or Team Lead at self-founded or early stage startup, or Google X

Schools
- Stanford (MBA/MS)
- Harvard (MBA/MS)
- Carnegie Mellon (MBA/MS)
- UChicago (MBA/MS)
- Cornell Tech (MBA)

Hi simonayzman,

Thank you for your post, and for sharing your profile. You have an excellent profile with some incredible achievements. Warranted, you are targetting fitting programs. What will be challenging, which is always the case with dual programs, is applying to and being admitted into two programs, MBA and MS. Not undoable, of course, especially with a profile like yours, but it will require a strategic approach to both applications for each school. I would recommend you take the necessary time to flesh out your professional goals, why an MBA/MS, and why now, as that is instrumental to the success of your candidacy. You have accomplished so much thus far, so be sure to spend the remaining time, between now and the application deadlines, laying out your career plans.

I hope you are considering applying to the Knight-Hennessy scholars program at Stanford, whose application is due September 18th! If so, you must apply to R1 at Stanford.

I welcome the opportunity to continue the conversation. If interested, please reach out to coordinate a free consultation (contact details in signature).

Good luck!

simonayzman wrote:PROFILE EVALUATION

Basics
Male, 24, White (Ukrainian, Jewish Immigrant —> American Citizen)

Undergrad
Hunter College (Macaulay Honors Program) in City University of New York (CUNY)
Major: Computer Science, Minor: Political Science
GPA: 3.94, GRE: V - 168, Q - 170, AW - 5.5

Awards
- College Valedictorian
- Hertog Scholar
- Goldsmith Scholar

Experience
- Software Engineer at Bloomberg for 3 years (full-time)
- Adjunct Lecturer of CS at Hunter College (part-time in evenings after Bloomberg)
- iOS Developer Intern at Foursquare (full-time summer internship)

Extracurriculars
- hackNY Fellow 2015 and Mentor 2016 & 2017 (Social good + tech organization)
- Moot Court Team Co-founder at Hunter College

Miscellaneous
- Stanford Summer Session Student (GPA: 4.0)
- Technology-based research in (1) Geography lab and (2) Computer Vision/Robotics lab
- Tech projects including MORPG game (college Capstone), un-“filter bubbled” news app (Facebook Journalism Project winner)

Recommenders
- Team Lead at Bloomberg (MBA & MS)
- Assistant Professor of CS at USF (MBA & MS)
- CS Chair at Hunter College (MS only)

Post MBA/MS Goals (Note: I am applying to MBA and MS in CS dual or joint degree programs)
- Globalizing volunteerism across disciplines through a design-thinking, civic-tech based startup
- CTO or Team Lead at self-founded or early stage startup, or Google X

Schools
- Stanford (MBA/MS)
- Harvard (MBA/MS)
- Carnegie Mellon (MBA/MS)
- UChicago (MBA/MS)
- Cornell Tech (MBA)

_________________

Thanks for the reply! I’m in the process of writing essays and fleshing out some of those ideas.

And yes! I’m applying to the Knight-Hennessy. An amazing opportunity.

Great! Reach out if we can be of assistance.

simonayzman wrote:Thanks for the reply! I’m in the process of writing essays and fleshing out some of those ideas.

And yes! I’m applying to the Knight-Hennessy. An amazing opportunity.

_________________

Hi. I have 15 years of education. I want to apply for Masters in Managment in Canada. Most canadian universities and B-Schools accept only 16 years of edcuation. Will it help if i do a 1 year post graduate diploma or a any other post graduate program and then apply for MS? Will it become equivalent to 16 years of education. Thank you.

Sent from my SM-G610F using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

Hi Natashaprabhu97,

Thank you for your post. Have you reached out to target schools to confirm your eligibility as it pertains to your academic background? Standards vary from institution to institution. I would require more information to provide an adequate assessment. If you feel more comfortable sharing your information in private, please email us at infoSiaAdmissions so we can guide you further.

Good luck!

Natashaprabhu97 wrote:Hi. I have 15 years of education. I want to apply for Masters in Managment in Canada. Most canadian universities and B-Schools accept only 16 years of edcuation. Will it help if i do a 1 year post graduate diploma or a any other post graduate program and then apply for MS? Will it become equivalent to 16 years of education. Thank you.

Sent from my SM-G610F using GMAT Club Forum mobile app

_________________

Hi, I am an Indian national lawyer working with an Indian law firm. I have been working for 2 years now, and my practice area has been predominantly venture capital. I graduated from a national law university in the year 2016. I am currently preparing for GMAT. What are my chances to get into a good B-school programme? Would a MIM (Masters in Management) course be a better fit for me?

Hi garima5,

Thank you for reaching out. I am happy to evaluate your profile; however, with such limited information, it's impossible for me to do so. Which university did you graduate from? What's your overall CGPA? Tell me about your job. Have you been promoted? Do you have leadership experience? Have you been involved in community outreach/extracurricular, while in school or post graduation? Why do you require an MBA? Why now? What is your post-MBA objective? What geographic region do you plan on being employed in post graduation? These are only some of the questions whose answers I require to guide you.

If you would like to have a live conversation (call), please reach out to schedule a free consultation (contact details in signature).

Good luck!

garima5 wrote:Hi, I am an Indian national lawyer working with an Indian law firm. I have been working for 2 years now, and my practice area has been predominantly venture capital. I graduated from a national law university in the year 2016. I am currently preparing for GMAT. What are my chances to get into a good B-school programme? Would a MIM (Masters in Management) course be a better fit for me?

_________________

SiaAdmissions

Hello

I have a question regarding Wharton application. I took GMAT this year (which I would like to be considered as my score). I also have an old GRE score (from 4 years ago but still valid), which is low as I didn't prepare for it at all, and which I can not cancel

Wharton asks a question if I have taken GRE, it is obligatory question and if I say Yes, I must submit my scores. What if I don't want to submit my GRE results? Can I just answer No?

What is best to do in this situation? (My GMAT is a bit lower than average, I am already addressing this... Having a super low GRE on my application in addition to GMAT won't exactly be helpful)

Thank you

Hi kiki10,

Honesty is the best policy. I would answer the question truthfully, that you have taken the GRE. They will also see the great improvement between a 4-year old score and an improved GMAT score. It will be viewed as you being persistent and working towards improving your profile.

Good luck!

kiki10 wrote:SiaAdmissions

Hello

I have a question regarding Wharton application. I took GMAT this year (which I would like to be considered as my score). I also have an old GRE score (from 4 years ago but still valid), which is low as I didn't prepare for it at all, and which I can not cancel

Wharton asks a question if I have taken GRE, it is obligatory question and if I say Yes, I must submit my scores. What if I don't want to submit my GRE results? Can I just answer No?

What is best to do in this situation? (My GMAT is a bit lower than average, I am already addressing this... Having a super low GRE on my application in addition to GMAT won't exactly be helpful)

Thank you

_________________

Profile Evaluation Request:

Hello, First of all thank you for your help.

Some context about my profile:

-26 Years Old (Female)
-Indian
-Undergrad in law (Bachelor of Arts and Law BA LLB)
-GPA 3.7/5 (of the top University of my country).
- Worked as a venture capital lawyer for the past 2 years with a top law firm in India
-GMAT 670 Q47 V35
- Won a prestigious international moot court competition
- Extra curricular include singing and quizzing (have won multiple competitions at university and school level)

I was hoping to get into a top business school for the 2019 intake: (Mfin or related)
-Duke Fuqua
-Indiana Kelley
-Indian School of Business ISB
-National University of Singapore NUS

Alternatively, I also intend to apply to HEC for the Masters in Management Program.

Do I have any chance to get into any of these programs with my current profile?

I would appreciate any suggestion or comment.

Hi garima5,

Thank you for your post and for sharing your profile. You do have an interesting profile that I would like to learn more about. Quantitatively speaking, you are on the cusp of the average accepted student for most of these schools. What you will require to stand out is having a strong story and a well-defined reason for pursuing a graduate degree. I am happy to talk through your plans, should you wish. If so, please click here to begin the conversation.

Good luck!

garima5 wrote:Profile Evaluation Request:

Hello, First of all thank you for your help.

Some context about my profile:

-26 Years Old (Female)
-Indian
-Undergrad in law (Bachelor of Arts and Law BA LLB)
-GPA 3.7/5 (of the top University of my country).
- Worked as a venture capital lawyer for the past 2 years with a top law firm in India
-GMAT 670 Q47 V35
- Won a prestigious international moot court competition
- Extra curricular include singing and quizzing (have won multiple competitions at university and school level)

I was hoping to get into a top business school for the 2019 intake: (Mfin or related)
-Duke Fuqua
-Indiana Kelley
-Indian School of Business ISB
-National University of Singapore NUS

Alternatively, I also intend to apply to HEC for the Masters in Management Program.

Do I have any chance to get into any of these programs with my current profile?

I would appreciate any suggestion or comment.

_________________

Hi all,

I would appreciate any feedback you could provide on my profile for Wharton, LBS and INSEAD

- Age 22 at matriculation, Mauritian
- GMAT 740
- ACCA and CFA qualified. Completed ACCA at the age of 18 and CFA program at 21. However, no GPA given I did not attend any university. Wharton, LBS and INSEAD confirmed that my ACCA qualification will be equivalent to an undergrad degree.
- Spent 2 years and 4 months at Ernst and Young in the Corporate Finance Department with 2 promotions.
- Currently a Private Equity Analyst at the biggest bank in Mauritius - will have about 1 year of experience in PE at matriculation
- Post MBA goal is to work in PE
- Volunteer - Currently a volunteer at the round table association helping the homeless people and a mentor for the CFA research challenge to university student
- Member of the toastmasters club and regularly practice kickboxing
- Speak and write both French and English

Thanking you in advance for your feedback.

hi niclam2203,

Thank you for your post and sharing your profile. I would really like to learn more about your profile, especially your work in PE and the contributions you've made to the firm. As a next step, i would focus on telling your story, making sure you have a top-notch resume, and strong recommendation letters. If you are targetting Wharton, LBS, and INSEAD, prepare a compelling argument as to why you are targetting those schools and why you are a good fit. I am assuming you are applying in R1 2019 for 2020 intake (which I highly recommend as seats for PE are very limited), so use this time diligently to get to know each institution.


I am happy to continue the conversation. If interested, please click hereto coordinate a call.


Good luck!

niclam2203 wrote:Hi all,

I would appreciate any feedback you could provide on my profile for Wharton, LBS and INSEAD

- Age 22 at matriculation, Mauritian
- GMAT 740
- ACCA and CFA qualified. Completed ACCA at the age of 18 and CFA program at 21. However, no GPA given I did not attend any university. Wharton, LBS and INSEAD confirmed that my ACCA qualification will be equivalent to an undergrad degree.
- Spent 2 years and 4 months at Ernst and Young in the Corporate Finance Department with 2 promotions.
- Currently a Private Equity Analyst at the biggest bank in Mauritius - will have about 1 year of experience in PE at matriculation
- Post MBA goal is to work in PE
- Volunteer - Currently a volunteer at the round table association helping the homeless people and a mentor for the CFA research challenge to university student
- Member of the toastmasters club and regularly practice kickboxing
- Speak and write both French and English

Thanking you in advance for your feedback.

_________________

Hi, it would be great if you could spare a few minutes to evaluate my profile.

Age: 26
GMAT: 740 (Q50, V40)
Undergrad: Civil Engg, IIT
GPA: 7.1/10 (There is no direct conversion offered on a 4 point grade scale)
Professional experience: 5 years at matriculation
Working as a Sr. Product Manager at a large Indian diversified financial services company since the past 1 year.
Worked as a core team member leading Product Management & Analytics at a fintech startup for 2.5 years.
Worked as a Product Analyst (recruited from campus) for 1 year at a Tech Startup which was acquired by Amazon.
Good extracurriculars
Been engaged with 2 different NGOs teaching underprivileged kids for the last 1.5 years.

Post-MBA goals: Strategy consulting or Product Management

Thanks in Advance!

Hi simonayzman,

Thank you for sharing your profile. You seem to have very interesting experiences and background. Your GRE is strong, as well as your GPA. While Hunter is one of the better CUNY schools, it is a lower-tier university from your target. You have to take school ranking into account when you evaluate academics as well, but your awards will help your case.

As to the rest of the information, it makes it difficult to evaluate a bullet point list. I require more color to evaluate your professional experiences. MBA programs look not only for technical experience but also leadership experience. Can you speak to that? As to your post-MBA//MS goals, they might require further development. When I worked for a hedge fund, analysts, in particular, loved to communicate (verbally and in written form) short-hand and with bullets - it's all about saving time Unfortunately, when applying to these top-tier programs you will not only require to write long-hand, but also be introspective. I recommend you take some time now (before application portals open) to really flesh out your goals and go in the application season with a clearly articulated pitch of your story and goals. I hope this helps.

If you would like to continue the conversation and give more color to your background, I welcome a conversation. If interested, please fill this form (link) to coordinate a call.

Good luck!

simonayzman wrote:PROFILE EVALUATION

Basics
Male, 24, White (Ukrainian, Jewish Immigrant —> American Citizen)

Undergrad
Hunter College (Macaulay Honors Program) in City University of New York (CUNY)
Major: Computer Science, Minor: Political Science
GPA: 3.94, GRE: V - 168, Q - 170, AW - 5.5

Awards
- College Valedictorian
- Hertog Scholar
- Goldsmith Scholar

Experience
- Software Engineer at Bloomberg for 3 years (full-time)
- Adjunct Lecturer of CS at Hunter College (part-time in evenings after Bloomberg)
- iOS Developer Intern at Foursquare (full-time summer internship)

Extracurriculars
- hackNY Fellow 2015 and Mentor 2016 & 2017 (Social good + tech organization)
- Moot Court Team Co-founder at Hunter College

Miscellaneous
- Stanford Summer Session Student (GPA: 4.0)
- Technology-based research in (1) Geography lab and (2) Computer Vision/Robotics lab
- Tech projects including MORPG game (college Capstone), un-“filter bubbled” news app (Facebook Journalism Project winner)

Recommenders
- Team Lead at Bloomberg (MBA & MS)
- Assistant Professor of CS at USF (MBA & MS)
- CS Chair at Hunter College (MS only)

Post MBA/MS Goals (Note: I am applying to MBA and MS in CS dual or joint degree programs)
- Globalizing volunteerism across disciplines through a design-thinking, civic-tech based startup
- CTO or Team Lead at self-founded or early stage startup, or Google X

Schools
- Stanford (MBA/MS)
- Harvard (MBA/MS)
- Carnegie Mellon (MBA/MS)
- UChicago (MBA/MS)
- Cornell Tech (MBA)

_________________

Hello!

Requesting a profile evaluation for Top 20 US schools, Cambridge Judge and NUS Singapore please.

Background and nationality: Female, Indian

Undergrad Information:
Graduated with a 9.0 of 10 CGPA from a non-IIT college in India.
I topped my university in my first year of Information Science branch beating around 2500 students and securing a maximum grade of S in 11/12 subjects. As a result of this I got a merit seat in Computer Science and then went onto complete the remaining 3 years of my undergrad as a computer science student.
(Information Science and Computer Science are essentially the same branches in India with almost the same curriculum - Computer Science is slightly on the tougher side)
I interned with a local IT company in my second year of engineering.
I was an active volunteer for 1.5 years at a well known NGO - I taught Math and Science to the students of Grade 8, 9 and 10.
An active volunteer at college cultural events too throughout my undergrad.

GMAT: 700 (Q47, V40) - I really need help deducing if this is sufficient to get me through US/UK/Singapore top schools!

Work experience and leadership:
In my last semester of undergrad - I interned for 6 months with a Fortune 100 US company and landed a job with them. Been working with them for the past 4 years in the capacity of a software developer.
I was promoted to Senior Associate in my second year and to Manager in my third year with them.
I lead the Scrum/Agile process for the team and am always the talking point when it comes to interacting with the US counterparts.
I am very well known throughout the global team to be able to multi-manage and communicate effortlessly. I usually lead all the team calls and am always depended most upon to manage the team dynamics.
I am also known to be extremely creative and won the best creative team award for my team at one of our Global events.
I am active member with the firm's Toastmasters club and have served on its club officers group for a year (as a Vice President of PR and as Club Secretary)
I have participated in public speaking competitions(won second place at Division level), hosted events(hosted the area and Division events in my city), mentored folks (mainly involves honing their public speaking and leadership skills by providing constructive feedback/evaluations for every project/level they complete and guiding them structure and prepare their speeches) all over my city. I mentor about 25 people within my home club. I have completed the first level of toastmasters international and am currently in the advanced level. I have been recognized with a special award for my exemplary contribution to Toastmasters as a mentor and as a fellow toastmaster.

All suggestions will be much appreciated. Many Thanks!

Hi Mon16,

Thank you for reaching out. I have responded to your post here. If you would like to continue the conversation offline, please reach out.

Good luck!

Mon16 wrote:Hello!

Requesting a profile evaluation for Top 20 US schools, Cambridge Judge and NUS Singapore please.

Background and nationality: Female, Indian

Undergrad Information:
Graduated with a 9.0 of 10 CGPA from a non-IIT college in India.
I topped my university in my first year of Information Science branch beating around 2500 students and securing a maximum grade of S in 11/12 subjects. As a result of this I got a merit seat in Computer Science and then went onto complete the remaining 3 years of my undergrad as a computer science student.
(Information Science and Computer Science are essentially the same branches in India with almost the same curriculum - Computer Science is slightly on the tougher side)
I interned with a local IT company in my second year of engineering.
I was an active volunteer for 1.5 years at a well known NGO - I taught Math and Science to the students of Grade 8, 9 and 10.
An active volunteer at college cultural events too throughout my undergrad.

GMAT: 700 (Q47, V40) - I really need help deducing if this is sufficient to get me through US/UK/Singapore top schools!

Work experience and leadership:
In my last semester of undergrad - I interned for 6 months with a Fortune 100 US company and landed a job with them. Been working with them for the past 4 years in the capacity of a software developer.
I was promoted to Senior Associate in my second year and to Manager in my third year with them.
I lead the Scrum/Agile process for the team and am always the talking point when it comes to interacting with the US counterparts.
I am very well known throughout the global team to be able to multi-manage and communicate effortlessly. I usually lead all the team calls and am always depended most upon to manage the team dynamics.
I am also known to be extremely creative and won the best creative team award for my team at one of our Global events.
I am active member with the firm's Toastmasters club and have served on its club officers group for a year (as a Vice President of PR and as Club Secretary)
I have participated in public speaking competitions(won second place at Division level), hosted events(hosted the area and Division events in my city), mentored folks (mainly involves honing their public speaking and leadership skills by providing constructive feedback/evaluations for every project/level they complete and guiding them structure and prepare their speeches) all over my city. I mentor about 25 people within my home club. I have completed the first level of toastmasters international and am currently in the advanced level. I have been recognized with a special award for my exemplary contribution to Toastmasters as a mentor and as a fellow toastmaster.

All suggestions will be much appreciated. Many Thanks!

_________________

GMAT: 720 (Q47 V42 IR 8)

GPA: 3.5

Age 23 (applying in 3-4 years)

Management Consulting

Top 30 undergrad (Finance)

Masters Degree in Information systems GPA 3.33

White Male from the USA

Chances at top 10 schools? (Assume good Recs, volunteer, promotions, international exposure)

Hi delmoneyy,

Thank you for your post. While your 720 overall GMAT is a great overall score, I recommend you increase your Quant (given you have 3-4 years before you apply). Provided your score is increased, good Recs, strong community engagement, receive promotions, have evidence of leadership, international exposure, AND clarity fo goals, you have a competitive profile. Spend the next 3-4 years strengthening your profile on all fronts.

Good luck!

delmoneyy wrote:GMAT: 720 (Q47 V42 IR 8)

GPA: 3.5

Age 23 (applying in 3-4 years)

Management Consulting

Top 30 undergrad (Finance)

Masters Degree in Information systems GPA 3.33

White Male from the USA

Chances at top 10 schools? (Assume good Recs, volunteer, promotions, international exposure)

_________________