Ask Vikram Shah Consulting : Ask Admissions Consultants - Page 5

34 years, female, 8 years of experience- Pwc , ngo , business and then fmcg start up. Want to get into consulting post mba. Aiming for one year program. How realistic is insead and isb given a decent target score. Will age and extremely diversified background with zero consulting experience be a detriment for mba selection and job opportunities?

Also what other bschools should I look at?

Hi,I got 650 in my first gmat.female candidate.I have 10 years of US IT experience. Will this score be enough to apply for IIMs.Age 33

How do you make our list of b-school without having the GMAT score? Because as I’m still in the practise stage so not sure about the score.

SangamJena wrote:Exp by time of applying 8yrs. Age is 29 years would the age offset the higher work ex? Gmat is in 650 range trying to move it up, i work dorectky with international clients in consulting/bd

Hi,
I think schools will look at both the length and quality of experience that you bring to the table. Yet, GMAT is an important component and sometimes quality of experience can partly make up for a slightly less competitive GMAT score

abhi0888 wrote:I am quite old at this point (35 year). But I have a PhD in engineering and have been at a start up which was acquired directly due to my work. My GMAT is 720. I am Looking for a career in M&A mainly in manufacturing. What types of schools should I look into and be hopeful to get in? I am from Kashmir, India.

Given your age, I think you should seriously consider 1 year programs such as Kellogg, Cornell, USC Marshall. You could even take a shot at MIT Sloan Leaders Program. However, if you are concerned about recruitment since you will have to network to find yourself the ideal job, you could also consider a couple of 2 year programs.

Abhishekgmat87 wrote:I have 11 years experience in govt general insurance company . I have done btech with 62 %. I am heading my branch for last 4 years. I expect to score 700 on gmat. What’s my chances for IIM A,B,C Or L

I think for IIM A, you may need to score better on the GMAT. One of the others should work.
However, instead of speculating, I would say, get the score and then let’s see which schools you could target.

Kdivyank9 wrote:Hey, I come from a family business background who do you think will be the best person to recommend me?

I think you need to give me some more context. If you have board members, then great. Else a client could also be someone you could consider for a recommendation. Definitely not a family member.

Faith09 wrote:34 years, female, 8 years of experience- Pwc , ngo , business and then fmcg start up. Want to get into consulting post mba. Aiming for one year program. How realistic is insead and isb given a decent target score. Will age and extremely diversified background with zero consulting experience be a detriment for mba selection and job opportunities?

INSEAD and ISB are both attainable. I think you need to sell the diversity you bring. So that answers the admissions part. Regarding post-MBA job opportunities, you would need to really practice consulting case interviews to improve your chances of converting given that you will be competing with experienced consultants. But not a deterrent. Play to your strengths. Wish you the best!

Dwiti88 wrote:Hi,I got 650 in my first gmat.female candidate.I have 10 years of US IT experience. Will this score be enough to apply for IIMs.Age 33

I would encourage you to improve your GMAT score if you can.

Hello Vikram, I am based in Canada (citizen) and on higher side of work-exp (~15 years in IT/Software, non managerial, age 42 yrs); recently moved to new employer as a Product Manager. I took GMAT in Feb 2022 scoring 500. Wish to do FT-MBA fully immersive on campus, 1~1.5 years max in duration with January 2023 intake. IE Spain, HEC Paris, SDA Italy, UK Oxford Saiid, Cambridge Judge and US based schools offering 1 year programs (Cornell, NYU) are some schools I have shortlisted. What strategy would work best in my favor and other schools can I consider which are world renowned?

You’ve touched on considering the non-refundable deposits that B-schools require while selecting the schools to apply to. Could you expand on that? What’s the best strategy for international students to whom the thousands of dollars are a huge amount

Kdivyank9 wrote:How do you make our list of b-school without having the GMAT score? Because as I’m still in the practise stage so not sure about the score.

Very difficult, especially if you are not sure if you are going to land up with a 600 or 750. Either you can take a mock, figure out what you are likely to score and then select schools accordingly, or be more prudent, get your score and then identify your schools.

Kdivyank9 wrote:How do you make our list of b-school without having the GMAT score? Because as I’m still in the practise stage so not sure about the score.

That said, if you know that you are likely to score within a particular range, then you should be able to draw up an initial list.

Wow, good crowd here today

hsharma3 wrote:Hello Vikram, I am based in Canada (citizen) and on higher side of work-exp (~15 years in IT/Software, non managerial, age 42 yrs); recently moved to new employer as a Product Manager. I took GMAT in Feb 2022 scoring 500. Wish to do FT-MBA fully immersive on campus, 1~1.5 years max in duration with January 2023 intake. IE Spain, HEC Paris, SDA Italy, UK Oxford Saiid, Cambridge Judge and US based schools offering 1 year programs (Cornell, NYU) are some schools I have shortlisted. What strategy would work best in my favor and other schools can I consider which are world renowned?

You could also look at schools such as Manchester Business School, Warwick, Cranfield in the UK, IESE and ESADE in Spain. I’m assuming you want more international experience hence you aren’t looking for schools in Canada. I would ask you to try and improve your GMAT score but look at schools which have older candidates. HEC Paris may not. Share your resume with some of these schools before applying, have an informal conversation with them, discuss your GMAT score as well and read between the lines.
You should get some indication on which schools are encouraging you to apply.

kron0s wrote:You’ve touched on considering the non-refundable deposits that B-schools require while selecting the schools to apply to. Could you expand on that? What’s the best strategy for international students to whom the thousands of dollars are a huge amount

Rank your schools in order of preference. Make sure you are getting decisions from your preferred schools earlier. See the decision dates, the deposit deadlines and the deposit amounts as well before you apply. Plan accordingly. Try to get all your decisions in the same round.

NawalDwivedi wrote:Hi Vikram !! I am an Indian, Male Civil Engineer working in the government sector and have an experience of more than 6 years in design, execution and project management of rural infrastructure projects. I want to pivot myself into infrastructure advisory consulting role post- MBA. At a 670 GMAT score can you suggest some good in the US for full time MBA program. I’d mention that I have a good academic record and have got a gold and a silver medal in my undergrad and post grad.

I would encourage you to try and up your score to at least a 700 because sometimes even recruiters look at GMAT scores and 700 tends to be the minimum required score. Secondly, I would ask you to draw up a list of recruiters and see where they are located and try and find schools around those areas. I would rather work this way than start recommending schools straight away.

Karanbb1 wrote:Sorry for the previous messages. I have 3 years of work ex as of today working as a product analyst for BillDesk(Fintech company). I am an engineer with a degree from Mumbai University with a cgpa of 7.22. I have played tennis at a national level for over a decade. I also have a background in music and a few other sports. My gmat score is 710. A few colleges have told me that i might not be a good fit as they dont have a good sporting heritage.

It depends on what you are selling. You don’t have to sell sports, you could sell your fintech background. There are 2 things you need to consider: 1) what do you really want to do post MBA and that will help you decide what schools to select and 2) what story should you then sell to that school.

Thanks Vikram, I have international exp 10 years in Canada and 1.5 years in Australia

kron0s wrote:Hi Vikram,
Do applicants with 4-5 years of experience and no OFFICIAL managerial experience fare well in admissions and later on during their MBA? Should this be considered as a serious hurdle?

There are also lots of applicants who find themselves in industries or roles where there isn’t a real opportunity to officially manage people. So that should not be a deterrent. Schools look for leadership. Leadership can be displayed in many ways. From taking initiative at work, to challenging convention. So look for ways you have displayed leadership and leadership potential and try to sell that. With regards to how that will affect your career graph... can’t really comment because it depends on what industry/role you are targetting.

RV12345 wrote:I have 2 years of full time work experience at a small firm in India. How do I put this on my application so as to receive an admit since it is not a globally known firm. Also, what other aspects of my profile can I improve to compensate for a lesser work experience?

What is your GMAT score? How has your academic performance been? What have you done at work which can be considered a big deal? Find other strengths in your candidacy. Sell your strengths. I cannot comment more on what you should improve because I have no information on the quality of your experience, extra-curriculars, test scores or academics.
That said, younger candidates, even those working with smaller firms and lesser known recruiters to get in to competitive schools.

AsifMA wrote:Hi Vikram. I have. 12+ years of experience in commercial banking and I’m 35 years of age. I am based in GCC and want to consider 2 years MBA full time in the US so that I can get a good shot at recruitment in the US. Are there any schools that accept older applicants like myself in Full time programs?

Yes, there are. Sorry, what is GCC? But if you network on 1 year programs, you should still be able to find suitable opportunities. The problem older candidates on traditional 2 year MBA programs face is that most recruiters are recruiting for a different (younger) profile of people. Hence on the 2 year MBA you would still have to network a lot to find suitable opportunities.

I am quite old at this point (35 year). But I have a PhD in engineering and have been at a start up which was acquired directly due to my work. My GMAT is 720. I am Looking for a career in M&A mainly in manufacturing. What types of schools should I look into and be hopeful to get in? I am from Kashmir, India.

SangamJena wrote:

ConsultVikramShah wrote: Hi,
I think schools will look at both the length and quality of experience that you bring to the table. Yet, GMAT is an important component and sometimes quality of experience can partly make up for a slightly less competitive GMAT score

So I want to know which programs to target do I stand a chance with 2 year programs, or I shall look at 1year one, considering I want to get into consulting and US programs are the best for it.

At your age, yes, you stand a chance with 2 year programs. However, I recommend you apply to a mix of 1 year and 2 year programs. Consider USC Marshall, Emory for the 1 year (though both have great 2 year programs as well).

Abhishekgmat87 wrote:Whether higher age and experience is detrimental for admission in IIMs. I will be 36 by next year and 11.5 year experience

No. Not detrimental. Some of the IIMs prefer older candidates. You’ll be fine. Apply.

ConsultVikramShah wrote: INSEAD and ISB are both attainable. I think you need to sell the diversity you bring. So that answers the admissions part. Regarding post-MBA job opportunities, you would need to really practice consulting case interviews to improve your chances of converting given that you will be competing with experienced consultants. But not a deterrent. Play to your strengths. Wish you the best!

thanks for that. Also, which other bschools with one year program should I look at given my profile?

ConsultVikramShah wrote: There are also lots of applicants who find themselves in industries or roles where there isn’t a real opportunity to officially manage people. So that should not be a deterrent. Schools look for leadership. Leadership can be displayed in many ways. From taking initiative at work, to challenging convention. So look for ways you have displayed leadership and leadership potential and try to sell that. With regards to how that will affect your career graph... can’t really comment because it depends on what industry/role you are targetting.

Thank you. I work in IT and am targeting PM roles in Tech. Currently have a 710 but am looking to improve on it to offset my poor Undergrad(6.9/10 from a top NIT/IIT)

kron0s wrote:
Thank you. I work in IT and am targeting PM roles in Tech. Currently have a 710 but am looking to improve on it to offset my poor Undergrad(6.9/10 from a top NIT/IIT)

I think you will have to apply to a couple of safe schools because undergrad academics hold a lot of weightage and a good undergrad record is a given at some schools. Consider this when you are drawing up your list of schools. A strong GMAT score cannot always compensate but it will indicate your academic potential.

Hi vikram, Indian male, with an exp of almost 3 years now in consulting (half in a boutique firm and now in M&A with PWC US), I just wanted to ask will the split in experience with different organizations I have worked in prove a hindrance? And Also that when I apply I would not be holding any managerial roles as such, how important is it to have managerial experience with even less than 4 years of work ex, cause that’s when I would be applying, thanks in advance!