Profile Evaluation - Indian,Female, Non- IT, Retake GMAT? : Ask mbaMission

Hi, Thank you for the opportunity for a profile evaluation.

Demographics :

Female, 26 years, Non - IT, Indian
Will be first in my family studying in the US

Education and Scores :

1. Under-grad : 9.05 GPA : B.Tech ( graduated with Honors) Electrical and Electronics Engineering, College of Engineering Trivandrum ( Top 1 in Kerala state, Tier 3 in India )
Awarded : Prof. V K Savithri Endowment Award - Best outgoing Female student in EEE 2019
R S Varier Memorial Endowment - Top 3 in final year of EEE 2019

2. High School : 12th Standard : 91.4% CBSE, Kendriya Vidyalaya Thrissur, Kerala - Top scorer in English in school
10 th Standdard : 10/10 GPA

Certification and courses :
1. Introduction to Marketing, UPenn Wharton, Coursera
2. Product Management, Transforming opportunities into great products, Stanford Center of Professional Development

GMAT : 720 ( 39V 48 Q ) on third attempt ( 690, 710 )
TOEFL : 113 ( expired ) - need to retake


Publications :
1. Redox flow battery based transmission system for increasing renewable energy utilisation and electric vehicle adoption :
IEEE Explore + Best Paper : IEMRE 2021, Institute of Engineering and Management, Kolkata, India

Work Experience :
1. Product Manager at MarTech SaaS startup ( joined as 8th employee ) : 1.5 years to present ( Took from seed funding to Series A funding)
2. Project Manager at ABB ( Fortune 500 ) - 2 years : Won trailblazer award for customer impact and achieving revenue target during COVID-19, Managed 16 projects (portfolio worth : 4.4MUSD) including complete ABB MV drives project portfolio for ArcelorMittal Nippon steel India, Resolved (hostile) customer site issue of over 2 years releasing $26000, Completed over 10 customer acceptance tests with zero rejections with
avg-20 hours conflict resolution time, Restructured service cost flow framework preventing overspending &
un-authorized service visits leading to cost reductions of ~10%/project, Established service handover framework in collaboration with service team
reducing overall project team involvement later ~ 15hrs/project.
3.Design Assistant Intern - ANERT - Agency for New and Renewable Energy Research and Technology : Designed Solar rooftop Renewable energy systems of various sizing ( 1 month ) : Worked out primary resource study for Solar - Wind hybrid Microgrid at Ponmudi, Trivandrum
4. IoT Developer - Perfomatix - Founded the department - Developed 15 sensor array plan for detailed office automation systems ( 2 months )
5. Intern - AMMINI Solar LTD - Learning methods of Mass production, Quality control & circuit development of products utilising Solar Energy. ( 1 Month)
6. Industrial Training - SABARIGIRI HYDRO POWER PLANT, MOOZHIYAR - Training on hydel generation, pumped storage, HV Transmission ( 1 week )



Co-curriculars :
1. Chief Operating Officer at SWIM ( Save Wetland International Movement ) Non-govt operative: Working towards establishing RAMSAR protected wetland sites in India with the state govt of Kerala
2. Volunteer - HOPE ( Helping Outstanding Pupil in Education ) - Scholarship and mentorship schemes for low income students showing academical excellence.
3. Volunteer - Electrical Inspection, Repair and Cleanup & Rehabilitation - 100 year Flood, Kerala 2018.

In College :
1. Executive Member : EDC - Entrepreneurship Development Cell, College of Engineering Trivandrum ( 1 year )
2. LINK Representative : IEEE Kerala Section : Campus Liaison for IEEE Kerala Section, handling communication for over 10 IEEE societies on campus ( 1 Year )
3. Founding Vice Chair - IEEE Power & Energy Society, College of Engineering, Trivandrum ( 1 year )
4. Ideator and Event Head - Ideated and led the first VR maze solving event in India. Developed video streaming quasi-VR system for the event.
5. Co - Convenor - DISHA ( fresher's week ) - Coordinated over 70+ competitions for fresher's week, Anchor for Disha Concluding night celebrations

Hobbies
State level - Chess player
Swimming, Avid Reader and watercolorist

I was hoping to pursue a sales &/ marketing or entrepreneurship MBA and hope to either start my own or work with a startup on graduation. What would some good schools for me? How strong would my prfile be for a place like stanford gsb? Do I stand a chance at any of the top 10's ( Stanford, Harvard, Kellogg, Tuck, LSB etc)?
What would be the correct schools for me? In the US and outside the US ( Australia or Asia that has comparable value in the job market )?

Other Note :
I was preparing for my MBA and taking my GMAT in June 2021, when my father passed away suddenly due to COVID. I however, managed to change my job ( with a 3x salary improvement from project to product management ) in the next 4 months and returned and took my GMAT the next year. Should I mention the same in my essay to show grit and desire for the MBA?

Thank you again for reviewing the above.

Hi HrithuOlickel,
Thanks for posting your profile. Firstly, your academics look robust - with a solid GMAT and graduating undergrad with honors.

Importantly, your professional achievements are impressive. It looks like you have made quite an impact at work! This is something that all business schools are looking for - strong performers and leaders. You also demonstrate a lot of initiative and leadership through your extracurricular activities. I'm so sorry for your loss during Covid. What tremendous grit you showed by persevering through a difficult time. As for extracurriculars, it looks like you were an active student leader during undergrad, and presently in your community. These leadership experiences are qualities the top business schools are looking for.

Overall, I think you have a competitive profile for the schools on your list. As a GSB alum, I definitely encourage you to apply to Stanford (and the other schools as well)!

As you pull your apps together, be sure to weave in your significant personal and professional stories to help AdCom understand who you are, what drives you, and what you’re passionate about. If you can articulate this compellingly in your essays, that would be the key to your application success. If you would like to discuss your profile in more detail, feel free to schedule a 1:1 consultation with us. Wishing you the best in your MBA journey!

Sincerely,
Debbie

Thank you for the reply, Debbie.
GSB is my dream school but I was doubtful of applying there. I would have to loved to work this through with you, but in the absence of dad, I'm not in financial position to pay for a consultation.
But I truly, value your words of encouragement there, and think I will apply to GSB in R3, thanks to your message above ( coming from GSB alum, its really a big push).

Wishing you a good day!