Profile Evaluation Request For INSEAD Jan 2025 intake : Ask mbaMission

Hi there, I am an Indian expat living and working in the UK for the past 4 years and planning to take the GMAT to start my MBA applications early in 2024 and targeting a Jan '25 intake.

Demographics
Nationality - Indian, will be British citizen at the time of application
Gender - Male
Age - 32 (during the program if successful)

Undergrad - Mechatronics Engineering (Hons) with a final GPA of 2.5/4 from the City University of Hong Kong (Top 50 in the world)
Postgrad - Engineering Enterprise Management with a final GPA of 3/4 from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Top 40 in the world)

GMAT
Aiming for 700, but might range from 670-720.

Work Experience
A total of 7 years of work experience, 4 years in Hong Kong, 3 in the UK so far. Will have a total of 9 years by the time of admission. Most of it is in Product or BizOps.

Since the very start, I have been working in early stage to growth stage start ups and scales in the eCommerce SaaS space along with technology consulting experience in the UK.

Currently working as a Product Lead at a growing start up, helping them scale globally.

Extracurriculars
Photography as a hobby that I picked up during my undergrad in Hong Kong, have an Instagram portfolio with approx 8k followers.
YouTube channel I run with my wife as a hobby, 35k subscribers.
Picked up road cycling during the COVID lockdown and rode 3500km in between 2020 and 2022.


Leadership Experience
- Was hired as the first intern and employee at a very early stage start up and helped them set up everything from scratch, hiring and growing teams etc.
- Led a team of 5 remote employees while working as a the Head of Special Projects at a start up
- Worked as a Product Manager and Senior Product manager which were purely leadership roles, working with my teams and responsible for an entire product line.


International Experience
- Born and brought up in India, left India for Hong Kong for university / higher education.
- Studied, lived and worked in Hong Kong for almost 9 years which involved doing two degrees at two different top universities in Asia and worked for 4 years in multiple start ups before moving to the UK.
- Have been living and working in the UK since early 2019. Had the opportunity to work and live in London, Manchester and currently Edinburgh, Scotland.

Languages
English - Native speaker
Bengali - Mother tongue
Hindi - Native speaker
German - Intermediate
Cantonese - Beginner
Mandarin - Beginner

Post-MBA Goals
Short term: Strategy consulting roles at MBB or T2 firms in APAC / MENA
Long term: Product Leadership


Target School
INSEAD

Yes, its the only one school I am interested in as its the only 1 year program that can be done in both Europe and Asia and its the only program I am planning to apply for. Just wanted to know if a score in the 690-700 range will be enough for someone with a profile like mine?

Looking forward to the feedback

Hi agproductguy2023,
Thanks for posting your profile. Your languages are impressive! I also really like your international background and strong work trajectory.

For INSEAD, a GMAT score of 690-700 is within range, but I would encourage you to aim to get as close to their average of 710/720 as you can. Many applicants retake the GMAT multiple times these days to get the score they need.

Apart from your test score, another important area is to describe what motivates you to be passionate about pivoting to MBB, especially given your experience. Also, why MBA? What specific skillset or knowledge are you seeking at INSEAD that you have not gained on the job?

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