Should I apply to Round 3 of LBS 2023 intake? : Ask Admissions Consultants

Hi everyone,

First off, thank you so much for reading my post. I recently took my second GMAT attempt, and my score jumped from 660 (Q48, V34, IR 6) to 710 (Q48, V39 IR 3).

I have a few more days to the submission deadline of LBS round 3 for the 2023 intake. My letter of Recommendation and application form are all filled up. All I need to do is pay the fee and press send. But I am hesitating. I am wondering if I should just wait and send my application for round 1 of the 2024 intake instead to increase my chances. Can I please get some advice on this matter?

I am an Indian Male, 28 years old. Did my B.E. in electronics and communication from a local university in south India.

Work experience:
- 3 years at a global tech company as Senior AI engineer, in charge of designing, and implementing end-to-end automated AI pipelines for fraud detection and moderation. I have led teams of 4-5 people.
I live and work in Tokyo, Japan. I can speak conversational Japanese, Hindi, English, Kannada, Telugu, and Tamil.

- Before my stint at the big tech company, I worked for an up-and-coming startup working on self-driving cars for one year. Because of this, I have learned to appreciate the company cultures and differences in both startups as well as big companies.

Extracurriculars:
- I volunteer for a global suicide hotline on the weekends, I have been doing this for about 1 year, (underwent a 2-month intensive training), spoken to 100s of suicidal people, and de-escalated the situations.
- During the pandemic, When I was stuck in quarantine in India and couldn't go back to Japan due to border closures, I started a Facebook group to share information, personally reached out to embassies, and facilitated many people to reunite with their separated families between India and Japan, the group still has 1000 plus people and active to this day. I coordinated with a few amazing volunteers who helped me with helping people in need.

Extra-curricular:
- I do Olympic style recurve archery, and a member of the Japan national archery association.
- I love culture and travel and have traveled to all the prefectures of Japan.

As you can see, I have an interest in public service, The main reason I want to do an MBA is that I want to gain connections, and learn how to start a profitable sustainable business that can use my knowledge in AI for social causes.

One more thing I am worried about is my low IR score of 3 on my 710 GMAT. Will that have a huge impact?

I would really appreciate any advice. thank you so much for your time.


Edit 1:

To answer a few questions and provide more details:

My work experience:
I graduated college in 2017 and didn't go for placements since I and my friends were trying to get an educational workshop startup off the ground, We conducted 20+ workshops on upcoming and technologies like ML and 3D printing. But it wasn't profitable and I exited due to personal differences with my co-founder with regards to the direction of the company end of 2017.
I took the next few months to learn programming and AI and started applying to internships, I finally landed one in a startup, for 3 months in May 2018, then another for 3 months, meanwhile applying for full-time roles in Japan. I landed a full-time role in my current internship and one from Japan. I chose Japan because, It was strange, a new language, and culture, completely out of my comfort zone. I didn't know a single acquaintance or the language when I came to Tokyo. I flew to Tokyo to work for a self-driving car startup starting in 2019. After a year of working there, the startup faced a lot of funding issues, and that's when I joined Match group, My current company.

In the two years, I have worked here (and a total of 4 years in japan), I have been promoted thrice and become Senior AI Engineer, I have designed, planned, and developed end-to-end AI pipelines, created project charters, communicate with shareholders. I have pitched a new successful project and will be working on leading a team to build it this year. I want to use these experiences to showcase my resilience and my desire to constantly learn new things and adapt to situations.

The archery Experience:

This is an important story for me because I have always wanted to learn archery as a kid but I didn't have the means to, I rediscovered my passion for it here in Tokyo, Doing Olympic-style recurve archery has taught me patience and precise focus because even a millimeter of shift can result in a major inaccuracy during target shooting, Archery has taught me to stay calm and become a more composed person.

My short-term and long-term goals:

My core values are to help people and add value to uplift them. Working in a field where I feel like I have a direct impact on people is important to me. I didn't plan to run a Facebook group with 1000+ people, but finding myself in a tough situation prompted me to create a space for myself and others around me suffering from the same issue. and it was the more rewarding experience I have ever had.
I can absolutely say the same thing about volunteering for the suicide hotline, What prompted me to volunteer was losing a close friend and another family member to suicide. While these things are almost always non-profit and rely on donors, I want to be able to do it as a for-profit organization that has more power to expand and help more people.

Keeping that in mind, my short-term goal is to join a management consulting firm, and possibly work on projects related to social and economic sectors. While improving my management skills and connections.

My long-term goal is to start a company in the field that can harness my knowledge and connections in AI and to invest in up-and-coming startups which do the same via venture capital. At least thats the jist of it.

Thanks again for reading through it. Any advice is much appreciated.

kai3575,

There are some pretty interesting elements to your profile there.

You've not mentioned the names/pedigree of your UG or employer though so tough to make out the profile clearly.

The archery and other ECs/volunteer work help a lot, so does international experience for school such as LBS.

However, your concern is a valid one. We've seen extremely low success rates for Indian candidates in R3/last rounds. Unless there is a solid reason, it would be prudent to wait.

You may want to consider a few Jan'24 intake schools in the meanwhile?

Hey kai3575,

Thanks for sharing your profile.

Seems like we have already evaluated your profile earlier. Good to catch up again.
Since we have already shared a detailed profile evaluation (https://gmatclub.com/forum/profile-eval ... l#p3141475), we would like to directly answer your question. When comparing R3 vs R1, we would recommend you to go for R1 next year as international applicants have a relatively lower chance of acceptance in the later rounds. However, if we consider your preparedness for the round, one can also take an attempt and try, it will all depend on how you cater the AdComs, if selected for the interview.

You have an amazing profile and if you are able to create a compelling narrative by connecting experience dots it will be amazing. I would suggest, if you have everything ready and believe that you are giving your 100% then you can go and hit the submit button. If not, then apply for R1. Check and re-check your application, if something is missing work on it. Chances of admit in R1 is high as compared to R3. Though many of our applicants got into R3 in INSEAD and LBS, it depends on the individual's profile. Feel free to schedule a call with us at your convenience.

Cheers!
Neha Hadke
Strategy Manager
Testimonials
Meet our Panel of Consultants.
Email: neha@mbaandbeyond.com

kai3575 wrote:Hi everyone,

First off, thank you so much for reading my post. I recently took my second GMAT attempt, and my score jumped from 660 (Q48, V34, IR 6) to 710 (Q48, V39 IR 3).

I have a few more days to the submission deadline of LBS round 3 for the 2023 intake. My letter of Recommendation and application form are all filled up. All I need to do is pay the fee and press send. But I am hesitating. I am wondering if I should just wait and send my application for round 1 of the 2024 intake instead to increase my chances. Can I please get some advice on this matter?

I am an Indian Male, 28 years old. Did my B.E. in electronics and communication from a local university in south India.

Work experience:
- 3 years at a global tech company as Senior AI engineer, in charge of designing, and implementing end-to-end automated AI pipelines for fraud detection and moderation. I have led teams of 4-5 people.
I live and work in Tokyo, Japan. I can speak conversational Japanese, Hindi, English, Kannada, Telugu, and Tamil.

- Before my stint at the big tech company, I worked for an up-and-coming startup working on self-driving cars for one year. Because of this, I have learned to appreciate the company cultures and differences in both startups as well as big companies.

Extracurriculars:
- I volunteer for a global suicide hotline on the weekends, I have been doing this for about 1 year, (underwent a 2-month intensive training), spoken to 100s of suicidal people, and de-escalated the situations.
- During the pandemic, When I was stuck in quarantine in India and couldn't go back to Japan due to border closures, I started a Facebook group to share information, personally reached out to embassies, and facilitated many people to reunite with their separated families between India and Japan, the group still has 1000 plus people and active to this day. I coordinated with a few amazing volunteers who helped me with helping people in need.

Extra-curricular:
- I do Olympic style recurve archery, and a member of the Japan national archery association.
- I love culture and travel and have traveled to all the prefectures of Japan.

As you can see, I have an interest in public service, The main reason I want to do an MBA is that I want to gain connections, and learn how to start a profitable sustainable business that can use my knowledge in AI for social causes.

One more thing I am worried about is my low IR score of 3 on my 710 GMAT. Will that have a huge impact?

I would really appreciate any advice. thank you so much for your time.


Edit 1:

To answer a few questions and provide more details:

My work experience:
I graduated college in 2017 and didn't go for placements since I and my friends were trying to get an educational workshop startup off the ground, We conducted 20+ workshops on upcoming and technologies like ML and 3D printing. But it wasn't profitable and I exited due to personal differences with my co-founder with regards to the direction of the company end of 2017.
I took the next few months to learn programming and AI and started applying to internships, I finally landed one in a startup, for 3 months in May 2018, then another for 3 months, meanwhile applying for full-time roles in Japan. I landed a full-time role in my current internship and one from Japan. I chose Japan because, It was strange, a new language, and culture, completely out of my comfort zone. I didn't know a single acquaintance or the language when I came to Tokyo. I flew to Tokyo to work for a self-driving car startup starting in 2019. After a year of working there, the startup faced a lot of funding issues, and that's when I joined Match group, My current company.

In the two years, I have worked here (and a total of 4 years in japan), I have been promoted thrice and become Senior AI Engineer, I have designed, planned, and developed end-to-end AI pipelines, created project charters, communicate with shareholders. I have pitched a new successful project and will be working on leading a team to build it this year. I want to use these experiences to showcase my resilience and my desire to constantly learn new things and adapt to situations.

The archery Experience:

This is an important story for me because I have always wanted to learn archery as a kid but I didn't have the means to, I rediscovered my passion for it here in Tokyo, Doing Olympic-style recurve archery has taught me patience and precise focus because even a millimeter of shift can result in a major inaccuracy during target shooting, Archery has taught me to stay calm and become a more composed person.

My short-term and long-term goals:

My core values are to help people and add value to uplift them. Working in a field where I feel like I have a direct impact on people is important to me. I didn't plan to run a Facebook group with 1000+ people, but finding myself in a tough situation prompted me to create a space for myself and others around me suffering from the same issue. and it was the more rewarding experience I have ever had.
I can absolutely say the same thing about volunteering for the suicide hotline, What prompted me to volunteer was losing a close friend and another family member to suicide. While these things are almost always non-profit and rely on donors, I want to be able to do it as a for-profit organization that has more power to expand and help more people.

Keeping that in mind, my short-term goal is to join a management consulting firm, and possibly work on projects related to social and economic sectors. While improving my management skills and connections.

My long-term goal is to start a company in the field that can harness my knowledge and connections in AI and to invest in up-and-coming startups which do the same via venture capital. At least thats the jist of it.

Thanks again for reading through it. Any advice is much appreciated.

_________________

kai3575 wrote:Hi everyone,

First off, thank you so much for reading my post. I recently took my second GMAT attempt, and my score jumped from 660 (Q48, V34, IR 6) to 710 (Q48, V39 IR 3).

I have a few more days to the submission deadline of LBS round 3 for the 2023 intake. My letter of Recommendation and application form are all filled up. All I need to do is pay the fee and press send. But I am hesitating. I am wondering if I should just wait and send my application for round 1 of the 2024 intake instead to increase my chances. Can I please get some advice on this matter?

I am an Indian Male, 28 years old. Did my B.E. in electronics and communication from a local university in south India.

Work experience:
- 3 years at a global tech company as Senior AI engineer, in charge of designing, and implementing end-to-end automated AI pipelines for fraud detection and moderation. I have led teams of 4-5 people.
I live and work in Tokyo, Japan. I can speak conversational Japanese, Hindi, English, Kannada, Telugu, and Tamil.

- Before my stint at the big tech company, I worked for an up-and-coming startup working on self-driving cars for one year. Because of this, I have learned to appreciate the company cultures and differences in both startups as well as big companies.

Extracurriculars:
- I volunteer for a global suicide hotline on the weekends, I have been doing this for about 1 year, (underwent a 2-month intensive training), spoken to 100s of suicidal people, and de-escalated the situations.
- During the pandemic, When I was stuck in quarantine in India and couldn't go back to Japan due to border closures, I started a Facebook group to share information, personally reached out to embassies, and facilitated many people to reunite with their separated families between India and Japan, the group still has 1000 plus people and active to this day. I coordinated with a few amazing volunteers who helped me with helping people in need.

Extra-curricular:
- I do Olympic style recurve archery, and a member of the Japan national archery association.
- I love culture and travel and have traveled to all the prefectures of Japan.

As you can see, I have an interest in public service, The main reason I want to do an MBA is that I want to gain connections, and learn how to start a profitable sustainable business that can use my knowledge in AI for social causes.

One more thing I am worried about is my low IR score of 3 on my 710 GMAT. Will that have a huge impact?

I would really appreciate any advice. thank you so much for your time.


Edit 1:

To answer a few questions and provide more details:

My work experience:
I graduated college in 2017 and didn't go for placements since I and my friends were trying to get an educational workshop startup off the ground, We conducted 20+ workshops on upcoming and technologies like ML and 3D printing. But it wasn't profitable and I exited due to personal differences with my co-founder with regards to the direction of the company end of 2017.
I took the next few months to learn programming and AI and started applying to internships, I finally landed one in a startup, for 3 months in May 2018, then another for 3 months, meanwhile applying for full-time roles in Japan. I landed a full-time role in my current internship and one from Japan. I chose Japan because, It was strange, a new language, and culture, completely out of my comfort zone. I didn't know a single acquaintance or the language when I came to Tokyo. I flew to Tokyo to work for a self-driving car startup starting in 2019. After a year of working there, the startup faced a lot of funding issues, and that's when I joined Match group, My current company.

In the two years, I have worked here (and a total of 4 years in japan), I have been promoted thrice and become Senior AI Engineer, I have designed, planned, and developed end-to-end AI pipelines, created project charters, communicate with shareholders. I have pitched a new successful project and will be working on leading a team to build it this year. I want to use these experiences to showcase my resilience and my desire to constantly learn new things and adapt to situations.

The archery Experience:

This is an important story for me because I have always wanted to learn archery as a kid but I didn't have the means to, I rediscovered my passion for it here in Tokyo, Doing Olympic-style recurve archery has taught me patience and precise focus because even a millimeter of shift can result in a major inaccuracy during target shooting, Archery has taught me to stay calm and become a more composed person.

My short-term and long-term goals:

My core values are to help people and add value to uplift them. Working in a field where I feel like I have a direct impact on people is important to me. I didn't plan to run a Facebook group with 1000+ people, but finding myself in a tough situation prompted me to create a space for myself and others around me suffering from the same issue. and it was the more rewarding experience I have ever had.
I can absolutely say the same thing about volunteering for the suicide hotline, What prompted me to volunteer was losing a close friend and another family member to suicide. While these things are almost always non-profit and rely on donors, I want to be able to do it as a for-profit organization that has more power to expand and help more people.

Keeping that in mind, my short-term goal is to join a management consulting firm, and possibly work on projects related to social and economic sectors. While improving my management skills and connections.

My long-term goal is to start a company in the field that can harness my knowledge and connections in AI and to invest in up-and-coming startups which do the same via venture capital. At least thats the jist of it.

Thanks again for reading through it. Any advice is much appreciated.

- First, congratulations on your GMAT score improvement and for putting together a strong application. Your diverse background and international experience, along with your impressive extracurriculars, should make your application stand out. Based on the information provided, you have a unique and compelling profile. Not sure if you applied for R3 already, but regarding your concern about applying in Round 3 for LBS 2023 intake versus waiting for Round 1 of the 2024 intake, in your case, we would have recommended waiting till R1.
- GMAT IR score: While your IR score of 3 is on the lower side, the rest of your GMAT score is strong. If you believe that you could improve your IR score by retaking the exam, waiting for the next application cycle might give you enough time to do so. Keep in mind that the IR score is just one part of the overall application and may not be a deal-breaker, especially given your otherwise strong profile.
- The main concern here is in terms of your goals. We don't think your goals are thought through enough at this point in time. Given the work you have done, you can make a much bigger impact by going deeper, while staying aligned to your values.

Hope this helps. Feel free to get in touch directly for a chat.