Berkeley / Haas - 08-02-2020 | Clear Admit ApplyWire

August 2, 2020 4:49pm ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Cornell / Johnson, Duke / Fuqua, Indian School of Business, INSEAD, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, UVA / Darden

Intake Year: 2021

Pre-MBA Career: Marketing head at a deep-tech startup; earlier worked as a Product Manager at a leading Telecom operator in India

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology Companies: Accenture , AT Kearney , Bain , McKinsey , Amazon , Apple , Google

GMAT: 710

GPA: 8.1

Years of Work Experience: 3

Location: India

Notes:

Thank you so much for the amazing podcasts, Alex and Graham, your podcasts are my go-to source of information for tips on b-school applications.
Profile - Indian male engineer from Tier 1 (Non-IIT) college. Major - Electronics & Telecommunication. GPA: 8.1/10. GMAT - 710 (Q48V40). Work experience - Year1: Project managed a multinational team of Koreans and Indians to deliver a piece of a large project. Year2: Product managed an AI platform I conceptualized that contributed to savings in millions. Led a cross-functional and an engineering team to deliver the product. Year3: Switched roles to head Marketing and communication for a tech startup with operations in 6 countries. Have a directly reporting team that I built from scratch. Have executed successful digital marketing campaigns and got the company featured in mainstream media. Extra-curriculars: Active member of an international, philosophical organization since 2 years where I hold a leadership position. Have led some student clubs in under-grads.
Post-MBA: short-term: Consulting (preference in tech-centric projects). long-term: Entrepreneurship in tech; have some ideas to use AI for good
Questions: Is GMAT a hurdle at the schools of my choice (open to school suggestions in the US)? Is R1 still possible or should I focus on R2? Do my extra-curriculars need more working on?

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Show Comments (11) Last: August 13, 2020

anon75143 Likes Earned: 70 Just my 2 cents on your GMAT, no I don't think it is a hurdle but it won't open doors either. You could try to take it again but I'm not sure how much time/money you have already sunk into it so I would say if you think that's about your best score you should stick with it. For your profile I'm a little confused. Right out of college, a company was letting you manage a multinational team? In your second year, you managed an AI platform that saved millions. Millions of dollars? Rupees? Won? Savings over a single month, year, or 5 years? Adcoms are very suspicious people by nature when reviewing applications. They receive thousands of applications every year, from countries all over the world, with dubious claims on work experience. You really don't want whoever is reading your application to think that you are exaggerating your work experience. Be very specific in what you have worked on and how that created value around you. The brand name of your work place and any publicly visible media can really help prove your experience to Adcoms as well so your third year venture of getting the company featured in media would be a super helpful thing to include. If you are vague in how you describe things, it can set off a lot of red flags. I think you should focus on R1 applications as that is when most schools build their classes out so it will be your best chance. Your extra curriculars seem fine to me and the philosophical organization sounds really cool. You should mention that in an essay because it will help you stand out from the cohort that you are competing with (STEM background, male, Indian, etc). You should also check out UT-Mccombs and Carnegie Mellon-Tepper as their programs seem to align well with what you would like to do post-MBA. I would say you are under the standard for your cohort for Haas, Stanford, Booth, and Darden but you have a decent chance for Cornell and Duke. I don't know enough about ISB or INSEAD to make a guess. Good luck! (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1582 Agree. It sounds like your WE might be very strong, if it can be backed up. Make sure it ties to your goals. Do you have examples re “AI for good” that stem from your experiences. If you can push your GMAT up 30 points, that might have impact. Applying in the first rounds, for most of your targets will be important. (2)

anon16338 Likes Earned: 3 Hi, OP here. Thanks for the feedback Anon75143 and Alex! More clarification on my WE: Yes, I was program managing a multinational team, which was a part of a bigger group. The role was offered to me 6 months after I had joined in. I have experiences, both positive and negative that I can state in the essays. The savings, in millions, were over few months. May I know more about the 'standard' for Haas, Stanford, Booth, and Darden? Do I need more experience? Higher GMAT? More extra-curricular activities? Yes, I have an example of the AI for good platform that I would like to create. In fact, I have a simple idea of what I want to build, and for what audience. Looking forward to your reply! (1)

anon16338 Likes Earned: 3 OP again, about re-taking GMAT and applying, I'm a little late to start my applications and can either take GMAT or apply. Also, my first attempt at GMAT was too bad, to say the least, I secured a 630. So from there its some improvement (80 points). What would you recommend? (1)

anongreg Likes Earned: 70 Original commenter here, didn't see the box for anonymous. The standard that you are a little below on is the GMAT score and the work experience relative to the people who you will be competing with for spots at those schools. Going from a 630 -> 710 is awesome and a really cool achievement. Statistically speaking, it's unlikely to improve much more than what you already have been able to do but I agree with Alex that if you can score in the 740+ range that would improve your odds. Are you in a rush to go get an MBA? It sounds like you are doing pretty well in your current career without one. I think it would be good for you to apply this year and see what happens. There's a chance you could get into one of those reach schools or you could get into Cornell, Duke, INSEAD, or ISB and realize you love one of those programs and want to attend. If you don't get the results you were expecting, regroup, get some advice from the adcoms who rejected you on what to work on, and apply next year with an improved application. The good news is you are young and have plenty of time to create a strong application and attend somewhere. (2)

anon16338 Likes Earned: 3 Thanks, Greg! That was some helpful advice. I would want to apply this year and see what happens. Hope to get into a dream school. Finger crossed :) (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1582 Great advice, I think. My only addition, if you can go from 630 to 710, you might be able to gain a further increase? A 710 is good, just doesn’t stand out for your profile. (1)

anon16338 Likes Earned: 3 thanks for the advice, Alex! (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1582 More details on this candidacy in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2020/08/episode-115-wire-taps-does-this-hobby-make-me-look-crazy/ (1)

anon16338 Likes Earned: 3 OP here. Thanks, Alex and Graham for covering my candidacy in your podcast! I'll be applying to b-schools in R1 with the current score and re-take GMAT before R2. Also, thanks a ton for praising aspects of my profile :) (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1582 Great, best of luck! (0)