Cambridge / Judge - 04-05-2024 | Clear Admit ApplyWire

April 5, 2024 6:40am ET

Applying: Cambridge / Judge, IMD, Indian School of Business, London Business School, Oxford / Saïd

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Venture Capital

Post-MBA Target Industry: Pharmaceutical, Consumer Goods, MF, Auto, Aerospace Companies: Astra Zeneca , Johnson & Johnson , Merck , Novartis , Nestle , Proctor & Gamble , Unilever

GRE: 319

GPA: 6/10

Years of Work Experience: 8

Location: India

Post MBA Location: UK or Europe

Notes:

Setting my profile below. Have already taken the GRE so that is out of the way.

Idea is to do an MBA to take a break, get access to international opportunities in finance / operating roles.

31-33 y.o. Indian VC with 5 years of investing experience in a growth fund (Started with a trainee program - Analyst for 2 years - Currently Associate for 2.5 years - expecting SA promotion sometime in the next 12 months) - 2 years of non-finance experience before joining VC. Undergrad from top law school in India.

Secondary board member on 2 unicorn assets

Annual pay of ~US$100k in Bangalore (inclusive of bonuses) + carry of US$200k vested over 7 years - good fund - nice people - but unsure whether I want to do growth investing

Firm does not require an MBA for Partnership

Do not have a finance education

My idea is to do an MBA to secure my long term future in case I want to move laterally.

My questions are as follows:

Which would be a better geography to do an MBA in given where the winds are blowing ? UK/ London or Singapore ?

1 year v. 2 year ?

One thought process I have also had is to operate - ability to add value to a company at growth stage (or any stage) is very limited if I don't have operating experience - any thoughts on this ? Apprehension is wont get paid as much

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Show Comments (6) Last: April 23, 2024

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1580 Your professional profile does sound strong, but I would worry about your combination of GPA and GRE score? What is the breakdown of your GRE? You would also want to target the first rounds, if you can.

Post MBA, is one option to return to your VC firm? In terms of your other questions, 1 year MBA May be good for someone who has longer work experience, and is looking to return to work sooner. But two years affords you an internship, which may well prove valuable in terms of picking up more/different experiences.

Location of MBA will depend on where, geographically you want to be, post MBA, and the strength of MBA networks in that region. Along the way, do you want a U.S. experience, or Euro experience, etc?

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grichmond Verified User. Likes Earned: 1152

I share Alex's concern about the combination of a somewhat pedestrian GPA + a subpar result on the GRE. Keep in mind that work experience - even when incredibly strong - doesn't overtake academics; these elements of an MBA applicant's candidacy are somewhat siloed. As such, you may want to consider taking the test again and aiming to clear the 320 mark - ideally heading towards the middle 320s, since you come from an over-represented segment of the applicant pool.

Best of luck and thanks for your post!

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ajdecam Likes Earned: 8 For what it's worth, I was waitlisted at IMD with the same GRE. (2)

pretendfan Likes Earned: 0 Breakdown of GRE is 164V and 155Q (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1580 That quant score will raise concerns, I think. Retaking the GRE, ahead of the first rounds, would be smart. (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1580 More details on this candidacy in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2024/04/mba-wire-taps-349/ (0)