MBA ApplyWire

- Black woman
- Poor GPA was due to health senior year (was a 3.1-3.3 each year pre-senior year)
- Studied sociology at non-target
- National award/grant-winning, published author
- Strong volunteer experience (5 years at same position w/some leadership)
- Currently unemployed/"job hopping" background due to job market and post-COVID health situation (strongest/longest experience was 2 years in HR at Fortune 100)
- Strong background in academic research and writing
- Zero quant background
- Interested in ESG, consulting, or HR post-MBA, but still deciding

My designation is CEO IJM CORP BHD, Malaysia. It is my futute prospect career. I want MBA for that career.

Already working as a product manager. Left my job recently to take a break. before going to business school. Looking to use B-school to transition into a role of Director of Product Management/Strategy.

8 year experience as M&A paralegal that worked for a nonprofit, large international law firm, a regional bank and a private equity firm. My work includes SEC compliance, capital raising, managing the diligence phase of an acquisition, and frequent contact with executive leadership to quantify status updates. I need an MBA so I can pivot into M&A consulting. One day, I hope to either work as an executive at a company or perhaps start my own M&A consulting firm.
My extracurricular activities is long but I coordinated 5 different community nonprofits that focused on affordable housing and economic development in blighted communities. I also served on a community advisory council for a local hospital.

Prospective Fall 2028 applicant looking to get ahead of the curve by seeking advice early to strengthen application...

+Graduated from a rigorous Service Academy with a 2.4 GPA despite personal and medical challenges.
+In order to offset low UGPA, planning to attain CFP and PMP certification, complete an MPA/M.S.Ed, establish for-profit and non-profit organizations, score high on GMAT, and accumulate more work experience.
+Currently researching MBA admission strategies that cover taking extra courses, building a personal brand, leveraging diversity and unique background, connecting with faculty, and more outside-the-box approaches.

While my undergraduate GPA was 3.1, I hold a Masters degree from Rutgers Business School with a 3.6 GPA.

I have been working for Amazon in New York for the last 3 years, most recently as a Supply Chain Manager in their retail business working with one of the largest consumer goods company in the world.

With an MBA, I want to pivot my career deeper into retail/e-commerce.

Profile:
1. GMAT 705 (Q90 V85 DI80)
2. Demographic: Indian Male Engineer
3. UG: B.Tech from one of the top 3 IITs, Civil Engineering, GPA - 7.6/10, multiple Data Science internships during UG (including an international internship)
4. Work experience: 3 years currently, 4 years at the time of admission. Product Manager at a listed unicorn (well-known in India), 1 promotion (APM -> PM), no job switches.
5. Extracurrics: Mostly sports (played at national-level in U13 category + Inter-IIT), Founded Social Entrepreneurship club in my IIT, mentoring and working for a PM community

Post MBA goals:
Not very sure yet. Primarily Product Management, but I am open to exploring consulting for a few years. Long term - start my own company someday.

Questions:
1. Which schools should I apply to?
2. Chances at M7 and HSW?

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

White Male.
Goal: Transition to public sector consulting and leverage that to become influential in political decisions in hopes of becoming a politician.

WE: 1.5 years small firm. 2 years 15,000+ firm, 3 years Government Work

Extra Curriculars: 8+ years of Habitat for Humanity, Food Pantry Volunteer, ESL Tutor for refugees

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Indian Male Engineer (28)
It would be great if you could evaluate my profile. I am a reapplicant. I applied to Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Rice & Minnesota with a 640 GMAT and got rejected by all. I recently took the GRE and scored well. I want to apply to Insead and US MBA programs for Fall 2025.

Education:
UG Degree: B-Tech-Chemical Engineering
College: Anna University
CGPA: 7.51/10

GRE: 332 (Q166 & V166) (1st attempt)
(I also have an MBA math certificate)

Work experience:
1st Job: Spent close to 3 years in an Indian Multinational Construction company where I was involved in Operations and Supply chain. I had the opportunity to work with top Indian Oil & Gas Industry clients for high value projects in Water treatment Industry. Had 1 promotion and was rated top performer by management.

2nd Job: Spent around 5 months in marketing my Family's solar rooftop solutions business (Small size) through social media and exhibitions. I was able to double the revenue of the company in a short span.

3rd Job (Current role): I got an opportunity to join a niche multinational Oil & Gas industry solutions company where I have been engaged for 7 months. Here, I work in Supply chain support for an International internal client.
I am planning to go back to the family solar business as I feel that I can make a bigger impact than at my current role.

Extracurricular activities:
Toastmasters: I served as an executive committee member of a Toastmasters club for 2 terms and won various awards for speeches.
I also volunteered as a teacher for an NGO that is involved in educating rural kids.

Post MBA goals: I would like to pivot to Consulting but my second option would be consumer goods.

Gap: Between my 1st and 2nd company, I had a gap of close to 2 years because of a health issue and surgery that severely impacted my mobility.

I want to apply in early decision/R1 for my target schools.
Thanks in advance!

Applied and rejected from LBS this year, shocked by the outcome. Had a very well written application, demonstrated tremendous interest in the school, solid interview, and an alumni recommendation - felt I did everything I possibly could've. Plan to apply to additional schools this fall and reapply to LBS.

My goal is to move from being a PM in Finance to either being a PM at a tech company with a healthcare division, or to switch to consulting with the goal of doing HealthTech strategy afterwards. I'm involved in Pro Bono projects at work and mentoring outside of work. Main areas of concern for my application are that PM's at banks aren't too flashy (vs MBB/IB/PM at tech etc) and that I'll only have one promotion when I apply

I have a few spikes in my profile which might be helpful:

1. Currently working as Strategy and Business lead at Sarvam AI, one of India's leading GenAI startups with funding from Sequioa, Khosla Ventures and Lightspeed VP.

2. Worked at McKinsey for 2.5 years - worked in Saudi Arabia, Israel, Europe and India on exciting topics like Drones, AI and EVs

3. In college, I pursued 2 successful startups. One startup, ICG is still running successfully and has 200+ members. It is an AI for Social Good startup, and we have worked with WHO when COVID hit, Ministry of Environment in India, Prime Ministers Office, Noora Health on impactful AI4SG projects.

4. Worked with Google AI for a year as an external project lead on 2 AI for Social Good projects in India and Africa

5. Worked on 2 impactful projects in Africa on deforestation reduction with the UNDP and Google AI

6. I have 1 patent and 7 publications in leading AI journals under my name, including 2 by McKinsey publications (only BA to publish an article on behalf of McKinsey as a first author)

7. Received best freshman of the year and most promising leader award from my undergrad institute (IIT)

8. Worked in Japan for 2 months towards a fully funded scholarship program (only 2 students from India are selected every year)

Background:
- Asian, first-gen, international
- Junior at T25 applying to deferred programs next year
- 745 on GMAT FE, 3.76 gpa for now - might drop to 3.68
- Work Experience so far: 3 months as a product manager intern at a startup, 8 months as a business operations intern at a local company, 3 months as SWE intern at a large start-up
- Incoming SWE intern at a big digital bank and aiming for SWE at big tech post-grad

Extra-curriculars:
- Project lead in a consulting club for 1.5 years, treasurer at two student clubs for 3 years, some volunteering here and there
- Club soccer and some other sports
- Mentoring at my old high school (starting this year)

Post-MBA goals:
- Want to move towards strategy/ops, maybe vc? Want to stay within tech for sure and eventually want to do something entrepreneurial

Need a reality check on whether my list is realistic - and would love some feedback on what to work on for my app, thanks!

Background:
-American and Middle Eastern dual Citizen
-Lead engineer and project lead in manufacturing and design roles at major car OEM. 3 promotions and youngest in department.
-3.0 MechE degree from T50 university. Hoping to offset the low engineering GPA with a gmat quant, six sigma greenbelt cert, and completed MBA MATH.

Goal:
-Want to leverage the transition to EV in transportation to swap from product development engineering at major OEM to corporate product planning and strategy.

Extracurriculars:
-D&I leadership role & major company wide projects.
-Teach community teen safe driving classes on local track.
-Volunteer in company young professionals organization.

Looking to apply round 1, specifically Early Action at Duke as it is my top choice. Promoted 3 times at current company, Project Leader for 3 separate technology implementation initiatives for vertical at Fortune 500 bank, as well as leadership team member for acquisition. GPA low due health situation that impacted first two years of undergrad, made Dean's List final two years at Top 50 undergrad. Have client facing/transaction experience in banking but have been drawn to strategic initiative implementation the past 3 years, leading me to a desire to shift into consulting, specifically strategic/management with a focus on organizational behavior/mergers. Recipient of Presidential Service Award for community service related to environmental protection, state champion lacrosse coach. Would love to be on the East Coast (Boston or DC) as I have family in both cities. Thank you for any feedback!