Harvard Business School MBA Recommendation Questions

Profile Review: 334 GRE (170Q), Indian Male (Non-Engineer! / Govt & Diplomacy), Targeting HBS, GSB, CBS, Yale SOM & Oxford Said for Big Tech Public Policy

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Hi r/MBA,

I am finalizing my applications for Round 2 and would love a brutal, objective reality check on my profile. I know "Indian Male" is the toughest demographic bucket, but my background is entirely non-traditional (zero engineering, zero IT, zero corporate finance). My career has been spent exclusively in political campaigns, national governance execution, parliamentary policy, and G7 diplomacy.

My primary concern is whether admissions committees will view my varied government/political roles as a cohesive upward trajectory or a disjointed series of job hops, and whether my post-MBA goal makes sense to commercial recruiters.

Here are the details:

Background: 27, Indian Male.

Undergrad: Bachelor of Journalism from DU

Post Graduation: MA in Human Resource Management from JMI

GRE: 334 Total (170 Quant - 89th percentile, 164 Verbal).

Work Experience (5+ Years Total)

My career has been a deliberate progression up the governance chain: from state election campaigns, to drafting laws in Parliament, to national execution, and now bilateral diplomacy.

Current Role (Diplomacy): Political & Economic Officer at a G7 Diplomatic Mission in India.

Previous Role (National Gov Execution): Analyst at a National Government Apex Body.

Previous Role (State Gov Execution): Associate Fellow at a State Legislature.

Previous Role (Legislative): Policy Assistant to a Federal Member of Parliament.

Early Career (Campaigns): Field Research Lead at top Political Consulting Firms.

Extracurriculars & Impact

\* COVID-19 Oxygen Network (April 2021): Built and managed a two-stage verification and routing pipeline staffed by 50 volunteers during the healthcare collapse. Maintained strict operational discipline to prevent routing families to occupied beds, connecting over 1,200 families to verified medical care over two months.

\* Migrant Worker Crisis (April 2020): Volunteered with a labor-rights collective during the sudden national lockdown. Spent three days coordinating directly between two state governments and railway officials to clear transit bottlenecks and secure a special relief train for 500 stranded migrant workers.

Post-MBA Goals

\* Short-Term: Public Policy and Government Affairs Manager at a global tech multinational (Google, Meta, Apple) covering South Asia.

Target Schools

\* Reach: Stanford GSB, Harvard Business School (HBS). Applying to Stanford MPP + HKS MPP ( If possible can be combined with GSB & HBS)

\* Target/Reach: Columbia Business School (CBS), Yale SOM.

\* Target (UK): Oxford Saïd (1-year MBA).

My Questions:

The "Job Hop" Perception: I have had 5-6 distinct roles across campaigns, state assembly, parliament, national execution, and the diplomatic mission. I frame this in my application as a deliberate progression, but will adcoms view this as instability?

Tech Policy Feasibility: Is my goal of transitioning into Big Tech Government Affairs directly from an MBA realistic to adcoms?

School Selection: Given the heavy public-sector/diplomatic background, are there any other programs I should be targeting for massive merit aid?

I am currently in operations and my post mba goal is to pivot into supply chain consulting. My undergraduate degree was in English and it was 10 years ago. I have a master’s in logistics and supply chain management with a 4.0 GPA. Applied to round one and got waitlisted by Gtech Scheller and UTK Haslam.
Wonder what I could be doing wrong

I am hoping to begin my Transactional practice at an Am200 Law firm and then transition into my MBA to look for PE/VC opportunities

I'm an international MBA applicant from Peru with approximately 7 years of experience in M&A and corporate finance across the energy, consumer goods, and financial advisory sectors.

I hold a B.S. in Economics from Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM), where I graduated in the top third of my class with a GPA of 14.2/20.

I started my career in Deal Advisory at KPMG, followed by M&A and Corporate Venture Capital at Alicorp. I'm currently an M&A Associate at Luz del Sur, a leading Peruvian electricity utility, where I've worked on renewable energy acquisitions totaling approximately US$780M, including wind and solar assets. My experience spans valuation, financial modeling, due diligence, transaction structuring, and SPA negotiations.

Outside work, I'm involved with NetvalU, a nonprofit helping public university students pursue careers in finance.

**Post-MBA Goals:** My primary goal is to transition into Private Equity, ideally focusing on energy, infrastructure, or energy transition investments in the US or Europe. I'm particularly interested in infrastructure funds and investment platforms focused on acquiring, developing, and managing energy assets. Alternatively, I would consider Investment Banking, particularly within Power & Utilities, Energy, or Infrastructure coverage groups, as a pathway toward a long-term career in investing.

I'd appreciate feedback on my competitiveness for top MBA programs, particularly considering my international background, academic record, and professional experience. I'm especially interested in understanding how realistic a direct transition into PE or infrastructure investing would be, which schools provide the strongest opportunities in this space, and whether my target school list is appropriately balanced.

Thanks in advance for your insights!