UCI Merage MBA Deadlines 2023-2024

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!