My Account
Login
MBA Applywire
Age: 31
Education: Bachelor’s in computer science and engineering from a State University (1st Division)
GMAT: 770 (Q 51, V 45, IR 8, AWA 6)
Work Experience: 8 years (9 years by the start of MBA)
Current Role: Group Manager (Director) – Product Management (+ AI Research & Development Lead) at HCL Software
I am the youngest Group Manager in the organization with 250,000 + employees. As Received back-to-back promotions for the past 4 years.
Role I am currently working in requires an MBA and an average of 12-15 years of work experience at my company.
Currently managing a team of ~10 Product Managers (All MBA's from Elite Business Schools in India).
I currently manage a suite of B2B Products with an Annual Recurring Revenue of 100 M $+.
And have filed multiple AI Patents in the past few years.
Extracurriculars:
Held leadership roles in school (Captain)
General Secretary at University
Head of Fashion Club at University
Part time Professional model few years back
Additionally, I am a State level Cricket and Handball player
I also am a Co-Founder and Director at an NGO aimed to help underprivileged children get access to basic education and have helped more than 7000 children till date.
Start-up Experience:
E-commerce Spice Startup (Part-time and Profitable, employing 20+ rural women)
B2B AI and Tech Startup (MVP Completed, Onboarded Ex-COO of HP Enterprise and Startup (Acquired) Founder as Advisors, Discussion with 2 F500s for Pilot and Angel Investors in progress)
Post MBA Goal:
Work in a Product Based Organization (Tech) at the heart of AI Development.
Long term goal will be to build an AI Led Tech company.
I applied to Booth by myself 2 years back. Got the interview invite but couldn't convert the call then.
Planning to apply R1 this cycle.
Honest feedback please.
FYI: I have been working on building startups since some
time now. Did few MVPs , few enterprise grade products. Received validation even from F500s.
However, with VCs and Top investment funds discussions, the 2 barriers i realized were: Pedigree and Location.
Getting into an M7 would help with Pedigree and location both factors. Plus if required, with
M7 on my resume i can target roles in OpenAi, Anthropic, etc. for Al Deep exposure before moving in full Entrepreneurship mode. Most advancements in Al are currently happening in US and China. China isn't a feasible location for me. And Al firms and expertise are still in premature stages in India.
I am applying in Round 1to these schools - currently I am Senior VP at PE company overlooking investment decisions. Do you think I have a good shot or I need to add some safety schools? Also do you think 6 schools in R1 is doable in given timeline?
This is the update of the post done few months ago.
A hardware engineer in a relatively small company is interested in tech-based or SI-based MBA provided by some schools. My ideal post-MBA career is so still abstruct as anything with science or technology background seem attractive. Score 165 (IR:18, V:9, Q:18) on EA, or equivalent to 695 on GMAT acquired. I know most traditional MBAs don't accept EA solely, but no more exam prep I guess.
Extracurricular:
Member of major political party's National Council/Board - competitive election process, 1/30 councilors leading national party operations.
Founded and run major website pertaining to politics, 100+ authors involved and thousands of social media followers.
Misc. political involvement, non-profit work during HS and University (local boards, ambassador, etc.).
Own 2 Online Brands/YouTube channels with 150k+ total followers and profitable.
References:
Will be able to get Sr. Director/VP skip level (Stanford MBA)
Political leader (think head of province/state)
Post MBA - Goal is to accelerate career in tech partnerships and move to similar BD/partnerships role at FAANG. Elevate myself on the political front too.
Did a MA in Philosophy too with a 3.6 GPA.
I graduated in 2022 from Utah Valley University with an undergraduate degree in accounting. My GPA was 3.79.
After my first year of college I took a break to serve a mission for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints full-time for two years. While there I served as a leader of ~20 volunteers for about 1 year. I also taught English as a second language classes twice a week and was program manager for about 6 months.
Upon completing my degree I worked as a financial analyst from Jan 2022 - July 2023 for a healthcare consulting company. I then moved to NYC and now work as a financial analyst for Red Bull New York (pro soccer team owned by Red Bull).
I volunteered for 2 years as an usher at a community theatre in Utah and have volunteered weekly at my church as a teacher / youth leader for the past 3 years.
I took the GRE and scored 160 Q and 168V. My quant score is a below the median / average at my target schools though my verbal score exceeds the median / average. I'm trying to determine if my Q score is going to be a serious roadblock to applying R1 this year. Should I retake the GRE and try to improve my Q score, maybe applying next year, or should I apply this year with my current score and work on crafting my story.
MBA LiveWire
Applied in round 1, interviewed in round 1, waitlisted until today.
Submitted test waiver request June 2, waiver granted June 3 (email), submitted application June 10, interview invitation June 20 (email), interviewed June 25, accepted July 2 (phone call then email later same day that portal was updated)