[Accepted]

Originally Posted by vineetdixit

Dear jennifer,

I am aiming from Harvard, Wharton and INSEAD for MBA. Could you please comment on my profile for these schools. I am also contemplating Stanford.
I have already applied in Harvard (R3) and INSEAD (R1). I know that Harvard R3 is very tough to get in but I did it as i could save one year in case i get in (Do i have a good chance???). How strong is my profile for INSEAD as i donot have any international experience and my exp is on the lower side??? Should i Apply in harvard again in case i do not make it this time (read some comments in other forums (BW) that Harvard does not take re applicants favorably???) Should i apply in wharton and stanford this year in R1 (- is my profile strong for these schools??)

Post MBA I am looking at a Finance career preferably in a PE. Since Private Equity does not usually pick up people from schools I will be first joining an IB firm / management consulting and take good experience and then try to move in to PE.

Personal Profile:
Male, 28 yrs Indian Citizen
Undergrad – B.COM (66%) (First Class)
Chartered Accountant – 2004, Company Secretary (intermediate) – 2002
Left CS in-between because i did not wanted to go to compliance or accounting profiles

GMAT 1st Attempt:740 (49Q, 42V)AWA - 5/6

Experience – 4 years by the time I start MBA

TATA Steel (bearings SBU) (1.25 years experience) : selected from campus. Placed in one of the Business Units (standalone) as financial analyst – Monthly MIS, performance analysis reports (customer wise / product wise etc), adhoc management requirements, costing, trade policy monitoring & annual plans. Apart from that handled sales and receivable accounting, excise and indirect tax accounting and compliance.

Dr Reddys Laboratories ltd: Part of corporate analytics and MIS group – working closely with top management (CFO primarily) for presentations, performance analysis (MIS along with qualified notes on performance of each Business unit), one – of adoc analysis and reports to attract attention towards potential area of improvements, Due diligence on BU (7 different segments) planning & preparing company plans, back office support to IR department, External benchmarking, preparing MD&A for annual report

I joined this company in Feb 06, was promoted in June 07

Extra Curricular:

* Vice captain in school
* Active participant in Plays in school and collage
* Black Belt Shito Ryu Karate.
* Core team member (3 members in total) – rolled out first ever finance magazine in company B – involved in conception, design & editing and final release. Also pasrt of core committee for organizing Global Finance meet
* Creator and one of the first core member of cultural committee in collage
* Scripted, directed and Acted in street plays in slums to motivate people to send their children to school

Hi, Vineet. I am not seeing much leadership in the profile you submitted, so I do not see HBS happening in the near future. HBS is looking for the best of the best - not just in academics but in every field of personal interaction as well. INSEAD will definitely want to see more international experience and insight as well.

From what you've told me in this post, there are a few areas I would suggest you work on:
1) international insight - you may need to move companies or just get involved in a different area of the current company, but the schools (espectially INSEAD) are looking for the Indian applicants who understand the global business environment

2) more finance and less accounting and MIS - you will need to demonstrate that you are more than just a number cruncher; you have the ability to take those numbers and guide the direction of the company

3) extracurricular leadership - all of the schools are seeking professionals who juggle career and community; we need to see you taking a leadership role and influencing others in a non-work environment

Yes, HBS is the only school that I know of that is not re-applicant friendly. I actually do not think it is a negative for them if you reapply (in other words, you aren't rejected immediately just because you were rejected in the past), but HBS has no warm feelings about you just because you are trying again.

As an applicant from a very competitive pool, I strongly recommend that you research programs outside of the top three. The top 30+ all offer excellent business training to prepare you to lead and manage, and there are several among them that provide excellent finance training.

Regards,
Jennifer Bloom, CPRW
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