[hydkun]

Hi Jennifer,

Could you suggest schools, by rankings, which would be stretch, reach, safe for me. Top 5, Top 10, Top8-15? Also, how should I spin the challenging personal circumstances I had overcome in my life, while writing to schools? I am keen on an MBA in Finance focussing on asset management starting in 2010 and want to continue with/get into equity research / investment management post an MBA. What are the strengths and weaknesses you see in my profile if I were to target schools such as Wharton, Colombia, NYU Stern, Duke, Emory?

Professional experience: A senior associate, with 4 years (in June09) of research; spanning finance, economics, and management strategy. Earned one promotion moving between jobs.

Currently (9 mnths), work with UBS (ISC) in equity research (strategy) in an offshore environment. Previously(1.5yrs), worked with Deloitte Research (economics/management strategy research /thought leadership). First job (1.5yrs), worked as economist with Watson Wyatt.

Leadership experience by way of participating in an internal consultants program to implement "top 10" ideas to improve research output at Deloitte. Experience of setting up / managing operations of my international, though small, family business in tourism while in college.


Academics:

M.A. Economics, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University - arguably the best school to study economics in India (51%, Second Division)

B.A. (H), Economics, Delhi University - Hans Raj college (61%, First Division). Placed in top 10% of the graduating class.

CFA Level 1 Candidate, Dec 2009.

GMAT: Sch for May 2009

Extra cirriculars / Community:

While in college, pariticpated/organised/won university level paper presentations in economics at College fests. (saving you the details).

- Actively participate in coporate social responsibility events at work, but not a member of any NGO or associated with a specific cause. (Its not something I could do justice to, given other challenging situations in my life.)

- Have organised employee networking events / townhall meeting at work.

(Faced a challenging financial/family sitution during my college years and had to devote a lot of time to run my family business. Hence, my extra cirruculars are not spectacular. However, I am well travelled for my age (private / leisure trips) having visited Austria, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Japan (Tokyo), Singapore, Australia & New Zealand.)?

- Have self learnt finance/financial economics out of own interest over 3 years. Before I started my first job, I did not know much more than how to spell finance!, and now I work in equity research.

Need an MBA to give visibility to my skills and move on to the business side. How would you place my chances and what could I do to strenghthen my application?

Thanks and regards,
K

[Amy15]

Hi Jennifer.

I am not sure whether this is the correct place to post this question.. But i need help urgently..

I have admits from Virginia Tech - Pamplin School of business, San francisco State University and San Diego State University.

I am very confused as to which university i should take up.. Could you please help me out!!!

Awaiting your Response..

Amy..

[IT Con]

Hi Jennifer, request your feedback on my profile for Insead/ IMD/ HEC

- 29 yrs / Indian/ Male
- Total work ex: 6.5 years (MNCs)
- International work ex: Out of the 6.5 yrs, 3.5 yrs (majorly Europe)
- Industry: IT Services (ERP consultant/ Project Manager)
- GMAT: 680
- Education: Engineering + PG in IT (India)


In addition to a feedback, it would be great if you help me with following:

- I have only IT related work experience, will that be a drawback?

- Since I didn't hit the magic figure of 700, do you think I still have some chance to get through top tier (1 year) MBA colleges?

Thanks for your help!

[prez_bbe]

Originally Posted by Accepted

Hi, Nitin. I do think that the entrepreneurial work is worthy of mentioning; hopefully, by the time you apply you will be able to point to some marketing knowledge and achievements. I would like to see you expand your HT Media role beyond research and content development. The business schools are seeking business experience, so you need to demonstrate that you have had an impact on the publications' reader base size, revenues, advertising, etc. - the business side of the industry. Frankly, you do still seem a bit light on experience, but I do not believe it hurts to apply. You left your goals unclear, but if they are to continue in the media industry then I would suggest that you apply to schools that have strong media programs such as NYU, Fordham, George Washington, Pepperdine, EM Lyon, and maybe USC. Other strong media programs that would be more of a reach in my opinion given your short and seemingly uneventful experience would be Kellogg, UCLA, Harvard, and Columbia.
Best of luck!
Regards,
Jennifer Bloom, CPRW
Accepted-Helping you write your best!

HI Jennifer


Thanks a lot for your time.


I would like mention that I certainly consider MEdia as one of the prime targets for my long term career. I have contributed at HT Media in terms of realizing and expanding the revenue. Moving ahead i would like to know whether I would stand a realistic chance in Kellogg, UCLA, Harvard, and Columbia. with my kind of experience and whether getting rejected would deterioate my chances for subsequent years.



Regards
Nitin

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by gupta.a.ankur

Hi,

I am planning to take up 1 yr executive MBA .
Institute I am looking forwards are IIMs, ISB , XLRI.

My academics - Avg 58% graduation.
Work Experience - 6.5 yrs yrs
ag- 28 yrs
Currently working as Unit Manager for Outsourced banking Projects on Credit cards .

I have 5 yrs work.exp in one organisation and being Promoted thrice during the 5 yr tenure.

My Profile gives exposure to Sales , Customer satisfactions and Compliance
I am very strong on Quantitative analysis and my execution skills help me to achieve the desired result.


I am planning to give GMAT - in sept 2009

My concerns are

1] My academic performance
2] Letter of Recommendation

and how can I improve my profile

Hi, Ankur. In my experience the EMBA programs are easier to get into than the traditional MBA programs, so your task should be a bit easier. To boost the negative impression of your poor academic performance I recommend you get a high GMAT score - significantly above the programs' average scores and include examples in your essays and CV of situations in which you needed to analyze situations to derive solutions then apply your own efforts (and those of your team) to generate results. Your letters of recommendation should also address these types of issues and share details of those examples. Be sure to have your recommenders include the details of your analyses - the options you considered, how you sorted through those options, which path you finally selected and what impact that decision and your execution of it had on the company and its bottom line. Don't make the mistake of letting your recommenders write short letters without the details of a few specific situations; without those details, the letters are almost worthless.

Best of luck!
Regards,
Jennifer Bloom, CPRW
Accepted-Helping you write your best!

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by askme_scor

hello Jennifer
Finally i have received two admits...

1. Bocconi University, M.S. in International Management(i got admitted in Second choice), two years course, no scholarship.
2. Amsterdam Business School, Mater in International Finance, one year course, 13000 euros (50%) scholarship.

I am just looking for these two offers and have already made my not to pursue MBA from UTS.

Between Bocconi and Amsterdam, i am more inclined towards Bocconi becasue of its ranking and reputation, where else my parents like Amsterdam mainly because of 1 year program.

now i am confused...... can you please comment on these two schools profile and possible job oppurtunities availlable for both school's graduate. i mean after attending which school i would have better job oppurtunites.

with best regards,
Priyesh Khunteta

Hi, Priyesh. In my opinion, the Bocconi MBA is a much more flexible degree - in terms of what you can do with it in your future - than the Amsterdam MIF. Unless Amsterdam is able to send you several years of placement statistics that far surpass Bocconi's, I just do not think it will be as valuable or globally recognized of a degree in the long term. This blog post of Linda Abraham's offers more criteria to help guide your decision as well.
Enjoy the feeling of being wanted!
Regards,
Jennifer Bloom, CPRW
Accepted-Helping you write your best!

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by namurad

Hi Jennifer,

I am an engineer from ivy league engg school in India. low gpa, very good leadership examples in profile, plenty of experience. Can somebody tell me about any short term courses (on stats/calculus) being conducted by universities/institutes (DU, IIT, JNU etc) in India. I want to purse few such courses to compensate for my low GPA. I found some foreign MBA foundation courses, but all of them are horribly expensive.

Regards
na

Hi, Namurad. I'm not familiar with these courses within India but you may find online courses with transcripts helpful. Some programs that you can look into are the online courses of MBAMath, UCLA Extension, and the University of Maryland. In addition to these extra academic results, a high GMAT can help overcome a low undergraduate GPA.
Best of luck!
Regards,
Jennifer Bloom, CPRW
Accepted-Helping you write your best!

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by avinash4ua

Hi Jenifer,

I ahve recieved two admits- one from Jenkins B school (NC state univ) and other from Mason B school(William and Mary university).
Would you please advice me on which college to choose as i find the fees to be equal for them. secondly, both the program interest me equally.

Thus i request you to give me your analysis.

Regards,
Avinash

Hi, Avinash. I believe the recruiting and job prospects with the William and Mary degree will be better than those of NC State based on the career statistics of the two and their global reputations. Good luck with your decision process!
Regards,
Jennifer Bloom, CPRW
Accepted-Helping you write your best!

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by adm209

Hi Jennifer,
I am a final year mechanical engineering student (female)from an above average university in India. My university doest follow the gpa system but my percentage marks is around 74%. The topper has around 84%. My college extracurriculars are good- won a few debates, student council member, position holder in societies, have a couple of publications. I have scored 730 on the gmat. I plan to take a 2-3 work experience in the automobile manufacturing sector in India and then apply to top mba colleges in the US, ISB and Spjain(in India). What are my chances of getting into top US colleges after a couple of years?..I have admits from average Indian B-schools through CAT right now...should I forgo those an apply through GMAT to US colleges later?...And what is the conversion rule for convrting percentage into gpa?

Hi, Adm209. I usually just divide the percentage score by 25 to determine the GPA for my own records and for the sake of comparison. When you apply to the non-Indian programs, you should include any class rank information you were given to aid the admissions offices in the comparison process, but they are very used to the slightly lower GPAs among Indian applicants. Keep in mind that you are predominately going to be compared with other Indian applicants, so the challenge of defending your GPA is not significant.
Unfortunately, I cannot tell you your chances of getting into the top US MBA programs based on the information you have provided here since so much of that process depends on what you do in your career. You will need to show fast advancement, responsibility, and impact in your career to prove to the top programs that you are worthy of admission. So if you do choose to take your education to the workforce now, these are the areas you should be focusing on - not on simply performing calculations that improve the efficiency or stability of the automobiles your company manufactures. Think and act like a senior manager whenever possible to prove that you have the attributes that the top MBA programs are seeking in their students.
Best of luck!
Regards,
Jennifer Bloom, CPRW
Accepted-Helping you write your best!

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by gb72001

Try avoiding "Trinity College Dublin" unless you plan to start your own company.

I don't think we should insult any program; each serves its niche. Trinity College Dublin is a small program, so any applicant should keep this in mind when applying. I always recommend visiting the programs and speaking with current students and alumni from your own home country before making a decision to attend any program.
Regards,
Jennifer Bloom, CPRW
Accepted-Helping you write your best!