[Accepted]

Originally Posted by shells15

Hi,
I wanted to know if I should leave out the things that I cannot prove (extra curriculars) from my application.
There are certain activities like working on the organisation team of certain events, social work organised by students, etc. which I will not be able to prove as I do not have a certificate and can't really give a reference for as the work was organised by the students.
Many of these activities would make my application stronger but I do not know how I could possibly prove them.

Thanks in advance!

Hi, Shells15. You can and should include all of your activities. Some programs will ask for a contact to confirm your involvement; you can just list one of the students who organized the event with you. You are never asked for certificates to prove involvement, but many programs do conduct background checks on their accepted applicants and have rescinded offers if they uncover anything untoward.

Regards,

Jennifer Bloom, CPRW

Accepted-Helping you write your best!

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by sarcasmeter

Hi Jennifer,

Hope you are doing well. I'm in a quandary about my future plans and I was hoping you could help me find a way forward.

Let me give you a few details about myself.

Academic:
Graduation: BTech (IIT Bombay, 7.7/10)
GMAT: 770 (49 Q, 47 V, 5.0 AWA)

Work Experience:
- 3 years in a global s/w products firm with over 50000 employees.
- I have been promoted out of turn twice, and handle some responsibilities which are typically handled by people with 5-6 years of experience in the firm.
- My performance over the years has also been recognized with certain awards that are granted to less than 1% of the workforce worldwide.

Even though my work has made an impact on our product and some of the concepts I have driven towards completion are key differentiators in the market, it would be difficult to link my actions to financial benefits of the firm considering that it is such a large enterprise.

Extra-curricular and hobbies:
-Been part of a professional theater group for a long time now. We have won quite a few awards at the national level. We also have annual funding from the Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India. I'm also involved in promoting theater involvement among college students.
-Member of the college football(soccer :-) ) team.
-I enjoy playing a few other sports as well, apart from reading and writing.

International Exposure:
Very less. I have been to Europe for a Technical Conference where I had to showcase the product we were building. I am fluent in German though and regularly interact with colleagues from Europe.

Personally, I am very curious and inquisitive by nature and I just love to "figure out" things and as such, I feel a career in consulting would be suitable to me. I'm essentially looking at a domain and function shift, and I'm under the impression that this is best done early on in the career. Also, I'm aiming at the top b-schools like Stanford, Kellogg and Darden.

But my work ex and international exposure fall short of the averages and I do not have community involvement. If I wait for a few more years to fill these gaps, I fear that a domain and function shift may not be possible. I'm stuck at this point and hope you can advise me on how to plan my next steps.

In short, I know where I am and I know where I want to go. I also know an MBA will help me get there but I just need directions on getting to a b-school. :-)

Hi, sarcasmeter. I'm sorry to hear you in such a quandary. I hope I can help a bit.
First, you have a great GMAT, so your chances at a slightly less competitive program like Darden will increase since they can use that GMAT to boost their averages.
The work experience you hint at does sound interesting - especially the part about concepts you have "driven" to completion. If you led people above you in the firm to accept those concepts, then you have the type of experience the MBA programs are seeking. I encourage you to apply now to at least a couple of programs (though without large impacts either in the community or at work, I agree that the chances at Stanford and Kellogg are not great). I encourage you to apply to the European programs (ESADE, IMD, etc.) as well.
Use the essays to detail how you have led your ideas to acceptance throughout the company or even just throughout your division. Your acting involvement might actually intrigue the MBA programs since it probably speaks volumes about your public speaking ability.
Alongside this year's applications, I suggest you try to lead a community initiative of some form to demonstrate that you also know how to lead outside of a hierarchical work environment. This will make great fodder for next year's essays if it doesn't pan out this year.
You are right that you do not want to wait many more years before applying, but 4 and 5 years of work experience is still within the average range of MBA students, so you have nothing to worry about yet.
Good luck! You can send me your drafts for a quick review if you would like.

Regards,

Jennifer Bloom, CPRW

Accepted-Helping you write your best!

[jhonny1010]

Hi

My profile is

GMAT 700 50Q 33V 5AWA

Education B. Tech IIT (8.31 / 10). Have done good projects during my B.Tech (though no paper was published)

Work EX 3.5 Years in one of the Big 4 consulting firms as an SAP consultant. I have worked in 3 differnent technologies and have started a consulting practice for a technology in my firm. Also I have been involved in Business Development and Recuritment activities and have singlehandedly take care of responsibilites for multpile technologies in projects. I have worked with diverse clients such as Retail, Manufacturing , Coffee Company etc

Also I have developed few new technincal methods to speed up the Implemenation and Upgrade Projects. I have also provided solutions to the cilent that have helped them save a lot of money.


Extra Acads Not so impressive, In my College I was the deptt councelor for Civil Depptt in my hostel. And Post College I have been teaching Physics to students for IIT-JEE (Private Tutions ) a few of my students have made to the IITs. Also I have won a few prizes in the events held at my company.


Goals General Management, want to stay in this SAP consulting field and finally take up the position of project manager in short term who leads the team of 8-10 people. My long term goal is to take the position of a director in a consulting firm who makes critical decisions such as which new practice to set up etc.

Please Evaluate My profile and suggest which schools (all within US and outside US) are within reach. Also If I do not make it to any B School this year suggest what improvments should I try to make in my profile.

Thanks