Columbia '10 admit taking questions

[columbia10admit]

kunal,
why are you promoting chicago on the a columbia thread?? for shame!

Originally Posted by nagpalkunal

Assuming, you are interested primarily in Finance, may I suggest Uni of Chicago too? It sure doesn't get better than them folks.

[columbia10admit]

to answer your questions:

1. whether the above score is sufficient to apply to good B-Schools or do i need to retake the test? Considering my score is not balanced
- i think your score is sufficient, although of course your verbal could have been better. i think that can be mitigated.

2. How much of importance is given to AWA score?
- not much that i know of, but in your case it may serve to take some of the edge off your low verbal in the gmat.

3. Which B-Schools suit my profile and would increase the probability of getting admission?
- i cant really predict which schools would be reach/safety for you! that would be very much your call! but i would say that the schools you have mentioned look good.

the only point of concern would be that since you have already done an mba, you would need to show very strongly that you feel the need for another mba, without it reflecting adversely on your career progression till now, and your abilities.

good luck!

Originally Posted by rock_78

Looking for guidance from you. i wrote the GMAT a few days ago and my scores are as below:

Score : 710
Quant : 95% (Scaled score: 50)
Verbal: 75% (Scaled score: 35)
AWA : 6.0
Overall Percentile : 93%
Male/Indian
Age : 30

I am applying for the B-Schools for 2009. I am looking for opinions to know the following:

1. whether the above score is sufficient to apply to good B-Schools or do i need to retake the test? Considering my score is not balanced
2. How much of importance is given to AWA score?
3. Which B-Schools suit my profile and would increase the probability of getting admission?

I wud like all of you to also consider my credentials as given below before giving ur opinion.

Acads - I have already done an MBA. My acads are excellent: Graduation and Post Graduation CGPA : 4.0. Have been a topper throughout and have received scholarships and awards.

Work Experience : I have 6 years of work experience, would be 7 yrs by the time i join a B-School next year. I have worked in manufacturing, management consulting and strategy. NO INTERNATIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE, though have traveled abroad for assignments thrice, but for brief periods. Won awards during my work experience for various projects and had a good history of promotion.

Extra Curricular: Decent - Learnt Dance, Case study competitons, music, cultural committee member etc.

No community service...

I am considering the following B-Schools as of now:

Wharton, MIT Sloan, NYU Stern, INSEAD, LBS, Cambridge & Oxford and 1or 2 other US Schools which i have not yet decided.

My short term goal wud be to enter into consulting and then move into a senior position in consulting few years down the line..

Rgds
Rock

[columbia10admit]

1) I am planning to pursue my MBA in Finance..Do B - Schools accept such deviations as my current profile has nothing to do with finance its hardcore electrical and management job.
- yes career changing is quite common.. what you would need to show is a solid understanding of the career you plan to pursue, and clarity of thought about why you choose to switch careers.

2) What is your opinion about my profile..Where can i improve or where do i lack...because i really wanna crack one of the above mentioned universities.
- for that, honestly, i would need to know more about your profile! details about your work and extra curricular activities would be helpful.

Originally Posted by italian7745

My profile
2006 Pass out - Electrical n Electronics Engg. CGPA :- 3.1
Extra Curri and Academics - Avg. throughout
By 2009 Aug' would be having a work exp. of 3 years
Currently working as a Project Manager in an MNC.

I am giving GMAT in July (On 31st)

Wanted to ask few queries:-

1) I am planning to pursue my MBA in Finance..Do B - Schools accept such deviations as my current profile has nothing to do with finance its hardcore electrical and management job.

2) What is your opinion about my profile..Where can i improve or where do i lack...because i really wanna crack one of the above mentioned universities.

Would be waiting for your reply.

Thanks and Regards
VS

[nagpalkunal]

Originally Posted by columbia10admit

to answer your questions:

2. How much of importance is given to AWA score?
- not much that i know of, but in your case it may serve to take some of the edge off your low verbal in the gmat.

the only point of concern would be that since you have already done an mba, you would need to show very strongly that you feel the need for another mba, without it reflecting adversely on your career progression till now, and your abilities.

To the question above, AWA is really not considered by schools. The thumb rule being that if you slip below 4, your essays are scanned for tell tale signs of editing services etc. and in general back of the mind score for them.
So I am not sure if that will help smoothen your VA score but hey, anything works!
Consequently a good way to make up for the VA score per se is to write essays effectively removing any doubts whatsoever in their minds whether you can communicate in English at a level expected of Top MBAs.

And I agree with the last comment above, proving why you need another MBA is the more important task for you.

Cheers and all the best

[nagpalkunal]

Originally Posted by columbia10admit

kunal,
why are you promoting chicago on the a columbia thread?? for shame!

I was beginning to miss you here!!

and it really isn't better than Chicago when it comes to Finance - even though - even though I remain a true fan of the Graham and Dodd value investing approach

[columbia10admit]

Question- 1} 15 years of education? - i have 15 years and beleive top colleges require 16, so am contemplating a Pg diploma .

- its quite wrong to assume that all the top colleges want 16 years; that was the case till a few yrs ago, not anymore. i wrote a post on taht once, you could look that up sometime... it shoudl be on this thread, or you could dig it out from my profile.
from the schools you are looking at, ucla and kelley need 16 years.

2} I am looking at marketing marketing and only marketing
Kellogs
ucla
columbia
kelly
cmu
Am prety confused as of now and am hoping you could help me with the whole preocess.

- well i would be glad to help but would be great if you could be more specific about the help you need! how about you come back with your gmat score, and a draft of your essays? if you are interested in columbia we could talk about what you would like to know about columbia, or writing essays in general.

good luck!

Originally Posted by ajsin

First i'd like to tell you a bit about me, i feel u can help me cause my profile is very simmilar to your's

Graduation- Economics pune univ.
Lots of extra curriculars
Good L.O.R's
3 years work ex- 2 years in Telecom and 1 year in Pharma
Social work .- plenty
Spots accomplishments- like Sports Captain

Gmat- well as of now i'm getin 680 - 700 in gmat prep's .Cracking the Math but need a little work in English wich i am currently busy with- Expect a 700 +

Question- 1} 15 years of education? - i have 15 years and beleive top colleges require 16, so am contemplating a Pg diploma .

2} I am looking at marketing marketing and only marketing
Kellogs
ucla
columbia
kelly
cmu

Am prety confused as of now and am hoping you could help me with the whole preocess.
cheers

[columbia10admit]

Originally Posted by eyeris

This is my profile:
1. B.E (Mech)- First class with distinction from Mumbai University
2. Work-ex: 23 months (TCS, as a developer. Nothing remarkable), 5 months (current, with an NGO. I have a good leadership role here. Will be more than a year's experience when I join).
3. GMAT- 730, AWA-5.5
4. Extra curriculars: guitar, bharatnatyam, hindustani classical music
5. Hobbies: reading, writing, music and films

I plan to apply to US B-schools this year. Now here are my queries:

1.My concern is the little blip of a career switch to an NGO. I honestly didn't do it for valuable brownie points from the adcom; it has always been a personal goal and the role seemed terribly interesting. I am just at my wits' end trying to justify an MBA after it; again, getting an MBA has been a goal- although the adcom may just see it as confusion. Any words of wisdom to alleviate my fears?

2. How do I decide on the B-school? Where can I look for information regarding B-schools best suited for my the specialization of my interest? (I wish to specialize in marketing)

I really appreciate this thread you've started for all us US B-school aspirants.

Thanks and regards,
Eyeris.

1.My concern is the little blip of a career switch to an NGO. I honestly didn't do it for valuable brownie points from the adcom; it has always been a personal goal and the role seemed terribly interesting. I am just at my wits' end trying to justify an MBA after it; again, getting an MBA has been a goal- although the adcom may just see it as confusion. Any words of wisdom to alleviate my fears?

- this depends completely on what your post mba goal is. if you want to work in anything related to nonpfts, public sector consulting, nonpft consulting, non pft venture capital.. any form of social enterprise work.. your career switch from tcs -> ngo may even look like you're going towards your intended goal, instead of getting confused!
see getting an MBA is never a goal. the degree, like any other degree, is a tool to help you get to your eventual goal. if suppose you wanted to work post mba in a technologically related ngo - say, developing software for handicapped ppl (please remember that i know nothing of techie stuff, so i may be talking thru my hat here.. hoping you get the gist of what im trying to say!) .. then a career move to TCS and then to an NGO would be logical, isnt it?
so basically, you have to prove that you are working towards a Goal. and that everything you did leads towards that goal.. now you need an MBA to finally get there.
the goal itself.. can be anything.


2. How do I decide on the B-school? Where can I look for information regarding B-schools best suited for my the specialization of my interest? (I wish to specialize in marketing)

- the bschool you apply to will depend on a few crucial things:
the kind of job you want (therefore the placements, the location of the school, and its areas of focus come into play)
where you want to work (location of the school matters)
what kind of investment you are willing to make (because good schools can be expensive)
what you want out of the time you spend in bschool .. what your priorities are.
you can start your research at businessweek, clearadmit, accepted, and ofcourse PG

good luck!

[columbia10admit]

Originally Posted by nagpalkunal

I was beginning to miss you here!!

and it really isn't better than Chicago when it comes to Finance - even though - even though I remain a true fan of the Graham and Dodd value investing approach

i would beg to differ ..and then you forget the NY advantage!

[meet06]

Hi,

Attn: nagpalkunal / columbia admit'10

Congrats to both of you on your admits!

Coming straight to the point, my profile below:

A/S/L: 23.5 yrs/M/Dubai
Undergrad: BE - Electronics & Instrumentation - BITS, Pilani - Dubai
CGPA: 9.27/10
Xth/XIIth: 85.6/87.2 - both CBSE
GMAT: 740 in Nov-06 (V=93%ile, Q=90%ile, AWA=5.0)
Work-ex: 2 yrs in sep-08
Present Industry: Oil & Gas Construction --> Want to switch to finance.
Extra Currics: Very solid with loads of trophies/awards right from school through college and at work too (all sports though)
Community Service: None
Others: Have done a certificate course in finance for non-finance people done by XLRI in dubai

As stated above, I want to switch to finance and so am targetting the top finance schools in US. My list includes:

Columbia/Stern/Chicago/Yale/Wharton + UT-Austin/UNC/Kelley as safety.

I plan to apply all of these round-1, including ED for Columbia/UNC. Do you think my profile is strong enough to stand a chance?

The things i am concerned about are:
1. my work-ex (i am on a graduate training program, so no real career progression is possible for 3 years but it is a program designed to train people to be future managers - so i have a holistic understanding of the business - adequate enough??);
2. career switch (my present work-ex doesnt really connect to my future industry)?

Or do you think I should work on something like CFA (i havent done anything on this yet), and apply later? Does additional reading up on finance and related topics help in the essays/interviews?

Would really appreciate if you people could take time out and reply.

Thanks,
Meet

[columbia10admit]

Originally Posted by meet06

Coming straight to the point, my profile below:

A/S/L: 23.5 yrs/M/Dubai
Undergrad: BE - Electronics & Instrumentation - BITS, Pilani - Dubai
CGPA: 9.27/10
Xth/XIIth: 85.6/87.2 - both CBSE
GMAT: 740 in Nov-06 (V=93%ile, Q=90%ile, AWA=5.0)
Work-ex: 2 yrs in sep-08
Present Industry: Oil & Gas Construction --> Want to switch to finance.
Extra Currics: Very solid with loads of trophies/awards right from school through college and at work too (all sports though)
Community Service: None
Others: Have done a certificate course in finance for non-finance people done by XLRI in dubai

As stated above, I want to switch to finance and so am targetting the top finance schools in US. My list includes:

Columbia/Stern/Chicago/Yale/Wharton + UT-Austin/UNC/Kelley as safety.

I plan to apply all of these round-1, including ED for Columbia/UNC. Do you think my profile is strong enough to stand a chance?

The things i am concerned about are:
1. my work-ex (i am on a graduate training program, so no real career progression is possible for 3 years but it is a program designed to train people to be future managers - so i have a holistic understanding of the business - adequate enough??);
2. career switch (my present work-ex doesnt really connect to my future industry)?

Or do you think I should work on something like CFA (i havent done anything on this yet), and apply later? Does additional reading up on finance and related topics help in the essays/interviews?

Would really appreciate if you people could take time out and reply.

Thanks,
Meet

I plan to apply all of these round-1, including ED for Columbia/UNC. Do you think my profile is strong enough to stand a chance?

- im only going to talk about my opinion of your chances at columbia.. i think you should stand a fair chance.. good acads, a solid gmat score..and an interesting industry. if you write your essays well, you have a shot.


The things i am concerned about are:
1. my work-ex (i am on a graduate training program, so no real career progression is possible for 3 years but it is a program designed to train people to be future managers - so i have a holistic understanding of the business - adequate enough??);

- i think adcoms are quite familiar with career paths in many industries. so even if you cant show promotions as such, the onus is on you to prove that you have grown professionally yoy - handled greater responsibilities perhaps. i'm sure your quality of work has been different from year on year - just make sure that comes across.


2. career switch (my present work-ex doesnt really connect to my future industry)? Or do you think I should work on something like CFA (i havent done anything on this yet), and apply later? Does additional reading up on finance and related topics help in the essays/interviews?

- columbia (and chicago too for that matter, but kunal can speak with greater authority here) is very familiar with career switchers. and columbia has finance as one of its core strengths, so the adcom is more than used to people applying to switch into finance. what is critical here is that you show carefully and categorically what piqued your interest in finance; what exactly interests you in finance (do you want to do consulting? ibanking? sales and trading? investing? the more specific the better) and why... and why you think you are suited more for finance than your current career. you also need to show why an MBA is essential for you to switch careers; why, for example, you cant apply for a finance job as you are...
- ofcourse any finance related coursework will help your case; it will show that you are interested in the subject.. and proactive enough to study towards your desired career, with or without your mba. the cfa, if you choose to do it, needs to be relevant to your chosen field in finance .. if you want to do consulting, for example, you will most likely do as well without a cfa. and yes showing a deeper understanding of your intended career definitely shows greater focus.. which is what the adcom is looking for.. so reading helps as well.

see essentially its important how you portray yourself. how you differentiate yourself from the hordes of career switchers at columbia's gates every year. you have to show a true passion for your career and a logic for choosing it. clarity and focus.. in your essays, backed up by your recos.. that will do the trick.

good luck!