INSEAD 2009 Applicants

[suvidhstrikes]

Hi puys


i just wanted to update you on my achievements, work ex and the GMAT score (which i recieved yesterday) and have your view on my chances vis-vis my earlier questions and profile mentioned earlier


P.S.:the one big problem i see with my application is that my degree is a 3 year correspondence course BCA from kurukshetra university

GMAT score(1st attempt) 740 (QA 49, VA 41) AWA 6/6
TOEFL score iBT, 111/120

extra currics:
in school: house captain, school vice captain,, cultural activites captain, captain of the school football and cricket teams, captain of the school quizzing and debating teams...won a lot of inter school(city level and regional level) competitions in all of the above

College: Member of cricket, football,basketball,athletics team. member of dramatics, debaters and quizzers club(executive body)....captain of the college fashion show,quizzing,debating and dumb charades teams(again won a lot of inter college(both city level and national level) competitions

Also twice winner of natiional student management games( once 1st and once 3rd) organised by all india management association, in a simulated business strategy exercise called "Chanakyaniti"

Winner of Jagriti India scholarship awarded by the speaker of Lok Sabha(Indian parliament), Sh. P.A.Sangma

Member of a theatre group called "chandigarh mafia" or 2 years, n did theatre and street plays duing that time


Professional experience:
1) started my own event management company "eventizers", to organise stage shows, exhibitions etc in chandigarh and ran it successfuly for 1.5 years
2)Joined a plywood manufacturing firm as a sales representative and within six months made area sales manager and in another year Regional sales and marketing manager(entire north india) handling a team of 40 people.Worked for a total of 3 years for this organisation.
3)Worked as a faculty at T.I.M.E.( a bschool entrance prep insititue) and went on to become the marketing manager there as well...worked for a total of 10 months
4) Joined career launcher(another Test prep organisation) as a quantitative abilities faculty and within 3 months become the youngest ever centre head of the organisation handling a team of 30 people and taking care of the sales, marketing, operations, HR and academic issues of the a profit centre worth yearly revenues of more than 4 crore INR and along with my team mantained a growth rate of over 25% over the next 2 years.



As far as my future goals are concerned, i see myself either getting into management consulting or Investment Banking

Could you please advise me on the B schools i should be targetting out of the list given below, based on my profile above and if you could also tell me that if after mentioning the above mentioned if i have a better chance at cracking any of these bschools(since your earlier advice was to not target bschools in the top 25, but that is actually where my focus lies,so kindly advise and if possible , at the earliest since i intend to apply very soon)


My list of colleges which have confirmed that the 3year degree wont be a problem and that my work ex( most of which is before i completed graduation ) would be accepted are:

1. Kellogg
2 Harvard
3 Yale
4. Wharton
5 Tuck
6 Chicago GSB
7 Stanford
8 Fuqua
9. Darden
10 NYU Stern
11. Drucker
12 INSEAD
13. HEC France
14. IESE spain
15 Melbourne business school


out of these, i have already gor my GMAT score sent to
kellogg, INSEAD, HEC, Tuck and MBS


What do u puys think and suggest about my chances for INSEAD jan 2009?
hoping for an early reply

warm regards
Suvidh Arora

[LifeOnGeodesic]

Hi Suvidh:

You do have a non-traditional profile in Indian demographics with a good score.
No dearth of extra-curriculars too.

I cannot comment upon your 3 years correspondence degree though many schools accept these case to case basis (read as value of work experience) You seem to cover a wide spectrum of work-exp though a majority of it can be classified as marketting.

The thing that strikes is your future goal - either IB or Consulting - now this sounds superficial and quite divergent.

You should be clear in what you want to do after MBA, earlier the better - else it may induce some ambiguity in your essays.

No harm in being undecided between IB/Consulting - if this is your case, I would say you should aim for 2 year MBA programs rather than 1 year MBA - where you do not have time to toggle between IB/Consulting switches.

All the best!

P.S. 1 year MBA needs a lot of conviction and clarity to be successful (as in find a job) during or immediately post MBA. Satisfying the minimum requirements, you are competent to apply for INSEAD Jan 2009 program.

Originally Posted by suvidhstrikes

Hi puys


i just wanted to update you on my achievements, work ex and the GMAT score (which i recieved yesterday) and have your view on my chances vis-vis my earlier questions and profile mentioned earlier


P.S.:the one big problem i see with my application is that my degree is a 3 year correspondence course BCA from kurukshetra university

GMAT score(1st attempt) 740 (QA 49, VA 41) AWA 6/6
TOEFL score iBT, 111/120

extra currics:
in school: house captain, school vice captain,, cultural activites captain, captain of the school football and cricket teams, captain of the school quizzing and debating teams...won a lot of inter school(city level and regional level) competitions in all of the above

College: Member of cricket, football,basketball,athletics team. member of dramatics, debaters and quizzers club(executive body)....captain of the college fashion show,quizzing,debating and dumb charades teams(again won a lot of inter college(both city level and national level) competitions

Also twice winner of natiional student management games( once 1st and once 3rd) organised by all india management association, in a simulated business strategy exercise called "Chanakyaniti"

Winner of Jagriti India scholarship awarded by the speaker of Lok Sabha(Indian parliament), Sh. P.A.Sangma

Member of a theatre group called "chandigarh mafia" or 2 years, n did theatre and street plays duing that time


Professional experience:
1) started my own event management company "eventizers", to organise stage shows, exhibitions etc in chandigarh and ran it successfuly for 1.5 years
2)Joined a plywood manufacturing firm as a sales representative and within six months made area sales manager and in another year Regional sales and marketing manager(entire north india) handling a team of 40 people.Worked for a total of 3 years for this organisation.
3)Worked as a faculty at T.I.M.E.( a bschool entrance prep insititue) and went on to become the marketing manager there as well...worked for a total of 10 months
4) Joined career launcher(another Test prep organisation) as a quantitative abilities faculty and within 3 months become the youngest ever centre head of the organisation handling a team of 30 people and taking care of the sales, marketing, operations, HR and academic issues of the a profit centre worth yearly revenues of more than 4 crore INR and along with my team mantained a growth rate of over 25% over the next 2 years.



As far as my future goals are concerned, i see myself either getting into management consulting or Investment Banking

Could you please advise me on the B schools i should be targetting out of the list given below, based on my profile above and if you could also tell me that if after mentioning the above mentioned if i have a better chance at cracking any of these bschools(since your earlier advice was to not target bschools in the top 25, but that is actually where my focus lies,so kindly advise and if possible , at the earliest since i intend to apply very soon)


My list of colleges which have confirmed that the 3year degree wont be a problem and that my work ex( most of which is before i completed graduation ) would be accepted are:

1. Kellogg
2 Harvard
3 Yale
4. Wharton
5 Tuck
6 Chicago GSB
7 Stanford
8 Fuqua
9. Darden
10 NYU Stern
11. Drucker
12 INSEAD
13. HEC France
14. IESE spain
15 Melbourne business school


out of these, i have already gor my GMAT score sent to
kellogg, INSEAD, HEC, Tuck and MBS


What do u puys think and suggest about my chances for INSEAD jan 2009?
hoping for an early reply

warm regards
Suvidh Arora

[just4anshul]

@suvidh,

you have a different and a good profile, very entrepreneurial and with a lot of leadership.

I am not sure how schools look at correspondence degrees, but I feel if you have a good reason so as to why you chose to do so, you should be fine.

You changed about 3-4 jobs, so this should also fit in your LT goals. Have a good answer for what you gained from every job, and why you changed them...

but you def have a good chance at the schools you mentioned.

[gnarang]

Originally Posted by why

Hey guys, I am an R2 applicant as well.... is there anyone who has graduated from DU here? Getting transcripts, I think, is going to be a pain... knowing my univ...

Hi Why,

The simpler way for sending transcripts is to get the photocopies of marksheets and degrees notarised (very simple process, can be done in Courts like Tis Hazari, Patiala House, etc.). I am also a DU student (B.Com from Ramjas) and have sent my notarised certificates. I had applied in R1 and have received confirmation about completion of my file.


Girish

[amit_sharma07]

Hello grp..

Just wanted to check in and say Hi
I have applied in R1. Got confirmation that the application is complete. Typical Indian IT guy

[amit_sharma07]

March is almost gone, did anyone here anything?

[mba_europe_09]

Hi Amit,

I checked my status a couple of days ago and it had changed to "Your application is currently under evaluation". As for interview notifications, I think the majority of those go out only on or very close to the deadline i.e. April 18th.

Till then can't do anything but wait...

[nathanmuir]

Originally Posted by amit_sharma07

March is almost gone, did anyone here anything?

notihng at my end, the interview calls should be starting soon for the shortlisted candidates.....as its been almost a month since the submission date

[lbsaspirant]

Hi,
I was planning to apply for a 1 year finance oriented program in USA/Europe. I was intially very keen on master of finance course at LBS. But after talking to a couple of LBS graduates and hearing about how difficult it is get a careeer shift. I have started to look at 1 year MBA program. I am applying for the september 2009 section.

Proflie:-
B.I.T from Delhi University------good acads
MBA from FMS, Delhi-------- avg acads
Work with Citibank as management associate.. first job..by september would hve 40 months wk ex.
INtl exposure:- 20 day orientation program at Singapore is only thing I can show.
Gmat:- 710 M 49 E 38
Toefl:-103
CFA Level I.
internships with American Express,PWC during MBA. Certificates of appreciation or excellence from all the three organisations.
Ex circular
Cultural Seceatray at FMS.
Did a lot of activities like organized orinetation program, convocation, business quiz, blood donation camps,designin T shrits etc..
A lot of activites during college as well days but nothing to show in the last couple of years...

How can I make application stronger ????...before October 2008 which is the 1st round deadline.
Would a prior MBA degree hurt my chances at INSEAD.

Note- It took me 45 days to get my transcripts from Delhi University..Anyone from DU please plan in advance..

THank you

[just4anshul]

I would say you check with schools if they would allow you to get an MBA if you already have an MBA... as I know most schools do not allow that... once this is through we can look at how to make your profile strong