Sir is GMAT score is must for evaluating the profile?

Hi Arun,

Thanks …. Actually from last two days i was searching for platform where i can ask few questions regarding my preparations and my Goal.

First my doubt is that what should be my preparation plan.

I started with RC and learned few strategies and practiced that. i have completed my OG & VR but now problem is that i do not know from where i need to practice more , because i know that if i didn’t keep practicing then slowly and slowly strategies of solving RC & my learning for RC  will fade away.Please help. i literally want help for this area because same problem i will be facing for each section.

Currently i am doing my SC and practicing from OG & VR.

After this i will start CR from coming weekend.

So please let me know that what should be my plan so that i can keep practicing things which i have already completed  and sources from where i can practice.

MY GOAL.

As i mentioned in the above table that i want to pursue management course in 1) Tours & Travel or 2)Media &  Mass communication and i have searched a lot for the colleges and what GMAT score required for this but i didn’t find any things regarding these courses.So please let me know details about these courses , its scope , and college & score required for these courses.

Please also suggest how can i groom my self for application process.

Please do suggest few courses which focus on Creativity and Innovation apart from which i mentioned.

Once again thanks for providing a wonderful ,descriptive & concise way to solve/tackle questions for each section. I have seen good improvement in my RC and SC  skills till now compare to last year’s.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Arun Sir,

Thanks for your effort of taking time in evaluating the profiles. Please find my details below.

1. Undergraduate / master’s educational qualification: B.Tech (Information Technology)
2. GMAT Score (Total with Q/V split): 480 (Q-42, V-15)
3. Work Experience (Company / Title / Responsibility / Promotions): I have 6 years of experience and working with Tech Mahindra at Hyderabad. I work as an Associate Team Lead. Main responsibilities are to manage a team and work  on technical challenges.
4. Extra Curricular (Hobbies / Interests ): I work as a Corporate Leader at Teach For India @ Hyderabad. The main responsibilities include conducting educational events at corporate companies and act as coordinator between the NGO and the Company to promote education related goals of Teach For India.
5. Career Goals (Industry / Function / Geography): I want to pursue a career as a Consultant and work on complex business problems. Want to join a good Consulting company with no choice of location. Down the line of 5 years in my Consulting career, I want to start my own Consulting firm in India.

Things eating my head are the below:

1. I gave my GMAT in sep – 2016 but it was a bad attempt. Post that due to office work pressure I had to move to client location within India for 1 month and had a hectic work. Focus on my GMAT got dim. Now if I start my prep again, the level of preparation I feel is not at all easy. I need at least 3 months to get a decent score of 650. But if I aim for 700+ I would need more time. Now if I give my GMAT in 2017 (probably). I would take atleast 6 months to reach the score of 700+.
2. Given my age as 29 now, if I get an admission at the age of 30 or 31. is that a correct age to get an MBA. I saw most of the schools are having avg age as 29. So if I get admission at the age of 31 or 32, I will graduate at 34. Will this be a factor hindering my placements?

Hello Arun!

Thanks for hosting this.

1. Education – Bachelors in Mass Media (Maj. Advertising) – Uni. of Mumbai 2012

2.  GMAT:  590 (42Q 29V) & target – 700

3. Work Experience –  4.5 years of total work ex.

• 2 years in advertising where I drove social media  & digital strategy for Bharti AXA , Axis Bank, Harsha Bhogle etc.
• 2.5 years – Launched my own travel startup lunchex.co (shortlisted by IIM B as top50 prototype stage startups in the country). Worked for a year at cross platform media solution/retail app startup and brought in its first 10000 customers before it shut down.

Currently working at a background verification startup and heading the marketing function.

4. Extra Curriculars – I enjoy playing chess. I used to play national level chess as a kid. I dabble in travel blogging and photography.

5.  Career Goals – International exposure and having academic backing for my current role, responsibilities and current designation.                                                                  5 year plan – is to gain international management experience at a global corporation.

Questions:

1. Given my profile, should my story focus heavily on the entrepreneurial experience I have?

2. Should recommendation letters completely echo what the application story says or it’s fine if it touches on one or two points?

3. Sorry for a generic question – Do you know if IMD/ St.  Gallan are keen on having people with entrepreneurial experience?

Regards,

Chaitanya

Thank You Arun for creating most relevant post.

1. Undergraduate / master’s educational qualification
   • Chartered Accountant
2. GMAT Score (Total with Q/V split)
   • 590 (Q45 V26) in Oct-16 (1st attempt). Planning to give GMAT in Jan-17
3. Work Experience (Company / Title / Responsibility / Promotions)
   • Work Experience: 10 Years
   • Working as a Manager (Accounts) in Listed Oil & Gas Company

• Extra Curricular (Hobbies / Interests ): Bullet Riding

• Career Goals (Industry / Function / Geography)
  • Clear GMAT with atleast 700 Score

• I want to do MBA from ISB, IIM-A/B/C, SPJain.
• Reach to a Top position in listed MNC such as CFO by age of 40 years (Current age:35) OR pursue career as a consultant at top Consulting firms.

I am enrolled with Crackverbal. So, totally trust Crack verbal team for preparation of GMAT.

My Queries are as below:

1. Is it worthwhile to do an MBA from ISB at the age of 35? If yes, what are the chances of vertical growth in career?
2. Would you recommend MBA outside India at the age of 35 years eventhough most of the International Bschools have average age of 29?

Thanks in advance.

Hi Arun,

Thanks for taking the time to start this thread. I had couple of questions regarding my profile and I was hoping to get some advice from your end. Here is my profile to begin.

1. Undergraduate / master’s educational qualification: B.Sc Geology (ranked first)/ M.Sc Geology(ranked first) (Univ of Mumbai), M.S Geology (Univ of Illinois) 3.82 GPA

1. GMAT Score (Total with Q/V split): 650 (V47, Q32).

1. Work Experience (Company / Title / Responsibility / Promotions): Started work in oil service field, worked middle east for less than a year on offshore locations. Then after my M.S worked as a Geologist in US state geological survey on multiple consultancy projects for 2.5 yrs. Then moved to BP as a Geologist and worked there for 4+ years in new venture and exploration strategy group, worked on BP’s entry into Brazil and Mexico as part of the technical strategy team. Was part of the team which won BP its first deal in Mexico. Also worked on Trinidad and US projects.

1. Extra Curricular (Hobbies / Interests ): Have been active in multiple outreach programs. 1)Rebuilding Houston Together – where I was part of the volunteer team where we went to low income housing to fix houses of elderly residence. 2) Was the BP point of contact and volunteered at “The Center” which is an organization for the intellectually disabled. 3)Been an active alumni for Univ of Illinois and was part of the recruitment team which visited the university 4) Actively fostered stray dogs in Houston. 5) Keen interest in fitness, weight training. 6) Woodworking and organic gardening are couple of my hobbies.

1. Career Goals (Industry / Function / Geography): I want to specialize in either Business strategy or consulting due to my background in it. I have worked extensively in new ventures, new market entry and long term business strategy and I have a lot of experience in risk and uncertainty management. All my experience so far has been in a single industry and I am want to use my MBA to diversify and to gain experience in other industries. Right now I have been looking at things from mainly a technical point of view and my next step is to get into the management side of strategy.  Looking at Canadian schools and would like to remain in N.America.

The questions that I have for you are,

1. The main reason for my plan to get back to school is the widen my options when it comes to industries. I am 35 yrs old and I have seen that I am sort of at the far end of the spectrum in terms of age for most universities. Currently I am in India since my visa in US ran out and I had to move back to India. Since I wanted to dedicate my efforts towards the Gmat I have not yet searched for a job. Would these three factors (career change, age, unemployment) adversely effect my application.

1. Since in Canada there are not many options in terms of the top tier universities, there are two universities in my list (Queen, Ivey) which have a 1 yr program. In your opinion would a 1 yr program be appropriate for a career change.

1. Also looking at my profile in general, since I am mainly trained in a very specific technical field would that have effect on my application. Also do you have any advice on what part of my profile should I try to highlight more or less to help my application.

1. I am mainly trying to get into Business strategy but in your opinion is it too narrow a specialization or should I venture further away from my past experiences so that I have more options after my mba.

Once again thanks for taking the time to start this thread and I look forward to your comments.

Regards,

Vineeth M

1. Yes being unemployed at the time of applying might be a negative. So may I suggest that you try to build something that shows you are occupied full-time. It could even be a voluntary work OR something different from what you have been doing.
2. Age is a factor as you have to explain to them WHY you waited for this long before you decided to apply. However,  I have had students at your age level getting in – so don’t worry too much.
3. Career change to consulting won’t be a big problem – especially if you enter them as a subject matter expert in the oil & gas industry. Also look beyond the obvious one – McKinsey etc.
4. Canadian MBA which allow you access to a consulting companies post MBA can be considered.
5. You need to focus on your domain expertise + personal attributes that help you become a consultant (analytical, high energy etc).

I hope this helps!

Arun

1. Yes being unemployed at the time of applying might be a negative. So may I suggest that you try to build something that shows you are occupied full-time. It could even be a voluntary work OR something different from what you have been doing.
2. Age is a factor as you have to explain to them WHY you waited for this long before you decided to apply. However,  I have had students at your age level getting in – so don’t worry too much.
3. Career change to consulting won’t be a big problem – especially if you enter them as a subject matter expert in the oil & gas industry. Also look beyond the obvious one – McKinsey etc.
4. Canadian MBA which allow you access to a consulting companies post MBA can be considered.
5. You need to focus on your domain expertise + personal attributes that help you become a consultant (analytical, high energy etc).

I hope this helps!

Arun

1. Undergraduate / master’s educational qualification ( B.Sc in maths / MCA with 8.9 pointers from NIT
2. GMAT Score (Total with Q/V split)   710 q49v38
3. Work Experience (Company / Title / Responsibility / Promotions) 7 years in It product development/Oracle/Senior Software developer/Individual contributor and mentor for juniors)
4. Extra Curricular (Hobbies / Interests ) to play squash/gym /kickboxing.
5. Career Goals (Industry / Function / Geography)  I am targetting IIM-A/B/L and ISB from india and my dream college Booth from US. I want to explore the consulting side and i am not very strict about geographical location.

I have taken the verbal classes fromCV and i am seeing a drastic improvement in my verbal performance from v22 to v38. Waiting for my profile analysis and suggestions.