Request for Profile Evaluation

[findram]

Indian, Male, Age: 27

GMAT 730, (Q49, 86%ile), (V40, 89%ile), (AWA 5.0)

Academic:

Undergrad: Civil Engg, IIT Madras, GPA: 7.32/10,
Masters: Transportation Engg, Texas A&M University, Major GPA 4.0/4.0 (Total 3.87/4.0)


Certifications:

CFA Level 3 Candidate.
Professional Engineer, State of California.
Graduate Certificate in Business, GPA 3.75/4.0, Mays Business School, Texas A&M University (This is kind of a Minor. with a total of 4 courses, 12 credits).

Work ex details:

Full Time (Close to 4 years by Aug 2012), Dept. of Transportation, CA
July 2011 to Present, Associate Project Manager
July 2009 to June 2011, Assistant Project Engineer
Nov 2009 to June 2010, Assistant Project Manager
Oct 2008 to Oct 2009, Transportation Engineer

Part Time ( 2 yrs, 20 hrs per week), Texas Transportation Institute, TX
Sep 2006 to Aug 2008, Research Assistant


Pre - MBA workex : Infrastructure Engineering, and Project Management
After - MBA plans: Short-Term: Infrastructure/Project Finance, Long Term: Investment Management and Private Equity.


Potential Points To Be Highlighted In Essays:

From Professional Life:

● Supervised a politically highly sensitive project which was among the first few projects funded by Obama’s $ 40 B infrastructure stimulus package of 2008. Project became very crucial as it was allotted to a contractor with criminal history, and the whole crew was very less experienced (had to contract out the project to that company because of the reservation limitations). I took over and lead the project after the Senior Engineer who was supposed to lead that project left with in the first quarter of the project as he found it very difficult to manage the contractor and his crew.
● Saved close to $1.5 Million on a highway construction project by coming up with few innovative approaches to deal with unexpected issues raised during the project.
● Developed new data analysis methods which are now followed by our whole project mgmt group.
● Among the youngest in the department to receive a professional engineer license and consequently to authorize State projects.
● Worked on the Caldecott Tunnel Project ( a $ 420 million project, Nation’s second largest highway project supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 )


From Personal Life:

● the way me, my education, and my career progression stood up as a good example and inspiration for many kids in my village and neighboring villages.
● my commitment to make sure that no kid from my village would drop out of school (until at least primary school) due to the lack of financial resources or guidance. Did set up a Fund to fund their primary education.
● involvement with several child education related activities through CSECC (California State Employees Charitable Campaign), CRY (Child Rights and You), and AID (Aid for India’s Development)

Other:

● Worked on a start up "Biglifeindia". Idea was to generate superior returns on the investor’s investments by pooling and investing them in growing sectors like infrastructure development, real estate, large-scale agriculture etc, in India. Temporarily suspended the project because of unfavorable political developments and consequent new regulations (Andhra Pradesh Micro Finance Institutions Act, 2010).

Target Schools (tentative):
R1: Wharton, Booth, MIT, Harvard, Columbia, Stern and Haas
R2: Tuck, LBS, Duke, McCombs.


Please have a look at it and let me know what are my chances of getting accepted in one of my target schools. Also, please let me know if you could think of an area where I can improve upon to put a more competitive application.

I am contemplating about retaking the GMAT. Last time, I was not satisfied with my Quant performance. Kind of neglected it. If I retake, I am planning to give it at the end of this month. Thus, I'll be left with two months to work on my applications. I am planning to spend close to 15 days on each application. Thus, if I retake GMAT i'll be able to submit only 4 to 5 schools in round 1 and the remaining in round 2. If I don't I am planning to submit 6 to 7 applications in round 1. So, I have to choose between retaking GMAT and applying two schools in r1 vs r2.

Thanks a lot for your help.

Ram

[mbamission]

Hi Ram,

Thanks for writing in. It seems that you have some interesting work experience to write about, and a solid GMATs/GPA to back it up. The key to breaking out of the "male Indian engineer" cohort is differentiation. In your case, I would encourage you to go into further detail into your community work, and more importantly, your goals.

Why are you seeking an MBA? What can it provide that your current Masters cannot? It should be more than just "project finance" -- rather what skills do you need to fill in to succeed in Project Finance. And how does that feed into your long-term goal of Private Equity? Your story will need to have a very logical flow in order to appeal to the various adcoms, as there will likely be a lot of similar candidates.

Seven R1 schools is going to be a challenge. In order to give each application the scrutiny it needs to be successful, you may find yourself stretched too think. I encourage you to cut that number down to 3-4.

Overall your profile appears it can be competitive at most top schools, assuming you flesh out the goals and community experience. My assessment is:

Near-reach: Wharton, Harvard, Columbia
Competitive: Booth, MIT, Haas, Tuck, Duke
More competitive: Stern, LBS, McCombs

Good luck!
Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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[findram]

Hi mbamission,

Thank you very much for your insights. They are of great help.

Would you also please throw some light on my GMAT score. Assuming that I have a decent chance to improve my score to 750, do you think it's worth a retake. I am planning to apply Columbia in Early Decision, which means it's my first priority. Heard that Columbia stresses more on high GMAT scores. Please give me your suggestions in that regard.

Regarding your suggestion to concentrate only on 3 to 4 schools for R1: is that because of the time constraints or because of the possible dilution of my essays in case of more applications.

Again, thanks a lot for your time and guidance.

Ram

[mbamission]

Hi Ram,

In terms of R1 application load, my concern comes from both time and essay dilution. Essays for top-tier schools -- such as Columbia -- need to show a significant level of research and understanding of the program. Most candidates find it tough to do the right amount of background work for more than about three schools in a round. Inevitably if you're rushed, the quality of your essays will decline, and so will your chance at admissions.

In regards to your GMAT -- a 730 is already a great score. Most likely Columbia will immediately focus on your non-GMAT elements, since you clearly pass any GMAT litmus test. Therefore I do not recommend dedicating hours going after a 750, especially when it seems you have several applications to get working on.

Best of luck!
Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

Read the mbaMission Insider's Guides (14 individual school titles)

Visit the mbaMission Blog

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[findram]

Thank you very much, mbamission.