Profile Evaluation Request - Asia Private Equity

[JLyman]

Hi,

Posting on the forum for the first time. I am a 26 year old Indian male working as an associate at one of the largest global PE funds in India while looking at the entire Asia-Pacific dealflow (actively worked on deals in Australia, Dubai, Africa, Indonesia and Singapore apart from India of course). Have been in the job for 2 years and have been an observer on the board of an industry leader in the Indian media space. Manage 80%+ of the portfolio in India in terms of dollars deployed, reporting directly to a Director.

Used to work for a top-5 global M&A bank before this for 2 years (was the first undergrad hire in India)

ECA: Started and lead a local arm of a global social venture capital firm (50+ team); Used to lead college debating & students union, Worked briefly for Government of India and World Economic forum on a Pro-Bono basis; Actively support (by work and donations) an emerging Think Tank which won a few awards in the US this year

Undergrad: Ranked in the top 1 percentile of the country to secure a position at the most competitive business undergrad in India. Scored a 65% (First Division but 70th percentile in college) [Understand that this is not ideal]

GMAT: 710 (Q 50, V 37, IR 7) [Understand that this is not ideal]

Aim: HSW R1

Story in a Nutshell: Grew up in rural India and made my way into banking and PE at big name firms without any fancy connections. Aim to come back to the country post Business School.

Big Question: Will the low GMAT and average GPA hurt enough to kill my chances. If yes, how do I solve it. My hair has started greying due to the R1 app tension :idea:

Hope to hear from someone soon! Any help is much appreciated.

[mbamissionjenK]

Hi there,

Thanks for sharing. So for college you finished with 70%? Not the best but better than 65% if that was the case; worried a bit less about it. As for the GMAT 710 is not really a "low" score ;), just a bit lower than average at the very top global schools. Even the top, such as Stanford, average 732... yes you're below that and higher would help, but again that is an average and you're not drastically below it. The 50 in quant is pretty strong as well, and if pressed sometimes the quant score can be even slightly more important than verbal as long as both are solid.

While it's hard to fully assess your professional experience and leadership etc without knowing more about the specifics of what you've accomplished, it SOUNDS like you've had some strong experience that will position you well for b-school and the global exposure is a strength as well.

You haven't mentioned the 'why' behind the MBA, unless I missed that, which can be relevant as well.

At this point I would say if you really nailed the essays and applications, recs, interview if invited etc... you could possibly have a shot at top schools. Will it be a slam dunk? No. Is Stanford literally the toughest school to get into, accepting less than 7% of applicants? (yes-- this is heightened by the fact that their class size is a good deal smaller than Harvard and Wharton, fyi!). It may come down to how you stack up against other well qualified applicants and if you are not successful it could be not necessarily that they'd chosen against you, as much as that they selected others for various reasons. The best thing you can do is dig deep and really do some self reflection on what you have to offer to the program; what makes you who you are; what stories you can share to get that across.

Good luck on the process! Let us know how else we can help.

[JLyman]

Hi there,

Thanks for sharing. So for college you finished with 70%? Not the best but better than 65% if that was the case; worried a bit less about it. As for the GMAT 710 is not really a "low" score ;), just a bit lower than average at the very top global schools. Even the top, such as Stanford, average 732... yes you're below that and higher would help, but again that is an average and you're not drastically below it. The 50 in quant is pretty strong as well, and if pressed sometimes the quant score can be even slightly more important than verbal as long as both are solid.

While it's hard to fully assess your professional experience and leadership etc without knowing more about the specifics of what you've accomplished, it SOUNDS like you've had some strong experience that will position you well for b-school and the global exposure is a strength as well.

You haven't mentioned the 'why' behind the MBA, unless I missed that, which can be relevant as well.

At this point I would say if you really nailed the essays and applications, recs, interview if invited etc... you could possibly have a shot at top schools. Will it be a slam dunk? No. Is Stanford literally the toughest school to get into, accepting less than 7% of applicants? (yes-- this is heightened by the fact that their class size is a good deal smaller than Harvard and Wharton, fyi!). It may come down to how you stack up against other well qualified applicants and if you are not successful it could be not necessarily that they'd chosen against you, as much as that they selected others for various reasons. The best thing you can do is dig deep and really do some self reflection on what you have to offer to the program; what makes you who you are; what stories you can share to get that across.

Good luck on the process! Let us know how else we can help.

Got in HBS Class of 2017. Extremely happy with the outcome!

[mbamissionjenK]

Woo-hoo! Congratulations to you! Wishing you all the best on the upcoming year and experience.