Request to evaluate profile

[saurabh.bhambry]

Hi, I am a 25 years old Indian Male. My Gmat score is 720. My profile is as under:

a)Total 3.5 years work-ex (would be 4 years at the time of joining)
2 years:Family-owned business (mostly in HR and Business Development)
1.5 years entrepreneurial work-ex:
Co-founder of a digital media agency based in India. Have handled about 6-7 projects.
Co-editor & Co-founder of an independently run local print newsletter. (Have come out with 2 monthly issues)
Co-founder of 3 online ventures (though in the nascent stage,but have been launched)
Co-founder of a local graphology club

Hobbies: graphology,photography,tarot

Undergrad degree: Engineering
Undergrad GPA: 3.2

Extra-curricular: Vast experience during under-grad degree

Post-Undergrad extra-curricular: 4 year old association with an NGO, Volunteering work done for an NGO, Have tutored slum children

I target the following schools:
MIT Sloan
Michigan
Stanford
Duke
Berkeley
Carnegie Mellon
University of Virginia
Indiana University
UCLA
Oxford
Cambridge

Please evaluate my profile. I thank you for your time.
Regards
Saurabh Bhambry

[mbamission]

Hi Saurabh and thank you for your inquiry.

I think I have more questions than comments though. Have you taken the GMAT? What was your score? On your work experience, given that you have worked only for a family company or for yourself, who were you thinking of asking for references? Do you have clients who can offer detailed enough information on your background? What kind of leadership did you show at work? While your start ups show that you are enterprising, the results seem to be at their beginning stages and may not be enough to demonstrate more than an entrepreneurial mindset and orientation. Finally, with your current NGO, are you taking on leadership roles?

My initial reaction is that most of the schools will be stretches for you, given your somewhat over-represented demographic, but the answers to my questions above could change that impression.

Good luck,

Jessica Shklar
Senior Consultant
mbaMission
www.mbamission.com

[saurabh.bhambry]

Hi Jessica

Thanks for the reply. My GMAT score is 720.

I would be taking references from (a) one of my clients (from a digital media agency) and (b)the president of the NGO , with whom I have worked closely for the last 4 years.

You are right in your assessment that the results of the startup are still in the preliminary stages . However, I would want to highlight a few facts here:
1) The start-up is an independent venture with no affiliation with the family business what so ever. I am one of the co-founders of this start-up.
2) The whole idea of the start up itself was to explore and experiment the various nuances of the way branding is done in digital media (basically internet). In fact to do so we have launched 3 online ventures as well. We expect to leverage our learnings of the start-up while pursuing MBA and post-MBA plan to build on what we started.

Yes, I do have a leadership role with the NGO.

In the light of above please suggest what colleges should I apply to.

Please comment.

[mbamission]

Thanks for the follow up. Your answers help; it will be important in your essays to highlight the results (6-7 projects) and lessons learned from the start up and not just its intentions. You seem to have done a good job selecting your recommenders as well.

There are many factors that go into deciding the best fit for you, everything from class size to alumni involvement to pedagogy to location and environment, and only you can decide the best fit. That being said, I think MIT, Stanford and Haas would be excellent places for you - but stretch targets. Depending on how many schools you're applying to you may only want to apply to one or two of those. The rest seem like schools where you will be competitive.

Best of luck.

Jessica

[saurabh.bhambry]

Thanks Jessica.

Just another question: Do I stand a chance at NYU-Stern and Columbia?

[mbamission]

I would put them in the same category as MIT, etc. They're not impossible for you, but stretches. If you want to apply with your best shot, knowing it might not work out and you'd have to reapply, then you could apply just to stretches. But if you don't want to reapply, diversifying your list a bit would make more sense.