Sneha's experience: Getting an INSEAD admit (and a Berkeley call) with GMAT 720

Sneha Gupta

GMAT: 720

Education:

-          BE (Manufacturing), COE Chennai, GPA 9.2/10,

-          Master's in Manufacturing Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (4.7/5)

Work Experience: 6 years (3 years with KPMG, 3 years with Fincare Small Finance Bank, a start-up)

Post MBA Industry of Interest: Impact space, especially products to spur growth of women micro entrepreneurs

Interview Calls: Berkeley Haas, INSEAD

Admit: INSEAD

When and why did you first consider getting a global MBA? 

I first felt I need an MBA while at my first job at KPMG Advisory and a global one from a top school since I had experienced pedagogy in the US and loved the exposure/challenges. 

However, when I initially thought of doing an MBA, I saw it more as a "necessary" tool to maximize growth since I had taken up a career in consulting/business and that's the "path" most engineers in consulting followed. 

Most of my leadership discovery actually happened at the start-up. Here's where leadership, management and implementation challenges got real for me. Despite the pressures, I thoroughly enjoyed the sense of ownership in setting up business/functions from scratch and making them successful.  It was helpful that I had a really close friend (who herself had been at a start-up before going to HBS for her MBA) who I discussed my experiences/challenges with. She in turn helped me understand how her MBA helped her gain perspective on some of these challenges. This helped me understand the MBA and reflect on my purpose for an MBA a lot better.

GMAT Prep, Reaction/thoughts after score

I was right in the middle of our bank's launch when I was preparing for the GMAT. I decided to get some weekend classes in Bangalore but really it all boils down to the amount of practice you can do. I did the official guides and official prep mocks (it's difficult to put a time frame since it was on and off prep over 2-3 months). I was not initially happy with the score since I was scoring higher in the mocks. But I decided to go with it since I was hard pressed for time, especially with the intensity of work at our start-up bank. 

PS: I found Sentence Correction really tricky during the actual exam 

Your experience of the MBA application process. -   Did anything surprise you?

Broadly, two things surprised me during the application process-

1.       I definitely underestimated the time. The MBA process is a lot about self awareness and reflection. MBA questions not only challenge you on your motivation but also challenge you to explain yourself within really stringent word limits. I believe it takes a lot of clarity on your internal motivation and goals to express yourself within the space allowed. This process of gaining clarity was gradual and I felt I was getting sharper on my story after every application I submitted (4 in total).  

2.       Another thing that surprised me was how difficult it was to answer the "Why MBA?" question. I found this especially challenging since my post MBA goal is to continue to build and run products (as I do at my company currently) except at a larger scale/greater impact where I'm leading a company's growth journey.

Tell us about how you went about choosing Schools 

Since I enjoyed setting up our bank's first digital product business, I realized I wanted to explore entrepreneurship. I'm excited about creating access to opportunity- I joined the start-up bank because of its vision to improve financial inclusion using technology and I was lucky to work on a digital product that made opening a bank account completely online, independent of geography or time.  

I used the dual lens of impact (social impact) and entrepreneurship and applied to schools that scored high on both. I also decided that I would apply to the top most programmes only otherwise it did not make much sense.

Interview experience and thoughts 

I made the cut for 2 interviews, Berkeley/Haas and Insead

1.       Haas interview experience: This was my first interview and I had just under a week to prepare. I remember feeling stressed since I realized how having a discussion would be so different from writing thoughts down. I did one mock which helped a lot. The interview was on skype and though it was formal, the interviewer (a recent Haas graduate) made me feel comfortable. I was conscious that I had to be crisp on my answers (not go more than 2 mins on any question). While many questions were standard, why Haas, why MBA, Challenging situation etc. a few were unique and I’d advice you to study what makes you unique and how you’ve dealt with challenging situations.

2.       Insead interview experience: This was really different from Haas in that you do not really know what to expect. All I gathered was that it's very important to know the answer to "Why INSEAD?" very well. INSEAD (just like Haas) cares a lot about cultural fit and diversity.

You have to schedule interviews with 2 alums. 

The interviews are fairly conversational. The alums also share what courses they liked and how they managed during their time at INSEAD during the chat.

My first interviewer dug quite deep on my product and bank's business model (I answered but I did not expect a deep dive into the business :)) and what I do to reach out to customers, how do I reach different segments, etc. Other questions she asked- Why INSEAD? Why MBA and not just start-up (since I said want to set myself up for an entrepreneurial journey ultimately)?  

My second interviewer was passionate about responsible business and he straight-away jumped into Why INSEAD? Why MBA? If not MBA, then what? - All my answers were aligned with my purpose and he liked the "purpose based approach". After this, we had a fairly relaxed conversation on his journey. 

Summary for preparation- 

1. Be clear on your story- I took a milestone based approach- key career shifts/moments and prepared myself on explaining the shifts well

2. Think of some key examples - tough person/leader to work with and how did you cope? Challenge and how did you cope? - Think of just few examples to use in a variety of contexts and focus on presenting in a structured way- "The problem, what you did?, result". 

Insead experience and what all you did

While INSEAD was an intense application process, I really enjoyed the process since a lot of questions focus on "who you are as a person- strengths and weaknesses", "biggest failure and proudest achievement and how these impacted my relationships with people around me"- I felt these questions were very direct. Since I was 3 applications old by then, I had good clarity which held me in good stead in writing the essays.

Some of the additional things I did for this application-

1. Recommendations are important to INSEAD and just like the essay the questions are direct - Do you see her as a future leader? Why?; Describe your relationship with the candidate and how she added value to you?, etc.- this is the general drift. I reconnected with my recommenders and worked with them on some of these questions to ensure the reco is crisp and sharp.

2. What will be your next steps if you continue to work at your current company- This is a question INSEAD asks to perhaps gauge your vision as a leader. Tied all activities I plan to a vision I hold for digital banking. 

3. Wrote an extra essay explaining my motivation for starting up. Tied this to the research of a professor at INSEAD whose work I really found interesting (she actually works on addressing root causes that hold vulnerable groups back and I found a research paper where she did such a study on women micro/rural entrepreneurs in India- the segment I'm passionate to create opportunities for)  

Any advice for future applicants regarding the application process?

I guess I have given most of the insights above :)

But broadly-

1. Enjoy the process. The journey is challenging but also therapeutic- process leads to a lot of self awareness which is really good to have, irrespective of the result of applying. Focus on asking yourself "Why?" for every line/motivation you jot down.

2. Personalize but customize to schools as much as possible - research/network (whatever works for you to get a flavour)

3. Why MBA and Why the school are important questions- harder than they seem at the outset. So be hard on these questions to make sure there is utmost clarity. 

4. Get help of a mentor/guide who truly believes in you. Sumeet’s mentorship in my process was a key reason for my success.

For more tips on this or other topics or to get regular updates on new articles, write to me:

sumeet [underscore] verlekar [at the rate] berkeley [dot] edu

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How Smriti got into Kellogg MBA (US News rank #6)

Smriti used introspection and authenticity in her application to get numerous calls from top schools and chose to join Kellogg MBA (class of 2021) program.

Smriti (name changed to protect identity)

GMAT: 700+ score

Education: B.Tech, Top 15 engineering colleges in India

Work Experience: 3.5 years work experience in technology

Post MBA Industry of Interest: Management Consulting 

When and why did you first consider getting a global MBA?

I wanted to gain global exposure and build a strong network across the world. I was excited to be a part of a classroom that boasted of students coming from diverse backgrounds, cultures and work experiences. I felt it would grow me holistically which is vital for my career progression.

When did you start? What steps did you take?

I initiated my application process with schools selection.

1) I started researching the schools online and spent a lot of  time understanding the culture and profiles of current students and alumni. That gave a strong sense of the values that the school stands for.

2) Also, I personally visited a few of the schools that I applied to. The visits gave me a clear perspective of a possible fit with the colleges. The culture is represented by each and every person of the school be it a student or a professor or an alum or a staff worker. It is important to pay heed to minute details while interacting with them to get a sense of the values of the school.

3) After narrowing down on my list of colleges, I spent time reflecting on my personal story, my strengths and weaknesses and started to write my essays. I tried to highlight my past experiences and transferrable skills through my essays while keeping in mind the values of the school. I tried to get my essays verified by a few current students as well.

4) After receiving interview invites, I practised mock interviews with friends, family, alums and my counsellor.

Tell us your experience of the MBA application process. Did anything surprise or shock you?

I absolutely enjoyed the process. It was an eye-opener for me. Not only did I reflect on my past experiences but I also had the opportunity to think deeply about my future goals- both short term and long term.

What did you do to differentiate yourself?

Intensive research of schools and self-retrospection helped me keep my story true and spill out the passion in my essays. It is critical to marry past experiences with the values of the schools.

Any advice for future applicants regarding the application process?

Be passionate about the process, story and application. It is YOUR story and hence treat it like your BABY. Do not be in a rush to finish school applications. Remember there are two parts to any application/story- the narrator (you) and the audience (ad com member). So it is critical to spend considerate and equal amount of time to both sides of the story. Reflect on your strengths, weaknesses, personal preferences, future career choices while keeping in mind the culture, values, alumni base of the school. (Also refer to the 2^nd question)

For more tips on this or other topics or to get regular updates on new articles, write to me:

sumeet [underscore] verlekar [at the rate] berkeley [dot] edu

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Pravin's Journey to Columbia Business School (Ivy League, US News Rank #6) with less than 99th percentile GMAT

Pravin destroyed the myth that Indian applicants need the mythical 99^th percentile on GMAT to get a top school admit; he put together an impressive MBA application and secured admit to a Ivy League School. Read his story below.

Pravin G

GMAT: 720

Education: B.Tech (Chemical Engg.), IIT MADRAS, GPA: 7.8/10 

Work Experience: 8 years, leading commodities trading firm 

Post MBA Industry of Interest: Buy-side, Financial services Consulting

Admit: Columbia Business School 

Why a global MBA?

I worked as a commodities trader for 8 years for a leading MNC trading firm. With 3 promotions in 8 years, I was doing quite well career-wise and financially. But, I felt that my growth was saturated in terms of professional development. I believed that I should widen my scope and decided that Global MBA was the best option to pursue as it opens the doors for many different opportunities. So, I decided to embark on this road in May 2018 and started my MBA application process.

Challenges/Doubts I had

The main challenge was that I had very less time for the round 1 application deadline. I had to take my GMAT, pick schools and submit the application in a period of 3-4 months. Although I heard everyone say that I couldn’t secure an admission because of less time, and because I had 8 years’ experience (much above the 4-5 years average experience), I believed in myself and went ahead with the process. Here, I approached Sumeet Verlekar, a Berkeley MBA alumnus for help throughout my application process. He helped me turn my weaknesses into strengths. 

Acing the GMAT

It is very important to identify what your strengths and weaknesses are in the first place. I encourage everyone to take an official mock GMAT once to see where you stand for yourself. Analyze what you are strong in and see what can be done to maximize your score in your strong topics. Once you have done that, focus on your weakness and see if you need some coaching in that particular area. I was very strong in Quant, but I was a bit weak in the verbal section. I had to dig deeper to see which particular area in Verbal is my main hurdle. After realizing that SC was my weakest point, I used a few popular SC prep courses to improve.

Once you have done your homework with the preparation, I would advise everyone to take as many mock GMATs as possible. Don’t just take the mocks and leave it there. It is very very important to analyze your mistakes and not to repeat them, come the actual GMAT. When you are giving mocks, take the full exams in a single sitting just like the actual GMAT. Train yourself to sit for the entire length of the exam. And, finally don’t ignore IR and the essay sections.

GMAT Test Day

On the day of the test, be calm and approach the exam as if it is one more mock. Don’t take unnecessary pressure. And, manage the time wisely. Don’t get stuck on a single question for so long. The exam is designed in such a way that one mistake here and there will not hurt your final score by a lot. So, it is always better to answer something and move on rather than spending 7-8 minutes on a question.

Also, beware that you need to answer all the questions within the stipulated time. The score will drop dramatically if you do not answer all the questions. So, the key factor on the day of the exam is time management.

I approached it as any other mock exam. I didn’t take any pressure and I felt that worked out in my favor.

MBA Application Process – My Experience

I had my GMAT score ready in about 45 days. After that, the main challenge was to pick the schools. Sumeet garnered all his experience and helped me choose schools which fit my profile and ambitions well. Without his advice on this, I wouldn’t have chosen the schools that I did.

Once that’s done, it is all about the applications. To get out the genuine and most efficient applications, give a day or 2 for yourself to think through your life from childhood. While you are doing that, think about why you have done something the way you have done it. Try to pen down all your thoughts. Don’t be surprised, but my first draft was 80 pages with my past stories. That’s the extent of detail I am talking about. After multiple iterations, try to get 5-6 solid stories in STAR format. This format will help you lay out the essays in a very structured way. Sumeet grilled me a lot and help me convey a strong and authentic purpose behind pursuing MBA and I’m very thankful to him for getting these hidden stories out. They were helpful in my essays as well as my interview.

I applied to Columbia Business School. I did a lot of iterations of essays with Sumeet and finally had the ready-to-go versions ready in about 40 days.

Columbia Business School

Columbia Business School is in New York. It is an Ivy League School and constantly in top 6 every year. There are 3 main reasons why applied to CBS.

1)      Being in New York, it gives me an unbelievable access to the professionals from different industries and different functional roles. I can go and meet any one of them in a heartbeat. That is a great incentive to have if you are in a Business School

2)      CBS has world renowned Value Investing program – As my background was in trading and I wanted to pursue buy-side opportunities post MBA, this was a no-brainer.

3)      The J-term program of Columbia offers you an unmatchable opportunity of meeting diverse people. As many as 68 countries are represented in my current batch of 220. Just imagine the diversity and the quality of the class room experience.

Given the above reasons, I applied to Columbia Business School and secured an admit.

Advice for future applicants

Be genuine. Don’t worry too much about anything. Do what your heart says. Don’t listen to the pessimists around you. GMAT/GRE scores matter but they are not everything. The score is just one piece of the puzzle. It is all about the holistic profile and well-balanced application. Take your time to craft out the application beautifully in terms of content. Be concise and to the point. I would urge you guys to take help of someone like Sumeet, who can streamline your thoughts in a structured way.

For more tips on this or other topics or to get regular updates on new articles, write to me:

sumeet [underscore] verlekar [at the rate] berkeley [dot] edu

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A 2nd Global MBA or Masters: A growing reality for many IIM and premier Indian MBA graduates

I have been a participant in this journey towards a global MBA post having an MBA from a premier Indian school. Upon joining the Berkeley Haas MBA program, I realized that many of my IIM and other premier Indian MBA peers were taking the same step. Click here to read my story. 

Having worked in Berkeley MBA admissions as an alumni interviewer since 2009, I’ve witnessed an increasing number of Indian MBAs from premier Indian schools such as the IIMs, JBIMS, FMS etc. pursuing a 2^nd global MBA. Now you may say – “Hold On. Don’t these schools attract the cream of India’s emerging managerial talent? Aren’t they supposed to set you up for success for life?” Then why this trend?

A case in point is that of Indra Nooyi, an IIM Calcutta grad who pursued masters from Yale and then went on to become the global chairperson for PepsiCo. Majority of peers in my ivy plus schools network agree that the Yale degree accelerated her ascension to the global CEO role. Having spoken to these individuals and having subsequently helped many elite Indian MBA grads make the 2^nd MBA journey, I have summarized below the common reasons behind this trend of going for a 2^nd global MBA.

-          Accelerate journey towards a global career: Global schools provide job opportunities in global HQs and it’s well known that operating out of global HQs allows you to be in consideration for roles that colleagues in affiliate countries don’t have access to. In a global organization that I worked for in beginning of my career, only the top 2 % of employees (the listers) were considered for global postings and that too after spending a significant amount of time ‘proving their worth’ in the affiliate country. Broadly this means less than 5% of your peers from IIMs and other premier schools will make it global – the rest will remain local. A global 2^nd MBA is a great way to accelerate your career globally because it gets you on the global career track vs. the local (India) career track. You can reach your desired career position earlier and enjoy the perks that come with it.

-          Global Network & Acceptability: Let’s face it; IIM may be a recognizable brand name in India but not so in the USA, EU or even APAC. Hence, if you want to global, your IIM degree will only help you so much. However, a Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley or MIT are global brands with worldwide acceptability. What’s more, these schools have a global network and while the common person on the street may not know these schools, the people who are the real decision makers on careers in these respective countries know and value these schools. Hence the journey from global back to your home country and vice-versa is always possible and easier due to this global network. Did you know that super elite schools have alumni network in over 175 countries? That’s nearly the same as the number of countries participating in the Olympic Games.

-          Grow as a person: In addition to accelerating your career, living abroad in a developed country can drive your growth as a person. By ‘living’ in these countries, everyday one gets exposed to the cultural and professional nuances that set you up to succeed in a global workplace.

-          Better lifestyle: Places where one can actually ‘drive’ a car vs. getting stuck in jams every day exist. People even ride bicycles to work and transit time from home to office is less than 30 minutes in many cases. Besides infrastructure, green spaces, parks for kids along with school facilities for overall development vs. academic focus only are other reasons why many pursue a 2^nd global MBA in search for a better lifestyle.

-          Funding: Super elite school networks have access to funding – angels, VCs, PEs, they’re all part of it. This network can be leveraged for funding your new business idea and get authentic advice. More so, they’ll share how the idea can be taken global at the right time.

So if you’re thinking of getting a 2^nd global MBA, you’re not alone. Go ahead and take the next step. 

For more tips on this or other topics or to get regular updates on new articles, write to me:

sumeet [underscore] verlekar [at the rate] berkeley [dot] edu

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How Indian applicants can overcome low GMAT or GRE test scores to get top school admits - Part 2 | Community or Social Work

This article is 2^nd part of an article series. You may find it useful to read the previous article to get an overall understanding.

If you’re considering education abroad, chances are that you’ve been told that foreign universities value community or social work. This is generally true since it gives them an additional dimension of your personality. I've seen many Indian applicants randomly choose their social volunteering areas. The real question is what community or social work is relevant to YOU? 

Read tips below:

-    Choose areas of social work where you can leverage your professional skills: Let’s say you’re a finance or marketing professional and are considering volunteering to teach underprivileged children. While the volunteering to teach will definitely help, you may find that the NGO will benefit more if you help them organize their cash flows (finance) or develop a communication campaign (marketing). Here, you are using your professional skills to do good. Your professional  skills and experiences are core to your story in school application – showcasing them in a completely different area (like helping NGOs) gives a much better dimension about you to the adcom instead of just saying, “I volunteered to help school children”.

-    Align community work to your goals: Let’s say you want to be an investment banker. I've guided past IB interested applicants to volunteer for various social projects to showcase their IB skills. Two of such many initiatives possible are given below for illustration –

§  Analyzing sources of funds for the NGO and detecting trends/seasonality (analytical skills)

§  Working with the NGO board of directors and helping them make a pitch presentation to secure funding (pitching and presentation skills) etc.

-   Aim for longevity in your social work: Hundreds of times, I’ve seen that social work begins a few months before application deadline. This is a red flag and such initiatives will almost surely not add value to your application. It’s important that you look at areas in community work that you are truly passionate about and have worked at it in the past.

There are many other things one should know about community work besides the above and the applicant should plan such initiatives well to make maximum impact through his/her application. A thorough review of an individual profile is required to guide the correct volunteering/social work initiative. 

For more tips on this or other topics or to get regular updates on new articles, write to me:

sumeet [underscore] verlekar [at the rate] berkeley [dot] edu

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How Indian applicants can overcome low GMAT or GRE test scores to get top school admits

Almost all Indian candidates who aspire for a global education strive to secure a (very) high test score. A super high score is considered (mistakenly) by many to be the ticket for securing admits to prized schools. Make no mistake, good test scores are important. Read my article to understand why adcoms value test scores. However as Chad Losee, Managing Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at Harvard Business School says, “You are more than a standardized test score”.

I’ve reproduced below a table from Poets & Quants which shows that successful applicants to top MBA programs have a wide range of GMAT scores:

So what can Indian candidates do to improve their profile?

·   Talk Beyond Academics: An academics-focused environment leaves many Indian applicants with a strong academic background (GPA) and (as discussed earlier) a high test score as the bright spots in their profile. The top global programs attract an elite candidate pool which mirrors the two bright spots mentioned earlier. Thus (unfortunately for Indian applicants), these cease to be differentiators. Analysis of past successful cases I’ve worked with show that all of them communicated their involvement and interests in co-curricular and extracurricular areas. You become ‘interesting’ for the adcoms.

·   Show ‘differentiated’ leadership: Many advisors coach their clients to demonstrate leadership. It’s obvious isn’t it? Top programs want to see demonstrated leadership - it represents evidence that you’ll replicate this trait while in B School and beyond as an alumni. With almost all applicants trying to demonstrate leadership through their essays, resume, LORs etc., what leadership examples will stand out? I call these differentiated leadership examples. Leadership in unique, challenging environments while dealing with challenging personalities. Cue: The flavor of these examples in a MNC set up vs. an Indian family-run business set up can be very different. The geography and location of these examples can be an arresting factor. There are many more variables that are worth communicating in your leadership and other essays – I promise you, they all add up to hitting it out of the park for the adcom.

·  Inject action-orientation in your application: How you write your essays, resume, what examples you choose etc. are a reflection of your personality. If you write about initiative in a passive tone or choose passive examples you’re unlikely to convince adcoms who go through thousands of papers in a span of a few months.

·    Customize communication for each school and express fit with school values:  What values do you possess and do they mirror those of the school you’re applying to? Have you done enough in your application to communicate this to the adcom? Many applicants write a basic story and make no or cosmetic changes to their application pieces. I believe this is being unfair to both the schools they’re applying to and to themselves. I ask my candidates to think about applications as they would if they were to participate in a speed dating competition. Would you have the same story for every potential date irrespective of their personality, values etc. – No! So why should it be different while applying for different schools?

There are literally hundreds of different things that Indian applicants can do to make their profile standout. Ultimately all these initiatives or traits have to be baked in to support a tight-knit and convincing story. In future articles, I’ll address some of these different initiatives Indian applicants can take.

For more tips on this or other topics or to get regular updates on new articles, write to me:

sumeet [underscore] verlekar [at the rate] berkeley [dot] edu

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