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:

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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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Global Education - Why it may be the right choice for you?

Pursuing education abroad can open doors to unimaginable opportunities

I met Tina Ghosh (name altered to protect privacy) in 2013; rather I met her mother  first who was worried about what her 20 year old should do after graduation. Tina was a recent commerce graduate and didn’t have any brand name academic institutions on her resume. To say that she hated the academic oriented Indian system was an understatement. Most of her friends had secured admits in various Indian B Schools with aim of starting a career in finance. Though Tina was a commerce graduate, she didn’t feel comfortable with accounting and couldn’t imagine herself working in finance (no wonder her mother’s anguish). Speaking with her friends, she wasn’t sure if she would enjoy the traditional Indian B School experience.

Today, Tina works for Rado in Switzerland in marketing and manages alliances and promotions. After our interaction, I unearthed that luxury and lifestyle were her thing. She was also a people’s person and quite creative. A marketing career in the luxury space seemed like a good fit – no wonder she’s enjoying her career and route she chose.

If you have recently graduated or are about to graduate in next 1-2 years, you may be in the same place where Tina was in 2013. The chances are you’re already thinking about what you want to do next. If you are considering pursuing further education – you should know that there are literally hundreds of universities offering various courses to suit your need.

While most candidates that I have guided have preferred the ‘normal’ degrees – the MBA, Masters in Finance or Marketing, MS in Engineering, Sciences, Life Sciences, Business Analytics, Social Sciences and Humanities, some others have preferred non-traditional (and sometimes brand new) fields such Luxury Brand Management, Fashion, Wines & Spirits, Film Studies, Design Studies etc.  

Regardless of what course you enroll, from personal experience and from experience of those I guided towards these paths, I’ve summarized some of the strongest reasons why you should consider studying abroad:

1.       You develop a Global Network: Having a ‘network’ is a must-have to succeed in today’s world. Global Schools attract students from all corners of the globe and provide you a ‘safety net’ across the world. This is a life-long asset that will only keep growing and helping you.

2.       You develop a Global and Financially Rewarding Career: Having worked in leading MNCs both in India and abroad, I can tell you that a global education gets you started on a global career track. This track is seldom accessible for local school graduates (including the illustrious IITs and IIMs) since it exists primarily in the HQs of Global Companies which are primarily located in the West or Japan. When you graduate from a global school, by virtue of your school brand or your alumni network or by ‘just being there locally’, you start off working in Global HQs and have access to all lead decision makers. By developing working or mentor relationships with the right contacts, you shouldn’t be surprised if you are appointed as CFO for India, sometimes as early as  5-10 years of being in global HQs.

3.       You develop Global Acceptability: You become part of a global talent pool and attract employment from not just your home country but worldwide. This can take you places and have satisfying impact on your financial ambitions.

4.       You become a Global Person: There’s a difference in visiting foreign destinations and actually living, studying and working in them. Foreign university graduates truly internalize this ‘internationalness’ – the ease of interacting, working and living with ‘foreigners’. You start looking at ‘foreigners’ as friends and colleagues and build truly enriching bonds. You thereby rise about the silo of being an ‘Indian’, ‘Chinese’ etc. to being ‘Global’.

I encourage you to consider studying abroad. Paraphrasing what Gandalf tells Bilbo Baggins in ‘The Hobbit’ movie, “The World not just in your home/neighbourhood or your city, it’s out there”. The journey begins with identifying your core interests – what makes you happy, what you’re passionate about and then identifying the right programs to realize your passion.

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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What Indian applicants can do to help the admissions committee make a favorable decision and get an admit

Inside the mind of Admissions Committee: Global MBA, MIM and MS Programs

I’ve enjoyed guiding and helping applicants get into world’s foremost MBA, Masters-In-Management (MiM) and MS programs since 2008 while I was still pursuing my Berkeley MBA program. This started when I volunteered to interact with prospective students during Days at Haas (DAH) and I realized that I really enjoyed interacting with MBA applicants and de-mystifying the black box that Global MBA admissions represented to most applicants.

I continued reaching out to prospective students on a pro-bono basis after my Berkeley graduation in 2009 – I still believe that deserving students should get the right guidance and perspectives on global admissions processes so that they can put their best foot forward.

Having spoken to and worked with hundreds of international and Indian MBA, MiM and MS applicants, I realized that there was one common difference between those who were able to gain admission into top schools and those who didn’t. It was the way they viewed the admission process, the various components in their application, the way they were able to establish ‘fit’ with the school and the planning (or lack of it) done for their application.

Having worked in my professional career in areas of strategy and sales/marketing, I’ve always found success if I knew my customers well. They way I look at it, for applicants the customer is the admissions committee and it’s important to know how they (the adcom) view admissions, what metrics they’re driving and how those matrices are changing with time. Based on my interactions with adcoms of some of the top MBA, MiM and MS programs in the world, I wanted to offer some insights into the world of adcoms that may benefit applicants.

First, they are normal people just like you and me and have targets to meet. Like all of us, Adcoms are also evaluated periodically for performance. Deans/Directors of Programs want to see their programs rise in prestige and popularity. Here, school rank trend in popular rankings such as US News, Financial Times etc. are looked at over middle to long term. If it’s going up, it’s an evidence that ‘things are going well’ and vice-versa. So one of the ways to know what the adcom cares about is to look at the criteria for these popular rankings and address those within your control. Check this link for US News ranking methodology

As applicants, you should know that adcoms care about the following criteria:

1)      STUDENT SELECTIVITY: This accounts for 25% weight in US News Ranking. So obviously, adcoms work hard towards maximizing their performance in this area. Student selectivity comprises of various criteria – the most important ones are:

§  GMAT or GRE score average

§  GPA

§  Acceptance Rate

Implications for Applicants - The above explains the trend of rising GMAT/GRE scores in schools. The higher the scores, the better the performance in the student selectivity and hence the overall ranking.

2)      PLACEMENT SUCCESS: This accounts for 35% weight in US News Ranking. Adcoms want to admit those applicants who will have a strong chance of getting a job at graduation or within 3 months of graduation and those who will attract big name employers.

Implications for Applicants – a) you have to show the adcom that you are placement worthy after MBA. That you have the skills and the ability to land roles without much struggle. For programs that are known for jobs in specific industries (e.g. Vanderbilt for Healthcare, Bay Area schools for tech or NY schools for finance), you’ll have a better case to make if your post MBA goal is in these industries.

b) It will also benefit if you have experience working with a brand name employer. Quality attracts Quality. But it’s not only the brand name that matters – what you’ve done in your roles will also be important.

This is the area where I have been able to uncover the most impressive accomplishments and qualities of most applicants that I’ve worked with and helped them differentiate themselves.

Note: There are other ranking criteria such as Peer and Recruiter Assessment for the school which on the surface appear as not being applicable for applicants. But there are interesting ways the applicants can leverage themselves on these criteria as well. Infact, 6-7 of my past applicants may owe their success and differentiation among the pool to what they brought about themselves in these criteria.

3)      APPLICATION VOLUME (# of applications received)

Adcoms work hard to attract the best applicants. Participation in world tours, organizing alumni chats, applicant days at school and webinars are among the various initiatives that they undertake to reach out to applicants.

Implications for Applicants – Get out there and participate in these events. It shows adcom the evidence of your interest. Many schools also like to track attendance and engagement with students. Moreover, there’s no better way to know a school (unless you can visit one) other than directly talking to adcom or alumni.

4)      YIELD

Yield represents the % of applicants who accept an admit offer. 

Implications for Applicants - Adcoms like to do their homework before they offer you admission – you may have worked hard in convincing them that you deserve an admit but did you also convince them that you will enroll if admitted? To many applicants this sounds like an afterthought – but trust me, adcoms will look for this evidence in your application.

Overall, the adcom members are very hard working folks who are just trying to do their best to get in the best candidates for their programs. You understanding of what matters to them, will help you help them make a favourable decision on your application.

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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Wrapping up Introduction: Global MBA application process

When I began the process of applying to top global MBA programs, the first thing I realized that it was very different from the 'Indian' process.

From primary school, we are brought up with a view that a 'good' student always scores 'high' in tests. The same logic applies to CAT and other Indian MBA entrance tests - if you score high you get IN, if you don't score high you DON'T (generally) get in. This system helped applicants who are naturally good test takers and were strong particularly in quantitative aptitude.

The global application process was much more than just the test (GMAT or GRE). Read this poetsandquantsarticle to know more. 

One had to communicate an impressive and consistent story through various pieces of application such as essays, statement of purpose (SOP), resume, letter of recommendation (LOR). Elements in your profile such as leadership experiences (personal also), extracurriculars, volunteering etc. also are important to the admissions committee. Overall, one had to demonstrate a strong fit with the particular program and clarify how pursuing that program would be the right choice for you personally and professionally.

Given that GMAT has 20-30% weight in the admissions decision, it follows that other parts of applications have 70-80% weight. Thus you don't have to necessarily ace the GMAT (or the GRE) - a decent score with a strong and relevant story can get you an admit as well. This is good news for many applicants who don't necessarily put their best foot forward in standardized entrance tests. 

To cut a long story short, I applied to 6 schools and secured admit in 4 including the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, 2 others in top 10 and a top European MBA program. Applying to these top programs dramatically improved my self awareness. At the time, I became the first person in my family to ever apply and study abroad and it became my passion to share my experience and knowledge with many new applicants to help them become successful. 

Post my Berkeley MBA, I've worked in management consulting in San Francisco, in corporate strategy and marketing in the midwest, enjoyed an exploratory stint with a NY-based investment bank and headed operations and marketing for a billion dollar business in USA. Further, I've been a CXO for several years with leading Indian businesses. The experience has been heady at times and enabled me to achieve my ambitions from a professional standpoint.

Today, I pursue my twin passions with zeal -
1) Helping put India on the global map - I identify promising start-ups/small/medium businesses and help them become successful by guiding them on strategy, operations and finance/funding. I also selectively invest in such companies. I believe that a stronger startup ecosystem will enable us to bring to life future 'Googles' and 'Twitters' of the world. and
2) Help top rung talent from India reach the global stage: I guide limited, talented candidates to apply and secure admits to some of the best global schools.

This blog will primarily be about helping bright individuals get to the schools they deserve. I look forward to sharing my experiences and thoughts and hope that these will help many of you who have embarked on this journey.

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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