Dartmouth / Tuck - 08-24-2021 | Clear Admit ApplyWire

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August 24, 2021 9:45am ET

Applying: Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, Michigan / Ross, Northwestern / Kellogg, U. Washington / Foster, UT Austin / McCombs, UVA / Darden, Yale SOM

Intake Year: 2023

Pre-MBA Career: Oil and Gas Service Industry

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology Companies: Accenture , Bain , BCG , McKinsey , Amazon , Apple , Google , Microsoft , Tesla

GPA: 3.64

Years of Work Experience: 4.5

Location: United States

Post MBA Location: United States

Notes:

Hi Alex and Graham, thanks for all the work you guys do on the podcast. For while now, I've been listening to the newer episodes on Mondays and now I'm going back towards to earlier episode looking for more wisdom from you both! I am a 25yo male from India. First in my immediate and extended family to attend college. I did two years of my undergraduate studies in India and transferred to a top 10 Mechanical Engineering programs in the US and graduated with a bachelors. Since my graduation, over 2.5 years ago, I have been working, in the US, in the oil and gas service sector in one of the top companies in the industry. I have already gotten one promotion at my job and I am actively working towards another promotion which I hope to get by April/May of 2022. At work, I work with teams from all over the world and have various functions such a manufacturing, sales and other engineering teams. I am planning to take the GMAT at the end of this year or early next year and I am aiming for a 740-760 score. As far as my extra curriculars go, I was on the board of the honors society at school. I am in the board of the employee's club at our campus. I have also been actively recruiting at my university for my company. I also ran my first half marathon this past March of 2021, and I am training for my second half marathon in October of 2021 to run it at a faster pace. I am especially proud of this because, in June of 2020, I was not able to finish a full mile without stopping. I will also be doing a 2-day, 150-mile bike race early next year. I take part in all these endurance activities while also raising money for various charities. I am really passionate about giving people equal access to education and I am also trying to volunteer more with kids with less access to resources. I am a little worried about the pool that I am in and that's something that is not under my control. I am also worried about my GPA, my work experience and my extra curricular involvement. Do you guys think I am overshooting with the schools on my list? I would also like to know any other thoughts/comments that you guys might have on my candidacy. [To reiterate, I will have 4.5 years of work experience at the time of matriculation]. Thanks a lot!

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Show Comments (10) Last: August 18, 2022

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 You are applying next season, not this season, right? If that’s the case, activity seek out challenging projects at work. Really push your contributions and impact, outside of work. Get that great GMAT score you’re targeting. You’ll need to apply in the first rounds. I think your spread of target programs looks very reasonable. (1)

pensiveleader Likes Earned: 38 Thanks Alex! Yes, I am applying for next season. It sounds like nothing in particular standouts out in my candidacy. Do you have any other comments/suggestions to make my candidacy more appealing that what you've already mentioned and a good GMAT score? Am I aiming too high by targeting top 10 programs? The extra curriculars as it stands right now, is it something that is not noticeable at all? (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 More details on this candidacy in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2021/08/episode-183-wire-taps/ (1)

pensiveleader Likes Earned: 38 Thank you so much for picking my profile out! I really glared over the goals aspect. I remember growing up, my mom used to stay up all night waving the hand fan so that none of her three kids sweated when they slept through 12-18 hours of scheduled power cuts. Sometimes I lived through a period where we'd run out of our ration of cooking gas, we used to burn wood to cook food. Having equitable access to energy and doing it in a sustainable way is something that's important to me and I've done my internship in the energy industry and my current role is in energy as well. I would like to do sustainable energy consulting, primarily because I'd like to ensure a transition in which no one gets left behind and also making sure that renewable future still remains equitable to all. Consulting is also a vehicle for me to touch even more people than just working for a company that deals with one product. (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 That’s a powerful story. (1)

pensiveleader Likes Earned: 38 Alex and Graham, thank you for guiding me through the application process thus far. Update on my candidacy: after about a year of preparing for the GMAT, I went from a 590 (Q43, V29) on a cold mock to a 720 (Q49, V40) at my first official GMAT attempt. This is the best result I've gotten (I got 710, 700, 700 on my mocks). I would still like to target round 1 for this year. Should I focus my efforts on putting the application together or sit for GMAT again for a better score and aim for round 2? I think there might be 10-20 points left in me (this would also entail finding a different prep company/tutor than the one I currently have. I look forward to your comments on this. (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 720 is a decent score, and I think Round 1 will be important for you. (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 More details on this candidacy in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2022/08/wire-taps-246/ (1)

pensiveleader Likes Earned: 38 Thank you both so much for discussing my candidacy again on the podcast. Over a year of research, I have changed my list of target schools to the following: Wharton, MIT, Kellogg, Tuck, Yale, and Duke. These schools have a strong focus on energy-related careers. I understand that my current GMAT score is at or below average for most of these schools. Taking your advice, I will be prioritizing round 1. With my current GMAT score, I plan to apply to Tuck (early decision), Kellogg, Duke, and MIT (listed in ascending application deadline dates). Following the application deadline, I will prepare to retake the GMAT. I plan to update the schools I have applied to in R1 with my new GMAT score and apply to Wharton and Yale in R2 using my new GMAT score. Should I talk about my GMAT score in the additional essay? Should I mention my plans to retake the GMAT? If I mention my attempt to retake, will it backfire if I cannot secure a better score? Thank you all again! (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 It’s a tricky one, but if you’re unsure you will come back with a better score, it makes sense not to mention it, but then let them know of the new score, if improved, when you have it. Might add Ross to Round 1, if you can. (1)