Meet The Toronto Rotman MBA Class of 2017

Anupam Katyal

Anupam Katyal

Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

Hometown: New Delhi, Delhi

Undergraduate School and Major: PEC University of Technology, B.E. Electronics and Electrical Communication

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:

Analyst, McKinsey & Company (April, 2012 to May, 2015)

Software Engineer Trainee, Fiserv (July, 2011 to April, 2012)

Recalling your own experience, what advice do you have for applicants who are preparing for either the GMAT or the GRE? Take the GMATPrep simulated test right away. This gives you a baseline score. Your initial score will also allow you to see into what areas you will need to concentrate. Maybe your math skills are high, but your reading comprehension needs practice. Based on these scores, prepare a study schedule. Personally, I found out that I had to work on the sentence correction part of the test so I bought the Manhattan Sentence Correction guide apart from the OG and the additional official practice questions on the GMATPrep software.

You can customize the set of questions you attempt by mixing the level of difficulty on the software directly to resonate with your own style of preparation.

Based on your own selection process, what advice do you have for applicants who are trying to draw up a list of target schools to which to apply? Do not apply to many schools at once. I would also strongly advise you to draw up a list of about 4-5 schools based on your industry of preference and the school having a strong interface with that industry. Make sure that the city the school is based in has a strong presence of the industry you are trying to get into after your MBA.

What advice do you have for applicants in actually applying to a school, writing essays, doing admission interviews, and getting recommenders to write letters on your behalf? Create a blueprint that includes information like deadlines, GMAT score requirements, personal fit characteristics, and any other requirements for those schools. Be honest in your essays as it is your first impression on the admissions committee of the school and they want to get to know you before making a decision on your profile.

Recommenders have to be chosen carefully after analyzing the quality of work you have done together and make sure they know you as a professional because it will project clearly in their write-ups about you. They have to know your strengths and your evolution over the period of working together.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? Rotman has a very unique approach of imparting management education, which includes teaching students to go above and beyond to consider the bigger picture. The self-development lab, a strong alumni network, and a world renowned faculty were the major deciders for me personally.

Also, all the Rotman alumni currently working in McKinsey & Company had amazing reviews about their experiences and spoke highly about the brand value of Rotman in Canada.

What would you ultimately like to achieve before you graduate? I would like to continue working in the consulting industry and over a period of time develop a spike for helping retail banks optimize their long term business strategy.

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