MBA Handicapping: HBS For This Indian Male, 740 GMAT, Pune Applicant?

The Harvard Business School isn’t on Amar’s list of target MBA programs. But HBSGuru.com Founder Sandy Kreisberg thinks it should be.

How come? Sure, he’s an Indian male in the most oversubscribed part of the elite MBA applicant pool. But Amar’s interests and background may help to get him noticed in that overcrowded group of candidates.

For one thing, he’s not another techie with an engineering background. He graduated first class with distinction with a commerce degree from Savitribai Phule Pune University. He currently works as a senior associate for Ernst & Young’s strategy and transaction practice in India. Before his current gig, he founded and was managing partner of a boutique consulting firm for four years. During that time, he scaled the firm to 250+ clients and a 10-member team, achieving 50% opera􏰀ng profitability and 2x growth year-on-year. From 2014 to 2018, Amar worked for PwC, first as an assistant and then an associate in its corporate and international taxation practice.

His GMAT score of 740 is right on the latest class median at HBS.

His post-MBA goal? “I intend to join a management consulting firm such as McKinsey, Bain, or BCG, where I shall start as an associate, and over the next 3-5 years, I shall work with and lead teams that are advising organizations about strategic business decisions related to growth, profitability, and value-creation.” he says. “My long-term goal is to start a consulting firm focused on advising small and medium-sized entities (SMEs) in India and Southeast Asia on their financial, people, and business growth aspirations by adapting global practices and MBB processes to their requirements.”

Amar is applying to Dartmouth Tuck, UVA Darden, Cornell Johnson, UCLA Anderson, Columbia Business School, and Chicago Booth. He has already heard back from some of these schools, with a variety of outcomes from acceptance to rejection and landing on one waitlist.

In this episode of Friday’s With Sandy, Kreisberg is so impressed by Amar that he urges him to add Harvard to the list. He also offers some valuable advice to increase Amar’s odds of admission.

If you would like to participate in a future Fridays With Sandy webinar, you can contact Sandy and Poets&Quants John here.

DON’T MISS PREVIOUS FRIDAYS WITH SANDY EPISODES

PUBLIC POLICY & NGO APPLICANTS — SOME GREAT TIPS  

A 4.0 GPA & A 770 GMAT: WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

MILLION DOLLAR ADVICE — A CHANGED OUTCOME FOR THIS APPLICANT?

BREAKING INTO RENEWABLE ENERGY WITH AN MBA

LOW GRADES & COMPANY FOUNDER. IS HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL IMPRESSED? 

BREAKING INTO FINANCE FROM GOVERNMENT CONSULTING

HOW TO DEAL WITH CLASSY JOBS AND A LOW GPA

WHAT DOES A 3.17 GPA DO TO A 780 GMAT AT H/S/W?

EXPLAINING FOUR JOBS IN FOUR YEARS

WHO SHOULD RETAKE A 730 GMAT?

BYU MAGNA, MCKINSEY, CHILEAN: WHAT GRE DOES HE NEED FOR HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL?

780 GMAT–HOW COME SHE’S NOT APPLYING TO HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL?

CAN THIS NASA SUPERSTAR MBA CANDIDATE TALK TO EARTHLINGS ADMISSION OFFICIALS? 

HOW POWERFUL IS A 750 GMAT AT KELLOGG, BOOTH, STERN & ROSS?

IN FROM AFRICA: CRACKING HARVARD AND STANFORD

FASHION DESIGNER TO THE METAVERSE WITH A 750 GMAT

HOW TO MAX OUT AN APPLICATION FROM AN UNDERREPRESENTED COUNTRY

B-SCHOOL TIPS FOR CONSULTING TYPES OUTSIDE THE U.S.

APPLYING FROM BRAZIL, SPAIN & PORTUGAL

2+2 IS HARD — WILL LOW GRE STOP THIS SPANISH SUPERSTAR? 

FORMER PRO GOLFER PARS & BOGIES SOME HBS INTERVIEW QUESTIONS  

BREAKING OUT OF THE PACK: APPLYING FROM FIDELITY & OTHER MONEY MANAGERS

HOW TO BREAK OUT OF THE DESI MALE COHORT

APPLICANTS FROM WELL-KNOWN ‘BRAND-COMPANIES: WHAT B-SCHOOL INTERVIEWERS EXPECT YOU TO KNOW  

IB STAR IN GHANA — LOW GRADES, GREAT EVERYTHING ELSE. WHADDA WE GOT?

APPLYING FROM LESS-REPRESENTED COUNTRIES

ARMY CAPTAIN WITH A GREAT STORY & LOW STATS. HERE’S WHAT YOU DO 

INDIAN APPLICANTS NOT FROM IIT

THIS INDIAN MALE BREAKS WITH THE STEREOTYPE: WILL H/S/W BE IMPRESSED?

INDISPENSABLE ADVICE FOR INTERNATIONAL MBA APPLICANTS 

IMPACT INVESTOR WITH A GREAT STORY SO FAR 

MBA MOCK INTERVIEW:20 FUNDAMENTAL  INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ASKED & ANSWERED IN THIS ROCKING MOCK  

MBA MOCK INTERVIEW: COKE, PEPSI & OTHER BIG CONSUMER BRANDS TO HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL

BLOWING AN HBS INTERVIEW: SANDY POINTS OUT SEVERAL WAYS IT CAN HAPPEN

HBS INTERVIEW TRAPS FOR THIS 780 GMAT TYPES

3.2 GPA — HOW DAMAGING FOR THIS MEXICAN STAR (740 GMAT!)?

THIS SUPERSTAR APPLICANT NEEDS TO POLISH HIS STORY

IF THIS DING, DING, DING RE-APPLICANT CAN GET AN 80/80 GRE, HE IS GOLD 

CAN A ‘BIG FOOT’ MENTOR HELP YOU OVERCOME A 2.9 GPA?

HOW DOES A GREAT MBA APPLICANT OVERCOME A 3.2 GPA?

IS WORKING FOR TOBACCO & BOOZE COMPANIES A BLOT ON YOUR MBA APP?

MOCK INTERVIEW: HOW TO ANSWER THE MOST COMMON MBA INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

HOW THIS CONSULTANT BATS ABOVE HIS SO-SO STATS

SUPER-STAR AFRICAN WITH A 630 GMAT–HSW???

30-YEAR-OLD, AFRO-AMERICAN, NAIROBI-BASED, 5 JOBS — SANDY SAYS TOP 10 CAN HAPPEN

APPLYING TO B-SCHOOL FROM BIG ENERGY

MINORITY CANDIDATE, 550 GMAT, WAIT LIST AT MIT — ADVICE ON SEVERAL FRONTS 

APPLYING FROM MYANMAR WITH A 3.26 FROM San JOSE STATE

BIG 4 CONSULTANT: 33, 2.9 PGA….KEEP READING\]\

HBS WITH A 2.9 & AN INDIAN MALE? WHY THIS GUY COULD BE THE ONE  

DOA? DOES THIS TED TALK SUPERSTAR SOUND SCRIPTED?

DO WHITE MALES NEED BETTER STATS THAN SCHOOL AVERAGES TO GET IN?  

HOW TO USE YOUR INTERNATIONAL BACKGROUND TO GET INTO HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL

YOU WANT TO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS AFTER B-SCHOOL: SOME GREAT TIPS 

HOW TO OPTIMIZE A ‘WOMEN IN TECH’ STORY FOR B-SCHOOLS

SURGEON JOINS FAMILY BUSINESS — BE PREPARED TO EXPLAIN WHY

WHY HARVARD, STANFORD & WHARTON LIKE PILOTS

HBS INTERVIEW TIPS FOR NON-LIBERAL ARTS MAJORS 

EGYPTIAN VC GUY — GREAT START FOR H/S/W . . . AND THERE IS MORE

CORE ANSWERS FOR COMMON B-SCHOOL QUESTIONS

WHEN DOES A 710 vs. A 730 GMAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE

GOOGLE, FACEBOOK, MARINES: HOW TO EXPLAIN TRANSITIONS IN YOUR B-SCHOOL INTERVIEWS

SANDY TRIES TO FLUSTER THIS SUPER START 3.9/770 CHINESE PR WOMAN WHILE JOHN GOES GA-GA

H/S/W ADMIT TIPS FOR FINANCIAL GUYS 

2+2 SUPER APPLICANT — CAN HE GET AROUND A LOW GRE

H/S/W TIPS FROM THIS DESAI AT EXXONMOBIL 

SANDY’S TOUGH LOVE FOR A SUPER STAR WITH A 650 GMAT

HOW TECHIES & ENGINEERS BEAT OUT THEIR PEERS AT TOP MBA PROGRAMS 

HOW DO ACCENTURE CONSULTANTS GET INTO WHARTON?

APPLYING FOR HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL’S 2+2 FROM ABROAD

HBS WITH A 3.4 & A 770? WHARTON?