Mr. Data Scientist

Hi, this is Deepak Punwani from MBA Exchange. You are a very competitive applicant at all schools. Great academic record combined with your Masters and work in Machine Learning mean that every school will be interested to talk to you. What you will need to ensure is that you execute well and explain your interest in tech and ML and how that relates to your decision to pursue an MBA. What will help is the fact that you have had some international experience and that you can show leadership outside work especially in areas which require people management. A lot of technical roles do not necessarily have a lot of people management flavor, but if you can show that you work equally well with humans and machines :), you are at play at all schools. And am a bit surprised not to find MIT and or Berkeley Haas in your target list considering they are really good in tech and lot of grads recruit into FAANGS from them. Good luck

Oooh, I love the impact that your work has already created! Saving Fidelity millions and getting 3 promotions in 3 years – that’s stellar and is certainly where I’d want to explore. I’d also want learn more about the people aspect of introducing AI to Fidelity – how’d you get people on board? How’d you convince people to trust the output? Schools will want to see that you are as “people” smart as you are tech savvy – and usually, the stories that require people to change their behavior reveal a lot about who you are (and can be) as a leader. I’d also want to make sure that you’ve got really solid letters of rec – we want to hear from people who know you well and who can attest to the impact that you’ve driven. The schools you’re targeting will see so many applicants – they need to know that you are a top performers. (Also… MIT Sloan and Haas? And McCombs as a safety? All are really strong on prod mgmt!!) Good luck!!

Hello Mr. Data Scientist! Krista Nannery from mbaMission here! Thanks for posting.
You’ve got a great resume…b-school AdComs know and respect both your employers. I think that will help you in this process given your very competitive demographic. The challenge for you will be showing leadership and impact and not getting too technical on them. Describe your work in ways they can understand. Make it less about Python, R and SAS and more about analysis and the impact of your analysis.
My main concern for you is your demographic…we just don’t know who exactly you will be competing with, but we know there will be a lot of them. While this doesn’t mean that you won’t be successful at your list of schools, I’d encourage you to reflect on a safer option just in case. For candidates that plan to go back to India eventually, one option to consider is Ross. Firstly, they send more people to Silicon Valley than most other schools. Then, assuming strong application execution, your chances are just higher. (They’ll love your stats — you’ll be more rare.) Most importantly though, the alumni network and brand is strong and global. I usually joke about the airport test…next time you are back in India, while you’re sitting in the airport, watch the crowd for an hour. My guess is that you will see multiple Michigan alum because they are such rabid fans of the school. (Visible by their Michigan paraphernalia.)
I wish you all the best in this process. I’d love to know how it works out for you!
Krista

Hello, I’m Lisa Cummings from Stratus Admissions. Your impressive work history will definitely catch the eye of the admissions committees at the schools you have applied to. Clearly you have the academic chops to be successful at a top MBA program and your work history will reassure schools that you will be easy to place post MBA. When you interview you will want to be more specific on the post MBA role(s) you are seeking so you can closely tie the school’s offerings – classes, clubs, study tours etc – to you goal. When I was a Sloan Adcomm, I would have dug into your extracurriculars. Many Indian candidates say they help orphans. This is a great thing, but what was your involvement? Did you send $$ or did you actaully spend time with kids? Of course, both are helpful but if you did actual work with kids that will help balance out your highly technical work side. If not, you will want to highlight your communications and perhaps persuasion skills and show how they contributed to your success at work. Good luck!