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I am a PhD candidate in Political Economy at the University of Michigan. Plan on dropping out with an MA, as a recent internship at a VC convinced me that the investment world is where I belong. Earned an MA in International Relations from the University of Toronto, helped raise a seed round for a retail tech startup, and managed a network of angel investors.
Target School: NYU Stern
Considering: Columbia, Stanford GSB, Berkeley Haas, MIT Sloan, UCLA Anderson
See More Profiles For: NYU Stern
Application Status: Open
Undergrad School: University of Toronto
Undergrad Major: Political Science
GPA: 3.6
GMAT: 720
Age: 29, Ethnicity: Asian or Indian
Other Degree/Certification: MA in International Relations (2017); MA in Political Economy and Graduate Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2022)
School Name: University of Toronto (2017); University of Michigan (2022)
Extracurriculars: President of University of Toronto Debating Club | Chair of University of Michigan Central Student Government
Title: Venture Capital Intern
Industry: Venture Capital
Company: Boutique Firm
Length of Employment: 1 yr, 10 mos
Title: Manager of Business Development & Operations
Industry: Banking & Finance
Company: Top Firm
Length of Employment: 1 yr, 1 mos
– Worked 40 hours/week as an undergrad and grad at the University of Toronto (and graduated summa cum laude). – Youngest Tech Industry Representative at the Canadian Federal Government’s Trade Mission to India (24 years of age). – Led team that raised a successful Seed Round for a Canadian tech startup. – First Non-MBA to intern at a well-known Midwestern VC Firm.
I hope to serve as an Investment Banking Associate at a top firm after earning my MBA. After spending a few years in IB, I would like to take my newfound expertise to PE or a hedge fund.
Join in! Click here to assess the odds of Mr. Disgruntled Academic
A disgruntled academic, huh? Well, join the club. I suspect there are quite a few of you out there. Congrats on securing that VC internship. That’s a very good start to help you get into a highly selective business school. Schools will worry that you are something of a lifetime student since you have not only a BA and an MBA but also worked toward a PhD before dropping out. You need to convince them that you now are certain and serious about your career goals and why you had a change of heart. Otherwise, they will think you are a bit aimless and searching. That would make your application dead on arrival. Your 730 GMAT is solid, though it could be on the low …
A disgruntled academic, huh? Well, join the club. I suspect there are quite a few of you out there. Congrats on securing that VC internship. That’s a very good start to help you get into a highly selective business school. Schools will worry that you are something of a lifetime student since you have not only a BA and an MBA but also worked toward a PhD before dropping out. You need to convince them that you now are certain and serious about your career goals and why you had a change of heart. Otherwise, they will think you are a bit aimless and searching. That would make your application dead on arrival. Your 730 GMAT is solid, though it could be on the low side for the most successful Indian applicants which I assume you are. The 3.6 at the University of Toronto is also pretty much in line, and you have solid work experience. So I think the key to your success is what I said above. You need to convince admissions in both your application and via in-person meetings via Zoom or real in-person that you are not an academic flake and now know that i-banking is what you want and have a good reason for it. If you can do that, your odds are pretty good. If not, you would have to aim for a Cornell and a UNC instead of the very elite schools you are currently targeting. By the way, both Cornell and UNC have excellent i-banking programs so you could easily achieve your goals at those MBA programs.
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