Mr. PM to FinTech

Hi, this is Deepak Punwani from MBA Exchange. BITS Pilani is now becoming a bona fide feeder school for the top 10 MBA programs so rest assured that every school will respect that part of your profile. Your strong GMAT compensates in some way for 6 GPA. Am not sure if you have a straight GPA score or you converted by its seems you were around 50th percentile in your class by my estimation. If true, this will need explanation by taking ownership of fact that you may have performed below potential. But what decreases your odds significantly is your work experience. Risk and operations in a financial services firm isn’t a “hot” role. I would seriously advice you to seek some opportunities outside of work where you can show more strategic or entrepreneurial orientation i.e are you on boards of some startups or have you helped base of pyramid fintech startups in some way? Do you angel invest? You will need to break the clutter of many such profiles from India and stand out to have a higher chance at Booth, Wharton and Columbia. Also your backstory is more common that you may think. But let this not dishearten you. My hope is this feedback makes you work harder to improve your chances of an admit. Good luck.

Hi, Mr. PM to Fintech, this is Julie-Anne Heafey of mbaMission. One of my favorite clients went to BITS Pilani, so I feel like I’m already rooting for you to succeed like my client did, but I also want to be honest with you…the road is not easy to an M7 school for applicants with your profile. You’ve got a compelling personal story, and I like the impact and leadership I see in your synopsis, but in your category, the competition is incredibly stiff. Although your GMAT is good, as others have suggested, your low GPA and your sector of employment may put you at a disadvantage. One thing that’s not clear to me is the progression in your current job – I’m looking at your 5 years in project management and wondering if you’ve been able to move up a few times (crossing fingers). My advice to you is to apply to your dream school/s (in R1), but definitely expand your list outside the M7 where your 740 will lift the school’s average score. A few great programs worth investigating are Duke Fuqua, UCLA Anderson and UT McCombs…Best of luck!!!

Hi Mr. PM to Fintech. This is Melisa from Stratus Admissions. Thanks for submitting. To start, you’ve got a compelling personal story to tell and I also like your range of extra-curriculars. As you approach your applications, you’ll want to focus on what can differentiate you in a competitive pool. It looks like you’ve had at least one promotion, based on the info you provided. I would want to know more about your leadership experiences – what was your role and how did you implement change. I like that you have worked cross-culturally and the impacts of Brexit will surely be topics of class discussions while you are at school. Booth has a highly flexible curriculum and will want you to demonstrate how you will navigate through that flexibility. You will want to add specificity to your goals – do you plan to work in consulting in the US? Or back in India? And long term, where would you like to end up? Make sure to demonstrate your knowledge of the fintech industry you want to impact. Schools know that goals can change – but if you have built a plan to achieve a goal – they will see that you can build a new plan if needed. While your stats put you in a good position among Indian males, your need to be compelling and unique to help you stand out. I think Wharton and Columbia will hold similar odds to Booth. I would suggest you apply to Columbia early on due to their rolling admissions. You may want to add the Tech MBA’s from Stern and Cornell to your list as you would spend your time in NYC and have access to top finance institutions. Best of luck!