Candidate:

Mr. Startup Musician

About Me:

Indian applicant with a non-traditional profile. Founding member of a venture-backed FinTech start-up based in New York City. Previous stints in a boutique IB and a major record label. Active musician, startup advisor, investor, and travel enthusiast. International outlook and work experience through frequent travels to UK, Singapore, and India.

Schools:

Target School: Columbia

See More Profiles For: Columbia

Application Status: Open

Details:

Undergrad School: Top 10 Liberal Arts University in India

Undergrad Major: Commerce

GPA: First Class

GRE: Applying Without a Score

Age: 30, Ethnicity: Asian or Indian

Other Degree/Certification: Master of Arts

School Name: NYU

Extracurriculars: Professional musician (released my first label-backed album at 13), travel enthusiast (visited 25+ countries so far), portrait photographer, speak 4 languages.

Work History:

Title: Head of BD

Industry: Banking & Finance

Company: Start-Up

Length of Employment: 5 yrs

Big Life Wins:

Professional musician with 4 records and a Bollywood movie released. Worked with Academy and Grammy Award-winning artists and received consistent press coverage from leading global media sources.

Post MBA Goal:

Looking to stay in my current industry (Fintech) but move into a slightly different role encompassing biz dev and product development.

Odds:

Join in! Click here to assess the odds of Mr. Startup Musician

The Experts Rate The Odds At: 38%

See what the industry experts have to say:

Odds Assessment: 40%

Hi Startup Musician, this is Deepak Punwani from MBA Exchange. An apt moniker for you should be the platform we all are on; you the real “Poet and Quant”. Lots to like in your profile. I especially like how you have two parallel careers moving forward simultaneously. A stint in music (including with a record label) and Bollywood movie soundtrack to your name – can be an independent bona fide profile for Columbia on its own terms and so could a career in Fin Services starting with a more traditional IB role and then graduating to a role in Fin Tech. So Columbia effectively is now getting two applicant profiles in one ! Quite impressive. Therefore I rate your chances high and …

Hi Startup Musician, this is Deepak Punwani from MBA Exchange. An apt moniker for you should be the platform we all are on; you the real “Poet and Quant”. Lots to like in your profile. I especially like how you have two parallel careers moving forward simultaneously. A stint in music (including with a record label) and Bollywood movie soundtrack to your name – can be an independent bona fide profile for Columbia on its own terms and so could a career in Fin Services starting with a more traditional IB role and then graduating to a role in Fin Tech. So Columbia effectively is now getting two applicant profiles in one ! Quite impressive. Therefore I rate your chances high and if you apply early decision – the odds go up even more. Also it seems your other interests and your overall personality is a great fit for the school too. The only aspect you will need to convince the school about, is your ability to handle the course load. Show them that you have the academic chops and then go all in. You have a tailwind propelling you and I see no reason why you cant make it to the school. Good luck.

4 years ago Read the full review
mbaMission Odds Assessment: 35%

Hello Mr. Startup Musician!
Krista Nannery from mbaMission here. Thanks for posting.
You, my friend, are a bit of a unicorn. Seems like you totally have that right brain/left brain thing going on, which I love!
It is always hard to do these reviews without a GMAT/GRE score but if you can get yourself to the 740+ level once testing resumes, you should be in good shape for CBS. Just bear in mind that you are a little older than the average applicant, which may hold you back a bit. As such, I’d love to see you expand your school selection. Booth might be a great choice for FinTech and has a more generous admit rate than CBS.
I recommend that you circle back once you have a …

Hello Mr. Startup Musician!
Krista Nannery from mbaMission here. Thanks for posting.
You, my friend, are a bit of a unicorn. Seems like you totally have that right brain/left brain thing going on, which I love!
It is always hard to do these reviews without a GMAT/GRE score but if you can get yourself to the 740+ level once testing resumes, you should be in good shape for CBS. Just bear in mind that you are a little older than the average applicant, which may hold you back a bit. As such, I’d love to see you expand your school selection. Booth might be a great choice for FinTech and has a more generous admit rate than CBS.
I recommend that you circle back once you have a score. That will really help us in your evaluation.
Krista

4 years ago Read the full review