Ms. Sales & Trading

Reading your profile and the thoughtful perspectives by Nisha and Jennifer made me remember an article I wrote some time ago that showed the tremendous odds Indian candidates in particular face at U.S. business schools. We were able to get our hands on some incredibly rare data: the numbers of Indians and Chinese who apply at individual business schools and their acceptance rates compared to Americans and Europeans. The gap was rather shocking. It showed that Indians consistently faced much higher rejection, sometimes four to five times the rate of rejection for U.S. and European applicants.

See here: https://poetsandquants.com/2011/11/19/indian-chinese-mba-applicants-face-higher-rejection/

It’s one thing to continually say that Indians–male and female and especially male Indian engineers are the most overrepresented candidates in the elite MBA applicant pool–it’s another to actually reveal the data that shows how different the odds are for these candidates.

So sure your stats, especially your GMAT, is pretty much in line for HBS. More importantly, at a very young age you are quite accomplished, as evidenced by your full-time job at a major bank, your forthcoming promotion, and your side business to boot. In Harvard Business School’s Class of 2020, there is one graduate from the University of Mumbai, who managed in management studies. One doesn’t tell you anything but at least HBS knows your alma mater. I agree you need a bit more experience to be a really credible applicant to Harvard. And then there are these annoying odds for Indian applicants, less so for you because you are not male, you are not an engineer, you don’t work in IT, and you don’t live in India. Hang in there, get a bit more experience, another promotion, continue to grow your business and when HBS turns you down, just allow it to strengthen your resolve for your reapplication.

Hi, this is Deepak Punwani from MBA Exchange. Its difficult to really rate your chances as a lot will depend on the context of your achivements and that may be a reason why you may be seeing different odds for your success at Harvard. Am going to concentrate more on what improves your odds at Harvard. 1) Showcasing how well you have done at work in spite of this being a very challenging time for I banks in the City. If in this market, you have done well notwithstanding threat of Brexit, fintech’s, regulations and general slowdown in I banking world – then your odds at Harvard improve. 2) If you can link your journey from MiM to I Banking to MBB to startup – you will increase your odds. This is going to be very important as HBS isn’t a big fan of those who want a second Masters. 3) Have a clear idea if what kind of entrepreneur you want to be. Give HBS a sense of what business you would want to launch and why that is purposeful for you. So if you execute well on these 3 points, your odds go beyond 20% at a very competitive school. Also, there may be at least a couple of more schools which can get you where you want to be in 5-10 years. Maybe add those to the mix? Good luck

Hi, it’s Nisha, Sr. Consultant with from mbaMission. It sounds like you’re on a great track so far in your banking career. However, you are early on in your career (HBS students have an average of about 5 years of work experience) so I strongly recommend waiting at least another year to continue building a track record there – the HBS candidates I’ve worked with successfully had at least 4 years of work experience. Regarding your stats – you’re applying from a very heavily represented demographic, so I highly recommend retaking GMAT and bumping it up at least 10 points. You’ve got excellent outside involvement so far, and waiting the extra year+ to apply will give you the chance to continue increasing your impact in that area as well. Hope that helps!

Hi, it’s Jennifer Jackson from Stratus Admissions. Some strengths I see in your profile are that you’re a woman in a more male-dominated industry and you have global work experience. You have a solid GMAT and GPA, and I love that you have a clothing business on the side — that’s interesting! I do see some weaknesses though, some of which you can address before you apply (and some of which just are what they are!). You’re from an over-represented demographic so applicants like you have to work even harder to stand out. You’re quite light on work experience so I might recommend waiting at least a year to apply, which gives you the chance to gain more experience both at work and outside of work. Another question I have is about the Master’s you have. MBA programs don’t like degree collectors, people who get a Master’s and then try another without really showing WHY the MBA is what you need now. If you can clearly articulate the skills you have now, what your ST and LT goals are, and why the MBA is necessary to reach those goals, that will be very helpful. Good luck!