Ishmeet Singh CEL – BITSAA Forum May 13, 2007 Perspectives on MBA Admissions

2 Agenda Background MBA Application Life after MBA Summary Running Head 12-Point Plain, Title Case

3 Background Management Consultant, A.T. Kearney (2005- present) Location: San Francisco MBA, Kellogg School of Management ( ) Full-time Work experience ( ) Chip Design, IBM Microelectronics Division Worked on some cool products (Play Station-3, Apple G5) Location: Bangalore, Austin TX BITS ( ) BE, EEE MSc., Chemistry

4 MBA Application Schools applied Kellogg, Michigan, CMU, McCombs, U- Chicago, Duke GMAT Score 690 Preparation: 1 ½ months Essays3-4 months, started in September Career switcher – from engineering to product management/ business devp. Applied second rounds RecosImmediate managers at IBM Supervisor at non-profit Work – ex3 years InterviewsOn campus mostly School VisitsVisited most schools that I applied to ExtracurricularHighlighted community service contributions Application profileLessons Think hard- spend a lot of time selecting the right schools I was all over the place Be above average, don’t sweat if you don’t get 770! Take it once and do it right. This is the easiest part of the application. Start early – A good essay is a result of several iterations Connect the dots – Leverage your work experience Have your essays reviewed by alums, friends, lit. majors, anybody else who wants to read them Don’t sweat over them Make sure your recommendation letter is not negative. This is a red flag for adcom. Quality over quantity 4-5 years with varied experiences On campus or alumni is a matter of personal preference Very important – shows genuine interest Highlight one strong extracurricular, don’t try to be an all-rounder

5 Life after MBA – Management Consulting Exposure to clients in diverse industries – hi-tech, manufacturing, retail Solve different issues – sales and marketing effectiveness, global procurement, product development, etc. Hypothesis driven problem solving – analytical and quantitative (the stuff engineers are good at) Travel Mon-Thurs to client locations all over US and some international (yes, lots of airline and hotel points!) Average work day 8AM-8PM (sometimes longer) Fast paced, managing expectations is key

6 Summary Know why you want to do an MBA Select the right schools. There is no backup school – only apply to schools you want to attend Plan well ahead. The application process is time consuming You need to balance your work Primary research is the key Talk to current students, alums Visit schools, sit in on a class