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humanbeanbag

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  1. Test Scores (GMAT/GRE): GRE VA: 165 (98 percentile), QA: 168 (97 percentile) Undegrad GPA: 8.5/10 (Top 20% of class- Top 10 Indian Engineering College) Graduate GPA: 7.1/10 (Top 20% of class- Top 5 Indian B School) Research Experience: No publishing experience as such. During my professional career I have undertaken some secondary research for my consulting projects and primary research in the form of interviews and surveys, especially with think tanks like the World Resources Institute and the United Nations Environment Programme. Some of my MBA courses and business case competitions also required some basic secondary research. Teaching Experience: None Work Experience: I have a work experience of two and a half years in a Tier 2 strategy consulting organisation with their Sustainability Services practice. I have primarily worked with non profit organisations and multilateral organisations like WWF, The Nature Conservancy, Red Cross Society, UN agencies. I have supported various strategic projects with them. For example, I have worked with the UN Environment Programme to develop science based targets for businesses to reduce their impact on oceans and this involved a pair bit of literature based research. The current project I am working on is one of the world’s largest assessments of impact of 250+ consumer goods organisations on palm oil sustainability. This also involves literature review and surveying companies. Concentration Applying to: Strategy Number of programs planned to apply to: 6-8 Dream Schools: Yale, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, USC Marshall, University of Washington Foster, University of Minnesota Carlson School Letters of recommendation: I will be asking for LORs from my MBA professors. It’s going to be of moderate strength since I don’t have any research experience to speak of but will only be asking those professors in whose courses I have ranked among the top 5 scorers. Note: I have also attached my resume for more information. Other Questions: What made you want to pursue a PhD? I have working on the topic of how businesses can operate responsibly and contribute positively to nature for the entirety of my professional career. Prior to that I have won several business case competitions on similar themes like sustainable agriculture. I believe there is scope for a great deal of innovation in this topic especially looking at how different stakeholders in the ecosystem can collaborate to drive change. Through my experience I realise that businesses who are now working on net positive value creation in the environment will have a first movers advantage when the regulations change. They will also have an effect on policy drivers. However in order to get there, businesses need guidance on how they can function responsibly while maintaining profitability. This is where academia will play a role going into the future because the ground is still nascent and it requires backing up with strong research. This is the journey I want to be a part of which is why the first step would be to apply for a strong PhD program in strategy, business environment and business economics. Questions or concerns you have about your profile? Given my overall MBA GPA isn’t extraordinary (may come to a 3.5 I guess, using the Columbia school chart of conversion) and I have no big research experience to speak of, do I have a shot at any of my dream schools or at least a top 30 college in the US? Does this forum have any suggestions on which schools I should be applying to? How does the GPA conversion work (from a 10 point scale to a 4 point scale)? What points should I stress upon in my SOP to give my application a push given my lack of research experience? Any additional specific questions you may have: Is there a possibility of getting part time remote research projects under professors in the US? Given the COVID situation in India, it’s not possible to do that here right now.
  2. rrrrr
  3. Test Scores (GMAT/GRE): (Note: It often helps a lot more if you list the percentiles each of your raw/composite scores are associated with): QA 168 (97 percentile) VA 165 (98 percentile) Undegrad GPA: 8.5/10, Top 20% of class, Bachelors in Chemical Engineering (Top 10 Engineering College India) Graduate GPA: 7.1/10, Top 20% of class, MBA in Marketing and Operations (Top 5 B school from IndIa) Research Experience: Not much research experience from an academic standpoint, just general MBA assignments which involved secondary research. During my professional career I have been working with think tanks like the World Resources Institute and the UN Environment Programme on projects which required heavy primary and secondary research. Teaching Experience: None Work Experience: I have been working in strategy consulting with a Tier 2 consulting firm for the past two years in the Sustainability Services practice. My work has revolved around supporting non profit organisations (WWF, Red Cross Society, World Resources Institute) and multilateral institutions (UN agencies, EBRD) in various strategy projects. For example, one of my previous projects involved developing science based targets for business to reduce their impact on the ocean. The project that I am currently working on involves the largest assessment of palm oil buying companies and their impact on nature. These involve qualitative research and interviews, surveys etc. I am also proficient in data analysis and data visualization, at least at a level required for strategy projects- perhaps not at handling big data. Concentration Applying to: Strategy Number of programs planned to apply to: At least 8 Dream Schools: Yale, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, USC Marshall, University of Minnesota- Carlson School of Business, University of North Carolina (Kenan Flagler), University of Washington (Foster), (still a WIP list) Letters of recommendation: Almost all from my MBA courses- will mostly be from professors and associate professors. Having little research experience, I'm expecting the letters of recommendations to be of a moderate strength. I will only be asking those professors for a recommendation in whose courses I have ranked among the top 5 scorers. Note: I have attached a one pager resume for more info. Other Questions: What made you want to pursue a PhD? I am deeply interested in how businesses can operate responsibly and partner with other stakeholders in the ecosystem like governments and communities to drive impact. I believe that businesses who are doing this at the moment will have a major first movers advantage going forward when regulations become more strict very rapidly and consumers become more aware of their environment. What businesses lack in this space is established research which proves this hypothesis and gives guidance on how to go about operating responsibly. Academia will have a big role to play here going forward and having worked with non profits for the past two years and being deeply aware of the situation around us, I want to be a part of that journey. Questions or concerns you have about your profile? 1. My major concerns are around graduate GPA which is not extraordinary- it might come to 3.4/3.5 after conversion to a 4 point scale using the conversion chart on the Columbia business school site. Given my overall profile and experience do I have a shot at any of the top 30 B schools for a PhD? 2. I am a complete novice to this- am I even targeting the right schools based on my profile? 3. I've been hearing that I should be applying as early as possible as early admissions are the only ones that are considered. Is this true? What is the optimum date by which I should be applying (given that deadlines are generally in December and I've been hearing people say that I should complete my applications in October) Any additional specific questions you may have: 4. Are there opportunities to undertake any remote part time research with professors in the US? I can't quit my job due to financial constraints. Given the COVID situation in India, it is extremely difficult to do that with professors here. I know this is a big ask but if anyone can share any input, I would be extremely grateful
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