MBA Applications 101*

*Everything you wanted to know about

MBA Application Process but didn’t
know who to ask

Crackverbal GMAT Bootcamp

 About Arun
Over the last decade Arun has played the roles of a teacher, an entrepreneur, and a professional manager.
As a teacher he has taught and mentored over 4000 students, teaching topics ranging from hard-skills such as
software engineering to soft-skills such as time-management. The main focus however has been test
preparation - teaching at major test prep companies in India such as IMS, Career Launcher, Kaplan, and
Princeton Review.
As an entrepreneur he started 2 companies. The first was EximLookup which failed during the dotcom bust in
2001. The second is CrackVerbal, an startup in the education sector that he started in 2006 along with
Aruna Prabhakaran (Wharton MBA class of '09) after being frustrated with lack of instructor quality in the
GMAT prep marketspace. After working in stealth mode for over 2 years, constantly revising the plan,
teaching methodology, and service offering, CrackVerbal was re-launched in the current avataar in January
2009. Since then it has built a reputation as a niche player in this space providing extremely quality
learning experience.
As a professional manager he has spent the last decade working in global companies such as Wipro, Sapient,
Arcot R&D, Talisma primarily focused on technology consulting. The last 2+ years were spent in heading
the Consulting Services division of a enterprise software product company - focusing on the education and
CRM space. Arun brings to the table a rich insight into the value of an MBA, having had a ring-side view of
the pre and post MBA transition of his students. He also brings in a very crucial "insider" information
about schools due to his network not only among students, and alums, but also, his personal relationship
with college admission staff at top Bschools around the world.

Crackverbal GMAT Bootcamp

 Why MBA?
The common reasons
More Money

My Job Sucks
 Why MBA?
The “Real” Reasons
• Career Progression
• Career Switch
• Knowledge
• Networking
• Brand Equity
• Self-Growth
• Change of geography
 How to select schools?
• 1 year v/s 2 year courses
• Geography: India, APAC, UK, Continental
Europe, USA , Australia
• Specialization/Expertise
• Profile Fitment
• Acceptance Rate
 Typical post-MBA career paths
• For IT • General
– Product Management – Entrepreneurship
– Product Marketing – Sales
– IT consulting – Strategy Consulting
• For Finance – Marketing
– Hedge Fund & PE
– Venture Capital
– Investment Management
– Investment Banking

Crackverbal GMAT Bootcamp

 North American Schools
• Great economy
• Land of Opportunities
• Great schools

– M-7: Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, Sloan, Colombia, Booth,

Kellogg
– Top: Haas, Darden, Fuqua, Ross, Tuck, Duke
– Mid: McCombs, Marshall,
– Canada: Richard Ivey, Schulich, Rotman
 APAC Schools
• Closer to home
• Growing economy
• Relatively inexpensive

– Australia: Melbourne Business School, AGSM

Sydney
– Singapore: NUS, NTU
– Others: HKUST, AIM,Manila, CEIBES,China
 European Schools
• Good schools
• Easier work permits
• Great culture/quality of life

– Top: IMD, INSEAD, LBS

– Mid: SAID, Judge,
– Others: SDA Bacconi, Rotterdam, Eramus,
IESE, ESADE, HEC
 INDIA
• ISB
• IIM A PGPX
• IIM B EPGP
• IIM C PGPEX
• IIM L PGDX
• XLRI GMP
• GLAKES
• SPJain, Dubai
• IIM B PGSEM
Businessweek MBA Rankings

Crackverbal GMAT Bootcamp

 Some other resources
• http://grad-
schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best
-graduate-schools/top-business-
schools/rankings
• http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/rank
ings/
• http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings
/global-mba-rankings

Crackverbal GMAT Bootcamp

 Why Us?
- Write down the schools are you applying and
for each school try to write 1 line for each of
the points mentioned above

Crackverbal GMAT Bootcamp

 What are your goals?
- Both Short-term and long-term
- Be as specific as possible
- Try to write details.

Crackverbal GMAT Bootcamp

 4. Why now?
- What is so important that you have to apply
this year and not the next?
- Why not last year?

Crackverbal GMAT Bootcamp

 Why you?
- Academic Potential (GPA, GMAT)
- Leadership (Career progression,
Extracurricular)
- Teamwork (cross-cultural, cross-functional)
- Unique Selling Proposition

Crackverbal GMAT Bootcamp

 Questions?
Way to contact us:
http://www.crackverbal.com

http://www.facebook.com/CrackVerbal

https://twitter.com/AskCrackVerbal

http://www.crackverbal.com/?page_id=38
Crackverbal GMAT Bootcamp