Q) I am an accounting professional from an overrepresented Indian CA application pool. Although I have a good work exp with a branded accounting firm, I feel typecast. How can I stand out for the highly competitive Wharton and Booth MBA Applications?
Atul Jose (MBA Admissions Consultant, F1GMAT): Indian CA Accounting profile faces four challenges – the internship narrative, the full-time experience, project details, and extracurricular.
Internship
From working with relatives, often parent’s firms, to one-shop accounting persons, to SMB accounting firms to the Big 4, the diversity of the accounting application pool in India is unique. The problem is that for Booth or Wharton, you need to impress with good numbers. The scale will matter. It is unlikely that a small team would be managing larger accounts. There lies the rub. One-way Indian CA Applicants consciously build their brand is to join the Big 4 Accounting firm during the internship. An offer in the first phase of your career is proof that your talent has been validated. Booth – with a strong emphasis on academics, will undoubtedly find your profile interesting. In the resume, you must strategically mention this achievement.
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The responsibilities during internships are mostly due diligence at the most basic level. However, even for a fundamental task, you will be trained to follow certain frameworks and processes while working in a large accounting firm. Traditional Schools like Booth love that.
Now how do you differentiate from other CA applicants with branded experience?
Extra-Curricular
Booth MBA application is designed with two themes of essays. One about goals and another about extra-curricular. The theme has been consistent over the past decade.
The extra-curricular should preferably be a volunteering engagement that reveals a different aspect of your personality or talent. Accounting personnel with skills in arts or performance tends to stand out. The biggest hurdle that applicants face in including such narratives is that the engagements are sporadic or short-lived and not continuous. Unless the event was sporadic due to the nature of the engagements – volunteering for the Olympics or an annual event, you are unlikely to stand out with a 1–2-month engagement.
Full-time Experience
If you didn’t have a branded accounting firm experience or a continuous involvement in an extracurricular, admissions to Booth and Wharton would be challenging.
Wharton likes the failure and vulnerability narrative at work if the extra-curricular also had a meaningful impact on your personality. The failure can’t be from incompetence but from factors that were out of your control. The realization of the vulnerability in skills should also be openly expressed.
Positioning for each school requires experience. For help, you can start a conversation with me here using our free MBA Consulting form.
The interesting aspect of post-2017 India is that the business ecosystem – startups, mergers & acquisitions, and the landscape of new Businesses are incredibly diverse. You are likely to have experienced at least one unique problem that an international accounting person might not have faced. It could be in revenue recognition, interpreting a global accounting standard (acquisition of a global firm), or advising for emerging industries (crypto or digital assets) where the regulations are non-existent. From Booth or Wharton’s perspective, this unique experience or knowledge will enrich the class. Other challenges in the form of greater overreach or managing the pandemic demand/supply cycles could also be unique if you had an advisory role.
Due diligence roles are interesting when technology or your role in integrating technology into the process is evident.
Project Details
Setting the right context for each project during brainstorming is one way we assist Indian CA clients find the best narratives. Remember – it is the depth of the narrative, not the breadth, that helps an MBA applicant stand out. Unless the breadth is unique for your experience and profile, in-depth expertise is valued both at Wharton and Booth.
Analytical Mind: Creating unique financial models that facilitate multi-million-dollar deal is one example that demonstrates an applicant’s intellectual preparedness. Both the school values such achievements.
To validate the claim, they read your supervisor’s narrative very closely. It is important that you discuss the achievements and context with your supervisor. Preferably share the IMPACT table. If you need help, Subscribe to F1GMAT’s Recommendation Letter Editing Service. We will coordinate with the supervisor by providing the guideline document and maintaining the integrity of the process without jeopardizing your admission chances.
