Welcome to the ‘Crack The MBA’ show. My name is Nupur Gupta, and I am your host. Our guest today is Meghna Sreenivasan who graduated with an MBA degree from Wharton in 2020. Meghna holds a BTech and MTech degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Bombay. Post college, Meghna worked as a consultant with Bain & Company for three years and as a product manager with Bajaj Finserv for a year. At Wharton, Meghna served as VP, Education – Wharton Fintech Club, and VP, Community – India Club. Meghna has been working with Google as a product manager in the four years since she graduated. Meghna builds great software experiences for people – most recently as a product manager at Google on Google Chat and Search. Meghna is a crossword nerd and loves walks with her daughter.

00:00:00 Episode Highlights

00:01:04 Introduction

00:01:53 Fun Fact

00:02:33 Childhood & Influences

00:07:39 Experience with CTM

00:11:29 MBA Admissions Process

00:16:21 Teamwork & Leadership Anecdotes

00:18:25 Wharton Team-Based Discussion

00:24:34 Why Wharton

00:27:58 Experience Living in Philadelphia

00:31:33 Wharton: Semester in San Francisco

00:41:16 Wharton: Fintech Club

00:43:59 Wharton: India Club

00:44:59 Wharton: Tech Club

00:46:35 Recruiting Process for Big Tech

00:52:07 Product Management Interview Process

01:00:21 Thriving in Big Tech

01:04:09 Post-MBA Life in San Francisco

01:07:39 Advice for Incoming MBA Students

Thank you for watching!

—

Nupur Gupta is the founder of Crack The MBA (https://crackthemba.com), India's leading MBA admissions consulting firm. Every year, Crack The MBA's clients attend ivy league, M7 and other top MBA programs globally. Nupur is a graduate of the full-time MBA program at The Wharton School. She has been recognized by Economic Times among the 'MostPromising Women Leaders', by Business Insider among the 'World's Leading Admissions Consultants', along with other honors. Nupur served two terms as president and two terms on the board of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC) - the primary industry association in MBA admissions.

Follow Nupur and ‘Crack The MBA’ on our social media platforms for more updates:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nupurgupt/

https://www.facebook.com/CrackTheMBA/

https://www.instagram.com/crackthemba/

Disclaimer: The opinions shared by guests in this video in no way, shape or form represent advisory provided by Crack The MBA. Each candidate’s circumstances may vary, and our advice is always provided specifically based on an applicant’s specific profile.

Welcome to another episode of ‘Crack The MBA’ show. Our guest today is Vyshak Iyengar who is a first-year student at London Business School. Vyshak completed a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Visvesvaraya Tech University in Karnataka. Joining Accenture tech, he secured a rare transfer to the strategy practice without an MBA. While working with Accenture for six years, Vyshak founded a non-profit “Blufin Foundation”, which is a sports foundation focused on para-sports and grassroots sports. Outside work, Vyshak also led technology and startup initiatives for the Member of Parliament in Bangalore South. At LBS, Vyshak has served on the executive committee of the VC club and the cricket club. Vyshak is interning with Lars Nielsen – a valley operator turned investor. Post his summer internship with BCG in Dubai, Vyshakhas plans to pursue an exchange programme at Kellogg, followed by GBE in South America. Vyshak went on a ten-day Saudi trek during Spring break and will be doing MBAT in France next.

00:00:00 Episode Highlights

00:00:58 Introduction

00:02:11 Fun Fact

00:02:50 Influences & Winning Habits

00:08:14 Social Impact

00:12:37 Experience with CTM

00:16:51 Competing as an Indian Male Engineer

00:24:19 Importance of Extracurricular Activities

00:27:35 Advice on LBS Essays

00:28:57 Demonstrating International Motivation

00:30:00 Video Essays

00:31:26 LBS Interview Experience

00:35:00 Financing the LBS MBA

00:36:18 Obtaining Student Visa

00:37:47 Experience Living in London

00:39:44 Housing & Food

00:42:17 Biggest Challenge at LBS

00:43:37 Activities at LBS

00:46:08 Term-Time VC Internship

00:48:02 Saudi Trip & GBE

00:52:04 Block Week

00:53:15 Academics: Star Professors & Popular Electives

00:55:34 Recruiting Process: Consulting

00:59:35 Consulting: Location Choice & Pay Scales

01:02:16 Recruiting Outcomes for Indian Students

01:04:50 Is an International MBA Worth It?

01:07:37 Final Advice

Thank you for watching!

—

Nupur Gupta is the founder of Crack The MBA(https://crackthemba.com), India's leading MBA admissions consulting firm. Every year, Crack The MBA's clients attend ivy league, M7 and other top MBA programs globally. Nupur is a graduate of the full-time MBA program at The Wharton School. She has been recognized by Economic Times among the 'MostPromising Women Leaders', by Business Insider among the 'World's Leading Admissions Consultants', along with other honors. Nupur served two terms as president and two terms on the board of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC) - the primary industry association in MBA admissions.

Follow Nupur and ‘Crack The MBA’ on our social media platforms for more updates:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nupurgupt/

https://www.facebook.com/CrackTheMBA/

https://www.instagram.com/crackthemba/

Disclaimer: The opinions shared by guests in this video in no way, shape or form represent advisory provided by Crack TheMBA. Each candidate’s circumstances may vary, and our advice is always provided specifically based on an applicant’s specific profile.

Welcome to another episode of ‘Crack The MBA’ show. Our guest today is Swaraj Dharia who is a first-year student at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Prior to Sloan, Swaraj worked as a management consultant focused on technology strategy and then moved onto carbon market negotiations for the Government of India. He was the youngest negotiator for the Indian govt. at UN’s Climate Change Conferences COP26 and COP27 before moving into an early-stage climate VC role at Peak Ventures in Bombay. Swaraj is focused on driving private capital towards climate mitigation and adaptation while balancing financial returns. In his free time, he is thinking about starting his own company, playing or watching soccer, or trying to learn a new musical instrument. At Sloan, Swaraj is in-charge of external relations at the VCPE club and working on a startup under MITs Sandbox Innovation Fund. He also recently helped with the MIT Sloan Energy and Climate Conference. For his summer internship, Swaraj interned at BCG in the New York office.

00:00:00 Episode Highlights

00:00:58 Introduction

00:02:02 Fun Fact

00:02:36 Influences & Winning Habits

00:05:28 Applying as a Re-applicant

00:07:56 MIT Reapplication

00:10:44 Cover Letter

00:15:25 Introduction Video

00:18:05 Diversity & Inclusion Prompt

00:19:57 Sloan Interview Process

00:26:24 Sloan’s Evaluation Criteria

00:28:26 Sloan’s Mission

00:32:05 Annual Events at Sloan

00:36:52 Housing & Food

00:41:04 Extracurricular Activities at Sloan

00:45:05 Star Professors & Popular Electives

00:47:45 Action Learning Labs

00:50:03 Internship Recruiting Experience

00:52:50 Career Development Office (CDO)

00:55:18 Salaries: Internship & Full-Time

00:56:21 Indian Students at Sloan

00:57:28 Reflecting on First Year at Sloan

01:00:41 Final Advice for Prospective Applicants

Thank you for watching!

—

Nupur Gupta is the founder of Crack The MBA (https://crackthemba.com), India's leading MBA admissions consulting firm. Every year, Crack The MBA's clients attend ivy league, M7 and other top MBA programs globally. Nupur is a graduate of the full-time MBA program at The Wharton School. She has been recognized by Economic Times among the 'Most Promising Women Leaders', by Business Insider among the 'World's Leading Admissions Consultants', along with other honors. Nupur served two terms as president and two terms on the board of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC) - the primary industry association in MBA admissions.

Follow Nupur and ‘Crack The MBA’ on our social media platforms for more updates: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nupurgupt/

https://www.facebook.com/CrackTheMBA/

https://www.instagram.com/crackthemba/

Disclaimer: The opinions shared by guests in this video in no way, shape or form represent advisory provided by Crack The MBA. Each candidate’s circumstances may vary, and our advice is always provided specifically based on an applicant’s specific profile.

Welcome to another episode of ‘Crack The MBA’ show. Our guest today is Giriraj Heda who is a first-year student at University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Giriraj holds a BTech degree in Mechanical Engineering from NIT Karnataka, where he was team captain for the Racing team. Post college, Giriraj worked as an operations engineer at ExxonMobil, where he led and supported oil and gas exploration projects off the coast of Cyprus, Guyana, and Russia. At Darden, Giriraj has been awarded the Allan and Barbara Staats Fellowship with a $80,000 award. Giriraj has been nominated as the International Student Representative for his section and has been selected as Community Consultant at Darden. This summer, Giriraj will be interning with McKinsey in their Houston office.

00:00:00 Highlights

00:00:35 Introduction

00:01:30 Fun Fact

00:02:29 Winning Habits & Influences

00:11:03 Essays: General Advice

00:14:30 ChatGPT & Essay-Writing

00:16:59 Darden’s Essays

00:19:12 Scholarship Essay

00:19:50 Re-applicant Experience

00:24:56 Darden Interview Experience

00:26:23 $80,000 Merit-Based Scholarship

00:27:54 Evaluation Criteria at Darden

00:28:47 Darden’s Unique Identity

00:29:24 Case Method

00:36:07 Impact of Case Method

00:39:31 Flagship Events at Darden

00:41:58 Tradition: First Coffee

00:43:58 Charlottesville Location

00:47:27 Favourite Restaurants & Bars

00:50:55 Housing & Food Costs

00:51:54 Academics: Star Professors & Classes

00:53:45 Consulting Internship Recruiting

01:04:44 Indian Students at Darden

01:09:27 Advice for Prospective Applicants

Thank you for watching!

—

Nupur Gupta is the founder of Crack The MBA (https://crackthemba.com), India's leading MBA admissions consulting firm. Every year, Crack The MBA's clients attend ivy league, M7 and other top MBA programs globally. Nupur is a graduate of the full-time MBA program at The Wharton School. She has been recognized by Economic Times among the 'Most Promising Women Leaders', by Business Insider among the 'World's Leading Admissions Consultants', along with other honors. Nupur served two terms as president and two terms on the board of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC) - the primary industry association in MBA admissions.

Follow Nupur and ‘Crack The MBA’ on our social media platforms for more updates:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nupurgupt/

https://www.facebook.com/CrackTheMBA/

https://www.instagram.com/crackthemba/

Disclaimer: The opinions shared by guests in this video in no way, shape or form represent advisory provided by Crack The MBA. Each candidate’s circumstances may vary, and our advice is always provided specifically based on an applicant’s specific profile.

Welcome to the ‘Crack The MBA’ show. My name is Nupur Gupta, and I am your host. Our guest today is Suyog Karnawat who graduated with an MBA degree from Wharton in 2019. Suyog holds a BTech degree in Electronics and Telecommunications from College of Engineering Pune. Post college, Suyog worked with Credit Suisse as a Software Engineer, and as Product Manager in Pune and London. During this time, Suyog also pursued and received a CFA charter. At Wharton, Suyog was a writer with Wharton Follies and involved with the Tech and Data clubs. Suyog pursued a tech investment banking internship with William Blair in the bay area. Post-MBA, Suyog joined AWS as a Sr. Product Manager, and then transitioned to Twitch, eventually joining Google where he is leading a team of PMs owning the merchant vertical at YouTube shopping.

00:00:00 Episode Highlights

00:00:41 Introduction

00:01:32 Fun Fact

00:02:13 Winning Habits & Influences

00:05:39 Experience Working with CTM

00:07:34 Wharton Essays

00:08:34 Wharton’s Evaluation Criteria

00:10:32 Wharton India Fellowship

00:12:01 Wharton’s Unique Identity

00:14:21 Life in Philly

00:18:23 Star Professors & Popular Courses

00:23:05 Academic Resources for Techies

00:24:22 Wharton Follies

00:28:13 Wharton Leadership Ventures

00:29:59 I-Banking Internship Recruiting

00:33:02 Tech Banking Internship Experience

00:34:00 Full-Time Job Search in Big Tech

00:38:20 Major Tech Employers

00:39:00 MBA Career Management Office

00:41:04 Product Management Interview Prep

00:45:58 Current Recruiting Environment in Tech

00:47:15 Reflection on Wharton Experience

00:48:39 Navigating Post-MBA Job Shifts

00:53:35 Day in Life as Product Lead at Google

00:56:03 Life in Seattle

01:00:26 Student Loan Repayment

01:01:42 Is an American MBA Still Worth it?

01:05:02 Parting Advice

Thank you for watching!

—

Nupur Gupta is the founder of Crack The MBA (https://crackthemba.com), India's leading MBA admissions consulting firm. Every year, Crack The MBA's clients attend ivy league, M7 and other top MBA programs globally. Nupur is a graduate of the full-time MBA program at The Wharton School. She has been recognized by Economic Times among the 'Most Promising Women Leaders', by Business Insider among the 'World's Leading Admissions Consultants', along with other honors. Nupur served two terms as president and two terms on the board of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC) - the primary industry association in MBA admissions.

Follow Nupur and ‘Crack The MBA’ on our social media platforms for more updates:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nupurgupt/

https://www.facebook.com/CrackTheMBA/

https://www.instagram.com/crackthemba/

Disclaimer: The opinions shared by guests in this video in no way, shape or form represent advisory provided by Crack The MBA. Each candidate’s circumstances may vary, and our advice is always provided specifically based on an applicant’s specific profile.

Welcome to another episode of ‘Crack The MBA’ show. Our guest today is Keerthana Wuppulur who is a first-year student at Harvard Business School. Keerthana completed dual bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras. Joining ITC, she became a member of a start-up like founding team where she setup a first-of-its-kind greenfield US FDA approved plant to cater to nicotine derivatives in smokefree product category. Thereafter, Keerthana joined Unilever, becoming the youngest and first female manager to head the world’s biggest manufacturing unit of Pears soap bars. At HBS, Keerthana has been awarded over $115,000 as financial aid scholarship. Keerthana is a member of sustainability club, food and agriculture club, women’s business association and iLab. In a departure from traditional recruiting efforts, Keerthana is not sitting for consulting or tech placements and is instead applying to become a Rock Summer Fellow and is founding a startup, Next-Zero, where she’s building a carbon accounting software that will cater to the Indian B2B market space.

00:00:00 Episode Highlights

00:00:45 Introduction

00:01:56 Fun Fact

00:04:33 Winning Habits & Influences

00:09:27 Social Entrepreneurship Ventures in College

00:12:03 Experience Working with CTM

00:14:07 How to Approach the HBS Essay

00:19:10 HBS’s Evaluation Criteria

00:21:12 Identifying Key Essay Anecdotes

00:22:35 Approaching Career Goals

00:24:37 HBS Admissions Interview

00:30:36 Wharton Team-Based Discussion

00:33:50 HBS’s Unique Identity

00:35:08 HBS Class Profile

00:37:26 Section X

00:39:43 Dating at HBS

00:40:41 Flagship Events

00:42:51 Boston Location

00:46:56 Food Scene

00:49:05 Extracurricular Activities

00:50:47 Favorite Spot on Campus

00:51:40 Biggest Challenge at HBS

00:52:33 The Case Method

00:57:02 5 Ps of the HBS Classroom

00:58:21 Star Professors & Popular Electives

00:59:37 Speakers at HBS

01:01:16 Entrepreneurship Post-MBA

01:04:59 Rock Summer Fellow

01:07:30 Resources for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

01:09:14 Internship Recruiting

01:11:21 Parting Reflection

Thank you for watching!

—

Nupur Gupta is the founder of Crack The MBA (https://crackthemba.com), India's leading MBA admissions consulting firm. Every year, Crack The MBA's clients attend ivy league, M7 and other top MBA programs globally. Nupur is a graduate of the full-time MBA program at The Wharton School. She has been recognized by Economic Times among the 'Most Promising Women Leaders', by Business Insider among the 'World's Leading Admissions Consultants', along with other honors. Nupur served two terms as president and two terms on the board of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC) - the primary industry association in MBA admissions.

Follow Nupur and ‘Crack The MBA’ on our social media platforms for more updates:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nupurgupt/

https://www.facebook.com/CrackTheMBA/

https://www.instagram.com/crackthemba/

Disclaimer: The opinions shared by guests in this video in no way, shape or form represent advisory provided by Crack The MBA. Each candidate’s circumstances may vary, and our advice is always provided specifically based on an applicant’s specific profile.

Welcome to another episode of ‘Crack The MBA’ show. Our guest today is Aishik Dhar. Aishik graduated from BITS Pilani with a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science. Thereafter, he worked as a Software Developer at Amazon in their Payments division and then as a Product Manager at Goodera, enabling volunteering opportunities for people worldwide. Aishik was a recipient of the Orange scholarship at INSEAD and graduated with an MBA degree from INSEAD in 2022. Aishik is currently working as an Associate at McKinsey & Company in London. During his spare time, Aishik is an avid theater, photography, chess and football enthusiast. In fact, Aishik has been to nearly 10 Arsenal matches at their stadium in the last one year!

00:00:00 Episode Highlights

00:00:39 Introduction

00:01:29 Fun Fact

00:02:08 Winning Habits & Influences

00:05:38 Experience Working With CTM

00:07:44 Why MBA

00:08:51 Why INSEAD

00:10:32 Essay Advice

00:12:30 International Motivation

00:16:20 Interview Prep

00:18:30 Admissions: Evaluation Criteria

00:19:16 Scholarships

00:21:10 Applying as a Younger Applicant

00:22:36 August vs. Jan Intake

00:24:07 1Y vs. 2Y MBA

00:25:24 Casing in 1Y MBA Program

00:27:00 Flagship Events

00:28:40 Fontainebleau vs. Singapore Campus

00:29:50 Biggest Challenge at INSEAD

00:31:04 Star Professors & Popular Courses

00:32:11 Consulting Recruiting at INSEAD

00:38:35 Why McKinsey London Office

00:39:27 Recruiting Outcomes for Indian Students

00:42:09 Tech Recruiting: INSEAD vs. US Schools

00:43:21 Consulting: Regional Salary Variations

00:45:15 Most Memorable Experience at INSEAD

00:46:02 Consulting: a Day in Life

00:47:22 Consulting: Case Staffing

00:50:11 Consulting: Recruiting Environment

00:50:57 Impact of INSEAD MBA

00:52:11 Final Advice

Thank you for watching!

—

Nupur Gupta is the founder of Crack The MBA (https://crackthemba.com), India's leading MBA admissions consulting firm. Every year, Crack The MBA's clients attend ivy league, M7 and other top MBA programs globally. Nupur is a graduate of the full-time MBA program at The Wharton School. She has been recognized by Economic Times among the 'Most Promising Women Leaders', by Business Insider among the 'World's Leading Admissions Consultants', along with other honors. Nupur served two terms as president and two terms on the board of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC) - the primary industry association in MBA admissions.

Follow Nupur and ‘Crack The MBA’ on our social media platforms for more updates:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nupurgupt/

https://www.facebook.com/CrackTheMBA/

https://www.instagram.com/crackthemba/

Disclaimer: The opinions shared by guests in this video in no way, shape or form represent advisory provided by Crack The MBA. Each candidate’s circumstances may vary, and our advice is always provided specifically based on an applicant’s specific profile.

Welcome to another episode of ‘Crack The MBA’ show. Our guest today is Aanchal Gupta.

Aanchal is a Consultant at Boston Consulting Group in their New York office. Aanchal recently graduated with an MBA from Ross School of Business, where she was awarded the prestigious dean’s fellow merit-based full tuition scholarship. Aanchal originally hails from India and, prior to pursuing her MBA, worked for four years at Fidelity Investments as a data scientist. During her time at Fidelity, Aanchal managed machine learning based solutions lifecycle across various business units and also acquired a US patent for one of her solutions. She completed her undergraduate degree in computer science and engineering at MNIT Jaipur, where she was a merit scholar and student placement coordinator. Aanchal has always been actively engaged in extracurricular activities, most recently being a peer coach, student ambassador and being involved with consulting club, Indian Student Business Association, Community Consulting Club and Michigan Code Academy at Ross.

00:00:00 Highlights

00:00:58 Introduction

00:02:00 Fun Fact

00:02:38 Winning Habits & Influences

00:06:26 Why MBA

00:07:23 Why Ross

00:09:22 Essays

00:11:14 Identifying Career Goals

00:13:14 Overcoming Weaknesses

00:14:58 Interview Prep

00:17:28 Admissions: Evaluation Criteria

00:19:40 Scholarships

00:21:13 Ross’s Unique Identity

00:24:52 Flagship Events at Ross

00:26:55 Life in Ann Arbor

00:29:14 Student Clubs

00:33:18 Biggest Challenge at Ross

00:36:12 Academic Highlights at Ross

00:39:51 Star Professors at Ross

00:41:36 Experiential Opportunities

00:46:38 Consulting Recruiting

00:53:28 Internship Experience

00:55:28 Day in the Life: Consulting

00:59:14 Current Recruiting Environment

01:00:27 Ross’s Impact

01:02:26 Pre-MBA Internships

01:04:33 Final Advice

Thank you for watching!

—

Nupur Gupta is the founder of Crack The MBA (https://crackthemba.com), India's leading MBA admissions consulting firm. Every year, Crack The MBA's clients attend ivy league, M7 and other top MBA programs globally. Nupur is a graduate of the full-time MBA program at The Wharton School. She has been recognized by Economic Times among the 'Most Promising Women Leaders', by Business Insider among the 'World's Leading Admissions Consultants', along with other honors. Nupur served two terms as president and two terms on the board of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC) - the primary industry association in MBA admissions.

Follow Nupur and ‘Crack The MBA’ on our social media platforms for more updates:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nupurgupt/

https://www.facebook.com/CrackTheMBA/

https://www.instagram.com/crackthemba/

Disclaimer: The opinions shared by guests in this video in no way, shape or form represent advisory provided by Crack The MBA. Each candidate’s circumstances may vary, and our advice is always provided specifically based on an applicant’s specific profile.