Crack The MBA Show

Nupur Gupta

In the Crack The MBA Show, Nupur Gupta talks with a new guest every episode to learn about their MBA journey and beyond, be it admissions, student life, careers. Hear from current students and alumni about their journey to the top MBA programs globally, be it Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Booth, Kellogg, Columbia, MIT, INSEAD, LBS or more. Prepare yourself to Crack The MBA and achieve your dreams, just like the guests on the show did.

  1. 03/02/2025

    Ep029 Wharton Alumna's Experience in Big Tech at Google | Crack The MBA Show | Meghna Sreenivasan

    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.

    1h 11m
  2. 02/16/2025

    Ep028 Big Four Indian Male Engineer Cracks LBS & MBB | Crack The MBA Show | Vyshak Iyengar

    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.

    1h 9m
  3. 07/19/2024

    Ep027 Successful M7 MBA Reapplication to MIT Sloan | Crack The MBA Show | Swaraj Dharia

    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.

    1h 2m
  4. 06/22/2024

    Ep026 Giriraj Cracks $80K Scholarship & McKinsey Offer | Darden MBA Experience

    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.

    1h 11m
  5. 05/21/2024

    Ep025 Wharton Grad Excels in Big Tech Career | Product at Google

    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.

    1h 7m
  6. 05/01/2024

    Ep024 How Keerthana Cracked HBS & Wharton | HBS MBA & Entrepreneurship Experience

    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.

    1h 13m
  7. 04/14/2024

    Ep023 How Aishik Cracked McKinsey London | INSEAD MBA & MBB Recruiting Experience

    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.

    54 min
  8. 03/10/2024

    Ep022 How Aanchal Cracked the Dean's Merit MBA Scholarship | Michigan Ross MBA Experience

    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.

    1h 6m

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

In the Crack The MBA Show, Nupur Gupta talks with a new guest every episode to learn about their MBA journey and beyond, be it admissions, student life, careers. Hear from current students and alumni about their journey to the top MBA programs globally, be it Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Booth, Kellogg, Columbia, MIT, INSEAD, LBS or more. Prepare yourself to Crack The MBA and achieve your dreams, just like the guests on the show did.