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Michigan Ross MBA admit for Indian reapplicant who took rejection in her stride

Michigan Ross MBA admit for Indian reapplicant

As we wrote in an earlier article (How business schools are luring female applicants), MBA admission officers are very interested in getting applications from competitive female applicants. But that’s only in relative terms.

In absolute terms, it is still darn tough to crack into the top ranked business schools even with a high GMAT and a unique & differentiated (read, non-IT) profile, as Jyoty Subramanian found out in the first year of applications.

She used the rejections as a learning experience to get back next year. Instead of dropping the bar and applying to lower ranked MBA programs, she aimed high again, this time with a more effective strategy.
 


How I got into Michigan Ross Business School and CMU Tepper

by Jyoty Subramanian

 

That the little we have between sunrise & sunset,
Is the little we can to end up with no regret.
– Jyoty

Michigan Ross MBA AdmissionsWhen I wrote the verse above, it reflected my attitude and my reason for an MBA.

As a Marketing & Brand Manager with a commercial vehicle manufacturing company, I love my innovative and engaging job.

But beyond just liking something, I really wanted to make exceptional & disruptive innovations, beyond the regular value-adding contributions I was making at work.

I wanted to strategize, take up responsibilities at a faster scale than what the company was accustomed to offer an employee with just 4 years of experience.

This made me realize that a valuable MBA can do wonders for career progression. An MBA is a massive investment on oneself and that is when the prudent investor in me was alerted.

I gave the GMAT almost a year before my application cycle- I identified a time period when work pressure would be minimal & strategically prepared for 2 months.

I took a week off from work and gave multiple mocks. Finally on the GMAT day, I managed a 730 Q50 V38 AWA 4.

Had I managed my time better in Quants, I could have avoided guessing the last 3 questions. But, the main point is to never leave any question unanswered.

Age and slightly below average work-ex were definite challenges ahead of my application journey. But, I also had another one – the burden of previous rejections from schools I had applied the year before.

For school selection this time I wanted to be extra careful and choose wisely – balance was the key.

GMAT Club had helped greatly in my GMAT prep and it was through the forum in gmatclub, that I learnt about MBA Crystal Ball and their awesome work. The reviews were genuine and good.

I pinged Sameer and then MG to understand their offerings. I feel that enrolling for MBA MAP was a very good decision which set me up in the right direction.

Ankur guided me through MBA MAP and gave me invaluable inputs which led me to choose the right mix of schools and also helped me refine my long-term (LT) & short-term (ST) goals.

During the research post MAP, I re-adjusted my post-MBA goals (ST – Marketing & LT-Entrepreneurship). This made me skeptical of the initial MAP report & I requested for a refreshed MAP.

But, further discussions with Ankur put my doubts to rest.

In fact, post my applications to R1 schools – the results were surprisingly mirrored by the MAP report.

I had chosen a mix of 2 ambitious, 2 stretch and 2 practical schools to apply for in R1. This mix was selected from the MAP with my goals and my profile in mind.

At two of the schools, I was a re-applicant – a decision I consciously made, because these schools were a perfect fit for me!

I also had shortlisted 5 schools for R2, on which I had started working post R1 deadlines – however fortunately I did not feel the need to submit any of the R2 school applications, post R1 decisions.

The interviews I encountered post R1, were very refreshing and offered a valuable chance to meet and discuss with interesting alums/adcoms. I learnt of the schools from their perspective & started liking the schools even more.

After a long month of waiting, with great joy I learnt of my admission to Michigan Ross and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Tepper. I also got waitlisted with Duke (Fuqua School of Business). In fact, I was surprised to learn that Tepper had offered a very handsome MBA scholarship as well.

PS: When I got a call from ROSS, right in the middle of a meeting at work, I jumped off with joy outside the room, knowing completely well that I have re-written my journey hereon 🙂

I am strongly leaning towards one of these schools – but I have good time to rationally decide based on my finances and discussions with current students & alums.

After a slew of rejections last year, I was very crest-fallen, but also determined to prove my mettle.

Rejections should trigger the fighting spirit in you – making you work harder and stronger towards what you always wanted! Never compromise your life choices based on a few outcomes. Age, gender, years of work-experience, GPA, GMAT etc. are statistical data.

But selecting the right school and the school accepting you also depends on your fit with the school.

Are the experiences and initiatives you have taken till date similar to the ones which the school would encourage?

Do you have the depth and breadth of experience filled with stories you can share proudly with your interviewer?

Would you invest over a crore (INR) on yourself with confidence?

Do you have a direction for your post-MBA goals – even if they are not crystallized?

If you can answer most of these – then you are in-fact in the right direction! All the very best!! 🙂
 


Also read:
Executive MBA in USA from Michigan Ross
Michigan Ross MBA admit for second MBA applicant
How to get into the Michigan Ross MBA program
And another reapplicant success story Oxford MBA success story as a Reapplicant and Bitcoin Entrepreneur

Image source: Roman Design Challenge


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Sameer Kamat
About Sameer Kamat
Founder of MBA Crystal Ball. Author of Beyond The MBA Hype & Business Doctors. Here's more about me. Follow me on: Instagram | Linkedin | Youtube

9 thoughts on “Michigan Ross MBA admit for Indian reapplicant who took rejection in her stride”

  1. Hi Sameer,

    I completed my B.A. in 2000 and then did my MMS (Masters in Management Studies) in 2001-2003. I have cleared my first year MMS (Sem 1 and Sem 2) and Sem 4, but have some papers pending in Sem 3. Due to domestic situation, i did not pursue it at that time.

    I would like to do my MS in US. I found out that those papers have been discontinued and it is dicey if i will be able to appear for them and clear them.

    My question is, will my B.A. plus the first year of my Management course (which makes it 16 years of education) make me eligible to apply for the MS course. Please help. Thanks.

    Reply
  2. Hi Sameer,

    I am a chartered accountant with 6 yrs exp (including 2 yrs of self employment in education industry). Want to know do i have an advantage or disadvantage for persuing something of my own for 2 yrs and discontinuing it for reaaon like financial viability, while i am going for 1 yr mba programme. I mean how does selection committees look upon this aspect ??

    Reply
  3. hello sir,i have got a year gap in my B.E degree .i have a agreegate of 55% in my engg. for ec. MS or MBA?which is the better option for me after engg. i want to know if i am eligible for good universities outside india with 55% in engg.

    THANK YOU

    Reply
  4. Hi I have 10 years working experience with projects and mechanical field. I have completed my B tech and want to do an MBA for vertical growth . I can’t leave my job, what would be the best option for me. I currently reside in Bangalore.

    Reply
  5. @Haritha: Don’t rely on what non-official folks (including us) say about this. Since policies of each program may be different, it’s best to check from the most credible source. Explain your situation to a few MS admission teams and see what they have to say. Take a call after that.

    @Ankit: Here are some tips & examples of managing the failure essay in college applications: https://www.mbacrystalball.com/blog/2016/03/11/career-failure-in-mba-application-essays/

    @Sarthak: This article should help you: https://www.mbacrystalball.com/blog/2015/06/01/mba-or-ms-after-btech-be-engineering/

    @Indresh: You could consider part-time or online MBA. But the market value of such options will not be the same as a full-time MBA degree.

    Reply
  6. Hi,

    I am MBA Finance Graduate and I have 2 years of Work Experience as SAP FICO Consultant. Now I want do MS. Which is the suggestible Branch/Group in MS. Thank you

    Reply
  7. Hi Sameer,

    Finally found someone who takes out time to respond personally to each question asked.

    About me: Chirag Mittal, software engineer and Btech in computer science from a “not so good college”. I have fair (if not good) academic credentials like 73% in Btech, 78% in high school and 87% in intermediate. I have a total experience of 5 years including 1+ year exp as technical team lead (leading and mentoring a team of 4) with various awards and excellent performance appraisals over the years in the organisation. I don´t want to do MBA now but would rather work for 3 more years to first polish my leadership skills a bit and gain some more experience. Reading through some posts on this site, I think the 1 year course (target batch 2019-2020) from IIM(A,B,C,L) would be ideal for me. I would like to start preparing now so that I have an application not worth rejection by the adcom of various institutes.
    Any word of advice from you on how to go about it would be great.

    Thanks in advance,

    Regards
    Chirag

    Reply
  8. @Jagadeesh: Why would you want to go from an MBA to an MS, buddy? Most try to do it the other way around. Or if they are looking for an international career, they choose the second MBA path.

    @Chirag: There are excellent 1 year programs outside India as well. Here’s a list to help:
    https://www.mbacrystalball.com/blog/2016/07/25/best-one-year-mba-programs-world/

    To address your query about what will help make your profile more attractive, we’ve shared some insights here:
    https://www.mbacrystalball.com/blog/2012/11/07/how-to-make-your-profile-irresistible-to-the-top-schools/

    Reply

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