Ten years back, Veena’s brother scored a 780 on the GMAT and worked with an American MBA consultant. Despite having a profile much stronger than Veena’s and shelling out a few thousand dollars, he failed to get into any of the MBA programs he applied to, including ISB.
What does it take to get into the Wharton MBA (University of Pennsylvania)? The usual suspects – a top notch undergrad degree, a high GMAT score, great experience in a feeder industry, with an international stint thrown in for good measure – no surprises there. And with thousands of Wharton hopefuls from around the world … Read more
Thug life is when you walk into a top university with a cool $125K in scholarship despite a low GRE score, low undergrad GPA, being a reapplicant…and 15 soul-crushing rejections! But where do you pin the blame after getting all those rejections from MS and MBA programs alike? The obvious culprit was a below average … Read more
Working on MBA applications can be highly stressful for the applicant and the MBA consultant. That in turn increases the likelihood of mistakes. For Dinesh Kumar, it was very important to get an admit with scholarship. He was already worried about working in a non-feeder industry (i.e. retail) and not having big company brands that … Read more
Rohit Kabra left his job in USA to return to India so he could focus on his GMAT preparation. But he wasn’t able to score as much as he expected. He explains how he was still able to get into a Top 40 ranking program with a $40,000 (approximately INR 29 Lakhs) scholarship, without having … Read more
We regularly interact with the admission officers of the top bschools (here’s an interview with the UCLA admissions director). This gives us a pretty good idea of not only what the top MBA programs look for in applicants, but also what’s acceptable and what’s not when candidates take professional help. Ratan Mehra (name changed) got … Read more
Stanford GSB is as elite as they come, in the realm of business education. Topping almost all the ranking charts including Financial Times 2018 Global MBA, US News, Bloomberg Businessweek, and countless more, Stanford GSB has secured its honourable place. It helps that its MBA graduates receive some of the best job placements with the … Read more
We get many applicants asking if a 3-year bachelors degree in science / commerce / arts (i.e. 15 years of education) will put them at a disadvantage, since they are competing with engineers wielding a degree that’s generally kept on a higher pedestal compared to B.Com, B.A or B.Sc degree. Vikramjeet Bhatt’s story proves that … Read more
Applicants to an MBA / MS program surely have their work cut out for them. Whether it’s about acing the GMAT / GRE or coming up with that perfectly-crafted essay / SOP or following up with recommenders, they have enough on their plate. Coming up with an impressive application would definitely be a priority at … Read more
Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi may shine a ray of hope for many young girls aspiring to reach for the business stars. However, the reality, at the ground level is still shaky. According to Catalyst, a non-profit organization with a mission to help women achieve workplace inclusion, the share of women, in senior … Read more
Sandeep Sharma likes running long distance, writing long articles (and MBA essays!) and planning for the long term. After completing 5 half-marathons, 2 marathons and a 2-year MBA from XLRI, this human resources professional still had enough energy left to contemplate a second MBA from a top-notch international business school (Why a second European MBA … Read more
Here’s a philosophical question: Consider someone who has cleared all 3 levels of the Chartered Accountancy course (hailed by many as the toughest exam in the world) in the first attempt and done well in the professional world. When such a person fails to get a competitive score on the GMAT, is that a reflection … Read more