Beat The GMAT a GMAT & MBA community

debrief completely rewritten for concision and clarity. Enjoy!

Hey Extrapeges!
How did your applications go?
Where are you going to study from this Sept?

Hello! I actually got dinged from all three of my MBA programs - Stanford, Haas, Kellogg.
However, I DID get into the IMC (integrated marketing communications) program at Northwestern.
It fits me better as I'm looking to break into branding and marketing... and I get access to Kellogg's marketing profs!

Congrats on a big leap in your score..nice debrief

I like the part about becoming a badass. You have to be almost militant at times, don't you, in order to put this exam in its place. I think we should all share your attitude to dominate the exam, and not let the exam dominate us instead.

CONGRATS! (Love the part about the dance)

Excellent Debrief...

Hey congratulations great determination buddy!

@extrapages -- huh.. you gotta be kidding me! those 3 schools rejected you after a 750? did they tell you why? did you analyze? what was your prior background?

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Ashish
Share not just why the right answer is right, but also why the wrong ones are not.

do any schools tell you why anymore?
my prior background was f&b (food and beverage) and marketing consulting in Asia.
i think they rejected me not because i wasn't good enough but because there was probably a pool of 500 totally acceptable people for 250 slots.
and honestly, i think it was quite clear to the adcoms that what i really needed (and wanted) was to go to school specifically for marketing and branding, not a marketing mba. although now i do have the chance to reapply to kellogg (which will be much easier since i can get recommendations from kellogg profs and peer recommendations from kellogg students). and since im eligible for their 1 year program, i have a very real possibility of coming out of northwestern with two masters degrees.

thanks for sharing your background. so it is clear now that obsessing over the GMAT is absolutely pointless.

to your point about how the adcoms saw you, i think it's more about how you presented yourself. in my case, i have a Master's degree in Engineering from Columbia University (NY) and i have an R&D background. i am trying to get into the coveted consulting field. given my background, i could portray myself as an IT guy and that i am trying to learn IT biz skills. OR i could portray myself as someone with technology consulting professional who is trying to get into strategy consulting using an MBA. if you keep harping marketing, communications, etc. then the school might try to put you into spot they feel appropriate. it's about what areas of your experience you bring out more and connect it with your desired goal. does this make sense?

that's a fantastic idea if you get into a 1-yr MBA program at kellogg -- killing 2 birds with 1 stone!!! good luck.

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Ashish
Share not just why the right answer is right, but also why the wrong ones are not.

one of the best debriefs i've ever read... great going extra pages... congrats..!!!

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O Excellence... my search for you is on... you can be far.. but not beyond my reach!

One of the straight, honest and practical explanation And there is nothing funny about it those who think.

Congrates!!

just received word from MGMAT that they might include my debrief in their next book! woot!

I'm new to this site so I'm not sure how to find your debrief. I'm wanting to get my IMC from northwestern as well so I'd love any advice you have! Congrats!

not really sure what you mean by "getting your IMC from northwestern"... IMC is the integrated marketing communications program at the medill school of journalism at northwestern. you would apply for the program like any other graduate program. my understanding is that there are about 65 students each year, but admissions doesnt let anyone know how many people apply, so no one knows the actual acceptance rate.