Admissions Success Stories

I wanted to share my admissions success story in hopes that it will be encouraging to others.

I took the GMAT twice, and got a 660 on both tries. I was pretty frustrated after my second attempt as the schools I was most excited about had average GMAT scores that were quite a bit higher (though I was in the bottom of the 80% range for 3 out of 5 choices). Anyways, I accepted my 660, and spent my energy on the rest of my application. I began drafting my essays in July (I had 19 to write after all) and found that they got better and better with the more time I had to marinate on them. I talked to students and alumni from all five schools that I was interested in to understand why they had chosen the programs and to gain useful anecdotes for my essays and interviews. I also made sure that through my application and essays, I had made the case why I was uniquely interested in each school.

I made the conscious decision NOT to apply to a safety school (go big or go home, right??), so when I submitted my applications to my five schools-- Columbia, Kellogg, Haas, Ross, and Fuqua-- I really had no idea what to expect, but I've been pleasantly surprised! So far, I've gotten interview invitations from all of them, and I got into Columbia a few weeks ago.

Moral of the story, do your best on the GMAT, but accept that its NOT the only indicator of application success.

Best of luck to everyone!

That was awesome ! Getting into columbia is not a joke .. Congratulations girl !! Stories like this inspire people like me and help to not get demotivated. It would be very nice if you could share more of your background and how you went about applying for the schools. I got a 680 and i am more than curious to understand the strategies that led you to success. Hope you dont mind sharing !

Thanks.

Moral of the story, do your best on the GMAT, but accept that its NOT the only indicator of application success.

Congrats winegirl12 on your success. Wish you the best for your next steps ahead.

Thanks all!

Sweathau, don't you dare get demotivated, a 680 is a really solid score! I have never been a great standardized test taker, so I knew the GMAT wasn't going to be the strongest part of my application. I sort of went in with the attitude that success would be doing well enough that the admissions office wouldn't automatically through my application in the trash. And I really believe this holds true-- the GMAT isn't going to get you accepted/rejected unless you really kill/bomb it. For the majority of test takers, it's simply a check the box activity that leads to a more careful reading of their entire application.

Here's me:
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Current City: Washington, DC
Nationality: American - Caucasian
GMAT: 660/6.0
GPA: 3.51 Top 20 liberal arts school
Full Time Work Experience: 4 years in new product development for a consulting firm
MBA Goal: CPG Marketing
Extracurriculars: Soccer, Pro-bono consulting work for non-profit

Not having an academic background in business, I wanted two primary things from school: a really solid general management education, and a firmer grounding in strategic marketing. I also sought out schools that I thought would be great cultural fits for me. Having applied to 11, yes ELEVEN, schools for undergrad, I only wanted to apply to schools that I knew I would attend. I wrestled with applying to a "safer" school, but in the end reasoned that I would rather stay at my job than pay to go somewhere I was less than excited about.

Strategically, I think the most important thing you can do on your applications is tailor them to each school. Though many essay themes are similar, I literally started each one from scratch. I reached out to alumni, friends, and current students in the marketing clubs to talk about each program, and asked them about their favorite experiences, professors, classes, etc, and incorporated those details into my essays. Lastly, I really took my time. As I said, I started writing in July and finished in October. I also took a 2 week vacation and hiatus in the middle. Honestly, your essays get better the more time you have to think about them, so start early! It's the total opposite of the GMAT where I think intense study for a short time is better than dragging it out.

Anyways, best of luck to everyone out there! If you have any more questions on these points, let me know!

Winegirl

this is an inspiring story! Thank you so much for sharing. I've just began my studying and didn't do the best on my practice exams, this gives me hope. Congratulations and please keep us posted on how things develop for you.

Makes a fee good.!

Thanks a lot.

Thanks winegirl for the insights ! Your profile is great and am sure its one of the key factors that got u in. Guess what, i am a 26 year female too and i have been working as a business analyst for abt 4 years now, currently i am in NJ.

Like you said, the best thing i could do now is concentrate more on my essays. Well, i really have to start on that. I do not have a great GPA, so may be i should build some alternate transcripts. I am a lil' confused. Anyway, would it be possible if i stay in touch with you on facebook or gmail? Just so that i could reach you if i have any questions ? Honestly, i have always been a silent spectator in this forum and i have never posted. I only had a 680 and with a not very great academic profile, and i almost lost hope of getting into the big schools.When i saw your post and what you have achieved with a 660; your "Go big or go home" attitude , it gave me a lot of inspiration. Would be very nice if i could get something like a mentoring advice from you. Let me know if i am asking for too much.

In any case, best of luck with your mba.

firstly, congratulations Winegirl. Stories like these really do cheer me up about applications.

Similar to you, I just cannot seem to beat the gmat. I scored 650 the first time and 660 the second. Applied to CBS with my 650, but ended up getting dinged. I'm probably going to be reapplying for this Sep (or Jan) to CBS, and making apps to Kellogg and wharton.

I like your attitude of 'go big or go home', but I also want to be realistic about my expectations.

Would you (or anyone else who would be able to make a profile evaluation) judging from my profile below, be able to advise me on if I have a decent shot at these schools?

-Male, 25yrs old
- 3.5 GPA from top tier UK university.
- 1yr Bulge Bracket ibank (sales desk) experience
- left after a year to join the family business (start-up) building telecoms infrastructure in Africa, which has proved to be successful to date. Currently head the East African operation and based in Africa.
- Have good references from ibank and clients.

Any advice from anyone would really be appreciated. I know everyone keeps saying 'dont worry about the GMAT' but if I'm out of my league here, I'd like to know.

Thanks.

firstly, congratulations Winegirl. Stories like these really do cheer me up about applications.

Similar to you, I just cannot seem to beat the gmat. I scored 650 the first time and 660 the second. Applied to CBS with my 650, but ended up getting dinged. I'm probably going to be reapplying for this Sep (or Jan) to CBS, and making apps to Kellogg and wharton.

I like your attitude of 'go big or go home', but I also want to be realistic about my expectations.

Would you (or anyone else who would be able to make a profile evaluation) judging from my profile below, be able to advise me on if I have a decent shot at these schools?

-Male, 25yrs old
- 3.5 GPA from top tier UK university.
- 1yr Bulge Bracket ibank (sales desk) experience
- left after a year to join the family business (start-up) building telecoms infrastructure in Africa, which has proved to be successful to date. Currently head the East African operation and based in Africa.
- Have good references from ibank and clients.

Any advice from anyone would really be appreciated. I know everyone keeps saying 'dont worry about the GMAT' but if I'm out of my league here, I'd like to know.

Thanks.

wow! that's inspiring! thank you!

WOW!! First of all hearty congratulations. Your story definitely helps, inspires a lot!! thanks winegirl...
Regards,
Sid...

Congrats .. Great score..
And it is truly inspiring..!

AWESOME.....Congrats!