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BrianW@Aringo: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 40; Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:49 am; Thanked: 5 times

by BrianW@Aringo » Sun Jul 29, 2012 8:34 am

Hi Aringo,

I retook gmat recently,but scored bad(640 Q49 V 28 AWA 5.0).In my first attempt,I got 600(Q 50,V 22).I scored in the range of 670-740 on my practice tests.But,in the final exam,I am scoring low.I am tired to retake the GMAT again and want to apply to the B Schools this year.I would like to know my chances at the following business schools.

London Business School
NUS Singapore
HEC Paris
CMU Tepper
ISB

Please find my brief profile given below:
Academics
Undergraduation(Bachelor of Engineering in IT):92.5 %(Non IIT)----Osmania university first ranker in my branch
12th Standard: 98.2%
10th Standard: 95%

Work experience till date: 2 years(Indian IT Female)
I work with Deloitte Consulting and have 2 years of experience.I will have 3 years of experience by the time I join the school.Consistently rated as a top performer.

Awards: Got 3 gold medals,2 silver medals,memento and merit certificates in recognition of my oustanding acacdemic excellence(undergrad).
Applause award in Deloitte.
Received the prestigious Prathibha award(Gold medal and merit certificate)for my 10th standard percentage(awarded by Chief Minister).

Promotion:Got promoted within 2 years in Deloitte(early promotion).Normally,it takes 3 years.

Extracurricular:
Selected as President of Students Association for Institute Day in 2010.Played an active role in organizing all the activities.
Selected as Secretary of Students Association for Institute Day in 2009.Played an active role by coordinating with all the volunteers and contributed to the success of the event.
Organized an IT Fest.
Certificate of Appreciation for my contribution as a volunteer in organizing ' Technopreneurial Summit'
Contributed 9 whitepapers on the technology in which I work.
Worked on "Impact of Social Media on Business" initiative.Beacuse of my great work,I was given an applause award.
Part of a NGO for 2.5 months.Received 'certifcate of recognition' for my dedicated efforts.
Buddy Program(2 months).

Short Term Goals:I want to move from IT Consulting(my current industry) to Management Consulting position.I want to take up strategy management.Work for a top consulting firm as a strategy consultant for atleast 5 years.

Long Term Goal: To start a new company.

Please let me know my chances of admissions.Also,let me know any other B schools to which I can apply with my profile.Thanks in advance!

kulhot,

Thank you for your profile submission. On the basis of the information as presented and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations and a GMAT score of 640, our experience indicates you would be between a stretch and competitive candidate at LBS, competitive at Tepper and HEC Paris, and (although we have less data on these schools) likely competitive to strong at ISB and NUS Singapore.

Given your GMAT score and in particular the verbal split, the big issue in your application is going to be about whether you can convince the ad coms of your communication abilities (verbal and written). On the written side, make extra sure that your essays do not contain any grammatical, spelling or typo mistakes. FYI, it's typical to add at least one space in between a period and the first letter of the first word of the following sentence. On the verbal side, it will be important for you to elaborate on the amount of and success of your direct client interaction - be sure to include comments about how and when you have presented to clients.

Given your academic performance, it may make sense to elaborate a bit on why you chose to attend your undergraduate university - in other words, was there a scholarship(s) that you accepted or a personal situation that influenced your choice?

You have some very strong points in your profile, including various awards, so you should feel good that these will help your chances. Definitely mention that you were promoted early at Deloitte - this should be front and center in your resume.

Keep in mind that your long-term goal as it stands needs to be much more specific, in our experience. You will want to explain what industry, function, and/or location will make sense given your background and the short-term career objectives you are looking to achieve.

As an aside, "first ranker" does not necessarily give the true context, as it's a qualitative description. We recommend applicants provide either the actual percentile, and/or the rank out of a total number in the class.

Best of luck,

Quote

kulhot: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 25; Joined: Wed May 16, 2012 5:27 pm; Thanked: 1 times

by kulhot » Sun Jul 29, 2012 6:15 pm

Deleted

Last edited by kulhot on Tue Oct 16, 2012 8:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Quote

BrianW@Aringo: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 40; Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:49 am; Thanked: 5 times

by BrianW@Aringo » Sun Aug 05, 2012 10:02 am

kulhot,

Thanks for the follow-up post. The overall perspective on your profile remains as was provided in my first post, including chances at these schools. Please note the assumptions made and stated, however, in these chances projections.

Thank you for your profile submission. On the basis of the information as presented and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations and a GMAT score of 640, our experience indicates you would be between a stretch and competitive candidate at LBS, competitive at Tepper and HEC Paris, and (although we have less data on these schools) likely competitive to strong at ISB and NUS Singapore.

Given your GMAT score and in particular the verbal split, the big issue in your application is going to be about whether you can convince the ad coms of your communication abilities (verbal and written).

Regarding your GRE score and whether to use that or the GMAT:

- I would not be concerned that the GRE score was from 2009 (three years ago) - in our experience this is not going to be an issue.
- Since the use of the GRE as a metric as an alternative to the GMAT is a relatively new phenomenon for business schools, Aringo does not have a strong opinion at this time to indicate whether a GRE or GMAT score should be submitted. This, of course, assumes both scores are in the same range. Just with the qual splits alone, with GRE slightly higher in percentile, it's not a clear decision...
- ...But, the fact that you scored a 3.0 on the AWA (on the GMAT), though, may create a moderate amount of concern for the ad com above what they might have already had from your GMAT verbal split. My prior comment about how it will be critical to convince the ad coms of your communication abilities is further exemplified by the AWA score. By submitting the GRE score you also avoid showing the 3.0 AWA. Typically, the AWA does not come into play if it is fairly high (5 to 6), but a 3 is a concern.

In our experience, no "one" factor "compensates" for a lower GMAT. Rather, we find applicants who are accepted into top programs with a lower GMAT score have been able to produce a complete, well-organized and compelling application that hits upon the remainder of the key items (academics, work experience, extracurricular activities, recommendations...). Other items like an academic paper(s) help, but you need to provide the proper context for them. And, they were already taken into account in your evaluation because they were listed previously.

As to whether you should apply this year or not, it ultimately comes down to how well you will be able to convince the ad coms of your communication abilities in the essays (and eventually interviews). With a 3.0 AWA, I would caution you to apply this year unless you are able to speak to trusted colleagues about your writing abilities in your essays and receive some feedback as to their relative quality.

Best of luck,

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edwin246: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 4; Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2011 11:21 pm

by edwin246 » Tue Aug 14, 2012 1:18 am

Dear Brian,

I am applying for INSEAD 2013 (R3).

Profile:
Singaporean currently working in HK
A HK based securities firm as Senior Manager
Lead my own team and work is project-based
Engages in variety of corporate finance transactions
Clear progression in career. Sg - Secondment to HK - Promotion
6 yrs working exp. 5 in HK, 1 yr in Singapore
Did 2.5 yrs military service
Obtain Officer-grade (highest rank for national service)
Graduate from Monash University Australia (65%-70% grades, have not failed any subjects)
Spent 5 years in Australia
GMAT. 660 1st try (Q73%,V74%). 650 2nd try (Q78%,V59%). Didn't do AWA for both.
CFA clear Level 1 only.

I have proved to be an achiever in my professional and military aspects.
Unfortunately, I cant do the same in academics.

I know the low GMAT is going to hinder my chances, I just wish to know how bad it will be.

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sunman: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 165; Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 5:05 am; Location: San Diego, CA; Thanked: 14 times; Followed by:9 members; GMAT Score:750

by sunman » Tue Aug 14, 2012 3:02 am

edwin246 wrote:Dear Brian,

I am applying for INSEAD 2013 (R3).

Profile:
Singaporean currently working in HK
A HK based securities firm as Senior Manager
Lead my own team and work is project-based
Engages in variety of corporate finance transactions
Clear progression in career. Sg - Secondment to HK - Promotion
6 yrs working exp. 5 in HK, 1 yr in Singapore
Did 2.5 yrs military service
Obtain Officer-grade (highest rank for national service)
Graduate from Monash University Australia (65%-70% grades, have not failed any subjects)
Spent 5 years in Australia
GMAT. 660 1st try (Q73%,V74%). 650 2nd try (Q78%,V59%). Didn't do AWA for both.
CFA clear Level 1 only.

I have proved to be an achiever in my professional and military aspects.
Unfortunately, I cant do the same in academics.

I know the low GMAT is going to hinder my chances, I just wish to know how bad it will be.

Retake the GMAT and take the AWA this time. Do you think that business schools will just overlook the fact that you chose to skip the AWA when everyone else had to take it as part of their analysis?

I find it difficult to believe that business schools will even take your GMAT scores without an AWA. It's not optional.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has" - Margaret Mead

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edwin246: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 4; Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2011 11:21 pm

by edwin246 » Tue Aug 14, 2012 3:23 am

Dear Brian,

Having done the GMAT twice, I definately acknowledge other people's efforts in attempting the AWA. My reason for not attempting the AWA is that I was told by one of the INSEAD representatives that they do not consider the AWA score. I was only interested in INSEAD and applied to INSEAD only.

I guess given that it's R3 and my GMAT score is low ( + without AWA), I should not keep my hopes high.

INSEAD does not encourage re-applications, but if I am somehow informed to take the GMAT again, I will definately do it again (with the AWA).

Quote

BrianW@Aringo: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 40; Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:49 am; Thanked: 5 times

by BrianW@Aringo » Sun Aug 19, 2012 3:07 pm

Dear Brian,

I am applying for INSEAD 2013 (R3).

Profile:
Singaporean currently working in HK
A HK based securities firm as Senior Manager
Lead my own team and work is project-based
Engages in variety of corporate finance transactions
Clear progression in career. Sg - Secondment to HK - Promotion
6 yrs working exp. 5 in HK, 1 yr in Singapore
Did 2.5 yrs military service
Obtain Officer-grade (highest rank for national service)
Graduate from Monash University Australia (65%-70% grades, have not failed any subjects)
Spent 5 years in Australia
GMAT. 660 1st try (Q73%,V74%). 650 2nd try (Q78%,V59%). Didn't do AWA for both.
CFA clear Level 1 only.

I have proved to be an achiever in my professional and military aspects.
Unfortunately, I cant do the same in academics.

I know the low GMAT is going to hinder my chances, I just wish to know how bad it will be.

edwin246,

Thank you for your profile submission. On the basis of the information as presented and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations and a GMAT score of 660, our experience indicates you would be a stretch candidate at INSEAD, between stretch and competitive (closer to stretch) at Tepper and IESE, and between stretch and competitive (closer to competitive) at HEC Paris and IE.

To echo sunman's remarks (the first response to your profile), I was somewhat surprised you did not take the AWA. I would caution you somewhat about the message you say you received from INSEAD about this. If you have an email communication from them (and thus something that could be included in the application as documentation), that is one thing - but that would surprise me. More likely is perhaps you had an informal conversation with an admissions officer, who told you that the school does not really look (much) at the AWA relative to the verbal and quant split. Truthfully most schools do look at the AWA but only in cases where there is a very low score. Given your low GMAT score and undergraduate GPA, the decision to apply to only one MBA program in INSEAD (which is quite competitive) seems somewhat risky.

In terms of your profile, the challenge is that it appears you have a below average GMAT (for top MBA programs) and a below average GPA. If your class rank / percentile was high, this is definitely something you want to articulate in your resume and application. If this is not the case, you will need to hit 'above the bar' in many other categories. You mention that you have strong work performance, but I do not see mention of any extracurricular activities. While military experience and the leadership skills that are associated with this are helpful, you would want to make sure that you can highlight some influential and significant extracurricular accomplishments. If there was some legitimate reason for lower grades, you can mention this, but you also should consider including quantifiable details that speak to your intellectual capabilities.

Finally, as you likely know, most applicants are strongly encouraged to apply in the first two rounds, as R3 entry is typically much more difficult. This is even more true if you have GMAT and/or GPA challenges.

Instead of applying in R3, I would encourage you to consider taking a class or two (an excelling in them), potentially re-taking the GMAT to obtain an AWA score (and potentially a higher GMAT overall).

Best of luck,

Quote

Kobe_Kassidy: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 15; Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2012 8:06 am; Thanked: 1 times

by Kobe_Kassidy » Wed Aug 22, 2012 9:42 am

Hello Brian!

This is a great thread. Your insights have been great. I was hoping I could have you look at my situation and give your feedback.

I am 28 years old. When I started out school as a freshman (age 18, obviously), I was pursuing a degree in Athletic Training. I had gotten to the point where I was 2 semesters away from my degree, but during the summer, I was in a bad car accident that left me with a large financial obligation. I left school to work full-time. The fact that I was so close to my degree allowed me to acquire management positions at both jobs over the next three years. When I had worked my debt to a more manageable level, I started a new job as a night manager/auditor for a small hotel working the graveyard shift full-time so that I could attend school in the day full-time.

I finished with my degree in Accounting in April of 2011, with a 4.0 Major GPA and 3.91 cumulative (Summa Cum Laude) from an accredited business program in Utah. I was a member and Vice-President of Recruiting for our university's Beta Alpha Psi chapter. Member of Phi Kappa Phi and all that. Right after graduation, I began working as a Staff Accountant for a large local medical company, where I still work today.

I just took the GMAT and received a 710 (Q-50/V-36)

My dream school is UPenn. Wharton is my absolute number one. Booth is my second choice, and NYU is third.

One of my professors is a Wharton alum, and he is going to be providing one of my letters of recommendation.

What do you think about my chances?

I appreciate any insight you can offer.

-KK

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foodiewino: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 2; Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2012 5:38 am

by foodiewino » Wed Aug 22, 2012 2:49 pm

White Male
28 at enrollment
5 years trading at a well known equity prop trading desk for a family office -- was rookie of the year, extensively helped out with recruiting efforts and training new traders not even on my desk, worked with IT developers on building out our software
Been doing 'ground work' (recently left trading job for this) in NYC for a Sao Paulo based startup focused on wine and gourmet food e-commerce in the Brazilian Market and heading down to Sao Paulo in a month for the next year. Previously worked for a state-run Department of Economic Development for a year (full time internship)
GMAT - 700, 48Q 38V 6AWA
GPA -- 3.34 school of business undergrad, 2.71 overall at solid northeast state school (Penn State, Rutgers, UConn, etc), took 10 classes for Portfolio Management and Risk Management at NYU as an alternative transcript and earned a 3.76 on those courses. Worked fulltime while in school on various jobs and internships to provide for myself as I was on my own since I was 17 -- chaotic/bad home life wasnt ideal environment so I had stressors from that and worked full time and couldnt devote as much time to studies. Other life intricacies involve parents having me while in high school (16 and 17) and dropping out of high school to have me (so I was not only first generation college but also high school graduate), mother being in rehab for alcoholism and anorexia until she died when I was 11 and then obviously leaving home at 17 to provide for myself and push myself through life and become successful. Family didnt have much money at all and I lived in housing projkects shortly while growing up.
Extracurriculars -- Extremely involved and motivated in mentorship activities and helping others who come from similar 'atypical' backgrounds and pushing them to be successful. Cofounded/relaunched a mentorship program at my alma mater's business school as well as aiding the college of liberal arts and sciences in similar matters, lots of one on one mentoring through various channels. Joined 'start up' non profit recently started by friends back home six months ago focused on inner city high school mentoring by other young business professionals and area business leaders -- looking to expand this aggressively. Treasurer of a tenant's association in Harlem which took a negligent landlord to court for 150 or so tenants (mainly Hispanic population) in 3 buildings who were being forced to live in poor conditions to force them out of their rent stabilized apartments in order to get market rate tenants in (illegal! )) -- we were successful and won 2 months rent and repairs and appliance replacement for all people.

Undergrad I was heavily involved in leadership positions in the International Relations Association and Harvard Model UN within that group, a peer health educator, student government as vice president of a regional campus and also helped redesign some curriculum in the school of business (created an MBA course on Hedge Funds alongside faculty after I petitioned for more investment finance) and aimed for the creation of a CFA Institute Partnership as I was graduating.

Schools -- Booth, Kellogg, Consortium Application: Tuck, Yale, NYU, Haas, Anderson

Applying round 2 so I can talk more about my 'on the ground' experiences in Brazil (although Round 1 for consortium) a bit more. Goal is most likely strategy consulting and focus on economic development (international relations association, dept of economic development, 'macro' of trading and financial markets being obviously globally intertwined, international experience in sao paulo) and another big 'string' of mine is education/mentorship (personal background and heavy involvement in ECs). Friends made it aware to me that I was very applicable to the Consortium's mission due to mentorship involving URMs and tenants association work as well as my underpriveleged background yet rising above it all.

Is it beneficial for me to apply via Consortium? Any certain stories I should work hard on crafting? Will my venture into entrepreneurship and international work experience help distinguish me?

Quote

BrianW@Aringo: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 40; Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:49 am; Thanked: 5 times

by BrianW@Aringo » Sun Aug 26, 2012 5:45 pm

Hello Brian!

This is a great thread. Your insights have been great. I was hoping I could have you look at my situation and give your feedback.

I am 28 years old. When I started out school as a freshman (age 18, obviously), I was pursuing a degree in Athletic Training. I had gotten to the point where I was 2 semesters away from my degree, but during the summer, I was in a bad car accident that left me with a large financial obligation. I left school to work full-time. The fact that I was so close to my degree allowed me to acquire management positions at both jobs over the next three years. When I had worked my debt to a more manageable level, I started a new job as a night manager/auditor for a small hotel working the graveyard shift full-time so that I could attend school in the day full-time.

I finished with my degree in Accounting in April of 2011, with a 4.0 Major GPA and 3.91 cumulative (Summa Cum Laude) from an accredited business program in Utah. I was a member and Vice-President of Recruiting for our university's Beta Alpha Psi chapter. Member of Phi Kappa Phi and all that. Right after graduation, I began working as a Staff Accountant for a large local medical company, where I still work today.

I just took the GMAT and received a 710 (Q-50/V-36)

My dream school is UPenn. Wharton is my absolute number one. Booth is my second choice, and NYU is third.

One of my professors is a Wharton alum, and he is going to be providing one of my letters of recommendation.

What do you think about my chances?

I appreciate any insight you can offer.

-KK

Kobe,

Thank you for your profile submission. On the basis of the information as presented and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations and a GMAT score of 710, our experience indicates you would be a stretch candidate at Wharton, between stretch and competitive (closer to stretch) at Booth, and between stretch and competitive at Stern.

First, let me say you appear to be an extremely resilient and hard working person - this will benefit you in your applications. The two primary headwinds that you face, as far as I can tell, are that:
1) You graduated from a less well-known university that would not be ranked high on selectivity
2) You do not appear to have worked for a brand-name organization which is known to have rigorous recruiting standards
Most MBA applicants have at least one of these attributes, and many have both. As such, it is going to be imperative for you to quantify your accomplishments at work and to have a strong recommendation from at least one manager in your current role. A recommendation from a Wharton alum is great, so long as that person knows you well, can speak to your strengths, and has supervised your work in the past. We generally recommend to applicants that they only look for recommenders that have managed the applicant in a professional work setting, vs. an academic setting. In your case, I could see the Wharton alum being a possibility, but it would be better if your relationship with the alum at least in part crossed over into a work setting; for example, if you completed a project in a course based on something you did in your job.

If you received job offers from more well-known companies, or if you were accepted into more well-known universities (but chose not to attend), definitely mention these by name in the essays and elaborate on the decision(s) you made to not take these paths.

Because of these items I mention, you might consider applying to programs in the US that are ranked in the 15-25 range. With your GPA and your GMAT at the levels they are, I would not dissuade or discourage you from applying to top 10 programs - it's just that in our experience, candidates with profiles similar to you want to look at a mix of programs from a rankings perspective.

Best of luck,

Quote

BrianW@Aringo: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 40; Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:49 am; Thanked: 5 times

by BrianW@Aringo » Sun Aug 26, 2012 6:32 pm

White Male
28 at enrollment
5 years trading at a well known equity prop trading desk for a family office -- was rookie of the year, extensively helped out with recruiting efforts and training new traders not even on my desk, worked with IT developers on building out our software
Been doing 'ground work' (recently left trading job for this) in NYC for a Sao Paulo based startup focused on wine and gourmet food e-commerce in the Brazilian Market and heading down to Sao Paulo in a month for the next year. Previously worked for a state-run Department of Economic Development for a year (full time internship)
GMAT - 700, 48Q 38V 6AWA
GPA -- 3.34 school of business undergrad, 2.71 overall at solid northeast state school (Penn State, Rutgers, UConn, etc), took 10 classes for Portfolio Management and Risk Management at NYU as an alternative transcript and earned a 3.76 on those courses. Worked fulltime while in school on various jobs and internships to provide for myself as I was on my own since I was 17 -- chaotic/bad home life wasnt ideal environment so I had stressors from that and worked full time and couldnt devote as much time to studies. Other life intricacies involve parents having me while in high school (16 and 17) and dropping out of high school to have me (so I was not only first generation college but also high school graduate), mother being in rehab for alcoholism and anorexia until she died when I was 11 and then obviously leaving home at 17 to provide for myself and push myself through life and become successful. Family didnt have much money at all and I lived in housing projkects shortly while growing up.
Extracurriculars -- Extremely involved and motivated in mentorship activities and helping others who come from similar 'atypical' backgrounds and pushing them to be successful. Cofounded/relaunched a mentorship program at my alma mater's business school as well as aiding the college of liberal arts and sciences in similar matters, lots of one on one mentoring through various channels. Joined 'start up' non profit recently started by friends back home six months ago focused on inner city high school mentoring by other young business professionals and area business leaders -- looking to expand this aggressively. Treasurer of a tenant's association in Harlem which took a negligent landlord to court for 150 or so tenants (mainly Hispanic population) in 3 buildings who were being forced to live in poor conditions to force them out of their rent stabilized apartments in order to get market rate tenants in (illegal! )) -- we were successful and won 2 months rent and repairs and appliance replacement for all people.

Undergrad I was heavily involved in leadership positions in the International Relations Association and Harvard Model UN within that group, a peer health educator, student government as vice president of a regional campus and also helped redesign some curriculum in the school of business (created an MBA course on Hedge Funds alongside faculty after I petitioned for more investment finance) and aimed for the creation of a CFA Institute Partnership as I was graduating.

Schools -- Booth, Kellogg, Consortium Application: Tuck, Yale, NYU, Haas, Anderson

Applying round 2 so I can talk more about my 'on the ground' experiences in Brazil (although Round 1 for consortium) a bit more. Goal is most likely strategy consulting and focus on economic development (international relations association, dept of economic development, 'macro' of trading and financial markets being obviously globally intertwined, international experience in sao paulo) and another big 'string' of mine is education/mentorship (personal background and heavy involvement in ECs). Friends made it aware to me that I was very applicable to the Consortium's mission due to mentorship involving URMs and tenants association work as well as my underpriveleged background yet rising above it all.

Is it beneficial for me to apply via Consortium? Any certain stories I should work hard on crafting? Will my venture into entrepreneurship and international work experience help distinguish me?

foodiewino,

Thank you for your profile submission. On the basis of the information as presented and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations and a GMAT score of 700, our experience indicates you would be a stretch candidate at Booth and Kellogg, between stretch and competitive (closer to stretch) at Tuck and Haas, between stretch and competitive at Yale and Stern, and competitive at Anderson.

The major challenge in your profile is your undergraduate GPA - if you had a 2.7 overall and a 3.3 in your major, it sounds as if your freshman year GPA was particularly low. It also sounds like you can explain that your background, plus the fact that you were working significantly, impacted your initial GPA. It's great that you took as many classes as you did through NYU, and achieved a high GPA there. The fact that you had a higher GPA at a tough school in NYU and faced some unique personal challenges will partially, but not entirely, make up for the 3.3 overall GPA and low freshman year GPA.

In terms of how to present yourself and what stories to think about, I would just say that you'll want to be succint in your essays - especially because most schools have started to significntly reduce the word counts in their allocations this year. Definitely talk about your family background and some of the challenges, but keep it short and focus more on how you responded to these issues rather than the issues themselves.

The Brazil start-up and how to handle it is an interesting topic. It can help your application, yes, but in our experience these types of roles and how they impact your chances are entirely about how you frame them in the application. We have seen them help and hurt, depending on the framing. I think it makes sense to delay applying in Round 2 to build up some experience here to be able to speak to more in depth. The biggest question I have here is why did you take this position, and what skills and experiences do you bring to the table for the role? Based on your screen name, perhaps this is an industry that you are passionate about (which is great). You will need to elaborate some on why you took the position after five years with your prior organization.

A couple items on your prior organization: 1) You got rookie of the year (which is great, congrats for this) - give context here out of how many this would have been chosen. 2) Articulate whether you were promoted in the organization, or at least document the increasing responsibilities that you took on over the course of your career there. 3) This organization's past history in sending applicants to top MBA programs will be important. 4) Make sure at least one of your recommenders is from this firm.

As for whether applying through the Consortium will help or make sense, I'm not sure to be honest. In our experience with Consortium applicants, they have had minority backgrounds.

Best of luck,

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ronaldo7: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 21; Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 7:14 am

by ronaldo7 » Sun Sep 02, 2012 10:17 pm

Hello Brian,

Very helpful thread! quick question if I may -
If someone is admitted in round 1, how much time does he have to accept the school's offer? can he wait until round 2 results arrive and only then decide?

Quote

BrianW@Aringo: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 40; Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:49 am; Thanked: 5 times

by BrianW@Aringo » Sun Sep 09, 2012 12:41 pm

Hello Brian,

Very helpful thread! quick question if I may -
If someone is admitted in round 1, how much time does he have to accept the school's offer? can he wait until round 2 results arrive and only then decide?

ronaldo7,

Thank you for the question.

Keep in mind that a big reason schools are able to make decisions on candidates in Round 2 is that they (mostly) know how many spots are left from Round 1. Overall, schools work to their own timelines and deadlines, not to those of the applicant pool.

In general, you would receive admission to schools in Round 1 by mid to late December - of course this depends on the program. All programs tell you the time window in which Round 1 applicants will receive their results on their websites and in the application materials. Round 2 results usually come out by in the latter part of the first quarter of the following year, depending on the program.

Additionally, most programs ask you to put in a deposit to confirm your place soon after their admitted student weekend event, which for larger programs occur at both the post-Round 1 and post-Round 2 status points. The best way to find out about your question is to research when the deposit for your Round 1 schools would be due - sometimes this information is posted on their websites on the 'Timeline' page, and in other cases you can search back into prior application discussions in past years to see when admitted students needed to make their decisions & deposits. In our experience with applicants, they have sometimes been able to get small windows of time extentions (e.g. 1 week) past when the school requires a deposit, but a broad-based extension is typically less achievable.

The general exception to the above logic is the situation in which an applicant is waitlisted in Round 1. When this occurs, the waitlisted candidates are somewhat put into the Round 2 "pool" for comparison purposes, and often hear back on the results of their waitlist campaign around the time when other students who applied to that program in Round 2 find out about their results. Because of this (and assuming one got in off a waitlist), you could compare your results from the successful Round 1 waitlist campaign vs. that of Round 2 acceptance(s).

Best of luck,