The Application Process

Hey, just a quick success story and what I personally found helpful:

Profile
I'm 26, German and studied/worked mostly in Germany. After my Business Administration Bachelor I started in transaction consulting at the consulting division of a Big 4 firm. Changed to restructuring consulting at a smaller firm last summer.
I scored a 650 and 117 in the Toelf and was valedictorian with a GPA of approx. 3.7.

Schools
I quickly found out that the typical one-year MBA in Europe suits me well and had to decide which schools to go to. INSEAD, the obvious choice, was taken of my list after I got the GMAT result. LBS and IESE are two year programmes, IMD is too small/to industry focused, so that left IE, ESADE, Oxford and Cambridge.
I actually didn't apply to IE, because I was invited to interviews by the others early, meaning I couldn't be bothered writing more essays

Impressions
I visited Oxford and Cambridge and was in close contact to an admissions officer at ESADE. I felt that Cambridge and ESADE are very professional managing the process and at the same time friendly and helpful. Additionally, both a focus on entrepreneurship, something I am quite interested in.
I later decided on a UK university, since I would rather work there after the MBA than in Spain. I decided on Cambridge, because of the feel of the school, the focus on entrepreneurship, and the proximity to the Silicon Fen

Tips
1) Visit schools, talk to current/former students and gain as much info as possible to make an informed decision. On this level, school are pretty similar when it comes to the hard facts, so you have to base your decision on other, soft facts.
2) Application: I know this is a GMAT forum and people get obsessed with this test however: don't waste time on it. I believe a well targeted application including great essays and well written recommendation can really make a difference. read "how to get into the top mba programmes" for more info

I want to know about the scholarship policy in USA. I am Asian and want to study in USA. I have done my Graduation in Applied Management with CGPA 3.23. Now I am preparing GMAT so that I can get scholarship for Master to PHD program in the field of finance, banking or financial economics.
I got my graduation degree in December 2010 and since then I am preparing GMAT. But I am very confused that how to distinguish myself from others students, because I have no solid research work or any good work experience.
Yes, I wrote a thesis which is in my graduation course and six months internship from Pepsi Cola, and nothing else.
I am very confused when I got to know that to get a scholarship, only GMAT is not enough. Than what more a graduate should do to get a scholarship for M-fill to Phd Program.
Kindly help me and guide me what to do.
Looking forward to your response,
Thanks

This thread is a treasure for all future MBA aspirants like myself. Thankyou all for sharing your experiences and special thanks to Eric for making this possible

I want to share my story in order to try to motivate all those trying to get into Business School, but are frustrated with their poor GMAT attempts. I have always sucked at CAT Exams, so I knew the GMAT was going to be a disaster. I had no idea the mess I was getting myself into though. For a summary of myself, I am from Costa Rica, I am 30 years old, I am an Entrepreneur and I graduated from the University of Texas with a 3.2 GPA. I consider myself very smart, but somehow I just could not get past the 500 mark on the GMAT. I took the GMAT 3 times! In my first attempt, I got a 450 after taking a GMAT Prep course. Waste of money! In my second attempt I got a 470 after 45 days of studying (or so I thought!) and I was an emotional wreck. At that point, I figured that I was never going to be admitted to Graduate School for an MBA because I was a dumb ass and I was so depressed that I literally could not speak and had to stay in bed for a whole day. I felt that the World had ended for me and my life long dream of an MBA. After my friends, family members and my wife kindly and successfully cheered me up, I decided that I was not going to allow a stupid exam to determine my future and stand in the way of my dreams. So I went into "Rocky Balboa" mode and I designed a solid study plan and test taking strategy with the aid of this website and the Manhattan GMAT books. I worked my butt off and studied really hard. But most importantly, I was positive and confident. In the end, I got a 640 on my GMAT! I know, it is not a 700+ score or whatever, but for me it felt like it and it is all I needed.

When I applied to business schools, I got admitted to all three schools I applied to in Germany (Mannheim Business School, Goethe Business School and Frankfurt School of Finance and Management) and I got a full scholarship and I can now speak 3 languages (English, Spanish and German!). During the application process and interview process, I learned that the GMAT is just a tiny portion of your admission and as a matter of fact, it is not looked on as heavily as we might think. They look more at your work experience, your business skills, personal references, your motivational essays, case studies, your personality, your extracurricular activities (sports, hobbies, charity projects, etc.) and your motivation, ambition and desire. By this, I don't mean that you can get into a Business School with a 400, but rather that you guys shouldn't get all obsessed with the GMAT and let it stand in the way of your dreams.

In my opinion, everyone can get a decent score on the GMAT but you need to focus on the basics, be prepared to study hard and most important, believe in yourself. If at the end you are 10 - 20 points behind your target score, don't freak out and waste more time with the GMAT and get to work with the remaining of your admissions process.

Good luck and remember, don't let anything EVER stand in the way of your dreams!

Here's a fantastic motivational quote by Thomas Edison after he was questioned for failing 10,000 times to invent the light bulb:

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Thomas Edison

Its so nice to see that even with medium scores 500 -600 , one can get into top b schools.

Admit to Chicago Booth and Kellogg, Part-Time. Background: MS/Ph.D. Engineering. 5+ Years experience in computer software development.

Experience through admissions process. I took the GMAT twice, the first time I barely slept, scoring a "great" 600. The second time, I scored a 690, but I must say that I lost my concentration for the last 30 minutes. In a nutshell, study for the GMAT, but do not go overboard with it. I believe that other parts of the application process are equally important. The application should scream who you are, what you want from an MBA and how it can help you achieve your career goals. Writing generic essays (generic = copy & paste school statements from their website, or writing something like "to enhance my managerial skills"), or essays stating "pick me, I am the best" will probably not help. Writing personal stories that answer the essay questions are in my opinion, a great way to get your point across. I did spend a lot of time on my essays, and I was very concise and to the point. I do hope this helps.

In some schools such as ISB, you can apply with your highest score from all the times you have given the GMAT, however, for some others, its the latest score. It depends from school to school.

Hi guys,

Just got accepted into George Washington University here. I am what they call an early leader with my stats as following:

21 yrs old/Male
GMAT: 680
GPA: 3.68
Work Experience: less than 2 years

So for those who do not have much work experience, please don't give up. Everything is possible! Just work hard on your essays as well as your GMAT. Also, be confident in your interview. Those are the things that count in the end!

Good luck!

MichelleS wrote:I got into Durham Business School in the UK.

Not many Americans have heard of Durham, but it's on the Financial Times 100 Best Business Schools, along with being a world top 100 university. I'm extremely happy to have gotten in. I also got a small scholarship - which to me means a lot because I'm American and I hear about all of the tuition problems the UK is having.

W/E: straight from high school to full-time computer programmer. Eventually, I was developing/analyzing programs for Department of Defense in Arlington. IT crash, and, after 10 years of programming, I was laid off.

Got job through temp agency at accounting firm, with typical admin stuff. Started University of VA at night. Moved up to Staff Accountant, and earned exactly 3.50 gpa from UVA. Took the GMAT 3 times: 540, 510, and 550. Very disappointing, especially the third time, after I had logged MANY hours of study, and was scoring 630 on MGMAT.

Had an interview at Columbia and Babson (yes, even with those GMAT scores), and a phone interview at Durham.

What really clinched the Durham acceptance (I think) was that I did a one-month consulting session with the CFA Institute for my accounting job. I know programming, and I had been accounting for 2 years when I was called in to help with a small problem. Durham has some sort of connection with CFA, and that was a focus question during my interview.

Some advice I would give myself if I were to go through this again:

Write the essays, leave them for a few days and then come back to them. Do this a few times. Don't just write something quickly to get them done. Really take your time; and be yourself! I talked about backpacking through Europe, not the typical "I want to run GE and blahblahblah..."

Pay for a professional to help with the resume, or spend a lot of time streamlining and listing your best accomplishments. My resume took me days to do. But it looks amazing! The time was worth it.

Really do your research. I had several excel charts diagramming the top schools, tuitions, gmat scores, etc. I also prefer learning through research, not groups. Durham is a research-led university, which fits me perfectly. Don't just pick a school because of its name (though I am guilty of trying for that myself). Just make sure that the total package suits you, and that you're doing it for yourself and not for the elite image.

That's all.

Hai michelles,
Good to know that you have got into Durham. Yes i have heard of Durham's popularity especially finance and acocunting sections.
In your message you mention that you have a wide range of spead sheets of data regarding colleges and fee structures. Can you share it to me if you still have em and if you dont mind. Would be of good help...
Thanks a lot,
Greetings and regards,
Hari

Hi Everyone,

I would like to share my success story. But first, I should say that you shouldn't let those people with perfect GMAT scores get to you. I know someone who had an 800 and didn't get into the school of his/her choice. Be positive about the process (I know, it's hard), and look for the things that are good about you and try to bring them out in your essays.

So here's my profile: I'm a 28 year old female engineer with over 6 years of engineering experience. No masters' degree, just BSc in Electrical Engineering with a GPA of 3.2. No professional leadership, but a lot of community service leadership experience. I had a 640 on the GMAT after taking it 3 times. I was very discouraged because of my GMAT scores, and I almost didn't apply.

I got into the Chicago Booth program, and I used the Admissionado team to help with my essays (not with the whole admissions process - just the essays); let me say that my consultant was very very thorough and very supportive. Integrity is the word that comes to mind when I try to describe her.
Since I am an engineer, I did a rigorous (excel spreadsheet) analysis to determine what schools to apply to. I was looking for a school that made me stretch socially, but also appealed to my core 'geeky' being. Also, I looked for a school that would get me to the career heights that I desired, and I'm pretty sure Booth will be the springboard for that. (Can you tell, I love the school already?:)

Anyway, if you're planning on applying to Business School, I wish you the very best of luck. It's an intense process, but it pays off at the end. And I recommend that you visit the schools before applying, it will give you a sense of the schools community, and how you will potentially fit.

I posted this earlier; however, I drunkenly hit new post. Hey, I just wrapped up Mod I midterms - cut me some slack. This is the right thread.

You can get into a top 20 full-time program with a low GMAT and GPA. What's low? Glad you asked. I scored 590 on the GMAT, and my GPA was 2.5. Yes, you read that right. Before some of you jump to conclusions, let me pre-emptively strike: I am NOT an underrepresented minority!

There are a lot helpful post on gmat sites; however, there are a lot of ignorant, braggadocios, disingenuous posts, as well. You all know what I mean, whether you admit it or not. My advice is steer clear of GMAT obsessed people - the ones who treat the GMAT as a zero-sum game. People forget that the application process is truly holistic - that's no bs. There is more to you than a GMAT score! You are an f'ing human being and not a number! Don't forget that.

I will admit, if you're trying to get into the top 5ish, you're definitely better off with a high score. However, if you don't get a 700+ after several attempts, you need to move on! Focus on your essays, resume, and networking. I cannot stress enough the importance of working hard on all three of those components. Why is that? Well, first, you need to stop thinking of the application process as being automated, where Hal from 2001 Space Odyssey reviews all the applications. Admission is a human process. So, what do you need to do?

First off, you need to get your resume wired tight. Second you need to brand yourself and have a compelling story. Last, you need to sell yourself.

So, how do you sell yourself? Well,you need write great essays that dig deep into why you want to attend b-school. Next,you need to network. I will repeat that one more time. YOU NEED TO NETWORK! You absolutely need to attend admissions events in your area and/or visit campus. Go to as many events as possible! Who do you think goes to admissions event? Adcoms! Get some face time, tell your story, and leave an lasting impression. When your application comes up, they will remember you. Same thing goes for meeting current students and alumni; they can easily put in a good word for you.

Okay, my wife is nagging me to go somewhere, so I have to cut this short. I do want to tell you guys that I have nearly a decade of awesome work experience - military officer and DoD government employee. Obviously, that helped a tremendous amount. So, if you don't have the work experience, get it! When you wake up every morning you should hear Rick Ross in your head saying, "every day I'm hustlin'!" Also, to make up for my poor grades, I took stats, econ, and accounting at a local university. It was costly and time consuming, but it definitely help. Bottom line - there are actions that you can take to mitigate the damaging effects of poor grades and a crappy GMAT.

Peace! Hit me up if you have questions. I'm more than happy to help!

To get admission in the best engineering, management or law colleges, the aspiring candidates are required to appear in screening examinations by the individual institutes or common entrance test. Before taking admission to any college or university, visit their website to know about their infrastructural facilities, faculty members, courses offered and also recognition and awards conferred to them.

bnutz79 wrote:I posted this earlier; however, I drunkenly hit new post. Hey, I just wrapped up Mod I midterms - cut me some slack. This is the right thread.

You can get into a top 20 full-time program with a low GMAT and GPA. What's low? Glad you asked. I scored 590 on the GMAT, and my GPA was 2.5. Yes, you read that right. Before some of you jump to conclusions, let me pre-emptively strike: I am NOT an underrepresented minority!

tons more awesomeness...

This is an old post - but it's SO SO good and so on point!

I've been telling my clients this for years - and have personally witnessed over 170 students land in top 20 programs with, shall we say, less than "perfect" GMAT scores.

Kudos to you and thanks for keeping it honest!!