Wow. I'm really surprised to hear that you got dinged at those four programs given your international background, international work experience, outstanding GMAT, etc.

As you pointed out, extracurriculars might have been a factor (but it seems unlikely that they would have enough here) but my guess is that you either had a weird recommendation (i.e., somebody damned you with faint praise, etc.) or, more likely, there were some problems in your essays and CV.

The challenge with the essays (and I can say this b/c I see it with my clients all the time) is that everything has to be telling the same story. We all have anecdotes, successes, etc., that we want to tell --but they don't always fit into a business school application or answer the question being asked. That might have happened to you with the result that you wrote essays that just didn't ring true or that were internally inconsistent.

My suggestions:

- Beef up extra-curriculars
- Get a professional to read your essays next go-round
- Apply to five or six schools, two of which should be safety schools even if you can't imagine going to one of them (a full ride to a school that is still in the top 20 can change your mind very quickly).

Let me know how your thinking progresses--

Paxton