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Failure to reach objective, Re-application story

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Failure to reach objective, Re-application story

by miproyecto » Wed May 26, 2010 12:56 pm
Hi,

I applied to IMD 2 years ago and I got dinged. I had a poor GMAT, bad essays, and wrong picks for my recommendation letters. I had basically everything necessary to NOT be even considered an odd chance. I was unprepared and self confident due to my career development I had had so far, and I thought that would do to get me in the program.

Now, Is it, on your opinion, appropriate to write a "failure to reach a goal or objective" based on that experience and what I learnt and changed from it? I am thinking of choosing that story since in the background it portrays two of my main weaknesses: procrastination and overconfidence. I have risen my GMAT by 230 points and I have worked hard in every weak spot I believe I had on my first try. Now I am divided as to whether I should build a story around that experience, or if I should simply stick a more work related goal misadventure?

Could I have your thoughts on this please?

Thanks,
Ed
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by Betsy Massar » Tue Jun 01, 2010 9:16 pm
Hi,
My guess is that the application also has a chance for you to talk about why you are re-applying, and can cover some of that ground there. My guess also is that if you had those problems before (overconfidence and procrastination), then they probably showed up elsewhere, most likely on a different misadventure. You want the application to cover as much ground as it can (in a deep and meaningful way, of course), and by writing an essay about the application process, well... it's a little like writing a book about writing a book --- I'm just not sure that it shows your many talents at their finest.

Very best regards,

Betsy Massar
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by essaysnark » Tue Jun 15, 2010 9:31 am
As Betsy said, EssaySnark also advises against using a failure-to-gain-acceptance-to-bschool story for a "failure" essay in a reapplication.

You'd be surprised how often reapplicants do this. It's not very interesting for the adcom. What more can you say than, "I wasn't prepared, I didn't make it in, I did some research [and retested the GMAT or something] and now I know better"? Perhaps you went through a process of introspection, and perhaps you've matured in the intervening time. However, EssaySnark feels that using a PROFESSIONAL FAILURE is a much richer story to tell, and likely to be much more interesting for the IMD adcom. Introspection and maturity -- and a slew of other things -- can also be demonstrated in that context, and it's a more relevant approach that potentially offers more insights for the adcom into the applicant's profile.

Did IMD provide any guidance or specific instructions for you to reapply? They sometimes do this when they feel the candidate has potential. Even if they didn't, you say it's been two years since your original app -- after that much time, most schools would not consider you a reapplicant and would want a full application. Even though IMD has somewhat different guidelines and may still consider you a reapplicant regardless of how much time has passed since the first app, you probably know that they require all reapplicants, within any timeframe, to submit all new essays. So Betsy's comment about being able to discuss the improvements to your profile in a reapplicant essay may not quite apply here. You're going to be doing everything anew. Why not take advantage of that "clean slate"?

EssaySnark feels that talking about the original application might actually call undue attention to that bomb, and why do that? Instead, you can submit everything "fresh" -- fresh GMAT, great new work experiences, flawless essays and recommendations -- and let the adcom evaluate the "new you". No need to remind them of the trainwreck that came before.

EssaySnark recommends finding career-relevant stories to present wherever possible. Don't reference that past application fiasco unless you have to, and then only talk about it in the positive, in terms of the great improvements made.

Good luck with it!
EssaySnark

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