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by paulsbodine » Mon Feb 21, 2011 2:42 pm
forsaken11,

Your leadership seems very strong and your oil&gas industry focus and Pakistan + Oman experience helps set you apart from other South Asian applicants. I'm not sure that I see enough accomplishment (at least in what you gave me) to consider HBS or Stanford realistic, but I do think you could be competitive at other top 10 U.S. schools. It's hard to say without knowing more. Similarly, you will have a shot at top European schools, though INSEAD and LBS may be reaches. In terms of what you could do to help yourself, if there is an opportunity to start some kind of leadership role outside of work, you may still have time to establish some real impact before the fall. You could begin reaching out to students and alums at your target schools, approaching recommenders, and doing the prep work needed to get a 720 or higher on your GMAT.

Hope this helps,
Paul Bodine
Author, "Great Applications for Business School," "Perfect Phrases for Business School Acceptance," "Perfect Phrases for Letters of Recommendation"
https://www.paulsbodine.com/
[email protected]
(858) 869-1959
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by forsaken11 » Mon Feb 21, 2011 3:07 pm
paulsbodine wrote:forsaken11,

Your leadership seems very strong and your oil&gas industry focus and Pakistan + Oman experience helps set you apart from other South Asian applicants. I'm not sure that I see enough accomplishment (at least in what you gave me) to consider HBS or Stanford realistic, but I do think you could be competitive at other top 10 U.S. schools. It's hard to say without knowing more. Similarly, you will have a shot at top European schools, though INSEAD and LBS may be reaches. In terms of what you could do to help yourself, if there is an opportunity to start some kind of leadership role outside of work, you may still have time to establish some real impact before the fall. You could begin reaching out to students and alums at your target schools, approaching recommenders, and doing the prep work needed to get a 720 or higher on your GMAT.

Hope this helps,
Hi Paul,

Thanks for your reply. [Off Topic] A strange coincidence that I was just reading your book " Great Applications for Business Schools". Although I have just started it, I must say that I have been impressed with what I have read so far and I believe it will add value to my applications.

Coming back to my original query, I was wondering about the following:

a) You said that you do not see enough accomplishment for HBS and Stanford, can you pls give examples of "accomplishments" that will add value? I am confused as to what is relevant and what isn't and I don't want to bombard you with information

b) Reassuring to know that I will be competitive at Top 10 US Schools, could you pls give some school names where I would have a good chance? Also, how about my chances at Cambridge and Oxford?

c) I have been thinking about doing something outside work to strengthen my profile but, unfortunately, I am short of ideas. Could you pls give some examples of tasks that other successful B school applicants did outside of their work? Looking for some inspiration and ideas here.

Once again thanks a lot for your reply.
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by paulsbodine » Tue Feb 22, 2011 3:21 pm
forsaken11,

Thanks for buying my book. To answer your questions:

a) Great vs. good accomplishments are about scale (extent of organizational impact, number of people led, etc.), unusualness (leading a squad of Marines through a firefight is more unusual than leading a team of developers through a software release), multiplicity (often a great accomplishment is great in multiple ways, not just one or two), and reflection (what it meant to you, your ability to be thoughtful about that). See the accomplishment essays in my book for specific examples that worked at HBS, Stanford, etc.

b) Hard to mention schools without knowing your goals and your profile better, but perhaps Michigan, Duke, UCLA, etc. I think you could definitely be competitive at Judge and Said, yes.

c) You need to try to find some extracurricular involvements that reflect your own passions and interests. Focusing so much on what other applicants do is not the way to get into top schools. If you really have no interests or personal causes then you may not be the well-rounded applicant that top B-schools look for. My book is chock full of examples of extracurricular ideas, but I do encourage to try and be your own man in this regard.

Good luck,
Paul Bodine
Author, "Great Applications for Business School," "Perfect Phrases for Business School Acceptance," "Perfect Phrases for Letters of Recommendation"
https://www.paulsbodine.com/
[email protected]
(858) 869-1959
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by forsaken11 » Tue Feb 22, 2011 4:33 pm
Thanks a lot Paul. That definitely helps!
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