The Application Process

Poonam, founder and president of myEssayReview, is publishing interviews of her most successful students of 2015-16 application season. This is the latest in the series. Here is a chat with Ritika, now a first year student of the weekend MBA program at the prestigious Booth.

Poonam: Can you tell us a little about yourself? Where are you from? Where and what did you study as an undergrad? What do you do now?

Ritika: Of course! I am from the capital of India, Delhi. I would describe myself as a kind of traveler who is always on the move. I did my Electronics and Communication Engineering from Kurukshetra University and got a job in Accenture as a software engineer. I worked for Accenture for 6.5 years. I worked at offshore Delivery center for Accenture in Chennai for 2.5 years, and I came to client location in the US in 2012 where I helped the client with Quality assurance of new tools and software releases. Thus, I have had the experience of meeting many people from many different places and have been constantly making new connections all this while. I have recently joined Randstad.

Poonam: When did you start thinking about MBA?

Ritika: Since I graduated from college, MBA has been a lifelong dream for me all along. I had earlier applied to Indian schools back in India, converted couple of calls and was waitlisted for a couple more. I guess a feeling of doing MBA from one notch up each time was holding me back from accepting the offers I had received. Never in my dreams had I aspired to come onsite, let alone Booth! Maybe opportunities forgone translate into new avenues. After writing my GMAT, I was keen on shortlisting schools. Living near Chicago had given me ample opportunity to attend demo classes, do some research and visit campus for both Kellogg and Booth. So, finally I took the plunge this year by starting at Booth.

Poonam: What are your career goals?

Ritika: My experience as a Software analyst has helped me outline my goal of becoming an IT strategy consultant either in my current company or in Deloitte. I want to create strategies and plans that define how IT should be utilized to support an organization's overall business strategy, identifying more opportunities, optimizing processes and proposing solutions. This will prep me up for my long term goal of becoming a Practice Head for business strategy where I will be responsible for growing business for clients, building practices in new niche markets, developing talent within my team, and managing profitability of the practice.

Poonam: When did you start preparing for your application? Could you please share your application strategy, planning and preparation with our readers?

Ritika: I wanted to apply in Round 2 for all the four schools I was applying to: Ross, Kellogg, Kelley and Booth. I wanted to start early as I am not at my very best when I procrastinate until last minute. I am also a keen believer in doing exhaustive research before committing to any plan, so had contacted you after looking at countless profiles of other consultants over the net. I wanted personalized attention, so I zeroed in on you!! The amount of insight and value addition you did to my initial drafts was amazing!

Poonam: Thank you, Ritika! Looking back, what was the most challenging aspect of the school admissions process? How did you approach that challenge and overcome it? How would you advise other MBA applicants who are facing similar challenges?

Ritika: I am a perfectionist, which often works to my disadvantage. Letting go of the constant need to achieve a perfect score, was a huge turning point for me .Some people think that GMAT score is the single most important aspect of MBA application. To those I would say it is important, but please do not get caught up in the number game. Each person, each profile is unique. Each person brings different things to the table. If you are plateauing on GMAT score, focus on things that could differentiate your profile from others. For example, community service, any initiative at work that displays your leadership skills would do the trick!

In addition, I cannot emphasize much on importance of starting early. Make sure to plan things ahead for application process. This priceless advice from Poonam and her constant reminders helped me immensely in chalking out my plan to perfection.

1.Visit the schools if possible. It is a huge bonus if you see things firsthand.
2.Have all of your stories on a piece of paper and then use those as per the questions asked in application essays. Be aware of your strength and weaknesses and work towards using them to your advantage.
3.Do not leave essays to the last moment; they can make or break your candidature. I know of people scoring extremely well on GMAT and still being unable to get a single call due to not so great essays. A great coach to frame and fine-tune your essays helps you get there. Personalized attention from Poonam helped me do that. ((https://gmatclub.com/reviews/comments/mu ... -345350518)
4.Review your essays thoroughly before hitting the submit button. You do not want to be caught dead misstating the name of the school you are applying to or any such random silly mistake.
5.Prepare for interviews if you feel the need to, Again, always be aware of where you stand and decide accordingly. I need to practice my stuff before doing the final thing so, I compiled a list of questions- generic ones as well as specific to each school and prepared off of it.You also suggested a few!! So I prepared those, and I was ready.

Poonam: You finally applied to three schools (Ross, Kelley and Booth), received interview invites from all three of them but accepted Booth offer before you could interview with Kelly and Ross. Is that right? How is Booth the best school for you?

Ritika: Yes, Poonam I did not submit my application to Kellogg because the Kellogg deadline was pretty far, and I got Booth decision within a week of interview. I did not want to take any chance with my convert for Booth. I did interview with Ross, but I got an interview invite from Kelley after my decision to accept Booth offer. My Booth launch program was the same day as Kelley interview, so I could not attend that.

Booth is the best school for me because Booth MBA would help me aim for a higher position in the same industry as an IT strategy consultant without quitting my current job. It would help me compliment what I am learning in work environment and enable me to apply newly acquired skills and knowledge at work and vice versa. In addition, since I am currently working in Chicago, IL, a weekend program at Chicago will enable me to effectively manage my work during the week and school on the weekend. The resources at my disposal at Booth are amazing and the amount of flexibility it offers is baffling. Besides, the Booth network is one of its kind.

Poonam: Do you have any admissions tips for applicants who are aiming for top 20 MBA programs? (e.g. school selection, GMAT, essays, résumé, recommendation letters, interview etc.)
Ritika: Start Early! Firstly, get your GMAT exam squared right away...Practice is the key... mock exams and timed practice helped me a lot in my preparation. Also, you should study in short bursts of 1-1.5 hours alternatively instead of long stretches.in order to avoid burnout.

Then, as I mentioned earlier, decide schools based on your fit, try to dig as much info as possible via website, school visits, and talking to current students and recent alumni. Attend fairs if you do not live close enough to schools. That should give a fair idea of where to apply.

Please be aware that Essay writing is very time consuming. I myself took sweet 3-4 months to get my essays finished. By doing this, I was able to turn in first drafts of essays, which were decent and compelling instead of some random gibberish hashed at the last moment. Also, finalizing your resume beforehand helps you jot down and streamline your career progression and highlights.

Reco letters: Always get your reco letters from people who can vouch for you and can give details of things you do. Vague and generalized statements would do you more harm than good. You do not want to throw away this opportunity here to display who you are from your boss's /peer's perspective.
Poonam: What is your favorite thing about Booth so far? If you could change one thing about the program, what would it be?

Ritika: The professors here are amazing! The academic counsellors also help immensely in course selection for each new quarter... It is too early to figure out shortcomings about the program in my first quarter though!

Poonam: I am aware that you joined a new job after accepting Booth admit offer. I also know you are married. Could you please let us know how you are managing demands of your new full time job, family, and coursework at Booth? Do you have any time management tips for prospective students?

Ritika: Believe me it is quite a feat you need to accomplish here. I can say from Indian women's perspective that you will need to manage your time pretty well. I surely can say it is an uphill task initially, but trust me, by the end of couple of quarters, you will be a master of time management (that is what I have been hearing from my seniors!).In addition, it helps immensely if you have a helpful partner at home. You both need to be on same page as to what entails your MBA journey... My husband has been amazingly supportive with everything so far. It's always good to know that you have someone to count on by your side in battles you are fighting!!.Prioritize! Prioritize and prioritize some more. Treat time as money and use it as judiciously as possible. Learn to say 'no' to things and people who fail to appreciate the fact that you are juggling so many things and 'sap' you time and energy away. Instead, stay with folks who motivate you and bring positivity to table. Booth is very rigorous and demanding, both emotionally and mentally. At times you do feel overwhelmed with it....Don't give up! Keep calm and march ahead (At least that is what I keep saying to myself anyway!)It will be worth all the blood and sweat at graduation!!!

Poonam: What are your favorite non-school books? What are you hobbies?

Ritika: I love The Monk who sold his Ferrari. I so want to follow it to the T. I am following many things mentioned in the book as of now, but I need to do so much more for constant overhaul.

Running and cooking bring sanity and calm to me. There is no other thing in the world I love better than good home cooked meal and an exhilarating 40 minutes jog/run

Poonam: Robin Sharma is one of my favorite authors, too, and I love this book The Monk who sold his Ferrari. Thank you, Ritika, for sharing your story with us. It was a pleasure chatting with you. I am sure your valuable insights will be a helpful resource to the prospective MBA candidates for weekend programs. Good luck on your Booth experience and your future career.

Note: You can connect with Ritika via LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritikagaur

For more student interviews, click here . https://myessayreview.com/blogs/?cat=21

For questions, email Poonam at [email protected]

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