Sul-

In reading your profile, I do not see any glaring issues with your candidacy. Thus, my guess is that you somehow need to improve one or more of the following: (1) you actual application/essays, closely focusing on Why an MBA, Why now, and Why at each specific school, and Why You, what makes you a candidate that they should accept; (2) your recommendations; (3) your interview skills. I would foremost recommend that you review these components closely and/or work with an admissions consultant to help take what looks like a solid candidacy into successful admission.

Per your questions below:


1 Shall I re-take GMAT? Will notching up couple of points make a huge difference?
I do not believe this is necessary.

2 Shall I switch my job that is closer to my long term goal of being a business consultant (shift from analytics to a more of business consultant domain).
I do not believe this is necessary for acceptance to these programs, but might be helpful to you in your career progression if you do indeed need to wait a year to re-apply.

3 Shall I reconsider list of schools that I want to apply to? Though I am fixed on going to top school only.
There are many other great top-10 and top-20 schools you could consider. Veritas Prep offers overview files on each school to help you easily acquaint yourself with each school. For instance, I went to Tuck at Dartmouth and we send many grads into consulting yearly. However, again, I am guessing that with any of these schools you will need to focus on the metrics I outlined above.

4 Any additional extra curricular that I can do? Shall I venture out more into NGO stuff or take up a foreign language course like German or shall I open a firm that aligns me to my goals or something else?
Schools look for depth of activity and leadership. Focus on extra-curriculars that allow you to show true and meaningful leadership.

5 Finally, am I right in re-applying to these schools or the fact that they dinged me once and would not be interested in me again unless I do something extraordinary ( which I can't in like 6 months)?
Schools appreciate a re-applicant. It shows true interest in their specific program. I would try again but with much thought put into every application component.

I would really appreciate your thoughts around this. Thanks in advance for your valuable inputs. Highly appreciate it.

Best of luck-

Courtney Jane