Dear Applicants,
Wanted to share this with you- a lot of you are reaching out
to me to take my services as you were Rejected by TOP
Schools last year. I get to hear from SO MANY Re-applicants(
Indian Male Candidates primarily) with HIGH GMAT Scores-
Why do so many Indian Male Candidates with GMAT scores
ranging from 700-770 face so many rejections from top-tier
schools? And if we add another distinction of "Information
Technology Background", the results get even worse.
Seriously!Â
I will share some recent conversations with the
"REJECTED 700+ (GMAT) Indian Male Applicants"Â
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Candidate 1:Â I recently spoke with an applicant from
Calcutta. With a GMAT 730, and 4 years of work experience,
he did not make it to any of his target schools last year.Â
Neither was he invited for an interview by some or all (I
can't recall) of those schools.Â
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Candidate 2:Â GMAT 740 + Infosys 2.5 years: Faced 10
out of 10 rejections last year with an admissions consultant
that apparently did not showcase the case very well. He was
finally heading to Sauder( Canada) this year and had paid
the deposit too. I am happy that he decided to not go, and
work with us in his endeavour to make it to a better place.
Sauder comes at a price tag of INR 40 lacs with a 65%
probability of getting a job( Check their placement statistics)
with an average salary of $65,000. An immigration
consultant will do better than that if you have worked with
Infosys.Â
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Candidate 3:Â GMAT 760 and 3 years of work
experience in Educational Start ups and an above average
career progression: Did not make it to any of the top schools
he applied to last year (He did not share the name of the
consultant who worked with him)
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Candidate 4:GMAT 720, and 4 + years in Accenture:
We did not get the opportunity to see his story, but it was
sad to find out that he got wait-listed by NUS, and dinged by
all the other schools on his list.Â
Our understanding of the reasons
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The Candidates did not pick the right schools and the
goals story did not match with the schools they were
applying to.Â
-        The Candidates did not have the right goals. Click here
if you feel you are unable to understand what we are
referring to when we say "Short Term and long Term Goals".Â
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Did not know the importance of essays and story
building. Yes ! A lot of times applicants spend an entire year
in experimenting before waking up to the reality that
selection mechanism of the international schools is not
driven by only the scores. In India, the IIM's have a very
different way to identify talent, and are too much CAT
centric, and one barely needs to write anything before
starting up with the these colleges. So! Different target
schools: Different approach.Â
Â
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GMAT 700 + Applicants: What is your category? ( See the
Table Below).Â
Through this note, I will also emphasize on the importance
of interviews, and other components in your application,
and make you understand the importance of the quality of
communication with the very elite MBA Programs.Â
This communication is directly with Indian/Males/High
GMAT Scorers and the purpose is to give a better
understanding of the blind spots.Â
You decide what category describes you most appropriately-
I neither support nor denigrate any of the following
categories. I am just describing in a very open space that
these categories exist)Â
           Â
 Â
 Â
 Â
 Â
Work Experience
       Â
More than 3Â Â years at Microsoft or Google Or an Investment
bank/PE Firm/Consulting Firm/Â Â and other global
organizations( Domestic /International) that have very
well  defined leadership, and candidates bring a strong
credibility to the overall  story
 Â
Â
       Â
More than 3Â Â years at any of the companies mentioned in
"Candidate A" + Other companies(Â Â Including start ups) in
IT/Finance/Marketing
 Â
/Operation ,  and other supporting Roles.Â
           Â
 Â
 Â
Written Communication Skills
       Â
Have average  to above average writing skills, and have the
ability to pick up the  Networking exercise very well, and
follow the steps. Do not need an intensive handholding in Â
writing emails, and engaging existing students, and adcom
members. Put them on the right track of constructing Â
communication themes while they are in action and
reaching out to the  existing MBA students of their target
schools, and other adcom members, and  one can be certain
that their essay inputs will have a lot of meat and not  just
the verbiage from the website.
       Â
Are not very  articulate in their overall written expression.
There are times when  applicants need help and a lot of
push in starting over with the first  paragraph. It is quite
common for applicants to not possess great writing  skills,
and they require a lot of support   in their communication
while writing to the adcoms or other people in  the same
category. Â
           Â
 Â
Oral Communication
       Â
Can lead a  very powerful 30-40 minute conversation with
the alumni/adcom members over  the phone or in person.Â
Will know how  to create "What questions to ask" and won't
just copy from the networking  guides and other resources.
CAN DELIVER WITH MINIMAL SUPERVISION.Â
 Â
Â
       Â
Can memorize  the answers to the questions, but they need
the interviews to be very  predictable. These applicants if
sent under prepared will become very nervous  in the
interviews with School Alumni as Alumni tend to be more
elaborate in  their discussions. Alumni interviews  have
lasted for 1.5 hours.Â
 Â
Â
 Â
They need  extensive supervision while preparing for
difficult/unpredictable questions.Â
           Â
 Â
Understanding of their Future ambitions
 Â
 Â
 Â
SHORT TERMÂ Â AND LONG TERM GOALS
       Â
While they  might not know what their future career path
would look like, they are open  to following the procedures,
and carry a thoughtful and meaningful research  into
understanding the importance of various career
positions/paths after  MBA.
 Â
Â
 Â
There are  some who are very focused, and are really aware
of what they want out of  their MBA program.Â
       Â
These  candidates require a lot of hand holding in
identifying the short term and  long term ambitions.
 Â
Â
 Â
Most of the  times, the initial expression is very naive. And
we are not talking about  only changing the paragraphs, or
selection of words, but the entire thought  process.Â
           Â
 Â
 Â
Personal and/or community Accomplishments
       Â
I would have  loved to state "Above average participation"
in areas outside academics and professional  careers, but
sadly, it is not the case. However, I can establish peace with Â
that.Â
       Â
I would have  loved to state "Above average participation"
in areas outside academics and  professional careers, but
sadly, it is not the case. However, I can establish  peace with
that.
PythaGURUS MBA Consulting:Indian origin candidates rejected?
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