I am a second MBA candidate and I was very skeptical regarding my candidacy in Top 10 schools. I was working in the field of retail and operations so did not have the typical big brand feeder companies on my resume. Having watched my husband go through the process with Admissions Gateway and get a great result, I joined Admissions Gateway for my applications.
I am sharing some observations for each part of the process:
"¢ Resume building. This for me is the most important aspect of an application because all essays, interview answers and stories are derived from it. The resume gives you a firm understanding of where you are and also drives brainstorming for your goals. My counsellor (a Kellogg alumnus) was extremely thorough in helping me build the resume. He gave me a structured approach to think about each bullet point in great detail. He guided me to reflect on my work and make it look more strategic as compared to operational work.
"¢ School selection: Already holding an MBA, I was more focused on the top-10. I was also interested in Kellogg's 1-Y program which is great for people doing a second MBA. My consultant was earnest in his evaluation of your profile and ensured that I pick schools that meet my ambitions and fit well. He is very methodological in his approach and provides logical reasoning behind each choice. For E.g. My Husband had got into a top-25 college but Rajdeep Chimni felt that he could make a top-10 so my husband worked with Rajdeep the next year and gained admission to Duke.
"¢ Essay writing: If you are looking for someone who will write your essays then you are knocking at the wrong door. My consultant gave solid frameworks for each essay question and guided me in great detail as to think through my own content. He worked on as many iteration as it takes to develop a satisfactory essay. Why this helps is because a) since you have written your own essay its unique b) you are already prepared for your interviews as you know everything that has gone into the application.
"¢ Interview preparation: My consultant helped with numerous resources including connecting with students who have gone through the process to learn about their experience. The Admissions Gateway network is large and responsive and I got great insight into different schools' interview process. This was followed by mock interviews, which covered everything that was asked in any of my interviews.
What I experienced working with my consultant is that if you are giving your 100% he will give his 200%. I gained an admission to Ross and Kellogg and was WL at Wharton so will be attending Kellogg. An observation I had post gaining the admit is that there were almost 20 admits to Kellogg for Admissions Gateway and this speaks volumes about the quality of the help provided. For second MBA candidates, I would consider the 1Y programs and also use the optional essay to talk about the skills you need from the second MBA in relation to your professional and personal development. Good luck to all of you!
I am sharing some observations for each part of the process:
"¢ Resume building. This for me is the most important aspect of an application because all essays, interview answers and stories are derived from it. The resume gives you a firm understanding of where you are and also drives brainstorming for your goals. My counsellor (a Kellogg alumnus) was extremely thorough in helping me build the resume. He gave me a structured approach to think about each bullet point in great detail. He guided me to reflect on my work and make it look more strategic as compared to operational work.
"¢ School selection: Already holding an MBA, I was more focused on the top-10. I was also interested in Kellogg's 1-Y program which is great for people doing a second MBA. My consultant was earnest in his evaluation of your profile and ensured that I pick schools that meet my ambitions and fit well. He is very methodological in his approach and provides logical reasoning behind each choice. For E.g. My Husband had got into a top-25 college but Rajdeep Chimni felt that he could make a top-10 so my husband worked with Rajdeep the next year and gained admission to Duke.
"¢ Essay writing: If you are looking for someone who will write your essays then you are knocking at the wrong door. My consultant gave solid frameworks for each essay question and guided me in great detail as to think through my own content. He worked on as many iteration as it takes to develop a satisfactory essay. Why this helps is because a) since you have written your own essay its unique b) you are already prepared for your interviews as you know everything that has gone into the application.
"¢ Interview preparation: My consultant helped with numerous resources including connecting with students who have gone through the process to learn about their experience. The Admissions Gateway network is large and responsive and I got great insight into different schools' interview process. This was followed by mock interviews, which covered everything that was asked in any of my interviews.
What I experienced working with my consultant is that if you are giving your 100% he will give his 200%. I gained an admission to Ross and Kellogg and was WL at Wharton so will be attending Kellogg. An observation I had post gaining the admit is that there were almost 20 admits to Kellogg for Admissions Gateway and this speaks volumes about the quality of the help provided. For second MBA candidates, I would consider the 1Y programs and also use the optional essay to talk about the skills you need from the second MBA in relation to your professional and personal development. Good luck to all of you!
