Reapplication Keystrokes?

[Sul]

Hi,

I just got dinged from the schools that I applied to - Wharton, Columbia, MIT and Booth. While I went till the interview stage for Wharton and Booth with me being on waitlist for Booth, I am just wondering what better I can do to improve my candidature.

Just to give you a brief snapshot of my profile:

Work Experience:
Analytics consultant - Mckinsey and Co (~ 2 years)
Analytics - Tesco (~1 year)

Education Experience:
Masters in Economics (Delhi University) - 3.4 GPA
Bachelor in Technology - 3.5 GPA

GMAT - 700

Extra curricular - Leader at an organisation that teaches autistic children

Have lot of awards at various college events for debates, extempore,business case competitions, case studies, etc

District level swimming champion
Delhi University TT winner
etc

In light of the brief snapshot, could you please tell me what and how shall I go about improving my profile so that I really have an excellent chance of making through?

1 Shall I re-take GMAT? Will notching up couple of points make a huge difference?
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)
3 Shall I reconsider list of schools that I want to apply to? Though I am fixed on going to top school only
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?
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)?

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

[Heidi Granner]

Hi Sul,

Thanks for your post.

Sorry to hear that this application year wasn't as fruitful as you had hoped. Booth is open to additional materials during the waitlist period and an active strategy does make a difference in getting off the waitlist. I suggest checking out our Waitlist Guide for guidance on how to craft your waitlist strategy: https://www.clearadmit.com/ca-products/waitlist-guide/.

Regarding your questions for next year:
1. If you think you can improve your score by 30+ points then it will make a difference in the process. Coming from India the average GMAT scores are generally higher than the applicant pool, so it is more of an issue if your score is below the school average.
2. Career progression (increases in title, compensation, responsibility) is likely most important indicator at this point for your work experience, so I suggest seeking that out either at your company or elsewhere.
3. I do think your list is overall pretty aggressive. I suggest researching and adding a couple schools such as Ross, Fuqua, Darden, and Anderson.
4. If you can take on additional roles at your current extracurricular that might be the best use of your time in this area (in order to show greater leadership and also progression)
5. Reapplicants often have a higher acceptance rate than first time applicants, but I do think your list is overall aggressive. So a mix of new schools and current schools should (along with very high quality application materials) should lead to success next year.

Good luck with the Booth waitlist this year!

Best,
Heidi

[Sul]

Thanks Heidi.

I got dinged by Booth after being on waitlist for a period of 3 months. I do not know what to do now. If I reapply this year, then I am not sure what additional information can I furnish to them. I can try and scale up my GMAT score, however, I spoke to few people( including the Booth alum who was courteous enough to give me a feedback) and they said score wont make much of a difference. However, entrepreneur activity can help my case significantly. But the problem is entrepreneur activity is not possible in such a short span of time.

With just 4 months in hand, it is not possible for me to do everything and being extraoridnary in everything ( Extracurricular activity , GMAT score , new job, entrepreneur, etc) and therefore I want to assess which strategy will pay off best for me with the given constraints.


I am going through a really tough phase with no sight. I would earnestly request for your support.

[Heidi Granner]

Sul,

Sorry to hear about the Booth ding. The good news is that historically Booth re-applicants have a higher acceptance rate than first-time applicants. I have worked with many people who have been dinged the first year applying on their own and then working together we came up with a new strategy that resulted in a successful application. So it is very do-able.

I suggest reassessing your application strengths and weaknesses to determine which items you can make a positive impact on over the next 6 months. Then reassess your application strategy and develop a game plan for this year, including as I mentioned in my post broadening your list of schools. Our Reapplicant Guide can be helpful here ($24.99): https://www.clearadmit.com/ca-products/r ... ant-guide/.

Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if you would like to work with a consultant on your applications this year.

Best,
Heidi