Don't despair guys - all you have to do now is find out what they wanted you to address and then do everything you can to address it. Dont' let the GSB fall off your radar just yet!

How do we know that they want us to address? I haven't received any feedback from the GSB and I thought my interview went well.

Sorry to hear that...keep the faith!

best of luck for other apps

cheers!

Clearly competition is intense this year at GSB. Applications must be up a lot because of the BW rankings.

Actually, for R1 this is unlikely. The BW rankings came out only about a week before the deadline. For R2, probably going to be high yes.

I believe that the stats for those in the R1 pool here are in line with GSB standards; and the stats for Helg and naturallight are very strong. What seems to stand out is that, as a group, the GPAs were near the bottom of the middle 80%, while the GMAT scores were slightly above but not at the top of the middle 80% so I'd agree they they were good but not outstanding for GSB admissions. Just to be clear, I'll say it again: this is a generalization.

My reaction is that other parts of the application were pivotal. We all know that Rhyme writes top-notch essays and it certainly seems that this skill was really helpful for both Cornell & GSB. As I have said elsewhere, it's one thing to say that you are going to distinguish yourself by writing outstanding essays, but doing so is another matter altogether. Obviously, most applicants want to include stellar essays as part of their applications, but the reality is that such essays are just as rare as top GMAT scores or top grades from top schools.

I'd also point out that work experience certainly plays a big role, and for those that haven't noticed, Rhyme does have Goldman Sachs in his work history. It's widely believed that many schools favor applicants that have been part of highly selective programs in the past, whether it is work experience or academics. I would speculate that from an adcom's perspective, simply landing a job at Goldman Sachs is more impressive than being promoted to manager at most companies.

naturallight--waitlisted. Feel somewhat fortunate to get this far, considering that my interview was atrocious and that my essays have really improved with subsequent apps (GSB was my first). We'll see. It says they accept about 40% of their waitlist, but with GSB just getting that #1 BW ranking, I bet it will be lower this year.

My 2 cents on work exp: having the big name helps, but I think the nature of the work is pretty huge too. I work in accounting/trading, and I really struggled with my essays because my role has very little of the things that b-schools love: teamwork, leadership, and big-time strategic initiatives.

I think if you worked in consulting, or maybe marketing, it would be much easier to write those essays.

Thanks man.... fortunately I have another admit hence not that distraugt.
Anyways .... as many people have been mentioning.... stellar essays and great work exp.

Looking back I think .... my choice of undergrad .... low GPA..... plus no extraordinary work exp played a great role.

If admissions411 is to be believed, GSB put almost as many people on the waitlist (34) as they admitted (31).

A reflection of their hedging their bets given the rank increase and possible yield increase?