Sidhant wrote:
I'm an Indian applicant and applied to Harvard (ding w/o interview), Stanford (ding w/o interview), Tuck (dinged after interview), Kellogg (dinged after interview), and Yale (ding w/o interview). Out of these, I'll be applying to Tuck again as it's always been my dream school.
During my feedback for Tuck, I was told that I applied too late (January round), and my work ex was on the lower side of the average. Also, the councilor told me that although my essays and resume were of no concern to the adcom, she'd really like to see a major improvement!
I will have 5 years of work ex by matriculation. Out of these, I worked at Google for 2 years, the Commonwealth Games (contract of 1 year) for 1 year and am currently a Senior Manager for Digital Marketing at Iris Worldwide. I scored 760 on the GMAT and earned a BA (Honors) in Journalism from Delhi University. I was a university topper but had to drop a year as a result of an accident.
I was and am actively involved in extra-curricular activities. I was a Senior Under Officer with the National Cadet Corps (commanded over 150 cadets) during college. Also, I was actively involved in community service activities through Google Cares and Google Green. I played and excelled in hockey and soccer.
My list of schools this time are Wharton, Tuck, Duke, Kellogg, and Cornell.
Thanks,
Sidhant
There are definitely some mixed messages coming through from the Tuck feedback. Trying to read between the lines, I would say that she is saying that the stories that you told in your essays sent the right messages but perhaps they weren't recent enough or didn't demonstrate enough leadership and impact. Since you've changed jobs in the past year and are now a senior manager, of course your application will be significantly different and will hopefully be able to present that improved leadership and impact. I also recommend highlighting not only your involvement in community service but your leadership in these programs. How do you motivate others to participate? What activities do you organize? What impacts on the community and the office environment are you able to make through these? These are the questions that the ad coms of the programs you mentioned will want to hear answers for.