Waitlist Advice

thanks for the info guys!

hi everyone,

posted the same message on another thread...but did not get a response...so here it goes again...

"thought i'll put my doubts out there...seems like u guys have been thru this before...
i am a re-app...last year got no love from any of the schools i applied to....not their fault...my app wasn't competitive enough... this year i have completely revamped the app from gmat to essays to recos...

Now the tough part..
1) got WL at Duke on 11/14---got dinged on 12/18 inspite of submitting an addnl reco. on 12/8
2) got WL at CMU on 12/19....don't wanna blow this..

have applied to cornell and UT already...
and am planning to apply to columbia and ross.. what is it that is hampering my candidacy at this point.... i just don't wanna take chances given CBS and ross are more competitive than duke or cmu....is it bad luck that i belong to the indian candidate pool in the toughest app year 2009...
mind you however, i do not belong to IT....i am in telecom...covering all domains of telecom...also have been a traveller all my life...unlike many others (i have had 20-22 official residences in 27 years now)
profile 27/m/740/good scores from not a great undergrad institute/3.76 GPA in MS from LSU/ECs and social service....and extensive travelling as i mentioned above....also played national squash...district level badminton and basketball....

any advice would be welcome....thanks to all in advance.."

On paper you look solid. Thus there must be something wrong with your essays and how you're selling yourself.
Do you career goals match what the schools have to offer? Are you using the wrong tones in your essays?

Solid?! On the paper he looks terrific. I have seen some great profiles, but he has very, very balanced mixture of professional accomplishments and extraculiculars.

tarunmalik,

There must be something really wrong in your applications when you don't receive admits from elite schools (and you should have received from at least one ultra-elite, too). Maybe you should think of hiring some professional consultant, I beleive he/she could do a miracle for you (and you don't even need a miracle but a good advice).

hi pathfinder/2011mba,

do u guys think the following two things could be hurting me (honestly, i have no control over these rt now):

1) not going a top ranked undergrad institute
2) not having formal managerial exp ( ihave lead teams...just not formally)

i ask because of this yr being so competitive and on to top it all, the fact that i belong to the indian candidate pool....

thanks for ur advice....

tarunmalik, neither of these things should hurt you as long as you have good stories to tell. i would agree that it's likely your essays / messaging needs to be refined.

Answer to both your questions - in a word NO.

But I think that major problem lies behind your 2nd question... Of course you haven't had some strict formal managerial experience, nobody here was CEO of Fortune 500 or president of the bank. But you have been leading various teams on some complex projects, right? That is the part of your resume that you should shed more light on.