2nd Try

Question

Hi,

My name is Eeshan Srivastava, 24yr old from New Delhi, India. I will be taking the GMAT for the second time this year and am also seeking to apply for MBA 2014. I would greatly appreciate if you could provide some thoughts on my last year's experience and this year's plan of action.

Acads 
Xth - 93.2%, XIIth - 88.4%, B.Tech (Computer Science) - 80.6%

Work Experience (~ 3 years) 
Lead Engineer at HCL Technologies - Sep 2010 to Mar 2013
Automation Engineer at S&P Capital IQ - Mar 2013 to present

Extra Curricular Activities 
Working with Greenpeace, Change.org and WFP to spread their online awareness campaigns
Reading classic English Literature and writing poetry
Intermediate knowledge of French
Deep interest in learning about all domains ranging from the Arts to Sciences to Fashion to Entertainment to Medicine. (I believe this to be one of my greatest strengths as it always helps me to churn out innovative and out of the box solutions to complex problems)

Last Year 
GMAT - 690 (Q49, V35, AWA 6, IR 7)
IELTS - 7.5

Schools Applied to - 8
Interviewed at - 3
Accepted at - 2

Accepted Schools 
1. Tippie College of Business, Univ of Iowa
2. Carlson School of Management, Univ of Minnesota

Reason for not joining this year 
Insufficient funding (Seeking scholarship)

MBA Goal 
 Short Term  - Seeking a consulting role in a Consulting Services Firm
 Long Term  - Rise to top management position in the Consulting Services domain

Plan of Action for this year 
- Improving work profile - Switched to a Data Analytics company from an IT services company
- Retaking the GMAT - Seeking score beyond 720

Top Dream Schools 
Kellogg, Emory, Oxford, Cornell, INSEAD

Please suggest some target and reach schools for my profile (assuming I will increase my GMAT score; as I shall not apply if I do not increase it).

Also let me know how you can help me perfect my applications if I choose to avail one of your packages.

Best Regards,
Eeshan

Admissionado · Answer

Eeshan,
Very good to hear from you. Now I think you have a pretty good profile, which is confirmed by your two accepts that you got last year. And I think that this year, you can also get into similar level schools. But there is something in your strategy for applying that does not make so much sense. On the one hand, you seem to be saying that you will only be able to attend an MBA if you get a proper scholarship, but on the other, you seem to want to aim for MORE ambitious schools this year!

If you got into Tippie last year, and they did not offer you money, the chances that Kellogg will offer you money this year, even with 50 points higher on your GMAT are not very high. (So if you really will not be able to pay for it under any circumstance, would you want to apply?). On the other hand, if you CAN get a higher score on the GMAT, than schools like Tippie and Carlson might open their pockets for you more, so you need to see financially what is possible for you.

Other than that, I would mention that if your goal is to try and get a scholarship, the BEST way for you to do that is to apply to AS MANY schools as possible, and I am talking about 10-14 schools if need be. If you can't take chances with the money, then your best way to give yourself as much coverage of the board as possible.

I hope this helps you out dude, and if you have ANY questions at all, I am here for you,

Best,
JF

eeshan89 · Answer

Thanks a lot for your advice Jon. I just mentioned the Dream schools for which I would love to give a try. Applying to 10-14 schools really makes a lot of sense, because my main goal is in fact to get a scholarship.

Thanks a lot.

Admissionado · Answer

Well then, you better get started!!! Cause you have got your work cut out for you!

eeshan89 · Answer

Absolutely! By the way, I have started my GMAT prep again and plan to take the test in the mid of August. 
One mistake I did last year was that I applied to all these schools in Round 2 or Round 3. I don't want to do that this time, and I want to craft my application with a bit of professional help.

Amongst your two online courses, namely, MBA Application Basic Training Bootcamp and the MBA Essay Writing Workshop, which one would you recommend for me, given the fact that I have gone through the process once?

Admissionado · Answer

Hmmmm good question. I would be tempted to say go where your needs are. If you feel you need more advice over, the bootcamp is for you. If it's the essays, then go with that. I'm tempted to say "Boot Camp" because you might find some general tips that are useful for you about application strategies. Beyond that, I think your idea of applying early is the right one.

Best,

Best,

eeshan89 · Answer

Hey Jon!

I took my GMAT again yesterday and I got 650. This is less than my previous score of 690. But I guess GMAT reports both scores to the Universities.

Is it still worth it if I apply to some schools?

Eeshan

Admissionado · Answer

Well, your GMAT score is STILL a 690. So don't worry about that 650 any more than you have to, and apply to the schools you would have applied to with a 690 anyhow.

eeshan89 · Answer

Thanks Jon. Well, I tried to raise my GMAT score but couldn't. But my work experience has been of high quality nonetheless and I hope that will be the highlight of my application.

And I won't be aiming too high now. I've narrowed down my list of schools to this list:

Simon - Rochester
Hough School of Business - University of Florida
D'Amore-McKim - Northeastern University
Tepper- CMU
College of Business - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Carlson - University of Minnesota
Jones - Rice University
College of Management - Boston University
Mendoza - Notre Dame

Tepper, Jones and Mendoza are my targets and I guess the rest are my reach schools. What do you think of this?

Admissionado · Answer

I think you have a very fair mix there. I see a bunch of tougher schools, but not out of the ballpark either, and some easier ones too. I'd say your list is quite balanced.

I would say then that now is the time to get started. As we are in the middle of August already, you probably will only get 3-4 schools (max) for R1, but that's already pretty good, as it can help you give you an idea of how you might perform (and you can always adjust a bit in R2, when you start to see results of R1)

Good luck,

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