Hi Guys,
IN DARDEN, IN London School of Economics!!!
After a almost 3 years of working on preparation for business schools, after spending numerous hours on samples in this forum, I am glad to announce I received an invitation to Darden (first round), and London School of Economics (Management, MSc)
I haven't been here for a couple months and got disconnect from many of you. Meanwhile, many things happened but here is some sample profile:
27 years male, GMAT 650 (verbal 90 percentile, math 70 percentile), GPA 3.80 from a small but #1 liberal arts school in the south, KENTUCKY !(ya, don't ask me what did I do there
Ran a company when i was 17-20, success and then bancrupcy & failure > Came to the USA from Europe in '99, lived on streets in NYC, cleaned floors in Walmart, was preparing for undergrad, got full ride at KY school, opened a nonprofit company while a sophomore, ran it for 2 years, sold it to college, got hired by Goldman and then by Morgan Stanley. Left the USA three months ago, got hired by KBC group, and now I am holding an offer from one company from Big 4 (M&A).
Darden
I have worked on this school for three years - I visited the school, loved it and was in touch with alumni as well as one student ambasador.
Applied early round, got a phone interview with Darden (yes, they can do it in some cases).
And now - I have been in touch with Darden people for three years - I asked all possible questions and one of the ambassadors even recommended me when I applied. I was so ready...I knew I coulnd't be dinged ...
WAS PUT ON WAITLIST! mostly because and now - an advice for you - I had two people from my school recommend me , NO professional from Morgan !! Ya, I was stupid.
Don't ever do that ... they say it's ok, but it will hurt your application.
Monday - waitlisted
Tuesday - my colleague & my boss send their references
Wednesday - a well respected US anthropologist who happens to be my best friend sends them his reference
Friday- I received a phone call from Darden announcing me I was taken off the waitlist and accepted !
If you want any advice concerning how to be taken off the waitlist, please message me - I probably used all possible tools : ), that's why they didn't wait for the end of all their rounds (probably)
Now, LSE
Applied, got immediately (3 weeks) accepted .. they have rolling admissions. No pain there, no stress ...
I am still waiting to hear from Yale as their decision deadline for R1 is Jan 20 2006
So, after coming and living on NY street, after working as a janitor, after opening my own company and after working for top WS banks .. I am deciding, whether I should accept LSE, Darden or Yale (if accepted)..or should I accept the offer from european branch of one of the Big 4 to work in their M&A ... : )
LIFE IS GOOD
but I am still wondering ...
Why didn't I apply to ultra top schools ? I am not their type and they are not my schools. I was in touch with them, talked the school with them, met with people from HBS, Columbia, etc ... even started their online applications. I knew I had something not many people could offer but still .. .. I decided not to apply.
So thanks for the opportunity to share - And as always, PAUL - THANKS
Cheers, Michal