February 23, 2019  February 23, 2019 12:01 AM EST 11:59 PM EST Discounts and Free Stuff for everyone who downloads our App. Download it now and get your Promotional Code. February 24, 2019  February 24, 2019 10:00 PM PST 11:00 PM PST Learn how interviews conducted by adcom, students, and alum differ in style and structure. Maria also advises on how your approach be when interviewing with admission officer vs student vs alum.
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Intern
Joined: 08 Jul 2018
Posts: 1
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3rd time lucky: MIT admit
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08 Jul 2018, 18:54
I have a little bit of a different story as I had a good profile - 760 GMAT, IIT and some of the best start-ups on my resume. However, I had struggled to connect all the dots and present my candidacy in the best way possible. I was not only a re-applicant but a two-time re-applicant and that had been a little draining because of all the painful rejections. While in my first year, I couldn't even get an interview invite, in my second attempt, I got an invite from a single school but was not able to convert. I needed to do something different this time.
Step 1: My plan was to first reflect and get feedback on possible points of improvement. For which I wrote to schools as well as reached out to admissions consultants. This process pointed out a few very important mistakes and tangible ways to improve the profile. This made me realize that my profile was fine and that presentation needed to be improved, and that gave me a much better approach to tackling the complex and overwhelming application process.
Step 2: I realized that my resume though good had not brought out the wealth of my experience so with guidance I took a structured approach to showcasing my strengths and weaknesses. I also focused more on the impact on the company and thinking about the strategic reasons for why we did many operational tasks and linking them.
To borrow words ‘Make the resume – essays, recos, interviews all flow from the resume. Strong resume, strong app!’
Step 3: Goals. I did a much better job of detailing my goals. To the level that somebody in that same job reading my goals would appreciate the research and clarity of thought. I also strengthened the link between Goals – MBA – School.
Step 4: School research – I leveraged my network and also cold called to reach out to students and alums to get behind the scenes information. The key words that stood out for me here were to create ‘familiarity’ and ‘warmth’. That means that when a student of that school reads your essay he or she feels like ‘yes, I get that, I felt that too etc.’
Step 5: Essays: Armed with anecdotal information my essays flowed better. There was a huge difference in how I projected my story by merging career goals and past background into one seamless and easy-to-understand narrative. I also understood the nuances of structured business writing which helped whether it was a practical goals essay or a more story oriented leadership essay.
Interviews: I practiced with the intention of communicating salient features concisely and also planned what all I wanted to convey in 30-45 minutes. This sometimes meant adjusting some answers during the interview to get the most important stuff out.
My consultant this time was big part of my Journey. I have shared some of the things that I learned from Rajdeep Chimni through the year and I hope these inputs help re-applicants.
Glad to report that I was third time lucky!
Admitted to: UCLA with $60,000 scholarship; Michigan Ross; LBS; MIT Sloan. Finally attending MIT Sloan - my dream school. I hope this post inspires people to stick to the task and give it their best shot. Good luck!
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Manager
Joined: 17 May 2016
Posts: 182
Location: India
WE: Marketing (Education)
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Re: 3rd time lucky: MIT admit
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18 Jul 2018, 07:01
Congratulations!! Thanks for the post, very inspiring and eye opening. Sent from my A0001 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
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Senior Manager
Joined: 04 Jun 2018
Posts: 417
Location: Germany
Concentration: General Management, Finance
GPA: 3.6
WE: Analyst (Transportation)
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Re: 3rd time lucky: MIT admit
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18 Jul 2018, 09:17
mbaapplicant2020 wrote: I have a little bit of a different story as I had a good profile - 760 GMAT, IIT and some of the best start-ups on my resume. However, I had struggled to connect all the dots and present my candidacy in the best way possible. I was not only a re-applicant but a two-time re-applicant and that had been a little draining because of all the painful rejections. While in my first year, I couldn't even get an interview invite, in my second attempt, I got an invite from a single school but was not able to convert. I needed to do something different this time.
Step 1: My plan was to first reflect and get feedback on possible points of improvement. For which I wrote to schools as well as reached out to admissions consultants. This process pointed out a few very important mistakes and tangible ways to improve the profile. This made me realize that my profile was fine and that presentation needed to be improved, and that gave me a much better approach to tackling the complex and overwhelming application process.
Step 2: I realized that my resume though good had not brought out the wealth of my experience so with guidance I took a structured approach to showcasing my strengths and weaknesses. I also focused more on the impact on the company and thinking about the strategic reasons for why we did many operational tasks and linking them.
To borrow words ‘Make the resume – essays, recos, interviews all flow from the resume. Strong resume, strong app!’
Step 3: Goals. I did a much better job of detailing my goals. To the level that somebody in that same job reading my goals would appreciate the research and clarity of thought. I also strengthened the link between Goals – MBA – School.
Step 4: School research – I leveraged my network and also cold called to reach out to students and alums to get behind the scenes information. The key words that stood out for me here were to create ‘familiarity’ and ‘warmth’. That means that when a student of that school reads your essay he or she feels like ‘yes, I get that, I felt that too etc.’
Step 5: Essays: Armed with anecdotal information my essays flowed better. There was a huge difference in how I projected my story by merging career goals and past background into one seamless and easy-to-understand narrative. I also understood the nuances of structured business writing which helped whether it was a practical goals essay or a more story oriented leadership essay.
Interviews: I practiced with the intention of communicating salient features concisely and also planned what all I wanted to convey in 30-45 minutes. This sometimes meant adjusting some answers during the interview to get the most important stuff out.
My consultant this time was big part of my Journey. I have shared some of the things that I learned from Rajdeep Chimni through the year and I hope these inputs help re-applicants.
Glad to report that I was third time lucky!
Admitted to: UCLA with $60,000 scholarship; Michigan Ross; LBS; MIT Sloan. Finally attending MIT Sloan - my dream school. I hope this post inspires people to stick to the task and give it their best shot. Good luck! 1st of all congratulations for getting into MIT. 2nd of all thank you for sharing your tips and experiences. Best regards, Chris
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A couple of things that helped me in verbal: https://gmatclub.com/forum/verbal-strategies-268700.html#p2082192
Gmat Prep CAT #1: V42, Q34, 630 Gmat Prep CAT #2: V46, Q35, 660 Gmat Prep CAT #3: V41, Q42, 680
On the mission to improve my quant score, all help is appreciated!
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Intern
Joined: 11 Jul 2013
Posts: 7
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Re: 3rd time lucky: MIT admit
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27 Jul 2018, 07:35
Amazing story, would you be open to the idea of sharing your essay. It's always a learning experience.
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Intern
Joined: 03 Apr 2018
Posts: 41
Concentration: Strategy, Leadership
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Re: 3rd time lucky: MIT admit
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01 Sep 2018, 16:27
Thanks for writing this de-brief. Congratulations on getting into MIT. Goodluck!
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Manager
Joined: 25 Sep 2018
Posts: 190
Location: United States (CA)
Concentration: Finance, Strategy
GPA: 3.97
WE: Investment Banking (Investment Banking)
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Re: 3rd time lucky: MIT admit
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15 Nov 2018, 08:57
Truly inspiring and well presented. especially the step by step process you have mentioned. UCLA with a 60k scholarship isn't bad too imo. Goodluck. I wish to hear more about your experiences in MIT
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Intern
Joined: 04 Jan 2019
Posts: 7
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Re: 3rd time lucky: MIT admit
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10 Jan 2019, 06:47
I keep track of all the news. Thanx
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Intern
Joined: 24 Jan 2019
Posts: 16
Location: India
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Re: 3rd time lucky: MIT admit
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24 Jan 2019, 09:20
Great story. Truly inspiring.
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INSEAD Thread Master
Status: MBA Admissions Consultant
Affiliations: MBA Prep Coach
Joined: 24 Mar 2015
Posts: 1860
Farrell D Hehn: MBA
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Re: 3rd time lucky: MIT admit
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24 Jan 2019, 09:35
mbaapplicant2020 had you previously applied to MIT? Once or twice? Each time with the same GMAT? I'm working with a client very similar to you, Bangalore startup IIT but 740 not 760...who had the same experience you did in the second attempt before working with me. I'm not sure how you had such resilience because I think it nearly leveled the guy. He was deeply traumatized. Thankfully, we had similar results, but could not convert Sloan and I'm trying to assess if this is just competition, GMAT, or if they are unfriendly to reapplicants. It was very surprising to me because I have a pretty awesome track record with that school. I'm also curious if you changed your goals because that's generally not recommended and we did do that which is probably the source of the problem but his original goals were so terrible. He's debating Ross vs Darden and we are hoping for interesting results upcoming for R2. Any information would be appreciated. http://mbaprepcoach.com
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Farrell Dyan http://MBAPrepCoach.com "You don't often come across people so perceptive and empathetic." - EM, NYC
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Re: 3rd time lucky: MIT admit
[#permalink]
24 Jan 2019, 09:35
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