A second MBA candidate: With typical Indian background and GMAT 770

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PROFILE GMAT: 770 Education: Engineering from State government college, India (GPA: 8.77/10) First MBA from FMS, Delhi (Rank 5) Work ex: 4 years in telecom as a Finance manager Others: CFA, FRM Few certificates in sports (nothing major) BACKGROUND : I come from a family where education was never really considered an important facet of life since you are supposed to run a family shop once you finish your undergrad. Did my schooling in vernacular medium and you can guage my background from the fact that I didn't even know about JEE exams (Engineering entrance exams in India- we also have state entrance exam for those who want to study in the respective states) even though I took science and wanted to become an engineer. I gave the state entrance exam and secured an admission in State government engineering college. Completed my engineering in 2013 and didn't know what to do but had interest in maths and entrance exams had aptitude tests so prepared for CAT to do an MBA. Quant was always my strong area and by focusing on verbal and scored 99.70%. I was able to secure an admission in FMS, Delhi (one of the top 5 business schools in India). That changed my life professionally and personally (I met the love of my life there

). I got interested in Finance and learned it by completing CFA and FRM during those two years. Also, by competing among the best people and securing 5th position in the batch, I got the confidence in me that I can compete against the best. Graduated in 2016 and fast forward three years, in 2019 finally, I realized that I was still not satisfied with the life. I was doing well at job and had different role but learnings were not steep anymore. I had too comfortable life and work. But I wanted more and I decided that I want to work among the best and settle in US and the best way to do that was to go for an MBA again. THE STRUGGLE It was difficult to convince my family that I want to study again in US even though my GF and I, we both were earning well in India. I was also hesitant but my then GF and now wife gave me the confidence and I was able to convince my parents about it and my journey started. I was still not convinced completely about this decision because it required me to start again in life and career and leaving the comfortable life in India and accepting the uncertainty. But I decided to went with the flow and give a shot to GMAT and then decide about the future. I didn't want to have that regret about not trying for something I could have achieved. THE GMAT I started my preparation in May 2019. I understood the concepts and ordered GMAT official books and manhattan material. I wanted to see where I stand so after giving few free mocks and a little preparation, I gave my first GMAT in June 2019 and scored 700. I knew it was not enough for someone who has typical Indian profile and over that who already has an MBA. But I knew that I can definitely score better and I started my actual preparation. I focused only on verbal and did quant only during mock exams. Bought expert global 15 exams pack and studied mainly from manhattan materials. For me, the problem was only in Sentence Correction. And that is the easiest thing to improve as you just need to understand the grammar and few rules. That also helps in saving time because first time when I gave GMAT, I didn't have enough time in last few questions. That happened because I spent more time on SC questions. Knowing these things are more important part of your preparation than giving mocks and doing analysis. It is about knowing what to prepare and analyze. I scored 760 & 750 in official mock GMATs and I was confident of scoring around 750 now. Exam went well and I closed my eyes while submitting the AWA and I scored 770. I was ecstatic

! APPLICATIONS For me, I never had fear of exams. The difficult part was aftermath of the exams. This is because I had less confidence in my soft skills required to succeed in this journey. I had improved a lot since my undergrad but I knew that I am still not the best when it comes to that (I still am not but I am sure one day, I will become better in that

). My aim was to get into top 10 schools but wanted to have backups so I went with Cornell, Ross, & Harvard in first round. Got into Cornell with 80% scholarship and I was relived after that. I applied to Stern, Columbia, Harvard, Wharton, Kellogg, Duke & Booth in round 2. Only got interviews from Stern & Kellogg. Got into both but no scholarship from Kellogg and full ride from Stern made it easy for me to choose between those two. I did hire a consultant for essays but he was not good so I ended up writing most of my essays on my own. I made a big mistake in choosing schools to apply in different rounds. It sounds dumb but I didn't know about the rolling selection process of Columbia and applied on last day of January which could have resulted into straight rejection there. I made all these mistakes because I did everything in a hurry without having a proper plan and research about the schools. In hindsight, I could have shifted few round 2 schools in round 1 and may be would have done better but in the end, I had good offers. I have regret of not getting an interview opportunity from any of the HSW(I didn't apply to S so can't complain there). But blame is on me as my essays were not good and I didn't do proper research. FINAL THOUGHTS * All my life, I chose the next step as I learned more from my then present period. It was never my goal to reach where I am today. So, if you are reading this and preparing for GMAT means you are already ahead of me when I started my preparation. * Confidence is the key in everything you do! Everyone knows this but very few can actually realize and gain confidence from what they do. * Take some time to do proper research on schools. Do that even before giving GMAT. Set your targets and know the process. This is more applicable to those who run on strict timeline like me. * I wish I had studied in better schools but I know my parents did best for me. Focus should always be on the future and never be on the past. Because you still have a chance to change your future. * Nobody can make a judgement about your potential. Most will underestimate and few will overestimate but important thing is that you should know your potential. * Preparation for GMAT or any entrance exams becomes easy if you know where to focus. Just knowing that you are weak in a section won't help. You need to go deeper and find out what particular things in that section are problems. I don't know how different my journey was from others' but I know a lot can be learned from others' journeys. I hope this story will help few people to get the confidence in achieving their dreams! "A student for life. You learn everyday if you have the zeal to learn" Thanks bb for encouraging me to write my story.

bb · Answer

Thank you so much for writing this story. It is insane you only got interviews fro Kellogg and Stern. But fantastic job on getting a full ride at Stern!!!

Thank you! 👍👍👍

Posted from my mobile device

PyjamaScientist · Answer

Thanks, Dreamer for sharing your story.

My story is similar to yours, so it really helps.

God bless you.

A second MBA candidate: With typical Indian background and GMAT 770

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