School Name : Applied to Columbia ED and HBS, Stanford, Wharton, and Kellogg R1, Admits: Columbia (attending), Wharton (after W/L), DWIs: HBS, Stanford, Withdrew: Kellogg
What do you think worked for you in the application?
Being well rounded, I had only been working two years at the time I applied so I didn't manage a team or anything but was able to show leadership through my many activities.
What was the X-factor in this application which wasn't present in your unsuccessful ones?
Honestly I'm proud of all of my applications. I think I represented myself well, but the schools that dinged me are the hardest ones to crack. I think given my goals and interests I had the best fit with Columbia.
How did you show that you fit with your admit school? Did you visit the school?
Yes, I visited the school. Interestingly enough Wharton and Columbia were the only schools that I visited out of the ones I applied to and that's where I got in. Coincidence? Maybe not. I'm going into media and the program at Columbia is great plus being in either NYC or LA is a huge advantage, so I was able to convince them that they're my #1 choice. The key is to link the school's advantages to things that'll help you get ahead when it comes to your career goals. Also, I mentioned a lot of specific classes and programs at each of the schools and how they would help me get where I'm going. Show that you've truly researched the program and that you know how you're going to take advantage of the resources once you are there.
Was your GMAT ever mentioned as a specific plus point during the admissions process,by ad-com or interviewer?
No, I got right around the class average so while my co-workers were impressed I doubt it was anything special to the adcom
If you got a positive note from your interviewer or ad-com, what was it?
I got positive feedback at the end of my Columbia interview. That interview went really really well. If you do an alumni interview don't just pick someone randomly. Do your due diligence. When given a list of potential interviewers I Googled each one and used that info to determine who will be most sympathetic to your candidacy. My interviewer ended up being a perfect match but only because I had done my homework. Also, it's important to have a game plan for someone who may not be your ideal match. For Wharton I had to e-mail nine people before one responsed and agreed to interview me. This person was not at the top of my list otherwise.
Did you take care to emphasize certain aspects of your profile?If yes, what were they? Why did you choose to emphasize them?
Yes, my extracurriculars are what really help me stand out in a good way. I have lots, some that are related to my career goals, so it helped me develop my path more clearly.
Did you deliberately choose to omit certain aspects of your profile, specific to your admit school? What were they and why did you omit? Did you include these data points in other applications?
Yes, I avoided talking about my undergrad wherever possible. I really did not have a great experience there so I just didn't bring up the subject. Also, my grades while not terrible really do not reflect my potential, so while I reported them I didn't bring them anywhere else so as not to draw too much attention to my spotty transcript.
Application DO's:
Start early. Get together a list of stories that you can write about. What helps is going through your life and pulling out all of the interesting things that happened to you or that you did and describe the experience, describe the action you took, describe the effect on others, and describe what you learned from it. Have a good career goal story planned out. If you don't know what you wanna do be good at faking it, IB or consulting always works because they're so broad and the ultra-elites and elites know you can get a job doing that if you want one coming out of their school and you need an MBA to get into those fields at the associate level. I used consulting in a media & entertainment group as my goal because although I know I want to go into media & entertainment, I don't know what I specifically want to do functionally speaking. An industry on its own does not a career goal make. Schools want to admit people who will be able to reach their career goals, so be realistic. Your career goal should also be something that you need an MBA for. This means you have to know your target industry, don't say you want an MBA so you can switch careers and be a movie director, that's what an MFA is for, but if you want to be a producer and then open a production company then an MBA may very well be for you. I think reflection and self-awareness is very important in the application process. Research, research, research the programs that you apply to. Make each school know that it's your #1. Apply only to schools that you would be excited to attend, the investment of time and money is too great for you to fall in the "woulda been a contender" mind trap. Also apply to a school or two that you think might be a stretch.
Applicant DONT's:
If you decide to do Columbia ED apply as early as possible so that you get your result before December (they guarantee a 10 week turn around so plan accordingly) and apply to other schools in R2. I could've saved myself a lot of time and money! Also, don't open a browser for each school's application page every morning after you've applied and keep hitting F5
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06 Jun 2007, 01:20
