Calling all Indian Applicants - 2017 Intake!!

Hi MBADecoder, We all know competition among Indian applicants to get in to top US/European schools is fierce. Recently we analysed the admission trends at various schools and found out that admission rates of Indian applicants in all these schools hardly cross 12% mark. (Except Oxford SBS, where admission rate of Indians is 31%)

Having guided thousands of Indian applicants in their applications, what, according to you, are the reasons for such low admission rates for Indians? Is it because of wrong school selection or focusing too much on GMAT & GPA, and ignoring others important aspects of the application such as Essays, interviews, recommendations, etc?

Also what is the best piece of advice you could give to Indian applicants who are aiming for 2017 intake? Thank you!

In very simple terms, it's a demand-supply issue, Narenn.

Adcoms would've looked at Indian applicants in the same way that they look at applicants from other nationalities - had it not been for the disproportional volumes.

And of course, the reasons you've mentioned play a role too. Over-focusing on test scores instead of trying to understand the psychology and rationale behind the essay/interview questions makes it tougher for Indian applicants to submit a strong, balanced application.

When we asked several top bschool admission officers what the big challenge was while reviewing Indian applications, many said (in different ways), "They all look the same."

Namita would have more perspectives to share.

Hi Narenn,

I missed your post. I hadn't seen these greats stats until now, so thanks for copying the links here- as always, this is amazing work done by you.

I think the low admissions rates for Indian applicants are because of the most obvious reasons- just too many Indians applying to every b-school out there. With such a variety of choice of applicants available to b-schools, they are in a great position to pull out the best applicants, which can also translate to profiles with the best stats. This fact reflects in GMAT Club's own profile data that you collect for every applicant- students with 720+ GMAT scores apply to Tier 2 schools in huge numbers.

For the top colleges, I would agree most Indian applications tend to lack the right effort and deep understanding of the programs, which reflects in the essays. ALso, a lot of the essay questions have moved to the data forms over the past few years- so applicants must treat these as importantly as the essay questions and not fill them up last minute. We find most applicants fail to offer new information over here.

In my opinion, applicants should apply to 5-7 colleges in one year rather than applying to 10-12, as many applicants do. Quality matters ore over quantity, and my approach is always to put in the best quality application rather than squeezing in another application one day before its deadline.

Hope that helps

Excellent post Namita and Sameer

Sameer, I have followed your posts when I decided I wanted to pursue a career in management. Best one was 610 score and admitted to ISB.

Most of the Indian applicants are from IT department wherein you are part of a grind which offers none to little scope to showcase something related to managerial skills.

Given Indian psyche which places so much emphasis on getting good scores rather than well rounded individual, could you list areas which have the potential to stand out in our application?

That ISB with 610 story got (and still gets) quite a bit of eyeballs, since it was so unusual. Without underplaying the candidate's achievements, he did have the advantage of already being in a position that most MBA grads would target after several years of graduating.


You'll find tons of suggestions on GMAT Club from some really good consultants.

So instead of repeating them, I'm sharing what an Ivy league business school admission officer has to say on the topic.
Differentiation: A big challenge for Indian MBA applicants

Hope you find some perspectives in there that'll help.

P.S. Sorry for the late response. Your query didn't generate an auto-notification as it normally does.

I did not see this thread before I created a new post.

Could you guys please look at this post that I created?

help-family-business-after-mba-230184.html

Thanks in advance!

Hello,

My GMAT score is 680 (Q-50, V-31)

Undergraduate % - 78. Have not calculated into GPA

I have 3 years of work experience, working as a Senior Software Engineer in a product based software company.

I am involved in various extra co-curricular and initiatives at my workplace as well as on the social front.

I have already applied to the following schools in the first round of application.

UT Dallas
Pittsburg Katz
Arizona Eller
SMU Cox

I aware of the fact that being an Indian applicant my GMAT score is comparatively at the lower side but I am working a lot on my applications essays, resume, and interviews.

Please suggest other B-schools that I can target with my current GMAT score. I would like to apply to US and Canada schools. and aiming for at least 8 more schools in my list.

Please help!!

Thanks

Hello!

I am an Mechanical Engineering graduate (class of 2014), from PEC University of Technology, India. I have a rather low GPA of 7.2/10 (2.88/4), and a combined work experience of about 2 years. Mostly, I have worked in local startups and continue to work in one as of now. I had fair amount of international exposure during my college, having been associated with AIESEC and represented my college, as part of a 7 member team, at an engineering event in Hungary.

GMAT break down-

GMAT Score: 770
Quant: 50
Verbal: 46
AWA: 6
IR: 8

So far, I have not decided on any particular college(s) or specialization. My primary concern with any application is the overall cost of the program. Though, I have sent my scores to the following colleges (as 5 free ones that we get with the GMAT exam):

HEC Paris
UCLA Anderson
University of St. Gallen (Masters in Management)
INSEAD
MIT Sloan

I am considering working for another year to add to my WE, in order to stand a better chance at securing a scholarship. But my primary objective from any MBA/Masters programme would not be to secure a high paying consulting/finance job, but rather to learn more, have a great network, and eventually run my own business.

I'd be thankful for any suggestions about what my next step should be.

Chetan Singla

Hi Sonali,

How have your R1 results been?
Applying to 8 schools in one round is a huge number. I hope you will not compromise quality of application over quantity. We see applicants doing that all the time, and that's why I'd like to point this out to you.

Hi Chetan,

I'd be happy to have a profile discussion and help you come up with a plan to work upon your profile for next year's applications.

Hi all,

Below are my details:

Education Details:

1) graduation score- 75% (bcom h- delhi university)
2) 10th-92%
3)12th-94%
4) gmat score -650 (q-47, v-33)
5) completed investment banking course certified by jpm
6) completed an entrepreneurship course from DU

brief note about my profile:
I am from an army background and have completed my schooling across various places in india. I am a commerce student with over 5 years of work exp in investment banking/financial risk consulting industry. I have worked with firms such as capital iq, jp morgan and protivti. In my last corporate profile was handling a team of 10 and was involved in various consulting and research projects pertaining to M&A and PE. I also have frontend investment banking experience with the indian subsidiary of a US based boutique investment banking firm. Currently working as a researcher in area of budget allocation and social responsibility at an outfit called CBGA ( comes under purview of ministry of finance).

Schools that i want to Target

1)NUS
2)Nanyang
3)ISB
4)HKUST
5)INSEAD
6)IIM'S

I am quite aware that my gmat score is terrible but would appreciate guidance pertaining to my profile and application. Also with this score can i apply to some US schools or for any suitable masters program at uk/us schools. The alternative is retaking the gmat.

Regards
Neha Jha

Consider the following points Neha:

1. The non-common nature of your experience will certainly be a plus. The entire profile arc is not clear however - it seems you have done a bunch of slightly disconnected stuff and especially your current gig seems quite different. It will be critical to connect the dots if you are to get the right leverage out of it.
2. Even so, the GMAT is likely to be a deal breaker in many of your target schools. I'd definitely recommend a retake to ensure you do proper justice to the profile.
3. Apart from professional experience, you also need other guns blazing - say on the ECs front? For European programs, international experience comes in handy too.

Hope this helps some.

Cheers,

Hello Everyone,

GMAT - 710
Work Ex. - ~7 years in ITES/Telecom

I had applied to SPJIMR PGPM (Did not convert PI), IIMA-PGPX (Not shortlisted), awaiting shortlist results for XLRI-GMP. Apart from this I am not sure if I should apply to ISB R2, INSEAD R3, LBS R3, Cambridge (Judge) R3.
Looking forward to some valuable comments.

Thank you.

Consider the following Nirav:

1. The profile details are VERY sketchy here to make a better assessment. It will be important to understand the actual work related achievements, post-MBA plans etc - feel free to share the details.
2. Read the article here for some perspectives on the ding analysis bit.
3. At a very high level, your strategy isn't necessarily misplaced. However, do a hard introspection before proceeding to assess what may have gone wrong.

Cheers,

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Consider the following points emancipated123:

1. Your profile looks pretty interesting and impressive albeit a bit disconnected. The change from VC to Strategy will need to be reasoned out well both looking backwards and forwards. If you can do that, then the experience can come across as pretty stellar overall.
2. For reasons mentioned here, we do not speculate on school selection. That said, the overall list might be a tad aggressive primarily from the GMAT bit. From a list perspective, I think you have all the usual suspects there. Given the geographic focus, it might be worth exploring NUS too.
3. Top schools also prefer some ECs. Good that you are aware of that as a bit of blind spot. That is all the reason to have a school like NUS in the list.

Hope this helps some.

Cheers,

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