Nicely done - great job getting the Booth interview! Don't let HBS bug you - it is a tough lottery and hard to tell what works or what does not. It is just so competitive and volume is so high with only 4 weeks for Adcom to decide who gets an invite and who does not. If you have not reached out to MaliFri, Fernando, he is an amazing person and a 2nd year at Darden on a Scholarship. You definitely want to connect. He is heading to McKinsey this fall after getting offers from BCG and McKinsey. (He is from Sao Paolo originally - amazing guy!)

Wow. Finally someone who believes in luck - 13 schools! In all seriousness - the more the better as long as you can pull it off and your recommenders don't bail on you.

Good on you having a law degree - that plays well in the US schools. Not sure about the UK.
710 is on the lower side so you will have to have the rest quite perfect in terms of your GPA, Experience, application, etc.

Also, I would recommend to scrap R3 plans. That's a crapshoot of a round to apply. I won't stop you but at least make sure you get app fee waivers if you are going for R3. Traditionally only about 10% of candidates get recruited in R3.

That's right, Stern R2 is in a week I believe and I keep forgetting about it. I don't know the strategy between having R1 and R2 a month apart. I think that's going to confuse many people while R3 is known as a "no-no" round is just weird. Most MBA programs avoid this confusing by naming their first round "Early Decision" or "Early round" but Stern is doing just fine, so let's see, and yes, as you mentioned, Stern R3 = R2 everywhere else and that's just fine to apply to Stern in R3.

Hi! Do you have any work experience already?

Great score! Are you applying this year again or you started at Queen's?
P.S. I have heard that Canadian schools give 50% at most for scholarship, is that more or less accurate?

@vatsagrawal

Interesting goals. Make sure you are able to show a strong connect with your passion for sports and how a particular MBA program will actually help you steer your career in that direction. Schools look for connect with the goals and your ability to fulfil them in your past stories. With unconventional goals, there is little room for vagueness. Show deep research into your career prospects to win over the adcoms.


Personalized advice tailored to your specific situation is just a phone call or message away. Do not hesitate to reach out to us if you need help navigating your unique circumstances in the B School admissions process. We do not cap discussion hours for our applicants

Aanchal Sahni (INSEAD alum, ex MBA admissions interviewer)
MBAGuideConsulting
LinkedIn |WEBSITE: https://mbaguideconsulting.com/ | Message: +91 9971200927| email- [email protected]

Hey Vatsal,

Opportunities in Sports Merchandising within the US are fairly limited and the ones that do hire MBAs may not be able to sponsor your visa given the demand supply mismatch. Unfortunately, Nike sponsors on a case by case basis and that too marketing analytics functions. If you are really passionate about Sports merchandising, think about the EU where you have options like Decathlon, Manchester United, Adidas and many other larger sports retailer offering some good roles for business graduates. Plus given their focus on the Indian market, you may make a good fit for their hiring plans as most are aggressively looking at expanding their India presence.
Within the US it would make sense to stick to plain vanilla e-comm/retail opportunities with the likes of Amazon, Walmart, Target etc. since they have been working with international students day in and day out.

Reach out at info@thembaedge,com | +918368000961 if you have any other queries. All the best for your applications!

Hi folks, sorry just saw these inputs. Thanks a ton! Sharing some more nuances around my Plan A and Plan B, looking forward to discussing this further.

My immediate post MBA goal is to re-enter the Strategy domain in e-commerce domain, and, I would love for this to be with a sporting goods firm as I can see myself being excited to work in a role of the sort. I feel my experience in BD, merchandizing and platform growth has given me the basic wireframe, which an MBA can really polish up to enable me to succeed here. This is my plan A, however, I am aware real life is often not ideal, and my plan B will be to look out for established e-commerce firms like Amazon where my existing work experience combined with my MBA learnings can help me excel.

One reason for me to look into US B-Schools was because I wanted a comprehensive MBA experience given my work experience will still be just average (5 years) for most programs. Another reason for going with US was because they have the best ranked schools for my overall profile, and I feel I will be able to find a peer group there that will really push me to fuel my own growth.

I understand the visa concerns, but I'd rather have a plan B to deal with that rather than not show case my motivation on the application. Having a mainstream goal in a competitive candidate pool like mine (Indian male with an engineering background) could also negatively impact my application, so that was another headwind I felt incoming with that approach.

Eager to hear your views on this!

Hi, considering your impressive background and undergrad prestige, it might have been advantageous to invest more time in enhancing your GMAT score and aiming for admission to a school in this league with the possibility of securing substantial scholarships. Applicants often undervalue the pivotal role that a strong GMAT score plays in obtaining full scholarship.

Get candid advice tailored to your specific situation. We do not cap discussion hours with our applicants. Feel free to connect

Aanchal Sahni (INSEAD alum, former INSEAD MBA admissions interviewer)
MBAGuideConsulting
LinkedIn |WEBSITE: https://mbaguideconsulting.com/ | Message: +91 9971200927| email- [email protected]

Hm… UNC it would be a good school for someone looking at consulting. Scholarship chance is also good.

Kelley can also be included as well as Tepper and Jones.

Maybe Darden.

Hello, here are some U.S. business schools where you may have a chance of receiving substantial scholarships:

1. Emory University - Goizueta Business School: Since you mentioned an interest in consulting, Goizueta's strong consulting connections and smaller class size could work in your favor. They do offer merit-based scholarships, and your GMAT score and work experience could make you a competitive candidate.

2. University of North Carolina - Kenan-Flagler Business School: UNC Kenan-Flagler is known for its strong consulting and finance programs. With a GMAT score of 730 and your background in commercial banking, you could be a competitive applicant for scholarships.

3. Indiana University - Kelley School of Business: Kelley is known for its strong alumni network and career services. Your GMAT score and post-MBA goal of consulting align well with what Kelley offers. They also have various scholarships available for qualified candidates.

4. Georgetown University - McDonough School of Business: Georgetown's location in Washington, D.C., can be advantageous if you're interested in consulting, especially in areas like public sector consulting. They offer scholarships based on merit, so your GMAT score and work experience could help your case.

5. Vanderbilt University - Owen Graduate School of Management: Owen offers merit-based scholarships, and your GMAT score and career progression could make you a strong contender. They also have a Career Management Center that helps students transition into consulting roles.

6. Michigan State University - Eli Broad College of Business: Broad College offers scholarships for students with strong academic and professional backgrounds. Your GMAT score and career path align with their strengths in supply chain and consulting.

7. Ohio State University - Fisher College of Business: Fisher offers scholarships for competitive candidates, and your GMAT score and work experience could make you eligible. They also have a strong career management office to help you achieve your consulting goals.

When applying for scholarships, make sure to highlight your achievements, leadership experiences, and how your background aligns with each school's values and strengths in your application essays and interviews.

Good luck with your MBA applications!
MBA and Beyond

Hi, I recommend you choose your top 6 schools with a balance of reach and safety. High-reach schools are those where admission with scholarship could be difficult even with an exceptional application. But given your switch from IT to banking, I would take that bet. I would suggest considering Tepper, Cornell, Darden, and Columbia. You have already received several recommendations for safety schools. Surely consider Marshall as I see high chance of substantial scholarship and the school has gone up the rankings. Also, speaking from experience, I have seen finance profiles with full rides at Marshall.


Get personalized advice tailored to your specific situation. Do not hesitate to reach out to us if you need help navigating your unique circumstances in the B School admissions process. We do not cap discussion hours with our applicants

Aanchal Sahni (INSEAD alum, ex INSEAD MBA admissions interviewer)
MBAGuideConsulting
LinkedIn |WEBSITE: https://mbaguideconsulting.com/ | Message(WA): +91 9971200927| email- [email protected]

Thank you. Will be reaching out personally.

The choice of school would be heavily dependent on your location. Having worked with various folks on the Flex MBA formats, the main criteria to keep in mind is the location and flexibility of the program since you will continue to be employed. Tepper, NYU, Ross, Anderson, Haas all have some solid flex options where you can tailor the program to your needs while leveraging their community and its offering. Do a little bit more deep dive into the formats to determine a fit.

All the best and do reach out at [email protected] for any further queries.

Hi. Sorry about maxing out the GMAT attempts. I feel your score is good but not likely to receive any scholarship dollars.

You could try the GRE. Schools are not as generous with GRE scholarship dollars but if you get a great score, you could benefit from it. I probably would not waste a ton of time on converting to GRE. Perhaps spend the max of one month and then if you don’t get a great score, just focus on your applications.

In terms of the school choice, and if you’re looking for tech I would perhaps swap out McCombs for Foster. The level of jobs you get access to in Seattle is really hard to beat anywhere else. Obviously you have to perform but the abundance of alumni and the concentration of the alum base in Seattle really helps to grease the skids.

On the upside, I can see adding Kellogg. We had a memorable applicant last year from Taiwan and she went to Insead with 700 GMAT. She was going after consulting however.

In terms of your profile strengthening, the best thing you can do is get recognized in your job and get promoted or make more money. Basically the more successful you can be in your day job the better it is. It’s more important than extracurricular activities or pretty much anything else. The more brands you can get on your résumé the better as well, even if you have to jump around and change jobs. You want to create an image of a high-performing rising star, always out performing peers candidate.

Hey, Can we connect over email? Had a couple of questions around getting into Haas.

Hey, can we connect over email? Haas is one of my target schools. It'll be really helpful if you can throw some light on the process.

Hi, I recently got an admit in Ivey Business School and it would be great if we could connect on the same