Ding experiences

Question

Hey comrades congrats to those with admits but for those with dings across the board or with feeble waitlist hopes what has been your experience?

In my case, I went through a one day system crash (after Harvard and Wharton double ding) but like bsd_lover, I feel even more energized to rebound with a stronger application. With this coming to terms, I have been able to tell friends and family about the outcome so far and the lost hope for MIT and columbia. However I can't help but laugh at the responses...one friend in the investment industry told me to apply to her B-school alma mater the next time around and even offered to write me a recommendation. Interesting point is, I couldn't even find the school in any rankings...i.e. it's the local program offering all manner of programs and accepting anyone who will apply, my roommate suggested yet another no-name telling me how her parent's friend succeeded after going to no-name Y. Finally a co-worker and good friend suggested I apply to one of the online programs...honestly I have laughed myself stupid! Not trying to be arrogant but how do you go from interviewed at Wharton and waitlisted at Cornell to reapplying to University of Phoenix online....yadi yadi yada??...and this is after countless explanations to the same people why I need to get into a competitive program especially as a career changer, older applicant etc. Is anyone else experiencing the same insanely illogical consolation/advice? Help I want to scream!! How rare is logic or am I getting paranoid if I feel like these friends may not want me to succeed to the level I dream of?!

socalconsult · Answer

The other way of looking at it is your friends care about you and propose a short-term solution in an attempt to help you get over the rejection. The thing you hopefully understand is that unless something major changes in your application, reapplication is not a guaranteed admission at the elite schools. Did your recommenders have MBAs from an elite school?

Columbia08 · Answer

Hey socalconsult, I do appreciate that I may have been overly ambitious in my choice of B-schools and it certainly makes a lot of sense to recommend casting my net lower even as I reapply to some of my dream schools but to tell me to apply to "one of those online programs" as an older applicant trying to break into IM just doesn't make any sense at all. Considering the time, money or effort..the ROI would obviously be negative.

Besides even in my opinion, my applications did have a lot of room for improvement...my GMAT bordered on sub par for some of the schools and clearly sub par for others and most of my essays were written in about a week or so, so I was honored to even get interview invites so I feel that my profile did have something that was worth consideration. In that case if I could raise my score to a more competitive level now that I have more time and take my time getting to know the schools, writing better essays etc, I may have a better shot at B-school next year compared to this year.

My recommenders are from Stanford and Upenn and though not business school they seemed to get the basic idea of what B-school recommendations entail..In fact one of them is a UPenn med school adcomm member with pals in the business world so he understood the intricacies of admissions and the nuances of B-school to an appreciable extent.

socalconsult · Answer

Applying to business school can be an extremely humbling experience. While you may have indeed cast your net too high this year, you should definitely do whatever it takes to show the improvement in your application next year.

Since you said you are older applicant, my advice of waiting two years to reapply probably would not make a lot of sense. The reason I asked about your recommenders is they may have been able to help you focus your search to realistic schools.

As for your friends, you are right that their recommendations do not align with your career goals at all. I too would find it pretty funny, but your friends either mean very well or doubt your ability to get into a top school. As these are your friends, I would hazard to guess that they probably mean well and give them the benefit of the doubt. That said, you should definitely "find friends" who went to top elite programs to help you review your essays next year.

Good luck

bsd_lover · Answer

Hi Columbia08 that is the eternal problem with well wishers, who do not understand the full extent of our misery. They just put all these dings in the same basket without understanding all that we have put into the process. One ding CAN be better than the other even though the outcome is the same. For instance, my first application to Columbia J-Term was AWFUL. I see it now. I was extremely naive about the applications process back then and I cringe upon rereading those essays. With Chicago I got an interview and then got dinged. I know my essays were light years apart. Yet a ding is a ding and the end result is the same. Like you, I know am not too far off the mark. My last 3 applications have yielded interviews and two of them waitlists. My friends have suggested looking at local options like AGSM and NUS, which are good schools no doubt, but they do not cater to my dreams. My advice is to keep in touch with this board with like-minded people who will keep you motivated and who understand your (and my) situation. Its going to be another marathon and we'll need all the motivation we can get.

mNeo · Answer

I don't know about the online program suggestion, but in the other two cases, your friends had good feelings about their suggested programs. Heck, one of them went to one such program. So, they certainly value those programs more than you. So it is very obvious that from their point of view, they gave you good suggestions. The suggestions don't make much sense for you, but you can tell that their intentions were nice.

Columbia08 · Answer

Well said bsd..I guess I have to learn to overlook those comments and do what I have to do relying on those who truly understand the process. I'm beyond grateful for GMAT club...I think without it I would not have a penny's worth of chance of understanding what is required let alone coming up with it.

In some way bsd you are keeping me strong in my resolve...I hope next year we can look back and say it was worth it like DJM who got into Wharton this year as a reapplicant.

In some way bsd you are keeping me strong in my resolve...I hope next year we can look back and say it was worth it like DJM who got into Wharton this year as a reapplicant.

Columbia08 · Answer

Thanks mNeo..I guess I am getting paranoid which is not a good thing.

700willdo · Answer

i would strongly advise against taking advice from anyone who doesen't know a damn thing about the whole applicationa process to the top B schools and have no idea about B schools. I talked to a lot of people from different backgrounds and the advice I got was as varied as anything else, which was more of a problem than a solution. Not many people know what it takes to get into the good schools. After all not everyone will have gone through that process of applying and not everyone will have done their research. I found many people who told me that it's not important which school you go to because what matters more is what you do after school. On the other hand I had many people telling me that I should apply to the best schools and see what happens because this is a one time opportunity so I should try and maximise it.

Here's my point: Only I know what I am capable of and only I know the schools that I would want to get into. Only I know which schools I would have a realistic chance of getting into. In my case, the most important thing was to go to a school that has a moderately sized class and where I would be ensured personal attention by the career services. I didnt want to go to schools with 1000 students and then get lost. I also didnt want to go to schools which has students who don't need the MBA in the first place.

Ding experiences

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