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willget800
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Does a phone call from an alumni help? 27 Dec 2006, 17:51
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I am trying to get a feel from the gmat club here if a phone call from an alumni to the admissions director would make a difference to your application chances?

What do the people around feel here?
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rhyme
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Does a phone call from an alumni help? 27 Dec 2006, 18:02
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Does a phone call from an alumni help? 27 Dec 2006, 18:03
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willget800
I am trying to get a feel from the gmat club here if a phone call from an alumni to the admissions director would make a difference to your application chances?

What do the people around feel here?
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I'm no expert, but from what I understand this sort of stuff is best reserved for the waitlist (and even then, letters are much better than phone calls). Some of us can probably find an alumni for every ultra-elite and elite b-school working in our office who would be willing to help out. If we asked those alumni to put in a good word (besides the formal recs) adcoms would be swamped with phone calls.
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Does a phone call from an alumni help? 27 Dec 2006, 18:36
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rhyme
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I agree.
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rhyme
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Does a phone call from an alumni help? Updated on: 27 Dec 2006, 22:08
Originally posted by rhyme on 27 Dec 2006, 21:44.
Last edited by rhyme on 27 Dec 2006, 22:08, edited 1 time in total.
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willget800
I am trying to get a feel from the gmat club here if a phone call from an alumni to the admissions director would make a difference to your application chances?

What do the people around feel here?
I'm no expert, but from what I understand this sort of stuff is best reserved for the waitlist (and even then, letters are much better than phone calls). Some of us can probably find an alumni for every ultra-elite and elite b-school working in our office who would be willing to help out. If we asked those alumni to put in a good word (besides the formal recs) adcoms would be swamped with phone calls.
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You think you can find an alumni from every ultra-elite and elite school who is willing to put their name next to yours and go out of their way to recommend you to a school?

Where in the world do you work?
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Does a phone call from an alumni help? 27 Dec 2006, 22:03
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Maybe its a slight exaggeration, but off the top of my head I can think of an HBS, Wharton, Kellogg, GSB, MIT, Cornell, Darden, Duke, Tuck, UCLA, Insead, Yale (and possibly Ross and Stern) grad that I've worked with over the last two years and that I continue to have a good relationship with. I’d feel comfortable going to each of these folks for a letter if I were to get waitlisted. I’d rather not go into the name of my employer because it’s a small to medium sized shop, but I thought this was pretty typical for people with a banking or consulting background.
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Does a phone call from an alumni help? 27 Dec 2006, 22:07
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Maybe its a slight exaggeration, but off the top of my head I can think of an HBS, Wharton, Kellogg, GSB, MIT, Cornell, Darden, Duke, Tuck, UCLA, Insead, Yale (and possibly Ross and Stern) grad that I've worked with over the last two years and that I continue to have a good relationship with. I’d feel comfortable going to each of these folks for a letter if I were to get waitlisted. I’d rather not go into the name of my employer because it’s a small to medium sized shop, but I thought this was pretty typical for people with a banking or consulting background.
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In retrospect, I realized you're right - I do know people from HBS, INSEAD, IMD, Thunderbird, LBS, Kellogg, Wharton, Michigan and Chicago. I never really thought about it.

That said, I still think it doesn't hurt.
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Does a phone call from an alumni help? 27 Dec 2006, 22:48
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dukes
Maybe its a slight exaggeration, but off the top of my head I can think of an HBS, Wharton, Kellogg, GSB, MIT, Cornell, Darden, Duke, Tuck, UCLA, Insead, Yale (and possibly Ross and Stern) grad that I've worked with over the last two years and that I continue to have a good relationship with. I’d feel comfortable going to each of these folks for a letter if I were to get waitlisted. I’d rather not go into the name of my employer because it’s a small to medium sized shop, but I thought this was pretty typical for people with a banking or consulting background.

In retrospect, I realized you're right - I do know people from HBS, INSEAD, IMD, Thunderbird, LBS, Kellogg, Wharton, Michigan and Chicago. I never really thought about it.

That said, I still think it doesn't hurt.
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well i know only 2 people ever to go to a top 10 business school. Maybe I am in an industry where not many people go full time to top 10 school for mba
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Does a phone call from an alumni help? 28 Dec 2006, 01:16
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Maybe its a slight exaggeration, but off the top of my head I can think of an HBS, Wharton, Kellogg, GSB, MIT, Cornell, Darden, Duke, Tuck, UCLA, Insead, Yale (and possibly Ross and Stern) grad that I've worked with over the last two years and that I continue to have a good relationship with. I’d feel comfortable going to each of these folks for a letter if I were to get waitlisted. I’d rather not go into the name of my employer because it’s a small to medium sized shop, but I thought this was pretty typical for people with a banking or consulting background.
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How if you know friends from these schools? Does that also work?
I guess since these people are not the main recommender, it should be OK..
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Does a phone call from an alumni help? 28 Dec 2006, 13:23
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What if a school (Harvrad & Wharton) specifically asks waitlisted candidates not to contact the school whatsoever? Under such circumstances, should the waitlisted candidate simply sit tight and wait or should he still proactively lobby for his case? Wharton has asked the waitlisted candidates at last at three different places (online letter, email and the website) not to contact the adcom and to honor this policy. I am really confused because I know that many waitlisted candidates would still be lobbying for their cases aggressively and here I am sitting tight honoring the policy………….I am also afraid that if I do something proactively, I may end up alienating adcom members….
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Does a phone call from an alumni help? 29 Dec 2006, 00:30
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It may help, but I think that the people who have been posting here overestimate the value of it. Same thing with alumni recs. It's just a little hard for me to believe that the Admissions people are going to completely defer to something that is written or said by someone who just happens to be an alumnus.
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Does a phone call from an alumni help? 29 Dec 2006, 00:37
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It may help, but I think that the people who have been posting here overestimate the value of it. Same thing with alumni recs. It's just a little hard for me to believe that the Admissions people are going to completely defer to something that is written or said by someone who just happens to be an alumnus.
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They wont defer, of course not. What it will do is carry more weight than a non alumni rec and lend credence to the statement that you are a good fit for the school. It may not overcome core fundamental issues, but it may go a long way towards mitigating any concerns that may exist from a cultural fit perspective - precisely because, who better than to comment on this than an alumnus?