Indian Applicant pool

Hi there, sudhir,

I can understand the frustration of applying to b-school as one of the many thousands of other applicants. However, the nature of the beast is that categorizing saves time (as bad as that sounds).

Truth is, there's no true way to categorize anyone. As anyone would argue, everybody is an individual. I am different from you; you are different from the guy living next door; and the guy living nex door is different from Justin Bieber. Everyone walks a different line and hums a different tune. So if that's the case, how does a school, such as Harvard, separate out 9000 such-individualized applicants? There's no true other way but to start categorizing/grouping applicants. When we have 9000 applicants applying to Harvard and let's just say that 2500 of those are Indians. There's no way that all 2500 will make it, correct? Of course (given the fact that the class if onliy about 900 people anyway). There has to be a way to "group" these 2500 people; therefore, almost a misnomer now - the Indian IT group. Why? Because AdComs have seen so many Indians, who were IT-driven, works in an IT or engineering field, and applying to b-school in 3 to 5 years. Are we saying that all of these 2500 applicant are Indian-IT? Of course not. But it's the mere fact that you'd have to beat out the other 2499 to secure a spot at Harvard makes it extremely difficult. What if there was only 3 Argentina CPAs applying to Harvard? Odds are the Argentinians have a better shot at getting into Harvard simply because of mere probabilities. There's no statistics given publicly to what doctors get on GMAT, or what CPAs get on GMAT, or Lawyers get on GMAT. Perhaps internally within a school that information is circulated, but it certainly is not made public. With that said, it all goes back to the fact that if there were 2500 Indians applying to Harvard and the average of that sample group (which is a fairly good size to indicate average and median) is 710, it becomes intrinsically harder for another Indian applicant to stand out in the crowd with a 610. I'm not saying that people with 610 shouldn't apply, but my point is that by categorizing each group it helps the AdComs to make a decision on who to get in. Afterall, since everyone's different, how would AdComs judge who gets to go in and who doesn't? Something has to give and it makes it easier (and a lot more sense) to divide the applicants up into different countries of origin, this way it gives the AdComs a realistic shot of how you fare against your own nationality, which may or may not have a different standards from the American schooling system. I hope this helps clear up a bit and while it is almost unfair to any reasonable mind, that's just the way it has to be until a better system comes along.

Going back to your profile, being NOT in the IT field makes you a bit specialized. However, with a 610 right now it's a long shot at Insead, IMD and LBS. With 670-680, you have a shot and if you're only wishing to go to these three schools, go for it! I have to take a guess that your preferential work location post-MBA is in Europe, and not in the states. If you do prefer to be in the states, rearrange these schools with some US b-schools.

Lastly, you just have to put yourself in the shoes of an admission personnel. Ask yourself "what you bring to the school in terms of knowledge and experience". This will not only help you write your essays later on, but it will also give you a general framework to how you're a specialized individual, such as those 3 Argentinian CPAs and not that 2500 Indian IT guys. I know that each and everyone is an individual and has individualized personality, and I'll stand my ground for anyone who says he/she is exactly like me (god, I hope not), but in the grand scheme of things, I had to prove it to b-school that I truly am different. If I were you, don't harp too much on your nationality and such, because those are just statistics and probabilities. Do the best you can on your application and you'll be treated as such when adcoms view your profile.

Disclaimer: all number used above are fabricated on the spot. Please don't hold me to it.