Please help...6 dings w/o i/v this season

Question

Hi,

I have been completely shattered by a series of dings this season. And all of them were without interview calls. I am completely clueless about what should I do next, what should I retrospect and what colleges should I apply to in R2. Please help me.

My profile:
GMAT - 720/6.0
Work Ex - 3.5 years in leading IT MNCs as a Software Developer and team lead
Nationality - Indian
Extra curricular - decent with sports and NGO work

Colleges applied to in R1 and dinged:
Harvard
Kellogg
Booth
ISB
Tepper
NUS

:cry:

manisjce · Answer

Hey buddy,

You are from overrepresented pool and have applied only to top 10 programs in US (NUS selectivity is 10%). You have to have a broad range of schools from stretch to safe depending upon your goals and affordable expenses.

PM me if you need any help

method · Answer

Speaking candidly, there is probably something flat about your overall application. Whatever is in your essays/resume/recs wasn't enough to get interview invites, which from Kellogg is especially telling because they interview almost everyone (~90% of all applicants).

Find and  sell  a spark. What makes you different from every other Indian/IT/720 applicant? Where do you really shine as an individual? What's your passion and how do you want to change the world? You need something to show the reviewer that you would be awesome at the school.

And manisjce is right, you've got a very narrow pool of schools. Which slightly troubles me, because if you really invested your time into research, I think you would have come to this same conclusion yourself. Lack of research might be another indicator of, what I suspect, is a flat application.

This doesn't mean you're not a fantastic leader or future business leader, but maybe your application didn't sell yourself well. Like manisjce, feel free to PM me and maybe I can eyeball some of your essays and stuff.

joerandom · Answer

There are some things missing from your profile here, all of which could have ended up being the problem. GPA (or Indian equivalent), source/quality of recommendations, short term/long term goals, etc. Any of those things could have thrown up red flags. If you want some feedback it'd be helpful to at a minimum throw those out there too.

Shot in the dark: vague and ill-defined career goals or a generic app not tailored to show specific research and interest in each individual program.

cheetarah1980 · Answer

I'm sorry to hear about the dings. I went through something similar several years ago when applying to a different Masters program.

Did you have a native English speaker proofread your essays? While your English is overall pretty good, I can tell from reading that you're not a native speaker. Even the slightest misphrasing can raise a red flag for the adcom and make them wonder, "will this student be able to keep up with the nuances of class discussions." I am not saying that this is the only reason you were dinged, but it could have contributed. Overall, I think the advice you've been given is a good place to start.

Anasthaesium · Answer

Good advice. 
Apart from that, you should try and distinguish yourself in a unique way.  Any  unique way, since you are from a dense pool.

Please help...6 dings w/o i/v this season

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