Hi - Thanks for reaching out for feedback. First, i am very sorry about your father. It is wonderful what you have done in his memory, helping other afflicted with blood cancer. Really admirable. Ok, now let's talk about your candidacy.
So, first and foremost I see that you are concerned that you won't be seen as "international" particularly with INSEAD, which is such a global program It is true, but please understand that that is just one of many, many metrics that adcoms assess, and it isn't one of the critical metrics. So don't be discouraged or concerned about that at all. You will be able t explain this in an optional essays if you feel strongly about it. In your case, due to why y returned to India, your essays will be additive in your application, not just explanatory, as it highlights characteristics about you that are venerable. Let's talk about the metrics that do matter and how to measure up in all of them
1) an ability to build confidence among the adcoms that you will be able to handle the rigor of the coursework - this is shown through a strong academic performance in college (more easily shown if you did a quant-focused major) and a strong score on the GMAT exam. You are in fine shape along this metric. Now, your GMAT score of 710 is good, but if you got that on your first attempt and that was a recent attempt I would encourage you to take it again, unless you walked of of the exam knowing that was the best you could do. I suggest you take it again, because although 710 is good, it is below the average of most top schools, so you want to show an effort to do better. Currently your verbal score is low. But don't worry. When we work with clients we make sure to mitigate a low verbal score by helping them craft strong resumes and essays. We make sure they speak to their communication prowess in their resume and have their recommenders also note it (if that makes sense).
2) a robust career-to date, one that shows progress, growth, acceleration relative to their peers, strategic thinking, leadership, teamwork, management of people and/or projects, innovative thought/action, versatility, impact/influence, and integrity among other traits - based on what you have shared about your career you have done a good job of addressing those themes. Now, what is critical is that you craft a business school resume that captures your professional story in a layperson friendly manner that also highlights those themes. This is part of our work with clients. We typically talk to clients for several hours before we then help them rebuild their resume. It is important to take it seriously. as the resume is often what the adcoms will read first in your app - yu want to make a string first impression. You want them to be eager to red your essays. What you don't want s for them to see that you aren't ready for business school because you didn't capture your experiences in a proper way. You also want to be sure to capture your experiences in an easy-to-read way. You don't want the adcom to have questions as they read your bullets, because you won't be next to them to answer questions. The same is true for the next big metric - career goals - they must be clear and have logic. Otherwise the adcom will have questions...let's talk more about that below....
3) Ambitious yet realistic career narrative/goals - ok, so you want to going into strategy consulting and then join a F500 company. That is VERY vanilla, meaning something lots of folks will say and very vague. This needs work. If this is really your career ambition, you need to talk about what specific practice group/industry you want to be a part of and why do you want to join a F5009 company...which one, in what industry? I ask these questions to test you...to understand your logic and passions. Right now, I don't grasp either. I need to be convinced that this narrative excited you and that you will excel. So if you partner with us we would play devil's advocate to make sure you have properly thought about your career options and crafted a narrative that once truly does excite you and will compel the adcoms, not make the, scratch their heads out of confusion.
4) A desire to be involved/give back - this is about extracurriculars during and after college. It looks like you have great involvement since college - admirable involvements. Right now, based on what's on paper, it looks like you may be light in terms of your involvement in college, in which case you would want to write an optional essay to explain why. adcoms believe the way applicants conduct themselves in college is indicative of how they will conduct themselves in business school. There may be reasons you weren't deeply involved in college...share that, candidly.
5) Fit with schools - right now, per your career ambitions, any top school would work for you. Fit needs t be more personal - it can be about class size, culture, programmatic offerings, global immersion opps, semester-abroad options, alumni networks, etc....right now I honestly can't tell you that the schools you have selected are right or wrong for you. Nothing tells me they are wrong for you. But I am dying to ask you questions to better understand your selection. I also want to help you shared your career goals so we can then more definitively define what schools are the right schools for you.
6) Life experience (god and bad)/color/depth/maturity/perspective - this is very hard to detect from what you sent me, as this is a sense one can only develop about someone after talking with them at depth. It's what we work very hard to help clients integrate throughout their applications so adcoms see them as distinct, unique. I can see that you have definitely had some life experience due to your father's passing. I want to know what else there is, and we then want to discern how to build that naturally into your applications.
Ok, so that is just the top of the iceberg. But it is a glimpse into your candidacy. I hope you find it helpful. If you would like to talk more over skype, just let me know. You can reach me at Kathryn Lucas (remover space between names)
Square One Prep (removes spaces between words) dotcom. Sorry i had to write my email address that way. Urls aren't allowed in posts. Thanks!
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