Target Yale!

Question

Hi All,

I'm new to GMAT club, I gave one attempt to GMAT and got a 600. I have 2 years of Work Ex at a good IT services giant.
I want to give GMAT and I have just one target, one target in all. I want to go to Yale. :D

I know thats asking too much. But aspirations have no boundaries. Can you guys help me out with some tips, tricks or best practices you guys might have accrued with your experiences. Guidance on study material, schedule, strategies; totally welcome!

Thanks a lot in advance!

Regards,
Harsh Narula

rni · Answer

Is there any specific reason for targeting Yale?

hrshnarula · Answer

Its just that the legacy of the school, the class which just pulls me to Yale. Plus if you look at the alumni and the standard of people who study there, it gives you a reason furthermore.

gmatsaga · Answer

Hello!

Welcome to GMATClub!

Anyway, why don't you elaborate more on your background?

1. Where did you study for your undergraduate?
2. What are your plans post-MBA?
3. Again, why Yale? Why not Harvard, Stanford or Wharton? (I'm not saying Yale SOM is not great. It is. But what separates it from the rest of the pack?)
4. When are you planning to retake the GMAT?

hrshnarula · Answer

Thanks gmatsaga!

To answer your question:

1. Where did you study for your undergraduate? 
I did my B Tech in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Indraprastha University Delhi.

2. What are your plans post-MBA? 
Job first, pay back the education loans, non profit business after that.

3. Again, why Yale? Why not Harvard, Stanford or Wharton? (I'm not saying Yale SOM is not great. It is. But what separates it from the rest of the pack?)
Tough question, its like why Adidas, why not Nike or Reebok or Puma. There is an ineffable liking I have towards Yale. No idea why. :D

4. When are you planning to retake the GMAT? 
July last week/August first week.

Hope it answers all your questions. :D

gmatsaga · Answer

No what I meant was, what are your career plans post-MBA?

Are you looking into consulting (McKinsey, Bain, BCG) or investment banking (Goldman, JP, CS, etc.) or any other industry? Or are you planning for a start-up?

hrshnarula · Answer

Yes Job first, Consulting, Marketing.
McKinsey, BCG, Booz and Company, any will do. :D
Later after some economic stabilization, I have plans to start up a non-profit business.

hrshnarula · Answer

Thanks Nikhil with the info. But I'm looking to give another attempt at GMAT itself because I don't have time to start preparing afresh for GRE with a full time job.

I'm really looking forward to some help regarding study material, plan and strategies.

rni · Answer

your response doesn't sound too convincing. IMHO Yale is not in the same league as H/S/W .

It is like saying why 'Action' and why not adidas/nike/reebok

hrshnarula · Answer

If I had the balls to get into H/S/W, I wouldn't have posted Target Yale anyway. :D

gmatsaga · Answer

You never know. You don't know what you're capable of, hrshnarula.

rni · Answer

lol..hoping u have a better answer for the adcoms

gmatsaga · Answer

LOL

Interviewer: So Mr. hrshnarula, why Yale?
hrshnarula: Well if I had the balls to get into H/S/W, i wouldn't have been talking to you.

That's funny haha

mahajanakhil1985 · Answer

Even I have a GMAT score of 600, but I still find it hard to explain to myself that why I can't go to H/S/W. I got 48 in Q and 25 in Verbal, and I know that I am not that bad in verbal as my score reflects. The only way to find whether you can be admitted to H/S/W is to apply and ask them, no other person can probably answer that right. I know many people like me from my part of the world do not find it affordable to apply to many universities, but this is how it goes.

gmatsaga · Answer

Ku-tothemothereffing-dos

Couldn't have said it any better.

I remember a story my boss told me about his recent interview for INSEAD January 2013 intake.

She (INSEAD MBA alumna) said that in the first day of class the professor told them to close their eyes. When everyone finally closed his/her eyes, the professor then said, "raise your right hand if you think that you being here, matriculated in the best business school in this continent, is just a fluke." After a while, the professor commanded the students to open their eyes while keeping their hands where they are. "Open your eyes," the professor said.

She was surprised that more 90% of the class was raising his/her hand.

gmatsaga · Answer

It really is, isn't it?

I mean, while I'm riding the public transportation en route to my home, I always find myself asking, "damn, how am I going to compete with the big boys from McKinsey, Bain or BCG? Who am I to rub elbow's with the Goldman Sachs kids and the Morgan Stanley prodigies?"

And come to think of it, what are those people thinking? Safe to assume that they think in the lines of, "geez, how am I going to compete with my fellow Bainee or McKinsey-ite who's Summa Cum Laude, a 790 in the GMAT and a certified genius? How am I going to matriculate in Stanford if, unlike my colleague right there, I wasn't included in the team that underwrote Facebook IPO."

We worry too much about competing others that we forget that we are unique. We have our own weaknesses and strengths. We have our own story to tell.

I think Conan O'Brien put it best in his commencement speech at Dartmouth. He said (don't quote me on this), "our failure to be our perceived ideal makes us genuine and unique. It is not easy but if you accept your failure it could be a means for genuine catalyst for change."

The master at his work

mahajanakhil1985 · Answer

Though I signed up to this forum few months ago, I have started it only 5-6 days ago. I am not able to find a section in which people who have got admission to good schools discuss their experiences. E.g. how much was their GMAT experience, what quality of work-ex did they have, etc.?

rni · Answer

true ! everyone has someone to look upto .. need to get the best out of us ! and need to stop looking at the linkedin profiles of H/S/W graduates :D

rni · Answer

this totally cracked me up

maybe it can happen this way:
Interviewer: So Mr. hrshnarula, why Yale?
hrshnarula: Tough question, its like why Adidas, why not Nike or Reebok or Puma.There is an ineffable liking I have towards adidas and Yale.Do you guys have tie ups with any other shoe company?

AbhiJ · Answer

A lot about getting into Top MBA is about having communication skills better than 95% of workforce. You already know whether you have that or NOT.

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