B Schools to apply

Question

Hi,
Can someone help me with selecting further applications, I have already applied to IVEY, ROTMAN, and UVA Darden. Recieved rejection from Ivey(primarily since I applied in R4 and that too towards d end of deadline), awaiting decisions from Darden EA round, and ROTMAN (Somehow I get a feeling that it won't turn out based on my performance in written response). I am planning to start my MBA next fall, which means, in order to be sure, I need to apply to at least 2-3 more schools. Below is my profile snapshot-
GMAT-720
Background- IIT grad with 6.5 years work experience in Oil and gas (4yrs), and management consulting (2.5yrs). Worked in multiple international locations for 2 of Fortune 100 firms
GPA- 6.5 (a bit of backdrop der) 
ST goal- Strategy Consulting 
LT Goal- CSO at a global oil firm

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bb · Answer

This forum is for ADMITTED ONLY. Please respect the forum rules.

billionaire · Answer

Moved to more appropriate forum. Indeed as bb noted, Admitted - Which BSchool to Choose? forum as it name says is designated as forum only for people in dilemma which offer to accept. I wish you snagar043 to soon be in that category, so we can help you with decision, if necessary. Meanwhile your concerns will be appropriately answered here in The B-School Application forum. Good Luck !

JatinBhandari1 · Answer

Hi Snagar, If you have an IIT Undergrad, and consulting experience, you should not have problems with cracking Rotman. If Rotman does not invite you for an interview, there is a serious communication challenge that you are facing right now. I do not know how close you are to building your "Contribution essay" for Duke, but if you have done a lot of groundwork, you should definitely submit the application on Oct 10th deadline. Also, Rotman is the Local MAFIA in Canada, and is like the IIM Ahemdabad of Canada- you should not go wrong in Canada if you graduate from Rotman. However, there are many top 20 to 25 US programs that will be keen on talking to you if you get your essays/story right. In the next 5 to 7 days, freeze a top MBA consultant you want to work with, and start shooting for round 2. Mail me @ Jatin@pythagurus.com if you are keen on understanding how can we help you. There are many other great and honest/authentic experts on this community. Start exploring, and get an expert to help you build your case. With an IIT undergrad, and a 720 GMAT, you should go well. I really hope you are not making one of the 8 mistakes that I recently shared ( pasting the relevant ones below). I am curious to see the images you submitted to Rotman and your interpretations for those images. I am curious to also see what you wrote for "Evolving leadership style". Read these below. I am sharing these with you as I have seen a lot of IITians shortchanging themselves primarily because they did could not differentiate between the IIT Vs. TOP MBA Game, and did not lay emphasis on the communication strategy. No one asked us for essays in India while we were growing up or applying for undergrads. That pattern stops us from understanding this new GAME called-Communicating with a LAYMAN over essays, and convincing them that we are worthy of their school. A lot of IITians from energy/infra/manufacturing background go too deep into technicalities. A layman loses perspective of your stories when that happens. See the MISTAKES BELOW- 2. Do not write your recommendation letters- Even if your bosses tell you to do whatever you want, you should still not be writing these yourself. It is so easy to catch you. Someone who has read your essays will easily be able to see your prints in your recommendations as well. Schools that have a weakness question in the recommendation are more likely to see this. It is not easy for a human being to critique on him/herself( Unless you are Dr. Lecter and have serious personality disorder issues- and can write like two different people- or probably you are so much conscious in your life that you have the ability to completely switch your identify off ☺ I did not know this 11 years ago when I started my career. Trust me when I am saying this- do not try this at home !

3. Weakness questions- it is okay to have weaknesses in life. A lot of my applicants approach this weakness question with a lot of hesitation. There is a tendency to either sugarcoat too much around the weakness, or share a strengths embedded in the form of a weakness. Steve Jobs had weaknesses, Obama Does, and so will you throughout your life. A lot of applicants come up with minimum risk, and maximum appreciation weaknesses too. In this cycle, the weakness of the year has been “ He finds it hard to say no” . Not sure if people are talking to each other or there is a common platform distributing these weaknesses on sale. Not being honest or original will not help your chances. However, even if you have this "Can't say no" weakness, show the impact it had on you, and your work /personal life. It is a genuine weakness, but when your recommender puts it in by describing you as someone who is very dependable and does not say no, he isn’t doing justice to your story. 4. Be authentic : Be honest while showcasing your accomplishments. You do not have to have million Dollar hits on the resume in order to crack the best schools. The way you describe your bits of success and your learnings matters a lot. I did not know this a lot in my first year of starting this career. I was lucky that my first applicant cracked Emory with a 50 or 60% scholarship. However, I learnt a lot in the last 11 years, and realised that MANY MANY Applicants try to demean or disregard their bits of real success, and try to PICK inorganic pieces of stories in order to make them more grandiose. Someone recently told me that his most significant life Accomplishment was that 3 months ago, he rolled out a beta product ( unknown product) in a large organisation( a company that would not even care about that product. To support this, he even had a Ninja Analysis ready. There were meeting boards, disagreements with bosses, and the entire communication paraphernalia needed to make this situation win. Well you know what- You should probably go spend some with yourself, and see how important your life has been so far, and what is by far the most important thing that you have accomplished. 5 Minutes of conversation with this applicant, and he told me that he really doesn’t care about this beta product. Chances are that there is no Alpha/Beta product that he was describing. But we later realised that he was the only male member in the family, and was supporting his two sisters in their education, and had helped his family in turning around a small real estate broking business. One iteration and he could really see that he has been making a very meaningful contribution to his family. There are bigger things in life than launching an Unknown Beta product that never took off. 5. Resume: A lot of engineers find it hard to understand the business implications of their actions at work. I see a lot of resume with strong technical results, but you got to understand that the audience for your resume isn’t the people in your organisation or your industry. If a Layman cannot appreciate the value of a particular bullet on your resume, he isn’t going to like you. $$’s, %ages, Legacy you created, and strong transferrable skills – these all count towards making a strong resume. You should definitely show your resume around to people outside your Industry and see if they understand your( without you standing next to them trying to explain those bullets 8. While writing the "Why this school?" essays for Wharton/Stanford/Tuck/Kellogg/Other top schools, do not create a BROCHURE for their MBA Program i.e. Your goal is not to tell them - WHY THEY ARE A GREAT PROGRAM? The idea is to tell them- WHY THEY ARE MEANT FOR YOU ? The Admissions committee members at the top schools are interested in Simply finding out HOW WILL THEY HELP YOU WITH YOUR CURRENT handicaps? If you and I went to Tuck, we will very likely experience a very different TUCK despite hanging out in the same buildings/campus. Those differences will arise from the things we want to grasp, the different futures that you and I have in mind, and our interests. It is important for you to identify your unique answers to "Why Stanford?", "Why Wharton?" etc. rather than narrating facts you gather through secondary research.

snagar043 · Answer

Thanks Jatin for such an insightful review....I guess the main problem with my application is d low undergrad gpa(6.3/10)which has been deterring my chances to top b schools.....can you suggest a few b schools, which may consider my excellent experience preferable than my low gpa

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JatinBhandari1 · Answer

Send your resume to Jatin@pythagurus.com . Let me have a closer look at your profile. thanks, Jatin

MBADecoder · Answer

Hi Snagar,

There are many programs in both USA and Canada that have a good focus on oil and gas - you don't seem to have them in your consideration. Feel free to send an email to me or fill our  profile evaluation form , and I'd be happy to have a chat to discuss your options.

MBADecoder · Answer

A lower GPA can be addressed through the optional essay

ARINGO · Answer

Hi, If you want to study in Canada, you should also consider Schulich, Sauder and McGill. If you are interested in b-schools with specialization in Strategy, you should consider Tuck, Yale, Rice, Ross, Carlson. For more info please visit https://aringo.com/general-management-s ... -programs/

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