BSchools for Round 2!

Question

I've been lurking on the forum here for a while now and finally have a valid question to pose.

Based in India, I will have 5+ years of experience in Retail (Category Management and Business Development) at the time of matriculation next fall. In addition to this I'm an engineering undergrad (from a Top 10 Indian institute) and also have a masters in retail management from India's best fashion and retail school. Despite my below average GPA in my undergrad (Less than 3.0), I was confident of landing at least an interview at CBS (Early decision) due to the nature of my work experience and my ECs, but unfortunately I got dinged by CBS last night.

I have also applied to Goizueta (Emory) and Stern (NYU) in Round 1. With the short term goal of joining a strategy consulting firm's retail and consumer goods practice and then later (after 3-4 years) transitioning into a strategic role at a retailer like H&M or Amazon, I have consciously selected schools that have a formidable consulting track and are located in and around major commercial hubs. The location bias also compliments my back-up goal of networking and targeting opportunities in Retail from the get go. Having had an urban upbringing I personally prefer an urban setting over a college-town environment.

So after being dinged by CBS, my question now is which schools do I target in Round 2? The scenarios that I could be faced with are as follows:

1) If I get into either (or both) Goizueta or Stern, I could try targeting a couple of M7 schools. Considering all the factors- my work-ex, decent gmat score, low gpa, an additional masters, ECs, goals and my location bias- which schools can I target? I've given Booth and Kellogg some serious thought.

2) If I get dinged by both Goizueta and Stern, then I would more or less just target 3-4 schools that have a strong consulting history irrespective of the location, or vice-versa a more retail-friendly location over a strong consulting history. And this would be a mix of safe and aspirational schools. I'm thinking of - ISB, Rotman, Johnson (Cornell), Anderson (UCLA), Fuqua (Duke), Darden (UVA)/Ross (Michigan). Any suggestions regarding what a good mix in this scenario could look like? Would also be great to just get some insight into how limiting some negative factors, like the low gpa, could really end up becoming while making this choice.

Look forward to your replies!

abhimahna · Answer

Hey CantonasRaisedCollar , I believe you posted the question on the wrong forum. It should be directed to the admission consultants. No worries, I just moved it to its place.

CantonasRaisedCollar · Answer

Apologies, I didn't realise this was in the wrong forum.

Thanks  abhimahna

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

1) If I get into either (or both) Goizueta or Stern, I could try targeting a couple of M7 schools. Considering all the factors- my work-ex, decent gmat score, low gpa, an additional masters, ECs, goals and my location bias- which schools can I target? I've given Booth and Kellogg some serious thought. 
I think this is not a bad gameplan, I would lean Kellogg here over Booth, some of the same issues which got you the ding for CBS may resurface again with Booth but if you want take a swing at Booth after scoring the above admits, that's not a bad thing

2) If I get dinged by both Goizueta and Stern, then I would more or less just target 3-4 schools that have a strong consulting history irrespective of the location, or vice-versa a more retail-friendly location over a strong consulting history. And this would be a mix of safe and aspirational schools. I'm thinking of - ISB, Rotman, Johnson (Cornell), Anderson (UCLA), Fuqua (Duke), Darden (UVA)/Ross (Michigan). Any suggestions regarding what a good mix in this scenario could look like? Would also be great to just get some insight into how limiting some negative factors, like the low gpa, could really end up becoming while making this choice.

If you get dinged by Goizueta then I think many of the schools on your list might be challenging for you as this would signal a weaker overall competitiveness in your profile. In this scenario I would take a look at ISB, Rotman, Johnson, and Anderson as your lead options. Your GPA is an important factor but it is evaluated amongst a host of other factors most importantly with your GMAT, which you have a good score one

CantonasRaisedCollar · Answer

Thanks for the feedback! Especially for the second scenario. Just a follow up question to that, would it be reasonable to consider NUS or NTU alongside ISB, Roman, Johnson and Anderson?

VeritasPrepDozie · Answer

I would that is totally reasonable to consider those schools as additional options as well

CantonasRaisedCollar · Answer

Great! Thanks again  VeritasPrepDozie

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