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MadhuRajesh
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What does this mean? 01 May 2007, 10:08
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What does a business school actually want to say to you when they give you the following feedback on a ding without interview :

"Your application in general is very strong, it is simply that the competition you are up against is exceptional this year."

In this case, the school in question operates rolling admissions and still is conducting a few more interviews (for about 15-20% of their places).

I must mention that I am an Indian female with a GMAT of 690 (well balanced), 9 years of work experience in 4 countries in the tourism industry, and am looking for a career in entrepreneurship post-MBA.
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What does this mean? 01 May 2007, 10:18
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"You are a great candidate, and we would have liked to have talked to you given enough space in the school, but there are simply better candidates and a limited number of spots."

It means they denied you for no particular reason and have no good feedback for you.
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What does this mean? 01 May 2007, 10:23
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agree with rhyme. It is almost to say "its a crapshoot and you were unlucky".

It sounds like the thing to take from it is that you could benefit from something to really distinguish yourself from all other applicants. You were good, but others had "something" that made them stand out that bit more.

And, taking a guess as to which school, Columbia RD has been really tricky this year. If it is Columbia, getting the GMAT over 700 would be a nice to have.
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What does this mean? 01 May 2007, 10:54
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Not to sound like a broken record, but I agree that there probably isn't a "weak" area of your application. That doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement, but it means there was no deal-breaker.

I agree that boosting your GMAT would help if you reapply, but I think it goes without saying that improving any area will make your application better (a promotion, better essays, etc..) although GMAT is probably the easiest area to focus on and improve.
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MadhuRajesh
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What does this mean? 01 May 2007, 11:26
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No it wasnt Columbia - it was Judge Business School at Cambridge.

The challenge is that they have only 2 essays :

How would you like to be remembered?
Describe a project or task that did not go well.

Unlike some other applications' essay that allow you to highlight several other aspects of your personality, I felt these were somehow very limited in scope -maybe I am wrong and would appreciate any suggestions.

Madhu
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MadhuRajesh
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What does this mean? 01 May 2007, 11:44
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I also wanted to add that I have had 6 promotions in 8.5 years - not sure if another promotion would help or if I could actually manage one in the next few months..............
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What does this mean? 01 May 2007, 13:23
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agree with others!

"How would you like to be remembered?" is a great essay to list your accomplishements, your future as you dream it, things that make you different from others, etc, etc.

and, IMO, another promotion is not the answer!
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What does this mean? 01 May 2007, 14:31
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Oh right. Cambridge. I will try and have a look into this. I know quite a few Cambridge (and Oxford) alumni. Safe to say they aren't like any "normal" type of school, though I don't know how much runs through into their Business Schools.
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What does this mean? 01 May 2007, 14:43
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I have read the essays of some students that have got through both Oxford and Cambridge this year - they are, in my humble opinion, cheesy to say the least.

Most with an IT background wanting to gain MC experience go back to India and be entrepreneurs. I read somewhere on this forum this was typical for most Indian IT applicants.

Plus all have really ambitious social service aspirations - if I were to spend 50000 pounds on an MBA, I would be more concerned with ROI than charity. Again IMHO, if all Indian applicants who claim to have charitable inclinations, were to really go back to India and do what they proclaim in their essays, India would be a different place.

I am not sure if adcoms are looking for cliched responses but I would imagine reading through hundreds of applications they would be able to read between the lines.

In addition to retaking the GMAT, if I do not get through a business school of choice, I would probably redo my essays to sound like I want to get an MBA degree and return to India to devote my life to social service :-)