Columbia - 05-06-2020 | Clear Admit ApplyWire

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May 6, 2020 4:59am ET

Applying: Columbia, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton

Intake Year: 2021

Pre-MBA Career: Financial Services

Post-MBA Target Industry: Private Equity

GMAT: 740

GPA: 3.6

Years of Work Experience: 7

Location: India

Post MBA Location: SE Asia

Notes:

Applied in R2 / late rolling for this year intake and unfortunately did not have the success I was hoping for. Planning on re-applying for Fall 2021 intake. US applicant based in Asia for the last 5 years, and will have 7 years of WE at the time of enrolling, which I recognize is a bit on the higher side. Studied at a top 10 UG institution in the US. Inputs would be appreciated.

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Show Comments (8) Last: May 14, 2020

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1674 Do you have any sense re why you were unsuccessful this season? Are you reapplying to the same programs? (1)

anon37829 Likes Earned: 61 These are mostly the same programs with the addition of Kellogg. I got an interview with Columbia and was able to get some feedback from the adcom — they said the late application (mid January) along with lack of involvement in Columbia admissions events (unfortunately I decided to apply late so wasn’t able to attend any info sessions or do an official visit). The others I did not receive an interview, so I suspect the way I communicated my story through the essays wasn’t clear or didn’t resonate? (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1674 So next season you can apply earlier, first rounds. Make sure your story makes sense, why MBA, why school x, tied to your goals. I'd have to think your global experience is attractive. You'll want to show impact, at work. Are you involved in activities outside of work? You've selected the M7, do any of these programs particularly resonate with you, your goals? Are you M7 or bust, or are you also considering the next tier? PE is notoriously difficult to move into. Have you built your own connections that may help with that? (0)

anon37829 Likes Earned: 61 Thanks for the detailed response. I currently work in a PE role overseas, so I'm hoping that can help me move into it post MBA, but having trouble getting into the roles I'd I'm interested in without an MBA. HBS and Kellogg resonate strongly with me with their focus on team based learning (slightly more so than the others) which I think would be most suited to my personality and valuable for me. Outside of work I'm involved in a charitable organization locally in Asia (working with restaurants to reduce food waste / utilize for homeless in the country I'm based in) along with a local business networking group. I was also an athlete in college and continue to compete at a semi-professional level (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1674 Well frankly, I'm a little surprised you had no success this season. Your work sounds good, make sure you show impact. The charitable org. work is interesting, might be worth increasing your impact there. Being an athlete also adds an interesting dimension. (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1674 More details on this candidacy in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2020/05/episode-100-wire-taps/ (1)

anon37829 Likes Earned: 61 Thanks so much -- great to hear your guys' thoughts on the episode. Wanted to update that I received an admission for R3 from Kellogg, extremely excited about it. (2)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1674 Very well done, your persistence paid dividends! (2)