Re-applicants
This post started off as a comment in response to B School Diva's post but morphed into the mama of all comments (sizewise) so I decided to post it on my own blog.
I had applied to 2 schools (Wharton and Columbia) last year. I had jumped into the process without doing a lot of research. I even committed the cardinal sin of not reading Montauk's book! *gasp* (okay, I hadn't even heard of montauk's book :) ). Needless to say, I got rejected at both schools. At the time, I felt I had put in a reasonably strong application. However, after some introspection, I realized that there were several areas that I could improve in. The feedback I got from Wharton really helped me with this. I believe duke provides feedback too. This is an excellent starting point.
Some of the things I worked on were, improving my GMAT score, getting more involved in extracurricular activities. making a conscious attempt to take on more leadership responsibilities at work and finally doing a *much* better job with my essays (specifically, showing career progression and doing a better job of elucidating short and long term goals).
The fact that you have been through this process really helps, since you have a better perspective on what is expected and what adcom is looking for.
Another big dilemma for me (and one which a lot of people who get dinged face) was that I was tired of my job at the time and was really looking forward to a fresh start. I considered taking up a new job. At the same time, I knew I would reapply for an MBA the next year.
The problem with the new job scenario was that I would have to ensure that I could justify my reasons for taking up the new job in terms of career progress or some such. But having put forward that justification, I would then have to show a good reason as to why I wanted to quit this new job 3-4 months into it (since I had decided to apply round 1 of next year). Moreover, there would be the issue of recommendations. I believe it is always best to get a recommendation from an immediate supervisor. My supervisor at the new company would have known me only for a couple of months and would not be able to provide a convincing enough recommendation (in my opinion). Also, I didn't think the new company would be very pleased upon learning that I planned to quit within less than a year of joining them.
Finally, I was concerned with how different my app could possibly be in a couple of months. there's only so much you can do in 4-5 months.
After a lot of thought and introspection, I came up with the following strategy:
1. Not to change my job.
2. Go out of my way to be involved in projects that would look good in my app.
3. More extracurriculars (I have always been pretty actively involved in volunteering but I figured doing more of something I enjoyed anyway could only help my app).
4. Retook the gmat.
5. Decided to apply to a wider spread of schools. This is very important. I did not end up applying to all the schools I planned on primarily because I got admitted to Duke on Dec 16th so lost the drive. But i had planned on applying to 6 schools.
6. Decided to apply to as many schools as possible in round 1. This leaves you with a lot of options. (Ended up applying to just 2 but that was not the plan)
6. Decided to apply to wharton in round 2 because I figured that would give me more time to set my application apart from the application that got rejected.
7. Completely overhauled my essays.
8. By default, I would have 1 more year of work experience.
edit: 9. Made sure I coached my recommenders on the uniqueness of each school (for example the 100% case method at darden) and made them familiar with my application/essays. I had not done this the first time.
I decided not to change my job, but I do believe it is possible to overcome some of the concerns I mentioned earlier, even if you decide to change jobs. It can be shown that it is better to change a job for a few months rather than continue in a dead end job. Changing a job does not mean that an MBA is not right at that time. Also, regarding the recommenders, it is always possible to get recommendations from people at the last job since they had been working with you till recently so that should not be an issue.
I had applied to 2 schools (Wharton and Columbia) last year. I had jumped into the process without doing a lot of research. I even committed the cardinal sin of not reading Montauk's book! *gasp* (okay, I hadn't even heard of montauk's book :) ). Needless to say, I got rejected at both schools. At the time, I felt I had put in a reasonably strong application. However, after some introspection, I realized that there were several areas that I could improve in. The feedback I got from Wharton really helped me with this. I believe duke provides feedback too. This is an excellent starting point.
Some of the things I worked on were, improving my GMAT score, getting more involved in extracurricular activities. making a conscious attempt to take on more leadership responsibilities at work and finally doing a *much* better job with my essays (specifically, showing career progression and doing a better job of elucidating short and long term goals).
The fact that you have been through this process really helps, since you have a better perspective on what is expected and what adcom is looking for.
Another big dilemma for me (and one which a lot of people who get dinged face) was that I was tired of my job at the time and was really looking forward to a fresh start. I considered taking up a new job. At the same time, I knew I would reapply for an MBA the next year.
The problem with the new job scenario was that I would have to ensure that I could justify my reasons for taking up the new job in terms of career progress or some such. But having put forward that justification, I would then have to show a good reason as to why I wanted to quit this new job 3-4 months into it (since I had decided to apply round 1 of next year). Moreover, there would be the issue of recommendations. I believe it is always best to get a recommendation from an immediate supervisor. My supervisor at the new company would have known me only for a couple of months and would not be able to provide a convincing enough recommendation (in my opinion). Also, I didn't think the new company would be very pleased upon learning that I planned to quit within less than a year of joining them.
Finally, I was concerned with how different my app could possibly be in a couple of months. there's only so much you can do in 4-5 months.
After a lot of thought and introspection, I came up with the following strategy:
1. Not to change my job.
2. Go out of my way to be involved in projects that would look good in my app.
3. More extracurriculars (I have always been pretty actively involved in volunteering but I figured doing more of something I enjoyed anyway could only help my app).
4. Retook the gmat.
5. Decided to apply to a wider spread of schools. This is very important. I did not end up applying to all the schools I planned on primarily because I got admitted to Duke on Dec 16th so lost the drive. But i had planned on applying to 6 schools.
6. Decided to apply to as many schools as possible in round 1. This leaves you with a lot of options. (Ended up applying to just 2 but that was not the plan)
6. Decided to apply to wharton in round 2 because I figured that would give me more time to set my application apart from the application that got rejected.
7. Completely overhauled my essays.
8. By default, I would have 1 more year of work experience.
edit: 9. Made sure I coached my recommenders on the uniqueness of each school (for example the 100% case method at darden) and made them familiar with my application/essays. I had not done this the first time.
I decided not to change my job, but I do believe it is possible to overcome some of the concerns I mentioned earlier, even if you decide to change jobs. It can be shown that it is better to change a job for a few months rather than continue in a dead end job. Changing a job does not mean that an MBA is not right at that time. Also, regarding the recommenders, it is always possible to get recommendations from people at the last job since they had been working with you till recently so that should not be an issue.
posted by MJ at Wednesday, March 08, 2006
4 Comments:
Thanks for the info. It is greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your comment. The entire blog community is so fun! And you all seem to have a lot more confidence in me than I do in myself. :-) lol.
Thanks for sharing your re-app thoughts too. I met one re-app who did quit his job... to start his own non-profit company before reapplying the next year. In showing his drive for social entrepreneurship, he was also taking a huge leap/risk - so I think your strategy was the right way to go.
And I'm waiting to hear all about your W admit this year! :-D
pretty strong strategy there...good luck for the 16th.
Thank you!!!
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