Wharton MBA Admit Taking Questions

[capreal26]

wow, another W admit.. Congrats Poseidon.. all the best for your Wharton experience..
& yes, keep coming back to PG once you land at Penn.

- amit

PS: your PG id does ring some memories.

[poseidon]

Sherlock,

1) Applying to schools: It depends on which schools you would like to target. If you are targeting the top 20 B-schools, you would do well to have ATLEAST 2 years WE by the time you are applying, and 3 years at the time you are getting in. Even though 3 years will be at the lower end of the WE spectrum, remember that it is the quality of the WE that counts, and not the number of years. Having said that, I suggest with 4 months of WE, you can start community service and extra curricular activities. Preparation for the GMAT, IMHO, does not take a lot of time, and for engineers, 6 months is more than sufficient to prepare, unless you are verbally challenged.
Having said that, I would encourage you to research schools, get more work ex, get a good GMAT score.

2) As far as ACADEMICS / GPA is concerned, you need not worry. They look at the whole package, and the GMAT can be an effective mitigant to a mediocre GPA. I dont have a first class myself, and I know someone who has got in with a B.Com with a second class at Wharton. In your case, a first class will stand you in good stead academically.

[poseidon]

Originally Posted by hanu

hi rahul

could u suggest ...i have 77% in verbal and 4.0 in AWA overall i have 700 on gmat...should i take the TOEFL to help...i am targeting US 7 to 15 and Insead, Said.

Hanu,

700 is a competitive score at most B-Schools. Essentially, everyone should aim for an 80-80 split in the Quant & Verbal sections, but 77% is close enough. This is why in your case, you would do well to strengthen other areas of your application. A marginally higher GMAT score would hardly help you a lot.

In my opinion, the TOEFL is not a good mitigant to a low verbal score. TOEFL tests your knowledge and use of English... it does not test for VERBAL REASONING, which is what MBA Adcomms look for.

In short, I wouldnt worry too much about a 77% Verbal score. You can easily offset that by some excellent essays.

INSEAD, SAID: These are both 1 year programs, as compared to 2 year US programs. Since they do not provide internship opportunities, an emphasis is placed on the length of the WE as compared to US numbers. The average at INSEAD & SAID is over 5.5 Yrs. 700 will be a competitive score at these schools.

[poseidon]

Uday, Synapse, Capreal26... Thank you so much for your wishes.

Congratulations Allwin - Met Allwin at the Wharton meet. Came across as a really warm and friendly person. Would love to be spending time with him in the future. Judging by the amount of congratulatory notes he has got, I am certain that his work relating to the forum has impacted a lot of people, and has brought a lot of friends together. Congratulations, again, my friend!


-Poseidon

[Govi]

Originally Posted by poseidon

Hi. Thank you for your post. That is a very good question, since differentiating your app is the key... ESPECIALLY for people from India who are in the most competitive pool for top B schools.

As far as your question is concerned, I think the key factor was my essays, which I spent a lot of time on. I also had a high verbal score on the GMAT, showed public speaking prowess, and taught 3 students in my building for verbal SAT, as well as verbal in the GMAT. Being an Indian engineer, I think that the adcomm is most interested in your communication abilities and verbal skills.

Hope this answers your question.

Hey Rahul

It would be of great help if you could elaborate on this, I know its like asking for more but your profile make me curious to know more about how you made it to the most aspired B school .

I am more inclined to read about how you went about with the essays

[mba05]

Poseidon,

Congratulations !!!

What are your short / long term goals ?

Did you apply to schools besides Wharton ?

Thanks,
mba05

[poseidon]

Govi,
My essays were made with a LOT of introspection, over a lot of time and after doing a lot of research. I personally cant comment on what the adcomm thought really stood out, because I myself dont know.

I would like to give you some advice though. On the schools admissions website, in the section where they describe what they look for in applicants, do go through each word very carefully. They have been very carefully picked and the sentences have been crafted by the committee. If your essays exhibit all of these qualities, you will be at an advantage. I personally made a checklist of all the things covered, and ticked them off when I was finished with my essays.

Hope this helps! What are your stats and where are you applying?

Regards,
Rahul

[poseidon]

Originally Posted by mba05

Poseidon,

Congratulations !!!

What are your short / long term goals ?

Did you apply to schools besides Wharton ?

Thanks,
mba05

Hi.

Yes, I did apply to Columbia, where I got waitlisted. I have withdrawn my app from there.

My goals revolve around entrepreneurship, and setting up my own venture.

Where all are you planning to apply?

Regards,
Rahul

[Psychodementia]

Hey Rahul,

Great to see you are helping around the PG forum with your thoughts and inputs. Your credentials are no doubt gold-plated after having secured admission from Wharton. As Allwyn puts it himself "this is as big as it can get"

If I were to crunch my profile: B.Sc (bad acads from okay college), MCA (good acads from okay college), GMAT 700 (VA 85%ile QA 90%ile), 5.5years of workexp in IT (no phenomenal progression but with international travel and team lead role), extra-curriculars - mentored and tutored around 2000 students (oh yea ask the guys at pg about it ) over the last 5 years including conducting summer camps on communication for over 3years for underprevilged children (dealing with the 60-second attention span of 7year olds is an education in itself ), Quizzing - among others appeared on TV on Sidharth Basu's "India Quiz" etc.

Apping R2 to:

(a) London Business School

(b) Said Business School

(c) ISB

(d) Manchester Business School

Wheeww........first time I am writing so much about myself. Excuse the details

Curious to know a few details. Time and patience permitting do answer them:

(a) Where all did you apply and what is that status ? (Figured Colombia w/l) Where all would you have apped in R2 ? At a more fundamental level, what was your though process in picking up this list ?

(b) Typically how much time did you devote to the essays ? How did you do the "research" and how did you get it reviewed ? The point being I think a lot. MBA or no MBA. And hence have very clear views on a lot of stuff. But my essays are turning out to be run of the mill. I am clueless

(c) I loved the ticking off the checklist drawn from the "what we look for in applicants" section of the website. How much did your essays change from college to college. The reason I am asking this is because my answers to questions like Why MBA and Why me and Why now are essentially the same. So I am just re-using a lot of them. Do you think I should ....ahem embellish my goals to suit the requirements of the college ?

(d) Reco letters according to me, are a very precarious proposition. I feel the ability of the referee to articulate clearly your qualities has a huge bearing on the way your qualities are show cased. Did you have troubles where the referee was limited in describing you due to his own lack of communication skills ? If yes, how did you deal with it and how do you think the ad comm views it ?

(e) In terms of career progression, how important is it to have roles vis-a-vis titles. For example, I play the role of a lead but my title suggests just a "senior engineer". This is due to the common corporate phenomenon of annual promotion cycles (needless to say I missed the bus this year and the change won't happen before mid-2006).

Thanks,

Arun

PS: Allwyn needless to say you are more than free to answer the same

[SNAX]

Originally Posted by poseidon

Govi,
My essays were made with a LOT of introspection, over a lot of time and after doing a lot of research. I personally cant comment on what the adcomm thought really stood out, because I myself dont know.

I would like to give you some advice though. On the schools admissions website, in the section where they describe what they look for in applicants, do go through each word very carefully. They have been very carefully picked and the sentences have been crafted by the committee. If your essays exhibit all of these qualities, you will be at an advantage. I personally made a checklist of all the things covered, and ticked them off when I was finished with my essays.

Hope this helps! What are your stats and where are you applying?

Regards,
Rahul

Congartualtions Rahul !! 2 years is a lot of introspection and preparation Hats off to you!

On Wharton application, essay2, what impact did you mention that you had on others? personal or professional? You may choose not to answer this, as it is personal

Congrats again, and party hard