As R2 draws to a close and many well-deserving applicants get disappointing news this admissions cycle, I wanted to emphasize that all is not lost and share my two cents about successfully reapplying in EA/R1 next year.
**Background:**
You can check [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/MBA/comments/b6s0vr/coursework_to_overcome_low_gpa/) that I made last year.
Tl;dr version: Received 8 dings in R2 despite good professional achievements and 750 GMAT.
**Outcomes in 2020:**
Applied to 7 schools across R1 and R2.
1. Dinged by 2 (M-7 and T-15),
2. WL by 1 (T-20)
3. WL Admit by 1 (T-10) - no scholarship
4. Admitted to 3 (2 T-20s and 1 T-25) - $250k scholarship
**Changes made sequenced by degree of importance (IMO):**
1. **Revise ST and LT goals**: I applied last year with unrealistic goals (VC -- with no pre-MBA background in VC/PE). As an international applicant, it was critical that my goals be super-relevant to my pre-MBA work experience. The job market for internationals is very unfavorable -- roughly 1 out of 5 companies sponsor internationals; schools don't want out-of-work internationals graduating from their programs. I re-aligned my goals (PM in Big Tech) to tie into my pre-MBA work experience (tech start-ups). This made me a less of a liability and gave B-Schools a clear picture of what my career trajectory would look like.
2. **Glowing Letter of Recommendation:** This is atypical; however, as a tech-founder, one of my letters of recommendation came from my ex-co-founder. This doesn't seem super credible. Business schools strongly suggest that recommendations be written by direct supervisors. Since I had only had one direct supervisor till 18/19, my second recommendation had to come from a peer. In 19/20, I took up a new role in a well known, fast growing start-up and sought a recommendation from the CEO (with whom I work directly). I'm sure this added a tonne of credibility.
3. **Promotions and Achievements:** I was promoted *twice in four months* and received an award for being in the Top 1% of the performers in the company. In all, I was able to influence $20MM revenue in about 8 months. Given the context (a well known, growing tech start-up), the number is fairly impressive. This rapid professional rise probably allayed fears that my earlier start-up successes were repeatable and not a fluke.
4. **Application Strategy:** Instead of applying to a random selection of schools in R2 like in 18/19, I applied to 5 schools in R1. The results of that round told me that T-15/20 was more likely to happen instead of M7/T-10. So, I dropped my plans of applying to Haas in R2, and applied to 2 T-20 schools instead. I was admitted with scholarship to both.
5. **HBX CORe:** I Graduated with Honors. The program is super-intense, especially if you have a demanding job, so this shows the ad-com that I can manage the rigors of business school. Also - I had an average GPA that I suspect this course help off-set a little bit.
6. **Networking:** I attended every school event that I could and reached out to and connected with 70+ MBA Candidates on LinkedIn. I really got to know the school's values and what it looks for in its admitted students. This helped me better plan my essays and interviews. Further, in my informational interviews, I noticed a pattern of acceptances. For instance, people who received admits from School A were also likely to receive admits from School B and School C. Having been admitted to School A in R1, I applied to Schools B and C in R2; I was admitted to both and received $170K in fellowships!
7. **Rework Optional Essay:** The Optional Essay I wrote in 18/19 (to give context to my grades and choice of recommenders) was stand-offish and could be interpreted as *"making excuses"*. I re-worked this essay, took responsibility for the grades, and demonstrated why it wouldn't repeat. It seems to have worked.
PS. I did **NOT** retake the GMAT. This is what most applicants would have done, given the disappointing outcomes in 18/19. However, if there's anything to be learned from my story, it's that there's much you can change/fix rather than aiming for a 99.9th percentile score. Even with a 770/780, I do feel the outcomes would have been the same as in 18/19 had I not reworked the aforementioned parts of my application.
Hope this helped! Happy to help you consider a re-application strategy - feel free to PM!
**Background:**
You can check [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/MBA/comments/b6s0vr/coursework_to_overcome_low_gpa/) that I made last year.
Tl;dr version: Received 8 dings in R2 despite good professional achievements and 750 GMAT.
**Outcomes in 2020:**
Applied to 7 schools across R1 and R2.
1. Dinged by 2 (M-7 and T-15),
2. WL by 1 (T-20)
3. WL Admit by 1 (T-10) - no scholarship
4. Admitted to 3 (2 T-20s and 1 T-25) - $250k scholarship
**Changes made sequenced by degree of importance (IMO):**
1. **Revise ST and LT goals**: I applied last year with unrealistic goals (VC -- with no pre-MBA background in VC/PE). As an international applicant, it was critical that my goals be super-relevant to my pre-MBA work experience. The job market for internationals is very unfavorable -- roughly 1 out of 5 companies sponsor internationals; schools don't want out-of-work internationals graduating from their programs. I re-aligned my goals (PM in Big Tech) to tie into my pre-MBA work experience (tech start-ups). This made me a less of a liability and gave B-Schools a clear picture of what my career trajectory would look like.
2. **Glowing Letter of Recommendation:** This is atypical; however, as a tech-founder, one of my letters of recommendation came from my ex-co-founder. This doesn't seem super credible. Business schools strongly suggest that recommendations be written by direct supervisors. Since I had only had one direct supervisor till 18/19, my second recommendation had to come from a peer. In 19/20, I took up a new role in a well known, fast growing start-up and sought a recommendation from the CEO (with whom I work directly). I'm sure this added a tonne of credibility.
3. **Promotions and Achievements:** I was promoted *twice in four months* and received an award for being in the Top 1% of the performers in the company. In all, I was able to influence $20MM revenue in about 8 months. Given the context (a well known, growing tech start-up), the number is fairly impressive. This rapid professional rise probably allayed fears that my earlier start-up successes were repeatable and not a fluke.
4. **Application Strategy:** Instead of applying to a random selection of schools in R2 like in 18/19, I applied to 5 schools in R1. The results of that round told me that T-15/20 was more likely to happen instead of M7/T-10. So, I dropped my plans of applying to Haas in R2, and applied to 2 T-20 schools instead. I was admitted with scholarship to both.
5. **HBX CORe:** I Graduated with Honors. The program is super-intense, especially if you have a demanding job, so this shows the ad-com that I can manage the rigors of business school. Also - I had an average GPA that I suspect this course help off-set a little bit.
6. **Networking:** I attended every school event that I could and reached out to and connected with 70+ MBA Candidates on LinkedIn. I really got to know the school's values and what it looks for in its admitted students. This helped me better plan my essays and interviews. Further, in my informational interviews, I noticed a pattern of acceptances. For instance, people who received admits from School A were also likely to receive admits from School B and School C. Having been admitted to School A in R1, I applied to Schools B and C in R2; I was admitted to both and received $170K in fellowships!
7. **Rework Optional Essay:** The Optional Essay I wrote in 18/19 (to give context to my grades and choice of recommenders) was stand-offish and could be interpreted as *"making excuses"*. I re-worked this essay, took responsibility for the grades, and demonstrated why it wouldn't repeat. It seems to have worked.
PS. I did **NOT** retake the GMAT. This is what most applicants would have done, given the disappointing outcomes in 18/19. However, if there's anything to be learned from my story, it's that there's much you can change/fix rather than aiming for a 99.9th percentile score. Even with a 770/780, I do feel the outcomes would have been the same as in 18/19 had I not reworked the aforementioned parts of my application.
Hope this helped! Happy to help you consider a re-application strategy - feel free to PM!