Another Reject

My dreams of getting an MBA degree are going into a recession just like the current world economy. After getting a reject from ISB, I got another reject today from the HEC School of Management, Paris. Although I did not apply to many places (only 4), these 2 were the only hopes that I had. Apart from these two, I had applied to Stanford and Kellogg. And well you know how difficult it is to get into these schools. You can say I did not apply to other schools where I could have got an admission. Well there are multiple reasons for it. First, I was already pretty late in starting my applications. Second, I have not given my Toefl and hence missed out on some schools where I really wanted to apply. Third, seeing the current economic situation, I gave my MBA plans a second thought and went a little slow. I still want to do an MBA but I was trying to access the situation. I could have applied to 2 more places with the limited time I had. But I did not. So I was left with 4 very high profile schools. I knew the chances of my getting into any one of these 4 was very less even though I have a score of 730. And I think I am being proved right by these schools.

The time has come to again review myself and see what went wrong. I would definitely want to review the feedback from these 2 schools where I had a reject. I would strive towards improving on my weak points. For now, I do not really know what could have weighed against me. It can be many things. First, 730 is not that good a score these days especially in the current world economic situation with people leaving jobs and going for higher studies. Second, it could have been my profile also. It is strong in terms of experience and the work involved but it is weaker in some parts like extracurricular activities. It could also have been my recommendations. But I doubt that although they can make a difference as well.

The results for Kellogg and Stanford are to be out by this month end and I have almost no hope from Stanford and a miniscule ray of hope from Kellogg (Just because I had an interview with a Kellogg alumni). For a guy like me to even get an interview call from Stanford would be some sort of achievement. If I get one from Stanford, I would consider it as my biggest achievement so far even though I got a reject from lower ranked schools. I have been getting mixed feelings since the last few days. Feelings of dejection and feelings of elation. I do not know which one will dominate this month and probably the first few days of next month. But I surely know one thing that I will not lose heart and will strengthen my profile. This post turned out to be the most inspirational thing I have ever written.