EssaySnark's Strategies for Reapplying to Bschool: Successfully, This Time!

By Essay Snark

Sometimes, we need a failure before our story can turn into a success. Sometimes, we need the wake-up call of not getting what we want to realize that we REALLY want it! Sometimes it takes not getting it to know how important it is.

Let EssaySnark help you tackle your reapplication to business school. You'll be taken through a self-assessment of your original application to see what went wrong the first time. You'll know for sure if you need to re-take the GMAT or not. And, you'll discover the winning additions to a profile that every adcom loves to see a reapplicant present.

This Guide will show you what's important. Use it. Start early and have the best chance of turning your "Not yet" to an "Oh, yeah!"

• Language: English
• Publisher: Essay Snark
• Release date: May 21, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476102566

Essay Snark

Essay Snark is an MBA admissions consultant who is sometimes amused and often appalled by what candidates write in their MBA essays to top bschools. Essay Snark shares others' mistakes, so you don't make admissions directors laugh or, worse, want to hurl when they read your essays. If you, intrepid applicant, want to have your essay reviewed by Essay Snark (and posted anonymously - yes everyone will see it), email it to gethelpnow(at)essaysnark(dot)com. Emailing your essay means you give explicit permission for it to be posted (obvious identifying information such as your name and the name of your employer will be removed), and you release Essay Snark from any claims that may result from possible humiliation over said snarkiness. (And please, people, don't email us two days before the app deadline and expect to hear back in time.)EssaySnark has helped clients with successful applications to:Harvard HBSStanford GSBWhartonColumbiaNYU SternMIT SloanKelloggChicago BoothBerkeley HaasYale SOMUCLA AndersonMichigan RossUVA DardenDuke FuquaCornell JohnsonGeorgetown McDonoughUSC MarshallVanderbiltBabsonUT-AustinINSEADIEIESEEsadeOxfordLBSISBand many more...

Book preview

EssaySnark's Strategies for Reapplying to Bschool

–Successfully, This Time!

A SnarkStrategies Guide

by EssaySnark

Snarkolicious Press

SMASHWORDS EDITION

version 1.1

originally published May 22, 2012

This SnarkStrategies Guide is copyright 2012 EssaySnark.

Cover image copyright Eric Isselée, used under license from Fotolia.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage system, without permission from the publisher.

This publication is provided as is, without warranty of any kind, either express or implied. The author and Snarkolicious Press assume no liability for errors or omissions in this publication or other documents which are referenced or linked to this publication. While we certainly hope that you will be successful in your quest for admission to an MBA program, we cannot offer any promises that you will be. In no event shall Snarkolicious Press or its authors, principals, subsidiaries, partners, or owners, be liable for any special, incidental, indirect or consequential damages of any kind, or any damages whatsoever, arising out of or in conjunction with the use or performance of this information. Applicants to any graduate program or university should verify the school's policies, application requirements, processes, procedures, and other criteria. This publication could include technical or other inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically added to the information herein; these changes will be incorporated into new editions of this publication. Thus, different versions or formats of this publication may include different information.

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to others. If you would like to share this book, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should go to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

Look for other SnarkStrategies Guides at Smashwords:

Harvard Business School

Stanford GSB

Berkeley-Haas School of Business

Northwestern Kellogg

Dartmouth Tuck

NYU Stern

Your MBA Interview

SnarkStrategies Guides for other schools are also available in digital and e-reader editions at your favorite bookseller or from the EssaySnark blog at essaysnark.com.

Follow EssaySnark on Twitter!

There's nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility is being superior to your former self.

Hindu proverb and something Hemingway liked to say

Table of Contents

There's Hope!

OK, So What Went Wrong?

Why you didn't make it into bschool

Don't Be That Dude (or Chick)

The Reapplicant FAQ

Reapplicant-Unfriendly Places

Improving Your Profile

The best additions to a reapplication

The Self-Assessment

Career Goals

Last year's goals

EssaySnark's career goals exercise

Your career goals as a reapplicant

Your Other Essays

A 10-Step Essay Critique

The GMAT (or GRE)

Who does not need to retest

Indian engineers and the GMAT

The GRE

Academics

How can you boost your academic profile?

Resume

Recommendations

Extracurriculars

Your Target School

The Bottom Line

Your Next Attempt

The Essays

The Reapplicant Essay

What if you're an Indian male engineer

Trying for Other Schools, Too

Need More Help?

There's Hope!

If your application to bschool was rejected, then we're sorry! Really. That sucks. We feel for you. We also know that there are plenty of well-qualified candidates who don't make it in each year. Bschool admissions is a competitive game, and just ticking off the boxes of GMAT score and GPA is often not enough – the schools are looking for more. If your profile is exceptionally common, like you're an Indian engineer or an American male in finance, then it may be tougher for you to get in than some other candidates.

But there's hope! Getting rejected from bschool can be incredibly instructional – you now know more than you did before! You have information you can go on to improve. There are places in your profile that could be boosted and there are things you can do differently if you're ready to give this another go.

This SnarkStrategies Guide will show you how.

How to Use This Guide

While most people won't pick up this application guide until after they've already gone through the entire process (and been unsuccessful) with at least one application, the fact is that the information in this Guide is suitable for anyone looking to make the most of their presentation to bschool. The self-assessment tools provided herein would be useful at any stage of their process. The main focus of this Guide is to help you examine your own profile and look at your presentation in a way that an admissions committee member might, so you can identify your own weaknesses and evaluate potential gaps. You'll then get suggestions and recommendations for how you can offset those weaknesses in your next try for the school.

In fact, we'll launch things off with our first bit of formal advice:

Start your reapplication early. Like, now.

As a reapplicant, you have a higher burden of proof, so to speak. You need to convince the adcom that you are way more fabulous now than you were just a few months ago when you first tossed your hat into the ring. Typically, the kinds of stories that make for the strongest impressions for the adcom readers are ones where there's some form of demonstrable impact – you took up a big initiative at work, you led the team and brought it home, and you