How An ISB Applicant With Low GPA and Lack of Big Brands on Resume Got ISB Admit
Concerns and Apprehensions
Though I had scored a high GMAT score, I had two major apprehensions when I started my MBA application journey –
- Would my low GPA in engineering and gaps in my academic record work against me?
- And as an entrepreneur who ran a small manufacturing company, would the lack of a fancy corporate job or brand name pose a hurdle?
I spoke to several MBA admissions consultants, and they all told me I have a great profile to apply to top business schools and many of them even told me that they could guarantee getting me into these schools.
But it all seemed too rosy and frankly, not genuine. It was clear they were after making money and they would say anything to lure prospective applicants like me to sign up for their services.
I came across MBAEssayNation while Googling for MBA Admission Consulting Companies and I was impressed with the high reviews when I visited MBAEssayNation’s website, I felt this is a good company to speak with.
But my first conversation with Deepthi, MBAEssayNation’s founder, completely convinced me that Deepthi Ma’am is the best person to help me with my ISB application, given that ISB was my number one priority school.
She was completely honest with me given both my concerns about my low GPA and my work experience – she didn’t discourage me (which was good) but she told me that I’ll be up against a highly competitive bunch of applicants and that I need to focus on turning in a really strong application.
No False Hope – Just Plain Practical Feedback
What I really liked about talking to Deepthi was that at no point, did she try to give me false high hopes – she was practical and realistic and told me clearly the only thing she can guarantee is that I’ll have a strong set of essays to submit to ISB – whether I’ll get an admit or not was not something that either of us could control.
Another thing was that Deepthi is one of those rarest of rare MBA Admission Consultants who even suggested a few other good MBA admission consultants I could speak with to get a more balanced perspective and to have more options to choose from.
I mean SERIOUSLY who recommends their competition?
And that was super impressive because it showed how secure and confident she is in her abilities, and how much she cares about those who seek her help, even those who are not her clients.
I decided to work with Deepthi on my ISB application and that was the best decision I made.
My first challenge – what should be my post-MBA goals?
The only thing I knew was I wanted an ISB MBA to get into a corporate job with a better salary and prospects.
But I had no idea how to identify my post-MBA goals.
Deepthi gave me an excellent framework to get started with the process of identifying my post-MBA goals and within a week, she had helped me pin down my exact short-term post-MBA goals. And she also explained to me what my long-term goals should be. It was flawless. The only thing – I was a bit hesitant because I thought it was very ambitious. But then the way Deepthi explained, logically and clearly, how my long-term goal makes perfect sense considering my short-term goal, I was on board. Like in 5 minutes! 😊
And that’s the power of having a good coach and mentor like Deepthi.
Most MBA admission consultants will not be able to help you pin down your goals while explaining the rationale behind your goals as clearly and as methodically as Deepthi can and she’s able to do it because she really knows about different industries very well, given her own strong industry experience, and she uses that knowledge and her experience to help you identify the perfect post-MBA goals.
My second challenge – writing the essays
Now that I had my goals, I had to roll up my sleeves and get into the essay writing mode.
Here again, Deepthi did a major brainstorming session with me and gave me a cool framework to structure my essay and though it all seemed easy when I actually started writing the essay, it was tough.
Deepthi to the rescue again. She would ask me to regularly share my drafts and give me focused feedback.
Once she had all the information she needed from me, she just took over my essay.
And the next time I saw my essay, it was THE MOST PERFECT essay. Everything read so well. Before Deepthi’s edited and rewritten version reached me, I couldn’t have imagined how my nearly 3000-word draft was edited to 400 words.
But thanks to Deepthi, I had a powerful essay. And when I showed the essay to one of my close relatives who is a London Business School alum, he was extremely impressed with its quality.
My second achievements-based essay also turned out to be exceptionally great because at first, I wasn’t sure about the stories. Deepthi helped me here as well, and very quickly I was able to shortlist the stories for the essay.
But I struggled a lot with explaining the stories and here also Deepthi was able to transform my nearly 1500-word draft to a 400-word draft and that too within 2 days.
Before vs After – Sample Essay Drafts
Here’s a draft of one of my achievements-based essay
And here’s what the edited essay from MBAEssayNation looked like – the word count was reduced by nearly 50% and the essay’s sharpness was improved by 100%!
Crucial feedback on my Letter of Recommendation (LoR)
For my LoR also Deepthi made sure I included all the right points in it and made sure that any portions of the LoR that didn’t seem clear were edited out and simplified.
Super-Fast Turnaround Time
Due to official commitments and personal constraints, I had delayed sharing the essay drafts but even then Deepthi made sure the final versions reached me comfortably before the submission deadline.
Experience working with MBAEssayNation vs Other MBA Admissions Consulting Companies
In one simple line – MBAEssayNation will take up 75% – 80% of the efforts towards your MBA application and you need to just put in 20% – 25% of the effort.
Whereas with all other MBA Admissions consultants, you will be made to put in the bulk of the work, nearly 80% to 90% of the work, from brainstorming to shortlisting stories to actually writing and editing your essays, will be done by you. The consultants will only provide “cosmetic” suggestions and advice on your application.
Working with Deepthi Ma’am and MBAEssayNation was the best experience I had – I didn’t really to have to worry about my application at any point. And because Deepthi would quickly grasp the essence of my achievements or my career trajectory, and capture all that beautifully in words, I had a very comfortable and almost effortless ISB application experience thanks to her and MBAEssayNation.
MBAEssayNation’s Blog Content on Interview Preparation is Simply Invaluable
MBAEssayNation’s blog posts on preparing for interviews helped me a lot in thinking about my interview responses. I started to prepare for the ISB interview right after I submitted my application, and I was amazed at seeing such in-depth blog posts on some of the most difficult interview questions. I have not found such thoroughly well-written posts anywhere else.
Biggest Regret
When I got an interview invite from ISB, I wanted Deepthi to help me with my interview preparation but became apprehensive about the pricing. Sensing my concerns, Deepthi suggested that I should go ahead with another MBA admission consultant company because I thought they had a more affordable interview preparation package.
Again, she is really different than any other MBA admission consultant – she never insisted that I should sign up with her company only.
Unfortunately, the MBA admission consulting company I signed up with for my interview preparation turned out to be the worst. Right after I paid the interview preparation service fees, their entire attitude changed. They would ask me to schedule mock interviews with their consultants and the worst experience I had was with one of their founders, a very senior consultant, who in fact tried to mislead me by saying that I should change my post-MBA goals during my interview. I was shocked at this suggestion and overall, I was extremely unhappy and uncomfortable working with the company and its consultants. Though I was supposed to have 5 1-hour mock interview sessions with them, I could only stand them for 3 sessions and decided to break ties with them.
It was MBAEssayNation’s interview preparation blog posts and Deepthi’s help because of which I was able to prepare well for my ISB interviews.
ISB Round 2 Admit – Within a Week of Interviewing with ISB
I had applied to ISB’s Round 2 and I was offered a final admit in less than a week after my interview.
I credit Deepthi’s mentoring at MBAEssayNation with my success – the way she helped me submit a strong application along with the clarity I gained about my post-MBA goals and the confidence that I gained about my experience to date, showed in the way I confidently handled my interview, quickly leading to a positive final decision.
Work with Deepthi and MBAEssayNation and Get the Best MBA admissions Consulting Experience
If you are looking for help with your MBA essays or interview preparation, you should work with Deepthi – she’s the best. She’s truly a mentor and a coach, and is always approachable, ethical, and exceptionally great at helping submit a strong MBA application.
Need help with your essays, LoR, resume, or interview preparation? Work with MBAEssayNation and stride your way to the top of the business school admit lists
Here’s what some of our clients share about their experience working with MBAEssayNation –
Thanks to Deepthi, I got admitted from all my 3 dream schools this year – The Indian School of Business (ISB), NUS Business School (NUS), and Nanyang Business School. I would like to conclude by saying this – Deepthi is THE best MBA admissions consultant in India. She’s truly an awesome coach and mentor, who is even more invested in her clients’ success than her clients! That’s really incredible and literally unheard of in this space. That’s why I believe Deepthi and her company MBAEssayNation is a beacon of hope in a space like MBA admissions consulting where most companies are only interested in making money rather than helping their clients succeed. Work with Deepthi and MBAEssayNation if you want the finest essays, resume and the best interview preparation – the seamless experience that you get with MBAEssayNation and the high Return on Investment you achieve thanks to Deepthi’s mentoring is the best value for money.
Working with Deepthi for my applications was without a doubt the best investment I made. I was amazed at the way my essays turned out. The in-depth brainstorming sessions and discussions that I had with Deepthi helped me identify my post-MBA goals and develop a greater appreciation for the experience that I have had so far, something I was very apprehensive and unsure about when I first spoke to Deepthi. Despite facing several personal setbacks during the application process, I was able to submit a very strong set of essays and prepare well for my interviews thanks to Deepthi who steadfastly supported me. The way she transformed my essays and coached me for my interview, I was confident I will make it to ISB. I give 100% of my success to Deepthi, she is an excellent mentor and coach, and it was only because of her that I got admitted from ISB.
I sought Deepthi’s help when preparing for my ISB interview and she undoubtedly played a pivotal role in my admission to the Class of 2017. Over three calls Deepthi helped me transform my rambling and muddled introduction into a crisp and convincing pitch that I was confident about when I walked into the interview. This was possible because Deepthi’s approach is unique — she listened keenly and patiently, and with great care she drew out the threads of my story that were most interesting and those that required some additional thought and work. Her approach was affirming rather than dismissive, and she encouraged me to retain me own voice rather than attempt to recite standard canned management incantations. Work with her, you’ll not regret it.
I worked with Deepthi on my ISB business school application and though I reached out to her with just a week before the submission deadlines, she was extremely patient in coaching me with my essays and was always available for a quick call. In fact, without her help, I couldn’t have come up with strong post-MBA goals. She has a strong industry background which she used to help me to gain more clarity about how my post-MBA goals should be structured. All my essays looked brilliant thanks to her and MBAEssayNation. MBAEssayNation is the ONLY reason why I got admitted from ISB, Michigan Ross, and INSEAD. Highly recommended!
I was ecstatic when I got an admission from USC Marshall and that too with $70,000 in scholarships. MBAEssayNation helped me prepare a strong application and coached me thoroughly for my interview. When I approached MBAEssayNation, I knew my biggest weakness was that I wasn’t good at writing powerful stories about the work I had done so far. My post-MBA goals were also a big mess, I was quite confused about what I wanted to do post-MBA. Deepthi coached me on my essays and the way she edited my essays, the outcome was fantastic. We must have had at least 15 essay reviews and edits – Deepthi was clear that we’ll work on my essays till they turn out to be the best. And that’s another thing I loved about MBAEssayNation, their unlimited reviews and laser focus on quality. The reviews and edits were so totally worth everything because my final essays were crisp, and they sharply and succinctly conveyed my stories. Simply put, I couldn’t have made it to USC Marshall without the exceptional coaching by MBAEssayNation.
Deepthi – I can’t thank you enough for your outstanding mentoring with my interview preparation. It would not have been possible without you and I mean every word here. The sessions with you prepared me for the interview in such a manner that everything seemed like Deja Vu on the interview day. This is to let you know that your inputs were and are highly appreciated. Please keep sharing your experience with many like me. THANK YOU!!
I cannot explain how it feels when you get what you desire. Both IIM Lucknow and IIM Indore were my target business schools and I converted both of them. And it was only because of the way MBAEssayNation guided me. Just wanted to thank Deepthi Ma’am again for her help. I got into both the schools thanks to her. She helped me prepare so well for my interviews that even I was pleasantly surprised at the way my confidence grew. When I had first signed up for the interview service, I wasn’t sure how to be prepared for a business school interview because it is very different from a job interview.But the way Ma’am coached me for the interview, it was just brilliant. I would say you can blindly trust Ma’am to help you get into your MBA, she’s really good. Also, she has very strong industry experience and that she used very well to help me prepare for my interviews.
Ready to get started with MBAEssayNation?
To connect with us, email us on letsgetstarted@mbaessaynation.com or call us on +91 9901875008.
You can also share your profile for an evaluation by filling up the form here – https://mbaessaynation.com/contact-form/
