[原创]Sharing experience and asking for suggestion

I applied for 6 schools. Got into 3 (Tuck, Cornell and Chicago GSB. Got some scholarships for both Tuck and Cornell. Don’t know about Chicago yet), waitlisted by 1 (MIT) and still have an interview (Stern).  Before applying, I thought I would be lucky just to get into 1.  Seems like I am doing pretty good so far.

I have a science and engineering background. I got a master’s degree in the US and have worked in a small US company for 4 years. My credentials are about average (GMAT 730, GPA 3.5).

1. I think what got me into the programs were my essays, because everybody has good recommendation letters, and my background and scores are not really that outstanding. I know an American with finance background and 760 GMAT score who didn’t get into a good school. You really have to present a consistent story: your career goals, how they link to your past experience and how the school can help you to achieve them. I remember somebody suggesting writing good essays to help you get in, and you can always decide what to do once you do get in. Although I was very affirmative in what I want to do in the essays, I will think about it more…

2. I talked about my involvement in some extracurricular activities and community services. Just having good scores is usually not good enough for the top schools. They want to see that you have other sides too. Simple things, such as organizing lunches and happy hours, or volunteering to educate kids at school can make a difference. I am not good at sports, but if you are, you should definitely talk about it. Americans like people who are active, either you are good at something or you are involved in some exotic form of sports, say, rock-climbing or skydiving.

Although I don’t go online that often (I just got a baby and don’t have that much time), I’ll be happy to answer your questions when I come to Chasedream.

I posted something before asking whether to choose Tuck or Cornell. Thanks for many people’s good advice. Now I have another question: if you can get into either Tuck or Chicago, which one would you choose? I know scholarship is important, but if it’s not a factor, which school do you think is better? Thanks and good luck to everybody!

hi, ypatient,

Congratulate!

I also applied Tuck in January round. i am preparing for the interview. could you give me some information about tuck's interview?

Anyway i did not recerve the invitation of the interview. How long did you get the interview after you submitted your application?

Thank you for your help!

Congrats on the good results and your new baby! It seems to me that it's especially difficult for a Chinese with IT background and US work experience because there are soooo many applicants with similar credentials.

Both Tuck and Chicago are great schools (as are MIT and Cornell, you can't go wrong with any of them!) As you may already know, it all depends on where you/your family want to live, what careers you are pursuing, how well you fit into the school culture, etc. Given you are busy with the baby, it may not be feasible to visit the schools. But try to talk to as many current students as you can to make an informed decision. You can get the contacts through the admissions office or student groups (Chinese, women and career-oriented groups.) Also, don't forget to ask the career services centers to give you access to the latest detailed placement reports, where you can find detailed infor about where the recent grads have gone, specified by student names and their hiring companies, not just the overall industry distribution.

If you would like to learn anything about Chicago, feel free to drop me a message. Good luck.

You are really a NIU MM. Congrats!

It will be difficult to make a choice between Chicago and Tuck.

My suggestion is that you choose Chicago if the scholarship you will get from Tuck is not a factor that may affect your decision.

不考虑scholarship当然是chicago了。

羡慕，并且恭喜MM。

Tuck:

I got a request for interview about a month after I submitted my application. I had an off-campus one since I didn’t want to travel to Hanover. The interviewer was a Tuck alumnus. He is about my age and really nice and laidback. I was really relaxed since he was as well. Typical questions, why Tuck and what are your career goals. Then chatchatchat. Remember Tuck is family-oriented (strong community sense), so try to address your interest in that.

MIT:

I got screwed up by the interview (I think that’s why I was only waitlisted instead of admitted). The interviewer I had was young and less patient than I expected and other people described about MIT admission officers. He asked me many questions and did not finish listening to one before he asked another. I was very uncomfortable with him and felt nervous and stomachache for the whole 30 minutes. My situation was unique because he was not the typical interviewer if you go through the regular interview process. You will probably be interviewed by a nicer person.

哦？你也在德国吗？我在大部分时间在Frankfurt,Dusseldorf & Amsterdam这边。