He also conducted a pseudo interview to ensure that all the pieces of my puzzle fit together and this was done even before I wrote my first college essay. This activity alone ensured that I had a solid framework for most common questions of my long-term and short-term goals and why I chose them?
When I decided to apply for an MBA, I had some idea about my story but it wasn’t waterproof and that’s where Karthik made the biggest difference in my application. Discussions with Karthik (August Academy – www.mbaadmissions.augustacademy.in) were most productive if I did some homework about the colleges I was looking at. I initially found it frustrating that he wouldn’t give me a ready-made storyline that would suit my background and future plans (as this was a common practice I noticed with the consultants my friends and colleagues were using) but in the long run I am really grateful that Karthik guided me to create my own story. He also suggested reading material to help me chalk out my ideas to get a better understanding of different post MBA professions. All of this meant that I didn’t have a common template which I tweaked a little bit to make it more personal but I had an original thought process from the word go and I was able to substantiate each part of my story and future plans. When both of us could not agree on something, Karthik was open to the idea of discussing and flushing out every detail (at times even having 2 calls a day or phone calls till 1 am in the night).
He also conducted a pseudo interview to ensure that all the pieces of my puzzle fit together and this was done even before I wrote my first college essay. This activity alone ensured that I had a solid framework for most common questions of my long-term and short-term goals and why I chose them?
Some essays go a little beyond asking about your professional plans where the admission office wants to get to know an applicant on a more personal level. It’s hard to figure out where to draw the line when you talk about personal stories. At such times, I had numerous discussions with Karthik where we vetted each story to check for its viability.
One very important aspect of this process was the fact that we always looked at the essays while talking on the phone. It was crucial as I figured out the loopholes by myself most of times while combing through each and every sentence. I found this approach to be more effective than exchanging several emails with drafts of the same essay.
Apart from researching on the colleges, he also pushed me to reach out in my network and talk to current students and alumni. I can’t stress enough about how important this aspect is; it adds a whole another level to your understanding which easily gets reflected in your application.
I eventually managed to get interview calls from 3 of the top 11 ranked colleges (according to US news & World report) and got an admission offer from one. Everyone has their own stories but where most of us need help is in presenting it in the best way possible with the given constraints and Karthik does a brilliant job in helping applicants with that.