Getting into a Top Business School: The Juicy Details of my 2+ year Application Journey
The past 4 years since graduating college have been some of the most difficult years of my life so far.
I’ve fallen in love again. I’ve found peace traveling solo in Morocco. I’ve been diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I started going to therapy. I broke my elbow and now have a metal screw in my arm. I lost a dear friend to suicide. I’ve felt extremely alone and out of place. I became close friends with wonderful people in Namibia. I biked. I ran. I cried. I discovered Ayurveda. I became more open to religion and faith. I rediscovered my intelligence and beauty. I saved a ton of money, and I wasn’t sure what for… until now (spoiler: It was to pursue a full-time 2 year MBA).
My ego has really taken me through a roller coaster.
I have realized that my college experience — while transformative and meaningful — was not sustainable. I burnt myself out… desperately and almost frantically… trying to figure out what my ‘passion’ and ‘purpose’ was.
Along the way, I learned about performative work culture. I severely doubted myself. I broke down. I avoided responsibilities for months. I experienced deep disappointment by so-called ‘leaders’ and ‘mentors.’
There were SO times when I severely doubted myself, especially during the MBA application process, such as when…
- A Wharton MBA reduced me to my stats (as an Asian woman in tech consulting from a state school) and told me that I needed to get a 730+ GMAT just to get an interview
- I was pushed to pursue a part-time degree or stay at home and do my degree locally
- I felt shame for pursuing such an expensive degree and pursuing a path no one in my family has pursued
- I was told that I wouldn’t get any scholarship unless I got above a 730+ GMAT
Well, I’m a few weeks away from starting my MBA at the Yale School of Management — my top choice — with a sub-700 GMAT score, a scholarship, and access to the communtiies I deeply desired to be a part of (like Consortium).
I’ve been in New Haven for almost 2 months now, and deep down, I know that I made the right choice for personal and professional reasons. The tumultuous MBA application waves have calmed down, and I feel so much peace here. I love my new apartment that is full of character. I’ve already met wonderful friends. I’ve already gotten a job offer before school starts (!). This is all better than my past anxiety-ridden self could’ve ever imagined.
I’ve learned so much through this application process, including that stats aren’t everything. They are very important. But they are not everything.
Also, I’ve learned that life is not black and white. Life is a spectrum of beautiful colors – a rainbow. We should continue to hold space to explore the nuance in everything.
Below, I am sharing my favorite resources and my entire MBA application journey.
Writing this has been extremely cathartic.
I’m ready to let go of this wild roller coaster.
Table of Contents
Recommended MBA Prep Resources and Communities
Here is a link to the resources that I found the most helpful: TEMPLATE_MBA_Resources_Budget_Decision_TZA
The worksheet includes:
- MBA Resources
- People and Networking Tracker
- School Decision Matrix
- 2-Year Budget spreadsheet
- Loan Repayment spreadsheet
If I could’ve done the business school journey again, I would have…
1. Applied for…
- MLT — https://mlt.org/
- Forte MBA Launch and Partner programs — http://www.fortefoundation.org/
- Toigo — https://toigofoundation.org/
2. Signed up for…
- Applicant Lab — https://www.applicantlab.com/
- Career Protocol, if I wanted a career/MBA application coach — https://careerprotocol.com/
3. Signed up for GMAT and GRE Prep sooner rather than later, so that I developed good test taking habits from Day 1, and…
- Used Manhattan Prep test books – they were super comprehensive
- Signed up for Target Test Prep — https://gmat.targettestprep.com/
- Used Sherpa Prep group tutoring if I needed extra tutoring practice and a good mindset shift on how to approach the test.
- Taken the test when I’m ready, not some arbitrary date!
- Purchased the GMAC’s official tests for test prep practice!
4. Developed a holistic story that included my…
- Long-term goal (North Star)
- Short-term goal to get to the long-term goal (2–5 years post MBA)
- Immediate post -MBA goal (job, industry, function, potential companies)
- MBA clubs, classes, and resources I’m interested in and a sense of how I’ll contribute to the community
- Holistic stories that connected my professional and extracurricular experiences. It was helpful to think of 3 things that I’m most ASHAMED of and use that to fuel my motivation for WHY I’m interested in and passionate about certain topics/values/industries
- Reflections on who I am, who I hope to be, and the life (beyond just my job and “shiny” career) that I wish to create for myself and for others
5. Applied to 6 schools via the Consortium — https://cgsm.org/.
6. Once I got accepted…
- Leveraged my scholarships to negotiate for more scholarships from my top school
- Signed up for JumpStart pre-MBA programs
- Attended pre-MBA Program conferences and events: MLT, Forte, Consortium, TOIGO
7. The summer before I started my MBA:
- Stopped working at least 1–2 months before school starts
- Taken a trip to relax and decompress
- Moved in early to the new city
- Created a game plan of my top 3 goals in business school
A few words of advice…
| DO | DON’T |
|---|---|
| – Ask for help! I felt extremely guilty and ashamed for paying money for an MBA consultant, but without the support, I wouldn’t have been able to pace myself, plan for the unexpected setbacks, and strategize. – Give yourself grace for unexpected setbacks – Allow yourself to take rest days and take breaks – Explore all the nuances of your personal and professional life, and get to know your personal motivations and struggles – these will be good inspiration for essay topics! –Remember that investing in yourself and your education is worthwhile Explore scholarships, fellowships, company sponsorship, 529 plans, and other ways to finance your MBA! | – Listen to people who play into your fears and insecurities. Choose people / MBA coaches / mentors who believe you and will ground you in both realistic and encouraging advice. I did a free 30 minute consultation with a Wharton MBA coach who told me that as an “Asian woman in tech consulting,” I needed to get at least a 730+ on the GMAT or else. This was extremely demotivating and scary. I believed this lie throughout the entire process and it really hurt my confidence a lot. Don’t buy into the fear mongering! Stay off the forums — They are toxic! – Choose a school purely on a ranking – If you are so fortunate to have several options and the ‘champagne problem’ of choosing from a great list of schools, choose the school where you will feel the most comfortable at – Where do you think you will thrive? Which school would you regret not attending? –Expect perfection the first time you do something new – It’s new! You are learning! It’s OK To retake the GMAT or switch to the GRE – Give yourself some buffer time to take a few different tests |
My MBA Application Timeline:
I’m sharing my entire MBA timeline to hopefully bring transparency and awareness to the ups and downs I experienced throughout the process.
For some people, this journey is straightforward. For me, it was not .
More times than not, I struggled.
I was confused. Discouraged. Disappointed.
I wouldn’t have made it here without asking for help and being persistent.
Your journey will be unique to your own story. And that is okay.
I hope this gives you comfort, peace, and optimism that you can pursue your dreams too.
Hug.
| Date | Activity |
|---|---|
| May 2017 | – Graduated college with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Business Administration minor. – Never thought I would go to graduate school. I remember telling a friend that I could never see myself going to graduate school of any kind. – Also, no one in my family has ever gone to a full-time graduate school program. |
| 2018 | – Saw people head to business school and thought this could be a potential option, but again, never imagined that I belonged at a top MBA. – A Manager told me I needed to get at least a 720 on my GMAT to be competitive, given my background (engineering, tech, consulting) and ethnicity (Asian). What is the GMAT? GRE? What is a 720? |
| May 15, 2019 | – Met a friend from work who shared her experience studying for the GMAT. She got a 740 on her first try, and I thought, Hey I can do the same! (Little did I know it would be much harder…) She kindly gave me a bunch of books including Manhattan Prep, Official Guide Quantitative and Qualitative guides. |
| Summer 2019 | – Began studying for GRE and signed up for GRE Magoosh 3 month online study program (https://gmat.magoosh.com/plans/). Chose the GRE because I was still undecided what type of degree I wanted to pursue. – Attended a few MBA conferences in Washington D.C: QS World MBA Tour Washington DC, DC MBA and Business Masters Networking Event, Forte MBA Forum for Women, Consortium MBA Application Preparation Seminar *MAPS*. – Attended individual school sessions: Kellogg – Everyone kept saying it was a good school, but I had never heard of it; LBS – Thought I was interested in going to school abroad?; NYU Stern – I was waitlisted as an undergrad, and it’s a good school?; Attended Stern’s Women’s Weekend – I love NYC but it’s quite expensive. – At each event, left with lots of pamphlets, feeling totally overwhelmed, out of place, and stressed. |
| September 2019 | – Ruled out pursuing a PhD or masters program. The MBA felt the most versatile. I considered a PhD because several of my friends were beginning their own PhD programs. Also, I looked at one PhD syllabus and it looked interesting until I saw the research components haha. |
| October 2019 | – October 19th – took the GRE. Ate some Chipotle and bubble tea afterwards and felt kind of optimistic. – Attended a MBA Admissions Multi-School Event – Learned about Berkeley Haas, Cornell SC Johnson, Duke Fuqua,Michigan Ross, UVA Darden, and Yale SOM. |
| November 2019 | – Applied to the Forte MBA Launch Program – http://www.fortefoundation.org/. – Broke my elbow while biking and lost full mobility of my arm for 3 months. – Attended a Berkeley Haas event. |
| December 2019 | – Attended a Yale SOM Washington, D.C. Reception event – It felt so fancy and official, and I felt so out of place. – Since I decided I wanted to pursue a MBA, I began studying for the GMAT without mobility of my dominant arm. – Began 10-month Forte MBA Launch program. – Studied ~2 hrs for the GMAT every day (with some break days). |
| January 2020 | – Started Forte MBA Launch Program. – Studied ~2 hrs for the GMAT every day (with some break days). |
| February 2020 | – Attended Georgetown prospective MBA Women’s day. – Studied ~2 hrs for the GMAT every day (with some break days). – Attended MIT and Forte foundation webinars. – Applied for eligibility for my company’s grad school assistance program (GSAP). |
| March 2020 | – Planned to take the GMAT, but test was cancelled indefinitely due to the pandemic. – Continued to study ~2 hrs for the GMAT every day (with some break days), but was getting tired and stressed because all GMAT test centers were closed with no certainty of when they would open. |
| April 2020 | – Signed up for online math prep course, Target Test Prep. – Attended MBA webinars: Yale SOM Online Women’s Student Panel, Virtual IE Day – The Americas Edition, Johnson Virtual Chat – Women s Management Council, HEC PARIS Online Campus Visit, U Chicago Booth. – Connected with GSAP recipients to prep for the GSAP process (which included putting together a presentation that outlined my business case and reason why the firm should sponsor my MBA). – Met with MBA consultants that were affiliated with Forte – MBALaunch Partners – Forté Foundation (fortefoundation.org); Was told I was an overrepresented minority ( as an Asian woman in technology consulting), needed to get a 730+ to be ‘competitive’; Was told Yale was a ‘reach’ school. – Chose to hire a MBA coach to help navigate me through the process; After multiple phone calls, chose the company that I felt comfortable with and didn’t try to plant seeds of fear, doubt, and insecurity. |
| May 2020 | – Attended MBA webinars: Dartmouth Tuck Africa Club Virtual Coffee Chat, NYU Stern virtual coffee chat, UNC Chapel Hill, Cornell Johnson. – Coffee chats with students from the following schools: Dartmouth Tuck, University of Michigan Ross x2, Stanford GSB x2, Yale SOM. – Began group GMAT tutoring with Sherpa Prep– By this point, I had been studying indefinitely for the GMAT, but getting extremely burnt out, I decided to do group tutoring to help me increase my GMAT score so that I was ready to take the test in-person once COVID-related restrictions were eased. |
| June 2020 | – Attended virtual MBA fairs: QS Connect MBA Washington DCQS Connect MBA New York. – Attended school webinars: Wharton MBA Overview Webinar. – Decided to apply to Stanford; I didn’t think I could get in, but the essay prompt was a good first step in figuring out what I wanted to write about. – Began drafting Stanford essays. – Experienced anxiety attacks. |
| July 2020 | – Cried for an entire week straight. – Attended webinars: Harvard Business School, Duke Fuqua, University of Pennsylvania Wharton, Yale SOM, UVA Darden. – Considered part- time program or a local MBA degree from a non-top MBA program. – Attended my first therapy session. – Had coffee chats: Tuck x2, Yale SOM x1. – Experienced more anxiety attacks. |
| August 2020 | – Coffee chats: Booth, Georgetown, Haas, Yale. – Took GMAT twice in two weeks. – Received notice that I did NOT get GSAP (company sponsorship) – In many ways, this became a blessing in disguise because I was forced to dream beyond what I knew. – Attended Explore Wharton 2020 DEI virtual event. – Finished Stanford essays, and was planning to target Round 1 deadlines (late August, mid to late September), but I ended up experiencing some really bad anxiety and depression and couldn’t write my essays or decide which schools to apply to. |
| September 2020 | – Decided to target Round 2 deadlines because I was unsure which schools to apply to and feeling severely underconfident. |
| October 2020 | – Attended MBA DEI virtual events: Johnson Women in Business, Michigan Ross UpClose, & WILC (Women In Leadership Conference) Tuck Women in Business Conference. – Took the GMAT for the 3rd time, dropped by 80 points, and gave up on studying for the GMAT anymoreI hadn’t gotten a score about 690 and felt extremely disheartened because everyone I had talked to said that I needed to get a 730+ to be competitive for a top school, but I had only written a few essays, and I knew that I needed to make time to write essays. |
| November 2020 | – Attended MBA events: UNC Kenan-Flagler Women’s Weekend, NYU, Stanford, Ross, Yale, Carnegie Mellon Tepper diversity weekend. – Coffee chat with students: Ross x2, Tuck, Tepper, Johnson. |
| December 2020 | – Finalized my applications. |
| January 2021 | – Submitted R2 applications (9 total). – Interviewed for 2 new jobs: Rejected from one cool tech startup; Declined from interviewing for the other one because i could sense major ‘burnout culture’. |
| February 2021 | – Interviewed with 6 business schools. – Applied for alumni position at Rutgers (received an offer for the position, but declined because I got accepted to business school). |
| March 2021 | – Attended prospective student events for 5 schools. – Attended Yale admitted student weekend, and it solidified my desire to go to Yale. |
| April 2021 | – Attended pre-MBA Jumpstart events. – Had phone calls with Yale, Tuck, and Ross students to confirm my decision. – Submitted my deposit to Yale. |
| May 2021 | – Attended pre-MBA events: Poets&Quants pre MBA Networking Festival, Consortium events, Forte MBA Financial Services Fast Track event, Yale SOM events, Forte Fellows events. |
| June 2021 | – Attended pre-MBA events: Forte Women’s Conference, Consortium Orientation Program. – Interviewed with 3 companies through Consortium – Moved to New Haven, CT in my super cute apartment! |
| July 2021 | – Quit my full-time job – Received a summer 2022 internship offer! |