GPA: 3.1
GMAT: 680
Undergrad: Psychology Major at Stanford
Activities: Competitive swimmer in high school, volunteer swim coach
Personal: Family originally from Mexico

Overview: Our client was laid off four times in four years after graduating from college. The fourth time occurred just two months before submitting his application. He was terrified of revealing the layoffs and wanted to detail his various jobs without explaining the reason behind his transitions.

Result: Admitted to Wharton with scholarship.

Strategy: We advised our client to detail his layoffs and in doing so he told a story that highlighted several very positive qualities. He was able to demonstrate resilience in his ability to successfully bounce back and grow from each disappointment. He showed maturity and self-awareness through reflection upon mistakes he had made, and through his ability to incorporate learnings. He also illustrated resourcefulness and drive, by finally creating his own entrepreneurial opportunity that became a true platform for reaching his future goals. Ultimately, his career roller coaster became a great launching pad to showcase many very positive qualities.

GPA: 3.4
GMAT: 730
Undergrad: University of Delaware
Activities: Tennis, marathons, sporadic involvement with various Indian non-profit organizations
Personal: Originally from India

Overview: Our client was born and raised in India, and came to the US to earn his undergraduate degree in Engineering. He then went to work for a large corporation where he progressed for the next five years. Although he had solid work experience, and numbers, his demographics placed him in a highly competitive pool, where he really needed to find a way to differentiate.

Result: Admitted to Columbia, Tuck, and MIT.

Strategy: Many Indian applicants pursue engineering careers and their resumes all begin to look the same. In working with this client we removed the focus from the nitty-gritty technical details of his everyday job and emphasized his management and leadership experiences, which set him apart from many of his peers.

Specifically, he had spearheaded a non-profit initiative and garnered a great deal of support within his office, ultimately raising significant funds, but also setting the stage for future office initiatives of this kind. He had also taken on a training role, mentoring new hires and helping to develop the blueprint for a training program. Neither of these roles was part of his formal job description but they highlighted his leadership abilities and added color to his resume.

GPA: 3.2
GMAT: 720
Undergrad: Economics major at mid-tier east coast college
Activities: Involved in student government as an undergrad
Personal: Our client’s entire family moved from Asia a year before he started college

Overview: Our client was suspended from his college for plagiarism and although very ready to go to business school, he had delayed his MBA application for two seasons out of fear that he could never overcome this blemish.

Result: Admitted to Wharton and Kellogg.

Strategy: Our client needed to approach the plagiarism issue head-on, explain what happened, make no excuses, and concretely demonstrate how he learned and grew from the experience. Initially tempted to ignore the incident or discuss it in an additional information essay, we convinced him to tackle it in a full essay, as it was a pivotal event in his development.

He took full responsibility for his actions but did discuss cultural differences and the fact that he did not fully understand American views on plagiarism. He discussed the emotional impact of his suspension, which really humanized him so the adcomm could understand his remorse and embarrassment, the impact on his relationship with his family and his self-image. He then discussed how he was elected to the school’s student government under the platform of revamping the school’s honor code, and the actions he then took to ensure that what he experienced would not happen again.

Thus his story came full circle, and this very large blemish was leveraged to highlight positives: his personality, self-awareness, and a significant accomplishment.