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HBS Admit With 620 GMAT Score
 

Stacy_Blackman's picture
O
(Orangutan, 372
 
Points)
 on 2/7/12 at 9:11pm
what.jpg

*Please note that no client details are ever shared in SBC Scoop or otherwise without complete sign off from client.

Samita engaged with Stacy Blackman knowing that her undergraduate GPA of 45% from a well-known engineering program in India was one of the largest challenges in her application strategy. Samita was only slightly interested in engineering, and as the program continued she started to spend less and less time studying, and more and more time volunteering. The result was an unimpressive GPA, but quite a lot of extracurricular leadership.

Samita’s additional strengths included work experience and recommendations. Samita had an intriguing career at an NGO working across Asia and Europe, where she had progressed from program coordinator to director of development over four years. She was exceptionally skilled at working across a disparate group of people, and had a strong mentor in her manager, an HBS alum, who had encouraged her to seek a top-tier MBA in the United States.

Because she had limited time in her schedule, we advised an online program to boost Samita’s academic profile before she submitted her application.

When we started working with Samita she was preparing for the GMAT and scoring between 660 and 700 on her practice tests. We knew that her low GPA and potentially low GMAT were challenges to overcome, but we were all surprised when Samita scored a 590 on her first GMAT attempt. Samita was incredibly disappointed and frustrated and thought about abandoning her application. We discussed her options: re-evaluating schools, taking the GMAT again or taking the GRE.

Samita decided to schedule another GMAT session in thirty days and focus her time on putting together an exceptionally compelling application. We mined her experience for evidence of her potential and leadership, ensured her recommendations were stellar, and refined her resume and career goals.

Only a few days before the deadlines for HBS, Yale and Stanford Samita took the GMAT again. She was disappointed to increase her score only to 620. She submitted her applications anyway without much faith that her hard work would pay off.

Samita was shocked to be admitted to HBS! We were thrilled to be part of her success, and gratified that her exceptional accomplishments wouldn’t be undermined by her academic challenges.

www.StacyBlackman.com
Tags:
RagnarDanneskjold's picture

Mods. Do the right thing.

HF
(King Kong, 1,031
 
Points)
 on 2/7/12 at 10:42pm

Mods. Do the right thing. Brady is going to have a breakdown

RE Capital Markets's picture

Shit. HBS just isnt what it

RE
(Gorilla, 649
 
Points)
 on 2/7/12 at 11:07pm

Shit. HBS just isnt what it used be, am I right?

LOL @ Brady4MVP.

Man made money, money never made the man

BankingWaffle's picture

And that's why my dream

IB
 
Points)
 on 2/7/12 at 11:45pm

And that's why my dream b-school is Stanford instead ;)

and LOL, poor Brady :(

Cheers.

Serendipity's picture

(No subject)

O
 
Points)
 on 2/7/12 at 11:53pm

socola2003's picture

I am very circumspect of

IB
(Orangutan, 335
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 12:19am

I am very circumspect of these intl students, especially indians from India applying to b-schools. They lie voraciously on their applications knowing that the background checks are cursory at best and will do anything to get admitted a spot to a top b-school. I knew so many liars at Kellogg (creating fake NGOs, assuming leadership/founding positions of family owned organizations, etc) whose resumes were total BS. Background checks must be far more meticulous for these int'l jokes who cheat to get into a top program only to take the seat of another well qualified US applicant.

Brady4MVP's picture

socola2003 wrote: I am very

HF
(Neanderthal, 3,158
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 12:31am
socola2003:

I am very circumspect of these intl students, especially indians from India applying to b-schools. They lie voraciously on their applications knowing that the background checks are cursory at best and will do anything to get admitted a spot to a top b-school. I knew so many liars at Kellogg (creating fake NGOs, assuming leadership/founding positions of family owned organizations, etc) whose resumes were total BS. Background checks must be far more meticulous for these int'l jokes who cheat to get into a top program only to take the seat of another well qualified US applicant.

I thought the background checks were fairly rigorous? They verify certain extracurricular clubs, leaderships, etc.

Was the lying limited to just international students, or was this true for U.S. students as well?

socola2003's picture

Background checks mostly are

IB
(Orangutan, 335
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 12:40am

Background checks mostly are limited to previous work exp, schools, and recommendations. They will cherry pick certain extra currics and verify that. But note the school is not doing the verification, they outsource it to a bunch of minimal wage retards who don't know the other person on the line is the guy's uncle. They really shoud have students do it or put in some standard op procedures to verify. I bet students can pick out the lies a lot faster than the outsourced companies can. And it much harder to verify some small NGO in India as to its authenticity, unless you probe deep enough to uncover the lie. Mostly was the inernationals, sure there were US students too who lied but I think the international students (read indians) do it 100x more often given the increased difficulty in verification. This is not a valid sample size but I think it's pretty commonly known among students which subgroup cheats/lies the most to get in.

Brady4MVP's picture

socola2003 wrote: Background

HF
(Neanderthal, 3,158
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 12:45am
socola2003:

Background checks mostly are limited to previous work exp, schools, and recommendations. They will cherry pick certain extra currics and verify that. But note the school is not doing the verification, they outsource it to a bunch of minimal wage retards who don't know the other person on the line is the guy's uncle. They really shoud have students do it or put in some standard op procedures to verify. I bet students can pick out the lies a lot faster than the outsourced companies can. And it much harder to verify some small NGO in India as to its authenticity, unless you probe deep enough to uncover the lie. Mostly was the inernationals, sure there were US students too who lied but I think the international students (read indians) do it 100x more often given the increased difficulty in verification. This is not a valid sample size but I think it's pretty commonly known among students which subgroup cheats/lies the most to get in.

Interesting. I know most b-schools do verification through Kroll, which is supposed to be pretty solid. But I've heard plenty of U.S. applicants exaggerate their extracurricular contributions. My guess though is that adcom at top schools have a good BS radar and can sniff out bullshitters from those who acatually made meaningful contributions.

My best friend is a first-year at kellogg, and he was saying how a lot of "unqualified" people get in through the cracks due to the diversity obsessed admissions process.

MBAApply's picture

I don't think it was the

EN
(King Kong, 1,006
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 12:49am

I don't think it was the international student that was lying...

In any case, I'm not saying that this Samita benefited from the "Stacy Blackman Magic (TM)" but here's one thing to consider:

A person (male or female) who graduated from an engineering school in India who worked at an NGO in Asia/Europe. For the incoming class next year, it won't be hard to figure out who that is since it's not like there's shitloads of them at HBS. So you have to wonder why the consulting firm would shroud this successful person's story in anonymity. If this person were so strong to have been able to overcome such shitty numbers, then they would've done something extraordinary.

Also, if there was a person who had such shitty numbers (GPA/GMAT), they would've had an exceptional and unique story. The fact that the OP wrote about "Samita's" case using such generic and dry language is a bit incongruous if this person really did amazing things. I mean, with people who really do stand out, it's hard to really hide the fact that they really stand out even if you are trying to keep the person anonymous. Notice how the OP is more excited about being associated with "Samita"'s alleged success in the admissions process than the OP is about Samita herself or her achievements.

Not saying the story is totally bullshit. Just sayin'.

Alex Chu
www.mbaapply.com

socola2003's picture

hahaha. There is so much

IB
(Orangutan, 335
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 12:50am

hahaha. There is so much crap at Kellogg, but as I found at other schools, plenty of crap at the M7 or whatever it's called. Maybe Stanford has the leas tof which due to the small # in class size and thus the lower probability of crap creeping in. I would say at Kellogg a good 35-40% of the students there are stupid. Don't forget a lot of people get in because of their namesake and connections, and many have applied 3-4x. That is why I fundamentally beleive college alma mater is a better reflection of intelligence than b-school, given the # of subjective, non-intelligent factors that enhance people's abilities to get in. Going to Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Wharton, etc as an undergrad schools is far more impressive than going to HBS.

Sexy_Like_Enrique's picture

socola2003 wrote: hahaha.

(Gorilla, 660
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 12:57am
socola2003:

hahaha. There is so much crap at Kellogg, but as I found at other schools, plenty of crap at the M7 or whatever it's called. Maybe Stanford has the leas tof which due to the small # in class size and thus the lower probability of crap creeping in. I would say at Kellogg a good 35-40% of the students there are stupid. Don't forget a lot of people get in because of their namesake and connections, and many have applied 3-4x. That is why I fundamentally beleive college alma mater is a better reflection of intelligence than b-school, given the # of subjective, non-intelligent factors that enhance people's abilities to get in. Going to Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Wharton, etc as an undergrad schools is far more impressive than going to HBS.

Wow, very interesting perspective. thanks for sharing your experience.

That was my suspicion, as well. I have more respect for Wharton undergrads than MBA counterparts. Also, just look at this thread. Clearly, this person wasn't the brightest, but somehow got into HBS, probably due to some bullshit reason. (maybe faked-up NGO from India? lol)

This just indicates that MBA admissions aren't just about one's academic credentials, but one's ability to bullshit well via essays, via rec's, and maybe grossly exaggerate 'leadership' at work, etc.

IRSPB's picture

She has a HBS mentor who

 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 12:58am

She has a HBS mentor who probably also wrote her rec letter. That's a big positive. She's a female, another positive. She's from India and is NOT in IT/engineering but works at an non-profit full time, hence she is a rarity in the Indian applicant pool. I bet she had a lot of feel good stories in her essays. The adcoms might have "fallen in love with her story".

Though I must say her 45% average in engineering is REALLY low.

happypantsmcgee's picture

MBAApply wrote: I don't think

O
(Almost Human, 9,621
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 12:58am
MBAApply:

I don't think it was the international student that was lying...

Glad someone had the balls to say it.

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford

Sexy_Like_Enrique's picture

IRSPB wrote: Oh look at the

(Gorilla, 660
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 12:58am
IRSPB:

Oh look at the haters on the board. She has a HBS mentor who probably also wrote her rec letter. That's a big positive. She's a female, another positive. She's from India and is NOT in IT/engineering but works at an non-profit full time, hence she is a rarity in the Indian applicant pool. I bet she had a lot of feel good stories in her essays.

Though I must say her 45% average in engineering is REALLY low.

This really caught me off-guard. How can anyone with 45% in grade (I suppose it's lower than 2.5 GPA if converted into U.S. scale) get into HBS?? Just because this person was in some small NGO's in India?

socola2003's picture

i want to qualify to say that

IB
(Orangutan, 335
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 12:59am

i want to qualify to say that going to a state school doesn't imply you're stupid. Unfort college education is not normalized for all applicatns and the financial burden makes it prohibity to attend these great schools. That said, anyone who thinks they're hot shit because they went to M7 is a fool.

bankbank's picture

socola2003 wrote: I am very

 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:00am
IRSPB's picture

2.5 GPA? Try 1.5 or 1.6. 70%

 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:00am
Sexy_Like_Enrique's picture

socola2003 wrote: Background

(Gorilla, 660
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:03am
socola2003's picture

I doubt there have been many

IB
(Orangutan, 335
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:06am
Brady4MVP's picture

socola2003 wrote: hahaha.

HF
(Neanderthal, 3,158
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:07am
socola2003's picture

It depends how you define

IB
(Orangutan, 335
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:12am
Sexy_Like_Enrique's picture

socola2003 wrote: I doubt

(Gorilla, 660
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:13am
Brady4MVP's picture

socola2003 wrote: It depends

HF
(Neanderthal, 3,158
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:15am
Sexy_Like_Enrique's picture

my brother told me that even

(Gorilla, 660
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:27am
Brady4MVP's picture

Sexy_Like_Enrique wrote: my

HF
(Neanderthal, 3,158
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:29am
seedy underbelly's picture

popping in for a few

IB
(King Kong, 1,090
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:39am
seedy underbelly's picture

MBAApply wrote: I don't think

IB
(King Kong, 1,090
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:40am
Brady4MVP's picture

seedy underbelly

HF
(Neanderthal, 3,158
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:48am
seedy underbelly's picture

Brady4MVP wrote: seedy

IB
(King Kong, 1,090
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:52am
seedy underbelly's picture

.

IB
(King Kong, 1,090
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:57am
wolverine19x89's picture

socola2003 wrote: It depends

O
(King Kong, 1,844
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:57am

If your dreams don't scare you, then they are not big enough.

"There are two types of people in this world: People who say they pee in the shower, and dirty fucking liars."-Louis C.K.

seedy underbelly's picture

Brady4MVP wrote: seedy

IB
(King Kong, 1,090
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 2:00am
Sexy_Like_Enrique's picture

i guess it also depends on

(Gorilla, 660
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 2:07am
BanditPandit's picture

looks like she fucked her way

O
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 2:10am
Sexy_Like_Enrique's picture

BanditPandit wrote: looks

(Gorilla, 660
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 2:16am
ProspectiveMonkey's picture

seedy underbelly

(Orangutan, 328
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 3:06am
Quarterlife's picture

It disturbs me how this

CO
(Orangutan, 329
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 3:10am

My formula for success is rise early, work late and strike oil - JP Getty

ShreddiesBrah's picture

Some ignorant comments in

(King Kong, 1,337
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 4:31am
Quarterlife's picture

Awon Eleyi Awon Eleyi Won Bad

CO
(Orangutan, 329
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 4:55am

My formula for success is rise early, work late and strike oil - JP Getty

Unforseen's picture

stacy forgot to mention that

(King Kong, 1,099
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 5:06am

Check out my Blog

mikebrady's picture

As i said before this is just

 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 7:07am
UFOinsider's picture

Brady4MVP wrote: socola2003

O
(Human, 10,300
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 8:33am

YOU JUST GOT TROLLED
http://www.troll.me/images/red-foreman322/dont-you...

N.R.G.'s picture

ECs are usually not the

(Orangutan, 293
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 11:58am
IRSPB's picture

There are always people who

 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 12:11pm
manbearpig's picture

seedy underbelly

CO
(Neanderthal, 3,029
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 12:19pm

-MBP

UFOinsider's picture

manbearpig wrote: seedy

O
(Human, 10,300
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 12:32pm

YOU JUST GOT TROLLED
http://www.troll.me/images/red-foreman322/dont-you...

RE Capital Markets's picture

Interesting. This discussion

RE
(Gorilla, 649
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:18pm

Man made money, money never made the man

RE Capital Markets's picture

Awon Eleyi Awon Eleyi Won Bad

RE
(Gorilla, 649
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:22pm

Man made money, money never made the man

RE Capital Markets's picture

seedy underbelly

RE
(Gorilla, 649
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:36pm

Man made money, money never made the man

wolverine19x89's picture

RE Capital Markets wrote: I

O
(King Kong, 1,844
 
Points)
 on 2/8/12 at 1:49pm

If your dreams don't scare you, then they are not big enough.

"There are two types of people in this world: People who say they pee in the shower, and dirty fucking liars."-Louis C.K.

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