Case Studies of Successful Applicants

It is natural to have moments of self-doubt while preparing your applications to your dream business school. At The Red Pen, our team of expert counsellors help facilitate self-reflection, leading to the discovery of deep-rooted interests. Our intense preparation methods–which have been developed over years of experience–are designed to hone each aspect of the application process. Through this, we’ve seen applicants gain confidence in their unique stories and put together a compelling applications.

Here are a few case studies from successful applicants, demonstrating that the road to gaining admission to a leading business programme isn’t always linear. For the sake of confidentiality, we have replaced real names with aliases.

Case 1: Benefits of reapplying to your dream business school:

Data and background:

• GMAT Score: 770
• Undergraduate GPA: 8.8
• Qualification: BE (Electrical Engineering)
• Work Experience after graduation: 4 years
• Pre-MBA Industry: Investment Banking
• Interests: founding member of India’s first LGBT University Affinity Group

Scenario:

Starting as a quantitative analyst on the trading desk at a bulge bracket investment bank, Applicant V found his work unfulfilling, even after being promoted to Senior Analyst. So he quit, with a broad idea of doing something impactful.

Five months later, he landed in the Delhi office of a small, global not-for-profit organisation. Inspired by their work–which provided in-depth financial and political analysis to maximise climate impact and facilitate climate finance flows. Here, Applicant V spent most of his time researching and developing financial structures to encourage green building. But he wanted to do something more impactful. He decided that it was the right time to pursue an MBA. Unfortunately, he received a rejection from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

The following year, he worked with The Red Pen and reapplied to Chicago Booth, along with the MIT Sloan School of Management and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. This time around, he analysed his goals with a lead consultant at The Red Pen. He realised that to make a meaningful long-term impact, he needed to upskill his financial expertise and managerial experience while creating a supportive network. Doing so would help him to become a leader in the climate finance sector. Our team of experts provided him with inputs that defined his goals with a high degree of specificity and crafted a compelling application narrative that spoke about his sense of purpose.

Outcome:

With a reworked strategy, he pinned all his hopes on Chicago Booth, the only business school that granted him an interview. He was overjoyed when he finally secured an acceptance letter from Chicago Booth–his dream school!

Evaluation:

The Red Pen broke Applicant V’s applications into manageable tasks, working with him to articulate each area over multiple iterations. Whether goals, background information, or his impact across academia and professional life, his focus remained on speaking to his fitment with the school and student community. He was also advised to speak with alumni and senior leaders to define the scope and scale of his ambition and lay out the specifics of how an MBA from his dream business school would enable him to achieve his ambition. What was missing from Applicant V’s first application was the deep exploration of his aspirations. This was instrumental in refining his goals, which in turn helped him demonstrate his fit with his dream school’s programme and community.

Case 2: The roadmap to securing an M7 admit with a sales role and a scholarship!

Data and background:

• GMAT Score: 700
• Undergraduate GPA: 8.7
• Qualification: BE (Electronics Engineering)
• Work Experience after graduation: 4 years
• Pre-MBA Industry: Basic Materials (Chemicals)
• Interests: Dance and Poker

Scenario:

Applicant N dreamed of securing an MBA from an M7 school, however, she was extremely apprehensive about how attractive her candidature would be to these schools. She worked at a chemical company on the field sales team and her undergraduate college was relatively unknown.

Initially assuming that her role involved more interpersonal than quantitative skills, she felt leading business schools would not value her expertise in a competitive pool of international applicants.

Applicant N came to The Red Pen in hope of putting together a competitive application. In guided sessions with our team of experts, she reflected deeply on her professional experience. Soon, she had identified her key strengths, which included resilience and grit, both of which had motivated her to thrive in a traditionally male-dominated industry. These values had also enabled her to win accolades in global dance and poker tournaments.

Outcome:

The intensive brainstorming sessions and customised guidance that went into shaping her applications bore fruit when she was admitted to Kellogg School of Management (her dream school) with a USD 100k scholarship.

Evaluation:

The Red Pen helped Applicant N identify her strengths with detailed self-reflection, enabling her to make a strong case for her candidature to her dream business school. With customised guidance, she spoke of a unique perspective on life situations that enriched her narrative and demonstrated her fit with her dream programme. The Red Pen also encouraged Applicant N to attend Kellogg events and worked with her to create a customised research plan that enabled her to ask questions of the alumni network that clearly informed her vision of why the business school fit her aspirations.

Case 3: A Second MBA is sometimes worth it!

Data and background:

• GMAT Score: 760
• Undergraduate GPA: 3.5/4
• Qualification: Dual Degree- B.Tech (Mechanical Engineering), MBA (Technology Management)
• Work Experience after graduation: 6 years
• Pre-MBA Industry: Family Business (Textile Manufacturing)
• Interests: Sustainability, Teaching socio-economically disadvantaged children

Scenario:

Passionate about growing his family business, Applicant K was keen to update the traditional business practices with those steeped in environmental sustainability. His deep understanding of the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises as the backbone of the fashion industry, requiring visionary leadership and access to professional advice, informed his post-MBA goals and set him apart in a competitive applicant pool.

Applicant K’s narrative was steeped in a genuine need to drive global and ethical change. Whether from within the industry he worked or the underprivileged kids he tutored, Applicant K was happy to give access to resources.

With guidance from The Red Pen, Applicant K let his story focus on his ever-evolving sense of purpose. It revealed how his experiences influenced his long-term vision of how he could strategically transform the operations of small and mid-sized companies.

He refined his short-term goals to show scalable and measurable changes that would give organisations access to business expertise and funding, setting himself up as a catalyst for change.

Outcome:

Applicant K was ecstatic when the intensive brainstorming paid off. He managed to get into the University of Virgina’s Darden School of Business as a Batten Scholar.

Evaluation:

Thanks to The Red Pen’s Reflective Exercises, Applicant K was able to contemplate his interests and passions and how they were a core part of his life choices. This translated into authentic essays that demonstrated his sincerity in following his intended path and increasing the scale of his vision with the assistance of an MBA from a leading global programme.