Friday 31 October 2014

Admission consultancies run by alumni of top B-schools helping MBA aspirants realise their dream.

12th September, 2014


NEW DELHI: Kovid Gupta, a former scriptwriter with Balaji Telefilms, also wanted to study in a top B-school. But he found it difficult to articulate his own professional long-term vision and expectations from B-schools in his application essays. He approached Mumbai-based admissions consultancy ReachIvy. Today, he's studying at Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell.

Gupta is among hundreds of Indians with diverse backgrounds and work experience who are increasingly turning to specialist admission consultancies such as ReachIvy to realise their dream of doing MBA at a top global business school. Run by alumni of top notch B-schools, these firms help students through the exhaustive process of applying to global B-schools, and assist in honing their applications through coaching on resume writing and essays. Rising awareness of global MBA education, an increase in GMAT applications and a growing emphasis on diversity in global B-schools have convinced an increasing number of Indian candidates to seek expert help for applying at top B-schools.

A high GMAT score is a significant though not the sole precursor of landing a seat in an Ivy League B-school. Applications can be stretched and exhausting, with each school demanding different statements of purpose and intent in addition to a compelling work experience, and other additional accomplishments.

Vibha Kagzi, a Harvard Business School graduate who founded ReachIvy right after her graduation in the summer of 2011, like Chimni, was inspired by her own experience. "My undergraduate experience was a shot in the dark. I felt if someone had provided me structured help at the time of applying, I could have managed to get through a better university at the undergraduate level as well," said Kagzi, a Carnegie Mellon undergraduate.

Miloni Shah, a Harvard Business School graduate, said she had wasted a month with an American counsellor who didn't add any value to her applications before approaching ReachIvy, which helped her look at her story through a different lens and flesh out creative ideas for essays.