Thursday, June 26, 2008

Feedback from BU

I had applied for feedback on my app after getting denied from BU. I received a mail from them day before and I'd like to quote


If I were to identify a particular weakness in your application, it would be your undergraduate academic performance. Although this is not the most important element of the application, it is a way to differentiate good candidates from one another when the quality of the applicants is quite competitive.

A large percentage of candidates applying from India come from software engineering backgrounds, so it is important to differentiate yourself from the rest of the pool. Many admitted candidates this year hold 4 year engineering degrees and have achieved first class distinction, and some even master’s beyond the 4 year degree. In addition, the average GMAT score for Indian candidates is 730.


Jeez Louise!! 730!!?? What is wrong with us Indians?? How can 730 be the average score for INDIAN Applicants?? I had a 710 and I didnt want to re-take simply because i felt 710 would be good enough. But 730?? I'm beginning to wonder what the average score would be at the top10 colleges.

Yes, I definitely had a weak undergrad, in fact, that was the weakest point of my app, but I also had decent work-ex and good entrepreneurial work-ex. I did try to portray more of the entrepreneurial thing because there's a stint where i was working full time at a start-up. Guess I didnt that good a job showing it.

730?? That's a shocker!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I believe that "candidates" refers to candidates for the mba (ie admitted students), not applicants.

Anonymous said...

that doesnt bode too well for the rest of us either.

But stay at it, I am sure you will find a fit somewhere.

Neo2000 said...

Anon,
I started to type out a reply to your post but then it turned into a full length post so i'll post it that way.

Chanakya, remember i was also undone by a weak undergrad and a comparitively similar profile as the Indian applicant pool. I'm pretty sure you DONT fit into that category :-p

Congratulations on making it to the ClearAdmit list :)

Soni said...

You're telling me the avg GMAT of Indian applicants at BOSTON UNIVERSITY is 730?! Holy moly, must be 760 at Wharton.

Kunal said...

730 is the average for Desi junta as reported by GMAC. not school specific but then that is not the target. a target is always that Univ's average. Strange that BU never mentioned that. More later about Undergrad performance.

The Teacher said...

Holy Gosh!!! 730 is the average????

Man, I gotta score more than say 750 to be well above the crowd. Hope my GMAT retake is worth it. My 3 year old score is 710... it was competitive then. I know it's well below average now. What do we Indians eat??

Starwalker said...

I thought having a 770 would make it a cinch for me..... wow!!! is there some documentation for this?

Anil Chintalpudi said...

well, the funny thing is i was dinged by BU (i had 710). but got into USC Marshall... BU is trying up its standards maybe?

Circumspect observer trying to be one handed economist said...

I'm lucky to get an admit from Emory with a "below-average" score... but you know what... the highest GMAT score in our class is 750, by a white American girl... beat that!