Hello everyone!
Through this post, I am going to share my journey of getting an admitted to my dream school. I will try to keep it short and relevant.
TL;DR:What I liked about working with
MBADecoder:
- Honest review on essays and stories: Namita and Niranjan were very transparent with what they liked and what they didn’t like. They didn’t sugarcoat and communicated the shortcomings in my profile/essay without being rude
- Extremely patient: Namita had helped me with at least 10 drafts per essay. She didn’t finalize any essay unless both of us were happy with the version
- Flexible: Namita accommodated my request of changing schools after a few drafts of the essays for previously decided schools. She also worked late at night to make sure the deadlines were met
- Polished editing skills: After submitting my final draft, Namita would edit it to get into the word limit. But the final versions were so so so polished that I didn’t believe them at first. She would use some phrases and words that would just make the essay shine and look more polished
- Resourcefulness: I can’t focus enough on the resources she has. She arranged for a mock interview with a Kellogg alum.
A brief context:Ever since my college days, I have always known that I wanted to get an MBA. However, after starting my job, the plan just kept on delaying. I started my GMAT prep for the first time in 2018 but had to leave because of my 12+ hours of work each day. However, I kept touching the topic and idea of getting an MBA every now and then. I also earned some Coursera certificates in business. After obtaining the Organizational Leadership certificate from Kellogg (through Coursera), I was ubiquitously inclined towards Kellogg. Eventually, after exploring many other schools, I set my heart on Kellogg. In 2020, when COVID struck and I knew I was not going for an MBA in the next couple of years, I prophesied that I’d be going to Kellogg in 2024 (somehow going for an MBA with 7 years of work experience seemed logical). Then I started using GMAT Club rigorously, I changed my username to “TargetKellogg2024”.
Now coming to the application part!
Overview:For my applications, I explored a lot of admission consultants. Many asked me to get a better score before enrolling for their services. However, in late July, I came across Namita Garg from MBA Decoder. I found her through one of her responses to my queries on GMAT Club. I found her reply very intriguing and somehow got drawn to speak with her. I am not going to lie, but initially, I wasn’t very confident about working with her because I had never heard her name before. I was ready to pay $10,000 for an admission consultant, but somehow I thought of speaking with her. Our initial call was very elaborate, and I was totally convinced to work with her for my application because of the points she highlighted in my profile. When I enrolled for her services, I didn’t have my target score. With a GMAT score of 710, we decided to apply to Fuqua, LBS, and Cornell. However, I got my target score sometime around the last week of August and even though we had completed a few drafts of Cornell and LBS essays, Namita was flexible enough to accommodate my request of switching from the planned schools at no extra cost. We eventually decided to apply to Kellogg, Booth, and Fuqua in Round 1. I applied to Ross and MIT Sloan without her help. I got interviewed at all three schools - Booth, Fuqua, and Kellogg. I got waitlisted at Booth and Fuqua and got an admit from Kellogg. I received a rejection without an interview from MIT Sloan and waitlisted after an interview from Ross. Though I had already received an admit from my dream school, I applied to a few others in Round 2 because I had already paid for that. So eventually, I applied to NYU Stern, Tuck, and Harvard with Namita’s help in Round 2. I got rejected from NYU Stern and Harvard without an interview. I got rejected from Tuck after the interview. I had also applied to Stanford on my own and got a rejection without an interview from there.
Finally, out of the 9 schools I had applied to, I got an admit from only one - Kellogg, my dream school! I am forever grateful to Namita and Niranjan for making my dream come true.
How it was working with MBA Decoder:As I said earlier, I wasn't very confident initially, but as we started working, I loved working with Namita and Niranjan. Namita shared an Excel sheet that I had to fill. This pretty much covered my overall profile. We also had a 2-hour call to discuss the same in detail. I also had a call with Niranjan to speak about my career goals. He really helped me see through a very refined perspective. In the last week of August, we started working on my Kellogg app. With just 20 days to the Round 1 deadline, I was pretty scared that I wouldn’t be able to give my best in the application. When I shared my concern with Namita, her response was “Even if I have to stay awake the whole night, I will make sure that your application is submitted on time without compromising on the quality”. For Kellogg, I picked up four stories that I wanted to narrate in the essay. Niranjan and Namita helped me finalize the one. The first draft of my story was around 3 pages, but they helped me crunch the juicy part into one page that we further refined. After 10 drafts per essay, we finalized the essays on the deadline date and submitted on time. Namita was very adept at identifying wherever I had used ChatGPT and marked it out for me to change. She was never lazy to let go of even the tiniest of things. Sometimes she had to work even past midnight, but she made sure that we submitted the application on time and without compromising with any aspect of the application. After the Kellogg deadline, I had just one week to wrap up my Booth essays. She again stayed up late at night to ensure that we submit the application on time. Then again, we had another week for Fuqua. For Fuqua, I had a personal goof a day before my application deadline and could not work the whole day. She then stayed up until 3 am to finalize my application.
For my Round 2 applications, I did not put in as much effort because I had already gotten into my dream school. That reflects in my Round 2 results 😛
To sum it up, I am so thankful that I decided to work with Namita for my applications, regardless of my initial apprehensions. I did everything she suggested, and things worked out for the best.
If you are also looking for an admission consultant, I can confidently recommend Namita.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with the admission process journey. Congrats! on your success in admission to Kelloggs'. I wish you all the best for your future success.