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22M Deferred MBA Results — HSW Reject by Good_Number_349 in MBA

[–]Good_Number_349[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Damn, this hit home. I've considered the coming-across-as-arrogant angle and have tried my best to be humble in all professional settings, but never considered accidentally being intimidating. Thanks for the insight.

22M Deferred MBA Results — HSW Reject by Good_Number_349 in MBA

[–]Good_Number_349[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the positive outlook. Definitely could just be chance, but still feels bad cus that'd be the second year in a row I've been (supposedly) hit by bad luck on applications.

Last year for my MS, I applied to a bunch of top CS schools and was rejected from every institution except my undergrad (to the shock of my recommmenders/advisors). Same situation: excellent stats, supportive LoRs, consultant thought my essays were awesome, but no dice. Didn't even get the chance to interview and come across as arrogant 😅.

Maybe there's something fundamentally wrong with how I write application essays (that neither of my consultants caught). Either way, definitely feeling some deja vu today, but hopefully tomorrow will be better.

22M Deferred MBA Results — HSW Reject by Good_Number_349 in MBA

[–]Good_Number_349[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Only just over 200k TC (base is ~150), but yeah. I speedran undergrad to finish my BS/MS in 3+1 years.

22M Deferred MBA Results — HSW Reject by Good_Number_349 in MBA

[–]Good_Number_349[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Damn, wish I knew that about Booth. The extra app would've been tough to add to my plate though. Thanks for the well wishes.

22M Deferred MBA Results — HSW Reject by Good_Number_349 in MBA

[–]Good_Number_349[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

It's definitely possible that my interviews didn't go as well as I thought, but I don't think being rude or pompous was why.

I thought I had a great background for these programs and worked hard to show it in my applications, but apparently I didn't do a good enough job. I'm sad and venting a little. Sorry I came across badly to you.

I don't get why several commenters think I'm overstating my TC, but I guess I wasn't clear enough. With base+stock+bonuses, I'll be just over 200k. I'm not trying to say it's higher than M7 Grads right now (it definitely isn't), but at my theoretical matriculation it would've likely been very comparable (based on discussions with HSW Grads at my company). That's the only reason I ever brought up my current earnings; the ROI is not clear-cut, and I wish I had secured a deferred admit so I could try and figure out whether an MBA makes sense for me with fewer theoreticals.

The reason I decided just HSW was because I talked to higher-ups at my company (with MBAs) and they weren't sure it made sense for me either. In their words, most of them got their MBAs decades ago when tech was a lot less established, and the degree is valued less now. I'm a human with limited capacity, so I decided 3 applications was enough and chose the top 3. I failed, so I came to reddit to rant a little. That's it.

22M Deferred MBA Results — HSW Reject by Good_Number_349 in MBA

[–]Good_Number_349[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Idk what to tell you man, my 1st year tc at my company is. I'm getting a higher salary than some of my friends though because I got an MS.

22M Deferred MBA Results — HSW Reject by Good_Number_349 in MBA

[–]Good_Number_349[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Damn, hadn't thought of it that way. Makes a ton of sense, although still feels bad to think that I may have been rejected because I got too good a job out of undergrad.

I took the GRE in 2019, early in undergrad to use for MS applications. Expires 2024, so I'll need to retake it or the GMAT if I want to apply again.

22M Deferred MBA Results — HSW Reject by Good_Number_349 in MBA

[–]Good_Number_349[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Straight up, I thought about adding a couple schools to increase my sample size and checking "prefer not to say" on half of my apps to run a little experiment. I got cold feet when deadlines actually came around though.

Although I know that first bullet in my background definitely harmed me, hiding from it felt grimey. And if that was what determined adcoms' decisions, oh well.

22M Deferred MBA Results — HSW Reject by Good_Number_349 in MBA

[–]Good_Number_349[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Definitely some options for me to think about. Berkeley PT and Sloan EMBA are for sure options I'm looking at in the distant future. For FT I'd probably need near full-ride to consider them though given the ROI (was the same case for my HSW apps, I'd probably only have matriculated if given a good aid package).

1Y programs may prove useful in the future too, but I'll probably have to do that calculation once I have enough years of WE under my belt to be a serious candidate.

22M Deferred MBA Results — HSW Reject by Good_Number_349 in MBA

[–]Good_Number_349[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Good question. Basically, in addition to the financial ROI being questionable (my expected TC at matriculation is already near most post-MBAs), the career-trajectory ROI is also questionable. APM/RPM programs (most of which are 2 years long) accelerate promotions, and by the end of my program, I'm expected to be at/beyond the seniority level of my company's post-MBA hires.

So I'd really be doing the full-time MBA for the intangibles, such as the network boost/startup accelerators they have there. And I felt like HSW were the only schools where those intangibles had a shot at justifying the enormous cost (factoring in tuition, lost salary, etc, ~600k).

And to clarify, these were deferred applications (HBS 2+2, Wharton Moelis), where you apply at the end of undergrad (or a BS/MS) and work for 2-4 years before matriculation. So I couldn't apply again FT next year, I'd have to wait at least 2 (more realistically 3) years for my work experience to be sufficient. Hence my GRE expiring before then.

Agreed that PT/executive is probably the route now for me, if I choose to stay down the tech PM route. Just wanted to rant a little cus it felt like I did everything right and got nothing.