Anupam Soni Understands The Value Of Perseverance.
Anupam Soni went through college admissions with a leading US based admissions consultant in 2020 but he did not receive any admit offers. Unfazed, he decided apply again and later this year, he is headed to UC Berkeley.
Anupam has a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from BITS-Pilani and has worked for Cisco and Bertelsmann India; about five years of experience across tech, investment banking and venture capital. By 2020, Anupam realised that he required an MBA if he wanted to become a VP at Fireside Ventures, where he currently works.
He had already been offered admits from ISB and IIM-Bangalore based on the CAT exam but Anupam wanted to go to the US for his MBA. His brother had studied at Cornell and was working for Google in Mountain View, California and his family was moving to Canada. Anupam had worked in the US, Europe and Australia and wanted the international exposure of an American MBA.
After an unsuccessful year of MBA applications, Anupam spoke with nearly 20 consultants before deciding to work with Admissions Gateway for his second attempt. He says the instant rapport he had and their impressive track record is why he chose Admissions Gateway.
Anupam found that Admissions Gateway’s highly structured framework for the applications process, worked for well for him. He and his consultant started with an analysis of what didn’t work with his previous applications, eliminating weaknesses and applying a structured approach to developing essays that highlighted his trifecta of personality traits, impact and extracurricular activities.
Anupam learnt a lot of lessons from his unsuccessful application rounds; a “humbling experience” as he describes it.
He realised that before working with Admissions Gateway, he didn’t understand how to build the individual elements of his application together into a cohesive whole that told a compelling story.
Anupam says he also underestimated the weightage colleges give to feeder organisations and admits he hadn’t been pragmatic with his choice of schools; applying only to the top six in the first round.
“Don’t ascribe your self-worth to a B-school. You are not defined by which colleges you get into or don’t get into.”
He confesses that there was a lot of performance pressure on him and he was disheartened when the none of the three waitlists he was on in previous attempts, translated into admit offers.
“Failure is something you cannot escape.”
He did not give up, however. He picked himself up and tried again, relying heavily on his family for support during his second year of applications. With a whole lot of courage plus a little guidance, Anupam’s persistence and tenacity paid off in the end and later this year, he’ll be joining his brother in California.