Ramprashanth Mohanasundaram Knows How to Overcome.

To say that Ram understands the power of education, is an understatement. His father is the only one amongst his siblings who went to school, going on to become the first graduate in his family. His mother has a PhD and got her post-doctorate from IIT-Madras while he was still in school, giving him his first taste of the college campus he would later be part of. Later this year, Ram is headed to Harvard Business School.

Despite being a top-performing student in his school in a metropolitan Indian city, Ram and his siblings all faced discrimination from teachers who attributed their performance to luck because they belong to a backward caste.

In spite of his teachers’ contempt or perhaps driven by it, Ram went on to win the National Talent Search and with IIT as his goal, started attending prep-sessions when he was still in class eight.

After Ram entered the 5½ year B.Tech + M.Tech programme at IIT-Madras, his interests gradually shifted from tech, towards business and entrepreneurship. He decided he wanted to go to Harvard while he was at IIT; he admits that at the time, the decision was mostly him following the crowd, rather than any understanding of the strengths of HBS as a B-school.

With his next big goal set, upon graduation Ram turned down a higher paying offer from ITC India to work for McKinsey as he thought the best path to Harvard was consulting and then investing.

Ram’s next considered move was to WestBridge Consulting because he was aware of the firm’s track record of sending people to HBS. After gaining three years of experience in both early & late stage investing and building businesses, Ram decided it was time to put his MBA plans into action.

Ram knew he needed a consultant because he had no family or close friends with B-school experience. He says he didn’t speak with any other consultants because everyone recommended Admissions Gateway.

He took the GMAT a second time after they recommended he improve his score from 710 on his first attempt. Ram achieved the median score for Harvard Business School; 740, on his second attempt and he confesses he was too burnt out to try again.

Ram says he didn’t know anything about MBA admissions and didn’t know the requirements. He says Admissions Gateway handheld with him throughout the process, establishing timelines and keeping him on track.

“I always felt I had someone gunning for me. A team-mate who was personally invested.”

Ram says he spent an inordinate amount of time on just his Harvard essay instead of concentrating on all three essays equally. He admits this was a risky decision and advises applicants decide their own appetite for risk before putting all their eggs in one basket, like he did.

For Ram though, the admit to Harvard vindicates his single-mindedness and proves that prejudice cannot stand in the way of conviction and hard work.