Rishibha Kawatra Has a Unique Perspective On B-school Admissions.
While getting her MBA at Kellogg, Rishibha was part of the Admissions Committee and served as co-chair for second-round admissions interviews. This gives her a unique perspective on the MBA applications process because she has experienced it from both sides.
Rishibha has a Bachelor of Economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce at Delhi University and was working for Deloitte in New Delhi when she decided to apply for an MBA. The time was right because she had taken the GMAT earlier and her score validity was about to expire. Rishibha had gotten into the Indian School of Business’ Young Leaders Program but wanted the global exposure of an American MBA. She had also been working as a strategy consultant for three years and upon rethinking her career, decided that an MBA would be the boost she needed.
Rishibha says she did elaborate research before picking an admissions consultant, speaking with almost ten different consultants in India and the US. She says that while American consultants didn’t seem to understand her profile well enough, most Indian consultants tended to over-promise. She says Admissions Gateway instantly seemed to understand her profile and recognise her strengths and they also had a stellar track record. Together they took a holistic approach to her applications, first sorting her target schools into ‘dream/within reach/safety’ tranches and then working on their applications for each school. Rishibha adds that Admissions Gateway was always available; vital since she was working full-time throughout her applications.
Rishibha got into Kellogg in Round 1; her dream school and her takeaways from the application process are that the first application is the hardest because it must be built from scratch.
“Be patient and resilient and figure out your story. Introspection is a critical skill for the process”
“Also, don’t blindly run after brands” Rishibha advises, saying that she did a lot of research to figure out which B-schools would truly be the best fit for her profile and goals, rather than just applying to the most vaunted schools.
At Kellogg, Rishibha was part of the Admissions Committee and as Interview Co-Chair, she spoke with many applicants, since Kellogg tries to interview everyone who applies. Rishibha says she learnt to tell very easily, which applicants had put a lot of thought into their applications and built a good business-case for going to Kellogg.
“Build a compelling case for why you want to go to a school, with your application” Rishibha advises, saying that successful applicants were those who had built the best business cases for attending Kellogg.
“Explain how you will fit into, enrich and benefit from the community.”
For her part, Rishibha says Kellogg’s strong student and alumni community helped her not only in the US but even when she moved to London for a new role at Deloitte; helping her get settled into a new city, build a social network and feel like she had a support system.