Riya Goel Does Not Take ‘No’ for an Answer
Riya has just finished a very successful MBA applications process, with admits from Wharton, Cornell & INSEAD and $40K in scholarship offers.
She tells us about applications and explains her choice of the two-year programme at Wharton over the single-year course at INSEAD.
Brought up by an entrepreneurial single-mother who started her own ed-tech venture, Riya says that an MBA was always on the cards for her. After getting a Bachelor’s in Commerce for Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) for Women, Riya prepared for and passed the notoriously difficult Chartered Accountant qualification test in her first attempt and was working at Ernst & Young as a Senior Associate when she decided to start the applications process
Riya took the GMAT test many times. When asked if she means more than twice, she laughs. “More times than you can possibly imagine.”
Riya says there is a technique to taking the GMAT, which took her a few attempts to master, managing to raise her score from 670 to 740. She finally paid for GMAT training even though it was expensive, confessing that she could have probably aced the test in a single attempt if she had just paid for training in the first place. ”It’s not a cakewalk.”
Riya applied to a total of eight B-schools, working with Admissions Gateway on five applications and paying for prep-sessions and mocks with other consultants for the rest. Retaking the GMAT delayed her or she would have worked with Admissions Gateway on all her applications. Riya says that what sets Admissions Gateway apart is the rigorous process, the candid and detailed feedback, the number of iterations her applications went through and the huge amount of time that was spent with her, thoroughly prepping for interviews.
Riya advises applicants to get the GMAT score they are looking for early on, so that the rest of the application process is not delayed. “Take all the help you can get, even if it is expensive. Definitely hire a consultant early on.”
Wharton was always Riya’s dream school; it was the first B-school she had heard of and she knew a lot of seniors from LSR and E&Y that had gone there.
However, she was faced with a tough decision between the one year programme at INSEAD and two years at Wharton. Riya decided that two years would double her opportunities to build up a network, line up a job and would also allow for a summer internship. Also, while the overall cost is higher, the two year programme is actually cheaper annually. Riya also felt that an INSEAD MBA would be too Eurocentric whereas Wharton would open all markets to her, globally.
Riya’s advice for applicants is to network extensively with alumni and students of schools they are applying to and get feedback on their applications. Her vision for her Wharton story had to be completely changed after a number of students told her that her narrative about EdTech would not work with the college. She says this perspective is vital, even if you’re working with a consultant.
Finally, Riya attributes her success with applications to her dogged persistence and her faith. She says she knows many applicants with better profiles who did not get admits simply because they gave up halfway through the process. They got discouraged by their unsatisfactory GMAT scores or the fact that they didn’t have to perfect profiles. They got tired of trying to improve their GMAT scores or they balked at the costs of GMAT trainers and admissions consultants.
She says the process is long and strenuous and just keeping focussed on the end goal is what led to her getting into her dream school.
“Deal with the stress and just keep moving ahead.”