My Master’s Application Story
Welcome!
Before you start reading, you must be wondering “Why should I read your blog?” Well, I would have asked the same question if I were to stumble upon a generic blog post related to master’s applications. However, before we begin, I would like to give a brief introduction about myself, and why you should at least read my story.
My name is Abhijeet Krishnan, and I hail from Mumbai, India. And I am an incoming Management Science & Engineering student at Columbia University, New York. Prior to this, I graduated from VJTI, Mumbai in 2022 with a GPA of 7.5 and worked at PwC as a Technology Consultant for almost a year. Apart from Columbia, I also got into other great universities such as Dartmouth College (another IVY), Purdue University, and the University of Washington. The entire purpose of this blog is to present a story of an average profile getting into IVY Leagues sheerly through faith, hard work, and commitment. I would also deep-dive into each and every aspect of what helped me get into great colleges!
So if you feel you have an average profile and are skeptical about whether you even have a chance of getting into a top-tier college, then you should definitely read my blog. I understand the skepticism. For the major part of students, it is one or two aspects of the profile that worries them. It could be your GPA or GRE, or lack of relevant experience. My attempt is to walk you through each of these aspects and help you optimize your efforts over your strengths.
I got into IVY Leagues with just a 7.5 GPA
Index
Over the course of various blog series, I wish to share various aspects of my entire application process. If these blogs even help 10 people, my mission is successful. Following are the topics I would subsequently cover in deep detail:
- My Story — Why you should read my blog?
- Choosing the right exam — GRE v/s GMAT
- Spirituality for Success — Yoga, Meditation, and Prayers
- Third-Party Resources — Why do they suck?
- Ultimate GRE Guide — How I Scored 331 on the GRE?
- Ultimate TOEFL Guide — How I scored 114 on the TOEFL?
- Low academic GPA — How you can still get into IVY leagues?
- Statement of Purpose (SOP) — How to structure a game-changing story?
- Letter of Recommendations — What matters the most?
- Overview of Application process & deadlines
- My MEM / MSE / MS&E rankings
My Story
So my story began in 2021 when I saw all my batchmates gearing up to build a bright and shining future by preparing for the CAT, which is an entrance exam to get into one of the most prestigious management institutes in India. Overwhelmed by this race, I thought maybe its time for me to get started with something as well because electrical engineering did not seem to be my forte. But it was very soon that I realized that neither was CAT. So I chose an even more annoying path: GMAT.
At that time, there was a sudden hype for deferred MBA programs both in the US and India. The ISB Young Leader’s program was something that everyone aspired to get into, however, very few got in. Thinking that I am destined to be one of those ‘very few’, I applied and started preparing for the GMAT. Here are my personal thoughts regarding GMAT, this may vary from person to person:
- A score below 700 won’t land you anywhere, especially if you are an engineer looking to get into the top 20 US MBA programs or ISB.
- A very meticulously crafted, brainy exam. It will require every ounce of intelligence within you to get a 720+ on GMAT.
- The biggest issue is that GMAC (the creators of GMAT) has not done a great job of providing ample resources for preparation. And I am saying this because I almost used everything out there available to prepare for the GMAT. To put this in perspective, if you rate the Official Guide as level 1, then the mocks would be level 20, and the real test is level 100. This big gap between the real test difficulty and official prep materials pisses off a lot of students out there.
- GMAT focuses a lot on critical reasoning. You must be able to visualize every scenario related to a business problem. If you don’t have that skill or cannot develop that, I am sorry to say this exam is not for you.
Now, since OGs were not enough for me, I went ahead and brought the Magoosh GMAT prep in 2021. It was decent, however, I would speak more about third-party resources later on a different blog.
After some real hard work for about 3 months, and a few mock scores in the 690–720 range, I walked into my GMAT exam and came out with a devastating 640. “Failure is the first step to success” is what I told everyone, but what I actually felt inside was “I am never going to a great university”. However, around the same period, I got my first full-time offer in PwC so that was kind of a neutralizing arrow in front of my 640 GMAT. Moreover, I had my entire final year of engineering left in front of me so I decided to take another foolish step: give GMAT again.
This happened in around December 2021 when, after months of break and recovery, I signed in for an e-gmat’s GMAT course which looked very promising. To be fairly honest, they were a complete disappointment. However, they did have a huge question bank to prepare from so that was kind of good practice for me. In fact, at that time I thought maybe practicing 4000 questions would put me over the 720 mark since practice makes a man perfect right? I feel this generation needs a modified quote.
Practicing the correct strategy/technique makes a man/woman perfect
Also, this time I decided one thing. This would be my last GMAT attempt. Because, in the end, it’s not a 250 rupees exam, it’s 250 dollars. But, I did tell myself to burn all gas. So, in a hunger to mindlessly solve a large number of questions, I brought the Manhattan Question Bank, the Kaplan Question Bank, Manhattan Mock tests, GMAT Official Practice question sets, GMAT Mock tests, and all this in addition to E-Gmat. I would really say that I was very confident this time since I scored 700+ in many mocks, and had done too many questions to identify patterns. So with a dream of ISB in my head, I went into my second GMAT attempt with an unwavering hope that this time I would beat this shitty test.
I would not say that the 680 on the result screen was a shock, it was much more complex than that. One way to look at it was, “So 640 to 680 is 40 points improvement, so maybe next time I will reach 720?”. Fortunately, I did not look at it that way. All my dreams came crashing onto me. All the energy spent, all the time spent, all the money spent, all burnt away like embers of ashes. I remember calling my best friend and telling him how great it is to get a 680 on GMAT, but we both knew its the pain of failure that I was trying to mask. Later, I came home and saw the disappointment on my parent’s faces, that was the most heart-wrenching. I would say this was the point where they had gracefully given up.
But I had not. This was kind of my “Naruto” moment.
So, after 3 days of crying under the bed sheets, I woke up and spoke to my Yoga master. I still remember his words:
“If you try for something very hard, and it doesn’t work out, then maybe it’s not the right path for you”
That is when I decided, my relationship with GMAT is over. Now, I would take the most traditional path, the GRE. And I began with the most obvious question anyone who has failed twice would have: What if I fail again?
Before I proceed, I would like to say something. When a person has failed twice, he/she becomes of the sort that he can do anything now to achieve success. You ask him to dance naked, if it works, he will do it. Of course, my passion was not too engrained that I would do anything wrong or harmful, but I was in that state of mind. You just tell me what to do, I would do it as long as it is not illegal or harmful, no questions asked.
That is when someone told me to chant “Shri Ram” at least 21 times followed by Hanuman Chalisa once, daily, without break, with full devotion. Now, I was already practicing Yoga & Meditation every day, so I knew spirituality is a great tool to be focused, energetic, and aware. However, this was my first time entering the realm of prayers. Because somewhere down the line our generation has cut off ties with the creator since he did not fulfill our wish of getting an apple candy when we were 7.
So, long story short, I took a vow. I would do the prayers every day, in addition to my Yoga practice, with a desire to score 320+ on the GRE. In Sanskrit, this is called Sankalpa.
This means that no matter where you are, what you are doing, in whatever circumstances, you would do what you vowed to do. Only then, your desire would be fulfilled.
With my Sankalpa, I started my GRE preparation alongside my work at PwC. Luckily, at that time I was under training, so the workload was less. However, I just had 6 weeks. I knew this was going to be a sprint. So for 6 weeks, I gave my heart and soul to my preparation. I did not know whether my prayers would work, I just kept my side of the deal: to pray every day.
Just a side note. After 20 days, my Sankalpa broke because of some reason. For a moment I thought I should just give up since it is not going to work. But I went ahead and created a new Sankalpa. I just thought, “Well, if God is not generous then who would be?”
After 6 weeks of rigorous preparation, regular Yoga & meditation, and lots of prayers (unbroken Sankalpa), I gave my GRE in September 2022. I still remember that morning when I woke up real quick, did my pranayama, prayed to Lord Hanuman, and left for the test center with my father. This time there was no confidence, no dreams, no hope within me. Just faith.
I scored 331 on the GRE, with 165 on Verbal & 166 on Quants.
I remember that moment very well, when I walked out of the test center, with a bounty score of 331 on my head, and with my hands shaking, tears overflowing, and voice wavering. I picked up my phone and called my dad, “Hanuman Ji listened to my prayers. I scored a 331”.
The reason I was shocked is that I never scored that much in any of my official mocks. The highest I scored was 328, and my average was 324. So it was a 3–4 point sudden increase on the test. And mind you, GRE is not a test where you could fluke and get a high score since options are very tricky and have multiple answers. In fact, I genuinely remember arriving at the answers to each question through a step-by-step process taught by Gregmat.
I would still say there is always an element of luck. No matter how much you prepared, on that day if luck favors, you would perform the best. If not, then you would see a dip in the score by 3–4 points. In my opinion, I don’t believe in luck. What I believe is “grace”. An unseen blessing from some divine entity. For me that is luck. I completely leave this to you, whether you want to believe in these things or not. I would not have, 2 years ago. Maybe if you fail enough times, you would stumble on this blog with an openness to do whatever it takes.
So consequently, I came home. Prepared for TOEFL. Scored 114 on that as well effortlessly in a week’s preparation, since TOEFL is just an easier version of the GRE. Around October 1st week, I began crafting my Statement of Purpose (SOP) and the rest of the stuff. More on that in the consequent blogs.
The end results were phenomenal, beyond my imagination. With a 7.5 GPA, I never really thought I would get into top-tier colleges. I believe it is all because of god’s grace, focused efforts, and timing. In life, often timing plays an important role. You might have worked very hard, but if the timing is not correct, it won’t work out. Timing does not necessarily mean astrological orientation. Timing means your circumstances.
When I started my GRE Prep, I had already started working at PwC. That is when I realized strongly that I want to shape my career abroad only, not in India because for various reasons. I never had this strong realization, earlier it was just because others are doing it, I will also do it. Moreover, the work was not that satisfying which gave me an added push. However, during my GMAT preparation, I was in a comfort zone. I really did not bother much whether it happens or not.
So yeah! Enough of philosophy. I hope this story makes sense to at least a few people out there, who are struggling through all of this. In the end, it does not matter which college you land. And that is the great thing about the US. Their culture places more importance on skills than brand. But, it is our duty to give our best and try to get into the best program we can!
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Thank you!
