Rejected by a B-School. What next?

This is the time of the year when most of the business schools give out their final decisions. After a long period of the application form submissions and analysis by the authorities, the admissions committee comes out with the list of short-listed candidates.

As an applicant, waiting for the results and hoping for a positive response after putting in all your efforts into the entire admission process, a rejection may often seem to be like the end of the world.

As per the statistics, only 6% of the total applicants at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business class of 2014 and just 13% of the Harvard applicants last year were finally admitted. This is just to show how tough it is to get into a good MBA program.

So how do you overcome this phase of your life when a rejection tends to disappoint or devastate you? Things can get more difficult if all your friends or peers are receiving acceptances from colleges.

First of all, you just have to step back and give yourself a break. Clear out your mind before you actually start reviewing your applications in terms of where you have possible fallen short in your efforts. Take time to regroup yourself and focus on things that you have possibly missed out during your preparation time.

Spend time with your friends, family and indulge yourself in your hobbies activities that you may have missed or that may have been placed on the back burner.

Once you have come to terms with the reality that you won’t be going to a business school this season, it is time to get back and review your application to find out why it was rejected.

Thoroughly go through every component of your application form analyzing everything you have mentioned. Do your essays sound below par? Is the work experience relevant and enough? Have you demonstrated about why you want to pursue MBA? Moreover, why you want to pursue the program from the particular school and what would you contribute to the class?

You are bound to find certain flaws once you scrutinize the form. These may include lack of certain skills (analytical, leadership, etc.) and the lack of experience about the same. Low entrance test scores and academic scores can also hinder your chances. So before reapplying make sure that you have a strong entrance test scores so as to boost your chances.

Letter of Recommendations also play a major role. Just in case you have a letter that is not very impactful, it can cause a serious dent to your chances. Here it is important to note that a lot depends also on the way you are able to convince your recommenders about your skills and achievements through concrete examples. Therefore, be absolutely clear and note down your accomplishments before you approach your recommender. This might make it easier for him/her to understand and remember the same.

Another important factor to be considered is whether you have approached the right school. Certain schools have some unique traits, so it is important for you to understand what exactly you are looking for. In addition to that, also look out whether the average scores and academic profile of students from the particular school matches yours.

Expecting a feedback from the admissions committee about the reasons for your rejection is almost impossible. So, if you can get the application form analyzed by some experts outside, it would definitely help you understand where you have faltered.

There have been instances where rejected candidates have bounced back and got themselves admitted to their desired B-School. Some of them have found even better options may be in terms of the school or altogether their career.

Thus, understand the fact that failure to get into your desired school is not a big worry or a cause for concern. It is the way you respond to the failure and act on it that really matters. A rejection can also be turned into an opportunity- an opportunity that can totally transform your career and life in a good way.