The Ding Report: Who Was Rejected & Why

Ms. Retail

• 740 (49Q/44V) GMAT
• 3.2 GPA
• Undergraduate degree in business from a top Canadian college (think Queen’s or Ivey)
• Work experience includes three years at WalMart; was in a

  rotational leadership program for one year, promoted to a buying position, promoted second time to manager on a strategic project.

• Extracurricular involvement as founder of a networking organization for women that has gained press attention and won an award
• Good recommendations from current boss and awesome recs from former boss who is also a good friend
• Goals: To remain in retail consulting but gain broader exposure
• 24-year-old Canadian female

Outcomes:

Dinged without an interview by HBS

Sandy’s Analysis: Grrrrr. you have a low GPA and you work at a retailer—which is not exactly on HBS’ friends and family list (a short one). Generally, retail is not a favored feeder industry. My guess is the number of ‘buyers’ admitted to HBS each year could be zero to two, with the weight toward zero.

So this was a narrow window to begin with. The size and reputation of the company (in their mind) plays a huge role here And even then my guess is that the kind of retailer HBS likes is a WalMart or a Target, huge places with a big footprint. You obviously solved that issue because you are at WalMart.

So I think you were dinged because of execution or HBS simply filled its small bucket of peeps like you in R1, or bad luck.

My advice: Reapply for next year’s round 1 and really execute on your story and make sure those Canadian rec writers lose their typical moderation. Lots to like in this profile.

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