Case study
From Round 1 rejection to multiple Round 2 admits how narrative restructuring and confidence-building turned a fragmented story into a consulting-ready vision.
After a disappointing Round 1 with 7 rejections and no interview calls, this experienced fashion and retail leader felt stuck. With 10+ years of work experience, a career gap, and no international exposure, she worried she was “too senior” and not competitive for global MBAs. Through Open Admits’ structured storytelling, vision alignment, and interview prep, she secured admits to INSEAD, ISB, and IIM plus interview invites from Columbia and Booth.
Name: Confidential (Female, Indian)
GMAT: 685
GPA: 9.2 / 10
Undergrad: NIFT (Tier-1, Apparel Production & Management)
Experience: 10+ years
Pre-MBA Roles: Retail Sales → Category Manager (Men’s Apparel) → Head of Growth & Marketing (Dubai-based firm) → Associate Director (Fortune 500 company)
Gap: 8–10 months (family reasons)
Schools Accepted To: INSEAD, ISB, IIM
Interview Invites: Columbia & Booth
Despite her strong academic background and leadership roles, her fragmented narrative and poorly explained career gap led to a disastrous Round 1.
Career Gap: 8–10 months off, weakly explained in early applications.
Fragmented Narrative: Fashion → retail → marketing → startup projects appeared disconnected.
Round 1 Failures: 6–7 rejections without even interview invites.
Seniority Concerns: With 10+ years of experience, feared being “too senior” for MBA programs.
International Exposure Gap: No full-time international work made INSEAD/M7 applications tougher.
Connected her career arc (fashion retail → marketing → leadership) into a cohesive story of growth, strategy, and transformation.
Positioned her 8–10 month break as freelance strategic consulting with SMEs rather than a “pause.”
Tied her industry depth in fashion/retail to her long-term goal in consulting.
Showed her as a leader who could bring unique domain expertise into strategic consulting.
Rewrote essays to highlight resilience, authenticity, and leadership across industries.
Coached her to tackle tough questions on career gap, seniority, and pivot to consulting with confidence.
From 7 rejections in Round 1 to 3 admissions in Round 2 including INSEAD, ISB, and IIM, plus interviews at Columbia and Booth.
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