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He has an undergraduate degree in finance from Wharton, two years of experience at both L.E.K. Consulting and Barclays. With a 740 GMAT and a grade point average of 3.45, this Indian-American is not only a scratch golfer, he also climbed Mount Everest. Yet he was rejected last week by both Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business.
他拥有沃顿商学院(Wharton)的金融学士学位，还曾经在艾意凯咨询公司(L.E.K. Consulting )和巴克莱银行(Barclays)工作过两年。他的GMAT（研究生管理专业入学考试）成绩是740分，GPA（平均绩点）为3.45。这位印度裔美国人不仅是一位零差点球员，还攀登过珠穆朗玛峰。然而，就在上周，哈佛商学院(Harvard Business School)和斯坦福大学商学院(Stanford Graduate School of Business)双双拒绝了他的入学申请。
She's a 27-year-old woman who has successfully founded two startups, attracting both funding and major media attention. With a 760 GMAT and a 3.5 GPA at a "Baby Ivy, " she was even named to a list of the 30 best entrepreneurs under the age of 30 by an international magazine. Yet she was dinged by Stanford last week.
27岁的她已经成功创办了两家初创公司，受到了投资人和各大媒体的关注。她毕业于一所“小常春藤”(Baby Ivy)盟校，GMAT成绩为760分，GPA为3.5。她甚至被一家国际性的杂志选为30岁以下30位最佳企业家之一。然而，她上周被斯坦福商学院放弃。
This 26-year-old is a biomedical engineer for Abbott Laboratories who has been promoted twice and won recognition from his site leadership team. His 790 GMAT is more than 60 points higher than the average score for the latest enrolled class at Harvard Business School. Yet Harvard just turned him down for admission to its MBA program.
他今年26岁，是雅培制药公司(Abbott Laboratories)的一位生物医学工程师，获得过两次晋升，还受到领导团队的一致好评。他的GMAT成绩高达790分，足足比哈佛商学院最近一次录取新生的平均分数高出了60分。然而，哈佛拒绝了他就读该校MBA课程的申请。
These MBA candidates were all round one applicants who were dinged by either Harvard, Stanford, or both business schools last week. Yet they have impressive GMAT scores along with professional and extracurricular achievements that are nothing less than exceptional. So why didn't they get in?
上周的首轮入学申请评估中，这几位MBA申请人要么被哈佛或斯坦福拒绝，要么被这两家商学院双双放弃。然而，他们拥有令人印象深刻的GMAT成绩，专业和课外成就也相当出众。那么，为什么连他们也被拒之门外呢？
We asked Sandy Kreisberg, founder of HBSGuru.com and a prominent MBA admissions consultant, to take a look at the profiles and raw stats of rejected candidates and tell them why they failed to get into Harvard or Stanford. Both business schools released their round one decisions last week and thousands of applicants got disappointing news.
我们邀请 HBSGuru.com创始人、著名的MBA入学顾问桑迪•克雷斯伯格审视一下这几位被拒绝申请人的简历和原始资料，同时向他们说明未能进入哈佛或斯坦福的原因。上周，这两家商学院公布了它们的首轮决定，数千位申请人收到了令人失望的消息。
Of course, it's no small hurdle to get into either Harvard or Stanford. The average GMAT score for latest class enrolled at HBS is 727, while the average at Stanford is 732. The undergraduate grade point averages are in nose bleed territory as well: 3.73 at Stanford and 3.67 at Harvard. Less than 7% of Stanford applicants and less than 12% of HBS applicants are accepted each year.
进入哈佛或斯坦福当然要面临着不小的障碍。哈佛商学院最近一次录取新生的GMAT平均成绩是727分，斯坦福是732分。本科阶段的GPA也处在令人流鼻血的区域：斯坦福是3.73，哈佛是3.67。每年，斯坦福商学院的录取比例不到7%，哈佛商学院不到12%。
Dinged by Harvard &Stanford
被哈佛和斯坦福同时拒绝
• 740 GMAT
• GMAT成绩为740分
• 3.45 GPA
• GPA为3.45
• Undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Pennsylvania
• 拥有宾夕法尼亚大学( University of Pennsylvania)的金融学士学位
• Work experience includes two years at L.E.K. Consulting and three years at Barclays (BCS) in investment banking in London and New York
• 在艾意凯咨询公司工作了两年，在巴克莱银行伦敦和纽约分公司从事过三年的投行业务
• Extracurricular involvement in community; advised two startups by Penn grads; was on varsity crew and a scratch golfer; also climbed Mount Everest
• 利用课外时间参加过社区活动；为两家宾夕法尼亚大学毕业生创办的公司担任过顾问工作；校队成员之一，零差点球员；也攀登过珠穆朗玛峰
• Indian American "likely returning to UPenn"
• 这位印度裔美国人“有可能重返宾夕法尼亚大学”
Sandy's Analysis: No surprise here. Climbing Mount Everest (and scratch golf) could turn gold minus into gold but not silver into gold, and what we have here is solid silver [a lowish GPA, a work history at LEK and Barclays, all solid but not a 3.9, with experience at McKinsey and Goldman (GS) or KKR (KKR). There was nothing really driving you in.
桑迪的分析：这份简历没有惊喜。攀登过珠峰（和零差点球员）可以把成色不足的黄金变为黄金，但不会把白银变成黄金。而我们在这里看到的，是一块实心银：一个有点低的GPA，一段在艾意凯咨询公司和巴克莱银行的工作经历，这些都挺体面的。但GPA不是3.9，供职公司不是麦肯锡( McKinsey)和高盛(Goldman)，也不是KKR。确实没有什么能够真正打动招生官员的地方。
People refuse to acknowledge the truth because they don't want to be completely honest about how unfair admissions can be. But college is destiny. If you had gone to Princeton instead of Penn, you probably would have worked for McKinsey instead of L.E.K. and then would have made a move to Goldman or Morgan Stanley instead of Barclays. You then would have been accepted at Harvard and Stanford. Instead, you might very well be going back to Wharton.
人们拒绝直面真相，因为他们不想完全坦诚地承认商学院招生究竟有多么不公平。但你的命运取决于你上了哪所大学。要是你上的是普林斯顿大学( Princeton )，而不是宾夕法尼亚大学，你或许就会去麦肯锡，而不是去艾意凯咨询公司工作。随后或许将跳槽到高盛或摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)，而不是巴克莱银行。然后，你就会被哈佛和斯坦福商学院录取。现在呢，你很可能会重返沃顿商学院。
Dinged At Stanford:
被斯坦福商学院放弃
• 760 GMAT
• GMAT成绩为760分
• 3.5 GPA
• GPA为3.5
• Undergraduate degree in biology and English from a 'Baby Ivy" east coast private college
• 从一所东海岸私立“小常青藤”盟校获得生物学和英语学士学位
• Work experience includes five years across two startups, with funding and major media, as head of marketing and operations; five years of international work experience; founder of my own company which was successfully acquired; led teams of up to 15
• 工作经历包括在5年内创办了两家公司，出任营销和运营主管，并受到投资人和主流媒体的关注；5年的国际工作经验；创办的公司被成功售出；领导过多达15人的团队
• Was named to list of 30 under 30 in tech in an international magazine and have won awards from two industry-leading corporations
• 入选一家国际性杂志30岁以下的30位最佳企业家之一，还获得过两家业内领先公司的奖项。
• Extracurricular involvement includes youth volunteer work and programs engaging women in science and tech
• 课外活动包括青年志愿者工作，还参加过鼓励妇女从事科技工作的项目
• Goal: To run a startup accelerator with a focus on helping companies with international ambitions
• 目标：创建一家创业加速器，致力于帮助拥有进军国际市场雄心的公司
• 27-year-old female
• 女性，27岁
• What she says about the rejection: "Honestly, I'm at a loss. Even students and faculty thought I'd be a shoo-in. My guess would be GPA and unknown companies? As a side note, I've noticed GSB has an awful track record for women in tech matriculating."
• 申请被拒绝后，她说：“说老实话，我很茫然。学生和老师们都认为，我应该是十拿九稳的。我猜可能是因为GPA不高，公司名气不大吧。顺便说一下，我注意到，斯坦福商学院在录取理工科女生方面的记录非常差劲。”
Sandy's Analysis: Oh boy, light my fire! If there is any chance at all of piling on and accusing Stanford B-school of hypocrisy, well, I am ready, willing, and have done so many times in the past.
桑迪的分析：哎呀，点燃我的激情吧！如果有任何一个能够大加鞭笞斯坦福商学院伪善面目的机会，我绝对愿意这样做，而且肯定干过很多次了。
I believe you were rejected because of your lowish grades. A 3.5 in an era of grad inflation is well below the current 3.73 average at Stanford. And I would bet that your company was not cool enough for Stanford or world-changing enough.
我认为你被拒绝的原因在于你的GPA过低。如今这个时代，毕业成绩通胀，3.5远远低于斯坦福大学录取新生的平均绩点（3.73）。我敢打赌，在斯坦福看来，你的公司还不够酷，或者还不足以改变世界。
Despite all the public BS about how much Harvard and Stanford love startups, if you had said you wanted to start Rent The Runway or even Snapchat in your admissions essay, that would have been a negative, especially if you had no startup experience. Schools are suspicious of startups because any moron can do one and many have.
尽管哈佛和斯坦福经常公开发表他们有多么热爱初创企业之类的废话，但要是你在申请作文中宣称你想创办服装租赁网站Rent The Runway，甚或Snapchat，那将会是一个减分项，特别是如果你没有任何创业经验的话。商学院对初创公司持怀疑态度，因为任何一个笨蛋都可以创办一家，现在创业的人可不少啊。
Dinged at Harvard (no interview)
被哈佛商学院放弃（没有获得面试机会）
• 790 GMAT
• GMAT成绩为790分
• 3.15 GPA
• GPA为3.15
• Undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from Rutgers University
• 从罗格斯大学(Rutgers University)获得生物医学工程学士学位
• Work experience includes four years at Abbott Labs – worked in manufacturing dept. as an engineer, involved in development/launch of new medical device, promoted twice, received recognition from Site Leadership Team
• 在雅培制药公司工作过4年——做过制造部门的工程师，工作内容涉及新型医疗设备的研发和推出，获得过两次晋升，受到领导团队的一致好评。
• Goal: To combine technical engineering skills gained over the last four years at Abbott with financial education and become a top executive at Abbott Labs
• 目标：把过去4年间在雅培公司获得的生物工程技能和金融知识结合在一起，成为雅培制药公司的一名高管。
• 26-year-old male
• 男性，26岁
• What he says: "I suspect the low GPA for the rejection? Is there any hope for me to get into a top five school with that ugly thing? Also, I've read in your columns that business schools love bio-pharma types. Does the stardust also apply to the medical device industry? I'm wondering if transitioning to bio-pharma would help my chances at all."
• 他说：“我怀疑GPA低可能是我被拒绝的原因。我还有没有希望凭借这个难看的成绩进入一所排名前5的商学院？此外，我看见你的专栏文章说，商学院青睐拥有生物制药背景的申请人。那么，这个光环是不是也覆盖医疗器械行业？我想知道，跳槽到生物制药领域能不能加大我的机会。”
Sandy's Analysis: Not sure what happened. A 790 GMAT is an eye-catcher and Abbott Labs is something, well, I have heard of. Medical devices is what your major was, and that is about as good a major as exists in God's man-made world. You should have done a convincing job of saying you wanted to be an innovative, value-adding, poor-people-serving leader. Saying you wanted to be CEO of Abbott Labs (ABT) showed a, ahem, lack of imagination and, in context, was generic. Not sure if that actually damaged you. It depends on how you did it.
桑迪的分析：我不知道究竟发生了什么事。790分的GMAT挺惹眼的，雅培制药算是一家知名公司吧。现实世界中，医疗器械也是一个相当不错的专业。你本应该更好地描述你的梦想，说你想成为一位具有创新意识、希望增添价值、致力于服务穷人的领导者。你说你想成为雅培制药的CEO，这听起来有点缺乏想象力。用你们的行话来说，有点过于“通用”了。我不确定这一点是否真的破坏了你的机会。这要看你当时的表现。
If your essay sounded over generalized and recommendations were not curated properly (some of those med device lab guys are not experienced writers) and then if we start focusing on the low GPA and Rutgers -- not a favorite HBS school, probably not Springsteen enough -- then you probably lost them at that point.
如果你的申请作文看起来过于宽泛，推荐信没有经过精心的策划（一些经常跟医疗设备打交道的人往往没有写作经验），再加上你的GPA比较低，本科就读院校——罗格斯大学也不是哈佛商学院青睐的院校，或者说学术血统不够正统，那么，你很有可能在这一点上失分。
Drop by drop, all the small stuff can add up, especially if the small stuff begins to form a negative picture. At that point, the 790 GMAT actually starts working against you. They begin to suspect you are a brainiac with limited social skills. Just speculating here. If I came across your application cold, I would have said your odds were 40-50%, given your 790 GMAT and work experience at Abbott. I would have predicted an interview.
所有这些小东西一点一滴地加起来，就有可能成为大问题，特别是如果这些小东西开始形成一个负面图景的话。在这一点上，790分的GMAT其实反而对你不利。他们或许开始怀疑，你的智商不错，但情商有限，不懂社交。这些完全是我的猜测。要是我冷不丁地碰到你的申请书，我或许会说，鉴于你的GMAT成绩和在雅培制药的工作经验，你被录取的几率是40-50%。我估计我会给你一个面试机会。
