The War Room

Results of my final apps

2011-03-11T09:53:00.000-08:00

My final two applications of the season have met with a fate which was not very pleasant for me. I recieved a straight ding from NUS and my pending decision from Merage after interview came out in negative.
As for NUS, they are inviting 700+ IITian's only in my view. So i believe extremly strong Indian IT pool knocked me out there.
As for Merage, i have no idea. I had a good application, a good interview and yet a stright reject.

With these two results, i'm left with only one result from Kelley. That is my last hope and i do hope it takes me to US. As of now i'm not thinking about If not MBA , then what. But circumstances are taking me in that direction.

Debrief of Merage MBA interview

2011-03-02T10:57:00.000-08:00

I had an interview for a seat in Merage MBA program. Though i had applied late in the application season (R3), Merage was kind enough to give me an opportunity to interact with them in first week of March.

Merage adcom member called me at the scheduled time( exact to the minute) and my interview went for 26 minutes including the time i asked questions on the MBA program. Before interviewing she did inform me that it was not a blind interview and she had my application before her and she has list of eight questions to ask from me and additional questions based on my responses and later informed me that she would be presenting it to the admissions committee. Adcom meets on weekly basis and i should hear my results in 2-3 weeks.

1) Can you please walk me through your resume
2) She sought clarification on my current role based on my response to Q1
3) Why MBA
4) Factors which i have considered for picking up schools
5) Why Merage
6) What factors would i weigh if offered more than 1 admit ( was not good response)
7) My short term goals
8) Where would i like to work
9) How do i see my long term goal
10) What do i expect from my classmates
11) Which activities i'm looking to partcipate at Merage

I would have loved to given better answers to Q7 onwards but still think so i did decently well. And now it's all upto Adcom to evaluate me. Still i have positive expectations.

Waitlisted at BU

2011-02-11T11:55:00.000-08:00

On the Decision Day , well not something i wanted to hear but it is still better than the lines i absolutely hate to hear. Getting wait listed at BU, well the conversion rate isn't great, but i have the opportunity of taking a second shot. Will get down to business of identifying on how to convert this wait list.
The reason for this result i know is that i blew up interview, but then i don't get a second chance to beef up that aspect. I believe my essays were super strong and that is what got me this wait list. That leaves only profile in my hand. Have to jack up profile and do it fast.
GMAT,Awards, some new achievement at workplace, an additional reco.. the options are many but have to put a strong foot forward. Finally i have a mission to drive home to now.

MBA Admission Interviews and the Fit !!!

2011-02-08T08:34:00.000-08:00

" Congratulations, you are invited to interview with XYZ school": a line that brings not only loads of joy but a lot of tension too. Ask 95% of MBA applicants and they won't be able to identify for what worked for them or what did not in the interviews.
Once you are selected for interview, be assured that you had a good enough profile and written appearance to be part of school.Interview is an attempt by school to get to see you more personally.
Though i have absolutely no credentials to speak about how to be successful at Interview. Having participated in six interviews over two years, i very well support one of the thoughts on www.gmatclub.com that schools look for fit in interviews.
Everyone talks of Fit yet a very few understand it. It is my perspective and i maybe right or i maybe wrong, that Fit is not only about your Fit with school but it is about your Fit with your desired life.
Fit with school : Curriculum, culture, location of school, your aspirations and current placements, opportunities of practical learning....this is a list and it certainly is not exhaustive. Fit is mapping your requirements to what the school provides. There is no point going to a top 10 program that has traits which you despise. Over two years you will lose much more than what you might have lost by going to a top 20 program.
But the general perception is, Why school XYZ is just one question in an interview, there are many more questions which need to be answered. Hence Fit though critical is not everything in an Interview.
I would differ here. It is not only about Fit with School, we have a whole lot of Fit's
1) Fit with your desired career
2) Fit with your decision to pursue MBA to move ahead in career
3) Fit with the culture you seek at school
4) Fit with what you have done/ achieved in career till date
5) Fit with class that you will be part of
6) Fit with what your own representation in your essays

Even this list is not exhaustive. But then i advice everyone to approach interviews as an interactive chat to establish a whole lot of Fit's and not a Q&A session.
Now this is not my original idea. you can search the web for " Rhyme's infallible guide-gmatclub" and you can find some more info on it.
Hope this helps in your interviews. You will find numerous sources for interview sample questions but focus on fundamentals and you'll skate through your interviews.

Best of luck with interviews

D-Brief of Kelley interview

2011-02-03T06:02:00.000-08:00

Well it was very brief. Same day, Same place other participants were participating in 25-30 mins interview and there i was, in and out within 17 minutes. Either i cracked it big time or i cracked interviewer big time.
To give details it was an interview with adcom member at another 5 star hotel. Reached the venue a good 75 mins in advance. It helped me calm my nerves. Watching all the big shots at that place gave me a sort of confidence. To begin with it began about 10-11 mins late from the scheduled time as the interviewer was caught up with some task.
He was extremely friendly and i love adcoms from all the schools in US. They are so friendly. They make you feel totally comfortable and at ease during a very important time in your life.
It started of with his declaration that he does not have a set of questions to bombard on me and he will begin with my resume.
1) Where do i see myself heading after MBA
2) Why Kelley
3) What would my colleagues say about me at work ( feel so i missed on number of points here)
4) What would i bring in unique to Kelley that differentiates me from IIM-Consulting aspirants.....( missed that hammering point)

Any questions i have for the interviewer : I asked three questions, not very unique but then they were to improve my understanding. So lets see how the results frame out by mid march.

Debrief of BU interview

2011-01-27T11:02:00.000-08:00

I had a skype/telephonic interview with the associate director of admissions. She was a very cheerful lady. We started interview with Skype and it went well for about first ten minutes and then the skype crashed. Repeated attempts from her side to connect through skype failed and she called me up on my mobile.
To start with she introduced herself, explained to me that it was a blind interview and that she is looking forward to interview me for 20-25 minutes. And that was the limit she stuck to. Interview lasted about 20-22 mins with me asking questions for the final five minutes.
The questions for interview were
1) A quick 60 second walk through of my Resume
2) Why MBA ?
3) What is my short term goal (3-5 yrs career vision)
4) What is my long term goal
5) Why MBA at Boston University

Now started the tough portion of behavioral questions and also the skype problem. It just rattled me a bit and i did make a few mistakes here.

6) Talk about a leadership experience and what i learnt about myself from it
7) Talk about a time when you were treated different in your team and how did you react ( totally blew up this one)
8) How did you react to a time in project when status quo was disturbed, (In retrospect, i feel i could have answered it a lot better)

After interviewing me she gave me an opportunity to ask questions to her. I asked couple of questions and she responded to them in a very explanatory way. She gave me her Mail Id, just in case i have questions for her at a later stage. She informed that i can hope to hear back from BU in Fifteen days time.

Debrief of McCombs interview

2011-01-25T10:10:00.000-08:00

So here i am to give a brief on my McCombs interview. Though i did not succeed in my application, i feel i did justice to my interview. Yes i agree i am not very fluent in interviews but then i do really feel my interview went decently and it should have got me the admit. But then no point thinking much about it.
I had an Alum interview in Navi Mumbai. Interviewer was a recent pass out and the reason why i selected him. Though i confused him in between somewhere but still i feel i cleared the air by end of interview. I reached the venue a good 90 mins ahead of scheduled time, learning from my prev mumbai experiences. Though the interviewstarted about 12-13 minutes late, it went for a good 40 - 45 minutes. The interview was extremely conversational one and alum shared a lot of his experiences with me. Some of the questions that i can recollect as of now are
1) How did you spend the time at his office ( as i reached way early)
2) Can you please walk me through your resume
3) Why MBA/Why Now/ Why McCombs [ fumbled a bit here]
4) Trouble with teammate
5) Why not Phd [ he misinterpreted one of points in answer to pt 3]
6) Why not a 1 yr prog in India or why not a part time program.
7) How would i contribute to McCombs as a student and as a alumni
8) An example of leadership
9) What if i'm not going to do MBA this year
10)Which other schools have i applied to
11) Three companies, that i'm looking forward to work for
12) How do you introduce yourself in a social gathering [ total bouncer]
13) Best thing about myself
14) Where do i plan to work for after MBA ( India/Abroad)

Followed it up with regular query resolution session

Bad News from Texas

2011-01-25T09:22:00.000-08:00

Another one of my top schools, another ding. Just don't know what is going on. With each passing day the weather becomes more and more gloomy. I thought i had a decent interview and then i had a very decent application. Still things are not turning out into my favor. I just don't know what will happen.

Dinged by Emory

2011-01-24T10:22:00.000-08:00

The ending of last week wasn't a very happy one for me. On Sat morning when i saw the ding mail from emory in my inbox, i was taken back. Emory was a perfect education center for me. But maybe that was not to be. Whole last week i had been waiting for the mail from Emory but that mail was certainly not a ding mail.
But i have no time to sit down and weep. I know i had excellent application for emory, maybe it should have been R1, but to go down without Intv for second time in this season was disappointing. I have lost all hope from cornell too. So that effectively shoots down my top 3 choices. But still i have opportunities for which i need to work hard. All it needs is a good 30 mins of intv. At the end of the day all i need is just 1 admit. Still waiting for it !!!

Mid Term break

2011-01-09T09:41:00.000-08:00

I'm on a break. I havent touched applications for 4 days now. Just wanted to stop by and take the stock of situation.
I have submitted 7 applications in US. Got 1 reject (Fuqua), 1 intv call (McCombs), 1 possible reject(cornell) and 4 awaited decisions. Now i'm waiting for the calls, checking my mailbox frantically. I'm running out of time and MBA just doesnt fall into my kitty. Over past 2 days i have been having serious thoughts on my next apps. I was going for Owen but just could not establish that connection. Smith was another one but even that gets stuck up in finances. For others i'm too late now. With a avg profile like mine, you don't really stand many chances this late in season.
I was seriosly considering NUS and NTU. But going threads on PG send down shivers my back. Looks like whole world is applying to NTU and NUS. But i have to take a pick in s'pore and most probably it will be NTU. But NTU has hardly any info on website.
Lets see how things shape up over 50 days. My future would be pretty clear in coming 50 days.

Coffee chat with Owen MBA student

2011-01-08T11:35:00.000-08:00

I had a great chat with a first year student of Owen-Vanderbilt. The guy was much senior in exp to me and was awesome. I tell you the more you meet current students, the more you fall in love with schools. Well Owen was a sort of blackbox for me. Didn't have much info as it's not a frequented school. But the dude i met was all praise for it. had a good chat for about 75-80 minutes, Some of the points from discussion were
-> Nashville is nice place to be if you target Healthcare
-> Consulting is not a big thing but growing
-> There is a huge focus on improving the rankings at Owen
-> The pioneers of sustainablity are somehow related to vanderbilt
-> Owen has great community
-> Alumni are really helpful people
-> Nashville is small and connected community
-> Vanderbilt is well known as brand
-> Clubs are very active
-> Practical opportunities are not very great
-> Chicago and Atlanta are two hot towns to go for networking
-> As per Owen people, Owen does not get the deserving rankings
-> While selecting schools, what all recruiters do visit school because that is very important
-> The Ledership development program is great. You have industry professionals guiding you through the process
-> Cost of Living is very moderate
-> class of 2012 has 8 indians ( on F1)
-> Faculty is awesome.
-> Pedagogy is lecture and then case based.Faculty gets a lot of freedom in selection of teaching method
-> You may need to give presentations as your exam

Boston University App submitted

2011-01-06T09:18:00.000-08:00

Right at the strike of midnight(Jan5/6) on EST clocks, i managed to submit my BU apps. Though due to course selection gaffe i need to get recos again. Well BU app has been one of the most challenging applications. The way the questions were asked, they required some thought process. And on top of that i had my McCombs Intv which meant i started really late on the apps.Hope so i've not committed a mistake as i didnt really get time to proofread my apps.
Maybe i'll like to submit 1 more app but lets see. For today, it is a rest day. I'll write my McComb's intv expereinces some other day.

Kelley is submitted

2011-01-01T10:48:00.000-08:00

Finally i did manage to complete Kelley application and submit it. Application is submitted from my side and i will have a word with my reco providers and i do hope i get them to submit recos by Jan 4. this app should have gone in way back but i've become a lot lazy with them these days.
Next appointmnet is BU application. It's Jan 2 today and Rnd 2 deadline is Jan 5. Will need a miracle performance to submit it. On top of everything i need to prepare for my Jan 5 intv at McCombs. God bless me.

Olin is submitted

2010-12-26T11:18:00.000-08:00

Today i have submitted the application for WUSTL-Olin. Kelley is coming up well and i do really hope that i manage to submit it before the year ends.

have to get started on BU and UC Davis and deadline for them is only 9 days away. Wow i've made a real mess of that.

Coffee chat with a GBS student

2010-12-26T08:43:00.000-08:00

Today i particpated in a coffee chat hosted by a first year student of Goizueta Business School at Barista,Law College road. It was a great experience. For someone who cannot visit the school, the meet was nothing less than a class visit. Being the only participant other than the host, i got a good >90 min time with student. And boy my host was great. He provided me with much more info than i hoped to get out of the meet. Some of the points to come out of the meet were
- GBS student lives by the values. they just don't exist in books, they are visible
- Things are opening up for Intl crowd wrt placements
- Net Impact club has taken a number of great initiatives of late
- a student from class of 2011 is doing great work wrt Technology Club
- GMSC is a great platform for everybody who sapires for Consulting/Mktg. But partipation is through a solid selection process
- Atlanta is a great city to be in. It is less costly and has same type of networking opportunities
- Networking, the more you say, the less it is
- Networking, personal is good but online mode is also good
- Bloomington, networking is a challenge her
- Vanderbilt,Owen a good choice for consulting aspirants
- GALA is an amazing opportunity to hone the leadership skills in middle of the sea
- random formation of groups in 1st year teach you a lot about community
- GBS uses >90% cases from Harvard Business Review
- The staff at GBS is great
- Economics professor is great. Accounting prof makes learning a great fun
- Face time with adcom,students,alumns is invaluable
- 1/9th of class constitutes Desi's
- You need to learn to De-Stress. that is very important in the stressfull environment of MBA
- You can take courses across Emory university
- 1st Sem is a lot of rigor .

Will update further as and when i remember

McCombs give me a shot

2010-12-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

Finally some good news coming in. McCombs has given me an opportunity to prove that i will be a good fit for McCombs. I have got a mail regarding intv invite. With ball in my court, i need to pull up my socks. I will be setting up an alum interview in coming days. Lets see how things turn up.

On app front, Olin and Kelley are on track to be submitted by this month end.

North Carolina does not want me

2010-12-17T09:31:00.000-08:00

For second time NC has said no to me :( .

Duke-Fuqua straightaway sent a not invited for interview to me. It leaves me disappointed for i did put in a lot of effort in my application. It was way better than last year apps. It was in R1. Fuqua app formed basis of all other apps. hoping against hope now for a good result for others.
Last year UNM atleast cared to send an intv invite. Was expecting atleast an intv invite from Fuqua. Wait for other results will most probably move to 2011 as the holiday season starts.

The Other Submissions

2010-12-16T09:24:00.000-08:00

I have been a bit lazy regarding updating blog with the process of admissions. The fact that i enjoyed a good long holiday in Nov didnt help the cause. Since i talked about Fuqua submission on the deadline day, i've put in 3 more apps.
I submitted Cornell-Johnson on 8th Nov, a day before deadline but my reco was completed only by deadline day. Havent heard anything from them yet. Getting bit anxious as people have started getting the invites.
I messed up big time with McCombs. I was targetting McCombs for R1 deadline of Nov 1. But due to some silly reason it got delayed by a day and i was able to submit it only by Nov 2. effectively making it R2. On top of that i messed up with TOEFL reporting. I was opinion that i had submitted the score which i had not. Result, my app was complete only by Nov 15. Needless to say that i'm still waiting to hear back from them.
On Dec 1 my Emory app went in. So that too was another just in time submission.

Duke interview invites are due by tomorrow. So i would know about progress of Duke for sure by tomorrow. With schools heading in for break, not sure if i'll hear back from them in this month. Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping my other apps come up good.
I'm ready with drafts for Olin and Kelley. Lets see how these set out.

Fuqua is done

2010-10-31T06:41:00.000-07:00

My first application of fall 2011 season is complete and submitted. Though i would have liked it to go a month ago but better late than never. Today i have submitted the application for Fuqua. I felt my essays have developed to a good enough level to command submission. So now it's all over from my side for FSB. Let's see how the things come in.
I was aiming to submit 4 apps by Nov 1 but now my hope is to get in these by 10th Nov. Hoping for the best.

The MBA Tour : Sept 2010

2010-09-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

I attended The MBA Tour at Mumbai on 25th Sept. The experience was good. How good it turns out to be is still some months away when the results come out.But some of my general observations.
1) The conduct was way better than the last tour that i attended. The Hall where the stalls were set up was big enough.
2)Public seemed good,but then there were a few less exp folks who did ask some silly questions. Some how i feel the question i ask, is always a silly question for adcom representative.
3) Every single one of school Representative warned that job scenario is not at all good and is not likely to be good for coming 2-3 yrs as US still struggles with high unemployment rate. Recruiters will find it extremely difficult to obtain visas for intl candidates.All said and done, it is not impossible to get a job, but then a lot of effort is required on your part to get that job.
4) There is no right or wrong essay. Be honest.
5) If aspiring for a career change, demonstrate your transferable skills.
6) In tough times it has become extremely important to differentiate yourself.

Other Observations
1) Adcom representatives were extremely cordial. Some less some more but the feeling of warmth was great.
2) Some special references i'll like to make, Ann from Cornell, Jim from Kelley, Ashley from Marshall,Alums of Emory and maryland, Georgetown director, carlson representative. they patiently answered all our queries and were very willing to help us make the decision.

All in all a good outing to Mumbai.

My thoughts for next 3 months

2010-08-27T11:49:00.000-07:00

For the coming three months , my thoughts would be purely immersed in the following schools

1) Fuqua - Duke
2) Johnson - Cornell
3) Goizueta - Emory
4) McCombs - UT
5) Boston Univ
6) Olin-WUSTL
7) Georgetown
8) NUS
9) Something from California

Now i know it is a long list and being the lazy fellow i am, if i manage 7 apps that would be some achievement. I also considered a few other namely Tuck, Vanderbilt, Simon but in end decided with this list. though i strictly follow never say never again and list may change.
Next couple of weeks are very crucial as i work on my first draft and also try to get referees on board.

Blogging is not something i'm very fond of but still i'll try to share a lot of info here. Lets see how the things go ahead.

Tuck Coffee Chat

2010-08-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

I'm back after a long time. Well i was just spending time in a futile exercise called work on which i was not working at all. After last year exploits i needed a new thinking to approach admissions and was just doing that. Meanwhile i went through MBA Podcaster and went through some very interesting podcasts.
I attended a Coffee Chat hosted by a Tuck student at Barista in Pune. I have always been awed by the stature of Tuck and that perhaps explain my reluctance in applying to Tuck. It is not that i undervalue myslef but than applicant pool is so strong that i'm left with no other thoughts.
Regarding Chat, it was a scheduled 1 hour coffee chat and was comunicated to us by teh admissions office at Tuck. though the chat crossed 90 min barrier. There was a good particpation of about 12 prospective applicants with majority cooming from IT sector. To summarize some of the things to come out of chat were
1) IT applicants are not at disadvantage, just that you need to differentiate yourself from other IT applicants.
2) Lack of international experience is not a handicap, but then you need to show some other aspects which demonstrate that you mix well with communities.
3) MBA is US is a tough financial commitment. you should be ready to work in US to repay loans. You also need to keep in mind that you may have to come back.
4) Networking is everything in a B School. Traditionally Indians are not that good in it hence it is always good to prepare yourself for this stuff before you join school
5) Tuck has a great community which in some way owes to the fact that it is a residential school.
6) Cold it may be but you get used to it. The quality at Tuck is just awesome to be missed.
7) For finance prefer NY. As finance runs in NY school veins. most of Wall street are alums of Columbia/NYU hence looking for job is that much easier.
8) Be very honest in your apps

The only bad thing about coffee was that we had to pay for it from our own pockets ( now which school organizes such events ) and i didnt even get what i ordered as it was taken by one of other prospectives. I was like....

Overall a enriching experience.

Declined Rotman offer !!!

2010-04-10T01:12:00.000-07:00

Today i officially declined the Rotman offer. Though the decision was pretty much coming over last month, i finally bid good bye to my first admit to a school which i would have loved to attend.

Fall 2010 : The story

2010-03-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

Never knew, the song which has been my fav for years would one day sum up my life of one year. And the way it goes..

I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end it doesn't even matter
I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end it doesn't even matter

One thing, I don't know why
It doesn't even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind I designed this rhyme
To remind myself how

I tried so hard
In spite of the way you were mocking me
Acting like I was part of your property
Remembering all the times you fought with me
I'm surprised

It got so far
Things aren't the way they were before
You wouldn't even recognize me anymore
Not that you knew me back then
But it all comes back to me in the end

You kept everything inside
And even though I tried, it all fell apart
What it meant to me will eventually be
A memory of a time when

I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end it doesn't even matter
I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end it doesn't even matter

I've put my trust in you
Pushed as far as I can go
And for all this
There's only one thing you should know

I've put my trust in you
Pushed as far as I can go
And for all this
There's only one thing you should know

I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end it doesn't even matter
I had to fall to lose it all
But in the end it doesn't even matter

Finding the Right School

2010-03-11T09:05:00.000-08:00

This post is not tell all on picking the best school for yourself. There are numerous resources on web which one needs to consult before one can decide what the best strategy is. There is simply no thumb rule in school selection procedure. Every individual is unique and hence may look out for different elements. You spend close to 200 hours on an application; you would surely not want to send this effort down the drain due to some silly act of overlooking trivial thing. I'm no authority on this topic but when i consider that i spent close to 4 months doing this out of 9 month application cycle, i can certainly contribute a bit to what not to do and what to do.
1) What i love to do?
This is the single most important factor that should influence your school selection. Every individual has an aim with which he sets out to do MBA. Every B School has a different approach towards management education. Matching that approach with the way you want to achieve aim is important. This is popularly called as the FIT in the admission parlance. I'll write a post on FIT some day but for now, FIT is asking you following questions: Does school has classes in areas where i want to build my career? , How much of hands on work will i get to do? , Faculty repute?

2) Placements
At the end of the day , there is only one truth : We do MBA to earn more. In this context placements are important. But more important is the fact that placements report acts as guide in informing prospective students about the strengths of college. Most of B schools in east are Finance/Consulting focused. But in Babson you have an exception. Hence placement reports do give you a broad idea on strengths of school.

3) Curriculum
Basis of Curriculum as a selection mechanism is very objective. In the end your MBA is based on this curriculum. No curriculum is bad but then you may not like some part of curriculum. You are better of applying to college where you find curriculum more in line with your likings.

4) Culture of School/Area
Though not as important as most MBA aspirants are pretty flexible and adaptable in this regard, but still living in a culture you prefer helps to ease of some tensions.

5) Location of School
Though it does not matter in case of top 10 schools, as you move down the ranking list, it becomes very important. Firms are very localized when it comes to recruiting. Also since networking is a very major part of MBA course, you are better of living in a big city where you get a chance to network. As going down below top 20 chances of getting a school provided job becomes extremely difficult.

6) Chances of making it!!
Schools do like certain type of candidates and you are better of finding it out early. Going through admission forums is one good way to accomplish it. You also learn a lot about school while going through forums. This can be a masterstroke for some and blunder for some as it does take considerable amount of your time.

Well i'm not among the best in providing you criteria’s, as after 4 months of deliberations, short listing 12 schools all i could do was to apply to 3 schools. But I still believe the methodology i followed was very comprehensive and it did give me a list with which I can relate to instantaneously.

Last but not the least I'll like to talk about FINANCE. I never considered this as a criteria and it did come to haunt me when I had to put down an admit to Rotman coz I dint have my funds planned out. As most of the Indians do have financial constraints, they should always keep in mind the avenues for funding/schol etc. Coz to earn those green bills, you need to spend some green bills. Better consider it before, to avoid a disappointment later on.

These are just some of the basic things which you should consider while school selection. Please go through Richard Montauk, it is an excellent book.

Thr Truth Dawns !!!

2010-02-09T10:18:00.001-08:00

So the phase of journey which began about 10 months ago is over. And i'm at the same place from where i started. Nothing but hope in hands. UNC-KF results came yesterday and it was a straight ding. I felt i had a decent interview, my essays were good enough. Overall i could have been a good candidate but not good enough in the end.
Ross havin already rejected me, i'm left with nothing but Rotman. Rotman is an excellent school but is a bit costly. It is beyond my budget my mere 1 year costs.
So curtains on UNC effectively brought down curtains on Fall 2010 show for me.
With the effort i put in, the hard work which i did, the things i sacrificed, i do have every right to feel disappointed. But being down is not same as being out. I'll be back for Fall 2011 in a better improved version.
Till then i'll try my best to give out MBA gyan on blog.

this season has taught me many things. Will share them someday

Youtube Collection

2010-01-30T09:18:00.000-08:00

Bankers vs Consultants

Excellent take on careers post MBA

McDonalds all the way

The story behind cases

The Kenan interview

2010-01-26T09:02:00.000-08:00

I had my UNC-Kenan Flagler interview at Mumbai during the MBA Fair. It was a disaster to begin with i reached almost 10 mins late from my scheduled time all cause of the (in)famous mumbai traffic.
It was a F2F interview with director of admissions.She seemed to be an absolute pleasant lady. She was excellent in conducting interview, making notes of each and every thing i said. She also elaborately explained answers to the queries i had.
Interview started of by discussing mumbai and also my company, whom she said, lots of applications to UNC. She started of formal intv asking about how i had arrived at the decision of MBA. Also how would i like to be remembered by my fellow colleagues. There were a few other related questions on my success and then a ques on an instance when my team failed. Then a very interesting question on return of investment on my MBA..how would i measure it.
All in all, she made me extremely comfortable and i had a good interview. But then every one does have the same.
But one thing, having experienced both Indian as well as US/Canada MBA interviews i can say
Indian interviews are all about rejecting doubtful candidates.
Phoren interviews are all about selecting right candidates.

With this my app season has come to end for Fall 2010. Lets see what the future has in stored for me.

First Win, First Loss

2010-01-26T08:16:00.000-08:00

The Jan10-Jan 16 week was something special. i had my Rotman interview and then also an admit and a Reject. An admit from Rotman and a Reject from Ross. I had interviewed with Ross in Dec and official result was due Jan 15. The people who made it started recieving mails on Jan 13 and when i didnt get a mail by late Jan 14, i knew my effort was not enough. Disappointing was the fact that it was a straight reject, not even a waitlist. IMO Ross was my best fit but...
Now the great news. Rotman offered me admit just after 2 days of interview.i recieved the admissions packet next week. Though this great news brought with it a BIG tension. Have to confirm my seat by Feb 15 and hence need to see if i would be able to work out funds for the program. The program comes at a good cost and with no schols, things will become interesting. Will be working hard to sort out financials.
Lot of debate raging on Canada tier 1 vs US tier 2 on PG. Both the parties have very valid points. But with 3 yrs work permit thing, Canada does provide a cover. But US is US and nothing can beat US.

New Year, New Invite

2010-01-21T09:51:00.000-08:00

Had an excellent start to the year 2010. Spent excellent 10 days in cold environs of North India. Was visiting home and what an excellent weather it was.
Checked my mail on Jan 11th and was surpprised to see an intv call for Jan 11 th from Rotman. Though i did manage to get it postpone for a day to 12th. A day to prepare for intv was just too less and that too when i had to work real hard all day at office.
So my intv was for 8:30 PM IST to be taken by Ms. Bailey Daniels. Just managed to beat Pune traffic to reach home just in time. Without much of preparation, Rotman was going to be one of the most natural intv i would ever have.
Ms. Daniels called me up right on time and after inital greeting exchanges came upto normal rotman mba entrance ques.
1) My role at my firm?
2) Why MBA?
3) Tough decision i have had to make?
4) What all i do apart from work?
5) One of my accomaplishment
6) A failure?
7) How would i like her to explain me to adcom?

There were a few others which i can't recollect as of now. Apart from 7 i was decent in others.
She also allowed me to ask questions. and i asked couple of relevant questions. She was aswesome in replying to them.Really appreciate the lengths she went to explain them.
My only concern was teh duration of int
I was asked ques for ~ 16 mins
I asked ques for ~ 8 mins
The length is really less by any standards.

The outcome of intv would followup on next post.

Consulting on You Tube

2009-12-12T02:14:00.000-08:00

The C-Day

2009-12-12T00:55:00.000-08:00

Ask any Indian aspiring for good/great life and the C Day is the single most important day towards the first step to that life. Well saying Indian may just be too much of exaggeration. I'll stick to the engineers.Well a lot has been said about CAT 2009 and i'm looking forwards to add two cents of my wisdom to that. But first the C Day experience.
Had my CAT 2009 at Singhad College of Engg, Pune. Of all what i had read and heard about people,i must say my exp must rank among the best. The process was hassle free. Went in the lab, had my biometric and picture id done. Got a 15 min break and was let out of lab. Used this breal well and sat down for exam at 9:35 AM. For all thos who don't know CAT 2009 in its new Avatar was a Computer based test conducted by Prometric for IIM.After going through the tutorial couple of times i utilzed my 2:15 hours to give my best. Best because i had not prepared for CAT for even a single full day. It was a sort of leisure walk. Overall was happy with my attempt.
Now the big issue. a CBT CAT is not only a good idea but a great one. My full support to the idea. This is the way to look into future. But the maiden outing of CBT CAT was attrocious at best. CAT filters out the best for PI/GD sessions. Not really for 2009. We had software failures, the so called virus attacking selective machines, teh famous Non Disclosure Agreement going up in flames and some stupid occurences which certainly made CAT , a non level playing field. Good for some, bad for some, the way it should have been for others. I'm sure 80% selections through CAT would be deserving. But the question is about other 20%. Do they deserve it, a full year of preps, millions of dreams sacrificed for just 1 dream and what they get is a stupid unlucky charm on C day. WE had all sort of problems. Questions being leaked, old questions getting repeated, easy paper for some, difficult for some, people use system shutdown to solve those extra 3-4 ques. In india where even .25 marks count in CAT, all this is too much of variables. Maybe Indian wasn't ready for a CBT right now. Hope so CAT committee does come up with something good. Whatever maybe the problems, CBT is teh way to go for future and i hope first shot at CAT teaches IIM a lot.
And by the way did i forgot to mention.For me CAT was a cakewalk even without prep . Though not expecting a call but CAT standards have fallen to MAT standards. There is no enigma in CAT. It didn't give me teh thrill for which you write the CAT.

The one with uncertainities

2009-12-11T11:05:00.000-08:00

I had planned to submit two apps in first week but in end went ahead with just one. It was really a sad story and for the sadness part none but i am to be blamed.
i had my Emory essays ready for almost 15 days when on 4th i sat down to submit them only to realize that the last date of preferred deadline for Int'l students had already gone by. I had committed a blunder by noting down the wrong dates. I really felt dejected on that. Just because of some stupid acts i missed on oen school which i loved. Though Goizueta follows Rolling admissions system , but my app was not that great that it would warrant a consideration after preferred deadline. BTW i had all my essays ready and i hope next yr they keep the same set because i believe i had written some good essays.
The other one:Kenan Flagler.. teh one for which first draft was written way back in first week of sept finally saw the light on 4th Dec hours before deadline. Essays went a lot of chop and change, a realization from previous experience of essays allowed me to write soem sense. Still feel i could have done better in one of the essays. Well i have an invite for interview for Jan 17th with Admissions director ( vising with The MBA Tour). Have heard soem tough things about UNC-KF..lets see what is the outcome

The ROSS Interview

2009-12-11T10:51:00.000-08:00

Had my Ross interview this week. It was a telephonic interview. Though i got a Alum interview invite, somehow that could not be arranged.
Interview was ,well.. low on expectation in hindsight. I bungled up on couple of questions and well wasn't very convincing to myself, let alone the interviewer. Combine this interview with my not so good application and i don't see myself getting that coveted "Go Blue" mail on 15th jan.
Whatever be the case Ross application experience has been an excellent on. Current students have been great in answering the queries and even my interviewer was great. Adcom was prompt in replying to queries.

The interviewer was really great, and he really tried to make the interview / conversation pleasant though the butterflies in my stomach really made it hard. Really have to thank him for making teh exp a nice one. The interviewer for the interviewer was a current 2nd yr MBA student at ROSS and was of US nationality. The script goes like

1) Exchanged greetings and just started of discussion
2) He laid out the plan ( 20-25 min he will ask , 5-10 min for me)
3) Career goals/Why MBA ? ( just as one question)
4) Why Ross?
5) Accomplishment / failure
6) Conflict management
7) Unique thing which i bring to Ross ( messed up this part and hence killed my app)
8) Other activities
9) Questions i had

he asked ques for about 20 mins and then 6-7 mins for me
Overall i think so my performance was not that great. My poor interviewing skills came to the fore. Waiting for Jan 15 now.

I would have loved to be apart of Ross community but then i didn't sell myself in elevator. I don't think so i'll re apply to school as i dont hope to gain substantially in next 7-8 months o fill up re app essay.
Hope so this experience helps in further interviews

Ross sends out an invite

2009-11-20T11:02:00.000-08:00

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes the first invite arrives. ,Nice to see that my essays, caught the eye of adcom. By my own admissioon i'll say that essays were far off from the wow factor, which might make it difficult to complete the package. Ross is my dream school and hence i have a good collection of what i'll like to talk in interview.Have sent a mail to alumnus but he is yet to respond.
I'm sure if i can keep my 10% brain out of business, the 10% that makes me nervous, i have the passion and desire to convey to interviewer about hw much can i benefit from Ross and in turn what can i give to ross.
Still waiting for Rotman and belive me i dont think so i can write as good essays as the ones i wrote for rotman again.
Another update is that now i see that Finance may be a big issue. So lets see how things turn up.
Will post my ross interview exp next.

Yeh Viraniyaan...

2009-11-15T09:18:00.000-08:00

A month and five days from Date of Submission of Ross, 13 days from Date of Submission of Rotman..i'm all alone..No response.
On PG 56% Ross candidates of R1 have got i/v calls. So that pretty much calls up the day for me. With the sort of essays i wrote ( that i realized only in hindsight) i always knew it was going to be tough and now just waiting for teh D(ing) Mail.
Rotman..ahh that was a good application. Lot more thought went into it. I knew that 1st Nov was going to be the deadline for submission to get F2F i/v during mba fair, but 2nd Nov should have atleast got them interested. But no response, even guys who had not submitted but only initiated got the calls..so right now there is nothing much to be optimistic for.
I've lost the vigor for apps now. Working on Emory and UNC but no response from earlier two submits have really disturbed the flow. Don't know how much more i will put in. Hope so something turns up soon to raise the spirits.

Rotman Submission

2009-11-04T10:36:00.000-08:00

Well i finally managed to slot in a application. I submitted Rotman application on 3rd Nov at 0130 hrs IST. Well i'm pretty angry with what total wastage of time i did in runup to application. Rotman had Nov 1 as deadline for Priority interviews for Indian candidates, when they join QS MBA Tour in India. Now i'm at the mercy of vacant slots. Even though i submitted my apps late by 1 day as i wanted them to be in perfect shape, i guess i messed up Essay 2. But let bygones be bygones. App as whole looks convincing to me, now lets see what adcoms think of it.Still have a reco pending for it so hopefully it will be done by end of week.
I also submitted Part 1 of UNC-Kenan Flagler the same night.Submission of Part 1 is the requisite for interview invite.i could have done this submission way earlier but as they say 'Vipreet kaale buddhi nashta'. Lets see Adcoms is impressed solely by my resume or i need to throw essays in the ring.
Next up is Emory. Working on first draft as of now. Need to complete it by Sat so that i can get it reviewed and hence subsequently submit it by 9th Nov at the latest. One of my referee will be busy post 9th in his personal function for another 20 odd days. The emory policy of sending out mails to referees only on completion is going to keep me on edge of seat.
Hope to see you again after emory submissions

Ross is submitted

2009-10-10T14:01:00.001-07:00

I managed to beat the deadline by 7 hrs . Submitted my app at 0223 hrs on 11th Oct IST.
Was it good, was it bad, was it ugly can't say but i am sure of one thing Adcom member wont be jumping up and down after reading my app. Placed a lot of stories,some vague goals some from heart. For everything in world that i'll like to get enrolled in Ross, if Adcom finds better people than me, i can't complain.
Time to focus on other apps.
Thanks a lot to my Chachu and lalith for their invaluable feedback on essays that made them as good as they are. Thanks to Dahuja and Chinta for setting the essay correction rolling. I just can't get feel of how will these learnings impact my other essays. But other essays better be good if i have to realize my dream of Phoren MBA.

Not here,Not there, but Everywhere

2009-10-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

Thats the way my essays are going. With just 7 days to go for Ross, my dream schools, my essays are heading in all crazy directions. Including too much stuff at times.Just don't know which stories to tell and which stories not too.
the reason for too many stories, well its upto you to guess. But as per my original plan to set up 4 apps in rnd 1 by Nov 1, i'm struggling big time.
The work is still killing,And that is the reason i have not taken to blogging regularly.Once my done with apps i'll surely like to share my zillion exps on this blog.
I have had two drafts of Ross and have currently sent it for reviwe. My recos should come up before the deadline day.i'm still hopefull on that front. Still waiting for my transcripts package as courier service plays truant.

TOEFL Done

2009-09-12T04:05:00.000-07:00

So finally i'm all done with TOEFL and all my exam requirements are over. With the ball in my court it's my responsibility now to see my applications see through. Well i took Toefl on 30th Aug after booking for 25th Jul which got cancelled due to server connectivity issues. The result is out and i scored 107..Not great but enough to get through min requirements of my target schools. Speaking was disappointing as i had put 60% of my prep time which was less than 15 hours for the Aug 30th one into speaking practice.
IMO there is no reason why you should not score above 110 in Toefl if you speak in english regularly. And almost a year gap between my gmat and toefl did knock out those english fundas out of me. But still Toefl is fun and anyone having an average command over english should sail through it.
With toefl over it is time to get down and get through my essays. only a month and half left for 1st deadlines at most school and i have to push through 5 applications.
I'm a bit confused outside these 5 schools as my list keep changing. All the other schools are excellent it is just that i don't have time and also money to apply to all programs. With work not letting up i really have to do something creative to come up with applications in a comprehensive manner

The Week that was '30th Aug-5th Sep'

2009-09-05T13:21:00.000-07:00

The week begun with a blockbuster appearance at TOEFL center. Reading section gave me a hard time.Just hoping for 100+.

Well today on 5th i finally completed first draft of my Kenan flagler essays.

I have had to re jig my lists.My recommenders are real busy and i dont think so i'll be able to get many recos from them.

Ross essays are next on my list. I was able to connect to few students over mail.Lets see how things progress. Really need to speed up now.

The Week that was '22 -29th Aug'

2009-08-29T07:31:00.000-07:00

This week i had soem real fun. Didn't do much on Applications front. Realized one thing that work will be there, it's my decision that i want to slog now or slog for rest of life.

I have submitted my recommendation briefings to my supervisors.I expect them to write all my recos. Both are very busy but if they can write, i'll be just so very greatful to them.

On essays from I wrote rough drafts for Essay # 1,3,5 for UNC . Have prepared outlines for the others.So that is pretty much like first rough draft is ready. Now i need to finetune it as a whole, and BTW make your essay interesting o read. Now when i have all the facts,its time to package them. Hopefully after Tomorrow ( my Toefl Day) i'll have some mor etime to devote to Essays.

Prepared outline of Essay #1 for Ross.To me it's look abs solid stuff.Lets see how the application packet comes out to be

Somethings worry me
1) I have no idea on transcript front. Need to close it in another couple of weeks

I have opened 4 applications in the past week. Have sent mails for Rotam Referee reports. I intend to give my referees an easy ride. Hopefully my plan will scrape through.

After ToEFL, i plan to finalize drafts for UNC and send them across for review to friends and atleast complete teh outline of Ross.I am targetting Ross for EA.lets see how things move on

I had a session with Duke people. Some good questions answered, but the sort of questions people ask, ( atleast they ask, i do nothing) really make you bang your head

The Week that was ' 16-22 Aug'

2009-08-22T00:59:00.000-07:00

I started with the first draft of Essay # 2 of UNC, and unfortunately i'm still there. No excuse can be given for being so slow, but then my little exposure to current students has not helped me in forming definitive opinions which is still hurting me.

I wrote briefings for my recommenders and hope to have atalk with them the coming week to finalize things.

Toefl is due n another week so need to gear up for that.

The best thing was meeting a Ross student as mentioned in another post. He really motivated me to consider one dream school. I'm caught up with Ross vs Kellog match.Lets see whee do i reach

FISO philosophy

2009-08-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

FILS philosophy is the most important thing of MBA admit. FISO can make or break things when everything else is near about equal. FISO is what creates a bond between you can college.
FISO is Fit In Stand Out.
Fit In is to be accepted by your Class and Stand out is teaching your class something new. FISO is the ultimate criteria.
Just try to implement FISO in your app files.
Fit in would ensure you know the essence of team work and Stand out would mean your team learns from you.
So keep it in mind

FISO is easier said than done

Meeting with a Ross Student

2009-08-21T11:46:00.000-07:00

I have been kept bust with 15 hours of work schedule + teh normal essay writing stuff. Believe me writing good Essays is more difficult than CAT. Proving why MBA takes a lot of thinking , introspection and what not.
Well today i had met with a Ross Student who was on Internsip in my company.Amazing, the progress India has made.People coming from Wharton, UCLA, Ross, Haas to India. Thanks to my friend TS, who has taken up the mantle of being the makeup man between aspirants and students.
Meeting was a good one.Ross Student shared his insights which incuded
->Darden is a hard hard school on studies
->iBankers are supposed to be arrogant and suave.That is their nature.
->Whatever be the score,One should always apply to a top 10 school.
->Getting a job in Consulting is nothing less than a war.Once in school always keep a Plan B in hand.
->As a long term goal talk of something big but at the same time realistic thing
->VC/PE is something which is not viable straight out of B School for 99.9% people
->ROSS is a great General Management school
->You can change your goals once at school but before admit you have to be sure of your goals
->If your plan A is consulting,Plan B cannot be finance
->Exp of 4-5 yrs is excellent to earn an MBA

These were the highlights , all in all a very good one

Schools waiving TOEFL

2009-07-25T02:09:00.001-07:00

Not all Schools require TOEFL under certain conditions

The conditions are
1)people having undergrad degree from college whose primary lang of instruction is English do no require it"
2)People who have lived and worked in US for last 3 years also dont require it

Schools which wave TOEFL:
Rotman, Duke-Fuqua, Ross, CMU Tepper, Georgetown, Emory,Simon-rochester, Booth-Chicago, Tuck, NYU-Stern, Columbia,Yale,TAMU,Olin-St Louis,

Schools which do not waive TOEFL
Cornell, Kenan Flagler, Boston Univ,Haas, Kelley

TOEFL Date

2009-06-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

Just to make a note, I've taken my TOEFL date on 25th June.
The T- Day is on 25th July at Pune,some aquarious centre. Have one month to prepare for it. But more important is that i have to seriosly work on shortlisting colleges and start essay drafts.Also profile needs to be built up.
Gosh how to do all this when i'm sucha big lazy fellow.
Wish me Luck !!!!!

My FMS experience

2009-06-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

In middle of Phoren MBA hunting, one must not forget that some desi schools give any school anywhere in world a good run for their money. None is better than FMS in economic sense.@40K for full course, which comes out to just $800, what can get better than that.
Along with IIM's , FMS and XLRI perhaps are the only worthy institutes if you are aiming for that top bracket of jobs (considering 2 yr courses only in India)
In my maiden attempt at FMS entrance exam, i managed to surprise myself by earning a call for Interview. Though at the end of whole pocess, i still sit with nothing in my hand, and still searching for admission to that elusive MBA course.
Well entrance exam included 175 ques to be solved in 120 mins . There were 4 sections. The key to solving paper is time.You have to pick out easier questions and answer them. Luck plays it part. But always ensure that you solve paper for a min of 50 percentile in every section. For gettting a call you have to aim for a 99 percentile (I got a 99 odd so 99 must be min). And for getting a 99 odd you have to ensure that you rake up 95+ in atleast 3 sections.
It looks to me that FMS gives some serious due to your academics.They also ask you to write a SOP during the time of aplication. Though i seriously don't know what they do of it.In whole process it didnt look for a minute that they had gone through my nicely written SOP.
Here's my Intv exp
Date: 15/03/09
Place: FMS,Delhi
Course: MBA-FT ( MBA-MS didn't appeal to me)
Reached the venue well in time. FMS works in a typical sarkari way.Classrooms were dirty and gave a Sarkari feeling. groups of 10-15 were being called in each slot. A slot featured a GD followed by PI. During the waiting period had a nice chat with guys present in waiting room.Met a few from Time,Pune centre there.
GD was on the topic "Pollution the price for progress". The topic should have been a cakewalk for me anyday,but just that day,words simply refused to come out of my mouth.Also the fact that there were 4-5 strong speakers in my group didnt help me at all. I chipped in with few relevant points but i knew at tht moment that i have really messed up my GD. The group was really nice,respect for each other was always there but just could not speak up. PI was decent.It started on a good node but couple of geneal ques on IT industry caught me off guard.PI was very genric. I dont know how can eavaluators gauge some one based on such genric 5 min PI's.It's sell yourself in a elevator game at GD & PI's .
So all budding CAT/FMS aspirants, learn to sell yourself in an elevator.Knowledge matters but whatever you write in you Personal Data form, be sure that you can defend it.I couldn't do it in those 5 mins and paid the price.
PI's are all about keeping your nerves.
Another thing with all due respect to evaluators ( Narang SIr and a Ma'am and a young sir),they did irk me a bit.They were moving in & out during GD and they looked least interested in PI.They were continuosly chatting durig our GD. I was really disappointed by the way FMS admissions commmittee conducted proceedinds.Though Narang Sir explained process to us very diligently. For that i need to commend him.
Lack of practiced fueled by 16 hrs in office stint for prior 45 days to intv didnt help me a bit.
Hope so people can find this useful

My GMAT exp

2009-06-24T11:46:00.000-07:00

My Score
GMAT : 720 ( Q:49 ; V:41 ) AWA : 4.5 :huh:

My Background
I'm also one among the many IT engineers who is looking for a way out of this Industry.A Computer Engineer from a very reputed institute of North. Have been working with a top Indian IT firm since past 2 years . Nothing great to boast of in job. Have done a bit of extra curricular in college.

My Prep
My preparation started in May. It was just a time pass sort of preparations at that time. Gave my GMAT Prep 1 at that time. Scored 560 in it. Bought Kaplan Premier GMAT book and went through the strategies in a very light way. Did not kick start my preparation until 24th June,the day when i took my Gmat date as 15th Sept.
May- June was mainly dedicated to 1000SC's, 3000RC's, 1000 CR's. Although they put me into the prep mood, they were not of a great help as no explanation for answers was given and at times the answers were debatable. July was the time when i got my prep into 2nd gear. Studied on average for 2 hours everyday. Even on weekends schedule remained the same. I had prepared for CAT last year so that helped a bit. The books which one should follow are given in the order they should be done

1) Kaplan Premier/Comprehensive : Excellent for basics,methodology
2) Manhattan SC : a must must book. Helps a lot
3) Manhattan CR : CR's were a cake walk once i did this
4) OG 11 : A Bible, all the types covered
5) Verbal Review
6) Quant Review
7) Kaplan 800 : again a must.Dont feel demotivated but pick up all the points from it.

Be careful not to drag preparation for more than 2.5 - 3 months. As my date approached i really found it difficult to concentrate on same old type of problems.

Mocks
Gmat Prep 1 : in may 560
Gmat prep1 : 10 days before 720 ( Q : 50 , V:39 )
Gmat Prep 2 : 2 days before 700 ( Q:49 , V : 40)
i was a fool not to practice more. You should not commit this mistake.

My G-Day exp
The test was scheduled for 1:15 . Woke up at 5:30 as i had to travel to Mumbai for it.Dont know y as soon as i started in bus the nervousness started descending on me. By the time i was at centre , a good 1.5 hrs before, i was not sure of my self. But the initial period where i was made to go through the rules helped me to calm myself. Test started with an Argument , which i took apart comfortably. The problem started with Issue, No matter how hard i tried to get it right,it just went from bad to worse. I'm sure my AWA has suffered due to Issue.It was just a bad exp.
Took a break,had some water,relaxed a bit and then started on Questions. triple checked answers for first 10 but tht meant i consumed too much of time. At tht time the nervousness came back to haunt me. All was fine till 15th que but then things just spiralled downward and the end result was very poor. My advice take quant seriously, It ain't that easy.
took a break had few Tiger Biscuits, did some stretching and got down to verbal.Everthing looked familiar.RC's and CR's should be well practiced as these r easy to ace. Don't neglect them.I wasnt expecting to ace it but then at the end 41 was satisfactory.

At my level of seriousness it was a decent score, though as soon as i was done with Verbal i knew i had messed up. I could hv scored 30-40 more had i held my nerves. But i was really helped my 2 months of bench preceeding my exam.Though i didnt make use of tht time for study, atleast i had a free mind wenever i sat down

Aiming for Fall 2010..as right now i just dont have a good enough profile
All the best to u guys. Hope so u can learn from my mistakes.
Just need an advice , can this score be considered good enough for Top 30 types
P.S.
Just dont go by QR/OG for Math.I paid the price for just going through these. Math 1-15 were easy but 16 -27 gave me a tough time ...30 -31 were so easy which made me sure that i had messes up big time in Quant.

GMAT Preparation

2009-05-16T10:43:00.000-07:00

As discussed earlier in "Journey" post, a good GMAT score does not assure you a admit and a bad GMAT score does not kill you. But still you just can’t ignore the importance of GMAT.
GMAT would help you get into the reckoning. Any good school or any school for that matter would like to boast of high GMAT average score, as it shows some sort of exclusivity I guess. Being from Indian IT Pool , one is expected to contribute richly to the fund. Average score for Indian IT group would mostly fall towards the higher 80% range. Well it is expected that you score highly. An average score would make your essays that much more important. Though you may be very well patted for getting a score of 700-710which is almost 90 percentile, and you deserve the patting , but don’t have any illusions that a score of 700+ is good enough. Day by Day the Indian pool ( be it IT or any other) is getting more and more competitive. Despite of recession , the ever luring desire of Phoren MBA still drives Indians to reach new heights. Aiming for Top 20 schools in US, a GMAT score of 750+ is a requirement (though I could not do it, hence I’m struggling) for a assured consideration of essays and also to pave way for Scholarships. As I wrote in an earlier post that a good GMAT score can land you a good Scholarship.
I’m not qualified enough to tell that this is sure shot way for 750+ . But I’m sure that if you can work this way and tweak this for your convenience , you surely can clock 750.
The first thing you should know is Quant is of Elementary level in GMAT. Though not as hard as CAT, but being a Indian you are expected to shine in Quant. So once you are done with the basics of quant do attempt questions which demand a bit of brain work. Overall Quant is on easier side and should never bother you much. Engineers are expected to show competence in quant. For others, having a strong command on 12th level maths would do.
The next section is English. One thing you should remember is that there is commonplace English, then there is standard English and then there is GMAT English. Good thing about GMAT is that it follows a highly structured English pattern. So you only need to master that pattern of English rather than worry about overall English. Though mastering English would be better and is ultimately essential for studying abroad.
GMAT study cycle should not exceed 4 months in my opinion. That is you start studying for GMAT today and within 4 months you appear for GMAT. The major reason is the interest in study will start to wane away if you try to prolong it. An ideal way to start is to spend 2-3 weeks browsing the World Wide Web and most importantly www.mba.com to get a feel for what exactly is GMAT and what type of school you are aiming at. As it stands today GMAT comprises of three sections
Section 1 : AWA ( One analysis of argument essay and one analysis of issue essay)
Section 2 : Quant ( 37 questions including the experimental questions)
Section 3: Verbal ( 41 questions including the experimental questions)

More details can be had from www.mba.com

To prepare well you need to be clear of what you are preparing for. What sort of questions you are going to get. So I’ll recommend the first book that you should get hold of is Kaplan premier or Kaplan comprehensive. Pay attention more to theory than to the questions. It would give you a good layout of things to expect in GMAT. Also discussed are some basic strategies.

So for going through site and the book you should put in roughly 2 weeks to understand the GMAT.

A thorough understanding of what GMAT demands and what is inappropriate in GMAT would cut your work by half. Following is the list of books I’ll recommend in the order given for preparation

Verbal startegy
1)Wren & Martin ( keep going through this book, don’t include it in the 4 month timeline)
2)Manhattan SC : a must I should say. Not only for Verbal but for English in general ( 2 weeks )
3)Spidey Notes ( available on net )
4)Verbal Official Guide : solve the given questions religiously and you are well on your way to cracking GMAT (3 weeks)
5)Official Guide 11/12 : get an accuracy upto 80% within time limits ( 3 weeks shared with quant section )

Quant strategy
1)Basics of geometry/ calculus/ algebra/ coordinate geometry/arithemetic/ratio proportion
2)Solve problems from Quant official review (2 weeks )
3)Manhattan Quant guide (2 weeks)
4)Official Guide 11/12 ( 3weeks shared with verbal section)

AWA
1)Go through Kaplan and OG AWA tips
2)Try to search on net and blogs. These are the best places to get the tips and guide

2 weeks before your GMAT pick up Kaplan 800 and test yourself out. These are the best questions and if you are aiming for 750+ , you’ll invariably get these types. But if your fundamentals are strong, you should be able to get through. Do not get disheartened if your accuracy is low (~50% ) as this book is supposed to be tough. Take all the learning’s you can from this book.

On www.mba.com you’ll find GmatPrep software which is free to download. It contains 2 practice tests. This is as close it gest to the real GMAT. I’ll suggest you to take these exams the first one a week before actual GMAT and the second one 3 days before actual GMAT.
One this test puts you in groove for the actual GMAT. Two the score you get in these tests pretty much reflects your caliber. God forbid you get a poor score on G –Day which is much lower than this score, you can say you had a bad day and give GMAT another try. A very important thing is that do not skip the AWA part in these tests. They may not be scored but you gain valuable sitting practice of 4 hours thanks to them.
This is pretty much my view on preparing for GMAT. A method which may suit one may adversely affect other. Its ultimately you who has to come up with prep method. This can act only as a guide.
PG Threads are a very good resource to go through the experience of fellow test takers and do spend some hours on this. You can pick some valuable tips here and there. You really need not slog. 3-4 hour of regular preps for 4 months can assist you in getting a good score.

All the best to prospective test takers.

The Journey

2009-05-05T08:28:00.000-07:00

Attending the Orientation Session at your desired B School is just a start of a traumatizing, energy draining journey. But to reach that start point you have to finish a journey before. Here is my advice on the steps to cover that journey.

1.) As one of my fellow applicants wrote on one of the threads on PG, knowing the destination halves the distance of journey. I'm not saying that you shortlist 5 schools which you are targetting ( though that would be in best interest), but simply answer following questions
- a 2 yr MBA or 1 r exec MBA ( Since GMAT/profile requirements differ for both)
- MBA for career change or Career Advancement (career changers needs to work really hard)
- Can you afford to shell out Dollars(it has major bearing on your target schools)

2) GMAT is only one of the components which affects your admit chances. GMAT wont be the only reason for your reject. GMAT does play a major role in Schols but for admit your application package as a whole matters.
If you have gone through step 1 you would know what is the expected score for your target school hence work that hard to acheive it.If in process you get a better than expected score, will you complain?

3) Once you have GMAT score in hand and have a idea of your profile, the tough part of selecting the colleges begin(yes once again,since now you have complete idea of your profile). IMO PagalGuy is an excellent resource for this job.It gives a rough idea of what schools are looking for.

4) Essays,Recos, Application packets.This is giving a finishing touch to your dream of B School. But just keep this in mind, 1-3 is like collecting raw material and point 4 is finishing touches of Leonardo Da Vinci
So no step of this journey is less important or more important. You need to focus on all areas.

Suggestive timelines from my end are
Step 1 : 1 month (Jan)
Step 2 : 3 months for GMAT Prep and then write GMAT ( Should be finished by May)
Step 3 : 2 months (By July)
Step 4 : August - till you get an admit

5) Once you get an admit you have a very small window to arrange the funds to show a statement to school so thatyour I20(Visa doc) could be sent to you. Schools normally ask for funds enough to support 1st year in liquid form and funds for 2nd year as collateral. Having a home does not stand out as funds. Though having a house in your names helps prove to Visa committe that you intend to come back to your country and settle down.So just a word of caution, dont start partying until you get I20 if you are a middle class dude depending upon schols/loans

This is a small piece of info that is avbl on net. There is lot and lot of info available on net.I'll suggest you all to go through MissionMba Blog for a lot of information.

The IIM Problem

2009-04-24T21:35:00.000-07:00

IIM( Indian,IT,Male)problem is a big hindrance for many a MBA aspirants.IIM is a big pool which has been harassed a lot by employers, paid abysymally , and made to work like a clock. Every single person of category dreams to get out yet they just cant.The problem with this pool is that the majority of them are wizards. They get 700+ in GMAT, crack CAT regularly, are real problem solvers, also many of them contribute to society, Yet they just can't seem to get into top. Of course there are a limited number of seats in top 20 Schools for IIM's and they are all occupied by IIM's. But then there are other IIM's who are, if not more, equally deserving for the coveted seat. A score which maybe good enough by normal standards may just be poor by IIM standards.
Also the essays for IIM cateory are screened much more rigrously, the questions raised are much more deep. And ADCOM is at no fault if they do this because the drive for MBA for an IIM comes more from Money on offer after MBA and torture at current place rather than a desire to do MBA because you want to do MBA. Though a number of candidates are mixed of above two cases but if you give an IIM a better salary and a bit of freedom at workplace , few would like to give up tech career.
So just a word of advice for all IIM's, if you do plan for MBA, get good experience in industry, find an authetic reason for why you want to do MBA and then take a plunge. remember no score is good enough for an IIM, since IIM is the category which houses best of the best.
For me, i'm still searching for a well framed reason. Reasons are there but then to map reasons to MBA is a tough task. An advice i would like to give to all new IIM's never ever think of jumping onto the Abroad MBA ship for first 2 years of work. Because the knowledge you gain at your company will help you throughout your life.

The Journey Begins

2009-04-23T02:40:00.000-07:00

Though the journey began a year back with preparations and all, Now as i look n retrospect it was nothing more than warming up and performing strecthing exercises.
The Journey to a B School, is long; the path to B School is, full of obstacles; The destination B School is, hidden from vision. Until the day on which you have admit in your hand you can't really say that you are gonna get an admit or not. Even a GMAT of 740 does not guarantee you an admit ( Why? will discuss it later).
The biggest Obstacle between you and B School is : YOU . If you want to do an MBA for any reason other than Money this would be true.
Because B School Application Process will make you think as you never think. Last 20 days have been tumulous for me. The more i research the more obstacles i find , within me.
So an honest opinion, Research Reasearch and more Research is the only way to get yourself to the School which will best suit you.
The scores does not matter ( well that means 700+ is assumed)
All you need for a B School is Knowledge about yourself, Passion for what you do, and clarity on what you want.

i'm another of IIM's ( Indian IT Males) hoping to fulfill my dreams in the land of the Free Thinking startint 2010.
Pray , i reach there.