There's no excuse for my absence on this blog for such a long tenure!
But to tell u the truth I have been busy, not as busy as I was when applying to schools last year, but busy. In the past 2.5 months I mad a trip to my home country, got a student visa. Spent wonderful time with family and friends, visited holy places and of course, started work on my first year course work.
The school gave us a summer assignment that was specifically aimed at understanding ones career interests and strengths etc. We finished MBTI and EQI-360 assessments. I'm yet to read a prescribed strength finder book(I probably will have more on this after I finish reading the book) and writing 2 page self-assessment of my career and lifestyle choices.
Also I bid farewell to my 4 year old Dell Inspiron (gave it to my kid bro) and bought a brand new HP laptop with Intel's i5. I'm yet to get this configured for W.P.Carey's networks, e-maile etc.
I'm excited to start schol. Can't believe it's next week! Although it's just orientation and classes don't start till the 23rd. On top of everything I'm looking forward to meet all the 2nd years who I've been talking with all this while. I wud be great to meet these good samaritans in person!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
A time to choose
I think I pretty much speak for all the admits of Class of 2012 when I say that "the seach has begun!". the search referring to search of career opportunities. That's how the whole MBA things works. First you search for good books on GMAT, then you search for the best schools to attend, then you search yourselves to answer all the piercing and introspection-forcing essays. And when you finally do get an admit, you relax for a bit and then you search about various resources that will help you reach your ultimate career goals while at school. And now more that ever is the need to be on the top of things.
The past 1-2 years of economic turmoil has put a lot of pressure(for good reasons) on the MBA populace to be very very proactive to find internships and jobs. On the upward sloping straight line of the job worry vs. MBA clas year graph, Im sure we are curently at the peak. All of us are aware that companies are recruiting with frugality and taking minumum risk with new hires(wille explain what this means a lil' later). With this challenging situation around us and the undeiably substantial cost of a 2 yr MBA it is inherent on us to start planning our career moves right away.
First, frugality of recuritng within companies. Currently, in this time of firing, I believe a company would think twice before hiring a new person into their company. Although situation is improving, in order to ensure we are in a safe situation I think we should be very very clear as to what career we wish to pursue after MBA. Gone are the serene days when you got tired of a job and did an MBA for 2 years just to check-out the options out there. We simply can't do this. The advice I've received from current students is to be very very clear as to what kind of jon and internship you want. Have clear career goals. Once you've made up your mind, it's easy to stick to it and do career orientation stuff specific to that role/industry. There is no use of blaming the career centre at your school for not finding you a good internship when you juggled from one goal to another since you joined school. I think this is the best thing to do.This way you won't panic during the whole turbulent recuriting seaon because you know exactly what you are looking for and you'll find it in one place or the other.
Second, about the companies playing 'safe' in recruting. Companies seem to prefer recruitng people who are not career changers. They want to know that you can infact excel in the specific industry in the specific role. It might still be easier to go from tech consulting to management consulting but it's no more easy to shift from tech consulting to ibanking etc. Much is being speculated and planned by various schools to overcome this challenge and help their students in switching careers. After all career switch is probably the number 2 reason for people to go for an MBA in the first place. Read this article . The key thing to do is to highlight your exposure to these new industry in your resume. For ex. I wanna shift into marketing within an TV network, I'll then highlight my exposure to custmer management, product marketing in my previous IT career and also my involvement within the entertainment industry (may be by working part-time before joining school etc). This shows a true interest and seriousness on my part to chaneg careers and gives my career goals some credibility in the recruiters eyes.
Last, international students(such as me :)) are facing additional challenges of visa restrictions et al. There is really no way to overcome this since this is totally out of your hand. Just try and target companies which do sponsor your visa for a full-time job after MBA. This is probably where I would demand more help from career management centres at schools. Worst to worst, you can always work till your OPT lets you and then look for opportunities back home.
Just make sure you are well-thought and prepared for you career search and you'll end up as happy as the lady in the picture seems to be :)
Image source:v a l e n c i a c c
Friday, April 16, 2010
The (almost)final decision
Looks like my app season has come to an end.
First the bad news - I got dropped from the Ross waitlist.
It was a big shock for me because I sent them two good updates, with significant info. And just a half hour before sending my third and last update, which was about my BOB nomination, I got a denial from them. After recovering from the disapoointment I typed in a note to my application manager and also forwarded her my latest update e-mail. I don't think it would make any difference, but I forwarded that update anyway.
Now the good news - I got into W.P.Carey school of business at Arizona State Univ.!!!
Aplying to W.P.Carey was one of the last decisions I took in the application season, in March actually. My move to Arizona in Jan had a lot to do with it. I skipped their Feb. deadline because I wasn't sure of my fit at the school and vice-versa. I continued my research on the school and spoke to an Indian alumni at the school from the class of 2002 and few current students, I understood their marketing department offerings, evaluated if it would help me reach my goals and finally researched their financing options etc. After 1.5 months of this research I was convinced about it and applied to W.P.Carey. I had to take TOEFL in 15 days just to make it to the deadline. A month after submitting my application I was accepted to the school with a scholarship! The best part of it is I don't have to move away from my husband. As for Carey's competitiveness, it's ranked 27(2 spots above the last year ranking) almost same as Emory , it draws a lot of recruiters because of it's branding in Supply Chain. Although I'm not looking at doing Supply Chain I feel that the school will still give me a good exposure to many companies. Also the thing about Carey is that they are very serious about improving their hold on areas other than Supply Chian. The school is eager to make a recognition for itself as a well-rounded school in all business domains such as marketing and finance. This said I know I'll be studying within a dynamic environment and working with people who are hungry for making development. Just thinking about it is exciting for me! The Marketing department at W.P.Carey and it's Centre for services Leadership have been key players in my decision. Also it was important for me to get back to school after 1.5 years of gap in my career and no delaying it any further was necessary. You see the why MBA now was very important for me. At the end I'm happy to get to where I am now. It may not be the best situation, but it's the best for me. And I'm experienced in making the best out of any situation :)
First the bad news - I got dropped from the Ross waitlist.
It was a big shock for me because I sent them two good updates, with significant info. And just a half hour before sending my third and last update, which was about my BOB nomination, I got a denial from them. After recovering from the disapoointment I typed in a note to my application manager and also forwarded her my latest update e-mail. I don't think it would make any difference, but I forwarded that update anyway.
Now the good news - I got into W.P.Carey school of business at Arizona State Univ.!!!
Aplying to W.P.Carey was one of the last decisions I took in the application season, in March actually. My move to Arizona in Jan had a lot to do with it. I skipped their Feb. deadline because I wasn't sure of my fit at the school and vice-versa. I continued my research on the school and spoke to an Indian alumni at the school from the class of 2002 and few current students, I understood their marketing department offerings, evaluated if it would help me reach my goals and finally researched their financing options etc. After 1.5 months of this research I was convinced about it and applied to W.P.Carey. I had to take TOEFL in 15 days just to make it to the deadline. A month after submitting my application I was accepted to the school with a scholarship! The best part of it is I don't have to move away from my husband. As for Carey's competitiveness, it's ranked 27(2 spots above the last year ranking) almost same as Emory , it draws a lot of recruiters because of it's branding in Supply Chain. Although I'm not looking at doing Supply Chain I feel that the school will still give me a good exposure to many companies. Also the thing about Carey is that they are very serious about improving their hold on areas other than Supply Chian. The school is eager to make a recognition for itself as a well-rounded school in all business domains such as marketing and finance. This said I know I'll be studying within a dynamic environment and working with people who are hungry for making development. Just thinking about it is exciting for me! The Marketing department at W.P.Carey and it's Centre for services Leadership have been key players in my decision. Also it was important for me to get back to school after 1.5 years of gap in my career and no delaying it any further was necessary. You see the why MBA now was very important for me. At the end I'm happy to get to where I am now. It may not be the best situation, but it's the best for me. And I'm experienced in making the best out of any situation :)
Friday, April 9, 2010
Nominated to Clearadmit's BOB!!!
Yeaaaa. I'm excited and thrilled to be nominated for the annual Best of Blogging(BOB)awards given out by clearadmit. My hearty congratulations to all the other nominees. You deserve it.
A year back I was just another MBA blogger initiating my own blog after reading tons of MBA blogs in the blogosphere. The idea behind it was to keep a journal of my MBA application journey in order to make it more organized. As I started looking around, reading the blogs of previous year's nominees and current students I was amazed to see how these blogs inspired me. I was so thrilled to see all these bloggers share valuable advice and experiences with people like me whom they've never met. As someone using this resource I wanted to give back to it. I was determined to make my blog one of the good blogs, if not the best one, around.
After an year this is what I've accomplished:
1)Countless friends, MBA applicants and current students, whose experiences and MBA application lessons have enriched my application journey
2)A feeling of mutual learning and team-work- the help from talking to other applicants, working together on essay reviews and sharing ideas of good application processes etc has been as helpful as one would get from an admissions consultant
3)A sense of distinction about myself- I can honestly say that this blog and the exposure I've gotten in the MBA-blogging world have made me feel that this hooby of mine sets gives me an edge in enhancing my aplication profile.
4) Finally, I'm happy to have shared my own experiences, good and bad. I'm glad that they have been helpful to my readers. Every e-mail that I get from a reader thanking me for my post makes my day!
My advice to people out there dismissing the idea of starting their own MBA blog simply because they think it's a cliche'- you never know what your blog can offer you. It can offer anything from new friendships to a good extra-curricular activity to free goodies from a lot of MBA admissions and GMAT preparatory companies who want to publicize thier product on your blog. So why wait? Blog away!
A year back I was just another MBA blogger initiating my own blog after reading tons of MBA blogs in the blogosphere. The idea behind it was to keep a journal of my MBA application journey in order to make it more organized. As I started looking around, reading the blogs of previous year's nominees and current students I was amazed to see how these blogs inspired me. I was so thrilled to see all these bloggers share valuable advice and experiences with people like me whom they've never met. As someone using this resource I wanted to give back to it. I was determined to make my blog one of the good blogs, if not the best one, around.
After an year this is what I've accomplished:
1)Countless friends, MBA applicants and current students, whose experiences and MBA application lessons have enriched my application journey
2)A feeling of mutual learning and team-work- the help from talking to other applicants, working together on essay reviews and sharing ideas of good application processes etc has been as helpful as one would get from an admissions consultant
3)A sense of distinction about myself- I can honestly say that this blog and the exposure I've gotten in the MBA-blogging world have made me feel that this hooby of mine sets gives me an edge in enhancing my aplication profile.
4) Finally, I'm happy to have shared my own experiences, good and bad. I'm glad that they have been helpful to my readers. Every e-mail that I get from a reader thanking me for my post makes my day!
My advice to people out there dismissing the idea of starting their own MBA blog simply because they think it's a cliche'- you never know what your blog can offer you. It can offer anything from new friendships to a good extra-curricular activity to free goodies from a lot of MBA admissions and GMAT preparatory companies who want to publicize thier product on your blog. So why wait? Blog away!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Happy .... am I?
I'm in!
I got a call today!
So many of my friends have been sayin this lately.
I cannot tell how great it feels just to vicariously experience the above! I'm so happy to see a lot of folks on my favourite forum gmat club get into their choice of business schools. There are few guys and gals over there who have been getting into their favourite schools after 2-3 complete years of preparation. It's such an amazing feeling to see them screaming out their happy news!!
For long I've been hopeful that I would be in similar situation; that I would one day receive a phone call that would simply change my world for the best. But it doesn't seem to happen anytime soon. After almost 14 months of my sincere efforts I haven't been able to say "I've received an admit!". I'm slowly losing the hope. My single source of light is an application I'm working on forW.P.Carey School of business. My essays are good, I think. I've had the opportunity to connect with alumni and students of the schools. And I think I've made a good impression on the ad-com already, through my interactions with them on their on-line admissions webinar and e-mails etc. Hoping for the best.
I got a call today!
So many of my friends have been sayin this lately.
I cannot tell how great it feels just to vicariously experience the above! I'm so happy to see a lot of folks on my favourite forum gmat club get into their choice of business schools. There are few guys and gals over there who have been getting into their favourite schools after 2-3 complete years of preparation. It's such an amazing feeling to see them screaming out their happy news!!
For long I've been hopeful that I would be in similar situation; that I would one day receive a phone call that would simply change my world for the best. But it doesn't seem to happen anytime soon. After almost 14 months of my sincere efforts I haven't been able to say "I've received an admit!". I'm slowly losing the hope. My single source of light is an application I'm working on forW.P.Carey School of business. My essays are good, I think. I've had the opportunity to connect with alumni and students of the schools. And I think I've made a good impression on the ad-com already, through my interactions with them on their on-line admissions webinar and e-mails etc. Hoping for the best.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Long due updates
I've been awfully quiet for the past couple O'weeks. A lot has happened in this time. Mostly personal stuff. I've moved across the country and have relocated to the west. Yes I'm enjoying warmer weather now after bearing 2 bitter winters of the Northeast.Not in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine moving here. I've always lived on the East, mid-west portion of the country and was of the impression that West Coast was only for vacationing or gambling :D.
Now that I am here, I tried to see if any school here would interest me. Unfortunately the schools I liked didn't have any more rounds left and the ones that did have admission deadlines in April didn't interest me much. So there's not going to be any more changes to my school list. My status still remains the same, waitlisted at Ross and working on an admit there.
P.S.March 2010 - I did find a good MBA program that might interest me - ASU's W.P.Carey!!! So far I've spoken with an alumni who has similar background as me (some country, same career ideas) and similar MBA specialization interests as me and I've found the feedback good. This is infact the first alumni from a school who was very enthusiastic about telling me about his own MBA experiences and even initiated meeting in person to talk to me about it. Now that does say something about the school, doesn't it? Will write more in my future blog posts.
Now that I am here, I tried to see if any school here would interest me. Unfortunately the schools I liked didn't have any more rounds left and the ones that did have admission deadlines in April didn't interest me much. So there's not going to be any more changes to my school list. My status still remains the same, waitlisted at Ross and working on an admit there.
P.S.March 2010 - I did find a good MBA program that might interest me - ASU's W.P.Carey!!! So far I've spoken with an alumni who has similar background as me (some country, same career ideas) and similar MBA specialization interests as me and I've found the feedback good. This is infact the first alumni from a school who was very enthusiastic about telling me about his own MBA experiences and even initiated meeting in person to talk to me about it. Now that does say something about the school, doesn't it? Will write more in my future blog posts.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Ross ad-com's support to waitlisted applicants
Kudos Ross! Once again you've gone beyond my expectations.
As I mentioned last week, I got waitlisted in Ross R1. The very next day I got an e-mail from Ross ad-com inviting me to joining the googlegroup created by Ross-adcom for waitlisted students. Now, that was surprising! I didn't expect that any of the schools would initiate such a thing. Apparently Ross does.
Since I joined the group I've noticed ad-com people answering queries on the discussion board of the google group. They even scheduled a chat today for waitlisted students. I just logged off from the chat. 3 of Ross admission officers were present in the chatroom (big shout out to Linda Abraham from accepted.com for organizing the chat). It's commendable that they took time from the busy R2 application reviews and patiently answered the queries from all of us waitlisted folks. In case you want to check out the chat transcript , you can find it at the accepted.com archives next week.
As I mentioned last week, I got waitlisted in Ross R1. The very next day I got an e-mail from Ross ad-com inviting me to joining the googlegroup created by Ross-adcom for waitlisted students. Now, that was surprising! I didn't expect that any of the schools would initiate such a thing. Apparently Ross does.
Since I joined the group I've noticed ad-com people answering queries on the discussion board of the google group. They even scheduled a chat today for waitlisted students. I just logged off from the chat. 3 of Ross admission officers were present in the chatroom (big shout out to Linda Abraham from accepted.com for organizing the chat). It's commendable that they took time from the busy R2 application reviews and patiently answered the queries from all of us waitlisted folks. In case you want to check out the chat transcript , you can find it at the accepted.com archives next week.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Kellogg, Ross and NYU
As promised here I am posting as soon as I checked my Ross admit decision.
Sometime late afternoon yesterday(Jan 14th) I realized that I've not been accepted to Ross. Had I been accepted, I would've gotten my admit call already. But as the evening approached, with every passing minute not only did I get more nervous but also became more and more convinced that I had a good interview and a good application. So why did I not get in? I don't know, I'm going to think about that for the whole weekend coz people, I've been waitlisted ! :)
Frankly I'm thrilled to be on Ross' waitlist. I've been in love with the school since the past 5-6 months. And it's consoling to know that my courtship with Ross hasn't yet ended and there is still a chance of tying the knot!
As for the other schools, NYU gave me a no-no last week. I was particularly disappointed with that result because I wrote good essays for Stern. I would be interested in taking their feedback. Anyone know if Stern offers feedback for rejected candidates? Even if they don't normally do I'll try a hand at getting it.
So with 2 down and 1 hanging in mid-air today I submitted Kellogg for R2. I loved writing Kellog's essays, especially essay 3. I would like to take a moment and thank dreamchaser and rocky for their advice and feedback on my Kellogg essays. What would I do without the league of MBA'12 applicant bloggers?
Also a shout out to O'Neill (Kellogg '11) for his highly informative blog-posts about Kellogg!
Sometime late afternoon yesterday(Jan 14th) I realized that I've not been accepted to Ross. Had I been accepted, I would've gotten my admit call already. But as the evening approached, with every passing minute not only did I get more nervous but also became more and more convinced that I had a good interview and a good application. So why did I not get in? I don't know, I'm going to think about that for the whole weekend coz people, I've been waitlisted ! :)
Frankly I'm thrilled to be on Ross' waitlist. I've been in love with the school since the past 5-6 months. And it's consoling to know that my courtship with Ross hasn't yet ended and there is still a chance of tying the knot!
As for the other schools, NYU gave me a no-no last week. I was particularly disappointed with that result because I wrote good essays for Stern. I would be interested in taking their feedback. Anyone know if Stern offers feedback for rejected candidates? Even if they don't normally do I'll try a hand at getting it.
So with 2 down and 1 hanging in mid-air today I submitted Kellogg for R2. I loved writing Kellog's essays, especially essay 3. I would like to take a moment and thank dreamchaser and rocky for their advice and feedback on my Kellogg essays. What would I do without the league of MBA'12 applicant bloggers?
Also a shout out to O'Neill (Kellogg '11) for his highly informative blog-posts about Kellogg!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
6 more hrs to go
..for Ross admit decision as well as Kellogg R2 deadline.
The score of my MBA apps so far, a dull 0-2.
More details in a few hours (after I check my Ross admit result online).
chow for now!
The score of my MBA apps so far, a dull 0-2.
More details in a few hours (after I check my Ross admit result online).
chow for now!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Not so good news
...from Goizueta. Despite what I felt were great essays, my just-ok interview obviously didn't help me. Strangely, when I read the admission decision, I din't feel the expected chill. I think the MBA application process is making me stronger. But I'd like to take this moment to thank all the Goizueta students who helped me in the process.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Happy 2010
Wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year!
May this new year and new deacde make all your dreams, MBA and otherwise come true :)
May this new year and new deacde make all your dreams, MBA and otherwise come true :)
Monday, December 28, 2009
In between holidays
Hi ppl, what's happening? Hope you all had a good Christmas and will have even better New Year's.
Things had been quieter with me, on the essay front, the whole of last month. Now it's December end and the R2 deadlines are almost here. I've been working on my K essays. This' taking a lot of time, I started last week. I'm still sitting with my essay 1 which is in a good draft shape , but unfortunately is 230 words extra [:'(] [:D]. So I've gotta do a lot of editing. I think that I should spare around 200 words for my until-now career progress discussion and the remaining 400 for describing future goals and why Kellogg. I don't think I can add any 'what will i do at K' stuff here. I'll have to fit that elsewhere.
It's 8:56 PM now and my goal is to have essay 1 in a better aka 'almost final' shape by 9:30. So gotta go now!
BTW - do you think my 200+400 strategy is sound?
Things had been quieter with me, on the essay front, the whole of last month. Now it's December end and the R2 deadlines are almost here. I've been working on my K essays. This' taking a lot of time, I started last week. I'm still sitting with my essay 1 which is in a good draft shape , but unfortunately is 230 words extra [:'(] [:D]. So I've gotta do a lot of editing. I think that I should spare around 200 words for my until-now career progress discussion and the remaining 400 for describing future goals and why Kellogg. I don't think I can add any 'what will i do at K' stuff here. I'll have to fit that elsewhere.
It's 8:56 PM now and my goal is to have essay 1 in a better aka 'almost final' shape by 9:30. So gotta go now!
BTW - do you think my 200+400 strategy is sound?
Monday, December 21, 2009
Should I see a doctor?
No! I don't have H1N1(knock on wood). But what's bothering my health,specifically my mental health, is the overwhelming wait!!I'm a nervous wreck...sob..sob..sob. Gosh, I'm annoying myself by obsessively checking my gmail account and hovering around the gmatclub forums looking out to see the latest news on various school fronts. I keep telling myself not to , not to. But alas, to plagiarize Edward Kullen the vampire, "Gmatclub has become my own personal brand of cocaine" making me go back to it and addicted to it! To add to this I've joined pagalguy.com too. "Dreamer, when will you learn...start working on your R2 apps you idiot!"There, that was my inner-self again. I think I should listen to her now.
Folks, am I the only one in this no-man's land or is anyone else with me? If yes shout out loud, it will probably make me feel less insane!
Folks, am I the only one in this no-man's land or is anyone else with me? If yes shout out loud, it will probably make me feel less insane!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Reminiscing my Ross interview
I had my UMich-Ross interview last week. I got the interview invitation right before Thanksgiving and had to complete my interview before Dec 9. The alum whose contact I was given turned out to be busy till Dec 9th and hence suggested that I approach the school for another contact. I did this. At this point I must say that both the alums passed out from the school in the new millennium and held very senior positions in the firms they were working.
So the day my interview was scheduled, I got a ride from my husband. It was the first time I was seeing the city traffic. Thanks to our thoughtful planning and early start we reached the rendezvous point, a coffee shop, a good 45 mins early. I used that time to relax and grab a cuppa coffee and some breakfast (the interview was scheduled early in the day).
I was waiting for my interviewer. After sometime when I started texting him, he showed up. We took a table at the coffee shop and started the process.
1) First he explained to me about the process (it reminded me of my Kellogg interview) and then asked me to walk him through my professional career. I did the same – spend around 3 mins I guess.
2) Then he asked me Why Ross. I answered it and it kinda led to Why MBA. Very specific questions about long-term and short-term goals.
3) A leadership experience at work
4) A situation in team when my team member was not performing well. How did I handle it.
5) Specific questions about my non-profit volunteer work I was doing since the past 9 months. He asked me couple of leadership questions about this activity.
6) And the most hated questions - What would I do if the MBA thing doesn’t work out this year.
This is the list of the questions I remember. I might have skipped a question or two, but not more. Overall I think I answered them with comfort and I’m hoping my interviewer could see how I was focused on my goals and purpose for an MBA and how much I’m in love with Ross :)
Then I asked him a couple of questions about his Ross experience and MAP. He spend around 8-10 mins answering my questions. When he started talking about his MAP experience, I chipped in and conveyed how I had forgotten to mention about MAP before and how I believe it to be very necessary for a career changer like me. Hope my being forgetful didn’t affect anything negatively :-$
The total process went a little over 45 mins. It was a blind interview, i.e. my interviewer had only my resume , that I sent him. He had not seen my application and essays. I think this is the best way to evaluate a person’s admissibility into a school. Conduct a blind interview. Then match the interview report with the application. If they are both coherently positive sounding then take in the candidate.
So the day my interview was scheduled, I got a ride from my husband. It was the first time I was seeing the city traffic. Thanks to our thoughtful planning and early start we reached the rendezvous point, a coffee shop, a good 45 mins early. I used that time to relax and grab a cuppa coffee and some breakfast (the interview was scheduled early in the day).
I was waiting for my interviewer. After sometime when I started texting him, he showed up. We took a table at the coffee shop and started the process.
1) First he explained to me about the process (it reminded me of my Kellogg interview) and then asked me to walk him through my professional career. I did the same – spend around 3 mins I guess.
2) Then he asked me Why Ross. I answered it and it kinda led to Why MBA. Very specific questions about long-term and short-term goals.
3) A leadership experience at work
4) A situation in team when my team member was not performing well. How did I handle it.
5) Specific questions about my non-profit volunteer work I was doing since the past 9 months. He asked me couple of leadership questions about this activity.
6) And the most hated questions - What would I do if the MBA thing doesn’t work out this year.
This is the list of the questions I remember. I might have skipped a question or two, but not more. Overall I think I answered them with comfort and I’m hoping my interviewer could see how I was focused on my goals and purpose for an MBA and how much I’m in love with Ross :)
Then I asked him a couple of questions about his Ross experience and MAP. He spend around 8-10 mins answering my questions. When he started talking about his MAP experience, I chipped in and conveyed how I had forgotten to mention about MAP before and how I believe it to be very necessary for a career changer like me. Hope my being forgetful didn’t affect anything negatively :-$
The total process went a little over 45 mins. It was a blind interview, i.e. my interviewer had only my resume , that I sent him. He had not seen my application and essays. I think this is the best way to evaluate a person’s admissibility into a school. Conduct a blind interview. Then match the interview report with the application. If they are both coherently positive sounding then take in the candidate.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
GMAT - pre-MBA , during-MBA and post-MBA
As an applicant, when I started preparing for the GMAT this is what I told myself, "It's the one thing thatz in my hand and I better do the best I can". Unfortunately I didn't do well in my first GMAT. I barely crossed the 80th percentile on quant and was devastated coz I always thought I was good at math. I knew it was not reflective of my actual abilities and hence re-took the test and was satisfied with my new score. I was relieved that the whole GMAT thing was over once for all. But it was surprising to see that GMAT and MBA degree go hand in it for a long long time.
I toured 4 b-schools in the US and what I've observed is that the GMAT ghost haunts you forever. Most of these schools had notice boards roaring with ads of GMAT-tutors, special GMAT coaching discounts for students at that university, Math-tutoring etc etc. I was surprised to see that. I wondered why on earth someone would put thoses notices there? Was it for visitors like me? I was confused. But soon things became clearer. As adcom reps at the information sessions spoke about the job search, job prospects and career profile building they told how GMAT was a 'very important parameter' in job interviews. You see, it doesn't matter if you have a great GPA in your liberal arts class or great verbal scores on your GMAT that boosted your total GMAT score. Companies, especially financial companies and consulting companies, specifically look at your quant score for estimating your analytical ability. Inevitably, the career magmt. centers in most schools have to suggest their low-GMAT students to try and re-take the exam and improve their quant scores.
Much has been discussed about this topic, remember the GMATClub blog post by Linda Abraham of accepted.com. I do wish to add something to what was said in that article. In another instance, I've seen one of my fellow bloggers postpone her application process by one round just because she met with an adcom at a top-3 school who suggested her to retake the GMAT to improve her post-MBA job prospects.
Does all this mean that there is no hope for low-GMAT scorers? I say no.Your GMAT score matters depending on the kind of job you wanna do post-MBA. If you want to work in creative fields like media or entertainmentt and non-traditional fields like non-profit management then a low-GMAT score doesn't necessarily put you at a disadvantage. Also, one can highlight other academic successes on resume such as a scholarhsip or tution waiver from your UG or MBA school. Getting a 100% tution waiver from your b-school tells a lot of positive things about you to your employer.I've seen this atleast with one of my friends who graduated this May.
All said, applicants done with GMAT can't yet forget its implications on their career. Am I out of scope for this?
I toured 4 b-schools in the US and what I've observed is that the GMAT ghost haunts you forever. Most of these schools had notice boards roaring with ads of GMAT-tutors, special GMAT coaching discounts for students at that university, Math-tutoring etc etc. I was surprised to see that. I wondered why on earth someone would put thoses notices there? Was it for visitors like me? I was confused. But soon things became clearer. As adcom reps at the information sessions spoke about the job search, job prospects and career profile building they told how GMAT was a 'very important parameter' in job interviews. You see, it doesn't matter if you have a great GPA in your liberal arts class or great verbal scores on your GMAT that boosted your total GMAT score. Companies, especially financial companies and consulting companies, specifically look at your quant score for estimating your analytical ability. Inevitably, the career magmt. centers in most schools have to suggest their low-GMAT students to try and re-take the exam and improve their quant scores.
Much has been discussed about this topic, remember the GMATClub blog post by Linda Abraham of accepted.com. I do wish to add something to what was said in that article. In another instance, I've seen one of my fellow bloggers postpone her application process by one round just because she met with an adcom at a top-3 school who suggested her to retake the GMAT to improve her post-MBA job prospects.
Does all this mean that there is no hope for low-GMAT scorers? I say no.Your GMAT score matters depending on the kind of job you wanna do post-MBA. If you want to work in creative fields like media or entertainmentt and non-traditional fields like non-profit management then a low-GMAT score doesn't necessarily put you at a disadvantage. Also, one can highlight other academic successes on resume such as a scholarhsip or tution waiver from your UG or MBA school. Getting a 100% tution waiver from your b-school tells a lot of positive things about you to your employer.I've seen this atleast with one of my friends who graduated this May.
All said, applicants done with GMAT can't yet forget its implications on their career. Am I out of scope for this?
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Emory visit and interview experience
November, I thought, was the most eventful month of my applications season - with an interview, 1 school visit and 2 application submissions. But I think december is gonna beat it. The very first week of December, I attended a super saturday(at Emory Goizueta) and gave interviews for 2 schools. And now I'm waiting to hear from NYU & am keeping my fingers crossed on Emory's decision.
The super saturday event at Emory was informative in terms of providing details about the schools and giving an overall feeling about the school, which is very important for me. And I also scheduled my interview the same day. So lots of info. to get into my head and lot more things to deliver too :)
The day started with a women's breakfast at 8am(I know, I know - very early for a saturday morning - but hey, afterall they had so much to do in one day).It was a casual chat with current students, alumni and adcom folks. It was suprprising to see that 2 amongst the 7 speakers had their spouses enrolled in the 2Y MBA pgm along with them! Good for them!
I met a couple of applicants like me. After the women's chat I went to the room where Q&A with adcom was scheduled. The adcom asst-director,Kate Piasecki, was very friendly. I had already met her in September an MBA Tour event. There were almost 50-60 prospective students in the session. And there were around 25-30 students attending a school tour at the same time. A total of 80-90 I'd say. A lot of them were from the Atlanta area.
I then skipped the Q&A with students coz I had already scheduled to meet a couple of students later,more on this following. Next, I took the school tour. A first year student showed us around. The Goizueta building is kinda shaped like a 3/4 circle with a nice lawn in the centre. Apparently this lawn is where free drinks are served on Thursday :). Each of the 2Y and BBA folks have seperate floors for them. A unique artifact was the coca-cola trading floor from the older days NYSE. The coca-cola name appeared conspicuously in the entire Goizueta building.
Next I had a casual meeting scheduled with a couple of last season MBA-applicant-bloggers missionmba and ahembeea. After months of reading their every single blog post it was nice to meet these souls in person. There were a couple of us prospective students meeting with them. After 20 mins of talking I suddenly realized that I had a simulation class to attend. I quickly bid byes to all and ran.
The class/session had already begun. Not just applicants but Assoc. Dean J.B.Kurish, some profs and alumni and current students for both 1Y and 2Y MBA pgms were present there. It was a nice session and the professor, Mr.Robert Kazanjian, simulated a class session with a case study of Dell's strategy in the late 90's and early millenium. It was very interesting and all visitors were encouraged to participate. BTW there were a couple of visitors from India attending the event through webconference, how kewl is that for an information session!
Next there was a scheduled lunch with current students, but I skipped it coz my interview was coming up next. I went to a lonely place, and read through my notes and then went to the interview. Pretty standard questions. In the order of asking, the questions were : Walk me through your resume, why MBA, why now, why Goizueta, what core value of Goizueta would you identify yourself with, any questions for the interviewer and anything else I would like to add about me and that wasn't already covered in the interview. The whole interview went very very unbelieveably fast. It completed in just 20-25 mins!!! It was nice to know that quite a few Goizueta interviews last 25 mins or so such as Hakuna Matata's last year. I don't think I did my best in the interview. The only thing +ve about it was the alum who took my interview said,"Sounds like you are very passionate about what you wanna do". Is that a good sign? Only time will tell.
After that I wrapped up and left the campus.If you are interested in visiting Goizueta and can wait till Jan I suggest you to attend the next Super Saturday event scheduled on Jan 23,2010.
That's it for now, coming up next is my Ross interview experience. Keep blogging!
Monday, November 30, 2009
How to prep. for admissions Interview?
I'm done with 3 interviews now and feel that I'm eligible to pass on some dough to you ;P. Seriously speaking, it's to express my gratitude to all those resources that helped me in my prep that I'm writing my post.
If you have been active on the blogosphere you wud've read a lot of posts like Xlick's NYU interview prep. report or Hari's tips for interview preparations etc. I don't want to repeat their good advice but just to add my 2 cents to this here I go:
I start my preperations going through the school's website for the (n+1)th time and taking notes of the school's specific activities in my field of interest - let's say entrepreneurship. I try to see if the school has any specific research centers or student-managed funds for use in the specific field, ex.the Wolverine fund of the Ross School. I also try to find info about what intership oppurtunities specific to my field of interest are available at the school. Also, I make a note of the companies that might have tie-ups or for-free projects planned with the schools, the geographical proximity of my dream-companies to the school etc. For ex. someone planning a career in entertainment can choose a college near LA or near NYC. Be sure to mention these points in the answer to 'why MBA' question which is 99.9% probable to come-up in any b-school interview.
Next step is to write down a list of the possible questions that you can expect to be asked. There are hundreds of resources that can help you with this preparations. A few are
1) Clearadmit interview wiki
2) GMATclub's resources like this and this
3) Blogs of current applicants who are going through the same process as you
Now that you have a list of questions, frame your answer to each questions. This part is something that no one can help you with. But you take help from your essays. Also write down a list of your life-enriching experiences - work, personal, academic or community related - and try to see if you can fit in these stories in your answers to the interview questions. Remember - It is on you, and only you, to highlight the different aspects that make you the special person that you are. The interviewer will not ask you specifically if you have you lead your high school team to the state championships, you tell him that to highlight your leadership and sportsmanship.
Last but not the least do a mock interview with a friend or your partner and ask them to be honest in their feedback. They might not tell you specifics about the MBA related topics and answers but they can surely help you with body language and eye contact which , don't forget, are equally important.
If you have been active on the blogosphere you wud've read a lot of posts like Xlick's NYU interview prep. report or Hari's tips for interview preparations etc. I don't want to repeat their good advice but just to add my 2 cents to this here I go:
I start my preperations going through the school's website for the (n+1)th time and taking notes of the school's specific activities in my field of interest - let's say entrepreneurship. I try to see if the school has any specific research centers or student-managed funds for use in the specific field, ex.the Wolverine fund of the Ross School. I also try to find info about what intership oppurtunities specific to my field of interest are available at the school. Also, I make a note of the companies that might have tie-ups or for-free projects planned with the schools, the geographical proximity of my dream-companies to the school etc. For ex. someone planning a career in entertainment can choose a college near LA or near NYC. Be sure to mention these points in the answer to 'why MBA' question which is 99.9% probable to come-up in any b-school interview.
Next step is to write down a list of the possible questions that you can expect to be asked. There are hundreds of resources that can help you with this preparations. A few are
1) Clearadmit interview wiki
2) GMATclub's resources like this and this
3) Blogs of current applicants who are going through the same process as you
Now that you have a list of questions, frame your answer to each questions. This part is something that no one can help you with. But you take help from your essays. Also write down a list of your life-enriching experiences - work, personal, academic or community related - and try to see if you can fit in these stories in your answers to the interview questions. Remember - It is on you, and only you, to highlight the different aspects that make you the special person that you are. The interviewer will not ask you specifically if you have you lead your high school team to the state championships, you tell him that to highlight your leadership and sportsmanship.
Last but not the least do a mock interview with a friend or your partner and ask them to be honest in their feedback. They might not tell you specifics about the MBA related topics and answers but they can surely help you with body language and eye contact which , don't forget, are equally important.
Monday, November 16, 2009
A lightweight MBA-applicant netwroking site created by a co-applicant
Sunday, November 15, 2009
NYU visited and submitted
Last weekend this time I was driving back home from NYC.Earlier that week I visited Stern. And right now am sitting peacefully with a submitted application to the school.
Stern essays are really unique. I think Stern makes sure that you write its essays from the scratch and don't ctrl+c, ctrl+v from some other school essays. Stern directly asks you the three important questitons - Why MBA , Why Stern and Why YOU? That's it, those are the three essays. And as for the legendary essay #3, there have been so many rumored stories about the creativity applicants have shown-right from someone sending a cooked sushi to sending a door with 'Let me in' written on it. As for me I have creatively decided to be uncreative. But have tried not to be bland in my 500 word essay.
My visit to Stern turned out better than I expected. Thr building reminded me of the Kellogg building. The location is totally different from all the schools I've visited so far. It just so happens that you are walking across the streets of NYC and suddenly you are in front of Stern. There are tons of folks walking all over the place. The place itslef is so lively. I liked the location, which is one of the reasons I'm applying to Stern.
Surprisingly for a weekday, there were around 70 vistors(yeah 70) that day. After an interesting class visit, I joined a coffee chat with current students. BTW the coffee was for free (again something that was unique to Stern). We were later led on tours by the graduate ambassadors. Our tour guide was a very friendly 2nd year. She showed us around and even let us through the 'silent study room' where the current students were all smiles looking at the huge prospective students crowd.
A very impressive thing happened during the school visit. The famous Prof.Okun paid us a surprise visit and shared with us his reasons for liking Stern and working there. Now did that ever happen to you at any other school?
Overall my Stern visit contributed a lot in understanding the culture of the school,which was the main purpose of my visit. As an international applicant, I'm glad I had the oppurtunity to visit all the schools I did so far. My next stop is down South...Emory here I come.
Stern essays are really unique. I think Stern makes sure that you write its essays from the scratch and don't ctrl+c, ctrl+v from some other school essays. Stern directly asks you the three important questitons - Why MBA , Why Stern and Why YOU? That's it, those are the three essays. And as for the legendary essay #3, there have been so many rumored stories about the creativity applicants have shown-right from someone sending a cooked sushi to sending a door with 'Let me in' written on it. As for me I have creatively decided to be uncreative. But have tried not to be bland in my 500 word essay.
My visit to Stern turned out better than I expected. Thr building reminded me of the Kellogg building. The location is totally different from all the schools I've visited so far. It just so happens that you are walking across the streets of NYC and suddenly you are in front of Stern. There are tons of folks walking all over the place. The place itslef is so lively. I liked the location, which is one of the reasons I'm applying to Stern.
Surprisingly for a weekday, there were around 70 vistors(yeah 70) that day. After an interesting class visit, I joined a coffee chat with current students. BTW the coffee was for free (again something that was unique to Stern). We were later led on tours by the graduate ambassadors. Our tour guide was a very friendly 2nd year. She showed us around and even let us through the 'silent study room' where the current students were all smiles looking at the huge prospective students crowd.
A very impressive thing happened during the school visit. The famous Prof.Okun paid us a surprise visit and shared with us his reasons for liking Stern and working there. Now did that ever happen to you at any other school?
Overall my Stern visit contributed a lot in understanding the culture of the school,which was the main purpose of my visit. As an international applicant, I'm glad I had the oppurtunity to visit all the schools I did so far. My next stop is down South...Emory here I come.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Ross on my mind
The title of the post is as it appears coz of various reasons. If you have been a Ross fan,am sure you would've heard about its latest rankins ranging from #2 ranking in Aspen Institute's beyond-grey-pinstripes to the #1 ranking for Leadership development in the past 2 weeks. To add to this the b-school forums are roaring with yeah's of Ross applicants who received invites for interviews and aargh's from ppl who haven't yet.
Also lastnight, I attended the Ross worldwide club day event. There was this interesting session on Business Sustainability in the wake of climate changes by Prof.Andrew Hoffman. Although the majority of the ppl there were alumni, I did meet some prospective applicants.Although the event was for alumni,I did get a good feel (as if I hadn't had enough already :D) about the school. Most importantly I could see how involved the Ross alums are with the school even years after graduating.
P.S.Ross if you are hearing, am still waiting :)
P.P.S : 11/20/09 I did hear back from Ross :)
Also lastnight, I attended the Ross worldwide club day event. There was this interesting session on Business Sustainability in the wake of climate changes by Prof.Andrew Hoffman. Although the majority of the ppl there were alumni, I did meet some prospective applicants.Although the event was for alumni,I did get a good feel (as if I hadn't had enough already :D) about the school. Most importantly I could see how involved the Ross alums are with the school even years after graduating.
P.S.Ross if you are hearing, am still waiting :)
P.P.S : 11/20/09 I did hear back from Ross :)
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