The Journey begins again

The Visa Issue

2007-07-13T00:12:00.000+05:30

Recently I've been getting a lot of emails/calls from applicants and my friends who are admits at other schools. So I thought it best to summarize what I know here. Many many thanks to my dear friend Simba for talking to me extensively on this topic. Thanks S, for clearing the air on the many doubts I had! She's also written on this topic, suggest you read that too.

So what exactly is the visa issue?

H1B (US Work visa) applications are accepted from Apr 1. This year the number of applications exceeded double the no of visas on offer (65,000) by the 2nd of Apr, so the window was closed 2nd Apr itself. And as per a new system, who'd get the visa and who wouldn't, was decided by a computer lottery as against the first come first served system in place earlier.

Apart from these 65K visas, there's an additional 20K visas on offer in the Graduate category. Only those who have a master's degree from a US univ, can apply in this category. But this year, this too filled in by 30-Apr! Not sure, but iirc, last year the graduate category cap was hit only in Jul.

Here comes the problem: Most MBA students graduate from their programs only in May. So they wouldnt be able to apply for a vias in the year they graduate. Lets say XYZ graduates in May 2007. She would be able to apply for the work permit only in the next cycle of April 2008. Once she's graduated, she's no longer a student. So technically, she's out of status. She can be out of status only for 2 months. So by July, she'd have to either have a valid work permit or move into OPT or leave US.

OPT stands for Optional Practical Training, which extends uptil one year. It is different from CPT - Curriculum Practical Training, the category under which she'd have done internship. She doesn't need a job or an employer or a sponsor to invoke the OPT. So lets say she invokes OPT in Jul 2007, then she can legally stay in the US until Jul 2008. Lets assume her employer files for visa in April 2008 AND she's lucky (remember the lottery system?) enough to get it. Even then, she would get her visa stamped only by Oct 2008. So what happens between July 2008 and Oct 2008? Yup, she'd be out of status once agin! So she'll have to leave the country for the period that exceeds 2 months. And oh yes, when you are out of status, even though you can stay in the US, you cant work!

Because of all these hassles involved, some employers might not be very enthusiastic about hiring internation students. I guess we'd know the true picture only after the next batch also graduates.

There are some workarounds available for this:
1. US aint the only place, look at other geographic regions as well! UK is making the best out of this confusion in US by welcoming all graduates of the top 50 international BSchools. Getting a 1 yr HSMP (UK's work permit) is fairly easy from what I hear, and apparently it can be easily extended too.
2. Take more credits than necessary each term, and try to graduate by Dec - All schools might not offer this option.
3. If you are socially inclined, this could be a golden chance for that required push! Nonprofits and education orgs are not included in this visa cap. But at the same time, not too many hire international candiates either (my perception).

Class of 2007 bore the brunt of this new situation. It was highly unfair to them! Especially to be left like this with almost no forewarning. Some employers have been very understanding though. They are either transferring their employees to an overseas location during these "out of status" periods or giving them unpaid leave.

Although I accept that the situation will only get worse in future, I strongly believe forewarned is forearmed. Atleast we guys, class of 2009, are aware of the problems that can crop up. And we can start working towards a solution right from the first term. Also, the US congress is mulling over several options to resolve this problem - but there's no guarantee that any of them will see the light of the day.

BSchools were instumental in creating that new Graduate Category of 20K visas. So have faith. Efforts are already underway to do somethign abt this. There's already alliance of the business schools. This alliance had hosted some info on Tuck's website. But I am unable to find that link right now. If anyone has it, please pass it on.

Hope that clears some air. Let me know if have any queries, I'll answer them to the best of my efforts, else will get the reqd info from people who are more knowledgeable.

And ofcourse, if I've stated something wrong, please let me know ASAP so I can correct it.

Blue Devils Rock!

2007-07-08T00:30:00.000+05:30

And so I return to the blog-world, after several months! As you prolly made out from the title of this post, I decided to go ahead with Duke, and sent in my regret note to Darden.

I am done with my visa formalities. Now stuck with the tonnes of material that Duke so kindly sent us, to be finished before reaching the school. And I am finding it maha tough to move my ass in gear to even open those CDs. They sent us an accounting and math CD each. Apart from this, there's Business Computer course assignments that we have the "option" of finishing before reaching school. Then there's the headache of getting my resume in shape, for which too, Duke sent a 30+ page booklet outlining how it should be! And ofcourse there are tonnes of formalities like Immunization, forex, tickets, transit visas, apartment, laptop, phone, books, suits, formals, knee length shorts (eh?) etc etc etc which also need to be worked out.

Frankly, after all this crap, it feels like if I can handle all this gracefully, surely acads wont be that much of a problem! :)

To give a brief update abt what I've been upto over the last few months: I quit my firm somewhere in Mid march. Moved home and joined an infra consulting firm for a short internship. Got done with that in May end, and since then have been running around getting somethings settled on the family front (NO! I'm nt getting married - one whack on the behind to whoeva asks abt this!). And ofcoz, partying real hard, since I've moved back to the best place on earth - Delhi! Delhi ROX, peepal! :D

Anyway, now, finally, here I am! Done with most of the formalities - need to close out on the shopping front. And ofcourse, start studying :(

Dont know what prompted me to blog today. Been thinking abt it for long. But somehow while chatting with a friend, S, I had this strong urge to blog. Laughed like crazy today, after a long while, while chatting with her. She was telling me about her first thoughts when we met for the first time! :D

Congratulations on all your acceptances, and good luck to those who've started their journey on this road :)

Darden/Duke : +ve Wharton : -ve

2006-12-27T11:58:00.000+05:30

Thats the status of my apps. Got admits from Darden and Duke. Got dinged at W :(

Have been keeping extremely busy - as usual, I have my fingers dipped in 475437534757493 pies at the same time. Not getting the time to post or even read others' blogs. Now that things have settled a bit, this should improve.

Definitely not feeling good about W, but no point crying hoarse about it here. Anyway, gotta decide between Darden and Duke now.

And hearty congratulations to my fellow bloggers who have admits from other top schools :)

Haas Submitted!

2006-12-19T11:28:00.000+05:30

Finally, 2 weeks back, I was able to move my fat ass into action and worked on the Haas app. Dont think the quality of this app was anywhere close to good. Frankly, it sucked! But I still went ahead with the submission.

I am tired of apping. I am tired of having to put off plans with family and friends. I am tired of being so poor as a result of the money spent apps. I am tired of not being able to do what I want to do, when I want to do. I am tired of thinking of apps all day long. I am tired...

And sadly that reflected in my app. :( And to top that, I had to write four new 250 word essays!!! I went ahead with it only because I loved the school so much when I visited them. And I love the west coast.

Haas mailed a couple days back: They will begin reviewing the app only in Jan end!!!! Why o Why did you ask us to submit 1.5 months earlier then??? And interview invites will come in Feb through March.

Wanted to target a school or two more in R2. But I am exhausted! Completely spent! So Haas was the last one. :)

Feeling very random right now - guess that justifies the random lines of crap I just wrote! :)

GMAT is the sole basis for admission decision

2006-11-17T13:44:00.000+05:30

Or so a recent comment on my post 720 and retake GMAT would have me believe.

Here it is:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"You have to remember that you are competing with literally thousands of Indian Male IT Professionals.

You are in this bucket (i.e., Another Indian Male IT Professional) and are competing with the the other Indian Male IT Professionals applying.

Hence, you have to be at least as good as, if not better than the other thousand Indian Male IT Professionals applying to MBA schools.

Take a look at ths blog of another
Indian Male IT Professional applicant:

http://i4iday.blogspot.com/2006/11/updates.html

His scores are top:

GMAT: 750 (Q50 V41)
GMAT AWA: 6.0
TOEFL: 300/300

This is type of person you are competing with.

If you do not have scores like this, the AdComs are going to look at the other people in your bucket and ask why your scores are not the same, if not better."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am responding to that comment here because a lot of applicants, especially Indians (because of our traditional stress on acads), still seem unable to understand that a lot goes into an app, and GMAT is but a part of it.

I do understand that I come from, arguably, the most competent pool of applicants : Indian IT Male. BUT! Admission decisions are NOT based on GMAT alone! There are several other factors that collectively determine it: Essays, Recos, Extra Currics, Comm Service, interview, communication skills, interpersonal skills, GMAT & acads etc etc etc. In my personal opinion, of all these, essays are probably the single largest factor that sway decisions one way or another.

Most importantly, it is how you distinguish yourself. it is of prime importance that you choose the right examples and highlight the right qualities. I think this was where I went wrong last yr. I was competitive at most schools I applied to last yr. But I didnt invest as much time doing a deep-dive into my experiences as I should have. I feel its better to spend more time doing that, than fretting over a "low" score.

But, all else being more or less same, the adcom would definitely prefer an applicant with higher GMAT and acads, as s/he is more likely to perform well in class. And thats only fair. Thats why its important to bring out the different and interesting aspects of your work and personal life.

Inspite of having been dinged from my top choice schools last yr; inspite of just getting a ding from a top choice school this yr, I still say GMAT is not the reason, or at least not the only reason for the reject. I have utmost faith in the admissions process. Even if I get dinged at all the schools, I will still not accuse the schools of rejecting my app due to GMAT. If at all thats the reason given, it just means I didnt do a good job of highlighting the more important facts of my app, forcing them to look at my GMAT to distinguish me from others. Would urge others also to not fall into this trap of thinking that GMAT is the be all and end all of this process.

Ding from Columbia

2006-11-16T00:58:00.000+05:30

Really dont know where I went wrong. My interview went well, my Columbia app was good...

In a state of shock to think analyze anything right now...

YAYYYYYYY!!!! W wants me to interview! :D

2006-11-15T23:51:00.000+05:30

Got the interview invite from Wharton a couple hrs ago! :D

Over the last couple days, also got interview invites from Darden and Ross.

Good luck to my fellow applicants! Dont fret over it - today, I'd decided to stop checking my email every 2 mins and dint even visit the s2s. I guess I beat Uncle Murphy with this new found attitude!

Checking my spam

2006-11-14T03:25:00.000+05:30

folder more often than the inbox, as the inbox has no new mails, but the spam folder gets filled in very fast! And all this just for the W invite that has eluded me so far :( I know I know, its very important to be +ve etc etc etc. But with the last date a mere 3 days away, I am finding it more and more difficult. :(

W adcom's latest blog post on interviews helped a bit, but...

To borrow a line from BSchoolDiva's latest post: In the words of R. Kelly “Somebody pray for me”.

Edited to add: Its nearly 3:30 AM for me now, that makes it 5PM EST. So Monday's gone as well... Only Tues/Wed/Thurs left... :sigh: Off to sleep now. All this waiting will be the end of me someday :sigh:

No Wharton interview invite yet :(

2006-11-08T20:43:00.000+05:30

Been off internet, apping and blogging since I turned in the Ross app. Well mostly. Been socializing big time - met up with all my friends @ home. Came back to this dirty city only a few days ago and generally been chilling, reading, and meeting with my friends here.

But today, I am feeling very restless! There's been no forward movement on my apps since the Columbia interview. I had promised myself that I wont freak out about it this yr, was even able to hold myself together for this long, but now I am getter all jittery :((

Feeling the most scared about W - only 8 more days to go and I am yet to hear from them. :(

Even Darden has been sitting neat and pretty in Pending status since 21-Oct!

Ross - there's still time.

Duke - Got a mail asking me for my preferred location for the alum interview, but they interview everyone, so that doesnt count.

Ross Submitted

2006-10-31T01:23:00.000+05:30

After much struggle with the professional/personal development essay, endless reviews and many rewritings later, I finally submitted the Ross application.

This was the last of my R1 apps and marks the end of a 4 month long journey. Now begins the waiting game. Looking forward to spending the last couple of days @ home making up for the lost socializing! :)

Duke Submitted

2006-10-29T23:42:00.000+05:30

Feeling relieved! Finally, after a 2 week lull, I managed to submit another app - a full 5 days late :(

Blame it on Diwali and my visit home. BTW, I am still home, but unable to do much except apps. Ofcourse, good to eat mum's yumm yumm food :D

Duke Reco faux pas :(

2006-10-28T12:39:00.000+05:30

Back in Sept, when sending out the reco requests to my recommenders, I disintinctly remember reading on Duke's website that a reapplicant has the option of submitting only one reco - implying two recos are expected. And since my profile had undergone significant change, I thought it best to ask my boss to submit another reco - he'd recommended me last yr too. But now, a few hours after both the recos were submitted, I find out from a friend that only one is expected. And indeed, on the instructions for reapplicants, it is mentioned that only one is expected.

Maybe I remember wrongly, maybe the instructions changed - either way I should've checked it again to be sure, especially because the Duke app underwent considerable change from last year. :(

Anyway, I am in a fix now. What should I do? :( Should I explain it in the optional essay? Or just let it be?

:(

Columbia Interview Experience

2006-10-27T14:12:00.000+05:30

Had my Columbia interview today. My interviewer and I met a golf club here in Delhi for lunch. My interviewer worked at McK for 3 yrs and then joined his family business. He was very impressive, I must say (but then, what else did I expect?) :)

The interview was scheldued for 1 PM, but he was busy so came only at 1:40 PM - he did call to say he would be delayed. He was easy going and put me at ease right from the beginning. He started out asking me the regular questions:

Why MBA?
Why Columbia?
Whats ur leadership style?
Did u have problems leading ppl, how did u resolve it?
Which other schools are you apping to?
How did you approach the school selection process?

There were a few others, but I dont remember. And oh yes, he talked extensively about his Columbia experience, profs, electives he took etc. When I asked him for feedback, he just laughed it off :( And ofcourse gave me a disclaimer that interview is just a part of the whole process. Overall, it was ok. I was happy with myself, but then I was extremely happy with my performance last yr too - but that didnt land me anywhere, did it?

And oh yes, I used accepted.com's interview feedback to prepare for it. I found the feedback quite useful - not only for the questions, but also to get an essence of the style of interview most CBS alums prefer - conversational. Would highly recommend it. I hear Clearadmit's Wiki is also a good tool, but didn't have the time. Do chk out clearadmit's latest post on interview etiquette.

Wharton - "Complete - R1"

2006-10-27T02:09:00.001+05:30

Finally my app moved to "Complete - Round 1" status. Phew! I was really getting worried about that...

My name is Hobbes and I obsess over my apps

2006-10-22T12:30:00.000+05:30

A scene from a room full of people undergoing pschyotherapy for OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Asif - My name is Asif, when entering a room, I switch the light on and off 5 times, otherwise aliens will abduct me
Bhaskar - My name is Bhaskar, if I dont take a leak 20 times a day, I will not go to heaven.
Christina - My name is Christina, I have to enter the office only from the back entrance.
.
.
.
Hobbes - My name is Hobbes, I keep thinking and thinking and thinking about my apps.

HEEEEEEELPPPP!!!!!! I am obsessing over my apps!!!

I know we all eat, drink, sleep and live apps, but for me its going beyond that - beyond the point where it would be productive. I keep thinking about it so much that even during breaks I cannot stop my thought process - as a result there are no breaks and its hurting my essay writing process now :(

Columbia Interview Invite

2006-10-19T19:35:00.000+05:30

Yesss folks! My first interview invite of the apping season! And obviously I am all excited about it! :D

Note for other applicants: Something seems to be wrong with their app system, I didnt get an email when the status changed. I just opened the app, hoping for exactly what had happened: Something goes wrong and they dont send an email when they invite me to interview! :)

Darden Submitted

2006-10-17T01:20:00.000+05:30

Haah! Finally, 2 days late, but submitted. The euphoria after submitting an app is slowly wearing off now...

Also, I think I should keep my trap shut about the essay reviews. The moment I blog that my essay passed a review, I get another review that totally screws up my happiness. Same happened Sunday night. I'd posted that I got decent reviews, when another friend trashed my diversity essay. Completely. And worse, his feedback made sense. He even trashed my "What will you do if you didn't have to work for a living" essay. But I felt it was better to follow the approach I'd adopted.

Anyways, so it was back to the drawing board for the diversity/uniqueness essay. Finally he liked what I sent, and frankly, its reads better than the earlier version.

Note to self: Stop bragging on your blog about good reviews.

Darden Update

2006-10-15T19:07:00.000+05:30

On the Darden front, got quite a bit done yest. My goals essays needs a bit of tweaking to be done because its only a 500 word essay @ Darden. Sent my Diversity/Uniqueness essay and 'What would you do if you didn't have to work for a living' essay to a friend and he gave them an OK, except one minor point which can be fixed.

Waving bye bye to social life

2006-10-15T18:32:00.000+05:30

But whats the point, its already gone far away... so far away that there's no hope of it coming back in the near future. :(

Damn this admissions process! This lack of a social life is killing! Last night there was an office party, and for a change, it was well organized. I decided to go for it as working on my apps has effectively killed my social life. But even after reaching there, I couldnt shake my mind off the essays, the app, the transcripts, TOEFL Waiver etc etc etc! I hit the dance floor thinking it would be better once I let my hair down.

BUT NOPE!!! Even while on the dance floor, my mind kept wandering off to the apps. BAAAAAAAHHHH!!!! So finally I decided to leave after 1.5 hrs of pure torture. And not the least of all because there was this cute girl at work that I wanted a dance with, but didnt even approach her because I knew I wouldnt be able to make any civil conversation with her, I'd bore her to death with all this. :( :( :(

Pleez tell me you guys are also going through the same. I will definitely feel better if I am not the only one. :) I know atleast one other fellow applicant who is : MBABabe

Business Week 2006 rankings released

2006-10-13T08:27:00.000+05:30

BW has released it's rankings for business schools for 2006. These are the schools that have made the cut for the top 30.

Notably, Haas moved up quite a bit (9 notches) and Cornell dropped 6. Personally, I think Haas got the visibility it deserved. Its a fab school, it deserved much better ranking than it got all these years.

Top 30 U.S. Programs

1 University of Chicago

2 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)

3 Northwestern University (Kellogg)

4 Harvard University

5 University of Michigan

6 Stanford University

7 MIT

8 UC Berkeley (Haas)

9 Duke University (Fuqua)

10 Columbia University

11 Dartmouth (Tuck)

12 UCLA (Anderson)

13 Cornell University

14 NYU (Stern)

15 University of Virginia (Darden)

16 Carnegie Mellon

17 UNC - Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)

18 Indiana University

19 Yale University

20 Texas - Austin

21 University of Southern California (Marshall)

22 Georgetown University

23 Emory University

24 Purdue University

25 University of Maryland

26 Notre Dame University

27 Washington University (Olin)

28 Rochester (Simon)

29 Michigan State University

30 Vanderbilt University

What happens to my app once its submitted?

2006-10-13T01:46:00.000+05:30

Here's Columbia's FAQ on what happens to our apps once submitted.

Here's a post by the Wharton adcom on the same.

Appreciate the transparency, folks!

All the best to fellow applicants! :)

Freaking out now :(

2006-10-12T00:27:00.000+05:30

Just read on BW that some ED students already got their admission decisions, they've been admitted. Congrats guys!!!

But thinking about that is freaking me out :( Waiting is always the worst part of this admissions game.

Wharton Submitted

2006-10-10T00:38:00.000+05:30

Phew! Finally! It took nearly three hours to just upload the essays and click sumit - the system kept going down. This should serve as an advance warning to those who are planning to submit their apps on the last day, be prepared for such outages.

Dunno why but was very scared about hitting submit. Didnt face so much of trauma for Columbia. But then, for Columbia I was ready with the app a few days before I actually hit submit. Anyways, now that W is done, Darden is waiting next in line...

Fast forward me to Nov pleez! :(

Draft for Stern's creative essay

2006-10-08T11:01:00.000+05:30

No, not mine.

Read Qzoink's draft for the creative essay a NYU. Had me in splits! Still LMAO! Too bad he doesnt blog anymore.

Here's the link: http://qzoink.blogspot.com/2005/10/3-essay.html

And for the lazy unz... pasting it here:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3: Essay

NYU Stern. Essay Question 3.

Please describe yourself to your MBA classmates. You may use any method to convey your message (e.g. words, illustrations). Feel free to be creative.

Ok, I'll try and feel free.

Scrolling: Menheads - La Politique (Part 1)

Draft 1:

I used to make fried dumplings at an Ethiopian restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky. I now make omelets at a joint in New York, New York. The last three alphabets are consonants. The last three in the name of the joint. Where I make omelets. Spinach, bacon and goat cheese.

Making the switch wasn't easy. It shows I am versatile. I can handle finance and economics together in the same semester. I make each omelet to perfection. It leads to better tips for those who serve it. If I am your MBA classmate in the future, I will do the same. Not the omelet. Homework, or a project. I'll do it to perfection, so that you get a better grade.

Various kinds of humans line up to eat my omelets every Sunday at 11:30 AM. A number of times, I have been given the responsibility of managing the queue. I arrange the humans heightwise, the shortest person in front. That way everyone can gauge how many humans are in front of him/her. It keeps the operation translucent. Although I am a chef by training, I know how to manage humans and do justice to them. As your MBA classmate, I will do similar justice to you. I will let you answer the teacher's question first. I'll even prompt the correct answer.

Time management is key. More so at a joint than at business school. Spinach, bacon and cheese, right? While the chopped bacon is frying in the skillet, the frozen chopped spinach is thawing in the microwave. The microwave has a timer but the skillet doesn't. So I have to keep an eye on it. I have to manage time. It's like managing two subordinates. One goes by the clock. It strikes 5 and she is out. The other keeps working until he burns out. I'll encounter both kinds in my study group or project team. I'll know what to do.

I hope you understand that I will make an all around good classmate. All that I have told you so far is very businesslike. You probably want to know the inner me. You wonder, what's behind that facade of omelets, management and generosity? It's a villager. It's someone who once couldn't believe that spinach can be frozen or that the white of an egg can come in a carton. Someone who was dumbfounded on seeing a whiteboard for the first time and wondered how a white chalk would be legible on it, only to be further dumbfounded on seeing dry-erase markers.

Don't worry, you won't feel awkward around me. Just like you, I now go to the movies and have a small cordless phone that I can use far away from my house. Mine didn't come with a base station though, did yours? Hey, trust me, I will never let you down, I'll make omelets for you, I'll nudge you if you fall asleep in class, and if you still don't wake up, you can have my notes.

I have highlighted my important features above. I am sure you want to know more, but I just realized that you won't be reading this. The admissions committee will, and they have had enough.

Wharton App :(

2006-10-08T02:42:00.000+05:30

The W app just doesn't seem to finish! It feels like I am spending more time finishing the W app than I took for Columbia, my first app! It's not even that there's something additional in this app, except that they've enforced word limits for activities...

Isn't is supposed to get easier after the first one? :(

Columbia Status: Complete

2006-10-05T00:11:00.000+05:30

App Status just changed to: Your application is complete and is currently under review by the Admissions Committee.

That's good speed, I say! :)

Columbia Submitted

2006-10-03T09:26:00.000+05:30

Yippppeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!! :D

I've just submitted the Columbia app! Feeling so happy and relieved! :D

I was just waiting for my second recommender to submit the reco for the past 3-4 days. He submitted it a couple of hours ago, and I verified all the info once again and clicked submit! Feeling so ecstatic abt my first submission. Like Iday, even I feel like someone should felicitate me :D

I am way too on top of the world right now to write anything else, will blog later.

One last time:
Yiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiippppppppppppppppppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! :D :D :D

Blogging Hiatus in the MBA Applicants' World?

2006-09-27T20:01:00.000+05:30

So it seems I am not the only one not blogging as often as I used to. I have been checking my fellow applicants' blogs, and strangely (and then maybe not) everybody seems to have gone into hibernation. Looks like all the kids are working hard on their apps. Good luck!

I am still alive!

2006-09-26T00:25:00.000+05:30

Ye folks, celebrate! I am still alive. :D

Things have been maha hectic on work front. Also been bzi with my Columbia app; and providing info to my recommenders. Nothing much to post really.

My essays have undergone several reviews and editings. Hope they are presentable now. Hope being the key word here :)

Curse of the MBA Goddess

2006-09-11T08:28:00.000+05:30

I seem to have earned the wrath of the MBA Goddess for some unknown reason. She has cursed me that I will forever be working and reworking the Goals essay. :(

I'd sent my most recently revised version (after feedback from a friend) to another friend. Although this review was not so bad, he suggested some major structural changes. So I am back to my goals essay (when did I ever go away from it!!!). BAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

The good part: the feedbacks made sense and I can see the improvement.
The bad part: I think all the deadlines will come and whooooooooosh past me, and I will still be working in the goals essay. :(

Sympathies will be well received :(

Sleeping :zzzzzzzzzzzzz:

2006-09-08T22:34:00.000+05:30

Phew! Been a long day for me. Woke up at 3:30 AM, yes thats 3:30 in the morning, to catch a 6AM flight to Mumbai. But just as I was abt to step outside to go to the airport I got a msg saying that the flight has been postponed to 2:30 PM. WTF!!! This wasnt acceptable to me, so had to reschedule the meeting I was gng for and got the tickets cancelled. Then had a 4 hr marathon meeting today for an awareness campaign I am working on for a nonprofit. Been a crazy day!

The only good part is my boss called up today with the sal hike figures and boy am I happy!!! :D YIPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! :D

Gyaan on Goals Essay

2006-09-08T21:23:00.000+05:30

Some pointers for others who are working on their goals essay:
1. Concentrate more on how, rather than what. "I led a project that saved 10 mil USD" is a very hollow stmt. How you led that project, what challenges did you face, how you overcame those challenges and what you learnt from it is more imp than what you achieved, if its significant enough, you will anyways put it in your resume

2. Cut down on the number of things you talk abt. Most of us have a tendency to talk 9845896345 diff things. snip snip snip! Talk abt 1 or 2 or 3 incidents, bt in detail, refer to the point above.

3. Show fit with the school. Dont write stuff that you can do a "Replace All", for school A with school B and it would still fit in.

This list is obv not exhaustive, it includes points I feel I went wrong with in last yrs essays... Might help the others.

Back to basics - Goals Essay

2006-09-08T21:01:00.000+05:30

"I see nothing on Hobbes blog. Is he learning philosophy with Calvin ???"

--Inblue's recent comment

BANG ON, just replace "with" with "from" :D!!! With Calvin being a friend currently in a bschool. ;) Had some major gyaan (knowledge) giving sessions with him. I had sent my Goals essay to him and he poked his finger at EVERY sentence, save 6 of the 3.5 page long essay (ya, kinda longish it was)!!! So been bzi reworking the essay taking into account the feedback recd from him.

The biggest mistake I made was with the number of things I spoke abt in the essay, with the result I could just touch upon most of them, without explaining them in detail. I made sure not to do this with the other essays I wrote till now, but dunno why I went this route for goals and stupidly enuf, didnt even realise it. Prolly jst my enthu to showcase everything! :)

Anyways, I'm ready with the next version (not draft, mind you) of my goals essay. I've reworked this essay so many times that I dont even want to think abt which version it is. :sigh:

Aaaaachhhooooooooooooo!!!

2006-09-03T21:16:00.000+05:30

I am down with the flu :( Aaachhhooooo!

And still struggling with the Ross' Prof/Pers dev essay and going no where with it. Junked the third draft too. This damn flu is very annoying, unable to do much, so started filling out the Darden application form to make myself feel productive. :(

Aaaaaaaacccccchhhhhhhoooooooooooooooooo!!!

Ross: How did you develop professionally and personally

2006-09-03T02:33:00.000+05:30

Haah! I spent most of last week breaking my head over this essay. Havnt been able to touch anything else:(

When I posted last abt this essay, I underestimated the amt of work that would go into it. I wrote a draft, and couldnt move beyond 300-350 words, and all of them trash! Junked it. Thought, thought and thought some more. Got maha frustrated just thinking abt it, so took a break of 2 days and got back to it. Finally figured out what to write and now am ok, just ok, abt it. And strangely, for someone like me, who always exceeds the word limit by 50% :-D in the first draft, I could manage only 450+ words!!! And you know what, I can't think of a damn thing to add, so I am nt fretting over it.

But still am not too happy abt it, needs a lot of work to be done on it. Most importantly the example I took is neither from my professional or personal life, but is relevant to my goals. Since the question specifically asks for professional or personal development, should I rewrite with an example from those areas? Or can I read between the lines and be happy since its relevant (very much so) to my goals?

Help!!!

Look Ma, my blog looks sweet now!

2006-09-02T01:59:00.000+05:30

Phew!!! Finally, after several hours of work, changed the look of my blog! I am ashamed to call myself a techie :(

But me happy with the look now :)

More relevant posts tom, hitting the bed now...

Class of 2009 Bloggers

2006-08-27T12:54:00.000+05:30

Continuing their great work, Clear Admit published friday a list of bloggers entering MBA starting Fall 2007. You can find it here.

Chicago n Ross Essays

2006-08-27T11:53:00.000+05:30

I like apps that give opputunity to display your professional and personal lives in balance. I wanted to begin work on Chicago's app. But given the essays they have, I am finding it difficult to present all aspects of my professional life. They seem to be trying hard to get to know the applicant. The short ans questions are more abt your personality than achievements. Since Rose Martinelli moved to Chicago from Wharton sometime last yr, the changes in their application process are quite visible. I believe her greatest contribution so far has been the admissions forums - they absolutely fabulous! Post a question there and you are sure to get different perspectives from various students and even adcom members within a few hrs! Awesome! Even the essays and interview policy have changed. Last yr the focus wasn't so much on knowing the applicant personally, but this yr the essay questions are more personal in nature: Issue facing humanity, book/play/movie, study group selection - its hard to show your professional side in these questions. "One thing people don't know abt you" still leaves some room for you to do that. I am maha (greatly) confused abt the Chicago app. I guess I need to spend a lot more time introspecting than I have till now... Helps to know I am not the only one, even InBlue is facing the same problem.

I like Ross' essays this yr. Unlike last yr, they are not 100% focused on the professional aspect of your life. That kinda put me off last yr. Notably, they have converted "Professional Leadership" into a "Leadership" essay and "How have you developed professionally" into "How have you developed professionally and personally". Though I have looked at it only peripherally and I am yet to decide upon what to write, I still like it. :)

Yesterday, I was busy firefighting for one of the non-profit projects I work on. The entire day went off in it and I ended up spending not a minute on the essays yest. Hope to be able to catch up a bit today.

Am a happy child!

2006-08-25T23:03:00.000+05:30

I sent my Columbia drafts to a friend and the review wasn’t all that bad! The goals essay needs a bit of work; I am incorporating her feedback and then will send it to another friend. Hopefully it will pass muster there too. :)

My Darden drafts didn’t have it so good though. I am yet to begin work on the goals essay - need to cut it down to 500 words from the present 1100+. The diversity essay had huge holes, huge enough to pass an elephant. :| But the third essay's (what would you do if you didn’t have to work) revu was good.

This is a quantum leap from last yr. I hated writing essays then. But this yr I am finding myself enjoying the process (how weird am I)! Have no clue as to what changed from then to now. Except, of course, I have the luxury of time this time around; last yr I started the whole process of school selection etc only in Nov. Was traveling from Sept onwards, when I finished my GMAT, till Nov. And then my roomie decided to get married in a hurry, even before I could come back. So the moment I landed back, I went searching for an apt. And then came Diwali. So went home for that, and finallllly started the process arnd end nov.

Phew! Dunno y I wrote all that!

And hey, do chk out the daily cartoon! :)

Of Indians and our fascination for IB/Consult jobs

2006-08-18T20:29:00.000+05:30

I have been in this race for an admit to a good BSchool for over a year now. During this period I've met several fellow Indians who are running this race with me. What I find amazing is that we r the most homogenous demographic there is! Atleast as far as the BSchool world goes. Engineer Male probably sums up 70-80% (Or maybe even higher) of the Indian junta (translates to "people") apping to the US Bschools.

As if this weren't bad enough (in terms of diversity), most of us want to get into either Consulting or Investment Banking post MBA! Even I plead guilty to this charge. Infact barring one person, ALL the Indian applicants that I know of, have either of these two as their goal. Why dont we look at Sales, Brand mgmt, Ops, HR, Non-Profit etc. Interestingly, Indian Bschools have a good mix of post MBA jobs!

Been thinking about this, and frankly I am at a loss as to why. A few factors that come to my mind:

- Indians are Quant jocks, and Consult n IB are one of the most quant heavy fields. (Thanks Anon for reminding me of this, forgot to include this)

- Since most of us come from a tech consulting background, maybe we dont bother to look beyond consulting. But then that leaves out IB.

- We are not exposed enough to the other options.

- Post MBA, most non-consult, non-IB donot hire internationals. But most applicants are not even aware of this when they are working on their goals, or so I think.

- Both pay handsomely!

Not sure how valid these points are, but I really cant think of any other reasons. Feel free to shred these to threads!

Essay Update

2006-08-16T01:59:00.000+05:30

Today's holiday (it is India's Indipendence Day today : 15-Aug) has proven to be most productive for me. I finally restarted work on my essays. I have written the first drafts of my goals essay and "What are you most passionate about" essay for Columbia. I am happy with the quality of both these essays, but they need to edited for brevity, by a HUGE margin. I overshot the goals essay by 50%! :)

My goals were proving to be a major pain for the past couple of weeks. Due to some recent happenings on my family business front, I was considering making changes to my goals to include those. But after having thought long and hard about it, I decided against it. Once that was decided, rest of the things automaically started falling in place. And I am glad I used the holiday today effectively. Finally!

I also wrote something for the entrepreneurship essay (Columbia again), but I am not at all happy with it. In all likeliness I will chuck the entire draft and start afresh. I gotta admit, I didnt really think much before I jumped in to start writing, and unfortunately I got stuck midway into the essay. Lesson learnt!

Its past 2 AM now, so time to hit the bed. Good night, world!

And the schools are...

2006-08-13T01:29:00.000+05:30

After having thought long and hard, I have finally decided to app to 6 schools in R1 and 3 schools in R2. Bleddy damn tough task, but I am unable to reduce the list any further! Quite a few of these are schools I wanted to app to last yr too, but since I was very late in the game, I couldnt push in their apps in time.

The list stands like this:

R1
---
1. Columbia
2. Cornell
3. Darden
4. Chicago
5. Fuqua
6. Tepper

R2
---
1. Wharton
2. Ross
3. Haas

Over ambitious?

I have chosen these schools for their focus on General Management, Consulting and Entrepreneurship.

Michael Flatley Rox!

2006-08-09T10:51:00.000+05:30

This guy is too much! He creates awesome performances! I am a huge fan of his and had been looking for his videos on the net (unable to order for them :( ). I hit jackpot yesterday. I found quite a few of them on youtube.com. Spent a better part of yesterday watching those videos :D

For the uninitiated, Michael Flatley is the god of Irish Step Dancing! You can read about him here.

I wanted to buy this video on amazon.com but I get the warning that it might not work on Asian DVD players becase of the difference in formats. :(

And oh yes, thanks Forrest Gump, for sharing the link to Rebekka's albums on flickr. She's awesome! Do check out her Multiplicity series. Some of them, like this one, are creepy in a beautiful way!

Anyways, lemme leave you guys with a small video of one of his masterpieces - River Dance. Even if you are not into Irish Step Dancing, do watch this video. Its a scintillating performance!

School Selection

2006-08-06T23:18:00.000+05:30

I started working on the essays, but somehow lost the momentum a few days back. Still struggling to get it back, been busy with so many things that unable to make time for this.

I made a huge mistake last yr, I dint have a concrete lists of schools till the fag end. My school list was under review and changing as late as mid dec; this when the deadlines were from 4-Jan to 15-Jan! So, this time around, the list is gonna be finalised much earlier. There are some 10 schools that interest me. Need to reduce this to 8 (or mebbe lesser). I am thinking I will app to 5/6 schools in R1 and 3/2 in R2.

I kinda have my R1 list complete, but will post it only when its not just "kinda complete" but complete complete :) But before I can think of finalising the schools, I need to take a call on something else (will blog upon it soon). Only once I decide upon that will I be able to decide which schools are in and which are out.

Based on the feedback recd from Duke, I have signed up for a quant course at mbamath.com. From what I've seen, it seems good!

720 and retake GMAT?

2006-07-21T00:53:00.000+05:30

I just concluded my feedback session with one of the top 10 schools where I got dinged. They seem to have 3 issues with my app last yr.

1. Acads - I have a couple of Cs and Bs. Been asked to take up some course at a local college (how to do that in India is beyond me, maybe some online course?).

2. Low Work ex - I have 4 yrs workex, but they felt another yr on the job would do me good. For some reason they also seem to liken it to the leadership experiences I've had; but I am to be blamed for this - neither did I project myself properly not did I give good examples.

3. GMAT - I have a 720 on GMAT (Q 80+ and V 90+) and it aint good enuf. They want me to retake GMAT. They didnt give me any indication of what is expected of me, just that if I improve it, my chances will be a lot better. She said they get plenty of applications with 740s, 770s and 790s on GMAT. Incidentally this is the second school (I scheduled feedback sessions only with 2 schools) that has asked me to retake GMAT. The other school mentioned that the avg GMAT for my demographic (Indian IT Male) is btw 750-760.

I am seriously in a state of shock. Never expected this school also to ask me to retake GMAT! WTF!!!

First Post

2006-07-20T23:19:00.000+05:30

This year, when I send in my app, I will be one of the several thousands who send in their best apps to the best BSchools. Only, for me, it will be a journey undertaken yet again - I am a reapplicant. I applied to some of the top schools last year, got into a couple, got dinged by a few. But chose not to matriculate at any of those that offered admission, and instead here I am pulling my hair out on the reapp logistics. :(

The apping process aint even on my top 1000 fave things to do. But, I thought, its better to suffer through it once again, rather than go to a school which aint @ the top of my list.

Last yr I never even thought of maintaining a blog, infact last yr I didnt do anything right. :( I apped to all the schools in R2. 5 schools in 11 days. Beat that! Obviously the essays sucked. :)

For some reason, this yr I thought I should maintain a blog, if for nothing else, just too keep a track of my progress.

I might not be updating it daily, or even weekly, but update it I will, as n when I have something to blog about.

Happy Apping folks! :)