Waitmania & Pottermania!!!

Hey ppl,

The Wait Is A Killer......
I had heard this a million times by the earlier applicants and thought at the back of my mind that the "airtime" given to this topic was certainly overhyped..... I used to think that "How hard can waiting be?? We'd immerse ourself in work and shall not feel a thing."

I stood corrected....

During the day, my work keeps me busy and I am actually happy to give my full time and energy to my work (benefit #113: Becoming an entrepreneur) rather than endlessly fretting over deadlines and daydreaming about miraculous essays.......... And there is a good reason why I don't have internet connectivity at my office....

But the madness begins at nightfall....... The moment I come home, I check my mail only to see that page "0 unread messages" for the millionth time........ I frantically check mail every hour or so only to be dissapointed by inactivity.........

So, to pass time I open up my copy of Harry Potter e-book (all books 1-7, which I very conviniently ripped from the net)....... It is a puzzle to me that how could I have missed such a masterful piece of literature........ Maybe I had dismissed HP series as "only for children", a ghastly mistake....... :P......... The awesome world of Hogwarts is fascinating to say the very least....... I totally used to forget that I'm an applicant who is currently in a state of uncertainity and so pissed off by that........ the time was passed in a dizzy uptill now, because, yesterday, I finished reading the seventh book, I actually screamed with joy when Potter used "expelliarmus" to repel Voldermort's "Avada Kedavara" to kill the villian......

But today, the aura of uncertainity surrounds me yet again...... yet again I am reminded by the empty mailbox that my future two years are still uncertain...... yet again I check my mailbox every half an hour or so.......... I am waiting desperately for Hagrid (read acceptance mail) to come and relieve me of my miseries (read the eternal waiting)........

Waiting still......

Peace

UCLA interviewed

Hey All,

Today I interviewed with a UCLA alum in my city. I had already met him earlier (when I was researching UCLA, hence underlining the importance of alumni meetups..... go see your alum now, he may be also your interviewer). So, there was a sort of comfort level between us. Anyways, he stuck to the sandard questions (Why MBA, Why now, Why UCLA, Goals, Strengths & Weaknesses etc.) and apart from the occassional nervous stammering, I don't think I goofed up on any of the major points.

All in all a satisfactory performance. I m pretty excited about UCLA..... If they select me (all fingers and toes cossed), it'll be like a godsend....... the wait continues.......

Peace

My first invite

Hey all,

Was so goddamned bummed after the Duke ding that I shut my laptop and slept..... or tried to sleep....... Woke up at 4 A.M. and checked my mail (just in case)........ (Yes I am paranoid :D)...... There it was...... my UCLA interview invite staring back at me....... I couldn't believe it that I could feel so tensed and so relieved in such a short span of time....... And anyways, I liked UCLA waaaay more than Duke (not the case of sour grapes.... no..... seriously).... felt a greater sense of fit with UCLA than with Duke........Actually, not getting the UCLA invite coupled with the supposed HBS ding was driving me crazy when Duke dinged me and heightened my despair.........
Finally, grinning stupidly and flushing all Duke thoughts out of my system, I was able to sleep last night.......

Thanks guys for the encouragement shown...... Helped me calm down....... And guess what...... My blog was mentioned for the very first time on Clear Admit Blog's Friday Form the Frontline...... I always supposed that my blog lacked quality posts to ever feature on Clear Admit's blog...... Or it was that they simply ignored me.......... But I never cared enough to crib about it......... Guess they really liked the long post containing all the grim updates (those sadistic bast****, seeing something noteworthy in my misery..... lol)

Shall update when my interview is scheduled...... How should I start my prep?? Welcoming Ideas, guys?? Till next time.....

Peace

Admission.....

......DENIED........

This Duke Ding was anticipated....... The first nail in my MBA coffin.....

WTF???!!?

All Grim updates in one post!!!

Hey ppl,

After about a month I dare blog again....... After the double madness, I wanted to avoid that sort of position at all costs..... So decided to push one of the applications (Oxford) to the next round.... Fully concentrated on arden and submitte on time an without any fuss.......

Meanwhile, I was seriously contemplating about the validity of a safe-school (McCombs). The points I had in opposition of applying to any safe school were very valid. The leading reason was my desire to NOT abandon my business just after startup for something which is second best...... Ya, I know I'd be bashed for saying this by the McCombs Lover Association, but hey folks, that's what I think......

So, decided to drop applying to Texas also. (After which it was truly a game of all or nothing) And so, just applied to four schools only.

After 28th Oct, I took a leave from work and went on a nice holiday for a week in the mountains. Came back and aggressively pursued my other interests which were long lost and forgotten (like reading, Gaming and hanging out)......

Was so happy and felt liberated.......But the feeling was not to last......

Shortly after, UCLA started sending out interview invites....... Was thrilled at the prospects, of course. But heard nothing till now and things aren't looking good on this front, since UCLA admits only those who it interviews.

But the real shocker came yesterday when HBS sent out a large lump of it's invites (a whooping 750 invites in a single day)...... I still haven't heard anything. Although, HBS will send another 100 invites till the notification date, it seems foolish enough to keep that widow of hope open too..... (coz statistically if 750 is NOT ME, then 100 is NOT ME in 1 MILLENIUM)..... So, that ship has also sailed........

Looking at Duke, Since I am an international, I can't interview on campus. The application had an option of requesting alumni interviews (which they'd extend by invitation only). Still havn't heard about an interview. Although they say that inteviews are not mandatory (though higly recommended) for admission. But seriously guys, if Duke were genuinely interested, I think they would have wanted to see me (at the very least). I guess I don't have to wait much for this ding coz it comes in two days.

So what is left is Darden. And looking at my rotten luck (and maybe something else, maybe my profile, maybe my essays, coz HBS was my best essay in them all), I have lost all confidence in my chances anywhere. And what's worse is that I still am not able to justify a safe school for me. Seems that my brain has completely stopped working.

The HBS decision toay has thoroughly shaken me...... I really saw myself at the place, the picture quality of my dreams was crystal clear, and my essays (or the application for that matter) was my best shot, my 101%......... and if I was incapable of landing even an interview invite there, I am unsure of landing an admit elsewhere.

It looks like a grim future for me MBA-wise, because come what may, I still (stoically) stand by my decision for the best or nothing....... Looks like I'll get the latter...... Looks like it will be a glorious case of DWI in all the four applications for me......

If that'd be the case, I am sure of one thing, that after Oxford (and with a luck like mine, assuming safely to DWI there also), my MBA reams shall surely REST IN PEACE............ :(

App 2 Duo!! Experience the power of TWO

Hey ppl,

Yessss, I managed to pull the seemingly impossible task of submitting two applications within 24 hours. My bank balance is considerably lighter due to this "App 2 Duo" effect (I urge Intel not to sue me for my pathetic attempt to impersonate the "Core 2 Duo").

In this festive season of free distribution, where you get offers like buy one get one free, I often wonder how gr8 it would have been for the credit card companies to announce such a scheme - "If you are submitting two applications, pay for one and get the other free"!!!
WOW.... That'd be some scheme.

I submitted HBS yesterday...... errr no today morning....... in fact I submitted them 5:30 AM today. Am I such an early riser?? Never!! I just didn't sleep last night!!!! I wanted to submit HBS by 12'O clock last night and go to bed. Instead, I found it extremely hard to let go of the love letter to my true love. Every now and then I would think that I can improve the app, but then after like an hour of staring at the screen, I would decide otherwise. What was more intriguing was the fact that I wanted to improve it further but didn't know how..... So, ended up checking the PDF version of the app a horrifying 17 times. Every time I opened it to see the app one last time, I thought I caught something fishy. I totally lost time-tracking ability (not that I had one in the first place...... but, well you get the point). Finally, I looked at my watch and CRAP.... it's 5.00AM!!!! I thought the batteries were dead. But I could sense some activity on the road. I cursed myself for my obsession and decided that it was time. The time to press the button had arrived.

However, HBS submission is a totally opposite end of the spectrum from Duke submission. I just wasn't ready to submit Duke as I thought my essays were not ready enough. But in the afternoon at work I realized that I cannot afford to miss a round only because of my perfectionist paranoia........ The essays were solid enough and I'm not aiming for a Pulitzer here, just a teeny-weeny B-school admit (yes, I love my hypocrisy!!). So, I telephoned both of my recommenders and told them to submit before nightfall, failing which they owe me a fortune..... :D ..... the threat worked perfectly and Recos were in by the time I reached home.

Worked on the final touches for three golden hours straight and pressed the button in the same flow....... It's all outta my hands now since two hours.........

My head is spinning from all these submissions........ Time to hit the sac......

Peace

Will this hard work payoff???

Hey ppl,

The answer to that question is..... maybe...... I don't know, don't wanna know or am not interested in knowing the answer at all. I know I'm not making any sense, but it is hard to make sense when you have to do two applications simultaneously, manage 5 recommendations, cater to 7 essays and fill hundreds of calculated characters (not words!!! that would've been easy!!)...... and still dream of making the deadline Early Action.

Yes I'm talking of course about the stress and pressure I've been in the last some days. HBS R1 and Duke E.A are on the same day, making it a Time Management-101 course for me. And then there is work. I wonder sometimes that had I not obsessed about B-School for so long, had I not had the levels of super human (nearly unvawering) motivation, or had I not yearned for that crimson envelope with every molecule of my being, I would have been easily fatigued enough to leave the process and run. The same is true for my blogger friends.

No wonder I believe that getting into IIMs is a piece of cake as compared to getting into HBS, or any top 10 for that matter. You have to do so much to show that you are a "well rounded" applicant, not some "usual" nerdo with a 790 GMAT, which BTW are aplenty in my country. It is not like you get a 99.9%ile on the CAT and POOF!!! You're in!!!!

We're all working our asses off for that dream admit. And to think that the whole blogosphere is trembling with the Citi Assist news is disturbing. I for one am not perturbed by all of this hooplaah surrounding the $$$. Am I a direct relation of Mukesh Ambani??? No, I still haven't figured out how I will pay for the MBA (even the security deposit!!). Yes, it should sound stupid (to the point of arrogance) but guys, seriously, what are we fretting about again???
"Will we get the MONEY, IF we GET INTO one of those $150k+ schools (with <30% selectivity and uber-competition)????"
Notice the bolded uncertainity above.

Furthermore, if we do get in, we should realize that it is not a one way road. The school needs us as much as we need the school coz without us, the school would be empty. So, I am more than a 100% sure that the school will figure out something if it can't get the amount of loans as before. Maybe they'll grant more scholarships, maybe they'll increase the assistantships, maybe they'll figure something else out. Remember guys, it is not a one sided love, if it were, you wouldn't get the admit in first place, and so, still have nothing to worry about.
So chill guys, and enjoy this breakneck ride of the apps..........
Till next submissions....

Peace

Order Amongst Chaos: UCLA submitted

Hey ppl,

Just submitted UCLA application!!!!
But the path undertaken has been anything but as simple as the four-worded-sentence above. Nothing went as planned.

First, the essays weren't coming that good. I think I hit a wall on new ideas. There was a complete and utter lack of it. Not that my essays were so good that I couldn't improve on it, but I knew that these essays are shitty and can be bettered but just didn't know how. The first essay was gr8 and I loved it so much that it was finalized long ago. Readability stats : 52 on the flesch scale...... I just loved that essay. But the other two essays were killing me...... 8 reworks and still no sight of the finish line. Finally, yesterday night I had to shut my eyes (not easy but had to force myself) to not look for more errors.

The state of the govt. universities here in India is pitiful. I am talking , of course of the university to which my alma mater is affiliated. Hopeless situation. Firstly, if you are not present personally, they don't even care for your work (which actually is "their" work, so to say). Even if you are present there, you'll be on the verge of crying when you comprehend the messy way in which the documents are strewen about the place. The so-called official had to literally "fish" out my application from a pile of scrap. Even after that the story was far from over. The people incharge were absent. So, I was asked to stay in the city overnight as my home is nearly 400kms from the gates of hell. Did so. Next day, it dawned that one of the persons showed up and the otherr one called for a leave for a week. Gr8. I was stuck without a set of transcripts up untill yesterday till which time I lost my patience and cursed the university officers to hell. I went to my Alma Mater and got the work done there easily (looks like I still have influence there). All in all, an extremely frustrating trip.

The problems didn't end here, the audio essay of UCLA came out to be of 1:02 mins. Cutting that 2 seconds meant cutting a whole sentence and I was fumbled as to which sentence to cut. I tried speaking faster, but it was evident very early that clarity is essential here. Anyhow, did it all night yesterday and came up with a super sounding 4th essay.

Took a leave today to submit. Ya, those are some of your perks for being an entrepreneur, voluntary leave announcement :) But the recos weren't in yet. Completed the online app. and uploaded everything but I still did not want to submit without recos. Coz I cant stand the sight of the status changing twice: From "Submitted: waiting recos" to "Submitted: under review".

I decided to personally go to both my recommenders and talk on gunpoint:)
[DISCLAIMER: This sort of thing can be risky if you try it on your superior.]
Call it another perk of entreprenuership - No Bosses.
The personal visit had the desired effect and both my recommenders ended up submitting within half hour of each other. I pressed the submit button after that.

It is just one down yet and I am writing pages of my ordeal....... What will happen to me???? God only knows (Or does He???)....... Till next time.....

Peace

The Hare situation--->Total panic!!!

Hey guys,

I feel like the Hare in the story of the hare and the tortoise. I took the GMAT in Sep-07........ have been obsessing about B-school since 10 months before that..... and to think that at the crunch time, the steam leaks out....... Nothing is moving as per the plan......Result: CHAOS

Recommenders seem to be in hibernation...... Have told them to be punctual twice since the initial talks...... But no candy yet.....

The university seems to take it's own sweet time in delivering the transcripts....... I saw this ahead but still..... UCLA DL is in nearly 2 weeks and still no news or letter.......

The essays are nice enough but every time I open them, something or the other catches my eye and I desperately try to correct it, within the word limit of course...... simultaneously wondering what if I'd send it...... slapping myself for the carelessness and dilating my pupils to twice their usual size before going back to work....... :)

The application is the only thing which has been done peacefully...... that's the beauty of the objective data fields...... black or white........ no fuss...... no editing...... no madness.......

And in between whenever I get some time off, I wonder how will the other applications shape up, this is just the first one....... I mean HBS will be fine, but then there is Duke (only outlines have been made), and Darden, Oxford and Texas (no progress whatsoever - yes, not even outlines......) And all have to be finished in R1........ :(

Shall repost when some of the Panic and Chaos subdues....... till then pray for
PEACE......

Terrorised?? I think NOT.....

Hey ppl,
5 serial terror blasts ripped through the capital of the most Terror Victimised country (without any doubt) of the world - India. The tragic incident took the toll on nearly 20 lives with at least a hundered or so injured. I don't quite understand the philosophy of the terrorists....... What purpose does it solve if they set off a chain of explosions and cause panic for nearly an hour or so??? LIFE GOES ON!!! ...... and truthfully talking, people forget easily (of course, people who have'nt been directly effected - which, most of the time is over 99.999% of the city population!!).

This is not to say that I don't understand the magnitude of the loss of the victims' families but think of it logically, even the panic subdues for most people after a few hours ......... and the very next day, life is back to normal...... don't believe me?? go and see Gaffar Market or Connaught Place or GK-M Block for yourself today evening........ So, if the purpose of the terrorists is to terrorise, I can say with ultimate confidence that they've lost thier purpose and would never achieve it since people all over the world are now see through their acts and are standing in silent support of each other against this global enemy. Even though the countries may not say so openly but they all have one common enemy - Terror. And the citizens of this world have silently resolved that the "show will go on" - no matter what....... It is a type of satyagraha that we the people of every nation are following by not giving note to the minor skirmishes that these madmen plan everyday......
Let's pray for peace to the dead and courage to the relatives.........

Accelerating......

Hey ppl,
Yesterday GMAC "cancelled" the scores of 84 ppl for the scoretop scandal....... I am skeptical about the good it may do..... some of the alleged students are already passed out of MBA or are currently in the program...... Dont know how you can harm someone whose book is already closed?

On the applications front........ Finished the first draft of UCLA essay #2. Now working on #3........ After which... it'll be singing time.....lol....... Between us, UCLA has really innovated in their application and I think that it is for the very best....... They have lived upto their sterotype of beautiful people on the beach by encouraging the audio format...... I mean guys, seriously, you wanna hear my deep bassed voice and think if I may look good enough to fit in the program?? Disgusting..... At least that's what it looked like to me when I heard it first of all....... But first impressions are not always correct........ it now seems more logical to me now.... Even before the actual interview, UCLA wants students to show their personalities, engilsh skills, meaningful talking and conciseness all in one minute....... Awesome............ Funny how long it takes a gr8 idea to ring true with me :) I guess I was always wired the stupid way..........

Duke's outlines are finished and I am now hovering over to various school sites making IDs and checking out their applications...... Shall keep you posted....
Peace....

The idea box bursts open !!!

Hey all,
Just dropped in for a quick update...... HBS essays are now in the "polishing stage", which means that I improve on it everday. Will just have to make sure that I don't overdo it.... lol... Guess thats where the "outline" comes in handy..... ain't it??
UCLA's outilines are completed, and the first draft of the first essay is also completed..... Working on more first drafts...... Plan to finish all UCLA first drafts by thursday and then start the polishing.
Also started making the outlines of Duke.......

I am worried about Oxford though...... it seems that Saiid has not released it's application, but they said that they'll start considering apps. from 1st Sept., Am I missing the action somewhere?? Can anyone else find the application or everyone apping for OX is in the same dillemma as me?? Hard to believe the mismanagement on the part of a "management school"..... lol...... ironic ain't it??

Peace.....

A strange promise!!

Hey all,
I can't believe how fast time flies. Seems too short a time since I last posted. *lazy groan*. Actually, I have reflected on the severe famine of posts which plagues my blog and have come to an interesting observation. Earlier, I thought that a blog post must bunch some of the events and should be a bit decent lenghtwise. :P Yes, I may sound like an idiot but trust me, this is my first blog. Since my awakening, I have realized that in such a method, some of the important nitty-gritties are lost, thus defeating the whole purpose of this blog (to record my struggles). So, I promise that from now on, I'll be a much more prompt poster. The number of posts shall increase while decreasing the length; all other factors remaining constant. LOL..... the engineer ariseth.....

I saw the blogosphere bursting with activity in the time I was hibernating. People have started Submitting REAL applications.... I mean FINAL applications...... And to think that these people could be my competitors on a rolling admissions...... Good GOD..... phew....... What they've achieved is truly commendable and I "bow to the masters" of the app. process. Wish I could be as organized.......

I also saw the schools buzzing with activity during my long slumber. All the applications are out. Except Oxford and McCombs. Hope they'll be out soon enough.

But.... I've exaggerated a bit about my inactivity above.... I was not in a deep sleep...... I was working hard (not on apps. though; at work). O.K. enough of the rambling.... time to go.... lemme try and stick to my promise this time..... we'll see how far it goes.....

The 8/8/8 post......

Hey ppl,

8/8/8, the one day where the calendar fools itself. I love writing dates like these (duh.... who doesn't?). And so, today I've been writing the date all day long........ and more so like 8/8/8 instead of the regular 8/8/08.........lol.......

Beijing Olympics kicked off today in style and guess what....... the chinese are bigger frwaks than me when it comes to the whole repetitive-number-date thing. They kicked off the olympics exactly on 8/8/8, 08:08:08....... funny how the time system is constricted to 12....... otherwise the time could've been like 88:88:88....... you may be thinking that I've totally lost my mind on this....... ya a bit of...... but this has been happening since 1/1/1 and shall go on till 9/9/9...........

Ok, before I get slapped with court summons for boring you to death, let's get to the news from the MBA world. As should be expected, a lot has happened since I last posted. Should be the case, since I am darn lazy to post and post only once in a blue moon........

1) Firstly, I'd like to thank all the ppl who supported me on the TOEFL......... I finally blasted the required 109 for meeting HBS's eligibility criterion and that too by a big margin...... The test sure was easy as hell and the scoring, easier.
2) I've been debating lately about applying to Oxford. After seriously pondering over the pros and cons of Saiid, I've decided to apply. Granted, the age may be a factor to consider (since the avg. age is like 29, much-much older than me), but the benefits are many. One yr. program, London, Oxford Brand, Entrepreurship focus, lesser cost and a relatively newer, fresher program to name a few.
3) Due to above, the list is now truly set in stone. I've pledged now not to look at programs other than these since they can waver my focus. I've done enough resaerch to know that if not checked, this habit of MBA related website surfing is addictive and a time-cancer. To help me focus, I've included my list on the right side of this page.
4) And oh, by the way, all of my deadlines are out in the open. I'm glad that the deadlines are spread out all over the month of Oct. This would give me a fair amount of time for applying properly. And yes, I am attempting the Herculean task of finishing all the six schools in R1 !!!
No, I'm not crazy..... yes you are...... no I'm not....... yes you are......... no I'm not...... Ok go **** yourself......... :)
5) I've nearly finished working on the first drafts of the HBS essays....... the first drafts look like cat-poop but I'm sure they will improve with time........ Hope to finish them by the weekend.....
6) I've chosen and approached my recommenders........ given them the deadlines and warned them (on gunpoint) not to fool around the deadlines but instead submit much earlier......
7) I just love the new HBS website...... (hope you like it too)....... But whats more, I am shocked by their numbers...... GMAT range: 550-800....... wtf, a 550??? Should've been like God in other application parts ............... Avg. GPA : 3.67...... wtf again.......... AVG IS 3.67........ I am doomed......... But wait wait......... Number of students with less than 3 yeras of wrk ex......... 41%.......... WTF again.......but it is gr8........ WOOOWWWW....... I'm IN........ with a Scholarship......... alarm rings........ and back to reality..........
The above now happens almost daily....... :P
8) This long post is another attempt to run away from working on my drafts........ And yet again, I've succeeded in procrastinating and killing time......... Cheers to my genius........
Peace.........

How much to dream??

Hey all,

Thanx everyone for your supporting thoughts onToefl. Actually, you guys and the other nett communities had me pretty convinced that TOEFL is waay too easy. So, I didn't study at all. Only gave TOEFL two of my nights to give sample tests and cruised through them. On the real test day however, I was caught off guards by the reading section with long GMAT type essays to read but very foolish questions to be asked on it. Got thru them anyways........

Now a week has passed and Ive been checking my Inbox like 8 times a day only to find spam in there. Looks like it's the trailer of the Ultimate Waiting game that'll be played after the submission deadlines....... lol..... Shall keep you updated as and when my scores come out......

Pls. let me thank Josh Hohman for a nice interviewing spree he has gone on for applicants like us. He has interviewed mnay current students in his complation, mostly from Stanford, which makes sense since, he is a current student there. But the book also has HBS and Columbia students' interviews. Though I was a bit dissapointed due to the fact that HBS students' inteviews were very less in number (only like 4 or 5). The book claims that it has "insider knowledge" on applications. I am very skeptic about such "insider news", and the book did not say much new stuff than you can fid on the net (but mind you, it would take a lot of time and surfing to get close to the truth). The book does a good job of putting various different perspectives on admissions at one place. The book is very good if you are considering Stanford, and, especially helpful for international students like me who cant visit the school to see how its like there. Do try the sample copy FREE of cost. www.ExpertCollective.com
DISCLAIMER: I may sound like I've been paid a seat in Stanford by Mr. Hohman to praise his book. But HELL NO........... lol........ :)

On the essays front, I've started to think about my essays for HBS. I've started with the career vision essay and made an outline of it. Actually it was quite easy to make an outline of the goals first of all. Not to brag, but I do have a very good feel of what my aim is, and how an MBA fits in it all. Actually, it comes naturally after you have to convince everyone you meet about your decisions' sanity; when people question the validity, the benefits and the apparent crazyness of starting a business and leaving it just to go for an MBA abroad. After some time, it starts running in your blood and you get a deeper understanding of why you want to tread this path.

Anyways, I think I am quite happy with my career vision essay outline. But since, it is about the "vision", in my outline, I have dreamt a lot. I dont know if that is good enough, since I've heard at countless places that the adcom looks for depth and not general dreams of what-you-ought-to-do. Since my dream is specific to the ompany I've started, it may not essentially be the same as the crowd, but, then again, are we required to plot out our expected real trajectory, or the trajectory we would like to attain?? I mean, I am confused about the extent to which we have to be grounded in reality in this essay. So, if it's the uber-dreams that are OK to state, then I like the outline I've made. And also, if we have to be firmly grounded in practicality, why use the word "vision" and why not use "long term goals" or something like that. But then again, the ulatimate dreams of most people are similar, if not the same: satisfaction, happyness, positive impact on others' lives, blah, blah and blah again.

The dilemma rages everyday and every alteranate hour I am switching sides......... :). I think leaving the outline alone for a day or two and just not thinking about it will spark a moment-of-realization.

Shall have to put a rest to this and start working on the accomplishments essay, which is the heart of the HBS essays..........

Shall keep you guys posted........
Peace......

Resume done!! TOEFL's next... bring 'em on!!!!!

Hey ppl,

Thanks to your support, I've finalized my resume. I think that the resume will be the only thing constant between all applications. But I am unsure even on this...... I mean, won't it be great if I can tailor my resume to every specific program. But then again, a resume is a collection of bullet-facts which can't be "tailored" per se....... In conclusion, I don't know what to do next on the resume front. But for now, I'm satisfied with the shape it has taken. Detailed yet specific yet comfy-spaced, I like it. Also, the facts I jotted down for my resume but couldn't fit in due to space constraints would now form a part of my essay fodder for thought...... lol.....

The TOEFL exam is on coming Saturday and I dont know what's gonna happen. Yes, people tend to think less of the TOEFL but when you have a minimum 109 to achieve, you tend to get a bit jittery since it's your dream school (read:HBS) hanging by that magical number. And recognizing the fact that i get stone tongued in the speaking section, I am especially worried. In more ways than one this is a strange revelation. I have absolutely no problem talking to a real person either on phone or face to face in english, but when you have to stare at the screen and look at the 45 second timer run out while speaking sense and not blabbering, it tends to be a bit difficult. Leaving speaking aside, I am confident about other parts of the test.

But knowing that your speaking section practice is waaay lagging behind and still not studying even till a week before a standardised test is the mark of a first-class-procastinator. While we all procrastinate a bit, I am sure that few people can even think of reaching the high standards of procrastinating that I set and better each day :D .

On the essay front, shall start work on the HBS essays after Saturday (another way to procrastinate, since we all know that I'm not really gonna study for TOEFL properly...... but still, can make an excuse on the HBS essays due to this event...... :D).

Can anyone share any last week pointers on the speaking section?? Shall be helpful-aplenty.
Peace......

Resume Fun!!

Hey all,
Just started to chalk out my resume yesterday and I discovered that i totally suck at it. Since I have never made a resume in my life, (since I've never job hunted) I discovered that it is increasingly difficult to make your resume for the first time (and that too for B-Skool purposes..... would u believe my hard luck...... :( )

The first draft that i wrote was a total of two pages detailing my responsibilities and accomplishments in a tiny enough font. I used Calibri 10......... Still two pages......

I have read Montauk and MBA Game Plan. And if their advice is any yardstick to follow, adcom do not spend more than a minute scanning the resume. By this I can guage that a resume should have less complicated language and business speak. It should also not lose it's visual appeal and stick to showing your key strengths at the same time besides being strictly confined to one page and still not being overly crammed and looking more black than white. Just picture the Adcom officer reading hundereds aplication...... blah blah blah......... :)

When people write about how tired adcom officers are, I hate it. I hate it even more when I gauge and realize the correctness of their claims. So, weather I like or not, it's is not a good idea to mess around with the mood of an adm. officer by boring her with details.

So I took a long hard look at my resume and saw that I've repeatedly said the same very things in different, fancier vocablary. I began trimming but could not get it below one & a half pages without cutting some of my details.

Still working on it, have seen many resume teplates and I dont know which to choose. Of the few people who read my blog, I would like to strike an active discussion on pros and cons of various formats, level of detail they would give in their resumes and many other resume related talk..... We can help each other by discussing this issue out......... Anybody game???? Peace.....

P.S. : I would really find it helpful and be grateful if someone posted (or linked) the actual resume book of any school.

Took the TOEFL Date.... Now Worried

Hey ppl,
I took the TOEFL date yesterday....... So, my T-day is 12 JULY....... I think I went a bit overboard with all the GMAT confidence bubbling up in me and I took a date less than a month away........ And now I am worried.......

Is this much time sufficient to prepare well for TOEFL?? Various blogs and forums tend to think so, but I shall not follow them blindly. Oh God..... I m so kicking myself for taking a date so soon...... Since I only want a super score......... nothing less than a 109 will do........ 109 being the cut-off for HBS, thats why the affinity for this magical number.........

Shall begin my prep on the morrow........ Anyone has any ideas about how to go on hunting this one??? I've downloaded Longman and Kaplan CD's...... But, are they suffiecient??? We'll see...

Waiting to listen for inputs from anyone who's "Been there, Done that" with the TOEFL..... Peace

School shortlisting

Hey ppl,
Things are now starting to gather a bit of air......... won't call it "steam" yet......... schools have started to come out with deadlines and I guess the questions are not far behind. The schools which have come up with deadlines, as of today, are: HBS, Stanford, Haas, MIT, Michigan, UNC. Did I miss anyone?? If so, I'm terribly sorry for my lack of awareness. :)

Actually waiting for the questions to appear is another of my mind's genius plan to procrastinate. Actually I've noted that the core questions don't change over time for any school, since they are always looking for the same type of qualities in a person. So, if I wanted, I could have started to work on questions right away, now that I've somewhat finalized my schools. But no, I'll not do it. I'll probably put 'em off more and may even not do 'em when the questions actually come out (like in HBS's case). But then, you may wonder, when am I gonna do them??? This is THE question which evades even the almighty. :D

And did I say I finalized the schools?? Yes, I had a personal deadline to finalize them roughly by the end of May, and I'm glad to tell you, I totally screwed up on my own personal deadlines....... a whooping 10 days late......

O.K. Since I'm the official "Ultimate Cut-Copy-Paste" guy of the Fall-'09 blogging community (any challengers????), I'll ctrlC + ctrlV from my "thought document", which I created as I was pondering over why I want to do an MBA and what do I want from it. Here is the "what do I want from it" part of the document. (Pl. ignore the caps, I write my personal docs in caps....... they look cooler :D )

1) PRESTIGE: IT MEANS ONLY THE TOP 20. IT MAKES SENSE TO ME TO GO ONLY TO THE TOP....... EITHER GET AN ADMIT THERE OR DONT GO AT ALL.
2) SHOULD BE A RENOWNED GENERAL MANAGEMENT FOCUS……… (OR ENTREPRENUERIAL FOCUS OR MANUFACTURING FOCUS…OR OPERATIONS FOCUS…….. I DON’T KNOW THIS VERY WELL :( )
3) THE PROGRAM SHOULD BE COLLABRATIVE, NOT COMPETITIVE TO FACILITATE HEALTHY EXCHANGE OF IDEAS
4) NON DISCLOSURE OF GRADES WHICH MEANS MORE FOCUS ON KNOWLEDGE GAINING AND LESS OF MUGGING…….
5) SHOULD PROVIDE AMPLE FUNDING OPTIONS
6) ALUMNI SHOULD BE POWERFUL AND HELPFUL……
7) MOST STUDENTS SHOULD BE OUT OF STATE TO DISCOURAGE THE COMMUTER CULTURE……. SO THAT IT FACILITATES PEER-2-PEER CONTACT……
8) AVG. AGE SHOULD BE LESS THAN 29.
9) SHOULDN’T BE A NERDY CULTURE (HAVE STUDIED 4 YEARS OF ENGG. AROUND NERDS)……I HATE IT

I want to apply to 6 schools: 2 in the Ultra Elite, 3 in the Elite and one in the Near Elite. (To see full classification of schools based on cluster system see Hjort's Classification on GMATClub)
Plus, I don't want my app. to be concentrated only in the U.S. I mean I'll have 3 yrs. Wrk Ex. on matriculation, so might as welllook up some European programs as well. They are shorter, cheaper and some have gr8 reputation.

So, I started to shortlist and strike schools out of the top 20. Every school had some weakness and some strengths. I noted all of these. Went on eliminating until I was left with 10. It looked like this:

Tier 1 :
HBS, Wharton, Kellogg
Tier 2:
Duke, Darden, UCLA, Tuck, Ross
Tier 3:
McCombs, Emory

I figured, that I'll chose only 1 from tier 1 (since I figured that I could be focusseed only on one school), the other spot would be given away to a Euro-school (Insead, Oxford or LBS). 3 from tier 2, and 1 from tier 3.
The first choice was relatively easy. Chose HBS. It is by far the school that I've daydreamed about the most. I'd absolutely love to get to that magical place. Among the Euros, I easily eliminated INSEAD, sinceI stand a very slim chance due to non-international experience. I eliminated LBS, since Oxford looks much stronger for entreprenuership and has the benefits f the greater university.

The second choice was the most difficult. UCLA was a definite in leaving 2 spots. I was torn between my choices. After much thinking and researching, I eliminated Tuck, since, the togetherness at Tuck is to an extreme level. I mean, if you look at it, Hanover supposedly has no life other than Tuck and due to it's small class size, ppl are so bumping into each other everytime that it starts getting too much really fast........ (heard it from an alumni somewhere).
Got down to Duke, Darden, and Ross. I'm still very confused between these three. But chose Duke and Darden over Ross somewhat. Ross prefers older candidates more than these two.

Now on to3rd tier. This was more of a safety zone. i visited the sites and consulted the brochures and talked to people and found Austin to be a much better fit for me. So, Austin it is.....

So, the final list looks like this:
HBS
Oxford
UCLA
Duke
Darden
Texas
Ross (A maybe, still wondering......)

Take care guys, do share your insights........... peace.......

Wazzup..... Long time.... no c

Hey ppl,

The lazy ass procastinator is back on blogspot......... ya I know..... who cares and stuff...... :) .......

Enough has happened in the MBA world (and also my world) in the last few days. Let me capture some of the highlights for you:

1) Visited ISB Hyderabad, just for fun...... I never even thought of applying there but turned out that I had gone to a client in ISB's vicinity and, so, just dropped for saying Hi to The Dean (who, btw is a close friend of mine.........*wicked grin* .......... kidding, but if you fell for that - Go to the top right corner of this window and click gently on the white colored "X")....... Just went in with my client who, on listening about my MBA day-dreams, insisted that I see the facilities and atmosphere @ ISB........ Although good as far as Indian standards go but still a no-go........

2) I've been feverishly researching schools on the net to find out more about the culture and fit. Hope you guys know that I've decided to apply to about 7 schools from the Top-15 list. My funda is - That if you have to do it, do it from the best, or else, don't do it at all........ And ppl, I know that "Only a Sith deals in absolutes" but I suppose that I'm now turning to the Dark Side........ So, from the top 15 schools I've been able to eliminate some and retain some and the tedious and heart breaking process just goes on and on (I simply hate it when everything (read pros & cons) is in the shades of grey and not black and white)

3) Delhi Daredevils, started sucking so bad that I've stopped supporting them altogether........ Btw Since Sachin's return, I'm supporting Mumbai Indians..... and by my support, they seem to be on a roll...... ironically, Sachin hasn't done much yet in the IPL.......

4) I've successfuly survived the ongoing threats by my parents to marry me off, as of today - 19th MAY 2008......... Being an Indian, Marriage is the act, that people normally do in my country in the phase of their maximum heat ( 24-25 yrs. in the case of Males) thus contributing heavily to the fastest growing (still!!!) population in the world........ accelerating forward with blinding speed......

5) I was unsuccessful of convincing my dad for letting me go to persue an MBA (and, according to him WASTE 3 years of my prime (Read : marriageable) life and $150K ( which, when converted to INR, is a ridiculous amount))........... This unsuccessful attempt at convincing him made me increasingly sad by the days coz I realized that if I cannot win arguments with my parents (who, btw, are impossible when it comes to defend their point), how am I gonna convince the adcomm.??? It was then that I realized(after watchin Russel Peters and many others like him) that parents are like that all over the world....... Maybe they are wired that-a-way........ This realization restored some sanity to my system....... (Or so I am led to believe by grey cells)

6) HBS released it's deadlines and essays for Fall-09 applicants...... Come what may, I am gonna apply to HBS most definitly, since, I day-dream about this school the most......... In a lucky scenario, who knows what might happen?? ;)

So, after about a month I am here, furiously typing away, sharing my anguish and excitement with fellow bloggers......... Promise an update on shortlisted schools as soon as I am finished with them........

Peace......... (I really need it.....)