Reflections of an MBA applicant

Congrats to...

2004-12-21T18:03:00.000Z

BC, Meg, Riter and other W admits! You people deserved it!

And thanks to many people (some of them don't even know the existence of this blog) for leaving comments/mailing/calling/even coming to my place to console. Much appreciated and I feel priveleged to have friends like you.

Things seem to be fine after the initial shock is done with. Now to analysing what went wrong and then to other apps!

Oh, a quote: "success is sweeter to those who have failed..."

Hope something better is "on the way" :-)

Ding...

2004-12-21T14:15:00.000Z

Ding from Wharton! Back to drawing board...

Congrats to those who got in and good luck to all the applicants for R2.

At my end, anyway, life must go on...

Thanks and all the best to Alex, SC and company for providing all the support throughout the application process.

life...

2004-12-17T13:42:00.000Z

First off, congrats to Colormix from s2s! He got a duke admit.

The anxiety here is increasing, and, time and again I wonder to the 21st living the scenarios and how I will react to the news, good or otherwise. But few things have kept me busy to think too much about the decision.

I launched a clothes donation initiative at work after coming from US, and that's going very well. We hope to secure quite a bit of goods for poor in an orphanage we are supporting. Christmas is the deadline for this work.

Secondly, a friend's father was admitted last night for a heart problem, and the friend is traveling, so I was the back up and in hospital until late last night. While sitting in hospital, I was thinking how suddenly things change... a week back, he was fine and running; yesterday evening, he got in critical condition; today morning again normal; and then at noon, we were told that he needs to undergo operation. The bypass surgery is scheduled tomorrow morning. As I have the same blood group as friend's father, and my home is very near to the hospital, I must be there early tomorrow. The friend will reach after the operation is done (ah, the travel), but I hope and pray everything goes fine. May the force be with us tomorrow...

And this one goes in the honor of...

2004-12-16T04:48:00.000Z

Aregon! Heartiest congrats buddy! You really deserved the admit.

All the best to you for W decision.

Congratulations to ...

2004-12-15T04:52:00.000Z

Classy for her Cornell admit and to Vold (no blog and he can't be named either, but this is his monicker) for his Tuck admit!

All the best to Aregon for Cornell and to many many hopefuls for W admits!

Here's hoping to good news on 21st!!

Wharton Interview experience!

2004-12-09T13:07:00.000Z

It was with a second year student adcom. A really nice conversation. Briefly, the questions asked were:

1. Walk through your resume. I weaved my post MBA goals here itself.
2. Why Wharton
3. What will you like to be remembered as post Wharton?
4. Which activities you will like to do outside of class?
5. What will your current team mates describe you as?
6. A personal weakness?
7. Weakness in application?
8. Biggest success!
9. How do you define success?
10. Quite a few questions about the EC stuff I had done/was doing. Like what do you do in this activity? Why did you do that? Do you still do this?
11. Any questions for the interviewer. And before I asked any questions, she told me about her background and what she was interested in at Wharton etc… That was really appreciated as then I could choose appropriate questions!

Overall, I feel it went well. Could I have done better? No doubt! There were times when I felt stuttering, and red in the face, something I could have avoided had I prepared a little more for the interview! I also rambled a little too much and my eyes were popping out because of the well known reasons ;) But I rather not sweat over it and enjoy my time in Bangalore.

She also talked about my flight plans and I thanked her for rescheduling the interview; that again was a nice touch on her part!

Addition: Thanks to Aregon for the comfortable talk which helped me clear my mind from work and concentrate on Iview! And also for the help in travel plans :-)

The travel logistics and the mishap at Philly!!

2004-12-09T11:58:00.000Z

As you may be aware, I was supposed to leave Dallas for New York! So Sunday morning I wake up a friend for a drop to the Airport. Among the murmurs of lack of sleep, we reached airport and I bid him goodbye. He wished me luck for a safe, comfortable flight and a good interview! But it turned out to be a really uncomfortable flight experience! Having forgotten that I am traveling Domestic, had packed my bags in the night the way I used to do while I travel international. On the airport, both my bags were 58 pounds (intl flights allow 60 and domestic allow only 50). Luckily my friend was there and I gave something to him to return/bring along with him. Now: Both bags at 55. The guys ask for overweight penalty! Ouch! The cost of the things that were increasing the weight was less than the money being asked! But then I had to buy these things again in India (tennis balls, novels, chocolate etc). So I start the tussle of repacking a few things. The airline people were so rigid to allow me only 50 pounds and not even 51. It took me 20 minutes and 2 measurements on the weighing scale to get things in order. And a lots of sweat!

Ok, so reach NY, enjoy the evening and head to the hotel. I was feeling that things were turning for better! But wait! There was a party going on and because of the noise I couldn’t sleep until 3 AM. hmm, again a bad night!

Now the worst part, I took the bus to Philly an hour before my scheduled bus time. Near the NJ-Penn border, I was thinking how things went so smoothly, when the bus broke down! A new bus gets called and we are transported in another bus to Philly. Reach there at 8:45 (the same time as my original schedule). But, I reach there WITHOUT MY LUGGAGE. As the bus’ vacuum system also broke, the luggage compartment couldn’t be opened and as a result, we were asked to collect the luggage at 10:30. So off I go to B’s place to use this time so that I can reach at R’s later, with luggage. Not to be. At 10:30, I am told that luggage will take another hour. So I take my dinner at R's and go to Greyhound station after two hours, at 12:30, assuming that 4 hours are more than enough to get the luggage in place. But, I was surprised, baffled, frustrated… Now I have to delete the expletives here, but the greyhound people were least responsible and least courteous of all I met in last couple of months! Everyone acted as if the passengers are disturbing them! Finally, after a 20 minutes argument with an employee, I hear her telling me their dept’s helplessness in securing the luggage and also that it is a routine with Greyhound!! The company needs some serious change! She was kind enough to let me talk to the garage people and after fighting with the garage guy for 10 minutes, I was able to get a commitment that the luggage will reach in next half an hour. By now it was 1 AM. Finally, after filing another complaint and waiting for 30 minutes, I got the luggage at 1:30 AM. Nice way to start the interview prep, I thought! There was another person like me who had an interview today with Montgomery hospital and I pity his situation as I still had friends to go to, he had none. I hope he had a good interview, understanding that he would have reached his place at about 2AM.

Ok, from now things change really for better! R and the other Wharton friends who I disturbed in late night were really great to make me comfortable. But, we missed the 9 AM class. Yes, all of us! "Welcome to BSchool!" So I attend the 10:30 class hurriedly with R et al. It was a class of Competitive Strategy, taught by Prof Sarah Kaplan. Wonderful! The participation and the smartness level of the class was really high and it turned out to be a great class! Then it was time for lunch with students! Again, wonderful! Though the Au Bon Pain, as expected, is overpriced, it provides a good ambience, esp. to prospective students. And then it was time for interview, about which I will write a separate entry. Overall, it all ended well, and now I am waiting in the Lufthansa lounge now! I will pen my thoughts on interview while in flight! So hang in there!

PS: BTW, I slept for more than 12 hours in flight!! Feeling much better after that. And my colleagues in India are saying that I have lost a lot of weight... so next 20 days I will hit the stadium and gym every morning and get it back to normal! And I will sleep a lot too :-)

Wharton interview rescheduled!

2004-12-02T05:10:00.000Z

Wharton adcom was kind enough to prepone my interview by an hour and a half so as to save me the from the anxiety bouts while I took my interview! Due to misinformation on flight timings, I had scheduled the interview later in the day. As it turned out (and yours truly somehow manages to make things so tight as far as timings are concerned), I was at the risk of missing my international flight had something gone slightly wrong on that day. So wrote a mail to W and today got a message that it has been rescheduled. I am thankful to the adcom and to the anonymous interviewer who agreed to take my interview a little earlier, giving me just enough time to make to my plane, without an anxiety!

And best of all, an Jolly friend from s2s has graciously offered me a place to stay for the night! Now this is the spirit to help others at the best!!! Hail s2s!

My plate is already full with meetings scheduled with five friends (all through s2s)! Hope I am able to do justice to all the meetings and class visits and the interview! I am sooooooooooo excited to hop the plane and be there!

Congrats are due for

2004-12-02T05:05:00.000Z

DM for her admission to Columbia!

And all the best to BritChick , Durba and DaRaverLA for their Wharton interviews... Go bloggers go ;)

ThanksGiving Day..

2004-11-29T01:02:00.001Z

It came, it passed by, it left me half realizing that it is over!

Ok, few things that I did in last 4 days in particular:

1. Came to office, all four days in row. No holidays for poor business travelers like me ;)
2. Fell ill, had fever (have slight traces even now), took self medication and little rest.
2 b) Even then came to office :)
3. Managed to do the EC stuff I am involved in, in Dallas. Had it not been for this, I would have gone insane as this is one of the only two self interest activities I am pursuing here. And I have been persistent to not let go of this activities. Every Sunday, come whatever may, I am there!
4. Fell behind on my preparation for Wharton interview (whatever is left of it now!). Seems like I will get the time to catch up only once I am in plane and not before. Work is in unmanageable proportions after few of colleagues left to India last week leaving some more work for us here!
5. Did get into a shopping mania on the Friday sale. Got up at 5 AM so that can finish shopping and still be in office at regular hours. Things that I bought:
a) A camera for my brother
b) A DVD player for a friend
c) Some items for other two friends who are expecting kids early next year: Actually the things are for the to-be-born-babies
d) A cordless phone for another friend.
e) A small gift for a friend's daughter in US
f) Biggest of all: A SUITCASE to carry these things I have bought!!
g) A jacket for myself -- to carry me through the cold weather of North East of US.

Things I am left with:
a. Yet another gift for a friend in NY
b. May be one more gift for a friend elsewhere (he reads the blog, so keep it secret ;)
c. gifts for daughters of two friends who have immensely helped me in the app process.
d. Something for recommenders... any ideas???

This was the first time I did any non-sundry shopping in last 2 months... liked it a lot but it has left my wallet a $500 lighter and my bags about 40 lbs heavier :))

Now I am dying to get to NY next week, a busy (and fruitful?) day at Philly and then hopefully some relaxed and sleepful moments in the plane to India!! God, please help me stay sane till then!

Faux Pas!

2004-11-17T18:25:00.000Z

Oh, not the interview invitation, I hope!

But you never know, after the adcom at Wharton meets me for interview, they may well realize their mistake.

This post is for my mistake of deleting comments from the older post. A minute after I did that, I get a message from a friend that he wants to see comments! Arghhh.... and I am back to provide you a place.

Thanks Chanakya, Megami, PY and Aregon for your wishes and all the best to you too. Sorry for having deleted your comments from the blog.

Wharton Invite, Finally!

2004-11-17T16:38:00.000Z

Oh dear! You took so long :-)

Finally I got one too. Next few weeks are going to be very busy now! Yessss!

Congrats to Aregon and Durba on their invitations. You are great people and am sure that you will make it.

All the best to others who are waiting. Keep the faith, there is still soem time left and I know of many people who got their invites on last day in the previous application cycles.

A quote...

2004-11-16T04:52:00.000Z

and a very apt one at this moment...

"I love the person who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection." -- Thomas Paine

WorkGods smiled :-)

2004-11-10T09:04:00.000Z

Well, Now am at the other extreme. Either the WorkGod wanted me to realize the importance of whatever free time I had, or my boss made sure that I don't waste my energy. I got a critical work at 6pm. As a result, I am in office right now, at 3 AM, and it seems it will be an all nighter!

I still feel it is MUCH BETTER now than having to sit in office without work, which is what I did yesterday. We aren't supposed to leave office (or take leave etc) because of the unlikely event that there is a problem needing attention, so sitting empty handed was not what I like. I will prefer now if I solve this damn problem and go home in couple of hours and then get a half day off for myself tomorrow morning! That will give me some time to meet a few people in downtown on a weekday! Hope it is not a wishful thinking only...

Today afternoon, I cleaned up my mails, wrote to atleast 30 people who I had lost touch of in last 6 months, and made call to few fellow applicants. So, if you are one of those, please forgive my selfishness :-) But then again, I remembered to call you when I got a little free time ;)

Well, back to work and to wait for W invite! Bye.

I want to be busier!

2004-11-09T20:46:00.000Z

Yes, you read it right!

We finally made a product release late night Sunday. As a result, am free since yesterday to have some relaxing moments, unless we face some problem at 11th hour while it is being tested all across the world this week. But I am already bored! Suddenly there is a vacuum in life, from 100-110 hours weeks we had in last two months to having enough time to relax? But this is as much I can relax. Probably 50, 60, 70 hours work weeks are not my cup of tea. I need more! And I need it fast.

The GSB interview last week was good. The interviewer was a great person to talk to and made me comfortable right from beginning. The expected questions (resume, why MBA, Why GSB, Goals etc) were asked and it seemed like a cool conversation! I could not practice much before the D day, but being clear about story and a mock interview with a friend helped a lot. Sensed that interviewer will give me a strong recommendation. Fingers Crossed. Now the GSB app is almost ready and I think there is nothing that can keep me busy this week :-( hmm, Not good.

One thing that is keeping me engaged a little bit is waiting for interview invite from Wharton. Believe me, if there is anything that I don't like, it is waiting. The energy bomb in me explodes too often! Patience is not a virtue I possessed, but this app waiting is making me be just that :-) Hope I will soon get the invite and life will fall back to normal and being busy! Here is a funny quote that I came across:

"God! Give me patience, but please, please give me fast!" I think the person who wrote this and I share a lot in common ;)

Congrats to BC and PowerYogi on getting the Wharton interview invite. Fingers crossed for rest of us. All the best!

A funny observation!

2004-10-31T07:51:00.000Z

This is about work, but I couldn't resist blogging about it.

The DST time changes were affected about two hours back. As we were sitting in office, we observed that the time changes didn't work on our product. When the PC time had changed, why not our product's, was our question. Last year also we had faced this terrible problem (in earlier project), and getting that same bad thing hit our face was not something we wanted at this wee hour!

Luckily, a senior manager reminded us that we needed to do a one step procedure for that, which is basic to our product. So even when the end user goes through the time difference, s/he will be able to do so without any problem. Suddenly our faces lit and heart beats came back to normal. But for that manager (Thanks J!), the Halloween could have been much worse!

Later, we had a very hard laugh and one of us almost choked on our initial reaction to the problem! I must say that it was a good end to an extremely long and busy day.

As for BSchools, I was _somehow_ able to submit my Stanford app just a couple hours before the deadline. As expected, had to stay awake till 3 AM every night past week and till 5 AM the night before the deadline. However, I gave it my best shot, the app seemed to be in decent shape and I am happy to get it in in Round-1.

Have got the GSB Chicago interview coming up early next week, but wonder how the hell I am going to prepare for that. Tomorrow have to be at office from 11 AM till probably midnight, wondering how many hours of stay-alone-in-front-of-mirror preparation I will be able to afford. I thought of doing it now, but after 18 hours in office, I don't have the energy left to smile on myself in the mirror. Luckily, have got the data points ready, just need that punch in the style, which should not take much time. Let's see, probably Monday morning may be a better time.

All the best to those who appeared/are soon appearing for interviews!

PS: My browser played a real Halloween trick on me, crashed twice before I could post. Third time, I am typing on a notepad and will be pasting! Ah, why this silly thing at this hour, again?

I wonder if...

2004-10-25T01:07:00.000Z

this blog is becoming a spot for me to vent my feelings.

Guess this will happen when the writer is waiting for status of one application, is in the process of completing another, is thinking about a third one and has to come to office on Sunday (and we don't work 9 to 6, by the way)! It's not a complain, but I don't know for how long this madness will go on...

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." - Reinhold Niebuhr

I think I should take a lesson from here. I hope things will change for better soon. I am a big big optimist and hope is what keeps me alive in this madness of applications, work, travel (work related only!). And did I add that my parents want me to marry soon, as I am of that marriageable, issue-able age as per our relatives now. So one more thing to worry about!

Stanford essays need a lot more time than I can afford to spend, ditto for other upcoming apps. The fact that all my (three for Stanford) recommenders and myself are in four different countries at this moment doesn't help either! As if that was not enough, my reviewer is in a fifth country. Now, we call this globaliztion :-) So much so, I seem to have lost track of phone numbers, which seem to change everytime one changes a country. I have consumed more calling cards than during my last several trips combined!! Cool.. isn't it?

I need to stay positive, and positive I will be. Here is another of my favorite quotes, which keeps me ticking while I pass through this maze:

"I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. That's my dream. That's my nightmare. Crawling, swiftly, along the edge of a straight... razor... and surviving." -- Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, Apocalypse Now

I know I am not alone in this crazy situation, there would be many many more. But be positive people, I know we deserve to get that coveted 'admit letter' :-)

Good Luck to all! Amen!

Anxiety. Fear. Hope.

2004-10-19T04:50:00.000Z

Like every other round 1 applicant, I am feeling the butterflies in my stomach. Submitted the Wharton application on 13th and since then whatever free time I had, has been spent on s2s. The round one applicants who applied to Wharton have started coming in open, asking questions about interview, the app reading process etc. Everyday, I feel the anxiety levels higher than the previous one. And the interview invites haven't yet started... Oh! I'm sure that come 21st, few people will start getting up in the nights, having to go back to bed realizing that it was a dream! Hope the dreams are good for everyone!

Today (ok, technically yesterday morning) Wharton adcom sent a mail to everyone. Here is the excerpt.
----
Thank you for submitting your application for Round 1. Here is some information to guide you through the next steps in the process.

Your online status:

- "Complete for Round One": means we have received all your application materials and your file has been forwarded to the Admissions Committee for review.
- "Received": means the Operations Team needs to process your hard-copy materials. After these are processed, your online account will be changed to "Complete for Rd 1" and your file will be forwarded to the Admissions Committee for review.
- no status appears: if you applied by hard copy, we are still processing your application materials. You will receive an email on how to access your online account once your application has been processed. Please allow operations until Friday October 29th before inquiring about your application.

Invitations to interview:
- we will begin releasing invitations on Thursday, October 21st and will continue until 5pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Thursday, November 18th. There is no particular order in which invitations are released.
- if invited for an interview, you will need to complete one by Thursday, December 9, 2004. Interviews will be available on-campus with trained 2nd year MBAs who are full members of the Admissions Committee or off-campus by alumni or staff. All interviews carry equal weight in the admissions process. There is no advantage to interviewing in one venue over another.

Final Admissions decisions:
- Candidates who have not received an invitation to interview by November 18th will receive a final admissions decision indicating that they are no longer being considered for admission this year.
- Candidates who are offered an interview will receive their final admissions decision by 5pm EST on Thursday, December 23rd.

Thank you for applying to the Wharton School. We look forward to reviewing your application.

Sincerely,
Wharton MBA Admissions Committee
Lauder Admissions Wharton MBA Admissions Office

http://mba.wharton.upenn.edu

----

Which basically indicated that most likely my app is (or soon will be) in the hands of a reviewer. I wonder whether the app will bore the reader to death. Every now and then, my mind wanders to the scene of an adcom reading a page with my essay printed on it, with a coffee in other hand and a pen ready to put comments. I sincerely hope and pray that they are good comments :)

Otherwise, the Stanford deadline is nearing, and as usual, I will need to put a couple of all nighters toward the end to make it into the system by 27th. My recommenders have suddenly become unreachable making me think whether I updated them on the deadline for Stanford. I hope things will fall in line and the fabulous guys will make sure that I am not hung to R2 because of a small delay in reco. They were of immense help for Wharton and submitted 3 days before I could submit my essays.. I hope it is same in this case also.

Ok, enough of wasting your time, now back to anxiety, fear and yet again, hope.

Best of Luck to all the Round-One applicants!

Why there are only 24 hours in a day?

2004-10-08T01:40:00.000Z

Hi, I am alive, in office, and as I am waiting for a meeting in 15 minutes, I thought of updating this blog and telling you that I still exist!

Well, I can't believe how busy this work is keeping me that I haven't had a look at the Wharton essays for last 5 days and the deadline is just a week away [that's what brought me here to vent my feelings :)] But some thing has been done.. { I don't think I can be un-productive for more than a short while}.

1. My first recommender submitted the reco the night before yesterday. However, as he is across the globe, I had to call him a couple of times, in the middle of the night (like 3 AM my current location time) to catch him for updates. However, as on two nights I was well awake and in office at that time, calling at unearthly hours didn't hurt much.

2. My second recommender says that he is almost done and will submit in a couple of days.

Many Thanks to both these guys. Despite being extremely busy and in different countries, they kept to their words and are well set to finish the reco work the weekend before the deadline (as requested).

3. I was finally able to mail the transcripts to School today morning (my target was to post it on Monday evening.. but two all nighters made it difficult to go to mail center until today).

Now, I hope that I get some time tonight to talk to my reviewer about my essays that I sent him about a week back. But as of now, it seems highly unlikely. With a major product launch coming in next month, life's getting busier than ever. I am really dying to have a free weekend, when it is just me and my apps. Let's see...

< End of the venting and of MBA part >

On a separate note, and something I would like you to know, I was deeply touched by someone, a stranger. I developed the idea of organizing a blood donation camp in my office in India. Got in touch with relevant people, got the details and was all set to do that, but in came Business visit and I missed organizing as well as donating blood in India.

So when I came to know that Mobile Carter is organizing a blood donation camp at my employer in US (I am on a business visit to a sister company), I was excited. I went there to donate blood in the hope of paying the debt I owed to my social service part. But by a FDA rule, I can't donate if I have visited my country in last one year (this rule is for many countries), and that didn't feel good. BTW, if Indian organizations take care of Malaria risk etc, I am sure from my past experience that we won't get any blood donations in India.

However, the Carter center people were really good with me and "made" me eat the refreshment then and there. They even gave me a momento telling me that it doesn't matter if I couldn't donate, what matters is that I tried. How nicely put... reminded me of Olympics and athletes and justice and fairness (though it was not fully fair.. I was favored, which I probably did not deserve).

Well, back at my seat, I reflected on the whole experience and couldn't help smiling, thanks to that stranger! And thanks to you for bearing with me till now!

Best of luck to all the bloggers and other R1 applicants!

Now, can someone tell me where is the meeting room?

RSS enabled.

2004-09-29T01:23:00.000Z

Just a quick note that you can get updates about my blog whenever I write something here.

Life is getting busier and busier day by day. A couple of days back, I got additional responsibilities at work which looks great but also means even lesser time for applications. However, as I perform at my best when I am the busiest, this looks like a good sign. Amen!

Reception Events: HBS, Wharton and Columbia.

2004-09-24T01:22:00.000Z

Last two weeks have been immensely busy and quite productive too, esp considering that there has been a lot of work in office, and still I managed to attend the admission information events for HBS, Wharton and Columbia. I hope that I get some time off on the day Chicago event is scheduled in my city! That completes the list of events scheduled in September. I am yet to register for those scheduled in October, but as my travel plans are never certain, I'll rather do that near the date of events instead of registering now and having to cancel later.

Ok, a few words about each of the events. I am not writing the names of the admission officers or grads, purposefully. For a thorough summary of some of these events, please refer to Classy's Blog.

HBS: It was held in the superb Park City Hotel near Downtown Dallas. The event was attended by an admission officer (who was an HBS alum), and a panel of six or seven recent alums. The presentation was just fine and so was the interaction with the alums. Many a times, the panelists didn't add much to each other's answers except few words that why it was better than other schools. I wish this part was omitted! Though all the panelists were quite established in their professions, I believe the interaction might have been better had it been a little less formal, but that is just my opinion! A few applicants asked some ridiculous questions, one of them asking a question just for the sake of asking, or that's what it seemed to be. I had some cool conversations with a few alums as well. Overall, it felt like a fine event.

Wharton: While HBS was quite formal, Wharton proved to be really interactive and informal. The session was scheduled at the marvelous office of Bain & Company. People were encouraged to eat/drink (only water and cold drinks) and listen to the presentation and ask any question whenever they felt. I think this is better rather than when applicants have to hold their questions and then don't get their questions answered because of lack of time or because everyone is asking some question. A very quick yet elaborative presentation was followed by very informal interaction with the alums. Again, there was a diverse set of people (though fewer alums than I expected) who shared their perspectives about the application process, school and jobs. I met a banker turned PE guy who gave some really useful tips for Application and Interview Process. The one I liked the most was "applicants should share who they are, beyond what their resumes say".

Columbia: This one was held in the McKinsey's office situated in the tall J P Morgan Chase towers in downtown. There were quite many alums and current/recent students. I guess out of total of 40 or so people in that room, 15 to 20 would be Columbia's alums/students/admission staff. This gave everybody a lot of time to gel with the alums hear their perspectives and network. I liked the informal setup and the one-to-one interactions. Some of the alums were kind enough to come to some of us and ask if we had any questions! Now that was cool! Because I got late in reaching there, so I couldn't attend all of the event, but a guy who reached earlier than me told that they had conversation with the alums before the presentation as well. I felt worth of every minute I spent in the vicinity of interesting and accomplished Columbia grads! The admission officer gave the tip of the day "Just answer the question". I have heard so many times that some applicants just don't answer the question completely.

More to come, stay tuned!

Feeling Jittery!

2004-09-21T03:16:00.000Z

Looks like the app process has finally kicked in and caught me unaware! The past Sunday was really nerve-breaking for me! I got up late, and after lunch thought of doing some work on my apps, but couldn't gather my thoughts in one direction... All the time my mind was going into future... not so far, just about 3 months into future! Will I get an interview call? Will I do fine in interview? Will I make the cut to my dream school?

I am already so restive, and I'm being told that it has just started!

Now some good news! I finally got my TOEFL score. It is just what I expected. Near perfect score. Though, it really doesn't matter as long as it clears the hurdles. And it surely clears them! So now I am left with only Essays and Recos.

I also got my favorite car to drive. I rented Toyota Prius, which is a hybrid car. It stores the energy while you break and uses the same energy when you accelerate! Cool, isn't it? And the all digital interior panel make it great to drive. Though it looks a little odd car, but its performance and digital savvy overweigh the lack of looks!

I went to HBS reception last week. I will write about that and the coming receptions (Wharton, Columbia, Chicago, Kellogg....) in my next post.

Progress on Essays

2004-09-11T21:14:00.000Z

Looks like things are falling in place now... Yesterday was a great day and a lot was done. Had a great start when I got a mail-in-rebate which was pending for last 2 months. Everyone feels happy when you get something free, and unexpected! Catched up with a few friends in the evening on phone/mails etc. The fun continued when I left office early (7pm) for the first time in last so many months and had a great game of tennis... Had I not gone for Tennis, I wouldn't have enjoyed the day so much, seems like I really love the tight deadlines, tensions and uncertainities, and hence, my employer.

I am learning Tennis but my experienced friend told me that for someone who stepped on court only for the third time, my progress was fabulous! That set the mood for a great writing session in the night and I edited Wharton's and Stanford's essays. Wharton essays now definitely look in a much better shape whereas I am getting some fresh ideas about the Stanford essay-A. Reminds me of my college days, when before every exam, I used to run 7 miles to refresh my mind and focus on the immediate task. (strange? but that's just me!) Hopefully, Good signs for the days ahead!

I still haven't got my TOEFL score... I guess I should try to forget it, for the extra joy that I'll get when I receive it unexpectedly. ETS: Are you listening? It has been about a month and a half!

On a separate note, prayers are with the casualities of 9/11/01 and their families.

A great post at MBA Admissions Blog.

2004-09-04T16:31:00.000Z

A post at Wharton adcom's MBA Admission Blog gives a very logical approach to the dilemma many applicants face "how many schools to apply and when". This post helps solve half of the problem, the other half being 'which' schools to apply which most applicant resolve before the 'how many and when issue'.

However certain I may be that most of you know which schools to apply to, I'll like to remind you to not go by rankings or popular perceptions of others. Rather, you must do a thorough research in finding the fit between yourself and the school depending upon the curricula, method of instruction, student and professor body, community and clubs, employment opportunities, location etc etc. Otherwise, just by BW or USNews rankings or your college senior's (or next door neighbor's) perception of school, you may end up wasting a lot of your and the schools' resources.

Happy deciding and applying!

And the September starts!

2004-09-01T15:36:00.000Z

Hi!

The first eight months are over so fast, I feel as if I stepped into 2004 just a few days back! The year has been very eventful, starting with my taking GMAT in first week of January, to travel to US (California and Dallas) and TOEFL and then back to India!

Last couple of weeks I was busy finishing the trivial tasks that you have when you return home after a couple of months and see everything in complete disarray. My bike, its insurance, my mobile even electricity joints in my home were malfunctioning! Had a gala of time getting them back on line!! And now, I feel as if time has suddenly started flying so fast! Just a month left before the deadlines start rolling in and I am yet to get into the groove of things. I'm hoping on this weekend when I'll be able to sit back for a day and get back to the crucial part of essays revision!

BTW, I've a few Gmail invites left with me, shoot me a message and I'll send you an invitation.

Hi from Frankfurt Airport!

2004-08-13T10:47:00.000Z

As you can judge from the title, I'm on my way to Delhi, and keying this post while enjoying the scene outside at Frankfurt Airport. The journey from Dallas to Frankfurt was as boring as it could be, because of the delays due to bad weather, a non-window & non-aisle seat over the wings of the plane and no interesting person to speak to!

At Frankfurt Airport, I've finally managed to find this place where I have an electric plug to recharge my laptop's batteries, after being asked to move out of a terminal seating as they were opening the counter for check-in... And once more, the attendants are asking us out (not for a party, but to get out!). So if you find anything more in this post, either yours truly managed to find a non-obtrusive place or the words from now on are being typed in while sitting in the plane!

Ok, I'm back at it again, this time assured by an airport official that I won't be disturbed. Hope so. Else, I won’t be able to meet my target of writing a post, and start working on Wharton’s essay two onwards.

My agenda at Delhi is almost booked now itself, with a visit to my Alma mater (to get the transcripts signed, to meet old professors and friends, and to give a talk to the final year students on how to make best use of their experience at college and there after), a couple of days with some relatives who I haven’t seen for more than a year now, and meeting few new friends in Delhi, including a class of 2007 MBA applicant. I hope I’ll get some time to enjoy the Olympics, which coincides (not incidentally ;) with my visit to home. It will be topping on the cake if India gets a few medals. And I’ve promised to throw a party to a few friends if my favorite sportsperson in India Anju Bobby George grabs the gold in Long Jump. I know it is a huge task considering there are seven athletes with personal/season best more than that of Anju, but HOPE... hope keeps her (and me) in the game! Go Anju, go!

More on my stay at home and my ramblings about Olympics later!

Best of Luck to all the sportspersons out there for their events at the Olympics!!

Two hectic and enjoyable weeks!

2004-08-03T21:20:00.000Z

Hi there!

I'm back and this time with a couple of good news! First and foremost, I finally got out of my writing block and prepared a first draft for Wharton Essay 1. I wrote it last Sunday (9 days ago) and it is due for a revision/re-look in a couple of days. It looks good as a first draft, but needs a lot more work on it. I expect it to go through about 10 revisions.

Secondly, I went for Jet skiing, finally after a year! Last year I did it, and really enjoyed it. So this time, it was kind of re-living the old experience. However, I did get some new experience. This time, as the last one of we three partners on the wave runner was about to sit in the middle (he didn't want to sit on the edge, because he didn’t know swimming), it toppled! My other partner and I knew swimming and somehow put it back on track. It was no doubt a funny thing to happen, but I enjoyed the experience! And then of course, I drove at the fastest speed to my satisfaction ;)

Thirdly, the alum contact from Wharton, who I was supposed to meet, hasn't yet contacted me after telling me that he is ready to meet. Incidentally, we are in the same suburb of Dallas, so the meeting is likely to be in an informal place, like home or a cafe. Let’s see... I'm so excited to meet him and hear his experience at Wharton!

And finally, I interacted with quite a few people from Chicago, Kellogg and Columbia over email to get some information which is not available on their websites. And needless to say, they were all very helpful. They took time to reply to my mail in short time, despite being busy with their internship. I hope to do the same next year :)

Best of Luck to all starting at Wharton tomorrow!

PS: Do the transitions look like a TOEFL essay? Well, I took the test today morning and expect a score which will be more than average at Chicago, Kellogg and Darden (only these three schools in my target list didn't waive). As long as that happens, I am fine.

PPS: If any one wants any help on GMAT preparation material, (I prepared a document, which many friends have found to be useful), drop me a line and I'll be glad to help.

PPPS: Are so many PS's grammatically wrong? ;)

Time to Act!

2004-07-22T18:07:00.000Z

Columbia's application is out, as are Wharton's essays. So the fun begins! I've started work on resume, following up with recommender etc... so it is high time to speed up on essays too. Hope I'll make use of the coming Sunday (if I don't have to come to office!)

Some of you may be wondering about coming to office on Sunday, if yes, keep reading (if no, then also you can keep reading ;)

Last weekend, I wanted to go to Austin to meet two friends: one just out of MBA from UTA and the other going to start at GSB, Chicago. So I finalized the plans on Friday and lo... on Saturday evening at 6 pm (in office), I come to know that we have to come to work on Sunday. So I cancel my plans, inform my friends that I'll come sometime later. At 1:00 am in night, just after I had my dinner, I get a call informing me of the shutdown next morning at office and so I can go to Austin early morning, but must be back ASAP to go to work in the evening! Now, this is working hard (or hardly working, whatever)... So I go to Austin, and reach my friend's place. Being a Sunday, he had switched off his cell and so it took me 30 minutes or so to wake him up from his slumber. Rest of the noon was fine and enjoyable before I reached straight to office at 6:40 pm to work for a couple of hours.

Of course, we did spend some time to see if every company is so dynamic and uncertain in its action or we are the only ones??

Hope next time I'll come back on blog with this "Yes, I did write a draft for my Wharton essay 1" and "it looks good" :-)

Back after 17 days and 16 minutes!

2004-07-15T21:54:00.000Z

It took me about 17 days and 16 minutes and more than a thousand miles (I posted last from California and now I'm in Dallas) to come back to this page and post a new blog! I guess by now, you'll be sure of my laziness! And what do I do first? I try to change the template for my blog from Pink to stylish green, and here it goes... all the comments posted by my dear friends have gone!! Now who should I blame? myself for not chosing the proper template or the book I am reading nowadays, which time and again says that pink color is for girls and blue is for boys, and we should respect those differences?

Ok, this time I'll be nice to the author and blame myself... :)

On the application front, I am doing everything I can do! Well, everything except starting on essays... which makes me wonder that am I really the last-minute guy as my mom tells me.

And yes, a great thing to share. I contacted a couple of people from Wharton through s2s or the club website, and in comes the fast reply (which is synonymous with Wharton by now!) to help me out with my queries. I guess it'll be very very hard to beat them on this front! That's also one of the reasons why Wharton is near the top of my list.

Ok, break over!! Now let me get back to the work. And I promise the next post will be sooner than 17 days and 16 minutes.

Started!!!

2004-06-28T21:36:00.000Z

Yahoooo!!! Finally my journey to reflect on my ambitions, desires and dreams related to the MBA application starts. Oh well, restarts! I was about to apply to Wharton in Round 3, but a few sages made me realize that I'm a lesser mortal and better save those dollars and efforts for the coming year. So here I am, 4 months later, still without a single essays with me, neither the drafts, no nothing! Laziness can be such a friendly enemy sometimes!!

But, I have met many incredible people over the last few months, have made many good (and hopefully lifelong) friends and definitely know myself better than a year ago. Now the task is to refine my impressions, re-think on certain priorities and get to the essay writing.

As I type, I wonder whether it makes sense to you... but I'll try, learn, improve and make it readable over the time. So stay with me :)

PS: Your comments are very welcome!