THE Bad Feeling::

both of my results are out...Ross is furthur wait and wharton didnt liked me...so what is the feeling i am having now...is it despair or is it dejection ona rejection... everyone says donthink about it it happens and forget about it...is it so easy to do that..may it is...may be its not...

so what was i expecting out of this...wasnt I waiting a call from adcom to say hey Dude u r a whartonite now...but my phone didnt ring and i kept waiting... dont knwo what to conclude on this wait... the next logical thing my mind ( dont know to say my logical mind or my illogical mind) is thinking of to gauge what did i missed in my profile... and this wait game again starts ...wharton says feedback sessions wil start in june sometime...so what to do then...may be send my essays to some friendfs or rather i shud say acquaintances i made during my visit ot owharton and ask them to suggest me what did i miss...was it experience..or was my profile too mundane to be of the quality of THE Wharton,..may be i think its the latter case...but dont knwo whether i can say that my profiel was too mundane..may be i made it look like mundane...so now the war is to think and rethink what to do to shine out and be a whartonite or a kellogian or whatever they call it ...

another thing that stands in front of me is do i want to try again...do i want to go through this pain of application process and god forbidden this wait process... i think my answer will be yes...i do want to ...i dont hink i will give up so early...i didnt in my GMAT..

so i wil be spending lot of time from now to think about strategy ( what a good word) and i hope even more to execute it ... and ya how can i forget the luck factor popularly knwon as L factor...i dont think i am at friends with this guy... looking at past 4-5 yrs i dont think we are gelling with each other pretty well...but lets see when the dude shake hands with me..

Visit to Wharton

I finally got chance to visit Wharton…and oh boy what a feeling it was..I drove from NJ ( New Jersey) to Philly and on the whole drive I was just thinking whether I will be here in some months or not…in just a matter of time this question will be answered…

Just thinking and talking of what all I will do in this visit here came Philly….from a distance I could see the Benjamin Franklin bridge and slowly I was meandering the in the cozy and old fashioned streets of Philadelphia…. Then came on the walnut street where the mecca is located The Wharton School. I looked up the building and the circular cylindrical structure of the Huntsman hall just took me off to think what would be the feel if I come here back again and then graduate and then come back again for alumni meets and reunions….

Unfortunately I went at a time when there were no classes and all the students have gone to enjoy the break which doesn’t come so often...Just at the security gate met the security office and way he talked and met us I felt so the mesmerizing effect of Wharton is in the air…that guy was working in the place continuously for last 17 hrs..that made me to think is this happens here are all the people leave aside MBA students who work crazy here…then I moved towards the admission hall and met a sweet lady there….she was very polite as I have heard are the staff at Wharton and told us that the info session will be at 3 pm. We tried to make the best use of 2-3 hrs we had before info session by just going around the school and if possible catch hold of some grad students.

Fortunately we met an Indian student who will be graduating this year…that’s good luck…I just started talking to him and told him that we are prospective students and whether he can spare some time with us…and as I had expected he was so kind, he took us to the cafeteria and was open to all of our questions…

We shooted our question on after the other and he answered them in a very plain and clear language …he was easy enough to say I don’t know anything on this rather than just giving some funde…anyways most of the question we had were subjective I,e the answer would start from “it depends” but still taking his perspective was helpful.

After that we just started wandering the school saw some classes though empty and thinking when I will be sitting in one of these classes and excelling…I guess that’s more important. As it was graduation day on Sunday and also an alumni reunions there were many people around and whatever students were there, were with their parents…so could not get much chance to speak to more people…anyways thought of strolling down the street and visit the other building of Wharton where the finance major is situated…On the way met Benjamin Franklin and also took some snaps with the dude…then came back to attend the info session … while waiting Thomas Caleel the Dean of admissions office came and met us…it was nice to meet him as I had read and see about him so much on the Wharton website…he told us that he is busy with R3 decisions …I though oh man that is what I am here for can you please tell me my result right now so that I can go happy from Philly….but anyways I have to wait till 17th .. then a nice lady came and took us to a room and started the talk…Nothing new was there in it as It was the same ppt as I saw on the website and which Wharton gives in all its info sessions…also I don’t think I got any new information from that info session apart from the fact that in GMAT they mainly see that one must have min 80% percentile in both quant and verbal…

So that was it talk wads over in 30-45 min and we started to pack up things and drive back to NJ …then as were doing some photo session I met with a India student graduating in 2007 and who was a admission committee member….so I thought that was it this is the person I need to get contact ….but as he was with his family could not talk to him much but toll his business card and will buzz him sometime (Networking is the key…always)

So that was the tour…though in terms of information I don’t think I got anything new from what I already knew about Wharton but I am sure it gave me a feel that I would love to come back to this place and have fun…

Overall I would say it was quite a motivating visit for me…

whats the next step

so after some contemplation i am back to indite some of the stuff, mainly irrelevant..haha
anyways its time to think what to do next ...is waiting a good idea (as though i have a option)...obviously i will wait...but at the same time what shud i do as a contigency plan if i dont get through...
some of the things i think i shud do is to start geting more info on more colleges, what essay topics were there what i am lookign for these schools , what are the options, what are the early apply options and which school i must commit for early entry..

lot of other things i guess i must do ,..like visiting and revisting my essays, waht did i miss if i miss. was it less experience or was the arrow missed te bulls eye my a dealta, is this delata huge or small...dont knwo how i will decifer the vociferousness of this delta but what i must be worried is that a delta exist and i need it to eat it away soon..

I dont want to write this

i am back and not in the best of the moods.. while writing this i am reminded of all the earlier posts because while writing all of those posts i used to think that if i get through it woud be fun reading these posts in retrospection...but i guess the coin got tossed on the other side...

enough of blah blah...the point is that i got waitlisted in wharton too... thats prety frustating...dont knwo what to do ..everything thing looks perplexed now..all that i had though of has gone now ... ya and i knwo that chances are pretty bleak as waitlist clearing in R3 will be quite something.... but still wait will be on and will be hopefull ..so that ic an say i am optimistic..

i had no contingency plans on this so still thinking what to do next..obviously I will be applying next year if i dont get through this year but then i think what will be the delata improvement between my last year profile and this year's profile...obviously one wud be 1 extra year of experience but apart form that nothing gr8... this is one vector i need to ponder one.. have some things in mind but still want to give more thought on this..

so what else ..dont know what else to say but ya i want to be hopeful and dream of getting into wharton...

Dhuk Dhuk.....Dhuk Dhuk

Dhuk Dhuk…….. Dhuk Dhuk…….. Dhuk Dhuk……..

So this is the state of my heart Dhuk Dhuk…….. Dhuk Dhuk…….. Dhuk Dhuk……..my heart beat is much above the normal these days and is on ascend as 22nd has come. Don’t know what will happen today when the results wil be out. Hope I get a call with ISD code 001…that will answer everything and will bring the palpitation of my heart down..

Its been a very good experience to me… and also I have realized how good Wharton as a school is everything is very transparent.. one doesn’t need to keep guessing as I had been in case of Ross. I don’t know when is the last date till people will be called for interviews… no one replies if I send the mail asking whether there is a last date or whether I will be called for the interview…

I don’t know how I will be told about the results of Wharton, whether someone from adcom will call me, will I get a mil or do I need to keep checking my status on the application site. Either case is fione to me as long as the result comes my way.

Anyways so will log in back after the result..

Wharton Interview R2

Hies...

back to the blogger.. though late to indite my interview juggernauts but the storm hasnt lulled yet...

anyways i had my HUB interview in delhi on 19th. Though there was a alumni in bangalore but I chose to go for HUB interview as frnds at wharton said its always good to go to a adcom for an interview rather than an alum. So i packed my bags and travelled to delhi. Interview was in the Mckinsey office and I soon realized than the interviewer is also an alum...haha first sneak into my strategy...anyways i thought let it be...

then my interview started some 15-20 min earlier...may be as I reached earlier and Jennifer( THE interviewer) finished the first interview early. So we went in, sat on a well cushioned chair and then she asked for tea or coffe... though i wanted to have tea and biscuits but thought thats not the right place and the right person to ask for that...just kidding...

so the interview formally started and I gave her my resume.( i had taken a print out on a decent 85dpm executive bond paper) . She started glaring at it ...and gave 2 positve comments one on my MS from US and other that I was ranked 1 in lawn tennis is state..

Then she asked me about my resume. I started talking on some stuff and before I cud move to my professional experience she changed the course and asked me So why MBA. I gave points and left a trigger on whioch I wanted her to ask me more... but she didnt. then she asked do you have anything the adcom shud be aware of... i said some stuff. Then came the bomb. i guess it was just 7-8 min in the interview and she said Ok Anshul that is all do you want to ask any questions... I was still thinking of questions like Why wharton and other standard questions, but this question hit me hard. I asked her a question and she said something for 2-3 min. Believe me I do not remember a word what she said as I was just thinking what i have done wrong and I was desperate to see the watch.

But i thot i wont leave unless i talk more, after all i travelled from bangalore to delhi for this. I asked her I want to talk about my professional experience. She asked a couple of related questions of this. Then I could manage to sneak at the watch and thot that I am still around 20 min in the interview. I asked her again if we have time I want to talk on my blah blah blha...she responded Ya i am also interested in knowing that ....why the hell she could not ask me that if she was also interested in knowing that ... I think it was all planned.. Than i talked about that and had a good discusion on that.. next i thought lets not push to much and finish by asking couple more question. But the lady was smarter she just stood up and said Anshul thanks for coming and then we exchanged cards.

She was decent enough to drop me till the exit and i very humbly said It was a pleasure meeting with you, though i wanted to say it was 25 min fuill of surprises meeting with you.

Then i came out and asked the guy who got interviewd before me and he also had the same story.. so i thot Jennifer had her plans and in retrospection i thot i did well.

i guess now i cant do anything that to wait for 22march. Havent heard anything from Ross but waiting and lets see what happens.

SWAANS

Packing bags

so finally packing my bags... i hope I can write a blog starting with "so finally packing my bags to go to wharton"... but today its time to pack and go for the interview...may be to get my entry ticket stamped by Wharton adcom. There have been several views where people say that interview is just another weightage criteria and is not the second level filter.. i dont know whatever it is i dont think it will affect the way one prepares for the interview. Esp some people who know they are sure shot in ( belive me i know some people who think that way and i also know they are correct in their view) . For me as I dont beog to that bandwagon that puts more 100kg weigth on me to prepare well and give my best. I recently read on s2s ( after scoretop, my new love) that if one overprepares the interviewer can easily make this out and starts asking questions which will make you feel coackroaches in your seat...what a yukkie way to put this.... Anyway i certainly dont want that.

so just watching the cricket match and enjoying the saturday afternoon. Will prepare once more on some questions and then I think i want tot read more on some stats on india, GDP, population and such things. This is because in one of my answers I want to take the interviewer in this direction. Anyways more on this after the interview.

i am still not vey sure on the question : What other schools have you applied". I am more scared about the follow up questions , if any. Lets see what I will do on that.

so best of luk to myself.

5 days to go

felling dizzy... but at the same time lot of confidence also that atleast i got the opportunity to feel dizzy.. haha. so its 5 days left to my interview@wharton. lets see how it goes,,,i am trying my best, have made aanswers to some of the standsard questions and i believ my myh wharton answer is pretty decent. I think this si one of the most important answer of the intervier along with the Why Now and Why MBA questions.

anyways the preparations are giving me deepar and deepr insights about the school and more i read more I dream of strolling in the wharton campus. I read al lthe student diearies today and realized that there are hell lot of things to be a part at wharton and ya studies are also is a part of that plenty things... every time i search for some things i get to know somethign new about wharton...

with each day passing by i am feeling closer to wharton ( atleast i can think so), when i had applied to wharton i had thouigh that my chances are pretty bleak but now i think i have fair enough chances. I think what i need to efficeintly communicate in the interview is that though i have less experience i am pretty sure of what i am doing what i want to do and what i am expecting from wharton.

one of my reviewers had very well put all this " you shud convey that there is somethign already waiting fo ryou after you MBA, its just that wharton is a ICE( worlds fastest train) as opposed to indian rail to reach there".

so lets see how the countdown zero treats me..

Quest continues

so the quest continues... of late i have been using this word quest alot and why not it is such a sweet word... i had even use this aggresive word in my essays. So for me the quest continues as I got my first MBA invite for an interview form Wharton. wow what feeling after days of cheking and checking mails finally i saw the mail and read the subject "Wharton Interview Invite". I had not even deleted my spam and thrash folder since long in apprehension that by mistake i might not have deleted the million dollar mail. I am sure the confirmation mail wil a billion dollar one.

So the preperation fever again. I am just delving deeper and deeper in Wharton's website again in quest of more and more info. Primararily to get answer of the most talked about question "Why Wharton". Till 2 days back i used to think why there is so much talk of this question. After al lis there any huge difference between harward and difference other than the way one spells it. But with every click I make I am realizing there are so many suttle differences. Moreover I think this answer is aksed more to see that you are a research freek rather than finding the literal answer to the question. And this is also my intention to find points about wharton which i feel will be unique.

I hav estarted reading Knowledge@Wharton and just liking it. I read lot of topics in the entrepreneurship column and thinking that when I will be there. I know mere thinking wont take me there, I not only have to build the track to go there but also have to develop my own engine to pull the train. I am sure if I do this much the feul and passengers will be no dearth.

lets see what happens. the I-day is on 19th of Feb in Delhi.

Done with "in line of fire" and "Eleven minutes"

so finally doen with these two books. I had staretd to read these with the idea that these can be helpful to me if I land up with an interview. ( i am still hoping the saem). But now i feel that both of these books were junk, one is terms of content and other in terms of te statistcis and worng information mentioend. "Eleven Minutes", I just bought it considering the excellence paulo cohelo had shown with masterpiece like "alchemist"m but this time i was disappointed. This book is about a prostitute and dear paulo is all around trying to say that the Maria( the female heroine of the book) a prostitute is a amazing girl and blah blah... as a whol;e dodnt like the book much.

now about the "In line of fire" by dear and deadly Pervez bhai. I think the review depends on which side of the LOC one is. i tried to be on the LOC so as to me neutral and read the book. My main idea to read this book was to prepare for the question for the interview ( hope i get form both wharton and Ross) "Which book are you reading now" " Why are you reading this book". For the Why answer i wanted to see what pervez bhai thinks of the whole india pakistan problem and what kind of a person he is.. But i think i still cant answer what kind of a person he is.. Throughout the book he went talking about himslef.,..that he has done he has done that....i think he has bosted a lot about himself. Somre of the interesting chapters i was particularly peeking on were whne he talks on the issue of kargil and the like wars. He tried to be very cleaver but failed completely in the attempt. In the book he did not accpet defeat in all the ars and kept praisingin his work his army his ocuntry his people.

Another common approach i have seen of thsi dude is that whenevr somwething is against him and is negatyive for him he simply denies the very basic existence of the source. For eg in the kargil chapter he simply says that what india did in media and in war was totally different. media was just highlighting the stuff which did not existed oln the warzone. I dont knwo the reality but still find it difficult to digest. ANother issue he talked was to improve the relationship between india nad pakisatn, again he denies lot of stuff that i knew . May be i am wrong but his books didnt had the weight in the content to prove his sayings.

Most interesting stuff to me in the book was when what we know as POK is called as Azad Kashmir. Another was when the beautifull state we know as Jammu and Kashmir is called as Indian Occupied Kashmir. Though he has not at all sunstantiated whey he says all this.

Finally i dont understand why now is the time when Pervez bhai has written this biography. Normally people write biographies when they have retired or have no work. All thorugh the book he has tried that the reader does not get the impression that pervez is a dicatotor but as i read more i was more convinced that he is a dictator. Having said that i dont hink he has enough time to think and write about htis book. So dont know what made musshi to write this book of 280 pages. I think his idea is to talk biggie biggie stuff about himself and create an impression for the world and the public that he is a gem of a person ad is there to take a U trun in the path where pakistan is going. No dount the things he has talked of in the book are amazing, considering all those facts and figures are true, i think pakistan has a good future ahead. But who know he might he ousted by some another militart personnel of his only.


Anyways a nice read though, only if you are on LOC. A single step here and there of the LOC will make the read a not very good one.

Wharton Interview Questions

Why an MBA, why now, why Wharton.

Post MBA goals.

International experience.

Tough situation at work.

Describe a typical day at work

walk through your resume

Know your story and what you want to contribute.

Some believe leadership is innate, others think it can be taught... which do you believe?

What do you bring to Wharton?

What do you see as the differences between Harvard, Stanford and Wharton?

How do you measure success

Is there any perceived weakness in your application that you would like to address ?

What clubs and activities would you get involved in at Wharton ?

Is there any perceived weakness in your application that you would like to address ?

Do you have anything else you would like to talk about ?

Describe yourself. Difficult to know where to start but once you get going its quite simple.

Tell me something about yourself.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

who is the prominent figure that you admire? why?

"Have you ever had to work around a superior?"

"What part of your undergraduate program was most difficult for you?"

"Tell me about a time your powers of persuasion failed?"

telling me why you have made the decisions you made.

What extra-curriculars did you participate in during college?

You say Wharton would build your leadership skills - How?

How would you handle a conflict in your learning team?

Name a prominent figure you look up to.

Have you ever had an ethical dilemma?

Analyze yourself and tell me three strengths and three weaknesses.

At your graduation ceremony, what do you think you would be reflecting that you had
contributed to Wharton, and how would you have changed?

If you had 30 days without any commmitments, what would you do?

What will be your impact at Wharton?

If you were part of a team, the project was failing, and the leader wasn't doing a good job, what woudl you do?

If you had one free day, what would you do?

If you had 30 free days, what would you do?

What brings you here today?

Careerwise, was there anything in the last five years that you would have done differently?

How would you describe your best friend?

Name a leader you admire and explain why.

What do you do for fun

What do you do to relieve stress.

I wish I had known about the grading system

What will your impact be on the school when you have left?

If you were in a study group with one member who was overbearing and one member who was very reticent, how would you handle the situation?

If you did not gain admission to Wharton, what would you do?

What was your biggest challenge in life?

The most difficult question was what changes I would introduce if I were the Minister in the Government.

How would your colleauges describe your leadership style?

How would your friends describe you?

How do you plan to get the most from your time at Wharton? You have lots of things but not enough time so the most successful know how to prioritize.

What do you wish I would have asked?

What is the most recent book you read, and what do you think about it?

Have you ever disagreed with your manager?

What would you do differently if your were the CEO of your company?

What specific campus organizations will you join?

Have I had to persuade my superiors to go with something I came up with?

Have I ever been in a team conflict and how did I react to it?

What was the hardest thing you had to say no to in the past two years?

Give me your assessment of Wal-mart. Good for consumers or bulldozing machine?

What specific extra curriculars do you plan to take part in at Wharton?

Other than the reasons you stated in your essays, why do you want to go to Wharton?

What motivates you?

Why now? Why not next year or the year after?

Three qualities of a leader and an example of a situation in which you exhibited the same.

Talk about your extracurricular activities.

give an example when you conflicted with senior management

how would you want to be remembered after graduating from Wharton

What type of summer internship will you be seeking?

How would you want to be remembered?

If you are admitted, two years from now, how will your classmates remember you?

How will you fit in with the international atmosphere?

What characteristics do you look for in your team members? How do you work with a team to deal with a situation? Walk me through a situation at work that involves heavy quant skills

What do you think your friends at Wharton would remember you by at graduation?

What's a personality flaw you have?

Define leadership and how it differs from being a good manager ?

If you were the CEO of a company and had to do a downsizing - a) what people would you lay off b) how would you implement it?

Explain to me in brief what your company's product does?

What do you think makes an effective manager?

If you were working on a project with a team of peers late at night (I assume like a learning team) and they had an opinion entirely different from yours, how would you manage the situation so that the team completes the assignment the next day?

Discuss a situation in which you felt ethically challenged.

What was your best mistake?

How do you define success for a company? For yourself?

I am a 5 year-old. Explain to me what the 'internet' is.

What are the 3 most important technological innovations of the past 1000 years. (you read correctly, 1,000 years).

When asked what other schools I was applying to

How would your boss describe you? What would you did if you didn't get into Wharton? What if you didn't get into any BSchools

why are you unique,

why should we accept you

A question about something specific about my resume.

Describe a situation where you were the team leader, and had to make a difficult situation. What factors were involved, and how did you resolve it? Finally, what did you learn from it?

What is the one and only thing that you want me to know about you?

If I had the power to use one day as I pleased, what would I do?

"Assume you're a boarderline candidate. Give me your 2 best reasons to let you in."

If you could have lunch with anyone, who would it be?"

What would be the most challenging thing for you once you enroll at Wharton?

Describe an epiphany that you've had

How do you deal with political instabilities?

How do you retain the employees in your company?

What professors at Wharton are you most interested in studying under. Luckily, I read brochures and remembered a name

What's your favorite book.

What would I consider my dream opportunity? (could professional or personal)

If your friends were asked to give 3 words describing you, what would they say?

Themost difficult question was when he greeted me on entering the interview room and asked me why i was there

"If a big tornado hit all the MBA Schools in the world, what would you do ?"

Why did you choose to work for your current employer?

What do you enjoy most about your job?


Source: www.accepted.com

What is this period!!!

So what period is this…can I call this courtship period …I think I cant ,,,ideally the period after getting admission and before joining will be designated as a courtship period…so was just pondering what to call this period as.. “keep guessing days” everyday I think of something new about my application.. have I written this right or that wrong.. Although I know I can’t help now but still I keep thinking about my application…

Anyways so what is the confidence level I have in my application…to be frank I am not very confident… and to continue the frankness I don’t know why I am saying that… may be my less experience is the highest speed breaker in my path or is it the Indian IT tag a factor. I guess a mix of both…when I think of my essays I believe I have made them ok …no I guess good apart from one essay of Wharton which I modified completely on the S day ( submission day). All the small small issues which before submitting were taken by my mind as trivial are becoming bigger and bigger hurdles in my mind when I think more and more on those.. For example I crosses the word limit by 7-8 % and now I feel will that be an issue… anyways Wharton will be starting to call for interviews from 18 ( 2 days from now ).. So its time to check my email 1000 times a day (I can even add one more zero to that number)…

Anyways I have started the interview preparation and in the process of collecting all the questions I can manage …mainly from clearadmit.com and admitted.com … I think once I am done with all the question will save them as one more post on this blog.

Done with the big one Wharton!!
ooom i am done with one and one to go ....the first one is Wharton and the second one is Ross. I thought i could just copy and paste lot of material for Ross from Wharton and will be done in a day...but I was wrong....i need to work on lot many things to make Ross essays look like they were born for Ross not adopted for Ross.

Anyways i want to write about my experience about applying to Wharton. The experience after applying was just exhilarating. Wanted to go out and have some ice cream (around 1am on 5th January IST, 2006) but unfortunately we don’t have a Wal-Mart in Bangalore. Experience while applying for Wharton was just the opposite, I was just praying, what else I could have done.
And now the best part, experience before applying or rather I should say experience while preparing to apply.

Is the word enjoyed correct to explain this experience, i think its easy to use this word after hitting the submit button , but I am sure this was the last word in my vocab I would have used before pressing the button. Ok let me summarize what all i learnt in this process and see how many things I can say:
Dedication, perseverance, patience, hard work, and above all the mantra which i just love, networking.

I am always inspired by the word networking, and again I could proof why so. it was networking which came to my rescue when it came to perfecting the essays. I really want to thank from the bottom of my heart( kapil if u read this don’t be angry on me for using your words) Nitin Uncle, Sunil uncke,Ashish Kaka, Namrata, Aruna, swati,Salil and the most important and biggest critique of my essays my wife swapna.

I can’t imagine i would have submitted my essay in the condition i have if these people were not around.

This experience has taught me the importance of communication. To be precise written communication. If one can create a recipe with correct mixture of efficient written communication and knowledge about oneself, the recipe will win a gold medal. And here I did the biggest mistake I was doing while writing essays. DO NOT WRITE LONG SENTENCES. It’s so easy to say that but was so difficult to read and implement this before applying. There were so many times when just by changing some words or just rephrasing a couple of sentences the whose scene changed and brought life to the essay.

I learnt that one shud have a tree built before starting to write an essay. Frankly speaking I did not do this when I started my Wharton essays but realized after submitting the Wharton essays. Today I used this approach for writing the career essay of Ross and believe me it works.

Let’s say if one has to write for example about career goals. SO these should be the steps:

1. Write long term goal.
2. Why this is your long term goal.
3. Why MBA + how MBA will help you to achieve 1.
4. A little bit on why now. Again link to 1.
5. Write about short term goals
6. Link how you think short term goals will help to achieve 1.


Just after writing these 6 points I was thinking of how I used to take all this management fundas when I was in college. and boy I don’t want to even think of writing what is in my mind....hope the people who know me might guess what I mean... and see today I am dreaming a future in this.

Anyways i think that all for today...I have to wake up tomorrow and work on the 2nd and 3rd essay for Ross.

Thanks and best of luck if you are still reading!!!!

Is GMAT first or last step ?
Million dollar question...atleast to me... more and more I am getting into applying to B schools the more clearer this question and its answer is becoming for me...
If not last giving GMAT is definately one of the last steps....
writing applications, talking with prospective MBA dudes, present MBA dudes and alumnus I have realized that GMAT's weightage is just 5-10% of the total application process...( this is just my conception...may be wrong)....but this figure i feel shud not be taken literally...there are so many factors ...so intermingled with each other that no one can vouch ofthis number...
i feel GMAT score is just a first level filter.. esp if one's experience is less....
i have seen people with 800 score being rejected by top B schools and also people with around 650 getting into the same B schools.
so if I am correct than what is it that makes one a Wharton'ite, Harvard'ian, and the privleged few..
as i am still in the midst of the process I feel I cant hit upon the correct answer....so will talk of what all I have learned till date.
If there is one equation that makes someone a part of the privleged few that would be a very simple equation with N interdependent parameters...now dont ask me the value of N..
I think its one's personality and attitude that open the gates.. I have read essays where peopel say it was my dream to do MBA..frankly i dont think so, atleast I was not sure that I will do an MBA when I was doing my BE...may be i was shortsighted...
but i think a medley of initiative, leadership...mind you a proven leadership, obviously good acads, ability to act for a cause, charity or community service with an unselfish motive is what is required.
Inititative:I strongly believe this is one quality that can do wonders....what weight this single art carries with it is unimaginable...i have not seen a single B school that has missed asking you to express this quality explicitly... you can guage the importance of this ability by considerig this one of the most common questions or I shud say one of the favourite B school questions "Describe the initiatives you have taken over the past two years to develop professionally and personally"...
when i started working on this question, fortunaltely i had couple of instances to flaunt about. But one day I was retrospecting of what all initiaves I have taken till date...though i happy with this exercise but still came across severlainstances when I could have taken initiatives but due to some reason either didnt took the first step or though took the first stpe but didnt took the second step...
obviously you cant show ur initiative taking skills after you give GMAT...unless u r a gr8 planner and planning to apply to B schools after say 2-3 yrs of giving GMAT...

Leadership:Undubtedly the most sought after quality in a B school candidate. Mind you B schools are not there to create leaders they are there to develop leaders...so if you eyeing for top B schools develop this skill. When I first started my journey to MBA people said not having reportees is a definate negative as you cant show ur leadership skills. Slowly i have realized that B schools are not looking for managers they are looking for potential...ooomm do i mean managers dont have potential..no i am not saying that... They are not looking for people who are leaders they are looking for people who have the potential of being a leader.... so does the B school charges $ 100K for developing leaders, yes they do.

Good acads:everyone cant be Bill Gates. so be practical and dont say that what if I dont have good grades even Bill gates was a college dropout... if you are one of Bill Gates breed, obviously a very rare breed, than one need not worry but unfortunately most of us are not that rare breed. So work towards grades. get good grades. and believe me only good grades is also a negative...just good grades and no extracurriculars if a definite curse on ur profile...

Extracurricular Activites:i think another impotant thing B schools are after for. I havent seen any specific essay on this but have realized that B schools are looking for some solid selling point in this domain. Ya its al l about selling yourself, and selling yourself to a very smart buyer who have no dearth of smart sellers to choose from.
also i believe saying that I was part of the college football team wont help. You have to prove leadership in this area. show that you have a passion for this activity not doing it just for the sake of doing it...for eg saying I was the captain of my colleg Lawn tennis team carries much more weitage that saying I was part of the college lawn tennis team.

Passion:Another much sought after quality. I think one shud have the passion to do something big. I have read ample number of places that your passion shoudl be reflected in your essays...is this true dont know..can talk more if i get selected to either Wharton or Ross ( two schools I am applying this year)..

Community Service:With time passing by I have seen this particular pie in the application cake getting thinner and thinner...the more I read the more I realize that Community service is not a ace of heart to get into B schools. What I have understood is that ( unless u r planning a career in non profit) community servie does not mean serving poor, councelling people on aids or somethingits about giving back to community. May be in terms of anything...as I dont have any substantial to talk on thsi in my application I started doing somethign which I feel is community servie. Will talk more on this if i get through.,,,till then let it be a secret... nothign great but i feel this kind of community service will be unique and definately much much realistic.
furthur I personally feel that mentioning that I was a volunteer in this and this organization wotn help. From what I have learnt is that its not participation its action what adcom is looking for. I think u need to prove passion in this, just mentioning that as part of so and so organization i did that...may not sound great...but again ur writing skills can turn the table any time...

For furthur read:
1. Book by Richard Montauk 'How to get into top MBA Programms" is talked abotu a lot. I am still struggling to snatch a copy but not getting it anywhere....
2. Wharton s2s ( studnet to student board) a good place to invest sometime of ur life.
3. keep seraching.
4. Build contacts, keep an eye in your comapny on people who are going for MBA.

as usual all the best...
swaaans

ooom.. my first post on the blog...
so i finally got the impetus of saving my experiences as blog postings when i met a very good frnd and he further forced me to keep posting so that all my experiences and mistakes( hope i don’t make any) can be useful for future aspirants...(wow i am used to think about this word so often when writing essays...)..

anyways lets get started...though I am in the second step of my application process but will try to start from the first step i.e giving GMAT... ..First misconception about MBA....that GMAT is the first step...i would rater say ideally it is the last step...haha am i turning the table up side down.. believe me i am not...

When I was well into the application process, writing essays and likes i realized that if one plans his MBA 2-3 yrs before actually giving GMAT how easy it would have been to write the essays.
Anyways I promise this would be my second post soon.... but for now lets not digress and come to "How to play GMAT GMAT".. Its easy to say play now but to prevent GMAT playing a game with you on G day (common acronym for GMAT day-G day) one need to be well prepared.

Lets be succinct and try to finds points to proceed to GMAT preparation.

1. Start building network. With whatever little experience I have had, I can vouch that this will always stand as my first bullet everywhere. And by build network it does not mean visiting orkut daily and search for people, to me it means finding people who you think are good and can be resourceful...i know i know u never know who can be of help someday, so be generic and concentrate on finding people who are biggies...i.e. if you find out people like Vice President in a company, some one in higher management and likes you would realize that talking to these people how perspective changes.... (This is one of my fav topic....I dream to write a book on this...lets see when the dream comes true...)...ok to summarize in Hindi " be jugado" haha let me translate....... jugado = resourceful.

to be specific to GMAT on this bullet, find people and friends who have given GMAT and HAVE DONE WELL ( i hope i am clear as what i am trying to say).

2. First thing first. Don’t think twice and buy the book "Official guide to GMAT" I suggest buy both 10th and 11th edition. Many people say and I second them that this is the bible for GMAT ( for Christians reading please pardon me for comparing Bible to any other book)

3. Have a fair idea on when you think to give GMAT. if you planning to apply to US B schools the first deadline for all schools is October mid types and for the second round Jan first week types. So think accordingly and plan. Have read somewhere that adcomm (admission committee...believe me u will come across this word 100 times a day while working on applications) correlates when u gave GMAT and when u r applying. I don’t agree, so don’t want to write more on this.

4. So if you have read some pages of Official guide and you still want to read further that’s time to celebrate. Just kidding... Have a idea of what is the exam pattern like.

5. Now the best part. INTERNET. Dive into the plethora of information and catch some gold fish, what I mean is that there is so much information available that its easy to drown but try to figure out some discussion forums where like minded people do like minded talks in a like minded fashion. Some of the sites I comprehensively followed are www.scoretop.com, www.sentencecorrection.com, www.testmagic.com . For me scoretop was the best frnd, even beating my wife in terms of the time I spent with scoretop.. hope she doesn’t read all this..

6. In retrospection i feel scoretop was the best thing that happened to me. I sincerely want to thank for such an amazing initiative.

7. Start reading posts and start participating in discussions. This i believe is the fastest boat to catch to reach the destination. Reading posts you will realize what GMAT is all about and what direction u need to take ur preparation. One good thing I liked about scoretop is that the posts people post are obviously questions which either they cud not solve or some magnanimous guy (can even be a gal) think he ( might be she) can share with fellow scortopians. Simply this helps..

8. Ok so what about the material. Spent time to collect all the material you can fetch from whatever resources u can. Are you understanding the significance of bullet one. Some of the material i used was:
-- Official Guide 10 & 11 edition No doubt, best material.
You might feel the questions are on a easier side but dont make the impression that GMAT will be same. these are sample questions. Most important take away from this book s the explanation of the questions. I read somewhere " each and every explanation must be on urs tips on the G day" and I can vouch for the truthness of that statement.

--Kaplan. CD and Book.
In terms of the toughenss of the material, no doubt this is tougher than actual GMAT but u also need things to scare you ...dont you...
I think this is a good material to practise. CD has lot of practice questions with decent enough explanations.

--princeton. CD and Book.
i think CD is better. Again not correct representation of exact GMAT questions but good for practice.

-- Manhattan guide to sentence correction.
Undoubtedly the best book ever written on Sentence correction preparation. (please don’t sue me for overemphasizing on this book, there might be better material but I am not aware). I think there is a soft copy of this book floating somewhere on www.scoretop.com
Amazing book for idiots like me who don’t want to read Wren and Martin. Just kidding, this book explains the common errors GMAT tests.

-- now some misc material. Most of this material drove me crazy and tried to flounder me until someone rescued me by telling that these material are not so good and don’t do them diligently. Anyways if you like to take chances the list goes like this.
Barrons, powerprep, novas, 800score.com, crackGMAT, GMAT soft and so on the list continues until u reach moon.

Don’t run corners finding these material. If you are flirting with scoretop properly you will find all the relevant and good material from these misc items as part of some discussion thread.

-9 Now back to www.scoretop.com. I am sure I am still in love with this beauty.
Link to debrief I had posted on scoretop after my GMAT ( by the way I have scored 750 in my GMAT)
http://www.scoretop.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=31070&KW=620+to+750

-10. so if you are still reading and not cursing me I must say you have a quality to write in your application essays “determination”.

So that’s all, I hope I can be useful to one and all. Hope you had a great time and best of luck (you bet with me u will need lots) for your sojourn to MBA.

Disclaimer: Each and every though and expression is this blog is my view and are not intended to breach anything or hurt anyone. I cant guarantee on any of the above suggestions but can vouch that the same worked for me.