One more reason to go to HBS

Well, this post is going to give a funnier side of joining HBS. Barum Moitra advertised (not sure if owns) in her post, and gave one more reason to go to HBS: yes Dating. Want to Date Harvard Graduates from Harvard in Harvard, you got to be in Harvard and try this: http://www.dateharvardsq.com/ FYI, Harvard Square is the most famous and happening place in the Harvard University for young enthusiastic lover and also budding lovers. So, are you tempted now to go to HBS? Do let me know

The MBA illusion

Whats up guys? I know I have been out of the scene for sometime but you know the month of actions have begun. Sending links to recommenders, talking to them, drafting essays, getting it reviewed, re-editing, brain-storming and then the final attempt to GMAT. Its all too much. I will talk about all this later. I am going to have two quick posts today, the first of which is about the learnings from a B-School by MBASaga Blogger. Congrats MBASaga for finally getting the job of your choice But why MBASaga post? There is a reason for this. Unfortunately, I have seen my friends going after MBA only because it is an “MBA”. I always tell its not always true for all and one may be landing into a deeper shit if you doing proper self-introspection of your life, aspirations and yourself. An example that I saw was when Mr.X from Company Y (identities cannot be disclosed) left for his MBA at IIM only to come back at the same designation after 2yrs. of his MBA. Atleast, I feel the person took the right decision after he realized his mistakes but most of us succumb to the societal and parental pressures. MBASaga echoed the same things that I firmly believe and in fact, my friend, Marquis Parker, also echoes numerous times during our conversations. Here are the main points from the post:

1. Business school is all glamor from the outside. It is a chimera of infinite possibility; it even has a misleading aura of invincibility. Maybe it is a result of the highly selective nature of the admission process. Be it the GMAT or the 2500 words of descriptive essays or the other intangible admission criteria of US B-Schools, it is designed to skim only the very top of a highly competitive applicant pool.
2. Surrounded by immensely successful people from astoundingly diverse backgrounds, the first few months of business school can be humbling, even intimidating at times. The popular career choices and the “cool” jobs invitingly dangle in front of you. The allure is irresistible.
3. Not everyone has their entire career figured out while at school. But everyone has immediate aspirations, which in bad economic times may seem unattainable. You can use the time at b-school to test for yourself if conviction can conquer the need to compromise, if the extra mile is better than diversion. Recession or boom, I feel that this is my most important lesson, as valuable to me as my Wharton diploma.
4. Business school seldom prepares one for failure, or for uncertainties. In fact for the risk averse, it is a rather expensive insurance against uncertainty.

Do read the post completely at http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2010/08/combating-compromise-reflection-on.html

Good Luck!!!

Disclaimer: In any form, the identities of Mr. X and Company Y will not be disclosed and if found any similarity by anyone referring to any person, will the responsibility of that person only and it will just be an co-incidental for me.

Haas Business School Webinar

Accepted.com brings to you yet another great webinar. A chat with Haas’s Senior Associate Director, Stephanie Fujii.

Day: Wednesday

Time: 10.00 AM – 11.00 AM PST

Date: 25 August, 2010

Thanks Linda for such a great opportunity.

A Brief about the session: Stephanie Fujii, UC Berkeley Haas’s Senior Associate Director of MBA Admissions, will participate in this  Q&A devoted to Berkeley’s MBA admissions policies, program, and student life. Haas’s mantra of leading through innovation is appropriate for a top MBA program located in a hotbed of technological innovation and entrepreneurship. If you are applying to Haas, this is an outstanding opportunity to ask all your questions about this innovative, entrepreneurial program.

Registration Link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/969899323

Upcoming Webinar on School Choice, Quick Start Essays & Killer Recommendations

With the tremendous success of  ”B-School Despite Odds” webinar, “The Art of Applying” is proud to bring to you another webinar on 8/26 titled “School Choice, Quick-Start Essays, & Killer Recommendations”.

YOU CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WEBINAR SERIES: http://theartofapplying.com/bdo/join/

A detailed de-brief on the earlier webinar has been covered earlier at http://mbadreamz.wordpress.com/2010/07/10/de-brief-of-kaneisas-webinar/

MBADreamz has been fortunate enough to bring exclusive interview of Kaneisha for its readers earlier at http://mbadreamz.wordpress.com/2010/07/27/interview-of-kaneisha-from-artofapplying/

Letter of Recommendation – Waive of Right

Recently, when I was about to send the links to my recommenders, I observed a peculiar question. I never heard of this right earlier. The right says,

Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, enrolled students have access to their education record, including letters of recommendation. However, students may waive their right to see letters of evaluation, in which case the letters will be held in confidence.

And The question is:

Do you wish to waive your right to examine this letter of recommendation?

What am I supposed to do? I did some online search and then thought about it. Both sides have equivalent pros and cons. But let us consider from scratch. How do you choose your recommenders and why do you choose them only? You might think that the question is irrelevant here. At first instance, even I felt so but then on a little thought, I realized that the most prominent reason of opting for a certain recommender is the trust and belief that he knows me well and he is going to project my candidacy in the best possible way possible. So, why not then give him/her a complete free hand and provide him/her the details he asks for when needed. I feel not waiving this right, might put a doubt on the trust you have on your recommenders and trust me when I say that when people start thinking, then the weight could fall in any direction. It may be possible the doubt can jeopardize your chances because a distraction is a distraction no matter what.

On the other hand, you might never know what your recommender wrote about you unless of course, he chooses to share the essays before/after submission.

Hence, it is not less than a CATCH 22 situation but still somehow I feel waving this right gives my recommenders to think openly and freely and therefore, I opted to waive my right.

What is your take on this? Do share your views for the benefit of the community and all other aspirants.

Some of the links that I found useful in this regard are:

http://www.beatthegmat.com/letter-of-recommendation-waive-of-right-t48147.html

http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/recommendation-question-t1755.html

And yes, with this my application process has begun, Wish me Luck

Are you a career changer?

If your answers is YES to the blog post question, then I recommend you to kindly attend this webinar strongly.

http://info.accepted.com/mba/careerchange

Organizer: Accepted.com

Date: August 18

Day: Wednesday

Time: 10 AM PT/ 1 PM ET.

I have myself attended quite a few webinars of Accepted.com and I must say they are really good and I, highly, recommend them. In fact, Linda is one of the most enthusiastic and energetic consultants I have ever interacted with though I have not taken any professional essay guidance from her or her team.

Blog featured in ClearAdmit

This is going to be a quick short post. MBADreamz featured in ClearAdmit for its review post of Harvard Business School Guide.

Thanks again for the kind words, ClearAdmit and I, truly, feel the guide is a gem possession for me.

mbadreamz is now official blogger for TheArtofApplying

Sorry guys, I have been down with cold and fever for a week and had to postpone a lot of things. Anyways, the good thing is mbadreamz is now official blogger for TheArtofApplying and I will be carrying various promotional events and webinars here.

The topic this time is: “School Choice, Quick-Start Essays, and Killer Recommendations.”

Unfortunately, we have put on hold the event after the cancellation of the webinar on August 12. Now, the event is going to be on August 26, 2010.

Link to Register:  http://theartofapplying.com/bdo/join

In case, you would like to have a look at the past seminar of TheArtofApplying, please feel free to visit http://bschoolodds.com/free-webinar