Happy Thanksgiving :-)

Wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. Belated but it was there and I did not want to miss out this opportunity.

I started my journey on this blog when I started my journey to pursue an MBA. After that it was on and off but I was sure I am going to do this. Nevertheless, this post is not about me. Its about you, guys.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone:

My Readers: You are the best. Without you, I would not have come this far. Thank you again. I would also request request all my silent users to speak and regular readers to speak more and let me know how I can help you out guys.

My special friends: Marquis Parker and Kaneisha Grayson. Thanks a lot, Marquis. Without you, this journey was very tough for me. Hopefully, I am going to fly to Chicago one day to meet you in person soon . Let me tell you, I can’t wait to do so. Thanks Kaneisha for your kind words and help. You are always sweet. may The Art of Applying reach the heights you have dreamed of.

MBA Consultants: ClearAdmit, Accepted.com, especially Linda Abraham, Beat the GMAT, special mentione to Eric Bahn and David Park and of course, Art of Applying, you guys are amazing and I would like to thank you for featuring me time and again in your blogs. I would also like to thank you all for recognizing my small tiny contributions to this MBA blogging community by giving me precious moments, some of which I shared on the blog back again.

Finally, last but not the least, Hella. I remember that the first time I mentioned you on my blog, I referred you as “SHE” and you corrected me by your comment. You were one of the first persons to comment on this blog, Hella. Thanks Hella for including me in your database, without which I would have never been able to reach such nice people in my life, some of whom have become my life-long friends now

To everyone, we might have problems in our lives. We might be tensed about what is going to happen to our applications. Some of us might be worried about our GMAT preparations. Honestly, I know how it feels because I am in the exactly same state. But still, I would like to urge all of you to take some time off, go back to your friends and families and ENJOY!!! Thank GOD for this wonderful LIFE, thank your friends and families without whom we would be as lonely as the only person on this planet. Because what one can do has been done and now only we can do is believe in ourselves, in our applications and hope things work out. May all of our Dreams come true

Happy Thanksgiving Again, Guys!!!

Shout out for Marquis and Kaneisha

Okay, for the first time two of my great friends, Marquis and Kaniesha, came together for the first time. Both of these people are very special to me and I, really, treasure their friendships. So, without much delay, here is link of the post where Marquis interviewed Kaneisha on his conversation series blogs.

http://www.marquisparker.com/2010/11/conversation-with-kaneisha-grayson-founder-of-the-art-of-applying/

Ohh yes, thank you Kaneisha for shouting out for me in the interview. I, really, appreciate it

A Short Profile of MBA Crystal Ball

Well, this is a special post. Sameer is the founder of MBA Crystal Ball, the company that assists Indian applicants applying for MBA. Initially, I thought they are ISB-specific but later on interacting with Sameer over email and knowing about him, I realized they are lot more., So here is a short introduction of Sameer and about his initiative, MBA Crystal Ball. Hope you guys love reading about some cool guys and their initiatives. I wish Sameer and the whole MBA Crystal Ball team a very best of Luck in their initiative.

About Sameer:

I’m a Cambridge MBA grad (got a double scholarship there) working in the area of Mergers & Acquisitions and Strategy Consulting. I’ll be moving out of the corporate world to focus full time on my MBA consulting intiative. My pre-MBA experience was in IT. So it was the usual IT/Male/Indian story with all the big challenges that come with such a profile.

While working on my MBA application I struggled a lot in terms getting access to the right data, the right process, the right approach. And there was very little I could do about it then as everyone in the media was hyping up the MBA without talking about the other side of the story. So it was difficult to build a complete picture of what I was getting into. The professionals (the real good ones that I was aware of) active in this field were all located outside India and their sky high fees made it impractical to even consider hiring them for help. So I went about the process the hard way, like most Indian candidates still do.

I thought it was unfair that Indian candidates, despite the potential, were not able to approach the extremely competitive international admissions in the right manner, while others who were earning in dollars could approach experts and strengthen their application further.

So I started MBA Crystal Ball to make it a level playing field as far as possible for at least the guys we work with. Most of the candidates we work with have excellent credentials (many IITians and those with fantastic corporate experience). But they also have a big huge question marks about the approach as they just don’t know how and what to present in their applications. Our undergrad education doesn’t train us to address the introspective (almost philosophical) topics that Bschools ask for.

We have been able to reach out to many Indian candidates out there and make a positive difference to their efforts (several success stories and testimonials). But we know there are many more who can benefit. So that’s our focus for now.

The vision for MBA Crystal Ball is to see many more deserving Indians the opportunities that currently seem out of reach. As I keep saying, Indians have spent a very long time in technical roles within India and outside. It’s time for us to start moving up the value chain – in business roles and in the board rooms. Deeper down, I also hope some of them will come back to India, if not immediately after graduation, then after a few years. It’ll be good if they can divert some of the efforts to stimulate our own economy.

Short profile overview of MBA Crystal Ball:

http://www.mbacrystalball.com/mba-consultant-profiles.html

• On the highly competitive Businessweek forums (where new consultants come and disappear overnight), we are currently the most popular non-American team. The USP of our advisory posts tends to be the level of detail we get into for each candidate. For regular (read commercially driven) consultants, it becomes impractical to devote so much time for free advice.
• In an area where clients usually shy away from admitting any relationship with the consulting team, many of our clients (friends now, actually) have been pretty vocal about their thoughts: http://www.facebook.com/pages/MBA-Crystal-Ball/119871008039664 So we haven’t spent a single paisa on paid advertising. Most of it happens by word-of-mouth.
• MCB might be the only Indian admissions consulting team to have its products sold by international consultants. Usually it works the other way around, bigger International teams sell their products to us. Apart from our partnerships in the US, we recently tied up with a leading consulting team in Russia.  http://www.mbaconsult.ru/ru/Partners_News/detail.php?ID=515744
• We recently got interviewed by a top international MBA focussed site as they were working on an article about international consultants who are making a splash in a niche industry. But for reasons that aren’t entirely clear to me (and I’ve resisted the temptation to read between the lines) the article got shelved at the last minute. Btw, it was a very well-written article by a US-based journalist who’s been writing for the best known business magazines.

Disclaimer: I have personally not used their service. Just that my interactions with Sameer have been very good that I agreed to promote them through my blog.

Kaneisha’s Word Count Weight Loss Program

Join us for a FREE Webinar on November 17 Space is limited to 100 people. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: http://bit.ly/a7cIr0 I am going to do what no other admissions consultant HAS done and probably ever WILL do. I am going to show you LIVE how I edit my clients’ wordy essays and get them to fit in the word count. Like a magician, I am going to blindly take an essay I have never seen before and edit it down to the appropriate word count.  I will also share easy tips and strategies for writing more concisely and getting rid of the fat in your essays! Title: Kaneisha’s Word Count Weight Loss Program Date: Wednesday, November 17, 2010 Time: 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM PST After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

What is Live Editing? Well, I take this opportunity to fulfill my long outstanding promise to Kaneisha. Here is a brief summary about my personal encounter with Kaneisha from “The Art of Applying”. She edited one of my essays and I really saw the Magic she claims to have. Please don’t take this post otherwise. I am not writing this post just to show how magical is Kaneisha with her essay editing skills but because I have myself witnessed the MAGIC happening. Yes, you heard it right. She is a true magician.

Two days prior to our scheduled call, she asked my essay that has to be edited. We started with a small chit-chat because even though we had interacted a lot through emails, this was the first time we were talking to each other. She pulled up my essay from her email and what happened after that was a magic.

She opened my essay and started editing it online via skype. Yes, you heard it right. I could witness all the action on skype. She quickly went through the whole essay and began asking me questions wherever she felt there was a logical gap in the flow of the story. Gradually, she filled in the gaps. What amazed me here was not only her editing skills but her eye for details which could fill in the gaps in the thought flow.

Once, we were ready, we decided to fine-tune the contents and form more concrete sentences and making grammatical corrections, wherever appropriate. After every round of edit, she went on to check the word count. And ask, would you like to add something. And trust me, most of time, I was able to add something substantial. Every time she was calm and patient, then take my input, accommodate it and a re-run through the essay. After two such rounds, she was exactly at the exact word count. I was stunned by her intuition.

One thing that you will notice while working with her is: “Hey, don’t worry about the word count. Leave that to me and give me as much details as you can.” Honestly I, too, felt the same. The more details one gives to his reviewers, the more good the essays finally take shape.

So, what are waiting for, go and register yourself for the webinar and see the magician playing her tricks and mesmerize you with her magic live.

I apologize but I will not be available on Wednesday as I am traveling but I am sure you are going to feel the same way as I felt. Good Luck and Enjoy

Golden Opportunity for Exclusive MilestoMBA Readers

Hello All,

As mentioned in my earlier post, here I offer you 4 giveaway prizes (I had five but my brother took one): Premium Account for BTG Practice Questions. 700+ questions of $99 worth, all free for the first 4  people who comment on this post. Do leave your email id to which I can communicate you the details.

Thanks Eric Bahn and the whole BeatTheGMAT for the offers. BTG has always been very generous Keep your great work going…

BeatTheGMAT New Practice Questions Review

Thanks Eric for such a wonderful opportunity to review the new set of questions that BTG is planning to release today. Honestly, at the very outset, let me confess that I could not devote ample time to look into all the 200 questions that were part of the review. I have been very busy juggling deadlines at work-place, applications and interview preparations. Somehow, I managed to go through some of the question sets and patterns. So, lets discuss starting from the dashboard:

Dashboard:

The Dashboard is very interactive. The first thing to point is the Summary chart that gives a comprehensive status of the questions you answered. It is divided into various criteria such as Questions Answered, Your Percent Correct, Average Percent Correct, Your Pace and Average Pace. Additionally, the factors are judged both as section wise (Quantitative/Verbal) and area wise (Quant-Data Sufficiency/Problem Solving and Verbal-Critical Reasoning/Reading Comprehension/Sentence Correction). So, one can judge the competency and improvement level as per the area itself.  Click on any are and you can revisit the question that you have answered and attempted.

The Dash board also allows to start either Quantitative Test/Verbal Test or a customized test. Personally, I liked the concept of customized test a lot. I can choose the areas that I want to test on. This format may be useful when I have covered one area of study and would like to build my competency. Both the Quantitative and Verbal sections have lot of exhaustive list of areas to cater to these needs.

Additionally, I feel the customized part caters to the needs of all GMAT takers. If one is confident of a good score, he can test his competency level set to 700+ only. If one is less confident, he can choose his level of competency or just go for the Adaptive mode of test. Isn’t it interesting?

Now, lets come to the question/answer section:

We have two options:

• Answer one question at a time: Suitable for people who are busy and not sure that they can sit for certain amount of time continuously w/o distraction. Ideal Scenarios could be office.
• Choose number of questions you want to answer and start the test. Useful to build the stamina gradually. Suitable for most of us because being out of college for substantial period of time, this is perfect way to start building the stamina for 4 hr duration real GMAT.

What is good here?

1. It records your time you take to answer the question and submit the answer. You can judge your performance relative to other users. Improve if you lag.
2. There is a text explanation to the answer.
3. Still not clear, look at the video explanation. Trust me when I say the video explanations are definitely better or at par with other trainers and you would definitely not miss the opportunity of being in a class and getting explained by an instructor. You have an instructor right with you always.
4. The “Your Result” Section shows the various parameters that might be useful for your own introspection: Difficulty Level, Your Pace and Average Pace. Work on the parameters, if you level goes into the RED color. Strive to be in the GREEN color always.
5. The “Question Details” Section gives the Title, Section, Subject parameters.
6. Please don’t forget to “Rate the Explanation” because that is how we at BTG, can improve on the quality of questions.
7. On a final note, I must say the questions are definitely of very high quality and resembles the REAL GMAT to a great extent. A must WIN-WIN situation for all those opting for the course.

Lets come to the final and most important part: The Review Section.

• You get to know all the details of the questions of each section that you have attempted and answered.
• Other than the available parameters such as your pace, average pace and other, one thing that sets the review page apart is the ability to choose your areas. For example, if you want to look into the questions that you have attempted in last 3 days since you finished studying the algebra, just look at your progress and competency level of algebra by setting appropriate filters.
• Still in doubt and want to reconsider coming back w.o forgetting about a question, “FLAG” it.

Overall, I feel BTG has done an amazing attempt to familiarize and assist students of GMAT in their preparation. No need of carrying books. Study anywhere any time with just a click away. I did not test the application over mobile but I feel it should be compatible too because from the technology point of view, I felt the application is very light and robust.

In the words of BTG, I feel happy to share some of the salient features of the product:

• More than 700 GMAT math/verbal practice questions.
• Every GMAT practice question features a video explanation for the given question, written/produced by a veteran GMAT instructor.
• Completely online practice – study at work or at home, without carrying book around.
• Ability to customize you prep based on subject area with just a few clicks.
• Performance reporting to identify your strengths, weaknesses on GMAT subject areas.
• Adaptive practice algorithm that mimics the real GMAT – the better you do, the harder the questions become in your practice session.
• 30-day Money-Back Guarantee if you’re not satisfied.

Now, the most important question: how much would it cost for me? Just $99 for 1 year access.

When is it going to go Live?: November 2nd, 2010.

What are you waiting for: Go immediately to http://practice.beatthegmat.com and register yourself.

Finally, I take this opportunity to thank Eric Bahn, the co-founder of BTG, for entrusting me and giving me an opportunity to review the practice questions. I, also, thank David Park who is now a very dear friend of mine and have been very supportive and helpful.

Surprise: Oh yes, there is a surprise. Do come back because Eric has assured me of some prizes to distribute in lieu of this review on the blog. So, watch out this space for more!!!

Shoutout for MarquisParker Special Giveaway

Hey guys, I am going to very short. This is a quick post to shout for my friend, Marquis Parker, who is offering 25 special discounted 30-day online course in association with Julian Gordon. I have myself registered for the ecourse and I would highly recommend to all of those out here who are seeking a career change. Details about the offer at the Marquis’s website here: http://www.marquisparker.com/2010/10/promotion-from-a-career-prep-resource-provider-for-registered-members-of-this-site/

Moreover, it is just a $1 course but I believe going by the interactions I had with Marquis and I have heard of Julian, the course is definitely worth of definitely in hundreds of dollars.

I assure that I would try my best to cover the course and then give a detailed feedback at my personal blog, the links of which I will post here.

Hope to see some of you there