Interview of Kaneisha from ArtofApplying

Hey folks, how are you doing? Today I bring you someone special for a guest post. Well, not exactly a guest post but an interview of hers: Kaneisha Grayson. Some of you might have noticed her in few of my posts earlier sometime: a notification post followed by a debrief about her webinar that I attended. Apparently, we felt she got good amount of publicity through this blog and hence, we decided to do a quick post about her and her aspirations. She is really kind enough to give a short interview for my blog. In past few days, I have come in contact with Kaneisha and I can tell you that she is really smart and can make wonders for you. She is an HBS alumni and has recently started a consulting firm, The Art of Applyin g. So, here we go with the interview:

1. For the benefit of readers, can you give us a summary of your background? Education, current job, previous jobs, interests, etc

Kaneisha: graduated from Pomona College in Claremont, California in 2006, lived in Ghana for a year as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, and then went on to earn my MBA & MPA from Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School. My current full-time job is running The Art of Applying, my essay and career coaching company. I call myself a lifestyle entrepreneur, because my main goal is to use my gifts, skills, and talents to work for myself, provide a valuable service to people, and maintain the income and autonomy over my time that I desire. I don’t hope to grow this business into a huge company. I want to stay nimble, flexible, and responsive to the needs of my life and my customers.

2. You run a popular blog:crazygirlnations. What inspired you to start “artofapplying”?

Kaneisha: I started The Art of Applying so that I could finally start getting paid to do what I had been doing for years for free!

3. You went to HBS for business school. Can you tell us why you chose HBS?

Kaniesha: I knew since I was a senior in high school that I wanted to go to Harvard not for college but for graduate school. It was the summer before my senior year of college that I realized I wanted to go to Harvard to study policy and business.

4. What sparked your interest in MBA consultancy as a career? Can you tell us about your entrepreneurial experience with the artofapplying?

Kaneisha: It was a very natural transition. I had been coaching my friends and classmates into competitive schools and programs for years before I ever got paid to do it. Last summer, I held a free conference call about the Harvard MBA/MPP joint degree, and I got my first major client shortly after that. Once I realized how much I enjoyed coaching people–as well as how effective I was–I decided to give it a try. I fleshed out the concept initially in an HBS class called Managing Service Operations. Then I wrote the full business plan when the HBS Entrepreneurship Center announced that students could get a $10,000 grant for submitting a business plan for a venture they planned to start post-graduation. Once I received the grant, I knew I was truly going to pursue the entrepreneurial path.

5. How different it would have been if artofapplying would not have happened?

Kaniesha: If I had not started this company, I’m not sure what I would be doing. I love working for myself, so I probably would have found another way to do that!

6. What do you think are the most important lessons you took away from HBS?

Kaneisha: Even if you don’t have all the time, money, or information that you’d like, sometimes you have to sit down with what you do have, make a decision and move forward. That’s what we do everyday when we use the case method to learn. I’ve realized that this is a principle you live by in business. You’d always like more money, more time, more clarify about what you should be doing, but you have to analyze what’s in front of you and then act.

7. I know this question is huge for readers, and you seem as well-placed to answer it as anyone: what would you say is the single most important thing one must keep in mind while applying to a business school?

Kaniesha: Be your authentic self and not who you think Admissions Committees want you to be.

8. Any personalized tips for readers applying to HBS,in particular?

Kaniesha: Don’t recycle essays you’ve written for other schools for HBS.

9. Any last words of advice to prospective applicants?

Kaniesha: Make sure you apply to at least two dream schools. Sometimes, it’s better to be a dreamer than to be so realistic as to clip your own wings. It breaks my heart to hear about people who really wanted to go to HBS or some other top school and didn’t apply because they didn’t think they’d get in. Don’t take yourself out of the game by your preconceptions of what they are looking for! You might be just what they need to make the class whole.

10. How should readers get in touch with you?

Kaniesha: Go to the contact page on my website: 
http://theartofapplying.com/contact/

PS: The interview was done via email communication and I declare that all the answers were as Kaneisha emailed to me.

ISB Information Session

I attended ISB Information Session today at Bangalore. The event was at 3 pm in ITC Windsor Hotel, Bangalore. I was along with two friends, all of us reached 20 min late as we kept on roaming around the area looking out for the venue.

Quick De-brief and thoughts:

1. ISB is definitely great. One cannot get the niche field career prospects like VC/PE or alike. As such, India is not so good on all such areas and we need time to catch up on all this. So, I hope to get armored at ISB to jump and contribute to the niche areas.
2. ISB is an amazing place for career switchers: 1 yr course and choose general specializations like finance, entrepreneurship, etc.
3. ISB is a PGP program and is well recognized globally.
4. I feel what I like the most with ISB is YLP. It is an amazing initiative, especially for people like me with great aspirations. (YLP is Young Leadership Program where companies like HSBC targets specific individuals to groom them accordingly for its leadership role). YLP is a completely recruitment initiative though I, personally, feel that it would have done wonders had it been part of curriculum.
5. Close to 40% people have IT background and they end up choosing some other career as the outgoing IT share is close to 17%, if I remember correctly.
6. Retail and Healthcare are two industries that is gaining momentum in placement segment.
7. GMAT range has been 600-780. So, do apply.
8. Nice Electives are available and so does Exchange Programs. Check the website for details.
9. For choosing electives, you are given 4000 points, you choose your electives and bid accordingly. Electives are bidden for your points.
10. Companies like Google and MS are favorites of ISB for Product Managers and so does BCG and McKinsey for Consultants. Majority of the people choose consultancy as their careers.
11. Choose your 2 recommender from your workplace, preferably.
12. 20% of the class in re-applicants – a stunning figure but it clearly shows that ISB values re-applicants.
13. Placement Season begins with international placements in October and Domestic from Jan. Now, here is what is a big question mark: one starts his season in April and then placement in October. How well can one justify his interest and company with his own capability and aspirations. Personally, I feel it is a big deal especially when goes to ISB not prepared what he/she wants to do with his MBA. So, have strong goals and be focussed. Do your ground study, build your basics before you start attending the classes at ISB.
14. Special Case 1: A lady gynecologist doctor chose to do her MBA at the age of 52. So age no bar. Amazing excpetional case.
15. Special Case 2: If I remember correctly, the guy name was Shankar. Topper of ISB batch, 2nd rank IIT-JEEcame to ISB with 9+ yrs of experience. McKinsey offered him Manager+ role with a package of 32L+ INR. He choose to start as an associate. Today he is earning in crores. Now, why I like this example is that one choose to learn over money and trust me, I feel long term goal is what matters the most.
16. Average Salary package for 80% people is 12L-22L. Now, I am pretty close to this range but then I feel MBA will make the difference because I know I can make the difference with an MBA. I definitely don’t mean in the salary rather the difference that I am talking about can only be seen in long term.
17. Yeah Beer Parties on Thursday and Friday. Lets go party every week, is the motto inside the campus. I feel that it should be that way. Work hard and party harder.

Overall, I feel ISB, ranked 12th globally by FT, is a great place if someone like me who has entrepreneurial pursuits and want to stay in India making decent money and doing what I am good at. So, my plan for ISB. I will be applying for R2. I have a very close friend, passing out from ISB in the past. Meanwhile, I am going to visit ISB next month. Go and stay in the campus for one day and night and feel the experience. I have yet another trump card for ISB, which I will disclose later sometime.

Articles and Some Updates

This post is primarily to pass two great articles I came across recently. Sorry guys for keeping the posts short now a days but I am really struggling very hard to keep the ends meet and going. Applying to a B-School is not a game, trust me on that. You got to do your job right: Researching Schools, talking to your recommender and convincing him/her, networking, attending webinars, preparing for GMAT, keep your passions and interests going and writing essays. All this on the top of your day job. Its definitely not a joke and I understand that completely now. Okay, the articles first:

1. This article discusses the importance of Work Experience and GMAT/GPA with respective to B-School and applicants’ perspective. The article is short and worth reading. As per the author, the bottom line is: “students excelling in the program do not necessarily have tremendous work experience, but they do express commitment to the program, willingness to learn and the desire to succeed” – MUST REMEMBER ALWAYS, my personal take.
2. This article is a audio podcast at Stanford GSB (I did not have to repeat myself how Stanford GSB is close to my heart; Readers who have been reading my blog might have already known that) and is directed at addressing Visa Formalities to work in USA, especially if you, like me, are keen to work in a start-up after your MBA. Again, a MUST for all INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS.

Okay, now personal updates:

1. My Senior Director visiting schedule is confirmed now and I am all set to take my GMAT date in a day or two. Will definitely wind it up in coming 15-20 days time period.
2. I talked to my Supervisor for his recommendation yesterday and as expected, he is very supportive and somehow, I feel he has a lot of confidence on me on my candidature. Thanks MH. Additionally, he appreciated my top 4 school choices and as already an MBA from a top B-School of USA, appreciated my top choices of b-schools as he felt the schools are perfectly in alignment with my post MBA goals and career aspirations. In fact, he felt that they are the perfect match. So, I guess I am in the right path. It did not surprise me when he mentioned that somehow he felt this coming from me sometime and honestly, this is one guy I have admired and looked forward very passionately in my firm. I feel really luck to have worked under him. I am going to talk to my second recommender this week and close the deal by the end of this week with a peer recommendation too.
3. I have started with my b-school essays. As I finish my first one, I felt I am finding it difficult to trim my essays to the word-limit and hence, decided to approach my father and a friend to help in the process. Of course, they are my sole choice of reviewers also. I feel that probably I am getting a little bit biased while trimming the essays because it is my story.

Do tell me guys, whats going on with you too. Lets enjoy this wonderful journey and hopefully, all of us will have our dreams come true

PS: I feel going forward, I will have more frequent but short updates and sometimes, elaborate on requests and time. I hope all of you understand the need of the hour. Additionally, I am updating my ABOUT page to setup few ground rules on that type of questions I will not answer till I get an admit, probably. So, please try to refrain yourselves from such questions.

More Webinars Lined up…

Okay, will keep it real short and sweet. Terribly busy and running short of time. Two quick updates:

1. MIT Sloan MBA information Session is lined up today (Jul 14, 2010 2PM ET). Kindly check the website page for details.

2. Do reserve a spot for a free consultancy with Accepted.com for Jul 22 between 1pm-3pm PST. Check here for details. Th is is a golden opportunity to get your resume reviewed and get a 1-1 consultancy without any cost to discuss your admission strategies. So Hurry up, guys.

De-Brief of Kaneisa’s webinar

As mentioned to you earlier, I attended the webinar of Kaneisha on July 8.  I did logged in bit late. It was 5.30 am Indian Standard Time and I am not a kind of early morning bird but still managed to get in 10 min late. The webinar was very informative and as expected, Kaneisha was at her best. Here are my quick few takes from the webinar:

About Kaneisha:

1. Seems to be an amazing girl: very good at speaking. I exchanged few emails with her and she is just terrific. I, highly, recommend her and her style.
2. Seems to have complete control and knowledge of the MBA application process: was visible from her preparation of the webinar and approach.
3. An interesting person to me with a helping nature, similar to what I found in my friendship with Marquis.

About the webinar:

1. Very well planned.
2. Very well organized.
3. Nice usage of color and theme of presentation, considering this is her first webinar, though I am sure she would have done numerous such presentations in HBS. perfect start.

Some take-aways from the webinar:

1. Don’t dwell upon GMAT too much. she mentioned how one of her client got admitted to Kellogg despite a score of 640.
2. Concentrate on your essay and always bring the best of yourself in your essays.
3. See if you can get some alumni to review your essay, if possible.
4. Networking is the key. I, too, feel the same but sometimes take networking to another level because that’s where it gets interesting.
5. If you have done 3 attempts to the GMAT and did not get your desired score, either work hard on your essays or move on to GRE.
6. A special webinar for Indian MBAs in planning. Visit
   http://bit.ly/IndianMBAGuys
   for details. Will highly recommend for all my Indian Readers. Do go and register for this special webinar by Kaneisha right-away.
7. Kaneisha announced two packages: individual, where she is going to work on the essays on individual basis and guide the clients thorugh each process, and a group-based, where she is going to address the concerns in a group. Kaneisha has still not updated her payment mechanisms right on her website but one can look forward to her packages at
   http://theartofapplying.com/services/packages/
   . The group program details are at
   http://theartofapplying.com/bdo/join/
   
8. No matter whether you are from traditional or non-traditional background, believe in yourself and your stories in your essays.
9. Last but most important, irrespective of any webinar, always be look out for information. I got one amazing information for my HBS essay, will keep it a secret for my essay. but again this is one of my take-away from the webinar.

Contact Kaniesha at
http://theartofapplying.com/contact/
or follow her on twitter at
http://twitter.com/kaneishad

Good Luck Kaniesha for your venture. I feel it was a perfect start and I look forward to interact with you more in future.

Top 8 Essay Mistakes by Stanford GSB

Hi Guys, there is a very nice blog post from Stanford GSB, my favorite b-school. I feel all of us make these mistakes as we apply to various b-schools hurriedly. The key points of the tips are:

1. Not making Essay B specific to the GSB.
2. Choosing a topic for Essay 3A, B, C, or D that is NOT within 3 years.
3. Combining your 2 essay C’s into 1 essay.
4. Cutting and pasting your essays from essays you’ve written for other schools. You risk not answering the question we’re asking…and big risk of leaving the name of the other school in your Stanford essay!
5. Writing what you think we want to hear, instead of what you genuinely want us to know about you. Be yourself…corny but true!
6. Single-spacing your essays. Please double space–our readers are reading hundreds of applications.
7. Using too small of a font on your essays. Please use 12-point font. Remember, our readers’ eyes!
8. Using an alternate font for essays. Use one of the recommended fonts: Arial, Courier, and Times New Roman to avoid legibility problems when your essays are downloaded on our end.

So , keep these tips on your tips when you are applying to b-schools.

Source:
http://www.stanford.edu/group/mba/blog/2010/07/top_8_mistakes_applicants_make.html

Free Webinar on Selecting B-Schools: Adcoms from Haas, Ross

Oh Yeah Guys, for all those interested in either the topic or the b-schools: Haas and Ross, mbaMission brings to you a golden opportunity for a free webinar on Jul 21, 2010.

The recent post of mbaMission calls for participants to register themselves at
http://www.manhattangmat.com/EventShow.cfm?EID=3&eventID=5997
:

********************************************************************************************************************************

Join us for the special session of our B-School selection workshop with special guests from the University of Michigan Ross Business School and the University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business!

Jeremy Shinewald, Founder and President of mbaMission, will help prospective MBAs understand the differences that exist among top MBA programs. Jeremy will elaborate on areas that will profoundly affect your academic and social lives in b-school including flexibility of a program’s curriculum, breadth of core courses, different methods of instruction, varying sizes of the cohorts and more. Our special guests from the admissions offices of the University of Michigan Ross Business School and UC Berkeley Haas School of business will discuss these elements as they pertain to their programs. Start preparing now so you can be sure to make an educated decision when you apply!

There will be a Q&A session after the presentation to discuss your own personal inquiries.

Join us for this valuable event that will be essential to your B-School planning!

*********************************************************************************************************************************

Additionally, there are some cool take-away for each participant:

• $100 off any 9-session ManhattanGMAT course
• Free access to a ManhattanGMAT computer adaptive practice exam
• Free half hour consultation with an mbaMission consultant

Sounds Cool? What are waiting for. I am attending and I hope to see you at the seminar. And yes, both Ross and Haas are currently in my prospective list of B-Schools and 99% they are going to stick there, itself.

Upcoming Webinar: B-School Despite the Odds by Kaneisha Grayson

Hi Guys, Recently, I received a promotion offer through a forwarded email from my friend, Marquis Parker. People who have been reading my blog for sometime do know Marquis Parker and his blog. In fact, anyone serious about his MBA would have definitely heard him at some moment of time. Anyways, this post is all about an upcoming Webinar on “B-School Despite Odds” by Kaneisha Grayson. Kaneisha is a 2010 graduate of Harvard Business School and has jumped into her Entrepreneurial pursuits after winning $10K grant from Harvard Business School Rock Center for Entrepreneurship. You can find details about her here and you can also follow her at twitter too. The webinar details are at this page. I am going to attend this webinar and I would strongly recommend everyone reading this post. Do refer my name or blog when you choose to register (would help me build my reputation, you know ).

Timing of the Webinar: Thursday, July-08-2010, 5.15 PM PST

Register for the event at 
http://theartofapplying.com/2010/07/b-school-odds-webinar/

I will definitely be posting a debrief about the webinar later. Watch out for it.

Season starts hard way

Yeah, I did not get through the Reliance Fellowship but never mind, I am still gonna apply because deep in my heart, I know how I feel about Stanford GSB. I could still not forget the time when I was working on the roads o f the university in 2008 without a slightest hint that I will be pursuing Stanford so hard in future. Anyways, GMAT is down the line this month. It is going to be my final attempt and irrespective of the score, I am going to apply to my schools.

The application decision window said:

====================================================================================================

Thank you for submitting your application for the Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship. It is gratifying to see your interest in earning an MBA from Stanford and contributing your talents to the future of India.

We regret that we cannot invite you to continue as a finalist in the program.

We reviewed all applications on the basis of merit, commitment to India, and financial need. The number of qualified applicants far exceeds the number of Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship finalists we can name.

You still may submit an application to the Stanford MBA Program. The criteria used to evaluate applicants during the first stage of the fellowship process are not the same as the criteria for admission to the Stanford MBA Program. If you choose to apply to the Stanford MBA Program, you will receive the same consideration as all other applicants, without regard to the fact that you applied for the Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship. Stanford likely will offer admission to a number of Indian students who applied but, for various reasons, were not eligible for the Fellowship; need-based financial aid is available to all candidates admitted to Stanford.

The application for the Stanford MBA Class of 2013 is available atwww.gsb.stanford.edu/mba/apply. Please visit www.gsb.stanford.edu/mba/admission/ to learn more about the admission process.

We are sorry that we could not bring you better news regarding your Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship application. We hope you will learn more about the Stanford Graduate School of Business and that you will apply to join the MBA Class of 2013.

Sincerely,

Stanford MBA Admissions Office
Reliance Industries, Ltd.

====================================================================================================

If I have to re-evaluate my application, the only thing that I see as an obstacle to my candidature is my well-paid job at an MNC. No doubt, it is comparable to some of the fresh graduates of IIMs. Not a problem, but atleast Stanford should have mentioned the criteria for rejection to be the financial need. Now, I am in a fix whether I missed anything in my essay. So, terrible confused feeling. Anyways, good thing is that I am still eligible for financial aid in case I get an admit from Stanford GSB, which I feel I will.

Keeping fingers crossed. I have started working on my GSB essays, in fact. The resume is kind of ready after various round of reviews from friends. I have asked my friend, Marquis Parker, to have a blog post as how an IT applicant can prepare resume for MBA applicantions. His insights into my resume was very thoughtful and of great help in getting the 1-page that I see today. So, do look out for his upcoming post. I will definitely write about it here whenever the post is up.

Lastly, Imy few words to Stanford GSB: Look out for my essays and let us talk because this is the only way you can know me and I am sure you are going to love me more than in fact I love you.

Attacking MBA Applications Kung-Fu Panda Style

My Aplogies guys but I have been terribly busy with some work. As promised earlier, here goes the post of looking this admission season in kung-fu panda style.

If a giant panda can become a mighty kung fu warrior – so could you. Not kung fu warrior, but whatever — ballet dancer, arctic explorer or investment banker.I can already hear you say, “Hey, that happens only in the movies.” Well, yes and no.

Here are some definite takeaways from Kung Fu Panda for all those of you struggling with questions of what, where and how to steer your career.

Lesson # 1: If you want something badly enough, you get it somehow.

Po the panda wanted to be a kung fu warrior really really badly. He followed every kung fu teacher, every battle, every hero there ever was. The chap was a walking Kung Fu Encyclopedia!

And of course, he dreamt about kung fu too. Ask yourself — do you care about something in your life that strongly? If you do, it will be yours one day. So, if you want to be in a B-School, you will definitely get an admit. Don’t stop believing in yourself irrespective of your performance in GMAT.

Lesson # 2: It could take a while but you’ll get there.

If you believe Lesson # 1, the next question is ‘how’? Now sometimes you may get there the straight and easy way. The way to be a kung fu warrior is to train under a great Master, right?

Well, Po got the job another way. He bumbled and tumbled up the mountain and finally literally ‘dropped in from the sky’. Master Oogway then pronounced: “He is the one, the great Dragon Warrior”. To everybody’s surprise!

In real life there aren’t enough Oogways who can see a diamond in the coal; a kung fu champion in a blubbering mass of fat. But how many of you have struggled like the panda to even get to that mountain top where there may be a Master waiting for you? S, did you take the pain to do whatever to make your admit to your dream b-school true? This situation will make more sense to the case of re-applicants.

Lesson # 3: ‘A peach tree will blossom into a peach tree. It can’t become an apple tree…’ -- Master Oogway

Why many of us come to grief is we don’t know ‘who we are’. Are we a peach tree, or a jasmine tree or a cactus? Every one of those is beautiful and useful in its own way. No one is ‘superior’ to the other.

Yet, in life, many of us believe that we must all be peach trees, ie MBAs and engineers. The aroma of the jasmine is lost to the world and all we have is peach, peach and more peach (fruity burp!). The point here is if you work hard to plant right seeds of aspirations and dreams and your tree will definitelt be that dream. Talk to alumni, students and connect with b-schools in whatever way possible and the results could be an admit to your dream b-school.

Lesson # 4: ‘There are no accidents in life…’ – Master Shifu

Yup, the fact that you did not make it to the HBS or Wharton or had luck dating that cute chick on the second floor – this is the way it was meant to be.

Think about Steve Jobs being forced to exit his own company in 1985. He went through hell but was forced to think of new ideas, new directions. It led to the creation of Pixar and a whole new kind of animation. And ultimately, he went back to Apple with iTunes and iPod.

Could he have done all this had he never left Apple? I don’t know. But I think greatness is born more out of adversity than in nice hot bathtubs.

Hold on to your dreams. Everything in life is destined. Believe in your dreams and trust your destiny.

Lesson # 5: There is no secret ingredient in the secret ingredient soup.

And this is especially relevant at a time when we are all on the quest for the Holy Grail. We believe that joining the right college, the right course or the right company is the secret ingredient that will spice up our soup — our careers, our lives.

The truth is, it’s all about what you believe. The moment you join HBS or Stanford you start believing,”Hey, I am really, really good”. You get the confidence to take on the world, the chutzpah to say,”The world is my oyster”.

Clearing those super tough exams is like running a lawnmower through your own mental garden. It crushes the weeds of self doubt and self pity which we’ve allowed to grow. Exam or no exam, you can choose to yank out those weeds. Then look the guys who think they know better in the eye and declare,”My soup is as kick-ass as yours.”

The same applies to your application. Research yourself. Find your fit to your dream b-school. Connect the bridge with your passion and aspirations. I am not an expert but I, strongly, believe there is no secret other than this approach to attack your essays.

Putting it in practice
Okay, try practicing and I wish all of you a very best of Luck in your applications.

PS: Do wish me luck back too!!! I may sound selfish but an admit is equally important for me as it is to you.