MBADreamz-10K hits Milestone

Thanks for all the support and assistance. The blog hit the 10K mark since its inception . The journey has been very good till now and I hope you enjoyed reading my journey as much as I did in reality.

Thanks for all the readers who have supported me through my good and bad times. MBADreamz is an effort to share the information and my voyage to a B-School and no voyage is joyful and entertaining without enthusiastic people on board like my readers- you all.

A Special thanks to my friends, especially Marquis, who has been with me throughout.

Thanks to all the MBA consultancies-MBAMission, TheArtofApplying, BeattheGMAT, ClearAdmit and Accepted.com-for featuring my article from time to time and giving me a unique exposure. Thanks Hella, ClearAdmit and BeattheGMAT for thinking me worthy enough to be in your database. It could not have been possible without your support.

I vow to keep on writing, writing my story to a b-school and thereafter also, if at all I make it, which I am definitely hopeful of.

Let this community grow and stay as a closely knitted family just like the alumni of a school stay

The Updates…

Well, how have you been guys? Hope all of you are doing well. There are quite a lot of updates from my side. So, I am not going to go in details but with bullet them and share with you all.

1. I got promoted mid of last month, getting the fastest promotion in the batch of guys joining the organization around June-Sept 2007. Well, I am happy but at the same bit let down as the whole process took almost 6 months, which is quite surprising and discouraging being in the private sector. But, I am very satisfied with my performance.
2. My GMAT is round the corner with around 20 days more to go. I have been much occupied with its preparations and the life has really gone bit crazy with the company’s product release also almost at the same time.
3. I talked to my manager and communicated that I will be applying this season and seek his recommendation, to which he agreed without any hesitation. It was a real good sign, considering the fact that we are distant apart and are in two completely opposite different time zones.
4. I am almost there with my final list of first round of schools and I am happy with the overall mixture. Now, I am definitely inclined to Entrepreneurship and VC/PE Courses as that is target industry after my post-MBA and there has been no doubt in any form about the “ENTREPRENEURSHIP” in the long term goal. One thing that is very important for me while selecting the B-Schools is: How well I feel connected with the culture and academics of the school. A lot of top B-Schools do not feature in my lost due to my “feeling”. So, I am applying only to those schools that I feel I can fall in love with and can picture myself spending glorious 2 years of my life.
5. I have started working on my essays also but I am planning to hold them for some time now as the GMAT D-day is approaching fast.
6. As you remember, I won a book and got “Great Application Essays for Business School” by Paul Bodine couriered to me at my desk all for free. Thanks to Accepted.com and Twitter. As I am reading it, I am finding it very useful and self-revealing. As soon as I read it, I am going to post its review very soon.
7. I also got an ebook “Complete Start to Finish Guide” . Thanks to mbaMission and Twitter (again). Twitter is a great resource in all forms, if used judiciously.
8. I am trying to reach some alumni and current students to get some more detail insights about my schools and some of the responses were quite encouraging and motivating.
9. Well, I also registered for Stanford GSB admission event to be held in Bangalore on September 17 and the MBATour to be held on September 19-20. All prospective applicants can take it up because it will be a very good platform to interact and know about your schools. So, go and book your seats now if you have done it.

So, that’s it pretty much form my side. I am getting bit nervous and excited for my GMAT. The last two mocks that I took, I scored 680 and 670. I am yet to see that magical figure of 7xx. I hope that I would be able to make it. Verbal is bit annoying me, basically testing my patience. Let’s see. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Blog featured in Accepted Admissions

How is it going guys? Well, I am quite a bit free now from the office perspective now and planning to jump start my preparations strongly with mock tests every weekend. I am planning to take one test every week and spend some time analyzing them on the other day.  I am hopeful of a good fight here because GMAT is going to be a big blockade in my applications as I really suck in the tests. Lets hope for the best and I am going to update on the mock this weekend for your suggestions for improvement. So, keep visiting and suggesting for improvements.

The blog featured in the Accepted Admissions Almanac Blog on the perspective of “Inside Out” based on the blog-post.  I am happy that my perspective of looking into the applicatins was appreciated. So, look out for more details there in the link mentioned above.

Cool Quantitative tricks

Hey guys, lets look into some cool faster mathematics tricks, that we generally call as Vedic Mathematics. We will discuss some of them, which have application almost every time with examples.

Trick 1:  1/(<any_number>9) = ?

The condition here is the denominator ends with 9. Increase the digits preceding  by 1 and divide 1 with the result.

Example: 1/19 = Dividing 1 by 1+1=2 gives ) with remainder 1. Divide 10 by 2 gives 5. Dividing 5 gives 2 with 1 as remainder and so on. The final answer is thus formed with all the quotients, which in this case is .052 (up to 3 digits).

Trick 2: Multiplication with Base 10: Always remember that RHS has just the same number of the digits as the number of 0′s in the base.

Lets us multiply 13 * 17. 13 is +3 than 10. Similarly, 17 is +7 than 10.

13            +3

17            +7

——————————————————————

(13+7 or 17+3)20 | (+7*+3)21 = (20+2) | 1 = 221

——————————————————————

Trick 3: Multiplication with base 100:

Let us multiply 93 * 111

93                             -7

111                          +11

——————————————————————————–

(93+11 or 111-7) 104 |           -77 = (104-1) | (100-77) = 10323

———————————————————————————

Trick 4: Trick 2 and Trick 3 can be extended to any number with bases multiples of 10.

Trick 5: Multiplication with something half of multiple of 10.

For illustration, let us say 50 as the base and we are multiplying 41 * 41

41                          -9

41                        -9

————————————————————————————————-

(41 -9)32 | 81 = 16 | 81 = 1681.

————————————————————————————————-

Trick 6: Squaring

(Base is 10 here ) Square of 12 = (12+2)|(square of 2)= 14|4= 144.

(Base is 100) Square of 94 = (94-6) | (square of -6) = 88|36=8836

Trick 7: Multiply 2-digit number

ax+b and cx+d, where x =10. The result is (a*c)(x^2)|((a*d)+(b*c))x|(b*d)

21 * 43 = (2*4)|((2*3)+(1*4))|(1*3) = 8|10|3=(8+1)|0|3=903

Trick 8: Multiply 3-digit numbers

a(x^2)+bx+c and d(x^2)+ex+f, where x 10. The result is (a*d)(x^4)+((a*e)+(b*d))(x^3)+((a*f)+(b*e)+(c*d))(x^2)+((b*f)+(c*e))x+(c*f).

Trick 9: Squares of number ending in 5.

25 = (2*(2+1))|(square of 5)=(2*3)|25=625

55 = (5*6)|25 = 3025

The above mentioned 9 tricks should help in faster calculation in all competitive exams.

AWA 8

The German poet Goethe once wrote, “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.”

Goethe’s statement could probably apply to schools, government, social services, business, even to families-any place, really, where people interact with each other. Is Goethe just expressing pretty-sounding, idealistic nonsense, or does his idea have real-life capability?

Based on your experience, observation, or reading, please comment on the usefulness of Goethe’s statement as a realistic guide to human relationships.

 I believe that Goethe’s statement has far reach real-life applicability rather than just being an idealistic nonsense due to the following three reasons.

Firstly, interaction is the important key to the communication in today’s world. People interact almost 24 hrs. in a day from home to workplace to shopping malls. Treating the people as they are makes them realize their value and gives the pride of being an essential part of one’s life, which in turn, helps in doing their respective jobs happily. Imagine a family where the husband refuses to acknowledge the sacrifices of his wife to run his family better, sometimes at the cost of her career.

Secondly, treating people according to their capability makes them know their true worth and hidden talents. For example, Indian Bollywood star Govinda, was once a vendor seller selling vegetables while dancing and singing to the famous songs simultaneously. People used to enjoy his way of selling stuffs, unless a famous film director, eventually ending up as a top Bollywood actor and now a responsible MLA, spotted him.

Thirdly, treating people of what they are helps in creating a friendly environment. If one would respect a daily sweeper of his commitment to keep the roads clean, the sweeper will be satisfied that people around him respects him and worth of his job.

Therefore, for all the above said reasons, I agree that one should treat people of what they can be and what their importance is, which can eventually help in a calm and happy prosperous living environment.

AWA 7

The former secretary general of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjold wrote, “Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step: only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find his right road.”

While such a philosophy may be appropriate for the leader of the United Nations, it may not be an acceptable practice for ordinary individuals to follow as they go about their daily lives. What is your opinion? Support your position with illustrations from your observation, study, reading, or personal experience.

I believe that Dag Hammarskjold’s philosophy is true in all circumstances for all the people in their lives for the following three reasons.

Firstly, every people have certain dreams but very few actually dare to go to fulfill them. The people who follow their dreams change not only their life but also people around them significantly in future though they may have to face obstacles in the short-term. For example, Dhirubhai Ambani went through all the his initial painful years sacrificing a lot of conventional life to build the largest private company of India, employing 60000 people today and benefiting the economy of the country.

Secondly, ordinary people have certain aspirations. For example, children might get the right education in future if he could be able to save a few dollars of his income sacrificing his present.

Last but not the least, though ordinary person cannot ignore his daily struggle of life but at the same time he cannot ignore the importance of what he wants for himself and his family in future. He needs to act responsibly ignoring the present circumstances to lead a comfortable life later on. For example, our current prosperity is due to the abolition of the evil laws like bonded labor, inequality, etc in the past. I still remember our current Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, brought liberalization policy in 1992, as then Finance Minister despite all criticisms, only to see the today’s healthy growing economy.

Therefore for the above said reasons, I strongly oppose the author’s believe that fulfilling long-term goals with risks in present, is only the characteristics of high profile people and not ordinary people.

AWA 6

Adlai Steveson once commented, “It is often easier to fight for principles than to live up to them.”

Based on your reading, observation, or experience to what extent do you agree or disagree with Stevenson’s words? Please give examples that support your point of view.

I completely agree with Adlai Steveson’s statement that living a life for principles is much tougher than fighting for them due to the following three reasons.

Firstly, living a life with certain principles requires strength and courage to do so, especially during tough and rough weather. It requires people to believe in them and their beliefs more than their surroundings and environment. On the other hand, fighting always gives the flexibility of changing sides according to the circumstances. For example, it is much easier to protest some wrong doing of a senior manager in one’s organization and then fight for it but when the job comes at stake, the fighter can switch the side while the person with a living on principles may have to quit and go through the strenuous and harshness of jobless life.

Secondly, living a life on principles can make a person feel isolated and alienated from the  society with lot of other aspects of life like peace, happiness at stake. Consider a normal married person who loses his job due to protesting to some unethical practices of the management of his organization. He may have to go through the mental trauma of losing his beloved wife, children, relatives and friends.

Thirdly, people who live their life on values never compromising on the circumstances are the ones who change the course of the world and people who just fight and change their stands like a Chameleon with the change in the circumstances could never do so. All great people like Mahtma Gandhi have always lead the world with their principles and set examples for others to follow.

For the above said reasons, I strongly feel that a true-principled man lives his whole life for his values because he finds solace and heaven in them and achieves satisfaction from it, which is much tougher than just fighting for it because facing the consequnces of a certain action tests the real strength.

AWA 5

Certain schools of thought stress the value to the listener of having some practical experience of music. They suggest that even a rudimentary playing of the piano or some other instrument is better than reading a dozen books about music. There are those, however, who claim that even many concert pianists have only a limited understanding of what music is.

Do you agree with the claim that practical experience is a better teacher of music than learning about it from books? State your position using relevant reasons and examples from your own experiences, observations, or reading.

Practical knowledge is superior to the theoretical bookish knowledge. I strongly support that people with some rudimentary knowledge of playing instruments and knowledge of music can be better than those who don’t. There are various reasons for supporting the above said statement.

Firstly, there can be no denying the fact that people with some knowledge of music can appreciate its variations and types with the significance of instruments palyed in them. For example, for Indian classical music, flute can be soothing but for ROCK, the significance of electronic instruments cannnot be ignored at all. But the person who has no knowledge of what they could be, he could probably neither disntinguish nor appreciate them at all.

Secondly, even though there is no doubt that the very good concert artists might be having only a limited understanding of music, but one cannot deny the fact that they would have been better if they would have possed the knowledge of music.

Thirdly, people with limited knowledge will probably always try to stick to a particular rhythm and tone of the music in which they could feel comfortable and would never try to experiment, thus, bringing a complete stop to the creativity-the basic necessity of music.

Lastly, concert artists may be popular in certain area but they may not be necessarily famous with all the artists across the globe. For example, there is no necessity that concert artists with limited knowledge of certain mixing of certain genre of music may not be hired by famous artists for their performances as occassionally they may require instant audience reaction.

Therefore, I strongly support the artists with some elementary knowledge of music and playing the instruments to be a better and fast learner than those who just know few memorized words read from the music books.

AWA 3

The BestValue Superette chain has nine stores in Mytown, USA. The company’s policy is to maintain the same prices for all items at all stores. However, the distribution manager knowingly sends the poorest cuts of meat and the lowest quality produce to the store located in the low-income section of town. He justifies this action on the ground that this store has the highest overhead because of factors such as employee turnover, theft and vandalism.

Discuss how logically persuasive you find the above argument. In presenting your point of view, analyze the sort of reasoning used and its supporting evidence. In addition, state what further evidence, if any, would make the argument more sound and convincing or would make you better able to evaluate its conclusion.

 

Response:

The distribution manager’s argument is unconvincing because his conclusion depends on several unsubstantiated assumptions of high overhead. Each of the following areas merit further explanation before he can be given any degree of credibility of his decision of sending the poorest cuts of meat and low quality produce to the low-income store of the town.

Firstly, the consideration of theft as a factor of high overhead of the store is questionable. The possibility of the lack of the security measures at the store cannot be ruled out due to poor employee turnover. Also, the technical security measures adopted by the store might not be of the accepted standard. Additionally, the location of the town may be well-known for its higher rate of thefts due to improper law and order at that section f the town.

Secondly, vandalism can be the result of the dissatisfaction of the customers over the poor quality products provided at the stores and its continuous negligence towards improving it. Moreover, the possibility of the bad nature and behavior of the employees of the store also cannot be ruled out, which might be prompting people for vandalism.

Lastly, the employee turnover can be bad due to various reasons. There might be the possibility that the store might not be paying them well. Moreover, the employees could also be sceptic about their security due to chaotic frequent incidents like thefts and vandalism at the store. In view of the thefts and vandalism, the company’s response and trust towards its employees can also be questioned, which could determine the interest and loyalty of the employees.

Due to the many holes in the reasoning of the distribution manager’s argument, it is difficult to take him seriously. Unless further evidence surface in each of the areas discussed above, the given premises are insufficient proof that the conclusion drawn is viable.

Essay 16

The most important information does not come from books.

Time changes as the world grows. There were times when books were considered to be the best companions of the students and people. Books, magazines, novels, newspapers, libraries, etc. were considered to be the best sources of information. Today Internet techonolgy revolution has taken over it. Google is busy scanning old newspapers now to create the biggest archive of the newspapers after successfully doing so for Google Books.

But still one source of learning remains constant, the mother of all learnings-The Life. Books make us aware of the external world and prepares us to face it confidently. Life throws challenges that makes us think and act in real practical sense. Most successful persons are thos people who understand that LIFE is the real challenge of all and the biggest ever school that can have vaious subjects in a single book itself. For example, Thomas Edison was thrown out of his school after haviing being said that he had poor IQ, worse than the normal. The same poor IQ guy later went on to create a never-forgettabe history by his invention. People like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Steve Ballmer were all school-drop-outs but all went on to pursue their dreams despite all odds to become sucessful in their own areas.

Scientific challenges are better known with the experiments rather than than the books. Similarly, geography can have long lasting impact when we go around places understanding its environment, culture and traditions. Therefore, all subjects come to its true color when we understand it from the books to apply them practically and intelligently to solve the real life problems. This is where the information is learnt rather than just mugging up just the books.