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:

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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.

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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.

Reliance Stanford Fellowship Application Submitted

Well, whats up guys? One thing that amuses me is even though I get a very good amount of traffic to my blog, I, hardly, see any comments and feedback. Not a good habit, I tell you. Your comments and feedback are my enthusiasm and inspiration. I hope you guys are going to comment more often and interact more. Additionally, this could one of the best platforms for interaction and share thoughts and interests much before we join our classes. You never know some of us might meet in the schools and may share the same room next year. Isn’t it so? So, lets be friends from now only.

Okay, this post is going to be Reliance Fellowship application specific. I know the deadline was on June 1^st. Though I planned to write this post, I could not. I am writing this post up above the sky at 32K ft, flying back home for 2 weeks. Past one week has been crazy at office. Before I begin, there is an interesting observation. I have seen my friends, particularly, Sidin – author of the book Dork and Marquis – no need of mention of this name, mentioning about their writings on the flight. I am not sure about them but I kind of feeling a bit awkward but at the same time happy being the center of attraction. Not sure how people perceive it abroad, we, Indians, are kind of bound by society. I find ourselves always looking to someone for inspiration. We are hesitant to take a lonely and deserted road. We love to be in a herd. Hence, when a laptop is open on a flight, peeps from behind, sidewise is a very nice scene. Personally, I am enjoying the attention. When some does not like to be the cynosure, I am kind of a quite opposite personality. I will not talk about the office and will jump to the application and its essay directly.

First, there was no drastic change in the application formats. It is the very same that we had last year. I know this because I am a re-applicant to this fellowship application. The essay is same with the same 250 words limit and preferably one page resume.

Coming to the most important part, you might like to look into my post for my perspectives that I posted earlier. What I did different this time? Nothing much but tried to ask myself at each line – what is the relevance of “this” sentence at this place. Does it add some value or it is just another sentence which if I strike out, the effect is still intact. Analyzing each and every sentence in this manner gave a fresh new look to the essay. This time, I decided to connect the essay with my career aspiration, which in turn could reshape India. Kind of dedicated the first three paragraphs to my career and aspiration and how could it help in shape the future of India. Lest one last paragraph to tell how an MBA from Stanford could prepare me to run on that track I mentioned earlier. I sent the essay to some of my friends and the feedbacks were amazing especially with the feeling. I guess I understood the importance of being “personal”. The learning that I take forward is that even though we might have similar career aspirations but it is our experience and feelings that will make that common goal an unexceptional experience for the reader. So, my suggestion Is to go blank and pour your feelings as they come while writing any essay. Another important outcome of this essay is I came very close to my career goal essay and with little modification; I should be ready with the carer goal essay.

Do also read through my perceptions about writing the essay that I wrote last year while writing the same say. The post got special mention in the blog of Accepted that time discussing the introspection.

Elected to Secretary of TM

Oh Yeaah!!! Last week, I successfully ran for the post of secretary to the Central Committee of the Toastmaster Club of our company at Bangalore. I will be taking the charge from the current secretary on 1st June for a period of 6 months. I am really excited and thrilled and looking forward to my tenure eagerly. One of the few things that surprised me was my popularity. I never knew that after I successfully started the shadow club of my company at my own building and increased the membership from 1 to 10 in a span of 1 month, I could become a NAME among the people of other buildings too. I take this opportunity to thank each and everyone who came forward and helped me through all this. I feel proud of my achievement especially when I am just 2 months old in the TM and have finished two Project levels till date and going to attempt my third one next week. These small things make this election so special to me.

On the other side, GMAT preparation is on its way and going forward, it is going to be purely exam mode from this month. Building the patience for 4 hrs of exam is going to be the key this time. There is one another surprise in bag but I would like to keep it secret till it is revealed. So keep guessing. And yes, ClearAdmit BoB results are due this week. I guess it is 4th May.  Best of Luck to All the nominees (including me ).

From the Reliance-Stanford Fellowship Application side, I finished up filling up the basic information on the website and have started working on my resume. I am also brainstorming how differently I can put the things that I mentioned or missed in my last year application. Honestly, if you would ask me, the admit to Stanford GSB matters to me the most than this fellowship. It does not matter if I get this fellowship but it will  matter a lot if I don’t get an admit at the end of the year. So, keeping my luck and fingers crossed for the bigger battle ahead.

Reliance-Standford Fellowship 2010

Yes guys, Reliance-Stanford Fellowship application is back for the 2010 season. The deadline remains same as last year except the year changes to 2010

You can find details here and about what I am going to do is this:

I remember giving a detailed insight into the last year’s application here (The post featured in Accepted.com blog too). I am going to re-look into that aspect and also probably give a different perspective to the essay. The challenge of the essay still remains intact with the 250-word limit. I have already forwarded the last year’s essay to one of my friend and also to my father and asked for their honest and critical feedback.

I will be updating the details soon once I figure out how differently am I going to present myself. There is no doubt that I have more substance in my profile compared to the last year. For now, all Indians lets get going who dream of getting into Stanford without the headache of loan or any strings. Just keep INDIA in your heart and good Luck!!!

“Reliance Fellowship” Ding !

Well, even though it was not the first official ding, but I will consider this to be one. I not only gave a lot of time and energy to it but also put a lot of hear into it. As per the application criteria, I doubt there could be any other reason other than “financial need” that would have ditched me here.

Anyways, learning experience is always good and I got a good insight as how much time and effort will be needed in the b-school essays if I have get my heart and soul out there to the admission committee.

Reliance Fellowship “Ding” does not deter me in applying to Stanford because Stanford is my first priority as I feel a strong connection with this school. The only way this fellowship could have made an impact is the “cost of study” tension but I am always prepared for a 50L INR loan the moment I decided to go for my MBA because MBA is something which I need and that could give some direction to my currently lost life. So, lets hope for the best and let me get my hands to the GMAT within a month now. The fight begins and the stage is set. The war is ON and I am keeping my fingers crossed for a positive outcome towards the end. I am going to WIN this war.

Reliance Fellowship Application Submitted

Well, this is almost a follow-up post to the yesterday’s post. Today, I submitted my application to the Reliance Fellowship at Stanford. I am feeling good with the overall application and I am quite optimistic. The only issue in the application could be “Financial Need” section. I accept that in terms of IT professionals in India, my earnings are bit on the higher side being working in the niece high end technological front in a leading MNC. So, I am having my fingers crossed and I hope everything will fall in line this year. The results will be declared on 1st July and if selected in 50 finalists, I could redeem the GMAT voucher given by the Fellowship program. Hence, I am going to wait till 1st July before finalizing my GMAT date. I guess it is going to be early August only. As for the application and the essay, on the personal front, I feel both shaped pretty well and I am optimistic about the outcome. So, let us wait till 1st July and I will update you about the status. I completely understand with the fact that there were about 2k applicants for the fellowship last year and Stanford is going to finalize just 50 out of them. The competition is stiff but I am prepared for it. So, you guys also pray for me and wish me luck. Also, I wish all the best to other applicants too.

- Deepak

Reliance Fellowship Essay Done…

Okay Guys, What’s up? How is life going? I guess each one of us is anxiously looking forward to the upcoming admission session. Last week, Stanford GSB and HBS released their application essays for the 2012 batch. With hem, I guess all of us must be gearing up to put our best to our dream schools.

I have lots of update from my side.

Firstly, I am done with the essay of the Reliance Stanford Fellowship. It was a fun writing the essay and changing it again and again. It becomes really challenging when reviewers try to give their comments and suggestions. I don’t know how many reviewers try to put themselves in our shoes to look from our perspective. But I fell that should be the ideal and honest approach for helping the applicants. What I found challenging while writing the essay was the topic “How do you aspire to shape India’s future?” and that too in 250 words or fewer. You gotto be kidding me. That was the first reaction when I tried to analyze the topic. I wanted to tell a lot of things but there wasn’t enough space for me to do so. What I did was I thought I should first try to understand what it really tries to mean and most importantly, what message I want to convey here. Trust me this approach helps as one knows very well where and how thought process is is shaping up. Next, I straight away sat down for almost 7 hrs to write down whatever came to my mind following those guidelines. I did not look back to re-read it at that time. Not surprisingly, I wrote almost 9 pages. It was well above 1500 words. But then, every alternate day I used to sit for 2 hrs re-reading the essay and fine-tuning it, using each word economically and appropriately. The last 2 weeks, I took advice from couple of friends and took their opinion on the essay. A lot of them appreciated the starting and the end paragraph though there was one who did not like my concluding statement but when I inquired about it more from others, they agreed with my statement. Basically, I would say the concluding sentence is the statement that came right from my heart and the only sentence in the whole essay, which I just changed in due course but never was in a mood to take it off at any cost. As for personal opinion, I feel each one of us should have his/her own USP of the essay and it should never be compromised because if we do we lose ourselves in it. Here are few guidelines when one approaches the Reliance Dhirubhai fellowship essay:

• The focus should be on giving a shape to India’s future. Remember there is a big difference in “shaping” and “changing”. A good way of tackling this is to think of a current scenario which can be harnessed further to have a strong effect. It would be really nice if someone tries to link his current professional experience coupled with Stanford MBA to address it.
• Discuss human and socio- economic issues in India and how they form part of your plan of shaping India’s future. Show your love and commitment to India’s growth and future genuinely.
• Try to link your professional aspirations to the theme of the essay. Try to dram a roadmap from your past life to Stanford MBA life and post MBA India life. Always remember, the fellowship requires fellows to come back to India within to 2 years of their graduation for at least 2 years to work in public/private organization.
• How MBA from Stanford fits into the overall scheme of things. Do your school research and try to show “HOW”.
• keep in mind the word limit (only 250 words). It is definitely too less and everyone is bound to struggle as I did. Probably, 100 words could do more justice to it.

So, well I am ready with my essay and I will be probably submitting it today or tomorrow. Overall, I am satisfied with the final shape of the essay.

Secondly, on GMAT preparation front, I am spending a lot of my time with the OG. I am bit terrified but I am confident. I feel I have got a good grasp on SC and CR now and have to work a bit more on the RC front. Quant section is never a problem for me as I generally score on the range of 47-51 on it. So, all the focus is on the verbal front. I will be taking the tests from tomorrow regularly to judge my course. I am yet to take a date and probably, I will wait for the Reliance Fellowship results because if I happen to be in the 5 finalists, then I can get a GMAT voucher for them. So, as of now, anytime July mid will be the GMAT date.

Finally, I have developed a strategy for choosing the schools. It is very similar to the recruitment process that is generally followed in all the institutes in India. I am going to have two Dream B-Schools and in terms of priority it is going to be Stanford GSB and Hass Berkeley. I am passionate about both of these B-Schools. In fact, they are the only two universities that I have visited on my USA trip last year. Honestly, Stanford GSB has been always been my only unchanged and permanent love because somehow I feel deeply connected to it and I feel no matter what, Stanford can understand me and my aspirations. I am going to go full guns loaded to it. In fact, I got in touch with an alumnus, who has assured me of helping to develop my profile for the GSB. While interacting with him for last couple of months, I found that we have a lot of similarities and when I approached him with the idea of helping me out, he instantly said yes.

So, apart from the dream schools, there will be 4-5 schools where I feel have a good competition to get an offer, which would depend a lot on my GMAT. I have got a tentative list of almost 12 schools in this category but have to dig around a lot more before finalizing the FOUR. Other than this, I am going to apply for ISB and NUS in Asia.

I guess starting early on all fronts will help me getting things proper at the right time and not rush. I am planning got decide on my recommenders also soon. I wrote my first essay with the Reliance Fellowship essay and I feel to get a good essay, one has to bring himself inside out. Though I always knew, what and how I think about my India, but this exercise showed me my shadow in the mirror in true sense. I am really excited about the application season and I hope it is going to be an amazing ride to hidden revelations about myself. One thing for sure is “The mantra for writing essays should be bringing one’s INSIDE OUT”. The more one knows and reveals him in the essays, the more comfortable and confident he would be with the essays.

With Almight blessings and blessings of my parents, I am going to submit the Reliance Fellowship Application today or tomorrow. Ia m keeping my finger crossed.

Update on Reliance Scholarship

Wondering where I have been all these days.

Well, it was a real hectic 2 weeks. I was off to Delhi for a friend’s marriage and then went to the hometown for a minor surgical operation. I have been traveling a lot in train for all these days. The train to Delhi took almost 34hrs from here. I had to rush to catch the train from the bus stop and guess what, got a bad asthma attack, which I had to carry all through this 34  hrs. The worse thing was I forgot to carry my inhaler and medicines as I was not using it here for quite a long time as I was taking all sort of precautions. Anyways, normalcy came slowly once I reached Delhi and got fresh natural air. After 2 days of stay and marriage, I started for my hometown, again a journey of 25 hrs. After a week’s stay at home and partially recovering from the surgery, I returned today back to Bangalore after 27 hrs of train journey. I may not travel again in train as I am lose a lot of time just in traveling and sleeping.

Anyways, the good point is about the train journey was: I almost nearing to the completion of the essay for the Reliance Stanford scholarship. No  matter of what the outcome, Stanford is my first choice and I am not going to give it up so easily but this fellowship is an opportunity to do something good for my country at the same time fulfilling my ambition of doing MBA.

Initially, the draft for the essay came to around 1000 words. I felt I want to to tell my reader quite a lot of things and 250 words is a very samll amount for this. After so many edits, the draft has come down to 450 words. I know I have still a lot to do as the next cut of 200 words will eliminate some of the detailed picture I have in my mind for the essay.

I am planning to send the essay for review by the mid of this week to 3 people for their honest comments before submitting it before the deadline. Probably, once I complete this essay, I feel I can give my honest views on this essay as the 250 word limit is a very strict constraint which can change the analysis completely, at least in this essay.

On the GMAT front, the preparations got completely halted in this period as I did not do anything. I will kickstarting it from today and I am planning for sometime around June mid to July first week. I will be finalizing my date in next 2 weeks.

Stanford Reliance Fellowship Applications Open for Indians

Well, I got the news a bit late but never mind. For people, who don’t know, Reliance offers full cost fellowship for 2-yr MBA at Stanford with two string attached:

1. The applicant must be either studying or working in India at the time of the application.

2. On Completion of MBA, he/she has to return to India within 2 yrs of completion of the course for atleast 2-yr work in public or private sector job in India.

The deadline of the application is 1st June, 2009. Though the application opened on 1st April, I got the news a bit late but never mind.

I will soon updat eon the other details of the application once I am thorugh my initial research of the application. Watch out this space for more soon.

The details of the pplication can be found at the Stanford Page.