mbatour is in town

Are you in Bangalore? Are you applying for MBA this fall or Are you an MBA aspirant?

If the above answers are “YES”, then MBA Tour brings you a lot of universities to the Silicon Valley of India, Bangalore. Lets catch up and do browse through to know your schools that are visiting as part of this tour. The event is a day long event tomorrow. See you all there

BeatTheGMAT $100K Challenge Pre-Registration

Hello All, this is an amazing contest by BeatTheGMAT: $100K Challenge. Why I am applying: I want to win the first bumper prize. What is it? Well, it is something I feel is going to interest everyone out here in the MBA Aspirant Community. The Grand Prize is:

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Guided Tour of 5 Elite Business Schools — $25,000 Value

• Visit 5 Elite Business Schools: You’ll visit Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, Stanford GSB, Haas and one add’l US b-school of your choice.
• Network with Current MBA Students: You’ll meet with at least 2 current MBA students at each of the schools to gain perspectives on life at the schools and what it takes to get in.
• Get All Expenses Paid by Beat The GMAT: We’ll pay for everything – flights from anywhere in the world, hotels, transportation, food and entertainment. Think of it as an awesome one-week vacation!
• Receive Personal Coaching: Throughout the week that you’re here, Eric (Beat The GMAT’s Founder, Stanford ’04, ’05) and David (Beat The GMAT’s CEO, MIT ’94, Harvard Law ’99, McKinsey, BCG) will provide advice on your application strategy.

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I don’t know about you but I am definitely in the race. Can’t have any better opportunity.

What are you waiting for? Go and try your luck the only thing you must have is a facebook account.

Registration Link: http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/100k

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

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.

ClearAdmit Twitter Trivia Winner

Yeap, I won this week’s quiz and hence, an amazing guide of Harvard Business School from ClearAdmit. At first look, the guide looks amazing with the topics. I am excited to go through it soon as I plan to start my essays pretty soon in fact. I am going keep this post very very short. GMAT preparation is at its full swing. I am very close to my target score. Do look forward to an interesting post that I am currently drafting: Attacking GMAT and MBA application season “Kung-Fu Panda” Style either tonight or tomorrow morning. Thanks again to ClearAdmit.

Haas Dean Interview and more

Hi Folks, how are your preparations? Do write back. Well, from my side, I have few updates:

1.  GMAT: Yes, I am closing down to the final round with mocks as much as possible now. I was planning to take the test sometime towards end of this month but had to postpone. My father got transferred to another city and I had to fly back to home to help him with his shift. In fact, I am writing this post from a new place. I will be back in Bangalore by this weekend. The plan is to concentrate on mocks and try to get accustomed to the time format of GMAT and once 2-3 consistent good scores and I will book my date. I am confident this time.

2. Dean Interview: Recently, Richard Lyons, Dean, Haas Business School, University of Berkeley, gave an interview at GMAC. I feel the interview transcript is a worth read for anyone planning to apply to Haas. Some of the prominent insights are:

• managers and leaders increasingly need to influence without authority or beyond authority
• One has to look at the broader social context and understand that society is not that happy with us as business schools. So a major challenge is to respond intelligently to the fact that we are part of a system that performed very poorly over the last three years. Are we to blame? Obviously not exclusively, but we are part of that system
• One of the big opportunities is for schools to redifferentiate, to find the heartbeat of your school and try to use it as a true north
• The archetype of the Innovative Leader is deeply anchored in the distinctive culture at Berkeley, and [inherently] is tightly woven into the curriculum
• What type of leader do you then produce? Why does the future demand this kind of leader? Call it “competitive advantage” or any other name, the big brass ring out there is organizational capacity to produce differentness. Every business school has to think hard about innovation, but what I think is different [with the Haas model] is the focus and coherence around the idea that this is the capacity-building leader we really need.

I feel that Dean Lyons is very visionary and insightful in his interview. The competition among b-schools to differentiate and innovate is as intense as we strive to do the same while applying to our choice of b-schools. Moreover, I completely agree with Dean Lyons when he mentioned that manager or a leader influence not limited to authority alone. Sometimes, we see people in our vicinity who force their decisions just because one is a manager, MD or CEO. Such people forget that if one can gain the respect and build the reputation of trust among their colleagues and subordinates, then the same decisions will have their long term valuable impact and this would be a REAL CHANGE.

Source: GMAC Dean’s Digest

3. Stanford GSB Graduation Commencement: Yes, GSB guys graduated this weekend. Congratulations to all. Entrepreneur, Jeff Skoll, advised the class “Define your dream and chase it with as much rigor and authenticity as you can muster“.

I feel that is a very strong message and has all the right messages of life imprinted in one sentence.

Dean, Professor Garth Saloner summarized by saying “In summary, please indulge me just one last time when I say I hope you will lead a life of impact and meaning, and that you will ‘change lives, change organizations, change the world.”

I feel that GSB aspirants should mark this statement of Dean Saloner. Talk to any alumni, browse through the curriculum of GSB or read through the experiences of any Stanford GSB student/graduate and I am sure you will feel the deeper essence of Dean Saloner’s statement. Let me see if I can quickly get a respond of my friend, Marquis, on the statement of Dean Saloner too. All I can say this is a feeling which you will get strongly if you research GSB from the bottom of your interest with utmost sincerity.

Source: http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/headlines/2010commencement.html

For those, who missed the live commencement of the graduation, I am embedding the commencement video here below.

Lastly, wish me luck on my final round to GMAT.

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.

Drafting your essays, watch this

Watch this video if you are thinking of starting to draft your application essays. The message is very clear and it is applicable when we tell our story to or B-School. For me, it is like lying to your parents to take their advantage. But in the due process, we miss the essence: if they find out, we may lose them forever even when they will be alive. If one feels deeply about his dream B-School, then for me it is like my family and I will be honest with my feelings and dreams and I believe, with that even though late but then I will be become their inevitable part forever.