GRE vs GMAT

I guess a lot of you might have already started thinking about this. GRE goes for a makeover this August and for the first time, comes closer to the pattern and format of GMAT. Why is this important?

A lot of you might already know that GRE is accepted by almost 400 b-schools, including some of the biggies like Yale, HBS, Stanford, MIT, Insead to name a few. I am sure with this change, more b-schools might consider accepting GRE scores. Basically, ETS is going for a makeover with the change in GRE format. According to Clearadmit, the follwoing changes in GRE are significant:

Quantitative Section
• More data analysis
• Less geometry
• The introduction of numeric entry questions that require test takers to provide a specific answer rather than select from multiple choices
• An on-screen calculator, which could mean more complex math questions

Verbal Section
• No more antonym or analogy questions
• The introduction of in-context questions designed to test both reasoning skills and vocabulary
• New “strengthen/weaken” reading comprehension questions, similar to those on the GMAT

Does the above changes sound similar? Yes, GRE is coming closer to GMAT. It would be interesting to see how GMAT responds to this change when it goes for a makeover next year. As of now, it is good for the applicants if more b-schools start accepting the GRE scores.

But here is one catch. It seems that people taking the GRE test in august won’t be able to get their scores till November. Personally, I feel that it is not fair and I would like to take this opportunity to appeal on behalf of all test-takes from August to all the b-schools accepting GRE scores or are planning to accept, kindly make some changes to your deadlines to accommodate special cases like this for the current year. I feel that any step by b-schools to address this concern of applicants would play a big role in their fairness to the system and the candidates.

I would also request my readers to support this appeal by just clicking on the like button or sharing this post across. Additionally, I would also request the admission consultants and Admission Committees of all b-schools, if they are reading to consider the applicants taking GRE in August fairly and not to discard them right away just because they are yet to get their scores.

Source: http://blog.clearadmit.com/2011/02/important-information-for-prospective-mba-applicants-considering-the-gre/

Happy New Year

Wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year

Whatever Miles to MBA achieved last year was all due to your consistent support. I hope that the support continues.

I know a lot of you might be looking for some updates from me. So, here they are:

• Got Dinged from Stanford GSB and it hurt  me the most.
• Wait-Listed at Kenan Flagler.
• Still waiting to hear from others.
• Good News: I have a small web based initiative in making and it should be up in a month. I assure you that it is going to be of immense use to you all. So keep looking information for that in future. This is what has tied me for sometime now. The good point is I have got a friend as a partner here and we are now moving at a nice pace.
• Yet another good news is my my first short film movie script is nearing completion. Simultaneously, I have started work on a story of a full-length Bollywood movie script. Now, both of these scripts are incomplete with my one of my dearest friends, Samarth. We are co-directing, co-scripting and co…

So, with a hope that 2011 will open up good opportunities for me and I would get an opportunity to finish my MBA, see you in the next post.

And don’t forget to take care of your health this year

BTG First Week Essay Webinars

As I mentioned earlier in my post, BeatTheGMAT began its webinars on breaking the essays. I attended both the webinars of Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business. Though I have taken notes for each of them, I feel they are kind of same from the video links. Hence, I am posting the video links directly rather than giving the gist.

Harvard Business School: http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/harvard-business-school-essays

Stanford Business School: http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/stanford-business-school-essays

Personally, I had to re-work on some of my essays after these webinars. Some of the tips are very useful and the presenters, including David Park, have done an amazing introspection into the essays.

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.

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

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.

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.

Shout-Out for Marquis Parker

This post is going to be a special shout-out for my friend, Marquis Parker. He is a Stanford GSB Alumnnus and a great free-lancer counselor for MBA Aspirants. Though he needs no introduction to the MBA Community, but recently we observed that his blog name has been removed from hella‘s database. As I have immensely gained from his personal insights into various aspects of an MBA applicant and other various aspects of life, I, strongly, recommend his website for anyone who is seriously looking for any kind of guidance. Additionally, you are free to consult him for your own personal concerns and queries. As you browse through his entries, you will amazed by the sheer interest of a guy to come out of his own personal zones to consult and give you tips. In fact, in my opinion, this blog is a must for anyone who aspires to study in Stanford GSB. People who trust their own goals and confident of being able to represent in their essays, will find the blog a great resource: a boxful of gems and treasures at a very nominal cost. Do read his insights and I can tell you that my personal feeling about my fit to Stanford GSB just grew stronger and stronger as I browsed through the posts. Its worth it. Trust me !!!

A Special request to Hella to include Marquis’s blog into the MBA Alumni database again.

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.