I won’t be a part of this elite group!

So it’s official, Friday evening at 5 PM I received the first decision on my applications and it turned out to be the unfavorable one – Tuck dinged me. I won’t be at that one school which was so close to my heart. It’s taken me quite a long time to get out of this shock, as you might have figured this update on my blog comes after more than...

Waiting for the Tuck result, should be out any day now.

Apart from refreshing my inbox every few minutes - hoping for that invite from Sloan - I am also keeping an eye on the other big result that looms around the horizon. Tuck is officially supposed to come up with its results on Dec 17. The good thing with the Tuck results is that they don’t keep you in the limbo for a long time. Officially all results – accepts, dings, and waitlists - go out that one day. But based on what I have...

MIT Sloan update: The results are trickling in and I have my fingers crossed

Two days ago MIT released its first set of invites for the R1 applications and since then I have been following the people who are reporting their interview invites on online forums. Sadly I haven’t got mine yet! It’s still early days though, we are only into the third day, and if historical evidence is anything to go by the invites will keep coming until the second week of January. So there is no reason to be dejected and not...

The 'D' month is here.

It's December and the day of reckoning is not too far away. I can already sense the fluttery feeling while I wait for my Tuck EA decision and MIT interview invite – both should be out somewhere in the second week of December. The online forums are already buzzing with a lot of activity, fellow applicants who are tired of the waiting...

This holiday season will be different

With only six more weeks until the round 2 deadlines and so little progress over the last two weeks this holiday season will be a different one. No parties, get-togethers, feasts, and shopping this time around. It's time to start working on my essays. When my friends talk about their vacation plans and all the lag time they have at their disposal, I envy it so much. But I am hopeful that my hard work will pay off. Talking about...

A dull week

Since the last time I updated my blog, the earth has rotated more than 9 times on its axis. Now that's quite a long time. I wish I could put the blame on the hectic schedule because of my Round 2 research and preparation. Alas, that is not the case! Last week was one of the least productive weeks in a long time with regard to my applications. We had a bunch of activities lined up at work and that called for a lot of extra hours....

Seven lessons from my round one application.

I have submitted applications to three business schools thus far – Tuck, Sloan, and Fuqua – in that order. The last one month, while I moved from one application to the other, has proved to be a big learning exercise for me. Though I think I did justice to each of my applications, in particular the essays, I keep getting the feeling I could...

Beat the GMAT Practice Questions : Review

Beat the GMAT is coming up with an upgraded version of their test prep product – BTG Practice Questions. It could not have come up at a more appropriate time, as I am preparing for a second shot at the test before I submit my second set of allocations in R2. So when the folks at BTG asked me to do a review of this product, I jumped on board...

Duke Fuqua application – submitted!

Earlier today I submitted my third application, this one for the Fuqua School of Business. With this the first phase of my application process has come to a completion. The thing that stood out while I was preparing for these three applications was the drastic improvement as I went from one application to the next. I spent most of my time...

I got lucky!

Last few days have been pretty lucky for me.  I won a few contests are out there on the www. Here is what I won. 1)      The mbaMission weekly Challenge on twitter – As a prize I won the NYU Stern Insiders Guide. Perfect time for me as I am in the process of researching NYU Stern right now. 2)     ...

My second application and why I procrastinated till the last minute?

A day before deadline, I submitted the MIT Sloan application. Towards the end it turned out to be a very stressful period, all self inflicted though. The three days that preceded this, I barely slept for more than 4 hours each night. So what led to this last minute stress, especially since I had started well ahead of time? The problem was...

Inside Marketing at NYU Stern – Invited!

Last week I applied to secure a spot at NYU Stern organized by the GMA (Graduate Marketing Association). The application required a brief background, resume, and some personal information.   I was happy when I saw the e-mail yesterday evening stating I was invited. Not that this is a huge achievement, but it will be a good opportunity...

Essays, essays and more essays!

Last week I submitted my first application (the only one till now), that was four essays and since then I have jumped on to Sloan and Fuqua applications. I took a two day break - now that the first one was done with subsequent ones should be a piece of cake. Absolutely wrong! The MIT essays require a totally different approach, not that I did not know of this, but I assumed that my experiences writing the Tuck essays will come...

Fuqua Interview Update 2 – The Marketing Club event

This is a follow-up to my earlier post about my Fuqua interview experience. Since I had scheduled my interview on a Saturday, a class visit was not possible. I was hoping that there would be other activities that will help me connect with Fuquans, but other than a campus tour nothing else was on the calendar. Two days before my interview,...

Fuqua School of Business - Interview update

Fuqua School of Business - Interview update Last Saturday I had my applicant initiated interview at the Fuqua School of Business. This post is an update of my experience. A month ago I had scheduled my applicant initiated interview; thankfully Fuqua had a Saturday slot available. I say so because a trip to India earlier this year has...

Submitted!

Finally, after pondering over my application package (mostly the essays) umpteen times, for what seemed like an eternity, I mustered enough courage to submit my first MBA application. Yes, it was the Tuck MBA application! I did that on Oct 12, exactly 24 hours before the deadline. I guess that kind of explains why I have not been able to...

MBA Application Essays: Is it all about creative writing?

It’s that season! If you are reading this, you probably know that I am not talking about the ‘Fall’ season. Yep, I am talking about the approaching first/early round deadlines. Time to put those finishing touches to the essays and hit the Submit button. Talking about that, it’s really amazing how much strength it takes to finally hit that...

The P.O.L.O Club at Booth: Bringing families with little ones together

As I venture out in pursuit of the MBA, I realize there are so many variables that I have to balance out to arrive at the perfect equation for my 2 years at the business school. Two years is a big time in ones life, and I want to make sure that these two years are equally enjoyable for my wife and my little daughter. So one of the key things that I am looking at, while selecting schools, is the support and network available for...

Waiving off your right to view your recommendations: why it is a no-brainer?

Those of you who might have submitted an MBA application or have at least started their online application must have surely come across the option that asks whether you waive off your right to view the recommendation written by your recommender. When I came across this the first time, I took some time to really think it over. In the end I...

The Economist’s 2010 B-school rankings and what it means to me?

The 2010 MBA rankings by The Economist has the US schools back at the top in big time. The Economist reports that US schools are in ascendancy and that the European schools have taken a beating. The Economist places significant weight, more than 50%, on employment statistics at graduation and it is no surprise that the European schools fared...

Playing catch-up : Connections, how I got connected with my Tuck contacts?

I am going to play catch up here at my blog; last few weeks have been so hectic I haven’t had a chance to post a lot. I plan to make amends for that over the next few days and post some interesting things that took place over this period. Late in July, I had posted about reaching out to current Tuck students as well as alumni. I will devote this post to – How I connected with my contacts? My first contact at Tuck was a ‘friend...

Back to the grind - From GMAT to Essays and now back to GMAT.

I have spent most part of last 2 months researching schools and trying to build the plot for my essays. I think have done enough research on the schools (at least for some of them) but my essays – that’s a different story altogether. I think I have listed down enough points from all aspects of my life but somehow I am not able to push myself to put everything into coherent stories. At this point I have decided to bring out my...

Want to make God laugh?

Earlier today I was discussing with my wife about the ROI of MBA from a top school and the debt I will incur in pursuing that MBA. I showed her the salary statistics of the school that happens to be my top choice now. Needless to say she was very impressed by the average base salary and bonus figures. I showed here more statistics – tuition reimbursement, other bonus etc. and slowly started drifting towards what life will look...

FuquaVision – Fuquans take on the school life

While researching the Fuqua school of business I came across FuquaVision, which is a home production by Fuqua students (Fuquans, as they are called) and is largely made of video skits that mock the school life. I think this is a good indicator of the social scene at Fuqua. Some of the videos are absolutely hilarious.  Here are a couple of my favorite ones.  Also, if you visit the site do read the founding story as...

Should you really visit the school you are considering?

Yesterday a friend of mine, who is in the same boat as I am in (with regard to MBA application), asked if I had made any substantial impact after my recent Tuck Visit. He pointed me to this excerpt from the HBS admissions blog – “Visiting campus has absolutely no impact on how your application is reviewed. It may have a gigantic impact on how enthusiastic you are about US - that's where the value-added comes into play”. His question...

Creative thinking at 30,000 feet.

A colleague of mine, who is a frequent flyer, once mentioned that at great altitudes you tend to indulge in either extremely mundane activities or extremely creative ones and there is no middle ground. I am not sure how much of it is true, but based on my observation and personal tendency I would like to agree with him. Yesterday when I...