Events this past week (MBA and non-MBA)

I was in Bengaluru these last couple of days. The Darden event was on the 17th and it was a different experience. Unlike other MBA events that I have attended in the past, this one had no presentation. In fact, there was no adcom member at the event!

It was conducted by two current students, Vinod Raman and Anand Rao. The session was quite informative, especially for those who are in the initial stages of their research on Darden. For people like me, it was a great opportunity to meet current and prospective students, discuss the case method, know more about life at Darden, and assess where we stand at this stage of the application process. Darden hasn't sent out invites to its Indian applicants yet and so "when would they" was a popular question. The decision deadline in on January 30th. So there is plenty of time left for the invites to be sent out. An interesting fact - 739 Indian citizens applied to Darden last year and 61 were offered admission.

Another important piece of information is that Darden will ensure that the admitted students get all the financial help that they need. There have been instances in the past when Darden has played the role of a guarantor for loans that require co-signors. Fantastic!

Now onto another event. I attended a charity show called "Hrudaya Spandana" (Touching Hearts), conducted by the Sahaaya Foundation, on Dec 13th. It had music and dance performances by visually challenged kids - some of the most amazing performances that I have ever seen. Here are children who, though blind, have the will power to not only be creative but also perform for charity. The event was a fund raiser for the victims of the Mumbai terror attacks. Quoting one of the performers, "We don't want your sympathy. We only need an opportunity." - touching hearts, indeed.

We had played Deloitte, in the semi-finals of a cricket tournament, earlier that morning and had come out second best. The charity event was the perfect solace.

Ross Interview Done

Back home now after the interview. It was with an alumnus, at his office. It lasted for an hour.

The interview started with a resume walk-through and had loads of questions on team activities, setbacks and my subsequent take-aways. I, actually, got a chance to tell him about every major achievement and his responses/acknowledgments sounded positive. Then, there were the usual why MBA, why Ross, goals while at Ross questions. I think I handled them pretty well. He then asked me about the other schools that I have applied to and wondered why I had limited my choices to only three schools. I told him why I thought that I best fit my target schools. I think I managed to convince him that I am an individual who is very focussed at all times.

Overall, I felt it was a good interview but I could have done better. I have a terrible cold and was trying my best not to cough during the interview. That made me pause a couple of times. Thankfully they weren't long ones. There were also a few "you know"s that I could have avoided.
So begins the wait for the results. Decisions will be mailed on January 15th. Lets hope I hear from Darden and Stanford before that.

Back from Sabarimala

I'm back from my annual pilgrimage to Sabarimala, the holy abode of Lord Ayyappa. There was heavy rush but we managed to pray well. This temple that does not pose restrictions on men from visiting the temple (Ayyappa is a bachelor God and hence, women between the age of 10 and 50 aren't allowed). People from all religions throng the temple and during the peak season the rush is second only to Mecca.

The visit to the temple involves a 41 days fast that requires the devotee to:

• Wear black clothes
• Remain unshaved
• Walk bare feet
• Avoid non-vegetarian food - supposed to eat food that is only cooked at home
  
• Avoid alcohol, intoxication and women
• Wake up as early as 4am, have bath and offer prayers before doing anything else

Basically, one must live life like a saint for those 41 days. Since I live alone, here in Hyderabad, I couldn't follow certain rules (like clothing, food from outside). I also had to shave my beard before my ISB interview. But I did follow the rest of the stipulations religiously. The pilgrimage helps develop tremendous self-control.

I started going when I was four years old. This was my 17th year to the temple.

I returned on Saturday and spent the weekend reading about the terror attacks on Mumbai. I was shocked to say the least. For long has India and Mumbai been savaged by these stains on humanity. I salute the ones who sacrificed their lives in trying to rescue the hostages. May the souls of the victims rest in peace. I pray that God gives their families the courage and strength to bear the losses.

Its my sister's birthday today. I plan to gift her "The Tales of Beedle the Bard", by J. K. Rowling. I am sure she'll like it.

Today also happens to be World Aids Day. So, people, please spread the awareness.

I had sold my Dell Inspiron laptop two weeks ago and will be getting my new Dell Studio 15" this week. So thats one other thing to look forward to...

Now I better rush to work. Tc.

Ross Interview Invite!

The happiness, that I feel at this moment, has no bounds. I have been waiting for this invite for weeks now. Ross has always been one of my favourite schools and now I find myself knocking on its door. Its like a dream come true.

I have been asked to interview between Dec 1-12. I will be going on a pilgrimage today and will be back on Saturday. I will fix the date of interview on my return.

Thank you all so much for the support. I will not disappoint you this time :-)

Go blue...

Ross Videos

I had wanted to post these earlier but didn't get the time to do so. I like these videos because it gives prospective students, like me, another opportunity to connect with the school and feel what it is like to study at Ross. The first video talks about how students can benefit from the Ross MBA. The second is more specific to leadership development at Ross. It talks about the measures that are being taken to tap leadership potential.






If you had any doubts about pursuing an MBA in these pressing times or about applying to Ross then this address, by Al Cotrone - Director of the Office of Career Development, might help reaffirm the value addition that a Ross MBA provides.

ISB - Dinged

Well...the title says it all.

BW Business School Rankings

The latest BusinessWeek b-school rankings are out. As per the new rankings, the top U.S. programs are:

1. Chicago
2. HBS
3. Kellogg
4. Wharton
5. Ross
6. Stanford
7. Columbia
8. Duke
9. MIT
10. Haas

Well...I am surprised that Stanford has been ranked no higher than 6th. But I am delighted that both Ross and Stanford figure in top 7 and Darden isn't far behind (#16). My Ross and Stanford applications are currently under review and the Darden applications should be reviewed soon too. Please please send me the interview invites. I am so looking forward to them :-)


The top Non-U.S. programs are:

1. Queens
2. IE Business School
3. INSEAD
4. Ivey
5. LBS
6. ESADE
7. IMD
8. Rotman
9. IESE
10. Oxford

Here again, I was caught by surprise when I didn't see HEC Paris in the top 10. That is one school that has been consistently ranked high among b-schools in Europe. HEC, Judge and Cranfield figure in the second tier.

For more information, please click here. You may also wanna read about the crisis at the schools.

ISB Interview

I had my interview at 9:10AM today. It lasted for 40 minutes. There were three people in the panel - Mr. Menon (Director of Admissions), a Lady Professor, and Mr. Vijay (alumnus).

The interview was conversational. It started with me talking about my background, the decisions that I took regarding my choice of college and course, the reasons for my long term goal and finally how ISB fits into the picture. Spent around 5-7 minutes here. Mr. Menon interrupted me and so I had to cut short my story and had to quickly link my past to my present and my goals.

Then followed questions on my extra-curricular activities, interests, leadership experience, financial crisis and a case.

Vijay: You have captained cricket teams in the past. How would you go about arranging a cricket match between your company's cricket team and the ISB cricket team?

Lady: Please mention an experience that made you a better person. It can be one that is professional or personal.
Me: I asked if I could give two examples - one professional and the other personal. The personal experience happened to be my experience as a young captain of a I Division League Cricket Team.

Menon: Staying with cricket, estimate the amount of popcorn that a vendor might sell at an ODI cricket match between India and England, here in Hyderabad.
Me: I asked him if the match is to be played on a weekend. He said that I can make my own assumptions. Therefore, I assumed that the match will be played on a weekend and that the stadium, capable of seating 45,000 people, would be packed to capacity. I also mentioned that popcorn is something that people from all age-groups enjoy and that it adds to the entire jovial atmosphere. Then I went about estimating the number of people who would bring their own eatables, who would prefer something other than popcorn, who wouldn't want to eat anything at all, who would have popcorn multiple times during the day - came up with a rough estimate for the number of cones likely to be sold and multiplied it by 200grams (popcorn served in a cone) and announced the result. People in the popcorn business would love my estimate for its sheer magnitude! (If there is a better way to tackle this problem then I sure would love to hear it.)


Vijay: You have mentioned that you love travelling and have visited Africa and the Middle-east. Why do you like travelling so much?
Me: I gave my reasons and also linked them to my interests in dance, music and culture.

Menon: Can you explain the financial crisis and possible remedies?
Me: I had just finished explaining the crisis when Mr. Menon stopped me and said that he is fine with the explanation and told me that I needn't talk about the possible remedies.

Menon: I think we should be done. (Confirms with the other members) Do you have any questions for us?
Me: I wanted to know whether it will be possible to lure some of my target consultancy firms to campus for placements. I also wanted to know more about the Wharton Global Consulting Practicum and whether it is possible to pursue the WGCP in addition to the ELP(the answer is yes). I also asked how a PGPM student typically contributes to the Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development and how he makes use of the resources it has on offer. My questions were answered well.

Before the interview I was asked to write a short essay on the word 'Apply'. I chose to highlight my reasons for applying to a business school, and specifically ISB, in the essay.

Well, I think the interview turned out to be pretty decent - as is the case with a majority of the applicants. I have my fingers crossed...

Stanford and HBS guarantee International Student Loans without a US Co-signer

A friend of mine, Nitin Rao, forwarded this information to me and it got me all excited. I am sure others reading it would be as happy as well. So what exactly am I talking about? Here you go...

Stanford MBA Admission Blog (Link to the actual post):
International students at the Stanford Graduate School of Business will not be impacted by Citibank’s decision. The GSB Financial Aid Office has a close working relationship with Stanford Federal Credit Union and for the past two years we have made arrangements exclusively through SFCU to provide international students at Stanford the ability to take out private loans without a US co-signer.

HBS MBA Admission Blog (Link to the actual post):
There's been great uncertainty out there about international student loans so we are extremely pleased to be able to make this announcement:International students at HBS will continue to have access to need-based loans without needing to find a US co-signer.While at this time we do not have further details about specific loan programs with private lenders, we are able to make this important - and reassuring - statement about continued accessibility.All students - both international and US citizens - will continue to be eligible for Harvard Business School fellowships - the money you don't pay back. This year HBS will award $22 million in need-based fellowships; the average MBA fellowship is $25k per year.

ISB Essays

First, I'd like to thank all my readers for following my blog. I am happy that it is helping you in some way or the other.

I received quite a few mails requesting advice on writing the ISB essays. Hence, I have decided to post an analysis of the essays. So here we go...

Essay 1: Please give three reasons why ISB should admit you into the class of 2010. These reasons should ideally differentiate you from your competition. (300 words)

Needless to say, this essay is going to be the most important essay in your application. You have been, explicitly, asked to state the factors that distinguish you - qualities that make you special.

Think of instances in your life when you have been challenged and had to take decisions. Talk about the emotions that urged you to take those decisions. Choose your words carefully because the application portal won't allow you to enter more than 300 words for the essay. So, keep your sentences short, well-formed, and precise. Impact is the key here. Use examples. The adcom loves to hear more about the actual 'you' and your accomplishments. You may have one example where you have shown the three different traits or you may use three different examples.

I used three different examples - one professional and two personal. I concluded the essay by stating my short term and long term goals and how these differentiating factors would help me contribute to the ISB class and achieve my goals.

A couple of things that one must keep in mind:

1. Never project reasons like honesty or integrity as differentiating factors. These are qualities that you are expected to possess.
2. Avoid situations where you succeeded in doing something but doing that 'something' wasn't a decision that you made. For example, I studied in eight different schools and had learned six different languages before my eighth grade. I could have used this as an example for my willingness to learn and adapt but the decision to learn these languages was not mine to take. I was young and it was forced upon me. It will leave a stronger impression on the adcom if you describe circumstances where you were in control of the situation and the outcome was directly impacted by your thinking.

Essay 2: You are contesting the election to be the President of the ISB Student Body. Write a speech you will deliver to the student body on why they should elect you as the President? (300 words max)

Now, the situation is such that you have already been admitted and are contesting elections to be the President of a diverse and active Student body. Many would find it difficult to choose between describing their leadership skills and elaborating on how they can contribute to the school. I felt it best to present a good blend of both.

This essay gives you ample scope not only to highlight those instances where you have shown exemplary leadership skills and portrayed your ability to work in teams but also to project how much you know about the school and how you intend to utilize your time at school.

While choosing leadership and team work examples, I picked my stints as Captain of Sports teams and Coordinator of various clubs. This allowed me to highlight instances where I had displayed good inter-personal skills.

As far as writing about your plans for the school is concerned, you need to research as much as you can about the school and also about the responsibilities of the GSB President. Good place to start would be the ISB website. You could also talk to current students and alumni. Presidential candidates do soapbox presentations before the start of the election. Try getting hold of these presentations. Talk about those activities that interest you and will help you make positive contributions to the community.

The school wants to know as much about you as possible. Through this essay, you can also emphasize on the fit quotient.

Essay 3: CASE : You have been appointed to head the team to build a dam across the River Zumba. Success in this project is critical for your company and would earn you a promotion. Failure would mean that your company would be bankrupt and will take along with it, its investors and its employees. Building a dam across the river would result in deforestation of a portion of the rainforests and would mean relocation of the tribals and destabilization of wild life at Zumba. There is resistance from environmental groups against your project. You are meeting the head of the resistance movement in one hour wherein you would have to explain your decision. Describe what you would do and why? (You will be evaluated on the creativity and practicality of your solution).

You have already differentiated yourself. You have described your leadership skills and your interests in the school. Now, comes the opportunity to clinch your admit by portraying your problem solving ability.

While it is quite easy to get intimated by this question, it, nevertheless, allows you to be at your creative best. No answer is correct or wrong but every hurdle posed in the question allows you to project traits like practicality, resourcefulness, negotiation skills et al.

My approach to this essay was simple. There are three major hurdles and providing feasible solutions to these would win you the opposition's confidence. I tried to think of the simplest solutions to these problems and then built my final solution around these simple solutions. One thing that always remained in my mind was the ultimate goal of successfully completing the dam's construction.


The optional essay

It is not a must that you write this essay but you can use this opportunity to highlight certain items in your profile that couldn't be projected in other parts of the application.

I used this essay to talk about the internship experiences that gave me international exposure and brought me international acclaim. I had hoped that this information would strengthen my application and I think it did!

ISB Interview Invite

Yes...the wait for an interview call has finally ended!

I received my ISB interview invite today (30/10). It has been scheduled for the 9th of November. Quite appropriate that the first school that I had applied to was the first to send me an invite (though the ISB deadline was at least 25 days earlier than any of my other target schools :D). Nevertheless, I hope to get 3 more interview invites :-). There were over 2000 applications to ISB in this round. I am glad that the first hurdle has been crossed and I look forward to wearing my business suit :-).

I had, earlier, planned on blogging an analysis of the school's essays. But now, I have decided against it. The reason - there are some awesome tips that are already available on the web. Many applicants and admission gurus have shared their views and outlined their thoughts.

However, I will be more than happy to answer questions that applicants may have regarding these essays. My response will center around the strategy that I had followed for the particular essay and I hope to help applicants get a better idea of how to present themselves on paper through these essays.

Cheers

Hedge fund - a solution for loans without co-signer??

A well-wisher forwarded this piece of information to me. It is from the BusinessWeek forum. I am not sure how true it is. Here is the link.

For those who don't have the patience to click on the above link, here u go...

All those international students who are looking for loans without co-signer, here is a ray of hope for you. Currently all the b-schools who were dependent on CitiAssist for such loans are talking to each other to get a solution to this problem. They all are now planning to set up a hedge fund that can guarantee the loans for you guys. The schools include Chicago, Ross, Harvard, MIT and Wharton. Many more may join it but nothing is for sure. The source of this information is an adcom head from one of the schols mentioned above.

Its not just the Wall Street...its ALL streets!!

With the stock market (read the benchmark BSE 30-Share Sensex) plummeting to a three-year low and with the recession lurking not so much in the background anymore, the global downturn may be deeper and the recovery longer than expected. No one knows how long and how serious the financial crisis will be. But one thing is for sure - unless acted upon decisively, it is going to have a devastating effect on the lives, working conditions, and hopes of millions around the world.

The International Labour Organization has projected that the world unemployment would increase by 20 million, with the construction, automotive, tourism, finance, services, and real estate being hit hardest. People living on less than a dollar a day could rise by 40 million and those living on two dollars a day could rise by more than 100 million. Scary!

Stemming this rot will require devising economic plans that focus, primarily, on people and enterprise. Productivity must be linked to salaries and growth to employment. As Juan Somavia, Director-General of the ILO, says "People must have trust that the economy is working for them".

Measures have been and are being taken. Credit flowing is being increased. It, however, should also include credit for small and medium enterprises, unemployment insurance, pension protection et al - in short, its imperative to support the vulnerable. Regulation that rewards hard work and enterprise is also utmost important. Entrepreneurs must be encouraged so that they can invest and innovate, thus producing jobs and products. Sustainable globalization is also a key but that will require relevant international organizations to come together so that they can figure out means to keep economies and societies open.

Its a crisis. Its not for the weak-hearted.

Its time to think bold.

Darden application - tips from the Director of MBA Admissions

I had planned on writing about the strategy that I had followed for my Darden application (on receiving an interview invite from Darden) but with Sara Neher advising her prospective students through her video blog, I don't think that my strategy will be as valuable as her words of wisdom. Below are her video blogs that concern application essays, recommendations, and extra-curricular activities. I hope you find them useful.





I would have loved to have seen these blog postings before I submitted my application but I am glad that I have done most things right in my application. A good reason for me to hope for the best :-)

Ross MBA Event

Just got back from the event and my first impression...I am happy that I applied to Ross...the event lived up to my expectations!

There were three people, representing Ross, at the event - Ms. Kelly Kong Rogers (from the adcom. She is also an alumnus) and the alumni (Mr. Gautam Rao and Mr. Vikram Polavarapu) . The event started with a short (15 minutes) presentation on Ross MBA and what it has to offer. The presentation was precise, mostly bullet points with the speaker having to elaborate on the contents. It was ideal as it allowed people to listen to the speaker rather than continuously stare at the screen. Kelly stressed on the importance of teamwork throughout the presentation. It was typical Ross. Matt, if you are reading this - I liked it!

After the presentation, we had the alumni taking questions. As expected, one of the first questions was about the financial crisis and its effect on placements. Its difficult to predict the markets' future but the alumni, going by past trends, sounded optimistic. They felt that the market situation would improve over the next couple of years.

Then, there was the question about the cancellation of the Ross CitiAssist loan. Ross is doing its best to find alternatives for the cancelled CitiAssist loan that didn't require a US co-signer (applicants still have the option of leveraging the UoM CitiAssist loan that requires a US co-signer) Finding a solution for this situation is at the top of the Dean’s priority list. The School is actively exploring loan options to ensure that Ross continues to be financially feasible for high caliber students from around the world. At this time, however, the program also advises international students to explore all sources of funding within their own countries, such as government scholarships and loans, private agencies, and bank loan programs, as well as personal funding sources. It also encourages early applications because a majority of the merit scholarships are available to those who apply in Rounds one and two. Like Darden, Ross too is taking into account its international students' concerns. I am happy!

I had earlier mentioned in the blog that all the adcom members are away conducting information sessions. I was contacted by the adcom this evening and was informed that they have started reviewing the applications. Now that's good news - applicants can hope to hear from Ross in the near future!

To be honest, my interaction with the Ross alumni and a current student, prior to my application submission, had had me amazed. The loyalty within the community is overwhelming! It would be awesome to be a part of such a close knit group.

On this note I'll end my post...its late and time I crashed...

Go blue! :-D

Darden's take on the credit crisis and financial aid for international students....thank you Sara Neher

I have been following Sara's (she is Darden's Director of MBA Admissions) video blog ever since its inception. I really appreciate this initiative because the Admissions Director, in one way or the other, is connecting with her prospective students; providing them with first-hand information that they, otherwise, would have to relentlessly hunt for.

In her latest video blog, she acknowledges the apprehension that international students face due to the cancellation of no-cosigner loans. She admits that the current situation is common across all schools in the US and every school is working tirelessly to come up with other alternatives. They expect to have solutions in place before the deposit deadline (late March for R1). In case of a delay in arriving at a solution, they are willing to extend the deposit deadline!

I have been quietly confident that the schools would take appropriate measures to counter the current crisis. They would not want to miss out on admitting good students, like yours truly ;-D, simply because the students couldn't afford the fees and living expenses. It is for this reason that I stuck to my schedule and boldly went ahead and applied to Darden, Ross, and Stanford - schools that I admire and long to study in.

Here is Sara's video blog...



In other news, I'll be attending Ross's MBA event tomorrow. I look forward to meeting with the adcom members and the alumni. I will post my experience tomorrow evening after the meet.

Also, I am eagerly awaiting the ISB interview invite. The invites are expected to be rolled out before the 25th. Fingers crossed...

HEC Paris - a top non-US b-school

I had filled in HEC Paris' Candidate preliminary evaluation form and this what they had to say...

Dear Ashwanth,

Thank you for the interest you have expressed in the HEC MBA Program and for having taken the time to submit your Candidate Profile. We have carefully examined the form you provided and would like to provide you a preliminary evaluation of your profile.

Like all leading MBA programs, HEC requires candidates to submit official GMAT scores. Our participants currently have an average score of around 670. Based on the information you have provided, your GMAT results are well within our standard range, so we encourage you to have your official score sent to us using school code 0TL-6C-28.

The HEC MBA Program is taught in English, with the option to do coursework in French. In order to succeed in this environment, candidates whose mother tongue is not English or those who do not hold a university degree from an English-speaking institution must show a minimum TOEFL score of 100 (ibt), a minimum IELTS score of 7.5 or a minimum TOIEC score of 800. The results you have reported appear to meet our requirements; but please be sure to have your official score sent to us using school code 0649.

HEC MBA participants learn as much from each other as from our excellent faculty and high-profile guest speakers. Our class size of just 200 and our ideal program length allow our participants to benefit from the experience of their classmates, who represent over 50 different nationalities and have on average 6 years of professional experience. We believe that the professional experience outlined in your Candidate Profile would equip you to make a positive contribution to the HEC MBA learning experience.

Overall, we feel that you are an excellent candidate for the HEC MBA Program. Hence, we encourage you to proceed to the next step of the admissions process by filling out our online application form....

This is quite encouraging. HEC Paris now makes its way into the list of non-US b-schools that I'll be applying to in case I get dinged at ISB. I know a couple of alums from this school and they have had only good things to say about it. ISB will let out its interview shortlist for the Hyderabad candidates in the coming week. If I do clear this first hurdle then I'll wait till the 20th of Nov (ISB decision deadline) before proceeding with the R2 applications.

Well...lets c what the future has in store for me...

To Goa and back again...

And I'm back!

These last few days have been awesome...it was a vacation well deserved! It felt good to get away from work and the stress. My MBA journey also needed this breather.

We hardly slept throughout the journey. Mornings were spent sight-seeing, afternoons at the beach and the evenings partying - and boy were the parties trippy or what!!

Here are some pictures of what I saw and did in Goa...


The road to Goa from Hubli....


The resort that we lived in...


View from our balcony...


The beach...


Can you spot me there??? :-D

It was one fantastic vacation...sad that it had to come to an end.

Meanwhile, ISB has started sending out interview invites to the Delhi candidates. Hyderabad candidates can expect to receive their's around the 20th of Oct. Am keeping my fingers crossed.

Time to grab some food now.

Later then...

Darden submitted!

So, with this I have successfully completed my round one application submissions. Hopefully I won't have to submit anymore apps this year. My Managing Director submitted his recommendation for Stanford yesterday. With that, all my applications are complete. I now wait to hear from the admission committees. Its been one heck of a journey - more a road to self discovery. To be honest, my career, thus far, has been inline with my ambition do an MBA. The thought of pursuing an MBA has been in mind ever since I finished schooling in 2001. I am happy with the way things have shaped up. I am grateful to a lot of people for their continuous support; something that, I am sure, will never cease. I hope I get into at least one of these four good schools that I have applied to. It will be a huge step towards achieving my career goal.

Anyways, its now time to relax and calm the mind and nerves. They'll be working overtime in the coming weeks! I am off to Goa, tonight, with friends. I'll be spending the next four days there - away from work, tension, and anxiety. Been looking forward to this trip for a while now.

So until the next post, its gonna be...Sun, Sand, and the Sea...

Be good.

R1 apps: Darden in

Well...I had options. My choices were Wharton, Tuck, Said (Oxford) and Darden. I would have applied to most of these schools in R2 anyway. So, I decided to move one of them to R1. I chose Darden. My chances of getting admission to Darden are quite realistic. I loved the resources that Darden has to offer to its students and I am also for the case-based methodology. Their FAQ suggest that I need to send them my official GMAT score only on admission. Now that's pretty kewl. I also stand a good chance of getting a lucrative scholarship. Moreover, I don't mind staying in Charlottesville.

I spoke with my potential evaluators for Darden and they agreed to send in their recommendations. I also found time to finish one of the three essays (a creative challenge). It was a situation based essay that I had already written for Ross. So I only needed to prune it to meet Darden's word limit. I really like the essay because it portrays an important trait that adds color to my persona.

I will be waiting for my ISB results before I apply to colleges in the second round. If I manage admission into ISB then I will not be applying to any other school. I will, then, wait to hear from Ross, Stan and Darden.

US Subprime Crisis

I came across this hilarious, yet true, document/presentation on the housing crisis. Thought I'll share the same with all of you.

Check this out.

Stanford app submitted!!!

Today was the big day...

All my dreams, my ambitions, and my vision have been properly packaged and are, now, at the doorstep of, probably, the best business school in the world, the Stanford GSB. Yes..I have submitted my Stanford MBA application.

I started my application in the first week of August. The last month and a half have been really enjoyable. I have loved answering every bit of the essay questions. On seeing the app, the first thing I realized was that I had more than one good and convincing reply for each of the essays. They, nevertheless, made me dig deep into my past and unearth situations/experiences that I hold dear and had really learned from.

At 13:45 IST, I closed my eyes, said a little prayer and hit the submit button. Its now a long wait for the interview invitation. Two of my recommenders have already submitted their evaluations. The third person is currently out of the country. He will be submitting his recommendation by the first week of October.

With this I end my planned set of Round1 applications. With over a month left for the deadlines, I am tempted to apply to one more school.

Well...we'll just have to wait and see.

GMAT scores, GPA and essays

It is quite obvious that an applicant's GPA and her GMAT score are the major indicators of her readiness to face the academic rigor at a B-school. Although it is true that admission committees view each application holistically, it is nevertheless important for an applicant to judge for herself if her GPA and GMAT score will hold her in good stead while applying to various schools, especially the top 5 schools. I came across Are your GMAT scores competitive? recently and thought I'll share this link with you all. It is not, by any means, a tool that guarantees admission to a school of your dreams but will, no doubt, help you make realistic choices.


Another interesting tool that I recently came across is the Readability Index Calculator. It uses the Flesch-Kincaid method to determine how easy it is to read a text. The higher the score, the better is the readability. For example, comics score around 90 but legal/law documents end up with scores of less than 10. This does not mean that complex text isn't as interesting to read as other stuff. But it is definitely useful to write text that is easy to comprehend. Generally, a score of around 40 is considered to be excellent. This post has a readability score of 49! Pretty useful while writing essays, isn't it?

In other news, the ISB round1 application deadline is today. People are facing problems, big-time, due to server over-load. AFAIK, 1337 applications had already been submitted by late last night. I won't be surprised if the final count of R1 applications touches 2000.


Will grab some lunch now...catch you later...

Ross app submitted and happy Onam!

The big news today is that I have submitted my application for MBA to the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. My evaluators have submitted their recommendations and I had had my score sent to Ross three weeks ago. So, my work is done and I'll now wait to hear from the adcom.

Today, we also happen to celebrate Onam, the national festival of Kerala. It is a harvest festival that is celebrated by Malayalees all over the world. For more information click here. All the malayalees, including me, in my company are clad in traditional Kerala wear today. We met up and had 'sadya' together.

In other news, I hope to submit by Stanford app on the 17th of this month and I'll be out partying tonight, with colleagues.

C ya l8r

Stanford MBA Program Meet

So...I attended the Stanford information session today. It was a meet that I had been waiting for for close to a month. Ms. Raja Ashraf, Assistant Director of Admissions, conducted the session. She was accompanied by alums Mr. Lokesh and Ms. Kirthiga. It was a 2 hour session and it made my resolve to get into Stanford stronger. I really really hope to get admission into the GSB. The session started with a briefing on what Stanford has to offer, on the revised curriculum and on its future goals. This was followed by a Q&A period that was mainly handled by the alums. Ms. Ashraf, finally, wound up the meet with a briefing on the financial aid and the admission process. This is one school where I will really fit in well but it is also the most difficult school to get into. I know a few close ones are praying hard for me and I sincerely hope our prayers are answered.

Say NO to racial discrimination

I recently came across this little poem. It was nominated by the United Nations as the best poem of 2006. It was written by an African kid.

When I born, I black
When I grow up, I black
When I go in Sun, I black
When I scared, I black
When I sick, I black
And when I die, I still black
And you white fellow
When you born, you pink
When you grow up, you white
When you go in sun, you red
When you cold, you blue
When you scared, you yellow
When you sick, you green
And when you die, you gray
And you calling me colored??

:-)

Other updates - my manager has submitted the Ross recommendation. I think I'll be submitting the app on Friday.

I have written the initial draft of the Stanford essay and I am actually pretty happy with the outcome. Will be attending the Stanford MBA Program Event, here in Hyderabad, tomorrow.

A busy day ahead at work...so GTG

Runners-up at Mir Khasim Ali Cricket Tournament!

The D. E. Shaw cricket team played brilliantly today but lost to a superior team, TCS. The TCS team has been our nemesis on previous occasions as well. But today we ran them close. Scoring 25 runs of the last over was a tall order and we failed to knock them over. We beat HSBC, the tournament favourites; for the first time in the company's history; in the semi-finals. As the Captain, I am extremely pleased with the team's performance. It is a good start to the season - reaching the finals of our very first tournament!

Some good news on my MBA app front. My one-page killer resume is READY. It comprised two pages earlier but now the one page thingy looks absolutely fabulous...I hope it does its bit in helping me get into a school of my choice.

I have one more essay to write for my Stanford application - "What matters to you most and why?". I have the answer ready. I just need to pen it down and weave it into my application's theme.

The Ross essays are done. I am waiting on my current supervisor to submit the recommendation. I'll probably submit the application this coming week.

That's me signing off...

Power Outage! Why tonight of all nights?!?

I was in the middle of, perhaps, one of the most important chats of my life when I experienced a sudden unexpected power outage. As it appears, a major part of the city had been affected. The heavy downpour didn't help either. Here I am, on the other end of the city, sitting fully drenched, and hoping, rather praying, that I haven't lost an important contact. I have been working on my one-page killer resume. The chat was, in fact, for seeking guidance regarding the same.

In other news, I led my cricket team to victory in the Quarter Finals of a tournament today morning. The Semi Final match is scheduled for tomorrow morning but I won't be surprised if it gets postponed due to the rain.

I am feeling a bit down now. Hence, not in the mood to type. I'll see y'all later...

Be good.

Good to be blogging again...

After almost a month long hiatus, I am back with my next post. There were a few reasons, though, for my absence from active blogging. For starters, the ISB essays were a bit draining. I needed a few days to rejuvenate my batteries. Then work got a bit hectic. I also had to make a trip to Chennai. In sum, I have been keeping rather busy.

In the meantime, however, I have been actively working on my essays to Stanford and Ross. The outline for both remain the same. It is only the school specific interests that I had to add to the respective essays. I remember reading on a blog that when you put your heart and soul to writing an essay, you will find that even the initial draft looks quite incredible. This has certainly been the case with me.

Now on to my evaluators. I spoke with my Managing Director, a person I have closely worked with, about my Stanford recommendation. He has already submitted one evaluation (for ISB). I was a bit hesitant to ask him for another one considering his busy schedule but felt that his recommendation will definitely add weight to my application. I approached him and his response was very encouraging. My other recommendations for Stanford will be from my current manager and a colleague who has known me for the last 7 years (he was a year senior to me in college).

Though I haven't been blogging in this last one month, I have been reading quite a few blogs, especially the ones related to Stanford & Ross. Among the best ones that I came across was Marquis' Weblog. This guy is nothing but inspirational. I am in touch with him and I hope to have a conversation with him sometime in the near future. I am sure that my interaction with him will add a whole new dimension to my application.

With that I'll end this post and get back to working. (The 15 minute break that I had given myself is over!)

Submitted my ISB App

So...its been a while since I blogged...about 2 weeks I guess...been a bit busy with work n stuff.

The big news today is that I submitted by application to the Post Graduate Programme in Management at the Indian School of Business. I started filling in this form and writing the essays in the 1st week of June. After many iterations and deliberations, I, finally, hit the submit button today. I believe that I have done justice to my app and, God willing, I should get admission into ISB. A brief look at my profile -

Class X - CBSE - 89%
Class XII - CBSE - 93%
5 Year Integrated Software Engineering - CGPA 9.81/10
GMAT - 710 (Q49, V38, AWA 5.0) - 2 weeks preparation with just about 2 hrs a day :-(
Work experience - 3 years at the time of admission + 18 months internships at 4 different companies (though internships aren't valued as true work experience)
Extra-curricular -
Sports -
School Sports Captain
College Cricket Captain
Cricket and volleyball at the district level
Weight training and cardio
Athletics
Awards & Activities -
Best out-going all-rounder from school
Plenty of awards and prizes in Quiz, Software Project Management, Paper Presentations etc
Open source initiatives - Chief Coordinator and Mentor
Coordinated various other club and association activities.
Entertainment -
Dancer - regular stage performances
Community Services -
Rotaract Club
Donors to Charity Club

Goal - Well set :-D

And its with this profile that I am setting out on my quest for getting into a good B-school. Now that the ISB app is done and dusted, I can concentrate on my application for admission to the Stanford GSB. Oh well...here we go again....

Promoted!

I had my mid-year appraisal yesterday. I was pleased to hear that I have been promoted to Senior Member Technical (SMT). Well...all those days of hard work have finally paid off. Moreover, I can now project this work progress on my B-school apps...yaaayyyy!

Tonight's the big party night. Its our dance show at the party. Guess I do have a huge reason to celebrate.... :-)

Watched "The Dark Knight"

The entire weekend was spent practising dance for the performance on the 24th. Nevertheless, I managed to eek out some time to watch "The Dark Knight"! Man...I loved the movie. Nolan, dude, u r a genius! The director sure has left me begging for more. I feel sorry for Ledger that he is not around to see his best performance - a definite Oscar nomination if not the award. I have never, ever, seen a better villain! I would rate this as probably the best superhero movie ever... Do not miss it! Its worth every penny.

IELTS overall score of 8!

I got my IELTS results today - an overall band score of 8 on 9. Though I wasn't too serious about the exam, I was pretty confident of scoring an 8.5. Was kinda disappointed on seeing band scores of 7.5 in the writing and speaking sections. I was sure that I'll get at least an 8 in both these sections. Nways, considering the fact that I hadn't prepared a wee bit for the exam, a score of 8 is acceptable.

Now, moving on to other things...we have started with cricket practice for the season ahead. We have planned an internal tournament for the company in august. The corporate tournaments will start in September. I am looking forward to scoring some big runs this year and of course, to picking up a bag full of wickets.

I have been dancing a bit too. Will be performing onstage on the 24th of July, at the HICC, Novotel, Hyderabad.

Coupla things on the todo list...watch 'The Dark Knight' and get a new battery for my laptop.

Wanted Hancock!

The week was well spent, with some good work at office and loadsa fun at the movies. Saw 4 movies this week - 3 good ones and one pathetic. The good ones first:

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na..., the hindi flick, is a movie about 2 best friends who finally end up realizing that they are in love. The movie is the road to this realization. It is stereotype but pleasant, supplemented by good humour - definitely worth a watch.

Next, Wanted. I had been longing to see this movie, especially for the action sequences. And guess what, the movie didn't disappoint. Some of the scenes were breath-taking. To top it all, Angelina Jolie...WOW!! She was smokin'

The third, another much-awaited flick, Hancock. Yet another superhero story and we are not done yet; The Dark Knight releases next week and I can't wait to see it. But Will Smith rocks in this one. Moreover, the comedy is quite good to. Overall, it was enjoyable. I would give this one a 3 on 5.

Admist these, was Love Story 2050 - a catastrophe! What in God's world was the director thinking?!?! And that too, casting his son - a wanna-be Hrithik Roshan! The less said about the story and the acting the better. Nevertheless, the graphics were quite awesome. However, it is difficult to see Mumbai in 2050, the way it has been projected in the movie.

IELTS LRW

And so...today was my IELTS Listening, Reading, and Writing tests. It was pretty okay. I reached the venue at 11.15 and was shocked to see 359 other applicants there. I didn't expect so many people to take the test at the same venue on the same day, especially since the test is conducted every week. Apparently, this is test attendance every week, in Hyderabad.
The test started with the listening module, followed by the reading and then the writing. It finished 20 minutes late, courtesy the delay in starting the test. Anyways, the result will be announced after 13 days and I don't think I'll be thinking about it until then.

An IELTS speaking test and loadsa fun...

Its a close friend's birthday today. We took her out for dinner last night, had a bash at 12 midnight, and plan on partying tonight. For the record, She had four different cakes smashed on her face!

I had my IELTS speaking test today. I got to the center half an hour early; only to find the test postponed by an hour. I requested for an earlier appointment and they obliged. The test was pretty straight-forward. It was a personal interview. The interviewer asked me my name, place and profession. She then asked me about my school and its teachers. Then, I was asked to speak on a random topic, Physical activities that interest me, for 2 minutes. Without hesitation, I chose Weight training and Sports. This was followed by some questions related to exercises and sports - more a dialogue between the interviewer and me. And so the test ended. I think I spoke fairly well. Anyways, I am not too worried about the score.

So...its party time now...and hence, over n out!

A relaxed Sunday

Didn't do much today. Spent the best part of it drafting my essays for ISB. Almost thru with them. Watched a bit of the Srilanka-Pakistan match and the IIFA awards. Waiting for the Euro finals to start. And thats about it.

Chilled out Saturday

Was up the entire night chatting with friends...the alcohol played its part too ;-). Gave my refrigerator for servicing, finished some pending jobs and picked up the IELTS complimentary prep material. I have my exam in a week's time. So, decided to go thru the book. Then, slept for a while.

Saw a movie, 21, in the evening. It was a good movie. It is about this guy from MIT who aspires to study at Harvard Med but doesn't have the money to support him. The story revolves around how he starts off with writing his not-too-extraordinary scholarship essay and ends up putting his mathematical aptitude to test at the casinos in Las Vegas. The result - one helluva roller coaster ride. I could relate to the protagonist as I find myself in a similar position - writing essays for my b-school apps!

And yes, I also caught up with the score - India thrashed yet another team - Bangladesh this time.

Ah...there goes my power

A frustrating start to the day. Almost half my apartment was without power; thanks to the refrigerator that decided to blow off. I spent almost the entire morning trying to sort out the problem. Finally managed to catch hold off the electrician and got it fixed. Apparently, the entire building had been affected!

Got to office in the afternoon. Work was peaceful - TGIF! Will probably be out partying tonight.

Cya later.

Random...

Was reading up on a recent interview with Bjarne Stroustrup, the developer of C++. He talked about the troubles that he had faced in convincing people to use C++ for systems programming, the evolution of the language and the road ahead for the developers. If you ever wondered how C++ got its name then the answer, in Bjarne's words - As "C with Classes" (my ancestor to C++) became popular within Bell Labs, some people found that name too much of a mouthful and started to call it C. This meant that they needed to qualify what they meant when they wanted to refer to Dennis Ritchie's language, so they used "Old C", "Straight C", and such. Somebody found that disrespectful to Dennis (neither Dennis nor I felt that) and one day I received a "request" though Bell Labs management channels to find a better name. As a result, we referred to C++ as C84 for a while. That didn't do much good, so I asked around for suggestions and picked C++ from the resulting list. Everybody agreed that semantically ++C would have been even better, but I thought that would create too many problems for non-geeks. The interview can be found at http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;408408016;pp;1;fp;16;fpid;1

I also came across this interesting blog http://vestpocketconsultant.entrepreneur.com/. The blogger, Rosalind Resnick, is the founder and CEO of a consulting firm in New york. I will be keeping a keen eye on her blog. Will probably provide me with useful tips to achieve my long-term goals.
The day at work was pretty good. I have officially started work on my new project. I am excited about the things I can achieve by working on this new venture.
I hope India defeats Pakistan today. I have a friend's birthday bash to attend at 12 midnight. Also, can't wait for the Spain vs Russia SF. And thats me signing off for the day...

Safin def Djokovic !

Well...Safin's victory, that too in straight sets, over Djokovic came as a surprise to many. Federer is well on his way to victory even as I type in this blog. Also, watched India win by 256 runs, although that didn't come as a surprise. The day, otherwise, was rather mundane.

The major work that I did today was to get information about the new project. The hours spent in office today were, otherwise, pretty lame. I hit the gym in the evening today and will probably do the same for the rest of the week.

I plan on watching the Euro SF tonight. Though not a German fan, I don't expect Turkey to win today. So, that's about it for today. See you tomorrow.

A Tuesday with The Incredible Hulk

The day started with the usual workout in the morning. When I got to office, I was surprised to see a 1000 mails in my inbox. There had been an issue with our software. I quickly got down to investigating it and managed to fix it in an hour or so. Phew.... the root cause of the problem has to be debugged though...guess my team-mate will be doing that as owns that piece of the code.



Had a long meeting with the team and my manager just before lunch. Was informed that I'll be moving to another project. Am happy with the move coz I'll be more or less heading the project and the team working on that project, in the near future.



Lunch was bad. So had some pav bhaji in the evening. Decided to go to the movies after work.

And we chose The Incredible Hulk. Well...one word describes the movie...INCREDIBLE!! The special effects were amazing. The movie had a pretty decent plot, unlike its predecessor. Another thing that I really liked about the movie was the delay in showing the main protagonist. Overall, the movie is worth a watch and I can wait for the sequel which, I presume, would have the Ironman teaming up with the Hulk! Now, how spectacular would that be..sigh...why did I ever grow up ;-D

Until tomorrow...over n out.

A good start to the week...

We had released our next version of software on Friday, last week. Today was the first trading day with the new software. Most of us keep our eyes open, on the first trading day, for major issues (show-stoppers) that might have escaped QA tests. Well...this release went smooth. Nothing, that'll keep me awake all night, happened. Thank God for that!

The day started as usual - gym at 6.30. Got back home at 8.30, took a shower, read the headlines and headed for work. It wasn't a busy day. In fact, I actually got time for some personal work. I decided to rephrase a few sentences in my ISB essays so that they read better.

I happened to read an INSEAD admit's blog (http://strawberrytints.blogspot.com/). It made quite an interesting read. The guy is from the film industry. He had a GMAT score of 720. He managed to get thru ISB, got dinged at LBS but cleared INSEAD. He has written about his preparation for an MBA and his experiences at the interviews and also at INSEAD. Something in his blog that caught my eye was the Alladin concept. To quote his words, "basically a reworked Alchemist theme. The idea is to see yourself as Alladin and the whole world as your genie. Every thought you have strokes the lamp and the genie i.e. the world goes out there to make it happen." Hmmm...thought provoking indeed!

I was done with work by 7 pm. Joined my friends at the cafeteria, grabbed a bite and then got back to browsing the net for more MBA stuff. I have been contemplating on apping to Ross for a while now. I, finally, decided to take a call. I will be apping in R2, the reason - I'd know the fate of my ISB app by then. I will be applying thru Ross' consortium - that way a few more good schools will have access to my application. Nevertheless, I do have a few other schools in mind - Stern, INSEAD and a long shot at Stanford. A few more would be Chicago GSB, HKUST, Tepper and may be RSM. But I am slightly inclined towards pursuing the PGP at ISB. Then again, my options are open.

And so ended my Monday. Wasn't majorly exciting but a steady start to the week. Guess I'll hit the sack now.

PS: I did see Federer win his opening round at Wimbledon.

and finally a blog....

After years of just reading blogs on the internet, I have finally decided to start blogging. 'Why now?' one might ask. Well...I wasn't actually lazy earlier but felt it was time I started bacause it is a good way of keeping track of things you do, sharing information with others, meeting interesting people and making new blog friends. And so here goes....



I got up pretty late today...after last night's Euro QF (was hoping that Netherlands win but Russia played well; Arshavin was marvellous towards the end of the match.). Made some breakfast and then got hooked on to the net. Spent some good time reading blogs and articles. Listened to an interview with Dr. Chetan Sankar, Professor, Auburn University. He spoke about the life of an academician. It was quite interesting. Then, I resumed with my ISB essays. Yes, I am applying to ISB this year, round 1. However, I managed to squeeze out some time to watch the French GrandPrix. I was at home the whole day. Wanted to relax a bit and take time off for myself. And I did just that !