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!)