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....