Saturday, August 9, 2008

The 5yr Admission Plan

So why a 5 year Plan??You know Who I Am. Despite the impressive(??) looking resume there are a lot of weak areas in my profile. Kunal insists that I have a rather unique profile and that i only didnt get in because of sheer procrastination at app time. Be that as it may, if I ever want to go to a topMBA, its time to beef up my profile, iron out the weak areas etc.

All MBA Apps are divided into 3 basic categories :

1.Who you are a.k.a Profile
2.The GMAT Score
3.Your Essays and Reco Letters.

To a certain extent, points 1 and 3 are inter-linked. Who you are, is represented in your essays. Stuff like GPA, extra-currics, interests, non-academic achievement, social service are shown in your resume and subtly yet clearly shown to the Ad-Com in a variety of ways.

Each point is crucial in your app. Each point can be a make or break deal. Well, ok, not the GMAT so much. The GMAT helps your app be reviewed favourably but after that its all you. And yet, as you can see from my BU feedback the GMAT is used to distinguish between candidates with similar profiles. Given that Indians seem to be raising the ave score for themselves(much to the dismay of other applicants) its no surprise that a reasonably decent 710 is almost clearly not good enough if I'm an IIM. However, within the 5yr plan, the GMAT is not on the horizon for another 3yrs. Let's see where Indians take the average by then.


The aim of the 5yr plan
is simple--5yrs from now, I should be admitted to a top MBA program.

This is by far the most ambitious, focussed, long-term plan i've come up with. And its one i intend implementing. The MBA has been a dream i've harboured for a really long time and by Jove, I'm definitely going to get it.

So why the 5yr plan?? Because every area in my profile is fractured and could do with the beefing up.

Education As with most Indians, I am an engineer. However, my acad performance is the weakest link of my profile. My performance/GPA is downright horrible and only another course with a reasonably decent GPA would make me a competitive applicant. There are other additions to this that are beyond the scope of this blog(Hint: Indians, dont you'll love the ATKT system?? It finally caught up and bit me in the ass though :| )

Work-Ex For the first 2yrs of my life, it's solid. Honest IT engineer. Working in a start-up. Low pay, good responsibility.
After that, it all goes down. Join a start-up. "Work" for 7months and have nothing to show for it but the other part-time job i did.
Quit that to join another start-up. Once again, nothing much to show.

Extra-Currics Zero. Nada. Nothing here folks move on. Ok, i do have the Moderation of forums to show, but I doubt that'd qualify as extra-currics. I'd have to actually do something concrete which I haven't. Yet.

So, those are the 3 Main Areas to be worked on over the next 4years. I intend applying in the 5th year of the plan(just like the Indian government's 5yr plan :D) and should hopefully have better news than last time.

Wish me Luck :)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ok, so a couple of things -

1. The MBA is only an end to a goal, not an end in itself. I don't know if this is right, but it seems to me like you're basing (have based?) your whole life around the MBA. That's insane!

2. A 5-year plan to get an MBA seems ludicrous to me. Sure it's a great degree, but there's plenty of other things that you can do with your life.

I do not mean this in a derogatory or offensive manner, and I hope you take it as such. All the best.