Election on Campus

LOL! Walking back home at 10 in the night, i chanced upon this notice-board that struck me as particularly hilarious! So i whipped out my Sony Walkman W580 and got a good shot. The white piece of paper is (obviously) stuck outside the glass :D



p.s. Oh did i tell you about my new Sony Walkman W580 that AT&T kindly gave me for free while i agree to pay them for the next 2years??

List of B-schools

LOL! does it really matter? If i'm only going to apply in 3-4years time, then the whole world is my application arena :) i have 3-4yrs to really research the schools i want to go to and then decide if i really want to go there. I'll be 31 by the time i hope to enter and that number could be a deterrent at some schools. Will it be worth my while to research those schools now?? How do i know these schools wont show a marked preference for younger candidates??

With the economic crisis worsening this year in the US, i believe the competition at b-schools is only going to get worse. While i'm glad i'm not part of the race this year, I can only speculate how it'll be in the years to come. Placement stats for those graduating next year should make for interesting reading.

Potential Q to ask b-school Ad-Com: Explain the puff in your placement stats :-p

Save the Application. Save the world.

Ok so i copied that line from Heroes. But seriously do log into the following facebook app and use it occassionaly( like once a day :D ) I've got the application hosted on Joyent which gave me the account free for a year. Of course the "free" comes with a rider--that my application is used by atleast 50people. So please do me a favour, go here http://apps.new.facebook.com/gmat_mba_news/ and use the App

p.s. PHP/MYSQL Developers still wanted. Please code for free

Step1: Fix my Grades

Check.

I am now officially an MS-MTI(MS in Marketing and Technological Innovation) student at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute,MA. I graduate Dec,2009 hopefuly with far better grades than i graduated with for my undergrad :D

I've got interesting courses in the entire program. A lot of them look like MBA courses so this should be fun. I have the option of taking courses online as well as in class but i've ensured all of my classes for this semester are classroom. I'd love to get a real good feel of the american education system. Classes are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evening.

Courses i'm taking this semester
Principles of Marketing
Economics of the Firm
Organizational Behavior
New Venture Management and Entrepreneurship

I have some GA but would love a job to supplement that(Kaplan, ManhattanGmat, Princeton are you'll listening??) Additionally i can start working full-time after 9months and am also looking for an internship during the periods of April-July and longer if possible (seriously, somebody gimme a call :D )

p.s. Cannot believe i'm adding an additional 16months of studying when i swore the MBA would be the only degree i would get after my Engg. Man, the things we do to achieve our dreams :)

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 :)

End of Admission Season/Audieu

With the Ding from Rotman, its time to bid good-bye to my MBA admission process for the year. I finally applied to Ross, BU, Rotman and VTech. Ding at Ross and Rotman, Deny after interview at BU and Admitted(but respectfully declined) at VTech.

Been an interesting ride.

Deny from Rotman :|

I arrive home in Hyd and find a letter from Rotman waiting for me. Deny as expected but the strange thing is that they never sent out an e-mail. And it completely skipped mom's mind to let me know of the same. So i spent 2 weeks wondering when Rotman would confirm.

This brings an end to my first apping season. Applied to 4 colleges, 2 Ding, 1 Deny after Interview and 1 admit. Its been an interesting ride. However I now have a nice long plan lined up. I dont know how its going to work out, but here's to hoping it does :)