Interview experience @ ISB

Saturday morning was spent at the ISB campus. I got in early morning and some candidates had already gone in by then. I guess the interviews started at 9am, met some candidates waiting their turn. Impressive folks - doctors, engineers, CA's working for the world bank etc. I was a little scared and intimidated frankly, but decided to just keep focussed on my agenda.

The first thing was to write a short 100 word essay on BEAT. Wrote some stuff about heart beats and beat-ing the crap out of someone (in a better way of course). After 15 minutes, the interview started.There were 3 folks in most panels I think, mine had 1 alum, 1 current student and 1 member from the admissions committee. The general tone of the interview was extremely conversational. It was quite unlike any other interview, no grilling questions whatsoever. The interview started off with the alum asking me about my reasons for an MBA and why I have chosen on ISB. From there, it went on to aspects of my industry and my exact work profile. Then, most questions centered around my industry (technology), work and how the current financial crisis can affect it. I was asked for specific leadership qualities I admire in folks I look up to. Also, a question checking if I had some clue about what caused the financial crisis. Lastly, I was asked my career goals, and if I had any questions for them.

Most of the interview was driven by the alum, with regular questions from the other two gentlemen. No questions about my essays or any other specific points from my application - dunno if its good or bad!!! I guess most of the interviewes I met came out smiling after the interview - so everyone pretty much feels comfortable inside. A thoroughly professional interview, and no stress inducing tactics. At least I couldnt read into it!

Now the wait begins. Surely ISB will have a fantastic batch of Twenty-Ten, just hope I am one of the lucky few. February 2009 will reveal that now. Spent the rest of the day sleeping and eating some amazing Hyderabad Biryani! Now I'm onto the Stanford application.

Have a fantastic year end everyone! 2008 has been a real roller coaster...... enjoy the last 3 days! :)

First interview invite

Just got an email from ISB - I have been invited to interview on campus next weekend! :)

Its heartening to know that my application package had some 'weight' to warrant an interview call. Now I need to budget my time amongst critical work projects, the Stanford essays (which arent going well honestly) and the ISB interview preparation. All the been-there-done-that's , please share any interview tips!!! I would be most greatful!

Also, heartiest congratulations to all R1 folks who have heard positive news over this week. Looks like it has been quite an eventful week for many! Good Luck and have a great weekend everyone! :)

The class visit experience

Hey b-school aspirers! Today I got a first-hand feel of a B-school environment by sitting in on a class and talking with some current students. Here is my experience of attending a class at ISB.



Well I attended the Financial Engineering class at ISB taught by Wharton professor Dr. Ramaswamy, and it was certainly interesting! If there is one thing I learnt very well, it is that Finance is TOUGH!!! :-) The class lasted for about 2 hours (with a 10 minute break in between), after which I spent some time talking to current students. Here are my thoughts -

Campus & Facilities - Excellent campus!!! It isnt the first time I am visiting ISB, yet this place never ceases to amaze me. They have a world class campus, and every inch the top B-school it deserves to be. I havent seen any IIM campuses, nor any US school campus, but I am pretty sure ISB wouldnt be far behind. The school is lush green, airy and wonderful facilities. Personally, i loved the squash courts and the swimming pool!!! Too bad, they were all deserted (as expected). I also spent a good 2 hours in the library reading the latest books they have on display, and no security guard troubled me. They even let you use computing facilities (packed with an amazing DVD collection). I ate in the Indian cafeteria, and food was decent.

Class - Nice and bright classrooms, average acoustics, average video-transmission. The professor had a tablet PC which I felt is far superior to using powerpoint presentations. Class participation was frankly below my expectation. But then I learnt this is probably the toughest course in ISB, and it was heavy duty mathematics etc, so takes some getting used to. The ethnic diversity in the class can be improved.

People - A great institution is only as good as its people. Students, faculty, non-faculty, librarians etc. Students came up to me to introduce themselves and ask about my background etc. They gave me their frank feedback about the school, the faculty, the placement process and the genral prospects post-MBA. Overall, I like the people here - I wouldnt say people went out of their way to make me like ISB, but they showed me the reality the way it is and thats what I really appreciate. I am not a sucker for over-marketing - this was just perfect. In fact, I remember thats one thing that impressed me most about ISB when I attended their admissions session presided by Mr. Menon. Extremely frank and candid.

Overall, I'm glad I got this chance. It was something I wanted to do since starting this process, and better late then never. Speaking with the students, I realised that the job-scene is certainly grim and it will not be easy finding dream-jobs this year. But the good thing is that whoever I spoke with is positive of landing a job. The career services will certainly have to get its act together big-time this year and hopefully they will do a good job.

ISB is certainly a good school with nice students and highly placed professors with huge networks. It needs to pack in more diversity though. Given the 1 year time, it is quite tough to encapsulate all the course material over just 6 weeks. The class I attended is a 1 semester course at Wharton, but here ts 1/3rd the time. One thing is for sure, if you get into ISB, there is no time for fun. But then, thats the whole fun, innit! :-)

Essays and Artists

As the title makes it clear, I am busy writing essays yet again, this time for Stanford GSB. Career aspirations, leadership examples, things that matter most etc etc etc. It is certainly a learning process - each day I learn more about myself, more about the school and more about how to package my thoughts to the school.

But honestly, I end up having self-doubts over my candidacy to ISB and Cornell. I just end up feeling maybe the essays arent as good as I'd have liked them to be. I think my Cornell essays came out well, especially the Table of Contents. But I am seriously paranoid about the ISB essays. Granted, there isnt much room in 900 words to sell your life-story, but many have done it well. I guess I'll know by mid-January if at all I get an interview invite.

If (and when) I do manage to get into any of my wish-list schools, I shall post my take on writing effective essays. Else ill post on how not to write them! :( But in the meantime, I wanted to put together some brilliant pieces of essay advice I came across from past and present applicants. A big Thanks to all these folks!

Future B-school applicants - This is my must-read list for essay advice. Good Luck! :)

1. ClearAdmit Essay Analysis - Very concise, very apt and put forth in a matter-of-fact format. The perfect starting point to understand what needs to go in the respective essays.

2. Adam Markus' Essay Analysis - I loved his posts for Stanford GSB essays. There is a wealth of information he provides, what with tidbits from respective Admission Directors etc.

3. Tinydancer's essay advice. The gist -

• Show IMPACT through the essays on every sphere you have influenced.
• Show how you will contribute to the school.
• Explain not only your goals (which most schools ask anyways), BUT also WHY these are your goals?

4. Thembasaga's essay advice. Possibly the most comprehensive and detailed analysis for Harvard, Chicago, Kellogg, Wharton and Stanford! A must read for every applicant worth his words!

5. Stanford GSB 'Director's Corner' advice by Derrick Bolton. Some candid thoughts, and most of this is applicable to all essays, irrespective of schools.

6. MBAbabe's tips on her strategies, that helped her get into H/S. My bigggest takeaway from her post was you need to tell the schools what matters most to you in a vivid way so as to market yourself effectively. And this isnt true only if asked "what matters most", but let it shine through somewhere.

7. More specific to Stanford's pet question "What matters most to you and why", maybe this post by ManagingMagic can help! I think the tidbit regarding "the most common answer is 'balance in life'" was pretty useful! I havent written this essay yet, but its always helpful to have this information.

8. A pretty solid post by DaveforMBA. The gist is dont make your essay into an extended resume, write everything that wont feature in your resume ever! :) Also, dont forget to check out his thoughts after visiting the various schools.

9. AxeChick's advice on essays..... a BOB winner for essays and pretty deserving too!

10. Well, if I'm able to get into one of those 3 schools, Ill be sure to put up a post that combines all of what I learnt and how I went about the essays. Granted I havent written many essays, especially as compared to the awesome folks above, but still ill put in my 2 cents. As a tribute to the above (and many others whom I cant recollect now) folks for their wonderful wonderful pieces of wisdom.

So finally, read these tips...... and get on with the essays R2 people! Happy writing! :)

- MBAlmighty

December Diaries

December has come in on a real sombre note after last weeks incidents at Mumbai. Someone rightly commented about this entire tragedy -

"Terrorists come, not only in boats
They also come asking for votes"

If there is anything to be glad about, it is that this tragic event "seems" to have woken our sleeping, vote-hungry, callous and repulsive politicians. Finally!!!! Or am I being too optimistic. Only time will tell.

In B-school application updates, ever since submitting ISB I had been considering applying to a couple of top B-schools (M7 perhaps). My heart was set on Wharton, Stanford and Kellogg for various reasons. Little really to seperate one from the other. But the reality is that I have just about a month to submit these applications in time for R2. Finally, I chose 2 in Kellogg and Stanford GSB. I left out Wharton primarily because it seemed the most competitive when I researched its current (R1) interview invited candidates and rejected souls. But doing 2 applications would mean almost 10 essays within a span of about 40 days. Nopes, I aint superman to do that either. It wouldnt be practical to apply to both, hence left out Kellogg for my research on its program is still relatively raw, to be honest.

Hence, I'll be applying to only 1 more school in R2 - Stanford GSB. On the basis of numbers alone its the most competitive school to get into. This may seem crazy, but I'll just follow Derrick Bolton's advice of believing in yourself and hoping his team will believe in me! (BTW here is some good application advice from Derrick and Sharon @ Stanford GSB, published on BW some years ago)

So the tone is set for December..... time to get started with 4 more essays. And while at that, try to keep updated on possible interview questions, in case Cornell and ISB want to talk! Any advice???

The sad truth

Mumbai has been attacked, ripped apart almost - thats the sad truth of the day.

Its a city I identify with most; not only because I was born there, or because I was educated there, or because most of my family and friends are there. I identify with it because it is a part of my soul. I have learnt how to cope up with things and not to let unplanned events ruin your plans - something that defines the persona of every Mumbaikar. Be it riots or rains or, people will venture out to goto work, help others and look forward to the train-rush the next day.

Some might argue that thats the very weakness of Mumbaikars - we just "move on" with life. Right or wrong, I dont know. The city taught me that, and thats how I shall always be, adaptibility is in my veins. If anything needs to be changed, it is the votebank politics that has crippled my city. It doesnt surprise me then, that terrorists enter Mumbai and target Americans, Britishers and Isarelis alongwith Indians. Hopefully now our political parties come together unanimosuly.

Today, 3 places that got targetted reminded me of my college days. Watching a movie at Metro, grabbing a beer at Cafe Mondegar or at 'Cafe Leopold', and then feasting on some kabas at 'Bade Miya' and its neighbor 'Baghdadi' were the norm after exams. Today, Leopold lies soaked in blood, Metro lies deserted, and Bade Miya is found with RDX. Thats the sad truth.

Tomorrow is a new day, and Mumbai will rise and be running again as usual. But those killed - men, women, children, cops, soldiers will not rise. I hope the terrorists dont as well.

ISB submitted

What a relief!

I finally submitted my R2 application for ISB yesterday late-night, rather early morning today around 4.30 am!

The photograph was done, thanks to this post by ICBIBIC and then some usual last minute changes followed to the forms. Finally, I was frustrated and tired and sleepy. Woke my wife at about 3.30am to make her go through my form once more, for any last minute suggestions. Using the one suggestion she had, I finally hit the submit button. I didnt want to postpone it for today any more, have had enough of it already!

Now I am planning to apply to one or two more schools. I know I am pretty freakin late in making this choice, and especially the schools on my radar are ones you need to plan months in advance about what to write etc. I hope the time I have till first week of January should be sufficient to try my luck at 1/2 top names. Hope for the best.

As for now, I am officially in contention for a R2 ISB seat. Let see how that goes! EYE-YES-BEEE!!! :))

ISB website down

Since yesterday, I am unable to access the ISB website, and hence even my online application form. We got an email, but it seemed to imply only the payment gateway will not be available due to server maintenance activity.

That's really unfair - all my plans of completing their form details over this weekend have been squashed!!! I dont think the site will be up and running by Monday morning. And with the R2 deadline so close, I may have to take off from work 1 day next week. Why the maintenance so close to the deadline?!?!?!?! :(

Is ISB trying to improve its virtual ranking??? We'll soon find out if they come up with a state-of-the-art website......

It's the ISB effect!

Yesterday I really experienced what 'excitement' is all about. The ISB R1 results were out yesterday, and most applicants seemed to have jitters all the way through since 2pm, when people were expecting to hear their fate, till about 10pm when most folks finally started receiving Rings, Strings and Dings. Frankly, I cant remember a single occasion when I have seen so many folks waiting waiting waiting, patiently and impatiently, to hear a B-school result. For the uninitiated, I e-witnessed this on the Pagalguy ISB-applicants thread- which probably registered a over 500 posts in a few hours.

I dont think any other B-school generates such a hooplah amongst candidates as does ISB. Nopes, even the hallowed IIMs do not come close. But in my opinion, what really sets ISB aoart is its fantastic community!

The ISB Admissions Committee and some current students tirelessly answered all queries on the above forum, as well as the official ISB Paagalguy thread. I saw a few other schools doing it in the BW forums, but I havent followed it so far. Yet I dont think any school, be it the M7 or otherwise, can compete with the pure and patient hospitality that the ISB AdCom has shown over the past few months. I am certainly a little sad since the official thread it now closed, but I hope they come back again after R2 deadline is done.

The little doses of advice to all applicants, the responses to repeated questions etc simply goes to show the dedication of the Admissions Committee involved. Having spent a few years in the West, I can vouch for the fact that Indian hospitality goes far beyond any other culture, and it truly reflects in ISB. I wish it also reflected in the other Indian institutes - but alas, that may take some time till privatisation kicks in. In fact yesterday, even IIML declared their shortlisted candidates- and all seemed to get a Reject posted on their application. Only after calling up the IIML office, were they informed whether they had made it or not. Hows that for starters! :)

And up next, are the ISB applicants themselves! In an amazing gesture to future applicants and R2 applicants especially, most R1 applicants completed a sheet which details their profiles. Now where else do you get that??? So many talented folks have got through, and as many talented folks have been left out. My heart really goes out to all the dinged folks who have given this application everything they could! Moreover, it is so heartening to see many dinged candidates post on the thread that they will be back next year for another shot.

I think thats the ISB effect. An AdCom that is willing to help you always, current students who take time out of their studies to answer your queries and the applicants themselves who have not only helped each other, but also helped future applicants! Such is its warmth, that people want to be a part of the magic. India has many great educational institutions in the IITs, IIMs, IISc, AIIMS etc, but few can generate singular passion amongst others to help take it from a great institution to an iconic institution! Most unfortunately just remain brand names.

ISB is certainly a magical place and I am sure it will go places! As magical maybe as is the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!!!

My congratulations to all ISB R1 admits and best wishes to those who have been unfortunate to miss out on the next year's class. Keep the faith! :)

- MBAlmighty

The 20 year Rankings @ BWEEK

As is the case with all ranking systems good or bad, the latest rankings of BW too are interesting! Some highlights, if I may call it that.

>> Ross beat Stanford, Kelly beat Darden, Cornell beat Tuck! - Interesting! ?!?!?!
>> MIT, Kellogg, Wharton & Stanford all scored B in 'Teaching'! - How?!?!?!
>> Yale moved out of the Top-20 list by a huge margin!

This is the TOP-30 list courtesy Businessweek.

Businessweek has been ranking B-schools since the last 20 years! Here is a quick snapshot of how all the top names have been doing over the last 2 decades.

The international rankings seem pretty much the same as always. I am waiting for the day ISB makes it into that list!

- MBAlmighty

Cornelled

My first submit of the season, my first submit ever. Cornell has been submitted, and now I officially join the bandwagon of applicants waiting to hear back from schools.

Lessons learnt from this submission -

1. I was so keenly waiting all day to press that SUBMIT button. Well turns out, Cornell application doesnt have a "SUBMIT" button per se. The moment I paid my application fees, I got a nice Thank You screen saying my application had been submitted! I was like.. "whaaaattt!!! whereesss my submit button???" I wonder if ISB has one?

2. Writing a resume for b-schools takes time!!! I started at 11pm with a supposedly completed resume, ended at around 4.30am! Well, I already had a resume ready. But then I came across some pretty helpful resume tips and realized what I must add. All you techie-applicants out there - usually we folks always write software languages known in the resume. Did you write these in the resume? I did, but condensed it a lot.

3. Filling in all the activities, work-experience sections takes some serious thought and time. Never underestimate the effort required to fill in these sections. If you would concentrate on the essays and resume, but these sections too would hold good value.

4. Essay formatting can go for a toss in these application submission tools. I wrote my essays in Word, but when I pasted them into the application 2 things happened:

• All quotes ' " etc got converted to question marks??? I didnt realise this at first, only when I took a printout, the obvious errors resurfaced.


• I had used some " - " in my essays. In Word, these did not count towards the word-limits, but when i pasted it in the application editor, and back into Word..... the longer dash (dont know the technical name) got converted to a shorter dash " - " and this one is counted as a word. So all my essays suddenly went over limits. Has anyone else come across this? Anyways, I simply removed all these dashes and submitted within the limits.

As per BW's Cornell forum, looks like 250+ applications have already been submitted in R1 for AMBA. Now starts R2, probably Cornell is amongst the first R2 deadlines amongst some of the top schools. Assuming a same number apply till R3, and Cornell chooses ~60 for its AMBA class, thats still around 10% intake. Doesnt look easy at all!!!

Anyways I've done my bit, time to move on. ISB beckons! Good Luck to all you folks awaiting ISB R1 results! May the force be with you.

- MBAlmighty

The Ratan Tata Scholarship is......

not for MBA aspirants at The Johnson School @ Cornell. :(

I got in touch with the Financial Aid folks at Cornell, and this is what they had to say: "The Tata Scholarship Fund for Students from India is available to undergraduate students only."

I wonder why only for undergraduates?!?!?!? IMHO, the number of Indian students who go for graduate studies is significantly larger than the number who go for undergraduate studies, and more often than not, the Indians who complete their undergraduate studies in the US are quite affluent. Well it is a great gesture nevertheless, hopefully someone can make good use of the money.

My 'tata' to the scholarship! :(
- MBAlmighty

The Booth School

This is the very first time I have seen how many b-schools got their names, which are distinct from the Universities they are affiliated to. Yes, its pretty obvious that it happens due to sizeable donations, but I never saw it first hand...... till today!

Presenting......... The Booth School of Business!!!

Indian corporate houses aren't really known for their generosity, but who knows, some day we might have a familar sounding name attached to some top school! ISB??? (Hope not!)

- MBAlmighty

MBA value & Case method

Fox Business News' Shibani Joshi (HBS '04) interviews Harvard Professor Bill Sahlman. Nice insights into the concept of Case Study. I'm quite certain studying at HBS must be a surreal experience! :)

Enjoy the video here

AWA tool

MBA.com has come out with a new tool to help measure your hit-rate on the AWA. The great part is that it will give you your score for 2 essays, the way the official test essays would be checked. The not-so-good part however, is that it aint free. It costs about $30 for a set of 2 essays. Check it out at: http://www.mba.com/mba/Store/products/PreparefortheGMAT/GMATWrite.htm

In other news, looks like the waiting game continues for most Hyderabad ISB R1 candidates! Wow, I still havent submitted my application, but me too can feel the heat.

- MBAlmighty

Of essays and holidays...

Some updates from my side.... the Zumba essay is finally done. It seems fine to me, but certainly doesnt seem "creative" - in fact the output I have produced seems kind of an obvious solution.

I read on Pagalguy i think, when someone claimed that there can be only 1 "creative" solution to this case, and he knows it! Am I too dumb, or does everyone else think that there is only 1 "creatove" solution to this?!?!?!

Anyways, drafts for the first 3 essays are ready, now awaiting my reviewers' comments. Once they arrive, i should be on my way to meet the 1-Dec deadline.

This week will be dedicated to the Cornell Essay# 3, by far the whackiest of the lot. If anyone has any tips, I am all ears! :)

You are the author for the book of Your Life Story. Please write the Table of Contents for the book. (400 word limit)
NOTE: Be creative. Approach this essay in any way you choose; there is no 'right' or 'wrong' response.

For now, I head back home, to aamchi mumbai, in an hour! Cant wait to get there!!! :)

Happy Diwali everyone........ and wish you most success in the coming year!

- MBAlmighty

To Zumba and back...

Needless to say, I am exercising my grey cells on ISB Essay # 3. I am so jealous of all you folks who are done with the ISB R1 applications. It must be such a relief pressing that submit button!

Anyways, since I was so intrigued by this case, I did a little research about Zumba. Here you can take a free ride to Zumba and back.... may help if it comes up in your interviews! :)

Check out the map. Zumba is right at the bottom.

You can check out this blog for more details. Seems like it is a paradise for bird lovers!

BTW this part in his blog that struck me the most !!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

"It should be noted that the area is being deforested quite rapidly and that the endemics will no doubt decrease in number and kind as their habitat is diminished."

The pictures look pretty. Hope to make a trip to Zumba some day! For now, back to the essay....

- MBAlmighty

Ratan Tata Scholarship @ Cornell

Thanks to MissionMBA for posting this piece.

Well from the face of it, no clues whether the scholarship would also apply to the Johnson School. And the fact that it applies to the entire Cornell University makes it all the more competitive.

Anyways, I am applying to Cornell so will find out more about this from the AdCom.

Links:
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Oct08/tataGift.html
http://www.tata.com/ourcommitment/articles/inside.aspx?artid=sVK4EK2YxQw=

Good Luck!
MBAlmighty

Chicago GSB delegation to visit India

Maybe of some interest to folks applying to Chicago GSB. This piece appeared in todays ET.


THE University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (GSB) on Monday announced that it is leading a delegation of alumni and faculty on an entrepreneurial trip to India. The programme conducted first time in the country is designed to educate participants about the Indian market place and form partnerships with the local business community. This includes visits to New Delhi, Mumbai and the team will be in Bangalore on October 22 and 23, said a statement.

In Bangalore, participants will participate in a forum on venture capital with a panel of GSB alumni including Sarath Naru, managing partner of Ventureast and Apidc Venture Capital and engage with a panel of GSB alumni entrepreneurs including Prabhakar Tadepalli, managing director of Tyfone, and Dhiraj Rajaram, founder and CEO of Mu Sigma. Participants will also explore social entrepreneurship and explore IT with alumnus Jeby Cherian, head of the Global Business Solution Centre at IBM.

The trip will engage more than 100 Indiabased GSB alumni as well as others in the local business community. “This trip is providing valuable experiential education and networking opportunities for our participants. It is bringing together alumni from India and other parts of the world with the larger business community to facilitate meaningful partnerships,” the statement quoted GSB’s director of entrepreneurship programmes Linda Darragh.

To all ISB R1 interviiew shorlisted candidates...

I need some information!

From your ISB essay experience, can you please share your thoughts about the following?

1. Did you include an explanation about "Why MBA?", "Why ISB?" and "Why now?" anywhere in the essays?
2. If you did, then where did you put these thoughts?

Certainly none of this can be mentioned in the River Zumba essay. Also, since you have already made it to ISB as per Essay 2 (Presidents speech), it wouldnt make sense there either.

That leaves Essay 1 and the optional essay. I have already composed Essay 1, and somehow I havent been able to get these thoughts across there, with the word-limit constraints and also trying to distiingusih myself. Maybe I can use the optional essay for this purpose - BUT would it be okay? As in, if the sole purpose of the optional essay is to explain resume gaps etc, then I dont want to get on ISB's wrong side! :(

Any thoughts? It would be helpful to understand how all successful folks have done it.

Thanks,
MBAlmighty

New kid on the block

Is this old news? I just heard it, so thought of posting it here -

IIM-Indore has joined the 1-year MBA bandwagon. Their deadline for the 1-year program is Nov-12 and they still dont have a form in place. So much for professionalism.

Their fees are 11 Lakhs, which is still a good 10 Lakhs lesser than what IIM-B is chargng for their 1 year course. Both these schools are new to the 1-year concept, unlike IIM-A which has been doing this for a while now. I wonder how IIM-B and IIM-I justify their prices!

Check this out: http://www.iimidr.ac.in/iimi/pages/students/ex-pgp.php

- MBAlmighty

The virtual rankings

Most B-schools have excellent Marketing programs, and since I aspire to major in that domain, I am quite impressed by those who maintain excellent websites. Maybe I am a sucker for good website design, but it certainly makes a lasting impression.

When I first started this search, the one website which impressed me most was of Stanford GSB. Show me one other site where the Admissions folks dole out such awesome information regarding what to write in essays, when best to apply, how to write effective recommendation letters. Its undoubtedly the finest piece of html code in the b-school virtual space. Very subtle, useful and classy!

I think after Harvard introduced its latest website, it too is one of the best links out there. Especially their current students link is really impressive. Wharton's on the other hand is a dud! I think the only valueable information I liked (not the usual marketing mantras) is their general MBA Decision page - when you should do it, from where you should do it etc. Pretty neat. In fact, even Kellogg and Johnson have excellent websites. Naturally I know a bit about these since I am applying here - and not that the decision was taken because of their website skills, but they do have nice features compared to some other schools.

I think by far the not-so-neat links were of MIT Sloan and Haas. Both these seriously seriously need to be reworked!!! ISB is a bare-minimum site frankly, and can definitely do with cool features.

But if any top B-school websites need a complete rehash, it has to be the great IIM-B and other IIM websites!!! Sorry, but I dont think I have seen a more pathetic website than that of IIM-B. They have also introduced a 1-year program, and for almost 2 months did not even have any information about it online. http://www.iimb.ernet.in/iimb/

And while I was thinking about this, Businessweek came out with its own ranking of websites. Check this out!!! :) These rankings are pretty close to my observations! Here is the slideshow -
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/09/0911_admissions/index.htm


- MBAlmighty

Essays... another journey begins....

Probably the last time I wrote an essay was about a decade ago, when I wrote the Class12 English paper. I dont think I even bothered to prepare for essays back then. Oh well, now its adifferent story!

So thats what I am doing these days..... writing essays! Since my 2 upcoming deadlines are for Cornell and ISB, I am breaking my head over those crazy topics. I must say, ISB has the whackiest of essays! But if there is one that beats all those ISB essays, it is Cornell's 3rd essay -

You are the author for the book of Your Life Story. Please write the Table of Contents for the book.(400 word limit).

If anyone can offer me any tips on how to go about this, I'll be eternally greatful!!!

Anyways, coming back to ISB, I am just half-way done. I completed the first drafts of the first 2 essays, and they came out in decent shape as per my reviewers. The weekend is here, and apart from eating some excellent food that my wife plans to cook, I need to merge all those comments and tips to create the near-final drafts of ISB essays 1 and 2. Sunday, I hope to start writing something about building that dam on River Zumba.

Cornell's first 2 essays are relatively straightforward. The usual career-goals essay came out pretty well after some serious soul-searching. Well I am a techie and I aspire to continue in this field (I work in the semiconductor design industry) post-MBA. So I needed to articulate this well, and I think I've done a decent job on this Cornell essay. The other one was related to a professional accompolishment. That is presentable so far, need to fine-tune it.

Over the last month or so, ever since I started working on these essays, I have come across some great tips by a few bloggers. The ones that impressed me most:

http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/search/label/Essays
The best essay-advice compilation I came across. Thanks a bunch Juggler.

http://poweryogi.blogspot.com/2005/05/chicago-essays.html
Nice information.

http://daveformba.blogspot.com/2005/12/will-i-be-proud-to-call-you-fellow.html
Dave is the man when it comes to MBA adivce.

http://tinydancermba.blogspot.com/2008/09/essay-advice.html
Tinydancer @ Wharton gives some succint information on essay writing.

Apart from these, I have been refering to some sample essays which throw light on how things are woven together. Richard Montauk's book no doubt is the first source I went to, but apart from that you can check out MBA Game Plan website - they have some nice sample essays.

So long then, its back to the re-writing the ISB essays now......... congratulations to all those who have got interview calls from ISB!!!

GMAT & beyond

I took the GMAT in September 2008, and thanks to some excellent advice out there on the net, I scored a 750. My scores:

750 - 50Q, 40V, 6.0AWA

I would really like to thank all of my fellow bloggers who have taken time out to write their experiences of this test and how to go about preparing for it. I plan to write my own post sometime where I can offer my 2 cents on this test, but till then here are the best pieces of advice I came across. Thanks a lot guys!!!

http://www.outbeat-the-gmat.blogspot.com/
Lots of awesome information here. This dude seriously has some patience penning down so many tips and tricks! Great job dude!

http://www.integratedlearning.net/gmat/blog_il700.asp
They have some good weekly problems here.

http://missionmba.wordpress.com/category/gmat-journey/
MissionMBA's GMAT journey - very helpful pointers when it comes to comparing how you are doing on those mock tests.

http://stairwaytomba.blogspot.com/search/label/GMAT
Prao's GMAT experience. Extremely helpful and succint! Thanks a bunch Prao!

http://i4iday.blogspot.com/2007/03/3g-months_13.html
Another classy post by Iday @ ChicagoGSB

http://gmatsentencecorrection.blogspot.com/
Something you can practice even while at work!

http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/search/label/GMAT
GMAT advice from a Wharton girl -great strategies.

http://beatthegmat.blogspot.com/2005/08/debriefing-from-guy-who-scored-790.html
790 on the GMAT - need I say more!

Apart from these, I must have consulted a bunch of other blogs, but cant recollect them now. To everyone, a big thanks for these helpful posts! Fiaally as Prao says, there is way too much information out there. So get what you need as fast as you can, and just get on with the studies!

Resurrected!

Its been over a year since I first started scourging these blogs. Work travel forced me to postpone my plans, until this June when I finally decided to take the plunge. I registered for the GMAT in June and took the test last month.

Then came the time for shortlisting schools. My personal preferences (I'm married, and nearing 30) lead me to choosing 1 year programs. ISB was the first natural choice for me. I am located in Hyderabad and have been to ISB about a couple of times before representing my company on quizzes, usually held there. Its a fantastic school no doubt, and hence the top on my list.

Next came Cornell. I chose this for the accelerated MBA program, since I already have a MSEE degree from the US. Cornell is a great school to be in, but the one thing thats got me worried is the damn economy! Well I say this because the US economy is in a far worse state than the Indian economy, and getting jobs for non-citizens isnt easy. Anyways, I will be taking my chances at Cornell.

Once I am done with these two, I hope to take a shot at one of the big-5 US schools. I dont know if I stand a realistic chance there with so many top-notch applicants (see my fellow applicants list!!!), but no harm in trying.