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???