Application season begins

Following is the excel sheet i found on one website for the B-school deadline for 2011 applications. Here is the link for the same.

http://www.pagalguy.com/forum/international-indian-mba-schools-accepting/54512-abroad-b-school-deadlines-2011-a.html

Also you can check the clearadmit website for the essay questions of respective colleges and their analysis. Below is the link for the same

http://blog.clearadmit.com/category/essay-topics/
http://blog.clearadmit.com/category/essay-topic-analysis/

Chat with a current student of Duke

Few days back I had a chat with a current student of Duke. I sent out mails to many students with all my queries and got replies from almost all. One student out of them asked me if we can schedule this over phone that would be most appropriate hence I fixed a meeting with her. I wanted to speak with someone who is actively involved in the school activities and was planning a career in gen mgmt/marketing. Below are some of the things we discussed


Concentration: Marketing

Career Switch: She was previously working as an Investment Banker and her aim was to work in a marketing role (brand mgmt) post-MBA. She wanted to switch from Finance to Marketing. Frankly speaking I found it a bit confusing when she told me about her plans because generally i have seen people moving from other sectors to Finance and Consulting but not vice versa. I asked her about the support from career services in helping students to make such career transitions, to which she replied quite positively. She mentioned that 60%-70% people coming to DUKE plan to make a transition from their current industry or job type.

Club Activities: We discussed about the activities of the club like organizing speaker series, helping students find a job in their domain etc. I also asked her about the number of students that opt for gen mgmt role post-mba to which she confirmed the figures to be more than 50%. Also she suggested me to check out the websites of respective clubs/organisations.

Job opportunities: She told me that the job opportunities were much better than the previous year though still it was not very bright. People are still struggling to find a job in Finance and Consulting sector. About the job prospects for International applicants she told that it's more bleak (again dominantly in finance and consulting industries). She told that people have to use their network to find jobs. In the end she was optimistic that the situation would improve in couple of years.

Alumni: Alumni of the school is very active and easily approachable. Infact many have helped the students with their job search.

Experience at DUKE so far: One thing that she kept on mentioning about the school was its congenial environment. She mention that the fellow students were very helpful and supportive and she learned many things from them.

We talked about a few other things and she encouraged me to give her a call incase of any doubts or queries.
It was a really nice chat session with her that further strengthened my decision to apply for DUKE.

Informative post for applicants from IT background

Today I came across a very informative post by one of my friend Naveen Venkatraman (Babson 2012 admit) about the suggestions for an applicant from IT background. After reading the article I felt that we spend so much time cribbing about our situation, position, job etc whereas we don't spend enough time in realizing the fact that there are some unique qualities that we can posses while working in IT sector too. You just have to brainstorm and you will find something worth sharing, no matter how small it is, in your essays. For all the applicants from the IT industry, here is a post worth reading:-

http://babsonmba2012.com/2010/07/08/so-you-are-an-it-applicant-part-i/

  

Information about US B-schools - 1

Since I am already done with my GMAT and have decided to apply with the same score, these days I am busy pestering the current students with my questions (I hope am not :P), reading the blogs of MBA students for some useful information and dissecting the college websites. I would like to share information about few schools with all.

Tuck:-

One of the best schools with a General Management course structure. While talking to the students I came to know that around 1/3 to 1/2 of Tuck students go into GM. Tuck has strong ties and alumni in all GM industries.  As per one of the current student “Tuck is probably strongest (in no particular order) in Healthcare, Technology, Industrial Goods/Manufacturing, and CPG.” Tuck alumni also has a decent presence in the Sports and Media sector. Most Tuckies love the outdoors and are very active, but it’s ok if you aren’t too. 

Duke:-

Another great school with a strong General Management course structure. Like Tuck, more than half of the Fuqua students end up in a General Management type role. The Fuqua student community is very strong.  The bonds you build here will last far beyond graduation.  The “Team Fuqua” mantra that you hear about it is spot on. The current students are all extremely receptive and helpful.

UNC vs Darden:-

I was reading through a blog and found a really descriptive first hand view of these two schools by one of the fellow MBA aspirant, who had a chance to visit both the schools. It might be of help to some.

http://thembapath.blogspot.com/2010/04/kenan-flagler-vs-darden.html.

  

B-Schools (1st round and EA)

As per the 1st round colleges, I have decided on 3 for sure and am still in a dilemma regarding the others

1) Duke (Early Admissions)
2) Tuck (EA)
3) Tepper (re-apply 1st rnd)

Regarding other colleges I'm still confused. Below is the list with the reasons

4) UCLA (just concerned regarding their mean GMAT score being on higher side, else a good choice)
5) Notre Dame (A good Backup School but not sure regarding the placement scene in my desired industry)
6) UNC (not much research)
7) Mccombs - Texas (Good Backup school and decent placement in Technology companies like Apple, MS, Dell but need to research)
8) Marshal - (Situated in California, but need to research)

As per now I have kept the list as it is. I have dropped mails to the current students/club presidents of all the listed colleges and am waiting for their feedback. Also discussing with my friends and my mentor about the same. Let's see how things develop and then I can modify the list accordingly. 

My GMAT journey to 700

I gave CAT (MBA entrance test for Indian B-schools) in 2007 and scored a meager 92% in it, meaning no calls from the Top B-schools (IIM's, MDI). It was when the seed of giving GMAT was planted in my mind. After researching  a bit on the international MBA admissions and GMAT test I decided to go ahead with the same. I collected the preparation material from one of my friends, who was also preparing for GMAT and with a strong will and positive mindset started my preparation. I jotted down my strong (PS, CR) and weak (DS, RC & SC) areas and prepared an xls, in which I used to note down my daily progress. My strategy was to devote more time to DS, RC & SC, but at the same time solving at least few questions daily of PS & CR. As per the advice of my friends and the expert comments on MBA blogs, I referred to the following materials/books -

1. Kaplan 800 (Great book to test your level... recommended for those aiming 700+)

2. OG (Bible)

3. Manhattan SC (The best book among all that i have come across for SC preparation)

4. LSAT CR (Great variety of questions)

5. GMATPrep (A must do... Exact replica of your performance)

6. Kaplan tests (If you have time)

7. MBA blogs for a good variety of questions and discussions.

One more thing that I did was to simulate the Test center environment before giving the practice test. It helped me a lot to be mentally prepared and not get bogged down by the 4 hour time duration of the test.

P.S. GMAT is only a mental game. It is how well you can cope up with the pressure.

My Prep Test Results -

GMATPrep1 - 730

GMATPrep2 - 700

GMATPrep3 - 720

Kaplan1 - 580

Kaplan2 - 620

Kaplan3 - 670

Kaplan4 – 660

GMATPrep4 – 660 (This must be a blip!!!!)

Due to few reasons (as previously mentioned in my first post) I shifted my test date to 8th October 2009 in Singapore. On the D-Day I arrived at the test center. I was really nervous and was hoping to cross the 700 barrier atleast {the mock test on the previous day went for a toss and I scored a meager 660}. When I entered the test center, I was greeted by a smiling and charming lady that lightened my mood a bit. She was very helpful and went me through the whole process. Then she gave me the pencil and rough pad and started my test. After dwindling through the AWAs, quant and verbal sections, the screen flashed ‘proceed to the result’ appearing to me as if shouting ‘ARE YOU READY’. With troubled nerves I pressed OK and the score flashed ‘700 (QA-50, VA-34)’. My instant reaction was a sigh of relief as I was happy to touch the 700 mark though with the kind of preparation I was expecting between 720-730. I got up from my chair, handed over the pen and rough pad to the charming lady, came out of the examination center and grabbed my hand at a chocolate bar :)

Hope my experience might prove useful to some of the readers.

Introspection - Part III

Where to find the information ----

1. MBA rankings – Do not value the information blindly. I believe that MBA rankings are a good starting point for your college search.                                                                                                               Rankings that I find quite genuine are – Business Week, Financial Times and US News. Other websites where you can find the information – Forbes, Wall Street Journal

2. School Websites – This is the most important source of information. A school website has enormous data on its website to give you the essence of school’s ethics, values, culture, teaching methodology etc.

3. MBA forums/ websites – These are also a vital source to provide the details about GMAT, B-schools and a particular program. These sites/blogs contains huge information provided by school’s adcom members, applicants, current student and alumni coupled with expert advice from the MBA consultants. Few such sites are -

       

          www.accepted.com

          www.beatthegmat.com 

          www.clearadmit.com

          www.pagalguy.com

 

4. Alumni/ current students – These are the sources that can provide you with their first hand experiences about the school/program.

5. Fellow applicants/ bloggers