From MBA thoughts till acceptance - my MBA story (till now)

Nomination to Clear Admit BOB awards inspired me to sit back and think through my journey on the path of MBA till now.. Last one and half year has been a life changing period since I started my MBA quest. This post is my dedication to that wonderful journey which is now the prelude to more exciting journey that awaits - the journey of 2 year MBA.. So here it goes.

Why MBA ?

Why I decided to do MBA roots from the kind of person I am. Am a people's person who always strives to achieve something everyday at the same time making a difference to the world around me. I am highly multidimensional with varied interests in life. Naturally I felt my engineering education is not sufficient to quench my thirst to master different facets of this world such as business, people management, innovation and more. So MBA was a natural next step for me after an year in software industry and non profits. But I had my share of doubts and uncertainties about opting for an MBA from a US B school. After careful deliberation I decided to go for an MBA in US with a confidence that it will be a decision I will justify any day in my life . Here are some posts which reflect my thoughts during this decision making phase. If you are trying to decide if the MBA is a right thing for you, be sure to check them out.

• To do or not to do MBA
• Special considerations for women and minority applicants

Why now ?

So I knew MBA was the right thing for me. Next step was to check my readiness to take the next big leap. In this post about early career MBA,I share few pointers about how can I justify my decision to do MBA just after 2 years of work ex.  I also on that point of decided that I would like to come back to India. 

GMAT & TOEFL

Then I booked my dates for TOEFL and GMAT. I have always been comfortable in excelling at exams so these 2 happened without much ado.

TOEFL exam (31 May 2009) was bit screwed up due to crappy facilities at the test center. Exam kept postponing and finally when I exam begun I was out due to hunger and boredom.  I finally finished all 4 sections and managed to score 111/120 in the iBT format and headed straight to airport to see my cousin off to London. One helluva day..

GMAT in August was a breeze. As I had written the coveted CAT exam in 2008, quants was pretty easy and hence I mostly concentrated on verbal section during GMAT preparation.  Had taken a week off from office to prepare but to my luck it turned into sick leave as I was down with fever till 2 days before exam. But probably not over preparing helped me to be fresh on the exam day. Once I finished my GMAT, a score of 750 popped on the screen and I did few yeahs , yuhoos and all that in the test center and went back home.. 

over to more real stuff like essays n i/vs.. 
 

B-school research
Though I had started spending significant time on browsing through MBA rank lists, B School websites from early 2009, finishing my GMAT was the time I turned serious about shortlisting my target B schools. 

• As a first step I choose 2 year MBA over 1 year MBAs 

• Then I did informational Interview with current mba student to get a better understanding of MBA life 

• Then it was time for me to sit and decide the characteristics of my dream school.
  
• I also improved my US geography knowledge by finding out the locations of the top B schools of US
  
• Next was to find out the and then dividing them to round 1 n round 2application deadlines and essay questions of MBA programs
  
• Next up I did some research on international loan program in Top schools and about how to finance my MBA . This is still on with my quest to find a us cosigner or contemplating about peer to peer lending for MBA

Blogging opens a whole new world

Meantime my blogging was reaching new heights with me making several new connections with fellow MBA bloggers, my blog readers and more. Few things which marked my progress was 

• addition of my blog to the Hella's list of applicant bloggers
• my selection as the 1st global mba blogger for MBAinTheUSA
• my selection to the team of mba bloggers on MBA-channel
• addition of my blog to the Clear Admit Fridays from the frontline blogs list which followed by the exciting nomination to BOB awards.

Applications and MBA admission interviews

This was one of the most challenging and stimulating periods in my journey. Every essay I wrote enhanced the understanding about myself and my goals. Each self reflection gave me such fresh perspectives about my life and I loved it. Applied to Tepper and Darden in round 1, Olin and Haas in round 2. Interviewed with 1st 3 except for Haas.
 
The coveted acceptance call and Forte Fellow twice. 


Tepper was the 1st one to embrace me. The 1st acceptance news will be cherished all my life. What made the moment more special was the honor of being selected as the Forte Fellow. I was twice lucky when I got acceptance from Olin and was selected for forte fellowship again by Olin too. 


I got my share of dings from Darden and Haas.
 

So its Tepper, CMU - my MBA destination
  Now it was my turn to decide btw Olin and Tepper. Both were great schools but Tepper scored in terms of fit and career goals in technology.  Am totally kicked about attending Tepper and also attended few Tepper events in Bangalore.   I recently declined the Olin MBA seat and am still feeling kinda bad about it. But I had to choose one and let go another. 

Self reflections

In the process I learned 2 major lessons which I will take with me whole of my life

• No matter what Be yourself
• Always give time for yourself when things are happening at the crazy speed. Don't forget to enjoy the little cheers that life offers to us. 

Pre-Matriculation craziness - loans, visa, I20 and more..

This section deserves multiple different posts and I will continue to write on it.. 

So that's the story till now.. I apologize for being too long but I hope this helps the readers who want to tread this path themselves to pursue their dream MBA. 

Cheers !!

A new phase begins - wrapping up round 1.. Time for round 2

 

So As I told in my last post, I dint get acceptance from one of my dream schools - Darden. It was my 1st ding but I recovered from it surprisingly fast and came out stronger and wiser. So that's about the image above - I always move up when I move on - Here is how I did that

Some Self Reflection -  Thought why Darden and me were not meant to be together. I feel its the fit factor. One, I am looking for a career in technology post MBA with a emphasis on clean technology sector. But Darden students usually focus on consulting, finance. So probably a applicant with a different career focus got ahead of me. Two, the Darden type interviews (read 30 minute monologue) are best done in person. Its very hard to gauge how you are doing in a telephonic i/v. I probably dint represent my best self in this type of environment.

Talked with my best buddy and one more buddy - This really helps. Go and talk to people who know you the best. They will get you out of the mess and put back that confidence and energy in you. I am fortunate to have my best friend S who knows me inside out and can get me out from any mess I get into. Also my MBA guru and dear friend P helped me in the process.

Get some cue MBA Blogosphere - you guys just rock. Right from Sarah of accepted.com to DreamChaser, Fabio and a fellow Tepper admit right away expressed their support and stood by me.. Thanks guys you all rock. It always feel great to hear from people who are in the same boat extending a warm hand of support.

Also having a admit with fellowship already really helps. I am fortunate to start my MBA results series with Tepper admit and the prestigious Forte fellowship. This ding saved me from the possible dilemma btw choosing Darden and Tepper.. Now in full swing am gonna enter post admit process of Tepper.

So that wraps up my round 1 journey. 1 admit, 1 ding and infinite learning. I am definitely a more self aware person. Ciao Round 1.

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Welcome Round 2

Though I already started round 2 quiet a time back, I really dint get to write much about it on my blog. To brief it up I applied to Olin (WUSTL) and Haas in round 2.

In terms of fit Haas is the best school for me (technology and social enterprise strengths). So I had decided to apply last for Haas so that I put in my best application. I will write a separate post about why I chose Haas. In short, Haas was a great choice for me and I applied in round 2 and waiting to hear from them.

I also applied to Olin in round 2. I must admit it was a pleasure submitting Olin app. So simple, So hassle free. No application fee, No recommendation required. I am interviewing with Olin today.

So what can you expect from now on.

1. As I start my financial aid process at tepper, I will write more about I20, Students loans, Visa process as I learn about them. Fellow blogger Hari has promised to help me in it. I hope this helps other international admits as wells
2. I also plan to write more about my choice of schools for round 2, specifically about my dream school Haas. The day I interviewed Pejman (Haas MBA 2010) for this blog , I loved the Haas culture and strengths. So you can read more about Haas.

That's all folks. Wish me luck for the Olin interview today.

A new chapter begins........ And am sure this phase of journey will bring much more to me in terms of happiness, success and  knowledge..... Am looking forward to it :) 

Ouch !!! 1st Ding - Darden says no

So here is the not so good news. Darden dinged me. Probably the fit factor dint work out. Yes am feeling sad. Feeling like a very dear one ditched me.

But time to move on. Life probably has chosen whats best for me (Tepper) or it has some probable good news in store (Haas or Olin). Am interviewing with Olin tomorrow.

A hearty congrats to those who got in.

Darden Interview Preparation & Few Userful resources

After tasting the 1st moment of success this Monday for being admitted to Tepper and being selected as Forte Fellow, its time to get more enthusiastic about the MBA application journey and my next important milestone is the Darden Admissions Interview which is scheduled on January 7th. It will be a telephonic interview and I don't know who my interviewer is. I have read that Darden conducts blind interviews where the interviewer knows nothing about the applicant and has no previous access to applicant's applications.

I have always felt a great fit for Darden. The Darden admission reception and brainstorming/writing/rewriting the Darden essays were all great experiences. Now that Darden has embraced my thoughts in the form of my essays and extended interview invite, I hope I can articulate my fit with Darden and project my candidacy the right way in the interview so that I can get accepted at Darden.

I feel the key to succeed in interview is to clearly understand the natuhre of the interview and its a bonus to know the interviewer. But we should never over do the latter part to the extent of pestering our interviewer or scaring him/her away with a sense of over enthusiasm. But it definitely helps to have a clear idea about how the interview is going to happen. One major resource that has been helpful in my interview preparation is the "UVA DARDEN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS: CLEAR ADMIT INTERVIEW GUIDE"

what I liked about this i/v guide

This I/V guide is a well researched, extensive guide to applicants. ClearAdmit has compiled many relevant data points regarding the interview and compiled it in a very readable way in this guide. Applicants can gain all the relevant information at one place through this guide. My specific takeaways from this guide which will also help fellow applicants are

• Darden conducts blind interviews where the interviewer is either an adcom, trained second year student (for on-campus interviews) or Alumni (for international interviews).
  I would like to add here that as in my case, Darden also conducts telephonic interviews when alumni is not available in the applicant region. And blind interview gives you the freedom to reiterate your skills/achievements/aspirations that you have already expressed in you essays without the risk of sounding repetitive to the interviewer.
  
  
• Darden Interviews are by-invitation-only and every applicant is interviewed prior to getting accepted. So interviews are an essential part of the admission process and hence to be dealt with meticulously
  
  
• The interview typically lasts for 30 - 45 minutes but might stretch upto 1 hour when alumni is involved so its important to be flexible and prepared. Darden is famous for asking just one question in its interview which is "Tell me your story from cradle to chair". So be ready to present your life story in a way which makes sense in a MBA interview.
  My idea is to touch all the important milestones of life and articulate the reasons for my choices in life. Why I chose a particular college, company, career path, community activity and why it makes sense to my overall career vision.
  
  
• Guide also has first hand interview experiences from past applicants and also a set of expected questions.
  I have found that the Clear Admit wiki page http://www.clearadmit.com/wiki/index.php?title=DardenInterview and http://www.accepted.com/mba/InterviewFeedback.aspx  contain useful i/v feedback from previous i/vs.
  
  
• For those going on campus for interview, this guide gives all information needed to reach, visit, stay and interview at Darden. So US applicants watch out for this section. 

Things I had wished to see in this guide

I am a international applicant who won't be doing a on campus interview but a telephonic interview. So it would be a real value addition to this book if it has a dedicated section for "remote interviews" like telephonic and skype interviews.

And the book should provide links to the Darden Interview page on Clear Admit Wiki to help the readers. This will give some extra resources to the readers and at the same time readers will be encouraged to share their interview experience with the world through this wiki. Other than these I feel this guide can be really useful to applicants preparing for their Darden interview. The last section - "General Interview guide" can help you out in any MBA interview not only Darden.
I am also planning to talk to current students about the remote interviews to get some sense about how it usually goes. So that's about my Darden Interview Prep. All the best to fella applicants who are getting R1 decisions or submitting R2 apps. Happy holidays and a Merry Christmas !

P.S - Thanks ClearAdmit for providing me with a copy of "UVA DARDEN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS: CLEAR ADMIT INTERVIEW GUIDE.  You can check out more about the available clear admit i/v guides here

Darden interview invite and a relaxing weekend !

Hey all,

After finishing a gruelling mba application schedule on Friday, I decided to take on a different route this weekend. I packed my bag and left to Mysore. Mysore is where I did my graduation and the place I love the most. Its a heaven to be in and I have some zillion memories of life and some most special persons associated with this magical place. I had a relaxing 2 days at my grand ma's place and with my friends. I came back to Bangalore and I had one more good news awaiting me in my gmail inbox.  My dream school Darden had invited me for the interview :) :). After a great experience at Darden admissions event and fit with Darden culture, I had applied to Darden in round 1. Darden application had  seemingly simple 2 questions.
But answering them was by far most demanding but immensely enjoyable exercise. It made me think about my past experiences and my future plans and how to bridge the both. I had taken a very unconventional path to answer these essays. Unlike my other school essays which underwent reviews and structural refinement, Darden's essays were straight from my heart (and ofcourse mind and brain too). Darden has understood my wavelength and it feels great :)

This is what Darden had to say :)

Dear M,

You have been invited to interview with the Darden School of Business. Included in this email is important information to help you plan your visit. As a reminder, we do need you to schedule your interview or contact us in the next 10 business days if you are interested in continuing the application process.

Please visit the website below for scheduling instructions and information on events during the interview days.
If you have any questions about scheduling your interview, please call or email the Admissions Office.

Sincerely,
Admissions Visitation Coordinator

Sara Neher in her video  blog had said that international students will have alumni i/v. I have mailed Darden adcom about it and will keep my progress posted here. I wish I could have gone to Darden for a oncampus interview and campus visit. But this doesn't look possible given the travel, visa and work issues. Nevertheless if things go well, I will be @ Darden next fall :)

Wish me luck guys !

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News from Round 1 of MBA Applications

Image Courtesy : http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdell/

I am done with my round 1 applications. I applied to Tepper and Darden in round 1. It was a demanding but wonderfully self reflective process to write/rewrite the essays. And much to my happiness, I already got a interview invite from Tepper today morning :) I am planning to schedule my interview in 10 days and it will be a telephone interview. Need to start preparing for that.

Am also super excited to know what happens with Darden ! I have put in my real self in the application and hope my thoughts will reach the Darden adcom.


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Darden admission event and my rants about the little small things in life and the big impact

This is a long pending post about my experiences about Darden admission reception at Bangalore. I would like to dedicate this post to few people who inspired me to write this post. The two Bangalore auto drivers who made sure I attended the event and the Dean at Darden school of Business, Mr Bob Bruner. Read on to know why.

I have always felt a liking towards Darden school and culture. I have a personal liking towards the Darden admissions director Sara Neher, specially so after watching her video blogs. I had also heard a lot about the Dean Bruner.I got a chance to meet him in person and it all started when I got the mail about Darden admission reception at Bangalore in September. I was thrilled to learn that Dean himself will be present at the event and I registered immediately.

Comes the admission event day and things were far from being perfect. Work was hectic as usual and it was pouring heavily in Bangalore. When I finally finished my work and came out of office to go home, it was raining cats and dogs and I had no option but to drive back home on my bike in that heavy rain. After that crazy experience I decided to play safe and take an auto to venue instead. Then started the usual scene of Auto driver tantrums. In Bangalore auto drivers have the bad reputation of being snobbish and not people friendly. One should reach out for a minimum 5 auto drivers before they agree to drop you to your destination. And things get worse if its night and topped up with heavy rains. After 10 minutes of a failed auto hunt, I was getting impatient to stand on the road in the rain. Finally one auto driver agreed to drop me to my venue that too at the normal price (God bless him). I don't remember his name or face but I can never forget his sense of duty and honesty. If at all I get into Darden, he will have his share in it..

I reached the venue bit late and found that people have already reached. The setup was very warm and informal and we had Dean Bruner, Asst director of admissions Sandy and alumni Jatin representing Darden. All of them were very friendly and open to all our questions. I was just waiting to meet dean Bruner who was having a chat with few other aspirants and I joined the group. It was the 1st time I was meeting the Dean of some top Business school. He was very warm and friendly and introduced himself to me. That friendly gesture helped me open up and I had some great time chatting with him about my questions about MBA and Darden. I asked questions about University of Virginia campus, First coffee at Darden and learning teams. And the answers he gave was detailed and perfect. He vividly explained his thoughts and each of his answers were reconfirming my fit for Darden. I never expected to have such a friendly conversation with The Dean himself. This is something I will cherish in my memories.

I can't wait to apply to Darden and I have moved back Darden to round 1. I have done enough of research and am confident about putting my best foot forward in round 1 itself. I have always felt that fit for this school and I hope I will get a admit. I hope to meet Dean Bruner again in first coffee. (Addition to my dreams list)

And it was the same experiece while going back home : it was still raining heavily and auto drivers were still refusing to come or asking exorbitant money. But again I met one more honest auto guy who safely dropped me back home. These are the kind of people who command very high respect from me. 

So what was my take away from this experience

• A chance to meet and interact with Dean. A lesson that a person can still remain friendly and down to earth even after achieving great things in life. 
• The profession can not decide the worth of a person but the passion and honesty about the profession is what makes one respectable. 
• The actual strength lies in lasting that extra mile while backing out at any moment might mean that you just missed reaching your goal. If only I had decided to go back home after failing to get an auto for long time, I would have missed the whole new experience.
  

That day I met 3 persons who were just the kind of persons I love to meet ; honest and passionate about what they do. Dean Bruner and 2 auto guys. This post is for you guys.. You guys rock !!

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Madz