Supercalifragilisticexpalidocious

Yes , it aptly describes the state of my mind! I wish I were Mary Poppins or Alice in Wonderland tucked away from mundane matters like essays and recos and transcripts. Hah!

Some updates and mundane matters I'm working on right now:

Johnson- Essay 3 "You are the author for the book of Your Life Story. Please write the Table of Contents for the book"

I don't know if I am missing something or if the word count for this is actually missing on the application. But I checked with the adcom and was asked to stick to the 400 word limit "for all essays".
I was not too ecstatic initially and it took me a while to figure out how to go about it but as I started... I realised this is the only essay I have come across so far that can speak volumes about us and our life cycle.It allows us to show where we are coming from, what shapes our thought process, what kind of transitions we have made, how we balance work and play, what have been our highs in life...how we overcame our lows...what are we passionate about...what have we done about it....where are we headed next....and so much more!!!

I wish I could copy paste it for "the personal statement" for Stern...it would be ideal....but Stern adcom ain't no fool neither am I !!!

Ross Essays

First draft of all 4 Ross essays are ready and out for review. My reviewer has a very busy schedule these days but all the dog faces I am making, seem to be doing the trick and I've been promised comments by Friday morning !!!

I still need to put all 4 of them together and see if they paint a holistic picture about my thoughts and actions in all spheres. But I think I'll wait till I get the comments. No point if I have to completely trash an essay!!!

Stern Essays
Stern Essay 1 & 2 are ready and with my reviewer as well. I did get some good comments which I totally agree with and shall incorporate soon. But Stern deadline being much later.. I have decided to put it on hold right now. I started off on essay 3 some time back but I think I can do better on the creativity front so I shall get back to it once I am done with Ross and Johnson.
Blog entries, collage, snapshots from holidays, mock interviews on Oppy, menu cards etc are some of the creative entries applicants have conjured up in the past. For now I think I'll stick to 500 words only!

I'm loving every bit of Stern that I keep discovering. But yes Stern's fascination for numbers (GMAT ,GPA) does make me wince. Did you know all the Male Indian Techies (i'm not at all in favor of any discrimination but right now I'm glad I don't have the Y chromosome!) who joined in 2006 had an avg GMAT of 760!!! (I hope I'm proven wrong!!)

Duke Essays
Duke is getting the royal snub right now. Been ages since I worked on the essays. A couple of them are ready though. Its just that deadlines are later and I'm not all that excited about Duke.

Fluff & Puff
These 2 words have been etched in my mind forever and I hope in every b-school applicant's mind as well. Essays should not be full of "Fluff"..fancy , generic stuff that leaves the reader wondering if applicant 2 and applicant 22 are the same. Fluff will also remind the reader of the canned tuna fish rotting in his/her fridge for an eternity. Bad idea to Fluff!!

Coming onto Puff. None of us could stress less on the downfalls on puffing the resume or going overboard on the essays. Don't think its a great idea to cross the thin line between selling yourself and lying your way through.

Application Forms
I'm guessing most of us take the general form lighly (other than essays and recos) but I think its prudent to give due weightage to it. Most applications forms are frugal with their word limit on Work History, ECs, Achievements etc (Johnson is very generous in this case) and we need to ensure that we don't miss out on any salient point. I'm wondering to what extent can we put in data not available on the resume (related to EC or work history in some cases)

Recos
I do not have great news on this front nor am I panicking. I spoke to my supervisor today and he has promised to have Johnson and Ross done in the next 2 weeks. Just have to keep reminding him to get it done. He actually asked me if the application software used analytics to keep track of how many modifications the recommender made to gauge his thought process!!!ApplyYourSelf do you do that???!!! And I was really glad to hear him say that he wants to go through each question thoroughly and be as specific as possible. My other recommender resurfaces once a while but I understand he is busy tying up loose ends before making a trans atlantic move... Nonetheless since he has asked me to manage his time I shall do just that and keep sending him reminder mails.

Transcripts are scanned (need to rescan them for pdf versions less than 500 kb), resume done, need to report scores to Duke and Johnson. Hope I am not missing out on anything.

All the best guys!!And since it seems Columbia has already started sending out interview invites for ED...break a leg!!!

Writer's Block :-/

Its been over 15 days that I have been handed out 8 of the (atleast) 40 essays I got to write and all that I have managed in the past 2 weeks is just 1. (Yes I am hanging my head down in shame!)

I have my content with me but I am finding it really difficult to structure my essay. I'm wondering how to start "How will you contribute to the overall experience of your peers at Duke?" Should it have some punch and creativity or should I be "precise" as expected by all adcoms...and then I have 2 pages (more than 1000 words if I use a Font Size of 10) to tell the adcom how I am a "leader of consequence". Still trying to figure out how much will come across as a jack of all (sometimes this cld actually be + ) and how much will consitute as rambling....
The person/experience/event has its outline ready but then again creating a smooth flow and giving a clear insight into how he/she/it has contributed to who I am today needs some work on my end....
The only 1 I have ready so far is career goals and why duke... needs a bit of tweaking and trimming but I think its nearly there.... itching to send it across to my reviewers but gotta wait for the others to get done :(

The other set of essays out is Ross.. Ross is my mecca! and I think I have been adviced correctly not to start off with it. But I have been thinking of my "alternate career"...had an initial choice of 3 but I think I have narrowed it down to 1. Being me I'd love to give all 3 a shot and I'm sure I wouldn't do too badly either! Coming onto "challenging time" I'm sure all those who know me will instantly recall a personal incident (and people actually have) but I am wondering if I want to write about it and if it would speak about my candidature...Professional accomplishment -I shall wait for my current project to finish...none of my past projects could ever beat this one...
Career goals and why Ross- I thought this would be a cake walk! I've been in love with Ross for over 2 years now but then isn't it true that feelings cannot be always expressed in words! (yeah yeah I know excuses :((( )

So there goes I have 8 essays to write so far... spent some time thinking bout each one.. but just have the 1st draft of only 1 ready....hmmmnnnn I have miles to go before I sleep .....

I wonder how the others are faring...hope I'm not the sole one suffering from a writer's block!