Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Act II Scene I - The Johnson Interview Invite!!
After a month and a half of waiting... I finally got the coveted mail!!!
The Johnson School would like me to schedule an interview as soon as possible!!!!!!!!
Once I was done with my apps... F5ing my mailbox every 10 mins has become a way of life for me....And finally it paid off !!!
The journey to Ithaca is not possible at this stage so I am mulling over the adcom telephonic option or alum interview. Right now I am more inclined towards the alum interview..lets see how it works out..
On other fronts I pushed Duke and Stern to Rnd 2. I am regretting the Stern decision a teeny weeny bit but something inside really stopped me from going ahead with it.
All best to those gearing up for interviews and those ready to hit submit on Stern!!!
The Johnson School would like me to schedule an interview as soon as possible!!!!!!!!
Once I was done with my apps... F5ing my mailbox every 10 mins has become a way of life for me....And finally it paid off !!!
The journey to Ithaca is not possible at this stage so I am mulling over the adcom telephonic option or alum interview. Right now I am more inclined towards the alum interview..lets see how it works out..
On other fronts I pushed Duke and Stern to Rnd 2. I am regretting the Stern decision a teeny weeny bit but something inside really stopped me from going ahead with it.
All best to those gearing up for interviews and those ready to hit submit on Stern!!!
Saturday, October 11, 2008
CitiAssist Out, so is Duke (for me)
Now with Cornell and Ross in I just have not been able to concentrate and move on with the rest of the applications. As a result, Duke is postponed to Round 2 (a big MAYBE even then). More inclined towards UNC and Notre Dame at the moment.
I feel totally drained out and not motivated enough. Plus work, other commitments, festivities and family keeping me totally occupied.
The latest buzz for international students right now is the discontinuation of the CitiAssist non cosigner loans at Ross and MIT.
My 2 cents on this:
1) The loans stand discontinued from Nov 2nd onwards. And students have been asked to apply before that. The ones disbursed will not be recalled. So I am hoping not too many students are affected by it.
2)Schools will definitely try their best to come up with alternate sources. And hopefully something should be worked out by the next academic year.Else there will be a slump in international applications which will be a huge drop for schools in terms of statistics and diversity.
3) Round 2 in tier 1 schools (esp schools that had non cosigner loans) mite see a slowdown in international applications (mostly Asian). Though total volume will still surge (US applicants and some European will make up for it)
4) A lot of potential applicants will now look at Europe and Asia.
5)One imp. input I got from Owen adcom at the World MBA fair was that their school and certain others have decided to cut down on international students to ensure that finances are available for those admitted. This till now was not really the case with tier 1 schools. But maybe they might rethink strategy.
A lot of uncertainty, a lot of if's and buts out there. Life is not very beautiful right now.
I feel totally drained out and not motivated enough. Plus work, other commitments, festivities and family keeping me totally occupied.
The latest buzz for international students right now is the discontinuation of the CitiAssist non cosigner loans at Ross and MIT.
My 2 cents on this:
1) The loans stand discontinued from Nov 2nd onwards. And students have been asked to apply before that. The ones disbursed will not be recalled. So I am hoping not too many students are affected by it.
2)Schools will definitely try their best to come up with alternate sources. And hopefully something should be worked out by the next academic year.Else there will be a slump in international applications which will be a huge drop for schools in terms of statistics and diversity.
3) Round 2 in tier 1 schools (esp schools that had non cosigner loans) mite see a slowdown in international applications (mostly Asian). Though total volume will still surge (US applicants and some European will make up for it)
4) A lot of potential applicants will now look at Europe and Asia.
5)One imp. input I got from Owen adcom at the World MBA fair was that their school and certain others have decided to cut down on international students to ensure that finances are available for those admitted. This till now was not really the case with tier 1 schools. But maybe they might rethink strategy.
A lot of uncertainty, a lot of if's and buts out there. Life is not very beautiful right now.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
On my way to Going Blue!!!
Yes!!! Finally my Ross application is in with recos and all... Ideally I would have loved to submit Ross 10-15 days ago but as Mr. Murphy would have it, things had to go haywire...
Last minute while re reading my essays I realised something was amiss. Just took a minor change in structure to make my team skills explicit but nonetheless took me ages to get it perfect.
One of my reviewers (a current student at Ross) got back to me this morning with comments, hours after I had submitted it.Thankfully he liked my essays and we were in sync on my weakest link (the leadership essay -- it was more mechanical and not as reflective as it should be). I had taken care of it before submitting.
One of my rec's was totally into hibernation, realised this evening that he hasn not had net access for the past 3 days, so all my frantic SOS mails were lying unattended in his mailbox. Left him a voicemail and voila! in 40 mins the reco was in. Hope he had it all filled up earlier and was just waiting to hit submit... else I'm doomed.
The good thing about the Ross application is that it is pretty compact, the bad thing- 100 characters and at times 4 lines of text is not enough!
Now that Ross is in some how I just cant get myself to work on other apps.. I'm just waiting to Go Blue!!!
I am seriously contemplating postponing Duke to Round 2 . Need to check the consequences of doing so (scolarship consideration, application volume, competition etc etc).
At the Stern Reception , the adcom rep. said that there is absolutely no advantage on submitting on 20th Oct instead of 15th Nov. However, I read in some forum that its rolling. Need to confirm this too, else will work on Stern from 30th Oct. Need to complete essay 3.
Now I need to finish what matters the most to me and why in the next few days!
All the best fellow bloggers!!!!
Last minute while re reading my essays I realised something was amiss. Just took a minor change in structure to make my team skills explicit but nonetheless took me ages to get it perfect.
One of my reviewers (a current student at Ross) got back to me this morning with comments, hours after I had submitted it.Thankfully he liked my essays and we were in sync on my weakest link (the leadership essay -- it was more mechanical and not as reflective as it should be). I had taken care of it before submitting.
One of my rec's was totally into hibernation, realised this evening that he hasn not had net access for the past 3 days, so all my frantic SOS mails were lying unattended in his mailbox. Left him a voicemail and voila! in 40 mins the reco was in. Hope he had it all filled up earlier and was just waiting to hit submit... else I'm doomed.
The good thing about the Ross application is that it is pretty compact, the bad thing- 100 characters and at times 4 lines of text is not enough!
Now that Ross is in some how I just cant get myself to work on other apps.. I'm just waiting to Go Blue!!!
I am seriously contemplating postponing Duke to Round 2 . Need to check the consequences of doing so (scolarship consideration, application volume, competition etc etc).
At the Stern Reception , the adcom rep. said that there is absolutely no advantage on submitting on 20th Oct instead of 15th Nov. However, I read in some forum that its rolling. Need to confirm this too, else will work on Stern from 30th Oct. Need to complete essay 3.
Now I need to finish what matters the most to me and why in the next few days!
All the best fellow bloggers!!!!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Of my first submit, some palpatations, a lot of excitement and more......
I just clicked on the Submit button in my Johnson application!!!
I momentarily lost a heartbeat and had a panic attack (have I filled in correctly... am i sure there are no spelling mistakes... have I goofed up anywhere.... and blah blah blah)
But now I feel so much better and lighter..Irrespective of the outcome..I know I gave it my best shot.
A couple of inputs to those who are yet to submit the Johnson app:
1. Johnson is one of the very few (or should I say only school) that gives some room (read words) to the applicant to fill in activities and ECs. Make the most of it but yes do not go overboard just coz u see 5000 characters!
2.There is no point is agonizing over formatting coz the word processor just does not allow it. This really messed up my table of contents and all the hours I had spent in sprucing it up and making it look real were an absolute waste. You are better off spending your time in proofreading the app.
Now its one down and 4 to go.....
Its now time to Go Blue!!!!
I momentarily lost a heartbeat and had a panic attack (have I filled in correctly... am i sure there are no spelling mistakes... have I goofed up anywhere.... and blah blah blah)
But now I feel so much better and lighter..Irrespective of the outcome..I know I gave it my best shot.
A couple of inputs to those who are yet to submit the Johnson app:
1. Johnson is one of the very few (or should I say only school) that gives some room (read words) to the applicant to fill in activities and ECs. Make the most of it but yes do not go overboard just coz u see 5000 characters!
2.There is no point is agonizing over formatting coz the word processor just does not allow it. This really messed up my table of contents and all the hours I had spent in sprucing it up and making it look real were an absolute waste. You are better off spending your time in proofreading the app.
Now its one down and 4 to go.....
Its now time to Go Blue!!!!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
I am spooked !
I just saw 3 movies in a row and yeah Cocktail happens to be one of them hence the title!
I have been doing everything under the sun , but essay writing for the past 10 days. My essays have not been trashed by my reviewers and that definitely has me relieved..So now I'm done with a bulk of my essays which I can tweak around for most schools.. but that still doesnt bring me close to that elusive "submit" I'm impatient to get done...
While I have been looking at Cornell more closely I just realised Cornell and UMitch are so very alike. Be it immersion and MAP or action based learning or co-creation or Impact..even essay on professional accomplishment (sans the word limit) is ditto!
Ohh and the real reason why i am spooked.... i din think its a MUST to waive off rights to reco letters and so I selected the option to view them later....but just read in some of the forum that its best to leave them inaccessible to the applicant. Should I be worried????
I have been doing everything under the sun , but essay writing for the past 10 days. My essays have not been trashed by my reviewers and that definitely has me relieved..So now I'm done with a bulk of my essays which I can tweak around for most schools.. but that still doesnt bring me close to that elusive "submit" I'm impatient to get done...
While I have been looking at Cornell more closely I just realised Cornell and UMitch are so very alike. Be it immersion and MAP or action based learning or co-creation or Impact..even essay on professional accomplishment (sans the word limit) is ditto!
Ohh and the real reason why i am spooked.... i din think its a MUST to waive off rights to reco letters and so I selected the option to view them later....but just read in some of the forum that its best to leave them inaccessible to the applicant. Should I be worried????
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
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!!!
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!!!
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