Myths about the B School application process

So let me begin writing about my experiences about B school with something related to the application process. I have had numerous emails asking me what I did, and what is required so here are my two cents on what i think is essential.

First things first, one thing i realized is that a b-school application should not be thought of as an application for “school”, this is an attempt to enter a professional program to help you hone your skills and the way you present yourself… to enter a very competitive professional sphere i.e. having the doors opened to the white collar upper strata (pardon me being generic). I did not use an admissions consultant and do not think anyone (who finds them too expensive) really requires doing so. There are alot of people out there who have succeeded at this process, of getting into a top b-school, who are here to give advice for free, you just gotta know what questions to ask and how to ask them.

1) The time from when you take the GMAT to the time you submit your applications, it is not a time to strategize how you can wiggle your way through to B-school, its a time of showing them truly who you are, realizing it for yourself, and projecting it in the right way. Do not say you have done something because you think that is what the specific school is looking for, do not just choose a school because the rankings are great, and dont DONT doubt your ability and your potential.

Jean Paul Sartre said man’s greatest gift is having free will, only thing is, we are too afraid of realizing it, we would rather be hearded towards the light rather than walking towards it on our own two feet. This is important from two aspects, realize there is nothing you cant do, if you do then you are your own biggest enemy, be your biggest fan, and look to show the b-school of your choice why they should see what you see; secondly, distinguish yourself, we are all unique, b-school is all about formulating a class with the right mix, so it is essential to be yourself and show your uniqueness and how it will help make your study groups, student organizations you are a part of, and the school as a whole a better place. These schools are not philanthropic organizations, they know what the MBA will do for you, show them what you will do for them.

One msitake alot of people make is to look at the essays as a “chore”, i remember myself saying, ‘this sh** is bull, i dont need to sit hear swooning some b-school with the right mating call, wtf?’ i went through periods where i felt like i was banging my head on a wall…how do i answer what i want to do with my life? I can talk about it, but how do i write this? then i got to a phase where i was like, ‘i know exactly what to say, ‘these guys are gonna eat out of my hands, i will play every tochy feely card in the book, make em feel like i am here to save the world and make money on the side’. I went arround in circles, i had read my essays so make times i didnt know what to do with myself, and at one point i burnt every single copy i had cause i thought they were utter crap (thank god for MS word and the auto save fuction!). This is essential cause it inadvertantly made me begin to understand who I really was. this was the beginning of true anxiety, ‘am i really good enough? yea i have big dreams, and kinda know how i can reach em, but is this enough?’ this is really hard to deal with, whether u are a two bit paper pusher, like myself, who is trying to realize any potential, or are someone who helped refugee’s escape from Sudan. But this stage is good because in life the more you know the more you realize how little you know (sorry for plagerizing). I usually do not advise people to use admissions consultants because, you need to eventually sit in front of someone and interview, and trust me, at 23 i know when someone is talking out of their as* or whether they truly believe what they are saying. If you think you can do it, then go ahead, but to be safe, maybe you should take some acting classes also, they may help.

2)Now more specifics, one big question is what are business schools looking for? In my opinion a good business school, is one looking for someone whom they can look back at as an alumni and be like, “We are proud he is part of our alumni group” this helps them sustain their stellar image to attract the prospective trend setters of the future, and helps them distinguish themselves as institutions (notice how they wanna see you strive for what they are striving for also?). Dont look for specific skill sets you think you need, look for what you need to make yourself a complete person. (Another analogy) When you are in a bar or a night club and you see a goddess across the room who makes your jaw drop, what do you do? go over and tell her how amazing she is? how you have never seen anyone as beautiful? if yes, wake up, cause she hears that from the cat-caller down the street too, how are you any different? The guy that gets the girl is one who is confident, knows himself, and isnt there to impress her but to tell her she would look a whole lot better if she had his arm to hold onto (excuse my chauvanism, this is just to prove a point). Better yet she needs to know there is something about you that makes you so amazing that she cant stay away (other than your bank balance) u cant be the only one benifiting from the relationship, she needs to also…show her that reason!! if you had gone up and started dancing to show how smooth you were it may work, but how long are you gonna keep her interest like that? eventually you gotta get passed those initial few seconds right? each of you needs to size the other up. B-school is the same way. An intelligent beautiful woman would wanna know you can hold your own in a conversation, know that you have dreams, potential to be someone, not necessarily monetarily but from an intellectual and emotional aspect (a woman that isnt looking for all of that, you yourself will lose interest in). Like this Marianna, B-schools also wanna see certain basics from you, a good academic background, good scores, work ethic, performance at your previous job/s, and an intellectual who will excite their world, bring new ideas, implement things successfully and most importantly honor their relationship . So moral of my stupid analogy is, dont be head over heels about the school, the school should be head over heels for you, cause they seesuccess written all over you (however you may define that), and dont be average, inspire yourself to think and speak beyond what every other tom dick or harry would. You are not generic so dont try so hard to be generic. I know some of you may feel like this dude just ran around in circles again! He needs to re-read his post also cause this is as oblique as his essays! Maybe so, but i have tried to show that there is no prototype answer for any school. When a class is formed the Admissions people are trying to get the right mix of people to work together, they want the macroeconomist, working with a venture capitalist and someone from the non-profit sector, and an engineer. for each of these individuals the other person’s perspective is novel and something they were not trained to look for, this is essential to formulate your own thought process, your unique individual thought process…taking it beyond the average. This is why you keep hearing people talking about finding “the right mix”.

Another really important thing is, this whole ranking issue, everyone is so hung up about… which school is ranked higher than which. I realized this as an undergrad, you need to look at what school suits you best, in terms of coping with the academics, the social environment, and opportunities for someone with your interests. When i was doing my undergrad i chose to go to a school far below in rankings than another school i got into, but i felt the Economics department at my undergrad institution would be stronger (I have a B.S. in Economics) did it pay off? hell yea, it was the best decision of my life, my school may not have had the best career services office, and alot was lacking from an academic stand point, but our economics dept was full of people who loved to teach, some of the best professors were ones who had retired, or decided to chuck up their lavish lives working at the FED’s, the IMF’s etc. to come and teach! It was my relationship with my professors that got me my first research project, helped me publish a paper, get a job blah blah blah. the important thing to pick up from this is, i was able to build a rapport with these guys who gave me ways of distinguishing myself from the start. something i may or may not have had at the other school. With my Bschool applications, i again had to make such a decision, people feel im stupid at times for having chosen Chicago GSB. I will still stick to my guns and my tried and tested pattern of choosing a school or anything else in life which will best suit my own personal development. I am not going to base it on the “average” they publish in a magazine. Chicago GSB didnt start of as my top prefference, but things changed from the moment i began interacting with Admissions reps, and i saw a real effort to not take me for granted because i was young, i saw an interest they had in helping me reach my dreams academically, professionally, and otherwise. hell some of the people i met were more excited about me than i was about me (this fed my narcissim, im just kidding;)) but these are important things, well atleast to me, if they are not to you then i would recommend taking everything i say with a pinch or two of salt. All in all if you have to spend about 150K in two years on an education, choose one which is best for you, not the best for others on average. Each inidividual has different stats and dreams, no one school is best for eveyrone. But do use the rankings loosely to pool together a basic list of potential schools, then put them all on the same playing field and evaluate them for what they really are.

(This pertains to questions from candidates with lesser than 3-4 years of work experience)

Comming back to the question of when to apply and why to apply to business school, through your stages of self introspection, you need to figure out whether you really are ready for business school, if you are not then dont waste your money. if you find yourself finding your application weak because you have not had enough work experience or the right kind, then be man or woman (i just realized how male centric this post is…this is the 24 year old in me ) admit it and wait a year or two. when you sit at an interview you need to talk about work, projects, achievements, ideas, developments and all that fun stuff. so if you have only been sitting around cleaning up excel spreadsheets, and making charts, and editing documents, hold off on applying, try to get some new projects, if you worked at a place which hinders initiatives taken (its ok i feel you people goin thru it, i dealt with it too), look towards involving yourself in something else which will help you grow, this shows u are not an intelligent bum who jsut wants to coast through…business school loves intelligent people, but respect hard workers, and i dont think the guys at Mensa are dominating the Billionaires Clubs, the hard workers are. So be honest with yourself before applying, dont just do so blindly, cause then you are just wasting your time and money. besides it is really important to be in business school when you have a relative grasp of how work environments can be, the importance of being meticulous, how to recognize opportunity and grab it, all these thigns are only learnt by trial and error, so get done with that. dont go to B-school without an understanding of certain basic essentials of the management cycle. If you have had quality work experience, and truly feel another 2 years wont add much to your professional development, then say that, prove it, to yourself and the b-school admissions folks, dont hold back.

One big thing, and this is a mistake i made too, so dont feel embarassed about it, dont approach people without having concrete questions, if u ask specifics people will take out the time to answer cause they feel u did ur homework and didnt just come looking for a free ticket to b-school, cause there is no free ticket. so be tactful in what you ask and how u ask it. Another thing, people like being complemented, so again stand out when you write to current students, dont make em feel you forwarded a generic email you sent to everyone. nothing irritates me more than getting an email congratulating me on choosing to go to Columbia or Tuck, particularly since i didnt even apply there. so take some time out, these people are also taking time out to help you dont disrespect them.

I mentioned earlier i never used an admissions consultant, there is a wealth of information all over the internet. Blogs, forums, school groups, chat sessions with admissions representatives at schools, business week even has sample essays (although i dont suggest reading them, you might be inclined to replicate things in a similar manner…a big mistake, in my humble opinion) and alot more you just gotta look.

Nothing worthwhile in life is meant to be easy cause if it were everyone would have it and it wouldnt be worthwhile anymore…so make the effort, put in the time, after all this is your future and am sure you want the best you can get. If you have trouble motivating yourself, fuel your desire, i set goals, and promise to buy myself toys if i can make my plans work out. I love music and like stuff with subliminal messages, whenever i got stressed and mad at life i listened to alot of the Notorious B.I.G., when i was unsure and anxious i got my inspiration from Jay-Z and maintained my sanity by listening to Chopin, and when i got my call congratulating me about my acceptance to the program, I was listening to Kanye West’s- Can i touch the sky? and Jay-Z’s Dead Presidents II

Cautionary Warning: I do not claim to be a guru at the application process, i am just rambling on about how i saw things and how i dealt with them, at the end of the day we all need to find a mechanism that works for us, this is how i viewed things and some of the realizations i had. I was helped alot by students from various different MBA programs…this is me doin the same for others who find themselves where i was a year ago.

A Mumbaikar’s warning to terrorists

Umesh Gosar/Reader

Mumbai, July 13: To the terrorist: Even if you are not reading this we don’t care. Time and again you tried to disturb us and disrupt our lives – killing innocent civilians by planting bombs in trains, buses and cars. You have tried hard to bring death and destruction, cause panic and fear and create communal disharmony but everytime you were disgustingly unsuccessful. If you wanted to give us a shock then we are sorry to say that you failed miserably in your ulterior motives. Better look elsewhere, not here. We are not Hindus and Muslims or Gujaratis and Marathis or Punjabis and Bengalis. Nor do we distinguish ourselves as owners or workers, government employees or private employees. We are Mumbaikars. We will not allow you to disrupt our lives like this. On the last few occasions when you struck (including the 7 deadly blasts in a single day killing over 250 people and injuring 500+ in 1993), we went to work the very next day in full strength. This time we cleared everything within a few hours and brought life back on track – vendors placed their next order, businessmen finalized their upcoming deals and office workers rushed to catch the next train. Yes the same train you targeted! Fathom this: Within 3 hours of the blasts, long queues of blood donating volunteers were seen outside various hospitals, where most of the injured were admitted. By 12 midnight, the hospital had to issue a notification that blood banks were full and they didn’t require any more blood. The next day, attendance at schools and office was close to 100 per cent, trains and buses were packed to the brim, the crowds were back. The city has simply dusted itself off and moved one – perhaps with greater vigour. We are Mumbaikers and we live like brothers in times like this. So, do not dare to threaten us. The spirit of Mumbai is very strong and cannot be dampened!

This was sent to me the other day and i thought it was hilarious!

A Professor at one of the IIM’s (Indian Institute of Management)
was explaining marketing concepts to the Students:
1. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say:
“I am very rich. Marry me!” – *That’s Direct Marketing.*
2. You’re at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous
girl. One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says:
“He’s very rich, marry him.” – *That’s Advertising.*
3. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and get her
telephone number. The next day, you call and say: “Hi, I’m very
rich. Marry me.” – *That’s Telemarketing.*
4.  You’re at a party and see gorgeous girl. You get up and
straighten your tie, you walk up to her and pour her a drink, you
open the door (of the car) for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her ride and then say: “By the way, I’m rich. Will you marry me?” – *That’s Public
Relations.*

5.  You’re at a party and see gorgeous girl.
She walks up to you and says:
“You are very rich! Can you marry ! me?” – *That’s Brand Recognition.*
6.  You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: I
am very rich. Marry me! “She gives you a nice hard slap on your face.”- *That’s Customer Feedback*
7.  You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say:
“I am very rich. Marry me!” And she introduces you to her husband.-
*That’s demand and supply gap*

8.  You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before
you sayanything, another person come and tell her: “I’m rich. Will
you marry me?” and she
goes with him. -* That’s competition eating into your market
share*
9. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before
you say:
“I’m rich, Marry me!” your wife arrives. – *That’s restriction for
entering new markets*

A sad day in indian history…wait maybe that should be “another sad day”

Having been back a little over a week, I have been a little overwhelemed with developments i see in the city i call home.  there are flyovers everywhere, big malls, the new metro system… the list goes on.  But delhi continues to be the same, everyone still has a money hungry attitude, the rich want to throw their money in your face and everywhere you go people treate you like we live in the wild and anything goes.  No one seems to care about dignity, respect or even being civil.

And then we sit and shout about how ill treated we are abraod.  Who gives a flying F*, if you odnt treate people properly in your own country why should others when you go to theirs…with each day i grow to understand stigmas held against indians and south asians in general, we may have money now but we behave in such uncultured ways it hurts.  Only if we learn to respect ourself can others do the same.  I am an avid believer that the respect you get from others stems from the respect you hold yourself in. Indians as a general group lack this!

Sweeping statements usually get you in trouble but let me tell you what was really shocking…after the Mumbai blasts yesterday i sat up watching live coverage on the event.  Mayhem is not the word, but that is understandable, what is not understandable is how i saw the police officials inspecting the blast sites, walking past dead bodies moving limbs with their sticks to look at the blown up cabins.  I understand they have a duty to determine the cause and the culprits and are looking for clues, but what about respecting the dead?

another example, news reporters covering the event going to people sitting outside hospitals crying and what is their first question, “tell me in detail how you feel right now? do you feel sad or angry?”  Is this a game show on TV? Are we in some sort of virtual illusion where all you want to do is get the best story and the best scoop?

I hate the immense amount of insensitivity everyone seems to walk with.  The other day i was walking to the market and a child who had a deformed limb walked to another pedestrian walking across the street begging for money then he touched his shirt and the guy turned around and threw him to the ground and walked on…i was stunned.

Honestly i hate giving money to beggars but what the hell was the necessity for that? I went up to the guy and asked if he was insane, then he tells me i need to mind my own business, so i touched his shirt and asked if he thought he would throw me to the floor too, the guy looks at me and starts abusing me and says that he will have me shot and i dont know who he is. So i told him it showed what a coward he was cause he didnt have the balls to do anything right there and then.
Then he all of a sudden changes his tone and starts trying to be friendly, and tells me, “This is how India is Sir, you have been gone too long”

i really wish he had just taken a punch there and then, nothing could have felt worse than what he said…i dont know whether to rue my existence or be greatful for it…I hope i figure it out someday, but right now i dont even know if there is a point in the efforts i am trying to make to ensure i come back here… I feel like a pariah in my own home.

Unemployed with pride

Wow it really has been a long time since i wrote on this blog. it is not cause i havent had the time i have just been really lazy.
So lets see, since my last post i quit work and have headed back to New Delhi. It feels amazing to be home after almost 3 years of no breaks or vacationing.
I have met up with a few people from high school and wow things have changed!! everyone is so grown up, i feel i am the only one who hasnt.
If someone is a lawyer now someone else is enjoying being the Samsung-India CEO’s nephew. So much has changed in India, yet so much has not. As expected my accent is really hard to conceal now, and i get flak about it from everyone, but from others who may not know me personally, it seems to make them have some sort of unwarranted respect for it. strange…but then again why?? we continue to be a nation which drowns deep in the sea of insecurity and a white inferiority complex. I really hope this is something that will change because this can end up being the bane of social growth for India as a nation.
I joined this yahoo group recently called the India Power Group, got to meet alot of really nice people from the group recently and am really glad i joined it. What was particularly promising was meeting a 22 year old who got into Chicago GSB…and that a few of the others were 23 and 24. I think it is essential to realize the significant amount of value added when people do their MBA’s young. It provides an opportunity to make bold decisions and take risks while minimizing the impact of failure on your long term carrier.
The internet has played a big role in individuals educating themselves, had it not been for websites like the GMATCLUB, TESTMAGIC, and forums on applying to business school i would never have been at the point i am at. Being able to teach one’s self is an essential and important tool to have…beyond business school knowledge, look at WIKIPEDIA, I love how i can go and look up a comprehensive amount of information on Sean Carter (Jay-Z) shooting someone for peddling his first album before its release, to the findings of white wine in King Tutukhamun’s Tomb in Egypt. Now that is amazing!
Anyways as i enjoy my vacation, and wait for my visa interview, and my loans to go through, i have this surreal feeling that finally i might be entering a phase from which i can truly materialise some of those ambitions i have had. I dont want to get too far ahead of myself, but it really feels good to know that i can act on things which once seemed too far in the horizon to reach.
I think i am going to go to Kerela with my mom, i have never been there since i was born, and feel it is essential to do so. It will be a great opportunity for me to do some photography also… a little something to hold on to before i leave for Chi-town (i hate that name)

WORLD CUP FINALS
So i wonder what everyone’s opinion was of the head butting incident of Zidane in the World Cup finals, while everyone decides whether it was right or wrong, i think it was silly that he does it and then started crying about it. Firstly, you are in the World Cup finals, and you are already a legend, people hate gladiators, and will do anything to get under their skin. If Materazzi said something unbelievably inappropriate, id wait till the end of the match before doing anything, there were 10 minutes left!!!! No one can question a winner, so why fall into that trap. But sometimes certain things cannot be ignored and it seemed that this was the case here. That being said, dont head butt him, and leave it at that, and dont cry about it afterwords. Take responsibility for your actions dont cry about it. Before the finals I held Zidane in the league of the Maradona’s and Pele’s, now i hold him in esteem but not as much as i did before.