Columbia Interview Done

I had my alumni interview yesterday and it was very cordial and comfortable. The interviewer was a '71 alum and was very senior in the organization he worked for. The interview itself was also very smooth. No cross-questioning just a good conversation. I was also asked the standard 'ethical dilemma' question which I was prepared for. So, that was sail through, although the interviewer asked for another one after I had narrated the first one. Overall, the interview went well. The questions were broadly why this school, why this company, why this swtich, why mba, why columbia and a lot of discussion of my goals.

The only hitch was that I could not answer 'Why Columbia' all that well because I was cut by my interviewer twice in between and the discussion went tangential. Its common knowledge that CBS wants students with a high degree of interest in the school. Hopefully, I did enough in the interview to convince him and the adcom that I am really interested.

In the end, I asked him questions and got very very good answers to most of them. He offered to help me in networking with people in the NY area, which felt good. I hope I was good too.

Now, the wait begins. I was told that he would submit the feedback yesterday itself or latest by today. He hasn't done it yet. Hopefully, he can get it done by the weekend. It was nice meeting him!

Columbia Interview Invite

Yeah, I received an invite to interview from Columbia. And as expected, I am really excited. I have some alumni to choose from. Let me see who responds first to my mails. Anybody, any tips for the interview?

Chicago Essays

Anybody who has heard of what GSB essays are like this year - is tensed :D

For those who have not, here it is:
http://www.chicagogsb.edu/fulltime/admissions/essays_slides.aspx


I am really stuck with essay #2. I feel uncomfortable writing on topics which require me reveal my personal self. Especially, which require you to talk about incidents where you displayed leadership, or where you failed, or you had to make a choice.

Its not that I don't have stories. I just can't put them across in a mature, professional manner. After a week of dilly-dallying I have managed to prepare a draft for the Chicago essay 2 and got it reviewed. Fortunately this time, my reviewer had a fairly positive opinion on the first draft, which is an achievement.

Hopefully, another week and the Chicago app would be ready to go. This would be the half-way mark in the whole process.

Meanwhile, Columbia has been a little slow in coming out with interview invites. Infact, haven't heard of any invites yet for Fall 2009. The next week will possibly see truckloads of invites. Hope, they want to talk to me! :)

Submissions and school list updates

I submitted ISB last Monday, Sep 8. It actually got a little late. But, its ok since ISB is not rolling. But, this going to add pressure on my schedule, with Chicago and Tuck deadlines looming in the early October. Have to be a little more quick with the applications. My recommenders have been pretty much on the spot till now with the schedule. I just hope, no issue crop up in the next two months, which is going to be one crazy application season.

Meanwhile, I have decided to finally add Darden to my list of prospective schools. This was a school I was researching on for a long time. I liked several things about the school - strong case-based curriculum, good recruitment in my areas of interest, good community feel.

There is something else I like about Darden - its location, Charlottesville, which is not a big city. I do not really like to study in big cities, although they present significant advantages in terms of recruiting. Chicago, Columbia and Stern are schools I like, and hence made entry into my list, not because they are in big cities. And that is one of the biggest reason why I have included Tuck in my list of schools. However, I have not been able to contact any students from Tuck and Stern yet. That is something I will work on in the next few weeks. Ciao!

Inspiration Blogs - Where are they?

When I created this blog, I decided to have a small list of student blogs to keep me in touch of the student community and provide inspiration. But, today I revamped it from a list of 10 blogs to around 4-5 now. I had to remove them as they do not have any updated content.

Why is it that students after they start their MBAs don't update their blogs any longer? Sure, time is one issue. However, it cannot be the only one. We cannot say that the applicants are jobless, right? :D

It is related to the reasons one wants to blog. For me, it is a kind of public-personal diary of my MBA quest. I want blogs to chronicle most my life's experiences. I would start new blogs in all new phases of my life - at least, that is the plan.

I am actually planning to start a new blog, parallel to this one which talks about more personal matters. That would be public or not is something not decided yet.

On the application front, there has been a lull ever since I submitted Columbia. None of my recommenders for ISB are looking in a mood to submit their recommendations. The essays have been reviewed but need to be worked on further. And I am not in a mood to work on them today. Hopefully, tomorrow is going to be a fruitful day.

Columbia Submitted

and whats more, its under review as well! I submitted the application earlier in the day (early morning NY time). It went under review 10 am NY time. That's remarkable! I have been a little busy with the application because I took only 15 days to work on it.

Since, it was a reapplication, I did not have to work on the other two essays which is good in a way. I was never too excited about the master classes essay anyways. But, I had fewer words to convince the adcom of my heroics in the last one year ;)

So, the first application of the season is in, and I pray that I do not have to submit many more. Given the past trends, I should have the decision by the end of next month. Thats pretty neat. On to ISB now!

General Updates

Well I am back from my vacation and joined my new workplace a couple of days. Joining was smooth and pretty professional. Should get going after the long weekend we had, here in India.

Meanwhile, I am looking at applying to Columbia much earlier than I thought, maybe even by the end of the month. I don't find a lot of work to be done for a reapplicant. My focus has to be on improvements in my profile which I am in the process of articulating. Then have to figure out a way to use the optional essay effectively, if at all.

Meanwhile, my ISB essays have been on the backburner for a while. I have not even got my comments back from the people who are going to review my essays. Hopefully, that should get sorted out by early next week. I now plan to complete both ISB and Columbia applications by the end of August. Then attach Chicago and Tuck applications.

Meanwhile, I have been very actively considering Darden as another school I would put in application for. It is pretty good in the discplines I am interested in and seems to be a pretty good fit. Need to do more research on the school. LBS is another school I am looking at right now. Should be able to fix my sixth school also by the end of the month. For now, its beer!

Cheers!