Matriculating!

My wire transfer of deposit reached Columbia yesterday and I am now officially enrolled in the school roasters. As soon as that happened, my status changed to "Deposit Received" and the to-do list expanded from a 17 point list to a 30 point list. And this is supposed to be the beginning. Phew!

The new to-do list however, also gives me access to the Columbia University ID and the email account. Thats exciting! Besides, there is a admitted student's reception on Dec 3. I don't think I can be there even if I really want to do that so much.

I am envious of Tieny who seems to have figured out his plan for the next 10 months. I will be in all probability be working till the end of June. I have my CFA Level 2 to study for and then prepare for school. Three important to-do things amongst the millions I can see right now are - Kroll verification, loan confirmation and F1 visa. None of them begins before January.

Time to relax, I guess!


PS: All the best for HappyBunny for her final result @Columbia!

Sinking In!

Its taken some time, but its now sinking in: I am attending Columbia next Fall! MBA has been a long time dream and I, finally, have some concrete progress on that front.

However, my weekend was terrible. Was on the bed with cough, cold and high fever for three consecutive days. Its a little better now. Meanwhile, I have been going through the admitted students website to get information about tasks for the next few months. I realize its a little too early in the process and the website itself is not really up-to-date for the Class of 2011.

I went to my bank today to find out a way to wire my deposit to Columbia. The lady handed over a 9-page :O form which I need to fill and attach it with some photocopies and submit. She said it takes 48 hours, which is not so bad. Columbia's $6000 deposit is huge, I must say. :D

I am not sure when am I suppose to receive an admit packet: now, after my deposit or even later?

Meanwhile, I have been checking a lot of stuff about the university and the school and that has got me even more excited. I can't wait for next fall! :)

PS: Thank you all for your congratulatory messages. I really appreciate it. Hope to see a lot more admits from the blogosphere! Go guys!

Admitted to Columbia Business School!!!

I can't believe it :) :) :)

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!