Other Application Updates

Just missed that I also had rejects from Gatech and McCombs. May be my profile was not up-to the their standards or I was another case of aspiring IIM ( Indian IT Male) which is a major contributor to the revenues of Admission Departments of MBA schools all over the world.
I attribute this to their bad luck, they have surely missed a great student like me. :-)
The other part of my story is that I was destined not to study in India otherwise how can anyone explain that I missed IIT Kgp call by 1.5 marks and IIFT by 2 marks.
And last but not the least missed MFC, DU by 1 mark ( though I was least interested in it)

Quick Update

I had an admit from Rotman and the whole process of not accepting Rotman was a result of
long research and deliberations with my dear friend GP. I will share my rationale for selecting Asian Institute of Management, Manila over Rotman, Canada later.

You must have got it by now since this is May that I have an admit from AIM and I am joining AIM this Fall. My experiences of AIM will feature in a different blog. I am near to an end to my application Process and this blog will mainly contain posts about MBA and other gyan in general.

Bad News

I received the news , it was inevitable . Ding from Fuqua.

The admissions committee at The Fuqua School of Business has met to review your application for admission to The Duke MBA Class of 2010. We received a record number of applications of exceptionally high quality for the class entering in the fall of 2008. As a result, the quality of the applicant pool this year required the committee to make some very difficult decisions. Regretfully, after a careful review of your application, we are unable to offer you a place in the entering class.

Rotman interview experience

My interviewer was a nice , pretty lady. I had an advantage and I made most out of it.

Current role ?
why Rotman ?
why MBA now ?
what plans after MBA ? ( goals )

then she( fortunately ) started explaining why Rotman is better than most of the schools , and about the application process.
then the internships chances ... blah blah ...blah ....

greatest accomplishments ?
what do u do apart from work ?
how can I contribute to Rotman , what strengths .
how would I explain about Ashutosh to Admission council ? ( which I think without
preparation I answered well )
how will I finance my course ?
any questions ?

Then she again explained about scholarships .....courses .networking .......I added with my knowledge ....abt the courses and networking ...
then she asked me to mail her back once my recommendation is complete .

Texas McCombs submitted

After starting the application sometime in October and working on it intermittently, I submitted my McCombs application well before the second deadline. But this is not the end; It seems I have to submit my transcript again.

This transcript thing is a pain. When I was looking for a cheap international courier I was taken aback by the outrageous price these couriers companies were charging. For a 20g envelop someone asked 2400 rupees. Finally I settled for DTDC for 900.

I am still fighting for my TOEFL waiver. It is not that I have some sort of fear from this exam; I just want to save some precious few bucks. Searched for a native English speaker and found one. The guy was my manager in my previous company. I started to think sometime changing companies really help. If the TOEFL is waived my application is complete in all respect.
One thing unique about McCombs application is that one has to write the details of all schools from the day one was born. For me it was pointless.

Another 125 $ gone.

Done with Duke's , Rotman , Simon and AIM

I finished my Duke's application just in time , precisely 3 hours before the cut-off time. I made the decision of submitting the application in Round 1 in spite of realizing I had not unlocked my full potential. I was still coming to terms with my rather low GMAT score( as perceived by others).This is a stage in my life where I am contemplating too many things: some trivial to the extent that ignoring them would have no effect on my life. Still may be somehow I am too unsatisfied with lots of things.
Writing essays and then writing your own Recos is a pain but at the end it is an opportunity to know yourselfwhich the most of the CAT aspirants would never come to know. I am targeting at least 6 schools this time including one sure shot backup. For backup I have chosen AIM, Manila. a fairly decent school in Asia ..a typical desi environment as half of the junta there consists of Indians. Next one month is going to be very hectic but thanks for my job which gives me a plenty of time I think I can meet my goals of completing 5 more application till 15 dec. Which I eventually did. I have finally submitted Rotman and Simon.
I completed Simon in record 2 hours.

I will write the details in next blog , as I said this time of my life is rather turning out to be eventful. I am managing too many issues...Still to come : Rotman interview experience and NewYearResoultion

Smitten by Blue Devil

Application process for B School is surely a pain , especially for the first timer like me .

while I had earlier targeted R1 , looks like all my application will reach in R2 . It has to be R2 otherwise I will have to target R1 next year , which in all possibility will delay my greatness by 1 year. Here through this blog I ll share my experiences with people who are or will experience the same kind of tumultuous feeling at this time of year.

From the information I have till now , A typical B School application process can be divided into 3 parts , 70 -80 % is taken by essays , rest by filling the personal details and recommendation letters . Essays are important , as they are supposed to present a complete picture and the suitability of candidate to the school .

From my research and taking into criteria most of the applicants take US B Schools are the best . May be to the point that I ll choose 20-25 US schools over 3-10 UK schools.

I am still framing my essays , and trying to present a complete package . I have still not taken any essay service help but I think they can provide me with strategic inputs to the essays.
Editing is not required as some of my friends are one of the most knowledgeable guys in English

Hopefully I should be done by next week for my Fuqua essays . lets see.
my tip1 : start preparing for common essays very much in advance : 1 . like short term goals and long term goals .
2. Perosnal qualities .