So i've been out of here for over ten days now and was supposed to be working on my apps. I sure was working and slogging at that! in office and on my essays. while focussing on my essays i lost track of dates and before i know it i wake up on 27th December telling myself that 'damn u idiot you havent sent the recommendation links yet!'. To top this my most important recommenders are on vacation, one till 5th and other till 10th which is going to kill me now. My apps won't be complete even if I get my essays out on time and which also means I'm going to have to drop one application out of what feels like a zillion I'm working on. One of the worst mornings this year!
List of mistakes I made (till now) -
* Delayed booking my GMAT date, I had very few options when I booked
* Less planning around IMD application, applied for round 4 which was pointless
* Chose only one essay reviewer initially, should have picked 3-4 diverse views
* All the apps have gone on till last minute, none of my essays were done before time
* Bad scheduling of application deadlines, applying to three schools on same deadline
* School selection wasn't smooth, I never intended to apply to US and then it was all rushed
* Lack of discipline... never planned things well before working on them and didn't keep to my plans when I did plan
There is a lot more on timelines but I'll leave that for later and get back to finishing my essays and sending them for review.
My biggest learning always work on Plan B!!!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Frozen toes
Its sunny outside but even a little cold in the air combined with fear of not getting my MBA apps right has had my toes cold almost all the time for the last week.
Progress so far is little because I keep deleting everything I do. I did make progress in my NYU Stern essays this morning. Got the draft done for one of them.
So in january I'm aiming to apply to -
* Johnson at Cornell
* Duke Fuqua
* Darden
* NYU Stern
* HEC (with some luck and effort)
Two major things happened this last week -
First, I attended webinterview with Sara Neher. Now I know a little more about Darden. It was a killing session in the middle of the night. I had a few questions which I got good answers to and more through other's questions. The best hour spent on Darden research. The audio is available here - http://www.accepted.com/chat/transcripts/2010/mba12132010_darden.aspx
I looked up for other schools I'm applying to and here is a transcript and audio for Cornell - http://www.accepted.com/chat/transcripts/2010/mba10212010_cornell.aspx
Second was a question I posted on forum for profile evaluation and help with school selection. I was impressed with the answer I got. It was realistic and told me of the glaring challenges in my profile. The response was from mbamission. The consultant told me which schools were unrealistic and this has helped me shortlist. I have wanted Stanford for like forever but I guess I just wanted to hear a no to drop it from my list of schools I'm considering.
For my school research, I'm also regular on clearadmit.com and accepted.com blogs to help me with school research. But the biggest resource is always businessweek. I was able to read through some sample essays and realized that mine are not too bad which is encouraging and a bit scary at times. There are so many good people out there and I have my moments of self doubt which is not a good thing to happen.
Progress so far is little because I keep deleting everything I do. I did make progress in my NYU Stern essays this morning. Got the draft done for one of them.
So in january I'm aiming to apply to -
* Johnson at Cornell
* Duke Fuqua
* Darden
* NYU Stern
* HEC (with some luck and effort)
Two major things happened this last week -
First, I attended webinterview with Sara Neher. Now I know a little more about Darden. It was a killing session in the middle of the night. I had a few questions which I got good answers to and more through other's questions. The best hour spent on Darden research. The audio is available here - http://www.accepted.com/chat/transcripts/2010/mba12132010_darden.aspx
I looked up for other schools I'm applying to and here is a transcript and audio for Cornell - http://www.accepted.com/chat/transcripts/2010/mba10212010_cornell.aspx
Second was a question I posted on forum for profile evaluation and help with school selection. I was impressed with the answer I got. It was realistic and told me of the glaring challenges in my profile. The response was from mbamission. The consultant told me which schools were unrealistic and this has helped me shortlist. I have wanted Stanford for like forever but I guess I just wanted to hear a no to drop it from my list of schools I'm considering.
For my school research, I'm also regular on clearadmit.com and accepted.com blogs to help me with school research. But the biggest resource is always businessweek. I was able to read through some sample essays and realized that mine are not too bad which is encouraging and a bit scary at times. There are so many good people out there and I have my moments of self doubt which is not a good thing to happen.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Duke research
What do you do when you're down sick? Stay home and rest I suppose... I'm staying home researching Duke and burning my eyes into the laptop. With most of my US apps going in R2 I need to work hard on getting them out on time - there are 3-4 wit deadline of 4th to 6th Jan.
And in between one of my ex flatmates and a very good friend is visiting me for 20 days. She'll stay with me and work from here. We're meeting after I guess three years now so I'm guessing this will impact my apps plus its xmas new years time too so I need to work get most of my essays done before 15th which is less than a week away.
The first I'm working on is Duke.
First question I answer to myself is why duke? I have several reasons, my dream companies recruit here in the field I want to work in. Here's how I begin shortlisting schools step by step -
* Find someone I know in the school - there are three reasons to why i do this
1. I like talking to current students/ alums to find more abt the school
2. there are some prodigies around me and I can never hope to get into
schools they are in.
3. do I feel I will want to be where this person is or was? This may sound a
bit condescending but the truth is that I consider some people are not worth
where they are which tells me that either they bluffed thr way to the school
or the school did not take pain in selecting students. Okay this I take with
pinch of salt and don't get stuck to if I like other stuff about the school.
This friend of mine is at duke and he kept motivating me to apply and is helping me understand more about duke.
* Employment report - do the companies I want to go to hire at the school do they hire in my field of work
This fits at duke
* Curriculum - Duke has some electives I want to take up. Some are similar to what I liked at London Business School. They also do research in leadership and ethics which is perfect for me.
* Student life - I think most of the b schools do well in partying and extracurriculars. I look at them to get a feel of what I would want to do. This also helps me answer the question Why Duke?
* Faculty - There are professors who have written some great books and articles. I read through the book excerpts,will see if I can get hold of the book too.
* Other stuff - Duke has COLE Center on Leadership and ethics that drives some clubs and activities along with curriculums.
Right now I'm reading through student blogs, swarming my friend with questions, looking up youtube videos and answering the long essays.
My essays started bad - I couldn't go beyond half a page at first but now am catching up and writing more about how I feel and what I believe in. Hoping the draft is done by tomorrow.
And in between one of my ex flatmates and a very good friend is visiting me for 20 days. She'll stay with me and work from here. We're meeting after I guess three years now so I'm guessing this will impact my apps plus its xmas new years time too so I need to work get most of my essays done before 15th which is less than a week away.
The first I'm working on is Duke.
First question I answer to myself is why duke? I have several reasons, my dream companies recruit here in the field I want to work in. Here's how I begin shortlisting schools step by step -
* Find someone I know in the school - there are three reasons to why i do this
1. I like talking to current students/ alums to find more abt the school
2. there are some prodigies around me and I can never hope to get into
schools they are in.
3. do I feel I will want to be where this person is or was? This may sound a
bit condescending but the truth is that I consider some people are not worth
where they are which tells me that either they bluffed thr way to the school
or the school did not take pain in selecting students. Okay this I take with
pinch of salt and don't get stuck to if I like other stuff about the school.
This friend of mine is at duke and he kept motivating me to apply and is helping me understand more about duke.
* Employment report - do the companies I want to go to hire at the school do they hire in my field of work
This fits at duke
* Curriculum - Duke has some electives I want to take up. Some are similar to what I liked at London Business School. They also do research in leadership and ethics which is perfect for me.
* Student life - I think most of the b schools do well in partying and extracurriculars. I look at them to get a feel of what I would want to do. This also helps me answer the question Why Duke?
* Faculty - There are professors who have written some great books and articles. I read through the book excerpts,will see if I can get hold of the book too.
* Other stuff - Duke has COLE Center on Leadership and ethics that drives some clubs and activities along with curriculums.
Right now I'm reading through student blogs, swarming my friend with questions, looking up youtube videos and answering the long essays.
My essays started bad - I couldn't go beyond half a page at first but now am catching up and writing more about how I feel and what I believe in. Hoping the draft is done by tomorrow.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
US R2 applications
This is not easy its worse than what I thot it would be. I have shortlisted some schools and am looking at what else. The problem is that its not easy to write essays for multiple schools together. I wish I had some breathing space. And some of these need so much effort. For example even the first look at fuqua essays tells me its simple but they want all the details. Cornell is looking for creativity and Stern surpases them all by asking us to get creative with personal statement... so now I got to think whether I'm recording myself, writing something or what else. I'm sure gona lose some hair and get dark circles by the end of it all.
Music in the background is starry starry night to keep my mind cool and hopefully put me to sleep.
I don't know if I have a chance at any of these schools but I sure want to try and think I'm worth it. Its time I find some alum n current students and start talking to them.
Music in the background is starry starry night to keep my mind cool and hopefully put me to sleep.
I don't know if I have a chance at any of these schools but I sure want to try and think I'm worth it. Its time I find some alum n current students and start talking to them.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
ISB application
I finally got my ISB application through... this was one of the quickest, i spent only 4-5 days on it. I owe this to one of the alums who was very helpful. I even sat in his house for a few hours asking him to review my essays every few minutes.
This was also the only application where i had my nerves in control, i dint panic even once.
What I liked about the questions they ask is that its only 300 words. It makes putting everything difficult but asks you to make a choice and brings out what you believe to be most important to you. Its about selling self and given the option to highlight one thing that defines you makes it easier in a way.
The funny thing is that where people usually struggle to bring the essays down to word limit, I was struggling to write.
I started my essays with looking at the questions and writing down what each question is looking for. Next I made a list of things I wanted to highlight, things I wanted to mention and things that were desirable but I would still be okay without mentioning them.
The first essay was if ISB has to choose one more why should that person be me.
I decided to mention three points of my personality or achievement. I started this all wrong and was struggling with this question till last minute. Its only on the deadline I thought of what to write - well this was suggested by my frend but I hadn't included in my essays in detail(the ISB alum). I deleted this essay 5 times and started from scratch without using anything i had written earlier.
The second essay was to the typical short and long term goals and why ISB. This was fairly easy considering I have written this quite a few times earlier. The good thing with the review my frend did was on how it is perceived by people who don't know much about my work. He helped me bring more clarity and layman language in this essay.
The third was additional thoughts. There was something weird, when I started the application months back I remember this to be optional but when I was finishing my application it said that it was a mandatory one. Not sure whether I read it wrong or it changed or whatever. I had anyway written an answer to this. I wrote about a professional achievement I consider significant. This was the easiest of all to write.
As a reapplicant I had to write why again and blah which I had some response to. My frend asked me not to mention change in GMAT because that is something they will anyway be able to see. I wrote about more responsibility, promotion and some more stuff on personal improvement.
I did the scholarship essay the last day. Again I loved the essay as I did not have to repeat and they specifically mentioned don't repeat just write about the need.
So the app is done and wait is on. Time to look at R2 for US schools.
This was also the only application where i had my nerves in control, i dint panic even once.
What I liked about the questions they ask is that its only 300 words. It makes putting everything difficult but asks you to make a choice and brings out what you believe to be most important to you. Its about selling self and given the option to highlight one thing that defines you makes it easier in a way.
The funny thing is that where people usually struggle to bring the essays down to word limit, I was struggling to write.
I started my essays with looking at the questions and writing down what each question is looking for. Next I made a list of things I wanted to highlight, things I wanted to mention and things that were desirable but I would still be okay without mentioning them.
The first essay was if ISB has to choose one more why should that person be me.
I decided to mention three points of my personality or achievement. I started this all wrong and was struggling with this question till last minute. Its only on the deadline I thought of what to write - well this was suggested by my frend but I hadn't included in my essays in detail(the ISB alum). I deleted this essay 5 times and started from scratch without using anything i had written earlier.
The second essay was to the typical short and long term goals and why ISB. This was fairly easy considering I have written this quite a few times earlier. The good thing with the review my frend did was on how it is perceived by people who don't know much about my work. He helped me bring more clarity and layman language in this essay.
The third was additional thoughts. There was something weird, when I started the application months back I remember this to be optional but when I was finishing my application it said that it was a mandatory one. Not sure whether I read it wrong or it changed or whatever. I had anyway written an answer to this. I wrote about a professional achievement I consider significant. This was the easiest of all to write.
As a reapplicant I had to write why again and blah which I had some response to. My frend asked me not to mention change in GMAT because that is something they will anyway be able to see. I wrote about more responsibility, promotion and some more stuff on personal improvement.
I did the scholarship essay the last day. Again I loved the essay as I did not have to repeat and they specifically mentioned don't repeat just write about the need.
So the app is done and wait is on. Time to look at R2 for US schools.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
break n back
It has been quite a few weeks i blogged... lots happened in between. Got a heavy taste of rejections from everywhere I applied to, took a vacation, broke up wit smone I wasn't exactly dating (its confusing n its a long story), work not as exciting as my client I had crush on has moved out and now I don't get to work with him. I hit the rock bottom of the bottomest point under the ocean. Still not completely recovered but have been fine all through. Patiently letting this phase to pass through.
So now I'm finally working on my ISB application and deciding on US schools to apply to. In India we say whatever happens is for good, I hope I feel that my staying in India or going to US and not Europe will work out for the better, that is if I do go somewhere.
The more I think about why I want to do MBA the more clarity I have on my career goals. And the more options I look for to get what I want if I have to do so without MBA. Options there always are, struggle varies for each one of them.
Now that I'm back I hope to stay more regular.
So now I'm finally working on my ISB application and deciding on US schools to apply to. In India we say whatever happens is for good, I hope I feel that my staying in India or going to US and not Europe will work out for the better, that is if I do go somewhere.
The more I think about why I want to do MBA the more clarity I have on my career goals. And the more options I look for to get what I want if I have to do so without MBA. Options there always are, struggle varies for each one of them.
Now that I'm back I hope to stay more regular.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Looking for fellow applicants
With the results coming in and no interview call yet for me, I'm finding solace in reading other blogs. I'm consolidating a list of applicants in various phases of their journey, it diverts me a bit from hyperventilating.
INSEAD and London Business School results are now less than a week away. I hope it turns out to be a happy diwali for me =)
If you're blogging about your journey and would like to honor my blog by allowing me to list it, please leave a comment and I'll be very happy to do so.
INSEAD and London Business School results are now less than a week away. I hope it turns out to be a happy diwali for me =)
If you're blogging about your journey and would like to honor my blog by allowing me to list it, please leave a comment and I'll be very happy to do so.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Whys and other questions
During my conversation with a friend we were talking about the questions to ask before thinking of MBA, and we spoke about the 5 why's.
It is useful to answer a few questions before plunging into MBA application process. You can be as descriptive or as concise as you would like to be and remember when you look at your words later.
* The first set of questions are five Why's which are very useful in applications, almost every school will have one or more essays based on this.
Why MBA, Why now, Why this school, Why this region, Why me
* The first question always is Why MBA and it transcends to 5 more whys. For Example -
Why MBA - because I want to change my field of work to ___
Why change my field of work to ___ because I am passionate about it
Why are you passionate about it...
...and so the questions go
The answers have to be plausible before proceeding to the next why. Once you have done this move on to the other three and then to the last one which is selling yourself
* Why me is an important question and requires a lot of reflection. This is where you take a look at yourself. There are various tools available to help you figure this, on forums you'll find skill assessment metrics etc, there is swot assessment - strength, weakness, opportunity and threat (which I can talk more about, may be later) and some more.
I did not use any of these directly but I'm a less organized person.
* Make a list of your accomplishments and disasters. This helps work on essays later
* Make a list of five things you definitely want to add to your application and two that you want to highlight. These are usually your strengths and differentiators.
* The two things you select in above are very important, they are what makes you unique in the pool applicants. For Example, you may want to highlight your entrepreneurial abilities and creativity. They both go hand in hand so you may choose your detail orientation over creativity and highlight creativity while sighting example of entrepreneurial skills.
What is more important here is this unique thing about you has to be demonstrated in your life. You should be able to hold it at all times. Which would mean that your recos will have them mentioned in some form, you should be able to carry them with you during interview. This is what defines you as a person.
I'm sure these are not the only questions and people may have their own version. And that is the point, bring in your perspective show your individuality in the process. That is what leadership is all about.
Did I do the above religiously, don't think so but like I mentioned I'm not an organized person. And I don't have the credibility to preach at the moment until I get admitted to a b school. I just like to share my thoughts!
It is useful to answer a few questions before plunging into MBA application process. You can be as descriptive or as concise as you would like to be and remember when you look at your words later.
* The first set of questions are five Why's which are very useful in applications, almost every school will have one or more essays based on this.
Why MBA, Why now, Why this school, Why this region, Why me
* The first question always is Why MBA and it transcends to 5 more whys. For Example -
Why MBA - because I want to change my field of work to ___
Why change my field of work to ___ because I am passionate about it
Why are you passionate about it...
...and so the questions go
The answers have to be plausible before proceeding to the next why. Once you have done this move on to the other three and then to the last one which is selling yourself
* Why me is an important question and requires a lot of reflection. This is where you take a look at yourself. There are various tools available to help you figure this, on forums you'll find skill assessment metrics etc, there is swot assessment - strength, weakness, opportunity and threat (which I can talk more about, may be later) and some more.
I did not use any of these directly but I'm a less organized person.
* Make a list of your accomplishments and disasters. This helps work on essays later
* Make a list of five things you definitely want to add to your application and two that you want to highlight. These are usually your strengths and differentiators.
* The two things you select in above are very important, they are what makes you unique in the pool applicants. For Example, you may want to highlight your entrepreneurial abilities and creativity. They both go hand in hand so you may choose your detail orientation over creativity and highlight creativity while sighting example of entrepreneurial skills.
What is more important here is this unique thing about you has to be demonstrated in your life. You should be able to hold it at all times. Which would mean that your recos will have them mentioned in some form, you should be able to carry them with you during interview. This is what defines you as a person.
I'm sure these are not the only questions and people may have their own version. And that is the point, bring in your perspective show your individuality in the process. That is what leadership is all about.
Did I do the above religiously, don't think so but like I mentioned I'm not an organized person. And I don't have the credibility to preach at the moment until I get admitted to a b school. I just like to share my thoughts!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
ISB Dandiya
I've been away because I've been working on an event n been crazy busy, check it out - http://www.tedxgachibowli.com/
Today I was talking to a friend who is preparing for her gmat and i got it all back. I have some more schools to go and its easy for me at this point to lose focus while I wait for the interview results. I may thne feel devastated or panicked preparing for the interview.
I have to keep at it and look for the next applications.
So the ISB thing... yesterday I went to ISB for garba and dandiya night with an alum he was a frends frend. They have a bar on campus its not the best i've seen but they got a bar on campus!!!
Focusing on my convo with him... we spoke about isb and life and what is good and not so good.
Looks like ISB has quite a few students who're not focussed which means the peer group won't be as mature. And he mentioned its not t best for org dev. He mentioned that ISB is good for strategy. My biggest fear about ISB is the international exposure. They do bring in the best guest faculty but i dont know about the case studies etc. Also very few foreign students, mostly non resident Indians and some exchange students. The life does look good and I think I might apply. I think I would prefer the second league of European schools and Australia over ISB. Will keep posting on how my decisions shape.
The garba and dandiya was a lot of fun... this was my first time with garba and it went quite nicely so am happy wit my sat eve =) The pic is Nitima, my frend n me at ISB.
Today I was talking to a friend who is preparing for her gmat and i got it all back. I have some more schools to go and its easy for me at this point to lose focus while I wait for the interview results. I may thne feel devastated or panicked preparing for the interview.
I have to keep at it and look for the next applications.
So the ISB thing... yesterday I went to ISB for garba and dandiya night with an alum he was a frends frend. They have a bar on campus its not the best i've seen but they got a bar on campus!!!
Focusing on my convo with him... we spoke about isb and life and what is good and not so good.
Looks like ISB has quite a few students who're not focussed which means the peer group won't be as mature. And he mentioned its not t best for org dev. He mentioned that ISB is good for strategy. My biggest fear about ISB is the international exposure. They do bring in the best guest faculty but i dont know about the case studies etc. Also very few foreign students, mostly non resident Indians and some exchange students. The life does look good and I think I might apply. I think I would prefer the second league of European schools and Australia over ISB. Will keep posting on how my decisions shape.
The garba and dandiya was a lot of fun... this was my first time with garba and it went quite nicely so am happy wit my sat eve =) The pic is Nitima, my frend n me at ISB.
Monday, October 4, 2010
What's more difficult
I read about it but thought it was exaggeration but its so true. I've lost gazillion hours of sleep in past month. My rejects from IMD and IIMA left me devastated and not so confident.
Or may be this is how it goes. The first two apps were fine, it was effort but it got over but now its just crazy. INSEAD was sleepless nights and now LBS is sleepless weeks. And I'm still not happy with my essays. I had planned to submit my app on saturday and i'm still editting my essays. In fact last night I changed two essays completely because I thought the old ones were crappy. Now the other problem I have is that one of my essays is way shorter than word limit. There is a lot I want to write but when I later trim it comes too short. ugghhhh I have somehow not met the deadline I wanted to and am closing on the real deadline...
Now I agree that GMAT is probably the easiest part of application process and essays are what kill you even if you know what you want and have all the clarity on earth. word limit will be different n there is no way to copy paste and edit. its all fresh beginnings.
Or may be this is how it goes. The first two apps were fine, it was effort but it got over but now its just crazy. INSEAD was sleepless nights and now LBS is sleepless weeks. And I'm still not happy with my essays. I had planned to submit my app on saturday and i'm still editting my essays. In fact last night I changed two essays completely because I thought the old ones were crappy. Now the other problem I have is that one of my essays is way shorter than word limit. There is a lot I want to write but when I later trim it comes too short. ugghhhh I have somehow not met the deadline I wanted to and am closing on the real deadline...
Now I agree that GMAT is probably the easiest part of application process and essays are what kill you even if you know what you want and have all the clarity on earth. word limit will be different n there is no way to copy paste and edit. its all fresh beginnings.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
London Business School Research and Essays
I found it most comfortable to work on London Business School essays. May be because I had researched it a lot. My research -
I started with reading about the basic mentioned on the site of why London and what they're looking for.
Faculty -
- Looked at faculty in my area of interest... organization behavior
- Looked up what papers or books they have written and get my hands on some of it
- Helped me see their opinion on some of the important subjects
Curriculum -
- Looked at the program structure
- Individual courses by subject area
- Got into details of some that got me curious
- Electives... did they have what I want to learn
- Projects and other work... I found organization audit to be of interest to me
- Learning Methodology... As a trainer I was very interested in finding this
Community
- Student Community... another important part to me
- Clubs
- Activities and fitness centre
- Parties
- Social events
YouTube
- I looked through formal and informal both
- Promotional videos
- Student uploaded videos... found some videos of tattoo, summer ball and santa walk
Student Blogs
- Both official and unofficial
Forums
- MBA forums like beatthegmat, gmatclub and Indian forum pagalguy
- MBA consulting sites : not much here but did read through adcom and alumni interviews
I have put in effort in researching all the schools I've applied to but have spent more time and effort on London. My essays are done a week before the deadline and should be able to get this out hopefully before time.
A little on approach to Essays -
- It is extremely important to know what you want
- I tried visualizing my life in London and after
- I wrote my essays then took a few hours to research London Business School and then looked at them again with a little more understanding of the school
- I also took breaks for few hours to research a different school and then looked at my essays afresh
- The essays look different everytime and then I kept getting surer
- I'm taking today off and not looking at my London's essays to take a break from them
I'm also hitting another app with deadline clashing with London Business School... more on that later
I started with reading about the basic mentioned on the site of why London and what they're looking for.
Faculty -
- Looked at faculty in my area of interest... organization behavior
- Looked up what papers or books they have written and get my hands on some of it
- Helped me see their opinion on some of the important subjects
Curriculum -
- Looked at the program structure
- Individual courses by subject area
- Got into details of some that got me curious
- Electives... did they have what I want to learn
- Projects and other work... I found organization audit to be of interest to me
- Learning Methodology... As a trainer I was very interested in finding this
Community
- Student Community... another important part to me
- Clubs
- Activities and fitness centre
- Parties
- Social events
YouTube
- I looked through formal and informal both
- Promotional videos
- Student uploaded videos... found some videos of tattoo, summer ball and santa walk
Student Blogs
- Both official and unofficial
Forums
- MBA forums like beatthegmat, gmatclub and Indian forum pagalguy
- MBA consulting sites : not much here but did read through adcom and alumni interviews
I have put in effort in researching all the schools I've applied to but have spent more time and effort on London. My essays are done a week before the deadline and should be able to get this out hopefully before time.
A little on approach to Essays -
- It is extremely important to know what you want
- I tried visualizing my life in London and after
- I wrote my essays then took a few hours to research London Business School and then looked at them again with a little more understanding of the school
- I also took breaks for few hours to research a different school and then looked at my essays afresh
- The essays look different everytime and then I kept getting surer
- I'm taking today off and not looking at my London's essays to take a break from them
I'm also hitting another app with deadline clashing with London Business School... more on that later
Sunday, September 26, 2010
INSEAD check
I finally submitted my INSEAD application today and sent out the transcripts. Its kinda last minute, I wanted to submit by Friday but couldn't hold the temptation of reviewing my essays and apps over the weekend. Now its a long long wait to Diwali!
Friday, September 24, 2010
Writing Essays
I'm working non stop on my INSEAD and London Business School essays. I was reading through forums and realized people getting into the details of things like whether to use LBS or London Business School or whether to use Americanism or Englishism. I don't worry too much about these things and I can be wrong. Here's my take - if we're applying for global program they probably would go easy on the usage and should not be egoistic about it. Anyway the London essay app is automatically switched to Englishism spell check so I guess it would fix things.
My focus is more on the content. Yes good communication is required but it won't make up for application with no substance in it.
I feel I'm improving with essays for each application. And now I wonder if it was a good idea to start working on essays months before application process begins so that we have suficient practice. I know consultants encourage writing why mba, why now kind of stuff way before app process begins. That I think is a good idea, because by the time app and interview time comes you'd know what you want and how to express it with conviction.
My focus is more on the content. Yes good communication is required but it won't make up for application with no substance in it.
I feel I'm improving with essays for each application. And now I wonder if it was a good idea to start working on essays months before application process begins so that we have suficient practice. I know consultants encourage writing why mba, why now kind of stuff way before app process begins. That I think is a good idea, because by the time app and interview time comes you'd know what you want and how to express it with conviction.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Productive day
After 20 days of not knowing what to write I finally got an idea for the INSEAD essay I hadn't touched till now - "Describe a situation taken from school, business, civil or military life, where you did not meet your personal objectives, and discuss briefly the effect. "
Here's how I dealt with the block. I sat down this morning and decided I have to complete my essays... well I did not have much option. My deadline is on 29th and I have been losing sleep over this. Last night at 11 I told myself that I need good sleep and that I'll find a way tomorrow morning. So I slept and woke up and sat down to work. I started with thinking about my learning in life without any focus on failure and then I thought of a situation where we did not meet the objective we started with. Once I started working on that I thought of another situation which I thought was just what I wanted to write about. And it fell in place. So I'm completing my essays today and sending them for review, this time to two people.
Its weird that I can't find 5 people who would have time to review my essays and will give me helpful feedback. Its also funny how there is this one person I want to send my essays to but am not doing so because I know this person is overtly critical and will shatter my confidence to pieces making me feel like I'm not worth it. To add to that this person won't even give me suggestions on how to improve my essays only say its bad. I've never seen myself as someone who cannot take criticism but I don't think I'm always the most confident person. Enough justification on my choice of essay reviewers.
Today was so far productive and hope it stays this way
Here's how I dealt with the block. I sat down this morning and decided I have to complete my essays... well I did not have much option. My deadline is on 29th and I have been losing sleep over this. Last night at 11 I told myself that I need good sleep and that I'll find a way tomorrow morning. So I slept and woke up and sat down to work. I started with thinking about my learning in life without any focus on failure and then I thought of a situation where we did not meet the objective we started with. Once I started working on that I thought of another situation which I thought was just what I wanted to write about. And it fell in place. So I'm completing my essays today and sending them for review, this time to two people.
Its weird that I can't find 5 people who would have time to review my essays and will give me helpful feedback. Its also funny how there is this one person I want to send my essays to but am not doing so because I know this person is overtly critical and will shatter my confidence to pieces making me feel like I'm not worth it. To add to that this person won't even give me suggestions on how to improve my essays only say its bad. I've never seen myself as someone who cannot take criticism but I don't think I'm always the most confident person. Enough justification on my choice of essay reviewers.
Today was so far productive and hope it stays this way
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Back to business
It has been extremely hectic two weeks. Work is crazy, been in and out of meetings. Mom is visitng and I feel bad to not find time to spend with her, even when I'm there I usually am on my laptop for work or my apps. Apps which did not make much progress till last night.
I couldn't think of what to write for a long time, the words were crude nothing made sense and then I started reading through blogs mostly from INSEAD. I called up a friend and whined about no progress. He asked me to start writing things I have to tell adcom, I had already done this before but I started fresh with not much result. Over the last 3 days I kept thinking if I have to give bulleted points what would they be and it helped me
- I have done all aspects of training management, explored LnD function
- I want to move into Talent Mgmt and all aspects of HR
- I want to handle global audience
This helped me put some of my thoughts together and I managed to write first draft of 3 essays yesterday. I had read this blog sometime back and used it yesterday in my essays - http://rusgirl.blogspot.com/2005/09/writing-essays-to-insead.html
I wrote everything I wanted to cut it short and then discarded it and re-wrote, discarded not deleted.
Today I had my one on one with my manager. I'm lucky to have a manager who earlier was my mentor. He has seen me learn, mature, knows my challenges, feelings, aspirations etc etc. He is also happy to write all my references with a quick turn around. I discussed some of my career aspirations and options with him. Work eats up most of our time to discuss much on my apps but I'm trying to find 5-10 mins on our one on ones whenever I can.
Hoping to complete most of my INSEAD essays today and then send it to 5 people for review. Something I did not do with my IMD essays. I'll also add some posts on how I approached various essays in the next post.
I couldn't think of what to write for a long time, the words were crude nothing made sense and then I started reading through blogs mostly from INSEAD. I called up a friend and whined about no progress. He asked me to start writing things I have to tell adcom, I had already done this before but I started fresh with not much result. Over the last 3 days I kept thinking if I have to give bulleted points what would they be and it helped me
- I have done all aspects of training management, explored LnD function
- I want to move into Talent Mgmt and all aspects of HR
- I want to handle global audience
This helped me put some of my thoughts together and I managed to write first draft of 3 essays yesterday. I had read this blog sometime back and used it yesterday in my essays - http://rusgirl.blogspot.com/2005/09/writing-essays-to-insead.html
I wrote everything I wanted to cut it short and then discarded it and re-wrote, discarded not deleted.
Today I had my one on one with my manager. I'm lucky to have a manager who earlier was my mentor. He has seen me learn, mature, knows my challenges, feelings, aspirations etc etc. He is also happy to write all my references with a quick turn around. I discussed some of my career aspirations and options with him. Work eats up most of our time to discuss much on my apps but I'm trying to find 5-10 mins on our one on ones whenever I can.
Hoping to complete most of my INSEAD essays today and then send it to 5 people for review. Something I did not do with my IMD essays. I'll also add some posts on how I approached various essays in the next post.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Essays and Writers block
Update from last time... I did get a reject from IMD. I'm now working on INSEAD and LBS. One out of my top 3 is gone and I'm psyched about the other two. I have the writers block, don't know what to write in the essays. I have some idea but the IMD reject has left me much more unsure. This may sound like my self esteem shakes easily but that's not the case. Its just a phase and I'll get over pretty soon.
I've been reading through INSEAD blogs and site to know more about INSEAD. There are many interesting things I've found. The biggest gap I see is that I've had a very normal life. I haven't lived abroad, I don't speak 5 languages, I haven't traveled a lot outside India and I haven't done anything extraordinary in my acads or extracurriculars. So, what do I have? A little of everything. Not sure if that would work in my favor or against.
There is something that makes everyone unique, I too should have something in me... can't figure what it is.
I've been reading through INSEAD blogs and site to know more about INSEAD. There are many interesting things I've found. The biggest gap I see is that I've had a very normal life. I haven't lived abroad, I don't speak 5 languages, I haven't traveled a lot outside India and I haven't done anything extraordinary in my acads or extracurriculars. So, what do I have? A little of everything. Not sure if that would work in my favor or against.
There is something that makes everyone unique, I too should have something in me... can't figure what it is.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Results and next applications
IMD result has been out, at least many applicants who are selected for interview in September have been communicated the dates and case study. I'm not one of them. I do feel bad because IMD was on the top of my list, on the other side each school I'm applying to has its charm for me. There is something in each one of them which should keep me happy if I get through. Yes, it does look very difficult.
Not getting selected also calls for some analysis of the application. Like for IIMA its objective, they give points for each achievement, acads, work exp, international exposure etc. I saw the profiles of those selected and they were mostly from IIT, NIT's had worked outside India for considerable amount of time. In comparison I have low acads and less international exposure. There is a possibility I was a border line and there is a possibility that I was outright reject. I did have my strong points like field of work, decent extra curriculars. But most of this cannot be highlighted objectively. Realistic look at my profile tells me there is nothing exceptional in it, I have everything good but I'm yet to figure what is it that makes my profile exceptional.
About IMD, I sent them an email asking when are the results expected and what is the status. They have not said a no, just that the admission committee is currently making decisions and will communicate soon. They have three interview dates announced for September - 7th 10th and 17th. They usually have a group of 8 interviewed at a time, which would mean that only 24 have been invited to be interviewed in Round 4. Not sure how many they select in a single round. If there are more, I wonder if I still have a chance.
I however am going with the assumption that they have probably not sent out the rejections and might send them out by next week. I wonder if there is a waitlist in case some candidates drop out from the interview. My positive side always takes over!
Moving ahead, LBS application is out and I am hitting round 1. I'm also working on my INSEAD app for rouns 1. They're both for Sept end. Its less time, but I've started working on my INSEAD essays already, hoping to make considerable progress this weekend. I enjoy writing essays so its fun doing the applications. Also, I think about how much information a particular school is looking for and what it might tell them. For example, I found LBS application very impressive, lots of space to present self analysis. Even the essays are more direct and focused. This also makes it a tougher application. And with the pool of extremely competent applicants writing more only gives way to adcom to find a gap in application to be able to reject a candidate.
Not getting selected also calls for some analysis of the application. Like for IIMA its objective, they give points for each achievement, acads, work exp, international exposure etc. I saw the profiles of those selected and they were mostly from IIT, NIT's had worked outside India for considerable amount of time. In comparison I have low acads and less international exposure. There is a possibility I was a border line and there is a possibility that I was outright reject. I did have my strong points like field of work, decent extra curriculars. But most of this cannot be highlighted objectively. Realistic look at my profile tells me there is nothing exceptional in it, I have everything good but I'm yet to figure what is it that makes my profile exceptional.
About IMD, I sent them an email asking when are the results expected and what is the status. They have not said a no, just that the admission committee is currently making decisions and will communicate soon. They have three interview dates announced for September - 7th 10th and 17th. They usually have a group of 8 interviewed at a time, which would mean that only 24 have been invited to be interviewed in Round 4. Not sure how many they select in a single round. If there are more, I wonder if I still have a chance.
I however am going with the assumption that they have probably not sent out the rejections and might send them out by next week. I wonder if there is a waitlist in case some candidates drop out from the interview. My positive side always takes over!
Moving ahead, LBS application is out and I am hitting round 1. I'm also working on my INSEAD app for rouns 1. They're both for Sept end. Its less time, but I've started working on my INSEAD essays already, hoping to make considerable progress this weekend. I enjoy writing essays so its fun doing the applications. Also, I think about how much information a particular school is looking for and what it might tell them. For example, I found LBS application very impressive, lots of space to present self analysis. Even the essays are more direct and focused. This also makes it a tougher application. And with the pool of extremely competent applicants writing more only gives way to adcom to find a gap in application to be able to reject a candidate.
Monday, August 30, 2010
IIMA result
When I'm scared something usually goes wrong. And there it is... I did not get through for IIM A interviews. I still can't believe this. I knew it was tough, I knew I would have trouble with essays and interview but I never expected not to even get the interview call. After all the encouragement I had I am yet to find reasons to not get through. Big setback to my application process.
All this while I've been thinking about IMD and whether I have any chances there and its IIM which didn't work out for me. One of the students I interacted with said that if I don't get interview call, I would've made a serious mistake in my application. May be that's what it was... next step is to take another look at my application. Can't afford to make any mistakes again.
This also makes me wonder if its my grad n post grad marks that are effecting, I did awefully bad in my graduation.
Either way, this is a bad hit.
All this while I've been thinking about IMD and whether I have any chances there and its IIM which didn't work out for me. One of the students I interacted with said that if I don't get interview call, I would've made a serious mistake in my application. May be that's what it was... next step is to take another look at my application. Can't afford to make any mistakes again.
This also makes me wonder if its my grad n post grad marks that are effecting, I did awefully bad in my graduation.
Either way, this is a bad hit.
IMD Student blogs
I've been obsessing over IMD and IIMA results. IMD is somehow more daunting. In case of IIMA, I've at least seen the place met with faculty. I've seen it in flesh and blood. Very anxious about IMD result and its the first to come out. I'm sure anxiety levels will cross the clouds as I write more applications and wait for more results.
I've been reading IMD student blogs, very interesting insights to life in and after IMD. Some links if anyone else is interested -
http://blogs.imd.ch/mba/default.aspx
http://stoneyanggao.blogspot.com/
http://bryanguidohassin.blogspot.com/
Do I want this life, hell yea! And what happens when my anxiety levels rise... I look for guidance in tarot and astrology and self assurance. My self esteem and morale keeps dropping everyday. I expect so much out of me, meeting my own expectations is much harder than coming through other's expectations of me.
I've been reading IMD student blogs, very interesting insights to life in and after IMD. Some links if anyone else is interested -
http://blogs.imd.ch/mba/default.aspx
http://stoneyanggao.blogspot.com/
http://bryanguidohassin.blogspot.com/
Do I want this life, hell yea! And what happens when my anxiety levels rise... I look for guidance in tarot and astrology and self assurance. My self esteem and morale keeps dropping everyday. I expect so much out of me, meeting my own expectations is much harder than coming through other's expectations of me.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
ISB Application
I've almost completed the ISB application - essays are in review, recos are done. However, I have a strong feeling I should opt for round 2 on this one. There are some logical reasons and I always trust my instincts.
The logical reasons are two. First, I read in one of the forums that the Admission director of ISB encouraged re applicants to apply in round 2. Second, applying in round 2 will give me more time to take my decision on ISB. Third and minor one is that I get more time to work on my essays.
To be honest ISB is not my top choice for several reasons. It however is a something I'd be happy to go to and will look forward to getting through.
My story of ISB reapplication is that 2 years back I applied for ISB in round 2. I could not complete my essays properly till the second round date hence submitted not so good essays. Also, my GMAT was very low for ISB. I never asked for feedback as it was embarassing even to ask when I kinda knew what the answer would be.
I have another day to take my decision. Today I'm looking at the other school websites to see what are the next dates I need to hit. Its such a tedious process and the wait for results feels never ending.
I wish the results would come out sooner and I also know when I get the admission there is another long path to walk. The journey is never ending, different people enjoy different parts of it.
The logical reasons are two. First, I read in one of the forums that the Admission director of ISB encouraged re applicants to apply in round 2. Second, applying in round 2 will give me more time to take my decision on ISB. Third and minor one is that I get more time to work on my essays.
To be honest ISB is not my top choice for several reasons. It however is a something I'd be happy to go to and will look forward to getting through.
My story of ISB reapplication is that 2 years back I applied for ISB in round 2. I could not complete my essays properly till the second round date hence submitted not so good essays. Also, my GMAT was very low for ISB. I never asked for feedback as it was embarassing even to ask when I kinda knew what the answer would be.
I have another day to take my decision. Today I'm looking at the other school websites to see what are the next dates I need to hit. Its such a tedious process and the wait for results feels never ending.
I wish the results would come out sooner and I also know when I get the admission there is another long path to walk. The journey is never ending, different people enjoy different parts of it.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Talk with IMD Student
After a few weeks of going back and forth trying to find some time, I finally was able to speak with one of the IMD current students. We started formally but the conversation turned out to be a friendly one. I did not have specific questions but wanted to find out more on what is on the site.
The year starts with establishing fundamental business skills for first six months along with start up project for an entrepreneur. Next comes the Discovery Expedition which is to explore small size industry and make recommendations. The student I spoke with said he enjoyed the discovery expedition a lot, they had spent time in South Africa and it was a fantastic experience. There are things I wanted to but did not ask about, left them for later as I had already taken half hour of his time. Things like scholarship, interview process etc. We briefly spoke about my profile and he thought it was good but I am very nervous. Firstly I want this school badly, secondly I know I have an average profile, thirdly I have never lived abroad and the biggest of all is that I'm an Indian and their are way too many Indians who have lived abroad applying for IMD. I do plan to contact some Indians at IMD and talk to them. May be I'll feel better.
Right now I'm nervous and have ISB deadline coming next. Why do schools take such a long time to respond whether we're through or not!!
The year starts with establishing fundamental business skills for first six months along with start up project for an entrepreneur. Next comes the Discovery Expedition which is to explore small size industry and make recommendations. The student I spoke with said he enjoyed the discovery expedition a lot, they had spent time in South Africa and it was a fantastic experience. There are things I wanted to but did not ask about, left them for later as I had already taken half hour of his time. Things like scholarship, interview process etc. We briefly spoke about my profile and he thought it was good but I am very nervous. Firstly I want this school badly, secondly I know I have an average profile, thirdly I have never lived abroad and the biggest of all is that I'm an Indian and their are way too many Indians who have lived abroad applying for IMD. I do plan to contact some Indians at IMD and talk to them. May be I'll feel better.
Right now I'm nervous and have ISB deadline coming next. Why do schools take such a long time to respond whether we're through or not!!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
IIMA Application
This was probably the most straightforward application to fill out. Very objective, but it requires a lot of thought process.
I took all the time I needed to fill this application. I realised there were things I missed in my IMD app, thankfully minor and would not have made much difference if I had mentioned them. I feel better about IIMA app, I took time to fill it, did not have to worry about references, looked through all my certificates etc to mention them. There is only one thing I'm so confused about. I mentioned all the international work exp for IIMA. The reason I mentioned every little one was because they had an option to select vacations. I've had weekend transit timeouts at Singapore and Dubai which I have mentioned. Hoping that does not go against me, I now feel I should've asked someone whether to write that or not. What is done is done, waiting for the result.
I haven't written this international work ex for IMD, and am worried if that would go against me.
Next application is ISB, end of August.
I took all the time I needed to fill this application. I realised there were things I missed in my IMD app, thankfully minor and would not have made much difference if I had mentioned them. I feel better about IIMA app, I took time to fill it, did not have to worry about references, looked through all my certificates etc to mention them. There is only one thing I'm so confused about. I mentioned all the international work exp for IIMA. The reason I mentioned every little one was because they had an option to select vacations. I've had weekend transit timeouts at Singapore and Dubai which I have mentioned. Hoping that does not go against me, I now feel I should've asked someone whether to write that or not. What is done is done, waiting for the result.
I haven't written this international work ex for IMD, and am worried if that would go against me.
Next application is ISB, end of August.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
First application - IMD
My first application happens to be IMD, I wished it otherwise as everyone says that the first app is usually not the best work. It was exhausting working on the essays. 11 essays with only 1230 char limit was not easy. I always thought it was more difficult to write longer essays and I was proven wrong. The worse thing was that I had to finish it in 10 days. With deadline of 1st August and my GMAT done only on 14th July I thought I should apply for the last round - 1st Sept. I mailed IMD adcom and they encouraged me to apply for 1st aug. Not many docs needed so I sent the docs before submitting the app. The pain was that I was traveling from 29th july onwards which worked well in a way that I had a friend who helped edit my essays. We started working saturday afternoon and with some breaks went until 5 in the morning. We still had one essay to go. Since I was meeting this group of friends after long, we wanted to go out. Without sleep we drove down to this place about 2 hours away and got back only by 2 in the afternoon. With no energy it was not possible for anyone to think. I knew what I wanted to write in the remaining essay but it was only one shot, did not have time for revisions. I reached airport at 5 in the eve on sunday, 1st august with only an hour of sleep. My brains were working and eyes open, picked some coffee and got working on the essay. It didn't take me long because I knew what I wanted to write and had the points laid out.
I reached home all tired and the worst thing happened. My internet wouldn't work, nothing fixed it. So 11 in the night I took out my switched phones, installed software to connect internet on the comp using my phone. The speed was bad and it took me what felt like ages to get the essays saved. There was barely any revision time and my eyes refused to stay open so I gave up after a point and submitted.
I don't think they were bad, the ideas were good but I might have messed some language at places. I know people would call me stupid to have stayed up and go for drive when I had an app to complete and that too for the b school thats on top of my list. I know the app could be better but I don't want to take another look at it to see how good or bad it was. If I get interview call I'll look at it again. I hope I do get a call.
Its tough, never lived outside India, 4th round applicant, Indian, and not the best app I could've done. I have my pluses too, hope they get noticed. Got my fingers crossed.
Next is IIMA PGPX. Deadline is 10th August but its more objective an app, this wkend!
I reached home all tired and the worst thing happened. My internet wouldn't work, nothing fixed it. So 11 in the night I took out my switched phones, installed software to connect internet on the comp using my phone. The speed was bad and it took me what felt like ages to get the essays saved. There was barely any revision time and my eyes refused to stay open so I gave up after a point and submitted.
I don't think they were bad, the ideas were good but I might have messed some language at places. I know people would call me stupid to have stayed up and go for drive when I had an app to complete and that too for the b school thats on top of my list. I know the app could be better but I don't want to take another look at it to see how good or bad it was. If I get interview call I'll look at it again. I hope I do get a call.
Its tough, never lived outside India, 4th round applicant, Indian, and not the best app I could've done. I have my pluses too, hope they get noticed. Got my fingers crossed.
Next is IIMA PGPX. Deadline is 10th August but its more objective an app, this wkend!
Monday, August 2, 2010
IIMA part deux
It just took me time to make myself sit down to write this. My next day at IIMA was super hectic. I took some extra time for the first break of the day to talk to the PGPX office. They are so obliging and pleasant. I sat with Mr. Bose for half hour to ask questions about the course, placements etc. He asked me my profile and encouraged me to apply. I requested him to send me contact information for some current student to connect with while I was in premises. He responded promptly with a follow up email with all the details I needed. I mailed the students and got some quick responses from them too.
I took some extra time for the evening break to meet a student. He was very patient in answering my questions, I asked him my chances to which he asked me questions and said I had a good profile.
At the end of the day we were given another case study to work on which went on till late night with a quick dinner break and trip to library. I finished the slides by 3 in the morning. In between I met with another student for a casual conversation over coffee.
The conversation was on various topics. First off I felt no one even thinks of placements as a factor to think about. The course by itself is exhaustive, it is most of the content from PGP plus more as defined by one of the students.
The interview selection process is very objective, the application form by itself says so. Focus is diversity. It sounded like GMAT and career progression are very important. I was told that in a class of 86, there are 70 diverse profiles. Learning methodology is case study based. Students are divided into groups at the beginning of the year and they continue in the same groups all through. There are clubs and activities for those interested but didn't sound like manyPGPX students did much beyond class assignments and exploring their entreprenueral aspirations. Students usually begin their day at 8 in the morning and a normal day ends at 3 am sometimes extending to as late as 5 am. The focus is general management and there is very little scope to get in depth of a particular area, it can be done by choosing electives carefully.
My overall trip was fruitful with lots of information, an awesome learning program and inspiration to apply to PGPX.
I took some extra time for the evening break to meet a student. He was very patient in answering my questions, I asked him my chances to which he asked me questions and said I had a good profile.
At the end of the day we were given another case study to work on which went on till late night with a quick dinner break and trip to library. I finished the slides by 3 in the morning. In between I met with another student for a casual conversation over coffee.
The conversation was on various topics. First off I felt no one even thinks of placements as a factor to think about. The course by itself is exhaustive, it is most of the content from PGP plus more as defined by one of the students.
The interview selection process is very objective, the application form by itself says so. Focus is diversity. It sounded like GMAT and career progression are very important. I was told that in a class of 86, there are 70 diverse profiles. Learning methodology is case study based. Students are divided into groups at the beginning of the year and they continue in the same groups all through. There are clubs and activities for those interested but didn't sound like manyPGPX students did much beyond class assignments and exploring their entreprenueral aspirations. Students usually begin their day at 8 in the morning and a normal day ends at 3 am sometimes extending to as late as 5 am. The focus is general management and there is very little scope to get in depth of a particular area, it can be done by choosing electives carefully.
My overall trip was fruitful with lots of information, an awesome learning program and inspiration to apply to PGPX.
Monday, July 19, 2010
The IIMA experience
I couldn't decide which blog of mine to post this in, chose the MBA one as I'm applying for PGPX.
Taking a step back... I've had a series of not so constructive managers / peers to work with. Some of them were downright bad and lousy to work with, some were not located in India hence, out of sight syndrome and cultural differences effected. I now have a boss, errr recently turned into matrix manager who is very supportive. This helped me look for self development programs and where else should I have looked besides the top b schools, had to limit to India couldn't overshoot his generosity to sponsor.
So I get sponsored for this MDP program at IIMA. I arrived here earlier than expected, damn the availability of flights and I land on a Sunday with barely any visible soul on campus. I must admit that I did not do any research on my place of travel for the first time - translates to not connected with any current student, didn't know where the Library was, didn't know where to go outside the campus which I anyway had no intentions for. I spent half a sunday on IIM campus doing literaly nothing! well I did have a lot of office work and could complete some of it. By dinnertime I met some more teammates. When it comes to training I believe in power of preparation - we were provided with material with list of participants and groups in which we'd break up into. The first thing that struck me during my first lunch here was that I was the only woman in the dinning hall and the only person in casuals, later I did see one more. Same was the case during dinner time. I'm the only woman in my class of 20 for this MDP.
The experience so far has been good, not out of the world but there has been a lot to learn. Our professor Dr. Jerome Joseph shares his opinions on various topics and has been reasearching for years. There is so much take away from every session, added with the peer experience it is enriching. The participants are from various industries various stages of their career and most are very vocal. A person who talks as much as I do has had the challenge of finding time when to speak. It is also an interesting experience to work in our group of four consisting of much diversity. The classwork and homework is pretty gruelling too except that we spent an entire afternoon watching the movie 'Chak De' which all of us felt was a bit of a drag. Our first evening for group work was spent doing a presentation and by the time we were done it was dinner time already.
I've always been intrigued hearing from students that they sometimes schedule their group work meetings for late night and now I saw why. We only have one topic to work on in MDP and we spent 3 hours getting a presentation done, can imagine what it would be like working on multiple topics and with multiple teams. And working in teams has always been a challenge for me. I'm some kind of a assumed leader ending up intimidating and sort of bullying people which I've noticed sometimes stops them to throw their ideas or may be stop them from forming their ideas. If I analyze this further, I tend to form quick ideas or framework for anything and don't have the patience to keep my mouth shut until someone else comes up with theirs. This leads to people listening to my idea and go with it may be improve on it instead of bringing their own to the table. Yesterday I happened to jump in quick but took a step back and tried to blend with the team. We did discard my original thought on how to approach but picked elements from it.
Since I'm at IIMA I thought of meeting and asking questions about PGPX. Unfortunately, the only time I found yesterday was during lunch break and the office was empty. Will try to get in today during our first break. I do have some questions for them and anything more is always a help. Will post the findings and more on my experience.
Taking a step back... I've had a series of not so constructive managers / peers to work with. Some of them were downright bad and lousy to work with, some were not located in India hence, out of sight syndrome and cultural differences effected. I now have a boss, errr recently turned into matrix manager who is very supportive. This helped me look for self development programs and where else should I have looked besides the top b schools, had to limit to India couldn't overshoot his generosity to sponsor.
So I get sponsored for this MDP program at IIMA. I arrived here earlier than expected, damn the availability of flights and I land on a Sunday with barely any visible soul on campus. I must admit that I did not do any research on my place of travel for the first time - translates to not connected with any current student, didn't know where the Library was, didn't know where to go outside the campus which I anyway had no intentions for. I spent half a sunday on IIM campus doing literaly nothing! well I did have a lot of office work and could complete some of it. By dinnertime I met some more teammates. When it comes to training I believe in power of preparation - we were provided with material with list of participants and groups in which we'd break up into. The first thing that struck me during my first lunch here was that I was the only woman in the dinning hall and the only person in casuals, later I did see one more. Same was the case during dinner time. I'm the only woman in my class of 20 for this MDP.
The experience so far has been good, not out of the world but there has been a lot to learn. Our professor Dr. Jerome Joseph shares his opinions on various topics and has been reasearching for years. There is so much take away from every session, added with the peer experience it is enriching. The participants are from various industries various stages of their career and most are very vocal. A person who talks as much as I do has had the challenge of finding time when to speak. It is also an interesting experience to work in our group of four consisting of much diversity. The classwork and homework is pretty gruelling too except that we spent an entire afternoon watching the movie 'Chak De' which all of us felt was a bit of a drag. Our first evening for group work was spent doing a presentation and by the time we were done it was dinner time already.
I've always been intrigued hearing from students that they sometimes schedule their group work meetings for late night and now I saw why. We only have one topic to work on in MDP and we spent 3 hours getting a presentation done, can imagine what it would be like working on multiple topics and with multiple teams. And working in teams has always been a challenge for me. I'm some kind of a assumed leader ending up intimidating and sort of bullying people which I've noticed sometimes stops them to throw their ideas or may be stop them from forming their ideas. If I analyze this further, I tend to form quick ideas or framework for anything and don't have the patience to keep my mouth shut until someone else comes up with theirs. This leads to people listening to my idea and go with it may be improve on it instead of bringing their own to the table. Yesterday I happened to jump in quick but took a step back and tried to blend with the team. We did discard my original thought on how to approach but picked elements from it.
Since I'm at IIMA I thought of meeting and asking questions about PGPX. Unfortunately, the only time I found yesterday was during lunch break and the office was empty. Will try to get in today during our first break. I do have some questions for them and anything more is always a help. Will post the findings and more on my experience.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
GMAT Day
My GMAT appointment was at 9 and the center about 15 kms away. I had booked a cab yesterday as I wanted to avoid driving myself. I planned to wake up at 6.15 which stretched to 6.45. I had called the cab for 7.30 and planned to leave by 7.45, it would have taken me about 45 mins to reach the center. I had it all laid out but everything was rushed this morning. The only thing that went as I wanted it to was doing 3 warm up questions for each section without checking my answers. My house help came in late and I let her clean the house while I took shower and got ready.
If I did not mention this earlier on this blog I had taken GMAT in Dec, 2006 with a score of 600. Let me take a bit to talk about that now. The day of GMAT I had caught cold, and was almost shivering by the end of the test. The other problem I faced was that by the time I reached verbal I was exhausted, I had not eaten anything between the break.
My preparations this time were to take care of these. I wore socks to keep my feet warm, full sleeved tee shirt and jeans. Breakfast was a boiled egg (protiens and energy) and pb n j sandwich. Not quite Indian breakfast but being a north Indian typical breakfast for me is paratha which is heavy and did not want to eat anything rice based (south indian breakfast) because it makes me stuffed and sleepy. Also I had to prepare the breakfast so it had to be easy. I took some sips of green tea to keep me calm, skipped milk and almonds today.
I got late and the cab I booked had left, so I had to drive down. I started from home at about 8.05 feeling scared that I would have less time at the test center. No morning traffic got me to the center in 25 mins.
There were 8 people taking gmat with me at 9. When I had booked a month back, there were only two dates available in July and only morning for today. I would anyway have picked morning, afternoon is my worst time of the day. I did not feel quite nervous but not very confident, probably a bit numb. Crossed through the screens of instructions, selected schools and started the test. Starting 10 mins were rough, I felt like I was in another world. AWA wasn't as straightforward. I went through the argument and finished right on time. Next was issue which I totally ruined. For first 5 mins I could come up with very little to write, and by the end of 20 mins I was almost done. When I started revising, I got some more ideas which came through well. Its in the last minute that I messed it up. I started editing a statement from while to and and time ran out. So I ended up with a misspelt and (as sand) and grammatical error. Not sure how it will effect my AWA score.
Took my break, stepped out, drank water ate chocolate. I took 2 ferrero rochers with me for the breaks. Its got chocolate and nuts which put something in my stomach, satisfied me (im a very chocolate person) and gave me energy without filling me. It took a bit of effort to keep reminding myself that its okay what I messed in awa and that I have to focus on the score.
Went back and finished Quant 13 mins before schedule. My pace was fine all through, I could tell which questions might go wrong and it was just as I did during practice tests. I was expecting 47-48 at the end of it.
Took my next break, ate some chocolate drank less water as I was beginning to feel a bit cold. Told the supervisors to up the temperature. Went back - was about 30 secs late. Something to remember is that while the break is 8 minutes, it is left for only about 5-6 mins with all the process of stepping out and in, opening lockers etc. Verbal started bad and I thought its like last time. After 9 questions I saw that I had eaten up 20 mins already. No panic but I was worried about finishing on time. I tried to focus but told myself that I could still spend some time on getting the questions right until time= number of questions remaining. At one point I got scared because I was getting simpler questions. I took a pause took 3 deep breaths and started off again. I made up for some of the lost time in one RC which was fairly easy to answer. My RC Strategy was to take notes of important points like words or suggestive words like opinion, assumes, however etc. This helped me a lot. By the time I had 15 questions remaining I had about 27 or so mins which relaxed me. In between verbal I had to call the supervisors to work on the temperature as I was beginning to feel cold again. Once I was down to last 12 questions I told myself that I have to get them right. I might have dropped to early 600s but I can pick and move my score to above 650 by getting these right. I still couldn't tell all the answers I got right or could be wrong but I could eliminate many wrong ones. By the time I was on last 5 questions I still had 13 mins left. I took my time to try to get them all correct, I had time to spend. I finished the test 3 mins before schedule.
Went through the screens on information about me and then it appeared, did I want to cancel? Took me a second to click that I did want to keep my score whatever it was. Clicked next and closed my eyes. Opened them to find a 710 which was perfect! Q49 and V37
Came out, called a friend to tell her I got 710. She was very happy for me but I was numb. Drove back home relaxed but not quite myself. I was numb for about 45 mins and then it sunk in that now GMAT would not be a deterrent in my applications.
If I have to give a tip to GMAT aspirants, it would only be to create self awareness. Know yourself, weaknesses and not only in terms of content but other like what time of the day works well for you, do you need longer duration to feel prepared, do you need to just get over with it the way I did, when do you get hungry, how much water you need, what keeps you motivated etc. Its just about knowing what you are and then there are many tips on various forums, from various experts and gmat takers to help cope.
If I did not mention this earlier on this blog I had taken GMAT in Dec, 2006 with a score of 600. Let me take a bit to talk about that now. The day of GMAT I had caught cold, and was almost shivering by the end of the test. The other problem I faced was that by the time I reached verbal I was exhausted, I had not eaten anything between the break.
My preparations this time were to take care of these. I wore socks to keep my feet warm, full sleeved tee shirt and jeans. Breakfast was a boiled egg (protiens and energy) and pb n j sandwich. Not quite Indian breakfast but being a north Indian typical breakfast for me is paratha which is heavy and did not want to eat anything rice based (south indian breakfast) because it makes me stuffed and sleepy. Also I had to prepare the breakfast so it had to be easy. I took some sips of green tea to keep me calm, skipped milk and almonds today.
I got late and the cab I booked had left, so I had to drive down. I started from home at about 8.05 feeling scared that I would have less time at the test center. No morning traffic got me to the center in 25 mins.
There were 8 people taking gmat with me at 9. When I had booked a month back, there were only two dates available in July and only morning for today. I would anyway have picked morning, afternoon is my worst time of the day. I did not feel quite nervous but not very confident, probably a bit numb. Crossed through the screens of instructions, selected schools and started the test. Starting 10 mins were rough, I felt like I was in another world. AWA wasn't as straightforward. I went through the argument and finished right on time. Next was issue which I totally ruined. For first 5 mins I could come up with very little to write, and by the end of 20 mins I was almost done. When I started revising, I got some more ideas which came through well. Its in the last minute that I messed it up. I started editing a statement from while to and and time ran out. So I ended up with a misspelt and (as sand) and grammatical error. Not sure how it will effect my AWA score.
Took my break, stepped out, drank water ate chocolate. I took 2 ferrero rochers with me for the breaks. Its got chocolate and nuts which put something in my stomach, satisfied me (im a very chocolate person) and gave me energy without filling me. It took a bit of effort to keep reminding myself that its okay what I messed in awa and that I have to focus on the score.
Went back and finished Quant 13 mins before schedule. My pace was fine all through, I could tell which questions might go wrong and it was just as I did during practice tests. I was expecting 47-48 at the end of it.
Took my next break, ate some chocolate drank less water as I was beginning to feel a bit cold. Told the supervisors to up the temperature. Went back - was about 30 secs late. Something to remember is that while the break is 8 minutes, it is left for only about 5-6 mins with all the process of stepping out and in, opening lockers etc. Verbal started bad and I thought its like last time. After 9 questions I saw that I had eaten up 20 mins already. No panic but I was worried about finishing on time. I tried to focus but told myself that I could still spend some time on getting the questions right until time= number of questions remaining. At one point I got scared because I was getting simpler questions. I took a pause took 3 deep breaths and started off again. I made up for some of the lost time in one RC which was fairly easy to answer. My RC Strategy was to take notes of important points like words or suggestive words like opinion, assumes, however etc. This helped me a lot. By the time I had 15 questions remaining I had about 27 or so mins which relaxed me. In between verbal I had to call the supervisors to work on the temperature as I was beginning to feel cold again. Once I was down to last 12 questions I told myself that I have to get them right. I might have dropped to early 600s but I can pick and move my score to above 650 by getting these right. I still couldn't tell all the answers I got right or could be wrong but I could eliminate many wrong ones. By the time I was on last 5 questions I still had 13 mins left. I took my time to try to get them all correct, I had time to spend. I finished the test 3 mins before schedule.
Went through the screens on information about me and then it appeared, did I want to cancel? Took me a second to click that I did want to keep my score whatever it was. Clicked next and closed my eyes. Opened them to find a 710 which was perfect! Q49 and V37
Came out, called a friend to tell her I got 710. She was very happy for me but I was numb. Drove back home relaxed but not quite myself. I was numb for about 45 mins and then it sunk in that now GMAT would not be a deterrent in my applications.
If I have to give a tip to GMAT aspirants, it would only be to create self awareness. Know yourself, weaknesses and not only in terms of content but other like what time of the day works well for you, do you need longer duration to feel prepared, do you need to just get over with it the way I did, when do you get hungry, how much water you need, what keeps you motivated etc. Its just about knowing what you are and then there are many tips on various forums, from various experts and gmat takers to help cope.
The last 3-4 days
I had my gmat today but i'm going to write about this before I write about the exam.
So I had taken 6 days at home before gmat which were not completely utilized. My focus was only on the OG now, the actual GMAT questions.
5 days before the exam, I spent a whole day on Quant section. I did about 100 questions and reviewed them. Added some notes to my flashcards, things I forget like I used diameter instead of radius in one of the complicated circle questions.
The next day was a waste, I was a bit under the weather and was zoned out the entire day. I watched an entire season of smallville and kept telling myself I have to study but did nothing about it.
3 days before I picked the Verbal section. The problem here was that I was finding OG verbal difficult than the Manhattan verbal which brought down my confidence. I had scored around 680 700 in MGMATs but with difficult verbal I feared my score would fall. I still had problem focussing on preparation.
2 days before was my last practice test, the second GMATPrep test. I scored a 720 Q49 V38. This score gave me some confidence I wanted. While taking the test I counted the number of questions I knew went wrong. In quant the number was exact - I counted 8 wrong and 8 they were. In verbal I could not tell which had me nervous. I went through my SC flashcards, reviewed some articles on beatthegmat site just to build some confidence. Went through my quant flashcards before I slept.
The day before I had read the advice to not study much. I had planned to do 15 questions from each section. So I woke up but had a nice relaxed morning, a nice eggs n sausages breakfast in bed (not exactly, cuz I live alone and had to prepare it myself). My focus was to keep my nerves today. I tend to lose confidence sooner than most people do. I went to the movies, watched 'knight and day' the old looking tom cruise and cameron diaz were still good enough. I shopped a little and then drove through the roughest traffic of the city cursing some listening to Lucky Ali to stay calm.
Reached home by 8ish, cooked simple home food, ate, looked through flashcars and some notes and slept. I could not do the questions as I had planned to.
So I had taken 6 days at home before gmat which were not completely utilized. My focus was only on the OG now, the actual GMAT questions.
5 days before the exam, I spent a whole day on Quant section. I did about 100 questions and reviewed them. Added some notes to my flashcards, things I forget like I used diameter instead of radius in one of the complicated circle questions.
The next day was a waste, I was a bit under the weather and was zoned out the entire day. I watched an entire season of smallville and kept telling myself I have to study but did nothing about it.
3 days before I picked the Verbal section. The problem here was that I was finding OG verbal difficult than the Manhattan verbal which brought down my confidence. I had scored around 680 700 in MGMATs but with difficult verbal I feared my score would fall. I still had problem focussing on preparation.
2 days before was my last practice test, the second GMATPrep test. I scored a 720 Q49 V38. This score gave me some confidence I wanted. While taking the test I counted the number of questions I knew went wrong. In quant the number was exact - I counted 8 wrong and 8 they were. In verbal I could not tell which had me nervous. I went through my SC flashcards, reviewed some articles on beatthegmat site just to build some confidence. Went through my quant flashcards before I slept.
The day before I had read the advice to not study much. I had planned to do 15 questions from each section. So I woke up but had a nice relaxed morning, a nice eggs n sausages breakfast in bed (not exactly, cuz I live alone and had to prepare it myself). My focus was to keep my nerves today. I tend to lose confidence sooner than most people do. I went to the movies, watched 'knight and day' the old looking tom cruise and cameron diaz were still good enough. I shopped a little and then drove through the roughest traffic of the city cursing some listening to Lucky Ali to stay calm.
Reached home by 8ish, cooked simple home food, ate, looked through flashcars and some notes and slept. I could not do the questions as I had planned to.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Last week
Five days to go... I'm nervous just enough to keep me focused. Workload is more than ever, hardly get any breathers, haven't been able to take a week off I so wanted to. The positive is I get to work from home, which saves my commute time. I believe in omens, got an email this morning that I got necessary approvals and confirmation for MDP at IIMA IMDC. I was looking forward to attending this program, benefits - knowledge, interactions and networking, get a feel of life at IIMA. Though its not in the main campus, it does give a high.
I took another MGMAT on 6th July and finally crossed the 700.
730 Q49 V40
This may be slightly skewed as I did not do both AWA, only one. One of the reason was I wanted to get a higher score as this was my last MGMAT CAT and wanted to give myself the confidence that I can cross 700.
The disappointment was that verbal is not crossing the 50 mark I wanted it to. I was very happy to find verbal touch 40, hoping it stays that way for my real test.
Last week preparation plans already in progress -
- look at the flashcards at least once a day if not more
- practice practice practice
- stick to OG
- Read others experiences and learn from them, pick whatever is relevant to me
- stay healthy, bad weather and I fall ill easy... eat almonds and an apple a day (I hate fruits)
- keep with the irregular yoga session
- stay away from stress
I took another MGMAT on 6th July and finally crossed the 700.
730 Q49 V40
This may be slightly skewed as I did not do both AWA, only one. One of the reason was I wanted to get a higher score as this was my last MGMAT CAT and wanted to give myself the confidence that I can cross 700.
The disappointment was that verbal is not crossing the 50 mark I wanted it to. I was very happy to find verbal touch 40, hoping it stays that way for my real test.
Last week preparation plans already in progress -
- look at the flashcards at least once a day if not more
- practice practice practice
- stick to OG
- Read others experiences and learn from them, pick whatever is relevant to me
- stay healthy, bad weather and I fall ill easy... eat almonds and an apple a day (I hate fruits)
- keep with the irregular yoga session
- stay away from stress
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Coping with stress
End of quarter is the time we plan for next one and everything suddenly becomes super hectic. Work has been stressing me out, working 10 hours a day leaves no energy to study. Plus my sinuses have not been kind with the rainy weather.
I thought of finding ways to cope with this. My first step was a proactive approach that I took a month back when I requested for work from home option for about 2 days a week. This gives me time to relax n study with calmer mind. Next step is what I've started only 2 days back is to do a bit of yoga. The breathing techniques calm my mind and it only needs 15-20 mins. I've been irregular with 'surya namaskar' which energizes me, trying to get regular since two days. This is the least for me to do two weeks before the exam. I tried gym but I'm definitely not a gym person and can't go for swim with rains, can't risk falling ill.
Let me review my preps in the days I haven't blogged - I took one more test MGMAT. List of tests and I'll keep adding so that I can track them:
13 Jun: 640 - Q45 V33 MGMAT
I thought of finding ways to cope with this. My first step was a proactive approach that I took a month back when I requested for work from home option for about 2 days a week. This gives me time to relax n study with calmer mind. Next step is what I've started only 2 days back is to do a bit of yoga. The breathing techniques calm my mind and it only needs 15-20 mins. I've been irregular with 'surya namaskar' which energizes me, trying to get regular since two days. This is the least for me to do two weeks before the exam. I tried gym but I'm definitely not a gym person and can't go for swim with rains, can't risk falling ill.
Let me review my preps in the days I haven't blogged - I took one more test MGMAT. List of tests and I'll keep adding so that I can track them:
13 Jun: 640 - Q45 V33 MGMAT
17 Jun: 600 - Q43 V30 MGMAT
20 Jun: 690 - Q49 V34 GMAT prep
29 Jun: 680 - Q48 V35 MGMAT
I always do my tests with AWA and timing and without pauses (may be one off for a min or so to answer the door, sad part of living alone!)
The number of questions I get right are increasing and careless mistakes reducing. The careless errors creep up when I've been with books for long or do the questions towards end of the day. I need to build on my strength so that it lasts me. Still some formula revisions required. For Indians I would recommend picking Class 10th ICSE Math book to revise Geometry and Algebra. Some resources I found online -
http://www.nointrigue.com/docs/notes/maths/maths_circlegeom.pdf http://www.ecalc.com/math-help/ (I find algebra very helpful)
I've picked some formulas I need and have added them to my flashcards.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
One of those days I don't study
Its one of the days when I don't feel like studying and I don't have a genuine reason. My best hours are morning or late at night. Since I cannot take GMAT at night I've got to prepare myself for morning. Working early effects my studies even if I get off work early and today was one of those days.
So my progress in last few days. I started with a MGMAT test on Sunday morning and then there were a zillion interruptions due to which I lost time on math section. I cut the test in between. Later I felt I should not have exit it and should have completed the verbal anyway. The problem was that I did want to take a test, which led me to take a GMAT prep test. Now the next problem I had was that I was already exhausted after awa and quant of MGMAT.
I skipped awa in gmatprep and did the quant n verbal. Score - 690 49Q 34V which is quite good for me. I could not recognize many repeat questions but the quant seemed easier than the one on mgmat tests. Even with a good progress from 600 and 640, my quant still has not touched the 50 mark which I'm aiming for. In fact I'm not considering this as a real 690, but may be a 650 ish score.
Yesterday was my SC focus day, did about 50 questions in OG. I'm getting about 60% correct, the incorrect ones usually occur when I'm tired or bored. Yes, I do get bored of verbal! Steps to take for verbal specially SC prep -
- find idioms and get familiar with them
- justify answer choices both eliminated and selected
- Read the options and may be spend extra 30 secs when I'm bored and cant focus
- Take 30 secs - 1 min break when bored while taking test. This will eat up time but will help focus
Today is gone but I have a free weekend coming up
So my progress in last few days. I started with a MGMAT test on Sunday morning and then there were a zillion interruptions due to which I lost time on math section. I cut the test in between. Later I felt I should not have exit it and should have completed the verbal anyway. The problem was that I did want to take a test, which led me to take a GMAT prep test. Now the next problem I had was that I was already exhausted after awa and quant of MGMAT.
I skipped awa in gmatprep and did the quant n verbal. Score - 690 49Q 34V which is quite good for me. I could not recognize many repeat questions but the quant seemed easier than the one on mgmat tests. Even with a good progress from 600 and 640, my quant still has not touched the 50 mark which I'm aiming for. In fact I'm not considering this as a real 690, but may be a 650 ish score.
Yesterday was my SC focus day, did about 50 questions in OG. I'm getting about 60% correct, the incorrect ones usually occur when I'm tired or bored. Yes, I do get bored of verbal! Steps to take for verbal specially SC prep -
- find idioms and get familiar with them
- justify answer choices both eliminated and selected
- Read the options and may be spend extra 30 secs when I'm bored and cant focus
- Take 30 secs - 1 min break when bored while taking test. This will eat up time but will help focus
Today is gone but I have a free weekend coming up
Friday, June 18, 2010
4 weeks progress
So the preparation came to almost halt in between as I had to shift my house. This was expected but took longer than I had anticipated for. There was gap of 10 days and another 4-5 days of slowdown. The good thing with my new apartment is its more comfortable airy which keeps me uplifted to focus on preparation. A few more personal not so nice things and office stress but am learning to deal with that and focussing on my preps.
Here is what I did after shifting... I picked up OG and went through their revision material which is not much. I've been exploring Beat the GMAT forums and articles to pick tips from there and to get inspired. The biggest is I booked GMAT date which is 14th July and I registered for the 6 Manhattan CAT's. Taking two of them has been eye opener of sorts. My scores -
13/ Jun -> Q45 V33 640
17/ Jun -> Q43 V30 600
Conclusions -
First, I took the second test too soon. I should've waited as there was no improvement in my preparation.
Second, I realised that no matter what there always are those careless mistakes in Quant which I have to get rid of to improve my score. I can easily get 10 more questions right in quant which will make me close to 50.
Third, in both the tests I fell short of time in quant and I had 10+ minutes to spare in verbal. The first test I finished verbal 15 minutes before time so in second I spent more time on questions because I thought I rush through some of them. Also, I never thought I would ever have trouble pacing in quant, this was a rude shock and an important one.
Fourth, while in quant I can be sure on most questions whether I got them right, I'm never sure of my answers in verbal. CR works better than the other two for me and RC is still the worst area. I have a mental blocks on passages that are on subjects I'm not so well read on.
After the review here are the steps -
1. I downloaded the beat the gmat flashcards, they're very comprehensive. Will add as I go.
2. I looked up some formulas that would come in handy - geometry, progressions etc.
3. I have to look for idioms to get my SC's right. This is pending
4. I have to start reading subjects I'm not comfortable with - biological and economical articles.
My plan is to stick to OG, GMATPrep, Manhattan CAT's, flashcards and forums for preparation. The important thing for me to do is to predict with a good accuracy when I get the answers right. This I feel is the key.
Like the Cheshire cat says in alice in wonderland you need to know where you're going to pick the road. So I've set my goal for 720 score, Q50 and V40, which is to up about 100 points. Its not easy but I think its doable if I practice and stay with my prep plans. I read this article which said that on an average people spent 114 hours of prep time to achieve 700+ which if a person spends 8 hours a day comes to a little over 14 days. I have more than that and I can put is 6-8 hours a day. By calculations I do have a chance.
Here is what I did after shifting... I picked up OG and went through their revision material which is not much. I've been exploring Beat the GMAT forums and articles to pick tips from there and to get inspired. The biggest is I booked GMAT date which is 14th July and I registered for the 6 Manhattan CAT's. Taking two of them has been eye opener of sorts. My scores -
13/ Jun -> Q45 V33 640
17/ Jun -> Q43 V30 600
Conclusions -
First, I took the second test too soon. I should've waited as there was no improvement in my preparation.
Second, I realised that no matter what there always are those careless mistakes in Quant which I have to get rid of to improve my score. I can easily get 10 more questions right in quant which will make me close to 50.
Third, in both the tests I fell short of time in quant and I had 10+ minutes to spare in verbal. The first test I finished verbal 15 minutes before time so in second I spent more time on questions because I thought I rush through some of them. Also, I never thought I would ever have trouble pacing in quant, this was a rude shock and an important one.
Fourth, while in quant I can be sure on most questions whether I got them right, I'm never sure of my answers in verbal. CR works better than the other two for me and RC is still the worst area. I have a mental blocks on passages that are on subjects I'm not so well read on.
After the review here are the steps -
1. I downloaded the beat the gmat flashcards, they're very comprehensive. Will add as I go.
2. I looked up some formulas that would come in handy - geometry, progressions etc.
3. I have to look for idioms to get my SC's right. This is pending
4. I have to start reading subjects I'm not comfortable with - biological and economical articles.
My plan is to stick to OG, GMATPrep, Manhattan CAT's, flashcards and forums for preparation. The important thing for me to do is to predict with a good accuracy when I get the answers right. This I feel is the key.
Like the Cheshire cat says in alice in wonderland you need to know where you're going to pick the road. So I've set my goal for 720 score, Q50 and V40, which is to up about 100 points. Its not easy but I think its doable if I practice and stay with my prep plans. I read this article which said that on an average people spent 114 hours of prep time to achieve 700+ which if a person spends 8 hours a day comes to a little over 14 days. I have more than that and I can put is 6-8 hours a day. By calculations I do have a chance.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Beginning
I've been off and on with my preparation for GMAT. Let me rewind and go back a few years. In 2006 I decided that I needed an MBA, I was aiming for ISB at that time. Had no money in pocket and no support from home which made ISB a good choice considering it wasn't as expensive at that time and seemed to have good return on investment at least the tangible money factor looked good. I took my GMAT in Dec first week, on my bday. Wasn't too well and should've canceled but I let it go and ended with a meager 600. I was late for ISB application and with 600 I did not have a chance anyway.
I met one of my mentors around that time who encouraged me to try for AIM. I applied and got through but could not join. Family wasn't comfortable, did not hear great things about finding jobs post, AIM rankings were dipping and I was very low risk at the time. I defered and then finally did not go. Tried ISB next year, as expected did not get through.
Since then I've been thinking of applying but I kept getting good projects at work which made me delay MBA by few months everytime.
And now I'm back to my management dreams with a lot more clarity, savings, risk taking ability (translates to lesser liabilities at home) and a sort of roadmap of what and how I want things.
The first step is to retake GMAT, I know I can do better than 600. When I took my first GMAT prep test from one of the toughest ones I had score of 590. I was told that add 100 to that and that's your real score. If that was the beginning I can do way better. My aim is not too high, I'll practice for 720 and will be happy with a 670-680. With my 3 Xes - experience, extra curriculars and exposure, I should have a good chance with that score.
Plan Date - 22nd May
Preparation material - OG 12, OG Verbal, 2 GMAT Prep Tests and 8 Manhattan tests plus random prep material available as free download on SC and others.
Weak areas - Verbal Verbal and Verbal
Problem - Inconsistency
Solution - Justify the answers whether right or wrong
Strength - Problem Solving, spending least time on this
Time to Prepare - 7 weeks
Plan
i) solve questions and spend same duration of time analyzing them. Lack of analysis was my biggest drawback in preparing for any exam . Never too late to change.
ii) book date only June mid
iii) keep researching on colleges while at work
iv) blog so that I'm on track and get used to writing
v) take at least 2 tests in a week starting second week of july
vi) Change the course if this does not work
I met one of my mentors around that time who encouraged me to try for AIM. I applied and got through but could not join. Family wasn't comfortable, did not hear great things about finding jobs post, AIM rankings were dipping and I was very low risk at the time. I defered and then finally did not go. Tried ISB next year, as expected did not get through.
Since then I've been thinking of applying but I kept getting good projects at work which made me delay MBA by few months everytime.
And now I'm back to my management dreams with a lot more clarity, savings, risk taking ability (translates to lesser liabilities at home) and a sort of roadmap of what and how I want things.
The first step is to retake GMAT, I know I can do better than 600. When I took my first GMAT prep test from one of the toughest ones I had score of 590. I was told that add 100 to that and that's your real score. If that was the beginning I can do way better. My aim is not too high, I'll practice for 720 and will be happy with a 670-680. With my 3 Xes - experience, extra curriculars and exposure, I should have a good chance with that score.
Plan Date - 22nd May
Preparation material - OG 12, OG Verbal, 2 GMAT Prep Tests and 8 Manhattan tests plus random prep material available as free download on SC and others.
Weak areas - Verbal Verbal and Verbal
Problem - Inconsistency
Solution - Justify the answers whether right or wrong
Strength - Problem Solving, spending least time on this
Time to Prepare - 7 weeks
Plan
i) solve questions and spend same duration of time analyzing them. Lack of analysis was my biggest drawback in preparing for any exam . Never too late to change.
ii) book date only June mid
iii) keep researching on colleges while at work
iv) blog so that I'm on track and get used to writing
v) take at least 2 tests in a week starting second week of july
vi) Change the course if this does not work
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