Blissed Out

"Happy, Happy, Happy

Joy, Joy, Joy"

- Ren & Stimpy

ISB - Interviewed
LBS - selected for interview
INSEAD - selected for interview

I am so super excited - this is a 100% success ratio and completely super! wont say its beyond my dreams since been dreaming about this for a very long time now. Its been a good month and I hope I can say the same for December and Jan (when the admit decisions come in).

Neither here, nor there

Posting after a small gap. Have managed to fall ill, part allergies and part the stress. The year is about to end and cant stop my thoughts wandering to what the next year will hold.

Three colleges applied to -

• 1 interview down,
• 1 shortlisted for interview and waiting,
• 1 still waiting to hear the outcome.

All in all not that bad a situation but I feel stuck in limbo. Wish I'd managed to apply to all 5 schools...
To apply or not to apply? R2 deadlines are looming large in the horizon and I'm still stuck on the decisions.

LBS interview invite :)

Not much time today but had to yell it out to the world -
LBS INTERVIEW INVITE is sitting there in my inbox.
This is the school of my dreams... I am so very very happy today.
Drinks on me if anyone coming to Hard Rock (bombay) tonite :)

The long road

Unlike most of the people in line for MBA, mine was not a life long dream. Infact I was one of those people who looked at the dark suits and frowned with disapproval. The corporate life was something to be shunned and that I did.
Then suddenly in July the bug bit and hard. Why? I dont really know. Like most big decisions, this one was also rather ambiguous in formation. No big thunderbolt from the sky but suddenly I was ready for a new role.
The bargain I stuck with myself was to prepare for the GMAT and if the scores are decent then go for it. That was it. The extent of my preparation.
But you wouldnt think it if you met me now 5 months down the line. Lately all I talk, dream, write, discuss, read about is the grand MBA dream.
And as the D-day comes forth, I'm on tenterhooks. I think they should just give you an MBA for applying. The preparation just doesnt end.
GMAT preparation, GMAT test, Essays, Applications, Transcripts,Recommendations, Resumes, Job description, Application Fees and then a long silent wait.
Then the constant nagging fear 'Am I in? Am I out? Am I in?'
Then the second round of frantic dances begins- interviews and then again the long agonizing wait...
Through the insecurity you plan ahead or atleast try your level best to. I mean you dont really know which city or which country is going to be your home from the next year. How much money are you going to need? New clothes? new friends? visas? fees? scholarships? new careers? and on and on it goes.

Think I'm going a little numb. just a bit. To tell the truth:

This wait is killing me

Oops

Just found out that if gven an offer for admission at ISB, will have to pay a hefty fee of approx.$3000 by Jan3rd.
Whats the Oops for? INSEAD has a deadline of Jan19th for final decision!
Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place. Cant afford to pay both, completly out of the question.
This is just too hard... wish I was better planned for the whole shebang.

ISB interview

I had my interview with ISB Hyderabad this Sunday. My experience went thus:
On arriving I was handed over a peice of paper to write a 50 word essay.
The topic was 'Government of India'
Now dont get me wrong but honestly such an open ended topic to be dealt with in 50 words? There is no sense of doing any justice to it or even revealing some brilliant prespective from your end. All in all a very half hearted attempt to put another aspect to the interview - not thought out properly according to me. Even if they were looking for a concise get-to-the-point type essay the questions could have been more tickling. Anyways thats my feeling
I was made to wait in a room with about 6 others, they were very nervous and some even paced up & down all the time. Everyone made an effort to get along. I think its got something to do with the emphasis on being a team player. Ooh cynical me :)

Interview started 10 minutes late, was informed right in the beginning not to be nervous as their style is 'zero stress' based. Took the advice on face value and talked thru the interview as a conversation.

All the questions were geared on my carrer and profile. I have a slightly unconventional profile, coming from the world of films with a creative background.
They asked many pointed questions on what are the revenue streams, how the industry works. If I were to consult someone who wanted to make a movie what would be my advice. If I were to launch a production company what would be my primary motives, business plan and how would I go about it.
How does television work, what are the revenue models for it.
Will Big Brother work in India? It has just started its innings in India. They asked this very pointedly - in the long term as well as in repeated seasons etc. Tried my level best to give a knowledgeable reply but honestly my line of work in so notorious precisely because we can never predict an outcome.
Towards the end they specified that their only concern is if I will be able to cope with the academic rigour at ISB with my profile
Found this slightly insulting - does being creative automatically typecast you as someone who cant follow 'academic rigour'?
Answered that I was really not intimidated and had already started reading up on finance & stats - the only areas I have less experience in but that with Economics in my undergrad I dont see it as a big problem
Now it was my turn and if I had any questions. Unfortunately I did seem to have a few. I asked them about recieving other people in the past with similar profiles - they cited that they had. So asked them if those had any difficulty following the academics. Answer was a very wishy washy "yes and no"
So i pointed them to my GMAT score and said it should answer their trepidition since i hit the books only 2 months before the test while still working 12 hour days.
They asked me if I was satisfied with my score.
Strange question - I mean if I got 800 i would be satisfied but I did mention that i found it very easy over all and not much of a stretch.

I have no idea how the interview went. I came out feeling good, and I think I answered every question confidently. I just have a problem with being judged and all interviews are basically a process for pronouncing judgements. I think in the end I put a bit of pressure on them too with a few questions. Did it in a very 'zero stress' friendly style :) but came out feeling that I really didnt get any answers. So thats my judgement.
Will have to wait another month to hear their side of this story.

Pre MBA plan

If all things go according to plan (apps, interviews, admits etc etc) then I should be facing the gates of my choosen college by September'07. So the optimist in me has decided to draw up a list of goals to be achieved by then (i love to-do lists)

#1 Lose Weight- i know, i know not a very intellectual aim and all but I think most of humanity makes the same resolution every midnight of the new year. And proceeds to guzzle down a few thousand calories just to show how commited thy are to the plan. But seriously I'm not going to college looking like a beached whale or any other bovine animal of your choice. I'm losing min 15 pounds. There its been said (not in stone but here is good enough)
#2 Taxes - pay my taxs and be up to date on all that personal finance shit. See like the rest of the wannabe MBA crowd I havent been too good with the planning and saving so this is a big challange. I have to order all my bank statements, drop them off at a decent CA and expect him to do some magic, thats all. Not too much to ask

#3 SAVE - I've been saying this to myself for so long that I need to make it all caps. Maybe some subliminal message might help correct some majorly deviant behaviour. But honestly student life is making me very scared- so much to do but no fun if the pockets are empty right? I mean how to finance all the cross Europe treks, exchange to USA and random running aroung the world feeling all diverse & global

#4 Do my self styled mini MBA - I have no background in accounts, finance, stats and god knows what else. So my plan is to beef up on some of these if I can so as not to be the only dumbass in a room full of happy bright people

# 5 Read - sort of like the above but generally read up on some good 'ol management guru speak - another step to feel smart. Glad to report I have already got hold of -
The Mckinsey Way
The Mckinsey Mind
Leadership in an Uncertain World and
MBA in Finance

I'm good or wat? Please please add some names to this list so I start school next year somewhat more intelligent.

# 6 Learn Spanish - Nope i dont need the second language really but I thought might as well learn another language . I did two years of Spanish in high school but honestly its now limited to 'Hola amigo' level but I should be able to pick it up. My interest also lies in mandarin but i've decided to make the challenge a little less cruel...come on we have 10 points to cover

# 7 Learn to cook - again to make me ready for poor student life. Unfortunately I've been poor working adult so long I dont know if there will be any difference

# 8 Watch the entire latin american films list at my local DVD store. I'm not going to have any time when I'm a student plus I have to save for the rent

# 9 Buy a New Wardrobe - this is going to be so pleasurable especially once I've lost some of that weight. I can already see myself looking so cool in brand new business sits, slinky shoes, boots and all. The only thing we have to address is that we cant burn a hole in the wallet when its already in need of some serious mending. Plus have to make it practical and warm - its going to be so much more colder where I want to go

# 10 Blog Away. Being a recent blogger I just wnat to continue boring everyone and feeling good about letting my creative juices flow. I'm adding myself to the MBA applicant list soon and I can already dream of graduating to MBA student then Alum and maybe one day the Millionaires Club!

I've put all ths down as the first step to commit myself. In less than 10 months I hope to put a nice big red tick mark on all of them. Who knows, maybe I will manage that for real.

Interview Invite

Just heard from ISB (Hyderabad), interview on 12th Nov. I'm very excited this is the first interview invite & this was the first application submitted. So things are looking better this week.
Any suggestions on the interview prep?

Is 700+ enough?

While preparing for the GMAT, my whole preparation was aimed at crossing the 700 mark - the psychological barrier. But is 700 enough?
A look at all the MBA/GMAT discussion boards and everyone seems to have crossed over to the greener side(i.e. 700+. Looking at all the blogs too, one is filled with the same feeling.

So I have two theories
1)There are today more 700 club members than before.OR
2)People who are more active on the discussion forums are more likely to reach the 700 mark
My vote is with the second theory. So whats the connection you ask? My analysis is that you'd have to be genuinely motivated and committed to look for online resources, discuss and debate the merits of quant vs. verbal and do all this on top of prep time, work and applications. And we all know these take time, a lot of time
So the explanation for so many vocal 700+ applicants is that this is the small percentage of people who are interested in 'learning' therefor they are seeking information. Just the right combination for being in the top 90% I suppose.
All I'm hoping for is that being in the 95%and above group will hopefully also put me into atleast the top 25% of the applicant pool at my college of choice.

I guess the answers will reveal themselves by Interview descision deadlines...untill then fingers are crossed!

The very 1st Post

My first post! After searching for innumerable blog names and seeing all of them taken, I am finally blogging!
StrawberryTints is about me (of course), my current status as an MBA aspirant and about life , mostly veiwed with rose tinted glasses on.
A quick rundown of my MBA journey so far -
GMAT taken - 720 (Q47, V42)
Applied in R1 to - ISB (Hyderabad), INSEAD & LBS
Waiting n waiting for the interview invites to appear...sigh

So after religiously reading all the MBA blogs out ther I figured I might as well contribute & be part of the process. Thanks to all the bloggers out there, you guys have helped without realizing how much.I'll attempt to cover the path already covered thus far and hope soemone would enjoy reading it to.

Running back now as my very short lunch break just got over & I hope to see a few of you around.