My GMAT & MBA Odyssey - moved to http://mbapensive.wordpress.com!

Announcement : Blog Moved to Wordpress at http://mbapensive.wordpress.com

2013-04-11T11:40:00.000+05:30

Finally the official announcement. I have moved this blog from Blogger to Wordpress. You can follow me at Wordpress on below mentioned link. Blogging at blogger.com was an exciting journey for last 2.5 years but going forward and wordpress.com scores on exciting tools and posting options offered.

I will communicate about these changes to all concern blogging partners including Clear-admit Best of Blogging community, BTG blogging community and Accepted.com and so on.

I have been thinking about shifting to Wordpress ( why? would be answered in some of the following posts) and finally I exported all the content of this blog to http://mbapensive.wordpress.com

Some of the exciting things you would find at this new journey are - New pages.

Free Essay Review: There is a dedicated page for those who are interested in opting for free essay review services. This page describes my motivation for instigating these services and my progress so far. It also includes links to testimonials from some of clients who got admitted to diverse business schools in US, Europe and Asia.
Who am I : There is more than simple introduction on this page. It gives glimpse into my personality and my values.

Stay tuned to my first post at http://mbapensive.wordpress.com which is - “ Competing in Admissionado Consulting Blogger Contest! ”

Impact of my free Essay Review Services!

2013-03-20T19:26:00.000+05:30

As some of you might know that some time back I had started free essay review services through which I helped 25+ prospective applicants in refining their essays and hence presenting better applications. I felt so satisfying when I came to know that some of those applicants have received admissions to their dream schools and they thanked me for reviewing their essays. Although major work is done by the applicants themselves, I played small but unselfish contribution is perfecting their essays.

Some of the applicants who benefited include an Electronics engineer who got admission in Schulich Business School, North-eastern University, and another applicant who is CA who received admission in IE Business School and a mechanical engineer who got admission in ISB. Helping people achieve their dreams in one of the most satisfying and proud feelings for me.

The free essay service was started with only one burning question – “If I am good at something then why can’t I unselfishly help some of fellow applicants?” Somehow through this blog I am able to create this impact and I consider this as one of my achievements.

With this initial success, I have decided 2 things.

I will write and publishing a small guide on how to review the essays. Although there are some great books available in market which focus on developing the application strategy to writing essays, there are very inputs on who to review the essays. After reviewing 100+ essays, I can tell you that reviewing the essays is indeed a skill and in this process I have defined my own method of structurally reviewing the essays. Through this book, I would be sharing my experiences with all readers. Just like the B-school guides, I would publish this guide specifically for reviewing the essays.

I am also planning to start a part time business – MBA Consulting Firm with domain focus in B-school Essay editing & B-school Selection services. After interacting with more than 250 students in 25+ business school across US, Asia and Europe, I have got enough data (emails, one –to- one interaction) to get a feel of each school. The plan is at very incipient stage and I am looking for some good partners who share this passion with me.

As such, I am known for my analytical skills, reviewing skills and excellent written communication. So, let see whether I can use these skills in creating something which would challenge my preconceived limitations.

Indian School of Business ( ISB) tumble from FT B-School Ranking 2013!

2013-01-29T18:51:00.000+05:30

The Indian School of Business ( ISB), India’s premier B-school plummeted 20 spots from 20^th last year to 34^th spot this year.

I am still trying to understand the criteria and methodology of FT rankings and I may be able to come up with probable reasons for such drops. For school such as ISB which participates only in few ranking surveys such as this one, it’s very critical to maintain the top spots. For other schools such as Harvard, Wharton, Stanford we have multiple gauging points with multiple ranking positions.

ISB is great school especially if one has career goals related to Indian or Asian geography but the fall only indicates that the schools has long way to go. I hope the school comes out with an official press release with its possible reasoning for this fall in ranking, otherwise this would certainly create some questions marks among the applicants which in turn would affect the quality of applicants. Last couple of years ISB boasted itself for being in Top-20 in FT rankings and it is surely best B-school in India.

Let’s hope that we get more clarity and transparency to out this fall in rankings in context.

Must watch : Insights into MBA Admissions Decision Making - Love UNC Kenan Flagler admission videos!

2013-01-16T18:41:00.000+05:30

UNC Kenan Flagler recently released 3 videos which give significant insight into decision making in b-school application process. I have gone through all 3 videos – First video talks about decision making for a applicant with low GMAT score but stellar application. Second video talks about so called perfect candidate but with average application in which the personality of applicant is not really reflected through. Third video talks about an applicant with low quant exposure. I would leave it to individual to make his own judgement but some the things are of utmost importance.

Perception plays critical role: The process as described in video – The reader reads key points in the application file and the group committee debates/ discusses the applicant profile and reaches to the conclusion. I believe 2 readers read the file in totality and make remarks about candidacy, interview inputs and memorable interactions at various forums also count in admission decisions. Now, it is very critical how the file reader perceives your application, how she interprets it and how she communicates with rest of the admission committee members. I would recommend applicants to think their application as a movie trailer. Think of 30 second summary of our entire application package. Think of 10 lines you want that application reader to describe to rest of the people in admission committee. These 10 lines would be central, core message you should be trying to communicate throughout the application.
More than just numbers: These videos make one thing crystal clear – It’s surely more than just numbers. Even with a low GMAT score, if you can build the confidence in the mind of reader that you can handle the curriculum then she might strongly support your candidacy. She might actually become your advocate in the admission committee and swing the decision in your favour. So it’s important that with your actions you generate that confidence in the application.
Holistic Process: The admission process is truly holistic. Your each interaction with admission committee counts. It can be simply your email, you presence at an Open house, your application along with essays, your interview, your actions after being waitlisted and so on. Everything counts. Be aware of this.
Its more art than science: One of the videos presents a case of strong applicant – Good GPA & GMAT, great interest in school and some memorable interactions which one of the admission committee member recollects but still the admission committee feels that something is lacking in the applicant.. That something is very hard to define and although this applicant made a great impression, the real personality is not truly and holistically reflected in the application.

I would try to look at the videos one more time and would try to come up with some more interpretations, till than all the best for R3 applicants and R2 interviewees,

GMAT Rescheduled!

2012-12-29T09:47:00.002+05:30

Well, I would like to start with an apology for not writing for more than a month now. The things in last couple of months changed dramatically and there is significant change in my MBA application strategy.

I have decided to hold on the applications for this admission season as I have rescheduled the GMAT from 26th December to 6th April, 2013.

I realized that I need to work on my test taking strategies. The actual preparation/ learning is at par. I will be taking the GMAT for the final time in April, 2013 and in case of any hiccup I would shift to GRE. I face I am thinking of giving GRE in addition to GMAT ( even if I score good in GMAT).

I am also considering the option of submitting the GRE score because of following reasons -

Flexibility to move back and forth within section : Frankly speaking this option helps me in lowering the pressure when the clock is ticking. I can finish my strength questions first and can return back whenever I am done with easier questions.
Sectional Adaptiveness : The revised GRE lowers the pressure further by offering the sectional adaptiveness instead of question adaptiveness. With every questions ‘valued’ the same, the GRE would suit my test taking style.
Quant is considered to be easier than that in GMAT. Although Quant is my strong area, still under the test taking conditions/ strategies, it can be challenging.
I understand that schools would be little less worried even if I submit a bit lower GRE score as still they do not require to report the same in ranking surveys.
The only downside is GRE requires huge contextual vocabulary, I have already started working on this weakness by learning at least 10 new words every day. On the positive side, I am able to solve the question in less than a minute if I know the meaning of the words in answer choices and the context. I somehow believed that building vocabulary would be easier than building grammar & reasoning skills ( required in CR, SC).

Lets see how things work out. Please let me know about this strategy of submitting GRE score instead of GMAT score.

Initial Observations: Bloomberg Business Week 2012 MBA Rankings

2012-11-16T09:13:00.002+05:30

Well the much awaited Bloomberg Business Week 2012 MBA Rankings. Well the rankings though are not an end in itself, they certainly provide great guidelines. BW rankings are based on feedback from students (45%), recruiters ( 45%) and faculty /publications ( 10 %) and hence can be considered good reference of reality. Apart from the total rankings, the Business Week MBA Rankings 2012 ranked schools in various other categories such as highest salary, intellectual capital and so on and there are some surprises there. Also the database of the school information is more sophisticated and upgraded so its great resource to touch upon some initial research.

Some of the highlights in my opinion are as follows :

There is no change in top 3 positions in full time MBA rankings - Chicago Booth, Harvard and Wharton are the top 3 schools. These top 3 slots remain unchanged.Stanford GSB and Kellogg have exchanged places with Stanford GSB moving to the 4th Place and Kellogg moving down to 5th place.
London Business School has overtaken INSEAD to be at the top of Intentional MBA ranking. Top-3 programs outside the US are LBS, INSEAD and IE business school. LBS and INSEAD has exchanged places as compared to last year’s rankings.
After attending the Cornell Johnson Business school informations session at Pune I immediately put Cornell Johnson on top of my list and seeing Cornell Johnson to 7th place, moving from 13th place last year was a pleasant surprise. I believe this is one of the biggest changes ( upward or downward ) in this year’s BW rankings.
Duke Fuqua maintained its 6th spot and its great to see the school holding on and very soon cracking in top-5 slot.
Tuck moved 2 places up from 14th to 12th. Tuck is my first love and it is one of the first business school I started interacting in around 2006. Tuck surely is close to my heart and seeing it move upward only added to my passion for Tuck.
Darden Business school has finally made to the top-10. The school deserves that. Go Dean Bruner Go!
On the International ranking front the HKUST has made it through the BW rankings and cracked a spot within top-20 Intentional MBA programs. Its surely one of the Asian MBA programs to look for.

After seeing through the Bloomberg Business Week MBA Rankings for 2012, I have defined my own categories to interpret the rankings. I would not apply to all these schools but this is how I have tried to categorize them. By no means I am less committed to any of the schools below but I am actively considering evaluating the schools for my R2 applications.

“The Heart” Schools : These are the schools with small class size and are REALLY collegial. When you talk to anyone in community of these schools, you CAN FEEL the culture of the school, you can feel the care and eagerness to share the experience at the school.
“ The Mind” Schools : These are the school which are great fit considering my future career goals and these schools offer unique and relevant programs considering my future goals in Automotive industry.
“ The Brand” Schools : These are the schools whose name is enough to open any possible doors to you. You simply cannot afford to leave them. They are the system in itself.
“ Great to Go “ : These are wonderful schools, ranked within top-20 and have excellent programs. For some reasons they didn’t move up in the rankings but they are excellent programs and have their niche profile which attracts only certain kind of students.

In Love with Johnson : Information session at Pune!

2012-11-07T19:10:00.002+05:30

I travelled around 180 minutes to attend this Johnson Information session at Le Meridian, Pune but I have no regrets for that travel because I loved every moment of that 3 hours information session. I just want to tell you one line summary – Johnson at Cornell is different and it is different in many ways…how?....read on..

1. There was no formal PowerPoint presentation for the session which was surprise and it turned out to be a pleasant surprise at the end of the session because we instead had more interactive chats with alumni. This direct approach with spontaneous and lively interactions instead of forcing a set agenda with standard presentation format was a great experience.

2. Johnson at Cornell is all about collaboration and I mean genuine collaboration : Throughout the event this was one of themes that clearly stood out. We started the session with open question answer session. Charli asked us about our GMAT status and those who have taken the test shared some tips with those who have not taken yet. It was good icebreaker, we started understanding a bit more about others.

3. Charli more or less played role of a professor moderating a case study class. Just as the professor navigates the case study discussion with structured but spontaneous questions, Charli also navigated the entire session with the questions and she perfectly navigated the discussion to cover all the topics one would look for. She allowed alumni to talk about the recommendations, GMAT, essays, the place – Ithaca, student clubs, the Johnson’s hallmark immersion learning approach to education and so on. I felt that the session was more active because she allowed prospective students to be on the driver’s seat.

4. Alumni – I was amazed with the open, warm and genuine gesture of all the 3 alumni – Mr. G, Mr. H and Mr. U. Even before the session officially begun we started talking to them. They not only answered the questions but also provided insights while answering those questions. The other thing I felt great was personalized answers. The alumni were able to recollect their experiences at Johnson and they were connecting the answers to their own experience .So when someone asked about the immersion – Semester in Strategic Operations, Mr. G shared his entire immersion experience , what he learned from those experiences, the support from professors and peers, the outcomes and so on. It was wonderful to listen to personalized answers instead of listening to mere repetition of information already present on website. There was huge room to know the alumni in person and really understand their perspectives.

5. Mr.G was part of the admission committee as a student reviewer. So listening to insights in how he used to review a given application was a wonderful experience. I have every reason to believe that the application process is truly holistic and they really consider all the pieces of the application very seriously. Mr. G recommended to building a consistent story of your character/ as an individual. He candidly shared that each application gets minimum 2 unbiased reviews and in case of one YES and one NO, the application will be reviewed by independent reviewer.

6. Charli gave a 2GB USB drive to each one of the attendees that contained all the information about the Cornell – Johnson all MBA programs. I have seen information and guess what I yesterday night dreamt myself seating besides a lake at Ithaca enjoying fresh white snow J

7. I earned special gift from Charli – In one on one interaction with Charli I shared my experience of interacting with Johnson alumni for last 7 months. I have interacted with more than 8 alumni in last 7 months and have had several Skype chats. The willingness to share the Johnson experience was truly exceptional. I shared these experience and express my gratitude for the same. She was so amazed to see my interest in the Johnson – Cornell that she offered a small gift with Johnson logo embossing. Such deep appreciation ( still I am just a prospective student and not a Johnson student) speaks a lot about the school. It was spontaneous, genuine and palpable. I will cherish these moments forever.

8. Finally the food was great at Le Meriden, I loved it. It tasted even better in such warm ambient.

All in all Johnson information session was a wonderful experience for me and for others as well. I have already started the application and now it’s time to expedite the same.

Johnson-Cornell would be traveling to some more cities and I would urge applicants to be part of these sessions because seeing is believing. Although I have researched through Johnson for last 7 months, still I wanted to get the feel of the ambient and really see the difference between knowing and seeing meaning of collaborative environment!

Joy & Jubilation: HBS Interview: How to prepare for HBS's post interview reflection?

2012-10-25T18:22:00.001+05:30

Well, I have not received the HBS interview invite because I have not yet applied for the HBS  but l certainly helped one of my friends to get into the Harvard Business School in the class of 2014. So I just thought of putting together a post on my views on the new application component and how you can prepare for the same.

Why this post interview reflection could have been added?

Well, HBS is about the Case Study method and this unique method demands an ability to think on your feet. Well this reflection certainly is going to test this. It’s very difficult for an interviewee to get outside help for this essay considering the requirement of submitting the essay within 24 hours. It’s unlikely that candidate will write an essay, get it reviewed from admission consultants, do the necessary corrections and submit the same within 24 hours.

It’s even difficult to share the actual experience of the interview with and admission consultant and then incorporate her inputs into the reflection. So, essentially the interviewee has to think through most probably with very limited external inputs!

It’s essentially a reflection exercise!!

HBS most probably is trying to understand how do you perceive the things? How do you evaluate? Which things you focus while evaluating a certain event (in this case an interview? Which things you leave out while evaluating? How is your thinking process? HBS would evaluate the responses to this essay on the basis of these questions. Again answers to these questions are integral part in judging your FIT with the Case study method.

How best one should prepare for this unique exercise?

Well, if I would have received the invitation I would have certainly started by practicing in real world. I mean why can’t we just start with some fun exercise? For example, think about a meeting at your workplace. At the end of the day when you are at home, start thinking – What was the agenda of the meeting and how did I made my points? How did I bring everyone on the common platform? How did I convince others in the meeting? How did I counterattack when needed? Which skills and techniques I used in doing this? Answer these questions and keep on asking to analyze the meeting at very micro-level. This will help you in analyzing your own behavior in this particular situation. On the next day change the situation from meeting to something else –say for example – a volunteering experience and analyze the same at a deeper level. With such 15 to 20 exercises you would be in a position to reflect on your behavior. I strongly believe these exercises will help you in preparing for writing a better response to the post interview reflection. Please let me know your views on this!!

Don’t lose the charm of spontaneity by preparing the template!

Many people are suggesting pre-preparing a template and mechanically filling that template after the interview but I am strongly against this approach. This exercise is meant for enjoying the spontaneity and bit of uncertainty. Preparing a template would force you to think in a particular direction and might interrupt the thought flow during the interview because throughout the interview you might end up in searching for the answers of predefined questions in the template.

All the very best for the HBS interviews!

Analysis of Wharton’s Team based assessment: Is it mere differentiator or need of the hour?

2012-10-11T19:13:00.005+05:30

Wharton has come up with more concrete details of its new team based evaluation process for the full time MBA program. If you are looking for details about the process then please go through this article.

I thought of summarizing my views on the same:

Is it mere attempt to differentiate or need of the hour in MBA application process?

This admission season most of the Business schools came up with something unique and different from last year’s application process. The trend as usual started by the Harvard business school – reduction in total words of essays. Harvard reduced the word limit to mere 800 and that left many applicants with frustration and a feeling of submitting incomplete representation of personality in the HBS application. Most of the other schools also significantly reduced the word limits. I realized that not only b-school applicants but Business schools themselves are trying to differentiate from the herd of schools. In this race of standing unique and attracting best students schools came up with unique things.

Many people think that Wharton’s team based evaluation approach is another attempt in this direction but I strongly believe that such initiative is actually a need of the hour. I mean seeing is believing! Instead of asking another essay question to get an insight about applicants’ way of thinking or understand his interpersonal skills, it is much more authentic to see the applicants live in a performance. I believe this is an opportunity to authentically represent your personality and create an impression.

Can you really contribute: Would I be able to really contribute? That’s what I thought at first. I thought what if I am given prompt to discuss economic analysis or a particular topic that requires domain knowledge. I was a bit sceptical what kind of topics will be given for discussion but with this latest clarity from Wharton and couple of sample topics those fears eliminated. What’s interesting to note is – The themes are really broad and very closely tied to Wharton’s value system – Leadership and Innovation. The themes are such that people irrespective of a particular background would be able to add value to the discussion. After reading the themes I felt confident of contributing and in fact outlined my approach to some of the topics.

Read Between the Lines: It’s important to read between the lines in the Wharton’s email clarification. The email stresses the importance of Body language and cautions against creating negative impressions. It also stresses individualized contribution to discussion. So it is of utmost importance to relate the given prompt to you personal unique experience and then contribute effectively to the discussion.

Time Commitment: Although Wharton mentions preparation of no more than an hour, I strongly question the same. This thing would require significant time commitment and systematic reflection so that you can think on your feet and sail through.

Some more appreciation for my Free Essay Review Services and GMAT Update

2012-10-06T22:14:00.002+05:30

Sentence Correction: I can now intuitively believe that I can handle the Sentence Correction section in the GMAT with speed and accuracy. I have finished solving 1000 SC for almost 2 times and solved the OG questions diligently. To check the final progress I have solved 100+ SC questions from the GMAC Verbal Guide – 2^nd Editions. I solved these 100+ questions with 90% + accuracy and average time of 75 seconds. With such performance I can now feel confident of handling this section even under stressful condition of actual exam.

Critical Reasoning: I have solved around 600 questions from the 1000 CR section and solved all the OG12 questions and with this preparation I attempted the 83 questions in GMAC Verbal Guide – 2^nd Editions. Although accuracy is good in CR still I am taking around 2 minutes per questions. In the next phase of preparation I want decrease the time further without affecting the accuracy. I am confident but still need to work on the things.

Critical Reasoning: This probably is little ignored section because lack of interest and hence attention. But I have started taking things seriously on this front and I am committed to solve Aristotle RC99 diligently in the next phase of study plan.

Update on the Maths preparation in the next post.

In the mean time, appreciation for my work in FREE essay reviews continued. I reviewed essays from some people in US and in India. Reviewing the essays of foreigners, I understood the real value of diversity. It was wonderful to understand their way of thinking and how and what they consider as their achievements. Some of the comments on my blog regarding this free essay review service :

Feedback from Denysse :

I sent Sanket an essay to review and he returned it to me very promptly (less than 24 hours)! His comments were so helpful and I need to make a lot of changes and still have a lot of work left to do. It is obvious he has experience with writing and analyzing others writings. I am very thankful for his help since he doesn't even know me. He is also even reviewing my resume. I would recommend his services to anyone!

Feedback from Ankit:

Well, after Shalabh and Sriram, i do not need to say more about his response time.I sent him my essays this morning and had those reviewed by evening.He gave me a very honest and comprehensive review.Nothing passed by his eye for detail.Comment over every line and sometimes even words kept in check whether things were coming out in the way i had wanted them to.With this fine detailing, he also gave me a holistic picture of my essays and helped me in identifying my gaps.The best part of his review was that he had me put on my thinking cap again. Thanks Sanket for putting things in perspective for me.Coming back to you very soon!

MIT Sloan Revamped Website!

2012-09-28T08:01:00.000+05:30

Almost a year back, one of the things that turned off my attention and hence subsequent interest in research in MIT Sloan school of Management was the School’s website. It was difficult to find relevant information about the program and especially about the Student club officers’ contact information and other contact details. I was a bit frustrated and hence thought least about seriously researching about Sloan although I was very interested to know more about the program.

I think Sloan has somehow understood my feelings and now we have a revamped website which is really mesmerizing. All the information is properly segregated under different sections and the vibrant color combination appears to be eye-catching. The use of multimedia makes it even more attractive. Definitely the earlier website was not up to the expectation for the top notch intellectual powerhouse like MIT Sloan. Here is the link http://mitsloan.mit.edu

Last week, MIT Sloan released the Deadlines and Essay questions. The Cover letter and behavior essay pattern remains the same. The only twist is removal of one of the essay questions with an opportunity to add a multimedia component to introduce yourself to future classmates and Admission committee. I always relied on Sloan questions to develop base for my applications because Sloan’s behaviour nature of the questions really pushes you to hard enough to get real and practical stories out of my head. With a twist of multimedia component the process sounds challenging and exciting.

More on Sloan essays in upcoming parts…..

Love to see some appreciation from customers who opted for my free essay review services !!

2012-09-13T18:35:00.000+05:30

In the second last post, I proposed to offer free essay review services –some questions are being raised about my capability to do the same because I myself have not gone through the admission cycle. Although the doubts were fair and understandable I clarified them in last post.

After the clarification I received couple of quick emails on Saturday night and Sunday morning. I quickly jumped on to it and responded promptly with detailed reviews. Below are some of the comments from the fellow applicants about their perspective of my services. The following comments are unedited and can be found on the blog post itself. Both of them requested not to put the critiqued essays on the blog so I cannot put the essays directly on the blog but I would be summarizing the common mistakes observed in these reviews.

These comments and other interactions were motivating and the best part is I made some friends in this process. I love doing both reviewing and making friends. I hope these comments further clarify the doubts regarding confidentiality and fear of losing ideas/ uniqueness about essays.

In these reviews I have developed a habit of catching the grammatical mistakes such as parallelism error, subject verb agreement, improper use of’ being’ and some others and this habit will definitely help me in GMAT SC.

Comments :

“To begin, I sent Sanket my essays at 9 PM yesterday and I had a reply at 10 this morning. Remember, today is Sunday morning. He doesn't have to do this but well, enough said about his commitment and passion. In terms of his review, I think his views and suggested changes are completely logical. People prefer an 'experienced consultant' but I do not concur with them. Unlike a consultant, Sanket did not know me at all till he started reading about me. Be it your accomplishments or your goals, it is imperative to get them read and reviewed from someone who doesn't know you. His opinion tells you how you are coming across through a few hundred words to a stranger. (Add grammar and proofreading inputs as well) Lastly, I wouldn't specifically ask you to send your essays to Sanket but would just say that if you are not brave enough for a peer review, how do you plan to get through an Adcom review?”

“ I second Shalab’s comments regarding Sanket’s promptness. I sent him 3 essays at 8 am today and had his feedback by 10. First of all, I should commend Sanket for offering this service. I know a lot of people who do this for friends/peers but very few who did it for complete strangers. I can’t stress enough on the efficacy of getting feedback from people who don’t know you personally and thus don’t have preconceived notions/bias. Sanket only had access to my resume and essays. He did a great job of both getting in to the micro details of essays (including grammar and punctuation) and at the same time gave valuable feedback on the overall story/impact. Apart from the gaps, he also points out areas where you have done well. The inline comments make it easier for one to make changes. I look forward to sending more essays to Sanket for review.”

FREE Webinar from Accepted.com : Polish Your MBA Essays with the “Editing Funnel”

2012-09-11T20:32:00.000+05:30

Well, if you are really serious about MBA applications process and the especially essays, then you can't afford to miss this one!

Please register yourself, such events generally won't come free, thanks to Linda !

What does a funnel have to do with editing essays, you ask? Lots if you’re using Accepted.com’s unique MBA essay editing tool, the “editing funnel.”

During this hour-long webinar, Accepted.com founder and CEO, Linda Abraham, will guide you through the editing funnel. Armed with these tips and tools, you will be able to edit and proof your MBA essays so they shine.

The MBA Essay Editing Funnel webinar will air live on Thursday, September 20th at 10:00 AM PT / 1:00 PM ET.

It’s free, but registration is required. Reserve your space for The MBA Essay Editing Funnel now!

Oh, and if you want to know about future Accepted.com events and chats, bookmark Accepted’s events page at http://www.accepted.com/chat/schedule.aspx.

Responding to queries ( from an anonymous reader) about my free essay review initiative!

2012-09-05T20:29:00.003+05:30

After my declaration of free essay review initiative, an anonymous reader has commented the following :

" Thanks for the offer. But - Why would one take your comments as accurate/valid if you haven't even gone through the application process yourself i.e. your ideas/opinions of the essays didn't go through the adcom test yet? Don't you think it might actually hurt someone's chances rather than help him or her.

Curious about two things -
1. Why would you offer this help when you have so many things on your plate- GMAT, your own application essays?
2. Whats the deal with the random coloring in your blog posts? "

My clarifications to his doubts are in order in the following post. I understand the concerns and hence took some time to clarify the same.

Thanks for the reply. Just some clarifications. I hope this will make things clearer.

Seeing is Believing - why don’t you post a 300 words essay ( not necessarily your essay but any sample essay available online) and observe my analysis instead of hypothetically questioning the accuracy of the comments. What do you think?

Well in my opinion, the essence of the B-school essay in conveying a story and convey the points one wants to highlight in the essay. So, if a third person like me, to understand the story and author’s message, then there exists a possibility that the other people ( Adcom included) might also not get the message. My comments essentially help in filling up this gap. I critically ask ‘ HOW’ and ‘WHY’ types of questions which help the author in conveying his point.

Assumptions : If I consider your comments as a CR questions then the underlying assumptions are -

a ) If one has gone through the admission process then he can make a judgement about Adcom test - he can fully grasp what Adcom thought about his essays and hence can make accurate comments.

If one of has gone through the admission process then irrespective of the outcome ( accepted or rejected), one can accurate judgement/ comments.
No one can make accurate comments/ analyze an essay accurately unless he himself has gone through the admission process himself.

(Wow, my CR skills are getting better)

I am offering a free help. So, if someone can write better essay ( than his original version), get insights in writing a better story, get ideas to convey the traits better manner then it should be a good deal!!! Think about it.

Although I have not gone through the process myself, I have reviewed and corrected the essays and developed a branding strategy for 6 people - 3 of them are in AIM and 1of them is in Harvard and other 2 in top schools. With no formal training in admission consulting this can be considered a good success rate :)

I have been practicing Vipassana meditation for last 11 years and have been writing a book to share those meditation experiences with others. Reflecting and conveying something as abstract as meditation requires high degree of analysis, critical thinking. As a writer, I developed an ability to think from the reader’s perspective and hence my comments can be insightful.

Why help offered : Why I offer help in spite of being so busy? Well, I love analysis and I love explaining things to people and I find time for the things I love. For example, take this blog. Even though I so busy, I still manage the time for posts on this blog. Also, as I mentioned in the post, I learn a lot in the process of analysis and subsequent reflection.

Random Coloring : If you browse through other pages on this blog, you would find a consistent pattern in font coloring. All the best for that analysis !

P.S- ignore the numbering of the points, there is no logic just some technical problem in posting. Coloring is logical though :):)

My Analysis of Crowd-sourced essay posted on Essay-Snark & my Exciting offer to get your essays reviewed!!!

2012-09-04T19:02:00.000+05:30

Well it was great idea from Essay-Snark! Generally Essay-Snark team provides its own critical analysis to the essays submitted to it on its blog, this time they actually posted the essay on their blog and asked the readers to evaluate this. I thought this was good idea because instead of getting only view, the Brave applicant who has submitted this essay would get many perspectives from readers.

I have evaluated the essays of some of my friends who are now admitted to AIM, Harvard and other couple of schools and hence this idea was fun. I love this job of reviewing and expressing my perspective. Also, when I evaluate someone else’s work, I get very good idea how I should not write an essay, how I should not fall in the traps and how I can improve my own writings.

http://www.essaysnark.com/2012/09/crowdsourcing-an-essay-critique/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EssaySnark+%28Essay+Snark%29

Although there was nothing against this particular Brave Applicant who had submitted his essay, my analysis became little harsh/ intimidating. I am an Industrial Engineer by profession and hence any kind of ambiguity/ non conclusiveness put me off. I had to write the disclaimer to prove the point. You can read my analysis in the comment section (Sanket Says).

If you like the way I reviewed the essays, then I would like to make an offer – Anyone who wants to get a fair review of his/ her essay can drop an email to me (Ask for my email in comments section of this post) and I would review the essay on this blog. Please do not worry about confidentiality part; your identity will be kept anonymous. Also do not worry about – is it safe? I mean whether I would source ideas from your essays?

Let me tell you that I have been working on my essay for almost 3 years now, started my B-school research for 4 .5 years so I have almost set everything in order for my essays. I do not intend to steal your ideas/ your essays but genuinely want to help you (fellow applicants) in writing the essays. If you want to get your essays reviewed but do not intend to have them public on my blog then please let me know, I can review them in person without public disclosure. Please be ready to digest my words because sometimes my analysis can become little sharper than you might expect. Let me know your thoughts on this idea.

Informational Interview with a top non US B-School!

2012-08-23T19:03:00.000+05:30

I took advantage of the opportunity to interview with a top non-US B-school. I had to request the interview on their webpage by submitting my resume and other details. Although the school doesn’t offer interviews to all the people who request them, I was lucky enough to get one. I was contacted by admission coordinator from the school who coordinated between I and the other admission Director from the school. All the logistics part went well with couple of rescheduling.

Well, in one sentence - it was insightful and I confirmed some of the things already known to me. Below things were not explicitly stated (except mentioned otherwise ) but I was able to draw some inferences from her tone.

Some of the major takeaways:

1. In her own words – “ We receive very competitive applications from Indians and your experience/ profile stands at par with them ! ”. Although I cannot remember word to word but she told something of this sort. The first part of the sentence is a fact and the later part was pleasurable thing to know.

2. GMAT Matters and perhaps matters a lot for Indian Students – Although average GMAT for the class is 670, the Indians apply there with around 700+. So she specifically asked me to sore in this range to be competitive.

3. Although my rest of the profile looked good to her she insisted on good GMAT score which reiterates the importance of GMAT in application process and perhaps a great application might not also compensate for the GMAT but still the application process is holistic in nature.

4. She in detail explained the program offerings and some of the unique advantages which clarified that learning Spanish is advisable but not a necessary condition.

5. There are about 30 Indians in a batch of 280 students from over 45 countries.

6. Good brand names matter but not essential.

7. The resume should be jargon free , I cannot exhort this more. Although I tried to do that but still some work needs to be done.

8. Facebook could be one of the best ways to get along with some current students and know more about the program.

Well, this interview boosted my confidence and interest in this program ( and non US B-schools in general) but this added little bit more pressure for getting a good GMAT score. Let’s hope for the best.

If Dark Knight were to Rise above the GMAT : How would the Dark Knight use the experience of RISING from the Pit in taking the GMAT?

2012-08-21T18:52:00.003+05:30

Sounds crazy ! It is the craziest thing I have thought after watching the Dark Knight Rises for 3 times.

I learn from anything and everything and movies are not exception. Especially I cannot afford to just see the Christopher Nolan movies and not analyze it / learn from it. I always loved the thought process behind some of the excellent screenplays in a typical Christopher Nolan movie.

From the last Batman movie -The Dark Knight, I can tell you some scenes word by word – The dialogues when the Joker enters the meeting of Mafia, the stories of scars on Joker’s face, the conversation between Batman and Joker, Conversation between Joker and Harvey Dent and I can go on and on. It was really one of the best movies I have ever seen.

Just like a typical Christopher Nolan movie, the Dark Knight Rises also features some iconic and signature moments, moments that define the intellectual curiosity and deep thought process behind the scenes. These are not just scenes for me but these are profound messages I have learned from these movies.

I loved the latest Dark Knight Rises for one moment – the moment in which completely destroyed Batman reaches the top of the pit and makes the final impossible jump to get out of the pit. So I just thought what if Batman were to write the GMAT, how would he use the experience of rising above the pit to clear the GMAT? ( I know what you are thinking after reading this – I am crazy and I lost my mind! Well, tell me something New because I already know this, lot of people have already told me this!)

Why the metaphor of Pit Climbing is important?

The metaphor stands for - ATTEMPT THE IMPOSSIBLE. Imagine…..Batman has broken his back and almost on the verge of death; in fact he is kept alive to see the misery of Gotham city. The confidence of the Batman is shaken by losing head on battle with Ben. The loyal friend like Alfred has already questioned the ability of Batman to compete with Bane and had left him alone. The Bane has already started taking over the Gotham city y and in this situation Batman attempts the impossible – Rising the pit which has been done only once in the history.

Even with a score of 480 in the First attempt of GMAT, I want to attend the impossible – 700 on the GMAT.I know this is a herculean task but I am ready to climb the pit and rise.

Why the Batman fails in his First Attempt?

Batman tries to climb first time with ropes so even if he misses the impossible jump he would be still alive. On the one hand his belief is his fearlessness, his ability not to fear the death is his Strength but on the other hand he climbs with rope because somewhere deep inside he still fears the death. so the actions are not aligned to self depicted convictions.

During the study of my entire first attempt deep inside my mind I was knowing that ITS STILL FINE EVEN I DON’T MAKE IT THIS TIME. Just as did Batman knew that even if he misses the final jump he still tied to the ropes and he is not going to die - ITS STILL FINE EVEN I DON’T MAKE IT THIS TIME. So, on reflection I understand that I really didn’t put enough efforts in REALLY GETTING IT DONE. After all I was working as an Assistant Manager with No.2 Automaker in the world , I was knowing that even I fail the admission applications would be delayed but at the same time I would be promoted to Deputy Manager at my workplace. So I had my backups (MY ROPES) very well tired. I had made sure that even I fail; it’s not going to hurt me.

Although I pated on my back for this plan, this same mindset unknowingly held me back from putting my 100%. The closely tied ropes ensured that I never fear the FAILURE because I knew it really won’t hurt but will just delay the things.

Why Batman fails in the second attempt of RISE?

The Batman climbs the pit for the second time with more determination with stronger body but again he fails in the second attempt also? Why? Because without understanding the real cause he thinks doing the same thing would produce different result which cannot be true. Doing the same thing for the second time might increase the efficiency (but not effectiveness) but it may or may not result in ultimate success, especially when he is working with substandard approach. He understands after paying a heavy price though that Effectiveness is about doing RIGHT things and efficiency is about DOING THE THINGS RIGHTLY.

Similarly, I cannot expect a different result than 480 unless I fundamentally change my approach. I have learnt this and already working on it (going through other earlier posts might make this a bit clearer, maybe it’s the topic of another post).

Why the Batman climbs the PIT for the THIRD time and RISES to glory?

After listening to the advice of the old wise Man (who is also witness of the Impossible Rise), Batman attempts to climb the pit without ropes so that the experience of fear of death occupies every sense of his body, so that there is no turning back. Its do or die! This mindset of really getting that thing done pushes Batman to RISE – Rise above his fear, Rise above his physical limitations, rise above the self-claimed limitation, rise above limits of his own thinking and achieve the impossible – Rising from the Pit.

This time I am too climbing without ropes, this time I am rising with an attitude of never looking back. I have made clear in my mind that this time it’s NOT OK TO CLIMB WITH ROPES. I have already hit the glass ceiling by becoming youngest Manager in my department (arguably in the organization). Hence it’s NOT OK to fail this time because MBA is my definition of rising above the pit. I am attempting an all end assault on the GMAT without the ropes!!!

Post Script – All these trillions of thoughts went into my mind when I had first seen the pit climbing seen in the movie , I became absent minded at that time and hence I had to see the movie 3 more times to enjoy it without really thinking about it!! That’s the way I am, I connect myself and get involved into it with almost instantaneously.

GMAT Approach: Quality to Quantity and again back to Quality!

2012-08-11T18:16:00.000+05:30

As I had updated in some of my earlier posts that I have been working with 1000 SC and 1000 CR. I have completed around 700 SC and 700 CR questions and I have decided to stop and go back to OG13. I had completed OG 11 and OG 12 (Quality work) and then moved to Quantity work (1000 series) and now I am again moving back to OG13 which is qualitative study material.

Although 1000 series documents were good for building up my stamina and increasing my confidence of handling difficult questions, the lack of reliable explanations for the questions is these documents certainly decreased my motivation to study remaining 300 questions from each of the 1000 series documents. Instead of further time investment, I will be moving to OG13 and then further bolster the study with 404 official question pack from GMAC worth $25. If I find time then I am thinking of e-GMAT. I have been reading some good reviews and some of article from them are really great. So that might the next material which I would be covering. I am already working on all the MGMAT strategy guides s that’s good base for Verbal as well as Maths.

So, that is a significant change in the approach for the GMAT. Let us see, I need to work out the details in next couple of days.

Application Update: Well I have started with 03 applications and one informational interview with Admission committee is on the cards on 15/08/2012.

Worried about your Transcripts, GPA calculation in US Education system? Here is a good judgement…

2012-08-11T17:57:00.000+05:30

Well, that was the conclusion!

I was really about Worried about the how my Undergraduate Degree and transcripts will be viewed by Admission Committee so I started researching about it. I was really concerned about it.

I have found out below link at the Website of Rotman Business School in which you have to select your country and the database displays corresponding equivalence in US Grading system. It DOESN”T show your GPA but shoes the GRADES. For example, my First Class in Indian Education System is equivalent to B+ Grade in US grading system and my First Class with Distinction is would be viewed as A or A+. This has really relieved lot of pressure and now I am little bit more confident about my Undergraduate record. I assume that the US Business Schools view or maintain level of understanding as shown by Rotman in Canada. Pls go through the link if you are really concerned.

http://portal.sgs.utoronto.ca/current/admission/intdegequiv.asp?#country

I also thought of ‘ Credential Evaluation Service by WES’ but that is too costly and to need at this point of time because if I get selected then all I have to do is to submit my attested mark sheets to WES and they would send the transcripts to respective school without any cost to me. So, at this stage I am not worrying too much over it. I am still concerned about relatively lacklustre performance in first 2 years of Undergraduate education but I strongly believe that my 7 years of highly analytical work experience would nullify/ compensate for my performance which was almost 09 years ago. Still the WES website offers some information and general guidelines for your grades/ degree equivalence.

All eyes are on the GMAT  I have changed my approach to GMAT a bit…more on it in the upcoming post!

Hard Earned Clear-admit Best of Blogging Gift….The Economist Subscription…

2012-07-09T14:53:00.003+05:30

I have received my gift – The Economist Magazine and feel great to receive that. Although I must read the Economist hundreds of issues earlier, receiving this issue through post as a part of earned gift makes this issue a bit special.

Just to remind you – I had earned Clear-admit Best of Blogging award – 3^rd places and as a part of the gift I opted for 06 month subscription of the Economist magazine.

I am very grateful to the Clear-admit team member who continually followed up with me and finally arranged for this. I will be receiving 05 more issues. Thanks a lot…..Back to reading…

GMAT Study Approach: Second Phase : Need for Speed while marinating Accuracy!

2012-07-09T14:52:00.000+05:30

Well, things are finally falling in place. In each week, I will update my progress card so that I get a check on my progress and public disclosure will put a bit of psychological pressure on my schedule.

Study Approach:

I have already solved all of 1000 SC and around 650 CR questions from 1000 CR guide and hence this is my second revision.

In the first revision I was more focused on getting my answer right, sometimes guessing included. In this second revision, I am more focused on understanding and assimilating why those answer choices is wrong. I am thinking/ analyzing each answer choice and then marking each wrong answer with red color and right answer with Blue color.

This is rally helping in concept clarification and concept application and hence building a strong foundation. I really love this method for building the base.

Sense of Urgency

I have started working on getting a feel for the 100 seconds or 105 seconds. In the first revision, I was bit slow and was not really concerned about the time. I was in understanding mode. Still, I am not keeping track of time second by second but just reminding myself to be faster for every question I solve. Also, I am realizing when I am stuck up or slowed down. After this second revision, I will start tracking time for each question.

RC Update:

Well I have studied the Manhattan RC Guide to build the foundation; I am still lagging the practice part. I planned to solve 04 RC passages per day but this progress was still not up to the mark and I need to catch up in the next 02 days and probably makeup for lost time in the next week.

I am confident that, once I study the way I studied in this week for next 06 weeks, then I will be done with this GMAT….Lets do it ! Update about the applications in the next post….

Winds of Change: B-School Applications are becoming concise and High-Tech!!

2012-06-28T18:00:00.000+05:30

B-School application process for MBA is certainly undergoing metamorphosis. Every business school which has released its essays and application for this year has undergone at least one major change. Harvard with introduction of post interview introspective essay Stanford with reduction of one essay, NYU Stern with new two career path essay, Wharton mulling Teamwork based component along with Interview and there are number of trends that are emerging out!

Last year, Veritas Prep predicated that at least one B-school will opt for Multimedia component into its Applicant evaluation process and they were damn right.

We are seeing more and more schools going for creative multimedia components to test variety of parameters including creativity, presentation and communication skills and temperament.

Consider ISB for example, first time ISB has added a Video Essay which asks for a 90 seconds video on theme of “Life means to me…..” ISB which typically has a very focused application essays with less than 1000 words limit for all their essays, this addition of the essay is certainly an important step.

Last year, the optional essay of the MIT Sloan School of management asks applicant’s to share a multimedia component which will reveal a your personality.

NYU Stern is another school which took a lead in propagating this change on including high-tech components in B-School applications.

This is surely a trend to watch for in upcoming years. Another trend that is consistent across most of the B-schools’ essay is – Laconic! Harvard almost halved the number of essays and corresponding word limit, Stanford cut one essay and 200 words, MIT Sloan cut one essay and 500 words.

B-schools are really becoming much focused and hence the job of an applicant is becoming tougher. Now we as applicants need to convey our message very very precisely. We really need to understand what the school stands for, what they look in an applicant and we can demonstrate the FIT with the culture.

I believe this year’s application process would be an adventurous journey with many surprises and I am ready for, I am ready to do whatever it takes, however challenging it might be!

Conversation with ISB Alumni – Insights into ISB culture!

2012-06-28T17:53:00.001+05:30

A month back, I requested the admission committee at the Indian School of Business (ISB) to help me in getting connected with a current student or alumni who is having similar background as that of mine. I was told to check back in the month of June as the new class was just settling in.

So at the start of the week, I wrote back to the admission committee representative ( Mr.B) to remind my request. Within a day, I got the feedback from him and I was connected to an alumnus from manufacturing industry. Mr. B was very eager to help me in getting connected; the communication was clear and effective. I am very thankful to Mr. B for eagerness in helping me, prompt communication to me and concerned alumnus and closing the communication loop after giving the contact details of the alumnus.

My 20 minute conversation with Alumnus (Lets call him Mr. ND) was terse, insightful and full with practical guidance. He clarified my queries regarding recruitment prospectus in manufacturing industry after ISB, explained his current role and how ISB has helped him in getting to this point. He briefly shared his background which helped me in understanding the context and hence to have realistic expectation. He guided me to think more on why I need an MBA? What I really want to do and why? Which specific skills and knowledge is demanded in my intended role and how an MBA would impart in me the same? His questions, guidance and practical action points helped me in further clarifying my short term goals and long term aspirations. He explained how diverse his class was and how that helped him in his career. His willingness to help me was palpable.

These small things tell me a lot about the culture at that particular school. Over the last 4 years, my interactions with current student, alumni and Adcom representatives helped me a lot to make these judgements about the culture and value of the school. Very few schools were this much prompt in helping me. Thanks to ISB!!

Lessons for Business School MBA Applications in buying Apple MacBook Air!!

2012-06-16T21:12:00.000+05:30

Finally I brought the new MacBook Air 11” yesterday and it’s lovely! This is the first post from the MacBook and many more to come. I have been researching about the Apple’s MacBook, Ultrabooks and whole bunch of other laptops for a month now and finally decided to go for the Mac! Why…..I will try to explain and in this process I learnt an important lesson for B-School applications.

I went for Apple because Apple is able to create a sense of excitement about their products and very few laptop manufactures are able to replicate the same. When, I went to Apple store, I got engrossed in using the MacBook, received all the necessary information about the product and something in the air at the store, a sense of excitement among people who explained me about the product. I realized they really love the Apple and the MacBook! This sense of excitement was contagious. I believed the sense Elite status when I brought the MacBook. Apple’s product itself and along with services are exceptional and I need not say much about it. This excitement of owning the MacBook ultimately forced me to go for the MacBook.

This was in sharp contrast to my experience with other products. Went to official Dell Centre to see new XPS 13 and to Lenevo Ultra-books but did not found the zeal for product among the people around there. Although the products were great, I didn’t felt the excitement for the products. On the other hand I was seeing the madness of people for Apple’s WWDC 2012 in which they have announced new products.

Co-relation with B-school Applications

Reflecting upon the experience, I learnt that I need to create same “SENSE OF EXCITEMENT” in my application to the given B-school. I might produce a technically great application but if that excitement is missing in the application then I might still be on losing side.

The whole focus of strategizing my application has shifted now with a theme – “How Can I create a sense of ZEAL in my application? How can I can make them feel what am I feeling?” I am now searching ways to create that zeal and believe me its palpable when Adcom will read it….In search of excellence….

GMAT Strategy Series: OG-12 RC Update: Moving ahead with 90% Accuracy!!

2012-06-04T21:37:00.000+05:30

I am finally able to overcome the inertia and start moving in the right direction....

Well the GMAT Preparation is slowly but surely gaining the momentum. Although Math is bit lagging behind as compared to Verbal still it is no where close to the Panic situation.

After almost 900 SC and 600 CR from the 1000 questions series, I have started with RC from OG-12. I am currently focusing on short passages and then I would move to longer passages. I am solving minimum 3 passages per day with detailed analysis of each answer. In my last attempt I never felt confident about RC, I always thought that I am taking too much time and not understanding the passage properly.

I started SC with different approach of investing more time in understanding the passage than answering the questions. Once I understand the passage, it is relatively easy for me to tackle the questions. Plus I think sufficient practice of CR is also adding the value in improved accuracy of RC. I plan to finish OG12 then, OG-11 and OG10 before moving to the RC99 and LSAT passages. I am very happy to note that my accuracy level is hovering between 85% to 100%.

Simultaneously I need to start with Math revision and practice and I should not allow Math to lag behind too much.