Sunday, September 09, 2007

What have i been doing?

Well, though i have been seriously considering applying to BSchools since Jan this year, i was not able to get done with GMAT till last month. One of the primary reasons for that is my loss of passport. Following is an excerpt from one of the mail's i sent to my friends early may:

"I have been involved in a series of Unfortunate incidents of late (Sounds like a movie title isnt it?)

I realized that i lost my passport when i decided to book for a date for GMAT and have been subjected to the revelry of the red-tape in India since then, running from pillar to post (read police station to passport office), standing in those cheerfully long queues for just about 3-4 hrs a day, getting my application finally accepted.
Got done with another wonderful process called Police Verification...

Oops forgot to tell ya that i contracted one of those beatiful things called "Chicken Pox" in the process, raising serious doubts about my immunity levels. My mum wrinkled her nose at least once in a day since, as to how could her lad grab this thing again at 25 when he successfully did it twice when he was 6 and 12 month old respectively. And she thought that was the end :)

We have an expression in Telugu which when translated into English literally would mean "A cocunut falling on the head of an already troubled and moaning fox" was what my condition could be equal to :) Though i amnt as wily as a fox."

I should have researched about my schools and goals meanwhile, but lazy thing i am, i spent my time singing and dancing like that darned grasshopper. Due to some arcane reason, Ross and Darden were stamped on my mind since last year. I was invloved in a few community activites too, at least one thing that i am satisfied about. GMAT got done on August 13th and it has been almost a month since. I took almost a week off revelling in my stellar score. Though i knew score and GPA are just two minor factors in the admission, i could not help but take a break. The gravity of the whole process struck me when i started researching schools by late August, by when few of my fellow applicants completed their first drafts!! I landed up choosing

Tuck - Quaint location, small class size, wonderful alumni network, great product strategy courses and talks with a few seniors from my alma mater at Tuck

Chicago GSB - Great City, Good Brand in Asia/Europe, wonderful career opportunities, flexible curriculum like my alma mater's, September 5th Information session at Bangalore, Consulting opportunities abound

Darden - I knew i will be applying to Darden since last year :) small class size, case based pedagogy, Dean Robert Bruncer, few class mates got admission for this academic year

Ross - Strong technology roots of UMich, hawkeye, Multi-disciplinary focus of the curriculum

I ruled out London Business School for now, as i do not have time to squeeze it into R1, given the snail's pace of my progress to-date.

I sent the recommendation links for Tuck and requested my manager and PL to work on them. I am yet to send my 3 annual appraisal sheets, stories that i would want them to quote, my career goals essay. I sat down to do that but ended by blogging :) Since my manager sits at my company's HQ at CA, it may be slightly difficult to co-ordinate things, but he thankfully agreed to take it up. I worked very closely with him for the past 3 years and he knows the worth of the work i did and the impact i created. I am confident he can articulate it in the best possible manner. My PL recruited me into the team and has been my mentor since then. After all the attrition that has happened in my team we are two most senior members of team in India.
I will request my current manager in India for the recommendations i will be submitting for the sub-sequent schools.

At the essay front, I am still grappling with the career goals essay. I need to complete three more for Tuck and the "shoes" essay for Chicago GSB soon and send these essays for review.
On top of all this, I am leading a community leadership initiative in my company and directing about 20 people to work for the NGO i am currently involved with.

I hope i land up with some progress by my next post.

Simba visited my blog and left a comment and boy! i am honored :). Thanks Simba, that was mighty nice of you.

Simba is my guide to the MBA world, hers was the first 'MBA journey' blog that i started reading more than two years ago. She is a phenomenal writer and a role model, inspiration and motivation for me. I am sure anyone who followed her journey will agree with me.