tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46213888725471425752011-10-02T09:29:24.958-04:00lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.comBlogger321100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-78369605659080231712011-01-04T19:57:00.001-05:002011-01-04T19:57:45.347-05:00

The applications have been submitted. The holidays are over. It’s a new year. And I find myself in the same spot I was last year. Waiting…. Again! I have nothing profound to say that hasn’t been said already, so I’ll just close this note by wishing everyone a successful 2011. May the MBA Gods shine upon you.

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-62762833868736126662010-12-07T01:21:00.001-05:002010-12-07T01:31:11.267-05:00

Hello world! How are you soon to be b-schoolers faring this year? I hope things are looking up after last year – a super competitive year for any wannabe MBA. Like many of you, I am a reapplicant, targeting R2. Applying this year was a little bitter sweet. Not really used to failure, being dinged last year, was a bummer. Especially in light of the fact that my girlfriend made it to a top 5

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-90751759636263068032010-04-19T16:29:00.001-04:002010-04-19T16:29:40.697-04:00

I am annoyed by people who decide to put quotes in their signatures, but once in a while something comes along that makes you go “wow”. "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." – Aristotle This quote came through today, I liked it – it echoes my personal philosophy that I ought to do the best I can, everyday. Thought I’d share it with y’all.

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-58336692237698399632010-04-19T16:22:00.001-04:002010-04-19T16:22:46.935-04:00

Last week my company posted two new openings. By Monday we had received over 500 resumes for each position. This is unprecedented. Even during bad times that followed the dot-com-bust in the early part of this decade, our company didn’t receive more than a hundred resumes for any position, my manager quipped, as he proceeded to give me a stack to filter for potential hires. We’re hiring an

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-81836368597647002362010-04-14T17:09:00.001-04:002010-04-14T17:09:24.937-04:00

I have been nominated for the Clear Admit Best of Blogging applicant blog for 2009-2010. I am humbled, yet proud that I am in the running for this award and wish all the nominees bon chance! As you can imagine, I’ve been pretty busy at work. However, I intend to post regularly in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-67881962006502990292010-03-18T16:24:00.001-04:002010-03-18T16:26:54.127-04:00

You can only connect the dots looking back. I didn’t say that. Steve Jobs, one of my favorite CEOs, said that in 2005 at while delivering Stanford’s commencement speech. “Stay hungry, Stay foolish,” he reminded us. And that's the question I’ve been pondering about a lot recently. Would applying again this fall be foolish or an act of steadfast persistence that will yield dividends? I wish I

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-35391302203032555742010-03-10T05:01:00.001-05:002010-03-10T05:04:23.425-05:00

Fellow  business school applicants. The road has almost come to an end. My results for the 2010 application season are known to you (summarized below) for you if you’ve just landed here. R1: Kellogg (Interviewed/Dinged) / Booth(Dinged) / MIT (Interviewed/Deferred) R2: Fuqua (Interviewed/Dinged) / HBS (No Interview) / Stanford (No Interview) It has been a long, arduous journey; one that I

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-79392886812508129502010-02-03T22:55:00.001-05:002010-02-03T22:56:43.144-05:00

Going through the MBA grind is never easy, especially if the first few schools haven’t taken the bait. I failed to impress Chicago-Booth and Kellogg, while MIT was only lukewarm to the idea of having me (deferred to R2, with interview.) R2 has started with a glimmer of hope and clearly if you are to believe Yahoo Astrology, 2010 is going to be the time when some of my wishes (long overdue) come

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-85697617700641927502010-01-18T10:05:00.001-05:002010-01-18T10:14:25.469-05:00

I submitted my last R2 application this weekend. And it feels so good. To tell you the honest truth, after going through the MBA grind, I am not so worried about whether a b-school will have me or not. I’m just happy that I took the time to go through the process because its taught me a few things. Interested? Well, here we go. 1: The introspection, feedback and discussions I’ve had since July

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-73744989297616036212009-12-08T16:33:00.001-05:002009-12-08T16:33:53.351-05:00

When an email from Kellogg hit my mailbox, without a prior congratulatory call, I knew the news couldn’t be good. And true to expectations, Kellogg cut me loose. I thought Kellogg was my strongest application, but their decision proves otherwise. I loved writing essays for them, really enjoyed visiting Evanston and connecting with the students. I was hoping that KSM would come through for me.

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-89353890852256260832009-12-08T12:08:00.001-05:002009-12-08T12:52:37.455-05:00

Earlier this year, I had speculated that b-school application volumes will be impacted by external trends and the economic environment (Lower MBA Application Volumes in 2009-2010?) and discussed how I had factored this into my plans while selecting schools for R1 and R2. My interactions with adcoms at MIT, Stanford and HBS revealed that R1 applications for those schools remained flat or

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-80991337746192302412009-12-05T17:30:00.001-05:002009-12-08T12:53:45.195-05:00

Yes! Kellogg and MIT have begun notifying candidates about admits and interviews respectively. The first few rounds of MIT interview invites went to Boston and NYC candidates while Kellogg released its first admission decisions to a few people in Chicago on Friday, December 4th. It’s hard to stay upbeat and focused on R2 applications right now. I’m using music as a crutch to stay positive and

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-19483851967738298522009-12-04T04:21:00.000-05:002009-12-05T17:12:37.608-05:00

As you may recall, a few weeks ago I accompanied my girlfriend to Palo Alto for her interview at the Stanford GSB. It was a great experience and I loved the school. However, the “save the world” hippiness and naive positivity sometimes got to me. No one can be that nice, can they? But they were. And that’s the Stanford GSB for you. A b-school for the smart softies who want to change the world. I

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-57130485274433458922009-12-04T04:06:00.001-05:002009-12-04T04:06:51.828-05:00

MIT sent out it’s first round of invites today. But you’re probably wondering why I’m complaining about Windows 7 suddenly? Well. It’s a long story. And you’ll enjoy it. I just got a new laptop from work. A ThinkPad T500 with Windows 7. Raj, our resident tech guru, and my go to guy for all questions relating to technology assured me that its the best thing that our hardware budget would allow. I

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-17588894871416136802009-11-29T16:27:00.001-05:002009-11-29T16:27:17.575-05:00

I thought I’d enjoy my thanksgiving if I stayed away from the forums, but my anxiety has only multiplied. With only a few days to go until Kellogg starts releasing decisions and MIT begins sending out interview invites, I’ve been draining my iphone battery checking for updates on the internet. I am almost mentally paralyzed and unable to focus on anything. Hopefully, not for long. Last year

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-21636580651224728282009-11-14T23:18:00.001-05:002009-11-14T23:18:18.878-05:00

WARNING: Information in this write up was provided by Sloan alumni and has not been verified for correctness. Before heading out to the airport, I had lunch with some Sloanies. It was refreshing to do something other than writing essays or obsessing getting in. At some point the conversation went in the direction of how MBA applications are evaluated at Sloan. Here’s the info they shared

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-89316057152320140402009-11-14T02:27:00.001-05:002009-11-14T02:44:56.882-05:00

Admits 0, Dings 1. That’s the score so far. I’ve spent the last few days revisiting my essays, thinking about my application and trying to figure out what more I can do to ace my Round 2 applications. Linda Abraham, the founder of Accepted.com wrote an article for BeatTheGMAT which may be of particular interest to folks in a similar spot as me.  I have exchanged a few tweets with Linda and hope

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-19389816993805871402009-11-13T18:49:00.001-05:002009-11-14T02:46:29.780-05:00

International first-time graduate enrollment remained flat in three broad fields in 2009—in business and engineering, two of the three largest broad fields for international students, and also in life sciences. You can download the report here. I found my way to this report from BusinessWeek’s Getting In blog. Just skimming through the report the following table caught my eye. Last year

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-18916841132782322812009-11-13T18:18:00.001-05:002009-11-13T18:18:41.653-05:00

My girlfriend has interviews with H/S next week. I’ll be  be travelling to Palo Alto and back to Boston with her. This weekend I’ll be catching some sunshine, enjoying great California cuisine and helping the woman prep for her interviews on Monday. Check back next week, when I’ll share my thoughts on how to crack the Fuqua essays. Take it easy everyone!

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-89366108033543575592009-11-12T02:01:00.001-05:002009-11-12T02:02:40.129-05:00

Check out the latest GMAT ad campaign. They’re telling us that if you’re not an MBA, the only jobs you qualify for are those of a server or a poop scooper. Wow! If this doesn’t scare me to register for the GMAT, I don’t know what will. Perhaps they need to hire an MBA with some advertising and marketing experience. Really distasteful.

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-38223421095825361342009-11-12T01:15:00.001-05:002009-11-12T01:42:32.107-05:00

It was very disappointing. This morning Chicago-Booth sent out an email, informing me that my status had changed. I knew that it meant I had been denied. The many hours spent studying for the GMAT, writing essays, preparing materials for recommenders, putting together a presentation had yielded no result. Why didn’t they pick me, choose me, invite me to interview? I’ve been asking myself this

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-76837843715468808352009-11-10T15:00:00.003-05:002009-11-10T18:31:58.967-05:00

Perhaps its premature, but I believe it is time to bow out gracefully. Chicago-Booth turned out to be a disappointment. I am yet to receive an invite, but the writing on the wall seems fairly clear. This calls for introspection and analysis and also more committed effort for the applications that I am yet to submit.Recently I had dinner with a couple of my friends who are also applying to MBA

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-39167631029756225302009-11-06T16:06:00.004-05:002009-11-06T19:27:43.556-05:00

The past few days have been really busy at work. Add the stress of not having heard anything from Chicago-Booth, anyone would give up constantly checking for updates on the internet. Yep, tried that, didnt work, the addiction was too great. So here I am, back again on the www trolling for any scraps of info about Chicago-Booth interview invites. Here's what I've gathered so far for you me

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-30592176883302198122009-11-03T01:48:00.006-05:002009-11-03T02:18:02.641-05:00

I posted an article that suggests 2009-2010 might see lower application volumes on the BW Forums a few days ago. At lunch today, a couple of people from work (most of whom are applying to MBAs this fall) took the time to think through it.Here's what most essay consultants will tell you to get you to spend money:Higher GMAT volume: You will often hear that more people are taking the GMAT, so more

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-86337714768484237112009-11-03T01:33:00.004-05:002009-11-03T02:39:44.212-05:00

Its been 2.5 weeks since the application deadline and roughly a little over 1.5 weeks since my application became "complete" -- the question on my mind, and undoubtedly on the mind of many other Chicago-Booth applicants is how long must one wait before giving up hope.The data provided by BW forum posters is too sparse. I also checked the GMATClub Chicago-Booth page. And to make sense of it all I

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-11439214199541916672009-10-29T20:19:00.001-04:002009-10-29T20:24:02.040-04:00

I am working on my applications for Duke-Fuqua now. I wasn’t sure if I would apply to Duke – I hadn’t visited the campus or had much interaction with the alumni. Most of the people I interact with who have MBAs are M7 alums. I thought of Fuqua as a school where most of the people were ex-military or from the south. Being a big city person, living in Durham didn’t appeal much to me either. But my

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-54420306866137180302009-10-29T19:46:00.001-04:002009-10-29T19:59:06.548-04:00

I was curious to see if I was getting any traffic and Raj, our office’s resident tech guru recommended I install a web traffic gadget. I did (ok, I just logged Raj in and he did his magic) and it sent me my first summary by email. I jumped off my chair when I noticed that I’ve had visitors from the University of Chicago. Even if it was for 0 seconds, I at least got their attention. Well, whoever

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-88853066052251216202009-10-29T14:17:00.003-04:002009-10-29T19:31:29.232-04:00

I submitted my part 1 sometime in late September and followed up with part 2 on the deadline on October 14th. I was perplexed that I hadn’t received an invite from the admissions committee until someone mentioned on the BW Forum that his invite was buried in spam. Sure enough, Kellogg sent me an interview assignment a 4 days after I submitted part 1. We scheduled the interview for Oct 26 at 6pm

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-50601193695419934872009-10-26T21:09:00.001-04:002009-10-29T14:39:26.541-04:00

It’s a surreal feeling. For weeks leading up to this moment, I have been a nervous wreck. But now that I am here, hours of essay writing, painstaking research and schmoozing alumni to share the secret sauce are over and it’s such a relief. I just need to hit that shiny submit button. Over dinner, my friends compared applying to MBA akin to giving birth. Yes, I agree but the only difference

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-47140059587774072982009-10-26T21:07:00.001-04:002009-10-29T14:39:48.993-04:00

I wanted to share my take on MIT Sloan essays for 2009-2010. So, if you’re applying later in the year, read away! Career Vision Unlike most traditional MBA applications, MIT Sloan does not ask you to discuss your career vision. This makes the task of the applicant that much more difficult. If you don't get a chance to tell the adcom what you want to do with your life, how will your essays and

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-78112763195068454542009-10-26T13:32:00.003-04:002009-10-29T14:41:57.454-04:00

Forums are reporting this morning that Chicago-Booth has begun to send out invites. The first wave has gone out to international students (as reported by GMATClub) and early applicants (as reported by BW Forums.) The number of invites being reported so far is fairly small, so I am expecting that over the next few days invites will start trickling out in greater numbers. Nov 7 is smack dab in the

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4621388872547142575.post-52526616199586277892009-10-25T18:15:00.002-04:002009-10-29T14:40:20.298-04:00

I’m a little late to the MBA blogging scene, but there’s no reason I can’t join the band wagon now. Just like the most of you, I have been uber busy for the last five months. The rigors of managing a job that steals 10-12 hours every day, and even weekends sometimes, in addition to the GMAT, recommendations, essays has simultaneously been a WOW! and UGH! experience. Hopefully, there will be

lbiggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14974981628393091982noreply@blogger.com0