Journey So Far...

After finishing all my Round 1 applications, now I’m waiting on their results and preparing for the Round 2 schools. I decided to take some time to relax after Round 1 application, but it seems that relaxing in a journey to B-school is far from reality. The anxiety level is at all-time high, because every day while you wait to hear from the schools, you see people getting interview invites, while at the same time, no notification about your applications; hence adding up a lot of frustration and anxiety. I got a quick notification on my Duke application; however, the news was not pleasant. Now with all the waiting and anxiousness, it is really getting hard to concentrate for Round 2 school applications, so I thought of kick starting again with writing about the my Round 1 journey and plan for Round 2 applications.

I planned to apply to 6 schools – Duke, Yale, Tuck, Darden, Columbia and UCLA in Round 1 but then ended up with applying to only 4, skipping Columbia and UCLA. I decided to let go Columbia because I missed the early action round deadline due to the application load of Darden and Tuck. Columbia is anyways a stretch school for me, so I decided to concentrate on other 2 realistic applications. After Darden and Tuck, UCLA was next in the line for the round 1. I started researching about it, connecting with Alumni and AdCom to find if it is the right program for me. I found out that the UCLA teaching style is “Lecture-based”, which is a definite down for me as I’m sold on for “Case-based” style. I also found that UCLA is at a disadvantage compared to other East coast School, for someone who is seeking a position in Financial world; another down for UCLA. I choose UCLA for its strong footprint in Media and Entertainment industry, but as I was not sure if I wanted to pursue a career in this industry, I let go UCLA for its 2 down to 1 up.

Now, as I’m waiting for my Round 1 application decisions, I shortlisted schools for round 2 applications. Here is the list – 

1. NYU Stern 
2. ISB 
3. Michigan Ross   
4. Cornell  
5. UNC Kenan-Flagler or Carnegie Mellon Tepper (not sure about them)

NYU is my replacement for both Columbia and UCLA. It is located in the world’s financial capital, New York City, with a strong foothold in both Finance and Entertainment world; however, cracking NYU seems a bit tough task because of its applicant’s higher mean GMAT score. Two of these schools – NYC and ISB – have deadlines in November, and with the waiting time adding to the anxiety, making this round tougher than the Round 1. Let's see what the future holds.

If you want to know anything specific about my application progress, or want to learn about my research, do drop me a message.

Darden, University of Virginia - School Research

Darden - University of Virginia - was the last school in my targeted school list for round 1. Before I started researching about Darden, I was not sure whether to apply into this school. I want to target only among top 25 ranked schools from FT ranking and Darden ranks 27 in the Financial Time ratings; however, as I progressed in my research I started to develop a strong connection with the schools. Darden is the only public school in my round 1 schools list. I was also amazed by the fact that many of my fellow Indians applicants did apply to Darden in round 1 – A total of 26 applicants declared their application submission on BTG Darden’s wall for round 1. Here is my take on Darden.

Things that I liked about Darden –

1. Case Method – If you are looking for case-method based learning and Harvard Business School is a stretch school for you, then Darden should be your best bet. Darden graduates discuss more than 600 cases in their 2 year program, with an average of 3 cases per day. My pick is case-method because I think case-method learning makes business graduate ready for the real world problems. I also dropped the idea of applying to UCLA because of its preference of lecture-based teaching.
2. Innovative Faculty – Darden faculties are really creative in their way of teaching. I really loved how Prof. Ed Freeman uses drama and theatre to teach the leadership skills. Darden puts a strong emphasis on ethics, and the business week ranking clearly corroborates this fact. Darden graduates are famous for their impressive articulating abilities; obviously the credit goes to the great faculty team.
3. Public School – Darden is a public school, hence the tuition fee is comparatively lesser than other B-schools (approx. $47K for Virginia residents and $52K for non-residents, in comparison to $57K - $60K at other elite b-schools). Darden also provides lots of scholarship options.

Things that are not so attractive about Darden –

1. Lower Rank – Darden made 5 rank jump in FT rating (from 32 to 27) in a year. I don’t understand completely the parameters behind the ranking of the Financial Times ratings; however, a lower rank does indicate a lesser attractiveness among the recruiters and lesser salary for Darden Graduates than other elite b-school graduates.
2. Brand Name – Darden is a great school, although Darden as a brand name is a lesser known name in global b-school world when compared to the likes of UCLA, NYU Stern, etc..

If you want to know anything specific about my application progress, or want to learn about my research, do drop me a message

Tuck (Dartmouth) - School Research

After submitting 2 applications (Duke and Yale) in round 1 I started focusing on my next target schools (Tuck and Darden). I’ve been following activities at Tuck for quite a long time and with each update or chat about the school on Facebook, blogs or mails, my fondness for Tuck keep on increasing. Tuck is my top priority school because of several reasons. For me, it actually is the benchmark; I evaluate other schools’ culture and their alumni network with Tuck’s. Usually I write about my school research in “attractive” and “not so attractive” section; however, for me there is very little scope for “not so attractive”. Here is the rest of the story –

Things I liked most about Tuck – 

1. Tuck Alumni network – The Tuck graduates commitment back to the school is the higher than any other (70 % of the alumni gave $6.3 million in 2013 – read the full report here). The commitment describes the attachment of the graduates with the school. During my research I interacted with several alumni and each of them were so down to earth that you can just be in their awe. They appreciate your good question and also guide you when you make mistakes. The guidance I received from the alumni, especially Jed Struman, was extraordinary.

2. Program at Tuck – Tuck offers so many programs to hone your personality and leadership skills and the way professor teach them, is simply amazing. Programs such as “Research to seminar”, “Independent Study”, “Wall-Street Edge program (Initiated by Tuck student) and “Communicating with presence and Negotiations” were the few extraordinary ones.

3. Faculties – A higher percentage (86%) of Tuck’s classes is taught by full-time faculty members than at most MBA programs, as opposed to visiting professors, lecturers, and adjuncts. Prof. Govindrajan, Prof. Goldsmith and Prof. Finkelstien are among the world's top 50 management Gurus.

4. Small Student Body – Tuck has a relatively smaller student body than other elite B-schools. You have the opportunity to bond with every other student and build a more personal relationship.

Things that are not so good about Tuck –

1. Lower Rank – Tuck is ranked quite low in many B-school rating lists. Tuck made it to the top-10 only in U.S. news ranking. In fact, it is ranked 20 in Financial Times rating. In the recent Economist ranking, Tuck is ranked at 2^nd position; however, many people don’t consider Economist ratings significant as many elite b-schools do not take part in Economist ratings.

2. High Tuition Fees – Tuck is among the group of expensiveB-schools, only behind Harvard and Wharton.

I submitted my Tuck application in the early action round and now waiting for the news. If you want to know anything specific about my application progress, or want to learn about my research, do drop me a message.

 

 

My Duke(Fuqua) Early Action Round Story

About a week ago, I received the status of my early action round application for Duke, Fuqua – The Daytime MBA Program and the news was not jovial. The notification said, that “you’re not invited for interview; however, this is not a final decision on your application”; my heart skipped a beat. I’m bit disappointed in myself. My top priority schools are Fuqua and Tuck. I was really looking forward to getting into one of these programs as I just fall in love with their culture and philosophy. Though there is still a little hope as I’m yet to receive the final status (probably by October 29, 2014).

I enjoyed extensively while preparing my application for Duke. Both the essay questions did provide the sense of feeling that the Adcom really wants to know about each and every individual beyond his/her academic and professional excellence. The humbleness and the involvement of Duke alumni with the prospective applicant can only be matched with only one other school, Tuck. I was amazed seeing that each alumnus is so ready to help out in the process even before one becomes a part of the fabulous Duke community. Also,in my research, Duke is the only other school, besides Tuck, whose school website has so much of the information about the program and the activities that people like me, who can’t visit schools in the U.S., can learn so much about the program from the school website.

I’m just hoping that the final decision comes in my favor. I loved the whole “Team-Fuqua” philosophy and really want to be the part of this great team. Fingers crossed, prayers start.

Insight into Yale(SOM) application - Video Questions

I applied to Yale SOM in round 1. Unlike many other schools, Yale SOM required only essay question and thus making it more difficult for applicant to showcase their different characteristic traits. Another distinct feature about the Yale SOM application was its video questions. Frankly, I was quite nervous about the whole impromptu video question format; however, once I started with the question I felt more relaxed and good about the whole format. In the video question one will be asked 3 questions and he/she will be given 20 Sec to think and formulate an answer, followed by 60 Sec to record an answer. Yale SOM also provides the 2 sample video question for practice. These questions are pretty simple and don’t require any prior research or preparation. Question are more in the format of company interview questions usually asked by HR.

I don’t have the exact wording of the questions on my application, but I’ll try to rephrase the questions to the best of my memory.

1.  According to you what is the best quality a leader should have?
2.  How would you resolve a conflict in your team setting?
3. Do you think presentation of an idea has more significance than its merit? Explain the reasoning for your choice?

One thing that did trouble me during the video questions was the volume, not properly audible. I couldn’t get the complete sentence in the 3^rd question; however, fortunately every question is also available in the on the screen to read.

My advice for applicants, who are applying to Yale SOM, is try to relax and be calm. Video questions are the best and fun part of the application. I did enjoy this section of my application and advise everyone to do the same. Don’t think too much about your answers, just try to be yourself. Also dress properly and make sure that you have proper lightning before you start with your video question. 

If you want me to write about any other aspect of my application and school research, do let me know.