And The Fight Goes On...

So I got the rejection from Duke few days back. The rejection really had me thinking about my chances in any of my top choice programs. The decision also made to reconsider my list of round 2 schools. I was really enthusiastic about the NYU program, but now after evaluating NYU’s inclination towards higher GMAT score (mine is 700 - Q50, V34) and considering my position from a very competitive Indian IT applicant pool, I’m thinking of passing on NYU application.

Though the rejection did hurt my confidence level, but I’m not going to give up in the fight. I am evaluating my options carefully for round 2. Michigan Ross and Johnson Cornell are still on my priority list; however, I’m considering now some safer schools too. Not sure about my chances with UNC Kenan Flagler, Texas McCombs or Carnegie Tepper, but I’m really considering these schools because of lower median/mean GMAT score and their less competitive applicant pool. I've to shortlist 2 out of those 3 schools. The B - school journey is really tough and long with many ups and down. I've seen some down in the journey for now, but now eagerly waiting for a good up from my round 1 application. Let’s see what the future holds for me.

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

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.