My MBA seems to have already begun. To start with, I’m not getting enough time for myself, the to-dos keep piling up, am connecting with new people all over the place, and spending more and more time online – engaged in MBR – what I call an ‘MBA based research’.
The school’s keeping us busy with a number of essential activities, and doing a great job of propelling us into the MBA mode.
Sometime last week, the thought crossed my mind that I should discontinue blogging. The blog’s fast becoming a vehicle of mundane updates, and thats not how I intended it to be.The moment I decide to expand it, there’d be a plethora of things which manage to catch my attention, and all of them would swarm me for a mention here. Hopefully though, the blog would move from the documenting of my journey to more of my opinions on all things MBA.
That brings me to the anonymity question – once I’m at school, there are enough clues in my posts for someone to recognize who I am, hence what if I don’t remain anonymous anymore ? To be honest, this never bothers me. Gone are the days of Internet1.0 where we used to bask in glee over fancy avatars and secret identities, when anonymity was one of the Internet’s USP. Thats been one of the sweeping changes brought over by the social media, and it speaks about the behavioural changes of how the post-Internet generation took to broadcasting their lives like fish to water. If you want to participate and partake in the information based economy, its time you made your social presence felt online. Internet2.0 fosters a give and take relationship. The blog’s just a window to let a bit of air inside, and just like in the real world, you can’t stop people from peeping in. It would however be naive for someone to think they know me from what this window offers. I would consider the blog successful if I am able to speak my mind and give you an uncensored, unabridged version of my story during the next 2 years. Its going to be fun.
My tips for acing the GMAT are short and simple. This is what I would suggest to anyone planning to take the GMAT soon –
a) There is an overload of information and materials on and off the internet, all promising to guarantee you a near 800 score. The preparation material you use is important, hence you need to be wise here. The only reference thats important is the Official Guide and the 2 GmatPrep tests. Here’s why.
b) The thing about GMAT is that it can go against your perception. Thats why, if you begin to use mock tests and other preparatory materials widely available, there’s a high chance that your perceptions about the question pattern would be shaped by them. Use ONLY the Official Guide for finding and understanding the pattern to the GMAT questions. I repeat, ONLY the Official Guide. Every other material is fine for your practice, but not for finding the pattern.
c) So I’ve been stressing on establishing the pattern. Try this – Day 1 – take the GmatPrep 1, and list down the numbers of the questions you got WRONG. Lets call it List1. Store the list somewhere. Do not analyze your test now. Day 5 – take the GmatPrep1 again, and prepare a similar list for the questions you got WRONG again. This is List2. Now carefully go through the questions you got wrong twice. Note the type of questions, and the reasons for getting them wrong. Then move on to all the questions you got wrong in either attempt, and repeat your analysis. Focus your mind on these question types, and soon you’d have established your answering pattern. You can repeat the exercise with a dozen questions from each section from the OG to confirm the pattern.
d) There is no trick involved in the step above. You need to understand that the answers to some of the GMAT questions, especially Verbal, would be different from what you think. Even when you are looking at the right answer. The idea is to establish whats wrong, and how to get it right. This, for me, was the key. You can now practice as much as you want from other sources, but to get the most accurate idea about your score range and your answering pattern, always remember – only OG and GmatPrep !!
e) Approach the test with the belief that you would answer every question correctly. The correct answer’s out there, and the time, as long as you plan it well, is with you. The first few questions decide your score range. The next few decide which end of the range you lie. The last few decide whether its going to be 10/20 points higher or not. So they are all important – don’t lose your guard at any time. Get into the habit of staying focused for 4 hours at a stretch. If you need to choose, do 20 questions per section from the OG on one day at one stretch instead of 10 questions a piece everyday.
f) Do not ignore the AWA section. You wouldn’t require a lot of practice for it as long as you prepare smartly. Avoid the tendency to switch directly to the main questions while taking a mock test. AWA marks the beginning of your test, and it’d be in your advantage to start well. Practice at least a couple of tests by completing the AWA first – just to ensure that your focus remains sustained even after an hour or so that it lasts.
Thats the essence of what I would recommend to anyone taking the GMAT. Go ace it fast; its one aspect of the MBA application that you still have control over. All the best !
Ask me about the accomodation options near Emory University, and you stand a good chance of being inundated with information. I’ve spent the better part of the last few days in finalizing where to stay during the 1st Year, and have done as much as one can when sitting thousands of miles away. I almost zoomed inside my apartment, but for Google Earth’s limitation to stay aerial.
There’s excitement all around. Finally I am into the mode where I can’t wait for the MBA to begin. The flight ticket has been booked, with a window seat conveniently reserved. Things that remain are the pre-enrollment courses, and figuring out how to demonstrate my medical immunity given the fact that there are no records. I am certainly in no mood to ask my child’s doctor to administer the MMR to me as well; can imagine his expression if I were to do so.
Before my MBA stirs up a new chapter, I plan to post about a few topics that would be relevant as an applicant. GMAT is one topic that does not get a lot of mention on my blog, so would compensate for it soon. The deadline for this year’s Reliance Scholarship Application is already over, and I reserved my views for most of the essays that some applicants wanted me to review, since I didn’t feel qualified to pass a judgement on what would click and what wouldn’t.
And yes, I resigned from my work yesterday. I have had a wonderful time at my present organization, evident by the fact that I stayed with it for almost 5 years. An absolute pleasure, and I feel fortunate to say so. Reminds me of the last time I had resigned and under what circumstances. Wonder when would I get to resign next, and whether the economy would improve enough to help me get there 
is also the day Kellogg updated my status and dropped me from the wait list. Surprisingly, I wasn’t heartbroken. Probably because I have got closer to Emory in the last 4 months since my acceptance and am extremely happy to be going there, and grateful for the affordability. Kellogg has, however, been the jewel of my application process. I feel enriched from the experience and from the brief yet wonderful association with a school I would have loved to be a part of. Thank you. The closure was necessary.
Its Emory all the way from here.
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So I was telling you about my visa interview experience. My kid, usually quiet when among people, began to wail upon noticing that the visa hall was unnervingly silent. We had to take him out and wheedle him for quite some time before he permitted us to enter the hall again. Without a long wait and after begging our kid not to shriek during the interview, it was our turn to face the Visa Officer. He seemed to be pretty happy about something, not sure what. The last time I had faced a US visa interview, it had lasted barely 10 seconds, but this time around the VO was taking his time to type a lot of information, and his first question to us came after about a minute or so. During all his questions, he looked us straight in the eyes and I think never blinked. After a few expected questions and my kid growing restless again, he felt satisfied with the interview and announced that our visas had been approved.
So that marks the final lap of my MBA applications, and its about 8 weeks before I become a student again. There are a number of things on my list vying for my attention, and I better comply. There’s also this feeling that the time for an MBA is going to arrive, finally. So much for getting upto here; so much, to look forward to.
The Clear Admit Blog ran this cute survey about which B School perk excites you the most. Not surprisingly, the most votes have gone for “Not having a 9 AM – 5 PM (or 8 AM – 10 PM) job for two years.” Wow. I’m thrilled to no ends by just the thought that the next 2 years would be spent ‘learning’ on campus, and not having to go to office for at least two years! Ironically, the first question running in my mind while speaking to current students is – “Will I be able to get a job (even a 8 AM – 10 PM one would do!) at the end of 2 years ?”.
I wonder what thrills us more – seeking a change, or the ’seeking’ itself ?
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If necessity is the mother of invention, then recession should be the mother of re-invention. As companies all over the world try and reinvent their survival and growth strategies instead of just limiting costs by taking the opportunity to rightsize their work forces, its time for we MBA students to prepare ourselves for a future unlike before. The Class of 2009 went in when the economic surface looked rock solid, even though the cracks were beginning to appear. The Class of 2010 entered with apprehensions that turned into a nightmarish reality. We, The Class of 2011, enter armed with the thought that come what may, we are prepared for the worst. We feel it can’t slide any further. Or well. I wonder what the current applicants, for the Class of 2012, are thinking.
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I’ve been witness to how the wait list saga has unfolded for one of my co-applicants. Needless to say, the process is (very) long, tiring, and painful. I’ve seen both the sides – people truly passionate and determined about their schools making it off the waitlist as well as those who are finally left with a negative decision. I have myself suffered (still suffering) the agony of being on the wait lists, and trust me, its not one of the best positions to be in. Though very rewarding if it works out, the prolonged uncertainty can get the better of you.
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I have begun to count my days left at this office. For a transient while, it feels good to be living a settled life – where things are known, predictable, and comfortable. Where I am familiar with the faces around me, like (quite) the work I do, and have the luxury of returning home to my wife and kid. Then the MBA bug takes over, and I begin to look forward to the unfamiliarity, the unpredictability, and the grinding of an MBA. The next two years are going to be interesting, of that I am certain.
