ISB final decision tomorrow.. Time to act brave, yet again?

So the day has come. 20th Nov. Final decision for R1 applicants of ISB.

Last year they had announced results 2 days earlier than the declared deadline. No such surprise this time, though I think it made life tougher for a lot of applicants who have been having sleepless nights for last 2-3 days, getting alarmed at each incoming message tone and each new mail pop ups…

Have you heard of “Doc update theory” for ISB admits and rejects? No? Let me shed some light. After you receive interview call from ISB, you are asked to email them your Xth and XIIth marksheets, etc. The ISB admission staff, in due course opens your mail and uploads these documents against your application and it shows up in your application checklist in the application portal. Now the theory says- if your docs are shown uploaded, it signals an admit as ISB adcom won’t bother about this rather tiresome process for around 800 people who are going to be “let go of” for this year. Makes sense? I bet it does if you don’t hear of cases where people got the docs updated before even the interview! Also, the adcom and a current student(Simz@pagalguy, Sameer in real life) have denied this theory emphatically. I don’t believe it in either as I think it is being done on the basis of application numbers.

Whatever it is my docs are not uploaded yet. And it hurts a bit though my application number is pretty much at the back-thanks to my submission of the application on the last day of the deadline for R1.

Whatever it is, we will come to know of the veracity of this theory tomorrow. And how much I hope that I dont find myself reporting a ding tomorrow just like I did for LBS after writing a post similar to this one.

Wish me luck!

I proposed. LBS disposed..

So as I feared in last post, got a ding from LBS at around 11.45 pm on 12th Nov. Yes, LBS managed to keep its word of announcing the shortlist on 12th Nov(though there are a few people who were informed that their result was not ready yet and they would be informed the next day).

Anyway. So what now? Well, this innocent looking 3 word question will need a lot of deep introspection on my part. ISB final result is a week away. If it is favorable, well, it will come as a big relief and will served as a shot in the arm for my bigger application for Haas. If not, I would still app at Haas with all my vigor and would pray for it to open a micro hole in its door through which I could try to squeeze in…

More thinking later. For now, I am trying to focus my attention away from ISB to Haas(9th Dec-R2) and TOEFL(23 Nov, Pune). As I write, these lines came to my mind(GnR):

Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place
Where as a child I’d hide
And pray for the thunder
And the rain
To quietly pass me by

Where is this warm safe place for me?

LBS interview list tomorrow!!

Okay so 20 mins for clock to signal the beginning of D-day for LBS- 12th Nov. However much I have tried to keep my expectations down, I can’t escape from the curiosity of knowing the result. I know in all likelihood, I would be writing a post like “Ok. So a ding from LBS…” here tomorrow but hard to calm down the fast heartbeats still.

Looking back at my application for LBS- I think I did a decent job. I had completed this application along with Tuck application in 10 days flat and hence I really shouldn’t be creating much fuss if I do get a ding tomorrow.

Keeping my fingers crossed for now. Miracles- where are you?

Haas R1 gone. TOEFL, here I come…

So Haas didn’t budge from its requirement of TOEFL for Indian candidates. And with that, I breathed easy. I was out of town on Diwali for family regroup and since was desperate to meet the R1 deadline, was sure of spoiling the festive mood. Wrote to Haas about waiving off TOEFL and here is what they replied:

Dear XXX,

Here are the answers to your questions:

1.  We are not able to waive the TOEFL for applicants educated in India.

2.  You must have completed the test by the deadline for which you apply.  Please see our application directions for additional information on this.  If you complete the TOEFL by November 25, you would be eligible for our second deadline.

This basically translates to:

1. Its R2 for me at Haas. sigh..
2. Need to take TOEFL now, only for Haas perhaps, but can’t help. Haas is one of my dream schools and I am already running out of schools which I would like to attend. I have applied at highly competitive schools this year such as LBS and Tuck and hence to improve my odds of getting lucky, need to have Haas up there too. Had a sneak peek at TOEFL requirements from office and think I should be able to manage it okay in around 15 days. Need to book a test slot in Pune soon as I have heard it takes some 15 days for TOEFL score to come from ETS. Gosh, I don’t want to miss R2 for Haas, which falls in Dec first week for want of TOEFL score again…

Any help for acing TOEFL will be highly appreciated!

Ding from IIMC…

Okay so as my innermost fears have been screaming for so long, its a ding from IIMC PGPEX. Since, I was not running this blog at the time of interview, here is the experience I posted at PG:

” I was interviewed today in Mumbai. No stress questions, no leadership, no quant questions. They asked some random questions but I never got a feeling that they were seriously interested in digging more about me. So they seemed to have taken the decision about me long before I entered the “interrogation room”. And since my app didn’t have something exceedingly attractive, I tend to think the decision was a ding. The interview lasted around 15-20 mins. “

So what now? Boy it surely feels bad to get rejected and shakes your confidence a bit. Anyone who doesn’t admit this, is probably lying. Since I applied at a very few schools in R1 so far(ISB, IIMC, Tuck and LBS), this ding also has made me rethink my career goals. Do I need MBA at this year desperately? Should I apply at a few lower rung schools such as Judge, Said, UCLA, Texas or use this year’s app and interview experience to take a shot at same and better schools next year? My interview with ISB went okay, and it surely feels good to hope of making it to the final list, but looking at the stiff competition in the Indian applicant pool, I better keep it out of my thinking process.

Waiting kills me. And yes, I have already waited enough(had calls from IIMs,FMS, etc around 4-5 years back) for my MBA. So there is a strong sub-conscious force to get past this long cherished dream. But when the sanity returns, I find myself asking – “why a rush now when you already waited this long. Go for the best!”. And that is what I would perhaps do. I have following schools in my list now:

1. Haas(R2)

2. Judge(R2)

3. NUS(R1)

If nothing happens in any of these, I think I would defer my plan to next year. Hope things don’t go that bad though…

ISB interview… done!

Done with my ISB interview yesterday in Mumbai. Went fine, but get a feeling that the interviews won’t impact the final decisions in most cases. It will be the diversity factor and the impression they formed from your application.

Here is the interview exp in brief:

Location: Mumbai, Panel 2, 9 am.

At around 8.30 am, got word “ridiculous” for the 100 word essay. Since the interview started 45 mins late, technically had time of about 1.25 hours to complete the essay. I however finished it in 10-15 mins, didn’t want to think much on it somehow.

My profile is: 5 years current exp, IT Services 1 year, Rest in IT product startups, 710 GMAT.

The interview:
Two people. One guy(G),perhaps an alum. One lady(L), perhaps faculty.

G: Can you describe your career after 12th and also the reasons for the decisions you took.
Me: Provided a brief summary with emphasis on work experience, which I think is strong.
G: Asked some minor follow up questions which I don’t remember right now.
L: So why MBA now? You have had a good run so far?
Me: Explained the desire to add more value to the success of organizations I work for. Explained the business challenges I experienced in the startups( My last employer had shut down India office recently, etc)
G(well familiar with this MBA reason): But these things happen however good business leadership is. How would MBA help?
L: So what were the innovative initiatives you took?
Me: Gave instances involving different teams in organization such as Marketing, sales, prod mgmt. Both seem satisfied.
L: Why a sudden interest in community service? (I had joined an NGO about 5 months ago)
Me(Caught off-guard): Blabbered something about the need to address the particular problem. They looked okay but not very impressed.
G: Suppose you are a delegate of indian IT to Barack Obama, how would you convince him to do outsourcing.(Came up from my on earlier response)
Me: Handled Okay. Explained in these tough financial conditions, US businesses will do well to stream line themselves and focus on core business. Indian IT is still cost effective and has expertise. We can help them get over these times.
G: Are you saying indian IT has solution to this meltdown?
Me: No. But we can help for sure. With our expertise, low cost. Repeated. Should have brought in more perspectives perhaps.
G: You mentioned wireless networks sometime ago.(I worked in a WiFi company recently and had said wireless is hot these days in India while explaining the initiatives I took). What will be the market size in India.
Me: Handled okay. But should have prepared this one. Anyway, as usual, they looked at the approach and seemed satisified. While I was scribbling in the scratch-pad, I saw the guy showing something in my application/his assessment to the lady and the lady nodded. What was that- Admitted/Ding?
G: Any questions you have?
Me: Asked an okay one. They explained.
Had some discussion. Explained my entrepreneurial inclination too.
Me: Thanked them for their time and the great effort being put up by the AdCom to handle things, appreciated Mr Menon’s effort at PG)
G: Thanks for that. I would convey to Mr Menon too.

I have played my part with around 85-90% efficiency. Not that bad given that giving your 100% dream performance in unknown conditions is not that easy. Let’s see if that proves enough in the end. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Hi!

Okay so I finally got my MBA blog up. Have been following some by fellow mba aspirants and thought its time I got one too.

Will post important information and perhaps not so important musings about my MBA sojourn here.

Do leave a comment if you feel like.

Cheers!

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