Lurenamedambition’s Weblog

Had my first interview(telephonic) this morning at about 12 am with UNC which last for about 40 mins.30 mins before the interview, power blanked out at my place thereby taking me to a heightened sense of anxiety and nervousness, I most definitely did not want to speak with Adcom in the dark!Thankfully the lights came back on just in time for the interview.

Interviewer made me feel quite comfortable and overall it was an enjoyable one.I had put in about 8 hrs of preparation the whole of yesterday, writing out my answers(obviously did not recite them out during the interview) so that I would have a clear idea of what I wanted to say.Questions were as follows:

(1)Walk me through your resume(a lot of questions on this one as I have a rather uncommon career path)
(2)Describe yourself
(3)What do you do for fun?
(4)What challenges do you see facing India’s growth today?(I am from India)
(5)What books do i read, specifically on leadership?
(6)Where have you travelled(since I have done quite a bit of globetrotting in the last 2 yearas)
(7)A bit on my alumni contribution for my undergrad
(8)Why KFBS?
(7)What do you see yourself doing after an MBA?
(8)Do you plan on staying in US after your MBA?
(9)Any questions from me to him?

Thats about it, he was very kind and suggested a book on leadership that he thought I should read.All in all I think it went well, fingers and toes crossed(decision deadlines on Feb 4th)!

Now that essays are done, there seems to be too much time to wade into the nitty gritties of each college in hopeful anticipation of interview calls!While I have come across couple of blogs that host up their interview experiences, I do know only of one website that actually collates interview transcripts(http://www.clearadmit.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page).I would be so grateful if any of you could send me your inputs on interview transcripts that you refer to for the schools I have listed.

One more question at the cost of sounding ignorant,what type of questions does one typically ask an interviewer, is it more of a how will your univ help me or more of a first-hand account on what they can offer in terms of courses and clubs etc?Send me your thoughts!

I know R3 is the round that for all practical reasons colleges see as ‘The Filler Round’ but I must ask this, should I apply to Stern in R3?The location is perfect and I seem to be doggedly having a need to apply to this school.Couldnt apply in R2 because I didnt feel I was prepared enough for the essays it asked for.

Send in your thoughts!

Jotted down all the important dates that I will be anxiously counting the days to.Now that applications have been sent, theres a strange feeling of restlessness and anxiety that has set in which I am sure will continue until March 28th!Except for UNC, all others are interviews on invitation.UNC give you the option to schedule your interviews before they evaluate your app.

UNC – Jan 28th(I) ; Feb 4th(D)
Duke – Feb 23(I) ; Mar 7th(D)
Ross – Mar 15th(D)
Wharton – Mar 22nd(D)
Darden – Feb 20 – Mar 4(I) ; March 24th(D)
Chicago – Feb 20(I);March 26th(D)
UCLA – Mar 28th(D)

I am so glad Wharton and Ross have early decision dates as they are two of my 3 dream schools(the third being Chicago obviously!).But Id be happy getting into any of the above schools, as I think I have chosen well according to what I have achieved so far and where I see myself going in the next couple of years.Anyways,off I go to peruse interview experiences that must be floating in tiny bits in cyber world.

After many months I’ve resurfaced again,been bogged with preparing for GMAT,writing my essays and applying to my 7 colleges.Its been a mad mad 6 months and no amount of reading blogs or websites can give anyone an estimate of how much effort actually goes into the B-School application process.

Overall I think one needs a year’s time of introspection and a solid case to build up toward a stunning app packet!Going into what I ve been doing the last 6 months:

(1)Prepared for my GMAT in all of 8 weeks,scored a 650(I know its not great but in the time I had and the kind of work hrs I keep, I was moderately happy).Contemplated re-taking the GMAT but I really think I would like to do my MBA now.I ve worked quite a bit and I do see a clear need for an MBA at this point in my career.

(2)After many many hours of thought, I decided to apply to 8 colleges in R2.Ross,UCLA,UNC,Wharton,Chicago,Darden,Duke and Stern.The first app is always an eye-opener as you get a real feel of how much you dont know of yourself.As my friend often reminds me, applying to a B-school is a rediscovering of oneself in every dimension.The essays need to be the right fit,the school needs to be the right fit but one finds all this out only in the thick of applying.No amount of reading opinions is going to show you which one is right for you.Decided to drop Stern as of now, maybe I ll still apply in R3.

(3)Reviews,reviews and more reviews.Let me tell you, I cannot stress on the importance of a critical reviewer of your essays.My reviewer got on my nerves one too many times by pointing out the weaknesses in each essay, but I could not have brought out a good set of essays in the end that I was confident of without a critical eye reviewing them!Please try and finish your essays at least 1 week before the deadline so that reviewer can go over them several times before you make the cut.Being a classic last-minute case myself, I struggled through many apps but I work best under pressure so i am satisfied with my work.

(4)Spent many days and nights thinking about my long term goal.I was very unclear to begin with as may be the case for many applicants who like to live life by the day and grab opportunities as they come by, but that doesnt work for a B-School.You need to be absolutely sure of where you want to take your life to, so be prepared,start introspecting!

(5)Recommendors need some pushing from time to time as the best ones to recommend you are in top positions as was in my case and they were awfully busy and I had to politely but firmly keep sending them reminders.Notifying them 1 month in advance of deadlines would be a good way to ensure the reccos are done on time.

(6)One sore point that I wish I could have done something about is the fact that I couldnt visit any colleges, which is true for most international applicants.But if possible please do attend MBA Events and fairs as they seem to carry quite some weightage in the background application questions.

Anyways that being said, I hope I ve done a good job.All I can do now is to wait and see and keep my fingers crossed that I do get an admit!