The MBA application
If you are an MBA student and you have a blog, you got to write about this. Its a rite of passage, so to speak. I'm by no means an expert, since I applied to exactly one school, and that too for its fully employed aka part-time program. But this is what I did. And I think it should work for any school. For any one.
1. Go to the info session. I went to a few info sessions. You get a glimpse of the quality and culture of the school during the info session. You get to see how hard they work to sell the school to you. That says something. If the school is worth that much, it should show without anyone referring to it overtly. I went to 3 different info sessions and picked the one that my gut felt strongly about. Blink, anyone? I got hooked when the dean in one of the schools made a fairly simple argument - "You have absolutely no idea about what you're getting into. But trust me. Its worth it." He sounded genuine. Honest. Credible. He had that fire in his eyes. If you know the school I go to, you know who I'm talking about. And trust me. He really is that good.
2. Dont spend more than 4 weeks preparing for the GMAT. It only takes you so far. It's not exactly a piece of cake, but there is only one thing you need to do. Actually, three things. Practice, practice, practice.
3. This was the hardest part for me. The application essays. I struggled with it. I read a couple of books on dos and donts. I thought a lot about figuring out what the adcom would like to hear. But then, I hit the writer's block. I just couldn't sit down and write BS. After a month's procrastination, I decided to do it. My only mantra - be true to yourself, honest. I answered the questions truthfully, as honestly as I could without being incomprehensible, even stating my doubts, ambivalence and naive expectations.
4. The interview was a walk in the park. I was kinda nervous, but the interviewer was pretty casual and put me at ease. He seemed to be impressed with my geek resume, and my answers to behavioral questions were spot on. I had met enough characters with rough edges and had had enough experience dealing with conflict to spend the day talking. Dropped a couple of hints that said I'd done some research about the school. 20 mins and we were through.
I knew I was in at two points. When I finished writing my essays, and when I walked out after the interview.
1. Go to the info session. I went to a few info sessions. You get a glimpse of the quality and culture of the school during the info session. You get to see how hard they work to sell the school to you. That says something. If the school is worth that much, it should show without anyone referring to it overtly. I went to 3 different info sessions and picked the one that my gut felt strongly about. Blink, anyone? I got hooked when the dean in one of the schools made a fairly simple argument - "You have absolutely no idea about what you're getting into. But trust me. Its worth it." He sounded genuine. Honest. Credible. He had that fire in his eyes. If you know the school I go to, you know who I'm talking about. And trust me. He really is that good.
2. Dont spend more than 4 weeks preparing for the GMAT. It only takes you so far. It's not exactly a piece of cake, but there is only one thing you need to do. Actually, three things. Practice, practice, practice.
3. This was the hardest part for me. The application essays. I struggled with it. I read a couple of books on dos and donts. I thought a lot about figuring out what the adcom would like to hear. But then, I hit the writer's block. I just couldn't sit down and write BS. After a month's procrastination, I decided to do it. My only mantra - be true to yourself, honest. I answered the questions truthfully, as honestly as I could without being incomprehensible, even stating my doubts, ambivalence and naive expectations.
4. The interview was a walk in the park. I was kinda nervous, but the interviewer was pretty casual and put me at ease. He seemed to be impressed with my geek resume, and my answers to behavioral questions were spot on. I had met enough characters with rough edges and had had enough experience dealing with conflict to spend the day talking. Dropped a couple of hints that said I'd done some research about the school. 20 mins and we were through.
I knew I was in at two points. When I finished writing my essays, and when I walked out after the interview.
posted by bigsur at 11:32 PM
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