The first two weeks (orientation and pre-terms) at ISB made most of us feel like spending our entire life in the campus. Full of fun, games, parties and what not. After the first week of core terms, I am sure most of us would have second thoughts about the same. ISB never sleeps. You would find people sitting in the lawn and discussing the assignments at 3 AM. You would find many rooms lighted up even at 4 AM. By the time those guys decide to enjoy their brief and invaluable nap, those early morning guys would get up and start working on ….
Even before the classes started, our batch is engaged in completing the pre-read for Marketing, Finance etc. Myself .. I started off reading Marketing Management by Kotler (bible for marketing). After reading two chapters, I could not recollect where I started. As days passed (remember just two days), most of us were fighting for time and busy with trade offs. We were expected to complete the post-reads AND the pre-reads for the forthcoming classes. Rest all apart, one thing can be taken for granted. By next April (hopefully we all will be in sound shape), we all will be masters of time management and trade offs along with Master of Business Administration.
Two days back, we (Shashank, Tarun and myself) were discussing career options and work life balance post MBA. Like any other day, Shashank is in high spirits with a Fosters in his hand and Tarun came up with an excellent story he came across.
A child of a high paying parent is deprived of his father’s time and attention. On a day, over breakfast, the conversation goes like this:
Child: Dad, how much do you get paid for an hour? Father: 5K an hour Child: Hmmmm …. Can you give me 4K. Father: What does a kid studying first standard got to do with 4K. blah blah…..
and rushes to office after breakfast. This guy thinks over the conversation during the course of the day and makes up his mind to give 4K to the kid. By the time he returns home, the kid is lying in his bed half sleep. With no intention of waking up the kid, he places four 1000 Rs notes by the side of the kid. The kid wakes up and takes a 1000 INR which he had collected from long back and gives 5K to his father and asks him to take out on an evening for an hour. Very moving. Isn’t it ?
The moral of the story is not so difficult to make out. But, the most difficult challenge I guess is to manage work-life balance.
I thought I would post one very funny conversation which took place over dinner today.
I was having dinner with two buddies of mine and we were discussing how life could be if one gets married while at ISB. One of us interpreted it as marrying a gal who is doing her MBA along with you at ISB. He came up with advantages like staying together in studio apartment instead of two shared apartments and thus saving some money. Then one of us came up with “The chances of marrying a girl at ISB are very minimal. Even if you start building a relationship, you never know if the girl is responding to your efforts (to build a relationship with her) or if she is networking with you”. :) :)
I must say that the last few days are quite happening with something or the other going on in the campus. Right from 12-April to this hour, something or the other goes on in the campus. It could be folks socializing, informal events to formal events. I believe all this is to prepare our batch (Class of 2009) to the roller coaster ride (one of the speakers in the orientation session described this as walking on a high speed conveyer belt with nothing to protect you from falling off side ways. You have to balance yourself and maintain pace with the conveyer). One of my favourite quote/phrase of the orientation week so far is the statement made by Dr. M Rammohan Rao (Dean, ISB). He was referring to the quote by his professor during his Ph.D days. The essence of the statement goes like: If you make a prediction, predict something which is not going to happen when you are around. If the prediction goes wrong, you will not be around to take the beating :). Along with the statement, the manner in which it was told made the entire auditorium burst in to laughter.
Registration was organized extremely well. It did not take more than an hour and half for me to complete the entire registration process. The first Sunday on campus is no holiday. We had presentations and a session on the first model (three legged model… though it is not directly related to our course) of our MBA on a Sunday :(. I guess this is an eye opener for all those who got used to five working days a week. However, I am not sure if anybody realized that all this was happening on a Sunday. That’s what sets the organizers and the speakers here apart.
Section events got kicked off today with treasure hunt. By the end of the day, everybody was wet because they were either sweating in the hot Hyderabadi sun or they were dunked in to the swimming pool. Our team managed to complete treasure hunt in two hours. We are not the winners for sure. I think we fall in the median 80% of the teams :)
Some of the information we came across during the orientation:
1) The next batch going to be 500-550 strong. Construction for the new student village is underway.
2) Avg. GMAT score for the class of 2009 of ISB is close to (if not more than) schools like Harvad, Wharton etc
3) ISB is aiming to be a pioneer in business research in India and APAC. I also believe that the focus is mainly on emerging markets.
One more thing, if you are male IT engineer from Bangalore, you are the most common species here. You are sure to find lot of your comrades here.
Finally, I am idling here in the hanging chair in the balcony of my house and wondering how awesome being jobless is. I am having a pretty relaxed time enjoying ghar ka khaana. This luxury is not going to last long as my classes are going to start next week.
Quite contrary to the last few days, the first half of the last week has been extremely crazy as I had to travel back to India and complete all the relieving formalities. Just an hour before the scheduled pick up by taxi to airport, I managed to drive 30 miles (to Nashua) and pick up a delivery from DHL. While driving, I was just hoping not to be caught by cop which would potentially kill my schedule. Finally, I managed to reach airport an hour and half before departure time. The best part of the journey was my co-passenger. Never before during any of my journey/travels, I had a female co-passenger sitting next to me. But, this time around, a girl (that too a blonde (4.5)) is sitting next to me. Surprised, I cross checked my seat number with boarding pass three times to verify if I am looking at the right seat number. I was right. Unfortunately, the feeling did not last long. I had to trade my seat as one my colleague was sitting alone. The journey was kinda adventurous as the waiting time in Frankfurt was just 50 minutes and that too the connecting flight does not depart in the same terminal. Fortunately, I managed to hop in to the connecting flight at the right time and my baggage also reached Bangalore safely.
My relieving formalities also went smoothly. Almost everybody I met in the last few days of my work at my previous company know about ISB. Considering the fact that ISB is still in its first 10 years of inception, it is quite an achievement. But, ISB needs to do some sort of brand building as not many abroad know about ISB.
Finally, the placement report of ISB for 2008 batch is out. The report can be accessed here. I also applied for educational loan with Andhra . Life is made easier for we guys. I completed the loan application form in just 30 minutes (ofcourse with the help from a staff). I also managed to open a savings bank account and get a pass book with in just an hour. I must say that I am very impressed by the service I got from the bank (take note private bank enthusiasts)
So, I am going to ISB and everything is official about it. When I started applying, I googled for blogs to find information on application process, tips and personal experiences of folks who made it. Now, I think, is an opportune time to help folks who are in similar state as I was a year back. Hence, this post.
I believe, it all starts with the realization to do MBA. The reasons are very much specific to individual. Trust me; the reasons are very specific to each and every individual. Once you have realized, you have lot of schools to choose from. Once you have finalized on the schools, it’s all about how well you do in convincing the ad-com of those schools. The application process of each school is not exactly the same as the others. However, the approach can be broadly categorized in to taking the exam (GMAT etc), filling up the application form and then the interview (this may be accompanied by group discussion for certain schools).
Though GMAT is not the single most important criterion to make it to a B-School, there is no harm in having a good score in application. If you can’t score big, don’t feel disappointed. Fortunately, applying is not only about GMAT. There are lots of avenues in the application where you can make real difference.
A very good read to start application process is 'How to get in to the TOP MBA Programs' by Richard Montauk. The book deals with most of the intricacies involved in application process. It also addresses some very typical “What to do when faced with” questions. Personally, I found this book very handy.
They say MBA is all about networking. True to that statement, I think, even an MBA application starts with networking. Once you start applying, I think it is always suggestible to get in touch with alumni of that school. Be it drafting resume, editing essays, preparing for interview, I think it is always suggestible to seek help from people who have lived through the process. In my case, the help and feedback I received from ISB alumni proved invaluable. I also suggest applicants to use the “contact a current student” feature provided by the school and make full use of it.
The sooner one starts the apping process, the better it is. Not only does this give more time to think over the application, it also helps in refining application strategy. While writing essays, the author (referred as you further in the post) should try to be “critical and logical”. Once you are done with the first version of the essays, make sure that the essays are critically read by diverse set of people. Seek feedback from them, analyze their feedback and try to accommodate it in the essays with discretion. Not to forget, the more the essays are read, the better they get. One more very important point to note is: It is always suggestible to submit the best application than to apply early. It is always suggestible to submit a strong application in second or further rounds than to submit a “not-so-strong” application in the first round.
After the application is submitted, it is better to be patient than to send emails to schools asking for status (unless until school does not conform to the deadlines). Also, in the interview, never say anything which contradicts what is written in the application. That’s like kissing a cobra. In the interviews, stick to the essays and try to add personal touch rather than sounding like somebody else (unless until you are very good at acting).
Few tips:
1)Be Yourself. Don’t try to be someone whom you fancy. You are at your best when you are what you are.
2)Be critical and logical while drafting essays and resume. The first version of essays and resume is never the best version. Typically, a good essay or a good resume goes through numerous reviews and edits.
3)Seek help from Alumni. Most of them will be helpful as they might have been through similar situations in the past.
4)Enjoy the application process. Historically and statistically, humans have done extremely well when they enjoy what they do. Also, application process is a good opportunity to introspect. Trust me, many people recollected some very important events in their life during the application process which were forgotten over time. I am one among those many people and don’t ask me what those events are :).
For those who come across this blog while applying to schools, Happy apping and Good Luck!!
DISCLAIMER: The contents of this blog are strictly my personal opinions and not those of any organization/institution I am a part of, nor made in any official capacity of such organization/institution unless expressly stated otherwise and where I am explicitly authorized to do so.
