Throughout the application process, I've learnt a few things that I would have loved to have known at the beginning.

i) Have a team of people to support you in your essay writing. Readers and editors. Preferably, get a current student (though they're always busy), an admit (only if you're applying for round 2 onwards), another applicant (somebody you feel that you can trust not to rip off your content - which is harder than it seems especially if you've got different goals) and a phd student as a proof reader.

ii) Don't be afraid to re-write your essay from scratch. Or re-structure something that you've just spend 3 weeks perfecting. Sometimes it's worth the pain and trouble. I think the saying is "Don't be afraid to kill your babie." Because if you don't, you might never improve your essay.

iii) You can get sick of writing essays. After looking at an essay for the 20th time, you're bound to feel brain dead when it comes to editing it. Take a break for a day or two. Do something else different.

iv) Each paragraph should have a situation - action - result, and a focus. Crop off anything that dilutes that focus.

v) Your goals don't have to be unique. But you must be able to relate to them.

I'll add more stuff when I remember and think of it.

52 versions, 7 re-writes for Chicago Essay 1 and I'm still not done.

Go me!

And it's a ding for Tuck.

Nevertheless, I have full confidence in my Chicago application!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Congratulations to all Chicago R1 admits and all the best to Wharton applicants.
:)

I don't have much to say today. A lot on my mind. I'm thinking about ending this blog after Chicago R2 results come out. If I get in, I'll probably start another semi-anonymous blog on Chicago. If I get dinged, I think it's time that I moved on.

If I get dinged, I realize that it's not easy to move on out of the MBA applicant lifestyle. For once, I will have spare time to do what I want without worrying whether I'm able to perfect an application. To pursue other interests without wondering whether I should put them in my essays.

To my wonderful 13 readers, what do you think? :)

I know, that there were several students admitted to Tuck last year without any interviews (so I've been told).

I know that people have been receiving Tuck interview invites in their junk mail/spam folder.

I've taken to checking my spam mail everyday. I wish I started doing this earlier. Maybe I've been invited but my invite was trashed! Oh my god.

I think there's 0.2% that I get accepted without an interview. Oh well, I don't have to wait long for a ding. It's only next Friday.

I've thought about it. Chicago GSB will be the last school that I apply to. Yes, maybe I could pump out an application for Ross or Wharton in time. But I don't think it would be a really good application. Not only that, but I may not even get my recommenderse to fit it in on time. I would feel rather rushed for time. It's definitely putting all my eggs in a basket, but I guess, maybe I'm also getting a bit tired.

So, as they say, I'm pot committed to Chicago GSB. All in baby. Nothing less. So let me take stock of what I've got prepared for Chicago GSB.

1. Essay 1 - Completed, in the midst of polishing. I'll give this nothing less than a Grade A. How do I know? I had 5 people read it, 2 who reworked it to hell and back. I'm passing it to a Chicago GSB student for her opinion after I'm done fine tuning. Target for completion, would be next week latest.

2. Essay 2 - Completed, with an interesting approach to it. The person that I chose is hopefully different from the usual and it definitely ties in with my long term goals. Grade B

3. Powerpoint Presentation - Just completed it today. Will polish it by this weekend and send it to the student. Completed with the help of a senior consultant. Grade B

4. Recommendations - 1 from a former supervisor who brought me into banking and 1 from my volunteer organization. Shouldn't be anything less than a Grade B.

I can only control my essays, and will do so to push them to a Grade A standard. Good luck to me.

For the past 2 odd years, I've been asked repeatedly, "Why do you want to do an MBA in America?" I guess it's a valid question when most people from my country do not do that. It's just sopmething that you don't do. Maybe an MBA locally done on a transfer program, that's good to go, but to spend 2 years abroad and USD150k? That's just against common sense.

I've been told that I could buy a house, maybe settle down, or if I want to be naughty, I would be an entrepreneur and start my own business with that kind of cash.

So I've been thinking about it. A lot, and I think it goes like this: I am starting a business, I'm investing in Me Inc. that USD150k goes towards investing in a business that has a business plan, a short term and a long term goal. Businesses like this tend to show a good ROI and have a pretty decent success rate.

So that's why.

Gosh. I am tired. I've been re-editing my Chicago essays everyday for the last two weeks. Thankfully, I have several reviewed that have been willing to go the extra mile and comment on my essays within the same day I send them. My essays have been reworked from scratch, they are now a ghost of their former selves.

The essay 1 now reads so much better. I now understand why I have been dinged from all my other schools. My applications were just W E A K...and horrid. I cringe at the thought of actually having sent them. 5 schools before I learnt how to write properly. Sigh. A little too late in some sense.

But hopefully, with Chicago, I might have a chance. Who knows. Maybe?

2 more weeks till I get my ding from Tuck. I wish Tuck would send out its dings earlier and faster. At least, there would be closure and a chapter closed. If for some reason Tuck decides to give me an admit (looking at my essays), I have nothing to say.

I'm thinking of maybe a second school for Round 2. Maybe Kellogg? Maybe Ross? I guess I'll look at their essays before I make a decision. At the moment, I just want to wrap up Chicago and call it quits. My poor little brain can't edit much more.

EVERYBODY SCREAAAAAM!! FEEL GOOOOD!

No. I have NOT got an interview invite, much less an admit.

But hey, that's no reason to feel down right? So you haven't got that sexy interview admit, and so Columbia/Wharton/Chicago doesn't think you're as hot as PetroChina, but that's cool. You know why? Because.... because there's round 2 coming up! WHOA!

That's right, Round 2 applications are due in two months or there abouts, so here's a chance to learn from all your mistakes that you made in Round 1 and perfect those sorry essays. I've got to say that since Round 1, I've realized/learnt where my mistakes were and am hell bent on making sure my next application is as close to perfection as possible.

I think, since last year, I've managed to narrow down a few keypoints that need to be considered in Essay 1.

1. Why MBA? Be so clear on this point that it hurts to read your essay. Be explicit in your explanation.

2. Why this MBA? Because it's a top school and had the best placements for IB/MC isn't good enough. You need a hook.

3. Why now? I messed up big time on this point. But why now is a definite necessity. However, I'm still struggling with this point.

4. Talk about what makes you special. Another point which I'm still struggling with. I'm not special and it's kind of hard to talk about something you're not. Maybe I could say "because I'm hot and you're not...."

5. And why do you have the short term goals that you have? And no, apparently saying because you'll make a gazillion trillion bucks working in IB isn't a good answer.

I've started wondering about the Chicago PPT "essay". Four slides or less to capture who I am.

I've done this sort of thing before, well, not exactly. But I've created a 45 second video clip that showed who I am. But, I've got minimal experience with PPT and am a bit stuck.

Should I use pictures as much as possible? Maybe a bit like Picture Scrabble? But I'm sure the other five thousand odd applicants are also busy copy/pasting little cute pictures. But really, I think what GSB is trying to push here is not only how creative can you get, but maybe, also how relevant can you be.


1. It's not relevant to stick a picture a church and talk about your risk taking abilities.

But it's relevant to post two Playboy bunnies and say how much you believe in relationship building and live on the edge.

2. It's not relevant to use a picture of a Volkswagon and discuss your drive for success.

Please use a souped up Ferrari at least when you talk about being a Big Swinging Dick.

3. Don't post happy pictures of Hello Kitty and mention your hobbies.

Do post a picture of a stack of chips and a hand of hold'em poker. Mention that you're doing your CFA Level 3 because you had some spare time on the weekends.

4. Unless you suspect the ad coms are into him,insert a picture of Tom Jones and discuss your family ties.

Instead, a photoshopped picture of your family and Li Ka Shing/Lakhmi Mittal/Warren Buffet and talk about how Uncle has always mentioned he'll make a donation to the school that accepts you would be perfect.

5. You're unique. Don't use a standard picture of you in a suit. They've seen that a million times.

Nothing would differentiate you posing like you're going to hit a drug fuelled orgy. Remember, Chicago GSB enables career changers and is happy to accept people from non-traditional backgrounds!


If you follow my suggestions and don't get admitted, hit them back, they're holding out on you. :)

I have to admit, I've taken an extended from applications. I feel so blank when I load up Uni. Chicago GSB's essays. Staring at them, willing for the perfect essays to be written. I'm done with the first draft, completed my GSB resume and started part of the application, but I can't seem to find the extra drive to move on and complete them. Partly because the deadline is in January, and partly because I'm a bit tired of applications.

But hell, I'm going to push myself and complete them!

So, what have I done in my spare time? Nothing much actually, re-started my Calculus course, and done quite a bit of chatting on MSN. It's no wonder companies bar MSN from the workplace, chatting is truly an attractive waste of time.

Once again, I've been looking at the available options to what if I don't get accepted. I think, if I don't get accepted this year, I'm going to skip a year or so before I reapply. So, I'll probably only apply for the Class of 2012 if I don't get accepted. What do I plan to do for the 2 years? Stay on at my job or move to a consulting company, and maybe draw up a few business plans for practice.

One of the organizations that I'm with has happily agreed to write my letter of recommendations - standard letter format, so I'm submitting one to Tuck as an additional information. Hopefully it will strengthen my application. I'll be awfully disappointed if I get rejected from Tuck with an interview again.

Ding with Columbia.

-----

DearestTuck,

Once again, it's that time of the year. When I've clicked that little Submit Application button.

I've already had my heart broken by Columbia and I'm counting on you to show me some love. When I applied last year, you told me that due to the extremely competitive pool, I was not able to be selected. I understand that applications were up 40%. You told me to apply again, you hinted that there could be something special between the both of us.

Your stats say that you favor reapplicants. Your ad coms say that applicants are the bomb. I'm a reapplicant, so give me some love. I've improved my GKMAT, taken on extra curricular activities, got promoted at work, done everything except get down on my knees. But I'll do that for you Tuck, because in my heart, you're number 1.

Truth be told, I had a thought time wondering whether I would really accept Columbia's ED if you gave me some love. But that's no longer a worry, Columbia hass dumped me by the roadside like last year's out of season shoes. So, go ahead, give me that interview invite and that special shiny admit. You know I'm good for it.

I'll give back to the school, I'll be a team player, I'll promote the Tuck name where I go. When I make MD after graduating, I'll give blind job interviews to all Tuck graduates. When I make CEO of a Fortunate 500 company, I'll talk about how you enabled me to achieve greatness and that there is no better school than Tuck. Harvard, Stanford, and the rest have nothing on you.

So Tuck, give me some love.


Love,

Wannabe

Dear Ad Coms

I write this to clarify my application. While I understand that my application has several glaring weaknesses, please, allow me to address them.

I am sure that my GMAT score and GPA have caused you to wonder, is Wannabe intellectually capable of handling the mental work load at school? While I understand that scoring 800 with a GPA of 4.0 in Physics or Actuarial Scienve would warrant an auto-admittance into your school with scholarship, I think it would be safe to say that my statistics and background are nowhere as impressive as that.

I have to admit, while I could have studied Princeton and topped the class, I felt an urge to pursue a more creative undergraduate degree and enjoy myself. My time was spent engaged in shooting other people in Counterstrike or listening to happy hardcore while trying to decide whether sex really sells detergent. How many other applicants can boast of a kill/death ratio of 95 to 9, while using a handgun only? I also learnt that while sex may not sell, it sells to talk about how sex sells to cute college girls.

Sure, my work experience seems pretty spotty too. But trust me, while I may not have gone to Goldman Sachs or McKinsey straight out of university, I did get involved with some decent companies and activities. For starters, I did try to start the next Blizzard Entertainment, but failed badly when I failed to convince my co-founders the importance and future of Massively Multiplayer On-line Role Playing Games and we blew the start-up money on booze and hookers. Maybe how I developed the sales strategy for an on-line drug dealer reflects my strategic thinking or how I built the local pirated DVD/VCD business from home shows my leadership and entrepreneur potential.

You may also wonder about my community service. Which of, I assure you, I have plenty. I make it a point to try and date a different college girl every month from my community as I feel it is my duty to offer guidance to those that are younger. When people talk about giving back to society, rest assured, I am doing a lot of giving.

However, the question still remains, why should we offer Wannabe a place at our school? Well, for starters, I really need the job opportunity that your school offers. I understand that every other student may also want to opportunity, but really, nobody wants it as badly as I do. I am eager to graduate and get my money grubbing hands into the Private Equity business (although it seems to have tanked) or maybe even Investment Banking, as I am quite sure that I will be able to clear USD180,000 for the first year (including bonuses). I am sick and tired of earning low wages (in my third world country) when I see my peers earning that kind of coin abroad. I will be the most motivated of students at your school as strive to achieve my dreams.

After making my millions, I will proceed to donate an obscene sum of money back to the school to have the new cafeteria built with my name. Heck, I will even set up a non-profit trust fund to subsidize the food that your future students will have to eat!

Also, I bring diversity to the school. Your school will be able to boast of a +1 nationality to your student body. I am quite sure that there are hardly any other applicants from my country, so do not waste time, allow me to increase your student body nationality count by one.

And there we have it, mitigation of my weaknesses and why you should accept me. So please, send me that admit email as soon as possible as I expect to be deluged by offers over the next few weeks. Of course, without doubt, your school is my first choice and I would be ecstatic to attend the Class of 2010.

So, do take care, and I hope to hear from you.

Regards,

Wannabe

What now?

Columbia has been submitted. Tuck is complete pending a recommendation and a final review of my essays by family. I'm sitting tight before the deadlines. Nope, I haven't got an interview invite from Columbia... and it's slowly getting to me - especially when there have been admits given out already!

5 people have been admitted to Columbia (one who is on the BusinessWeek MBA forums). But, while i'm getting a bit nervous, I haven't hit the BIG RED panic button just yet. After all, I only submitted my application 20 days ago. In general, I should hear something about 35 days to 45 days after my application has gone under review (which was about on the 11th of September).

As for Tuck. There's so much love for Tuck, I should as well throw the towel in and make the trip to visit Tuck.... :( if only I had the time and money, I would do the trip. But everything else is nice and tight.

So what's next?

Working on my Maths course.... and then, preparing for Ross and .... Stanford! whoa!

That's right, I've decided in a brief spell of madness to apply to the most selective business school. I sat around for 2 days figuring out my next move... went through Wharton/Harvard/Stanford's essays. Initially my plan was to see which school had the easiest essays that I could adapt from my other applications. But after much soul searching and consideration... and reading this little bit off Stanford's website, I've decided to take my chances and put Stanford in as my ultra super reach school.

so... onward ho.. here are the essays for Stanford

Essay A: What matters most to you, and why?

Essay B: What are your aspirations? How will your education at Stanford help you achieve them?

Essay C: Short Essays—Options 1-4. Answer two of the questions below.
Option 1: Tell us about a time when you empowered others.
Option 2: Tell us about a time when you had a significant impact on a person, group or organization.
Option 3: Tell us about a time when you tried to reach a goal or complete a task that was challenging, difficult, or frustrating.
Option 4: Tell us about a time when you went beyond what was defined, established, or expected. In answering both questions, tell us not only what you did, but also how you did it. Tell us the outcome, and describe how people responded. Describe only experiences that have occurred within the last three years.

But maybe before I jump the gun. I need to be more realistic and sort out Ross first...

It may be a bit late since I've already submitted my application... but see you there.

Citi Meeting Rooms 311-312
Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre
1 Raffles Boulevard
Suntec City, Singapore

I've been sitting around feeling bored, hungry and depressed over my essays. I can't seem to get any inspiration to write a good essay. I'm truly stuck with Tuck's "What makes you unique?" essay.

Surely there must be something that wil lbe able to spur me to the heights of creativity and compel me to write an essay what will bring tears to the eyes of the ad coms and secure an admit.

So, I've short-listed several activites that to do to inpire myself

1. Have a few beers
2. Have a bottle of wine
3. Have a few shots of whiskey
4. Stop drinking so much....

5. Review my life in my head - pretend that I'm about to die and watch my life flashpast me - what would stand out?
6. Reminiscence about my life, and what regrets I have and what I have accomplished.
7. Wonder about how the people in my life would describe me when I'm dead.
8. Stop being so morbid and depressed...

Having said all that, there really aren't that many things you can do when waiting for inspiration. I guess you have to do a lots of introspection and thinking about yourself and your life and your motives and see what makes sense. Most, if not , all of us are some how unique in some sense. It's just a matter of taking that uniqueness and putting such a spin on it that it becomes the most wonderful thing in the world! :)

Good luck have fun

And... Columbia ED has been submitted!

GMAT - Done
Recommenders - Submitted
Transcripts - Sent
Essays - Polished
Application - Complete
Fee - Paid

I decided not to wait for full feedback on my essays and to go ahead and submit them. Mainly because Columbia ED is on rolling admission basis so every day earlier counts (and I felt my essays had been pretty fine tuned, anymore and my eyes would have started to bleed). If for somehow my logic is wrong, please don't tell me. Ignorance at this point is absolute bliss :)

So, 3 weeks? and I'm hoping to get an interview invite. Oh, please let there be an invite...

On with the next school then.

Music of the day:
Sean Apollo & Peryton - Invade (Adam L remix)

I'm so close to submitting Columbia's application I can almost taste the Submit button....

Essays have been good, I've received lots of feedback - and am waiting for more feedback from people I've met at GMATclub.com. I think an important lesson I learnt regarding essays is that you shouldn't lose your personal voice and touch when writting the essays. In general, once you've drafted your essays out, you'll proceed to edit the hell out of them for clarity and direction. However, try not to leave in the personal touch, maybe you like using certain terms and you've described yourself in the essays; leave those parts in.

The ad coms are human and so are you, so a little human touch in the essays would be great. After all, you're not writing a technical document.

But then, I might be seriously wrong :P Nevertheless, I'm taking the risk and am going to be me! :) I only wish I could write well enough to make an ad com cry :)


Listening to

Chywynny - I am (Sy & Unknown mix).mp3
Ultravibes - Dust.mp3

To date, my recommenders have been very accommodating. I selected my two former supervisors and told them a month ago of my plans and intentions. One of them bluntly asked me why I wasn't applying to Harvard! :(

So, taking that situation into consideration, chance are that I will be applying to Harvard. :)

Anyhow, recommender management is a must in the application process. I'm sure that there are plenty of posts detailing on the information to give to the recommender, guidance and such. However, I think the most important actions that I took were

i) the Golden Rule: Informing MBA friendly recommenders as early as possible - meaning, before I even started filling up the application form. In fact, my former supervisor has known for the past 2 years that I want to pursue an MBA. Prep your recommenders subtly before hand - gauge to whether they think there is a value in getting an MBA. You don't really want to have a recommender that thinks that MBAs are a waste of time.

ii) Bite the bullet and don't be shy about asking them to be your recommender. Maybe I'm it's cultural because I'm Asian, but I felt a bit apprehensive about asking them for help. Take them out for lunch or dinner when you talk to them about it - I mean, if you're going to ask for your help, you may as well do it in a nice comfortable manner. Don't just call them up and ask them to be your recommender. But take them out and talk to them.

iii) Provide guidance. As in a sample recommendation. Some recommenders have never seen the MBA recommender's form before and may not know how to complete it. Suggest how they might fill it up, and ask them if they have the time, to give examples when appropriate.

iv) It's a pain to have to remind recommenders to complete the recommendation. Do it progressively. And here it becomes even more important to have notified them way ahead of time. Maybe for the first time you could say, "How's the recommendation coming along? I'm thinking of submitting everything end of the month." Then as the day draws closer, you can hint by saying "Oh, I'm submitting it next week. Has it been completed? Would you like to discuss any issues?"

v) When ever possible, discuss things face to face. Not via emails, not over the phone. Even though I've known one of my recommenders for 14 years, I'm still taking him out for a lunch to discuss things.

vi) Don't write your own recommendation. But discuss what issues they may face when doing your recommendation. Be open to discussing specific questions if they bring it up. If your recommender is truly out to help you, s/he will bring out outstanding points about your performance and discuss them with you. My recommender brought up my performance for a proposal that I had forgotten, but apparently my performance had impressed him well enough.

Can't really remember anything else that I've been doing with my recommenders except spending face to face time with them.

Oh, pay for the meal. :)

This week, I learnt that money can buy a moment of happiness and satisfaction.

I would like to give away some GMAT books

i) OG 11 (used condition)
ii) MGMAT Series (excellent condition)
iii) MGAMT SC (used condition)
iv) Kaplan 800 (virtually brand new)

I'm located in SE Asia, so if there are any takers, you'll have to pay for the shipping. It'll probably be cheaper to ship the entire bunch of books in bulk. I've only one request

i) That when you're done with the books, you give them and any other books that you've used away to somebody else. And ensure that the next person does the same thing etc.

So if you're interested, let me know. Leave a comment or send me an email.

After much discussion with many people, I've come to realize, if your essay word limit is 500, and you're not hitting it, or even going beyond it - you are doing something wrong.

If you're hitting 480 words, you are missing out on the opportunity to fully present yourself. You should maximize your word usage - every sentence or even word can make a difference. Don't sell yourself short.

During my first drafts, I ignore the word limit and write as much as I can. Using all the adjectives and adverbs that I want. Once I'm done, I then sit down and cut everything down. I find that if I sit there and try to write something to conform to the limit, I'll be more focused on my word usage than writing a good story.

So write that story before worrying about that word limit.

With the exception of Essay 2, the rest of Columbia's essays are pretty easy going. I've completed the first drafts and will be finalizing the rest. I'm also planning to send in my transcripts to Columbia instead of completing the self reporting transcripts. I also need to get on the GMAT and forward a copy of my scores. Suddenly everything seems so sudden!

That seems to be the common thing about applications - you seem to have a lot of time, then when you sit down and start doing it... you suddenly wish for another month or so. But when you're done with an application, you start to wish that time would pass faster so you would be getting that interview call.... and then that admit!

You know things will be well when you start looking forward to being able to work on your application. When the stress isn't in the application itself, but the fact that you have to do other things before you hit the applications. Like the GMAT, applications can become enjoyable after a while - I look forward to editing the essays every night, it gives me a goal, no matter how fleeting. Sometimes I wonder, what would I be doing if not pursuing an MBA - would I be out partying? would I be sitting around, watching TV? As I said before, MBA applications become a lifestyle, at least for me it has.

It's a bit sad, scary, but true.

You know you're an MBA applicant

1. When you give up party nights to stay at home to edit 3 words out of Essay 1 to bring it to 500 words....
2. When you know a number can be divided by 3 if the sum of the digits can be divided by 3....
3. When you realize that you can't speak English properly....
4. When the letters H, S and W aren't just alphabets in your soup....
5. When you begin to hate people that started multi-million dollar businesses when they were 17, started 2 charity organizations, climbed Mount Everest, and scored 750+ on the GMAT....
6. When you start wishing you had sold your house 2 years ago and went to do volunteer work in Ghana/Burundi....
7. When you start discussing Round 1, Round 2 and Round 3 on forums and you're not talking about boxing....
8. When your family, friends and loved ones start giving you dodgy looks over dinner when you talk about your day at work and how it let you tap your leadership potential....
9. When you give vague answers to your colleagues and supervisors when they try and discuss dreams and ambitions....
10. When you suddenly get in touch with all your ex-supervisors....
11. When you start clicking refresh on your e-mail every 30 minutes hoping to get an interview invite....
12. When you start dreaming about talking candies...

Stuff that I've read over the past 2 years....

Early Action/Decision

Comment that was left:

What's your view on renegging (renaging?) on Early Decisions, since you are applying to more than one? What if you get into HBS and CBS/Tuck-ED?

Tuck's Early Action round is as follows:

For reapplicants or prospective students who have completed their business school research and know that Tuck is their first choice, the Early Action round is a great option. Early Action provides you with the certainty of learning that you have been offered admission to Tuck by no later than December 14, 2007. This offer is nonbinding, giving you the opportunity to explore other options up until the January 2008 response deadline. Any applicant who is accepted in the Early Action round and who would like to secure a spot in the incoming class will be required to submit a nonrefundable deposit of $3,500 by January 7, 2008, which is applied against tuition.

And Columbia's famous $6000 Early Decision round:

As an Early Decision candidate to Columbia Business School, I understand that if I am admitted I will submit my non-refundable $6000 deposit to secure my place in the September entering class. I am committed to attending Columbia Business School, and will withdraw all applications and decline all offers from other schools upon admission to Columbia Business School.


Tuck's early action round is to notify applicants of whether they have been successful admitted or not. Fortunately, Tuck's is a non-binding EA. Columbia's ED however, is a binding agreement where successful applicants are required to withdraw their applications to other schools. Given that I'm not HBSing now, I guess there's no worry :) If I get accepted to Tuck and Columbia, that might prove tricky, but I will honour my agreement with Columbia and head off to Columbia (if Tuck provides full tuition etc, then I really would be hard pressed). But that scenario is unlikely to occur.

But, I would love to get accepted at EA/ED round :) Heck, I would love to get just accepted.

dodgy

Yup. So, with my spotty work experience and my dodgy undergrad degree, what should I do?

I'm most likely dropping Wharton and Harvard for Round 1 as it may truly be too unrealistic to apply to them. They were a good dream while it lasted. So, onward ho, who's left on the list?

i) Tuck EA
ii) Columbia ED
iii) Duke
iv) Ross (possibly)

In fact, there are no safety schools on my list. Yup, that's how dodgy my background is... but heck, I'm going full steam ahead. After all, at worst, I get rejected.... *GASP* REJECTED!!!! :(

But anyway, I've started on both Tuck and Columbia and will complete them by September 15. I've also got to look at Duke or Ross. Duke requires some quant skills, so I'm hoping that if I say "I'm doing some sexy quant stuff." that Duke would be willing to look past my lack of quant in my undergrad. Surely Duke won't be that superficial? I mean, it's only quant....

I'm hoping that Columbia gives me a chance, I'm willing to put the $5000 downpayment upon acceptance and withdraw from other schools. So who knows? Maybe...

Guess it's time to move on to the actual applications. Since I'm a reapplicant to Tuck, I fully intend to apply to the Early Decision round. I understand that the ED round is THE round for reapplicants! Anything else and I'm doomed.

I'm also looking to apply to Wharton. And of course, I have to apply to Harvard - simply because. Actually, Wharton and Harvard are good for consulting - my intended post-MBA career. I have yet to begin research on Wharton or get in touch with any of their ambassadors. Depending on when I finish up the applications for W/Tuck, I might do an application to Kellogg or Chicago (haven't decided). Most likely Harvard will be a R2 application.

But first, perfect the Why MBA/Why Tuck. With my spotty career and weak undergrad, I need to be crystal clear on why I'm doing this. Or is it, because of my spotty career and weak undergrad that I need to do this? :P

Meanwhile, work is great. I sit around trying to come up with marketing ideas. Lots of freedom in terms of job scope and time flexibility. I've already started on whether it's possible to link up the bank with a luxury brand. So that might be an interesting activity that's coming up.

------


The weekend was great. For once I didn't have to worry about the GMAT or whether I was able to remember the 3:4:5 triangle and variations. Or whether I should use 'which' or 'that' in my sentence.

Gmat Day

Gmat day was today!

Started off at 8.00am (test at 10.00am), had a light breakfast of eggs and a muesli. Intentionally avoided anything too oily or salty. Although I didn't want to drink any coffee (as I had half a can of red bull), I decided that I should just stick to my daily habit and had half a cup of coffee.

Headed for the test center at 9.00am, reached there at 9.15am, parked the car, walked in.... and found the test center closed. To my horror, there was absolutely nobody around and all the doors were locked. Checking with the company opposite the test center, apparently there are days when the test center doesn't open. So, naturally, I started to freak (although I tried to calm myself down). Waited until 9.30am and decided to check with the building's management and try to get a contact number. However, apparently the test center was new, so the building management didn't have an emergency contact.

So there I was, sitting by the steps wondering what on earth I should do. I was mentally drafting an email to Pearson VUE regarding their choice of test centers and demanding a free re-sit. Started to look through the GMAT receipt printout when I came across another number. Called the number and got the HQ for the test center company. A few calls later, and apparently the test center administrator wasn't around but they would send somebody over to set everything up for me. Adverted pressing the panic button, but I had to get my emotions and mental mindset into check for the GMAT (not to mention I had begun to sweat).

The guy comes around at 10.00am sharp, I wanted to make some nasty comments, but decided not to get emotional. In my mind, I had decided if I scored badly, I was going to write to Pearson VUE to demand a re-sit anyway.

So first up, AWA. Go through it (I neglected my AWA since last taking the GMAT). Managed to go through, taking 15 minutes per question. Was more concerned about how I would perform mentally for the Quant/Verbal.

Take a break, finish up my red bull. And head in for the Quant.... quant sucked. The questions seemed easy, and I was really getting nervous about that. Was I screwing up so badly that the GMAT was giving me questions from the 400 - 500 range? I felt doomed. Finished the quant section with 15 minutes spare....

Took my break and started wishing that I had brought more red bull and snacks to eat.... took the verbal. Verbal seemed easy too. I started to contemplate canceling my score when I was done with the exam. There wasn't anything exceptional about the verbal section, just my wondering whether I would even get more than the 650 I scored last time.

GMAT done. I sat there for 30 seconds wondering whether I should cancel my score. I decided against it because I really didn't know when I would be able to take the exam again. And heck, if I screwed up, I could always reschedule it once again when I had a proper date, besides I was curious about my score - how badly would I score given the circumstances.

Q 48 (86%)
V 40 (90%)
710 (94%)

Yup. I did it, broke the 700. Started to laugh, must have made a bit of noise because the test center guy asked me whether I had done well.

So, that's it, I scored a 710. I'm done for good with the GMAT. Finally, I can move on without anymore nightmares or fears of being rejected for having too low a score.

p/s Manhattan GMAT was the most accurate indicator of my score. During my first time, Manhattan GMAT gave me 640s when I scored a 650. GMAT Prep only gave a 610 and a 620. This time round, Manhattan GMAT gave me a 700 and a 650, where as GMAT Prep only gave me a 670 and a 680.

Flowers for Wannabe....

Manhattan GMAT

Q 42
V 37
650

I'm getting stupider by the hour. I'm chopped liver.

.... put some flowers on Algernons grave in the bak yard....

The second GMAT Prep test gives me a 670.

Q 46
V 35

Quite a contrast to my Manhattan GMAT prep.

Ah. This sucks.

I'm doomed. 2 days before the test. I hope I get the GMAT Prep Quant and the Manhattan GMAT Verbal. Hah. That would give me a 700+...

How much can I do in the last 48 hours? Ok, on the plus side, I know that at least I should score above 670. If I recall correctly, the first time I took the GMAT, my GMAT Prep results were about 620. So maybe there's hope. Or maybe I'm just being overly optimistic, telling myself what I want to hear.

I so hope the Manhattan GMAT Verbal is more accurate than the GMAT Prep....

I'm compiling GMAT day music. Everybody needs a little music before the exam.

Ben XTC and MC Ortie - Looking Down
Pitchdiverz vs Freestylers - Voice of the Night (Pitchdiverz RMX)

Manhattan GMAT CAT Test #5 (Sample Test)

TYPE SCORE ESTIMATED PERCENTILE RANK
Quantitative 43 70 %
Verbal 42 96 %
Total 700 93 %


There is hope! Yay! Of course, my Quant seems to have gone down the drain. But Manhattan GMAT's quant always seemed... hard.. really hard.. :( My quant sucks.

But, yes Wannabe, there is hope you can get 700 for the GMAT!

CuteColleague: ... and you know, I've been thinking, maybe I should go back and study, like do an MBA or something

Wannabe: (feigning disinterest since my wanting to do an MBA is hush hush at the office) Oh really? That's an interesting idea, why do you want to do an MBA for?

CuteColleague: Well, i dunno, take a break, and then do something after that. Like consulting. I don't really like this banking stuff.

Wannabe: Where do you want to do your MBA? I heard there are all these great schools, in the USA and Europe. Like Harvard and what not.

CuteColleague: I dunno, anywhere sounds like a good idea. Maybe Europe, I've never been there. But I'm seriously thinking about it. Maybe next year.

Wannabe: Really? Hmm. To be honest, I'm also thinking about doing an MBA, maybe we could have lunch and talk about it. I've been thinking about it for... maybe 2 years.

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Lunch:

Wannabe: Applying for an MBA is pretty tricky. There's this horrible test called the GMAT and then there's the essay writing and applications, then if you're lucky, an interview or two before getting accepted.

CuteColleague: What test? What essays? Don't I just have to apply and get accepted? How hard can it be? What have you done so far?

Wannabe: Well, I've taken the GMAT once, and I'm going to take it again. I've enrolled for Maths classes to make sure I'm quantitatively abled. I'll probably start writing the essays next month until application deadlines in October.

CuteColleague: How long does it take to prepare for the GMAT? 2 weeks? A month?

Wannabe: Maybe about 3 to 6 months.

CuteColleague: And to write the essays and applications?

Wannabe: Maybe 3 to 6 months. But you don't even know where you want to go and study.

CuteColleague: That's true. How long will it take to research everything and get started?

Wannabe: 2 to 3 months.

CuteColleague: I have to spend nearly a year just applying to study?! But I want a life!

Wannabe: You will have a life. Welcome to b/school applications.

CuteColleague: Maybe I better think more about this....


So, I don't think she's going to apply to b/school this round. At least not this year. I would be happy to guide her though ;)

Back to my GMAT lifestyle then. :(

Waiting for the GMAT to come. I'm hoping for peak performance for the GMAT. At this point, what is there left to do except read? Since it's my last week at work, I plan to bring GMAT stuff to the office to study.

I've been having anxiety nightmares about the GMAT again. Had another one where I was wondering the corridors of a school looking for a place to sign in and do the GMAT. I must be feeling a lot more anxious about it this time round, I guess since it's most likely going to be the last year I apply (I'm probably not going to b/school if I don't get in this time because of personal reasons.), the pressure to do really well is getting to me. I've finished the Quant section of the OG, scoring 90% or better on the overall. I am just reading the Manhattan GMAT series to round out my quant prep. As for verbal, i'm scoring between 76% to 80% of the 1000 SC questions and about 90% for the Critial Reasoning.

I'm left with doing Data Sufficiency and Reading Comprehension. While I never did prep for these two areas before, I'm planning to cover them by Thursday next week.

I'm just waiting... oh, and since it's the last week, no more hardcore for me. Have to get my brain into the right frame of mind.

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Somebody told me that I would find a girlfriend in b/school :) Now, that is an interesting thought. Haha.I can see a b/school relationship - it would be competitive, intense and probably a lot of fun :) God forbid that I start my conversations in b/school with regards to past jobs, the application process, post MBA goals or why MBA. I wonder what would be a good opening line to chat up somebody in b/school? Do different schools (Wharton/Tuck/LBS/Insead/etc) have different pick up lines?

GMAT

As the result of my tight schedule that covers

i) GMAT
ii) Maths course
iii) New job

I am considering taking my GMAT on the 9th of July (Monday). The 9th is a very special day, it's the only free day I have between leaving my old job, and starting on the new job. It's like the eye of the hurricane. However, I need to know, am I ready for the GMAT? My sample test was 680, my exercises are giving me 80% +- 5% and above for Verbal while for Quant, I'm scoring 95% +- 5%. Am I ready? Will the GMAT be ready for me? I feel ready actually, I feel that I could take it anytime and do decently well.

I've always planned on taking the GMAT towards the end of July, but because of circumstances, I'm bringing forward the date. At the moment, my revisions for the GMAT are just cruising along, spending 1 1/2 hours a day (weekday) doing exercises, while on weekends I do more exercises and maybe some reading. Should I do it? I haven't touched a 700 on my sample tests, but am I be ready?

Materials used this round:

Kaplan 800 (just some light reading to learn more techniques, nothing fantastic if you've read all the notes available on the Internet and done your practice)

OG 11 (re-did the questions for Quant to get a better feel)

1000 SC/CR (this question bank is pretty good, for the SC, use it with the GMATClub.com that has the explanations for the questions. Just copy and paste part of the question in the forum > search feature at GMATClub.com to find the question/explanation)

Manhattan GMAT Quant (5 book - covers the basics, pretty good to start from, but it doesn't get very advanced. a few interesting pointers and little notes to keep in mind)

BeatTheGMAT.com flashcards (not so intensively this time. this round, I relied more on practice than memorising the notes. However, it helps that I memorised quite a few bits in my previous attempt)

Am I missing anything?

Note to self:

Don't drink and do sentence correction.

.....

I'm having really strange fluctuations with my quant. Comparing to my past performances:

Official Guide: Questions 200 - 224 - 1st time 23/25, 2nd time 16/25
And again: Questions 175 - 199 - 1st time 20/25, 2nd time 23/25
And again: Questions 150 - 174 - 1st time 21/25, 2nd time 24/25

Was the 200-224 fluctuation just bad luck? That's a large difference. Was it just a bad day? Maybe I was tired and wasn't thinking straight? But other than that, the other fluctuations show some improvement. So that's pretty good, but I'm concerned about a bad day, will my score fluctuate -28%?

Just as practicing for the GMAT is about consistency, taking the GMAT should be about consistency. Test scores should be the average of 3 sittings, over 3 days (or 1 week). Maybe shorter tests. The current system allows too much of a chance/random factor. On a good day, you'll fluctutate up, on a bad day, you're doomed.

Yes, it will require more resource commitments from candidates but given that they have already committed so much to preparations and will commitment a lot more for the applications, shouldn't the GMAT score be as accurate and representative as possible? Minimize the fluctutations, if you're a 700, you'll score a 700 on average. Wouldn't you want your GMAT score to be as accurate as possible?

I've decided to do both the Maths course and retake the GMAT. A bit tricky, but with some serious time management, I should be able to do it. However, it means for the next 1 1/2 months my time is all taken up.

i) GMAT to be scheduled end-July
ii) Maths course to begine 1st week of July
iii) New job begins 10th July
iv) Family is coming back for a holiday on the 25th June.

I'm hitting 680 on the sample GMAT tests. A good jump over my previous sample test scores the last time I took.

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I had some serious funky stuff to write about regarding Indonesia and the WHO. But I've lost track of what I wanted to say. :)

I was wondering about the costs of applications. What is the cost of an application to you? Aside from the financial side (Financially it costs me about 175 big macs per application). But in terms of time and effort, what does it cost for an application? For those who are married, how do you decide to apply to business school? Especially those that have children? Do the costs involved in applying to b/school and attending it scare you?

If I were married and had children, I doubt I would apply to b/school. Maybe for that reason, it's for the best that I'm now single. I have to admit, the resources that I have spent and will spend on applying affected my relationship in an adverse manner. This is the second year that I'm applying to b/school and I plan to apply next year again if I don't get in this year. I guess there's a limit for even me. Anyhow, I think I'll be hitting 30, and it would be tricky to get into the more competitive schools with a younger school population.

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In regards to Indonesia, WHO and bird flu samples. How is Indonesia not wanting to share the bird flu with WHO to develo pa vaccine for the benefit of humanity? Indonesia, as should all other countries, is more concerned about the well being of its citizens than rest of the world. I'm willing to be that if Indonesia was a developed country and had a large number of pharmaceutical companies developing the bird flu vaccine, it would be saying that other countries had a moral obligation to provide the bird flu samples.

My old trusty laptop is so old that I can't even get a memory upgrade for it :(

Hoping to get a better performance I lugged my 4-year old laptop to the store and bought some memory. However, it appears that the memory I bought is incompatible - I think it's something to do with the memory speed. The speed supported is 266mhz (?) which is really old, and I could only find 333mhz (?). I guess I need to return the memory and get them to special order some old memory for me. Troublesome.

Just another boring weekend. I managed to sleep my Saturday away. Up at 8.00am, asleep at 10.00am, up at 12.30pm, asleep at 3.00pm and finally up at 6.30pm.

I managed to do pretty well for my 1000 Critical Reasoning, Test III scoring 19/20 :)

Despite hardly touching the GMAT for the past week, my sentence correction has improved. I managed to do Questions 126 - 150 from the 1000 SC set with only 1 mistake - I forgot the idiom "believe X to be Y".

May Questions 126 - 150 are easy questions, but nevertheless, it feels good that I've improved. Next, to get a perfect score of 25/25 (I divide and make my own little sets of 25 questions per set).

So, at least, it's something concrete to show me that I am improving.

Princeton Review called me again asking me to enroll into their GMAT course. They have been calling me regularly, every 3 weeks of so, and I refuse them each time as the course is not guaranteed to improve my score. However, lately they have been saying that they are willing to issue a letter of guarantee stating that my score will reach 720 and above if I attend the course. So, I'm waiting for them to actually pen it down and send it to me. So that's an interesting situation, to see whether they are willing to stand up for their services. Maybe I'm being a bit unreasonable, but really, I have no intention of signing up for the course when I could use the money for a Maths course, or some other worthy cause.

It is a wonderful thing to be able to sit at the computer, with just music and the GMAT to keep me company. Honestly speaking, I could probably spend hours and days just doing that. There is a sense of accomplishment when you get each question correct or understand where you went wrong. However, there's more to life than the GMAT and funky music, so let's get on with it!

First up. I've decided to do and online maths course with the University of Illinois (Urbana Champaign). With a weak (read - non :P) quantitative background, it would definitely be in my favor to complete a quant course. Of course, nothing less than an straight A is expected.

However, I'm stuck in a timing situation. Given that I'm starting on the NetMath course, I would only complete it end of September (it's a 17 week course). Tuck's EA rounds are usually in October along with the 1st round for other schools. So I'm a bit tight on time there. Taking into consideration that I intend to hit the GMAT one more time for posterity, I haven't much time to set aside for the GMAT.

Throw in a new job that is probably going to be very demanding in terms of time.... I'm going to be really tight on time.... regardless, onward ho!

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After reading some psychology book, my mother has brought to my attention that she believes my drive to attend a top b/school is possibly the result of low self esteem brought about by depression. :(

I do wish my mother would stop making conclusions like that.

Do depressed people attend b/school?

Investment banking here I come!

However, not to do any of that sexy investment banking and finance stuff... but instead, to do advertising and promotions for the bank.

I rejected the bank's first offer to do private banking as I was not comfortable in a sales position and was not confident of being able to bring in the money and being a top performer as I do not have the necessary networks and contacts. My performance would be compared against people with an existing client base. So since I am not confident of being a top performer, then why take the job? My belief is simple, if you're going to do something, you better aim to be a top performer, or else don't take the job.

So I shared my feelings, and my ambitions to do corporate finance or return to advertising and marketing. Lo and behold, the bank decided to offer me an advertising and promotions position.

i) Small start-up department - easier recognition, easier communications with the top management and more opportunities to take on different projects

ii) Investment bank - comes with the benefits I would be getting at any other bank

iii) Job scope - something that interests me...

So I'm off!

I'm a bit depressed that I'm only hitting 70% for my Sentence Correction and Critical Reasoning. I definitely need to push it up to the 85% mark.

Well now.

My girlfriend and I broke up, citing irreconcilable differences:

i) My permanent state of unhappiness with the world and always wanting more.
ii) My need to compare myself and benchmark myself.
iii) Living in my own little world of the GMAT and MBAs.
iv) Different priorities, goals, morals and such.

I guess, I've been expecting it to a certain extent. But never now, as things had taken (or so it seemed) a turn for the better. Conversations were good, we were looking to meet up and we were having fun.

Guess you really never know when.

1000 Sentence Correction Questions! 1000 Critical Reasoning Questions! 500 Problem Solving Questions! and much more at BeatTheGmat.com!

Not much has been happening. Bought the Kaplan GMAT 800 book, downloaded a ton of notes and questions. It's time to kick up the pace of my GMAT preparations.

After much thought, I don't think I will be taking the new job. Taking into consideration that I intend to dedicate a lot of time into the GMAT and the actual applications, changing jobs now would require me to divert my resources into learning about the new job.

Although I dislike my current job, I have managed to find a routine that will allow me to set aside time for the GMAT prep and applications. In view of the bigger picture, I do not want to have to reorganise my life for the time being.

Thanks to all for your kind wishes. I didn't realise I had comments until I visited my own blog :P

Congratulations to those who made the Best of Blogging Awards by Clear Admit. I had fun reading through the blogs. :)

I have been invited to join an investment bank to do Private Client sales - sales to high networth individuals. Being a sales job, it will be target revenue driven with few (?) opportunities to develop into a more strategic position, withstanding that I don't become the sales director, then my career will forever revolve around closing the next sale.

Honestly speaking, I'm not too comfortable with doing cold hard sales. Yes, I can talk and build the relationship, but I'm horrible at closing the deal or pushing products. It makes me feel funny when I build the relationship only with the intention of chalking up another deal. I would rather build the relationship because I am genuinely interested in the person as a person and not a sales target.

On the other hand, it would be an opportunity to learn new products and skills and have a bit of career progression. I think I shall try and renegotiate the job scope to place emphasis on other areas such as team management and support vs. an out and out sales job.

GMAT is coming along slowly, 30% improvement compared to 5 months ago for my Sentence Correction. I hope this holds up.

In the beginning

So, now that I've selected the school that I want to apply to in 2007, it's just the matter of preparing for the GMAT and completing the applications.

I will have a strict schedule starting 11 April and push myself as hard as I can for the GMAT, targeting an exam at the end of July, slightly after or just before the essay questions for most schools come out.

This will be good. Nothing else matters.

Let's do it.