Happy Thanksgiving!!

The long weekend is here. It gives all a reasons to be with their loved ones, and thank Him for all He has given to us. Thank you.

On another note, it brings with it long holidays and delicious time which can be spent on MBA applications. Muhahaha... I have got the Emory application under work. Unfortunately couldn't work much on it for the last couple of days. However, I will bring it to closure before the holidays are over. I have been following up on my Booth Interview reschedule and I have not been able to. With the school closing down for the holidays I think I will have to request my original interviewer to consider me again. Its a tight rope walk but if I interview on Monday and she submits on the same day, then we are in game.

I am looking forward to my Atlanta visit. Got quite a few friends there because I worked there before I came to Houston. Will be really great to catch up on some new stories and remember the old ones.

And did you see how Sehwag and Gambhir batted together on day 1 session 1. This is just the pinnacle of batting that you will ever see....

Emory under works

Today I spent some quality time on my Emory app. I browsed through the website, came to know of their sports management elective (!!), and also spent filling up the application. I am almost done on all required sections and also had a shot at essay 1. I have made the payment and sent the scores to the school as well as scheduled the interview for 5th Dec, the super saturday on campus.

One thing that confused me was that I have to indicate whether it is a Consortium interview or not. Look at the consortium website here - http://www.cgsm.org/. It basically is a group of universities whose vision is to promote representation of Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans among management jobs. After some intial confusion on Consortium fellowship and whether I should select that for my interview and reading more about Consortium, I emailed indicating it as Non-consortium interview.

I looked at the air tickets, but they are pretty expensive. Thanks to the bing's travel predictor I know that the prices will be coming down and hence waiting. I got a friend who lives there, but I may not trouble him and instead find a hotel for myself.

I am actually very excited about this new development in my application strategy. Emory makes so much sense. I am hoping for a good scholarship to make my decision easier. Looking forward to meet some puys in Atlanta and in Emory.

Booth Interview Update

My interviewer has been overseas for the past couple of weeks. She had indicated that she will come back on 11/22, Sunday - however her plans are postponed for a week. That cuts it very close since I have to finish the interview by 30 Nov. She very graciously extended her offer to interview me on Sunday or Monday - but I realize that it will be a pain for her after those long hour of flight. So I decided to email the school to help me find another alum in the area.

I hope to get this done within the next 3 days, because the Thanksgiving holidays start on Thu and it will get difficult to find someone after that.

Emory essays are nice to see - I have to start writing but it seems it will be good fun...

Next Steps

After letting the feeling sink in and some self introspection, I have come to realize that there are some schools which I need to add to my list. The IIMA, B and C programs allow overseas candidates to apply for the 2 year course via GMAT. I plan to apply to these courses. Also, I realize that trying to get a good schol in US is not a bad idea. Reason is that education in US is phenomenol - the kind of exposure and faculty you get. A top 30 school in US is similar to top Indian schools in term of education, it is just the Indian schools are much more suited for the Indian Market.

So I have targetted Emory now - as it is known to offer some good schols. If I get it, I will not take a big financial hit, can complete my MBA and then relocate to India soon enough. There are only 7 days to go now for the deadline. I am more worried about the recommendation than the application, as we will have a long thanksgiving weekend in between. I will be going out for a day or so, but hopefully will be able to finish the application soon enough.

After the Emory app, I will ship my IIMA PGP application, whose deadline is Dec 15. Time to move on...

ISB Ding

I never knew it would hurt so bad....

Scheduling the Booth Interview

I received the Booth interview invite some days back. Scheduling a B school interview in US for the first time can be a little strange experience as I found out.
Step 1 - Search whether an alumni exists in your city or not. Surprisingly, the file link was not working and giving me an error. However, I knew I will find someone in Houston for sure.
Step 2 - Upload your most recent resume. I didnt modify it and uploaded it as is.
Step 3 - Search for an alum in your region. For Booth, you get to do only "one successful search". What this means is that if your search returns a result, you will have to choose that alum. You have no choice, unless the alum can not do it or for some other strange circumstance. Then you have to contact the adcom to reschedule the interview.
Step 4 - Contact the alum by email with some details on when you are available and where you can meet. The starbucks site was down at this time - why does this happen with me??!!
Step 5 - Wait for alum to respond for 48 hours. In my case, she just about did and we are going to set up a time just before thanksgiving if possible.
Step 6 - Once a date and time has been decided, confirm the interview on the interview portal.
Step 7 - Research your interviewer if possible. Can help connect during the course of the interview.
Step 8 - Give the interview and send out a thank you note.
Step 9 - Sit back and enjoy India vs Sri Lanka test match.

Chicago Interview Invite!

Giving GMAT - $250
Sending my scores to Chicago - $26
Airticket to attend the Booth Live event - $300
Submitting application to Chicago - $200
The feeling you get after receiving the "Selected for Interview" email - Priceless!