..and I dream of going back to be

Yale SOM - Class of 2008

2006-08-29T22:52:00.000-05:00

P.S

(1) I know that this logo needs to be bigger and that I need to explain my long absence, but since I am way beyond tired right now, I'll just stop to say, that I am back!!

..thats the way the cookie crumbles!!

2006-05-04T16:13:00.000-05:00

The sun is blazing down. Beads of perspiration adorn my forehead. My designer running shoes crunch against the gravel on the road and the sound of my heart pounding is amplified through my ears. I am gasping for air and my lungs feel like they are on fire. I forge on.I refuse to stop running. Through the corner of my eye, I spot a cyclist in fast pursuit. I see him bending low,pushing the pedals harder trying to speed past me. I match him every step of the way in our own little secret battle. He tries to cut me off several times,but I am relentless. Then, with a sudden burst of energy I forge ahead, leaving him behind in a cloud of dust. I am euphoric but the last vestige of energy in my body has evaporated and as I collapse into a heap on the pavement, I reach to cut the timer.Gasping for breath, I will the world to stop turning and my stomach to stop churning. I eagerly reach for the timer to see how well Ive fared in my first exercise routine in six months. I have clocked....WHAAAAAAAAAAT.. 2 minutes and 57 seconds!! And I almost brought upon myself, a cardiac arrest, for this??

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what happens when you are unemployed and filled with false pride at having gotten an MBA admit; when you channelise your essay writing energies into watching law and order marathons every single day; when you stick your tongue out at every gym-loving person and pat yourself on the back for embracing the couch instead; and when you aspire to do greater good(read:generate revenues for cookie manufacturers) by daring yourself to eat a dozen chunky chocolate chip cookies everyday!!

A small consolation for my pathetic existence, as my running partner (gleefully) points out, I at least beat that 3-year old kid on his tricyle..ah hell, gimme that cookie!!

Yale SOM : Post-Welcome Weekend

2006-04-27T09:41:00.000-05:00

So, I am actually jumping the gun here by talking about my perceptions of Yale post- welcome weekend, before actually describing the weekend itself. But the alcohol doused thoughts are somewhat fresh in my mind and I am eager to get them on paper lest I start getting them backward..

(1) Academic Program
So much has been said and written about the new curriculum. What does it really mean to a student? The " funky diagram " as the Dean calls it, is in many ways, just plain common sense enveloped in an exceedingly elaborate wrapping paper. I remember learning a bunch of disjointed concepts in economics, statistics and financial management in my undergrad days and never thought to connect them until I started my first internship. Hearing my client talk about his budgeting and sourcing plans and then seeing them take shape through accounting concepts resulted in perpetual "light bulb" moments and I would always go.."OOOH, this is what the prof was talking about". More recently, Ive found myself putting to use(subconsciously) several of the leadership styles we all read about in college. Yale's new curriculum does just this, except it is a conscious attempt to integrate several traditional disciplines so as to mirror what happens in a real world setting, thus making managers super efficient. You may argue.."dont we all do this at our work places already?" True, we probably do, and if we dont, we should be. Thats why, this reform to me is just common sense. I love the underlying idea. If my management education will directly point out how various fields are related, thus saving me the trouble of figuring it out on my own, I am definitely for it!!

(2) Faculty
As someone who's looking at an MBA as an education to strengthen my fundamentals and not just as a means to change careers or get a job, I cannot say enough about Yale's world-class faculty. Attending the faculty reception on Friday evening as well as the Finance Club's faculty panel on Saturday afternoon, made me aware of how approachable the professors are. I ve always been faulted for being too curious; the student-faculty ratio of 3:1 at Yale gives me hope that I can give some wings to my curiosity without disrupting the proceeds of a regular class.

(3) Students
SOM has often been faulted for having less-than average in their midst. I have always felt the opposite and to test this theory, I made it my weekend's mission to talk to as many fellow admits and current students as possible. At the end of the zillionth "where are you from?" conversations, I happily confirmed that the quality of people there is no less than those of other schools. Why do then so many people think otherwise? Do they classify only the wannabe investment bankers/Ceos or consultants as the go-getters of the world? Maybe its the industry these people are in, or the aggression they need to portray in these fields ( I should know, I am one of these), they are just automatically classified as the ambitious lot. To all the skeptics out there, "non-traditional" doesnt mean below-average. Just because these people arent clamoring to get into the rat race of the financial world, doesnt make them any less competitive or any less qualified..!!
Talking to many of my fellow admits helped me learn about the gamut of jobs there are in this world. It was such a refreshing change from the usual bschool talk and I am thrilled that I will have the chance to interact so closely with people from different industries and sectors rather than confining myself to my comfort zone within finance. I have no doubt in my mind that many of my fellow admits pursuing these so-called "untraditional" fields will be the best in their chosen areas and I will be richer for their friendships !!

To be continued...

Here's one for globalization..

2006-04-07T23:21:00.000-05:00

Just returned from watching the Inside Man . Its opening and closing credits are actually set to the Bollywood tune of Chaiyya Chaiyya from Dil Se. I was quite pleasantly surprised !!

His tunes being played in a small town theatre in the United States - AR Rahman has truly arrived!!

Post-admission checklist

2006-04-07T13:28:00.000-05:00

I've identified the following things I still need to do(not necessarily in this order)before I can call myself an MBA student:

1) Arrange for finances
2) Get an I20
3) Book a visa appointment/Apply for a change of status(COS)
4) Finalise a house
5) Obtain the visa
6) Move,Move,Move..I hate moving!

I havent read too much information/blogs on the post-admission process and so I hope to be blogging about each of these steps as I go along.I will try my best to make the info as generic as possible...and for future Yale admits, I will defly be including New Haven and SOM specific data.

Oh my !!

2006-04-07T08:16:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe I was nominated for this year's BoB awards..I thank my mom, my dad, ad coms, fellow bloggers around the world who inspired and..oh wait, I am supposed to wait till I win, to actually say all this??

Gotta run now.. and write that " I love you" letter to Clear Admit..

Analyzing, thinking and some more..

2006-04-05T11:07:00.000-05:00

I was struck by what MBAJ wrote about his see-saw ride through the application process leading to his eventual love for Kellogg. My application season which is almost over has seen the same emotions. I started with wanting nothing other than Wharton, was willing to settle for Columbia and have now come to really like Yale. I dont know if i love it yet though and that still bothers me. When I was selecting my schools, I was very clear about not having a safety school and choosing only those that would defly make me happy. So in that sense, I know Ill be happy at Yale, yet, I am unable to shake the thought of "what if"..

I havent once looked at my applications since I submitted them in Jan;I dont need to, 'cos I remember each essay like the back of my hand..actually I dont know the back of my hand at all, I wonder if anyone does. Anyws, the point is I havent yet figured out what went wrong with my applications. All the current bschool students I sent my apps to were very sure I had a really good shot. But its ironical that the only 2 schools I did well in(assuming a waitlist is better than a ding) are the ones I interviewed at.Besides the fact that I interview well, the only other point that the interview helped reaffirm was my reason for quitting the company I want to join after my MBA. I didnt think being unemployed would be a big deal as long as I made my reasons reasonably clear, but having been asked this question first up at both my interviews, I realise that I should probably have addressed it a little more head-on in my essays.

Coming back to Yale, I had a conversation with an alum 3 weeks back and I remember telling her that the only problem I had with the school was that it wasnt very practical or real-world oriented. Its ironical that just a coupla days later came the news of their curriculum reform stressing on how they planned to revamp the program so that it would cater better to the needs of real world business. In my wierdest voodoo moods, I feel like this has to be divine intervention. So as things stand, I am going to the welcome weekend, with a very open mind.

I havent yet figured out what I would do if I got admitted to Ross though. If I was going into strategy or general management, I would close my eyes and head to Ann Arbor. But with IM in my mind, Yale's proximity to the Street is a little tempting. I thought I was very sure of how Id ranked my set of schools. Why does it feel like I am researching each school all over again..??

Whose year will it be?

2006-03-29T16:46:00.000-05:00

I love March for tis starts the season of fast cars!! With 2 races behind us, it already looks like Renault is continuing from where it left off last year. I was somewhat enthused by Ferrari's start at Bahrain, but with piston problems hounding them at Malaysia, I am really interested in seeing how the car will behave at Melbourne especially since this was where they began their disastrous performance last year.
You gotta love Melbourne for their amazing sporting spirit..Be it a world-class cricket stadium, one of 4 grand slam venues or as a jolly street circuit for F1..

Here's a tick for you on my list of places to visit!!

And the results are out..

2006-03-17T15:39:00.000-05:00

My pathology report came back negative. I had a benign tumour which per the oncologist was removed at the correct time. For the second time in the last few years, Ive gone through this uncertainty and I thank God for the reprieve.

From where I come from, people think of cancer as something that happens to the next person. We hear of people being diagnosed but never acknowledge the fact that its a reality that can happen to us. Educated business savvy women do not get annual check ups done. Only a handful of my friends are diligent with self appraisals. Its been said time and time again that early detection is the best cure..I urge all of you to be proactive and lead a healthy life.

I dont know what it means to survive cancer and I can only imagine how much it takes to get through it. My best friend's mom struggled through it last year and I salute her and the countless others who had the courage to overcome and move on..

Strike 2 1/2

2006-03-15T09:42:00.000-05:00

Looks like I am destined to go through the entire 360 degrees of the application process. After the drama of the first 2 dings and the admit, Ross has decided to be obnoxious and has placed me on the WAITLIST.
It is frustrating as hell since Ross was definitely my top choice after W and C. It still is, except I dont know if I can afford to wait till the end of July to get a decision. I am trying to clear my mind of the pros and cons of this and ive come up with this..

1) What do I do about the $1000 deposit to Yale? Pay and then forfeit?
2) Should I get an I20 from Yale and then wait till July 15th and then if admitted at Ross, get the new I20?
3) The deadline for the Fall term fees at Yale is Aug 1. How do I arrange for the finances if I wait for Ross and then not get admitted?
4) BIGGEST QUESTION: Since I quit my job, I dont have anything additional to add to my waitlist decision, except that I volunteer full time and travel extensively. Should I even bother pursuing the waitlist?

Its quite frustrating .. any one with some smart ideas?

Recovery..

2006-03-13T09:00:00.000-05:00

....post surgery has been as expected..painful and slow. Thanks to all for the good wishes. The actual surgery went well though and there is a healthy chance that I will be able to look back at this as a small-but-necessary diversion in my daily scheme of things. Whats amazing though is how life has its own sweet way of making fun of us, asking us to put things in perspective.

I only have one request ...a year down the line, I will forget all the personal resolutions I have made the last few days and will succumb to the daily drudgery of school, job search and dog-eat-dog politics.Oh holy life.."Do give me a nudge again, just one that doesnt involve anaesthesia."

Off I go..

2006-03-09T10:07:00.000-05:00

I am off to the hospital..I think Ill dream of a call from Ross during the surgery.

Things are rollin again..

2006-03-07T15:31:00.000-05:00

Ross started calling R2 admits today..a good one week before the actual decision date.
Wow..!!

Say a little prayer for all..

2006-03-07T10:37:00.000-05:00

For the first time since I submitted my applications, I woke up on Monday morning and did not have time to obsess over my admissions. My dad broke his ankle yesterday and is to be on bed-rest for the next 5 weeks. My dad-in-law was also admitted to the hospital on a diabetic complication yesterday and is yet to be discharged. Adding to the hospital woes, my surgeon doesnt have a single free spot the whole week and is leaning towards pushing the surgery to next Friday. That gives me another 10 days to think thoughts Id rather not.

Poring over Yale's admitted students' website has been a wonderful distraction through this all. As a nice personal touch, the school has assigned an Alum to act as my guide and mentor. I have zillions decisions to make with respect to quitting, moving, financing etc...if I can only get this darned surgery scheduled..

PS: The last few days have been fraught with personal issues for several bloggers. My wishes are with all of you..

Someone UP THERE is messing with me..

2006-03-03T12:57:00.000-05:00

A trip to the friendly doc today revealed that I need to have a surgical biopsy done..Its been scheduled for next week and I DONT LIKE THIS one bit..Whilst they are pretty confident that it is benign, one can never ever be completely sure till the surgery is done...

aah.. yet another thing to worry about!!

Yale's done deliberating..

2006-03-02T21:54:00.000-05:00

and I am In...!!!! The relief and joy on getting an admit has really made the torture of the last 6 months worthwhile.

For some reason I had been expecting a phone call and when I saw a status update email instead, I really wondered if I was going for my third straight strike. This made the admit letter even more thrilling...and I havent been able to stop grinning since then..

"Welcome to the Yale Class of 2008",said the letter....the best thing ive heard this whole year..:)

Calm before the storm..

2006-02-28T11:55:00.000-05:00

This bschool application process is one place where "no news" isnt necessarily good news. Things have been pretty silent after the quick dings of the last 2 weeks. The BWeek forums have been rife with speculations about very little news from Stern. Some R2ers have already been admitted or waitlisted whilst a majority(including moi) are still waiting for the first status update.

Ross's deadline is looming large.Another 2 weeks and the wait will be over. The interview I gave in early dec seems like a distant memory now. What stands out though is how much I loved the school. Brand names aside, Ross I think has one of the best curriculums around. Ive been a student of the action-based-learing school since undergrad and I really have seen firsthand the benefits of theory+practical learning vis-a-vis pure theortical learning. Of course, I would hop over to Ross for their Tozzi Finance Centre alone.

Yale is still deliberating..

His or Her?

2006-02-24T10:15:00.000-05:00

I am no bra-burning feminist, but in the interests of clarity, I am a "she" :)

The Himalayas..

2006-02-22T12:26:00.000-05:00

The whole business school process has brought me in touch with some amazing people with extraordinary experiences. In some ways, it has brought with it, a realisation of how much there is to see and do in this world.
As a step in a new direction, I am seriously exploring a himalayan trek this summer. Been reading up and talking to friends regarding this.

Details to follow..

Strike Two

2006-02-21T18:30:00.000-05:00

The Columbia ding rang very loudly today..

Work..

2006-02-21T12:13:00.000-05:00

I heard from my ex-boss from London a coupla days ago. He s in NYC for 2 weeks and wanted to catch up for lunch. Unfortunately, I just returned from a month long stay there and I really cant make it back to the east coast anytime soon. Would have been great to catch up with him though.
Have I mentioned I am currently unemployed? I sometimes wonder at the irony of it. I left the company that every bschool student clamours to get into upon graduation. I tried my best to explain my reasons for quitting in my applications. Though personal reasons had a lot to do with it, I wasnt going anywhere professionally in that role either. My boss gave me great recos and has offered to take me back at any point in my life and after an MBA, I know its the company I want to work for. I love the culture, the fit, everything..

This break has been excellent for me in so many ways. Personally, I have benefited immensely; Regards bschool application, I dont know if adcoms have a problem.

Yale Visit

2006-02-20T12:32:00.000-05:00

My tryst with Yale started on the flight to New Haven. Seated next to an Executive MBA student, I had an extremely candid discussion on Yale's program, its strengths, marketing strategy and areas of improvement.

As I entered the Admissions office, my resolve in many ways was strengthened like never before. I guess, hearing about the W ding made me realise that I needed to desperately convert this into an admit. When I walked in, there were 2 other people besides me and I was handed a name tag, a Yale information guide and a list of classes I could attend that day.

A marketing prof walked in soon and he gave us his take on what it meant to teach at Yale. He heads one of the centres there and spun a powerful argument for why one should attend Yale. The one common feature about what everyone at Yale maintains is that they are by far an academics oriented school and they have positioned themselves in the market on those lines. That said, they have started involving students in the various research centres thereby helping to give them practical experience as well.

Shortly afterwards, we had a campus tour with 2 current students(extremely laid back), and got free lunches too. As has been said time and time again, the Yale campus leaves a lot to be desired. Its just a cluster of 3-4 buildings and they really didnt give me a sense of belonging. Apparently, they are actively raising funds to build a state of the art campus, but that doesnt do us any good in the short run at least.

I attended a security analysis class after lunch and really enjoyed it. Its a class very close to my future goal where students have to analyse different companies and industries and present their findings to the rest of the class. Since there were only around 15 students, there was lots of discussion. The prof was very engaging and kept the presentation alive.

By then, it was interview time and I was met by a second year ad com student. As expected, it was more of a discussion than a real interview. At the outset, he did mention the direction in which he wanted to go and after that pretty much let the conversation take its own flow. I was quite surprised when he didnt take a single note through the 45 mins. I really hope he remembers the points I highlighted especially since we are in different industries.

In retrospect, I can think of a zillion things I could have said differently, but I guess that is something we all do. My first reaction of the interview was that it wasnt too bad. I have definitely given better performances, but I still think I did well enough to give my Yale admit a good chance. Now its upto the adcom to feel the same way.

As much as I dont want to harp on the W ding, my confidence has taken a beating due to it. Its making me look at every situation with a pinch of salt and I am finding it hard to make a realistic judgement of my chances of getting into a bschool.

Time will tell..hopefully soon..

February 16th

2006-02-17T12:01:00.000-05:00

It was ironical that I picked this day for my Yale interview. Somewhere at the back of my mind, I think I was highly confident that I would have recd my W interview much earlier. As things turned out, I learnt that I got thrown out the back door, the minute I landed at the New Haven airport.

Other than that tiny gitch, things actually werent too bad. Another post on my Yale trip follows..

Dont break my heart..

2006-02-14T18:28:00.000-05:00

I would write an ode to Wharton if anyone would listen..I just finished another day of obsessing over my status!!
As far as I am concerned, I just have another day of this torture. Early Thursday morning, I am off to New Haven for my Yale interview and will not be able to check my status until after I return late at night. Thts the only school I havent visited till date and I am quite excited. I would love to convert this opportunity into an admit.

Good Luck to me..

Hurry up ..'W'

2006-02-13T14:38:00.000-05:00

The DWI fiasco from Wharton was definitely a shocker. Despite being the compulsive status-checker that I am, I somehow managed to block out all application thoughts for a whole evening on Friday( after my last post here). So was definitely psyched out of my wits to read the DWI news on s2s. I managed to check my status only late Friday nite and thankfully(whew..), it still said Complete Round 2. I doublechecked my "status change date" this morning to see if I was one of the few who had been DWIed and then pitied upon with a temporary reversal. Judging from the speculation making the rounds on all the forums, my date of 1/11 probably means that I am still hanging in there with a whisker.

But I have to admit, I definitely agree with all those brave waiting souls out there-If the adcom has decided on my fate, id rather know now than wait and THEN get my weekend screwed.

Yale interview is up in a coupla days. Ive become so obsessed with 'W' that I havent done much justice to Yale. Its the only interview I have in hand till now, and I desperately need to convert it into an admit.

Zippo..Nil..Zilch

2006-02-10T16:28:00.000-05:00

I always used to believe it aint over till the fat lady sings, but as far as Wharton is concerned, it does look like my journey ends here. The official interview invite deadline is another 4 days away, but what are the chances Ill be one of those ppl who get their invites 9 seconds before the deadline and still get admitted?..nah..i dont think its gonna happen!!I feel stupid to be ranting like this..

Good Luck to those who are still in the running..

another week gone by..

2006-02-03T17:56:00.000-05:00

ok dammit..i am not an optimist..I feel like stomping my foot and saying, I want my interview NOW...waaah!!..its the weekend and I now have to spend 2 days forgetting that my bschool application exists..!!

Its agonizing..

2006-02-02T09:47:00.000-05:00

2 weeks into the Wharton interview invites and 2 more weeks to go..The wait is really agonizing. Its funny how easily this application process can bring us down to earth. From the minute I pressed the submit button, Ive been expecting the invites to drop in and I guess, therein lies my folly.

I will be eternal optimist here and keep hoping..I have one interview to work towards in the meantime...

Almost there...

2006-01-11T16:27:00.000-05:00

The last 2 weeks have been a mad rush to say the least..I am done with 4 applications, and have one more to go:)

Come Sunday, and I will be free for the next 2 months..well not entirely, but at least it will be out of my hands.Its crazier like this though ..after all this hard work, now it feels like my essays were a load of crap and I wont get through any of the schools...and this despite the fact that I have religiously desisted from even opening one single submitted application.But I more than make up for it by opening my status pages every day. I even have a mathematical solution to determine how frequently I need to open each school's status page to be declared clinically insane at the earliest.

Will be dedicating the next few posts to my take on the application process..

cheerios..

Public speaking..

2005-12-28T15:52:00.000-05:00

Overheard at a corporate seminar:

"My speech will be like a miniskirt.Short enough to keep you occupied,long enough to cover the important parts."

Because...

2005-11-22T21:09:00.000-05:00

Its not hard to guess..we all need validation of some sort.Its not enough that our families,our friends think we are great;some unknown stranger in an obscure corner of the world has to believe that we are worth our weight in gold.Thts why we prune our feathers when we meet a new person,trying in some way to let him/her know that we are special...

Why..?

2005-11-19T10:37:00.000-05:00

I wonder if I am beginning to have the Bschool Applicant syndrome..!!Spend more time surfing blogs,reading online forums than working on my essays.

Seriously,why the hell do we care to know whether some guy brushed his teeth today or not?I was recently at one top school's prospective students meet, and saw a couple of fellow applicants at my table craning their necks.Hoping to catch some Wall Street Tycoon,I nudged them for details on who they were looking at.It turns out he was a famous online blogger.Can you believe that these blogspots are actually becoming the talk of conversations at MBA fairs?People speculate on whether Mr X or Y will get the job of his choice?

What prompts us to become so involved in someone else's life?Looking at it from another angle..What prompts us to actually blog and tell someone else about our life.I dont believe for a moment that I blog so I can put my thoughts down somewhere.I could write a personal dairy,i could do a zillion other things which do not involve letting an online community read into my mind..

Why do I do it..?Why do you read it..?

Shit happens.... !!

2005-11-09T11:15:00.000-05:00

My friend has a problem remembering things!!Last week, he gets back from his client(he 's one of those nomadic consultants), and at the airport,walks to the parking lot.
Now i can imagine,how he must have done this.He typically stuffs clothes for 4 days in his laptop bag,(he claims this helps him avoid the baggage claim wait)...So anyways,here is our friend,laptop bag in one hand,cell fone in another(he has a girl friend back in India that he needs to report in to every 47 seconds)..and is walking around the parking lot searching for his car.Now obviously,since its Thursday night and he parked his car on Sunday night,he cant remember where it is.
Enter our parking lot assistant(PLA):

PLA: Sir, can I help you?
Friend : I cant find my car
PLA : Do you know where you parked it?
Friend : Somewhere here.Cant remember it..
PLA : Maybe I can take you around in my van and we can search for it..
Friend: sounds good..

To cut a long story short,they spent the next one hour searching the lot for his car,couldnt find it.My friend didnt remember his tag..(he s had his car for about 2 years now...) and so he called his roommate in the middle of the night and after a lot of %#$#%$$^, retrived his tag number .When they did a computer search.. lo-behold...the parking lot guys didnt have any record of his car...!!!

It just went downhill after that.They did a search of the data base and discovered that the car had indeed been parked on Sunday nite,but was taken out on Monday night...????...when my friend was 1500 miles away..how freaky is that..?

..as you read this...some smart ass is driving away from a parking lot with your car..I have decided..i aint saving money for my clients anymore.I am taking a cab to and fro everytime....budgets be damned..!!!

Can you beat the house..?

2005-11-02T14:20:00.000-05:00

Lets face it....you cant decide what cards you are gonna be dealt..the trick is whether you can call the bluff or fold!!I am on a journey ... to beat the house.Who knows,I might just cash in..!