Oh and tomorrow is end of quarter for my company, and usually there are huge layoffs around this time. Hopefully they won't downsize in my group. I am not too happy with the way my career is shaping up here, and compared to the first few years, this past year has been slow and dull. So far it has been the serious slump in the job market that has kept me back, and the idea that if I plan to take the GMAT and take the time for the essays and application process, it is nice to be gainfully employed, without too much work pressure and earning more experience as compared to sharing this time looking for a job as well, which would be additional pressure and distracting.

Oh I also solved some 50 questions on RC from the ETS guide, got about 11/50 wrong. Sucks but hopefully I will improve, felt a little down and sleepy last evening so did a few more quant problems just for the heck of it, and scored 3/50.

Sometimes when I think about the way I do things it always makes me laugh. Usually when I suck at something I will put it off, like bowling, I hate bowling, I try to come with all kinds of excuses to not go if I am asked too. The RC is similar to that, I hate spending the time to analyse the mistakes (which is probably why I make them again and again and .. ), but Quant is pretty much like Racquetball, where I can actually spend hours on the court practising my serves, practising the drop shot, bidding and buying books on strategy on eBay. So even if I am tired and hungry or sleepy, I usually perk up and can concentrate 100% on the problems and rip through them.

Alarm bell rings

I was discussing deadlines and various other things I need to have a complete application with my wife, when I suddenly realised that it is less than 4 months to the first deadline. And here I haven't taken my GMAT, not started on the basic essay themes, nor finalized my list of recomenders. Definitely a cold cold reality. I was under the impression when I started out that I was early, there were more than 18 months to the start of the class. Unfortunately there is a lot of dead time after you apply/wait for your results till (if) you join grad school. So going to pull up those socks and try to crunch up my current schedule. I had initially planned on taking the GMAT some time in July, way after the long weekend, which would have given me ample time to prepare in peace. But now I am planning to move it forward if I can get some quality study time in the next couple of weeks. That will give me the whole long weekend to sit and think up points and atleast get the basic text for some of the Wharton Essays that I can flesh out later.

Post more regularly

Haven't posted much in the last week, thanks to some intense work pressure. Had to get a patch out and had too many issues to fix. We were also scheduled to move offices last friday, and due to the patch almost din't get time to pack. Finally on Thursday the patch was closed, tested and released around 5:00 pm and I finally started packing. Have you ever wondered how things get accumulated so fast the moment you are stagnant in one place for a year? I had over 5 boxes full of junk and papers, excluding my two computers and radio.

Though, the plus side is that I finally got an office with an awesome view out of the 9th floor, overlooking the bay.

Inspite of all the work pressure I did manage to put some time in, for my GMAT studies and did pretty well in the tests I took on Saturday. With about 11/41 mistakes in Verbal and 3/37 in Quant. The quant was super awesome (Arco's practice test - 2) . I thought the problems were difficult but I cracked it in under 51 mins. And the success ratio made me happy enough that I plan to power down on the quant and concentrate on Verbal a lot more. An encouraging sign was a reduction in SC mistakes, but the negative side was an increase in RC/CR mistakes. And it is back to the drawing board. :)

Back to work!

Weekend has come and gone. Did not get as much work done as I wanted too, but it was a curious result. I scored 640 in the first powerprep test I took. I was contemplating switching between Kaplan, Arco's or ETS. I did not like the English and formatting in the Kaplan and Arco's book. Just din't feel it was up to the mark as ETS questions and the ambiguity and vagueness in English was enough to throw my score off. So I solved some 150 problems from ETS, 50 each in Data sufficiency, Reading Comprehension and Critical reasoning. Scored about 5 wrong in each of them. Which works out to be about 10%. My conclusions on the excersice were:
1. The ETS practice problems are too easy, and I need much tougher problems to crack 700.
2. There as been no improvement in my score from last week, when I was at the same 10% error mark.
3. Due to 1. Above, I have been pacing my self very nicely with an average time of 1:46 mins per question. Offcourse the ease of use negates the outcome of the score drastically.

All in all, I am disappointed with my performance and the work I have been putting in. The mantra remains "Concentrate on all sections, and study harder".

I stopped by Borders instead of Barnes and Nobles last Friday. Read some bits of the How to get in the top MBA programs it seems like good stuff. It is highly recommended by Pablo and others, so I am going to buy it. But looking for an essay companian, which will help me get over the 25$ mark for free shipping as well prove useful in the long run.

Addiction

Ever since I found other people out there Blogging away their MBA application process, I have been spending a lot of my time reading their experiences as compared to studying. This lack in focus is driving me crazy, I wish I could stay away from the forums and other bloggs and concentrate on my GMAT. Getting a 700+ score is hard enough as it is that I don't need the added pressure of not studying to bother me.

This weekend I plan to spend both days in the library, but today I will probably stop by Barnes and Nobles and check out a few of the books that I have been hearing about but haven't read.

How to Get Into the Top MBA Programs by Richard Montauk
On Writing the College Application Essay by Harry Bauld
Your MBA Game Plan: Proven Strategies for Getting into the Top Business Schools by Omari Bouknight, Scott Shrum

An articulate look at why MBA?

Here is something that Brit-Chick posted on her blog that I felt was extremely articulate and definitely a starting point for the people out there who haven't fully defined the feeling that they get in their gut when they think about a MBA. A direct link to her original post.

What I'm looking for
Before talking about each school, I thought it would be useful to post the lists I made of why I want to do and MBA and what I want from a programme.

What do I want to achieve?

Equip myself to lead an nfp organisation in the future, by:

* developing skills in strategy and leadership
* gaining a deeper understanding of the issues affecting nfp orgs
* building more generalist skills and knowledge onto my specialist skills, knowldege and experience.
* acquiring enough knowledge of other specialisms to understand the issues and ask intelligent questions
* gaining knowledge and skills in the 'hard' areas
* building on my knowldege and skills in the 'soft' areas

What am I looking for when chosing an MBA
* Core courses with a good mix of 'hard' and 'soft'
* Opportunity to lok in-depth at leadership, strategy and nfp issues
* Ability to have both breadth and depth in course taken
* To learn from experts working at the 'cutting edge'
* To learn from my fellow students
* To be able to put theory into action
* To be in a co-operative culture
* Opportunity to work and study with people from a wide-range of backgrounds
* To be somewhere I'll enjoy living and studting
* Good links to nfp orgs and consultacies
* Interesting extra-currics
* Interesting people
* A firm foundation for future professional practice and development
* A well-regarded course
* A mix of teaching methods, used effectively
* Opportunitied to sing (a long-term hobby that I want to continue)
* Finance available for international students
* A loan forgiveness programme
* Decent transport links with the UK
* Not too big, but not too claustrophobic
* Excitement!

The above aren't in any particular order. I'm going to go through them at some point and divide the criteria into 'essential', 'desirable', and 'bonus', and probably add in some more that I think of along the way.

Edited to add: In response to requests, anyone wanting to use this list elsewhere is very welcome to do so, but I'd appreciate it if you could credit where it originated. Thanks.

Now, as promised, my thought on each school:

Yale
What makes it stand out
*Very good reputation for its nfp offerings.
*Interesting nfp focussed resources and courses (e.g. Programme on Social Enterprise, Partnership on Nonprofit Ventures, Nonprofit Organiosations Clinic.
*Social Entrepreneurship course
*Strong offerings in the strategy area.
*Strong offerings in the leadership area (including Chief Executives Leadership Institute, Creativity and Innovation course)
*Intersting joint offerings with other schools, particulalrly liked the look of 'Business Ethics and Sleeping Well' with the School of Divinity.
*Small school.

Concerns
*New Haven
*No university housing, how difficult will it be to find accommodation when I'm coming from across the Atlantic and have no local credit history?

Stanford
What makes it stand out

* Overall profile and reputation of the programme
* Location / weather
* Centre for Social Innovation and the nfp course oferrings
* Centre for Leadership Development and Research and the leadership and strategy courses
* Leadership DEvelopment Platform
* Process of Change Lab
* Management communication Programme

Concerns
* Location - west coast makes time difference with and travel time to the UK that little bit more

Before I visited, I'd listed 'reported arrogance of students'. I've now deleted that, but replaced it with 'very high competition from extremely able applicants'! But if you don't ask, you don't get, and the worst they can do is say 'no'.

Kellogg
What makes it stand out

* Centre for Nonprofit Management
* Offering of noprofit leadership non-credit course, early on in the year
* Social Impact Club and Conference
* LEAP
* Well regarded programme, both generally and for nfp's
* Very team focussed
* Good leadership and strategy offerings
* Board Fellowship course

Concerns

Slightly larger programme than the other two

Again, before visiting I'd listed 'Will I like Chicago / Evanston?' I can now say a very definite 'yes'.


Having typed up these notes, largely made before my visits, I can see that there's stuff missing and more detail in some areas than others. Watch this space and I'll come back and fill them out, as well as looking at Wharton and Columbia.

Getting back on topic

Gave my first complete GMAT yesterday. In one word it was "Tiring"! I guess I just haven't been used to sitting and concentrating for such long periods of time. Its been a long time since my GRE, for which I din't feel any pressure or strain. I scored a dismal 640. Surprisingly my verbal which I felt I was doing better in the test turned out to be the kill joy. Math was surprisingly decent, inspite of a bad feeling while doing the test that I was getting it all wrong.

Kaplan strategy seems to be working for some of the situations, so I might spend more time understanding the strategy and solving a whole bunch of problems before venturing back into the full version tests. But definitely there is a HUGE difference between doing the test with pen and paper as compared to the CAT. Also must remember to sit 3 hours stretches while solving problems to get used to the intensity of the test.

On a side note, I was speaking with KN yesterday about MBA and the GMAT. I think it helps me articulate my thoughts in the open to actually understand what I feel. It also relieves the tension somewhat, maybe that is why people go to psychiatrists in the first place. :) Also, I think I have fired some neurons in KN's head over doing a MBA, not that he needed much pushing he was already thinking along those lines, but talking to me is probably helping him as well. Looks like a win-win situation so far, don't feel I am taking advantage of his patience. I hope he decides soon, after looking at the Brit-Chick's Blogs, it appears starting out a year and a half before the term you wish to attend might not be as early as you should have started. MBA calls for a serious investment of time, effort and money. No wonder I wasn't interested in doing it before my epiphany.

To paraphrase Robert Frost I have miles to go before I sleep!

Bad news!

Sadly one of the people whose blogs I have been following, PowerYogi, just got a ding from Wharton. Not sure why I feel so strongly about a disapointment in someone's life who I don't even know, or haven't met. I guess publishing a blog is like opening up your life to the random web surfer who plays the role of a voyeur, and at some point of time gets involved in your life.

Well here is wishing Yogi all the best with his LBS admission, (for some reason I feel he is going to get it) and a Happy Birthday.

Sad state of affairs

Was running through Naveen's blog and came across a (post) where he spoke about the human rights scandal in Iraq and his support for Bush to 'finish the job in Iraq'.

While I feel dismayed that a great country's image and reputation built over countless generations has been destroyed, by a stupid bunch of people, I am sad that people who are well educated and smart in just about everything else in life don't see through the bullshit spewed by the current administration. I guess having more money allows you to spin the news which skews public opinion.

It is inconcievable that people are not calling Bush out for lying to the nation and sending people to die for a fake cause. If the data from the CIA was wrong, then heads SHOULD roll. You cannot take a nation to war, kill god knows how many civilian unless you are absolutely in the RIGHT! Being partially right or totally wrong as in this case does not count. While watching CBS news last night saw some pictures of American marines who had been killed in combat and it is so sad to see 20 - 25 year old kids who will not be coming home. And all for what? Some CIA analysts mistake? Bush's ego? Rumsfields ideology?

As far as Naveen's assertion that Bush will finish the job, I have to disagree. In my opinion this is just going to fan the hatred amongst those who lost their families as "collateral damage" and Bush far from finishing the job has just widened its scope and recruits.

I am just saddened by this whole mess. This crazy world has to come to its senses, and fast or peace and security will be lost forever.

This has been a digression from my MBA theme, and I might just delete it at some point of time in the future. But felt strongly about the situation, had to say this out aloud, and the comments section on Naveen's blog just wouldn't allow me enough space to vent.

Good start

Had a good start today, was kicked out of bed by the wife to study since my resolve is being tested by work pressures and mental fatigue. It was really nice to sit down to work and solve some fun math early in the morning.

I seem to be spending too much time doing math as compared to the verbal part, which I feel is my weak spot. My justification is that I find Math fun, so am trying to max out the math score before stepping into the jungle that is Verbal. Surprising since I scored a 97 percentile in my Verbal in GRE.

Dawn of a new day!

Woke up early this morning with a renewed sense of purpose. Got to work early, thinking I could put in a few hours of study before I had to earn the all mighty dollar, but now I find myself sleepy! :) I guess this was too much too soon. Well hopefully it will pass. Yesterday I answered some questions on the reading comprehension part of the GMAT, and after a not so good CR and SC sections, I found I was pretty good at RC. Possibly even better than my math. I am not sure why people keep saying KAPLAN math is difficult, I found it easy, din't score full marks but almost there.

Tentative beginnings

Just started thinking about my future plans. Scary to think that after a post graduate degree you can't be secure enough in your knowledge and job to let your guard down and take it easy.

Thinking seriously about an MBA. Hoping that it will take me where I want to go. But after seeing the loser who is the VP of my division, I wonder if I did the wrong thing, but pushing tech instead of BS'ing my way through management. Well here is my chance. Hopefully will ace my GMAT and then take it from there.