MBA Crystal Ball

http://www.mbacrystalball.com/blog/2010/11/24/level-playing-field-for-mba-applicants-from-india/#comment-243 Came across this site through BTG forums and the BusinessWeek forums.. nice practical advice on applications especially for us Indian folks who don't have the resources or the $$ to hire expensive consultants abroad!!
Kudos.

interesting stats in business india

3 out of 10 candidates in West Europe and US are women..
only 1 out of 10 candidates in Indian B schools are women..
and these aren't hard figures.. these are chances / probability as they call it
0.3 in US and Europe and 0.1 in India...
Average age of MBA students in China and India, in years: 23.9 and 25.9
Average age of MBA students in West Europe and the US, in years: 27.5 and 30.2
Number of GMAT scores sent from India and china to management programs in the US in 2005:
India = 43,000
China = 19.200
interesting statistics.. and more to come!!

Sunk Cost fallacy

Just realized that my worst apps in the order of "worseness" of content / quality were
1. Darden
2. UNC
3. Emory - still work in progress, but definitely looks better than the previous two.
So now i have worked out a strategy for my Emory app
1. by end of this week , finish the 1st drafts of essays and also take in comments from reviewers
2. attend the Emory student's one on one on Sunday 4pm to 6pm
3. take his inputs as well and work on my essays
4. finish the recommendations by this weekend.. so i really need to get started on that...
5. Mail the transcripts on Sunday .. 12th December.. cant mail before that.. work on Christmas cards at work..
6. Use 2 hours daily in office each morning to work on my essays.. wish i could carry my laptop to work
7. write essays that dont put the adcom to sleep.. as told by my dear friend at Ross..
Sunk costs - Darden , UNC apps
Can i do anything about them?
NO
Can i do anything about the Emory app?
Hell, Yeah!!
Gotta sleep in some time.. maybe make some Chamomile tea to soothe my frayed nerves..

have i hit a wall today?

Sunday morning.. got up at 8.30.. my maid turned in early to cook.. i hate her.. but cant help it. she feeds me and my husband our daily meals.. so cant fire her..
so i woke up groggy but totally charged up about my Why Emory ? essay..
used some really good points that i gathered from attending yesterday's webinar.. and then by 12:30 pm i was done with the essay and bust.. my shot of energy had been consumed..
two cups of chai had completed their effect and I was completely burned out...
After that I could not do much..
sent out 2 Emory essays for review..
still stuck for a topic for the next 2 essays
will really need to use some time off in the library tomorrow morning..
10 am to 12:30 pm..
as my hubby prepares for his GMAT retake, I cant help but feel that i am pressurizing him too much.. so I have decided on the back off strategy for this week..
Will just gently ask him What's up? and not make a fuss about the GMAT.
He is under a lot of pressure too lately..
So i guess we both deserve to take a chill pill..
Items on my list this week
1. 2 Emory essays - write and send for review
2. rework on the 2 essays that i receive comments for
3. mail the transcripts to Emory, mail the Christmas cards to UK?
one of my recommenders is really unwell.. hope she will be able to submit my reco.. the Emory application is really driving me crazy.. apparently the link for reco is activated only once you submit!!!
that's crazy.. I should have worked on those points as well this weekend..
okay.. so that's another action point for me this week..
btw.. am wondering. how is Kaneisha Grayson's Art of Applying course? Wonder if anyone has taken it? its worth $1000 > .. kind of too expensive for me.. 47K ( wow, that's more than my 2 GMAT attempts + Darden + UNC app fee put together)..
so not worth it , at least due to the cost factor...

BusinessWeek Rankings

Something I will need to keep referring to..

Cross cultural experience essay

Hoping to complete this today.
Once I have worked on the other essays I will get some time to think of Essay 3 about Emory's core leadership values.
Meanwhile, some useful links I have found today
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/feb2006/bs2006029_7305.htm
This is by Paul Bodine. Has anyone read his books?
How are these?
Need some recommendations before i start ordering these books on flipkart..
one more interesting link i just stumbled upon.. can be used just as a guidance as we explore our own unique examples
http://www.justcolleges.com/essays/index.phtml?no=index.htm#bschool

Nice article by Brett on how to network the crap out of the top schools

http://ivyappsuccess.com/mba/how-to-network-the-crap-out-of-business-schools/

I hope to follow his advice.. sooner rather than later..

Ding diagnostic

http://gmatclub.com/forum/mba-prep-school-s-ding-diagnostic-will-i-get-dinged-104210.html
apparently you can reward yourself 3.5 points more if you are a female.. ha ha...
its that crappy.. sorry.. no offence but maybe this is the first time in life that i should be happy about being a woman???
if it works in my favor , then hell yeah!!
Am happy to be a woman ... but that alone does not qualify me for b school..
Have to work my A off as much as others do ...
and have to justify my place in class there..
so i dont think adding these 3.5 points to my profile if I am a woman matters in any way!!

Still trying to make a dent in the Emory Essays

And am super excited about
1. the Saturday webinar at 11.30 am EST
2. meeting a current Emory student on the 11th of December.
I have got to send out my first drafts to my reviewers on or before Saturday..

Hoping to make a good dent in the Emory essays today

for the next couple of hours, gotta switch off other things from my mind, except some occassional work e-mails..
and work on my Emory essays...

Emory's webinar on Saturday

at 11.30 am EST..

I have signed up for it. with the hope of receiving an application fee waiver..

that's $140 saved!!!

 

Sign up now.

lemme know if someone needs the link to register.

 

 

Darden dream tanked

just saw on one of the forums that an Indian student has received an invitation to interview.. so it seems like my Darden dream is tanked for now..
Anxiously awaiting 13th of December to know my UNC status..

Fellow woman MBA aspirants...

you might like this post from Mbagirl2010
Tips: best-app-tips-77803-80.html#p610423GMAT experience: gmat-710-q47-v41-what-worked-and-what-didn-t-81055.html#p608295Telling your story: storytelling-82064.html#p615567Other MBA women: calling-all-female-mba-applicants-84636.htmlGMATClub interview practice groups: gmatclub-interview-groups-85902.html#p643929
more useful links to follow..

R1 anxiety

Haven't heard back from Darden...
And so am at the peak of anxiety..
am sure many Indian fellow students are in the same boat.. saw many posts on the forums recently..
Have reached a really low point in the application process and unable to use that energy constructively towards my next app..

Need a lot of encouragement and mojo to go ahead..