PotPourri

I met a Kellogg alumnus few days back. He was very helpful and provided some insightful tips into the Kellogg admission process. Actually we have been in touch since 2001. I must admit that he pointed out some significant blunders I could have committed. I also realized that inadvertently I have introduced some typos and errors in my previous 3 applications. Good, at least that I got the feedback before I submit my other 3 applications. I need to do a real good job with Kellogg, Wharton and Harvard. There is no point in thinking and losing my sleep on the mistakes I have committed – I can only learn and move ahead. Kellogg interview is just round the corner and I need to prepare myself substantially before the event. Next 2-3 weeks would be extremely busy for me as I struggle to finish my Wharton and Kellogg application before my vacation.

I am also taking the next 4 days off as I will travel and meet some of my friends in the east coast. So, it is additional pressure on me for the forthcoming 2 weeks in December. I have absolutely no idea how am I going to finish the 2 applications. Anyway I will try to joint down some notes while traveling – who knows I may hit upon some great ideas. Worst-case scenario, I may need to work on Wharton too during the Christmas break.

I did some extensive research on Kellogg in the last 2 days. Kellogg has a very strong Marketing department with an incredibly renowned Faculty. The Tech connection is/was also pretty strong, principally after the Center of Research of Technology and Innovation was initiated and Prof. Sawhney took charge. I think I would grow immensely if I am admitted to Kellogg – especially I am eyeing to hone my soft skills.

Bad News – MIT interview invites have started going out. That means more wait and more anxiety – I should just forget about the other 3 schools and concentrate on finishing the rest of my applications. I wonder how people get time to work on 7 or 8 applications – I am already sweating to finish 5 applications even after working tirelessly for the last 3 months.

Good News – Berkeley has been submitted and the topic has been put to rest. The ROI for CA residents is very impressive – you need to invest a slim amount of only 30000 dollars for 2 years i.e. peanuts compared to other top 15 schools. I am very impressed with the end product for Berkeley – the applications are getting better and better, particularly the essays.

Anyway, Thanksgiving is round the corner and people are already in the “holiday mood”. Why not just take a mental break from this rat race for the next few days and come back recharged?

Happy Thanksgiving :)

Pain

I am slowly running out of steam, how long can you pull this process of introspection and regurgitating. I was thinking about the Kellogg package and it seems like that I have to rewrite most of the essays. Kellogg has 6 essays and Wharton has 6 i.e. 12 more essays to work on. That is hell lot of work to be done in the next 3 weeks. I was trying to do some writing today and I have again run into “writer’s block”. This is pain, slowly the deadline is approaching and the pressure is insurmountable.

Wharton gives some relief though since I can reuse some of the content of my earlier essays. Still I have to make sure that I answer the questions appropriately and give a true representation of my self.

I have nearly perfected my Berkeley package, finishing seventh and eight drafts of the essays. I have put in a lot of effort into Berkeley and I will be extremely disappointed if the outcome is not what I desire. [Why I keep forgetting that every one of us is investing a lot of time and money into this entire application process.] I should say that Berkeley is the best package till date, not that I did a bad job with MIT and Michigan.

MIT interview invites – the excitement is ought to start next week. I am prepared for the “dings”, I can’t expect every school to admit me, but I will be very thrilled if I get that coveted email. So, let the fun begin…

Midway

Phew!! A sigh of relief – Berkeley is complete. 3 down, 3 more to go - more sleepless nights, more coffee and more introspection. The fun has only started – 3 very important applications still left to be completed. But the good part is that the foundation has been laid and I just have to build my houses appropriately in accord with the requirements. I have stopped thinking about the outcome and tirelessly working to create that perfect formula, if it exists.

The last 3 days have been crazy with lot of pressure at work. I am almost on call for 24 hours along with some approaching engineering deadlines – managing two boats at the same time. I was unable to do any application work but I hope that the pressure would be less in the forthcoming weeks. I have hardly given any time to Ria as well – I hate losing that balance between my personal and professional life.

The essays are really maturing with time – I have the evidence in front of my eyes. Everything is falling into place till now, who knows next week hell will break loose – especially since the MIT interview invites are supposed to go out. Even if I don’t get an interview invite, I am not going to get discouraged. As I said before, the right school with the right fit will surely admit me. I am not among those whiners who needlessly blame a school for dinging them. I have set my priorities and I am going to stick to it.

When I talk about connection, Michigan surely stands out. I don’t know why I have this infatuation towards this school since I started thinking about MBA. Maybe because it was the first brochure I got, my most prized possession at that time. I played around with the booklet, tried the tiny CD almost once every day. Since then, I am hooked to Michigan.

MIT, Michigan, Berkeley…. Kellogg, Wharton, HBS to come….

Research on Wharton

You have guessed it right – I have started working on the Wharton Application seriously and the more I research the school, the further it goes up my priority list. Undoubtedly it moved up a notch or two after I gobbled down the veritable cornucopia of information in its website. Kudos to the Marketing gurus who designed the website!! It certainly gives a good impression about the school.

I was worried about the Tech Connection but my doubts have been put to rest especially after I discovered the thriving tech research in Center for Emerging Technologies. Not to mention the Wharton Technology Club and the various student clubs and conferences. I was a bit amazed to discover that only 2-3% of the student body comes back to Silicon Valley with a job i.e. a handful of 16-24 students [6% joined Hi-Tech companies i.e. 48 students approximately] - that’s a very low number compared to the entire student body i.e. 800 students. Additionally the WTC has posted some job profiles and I was surprised to see job profiles like Project Manager, Software Designer and Software Architect – Do you need an MBA for these? Maybe the website has not been recently updated and contains some old job descriptions.

I like the Learning Team concept instituted in its curriculum – a good opportunity to brainstorm in an ad-hoc environment and go through all the stages of team building like Norming, Forming, Storming etc.

I think I should visit Wharton at the slightest opportunity. Maybe in January after the vacation I would be able to squeeze in some time for the school visit. Particularly an interview invite would be an additional alibi to visit Wharton. So, Let’s get started for Wharton…

On Schedule

Panic!!! 4 weeks left before my vacation and still 4 applications left to be submitted. So, I broke it down today and came up with a temporary schedule. It goes like this – Berkeley, submit it in a day or two. Try to submit Kellogg after I come back from the school visit, which would be around the beginning of December. Wharton – I am planning to finish before I go for the vacation and HBS, I would probably work on it during the vacation.

Today we were discussing how my profile has changed in the last 2 years. My professional experience has enormously diversified; I have some insightful probing stories to write in my essays and I have matured immensely. Most important of all, she particularly complemented on my writing style, which according to her has substantially improved. I agree – I have worked on my writing style voraciously to make it perfect – especially the flow and vocabulary. We feel pretty comfortable with my essays this year, particularly the content and the overall profile. So, we were discussing what is my probability of getting into a Top 5 School this year – it is absolutely impossible to predict, as I have no idea about my competition. After all as we know this entire process is a crapshoot – Nostradamus would stagger in his grave if asked to prophesize the outcome.

I almost finished the final drafts of my Berkeley essays and she is exceedingly content with the end product. I have to agree that Berkeley also gives you the opportunity to explore and expose all facets of your application. I need to sit tomorrow with the drafts and get done with it.
Need to brush up here and there and do some editing to create that flow which she always craves. I discovered that I very much rely on her opinions. Sometimes she gives some magical touches, which completely changes the composition. This leads to her incessant gloating that her writing style is more potent than mine. I have to put an end to this. [This year I have done it partially by only taking “editing” help from her.]

I have only 4 weeks and I have to work relentlessly to finish Wharton and Kellogg before I go. End of November is almost here and can hardly wait for the MIT interview invite [Wishful Thinking!!].

“Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle all the way….” Christmas is not far away…
and then comes January :)

Back to Business

A hell lot of work to finish for Round 2 , so many pending essays that I am getting real tensed right now. All my recommendations have been collected, all the exam stuff is over - now, I can finally just think about the essays. Berkeley is back from the shadows and I need to start on wrapping up those essays. A real exciting month waits ahead of me - so good to be back in business.

First of all, I would like to say that I am thankful for all the tremendous support I have got from my blog readers - I really appreciate all your comments and helpful tips. I would add one more thing - whatever I write here is not "made up" but actually what I feel - there is no pretension here. Berkeley is the only thorn and I should say that it is unfair to judge a school just on a single experience ; so I have decided to visit the school once more and attend the info session. I would also like to point out that every school has its pros and cons and Berkeley is no exception. To all the first years who have emailed me - thanks a bunch; I have no doubt in my mind that Berkeley is a great school and as you all have suggested I would visit the school once more since it is so close to where I live.

I have decided that I am going to write an additional essay for Berkeley since I have time and space - why waste it? I am almost done with the drafts of Berkeley ; I just need to arrange them appropriately - run some further proofreading and edits and submit the application asap. I have a great feeling about this entire application process and I am absolutely confident that the right school with the right fit will admit me whatsoever.

I have a message to all those arrogant snoots who boast about their schools and show disrespect to other people ; remember the arrogance will come back to haunt you once you join the business world - everyone is on the same platform once you graduate and you have to work with grads from other schools.
I have discovered that every school is fill with people of such character [it's absolutely impossible for the admission committees to filter those pretentious beasts]....

[[ Just got off the phone with Ria - had a good conversation about where technology is headed - especially the semiconductor industry. We discovered the analogy between the semiconductor industry of recent years and the steel industry during Industrial Revolution. Semiconductor industry was the last to get affected and would be the first one to revive. Today, Applied Materials came up with some positive data. Great Sign for us - the future BSchoolers. At the same time apprehension about missing the window of opportunity. Destiny is Ironic..]]

Arrogance is an absolute turn-off for me - I would hate to go to a school filled with snobs with their irrevocable characteristics.
My aim is to learn as much as I can without loosing my individuality. I am anxiously waiting for that experience and hence this wait process is becoming more and more difficult.

Once again, thanks for showing all the love and Best of Luck to all of you :)
Take care till then..

I..

I don't try to be funny; I don't try to be smart; I don't need to persuade anyone what I am but I am what I am and I cannot change that - I cannot be that molded gem - I cannot be that winner always, I need to be a loser sometimes. I am a humble being, an average Joe, the guy next door. I am not that superstar, but a burgeoning dwarf. I am not Einstein, John Coltrain or Jack Welch, I am Ree - I am the one who dreams big and talks small.

I am for the underdogs, the unprivileged and the dreamer...

"I know that the world, that the great big world
Will never a moment stop
To see which dog may be in the fault,
But will shout for the dog on top.

But for me, I shall never pause to ask
Which dog may be in the right,
For my heart will beat, while it beats at all,
For the under-dog in the fight."

- David Barker

Life goes on..

Life goes on.. and on.. and on.. and the wait stinks...
This weekend was not as eventful as the last 2 weekends. I relaxed a lot and particularly worked on finishing the additional aspect of the applications like recommendations, personal info, filling up the extra-curricular information etc. I would probably collect all my recommendations by the middle of next week and get done with the offline part of the application. TOEFL is also near - but I am quite confident after taking a practice test - this whole TOEFL thing is a joke. Probably planning to submit my Berkeley application by the end of this week and start on Kellogg and Wharton.

This wait really sucks bad - I am more worried about my Round II applications - I have to wait till the end of March before I know anything. The fun thing is that I would know about MIT and Michigan as soon as I come back from my vacation. So it's like this - 3 more weeks - then Thanksgiving - 2 weeks before vacation - back in January beginning - wait a week and then MIT and Michigan. I would come to know about MIT by the middle of December - if I don't get an interview invite I am out ..

I am planning to visit the Michigan campus during my Thanksgiving Holidays - that would be fun. I have visited all the campuses I am applying except Ann Arbor - I heard that it is a great place but would like to check it out myself. And then there is Kellogg interview early in December. I have purposely opted for an on-campus interview so that I can convince the adcomm in person.

Things are really slow for me right now but I still have plenty to work on - just a month's time to finish 99% of my application - I won't enjoy doing my apps during my vacation. One more thing I have consciously avoided discussing any strategy in my blog because I don't want to misguide future applicants unless and until I am totally convinced that my strategy works. So, wait till next year - I would also list down the things every applicant needs to think before applying for an MBA and what should one do two or three years ahead of time.

That's for now...

Application in Progress

I have kind of started working on some of the applications. Berkeley and Kellogg - I have finished the data sheets and the personal information sections. It would have been great if there was a generic template which could have been used for all the schools. Then I can finish the data sheet/personal information once and for all and just concentrate on the essays. Maybe we should raise this concern in the MBA forum so that it is easier for future applicants. I have also started thinking about the content of the essays for Kellogg and Wharton. HBS application seems to be the most difficult - in this respect MIT wins hands down.

I am approaching each essay separately avoiding the urge of pasting contents from my previous essays. The school's philosophies are so different that you have to think keeping their philosophies in mind without loosing your individuality. One thing for sure, I have learnt a lot about myself from all this introspection and I know clearly what I want in the future. But who knows, everything may go topsy-turvy after a year in business school [ I can hardly wait ].

Ria's workload will be less in the next few weeks - so I am probably hoping to get some help with the applications [ she is already contributing substantially]. I think she is all motivated to finish her PhD at the earliest so that the pressure on me lessens. Obviously it would help me a lot if she works while I am in school - I have asked for a Beamer as a gift after her first salary ;)

Nothing much interesting to write other than that I am working on my applications. I hope to be done by the middle of December and then the ecstasy starts...

Business School Rankings

I am tired of visiting the BW forums and seeing people tirelessly arguing whether Harvard is the best or Stanford is the best. It is an everyday thing where people come up with some skewed methods of ranking the schools and then the posters worthlessly argue whether the analysis is right or not. It is good to weigh the ranking methodology to some extent - but once it crosses that limit, then it seems meaningless. Do I care whether Harvard, Wharton or Stanford is the best. No!! But it matters which schools are in the Top 20 and which schools are not - the rest is on my fit and my career goals. I don't even care if HBS is the best, if MIT can give me the podium which HBS cannot. Why do I care if UCLA has hot girls and Berkeley do not. Do I care Chicago, Columbia ranks over Michigan - nope, Michigan is a great fit for me - I would thrive in that community, CC I won't.

We should think in what way we as applicants are influencing the Business School Rankings. We are so obsessed with it that every journal and every newspaper is coming up with the idea of some "unique" methodology of Business School Ranking - it is a flourishing business right now. Since applicants are weighing the rankings to make the application decisions, schools are stressing more on going up the chain. Now, if the schools have to go up the chain, they are trying to push for higher average GMAT, GPA scores (with partial compromise of the quality of students) and getting trapped by the "numbers" game.

We should bring back the sanity to the rankings methodology. I think one of the best ways to do it is to ask the recruiters of the Fortune 500 company to rank the student quality based on their experiences in the last 3-5 years. We should disregard the "numbers" from the ranking methodology so that the schools don't get carried away with it. In a way it will encourage the schools to recruit more competent candidates ( I am sure most of the top schools are doing that) and create good reputation with the recruiters. Especially we should only have one business school ranking which should be the father of all (probably USNews or BusinessWeek) and instead of individual ranking it should have the tier method. Like Tier1 Top 20 schools , Tier2 Next Best 20 schools etc.

Also, remove this generic ranking and use specialized ranking instead - even then use the Tier Methods. But we can't do that unless we ourselves stop giving importance to the thousand rankings available in the market. Unless we stop arguing over some pithy ranking position, nothing is going to change. We have to change ourselves before we can ask them to change. We have to look inside ourselves before questioning anyone else.

Anyway here is a brief synopses how the rankings are evaluated:

US News & World Report
Each year, US News & World Report ranks full-time and part-time graduate business programs accredited by the AACSB International. According to their web site, full-time programs are ranked according to the following criteria:
Program quality assessment by peer academics. Weight = 0.25
Program quality assessment by recruiters. Weight = 0.15
Mean starting salary and bonus. Weight = 0.14
At-graduation job placement rate. Weight = 0.07
Job placement rate three months after graduation. Weight = 0.14
Mean GMAT of new entrants to full-time program. Weight = 0.1625
Mean undergraduate GPA of new entrants to full-time program. Weight = 0.075
The proportion of applicants for admission to the full-time program who were rejected. Weight = 0.0125
Part-time programs are ranked “solely on the basis of nomination by business school deans and MBA program directors. Schools that receive seven or more nominations are ranked, listed in order of the number of nominations received.”

Business Week
Business Week publishes rankings for full-time, part-time, and executive MBA programs every two years. (Updates to ranked schools' profiles are published yearly.) Business Week’s rankings are based on a combination of student and corporate recruiter surveys (each weighted at 45%), and an “intellectual capital component," which measures “school's influence and prominence in the realm of ideas” (weighted at 10%.)

Wall Street Journal
Each year, the Wall Street Journal ranks business schools that are accredited by the International Association for Management Education, as well as any foreign schools that are recommended by its panel of “business-school deans, business-school associations, recruiters and career-services directors.” The rankings are based solely on the opinions of MBA recruiters, who are asked to rate schools on a ten-point scale for each of 27 criteria having to do with the quality of each school and its graduates.

Forbes
According to their web site, Forbes ranks MBA programs according to their average return on investment “by comparing the cost of attaining an MBA--foregone income and tuition--to the prospect of a bigger salary.” Alumni from each of the schools provide pre- and post-MBA salary information that Forbes uses to make these calculations.

Financial Times
Every two years, the Financial Times ranks MBA programs based on over 20 factors, the most heavily weighted of which, at 20% each, are the current salaries of each school's graduates and the percentage of salary increase “from the beginning of the MBA to three years after graduation.” The remaining factors, each weighted at 1-10%, include things like the percentage of women students and faculty, the percentage of international students and faculty, the number of faculty with doctoral degrees, and alumni recommendations.

Some potential problems with rankings are:
- Most rankings guides include only a select group of schools, rather than ranking all schools, and it’s not always clear how this initial group of schools has been selected.
- Many rankings surveys ask deans, corporate recruiters, executives, and students to make lists of what they consider to be the top schools – and it’s not clear what information these people are using to formulate their rankings.
- In order to formulate their scores, rankings guides must assign different levels of importance to different factors – and it’s virtually impossible for anyone to determine how important a certain piece of information will be for a specific student.
- Putting schools into numerical order can exaggerate minor (or non-existent) differences in quality between programs.
- Many rankings guides are too general to be useful. This is especially true of guides that give a single score to each business school as a whole, instead of rating the relative merits of its specific programs.

and here is an excerpt from the businessweek archives of 1998:

"We're glad the rankings are taken so seriously. But this year, some people took them too seriously. After an investigation lasting several months, BW determined that some students at five schools tried to ''game'' the system by inflating their responses on the student portion of the BUSINESS WEEK survey. They urged their fellow classmates to answer the survey questions positively in hopes of moving up in the rankings. The five schools: Dartmouth, Duke, Purdue, the University of Texas at Austin, and Washington University.

There is no evidence that school administrations or faculty had anything to do with the students' attempts. The deans at four of those schools argue that if any discussion of the surveys did occur, it merely reflected the enthusiasm students feel about improvements at their schools. Says Ramesh K.S. Rao, director of the MBA program at Texas: ''I hate to see [our students'] uniformity and beliefs about the direction we're going penalize us.'' Purdue's dean, Dennis J. Weidenaar, says his own investigation uncovered no proof of any discussions or transgressions at all. "

This is what the rankings are leading to.. And it is our responsibility to stop this madness..

Life at a Tortoise Pace

Things have kind of slowed down for me. The rush is no more there - I have plenty of time to work on the other 4 applications. I have decided that I would walk through the entire application for all the 4 schools and make sure that I have everything in place so that in the last moment I don't have to panic. [Lesson learnt from the Berkeley experience.] So the next 4 days I am going to do so - I kind of finished doing that for Berkeley today. I am planning to finish my Berkeley drafts this weekend and take the TOEFL next week. If I can submit the Berkeley apps then I can work peacefully on the other applications - Wharton,Kellogg and Harvard.

Now, it's a long wait before I can hear from MIT or Michigan. I am kind of hoping that the MIT interview invites would go out by the end of this month - so I can go for my vacation peacefully whether I receive it or not. Michigan - nothing needs to be done but a long wait till the start of next year. Next year would be a happening period for both me and my fiance. Atlast we can close this chapter of our life and move on.

I am visiting Kellogg in December and have already scheduled my interview - that would be another experience for me. Can't wait to visit the school - I am all enthusiastic to feel the "teamwork" phenomenon with all my senses. I don't know whether it is kind of negative or not - but I would give the interview before I meet the students. Maybe I should try to bump into some Kellogg grads the day before and get some pointers before the interview. I am very disappointed that I will be unable to visit Wharton because I wanted to visit the school badly - unfortunately I have run out of vacation and I can hardly find any day to sneak out. [ I already had to make up so many stories everytime I leave office early for the info sessions or the school visit or the interviews.] HBS - I don't think I need to visit the school because I already felt the culture in the info session - it's a mix of sharky and humble crowd - but I got the feeling that competition is enormous in that school.

MIT gave me a scare few days back when they sent the "you are invited" email to all the applicants in the bay area - lot of us were initially elated and then disappointed - it was foolish of us to expect an interview invite so close to the application deadline - Mr. Garcia needs some time to do an appropriate post-mortem of our applications - Isn't it?

I would wait for that Michigan phone call and would be fairly disappointed if I don't
get it :(

The wait has only started. Let's keep our fingers crossed...

Michigan Complete

Michigan is complete atlast - 2 down, 4 to go. I was pretty satisfied with the end-product - I would say 90% convinced - but you still feel that glitch somewhere, "I could have done a better job" - heck!! It's very difficult to be totally satisfied. Next, I need to wrap-up the Berkeley essays - they are almost complete but need to do some night-outs for them. Michigan - I have worked vigorously in the last one week and have come up with some great flow and content. One thing I forgot - I should have mentioned my GMAT score in my resume as some one pointed out in the forum - there were no place to report your scores - anyway it's a minor thing and I don't need to lose my sleep on it.

Here is some great news. My fiance has agreed to write her own blog. I have put up the link in the right column section - some of you who plan to go for PhD or academia I would say check it out. MBA and PhD are so opposite paradigms - opposite attract :) I am happy that she is soon going to complete her PhD - who knows one day she may have a great idea and we can start a venture of our own - though it's far-fetched ;) I have also asked her to write stuff related to my MBA application if she could - so significant others can relate to her experience :)

I took the day off. Brought some movies from Hollywood Video - just finished watching "Gladiator" - while watching the movie one thing struck me - most of the Roman emperors were very well-read and educated - like some of them were experts in literature and philosophy - to be a "good" leader , I believe, he or she should be well-read, atlast have a reading habit or an intellectual curiosity to know the unknown. I won't like my boss to be a professional robot with whom I can't have an intelligent conversation. Isn't it necessary to go and socialize and be able to talk about any damn thing under the sun? I remember one of my pals from Columbia told me that during the hiring process, one of the recruiters had something called a cocktail reception where the grads had to go and mix with the crowd without having any idea who the actual recruiters were. Pretty interesting!! I feel so relaxed today - a good feeling - a sense of accomplishment but still a heck of a job left.

I should start getting involved with the Wharton and Kellogg application - I saw that some of the content I can reuse and I got some more good ideas after I have hit the submit button. I am expecting that I would know the results of Michigan and MIT before I actually get an interview invite from Wharton, Berkeley or HBS (if !!). I would not bank on the waitlist phenomenon - it's really taxing - rather I would accept the waitlist as a ding (that doesn't mean I won't try) and move on. Yah!! I can see the end is near - 45/60 more days to go before this entire process is over. Then, I can chill and start preparing for my business school education.

Check out my fiance's blog - I suggested her that if I am successful this year then probably next year we can start a consulting service :) Why deny few bucks?

MBA...

People go for MBA for different reasons. Some go to enhance their theoretical skills and come back to the same industry in a different position. Some go to make a career change. Some go to network with future business leaders and make lifelong friends. Some go to create that window of opportunity so that atleast you get through the door and for some it is just a checklist in the resume. Yet, there are countless debates whether MBA is really worth it. If I sit back and think - to me it is more about the experience, the life-long friends, the network, the social tete-e-tete and that urge to transform myself transcending barriers. I am a techie and I can't live with this for the rest of my life. I would be doing the same job - think and type, think and type - go to some boring architecture discussions - shout over one another - and then type again imprisoned in my cubicle. Best case scenario I become a manager where I maintain some datasheets managing schedules, check my emails and voice mail regularly, plunder over some useless strategy discussions pretending it to be very important and never understand the big picture. Sorry !! I can't do that - I can't waste the rest of my life doing it. There is so much to learn that I get overwhelmed.

I am mentally prepared for the degree - I have already prepared myself for the academic rigor - dude, I would be spending 100000 dollars from my pocket, I rather make better use of it. When I do the financial calculations the hit is almost like 300000 dollars. But, if I take the next 10 years of my life I am sure an MBA is worth it - more because of the intellectual growth - the convergence of thought - and the transformational experience.

The one thing which draws me most is the learning curve - both professional and personal - think about the people with variegated experience I will meet - 50 different culture and communities - probably 100 different professions - if all of them is as intellectually curios as I am - I am sure that I would learn as much as I haven't learnt in the last 10 years or next 10 years of my life.

So, what is business education? Business education is nothing but the consistent efforts of some management gurus writing theories and hypothesis based on certain experiences and experiments and then formulating an academic program out of it. A person can learn the same through intuition and years of experience - that's why people say that MBA is an aid not a necessity. I concur.

I am also tired of this age-old debate of Harvard is No.1 or Stanford is No.1 Who cares about rankings once it crosses a certain threshold. I am sure that academically there won't be much difference if you go to any top 10 school. The only difference I can think of is the window of opportunity, student body and alumni network. It also depends on your priorities. Tech - then go for MIT, Stanford, Berkeley. Finance - go for Wharton, Chicago, Columbia. Marketing - then go for Tuck, Kellogg, Michigan. Entrepreneurship - go for any Top 5 school. Secondly, the student body segregates all the different schools in each category. A well knit student community would be Michigan, Kellogg ; whereas Chicago, Berkeley would probably be the opposite. If you prefer a competitive sharky environment - then probably Harvard, Columbia and Stanford. I think in this case MIT/Wharton maintain a balance - some competition but a well knit student body. But the best way to decide is by visiting the schools but sometime it's not necessary if you already can sense the culture. For example I haven't visited Michigan and Kellogg yet but I am confident that I have already grasped the idea.

I especially hate when people compare IIMs with US BSchools. Dude, it's like comparing apples with oranges. The philosophy is totally different. I think, as an MBA experience, US Bschools win hands down. I also like the selection criteria here where a fair assessment is made based on a holistic approach. People argue that even in IIMs you have to pass the GD and Interview, but who knows how many good candidates are getting kicked off just based on the CAT exams. Compare the diversity as well - most of the IIMs are filled with engineers, some of them fresh out of school. I remember in college - it was a cool thing to sit for the CAT exam and then get through in IIMs. We had no f***in clue what we want out of an MBA program. I remember one of my seniors whining to me exactly about this thing. He went to IIMA straight out of college and he had a hard time grasping the theory compared to the experienced people already in the class.

I think in this case, ISB looks promising. I think a lot of the future of the school depends on the current students and I hope the school is doing a good job in picking up the right candidates. I was amazed to see ISB's Advisory Board - it contains all the who-who of Indian Business World. To future ISBians, the school has a lot of potential and I think a lot depends on you guys - you all can actually bring ISB to the global map.

I sometimes wonder - what will actually make me happy 10 years from now? Is it my private yacht or that armani suit ? I think it would be more that I would have become wiser. I hope that in this rat race I don't forget to live a life. But heck, I am already 28 - what am I doing with my life? What is Life?

"Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,--act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;--

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait."

- Extract from "A Psalm of Life" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow