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I have been traveling quite a lot for the last 2 weeks – I could hardly find any time to sit down and write something. Things have become quite rough at work with a sudden surge of pressure; my boss has become totally oblivious of the fact that I have applied to business schools this year – so lot of files are getting piled over my desk. It’s a good thing in a way since I need the doe before I go to school. I have finished submitting my FAFSA – my EFC is pretty high so I highly doubt that I will get any support from school.

Some crazy ideas have been going through my head for the last 2 weeks – what should I do before I go to school? I would love traveling -especially hitchhiking or backpacking. How about visiting the Himalayas once more? OR Latin America? OR shall I go to Europe? It would be great to experience another culture and learn a different language. Let’s see how it turns out in the end.

I saw Joey is back and he got admitted to Kellogg. He is one of the old timers like me – I think he was one of the first ones to start blogging with Harry and LuvShack after which I tagged along. It has been a great journey for the last few months especially seeing all my fellow bloggers getting into the schools of their choice. I have proposed it before and I will propose it again – we should seriously consider meeting one another – once before going to school. I am sure we all will be excited to accost one another in the real world after this virtual existence for so long.

And, I am also seriously considering starting a MBA advisory series for next year’s applicants to give them some actual insights into the application process. Not that I myself has perfected the art – but I am sure it will help a lot of fellow readers. And once more, thanks to all the people who have responded to my survey – it is building up and I am trying to organize all the data as much as I can. Update me if anything changes.

I will try to blog regularly from now on…

SURVEY

I have started a survey of all Indians applying to Business Schools. Please feel free
to add your data and submit it. I will create a link where i will put up the Survey
Results each week.
This will not only help the future applicants but will also help to gauge
the enigmatic application process. Feel Free to leave out any information you
deemed unnecessary.

Thanks a bunch.

Where is Sonny Liston?

“Nothing’s predetermined?” I asked. “There’s no destiny?”
“Of course there’s destiny,” said Pye, “but destiny doesn’t push you where you don’t want to go. You’re the ones who choose. Destiny’s up to you.”

I have read “One” a zillion times; it is one of my favorite books of all time, but nothing summarizes the ding from Wharton then the above wisdom from one of Richard Bach’s most influential novels of all times.

And then I will quote myself from one of my previous blogs:

“The wait for the Wharton interview invite has started – small number of invites have already started going out. I am not so stressed about it – I know if I am the right fit I will get another opportunity to present my case. I saw that Wharton will hold hub interviews in San Francisco between the 23rd and 27th of February. Good, at least if I am unable to visit Philly, I can give a face-to-face interview with a Wharton Admission Committee member. My essays were darn good for Wharton – Now I can only sit back and wait.”

“Darn Good” – my essays were darn good, did I write that? That’s absolutely true – then what happened. I strongly believe that my numbers were my doom, or to put it nicely – my representation of myself in the form of an application (of which numbers were a part) was unable to impress two individuals in Philly. Dig that – 2 individuals….

I am not going to go into the anal whining mode because I have pretty much summarized my feelings in the first paragraph. But let me put the truth into perspective – if you are applying to Wharton as an Indian from the techie pool, make sure you have a higher degree (a Bachelor’s won’t suffice – a quick peek into Wharton’s Resume Book will prove that) and all your numbers in place (i.e. a good GPA from a good undergraduate and graduate institution, GMAT well above the average and sufficient years of experience) or an extremely outstanding background. [The demography is a factor] Then are the essays.

And also keep my “fit theory” in mind – you should truly believe that a school is a fit for you and the school should feel the same.

Anyway after all it is Wharton’s loss and Michigan’s gain. 5-10 years from now we will all know which school made the right decision. I am as much driven as I was before and all geared up for Ann Arbor. Where is Sonny Liston?

P.S. I just returned from my vacation today after having a gala time in Chicago and Pittsburgh. – Hence, I was unable to share this news before.

Happy Valentine's Day

Off to Midwest for Valentine’s Day. My bags are packed and I am all set to go. I will be meeting her for the first time since my Michigan admit – so I am sure we are going to have a blast. I am thinking about all the activities we are going to do together – an evening walk along the riverside, drive to the nearest ski resort and try our luck in skiing and snowboarding (and probably break a few bones too!!), tickling our culinary buds in one of the best Italian restaurants in town, an afternoon at the movies, boozing with some of our very close friends and party all night (and then wake up with a bad headache) as well as some serious conversation about our plans for the future. [The last part is not fun at all. Believe me!!]

I am going to have some pure unadulterated fun for the next few days and take my mind off everything – I still haven’t got to enjoy my Michigan admit with anyone so I am not going to let go this opportunity. I just finished my tax returns for 2003; damn, I have to start on FAFSA and finish it before the March 1 deadline. I have to think about so many things before I go to school. I am sure I am not going to get a penny from Uncle Sam since I have some cash stashed away in Savings especially for Business School. But I don’t plan to touch it – rather I will take a loan and keep the money as a safety.

The blogger community is doing really well. Naveen is in at UCLA, Luvshack is in at Yale, me at Michigan, Potter is waitlisted at MIT, ChunkyPitBull is waitlisted at Berkeley and FutureMbaGirl got the interview invite from Wharton. We haven’t heard from Joey for a long time, probably he is busy vacationing in some remote island in the Bahamas. PowerYogi and Tripenel are going all guns for Round 3. Folks!! 4-6 weeks more and the wait will all be over – probably we should think about an exclusive get together of the blogger community in the near future – It would be really interesting to meet you all in person.

And yes, Happy Valentine’s Day.

I am King Kong

I was talking to my mom few minutes back; my mom is a very pious person and is an ardent worshipper; [I am an atheist myself but has never disrespected her beliefs] – it seems she had a dream last night, something related to our familial deity and the interpretation is that she is going to get some good news soon. I am not jumping on that – I am still checking my emails twice every hour – I am sneaking into the lab to check the status every few hours and no news as yet. What an irony?

Though we have an argument at hand that “Wharton” has still not completed reading the applications twice. Whatever FF or Alex may say, it is impossible to soothe the nerves right now – I am sure everyone is going through that same anxiety period as I am. I am trying to chill – but I have chilled so much that I don’t need to turn on the heater anymore. [losing of temperature is release of energy – u dumbos ;)]

Wow!! I sometimes feel really accomplished – it’s like we all have survived 6 months of boot camp, isn’t it? The journey never ends – it has been going on for so long that slowly the volume of “I am King Kong. I am King Kong.” is going down. [It is my way of inspiring myself before an interview – Oops!! I just revealed my interview acing strategy.]

Anyway, I hope we all bask in glory in the next few days and to all the Wharton prospectives – Keep your hopes alive. If I die I will die like a soldier – fighting till the end.

“I am King Kong. I am King Kong.”

Nothing new

Kellogg is complete; Wharton is complete; Berkeley is complete – Now the actual wait starts. Wharton has already started sending interview invites and 2 weeks are left before I learn my final fate. (Shall I call it fate?) Kellogg is way out of the picture – I can do nothing else about the application other than "wait and wait and wait". I can do some preparation for Wharton and Berkeley in the coming two weeks to keep myself busy; it has been so long since the journey started. The personal situation has improved as well; I am slowly getting used to the "fact" – I am feeling much better right now.

I constantly feel the urge to write something about the admission process but I have decided to wait till all the results are out.

I have got used to the fact that I have already been admitted to Michigan. When you have achieved something, you always get the feeling that you can do better – it is natural human instinct.

I have really kept myself busy at work as I am channeling all my efforts to do my best rather than pondering for the next few months about what I am going to do in the future. It’s a good feeling that I will be doing something different and I will be doing something, which I always wanted to do. I can hardly wait to say, “See ya, Suckers!!”

I am Lost

I am not in my normal self for the last 24 hours – it is something so sensitive that I can’t even talk about it in my blogs. I am feeling very sad and shocked – it will take me days to recover. Good that I have at least Ria to talk to. It is always easy to pass judgments or form opinions when it is a hypothetical situation – but when it actually happens in reality, it is a whole different ballgame.

So this whole situation has taken my mind off the admission process. I can’t concentrate at work and have lost the urge to do anything. I thought that writing might be a little therapeutic in this case. Don’t ask me what it is because I can neither write about it nor talk about it. But it has nothing to do with Ria or me.

Life is full of ups and downs and you have to deal with it. I have dealt before with much graver situations but in this certain scenario I have absolutely no experience – so, I am lost.