Experiences- My Life

Its been a month at Stern and in New York

2008-09-18T23:48:00.000-07:00

It has been a whole month since I started school and it seems like i just joined it 2-3 days back. Life has really been different and very busy since I started school.

Our pre-term started on 18th September and it kicked off with a speech from the Dean. The first day was just so exciting. I got a chance to meet people from so many countries (I think around 40 countries are represented at Stern). In fact in the evening, I forgot the name of most of the people I met on the first day :). NYU Stern has one of the longest pre-term of 2 weeks and its very very exciting. In fact, according to MBA2's it is the best time you have during your first year.

Some of the highlights:

1) Entire class went for Mets game (baseball)
2) Entire class went for US Open ( Federer match)
3) Broadway show
4) on the last day of pre-term Boat Cruise, which was the best part.

Full 2 weeks of party till late in the night. We used to get drunk and party till 2AM and then go to school back at 8AM for the free breakfast. And yeah all 2 weeks were sponsored by various companies (one of them was Lehman :)) so everything was on the house.

Classes started on September 2nd and its been really very busy since then. Assignments, pre readings, post readings.....

Anyways, one thing i should mention here is about the Professors at Stern.

Some of the professors at Stern are really amazing. Like our first semester finance and Accounting professors.
Finance Professor is like a real showman, i haven't seen a person giving a lecture with such a passion. Our finance and Accounting Profs give lectures and take trainings in all major banks regularly. So you get to learn from someone who is in touch with the industry. Almost same is true for the economics and Strategy professor as well.

Office of Career Development already has started building job search strategies for all of us. Of course you yourself need to take initiative here. But as we all know the market position these days, no one is really sure what is going to happen. But anyways for now it seems like its good to be in school right now. But again, summer internship recruitment starts next month and its hard to say that I am not worried.

Hope all goes well!

Which Laptop to buy?

2008-07-22T12:06:00.000-07:00

I am writing a post after really a very long duration. Will write details about last 3 months in a separate post. This post is regarding an imp decision i am taking of buying a laptop for B school :)

I have shortlisted following 3 laptops

1) Dell M1330 laptop - 13.3' screen
2) Sony Vaio CR series - 14.1' screen
3) HP 14.1' screen

Well the prices are in order with Dell XPS being the costliest.

Hoping to see opinions of people here on the 3 laptops.

Also i am confused on which windows i should buy:
1) Windows home edition
2) Windows Business
3) Windows Ultimate edition

I am really not a MAC guy so have to buy Windows laptop.

So give me your opinions people, i have to order my laptop in another 2 days.
Right now i am getting inclined more towards DELL XPS. It is beautiful and is giving me best configuration in around $1250

One more thing: Will 6 cell battery be fine or shall i choose 9 cell one? Only issue with 9 cell is, it will make my laptop heavier and big

I bought Dell XPS 1330 and its really a great laptop.

Preview @ Stern - Admitted Students weekend

2008-04-17T00:36:00.001-07:00

Last week i was in New York for the NYU Stern Preview and i really had a great time.

Events started on Friday evening with Admitted students reception guess where :)....@ New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) right on the Wall Street. It was really organized very well. We had champagne on the NYSE Options trading floor. As many as 250 admitted students turned up for the event. There were couple of nice speeches by NYSE CEO and Dean. Overall it was a networking event wherein i interacted with many admitted students and also MBA1 and MBA2's. Friday night was full of parties with one of the good parties organized by LGBT community at Stern...we were partying till late in the night.
I actually organized a happy hour at San Francisco for admitted students wherein i met some 10 people and they already are very good friends now. During the preview these people were like old friends for me, as if i know them for years...bonding has really started.

On Saturday, we had some interesting team games, just another way to have more networking :), but it was good. This was followed by sessions organized by OCD(Office of career development). Now i know why Career Services @ Stern are ranked in top 10 by Economist. OCD people were really great. They really gave a snapshot of things to come and how they will help us in that and i am really looking forward to that now. There were couple of workshops organized for Finance, Consulting, Media & Entertainment, Marketing, Non profit etc. Based on students interests, people were already divided into different workshops. Since i am interested in Finance, i went there and had a chance to interact with current students who are going into the type of profiles in which i am interested. Saturday evening we had a cocktail party at a pub in Manhattan downtown. After that all admitted students and many current students went to The Village Underground for the night out. It was a real fun. Nice ambiance and we had a nice time dancing till around 4 AM in the morning.

Sunday was alumni day with some 90 Stern alumni coming in on campus to meet us. And again alumni were divided into groups like Finance, Consulting etc so that every person can meet up people in his field of interest. For finance alone there were some 25 alumni who came. 1-2 alumni were VP's in large investment banks. I don't know about other groups as i only attended the Finance alumni meet. Didn't have time to go to other meets.

It really was a great weekend and at the same time tiring as well. I slept for less that 12 hrs in 3 days. But it was worth it. I am really waiting for the school to start now :)

Plans between now and school

2008-03-18T00:16:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about what all i have to do before the school starts and believe me there are so many things to be done that i am actually falling short of time. I actually thought when i got selected at Stern that what will i do with so much time that i have. But now it seems the other way around.

As i will be an international student, i need to get my work permit transferred to a student visa before the school starts. Visa stamping is really a very painful process through which every international student has to go through. I am presently researching on all things i need to do for visa stamping.

I am planning to resign from my present job in US in may end and leave for India. On the way i will also be going to Hong Kong to visit my friend. Planning to checkout Hong Kong with my friend there before leaving for India.
In India, i will get my visa stamped and then there are many plans for travelling in India itself. Also i am really excited about meeting so many friends and relatives back in India.
After travelling and relaxing in June and July in India, i plan to fly back to New York by August second week for the orientation.

Also in between i have to look for my accomodation in New York which again is not an easy task. But i will do some apartment searching while i am there in New York for the admit weekend next month.
Stern is organizing the openieng ceremony of the admit weekend at the New York Stock Exchange and i am excited about attending that. Last couple of times i have just seen that building from outside and this will be the first time i am being invited to enter that building.

In between these plannings, travel and resting i need to find out time for following some of my hobbies which i initially thought i will be doing once my apps are done. And now that its done, I have started following and doing some of the things i wanted to do for so long and hope to continue that atleast till the school starts :)

- (The idea for this post has been give by Paige. Thanks Paige !! )

Am I forgotten? Wishes for the fellow bloggers

2008-03-12T16:57:00.000-07:00

Its been long since i wrote a post here, i hope my fellow bloggers have not forgotten me.

Oops - All the best buddy for your forthcoming results and interviews. I am sure you will make it good.

Paige - How is your Euro trip planning coming along? Do plan to attend a Euro cup match during your stay there. The exceitement and passion in soccer is a must see.

HappyBunny - congrats for your great score

Bee - All the best for your HBS interview.....you will do well

Coin toss - welcome back!! :)

Hazyblur - good luck for forthcomming results

BSchoolBound - have a happy time deciding between H/S :)

Also, Congrats to all the new admits from blogging world...its great to see so many people finally getting what they wanted here.....Cheers!!

Sent initial deposit

2008-03-12T16:53:00.000-07:00

After postponing this for 2 weeks now finally i wrote a cheque for $1000 and sent out to NYU Stern. With this i am finally officially part of NYU Stern class of 2010. I am really happy for this :)

NYU Stern Interview experience log

2008-02-14T10:37:00.000-08:00

Finally I got down to write my NYU Stern interview experience.

As is required by Stern, I went for an onsite interview at Stern campus in New York for the interview. Anyways, since I didn't visit the school before so I really wanted to experience everything first hand.

My interview was taken by an Associate Director of admissions. She was really a very nice lady and made me feel comfortable before we jumped on the actual questions. She asked me about my plan for the New York trip and how I am finding the city and also talked about SF (where I am living presently) weather.
Then she mentioned to me that this interview is not a blind interview and she has already read my essays, recommendations, resume and my application well. Also she clarified that this is not going to be an interrogation but will just be a casual chat which really helped in calming my nerves. Actually it was my first ever B school interview, so was a little tense but i was also confident on my preparation.

She started with my present experience. She was so well acquainted with my present profile that she asked me a very specific question about the work I am doing presently and that really impressed me a lot. As I am working in a technology consultancy firm I have worked for several Big Retail clients at multiple locations within US and in India. She also asked about my experience on that. It never seemed like she was just asking me questions. In fact it felt like we were just discussing things.
As I have worked with two biggest US retailers she asked me about what is my opinion about their working and what will I suggest them if I need to devise a strategy for them. This question caught me a bit off guard. I though about it a bit and then was able to answer it well.
Then we moved on to my short term goal and she asked me very specific question on that which again was impressive. This interview can really be called a personal interview and I was really impressed on the amount of effort she had put in going through my application material
Type of question which was asked was:-
1) Why I wanted to make a career switch?
2) How will I make the career switch?
3) How will Stern help me in making this switch and reaching my goals?
4) What will be the biggest obstacle I will face in getting to my short term goal/making the career switch?
5) How will you decide on which company you will join after graduating from Stern and why?

I was also asked:

1) If you are selected by several top schools how will you make your final decision?

I am unable to recall some of the questions :( but will update this post here if I am able to recll more.

The duration for my interview was 40 minutes including the time for my questions.

She mentioned to me after the interview that - “You really have done your research so well - Why was I asking you questions - you should have asked me" :). So that really gave me a very positive feeling and I was just waiting for the results.

I was really impressed by the Stern campus, though it’s a small campus. But the facilities were really excellent and all of the people were so friendly. After giving admits, the initiative which Stern has taken to connect all the admitted candidates and the way they reply to any of the queries which I have really shows the cooperative and collaborative culture which Stern has. Also its location in the heart of Manhattan - nothing can beat that. Just hop 2-3 subway stops and there you are standing on the Wall Street :)

For the interview one thing which is very important is:

You may not be asked on many of the things and thus may not get the opportunity to speak whatever you would have thought. So you need to plan during the interview itself that you speak everything you thought of conveying to the admission committee. Don't miss this opportunity and just space out various points in your replies and keep them impressed. It's important that whatever question you answer, you are able to convey one important point so that the interviewer remembers that. This becomes a little difficult when the interview is not blind since you need to go one step further from what you wrote in the application.

Do let me know if any of you guys have any questions?

With arms wide open

2008-02-04T13:16:00.000-08:00

This famous song from Creed really describes what i feel after getting the first admit. I am so relieved.

"Well I just heard the news today
It seems my life is going to change
I closed my eyes, begin to pray
Then tears of joy stream down my face "
- Creed

Do listen to this song again guys when you get that good news!!

All the best to my fellow bloggers!!

ADMITTED to NYU STERN!!

2008-01-30T10:31:00.000-08:00

This is the post i wanted to make for so long...i have been thinking about writing these lines in my dreams :) and today is the day when i finally get to write this......

Just got the call from NYU Stern confirming my admit!!

The feelings which i have when i got the news are really awesome.....and i am unable to concentrate on work.

"Dear Achilles,
Congratulations! We are very pleased to offer you admission to the NYU Stern MBA Class of 2010. The NYU Stern admissions process is highly competitive, and we congratulate you on this achievement.
On behalf of the Admissions Committee and NYU Stern, I welcome you to our community. "

I wanted to get into Stern since so long because of many reasons apart from it being one of the top schools.

Finally, i also get a chance to be a New Yorker....i have been looking forward to live in the city for many years now and finally the moment has arrived....

Now i get a chance to walk on the path of my dreams and to realize them.....

would not make this post long...and will write a new post for my journey from here....also pending is post on my interview experience at Stern....

Thanks all you guys out there

Thoughts and status update...

2008-01-24T20:37:00.000-08:00

I have been planning to write this post for a while now and finally i was able to sit and write it.

So here goes the status of my R1 apps -

NYU Stern:- I am done with my interview at Stern and it went okay. Even after so many days of the interview i still keep thinking about what went in those 30-45 minutes. And then i start thinking how i could have answered that question in a more better way :). I guess this is how it is for everybody. Now i am waiting for the results.
I interviewed on campus in NYC. And i really had a great time there. Will write a seperate post on the interview experience.
I am really impressed with the school and the city and 'Stern' remains my first choice.

Ross:- As i posted earlier, i have been waitlisted. Two days back i got mail saying that i will be considered with R2 apps now. Also they asked me to send any update. I have devised my strategy to send updates and will start sending updates ASAP. Lets see if i am able to convert this to an admit. Will keep you guys updated.

Darden:- Now i don't know what happened to them. I haven't heard from them for long and same is the status with many other people. Oops also seems to be in similar situation as me.
With the decision date coming nearer, i am fearing my worst for this application. But such a long wait for the so called 'early decision' round is really making me think that why i applied to this school in the first place. And then all the controversy that they are considering R2 apps now with R1 has further pushed this cause.

And so goes the waiting period......

No time to write a post!!

2008-01-23T01:10:00.000-08:00

I have really been very busy lately...( yeah start of excuses)
Some of the people even pinged me last week to check if achilles has given up plans for MBA :) ...hell nooooo

I am still very much into the game and its just that i didn't find much time to write a post on status of my current apps.

Again its very late in the night now and i have to rush for office early tomorrow (in fact today now :) ) as i have an important call at 8 in the morning. I have been thinking to write a post since 3 days now after i came back from New York but work has been really hectic since then.

Anyways cya guys, i will certainly write a status mail tomorrow :)

'Waitlisted' at Ross!

2008-01-15T00:05:00.000-08:00

Finally, i heard something from the school to which i submitted my first application

Today 01/15 was the decision date for Ross and somewhere deep down i knew that i would be waitlisted. I knew for sure that i would not be dinged directly. I always believed in the quality of application i submitted. Although i also knew that the quality of application i submitted for Ross was considerably different from what i submitted for Stern. This was mainly because Stern was my last application and thus i had more time to work on this one and by the time i started writing Stern application, i was already experienced in writing apps :)

Now i know how long this waiting game can be.

I know i can convert this to 'admit'. I will need to put a strategy in place for this.And i really need some guidance from all you guys out there. The moment, i saw my waitlist decision, I knew i can rely on all the people from this blogosphere in order to convert this to 'admit'.

Any help and suggestions are really appreciated.

Happy New Year' 08: Resolutions and ponderings

2008-01-02T11:50:00.001-08:00

One simple message on this new year. Below image was once forwarded to me by me friend.

(double clcik on this pic to see it properly :))

Let's march towards the goal of our life....

I hope everyone of you would have made some resolutions for this new year, lets hope we all keep our resolutions.
I can easily say this was one of the great years in my life and i really learned a lot in this year.

I had considerable learnings at work with major changes in my location twice during the year.
I had the opportunity of working with 2 great fortune 500 companies.
Last year was a lot about travel. I had 3 major trips during this year
GMAT - One of the major things which i planned in early 2006, i completed it with flying colors in 2007
Applied to my dream B schools

Now starts 2008 and i plan to beat 2007 in terms of more learnings from work, life and whole of this application process. Whatever may be the result, i am sure at the end of it i would have learned a lot and become a better individual.

Hope all of you have a great and happy year ahead !!

Price of an MBA....it's priceless indeed

2007-12-28T12:44:00.000-08:00

I was just going through the MasterCard advertisement and thought of this...though this is kind of old now but still thought of writing this:

GMAT - 250$
Manhattan GMAT classes - 1400$ (though i didn't take that :) )
Application to each school - 200$
Travel cost for interview - 350$

One admit from the dream school - PRICELESS!!

After this,

Tuition fees - 80000$ ( and i believe MasterCard can't pay this)...

But...
After MBA, dreams you convert into reality.....PRICELESS!!

Merry Christmas!!

2007-12-24T17:05:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all bloggers!!

It's the celebration time people, enjoi :)

NYU Stern invites for interview

2007-12-19T14:06:00.000-08:00

Yay!! Finally, i received my first interview invite :) and it comes from NYU Stern. I was confident of getting this invite because i think my application for Stern was the best of the three schools i apped. This is mainly because of more time i had for this application and also it was my third application i.e. after i had already submitted my applications to Ross and Darden. Thus, i think i was a little experienced while writing this application :).

I am really happy about this invite as this re insures about the quality of my app and gives me confidence both on the quality of my app and also my profile. Also NYU Stern is one of my dream colleges.

Now i can interview anytime in January but i was planning to interview sometime in last week of Jan. But i have one question - does the timing of my interview matter here? I believe it matters because some schools follow rolling admission even if they don't mention it. So what do you people say? I really need some feedback on this before scheduling my interview.

Also i need some tips on how to prepare for the interviews from fellow bloggers. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

The wait continues.....

2007-12-18T20:43:00.000-08:00

The wait for getting an interview invite still continues for me......

I am posting after a long time since there hasn't been much updates from my side on the application front. After submitting my Stern application on November 15, i went into a relax mode which has continued almost till now. I again started sleeping on time :)
Also, was on a nice shopping spree during the thanksgiving week. Also watched couple of movies...so all in all it was a nice time.

I started working on my Chicago application but the motivation and enthusiasm is clear missing. And that i think is mainly because if the long wait required for the results. Although i am working on my Chicago application now, i am only going to submit it if i am 100 percent sure of its quality. Chicago is my dream school and i don't want to put a half hearted application there. I will prefer to wait for one more year and then apply in full swing next year.

Meanwhile R1 Chicago results have started pouring in and mbarunnergirl has already got the call. Congrats to her!! One of my very good friend is also waiting to hear from Chicago. Hope he gets in!!

I am sure coming days are going to bring lots of news on this blogosphere....

Top B Schools

2007-12-08T11:16:00.000-08:00

Here are some thoughts about all top B schools written by a top B school alum.....
Source: Businessweek
Not: Views expressed below are not mine. Though i agree in some of the points but i am not eligible to comment on them. Anyways, its an intersting read:

1.) Harvard - Pros: The best academic brand in the world, people from East Timor will know where you went to school. Graduates are extremely polished and dynamic leaders. its no coincidence that so many politicians these days are HBS grads.
Cons: Students are about as pompous and pretentious as possible. Polish is a fancy way of saying full of s**t. its no coincidence that so many politicians these days are HBS grads.
Office Space Character: Lumbergh (Peter’s hated boss). He’s a quintessential Harvard grad; in charge and full of platitudes that sound great but on further inspection don’t make any sense. He also drives a nice car and makes a lot of money while being universally loathed. Kind of sums up every HBS grad you’ve ever met, right?

2.) Stanford - Pros: Small class size and focus on do-gooders leads to an incredible array of backgrounds and accomplishments of students, who thrive in tight knit community. Haven for the really interesting superstars out there. Tremendous brand. Beautiful weather.
Cons: It may be interesting to be classmates with a Buddhist monk-fighter pilot, but its also hard to relate to anyone (”So, did that vow of peace make it hard to take out bogeys?”). For super accomplished business students with the world at their fingertips, it sure doesn’t seem like any of them actually like business.
Office Space Character: Peter (main character). He seems like the most level headed, likable and down to earth of any of the characters, but for all his talents, he ends up as a damn construction worker. He’s also a major league flake, showing up to work only when he feels like it. Can you say entitled?

3.) Wharton - Pros: Arguably the best technical business education in the world. Great brand name, and the job placements are second only to H/S.
Cons: Not sure if it’s the ultra rigorous curriculum, the competitive culture, or the fact that they have to live in Philly for two years, but Whartonites are paranoid bordering on psychotic. The odds of having a nervous breakdown in your life triple after going here. Double that if you actually ask anyone at Wharton to calculate those odds.
Office Space Character: Tom Smykowski (Co-worker that invents “jumping to conclusions mat”). I’m assuming that Tom was actually an excellent technical employee, but that his constant fear of losing his job made him batsh*t crazy. Most fitting quote “I’m a People Person!!!!!!” when yelling at the consultants.

4.) Northwestern - Pros: Strong team culture and arguably the best marketing program in the country. Incredibly collaborative for such a large school. Great location next to major financial center (Chicago).
Cons: Very soft curriculum, these guys are poets. I’m pretty sure that Kellogg finance classes are prerecorded cartoons taught by Disney characters. Is it really worth it to pay $10000+ to drink every night? I mean, couldn’t you just do that without the degree?
Office Space Character: Joanna (Peter’s girlfriend). Like Peter, she’s very likable, level headed and likes to get around. Unfortunately she’s also vastly less skilled than many of her fellow characters. Thank God she’s hot.

5.) Chicago - Pros: Finance education is second only to Wharton globally (and even that’s debatable). Probably the best facilities of all the top business schools. Fantastic job placements and close proximity to Chicago. Academic horsepower of profs is untouchable.
Cons: Socially awkward is an understatement. Unlike Whartonites who are just high strung, Chicago GSBers either never learned or quickly forgot how to communicate with peers. Make sure to wear a face mask if they’re talking to you ’cause spits going to fly.
Office Space Character: Milton (Co-worker that loves red swingline stapler). Milton seems like a nice enough guy, and he might be the smartest guy in the office (he pulls off the grand caper in the end). It’s just that he’s about as charismatic as a toilet bowl. Hire ‘em, just make sure to get GSBers an office in the basement.

6.) Columbia - Pros: Great location in the middle of global financial center (New York). Most diverse student body in terms of minorities and women. Very strong finance program. New York allows great social and job placement opportunities, and draws worldly, cosmopolitan students.
Cons: Cliquish and commuterish. Columbia is like a high school with super rich kids. High ***hole factor. This isn’t the kind of school where you’ll be going to house parties, its more like the kind of school where you’re expected to order bottle service for twenty guys on a student budget or else be ostracized.
Office Space Character: Bobs (consultants that lay off workers). They seem smart, they have great jobs, but c’mon, these guys are douchebags.

7.) MIT - Pros: World class entrepreneurship program, and probably the best supply management program in America. Attached to world class research center, and location in Boston is strong. Great job placement, especially in consulting.
Cons: For all their unique academic offerings, the overall school is like 90/10 men/women including undergrads. Takes the term sausage fest to a whole new level. Nerdy culture.
Office Space Character: Michael Bolton (Peter’s co-worker and friend). Michael Bolton desperately wants to be cool, listening to rap music, talking in slang, but lets face it, he’s a dork. He’s also hampered by his dorky namesake, which seems to attract a lot of nerdy people (to his obvious dismay).

8.) Tuck -Pros: Small class size and tight culture leads to maybe the most enthusiastic students in any school. Great respect from recruiters. Alumni network is arguably the most responsive and helpful of any top school. Strong rigorous program.
Cons: Very conformist culture, and really limited social options. These guys seem so enthusiastic about their school that I’m almost certain that all students are given ecstasy at orientation. Listen, if two years in the middle of Nowhere, New Hampshire were to constitute the best two years of my life, I would kill myself.
Office Space Character: Brian (Works with Joannas at Chotchkies, wears 37 pieces of flair). Brian is well meaning and LOVES his job. Never mind that he’s a waiter at a glorified TGIF, he still loves it with all his heart. They say ignorance is bliss, in which case, maybe Tuckies have the secret after all. That or, like Brian, they’re borderline retarded.

9.) Michigan - Pros: Maybe the most hands-on practical curriculum of all the top schools. New facilities coming up in 2009. Largest alumni network of any business school. State school, so the 2nd year is cheaper.
Cons: Location proximity leaves something to be desired (Detroit? Why not put it next to Beirut). The overall atmosphere here is very fratty and college like. Every single UMich student and alumni I’ve spoken to say the highlight of their experience was tailgating and watching football. EVERYONE. Not that football isn’t awesome, but no one else had any other experience that was noteworthy? They probably forgot the rest after beerbonging Jagermeister.
Office Space Character: Lawrence (Peter’s next door neighbor and friend). Lawrence is a good guy. He’s loyal, and salt of the earth. He also has a few rough edges, and would use 1 million dollars to be intimate with two other women. Have a great time with old Lawrence. Just don’t be surprised if all you end up with is a job he hooked you up with at the local quarry.

10.) Haas - Pros: Great location in the bay, and strong ties to Silicon Valley. Great weather. Small class size and tight culture. Berkeley has very strong international brand name.
Cons: Weak ties to financial sector, and east coast in general. The culture here is definitely about as PC as it gets. This seems like the type of school where you’d need to get a permission slip before you held a woman’s hand on campus.
Office Space Character: Stan (Joanna’s manager at Chotchkies). Stan wants Joanna to do more than the bare minimum. After all, people can get an MBA anywhere, but they come to Chotckies/Haas for the atmosphere! Don’t you want to do more than the bare minimum? Then put on your flair, burn some bras and save a whale you selfish jerk.

11.) Duke - Pros: Maybe the best health care management program in the country. Great brand name, especially in the south. Strong team culture.
Cons: Relatively young MBA program, so alumni network is small. As such, the brand cache just isn’t there yet. People that come here seem very cookie cutter to me, not in a bad way, just very comfortable and relatively unambitious.
Office Space Character: Samir (Peter’s co-worker and friend). Samir is a nice guy, very practical and unassuming. You get the feeling that he’s happy as long as he has a job in hand. Won’t make waves, won’t screw up, and won’t take any risks. But he’s a happy guy, and will have a house with 2.2 kids and a dog in a suburb somewhere (probably Durham).

12.) Darden - Pros: Strong Case method program and rigorous curriculum is universally respected. Alumni network is very strong and active with current students.
Cons: Middle of nowhere. Intellectual horsepower not as strong at a lot of the other top schools.
Office Space Character: Anne (Peter’s ex-girlfriend who was cheating on him). Anne just seemed really high maintenance and uptight. You try doing twenty cases a week for a year and see what happens to you. Just don’t be surprised if it’s a bigger bi**h than you imagined.

13.) NYU - Pros: Great location within spitting distance of Wall Street. Strong finance curriculum, and media program.
Cons: Location in downtown Manhattan make this the ultimate commuter school. Weird inferiority complex with Columbia. If you don’t go into finance or media, good luck.
Office Space Character: Other Lumbergh (ex-co-worker of Peter, Joanna’s ex-boyfriend). From all accounts, the other Lumbergh was a likable guy who was good at his job and got a great job offer to move on somewhere else. We just never actually saw him. Kind of like your NYU classmates.

14.) UCLA - Pros: LA! Sun, beach, beautiful glamorous people everywhere! Strong ties to Southern California business and great real estate program.
Cons: LA. UV rays, crowded beaches and shallow, materialistic people everywhere. You get the feeling that UCLA students are there just to spend two years in SoCal rather than to get jobs. As such, this place draws vapid, materialistic people. But damn they’re hot!
Office Space Character: Drew (Peter’s co-worker, describes the famous “O-face”). Drew’s a fun-loving guy that people like. He’s also the kind of guy that would tell anyone who was willing to listen graphic descriptions of all his sexual exploits. I liked Drew when I was 19. When I’m 26..?

15.) Cornell - Pros: Maybe the best Hospitality management program in the country. Ivy league brand name, and strong ties to some top consumer management companies. Small tight knit culture.
Cons: In the middle of nowhere, and it’s definitely a cut below a lot of the top tier programs. I mean, hospitality management? Seriously?
Office Space Character: Peggy (Lumbergh’s secretary). She’s kind of in hospitality: “Initech, can I put you on hold? Thank you! Initech, can I put you on hold? Thank you! Initech, can I put you on hold? Thank you! .”

16.) Yale - Pros: World class brand name. Arguably the best social enterprise program in the country. Relatively strong job placement for the rank.
Cons: Newer program means little real rep with employers or alumni to lean on.
Office Space character: Dr. Swanson (Peter’s psychologist/hypnotist). The Dr. has a very strong reputation, and he makes Peter go from depressed to happy (what a do-gooder!). But when it comes to the rankings, he just falls over dead.

Stern Submitted - R1 Complete !!

2007-11-15T00:07:00.000-08:00

yayyyy....i submitted my Stern application 1 hr back and with this i have completed my R1 applications. Well i am kind of satisfied in the senses that i was able to complete the decided things.....
Well, till last minute i was just modifying 1-2 things here and there in the Stern essays and application...though i think i completed everything yesterday itself. Just that i wanted to check the application for one more day that i didn't submit it yesterday..

I really need some break now...for the last 4 months either it was GMAT or the applications in my life except my 4 day Los Angeles(LA) trip....now i really need some time off from all this...and guess what i have decided to take full 4 days off from this work :):) ...also, i have really been ignoring my office work for long now, i really need to concentrate there now for sometime....work these days is very hectic and i have been somehow taking it lightly and ignoring it due to the apps....i hope to find some more time there now....

After that, i need to look on my R2 apps and my interview prep...though right now there is no sign of any call visible :) ....

Now the wait starts for the R1 results :) .......

Stern Application - almost done

2007-11-14T01:54:00.000-08:00

Though i initially planned to submit my NYU Stern application today, i have decided to do it tomorrow now.
Reason:- I still want to modify some of the lines in essay 2.
Also i have my essay 1 at 764 words and want to reduce it to 750 words. But if i don't get anything to remove, i will submit this one at 764 rather than removing some imp info. from this one.

Recommendations have been submitted - one of my recommenders in fact has just submitted my reco. I just got the mail in my inbox about the submission.

I have completed other small parts of application as well and the only thing left now is to upload the essays and of course pay the fees :)

Stern Application and essays updates

2007-11-11T00:51:00.000-08:00

Somehow, I was able to put my mind away from the personal things going on in my life right now and concentrate on NYU Stern application.

Well, i have just completed the drafts for all the 3 Stern essays. Hufff...i am feeling a sense of great relief after completing these and clicking the 'Send' button on the mail to my reviewer.

I think my essays are in good shape at present. For the first essay, i took a lot of time. Though it was a simple career goal essay but it had a word limit of 750 words. Writing those short essays for 'Ross' and 'Darden', i didn't know what more to write to express myself better :). With great difficulty, i could develop a habit of expressing myself clearly in less words and now this essay wanted me to say more. I don't know how i am going to write Chicago's career goal essay of 1500 words :). Anyways, i completed this essay of Stern exactly at 750 words :)

For Stern's second essay about community, i could express myself clearly in the required limit of 500 words. This was the first essay i completed and think it looks good. Though, i think i have answered all parts of this essay question but still i wanted my reviewer to review this one carefully. Reading your own essay, you can sometimes overlook somethings. Now that's the greatest advantage of giving essays to reviewers. Thank god we have such nice souls who are able to take out time from their busy life for reviewing our stuff.

For the third essay - well this was the most difficult one. I finalized on writing this as an essay but was unable to think anything creative on this one. But finally two days back i got an idea and started writing on it. Though i think i have written it in a very simple way but this essay clearly describes true 'Achilles' :). Also i managed to put a bit of creativity at the end of this essay. This piece also represented one of my essential qualities and provided a nice ending to this essay. Now the only problem is that this essay has a word limit of 500 words and i am presently at 560. I have to reduce this essay by at least 30 words and i was unable to remove a single line from this. So for doing this, i am relying on my reviewer now. I hope he will be able to find something in this essay which i can remove without compromising on it's quality.

Other thing pending for my app is Recommendations. I have talked to both of my recommenders and they said they are almost done with the reco and will upload the same on Monday. I hope they do it on Monday.

I have kept a personal deadline of Tuesday to complete my application, thus keeping one day as buffer. So in worst case i should be able to press the 'Submit' button on Wednesday.

Lost........(personal)

2007-11-08T14:13:00.000-08:00

As usual, today was a busy day in office, due to the holiday season approaching its been very hectic....i was coordinating with different people on multiple things.....and then i received this phone call from India, it was from my best friend......as the phone number of my friend's home landline displayed on my cell phone, the expression on my face changed dramatically, I had an idea on what news this call can bring......and yeah my fear turned right.....
i picked the phone, but could not even speak - "hello" ....i wanted her to speak something first and she did spoke first......
she just spoke those 3 lines about 3 hours ago and all those lines are going on in my mind till now......i m even unable to concentrate on my work today....there's lots of work which requires my attention but i am unable to concentrate.....i need to put everything out and there is no one here with whom i can speak on this......so i decided to write out on my blog...

my best friend's mom has been suffering from cancer for almost an year now and recently about 3 weeks back her health started getting down......
I have known her mom ( my aunt) for very long now......and i share a very special bond with aunt......always in my good/bad times she had always been there, always giving me her blessings....she is one person i know who never did anything wrong to anyone in her life and takes care of every person who she comes in contact with......
3 weeks back my friend had to rush to India as aunt's health started degrading......3 days back was aunt's birthday and i spoke to her....but she could barely speak, still she asked about my work and how was i doing and wished me luck for my apps......but i knew something wrong is gonna happen in days to come.....so when today that number splashed on my phone, i was scared.....

today my friend just told me aunt is now in hospital in India and doctors have said that there is no hope.....its just a matter of time now..
I am in US and will not be able to go back to see her for the last time......but i want to speak to her for the last time and tell her that how much i love her.....even though we are not directly related but we have shared a special bond which is perhaps as strong as the bond between a mother and a child.....

I just hanged up the phone after i heard this, could not speak anything......this reminds me today that life is really short and you never know what's gonna happen tomorrow..you never know whether you will know the same person tomorrow or not....so its better to tell all the people you love about how much you love them!! we may not get the same opportunity again!!

I hope i get a phone call from her and i am able to speak to her once......but i know, the next time when the same number splashes on my phone, i am going to be even more scared...

Update: I lost one of the most beautiful persons i have known in my life almost a week back and i didnt get a chance to speak to her. I have been thinking about her ever since unable to do anything else. I am not even speaking much with people around me here. But i know she is there sitting right besides God, watching upon us.....thus, now i will not cry but will pray that good almighty God keeps her with all his love. I am sure God will keep her in his best comforts. I know i can speak to her anytime, i just need to close my eyes for that and she will be listening...as aunty once said to me: "You will always be there in my heart" and i know she will always be there in mine. Amen

Next App - NYU Stern

2007-11-05T14:26:00.000-08:00

After submitting two applications last week on 31st Oct, i haven't done much till now on the app front. I kind of relaxed even on the weekend, and now i am feeling the heat again.

NYU Stern R1 is due on November 15 and i still haven't completed even the first draft for any of the 3 essays. Though the first essay is essentially a career goal essay but it has a much longer word limit compared to the the other 2 apps (Ross, Darden) that i have written. So, i have to put in more stuff in this one and mention some of the things in detail.

The other 2 essays are completely different in Stern. Second essay is about Stern community. Though i have figured out what i have to write in this essay but still i have to pen it down.
The third essay is the real bouncer - "Please describe yourself to the MBA classmates". Now i am not getting any creative idea to put into this one and i am planning to write this one as an essay. But still no specific idea has come to my mind on what i am going to put into it.
I am really in need of some ideas for this one.

Its less than 10 days to go for this application.....i will have to start running from here on...

Ross, Darden Submitted - my first two apps :)

2007-11-01T02:32:00.000-07:00

I have clicked on 'Submit' on Ross and Darden apps.
I submitted Darden some 2 hours back and Ross just 1 hour back. But i think, i did okay, considering i have submitted my application more than 12 hours before the deadline. :)
I planned to submit one day in advance so missed that target.

Anyways, there were many last minute tensions. I had finalized all essays and started uploading them. As i finished uploading my last Ross essay, i got a ping from my reviewer - she mailed that the last essay is just fine. I felt that 'just fine' is not what i want to submit with. I mailed her back about what's lagging. She mailed some of the comments and i incorporated them. She provided some very good last minute inputs. I think i greatly improved on that essay because of this last minute change.
Then, when i was to submit my credit card details, 'page cannot be displayed' pops up :). I felt like...come onnnnn
Tried again and it worked :)

Clicked the 'Submit' button without thinking much. Mailed adcom some of the required stuff, i mean transcripts and yayyy, i am done submitting two of my important apps.

I think, i have worked really hard on these apps...lets see what the adcoms have to say....

Less than 18 hours to go...

2007-10-31T19:50:00.000-07:00

Less than 18 hours to go for deadlines of Ross and Darden Applications for Round 1. I haven't submitted both of these applications till now. I am feeling a lot of anxiety while pressing that 'Submit' button for the first time.

Things still left to be completed:-

Ross

1) I am not completely satisfied with my Ross2 essay. Though the concept is very good and all my reviewers have appreciated that, i have to re frame some of the sentences in this essay. One of my reviewers has again reviewed it today and i am awaiting comments from her on this one.

2) Ross3 essay - I completely changed this essay today. The concept was good but two of reviewers gave some critical comments. I modified it completely and sent it for one more review. Waiting for comments on this one too. The essay now seems to be really good, its just that i may need to correct some grammar here and there.

3) Pay the fees :)

4) But my biggest concern, one of my recommenders has still not submitted my reco for this one. Actually she tried submitting the recommendation yesterday but couldn't open thee site :(. She will try it again in next 2-3 hours and let me know. If she's not able to open the site, either i will have to call Ross or will have to ask her to send the reco to someone in US to be uploaded, since i am able to open this page easily.

Darden:

1) Fit with Darden - Thank God i got some good comments on this essay and i was able to modify this essay accordingly. I have changed this essay completely today. I was in doubts about this essay since last 3-4 days but today one of my reviewers gave some very negative comments -"i am not answering the question asked". I immediately sat down and rewrote the essay. It took 20-3 hours to come up with something because of this end moment tension. Now again sent this one for review and got positive comments. But now the problem is that i am exceeding the word limit by good 40 words. So, i have to cut down some of the lines, unable to figure out which ones.

2) Darden 3 essay:- This essay is fine, just i have to modify the opening line once :)

3) Mail the transcripts.

4) Pay the fees :)

Ok guys, wish me luck.....i hope i am able to complete everything left in another 2-3 hours.

Darden essays - doubts and updates

2007-10-22T00:58:00.000-07:00

I have completed my first draft of Darden essays last weekend itself. But didn't send those draft to my reviewers until this weekend. Actually, i myself reviewed it multiple times during the week and everytime i improved a lot on them. Also, on Darden first essay, i changed a basic concept of this essay just yesterday. So after doing many changes, i finally sent the essay for review and got first essay with comments. They are generally positive, so not much worries. I have sent this essay to my second reviewer now.

Problem for me is that all my reviewers are first year students at B schools itself and are damn busy in their schools. I am really asking too much from them by asking them to review. Though they are doing it gladly, but i know reviewing one essay deeply really takes lots of time. Thus i am unable to ask them to hurry. Some of my essays have not been reviewed even once, which is worrying me a lot now :(. I hope they get time and give review comments to me on time.

Darden essay 1- This essay doesn't ask us to explain why Darden ? Is it still necessary to put why Darden stuff in this essay, since that will consume, lots of space and is something which is not asked. Its better to give more importance to what's asked in the essay. writing 1-2 generic lines on Darden may be fine but again i think these 1-2 lines simply undermine the importance of 'Why Darden' and its better not to write anything on school. But if 'why Darden' is necessary then we need to take atleast 100 words to explain it, thus we are left with just 400 words for the actually essay which in itself is very tough, sine here we need to relate our goals to what matters to us and also we need to explain the why MBA part.

Darden essay 2 and essay 3- now we have only 300 words limits for these essays. Should we provide only examples in these essays, without giving a starting or ending sentence? Because adding an opening and closing sentence will consume lots of words and will affect the quality of examples. And since its written concrete examples, you just cant mention that you did this, there needs to be atleast one more line given to explain each of the examples.

People, let me know your thoughts on these essays. Thanks

Reco material sent again to Recommenders

2007-10-22T00:45:00.000-07:00

Just sent some more insights into the application process to my recommenders. Actually, i discussed with them everything over phone previously but due to some time gap between those calls and today when they are actually writing my recos, they again want that same info.
So now, i wrote everything in a document and sent all the material to my recommenders in written.
Learning- Send everything in written to the recommenders. They are very busy people generally and already you are asking too much of their time. So try to make their work as much easy as possible.

I just hope now they complete my recommendations on time.

Updates on my apps

2007-10-21T16:38:00.000-07:00

less than 10 days to go for my Ross and Darden Applications.

And here are the pending tasks:-

1) Essays sent for second review, waiting for comments.
2) Recommendation still not submitted by any of the recommenders :(
3) Transcripts to be sent
4) Small tidbits like activities and all needs to be filled in the Darden application.
5) Some modification of resume to be done before uploading it.

There is only one weekend left before the deadlines now. I will have to take 1-2 days off from the office to submit these apps on time. I want to press the submit button on October 31 for both of these application, don't want to do this on the last day.

Regarding transcripts, i am not sure if the official transcripts need to reach schools by the deadline or whether they should be postmarked by that time. I am confused on this point, so maybe i will mail the adcoms and get this clarified tomorrow.

Recommendations right now is my biggest worry. I have to get my recommenders submit my recommendation in another 4-5 days max. I don't want to get into last minute tensions as some of the fellow bloggers have been in. Also in my case, both my recommenders are outside US i.e i cannot meet them, just can talk over phone and convince them to submit recos on time :)

Lets keep the momentum going....a few more days left...

Darden Essays started

2007-10-11T01:46:00.000-07:00

Finally, i was able to complete second drafts of my Ross essays yesterday and sent it to one of my seniors for further critical review. I think my Ross essays are in good shape now. Their needs to be some modifications here and there but i think i will do those modifications once i get final comments from my second reviewer.
After incorporating these comments i will send my essays for one final review to one of my other seniors.

After Ross, finally i started with Darden essays. Darden has some unique essays this year and woohhhooooo they ask us to write just 1100 words across 3 essays.
But there is no need to be happy, as that means more work when i start cutting down on words and lines after my first draft of essays are ready :)

When i read the first essay - "What matters to you most professionally and personally and how does an MBA help you relate to those priorities", i could not even think of how to start this essay. And strangely enough Darden doesn't ask for standard- Why Now? Why School? Career Goals question.... but there is a catch, you need to put together your story in this essay itself and that too in just 500 words. Other essays don't give you a chance to put your story.

Finally, i got an idea on how to start and connect my story for this essay and i am ready with the first draft of this essay now.

Its, time for me to go to sweet sleep now, already its 2Am, i need to getup at 7AM to go to office :( .... gud nite

P.S. - I got up late at 745AM and missed my train. Took another train 45 minutes later. Finally reached to office almost 1 hour late :( ....but thank god there were no issues.

Ross essays

2007-10-04T10:43:00.001-07:00

Ross app is the only thing i have been working on these days on application front...

I started with this app and i am still doing it :)

After writing 3 out of the 4 essays, i am kind of stuck in the 4th essay, which says to describe an alternate profession i would be in if i don't follow my goals. Though i know what i would have liked to do, but i am kind of stuck up in how to present it right now.

I have started work on my resume and will complete it by next weekend. Recommender 1 has already got the instructions and letter from the adcom about the reco, but i am still to finalize on my second recommender.
I am kind of stuck up on whether i should choose my previous manager with whom i have worked for 6 months or whether to choose a colleague who is senior to me and has worked with me for more than a year. I think this colleague will be able to present a better reco, because he knows me well professionally and can very well comment upon my professional attributes. I will have to finalize something by this weekend.

November 1 is the deadline for two of my colleges and it seems to be very near. I would have to work hard now, in order to submit my apps on time.

lets see on how it goes...

Essays, essays. essays...

2007-09-27T00:23:00.000-07:00

A long time status update has been due from my side and as the title of this post says, my life these days has just been essays :)
I sincerely started writing essays some 12 days back and since then i haven't had time to think of anything else..anytime i get free, i am thinking about my essays :)

I started with Ross essays and i am about the complete their last essay. I have already mailed some of those essays to my reviewers.
The most important career goals essay took much less time for me as compared to other essays. In fact i had everything in mind before i wrote this essay and just had to pen my thoughts. So that didn't take much time. Though i will know how well i wrote it when it comes to me after reviews :)

But lots of stuff is left to be done, other than the essays
- I still haven't made my resume
- I have sent my documents for getting my transcripts.
- I have talked to one of my recommenders and explained her in detail about the whole process. - I am yet to finalize my second recommender, though i have 2 people in mind
- I haven't started essays for any other school, though i have researched about my R1 schools in detail now.

I hope to progress more in coming week, in fact i have to start running now to meet those R1 deadlines....hope i am able to get things done on time..

Apps process started - Second step towards the goal

2007-09-08T13:55:00.000-07:00

This week i started with the app process - the second step towards my goal after GMAT.......I hope i complete it in time and with full satisfaction...

But in just 1 week i have realized that this second step is gonna be harder than the first one :) ....

Okk i will start with the schools i have shortlisted:-

1) Chicago
2) Stern
3) Ross
4) Darden
5) Wharton

Also there are some more schools :) :-

1) Stanford
2) Duke
3) Haas
4) UCLA Anderson
5) Kellogg
6) Tuck
7) Emory

So that's make a total of 12 schools and you people can see all the confusions i am into right now :)
Also i cannot apply to more than 2-3 schools in the R-1 deadline because i am already very late for the whole process, the rest of the schools i will have to push to R-2, which will reduce my chance of me getting in due to my IT-male profile :)
I am yet to spend some serious time on putting in thoughts for my essays, but will probably start that tomorrow. I am really stuck on even how to start writing right now.....perhaps, starting to write the essays is the most difficult part of the apps. I hope i make a good start....

D-Day - GMAT Experience

2007-09-08T11:56:00.000-07:00

I took my GMAT appointment at 8 AM and i never gave a single test at that time. Many people said that give at least one test at 8 but i didn't listen. I believe, Its all in the mind I gave all my mock tests between 10-2PM. Actually i had to go to library to give the tests.Also before the exam i only slept for 5 hrs. Somehow didn't get sleep till late Anyways, i reached my centre at 715 AM and waited will 730 to enter the center. Those 15 minutes i used for self motivation Entered the exam room at 750AM after completing all the formalities.

Selected the schools and then started with AWA. I had the format to write the essays, wrote the essays in that format and was able to put in good ideas in them. All in all was very satisfied with my performance here, given that i had put only 2 days of prep for this section. Took a 10 minute break in which i had 1 Red bull. Again motivated myself for the real test now.
Then started with Quant. Initially Quant questions were easy and i was rechecking all the answers till Q10, but after Q10 difficulty level started increasing and questions were taking lot of time. I had to speed up after Q 17 and didn't recheck any of my answers after that. I got some 2-3 probability questions in between which i was able to answer. Overall the difficulty level was same as that of GMATPrep. For the last question i had 2 minutes and i started it leisurely. It involved some large calculations and finally when i came with answer, it didn't match any of the choices, and only 15 seconds were left. I had to guess this one. I knew that i will not be able to hit 51 in Quant. Anyways, my aim was only 50, not 51. I knew with 50 in Maths i can still do well. So i was satisfied.
Now took another 10 minutes break. I took another red bull . Looked into the mirror, said to me that here starts the most imp 75 minutes test. It all depends on these 75 minutes whether i will make it or not, so just motivated myself to have confidence and give my best shot.

Started verbal with 2 SC's, average difficulty level. Then came an easy CR.Got my first RC at Q3 which i marked comfortably and i was confident of my accuracy till now. Then came a series of SC's and CR's. SC's were getting difficult. At Q 10 gt my second RC of 4 questions. It was a large RC but i handled it well. After this there were 3-4 SC's in line, some of which were difficult and took time. Then at Q24 got my third RC which was small but a difficult one. At Q33, git my last 4th RC, average length and avg difficulty. After Q31 it was getting difficulty for me to concentrate because the feeling of result kept coming in my mind. Tried hard and was able to concentrate for some more moments, but i had increased by speed now to complete the test ASAP. Also after 15 th question my speed reduced due to difficulty, so i had to increase my speed after 28th question to bring it back to 2 minutes per question. This is imp because last questions are imp and you should have time for them. Finally i had 12 minutes for last 5 questions. took my time for these question. Also now i was worried since i didn't get any bold face CR till now. So again i felt difficult to concentrate. Finally Q40 was a bold faced huge CR which was very difficult and i took 3.5 minutes to mark it. Then for last question i had 2.5 minutes still left. Marked it in 1/2 minute and clicked on next with 2 minutes still to go.

Now, i could hear the beat of my heart and was feeling very tense. The bad thing is you have to fill an 8 page survey after the verbal section and i was getting very tense while filling it .Finally i got the screen to accept / reject scores. And clicked on report scores. The page hanged to calculate my score and for me the whole world hanged in those 5 seconds. I knew had done well but still i was very nervous. I knew i couldn't have scored below 740 and somehow thought that my score should be 760.

I Closed my eyes and prayed. When i opened my eyes, i saw 770 ( 50, 45) - was shocked for 2 minutes. I couldn't utter a word just kept looking at the screen. Months of hard work just splashed in front of my eyes. Thanked God, looked out of the window to check if everything is real and called the test admin. She asked me to click next. Didn't want to get past that screen but clicked on End test.Took print out of the score, switched on my phone and already my friends were calling me :)

GMAT Official score report arrives - they like my writing skills

2007-09-04T23:26:00.000-07:00

Finally i got my Official Score Report yesterday and they seem to like my writing skills :)

I managed to score 5.5 in AWA. Though i know that it just translates to 83% but personally for me, its more than enough. I hardly prepared for this section in last 2-3 days only and only practiced 1-2 essays. Also i don't think that my writing skills are that great, so i felt good on seeing 5.5

Now at least, everything which could be done from GMAT side for my apps has been done, now starts the actual game of apps when i start writing the essays.

Will keep you all updated. Also coming soon, my prep schedule and my D-Day experience.

GMAT Rocked......it's my day....barrier broken :)

2007-08-28T16:45:00.000-07:00

Finally, I am done with GMAT....

I scored 770 ( Q -50, V- 45)

This is exactly the score i scored in GMATPrep two days ago after re-installing it.
I was so happy when i saw the score that i didn't know how to react......months of hard work just splashed in front of my eyes.....i am so very happy that the hard work has finally paid off :):)

Believe me guys, the feeling has still not sunk in.....

I was a boy who used to read so many GMAT success stories and used to think if i will be able to get that kind of a score.......yup i did believe in myself all the time...
Just a month back, life seemed to be so dull, i felt like i was doing nothing and losing on my dreams.....but after this the whole world looks to be brighter...

Ive Leagues - here comes Achilles ;)

P.S. I really want to thank all of you fellow bloggers who were of so much support during my preps.
Also thanks to all my roommates Saurabh, Sachin and Sanket for supporting and helping me throughout my preps. You guys deserve a special mention here. Thanks

Righty - Thanks for all the support and thanks for always being there always.

4 days to go...

2007-08-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

Now its just 4 days to go for my GMAT and i have started feeling bored with my preps. I have essentially slowed down this week and didn't study much.
Because of my bad SC performance in the last test i practiced SC from Kaplan 800. The reason i am getting low accuracy in SC is that i am trying to through them. I am marking SC questions very fast and many time i don't even go through all the choices, so that's one of the reasons that i am screwing up this section.
Didn't practice any other section much this week till now.

For the coming days, i will just revise my mistakes in various material i have done till now, give one full length test over the weekend, study AWA and go through Quant concepts. That's it.

Also one more imp thing i will start from tomorrow, waking up at 6 AM in the morning from tomorrow till the D-Day at least :) . I have my test appointment scheduled at 8:00 AM in the morning and haven't practiced a single test at that time. So for the coming days, i will at least try to wake up early and do some practice questions during the test time, just to get some confidence and practice. I usually sleep very late in the night and usually get up at 7:15 in the morning for office, but from today will try to sleep a little early and wake up at 6:00 AM in the morning. :)
I will be taking leave from office for Monday and Tuesday.
Just to reduce my anxiety levels and to relax i am also planning to go for a movie over the weekend.
Lets see, how i manage time during these 4 days.

The Penultimate test...

2007-08-18T22:14:00.000-07:00

So finally i gave my penultimate test -- GMATPrep2 ,and its still 1 week left for my GMAT....but believe me i really need this remaining time.
Though i scored ok on this test, but i scored my worst accuracy in SC--> 53% and i m really worried about it now. While giving the test i didn't expect my SC accuracy to be so down. I scored a 100% accuracy in CR but they were not of GMAT level, they seemed to be below that.

Though i scored 750(Q-50, V-41) in the test, i got 11 questions wrong in Verbal.

Questions wrong:- 7, 15, 16, 18, 22, 26, 29, 33, 37, 38, 39

SC wrong :- 8/17

So after all the preps i got my lowest accuracy in SC till now :( ....i have to put a strategy in place for next 1 week to improve in SC and also i need some more practice in CR.

Maths:- Though i scored 50 today but i made 7 mistakes, which was very disappointing. Though many of them were foolish but committing foolish mistakes at this stage is the last thing i want.

I am planning to revise Kaplan 800 in the coming week and also revise some of my concepts from Manhattan. Also i will analyze all my mistakes done in Verbal.

AWA: Though i have prepared the format of the essays but i haven't done much practice here, so need to practice more to gain some confidence in this section.

Coming week is really going to be very long for me......

GMATPrep 1 - And I've hit the barrier again

2007-08-11T15:01:00.001-07:00

Today was the day when i had planned to give my GMATprep1 practice test and i have been waiting for this day throughout this week.
I woke up at 9 AM and reached library at 10, the time when it opens on Saturday morning. I looked for a quiet place and soon started the test. Started with AWA for the first time, just though about a few points and wrote down but didn't actually write it the way i should write on the D day.
Started with the Quant section and encountered 8th question as a probability question which was kind of tough. I wasted some time on this one and then marked(guessed) it to proceed to the next question. Overall Maths section was of good difficulty level, with some very good questions coming in between and some of the questions really took time. Also i had to attend an imp phone call in between this section and thus ended up wasting 2-3 minutes of test time, the importance of which i realised in the last minutes of this section.
Now when i reached question 28 there were only 12 minutes left. God...i took so much time for the first time in this section. Also initially i was rechecking my answers for each question which again wasted some of the time.....this is somewhat similar to what happens with people on the actual test day. But then i speeded up and completed this section just on time. I had to guess 2 questions due to lack of time which ultimately went wrong.

Now started verbal and it started with an easy CR. But the second question was a SC which as kind of tough. And soon started RC's and all. I came across 4 RC's but one thing different was that most of the passages were small, they were not very large...was i lucky in this test??
Finally finished this section with 2 minutes to spare. Clicked on results. Somehow, I didn't have good feeling and expected the score to be around 700 only, but.....

750 ( Q- 49, V- 42) --- Godd i am so happy for today!!

Questions wrong:-

Q- 3, 8, 24, 28, 33, 36 ----6 questions wrong. But the 3 rd question is wrong in the test strangely ....i made all my friends solve this question and they found the same answer as i marked but GMATprep shows a different answer which certainly is wrong. Has anybody encountered such a situation?

V- 2,4,14, 18, 22, 24, 32, 33, 34, 36

But now the bad part---
I screwed quant badly - fell short of time for last 10 questions and also scored 49 :(:( .....i cannot afford to go below 50 in Maths on the D-Day ....now this test has made me believe that at least there is no chance for me to score 51 in Q on the D- Day. I have to practice this section more to have any chance of scoring 51 on D- Day assuming that the difficult level on the real test is same as that of GMATprep. What say people??

Verbal though the score seems good but i made 10 mistakes and out of those 5 were SC's.

Breakup of mistakes:-

SC- 5/16 ---- just 68.75% accuracy :(
RC - 2/14
CR- 3/11

So my SC accuracy in this test was really pathetic :( . I have to revise all my concepts again and practice more in this area.

Also one other thing i am worried about is i was not at all confident when i was clicking on results that i will be able to hit this much, that means i was not confident of questions i marked which is also true.

Anyways, the only thing i can do right now is to keep the focus and practice more. Also still AWA is pending...... Now i am just 2 weeks away from D-Day. And believe me if i am able hit this score in real, i will be so very happy!!

Will be giving my GMATprep2 test next week and keep you all updated about my prep. Also may be will need help of you people, as i approach near the real test.

Gmat < 3 weeks to go - Updates and Doubts

2007-08-08T10:42:00.000-07:00

Due to the work pressure this week, i am unable to concentrate on my prep this week. I have been leaving for office at 7:30 in the morning this week and coming back late. So, when i sit to study in the late evening, i feel so sleepy that i am unable to concentrate :( :( . Its just 3 weeks left for my GMAT and this work pressure is killing me.

Anyways, i started with 1000 SC collection this week and complete dome 80 of them with just 80% accuracy. I have some serious doubts in some of the questions and some of the answers seems to be wrong. What's the opinion of other people who have tried their hands on 1000 SC collection? How can i can get their explanations or maybe the correct answers at least. If the authenticity of answers is not proven for these, i really don't want to waste my time on these questions.
Also the only other thing i have been doing this week is OG revision. Also completed reading AWA Analysis of Argument section from OG, but i haven't prepared the format of my response till now and i am yet to practice with any of the essays.

I know i am lagging behind in my preps and somehow i have to manage both my work( i have a project deadline on September 3) and my preps till August 28, though my personal life is already running out of my control. I have stopped responding to calls of so many people these days, i am sure they are going to kill me when they see me next time :(

I have to gather and focus all my energy on my preps and work for the coming weeks. Please God give me strength :)

Powerprep 2 - Broke the barrier :)

2007-08-04T20:03:00.000-07:00

Today God really wanted me to give a bday gift and see he has given it :) , i just broke the barrier which i have been thinking to break for so long. Yup i have hit 750.

Scores in Powerprep2 :-

Overall - 750 ( Q-50, V-41)

It was a very nice feeling when i looked at the score.

Quant section:- ( 1 Question wrong) - completed with 10 minutes to spare

The section seemed very easy, i don't know why, though there were some tricky questions here and there. But overall the level was easy.
And i got just one question wrong here - Q27 :( and that too was a foolish mistake. Due to this i missed hitting 51 in Maths.

Verbal Section:- Completed with 14 minutes to spare.

It was of average difficulty level, but this time i saw some of the question which i had already seen somewhere :( . So that also questions the validity of these scores since i had already seen some of the questions. I think other people also experience the same with Powerprep.

Questions wrong :- ( 6 questions wrong - 1 less than the less time.)
2, 9, 12, 17, 21, 23

Breakup :-

1- SC :)
3- RC
2- CR

I am really happy that i decided top give the test today on my birthday :) and managed to hit a good score also. Though there were some seen questions but i am happy that atleast once i have broken the barrier.
The race has started and i have started running atleast :).
The next test is going to be GMAT Prep1

Happy Birthday to me!!

2007-08-04T19:59:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday and here i am giving the Powerprep2 GMAT :) . There is no time to party, i have very less time left for my GMAT and cannot waste a weekend, because its only on the weekends that i can give the mock tests....

Though i will party in the evening, if the test goes fine :)

Will post you guys after the test with scores.

Got the GMAT Scheduled

2007-08-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

Finally, I have taken the plunge.
Today morning when i reached office, i checked mba.com and saw one slot available on August 28, the date which i had in the back of my mind. As soon as i saw the date , i took out my credit card and booked it. Well spent 250$ :).
The center is approx. 10 miles from my home, so its kind of near :). I will have to visit the center in advance to see for the parking arrangements, don't want to take any chances on the test day.

Now i am just praying that work pressure remains low for these 3 weeks somehow and i am able to complete all the things that i have planned before the test :).
Only major cause of worry right now is that i haven't started with the AWA section. From where are other bloggers preparing for this section?

So the clock has started ticking for me now. Its a race and i have to win it somehow.

GMAT Prep continues....

2007-08-01T23:48:00.001-07:00

This week is going on well at least for my preps. I was able to complete the OG Verbal Review book today.
And my accuracy levels have improved in CR and RC from what they were in when i was doing OG.
In SC, though initially i was performing very well but towards the end i somehow managed to screw it up and ended up with less than 80% accuracy(78%) :( :( . Though one reason for this is that i was very tired up in SC towards the end but since I wanted to complete it so I stretched myself a bit. But whatever maybe the reason i have to concentrate on my SC again now.

I have started with OG second round now. Started with SC :) , I did first 100 questions and i had a very decent accuracy (89%) till now. I will start with CR and RC revision also by this weekend.

Now the missing parts, i haven't practiced Quant section since last 20 days, except the tests which i have been giving over the weekends. So i will have to gear myself up for quant right now.
I have to ensure that i hit 50 in Quant in the actual test. Though i have not been worrying about Quant till now, because on all the Kaplan tests i have been hitting 50 easily, though in the Powerprep 1 test my score fell down to 49. But in actual test i cannot afford that. Also i have heard that these days Quant section has some very tough questions coming up so have to gear for that.
Planning to revise the basics first from OG and then complete OG Maths again, i think that should give me the required practice.

Second thing which is missing in my prep now is the AWA section which i haven't started. Now i will have to start with this section tomorrow for sure. It's high time now. I have to practice at least some arguments before my actual test.

Though i haven't been able to take the date yet due to unavailability, i have thought of taking the test in August last week, also i am studying and making my schedule with August 28 as date in my mind. Lets see if i am able to take some date. But as other bloggers have pointed out, i should be able to get it because of cancellations happening at the last moment. I hope i am able to get it.

My GMATPrep -- confusions, prepration and status-help required :)

2007-07-31T00:14:00.000-07:00

Since my last post i have been regularly looking at mba.com for getting a date in last week of August, but still there are no appointments. If that continues for another week, i will take a date in the first week of September.

Now my current status in prep:-

OG11 - Done except AWA, but its been a while since i completed this.
Kaplan Premier program- I started my prep with this book and completed it.
Kaplan 800- Verbal completed - but again its been more than a month now.
OG verbal Review - Presently doing. Completed SC and CR , RC is left.

Now my goal for the coming weeks is :-

1) Complete OG verbal review in 1-2 days now.
2) Revise OG11
3) Revise Kaplan 800
4) Go through the standard noted like Spidey's notes.
5) Revise some concepts from Manhattan SC.

Tests already taken:-

All kaplan tests - Avg. 0f 650
Powerprep 1 - 730

Tests left:-
GMATPreps , Powerprep2 and Manhattan tests

Confusions:-

One major thing i am worried about is that i haven't touched the AWA section till now. I am planning to go through this sectionjust 15 days before the test and also i don't have much tie to devote to this section. People i need your opinions here that how much time is needed for this section and what all should i do in this section?

Also should i revise OG11 and Kaplan 800 right now or should i revise them when i am more near to the test.

I think the time which i have kept between now and my planned GMAT date - 1 month is sufficient for completing what all is left over. Actually i have kept a month because i will get very less time during the weekdays to prepare because of the hectic work schedule.

Should i do some more material or is the material sufficient? If no, then what can i do for the next 1 month.

Hope to see some very serious suggestions from you people who have already been through this prep. Your suggestion can really help me.

Thanks

Kaplan GMAT CAT 4 - 660 ( Q- 50, V- 36)

2007-07-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

Gave my last Kaplan test this Sunday afternoon. And that's the only thing i did related to GMAT this weekend. I couldn't study anything this weekend. :(

Anyways, coming to the test, this time i gave the test in the afternoon when i was feeling a bit sleepy to check my alertness levels.

The pattern of questions was pretty much similar to the previous Kaplan tests which i gave.

So coming to the results:-

660 ( Q- 50, V- 36)

Quant - 4 wrong ( 7, 12 , , )

Verbal - 10 wrong ( 3, 22, 23 , 29, 31, 33 , 36, 38, 40,41)

One thing which went good in this test was verbal. Though the verbal score is essentially same as the previous test's score but what drastically reduced is the number of mistakes in the first 20 questions. There was only 1 single mistake in the first 20 questions and that too was a CR question which i misread. So that was satisfying. Also the total number of mistakes in the verbal section has reduced from the last time. I screwed it up in the last 7 questions though. Actually i also fell short of time in the end. So that is one reason i screwed it up in the last, will have to improve on my speed in the next test.

Now the tests which i am left with are Powerprep2 and both GmatPreps. Although i also have access to Manhattan online tests, i am not sure how useful are they. Anybody has idea about Manhattan test's quality? Are they really worth doing?
Now i also have decide on the actual test date. I was looking for dates between 25th to 30th August but no slot is available at that time. Rechecking daily if some slot gets available. Also these days i am unable to study on the weekdays due to the work load which is really giving me tension now. I am only able to study over the weekend, thus the time devotes for the prep is reducing. I need to figure out some way.

GMAT PowerPrep 1 -- Missed the barrier again

2007-07-15T17:15:00.000-07:00

As per my schedule i gave GMAT Powerprep 1 test on Sunday afternoon. So after doing a light breakfast i went to the library to give the test. I just took a coke can with me to drink it while taking the test.
As soon as i started the test, i found that the font of the test was not good and i was experiencing difficulty while reading things sometimes. I think the font size was bigger than usual and also the type of font didn't suit my eyes. I hope the actual GMAT doesn't have this kind of font.

Anyways, started with Quant and as usual it started with some DS questions initially. I was not confident while marking 1-2 questions in the first 10 but overall it seemed fine. I think took a good amount of time while doing the first 10 questions. Thus increased my speed after this. First 10 questions were coming increasing order of difficulty but after 11 there were some very easy questions, which made me wonder if i am doing the questions correctly. The difficulty level of questions again started increasing and i really encountered some good questions. Overall the maths section was of average difficulty level with some good questions. Due to my increased speed i finished the section 8 minutes earlier from the time limit.

While doing the maths section a couple came and sat beside me. They were constantly chatting even in the Quiet Area of the library which was very annoying. I decided to change seat when Quantitative section gets over but in the break i couldn't find any free seat with a slot to plug in my laptop. So just got back to my seat and started the Verbal section :(

Verbal started with first 4 questions of SC in which i was unsure about 1. Then came RS which was okay i think. And then on the 8th question cam bold faced CR, which gave me some confidence. After that at 11th question came my second RC which again was fine. Overall the section was good. I was struggling with speed in the middle but was able to catch up and finished the section with 2 minutes to spare.
As soon as i clicked on the results i was having a feeling that i have done good. And the result was:-

Overall --- 730 ( Quant - 49, V - 40)

Ohh god i screwed my Quant this time, how come, maybe i was very fast and i did some foolish mistakes, i cursed myself for this. Verbal score seemed to be fine.

But again i missed 750 barrier by miles. I have to figure outr how to break this barrier in coming few weeks. But my work schdule these days is so hectic that i only get time on weekends to study.

When i analyzed the test i found that it only showed only those questions which were counted for scoring, rest were ignored in the review which was kind of strange.

Quantitative- 28 questions
incorrect - 7, 19, 20, 25, 26 - Total 5 questions wrong

I think i messed up the score in the last questions , where my speed was high for without any reason. Also i don't think i did that many mistakes that the score should plummet to 49. Again messing up the last questions is the only thing i can think of right now.

Verbal - 30 questions only - 11 were ignored here it seems

incorrect - 4, 13, 16, 18, 20, 27 , 30 - Total 7 questions wrong.

It was again messy in the end. Also 4th question which a SC got wrong. I had a doubt in this one. During analysis i found out powerprep excluded one entire RC ( my third RC) from evaluation. Also one important analysis was that first 7 questions and last 8 questions were taking into account for scoring, so that means starting and ending questions are important.

Break up of mistakes in Verbal - SC- 2, CR - 3, RC - 1

Now i have to take the GMAT date. Planning to take it August end. I want some inputs from my fellow bloggers now, is 1 month enough now for my preparation. Will make a separate for this, analyzing my current levels of prep and things left to be done. Any suggestions are welcome...

Kaplan GMAT Test 3 - , Am i still away from my dream?

2007-07-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

I am posting after a very long time now.....Anyways, will put a separate post for what all has been going on in my life, this post is just for the test i wrote today - Kaplan GMAT test 3.

After a long time i wrote a full length GMAT test and chose to write Kaplan CD test. I wrote the test 3 since i have already written first two tests.
Since it was very difficult to give test at home ( can't maintain concentration at home for 3 hours) so i went to library to give the test. It was very quiet. In fact, in the beginning i was feeling very sleepy.

Quant started with an easy question, but after that next 11 questions i got were from DS....and after every question there was an increase in the difficulty level. Anyways Quant went fine overall. I believed i had done well and i just thought that i will only get a few DS questions wrong. I finished the Quantitative section with 8 minutes remaining.

Verbal started with a boom, the first question was a SC and it was very very tough. Somehow answered that after 2 minutes, but i was highly unsure. Second question was a CR and again it was dicey and i lost another 3 minutes here. But after that a few questions seemed fine, which made me believe that i have answered first 2 questions wrong.
I decided not to think about what has happened and instead to concentrate in the present question. Overall the verbal question was difficult., and i was feeling short of time in the end. When i was on 30th question only 16 minutes were remaining. I decided to increase my speed but was stuck with a RC on 34. This time i just read the questions first and took a quick scan of the passage and marked the 3 questions very fast. Now i was on Q37 and time remaining was 4 minutes. But now i was going at good speed and finished Verbal with 1.5 minutes remaining.
So i think my speed was satisfactory.

Results:-

660 ( Q- 50, V- 36)

Quant :
Wrong - 3 (Q 24, 31, 35)
The first question i maked wrong was Q-24 . So that was good performance i think:)
Also i marked only 1 DS question wrong (Q 35), rest 2 were of PS. So overall this section went good

Verbal:
Right - 29
Wrong - 12 ( Q - 1,2, 14,15,16, 22, 29, 31, 33, 36, 38, 40)

As expected i marked first 2 questions wrong :(:(. This proved to be my nemesis.
But thank god i marked next 12 question right else my score would been very scary.
But again 14,15,16 - 3 consecutive questiions wrong - this again was very bad since consecutive mistakes plummets the score faster. And there were some regular alternat mistakes after Q- 29.
Overall i will say if first 2 questions would not have been wrong, i would have done much much better in this test.

Anyways, right now i know i have to practice a lot in order to achieve my dream score and i need to be regular. Also i plan to give 1 more test and then take the GMAT date. Since there are 3 centres where i can give the test ( SFo, San Jose, Oakland) i think i will be able to get the dates for August easily.

Any comments and suggestions from the fellow bloggers who have already taken the GMAT will really help me and are really welcome.
Ok friends till the next one, cya....

Verbal

Life in San Francisco

2007-05-03T20:02:00.000-07:00

hey people,

I have moved to SFo now, my company has again changed my location. Its been 2 weeks now in SFo. And Bay Area is really cool :) ....there in Minneapolis i hardly used to see people outside after work but here its lot more crowded. But even in this crowd i am alone :) ...yeah i don't know many people here, so i get extremely bored up in the evenings. Though if you have a group of friends here, this place is certainly the best, one can really enjoy a lot. It is really a very happening place...
Also, i have a travel a lot here for office, almost 1 hour 15 minutes each way :( ..... I have to first take a Caltrain and then a bus to reach office, so its kind of hectic...but i am planning to somehow utilize this time now.
I just took my apartment here in Sunnyvale 2 days back and i think it will take a while before i get settled down here.....today i found that there are Salsa classes every Friday evening in my apartment complex and they are really cool, planning to attend them regularly from now on....

On my GMAT i have been unable to make any progress since a long time now due to all this shifting and hectic work pressures. But i have realized this now that all these are just excuses, one can do the prep no matter what the condition is, you just need to have the determination....Earlier i used to think that let me first settle down then i will prepare for the GMAT but that way i think i will only be postponing it forever. Now i have realized that one just needs to set his eyes on the goal and rest all things will work out automatically.

So today i found out a large book shop here - "Borders". So went there and picked up Kaplan and started reading it and i really enjoyed it after touching on GMAT prep after so long. Planning to go to this shop regularly now and keep the focus. No more setting of goals for right now until i keep the enthusiasm and momentum going...

Any of fellow bloggers here in Bay Area who are also preparing for the GMAT or have their eyes set on applying for MBA for 08'....

OK Friends, till the next one.....Cheers!!

Updates on my MBA journey and life

2007-04-01T22:10:00.000-07:00

Hey people,

Its been more than 4 weeks since i came here in US and now i am feeling settled. I have taken a nice apartment at rent and have set my routine here now. The weather here is still cold but certainly better than when i came here. But i am loving this place now, and the feeling of home sickness has also almost vanished :).
I have not been able to find time to look for any community service organizations in Minneapolis, as i want to continue on this. I have been part of teaching in poor children's school back in Hyderabad(India) and want to do something of this sort here too. It really gives a sense of satisfaction and gives me a feeling that at least i am doing something in life. Though i started this just 6 months back, but i really enjoy doing it.

Now on my MBA thing, last week i have again started working towards my GMAT ( not much though) and also i have started seriously on my search on B schools thought i have done it loosely sometimes previously. But now i am doing it thoroughly, one school at a time. After reading through the blogs of Iday, Inblue, juggler and many other people, my search at this point of time is pretty much organized. Thanks to these guys. As i search more on these B Schools there are many questions popping in my mind and i need to clarify them from someone who has been through all this process. Will need help from my fellow bloggers on this.

I will definitely start my GMAT prep in full swing this week and will give a computer based test in 2 weeks time to gauge my present level of prep. This will help me decide what more i need to do and how i need to spend my prep time on various sections. So in next 2 weeks i will practice each section a bit and give one Kaplan test. (I don't have any other test right now, powerprep and GMATprep i don't want to use them, right now, i have saved them for the last 15 days of my prep).

As mentioned in my previous posts, i have already completed OG 11th Edition and Kaplan premier program book. Now after some amount of practice from online material and 1000 collections i need to start with my Kaplan 800.

Lets see how it goes. I just need to keep that motivation and enthu going and keep up my confidence.

Any suggestions are always welcome.

Moved India --> Minneapolis (USA)

2007-03-11T16:15:00.000-07:00

hi everybody,

Its been long time since i last posted on my blog and believe me my life has undergone a lot of changes since then, good or bad that depends on one's perspective.

On February 16, my company decided to move me to US and i was informed about it. On Feb 19, just 4 days after that i had packed everything. In this one day, i completed all the formalities and also booked my tickets. on very next day i took an early morning flight to my home place and then on Feb 24 took my US flight from Delhi.
Well, it was a nice journey and nice experience. I came via Amsterdam and Chicago. At Chicago airport my uncle had come to meet me. I had lunch with him and then finally took a flight to Minneapolis. Since then i had been very very busy in my new project here.

So many things have changed i think, moving to a different country is altogether a different thing from moving to a dfifferent city in a same country. For the first few days , i was completely confused and completely depended on few of my freinds here( yeah, i knew some people here who were working in my company). I didnt know what to eat for lunch, they only guided me. If i happen to move out of office building i even got confused locating it back , believe me friends i never had trouble in locating things in India. But here due to the sky ways and all i got confused because we move from one building to another without even knowing how far we have come from the office :).
But yeah now i seem to have settled, i have taken a new apartment on rent here and trying to getting settle in here. I still have to buy some of the things before i feel completely settled here, though its been 2 weeksnow.

Now the bad news, I have been away from my GMAT prepration for over 3 weeks now and is completely out of touch. I was going very well with the prep but due to this sudden transfer i couldn't do anything. I have to soon start with my prep again. I dont know how my=uch thing thing has affected my prep but i thing th ehard work which i had done will not get wasted atleast and i will not need much time to complete my prep. Will post a detailed post on this once i start my prep again which i plan to start within a week.

Hey, anyone of you in and around Minneapolis who is preparing for GMAT?? Now i have to do my prep at this place itself so it would be nice if know some of the people who are into their preps or who will be doing their apps.

Cya people

Updates on my GMAT prep

2007-02-07T01:01:00.000-08:00

Due to less work pressure this week, my GMAT prep is going on satisfactorily :).

OG is almost complete once now, except some RC passages which i will complete soon.

Various sections:-

RC - Presently doing from OG
SC - Doing it from a 200 SC collection. They are good.
CR - Doing it from another collection which i have.

PS & DS - Done with OG, not started with any other material. Looking for some material on DS.

I am also having OG Verbal review, i think i will start it soon. By early next week, i will have Kaplan GMAT 800 with me. I will start it after giving one more Computer Based test ( and scoring good marks in it :) ).

I have given 2 test till now :-

Kaplan CAT 1 - 670 ( M - 50, V - 36)
Kaplan CAT 2 - 610 ( 50, 30)

Also gave some sectional tests from Kaplan CD, which were good. They help in timing for a particular section. I was able to complete the SC's well before time i.e with a speed of less than 1 min. per question. Accuracy was also decent. Also tried one CR section, which also went fine.

The main problem area for me right now is RC, where i am having very bad accuracy and i almost take 2 minutes per question. Will need to do a lot of practice here.

Cya guys. Any tips are welcome.

Bought some books related to management

2007-02-04T02:04:00.000-08:00

I was thinking to buy some books related to management for quite sometime now, finally today i went to the store and bought 3 books.

1) Snapshots from Hell - The Making of an MBA
- Peter Robinson
2) The McKinsey Way
3) The Mckinsey Mind
- By Ethan Raisel

"Snapshots from Hell", i am sure most of you people would have read this one. I started this book and read the first 3 chapters. Its an interesting book about the life of a guy who gets admitted into Stanford GSB and what he goes through when he reaches there. But the guy in this books seems to hate Mathematics especially Calculus, which i definitely love :) .

The other 2 books, i haven't started and i basically bought them to get more insight into Management Consulting. I hope they turn out to be good books. Anybody of you people have read these??

Also i wanted to read some of the good biographies or autobiographies, ofcourse related to the field of management.
Please suggest me some good books related the field of management. I basically want to get more insight and also motivation by reading some of the books. I would also like to read some books on finance.

Waiting to get some good suggestions from every one of you out there :)

Kaplan test 2 - 610 :(

2007-02-03T04:28:00.000-08:00

My second kaplan test and it really didnt go upto my expectations. I aimed to cross 650 atleast in this one and what i get is a poor - 610. I understand that Kaplan test are tough but i should have managed atleast 650. My aim of scoring 750 seems to be distant right now.

I had a feeling that i have marked all questions in Maths correctly but 3 questions went wrong this time also :( . Anyways, i can improve on that. my first mistake happened at Q 22 which is satisfactory i think.

The blunder happened in Verbal. Though i was able to mark first few questions correctly, but then marked Q6, Q7 wrong. Both of them were SC's.
Then i marked my second RC fully wrong :(:(.
Question 18-23 i marked all wrong which included 1 RC and 2 CR's.
In all my accuracies were something like:-
SC's - 8/15 ------> 53.33% :(:(
CR's - 9/14 ------> 63.33%
RC's - 6/12 -------> 50 % :(:(

Total 23/41 --------> 56.1%
In all 18 questions wrong in verbal which is quite bad.

Final Result - 610 (50, 30)

I didnt practice SC's this week, maybe that resulted in such a bad show there. I think, i will have to pratice more regulary in this area. RC's i have just started doing, i know i will be able to improve here.

But one thing good about today's test was that there were no time constraints. i managed to finish Maths section with 4 min. to spare and Verbal with 2.5 minutes to spare. Atleast i am catching up on speed now.

Today's learning:- More practice and regular practice.

I am yet to complete OG- the goal i had set for myself last week. The only thing left here is 126 RC questions and 49 PS questions. RC i will complete by doing regularly whereas PS i will complete by tomorrow.
Its time to start GMAT 800 book now, but unluckily i forgot that book at my parent's home when i last went there. Have asked them to courier the book but that will take 3-4 days to reach me, meanwhile i will practice the online material.

Cya guys, will keep you all updated. And if you people have any useful tips do share them with me.

My GMAT journey begins- Kaplan Test 1 670

2007-01-28T09:50:00.000-08:00

After a very long time i have started again on my journey for getting an admit into a B school. And this time i will surely complete this( For those of you who are reading my blog for the first time, i decided to give GMAT last year sometime in April end but then decided not to apply for fall 2007 and also postponed my plans for giving Gmat to this year i.e. 2007).

I started with OG some 15 days back and given the limited time after work i have completed 60% of the book as of now. But since this was along weekend, so decided to give a Kaplan Test today.
I skipped writing sections and directly started with the Maths section. Questions were easy at the start but then some of the questions were a little tricky and required careful reading. But overall the section was fine. I performed my first mistake at Q19. It was a silly mistake, didnt read the question carefully. Overall 35 correct, 2 wrong. Satisfying i think.
Then English section started with a SC. I thought i answered it correctly. At around 12th question i got my first RC and it was horrible. I found it a little tough and also since i havent't practiced RC till now i took a lot of time completing it. After this i had to rush through the questions. But then the second RC came at around Q20 and it again was a spped breaker for me. When i reached Q27 only 20 minutes were left i think, and this was aqgain a RC. This time i read it fast and marked answers without thinking much. Then fourth RC came at Q34 and this one i really marked very fast since i had very less time and i thought i marked all 3 questions wrong in this RC. When i reached Q 39 4 minutes were still left i think but this a tough CR. Somehow managed to complete the English section on time with 1 sec to spare. Then clicked on View results.
And i was surprised to see :-

670 ( M- 50, V- 36).

Since i have heard Kaplan tests are tough and above 650 is a decent score, i was kind of happy. But then i saw my verbal scores and i was really disappointed to see that i marked 14 questions wrong here. Whats more worse was i marked Q-1,3 and 6 wrong. 3 questions wrong in first 10, i would really have to be careful from next time. This really screwed my verbal score. After 6th questions i was pretty accurate and next marked Q20 wrong. But then again there were regular mistakes, and i marked last 3 questions wrong, for which i had last 4 minutes left. Pretty bad here too.

Anyways, atleast i have started my prepration earnestly now and hope to continue this now.
Tasks for this week:-
1) Try to complete OG.
2) Give Kaplan Test 2 next weekend.

Lets see how this works out. I also need to find material which i have to do after compleing my OG. Any suggestions are really welcome.
And yeah i will be regular on my blog now :)

Chennai trip and updates

2006-11-06T04:13:00.000-08:00

I am visting my blog after a very long time. I cannot say that i was very busy to visit or make an entry but yeah for whole of last month there was something or the other coming up.

Like first i went home on October 18th, it was a very good trip. I really didnt realise how 12 days of leave passed at home. I made some nice trips to a temple in Himachal and also visted Anantpur Sahib gurdwara. Then we also made an evening trip to the hills, on way to Shimla. On the whole a very relaxing and exciting trip. Came back to hyderabad on 1st Novemeber because i had a visa date at Chennai consulate on #rd Novemeber. So i had to fly to chennai on 2nd November. Chennai is one city i always had a fear for. And as soon as i landed at Chennai airport it was raining heavily and got little drenched there itself. A nice way for that city to annoy me further :).
Anyways since this was an official trip i had cab pickup and drop from airports so there wasn't any problem as such. I just identified the playcard with my name and just sat in the cab which took me straight to the guest house. And company guest houses are always good, nice ambience and also nice food :).
Got up early next day for the visa interview and after some moment of anxities had my visa satmnped:) . I was happy atleast the main work for which i am here has been done. Though it was raining outside after every half an hour. I had to buy an umberella before going to the consulate because sometime the queue outside the embassy is very big. but i was lucky that i didnt have to wait for more that 10 minutes in this queue.
Anyways, i then went to the most talked about mall of Chennai, and frankly speaking, i found it like Palika Bazaar in Delhi, though here some of teh shops were larger but the arrangemnet was quite like Palika Bazaar. I had my lunch at pizza hut and took the suto straight to my guest house. It was really gloomy weather outside so didnt want to stand there anymore. I spent my rest of the day in the guest house watching television. Then i took the next morning flight back to hyderabad. Only good and the best thing about chennai was that i got my visa stamped. :)

Anyways will try to be more regular on my blog now.
Cya all.

Lage Raho Munnabhai....

2006-09-08T03:59:00.000-07:00

I have been away from my blog for a very long time now.....and when i saw this movie this weekend, i just knew right then that i need to write something on this:)
Well, believe me getting tickets for this movie was really one of my hardest experiences. Just reached the theatre half an hour before the show and was really intimidated by the long queue for the tickets. But luck was in our favour today and managed to get the tickets right on time i.e. at 3:00PM.
Right from the scene 1 this movie is simply so engrossing.....first half was like total comedy....bole to complete masti....i must say that all the actors have acted to their best....Arshad Warsi is simply a delight to watch. His acting is so spontaneous that you completely get into the movie. Sunjay Dutt like always was at his best. The surprise element was Vidya Balan. though she had a small presence, she acted very well.
Bole to Gandhigiri, is the new word which this movie has given and i am sure, its popularity will outgrow the popularity of movie itself.
This year i have seen 2 superb movies now first one was RDB and second is this one.
Rang De basanti concentrated on the agressive behaviour of the revolutanaries while this movie teaches the same primary value (patriotism) but in Gandhi style and in its own unique way. I think it is after watching this movie i have understood the principles and value if Gandhi and what all he stood for.
There are so many things one can do in life and also get relieved from so many of thetensions by speaking just truth. This movie makes us look at Gandhi's values of truth, non violence in a modern way and really does this in a perfect way.
I can easily say that this is one of the best movie i have seen in my life. And this feeling i got even before the movie ended, at the interval :)
Lage Raho Munnabhai....

My Birthday - August 4

2006-08-06T09:25:00.000-07:00

I think the excitement this day always starts 2-3 days before it actually comes. Atleast this is the case with me. As sson as the calander reads August 1 every year, a feeling of excitement sets within me. Somehow the world seems to be so good. This time also it was the same. Though this time i had to work for 14 hours for this entire week in the office, due to some issues in my project :(.
The day started at exactly at 12:00 AM in the night with my flatmates wishing me and bringing a surprise cake for me. First, as usual there was gugging and all but then all of a sudden they pick me a up. And in the very next second i am in air being kicked at my back :), as is the usual tradition :). Mann some of the kicks were really very hard, aahh. Then i cut the cake and did some other formalities. Now, another wild act my friends take the cake and it is all over my face, and then all over my head. And then it went wild. We started playing holi with the cake. I take a piece of cake and there it goes on my friend's face. Others start running...but another piece of cake, this time a large one and i somehow banged it right on the target......spackkkkkkkkk, straight on the head of another room mate. In a few minutes the floor of our balcony was completelty in mess. I had to take a bath after this.
When i woke up in the morning it was raining heavily outside. Anyways, got ready as soon as i could and wore an entirely new set of clothes.Somehow reached office without getting drenched. And then everybody wished me, it was soooo nice, i never thought they all will remember my birthday. You seem to be so impotant this day :). Also the whole lot of calls you get on your phone makes you feel all the more special. All the friends wishing you..its good. Almost after every 30 minutes next 10 minutes i was on a call on my mobile with friends calling to wish me.
But now the sad part, as the project was going tghrough a bad phase i had a lot of work :(. Also it was raining heavily so the entire plan of going for a movie and giving a party went for a toss. I had tioo work till 10 in the night and then went home. And mann it was still raining. It rained all through the day full 24 hours.
But still i enjoyes every moment of it, every call, every wish and every line code i wrote :). But the day could have been better if rain would have stopped. Anyways, thats okay. Thanks to all my friends for making me feel special. Its just because of the friends i feel, this day carried importance for me. i get to talk to all my friends on the same day.
On the whole, a nice day..

Kaplan Test 3 - 630(50, 33)

2006-07-24T05:11:00.000-07:00

After a long gap this weekend i gave an online GMAT mock test. Though i didn't want to shatter my confidence by giving a Kaplan test but didn't have any other option as no other CD was there with me for the weekend :(. So decided to go for the Kaplan test.
Started the test late on Saturday evening. This time also i didn't attempt AWA sections. So started with Quant. It seemed easy though i got stuck in 1-2 questions. but it was fine except for the disturbance caused by the continuous loud noise of the TV which was coming from the other room. But i really can't help it. When i started with english i marked my first 3 questions very confidently but then was i not sure of next 2-3 questions. This time i tried to mantain speed throughout during the English section unlike previous tests in which i used to spend a lot of time on first 15 questions.
When i reached question 22 i somehow remembered that i have to go for shopping :) . A new sale has started at showrooms today only. After that though i tried to concentrate but couldn't lost complete concentration after question no. 26. This was also contributed by the noise i was getting from the other room. Thought of leaving the test but then just went on somehow for another 15 questions very fast. I experienced shortage oftime for last 2 questions but somehow managed to complete the test on time.

When i clicked for the results, mann i was pretty surprised to see 630 this time. i didnt expect that. Due to my low concentration level in the end, i actually thought that i have messed it.But it wasn't that bad.

630 ( QA - 50, VA- 33)

Saw through the solutions and found that in QA i marked 5 wuestions wrong, i expected max. 1-2 . But then saw most of them were foolist mistakes, excpet 2 ques. i mean.

But in VA as expected i marked almost every question wrong starting forom q26 i mean only 2 questions right after Ques. 25. So 14 questions i marked wrong here itself. I got just 5 questions wrong till ques. 25. First question i got wrong was Ques. 8 and then 12.
I think initial accuracy prevented me from sinking in this test.

Overall i have to increase my concentration levels now and practice more. I am hardly practicing these days. Now i also have to get serious about taking my GMAT date. Planning to take it in August end.

Spirit of Mumbai

2006-07-19T07:14:00.000-07:00

Mumbai - the financial capital of India was struck with as many as 7 blasts on 7/11, all in the local trains. Amost 189 people got killed in these blasts described to be the worst act of terorism after 1993 Mumbai blasts. But what amazed me was the spirit of the people of Mumbai immediately after the blasts. The city which is famous for its "Don't care" attitute suddenly changed and it seemed that every person there belongs to one family. I have heard about Mumbai, even if you fall walking on the road no one is going to pick you up, Mumbai never stops for anyone...but this time it really stopped and it stopped for helping its children.
People started helping each other in whatever way they could. I saw people distributing bottles of mineral water, packets of biscuits etc. to stranded commuters who could not reach their destinations because almost entire local transport system came to a halt for amost 3 hours after the blasts. People even offered commuters whose destinations were far off to stay in their homes for the night. I even read about instances when the autorickshaws were charging people only the normal fares even at 11pm in the night for far off destinations even when they are authorised by the govt. to charge double the fare after 10pm in the night. One Autorickshawallah said to a commuter "Aaj nahin leinge hum kisi se paise"( We will charge any money today). The dabbawallahs delivered dabbas in every house they do normally without getting afraid from going outside. In all the terrorists were defeated in every objective they had.

Now yesterday govt. asked people to observe a 2 minute silence to mourn the blast victims at 6.25pm, the prcise time of the blasts. And whole Mumbai stood still at that time for 2 minutes. Even though it is a rush hour , people stood quietly on roads and pavements , cars and buses stopped on roads, trains in transit also stopped and people stood in silence either closing their eyes or stood praying. All the traffic on almost every road of Mumbai stopped and stood silent. Even the cable operators switched off their telecast for 2 minutes during that time. Now is what is called the Spirit of Mumbai- The Spirit of INDIA...
I can tell you this city really has some life, every time i have been to this city i have fallen in love with it.

Lost my new mobile- really a very bad day

2006-07-03T00:52:00.001-07:00

It was Saturday, 1st July. My cousin had come to my place for the weekend. As usual I got up late on the weekend, but this time as my cousin wanted to see hyderabad so got ready within half an hour and went out at around 1030.
We had to take a bus from mehdipatnam bus stop for going further, so reached there at around 1045. It was very very crowded. Within 5 minutes our bus came and many people started running towards the bus. I and my cousin got into the bus and were stuck on the footsteps with some guys who were also boarding the bus but now wanted to get down. Finally we managed to get a seat in that damn bus. As soon as i sat, i found my mobile was not there !!
i immediately told my cousin and we decided to get off the bus. I knew it was the work of the same guys with whom we got stuck. Meanwhile bus started running. i went to the driver to stop the bus because my mobile has been stolen. But that ideat didnt understand hindi or english so had to shout at him. He stopped the bus immediately ( i think he got scared) but by then we had come around 70 m from the bus stop. I ran towards the bus stop in search of that guy, i would have recognized him. But he had already gone. I tried calling my number but no one picked up. I kept trying. Then the phone started going busy. I decided not to cancel the phone number, thought maybe i will be able to negotiate. But for next 15 minutes phone kept going busy.
Then my cousin suggested that we should inform the police station. So we started walking to the nearest police station and meanwhile my cousin kept trying my phone number. I entered the police station first time in my life. As soon as i told the constable that i want to register a complaint, I heard my brother's voice. he was talking to someone on the mobile. We both ran out of police station. It was the guy who stole my mobile. Somehow he agreed to negotiate with us and said he will return the phone if we are ready to pay the money. he even didn't know the model which he stole. He said he will call us in 1 hour and meanwhile we should reach secundrabad which was around 25Kms from there.

I rushed home to take my friends. Then we all decided to fight out for the mobile. We decided to take 4 bikes ( as were 8 people ) . We left all our purses, credit cards and mobiles at home because we knew that a fight was inevitable. My friends didn't even have their breakfast till then. But they decided not to waste time ( so nice !!!) and we immediately started our bikes and went ahead. It took us almost 1 hour to reach secundrabad. On reaching there we decided to park our bikes on a safe place so that we can run easily. Then we decided that 6 people will sit in a restaurant and I and my cousin will wait in front of resturant for the call. But no one called this time. We kept trying my number but either it went busy or he didn't pick the phone. We decided to wait inside the resturant. It was already 3pm now. We decided to have our lunch waiting for the call and kept laughing on some funny incidents of this sort which anyone of us knew. Meanwhile i decided to call my mamaji (uncle), who is the head in Ericsson which manages the whole Airtel network. He immediately called someone to block my STD and ISD calls but kept my local calls through. Then he called someone to put my moble phone on track. But now after waiting till 5 we decided to register a complaint at the police station which took us another 30 minutes ( my second trip to a police sation in one day :) though again not for any wrong reason).
On reaching police station, we were greeted surprisingly by a nice guy who said just go upstairs and register the complaint. But when we went upstairs to our surprise everyone was sleeping ( damn, police is really like this, as they show in movies). We tried to knock the doors in a hope atleast one person will wake up, but no use. So finally we again went to that guy who sent someone to wake them up. Then i started narrating the whole incident. After listening to the whole incident the constable said, you should have come directly here ( as if he could have done something then). Anyways, after registering the complaint ( I had to tell the same story to 3 people in the police station) , finally we reached home, putting an end to a bad eventful day.

Now my mobile is under surveillance by Airtel people, but for getting any leads it should come back in the network and that may be through any sim card. Lets see what happens though i dont think i will be able get ot back.

And guess what it was such a bad day, even Brazil lost to France in FIFA world Cup. I decided to got bed with a heavy heart. I think my mobile kept coming in my dreams. I spent some 16000 bucks on that latest mobile less than a month back and now i have lost it. :(

Kabhi Alvida na Kehna

2006-06-21T03:42:00.000-07:00

I got hold of the music of Kabhi Alvida na Kehna two days back and i have already listened to all the songs so many times now.The music really rocks. No one can beat Sonu Nigam in emotional songs and Alka yagnik is also too good here. Tumhi dekho na and the title song are emotional songs and are really very good. Tumhi dekho na is amazing. I really liked the music of Kal Ho Na Ho and and still listen to the title song and believe me Tumhi Dekho Na is of the same kind. I fell in love with this song :) when i saw it first time on the Television. I can gurantee that you will remember some incident in your life listening to these songs. They will make you look deeper into your heart. The lyrics straightway connects you to your emotional self.
Mitwa and Where's the party tonight are also great songs. Specially Mitwa has a backgroung tune which is amazing. It has one line in chorus which i have been singing for last 2 days now :). It goes something like this " Love will find a way ....".

On the whole Ultimate Songs :). Do listen to them.

Introspection

2006-06-19T23:43:00.000-07:00

Well, i was in bangalore for last 2 weeks and came back yesterday only. will write a seperate entry for the trip. It was really cool and full of fun. But after coming back from there i did a self introspection after some discussions with friend.

He just asked me one question, Do u like your work? Though the answer for this is clear in my mind - NO, but i never analyzed clearly as to what is that thing which i work for?
So i just asked myself, if you are not happy what is that is still keeping me in this job? and what is it that i expect from this job. And after getting a little deep into my soul, i realized it is -power and recognition ( i know i am a complete Leo :) ). Money is something which i never cared for but ofcourse it always comes with power and ofcourse is a basic necessity. But its not something which i aim for or which i quantify.

Though i have my aims set right but somehow i have not been able to prioritize them. And thus i always end up getting confused and not actually getting down to do things which i aspire for. Also i believe your vision for life or you can say the final goal is most important, the path you take to get there is something which is very subjective to you. But there is one more point here, some people will take their lifetime to reach there and some will achieve much earlier, at the right time. And this all depends on your risk taking abilities and passion you have to do these things.

Now i know i have to give up my laziness completely and start working towards my goals. Also i think being vague is always dangerous. I mean vague about your goals and interests. This vagueness has prevailed in me for sometime now. One should be clear about these things and then only one can walk on the path which can lead him to that goal. Being vague doesn't allow one to take the risks to achieve things. I always think that taking risks is necessary if one wants to reach to the pinnacle. Ofocurse one hould be prudent in setting goals. So confusion always hampers the risk taking capability. Also, this also increases the element of luck in whatever we do. Because if we dont give our 100%, the final result will depend more on luck. So people always end up cursing luck.

According to me Success = Intelligence + Hard Work + Luck.

Intelligence - Some basic intelligence is necessary for every kind of work and most of the people have this. Its just that people dont realize or lack self confidence.
But here more the intelligence, less is the amount or hard work you need to do. So hard work can compensate even for intelligence to a very large extent. Now Luck also shares the same relationship with hard work. The more hard work we do less will be the element of luck in Success. but one thing is for sure the element of luck can never be completely eliminated from this. It is always there but can be greatly reduced by proper planning and hard work.

I stilll remember one of my teacher used to say, " Success is more often the result of hard work than of intelligence and luck".

Are BPO's killing our nation's talent?

2006-06-13T21:16:00.000-07:00

Are BPO’s killing our nation’s talent??

This is a question I have been contemplating with quite sometime now.

Well here I present my opinion on this.

BPO industry started in India quite few years back. Since then this word has been used widely in every newspaper, magazine and any other form of media .It has been the bread and butter for millions of young people in India.
Now when we talk of young people especially those in their 20’s, we know we are talking of people who are most vibrant, who have the highest energy levels and who really believe in “everything is possible”. These very people sometime determine where a particular nation is heading. So that means we have used the best part of our population for this industry. Having said that, let’s look at the role these people play in this industry.

More than 70% of the people employed in the BPO industry in India are working in voice based services i.e. have work which relates only to attending calls. They are just there to support the services of many industries throughout the world. The only things expected out of the BPO employee are good communication skills and maybe a little logical thinking. India has just become the back office to the West.
When industries in the West started their back offices in India they had just one agenda slash costs by at least 40 per cent by offshoring. In West they didn’t have the numbers to match, in terms of number of people who can work; of course costs was also a huge factor. So they decided to shift to India because our huge English speaking population is a good source for their needs and also people are ready to work for low salaries because of the less number of opportunities.
People they target are in the age group of 18-25 who are graduates and i think have the power to take on the world. Now as per a survey more than 30% of indian population belong to this group and this figure is much higher in urban areas. So these days many people join these BPO's. This is we can say a source of easy money for them. Just fresh out of college at the age of around 20 they start earning 10 to 12 k, also they didn't have and dependencies so the entire money can be spent on their lifestyle. So far so good.
But if we see a real picture we have put our best i mean most energetic people into something which doesn't require that much skills. Agreed that communication skills are also equally important which people master in this profession but then if we want to be a developed country some day, this certainly hurts our bid.
This is because if these people had not got this easy job they would have put up some fight in their careers to get better jobs for example they would have gone for higher studies and be more skilled for better jobs may be high tech jobs in which India certainly lags behind. Who knows, they would have involved themselves into some business which might churn out into some great business house. I mean if Dhirubhai can do it then why can't we. In this way these BPO's have hampered the growth of our country by killing the talent here. Yeah intially they get the money but the frustartion of these type of jobs gets onto one's head after some years but then due to higher age and lack of experience in any other field they are unable to do anything else.

So now these people sit in their poshed offices attending calls throughout night ( most BPO's work during that time only) and sleeping through the day. They dont have time to think for better futures and when they do think its already too late.

And in this way we lose our nation's talent pool to MNC's for their lowest grade of work. If we compare this to China that is presently the fastest growing economy of the world and that is also seeing the greatest boom in the manufacturing industries and hardware industries, China has been able use its talent pool effectively. Growth in manufacturing and hardware industry is very essential for economy to develop at this pace. One cannot expect to just sit and ride on the software boom through IT and ITES companies.
We have to channelise the talent of our nation in the right direction and then only we can expect to compete with China and maybe US at sometime in the future. Govt. needs to show to the people the oppertunities and importance of dreaming big. May be our country still lacks the vision. We are still at a position where China was in early 1990's. China exports rose almost 10 times in a decade whereas we just managed to increase them 2 times.
I do believe that India has the required talent to reach to the top but somehow lacks the spirit to do it. And that is why we lose our best people to West either because of brain drain or because of this kind of work.

Need of a Revolution

2006-05-24T00:15:00.000-07:00

Since i have registered to this blog this is the first post which i think i will be writing from my heart. I was just hoping to find some time to write on some topics that are very close to my heart. And Today i was able to find it.
So here i am.
Revolution - dictionary defines it as "A drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving" and also "A single complete turn". Well, i understood its meaninng only when i saw RDB. RDB shows hows simple, common people can bring revolution. After seeing RDB i realised the importance of this word and also what it takes to bring one. Revolutionaries like Lenin, Bhagat Singh, Nelson Mandela have left their mark on the history of this world. There is now a feeling inside me, Can i ever be a part of a revolution? Will i ever live a revolution? I really want to do something important in my life, something which leaves a mark ( I am a true LEO, u see :) ) .

When i saw RDB i thought may be govt. can't be that much cruel but the reservation policy of this congress govt. in India has really changed my mind. It is happening in reality. I mean how can these people be so illogical. India today is on the footsteps of the developed world and these politicians like Arjun Singh just want to drag us back into the dark. The other day, i saw an interview of our HRD minister, in devils's advocate and he looked like a complete fool, an oppertunist who just for his personal and political gains wants to push his country in dark. There is a limit to everything. Govt. can't ruin the life so many intelligent people like this. It cant blame its shortcomings on us. I mean, if govt. was unable to provide education to all people since 50 years of indeppendence and if the existing reservation couldn't help the SC's and ST's that much then why the hell do we need it? 50% of the seats in IIT's are still left vacant. I still remember how i missed the seat in IIT's by a whisker. And those damn people scoring half the marks and doing half the hard work went to study in IIT's. And then when i try for hiher education these poeple will still get reservation. why?? what disadvantage they faced in the IIT's man. It was me who was facing the disadvantage now. though i was studying in a very good college (PEC) but still i was not there in that IIT environment. And these SC, ST and OBC will now make it to the IIM's also on the basis of same reservation. Sons of IAS will get reservations just because govt. doesnt agree on Supreme court views on creamy layer.

7000 CRORES - this is the amount govt. makes by applying education cess on our incomes and still it cant make education possible for everyone. How much money can a person eat. I mean if these politicians want they can have 5 crore each in their pockets but then please leave the rest of the money for the development of this poor country. How the hell you can give a reservation of 27% to people who just constitute 29% of the population acc. to National Family and Health Survey. Now it has even been shown that Jawahar Lal nehru was against reservations but then this idiot our minister says that now the parliament has decided this, we cant do anything now. Someone remind him that you are only the ones who constitute parliament. He just forgot this also in his old age.
These people really dont realise the value of talent, the need of ensuring that intelligence doesn't leave Indian Borders. Look at China, even if chinese people do their MBA from US colleges after spending some 1000K$, they will return to China because oppertunities are there. It was now that i felt that there are many oppertunities in India and whoever is Indian by heart should come back here and help build this nation for which those 23 year olds gave their life. I am referring to Bhagat Singh etc, the members of the Revolutionary party of India. But now these politicians are saying that within 2 years they will implement quotas in private sector too.
Ok lets give them quotas but arrive at some realistic figures. I mean if 1.5 Lakh general category people sit for CAT for 1000 seats then the number should be matched for the OBC's as well. There the seats will left vacant and here we will give our lives for fighting it out for just one seat.

But now i think i dont have the right to blame these politicians, and maybe also to the people who vote for some of the greatest fools. What have i done for my country? So, i dont have the right to blame others if they have not done enough. In RDB, DJ(Aamir Khan) said "zindagi jeene ke do hi tareeke hote hain, ek - jo ho raha hai use hone do, ya phir - zimmedari uthao use badalne ki." (There are only 2 ways to live – One, Whatever is happening – let it happen. Else take the responsibility to bring the change). And i somehow till now belong to the first category but now i have the courage to make it to the second category. I mean you cant blame a nation for all the wrong things. " Koi bhi desh perfect nahin hota, use perfect banana padta hai " ( No nation is perfect, its we the citizens who have the responsibility to make it perfect ).

And maybe, first time in my life i am feeling that this is the time for a revolution, this is the time when i can live it once, this is the time when i can do something for my nation.

Many a times i thought after RDB that i will join politics and do something about it but then for this purpose i will have to give up all my other dreams, dreams which are very important to me, dreams for which i can give anything. But then someone has to come forward. Lets see how long this feeling lasts or whether it bring a change inside me. For now, i shall follow the path of my dreams only.

C'mon people lets get together and do something about it. This is our one last chance to fight, to fight for our future, to fight for our family, to fight for for our community, to fight for our nation, to fight for those young brave souls who gave their lives just to secure the future of their countrymen. United we can change this world, divided we will always fall. Lets show to those damn politicians that blood flowing in our veins is still the same which flowed in the veins of Bhagat Singh. "Ab bhi jo khoon na khola, khoon nahin woh paani hai, jo desh ke kaam na aaye woh bekaar jawani hai". Believe me together we can bring about this revolution. This revolution must ensure that our next generation open their eyes in India which we all can only dream of, no soul on this piece of earth will then ever find a need to leave this nation for better oppertunities abroad.

One more line :-
If that is the way a change can be brought, then so be it, i am for it.

Story of a long weekend

2006-05-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

April 29,20, May 1
This was a 3 day weekend i had. i was anxiously waiting for this long weekend, had plans for 2 movies studying for GMAT and ofcourse sleeping big time!!
On friday night my freind Gaurav was to leave for US. So just did 3 RC's after office hours and then sat with him and my other flatmates gossiping until he left at 12am in the night for the airport. then started watching TV and soon went for sleeping, thought will study for next 3 days, lets enjoy today.
On Saturday, woke up late as usual and then started studying even though tehre was no ligh(what a determination!!) but after giving one mock GMAT test (in which i got depressing 700, was expecting 740, anyways the pattern was very different from actual GMAT). Then read a newspaper for a while. it was 1830 now so just was excited about my 930pm movie, Gangster.
Movie was good i think and songs were too good, but was feeling a little fever when i reached home. so went to sleep.
woke up late on sunday morning late :) and was again feeling fever so afer bruch again went to leep, read newspaer then, again went to sleep.... then went for my 7pm movie Darna zaroori hai. movie was average, may be i was expecting a lot from it and it turned out to be below my expectations. but i still feel that RGV is great, he has a unique style of direction and choice of stories which i like. Then went to Shiv's (my senior , he is in motorola, in himanshu's team). Had a nice dinner and equally nice gossiping after that and again felt fever there. This day just passed like that. made a late phone call which i was waiting to make but then none picked up the phone.
next day again i was not well and again slept thru the day. Had a bday party in the evening. but then in the evening i and himanshu were going on bike for some work and had an accident!!
Man, that stupid car wala hit our bike from the side and runs away, and before i realized what has happened i was down on the road over my friend bleeding from hand and left leg. But my friend was worst hit, because he was driving, got bruises on all his 4 lims and visible body parts, got first aid from the local hospital there and also got a tetanus injection. The lady gave the injections as if giving it to some horse and boy, its still paining more than any of my bruises.
I took himanshu to Appolo hospital emegency where we had X rays and luckily there was noo fracture. After paying the hefty bill and afer almost 4 hours we returned home without doing the work for which we had gone :). I had to take a leave on Tuesday which further extended my weekend. But now i am feeling better.
Accidents also give you some experiences in life which you could not have got otherwise and believe me some of them will really be good but nevertheless no one wants to have them(including me).
Buy due to this accident my GMAT prepration has gone for a toss.

Powerprep GMAT Test 1- My first step towards GMAT

2006-04-24T03:02:00.000-07:00

I gave my first GMAT mock test(PP) on this Saturday.
was supposed to reach office at 11pm, but due to my laziness reached here at 1230pm. Started with the test at 1:00pm. First came the AWA section which i just skipped :) and then started the Maths section.
Made some really foolish mistakes in the Quant section. But there was also ample disturbances around me. When i was in between the paper 2 of my friends came asking what i was doing( God, no one will ask this when i m sitting completely free, doing nothing, but now when i am in the middle of a test, here they come., seems like law of nature). Anyways, without a break i started with the Verbal section and first section itself was a googly. And i didn't play it well. Also did my third question wrong :( which ensured i screw this section completely. But the god news was in first 33 questions i did only 5 wrong but then there were 8 questions and hardly 10 minutes left. Rushed thru these and ended up doing 6 wrong with last 2 questions right as there were 5 minutes left for those :)

My scores:-

QA-48
VA-38

overall-690.

infact i was planning to leave the test in between because of the disturbances but then somehow kept it going and i think its fine keeping in mind only 11 questions in english went wrong out of 41.
So the lesson from this is PRACTICE HARD.... and for me DOnt Waste Time :)
lets see how it goes in the coming weeks.