Preview @ Stern - Admitted Students weekend

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

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

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!!

With arms wide open

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!!

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

No time to write a post!!

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 :)

Happy New Year' 08: Resolutions and ponderings

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

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!!

Merry Christmas to all bloggers!!

It's the celebration time people, enjoi :)

The wait continues.....

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....

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

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

Happy Birthday to me!!

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.

Life in San Francisco

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!!