Bombaydude's MBA journey

I drank the Tuck kool aid!

2007-04-16T06:51:00.000-07:00

Just thought of putting in a brief note on my Tuck ASW experience. Most of it is highly classified and involves complicated hazing rituals involving alcohol, ping pong and cups :).

On a serious note, I was simply blown away by the school. The opportunities here are up there with any of the other top schools. I had a lot of interesting conversations with career switchers like me who have successfully transitioned to industries like consulting ,I-banking and even hedge funds. What really makes Tuck special though is how close knit the community is and how engaged the alumni are with the school .I feel confident that I can build a network here that will stand me in good stead for the rest of my career.

It was good to meet my fellow bloggers including udybaby and jatwarrior. There really seems to be a six degrees thing working somewhere because I met a current student who is from my high school in Bombay and who grew up 3 miles from my home in Bombay! I also met a guy who lived in my previous apartment complex in Boston, a girl from my former company , and more than a few folks who live in a radius of 10 miles from my current location in the Boston suburbs.

Dinged at Chicago !

2007-03-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

This was probably my best application : killer essays, overall a great package. I am pretty sure the interview was the issue in this one. I screwed it up big time.

Even though I got dinged today, I still feel good about my admits and cannot wait to start B-school. I'm in the process of due diligence between Tuck and Ross now.

Tuck Tuck Tuck !

2007-03-14T10:58:00.000-07:00

I have been admitted to the class of 2009 at the Tuck School of Business !!

I was so impressed with Tuck when I visited there and it is one of my very top choices . Lots of thinking for me to do now.

Accepted to Ross !!

2007-03-13T13:39:00.000-07:00

I had almost given up when I received the good news yesterday via a phone call. I am in at the Ross school of Business!!

Now I have to make a tough decision between Duke and Ross.Both great schools, similar in many ways. I have to research both programs in more detail, reach out to alumni etc.

All views welcome. Currently I am leaning towards Ross.

In at Duke !!

2007-03-08T12:47:00.000-08:00

I have been accepted to the class of 2009 at Duke!

Finally have an admit. Feels awesome !!

Alpha males, the Case method and Harvard

2006-05-13T23:09:00.000-07:00

B school demographics are supposedly heavy with Type A or Alpha personalities.
One arena where I imagine the gladiatorial instincts of a true type A would really come into play would be in the Case oriented classes. Warriors sparring in a fearful clash of fancy jargon ..my business model is better ( bigger :) ) than yours...

It would be interesting to sit in on one of these classes and see how I would react. When I visit colleges in the fall, I am definitely going to try to gauge my fit to the Case oriented method of teaching.

My own personality (I believe) is theAlpha male nice guy (oxymoron ?) :) .

Do type A's converge on certain favored colleges? Harvard certainly has the reputation for being a haven for arrogance.
On the topic of Harvard, friends are always surprised that I'm not even considering applying there (Ok I briefly considered it, why I dropped it is another story). I then give them the "fit" yarn (haha) even though my own notions of “fit” are vague at best at the current time.

Work has been crazy and I have been traveling a lot to a client site in a neighboring state, which is a bitch of a commute. And it has been raining non stop for the past few days. Oh glorious New England weather. Plus a roommate of mine is moving ( to the O.C. lucky mofo) . His going away parties have stretched through the week, leaving me with a persistent hangover.
All this has meant I have not been able to sink my teeth into anything substantial on the application/ research front.

Yes I know excuses, excuses but I need to rationalize my lack of progress in some way, ok  :)
Next week I hope to be back on track.

Demography as Destiny...

2006-05-01T21:05:00.000-07:00

Ah..the infamous Indian IT male applicant pool...a seemingly infinite ocean of potential applicants ..and the tide keeps on rising....

This is not another idle rant about my demographic misfortune..(actually it is)...but...the question that comes up is ..how do I distinguish myself......?

The problem as I see it is...I pretty much put the cookie in cookie cutter....very good student, great grades, nice job progression etc... no major hiccups..
My very conformity is coming back to bite me...

Does teaching a lot of people to appreciate Gaming constitute a community service of some kind... :)? I am thinking of leveraging my PS2 skills as an extra curricular activity to distinguish my app.. my knowledge of developmental economics has been sharpened to a knife point over marathon sessions of Age of Empires...my team player skills come to the fore as a successful part of numerous multiplayer shoot em ups..and having led my men on numerous successful conquests of the whole wide world surely highlights my leadership potential....:)

Columbia ED

2006-04-24T11:44:00.000-07:00

Columbia ED Deadline is in!
Just found out via Dave's blog ( the best MBA blog on the net IMHO)

Details :
Rolling Admission
Application review period begins : Aug 16, 2006
Application Deadline : Oct 11, 2006.

Note to Self : Research Columbia ASAP.
Columbia pros : Ivy league, Super Elite school, location
Cons : Expensive like hell.

I'm guessing that ED has better selectivity stats than the other rounds. Have to investigate this further.
The grapevine has it that Columbia does not look upon the Indian IT male applicant pool in too kindly a fashion ...may be a factor in my eventual decision to app there or not...

I love NY though..so I have a natural affinity toward Columbia and Stern...though I cannot really claim to have seen much of Harlem ..the village is another story :)

Information O.D.

2006-04-21T23:11:00.000-07:00

To quote the venerable Navjot Singh Sidhu, I feel as confused as a baby in a strip club.
Right now ,I feel overwhelmed with the sheer volume of information available. Between college websites, BW, US news, other MBA specific sites and of course Forums and Blogs, the magnitude of information is such that I suspect no human being could possibly sift through it all. No sane person is likely to attempt anything so foolhardy anyway.
Except - me. Ever since I can remember, I have always felt the need to look at ALL available information. I remember buying 9-10 books for some of the subjects in my undergrad Eng degree, just to make sure that I had covered all the bases. It would be suicidal to even contemplate anything similar as I embark on my MBA app process. The key will be to identify a few worthwile sites, forums and blogs and stick to them rather than aimlessly roll all over cyberspace gathering no moss or in this case no actionable intelligence.
The first item on my agenda is to read the so called Bible : Montauk

MBA or bust !

2006-04-19T21:39:00.000-07:00

Many factors have made it clear to me that the time is right, the stage is set.
It's time to bring my A game to the fore.
An MBA admit for the Fall of 2007 is my goal.
It's MBA or bust!