Wandering Soul

I write this post as I get ready to pursue my MBA studies at the Indian School of Business. A lot has happened over the past few months. Here’s a run-up to the present.

Rewind to June 07. I take the GMAT and then apply to three schools (The Indian School of Business, Tuck at Dartmouth and Ross at Michigan) for MBA. It’s a long application process for each one, and once the applications are done, the long wait begins. First comes the reply from ISB: Sorry, your application has been rejected. Then the reply from Tuck: Congratulations, you’ve been shortlisted for a phone interview. The phone interview happens. Then comes a reply from Tuck: Our representative would like to meet you in person on Nov 15 in Mumbai. Cool, I say.

Then comes the shocker. ISB calls me to say they have re-evaluated my application, and would like to interview me!!! On Nov 15!

Thankfully, both interview venues are near to each other, with a couple of hours difference between the interview times. Phew…

Both interviews go well. Again the wait begins. Then on Dec 12, just two days before I set off for my vacation to Cambodia and Thailand, I hear from ISB: Congratulations, we are happy to make you an offer for admission. This was one offer I couldn’t refuse What a start to my trip!

The next week I hear from Tuck: Sorry to inform you that we have not been able to offer you admission. Similar reply from Ross, a month later. Too bad, but it didn’t matter after the ISB news.

I got relieved from work in mid-Feb and since then, have been completing the various formalities of the admissions process - documents, medical forms, loan application, the works. I took out some time last month to go tiger-spotting to the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in central India. It was an awesome experience.

These days I am bonding with my future classmates through the forum we have created on Orkut. They are a pretty interesting bunch of people, and am certainly looking forward to the year at the ISB. It begins in eight days…

I was missing in action for a long time, and for good reasons. I was preparing for the GMAT, and with the test now behind me, here I am, back on the blog.

I scored 710 (Q=48; V=40) on the GMAT. While I know my score is not world-beating, I am happy with it. A score of 700+ on the GMAT does give you an edge when applying to B-schools. If you are planning to take the GMAT and are unable to decide between the host of prep material out there, then let me make it a bit easier for you.

I had a mix of online study material and books. I referred to an online compilation of GMAT material to start with. It was brought to my notice by my buddy, Saumil. Unfortunately that site is unavailable now.

After that came the books and their accompanying CDs. I used Kaplan GMAT Premier Program, Princeton Review’s Cracking the GMAT and The Official Guide to GMAT Review 11. I should thank my close friend Anuj Kacker, who’s presently pursuing his MBA at The Indian School of Business, for lending me these books.

A week before the test, I downloaded the official GMATprep software from mba.com. The GMATPrep will give you an idea of what you can expect from the real test, as this software carries actual questions from earlier GMATs.

The best method of preparation is to practise solving the questions. Once you get comfortable with the various types of questions, then you’ll actually start enjoying the tests.