Duke Interview Experience

Here goes my Duke MBA Alumni interview experience.


All straightforward questions:

• Why now?
• Why MBA?
• Short Term and Long term goals?
• Why duke?
• Good qualities of a team member
• Good qualities of a leader
• Three strengths
• Three weaknesses
• One leadership failure example
• 2 initiative examples - 1 from work n other one from outside work
• A case study - This was a bit tricky - As a consultant for a new airline, I had to come up with a figure highlighting number of aeroplanes needed to start the business (Jet Airways was to be taken as benchmark). Interviewer was mainly interested in my approach and logic and not figures...
• Any questions for him?

Overall it was a good experience. I hope this interview helps me to get my Wait List converted to an admit to Duke.

But as 30th April (deadline to deposit Simon/Owen's deposit fees..some 1500 $$$) approaching, not many days left. For me, this date would actually boil down to 25th April as after that I would be all busy for my D-day (29th April). So I would like to finish off my deposit and all before that. I hope I hear some good news from Tepper/Duke/UCLA before that.

Between Simon and Owen, my heart says Simon and my head says Owen. For last few days. I have been discussing this with lots of alumnus and students from both the schools. But I am still not very sure which way to go......

Is it really fair????

For last few days, I have not been happy for India's dismal performance in the world cup and more than that the voice against Sachin putting questions on his credentials and asking him to retire. In one of the article I read that Sachin should take the responsibility and announce his retirement so that it relieves the pressure from the other Team players after the team's show in World Cup.
But one thing always keep haunting me, why for more than fifteen years, the country of a billion has been expecting only one man to bring victories and take blame for every loss. As far as I know there are eleven players in the Team. I remember during the 03 World Cup, Sachin played another class innings against Kenya, but people started saying that he can play only against such minnows. Well, he didn't play against Bangladesh and the result we know. But then now he should answer why he didn't?
When Sachin hits a century and India loses then its quiet common to hear that he can't win the match for the country, but people are even happy with Dravid's 50 against Srilanka though for not a single time India looked like winning. Is Dravid lacking something in terms of experience?
Inzamam took the responsibility for his team's performance and left his captaincy, even announced retirement from one-day cricket. But in India we want to hear this from a player of the Team, not the Captain or the Coach. I would like to know when did Dravid won a match single-handed for India; the fact remains that he has just played to turn a complete disaster into a more respectable loss.
I am not trying to blame the Captain and Coach as people might ask what a Coach can do if the team performs like this. But then why do we have a Coach? I guess most of the players were having a much better technique before the Chappel era, and the Coach was brought to improve the remaining flaws, but he introduced some new ones, whether it may be Sehwag, Pathan , Kaif or anyone. No wonder India is now 8th in the Ranking.
Most of the people will say that this is another blog post from a typical Sachin fan. I do accept that I have been his fan for last 15 years, but did he ever say that he was the very best; in fact we crowned him as the God. We always compare him with Laras, Pontings, the Waughs, Sir Viv Richards and even Sir Donald Bradman. Every time a player is at his peak, we start comparing Sachin with him, but why can't we find another Indian player who we can compare with them? Still remains a mystery.
I don't know he should retire or not because he knows more of him than us. But, I wish he didn't because that will be succumbing to the pressure created by the former cricketers (who stand no where to him) and the media (who knows when to lick and when to bark to get the best money). No matter what has happened, no matter how things go and no matter how much media shouts I will always salute the God of Indian Cricket, who made this game the passion of a billion hearts.

No Time to Relax

Hey Kkkkkkirrran,

I have to stop writing letters to you as I am getting married very soon....Yup...You heard it right...I am getting married with my love, Anuprita, on 29th April...



On MBA Front...hell lots of confusion going on in my mind....Very Very Very Confused..........All results have been declared and current scenario is as follows:

Admits from :
Univ of Iowa (Tippie School of Management) - Approx cost would come to be 15 lacs Rupees
Vanderbilt Univ (Owen School of Management) --- Approx cost would come to be 33 lacs Rupees
Univ of Rochester (Simon School of Business) -- Approx cost would come to be 37 lacs Rupees...

Wait listed at:
Duke -- Didn't have interview, so scheduled now on 4th April with an alumni in Mumbai
Tepper -- after interview
UCLA - without interview

Rest -- DINGS

Less than a month to go for my marriage...so i am not sure about how much time I would be able to devote to my Wait list follow ups...But have to do it...I need to convert them to admits....else I have to compromise with II-Tier schools like Simon/Vandy/iowa....where again picking one school would be difficult task...what the hell is this????

Feeling a bit tensed since morning today...Not Sure what would happen but one thing is sure that there is no time to relax....

Come on JP...You gotta do it...Some efforts here and things would turn around...Come on buddy....This is not difficult than my love story (where I had to wait for more than 4 years to get a real good news)

Right now, my Views on the three schools(I have an admit) are as follows:

Simon:
Advantages:
a. Location - Close to NY
b. Small Class Size - so better focus from career management center and faculty
c. Good Reputation in Finance education

Disadvantages:
a. Costliest among all three
b. Cant get loan without co-signor, so might end up having loan in India

Owen:
Advantages:
a. Good Placements
b. Average Reputation in Finance education
c. No Co-signor required for loan

Disadvantages:
a. Costly
b. Location - I am not sure about this one as I believe east coast provides better opportunities for finance jobs.

Iowa-Tippie:
Advantages:
a. Cheapest among all three
b. Small Class Size - so better focus from career management center and faculty

Disadvantages:
a. Location - would also face tough competition from Kellog and Chicago
b. Not very well known for finance education.

So Guys please share your thoughts/views...

take care
bye
jp

Got waitlisted at Tepper

Hi Kkkkkkiran,

This is what is in my decision letter:
"Our Admissions Committee thanks you for your application to the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon. Although we are very impressed with your credentials, we are unable to offer you a place in the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at this time, as our application pool is extremely competitive this year. We have tentatively placed your name, along with the names of other qualified candidates, on our Fall 2007 Waiting List."

What is this yaar????? Another Wait list after Duke's....Initially I thought I would have some relax time in April, May and June months but now...:(....

Now...focus would be on updating and following up with these universities to convert my Wait list to admit but everything need to happen early as I need to deposit initial amount for Simon before 1st May....

Don't know what is going to happen and where I am heading finally for my MBA????

Anyways...would keep you posted..

Thanks
Jai

Good News from Duke and Vanderbilt when I am waiting for Tepper Result

Hey Kkkkkkkkkiran,

Lets keep aside Stern interview...As right now I don't want to discuss about that...It was not bad but it was neither excellent...
Right now heart and mind both focused only on tepper result to be declared today....
But no news till mid night, instead got couple of other good news....

First news from Duke: A mail stating that my request for alumni interview would be given priority and I can expect an interview invite sometime after 22nd March....That is the kind of progress I wanted on my Wait list status on Duke...

Second news is from Vanderbilt-Owen : A school to which i got admit last year but with only 7k $ schol....This year i negotiated with Vandy Adcom on increasing my scholarship....And they increased it to 20K $ per year...But the admission is on condition that I have to be there in June end....

Well....Lets see what is on way from tepper school of business....This WAIT is killing me....

P.S.: Stern interview experience to follow up

bye
Jai

Waitlisted @ Duke - Fuqua School of Business

Hey Kkkkkkkkiran,
I know you must be more optimistic than me for Duke's result....Its very much true...After my request for alumni interview was turned down on account of unavailability of alumnus, I was not expecting anything positive from Duke.....But when I logged into Duke site to check on my decision, I was kinda surprised....I was waitlisted...Waitlisted without interview....Decision Letter said -

"The admissions committee at The Fuqua School of Business has met to review your application for admission to the Duke MBA class of 2009. As a result of the tremendous competition for the class of 2009, we are unable to offer you a final decision at this time. Your application has been placed on our waitlist.
The admissions committee will review applications of waitlisted candidates periodically during upcoming admission rounds and throughout the summer months. Based on the competition and available space, we will make a final decision on your application when appropriate. We will update you on your waitlist status during subsequent rounds of admission."

Well....felt a bit better...Decision letter also mentioned:

"We strongly encourage waitlisted candidates who have not yet completed an evaluative interview to schedule an interview at their earliest convenience.'

Now, I feel that there is an excellent chance for me and if I managed to get an interview slot and then try to strengthen my application, show interest and love for Duke through interview, things might turn my way....Lets See....

Update on preparation of Stern interview: OK....last weekend managed to gather all Stern interview questions...With basic questions, I am more or less prepared as they are similiar to what I had prepared during my Simon and tepper interviews...But there are few tricky questions which I would focus on this weekend....So this weekend, full focus is going to be on Stern interview preparation...Rest we would see on 12th March at Hotel Taj...:)

Wish me all the best....
bye
jai

Arz hai........:)

Hey Kkkkkkkiran,

On the occasion of Holi festival, some present from my side....from shayar Jailendra...;)

Title: Mumbai Local Trains mein seat ki fight
Venue: Standing in Local Train while coming back from office (in October 2006)
Addressed To: Mumbai Jantaa

Baavan seats ke compartment mein,
do sau sattar hai chhadhe huein...
sattar ko hai seat mili,
baaki do sau hai khade huein...

kuch logo ne return tha maara,
kuch logo ne lagaya zor...
kyun chand lamho ki seat ki khatir,
insaan hota hai aadamkhor...

Jo khade huein wo baithon ko dekhe,
par baithon ko koi fikar nahi...
seat saala har koi dhhoonde,
mil jaaye jo jidhar kahi..

Arey kyaa paayega bhole insaan,
chand lamho ke aaraam se tu...
mil jul ke kar lo journey,
kyaa paayegaa sangram se tu....

====================================

Title: MBA kyaa sapna banke reh jaayega???
Situation: One months had passed since i had submitted my applications and there were no interview calls... (in November 2006)
Addressed To: Bhagwaan

Dharti pe thein kadam nahi,
740 ka score laake...
Ab khuli hai aankhe meri,
ab mere hosh hai jaage...

Wharton, Insead, Cornell, Chicago,
Interview Call ka ab tak nahi pata...
Kyaa kami thee application mein,
ae mere khuda ab tu hee bata...

Sach-Jhoonth ka acchaa balance,
essays mein tha maintain kiyaa..
poora experience likh daala thaa,
jo ab tak thaa gain kiya...

Academic mein bhi kami nahi thi,
recommendation bhi thaa khoob bhidaya...
Sab kuch perfect thaa bhagwan,
fir interview call kyun na aayaa...

Dhobi ka kutta na ban jaaoon,
na rahein america na bhaarat ke...
ISB, XLRI aur Wellingkar,
ab dikhe hai options raahat ke...

====================================

Title: Nahi haaroonga mai...
Situation: 2 back to back rejections from my dream colleges (November 2006)
Addressed To: Myself

Dard bahut hota hai dil mein,
jab mehnat nahi rang laati hai...
asafltaa to milti hee hai,
par confidence bhi saath dubaati hai...

par sar pakadkar na baithoongaa mai,
palat ke vaar ab karnaa hai...
Jailendra is a GOOD Human being,
is baat ko saabit karnaa hai...

Wharton Chicago ne reject karke,
kar lee apni kismat kharab...
Waqt aane pe dikhla doonga,
doonga unko munh tod jawaab....

====================================

Title: Ankur BILLI (CAT) ke peeche
Situation: To boost the moral of my friend Ankur a couple of days before he was going to attempt CAT... (in November 2006)
Addressed To: Ankur

IIM ka sapna thaa tujhko,
isliye thaa CAT ka form bhara...
exam ki date paas hai aayi,
ab ghabraao mere bhai jara...

3 months ke pehle haal thaa jaisa,
aaj bhi saalaa haal wahi hai...
jis taiyari ki khaayi thi kasmein,
wo aajtak shuru hui nahi hai...

par mat ghabrana ankur bhai,
kilaa fateh tujhe karnaa hai...
jab LAALU IIM ja sakta hai,
fir tujhko kaahein ka darnaa hai...

====================================

Title: IPRU team - A Family
Situation: On my Project team... (in December 2006)
Addressed To: IPRU - Project Manager (in short myself)

Dil baag baag ho jaata hai,
dekh IPRU team ka mujhse pyaar...
Ab release nahi dil chaahega,
Kuch bhi kar le ye sansaar...

Vishal Ankur ki masti ho,
yaa muktesh ka ho bholapan..
sab pyaara itnaa lagtaa hai,
ki bhool jaau mai har uljhan..

Apni GF ki julfo se jyaada,
ab anna ki mujhko bhaati hai...
Ankit dear ko dekh dekh,
yaad bhai ki mujhko aati hai...

Itne sundar parivaar ko,
kyun apne haatho se todu mai..
Release wagairah sab monh maayaa,
do saal kisi ko na chhodu mai...

====================================

Title: Hamaari Hasti
Situation: Aise hee dil mein aayaa aur likh diyaa... (in December 2006)
Addressed To: Bhagwaan

Trainer kehtaa hai - Sweet Khaana chhod do,
Papa Kehte hai - Ladki patana chhod do.

Wharton kehta hai - Sapne chhod do,
MBA kehta hai - apne chhod do.

Saasu kehti hai - MBA chhod do,
GF kehti hai - warna mujhe chhod do.

HAMESHAA AISA KYUN HOTA HAI YAAR...
KABHI AISA KYUN NAHI HOTA HAI KI.........

TCS kahe -- rating ke liye darna chhod do,
Client kahe - 6 ke baad kaam karnaa chho do...

GL Bole -- roz roz office aana chhod do,
AM bole -- train mein dhakke lagana chhod do.

HR bole -- hai salary badhi ab ghabrana chhod do,
MATC bole -- ab onsite mil rhaa humko nishana banana chhod do.

YE KUCH SACH ZINDAGI KE,
HAMNE KUBOOL KIYE HAI...
AB KYAA HAMARI HASTI,
HUM KHUD HEE BHOOL GAYE...

====================================

Title: Nazar na lag jaaye tumko...
Situation: Likhnaa padtaa hai yaar GF ke liye kabhi kabhi warnaa naaraaz ho jaayegi... (in January 2007)
Addressed To: My GF

Chehre pe laga lena ek teeka jara tum,
apni aankho se kaajal churaake...
Nazar kisiki na lag jaaye tumko,
buri nazar se khud ko rakhna bachaake...

Kaali T-shirt pe baal bikhare bikhare,
teri har ada ek sitam dhaa rahi hai...
Aasmaan se zameen pe hai pari koi utari,
har ik fizaa yahi batla rahi hai...

====================================

Title: Kis se Karein Shikaayat...
Situation: Kuch Naarazgi ke pal thein... (in January 2007)
Addressed To: My GF

Mujhe tumne apni baahone mein bharkar,
Jo ehsaan mujh pe kar diyaa hota...
Na bechain hoti hamari mohabbat,
na dil mera aaj tadap ke yun rota...

par koi shikwaa nahi shikaayat nahi hai,
kuch kam rahi hogi mohabbat hamari...
Tumne to pyaar karke mujhpe ehsaan kiyaa hai,
tumhe dosh de itni jurrat hamari...

bye
jai

March 2007- A crucial month in my MBA Journey

Hey Kkkkkkkiran,
hmmm....20 days and no update from my side.....
Reasons:
No new updates on my MBA journey front till couple of days back,
Few unexpected tensions in professional life and
Nothing major happening in personal life...
and ya of course 3 consecutive cricket match defeats in our team's last outing to Vasai didn't do any good to my motivation to write something....

And here comes the month of march, a month by the end of which it would be almost clear where am I heading for my MBA this year...All the results should be out by the end of this month...Right now, Simon (with 30% scholarship) is the only option---"Beggars are not choosers"...
With Duke result on 8th March, Stern Interview and Tepper result on 12th March, its clear that I am going to have butterflies in my stomach for next 10 days....

Not much optimistic about Duke as Adcom have not even conducted an interview for me....Stern interview - I still feel myself lucky to have got a chance of an interview invite from Stern and I need to utilize this opportunity with full hands so as to fulfill my dream of studying in top 10 ranked school....Tepper result - You never know..As mentioned in my earlier posts this school has been keeping Indians guessing and not sure what is going to be the result.....

Then later half of the month of March would have Ross and Owen result (15th March), Haas result (19th March) and UCLA result (29th March)....
No interview invites from Ross and Haas and their decision deadlines coming so near, hopes to have any positive result from them have started diminishing....I am looking forward to Owen (my deferred admit from last year) for some handy scholarship, which might become one criteria to decide on the school at the end....UCLA, I believe, doesn't conduct any telephonic interview so they are going to keep me guessing till very end of this month......I am optimistic for this school as I believe this application has been one of my strongest....

As I pen down this post, the Holi day has started.....With more than 1000 KMs away from my family and hometown, it is just going to be another day for me at least....Last year I was in USA during Holi and even next couple of years as well I am going to be in USA at this time....When I talked to my mom this morning, she just said - "Ab Kis ke liye mithaiyaan banaye, tum dono bhai to yhaa pe ho hee nhi..." (Now for whom we should make sweets, when you both brothers are not here..)...Words are still ringing in my ears...Wish I could have been with my family...
The flashback engulfed all over my mind...right from my childhood, my mom used to keep holi sweet boxes to a height which was out of my reach...it was just to keep a check on my greed for sweets....years passed but trend continued...mom not even realized when I became taller than her...but sweet boxes are still there...I am still her "Sonu"...(Sweet greedy) sonu....

But when I look towards my future, i see many holi and diwalis passing through my life just like another day....
May be I am getting a bit emotional today.....

Anyways...a very Happy Holi to you and all the guys who are reading this post....Enjoy the day and Cheers

bye
jai

After "D".....its time for "E" and "F".....

Hey Kkkkkkkkkkiran,
I know you would take ages to understand the title....So let me explain you...the title stands for :
After "D"ing......its time for "E"njoy and "F"un.....


I know its weird...but that is the way i love to live life...

I, along with my friends - Muktesh, Abhishek, Balaji, Medhavi, Sachin, Aurobindo, Sudip and Prabhu, planned for a visit to Vasai beach (and a nearby fort)..Thrill started right from Borivlli station, where we had to board a train to virar and that also in second class coach... And guys who, at any point of time, have been attached to Mumbai would understand that what we were upto...but somehow we were able to get inside the local train...
After picking up Pritam (our project mate who stays in Vasai) from his home, we immediately proceeded towards beach....and our outing started with cricket match...We all got splitted into two teams with captain being Pritam and Abhishek and appointed one person, who was not having much proclivity to cricket, as umpire...I was in Abhishek's team...I would not get into the details of the first match because our team was badly outplayed...But in the second match, preeminent opening partnership between abhishek and sachin set an outstanding platform for our team.
We very well capitalized on that and had put up a decent score on board...and when the opposition team went out to bat, quick wickets in opening spell from muktesh and abhishek precluded any chances of us losing the match...And at the end, we won convincingly...

Well, just after two matches, we were all badly tired....

Then we moved on to have a close look at the sun set on the beach...
the whole group was so full of verve and enthusiasm that we didn't realize how the time passed by.... and moreover the waggish antics of muktesh and sachin caused us all to laugh heartily and merrily....We made up a plan to have a camp-fire near fort but then decided to procrastinate the same to some other weekend....But overall, it was a real good fun....wish to have more weekends like this...

But today, I am feeling pain all over the body.....too much exertion while playing cricket cost me...but that also gave me a pretext to drop out the idea of going for shopping with my GF...

"Money Saved is Money Earned"

And the moment when I am penning down this, Sri Lankans have stolen a victory from right under the Indians' nose, a victory that seemed to be a cakewalk at one moment. But a cakewalk at times can be slippery because of the icing on it. That is what exactly happened and the Indian innings collapsed like a house of cards. But it was really joyous moment for me to see England pulling off an amazing win after beating Australia 2-0 in the Commonwealth Bank series amidst great drama and high emotions. Is this the beginning of the end of a cricketing dynasty which ruled for over a decade???

bye
jai

"D" sucks ---> "D" for Darden School of Business, "D" for Decision and "D" for Ding

Hey Kkkkkkkkkiran,
After few happy days/news, something heart breaking: "Rejection from Darden School of Business - University of Virginia"......

Mail from Darden Admission Committee :

"After careful consideration, the Admissions Committee regrets that it cannot act favorably on your application for admission to the Darden School MBA program. We can admit only a small number of those who apply to our program and must make difficult choices in allocating the available spaces. In most cases, there is no single reason for a decision not to offer an applicant admission. Your application received a thorough review by the Admissions Committee. Thank you for your interest in the Darden School. We wish you success in pursuing graduate management study and in your future career."

Frankly speaking, I was very much optimistic for this application and why should I not be??? With similiar changes or modifications (learnings from previous applications), I have earned an interview invite from Stern, a very high ranked school and not very well known for lots of interview invites....and then from Darden, not even an interview invite....

Well, the possible reason might be "I was reapplicant to Darden".....Last year when I applied, my short term and long term goals were different from what i mentioned in this year's applications (hmmm thats true my goals changed within an year..i know it sounds weird..)...This might have been enough for admission committee to raise eyebrows...

Anyways life moves on.....Rightly said by one of my friend today: " i am sure it doesnt hurt as bad as it would have hurt last week.."...I think he is right...

Lets see what turns up for other schools...Till then lets enjoy Simon-Admit....

Planning to go to Vasai (beach and fort) tomorrow for a small outing with my friends......

bye
jai

Admit from Simon School of Business

Hey kkkkkkkkiran,

What do you say about this mail from Simon School of Business (Univ of Rochester)?

"I am very pleased to inform you that you have been chosen to attend the Simon Graduate School of Business beginning September 2007. Congratulations on your admission to candidacy for the degree, Master of Business Administration!

I am also pleased to inform you that you have been awarded a scholarship equal to 30 percent of your tuition each quarter. This award requires you to enroll as a full-time matriculated student. This scholarship will be extended to your second year at the same rate provided you maintain a B average (3.0/4.0) and will continue through the remaining required Simon M.B.A. courses. These scholarships are awarded to candidates whose outstanding achievements place them among those we would most like to enroll at Simon. "


MY FIRST ADMIT OF THIS YEAR....So Now all set for MBA....

Well.....a long long long wait ends...and here comes my first admit of the year...so what if it is from one of my safer schools...Considering the competition this year and the way simon had rejected good profiles, I was not that much optimistic or sure about the results... but my application proved to be strong enough to the school at least in case of Simon....

As I want to pursue MBA in finance, Simon (ranked worldwide 5th in finance , 4th in economics and 5th in accounting education) is not a bad choice........
And most important is its location...east coast and very much near to new york...that means more proximity to jobs in finance....

Just FYI, putting down the simon's rank worldwide under different categories:
(Source: FT)
*************************************************
North American salaries today ---> Not in top 10

Top salaries in finance and banking ---> Not in top 10

Top salaries in consulting ---> Not in top 10

Top salaries in industry ---> Not in top 10

Best in finance --->
1 University of Chicago GSB
2 New York University: Stern
3 University of Pennsylvania: Wharton
4 Columbia Business School
5 University of Rochester: Simon
6 London Business School
7 University of Toronto: Rotman
8 Rice University: Jones
9 MIT: Sloan
10 Coppead

Best in entrepreneurship ---> Not in top 10

Best in economics --->

1 University of Chicago GSB
2 Cranfield School of Management
3 MIT: Sloan
4 University of Rochester: Simon
5 UC Berkeley: Haas
6 Yale School of Management
7 Imperial College London: Tanaka
8 University of Pennsylvania: Wharton
9 Iese Business School
10 Stanford University GSB

Best in accountancy --->

1 Brigham Young University: Marriott
2 University of Texas at Austin: McCombs
3 University of Chicago GSB
4 Cornell University: Johnson
5 University of Rochester: Simon
6 University of Pennsylvania: Wharton
7 University of Notre Dame: Mendoza
8 Dartmouth College: Tuck
9 Columbia Business School
10 University of Iowa: Tippie

Best in international business ---> Not in top 10

Best in general management ---> Not in top 10

Best in organisational behaviour ---> Not in top 10
*************************************************

I would wait for the results on my other applications before sending my offer acceptance to simon.

Well, Update on my other applications are as follows:

Stern --> Alumni Interview in March (date would be confirmed by Feb end)
Darden ---> Still waiting for Interview call, decision date is 09th Feb 2007, So I feel Ding is on the way....
Tepper---> Interview over, Result by 12th March 2007
Haas ---> Application under review (waiting for an interview call)
UCLA ---> Application under review (waiting for an interview call)
Ross ---> Application under review (waiting for an interview call)
Duke ---> Application under review (I requested for alumni interview but admission committte was not able to arrange one for me and informed me later that interviews not required for admission but as 95% of admitted students are interviewed, I believe, Duke is going to be another reject for me)

My Priorities right now (assuming I get admit from all...:))))))...........)

1. Stern
2. Ross
3. Duke
4. Darden
5. Haas / UCLA
6. Tepper
7. Simon

Anyways, its party time right now.........

thanks
jai

Tepper Interview Experience

Hi Kkkkkkkiran,
Here goes my tepper interview experience...
8:30 PM (IST) --> I was at doctor's clinic getting my checkup done as I was having fever and headache for last 2 weeks
and
2nd Feb 2007, 10:00 PM (IST) ---> tepper interview

That was not an ideal preparation for an interview of a school like Carnegie mellon (Tepper school of Business)......took medicine before my interview so as to avoid headache....and by 9:45 PM itself, i was under soporific effect of medicines....

Anyways, my phone rang at sharp 10:00 PM and my "hello" was responded by a sweet voice - "Hi, This is Gwen calling from Tepper School of Business..."
After initial talks, my interview started......and most of the questions were pretty straight forward...
The Questions were as follows: ( i hope i have managed to amass most of the questions...)


Walk me through your resume?
Career Aspirations?
Why Tepper?
How would you bring diversity to the tepper community?
Leadership example?
Red Flag and Green Flag in your application?
Any questions...


It lasted for 23 minutes....

Although, nothing went badly amiss in my answers but somehow i was not satisfied at the end....may be because interview was pretty straightforward....
She asked question...i answered
She asked question..i answered
even there were no follow up questions...not sure whether i should call it as "conversation" - a word often used for MBA interviews...

Infact, one of the member of PG community had already mentioned in one of his posts "the interview will be a regular run-of-the-mill thing with standard questions and standard answers." And now i believe that he was right....

If I would rate my Simon interview as 7/10, then I would rate tepper interview as 6/10....may be because in Simon interview (an alumni face-to-face interview), I was able to guess from the body language of interviewer whether he has been impressed or is interested in my profile but it becomes very difficult in case of a telephonic interview....I think that is the reason why people always prefer face-to-face interview...

Results on PG forum for tepper R1 have not been very encouraging...

Total applications - 10
Admitted - 1 (10%)
Waitlisted - 5 (50%)
Rejected - 4 (40%)

Still I would keep my fingers crossed....and hope for the best...Result from tepper expected by 12th March...It had been my journey of more than 4-5 months (since i have finished my GMAT in september) and still waiting to have an admit...

On my health front...got couple of x-rays and blood check up done yesterday...suffering from "Right Sided Maxillary and Frontal Sinusitis"...still in process of recovery....

chalo bye dear and take care
jai

Simon School of Business-Interview Experience

Hey Kkkkkkkiran,
I know you must be eagerly waiting for this mail…My experiences out of Simon’s interview….


Well well well…..2 rounds interview…..and that also for an MBA admission…..and that also for an USA B-school…Difficult to believe…isn’t it….but it actually happened today during Simon School of Business – University of Rochester interview at Taj Palace in Mumbai….

Reached 15 minutes before the scheduled time…considering the area around churchgate and Gateway of India was all blocked because of Mumbai marathon, this was a big achievement…..

I entered inside Taj with one gentleman, who also seemed to be late for something and was in hurry. He was also looking for the same rooms, which were booked by Simon for interviews…he happened to be one of the alumnus..:)…and when my name was called upon, he was the person who was all set to take my interview….

Before I actually get into the details of my interview, few things about interviewees…there were about 20+ prospective students who had turned upon for interview….frankly speaking, considering that this school is not famous among Indians, I earlier thought that the count should be three or four…but 20+ was pretty decent number…..and most of them with pretty good GMAT score (average 700) and work experience (average 2.5 years)…

5 guys I met were from infosys pune…now I understand why the attrition rate of infosys is constantly increasing…;)…when I was getting proud of TCS on this factor, a lady rushed into me saying that she is also working with TCS and has come for interview….:(…

95% of the prospective students were from IT background…there were 2 guys who had “finance” background…

Ok….coming back to interview.

Interviewer was Mr. Ashok Narain (he had done his MS from Simon, MBA from IIM (K) and is working as Deputy GM at RBI) …frankly speaking, I was a bit tense initially but as interview proceeded, it was too facile for me as there were not many questions for which I had to give an extemporaneous answer.…:)

Questions asked were as follows:

Whats your GMAT score? ---- I felt proud to answer that…:)
How much experience you have?
Why Simon?
Why MBA? Why now?
Why career switch?
Which all other schools have you applied?
How many hours you work in your current job? – I answered as 40 hrs per week….
Are you ready for 60-70 hrs week efforts required in Simon? --- this question was tricky but I should admit that I handled this with panache…:)
How would you contribute to Simon?
Any questions?

Interview lasted for about 20 minutes and over all, it went pretty cool and I was satisfied at the end of interview but then Mr. Ashok’s statement came as surprise for me, “Jailendra, Please wait outside. After lunch, we would have second round of interview with other alumnus.”…..

Second round??????

Anyways, I went back to meet other interviewees and found it was the same case with everybody…

During lunch, we had a kind of casual discussions with all other alumnus(there were in total 4)…we were also distributed a pen, post-it and a cigarette case (all Simon trademarked)….well cigarette case is just going to be a nugatory showpiece for me as I don’t smoke…:)

After lunch, mine was the first one to be called for round 2 interview….now the alumnus divided themselves into a pair of two each…second round interview questions were:

Discuss about yourself? --- I think I messed up a little bit here…I could have answered in better way…I was deploring my answer later on….
Which other schools u have applied to?
If you get admit to all, which one would you choose? Very tricky question and I think my answer was possible fallible.
Any questions? - I had depleted all my questions in Round 1 and in informal talks with alumnus during lunch.

It didn’t last long…5-10 minutes…I think it was the same case with others as well….but I believe I had performed better in round 1 as compared to round 2…
Alumnus also told that there would be two interview feedbacks send to adcom…

Overall my feel….alumnus were pretty impressive…very helpful and were ready to answer all queries…and I think most of us were pretty satisfied with simon school…i think I am all set to go to my safe school (if I get admit) if I don’t get an admit to any other school.
Keeping my fingers crossed till feb 15th when results would be released….

And ya….there I met Miss Aditi (one of the two from finance background), who has promised all of us to take finance classes for those who get admits to university of Rochester before we join the university and this is irrespective of her admission but I know she is all set to rock rochester…..

Next target…CMU-tepper – 2nd feb – telephonic interview…..

And Kkkkkkkiran...i am sorry for grammatical and spelling mistakes in this post as i am writing in hurry...:)...

That’s it…
bye
jai

what a day?? Away from MBA tension...Away from GF...What else you need?

Hi kkkkkkkkKiran,
Till date I have written two letters but not addressed to you....So from now onwards you would be my recipient..... whether u receive or not...:)
I am writing this to you to share something....Yesterday, 13th Jan 2007, was one of my memorable days....bole to ekdam jhakkkaaas...
My day started at 10:00 AM....its normal time on saturday...Opening of the day, similiar to our indian cricket team batting, was not so good as I had to be on office call for some time...well lets not get into detail of that....
The first main attraction of the day was my team's new year+X-mas party (i know 13th jan was too late) at Phoenix mills - Sports bar
....i reached 1 hr late....or lets put it this way...rest of the team reached 1 hr early and i was on time....
well kkkkkKiran...u know one thing...this is the first team i am leading where I really feel I am part of some family... everyone in the team is too good...friendly, caring and enthusiastic... and haan ofcourse hardworking, intelligent and sincere.. but these things always come second in my team....;)...
ok..lets get back to the party....after having starter... there was award distributing ceremony.... even i won an award (Most proactive...;)...dnt laugh plz)....and then after having excellent lunch..we moved on to the bowling....
it was really nice experience...i enjoyed a lot and i think the whole team as well....I was the lowest scorer in my group but u know some leaders prefer to give chances to others...;)...
From there, I rushed to Channel - V concert with few of my friends....wow..it was damn good....Artists like Atif, Kailash Kher, A-Kon, Bappi lehri, Shankar-Ehsaan-Lloy performing in front of you....Right from Atif's Tere Bin to Kailash's Deewani - audience were going mad...the last performance was from Priyanka chopra - which I had to miss...:(... as I was getting late for movie "Guru"....
well few words for "Guru"...I liked it a lot...a good inspirational movie i think...it shows how self-confidence can make such a huge difference...worth watching....u shud also watch..but it may prove to be a bouncer for u as u would hardly understand any business terms used in movie...hahahaha..:)

welll day ended next day as it was already 1:30 AM by the time i was out of the theater...... A day which kept me busy whole day without any work...:)

Overall it was a good break from "target->MBA"....and most of the credit goes to my friends.....we together ROCK....

bye
jai

At last....an Interview Call...:)

Can you believe it???? Yesterday itself I said to one of my colleague in office - "Today, I would be submitting my last application and then I would take 1-2 weeks proper rest...tired of essays, applications etc"...But..............

Before I had clicked on "submit" button of Duke, I got an interview call from Simon School of Business (Univ of Rochester) ......

Feeling good as after 4 rejects, an interview call (may be from your safe school) always gives u a big relief....

No REST...As again busy with interview preparation....

As this is the only safe school in my list....wanna give best shot to this...interview is on 21st jan...for time and venue, I have written a mail...waiting to hear back from adcom on that....

would keep posted if any other news....

But yaar....EK DIN KA TO CHAIN TO BANTAA THAA YAAR.....UFFFFFFF....
What should I answer to my fiancee's question ---"Are you sure you would get time to marry me this year?".....

I always say ---"Yes.....of course".......but.....

Will the year 2007 bring luck for me???

9th September 2006 - when I got 740 score in GMAT.....I was on the seventh cloud...I was sure of getting an admit to ivy-league schools such as Wharton , Chicago, Harvard etc.....But rejection from all four schools I applied to, in early decision round, has opened my eyes.....Rejection without any interview call from Wharton, Insead, Cornell and Chicago shook me from inside...Although I revisited my essay strategy since then and applied to Stern, Darden, Rochester and Haas in December, followed by UCLA in January but still not sure whether I could avoid another nail in my coffin.......

Today when my first weekend of the year is about to end and I am about to submit my applications for Ross, Duke and Tepper, I have decided "Thats it" - Enough of applications, essays, recommendations......I know applying to 12 schools is too much but my desperation to go for MBA this year has driven me for that.... From tomorrow onwards, I am going to use the strategy of "Wait and Watch"...I know my fiancée would be more than happy on this...For the last 2-3 months and even before that while I was preparing for GMAT, we have hardly gone out somewhere...want to get free now...for some days...at least...before I get an interview call from some school....:)

My call right now on the schools I have applied to or applying (no harm in getting optimistic):
Stern -- Should at least get an interview call
Darden -- Should at least get an interview call
Rochester -- Should get an admit
Haas -- Should at least get an interview call
UCLA --- Should get an admit if interview goes fine
Ross --- Should at least get an interview call
Duke --- Should at least get an interview call
Tepper --- Should get an admit if interview goes fine

Lets c.......................I hope year of 2007 turns table for me.....