We had our first recruiting event within weeks of joining school. If memory serves right, we started working on our resumes within a few days after orientation. Whoever said recruiting is a marathon and not a sprint was spot on. It's been a long journey and over the next few weeks more than a dozen firms will conduct their interviews (mostly for positions in finance/consulting) - the journey will come to a successful end for many. For some, they would continue their marathon hopefully in a better position from the experience they gained through these events.
I've been fortunate to receive over half a dozen interviews from many top firms. God willing, this could be the final sprint for me. Wish me luck!
Before I forget, Columbia Connect I for the next batch is on Feb 10th and 11th. I recommend everyone to make an effort to attend these admit events. If you wish to know what happens in these events, here are detailed reports from the ones I attended.
Admit event I - http://columbiambaclassof2012.blogspot.com/2010/03/columbia-mba-admit-event-1.html
Admit event II - http://columbiambaclassof2012.blogspot.com/2010/04/columbia-admit-event-act-ii.html
Happy new year!
Showing posts with label Applying. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Applying. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Thursday, May 13, 2010
LBS Visit
My wife and I spent three nights in London last week. It was a very hectic trip but was well worth it. I visited LBS twice, on friday I met my friend at the Windsor pub and on saturday I attended a 3 hour class from 8am!
Some observations-
1. The class I attended was super good. It was an advanced strategy course - Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances by Prof. Phaneesh Puranam. This was the first class for the course so he started with a strategy refresher/pop quiz. I thoroughly enjoyed his way of teaching and didn't find it difficult to concentrate even with my jetlag. Kudos!(I even knew some of the answers of the pop quiz, thanks to reading Competition Demystified by CBS professors heh)
2. LBS campus is tiny, I always sulk about never being able to study in huge university. Carnegie Mellon is small, my undergraduate college is even smaller and Columbia too is about same size. But if I look at LBS, all these places feels jumbo size! To be honest, I didn't feel the university setting, it felt like some corporate training center (may be if I spend more time there I'd change my opinion).
3. The course I attended was an elective so it had regular full time people, executive MBA, some other management programs like Sloan etc. Now this may be considered a plus and/or a minus.
4. London is very similar to NYC, I had no problem finding my way using the subway, I mean the tube. The ticketing system is kind of complex and I'm yet to figure that out. And I got a chance to witness the crappy weather, it's supposed to be summer but it was raining and cold (4-8 degrees celsius).
I also visited Canary Wharf which is like the Wall Street of London. That place is a beauty and it felt great walking around the area.
In terms of academics I liked LBS but in terms of soft/intangibles...I would need more time to make up my mind. Although one thing is sure, I will either apply for campus exchange to LBS if I attend CBS or try to intern in London over the summer (@ Canary Wharf :) ). I liked the city, and would like to spend some time there and travel around Europe.
Before leaving London, we drove to Oxford. Now, that was a class act. What a beautiful town, we had a great time walking around 4-5 hours taking tons of pictures of the majestic buildings. Weather was good and we saw many music troupes in the lanes and enjoyed the student life setting. Now if only LBS was at Oxford ;)
Some observations-
1. The class I attended was super good. It was an advanced strategy course - Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances by Prof. Phaneesh Puranam. This was the first class for the course so he started with a strategy refresher/pop quiz. I thoroughly enjoyed his way of teaching and didn't find it difficult to concentrate even with my jetlag. Kudos!(I even knew some of the answers of the pop quiz, thanks to reading Competition Demystified by CBS professors heh)
2. LBS campus is tiny, I always sulk about never being able to study in huge university. Carnegie Mellon is small, my undergraduate college is even smaller and Columbia too is about same size. But if I look at LBS, all these places feels jumbo size! To be honest, I didn't feel the university setting, it felt like some corporate training center (may be if I spend more time there I'd change my opinion).
3. The course I attended was an elective so it had regular full time people, executive MBA, some other management programs like Sloan etc. Now this may be considered a plus and/or a minus.
4. London is very similar to NYC, I had no problem finding my way using the subway, I mean the tube. The ticketing system is kind of complex and I'm yet to figure that out. And I got a chance to witness the crappy weather, it's supposed to be summer but it was raining and cold (4-8 degrees celsius).
I also visited Canary Wharf which is like the Wall Street of London. That place is a beauty and it felt great walking around the area.
In terms of academics I liked LBS but in terms of soft/intangibles...I would need more time to make up my mind. Although one thing is sure, I will either apply for campus exchange to LBS if I attend CBS or try to intern in London over the summer (@ Canary Wharf :) ). I liked the city, and would like to spend some time there and travel around Europe.
Before leaving London, we drove to Oxford. Now, that was a class act. What a beautiful town, we had a great time walking around 4-5 hours taking tons of pictures of the majestic buildings. Weather was good and we saw many music troupes in the lanes and enjoyed the student life setting. Now if only LBS was at Oxford ;)
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
London!
My wife and I will be flying to London tomorrow, yay! I always wanted to see London and finally the time has come. I also got lucky, I will be attending a class on M&A on Saturday morning 8AM! and will be meeting my friend on Friday evening at the Windsor Pub next to LBS.
I'll be leaving London on Monday to India. First trip to India since wedding. :-) I will be back on May 30 and tons of Pre-MBA course work and exams will be waiting for me, ugh.
Oh, before I forget- my wife gifted me an IPad 3G, woohoo and I'm a proud owner of a Nikon D3000! Lot of retail therapy lately hehe.
Over and out then, next few weeks are going to be a lot of fun with family and friends. While in India, I will learn about LBS result as well, fingers crossed. Though to be honest, I am more or less decided on Columbia, especially after the ray of hope I received (that will take care of immigration matters).
Let's see what's in store!
I'll be leaving London on Monday to India. First trip to India since wedding. :-) I will be back on May 30 and tons of Pre-MBA course work and exams will be waiting for me, ugh.
Oh, before I forget- my wife gifted me an IPad 3G, woohoo and I'm a proud owner of a Nikon D3000! Lot of retail therapy lately hehe.
Over and out then, next few weeks are going to be a lot of fun with family and friends. While in India, I will learn about LBS result as well, fingers crossed. Though to be honest, I am more or less decided on Columbia, especially after the ray of hope I received (that will take care of immigration matters).
Let's see what's in store!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
LBS interview
This was the most chilled out interview experience ever. First of all, I prepared zilch. I had made up my mind that I've done enough prep over the last year and I shouldn't require anymore prep to sell the same pitch.
I was asked three questions- Tell me about yourself, Why MBA, Why LBS. My pitch was not as polished as it could be (Note to Self- prep counts!) but I think I did cover most of what I wanted to say but also mentioned some stuff which came to my mind just then. After that came the infamous presentation. I got the topic- a US company decides to outsource some work to Eastern EU country. Justify the outsourcing from company perspective as well as outline my own views on outsourcing/offshoring. I think I did a great job here, I presented my views coherently and with confidence. At the very end we talked a bit about LBS in general and interviewer also recommended not to apply to INSEAD as I won't be a fit there. He felt I might be better off with a 2year MBA trying different things either from LBS or a USA school. I couldn't agree more :)
Other matters- today was a good day, something my wife and I were waiting for a long time came through. Along with it came some new issues to resolve, but that seems to be the way we roll. We celebrated at Dhaba, one of our fav indian restaurants in the city.
I was asked three questions- Tell me about yourself, Why MBA, Why LBS. My pitch was not as polished as it could be (Note to Self- prep counts!) but I think I did cover most of what I wanted to say but also mentioned some stuff which came to my mind just then. After that came the infamous presentation. I got the topic- a US company decides to outsource some work to Eastern EU country. Justify the outsourcing from company perspective as well as outline my own views on outsourcing/offshoring. I think I did a great job here, I presented my views coherently and with confidence. At the very end we talked a bit about LBS in general and interviewer also recommended not to apply to INSEAD as I won't be a fit there. He felt I might be better off with a 2year MBA trying different things either from LBS or a USA school. I couldn't agree more :)
Other matters- today was a good day, something my wife and I were waiting for a long time came through. Along with it came some new issues to resolve, but that seems to be the way we roll. We celebrated at Dhaba, one of our fav indian restaurants in the city.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
INSEAD
I had thought a lot about INSEAD in the past few weeks and talked to a professor and some current students. I figured out that I won't be a good fit. And with god's grace studying @ CBS might just work out. I don't want to jinx it, so will post once I actually know for sure :-)
In other news, I have applied for London visitor visa, for two of us it's costing ~$500 (incl. travel agent fee). Never paid so much for any visa. Phew. If all is well, I will be checking out LBS and meeting my friend @ LBS on May 7.
In other news, I have applied for London visitor visa, for two of us it's costing ~$500 (incl. travel agent fee). Never paid so much for any visa. Phew. If all is well, I will be checking out LBS and meeting my friend @ LBS on May 7.
Friday, April 9, 2010
LBS interview call- Woohoo
I know it's not an admit yet, and it's a Round 3 application and I'm a desi so chances are slim. But hey, I put a lot of effort in this one under tight deadlines and I'm happy I got the call. I want to crack this one, it will solve so many problems for me and my wife. Wish me luck. Now have to start preparing, it's been over 6 months since I gave an interview for MBA. Happy day today :-)
---------
Thank you for submitting your application to the full-time MBA Programme at London Business School commencing August 2010 (MBA2012).
I am delighted to inform you that based on the strength of your initial application you have been selected for interview by the MBA Admissions Committee.
Your interview arrangements will be organised by your regional representative from the MBA Recruitment & Admissions Team. All interviews are arranged by the MBA Office and then conducted by a London Business School alumnus.
It is important for you to remember that we interview all around the world, and that this process will take time to set up, (possibly up to two weeks). Please be patient during this time, but if you have had any location, phone or email address changes recently please make sure that you let us know about this as soon as possible.
In the meantime, if you have any questions about the Programme, please do not hesitate to contact the regional representative who is responsible for processing your application. (Please see below).
Congratulations on reaching this stage - we wish you the very best of luck with your interview.
MBA Recruitment & Admissions Team
London Business School
---------
Thank you for submitting your application to the full-time MBA Programme at London Business School commencing August 2010 (MBA2012).
I am delighted to inform you that based on the strength of your initial application you have been selected for interview by the MBA Admissions Committee.
Your interview arrangements will be organised by your regional representative from the MBA Recruitment & Admissions Team. All interviews are arranged by the MBA Office and then conducted by a London Business School alumnus.
It is important for you to remember that we interview all around the world, and that this process will take time to set up, (possibly up to two weeks). Please be patient during this time, but if you have had any location, phone or email address changes recently please make sure that you let us know about this as soon as possible.
In the meantime, if you have any questions about the Programme, please do not hesitate to contact the regional representative who is responsible for processing your application. (Please see below).
Congratulations on reaching this stage - we wish you the very best of luck with your interview.
MBA Recruitment & Admissions Team
London Business School
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Updates
I am pretty happy that I could write a bunch of essays, get the recos and submit everything on time for LBS round 3.
Meanwhile, I told my employer about my MBA admit. They are very supportive and are eager to give me leave of absence. I'm excited about it, but I'm not very positive about getting it. They are checking with the legal department to see if my visa/immigration condition allows this leave. Hope it all works out.
Meanwhile, I told my employer about my MBA admit. They are very supportive and are eager to give me leave of absence. I'm excited about it, but I'm not very positive about getting it. They are checking with the legal department to see if my visa/immigration condition allows this leave. Hope it all works out.
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