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Fuqua Alum Interview January 31, 2005

Posted by Simba in : Uncategorized , 4 comments

I am back from the Fuqua interview. I really had a great time speaking to the Alum of the Class of ‘88. I met him at his office and I was damn early. Spent a lot of time staring at the mirror in the washroom!! :-) Had to wait a few minutes before we started off. He told me about the ‘interviewing’ bit and explained that this would be more like an informal chat - ‘getting to know me’.

Before he asked me questions, he talked a lil about himself & I started asking him a couple of things about his occupation. Tsk Tsk, then I realised that I am the interviewee and forced myself to shutup. Then we just went through my Resume and Why MBA. He seemed to agree with me about ‘Why MBA’ bit. He said ‘perfect, makes sense’. Also I went in length about my current profile at work and he came to the conclusion that I have a lot of responsibilities. He was really inquisitive about the field I am in and the company I work for. Who wouldn’t be?! ;-) A couple of questions on ‘teams’ and he asked me ‘If you have to explain your work to a 5-yr old child, how would you do it’.. :-) Ya, that was an easy one! Then, it was over (or atleast I thought so!) He allowed me to question him and we spoke about a few things at Fuqua and how things have changed over the years. Then, I was almost about to leave when he finally asked, ‘Why Duke?’ I was happy to talk about the program that excites me and then came the Adios bit.

On the whole, I have absolutely no idea how it went. I think I blabbered a bit and he alternated between smiling and nodding.. Hmmmm, is there some coded language in that!?:-) Anyways, lets see what the final verdict will say.. a fortnight wait!! Okai, now I am off to sleep. Good Nighty!

Oxford Interview January 28, 2005

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Yipeee, Here comes my first Interview call - From Oxford! I got a simple email from them yesterday informing that I have made it to Stage2 in their process. I am really delighted. I would have detested myself if I hadn’t got a call!! I will be interviewing with the Adcom when they are here in Mumbai on the 19th of Feb. :-)

Praise the Lord!!

Right now, I am worried about my Fuqua Alum interview, mostly scheduled for Sunday morning. No, I am not worried about the interview perse but I really hope to strengthen my BAD GMAT score by giving a smashing interview. I gave a good application, that I am sure of!! More later…

Nail Biting January 27, 2005

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Finally, I have started nail biting… the age ol’ passtime. Its almost a week since all my applications were packed & sent to different schools and I am yet to hear from them. Attimes, I get paranoid about these things.. I imagine getting the interview call & missing that email. Yikes, thats scary! Ok, let me stop jabbering!!

Had called up Oxford today to confirm something & the lady was damn excited to tell me that the results for interview would be out today or tomorrow!! And my inbox is still empty!! :-( Ok, my Fuqua Alum seems to be real busy. Looks like I will be postponing the interview to Monday evening. He seems pretty casual to speak to. Hope he is not a toughie!! Looks like, Fuqua final decision will be up on the 17th of Feb. Mama, I am losing all the marbles!! :-)

Routine Days January 24, 2005

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Hey, I am back from the ’so-called’ vacation. I hated to get back to work in the morning. Yeah, its difficult to get back to the Routine. But this time, I had some time off for myself. I had worked relentlessly for days & nights, the GMAT, the Retake and the Apping. And ofcourse my work. So, I knew I needed some rest and some peace. I did. A coupla days only but it was worth it. How can I leave Bangalore without shopping. :-) Bought loads of clothes, music and books…. Wow, I am grinning!!

But I am happy to get back too. Loads of things to do & loads of things to catch up on. Right now, I need to sit down & get our NASEOH work straight. We all need some direction in order to channelize our efforts and I shall work on it. After yesterday’s meeting, things looks a lil brighter. The article about a few guys I had interviewed during the Medical camp is still pending. Also, I wanted to have a write-up for our PG portal too. Got to wind up a project at work, something I have been dragging for more than 3 months now. Then, this weekend I have Fuqua Interview coming up for which I have confirmed with the Alum. And its time to hit that damn treadmill too… I need to look smart :-) Hmmm, looks like, Oxford results will be around the bend.. I know, its too early for a heart-break. God, Stay with me!

Yohoo, got my hands full with Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck.

MIT Saga January 18, 2005

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Attimes I am sic with myself. This is one of those times when I cant absolutely stand myself and hate myself for it. See, my MIT deadline is tomorrow and I am still not sure whether I should be applying there. Why.. because, the GMAT is coming to haunt me again. MIT for a low score. Damn, that aint possible.. they are as much figure fanatic as Stanford.. or, so my belief goes.

Also, the essays are not even straight-forward.. All of them look alike… I can interchange any of the answers and still be deadsure that I have answered the question asked. See, that is DANGEROUS. I am done with applying for 4 schools but to do justice to my faith that 5 is that ‘magical’ number to get me a decent admit, I must grit my teeth and go on!!

Hey, BTW, I had requested for an Alum interview with the Fuqua School of Business. And I have got the name of the person I can get in touch with. I need to finish the interview before the 7th of Feb. I have been dying over low-self-esteem and asking myself.. what have I been thinking!!??

Hey, I took that Blue Pyramid quiz that was posted at Akshat’s blog. See, I am The Great Gatsby!

Yooohoo… Vacation January 16, 2005

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I constantly wonder what ppl mean by vacation. For me, I can never forget a lot of things back at work or anything at all…when I am on ‘vacation’. There are always a lot of things running in the back of my mind .. I can never RELAX!! See, thats my problem… thats my blessing too.. I am constantly thinking.. & planning (though half of them dont work out the way I want!)

Consider this supposed vacation.. I am here in Bangalore but my mind is constantly on a lot of things viz. apping, work, forum, NASEOH, blogging.. so many things. Even here, I am thinking of all the people I want to see, the people I dont want to see though I should, others who I cant see and hate myself for it… places I want to visit.. the old hotels and ‘cafes’ that I grew up with… Foodie that I am ;-) …

I have finally uploaded my ISB application. It took me almost a day to complete it and I didnt want to submit a half baked one either!! Okai, so that leaves me with only MIT that should be up in a coupla days, trust me, thats scary!!

My Fellow Bloggers January 12, 2005

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I hardly dedicate my posts to my fellow bloggers. So here is one. :-)

See the left hand side, I have updated the blogs I read. Actually, I randomly went to my pal’s blog and stole all the corresponding links from there (Thanks Subbu ;-) ) but then again, if I have all these links, its easier for me to read what is happenning around me. More like a quick reference. I intend to build on those blog-links as and when I come across something interesting. Na, if I have missed a good one/s, dont read too much into it. I will do it as soon as my memory has a F7.

Okai, My recommenders are almost done with the MIT reco. Now, I have another 5 odd days to submit my MIT app. Reco deadline is today 5:00 pm EST. And ISB has another 3 days time. I have already mailed them the supplement materials like transcripts, DD etc. Now, I will try to work on ISB essays. Actually, I am on ‘vacation’ from 14th Jan onwards for about a week. I wanted to submit MIT before I left but things never happen the way they should. So, even during my vacation, I will be busy writing about my future goals and Why MBA at MIT?

What was I thinking?! January 11, 2005

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Gosh, Today I am feeling like a dumbchick! I have just submitted my application to Wharton, Oxford and Fuqua. And I havent heard from any one of them and I dont think I will ever hear from them either. I am dumb dumb dumb. Why would anybody take me… Yes, this is currently how I am feeling!!!

Now, I need to work on MIT and ISB apps. Trust me, I am finding it tough now. MIT, come on.. they want hard-core brains!! Why the hell will they even call me?! I hope to get atleast interview calls. And I keep praying everyday… I hope ISB doesnt throw me out!!

BTW, this Sunday was a great day. Though I had least bit energy to work after a hectic week, I promptly woke up at 4ish and freshened up and went out to catch the local bus. Brrrr… It was cold and I was lucky to find a ‘chai-wala’ (tea-vendor) in the middle of the road and drank up a burning cup of tea. Had a very unhealthy breakfast of oily & fatty & sugary breakfast (Tsk Tsk… I better get back to that gym… I have even forgotten to eat healthy!) Then, we all, close to 10 people went to a tribal village called ‘Mhasa’. Drive was great and the scenery was breathtaking.

We landed up in the medical camp. This camp was basically to diagnose physically challenged people in the rural areas. We did not have a large crowd of villagers and this camp was more organized than the last one we had. We had a lot of volunteers and hence the work we each put in was effortless. We helped people and I got around speaking to a couple of villagers/ tribal about the problems they face with regards to their disability. That reminds me, I need to send an article to NASEOH for their newsletter.

Lunch was splendid. Village cooked meal - Simple & Tasty! We left around 5:00 pm and headed back to Mumbai. It was a bumpy drive as we all were huddled in an unstable 3-wheeler village vehicle. I was constantly hoping we would land in Mumbai in one shape. :-) On the whole, I had good fun with so many good pals. Anyday, I would do this than sleep & laze around at home.

Applied to Oxford January 8, 2005

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Okai, 3 down :-) Phew, I can now sleep for proper 8 hrs before I get to work tomorrow. And Oxford App is done. It took quite a while considering they had only two questions but hey the essays werent as simple as they looked! Anyways, I get one free day to breathe, to sleep, to eat and .. sleep…again… Then, Sunday seems to be a BUSY day with the Medical camp. Though I am desperately in love with my pillows with my bulging eyes crying for help along with my almost empty head…I just cant afford to miss the camp!! If not, Sunday would have been a welcome break, but God has his ways!! Then, 4 days for another 2 schools….MIT and ISB. So, the list of schools getting my esteemed application with a sickening GMAT score goes like this:

1) Fuqua
2) Wharton
3) Oxford
4) MIT
5) ISB

Nope, Not in order of preference. :-)

Wharton App Done! January 7, 2005

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Phew! 2 done and 3 more standing. This application game sure is crazy. It drives u to insane levels. I have been sitting in front of the computer for close to 36 hrs with minimum sleep. I look like a zombie with big red eyes and I walk with a hollow look on my face. I really look insane. But hey guess what, I have to go for another night out for the Oxford application. And I need to work the whole day tomorow… err… I mean today from at 8:00 AM onwards. Ok, I can manage about 3 hrs sleep. And I have to be up from 8 AM to 3AM!!

Yipee, I love my life. :-)