100 Best Blogs for MBA Students

graduatedegree.org published a list of what they consider to be the 100 best blogs for MBA students. While the list has some interesting elements (such as professors blogs), I was surprised to see how no blogs from prospective students was featured. Why? Their compiled list covers life during, after an MBA and consultant blogs for admissions. Why not close the loop and cover what actual people go through to get in an MBA program in the first place?

GMAT Diagnostic Tests

About a week ago I took the Kaplan diagnostic test online. I got 10 answers wrong out of 38, which didnt sound too good. This was my very first go at the GMAT. I found the Data Sufficiency portion particularly annoying since I have built a habit of solving problems. Sometimes I would consider the 2 statements together subconsciously, and most of the times I would try to solve the problem and waste valuable time.
But what I really have to work on is careless errors which I did a lot. Overall Kaplan just give you the result and doesnt give you much of a direction. The only thing you can do is see what you got wrong to attempt find weak areas.

I took the Official Guide (OG) diagnostic test a day ago after getting back to the habit of taking a test. I did a few problems, read some tips about Data Sufficiency since it I wasnt familiar with that type of exercise. Here how I did:

Problem Solving: above average
Data Sufficiency: excellent
Reading Comprehension: average
Critical Reasoning: above average
Sentence Correction: above average

Obviously for data sufficiency I did a few problems before to understand what it is all about otherwise I would have probably been in the average bucket. But roughly 15% of my errors were careless! How stupid, this reminds me I will not do what I did for college for 4 years: not sleeping and doing last minute study before an exam. Seriously though, I make mistakes so stupid I sometimes wonder if I have ADD.
Anyway, at least with the OG you easily get a sense of where you stand. For quant I should be able to correct my mistakes with a bit more practice to get familiar with algebra, ratio problems and similar problems. For the verbal part, I was actually surprised with my diagnostic. I thought not being an native english speaker would give me more problems. Sentence correction is definitely my #1 weakness, then critical reasoning. It turns out that I would have gotten all questions right for reading comprehension if I was just a bit more focused.

This week I’ll finish doing data sufficiency stuff, then move onto problem solving next week. I should also take the GMatPrep test #1.
Lessons learned for the day:

• Avoid careless mistakes is priority #1: read questions thoroughly, avoid mixing up answers keys…
• Need to review/pay more attention to the following type of problems: percents, proportions and ratios, property of numbers, working with algebraic expressions

The Best GMAT Gameplan Ever!

I’m finally, seriously getting into GMAT mode. I am even probably withdrawing from my bare knuckle karate tournament (I find it difficult to focus mentally after practice, especially if you get roundhouse kicked in the face). One week into my plan, I am doing ok but I feel the need to change my gameplan.
Here is the original plan.
Books that I bought:
- The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 11th Edition (OG11)
- Kaplan GMAT 2008 Premier Program (PP)
- Kaplan GMAT 800 2008-2009 Edition
- Kaplan GMAT Math Workbook

Some principles I follow:

- Target each section for 1 or 2 weeks, reserve 2 weeks to do all at once before the real test.
- Put in 4-6hrs during the week, 8-10 on weekends (A bit tough with my work schedule but doing my best).
- Do 10 questions each day of sections I am not actively working on but studied before.
- Do 2 weeks on each section, but 1 week only on my 2 best verbal sections (4 weeks for quant first then 4 weeks for verbal total).
- Do 40 questions at once with 80 mins on the clock for pacing, keeping an excel sheet to track my answers wether they where right or wrong, and wether I was slow, careless or if I made a concept error (I got the idea from Beat the GMAT blog).
- I also keep track of hit rates on any given 40-question run.
- I plan to keep a error log of questions I failed and go through them the final 2 weeks.
- I write flashcards.

I plan to take a test at the end of each week:
Week 1: OG Diagnostic test
Week 2: Kaplan paper test
Week 3: Kaplan online test
Week 4: GPrep #1 from mba.com
Week 5: Kaplan CD test 1
Week 6: Kaplan CD test 2
Week 7: Kaplan CD test 3
Week 8: Kaplan CD test 4
Week 9: GPrep #2 from mba.com

I posted this plan on the Beath the GMAT forum to have it critiqued so I can go forward a bit more confident I’m doing the right thing. I’m not sure I am taking tests in the best order, or whether working through all of the OG excercises before moving to other material is ideal or the other way around for example.
Meanwhile I started for a week already, even though I definitely didnt study nearly enough (less than 10 hours this week). Preparing for the GMAT can be a social life killer. I am targetting a 730+ score. My GPA as a undergrad wasnt the best of the class (I had a 3.5) but if I want to argue that doing research and not always being dedicated to my studies prevented me from having a much better one, I got to have that score up there.

Anyways, suggestions are appreciated.

Cheers.

Critique of a HBS Application

Joshua Steimle publishes his whole HBS application online. He got dinged, but what an act of openess. Maybe too much, but we can all agree it provides some great insights on how an adcom may come to the decision to reject an applicant. You can see the feedback he gets here.

Notes from a Stanford MBA Program Info Session

Not long ago I went to a Stanford MBA info session. It was more than enough to have a gut feeling. It was different from the Wharton one in many ways (the adcom, the alumni, even the applicant pool…).
Here is some unsorted notes of what I took away from it. These are not as comprehensive as the ones I compiled from the Wharton info session, but I easily got a gut feeling early from it.

My general perception:

• Stanford message seems to be “if you get here, you’re already the smartest, now let’s figure out how to change the world”
• “Outgrow old thoughts and ways”: the adcom compliments the school a lot about being at the edge of innovation and always shaping the future. They try to reflect that through some different and new  methodologies, programs or classes.
• Interestingly 50% of the courses are case studies and 1/4 experimental/theory. Innovation is meant to be the cornerstone of every effort. They offer classes such as “incentives on productivity”, experiment videotaping in class, simulation, they have an “executive challenge” where you are put in the shows of a CEO in a tough position (160 executives alumni participate).
• There is no concentration, only general management. I think they have the belief you can figure out how to get into a specific industry once you get in the program.
• Everything is meant to be super-personalized, supposedly to “maximize potential”: the faculty-to-student ratio  is very high (6:1), they have a coaching system for academics and career planning, and they believe having a small class (370) helps create a greater amount of connections between students.
• The learning environment (very residential, very innovation and leardership-oriented) reminds me of my honors program in college. In fact, it seems that the Stanford MBA prides themselves on being a honors program among top programs.
• The program aims to be very international-friendly: a globa study trip is required your first year, they have dedicated internaltional career advisors and offer the GMIX (Global Management Immersion Experience) program where you can work in a country new to you.

What the adcom wants you to show in your application:

• “Intellectual vitality” as they put it. The median GMAT score of admitted students is 730, I forgot what is the average undergrad GPA was but it is also pretty high.
• Your attitude about learning: show that you are curious, that you love learning
• Passion, committment and the ability to “change the world”. What is your “noble calling” is a recurring theme. It seems the application is used to gauge how special of a person you are, through what you have done and how you see the world. “What matters to you and why?” has been the first essay question for several years.

That’s what I got. Two alumni in the info session work at my company so I’ll take one of them to lunch like I did after the Wharton session. I regard the Stanford MBA program very highly, but I must admit I still give Wharton a slight edge personally. Needless to say, if I had the chance to get admitted to either one I’d run away with it!

Next will be Harvard and Columbia if they have a session around where I live soon.

….And I’m Back at it (And What You Can Expect From Me)

Hi people,

First of all I must apologize for not writing for the last…um…well…for a long time. What can I say except give you the classic excuse: I was busy.

On a serious note though, among other things, my team and I have released a great product that a lot of people will be using going forward. I was one of the lead developer on that, so I am pretty proud since it’s a milestone of my early career. At least it will be (I hope) a great addition to my credentials when I apply to top schools. I have also traveled a bit overseas.

Anyway, back to business: MBA applications and everything that comes with it. I have now refocused my energy on my MBA dreams. As I have mentioned in another post, I have been reading Richard Montauk’s Howto Get Into the Top MBA Programs (recommended by a Wharton alum), and I have to give this one 6 stars out 5 (I promess I will write a more detailed review of it soon). Since I am planning on starting school in 2010 and applying in round 1 of my targeted schools deadline (Oct/Nov 09),  I am now in “GMAT mode” to get this out of the way and have started thinking about what will be the outline of my applications (positionning, selling points, experiences… you name it).

I plan to write on blog posts at least 2-3 times weekly. Since I am preparing for the GMAT, a lot of upcoming posts will be about that. Here is what I will write about in the not so distant future (in no particular order):

1. My notes coming from a Stanford info session
2. My GMAT plan and schedule with the resources I am using
3. “How to Get Into the Top MBA Programs” review
4. What I gathered from that book so far and how I intend to strengthen my applications with it
5. Early reviews of GMAT books I have bought
6. Notes from conversations with some of my target schools alumni
7. Time table of my applications, its various checkpoints and what “experts” recommend

That’s what I have in mind off the top of my head. If you have any suggestion please let me know. The reason I write this book (other than building some discipline) is to interact with like-minded people. People who are going down this road, have done before or plan to do it in the future. So comments, ideas are welcome

Cheers.

Back from lunch with a recent Wharton grad

I know it seems like I am focusing solely on Wharton, it is not the case. After knowing one alum I saw at their info session was in my department, I had to talk to him. After being postponed many times, I finally had the chance to talk to him.

Same format, here are my random thoughts/observations/takeways in random order before I forget them:

• He applied to Wharton, HBS, U Mich, Stanford, MIT, Kellogg. He got into Wharton, U Mich, Kellogg and waitlisted by Stanford.
• According to him, Wharton looks more for very well-rounded people, while it seems Stanford/HBS look more for superstars (people that may be very bright in one area and not so good in others). Convey that in your application.
• Wharton curriculum is very strict, and the grades really go from A to F whereas some schools will have 50% As in 50% Bs in a class. Show that you can handle the course load.
• Consistency again: the idea of 3 themes you would like the adCom to remember about you (through applications, interviews…)is a great one.
• Tell where you want to go/do in the future, and demonstrate how your past supports it and makes you likely to succeed. He wants to be a Steven Covey type of person back in his home, and mentioned how he helped people get better grades in high school and how he won “best trainer” award at his last company.
• Follow the previous point, stick the impact your MBA will have in you future plans and relate it to where you are right now.
• You do not need to know exactly where you headed after your MBA down to the specific details, but you need to have a good idea of what you want to do later. Beyond pleasing the adCom, you will not waste time during your MBA and add more stress on top of class workload, recruiters coming and interviewing for companies you ultimately don’t want to work for anyway.
• If he had to change anything, it would be going to B School a lot earlier. Everybody more or less gets an entry level position after graduation. Going earlier would have given him the opportunity to try out things.
• Talk a LOT to alumni. He had a lot of friends at Wharton prior to applying, knowing specifically what a particular school wants in an applicant gives you a great edge.
• He majored in finance, and feels like he learned a lot he couldn’t have learned else where. He took some marketing classes too, but felt like it didn’t teach him much without application.
• One example: at the beginning of each finance class, the professors take 15 mins to talk about the current market, the trends then make predictions. That helped a lot of students with investing.
• Show in your application what is it that you will contribute in class discussions; what knowledge do you have that people will be happy to hear you talk about? For him he knew a lot about emerging markets and economy in developing countries.

Alright, I just wanted to dump what I got from that discussions quickly. I will add some more if I forgot anything.

In the next weeks I will focus more on GMAT stuff and ideas to bolster my applications and may talk with other alumni from my list of targeted schools when I have the chance. One of my close coworker actually went to HBS (how come I didn’t find that out earlier?!!).

Back from the Wharton Info Session

So I’m back from the Wharton info session in Seattle, it was very interesting.
Here is my notes and what I take away from it (in no particular order or format):

- General points

• Finance is the field the school is reputed for but they are trying to be more balanced.
• After the core curriculum they offer more than 200 electives
• For the first year you team up with classmates on a project
• The adCom stresses a lot how necessary a track record of leadership is
• Engagement in the community appears to be very important (How do you impact people around you?)
• No classes on Fridays: good for doing extra-curriculum activities…or enjoying the long weekend
• They have an ‘Entrepreneur in residence’ program that seems very interesting
• So is the MBA/MA-Lauder international specialization program and the ‘Global immersion’ program
• There seems to be a gazillion of clubs at Wharton and the adCom stresses it: how social are you? What would you do on campus if you were accepted and would you have fun with your classmates?
• Wharton strive to use all types of teaching methods and the ones which make the most sense (simulation, case, lecture…)

- Advice from the alumni

Actually the Q&A with the alumni was the most fun and interesting part of the session. All of them where “interesting”, as in “I’d love to talk to this person again and discuss various topics”. All had a unique theme they conveyed consciously or not: the brazilian engineer that was acted in an opera show, the younger entrepreneur, the MIT engineer who slowly transitioned to management, the peace corps guy who majored in liberal arts and travelled around Africa, the editor whose passion is now video games(he branded it ‘interactive media’ haha, that sounds more glamorous)…

• Be sure of what you want to get out of your MBA, and convey it consistently
• What are your passions? Show it
• Consistency: choose 3 big themes about you and convey it through out your application and interviews
• Have a recent grad of the school you’re applying to read your essays if possible
• Do NOT B.S. on your application, you don’t need to
• Get “How to get into the MBA programs” by Richard Montauk (arrived in my mailbox 3 days ago, ha!)
• What is your perspective on the world? Show it in your essays
• In you essays focus more on what you learned, not what you did, and how that changed your perspectives
• Differentiate yourself! The application process is also a self-knowledge trip
• Don’t be afraid to be personal in your essays, especially the optional one that you should actually write
• Most of them agreed they learned maybe more from their classmates than in the classroom: show how interesting you are and that people could take away great things by having a long conversation with you
• You’re already different and unique. Just show it

- Other adCom notes
General:

• use the student2student chat, it’s a great tool
• For your GMAT, be at least in the 80th percentile (that means 90th me thinks) in both verbal and quantitative parts or explain why it isnt so
• Have you tried the path you are targeting? For instance, if you’re a writer interested in finance, have you taken some finance classes or something similar?
• The adCom members are also thinking: “can I like this guy?”
• Interviews are done with no knowledge of your application’s content. It is done to know how you think.

Work:

• Clearly explain achievements, responsibilities, leadership evidence, teamwork, yadda yadda…
• The question on this subject really is: what can you contribute?
• One other thing they look at is: what kind of impact can you have and what is your potential? This means, they don’t expect you to have a nobel prize you should show how your work experience will make you contribute in the class

Recommendations:

• Only 2 recommendations are required now (no peer ones)
• Make sure your recommenders really go to the details of why they have the opinion they have of you
• recommenders with big titles are not necessary and hurt your application if they dont know you well enough
• Make sure you explain them why you’re trying to get an MBA, why a specific school: they should know what you put in your application to corroborate what you conveyed in it
• Make sure you are aware of the questions adCom require them to answer
• If you can’t have your supervisor recommend you, go for previous supervisors or be creative with that issue

Wow that a lot of things, some that most applicants know, some they don’t or don’t pay enough attention to. One of the alumni works at my company, so I’ll invite him to lunch sometimes soon. Actually I’m stupid for not thinking about that earlier, there are tons of Wharton, Harvard, Stanford MBA alumni where I work, that’s already a good start for networking and feedback.

My next stop is contacting the local Harvard alumni network and going at one of their open events.

Long-Term Planning for an MBA

While working my ass off at work and waiting for my GMAT books, I stumbled upon an article by Jeremy Shinewald from MBA mission about how to plan applications to MBA.  In a nutshell here is what he recommends:

• Visiting campuses now to get acquainted with the school culture
• Meeting with alumni to make sure the schools you’re looking for are right for you
• Taking a leadership role in the community to explore then show who you are outside of work
• Advancing personal achievements to differentiate yourself from other candidates
• Enrolling in additional courses to salvage any bad undergrad academic record

It’s funny how this is more or less aligned with what I am doing or have in mine. I don’t plan to visit campuses now but I will select 2 or 3 in the near future if I decide I need more information to make some decisions. I am meeting alumni from Wharton this week and Harvard students in two weeks to know a bit more about the application process, what to expect while in the program and what type of people I may encounter in my last academic stint. I like leadership roles naturally, and I already got some stuff going on within my company, I just enjoy it. As for personal achievements, I just like to decide and prioritize depending on how fun it could be and what I’ll get in the end. When it comes to additional courses, that just wont happen: I had a more than decent GPA to apply to the top schools even though I didnt get a 4.0.

Anyway, it is always great to see this whole process from different angles.

Quick Thoughts

I was reading HBS blog on admissions. The committee says they are looking for 3 core qualities:

- evidence of leadership
- evidence you actually love intellectual and hard work
- evidence you can have a great impact on my peers

Great. You convey it through different accomplishments, essays and recommendations that are based on what you actually did/do, what people thought of it, and more importantly who you are about.
I know what I am about, and I am love doing my best at work and in the activities I am involved in just because that’s what I do, regardless of applying for top MBA programs.
So this being said, I keep doing what I do, at work, at my different clubs, and still trying to get a fun business going. This will not change much, though I must admit I feel a bit self-conscious about it now.
One thing I believe I have to get out of the way is the GMAT. I did not quite have a 4.0 in college though my GPA was strong, so I feel I have to patch that up a bit. I was looking around and I stumbled upon the Beat the GMAT blog which sounds interesting. If you know of any great resource please let me know.
I have a few books in my Amazon cart, and I will buy them this week:
- Kaplan GMAT 800, 2008-2009 Edition (Kaplan Gmat 800)
- Kaplan GMAT 2008 Premier Program (w/ CD-ROM) (Kaplan Gmat (Book & CD-Rom))
- The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 11th Edition

I am thinking about dropping maybe the first Kaplan book. For general MBA preparation I have these:
- How To Get Into the Top MBA Programs, 4th Edition (How to Get Into the Top Mba Programs)
- MBA Admissions Strategy

Reviews look great, so I may as well go with it just to get started. I believe in the next 3-4 months I will (almost) solely focus on the GMAT. If I can’t nail a 720-750+ score great if not I may revise my strategy and go at it again.

That’s all Folks.