Kellogg Application - Done

I completed and submitted my Kellogg Application this week, 3 days before the deadline for Round 1. After 15-20 reviews my essays were looking quite polished, resume wasn’t bad either. I do bring out a complete story through my essays and highlight different skills that I consider important. Overall my application looks reasonable strong. Time will tell. I try to put in my best effort and don’t worry too much about results. I still have the interview pending and that should be done in a couple of weeks.

Based on this experience, I hope that the following applications would be stronger. The Kellogg application has taken a lot out of me and taking into account the work pressure, I am considering reducing the number of schools to 4. Four excellent applications are lot better than 5 good ones. Application process is very competitive and you pay a heavy price for being anything less than extra-ordinary.

I have started my ‘Tepper’ Application and the deadline is less than a month from now!!
So Lets get the Application started!!

Application process – Update

Needless to say, I have been very busy with the application process. My Kellogg application is almost complete. Essays and resume need final edits and review before I can submit them. Both my recommenders have submitted their recommendations. Today I received a mail with my alumni interview contact. I would probably look to complete and submit my application this week and contact my alumni interviewer next week.

Kellogg apart, I haven’t started any other applications and would definitely need to kick off the next one this weekend.

I had also been to Chicago GSB info session and it was good, though not as good as Harvard. There was more focus on the opportunities available after MBA from Chicago GSB. Again the best part was questions and answers with alumni. I did not stay back for the chat later on.

I don’t have Chicago on my list as don’t consider it a good fit for me and my goals. Unlike what happened at HBS info session, my impressions were reiterated during Chicago GSB info session.

Next one on the list is Duke. Look forward to a detail update on that.

Harvard Business School - Information session

I had been to HBS info session on September 12th and it was a great experience. Harvard was on my radar as a potential school but didn’t figure on my final list. I figured based on my research that it was not as a good a fit as compared to others I had on my list. I was hoping that I could get some of the issues I had addressed at this forum.

Here are notes from the session

• Session started with a presentation, a good one, something that one would come to expect that from a leading business school.
• Presentation stated HBS’s mission statement, which I overlooked in my prior research and was surprised to see how much that aligned with my personal mission statement
• Presenter talked about HBS’s focus on leadership and finding leaders.
• There was some stress on the case-method and how students contribute to overall learning.
• Presentation also touched on other aspects of Harvard but they didn’t really stand out.
• This was followed by a video which was interesting but not spectacular
• Next was a Q & A with alumni. They were seated in front of all potential applicants, much like a press conference.
• Many questions were asked about the life at HBS, curriculum, studies, co-curricular activities, requirements etc. Alumni answered questions well and gave good insight on what they had learnt at Harvard. There were some anecdotes quoted. They finished by giving some tips on application and they concentrated on focusing on goals, fit to the school and the overall story.
• After that we were able to mingle and chat with alumni and this was the most beneficial part for me. I got clarity on how HBS could help me achieve my career goals and how MBA at HBS aligned with what I was looking for.

Overall I thought that the info session was very useful and really helped gain a better understanding of what HBS was all about. I also dispelled lot of my doubts and preconceived notions about the school. HBS Info session is must attend for anyone considering applying to Ivy League schools for a MBA.