Must read for Business school applicants

Everyday I get some very common questions on MBA applications and admissions with not so easy answers. Obviously everyone wants the most returns with least amount of effort. However, when it comes to B-school applications it not easy to judge where your effort is best spent. There is lot of judgement exercised by the admission committee in making their decisions and hence there is no objective answer on whether you can make it to so and so school based on your profile. Nevertheless people still ask the questions and I still attempt to answer several every week. I felt it might help some applicants if I post some guidance based on my experience. So here goes -

Q1: Can I get into so and so Business school. Here is my profile GMAT:X, GPA:Y , Experience 5 years in Z, Extra curricular A and B?

If it were so easy to grant admissions based on just the above information, trust me the admission committee of every school would not be spending hours and hours reviewing and discussing every application. Adcoms are looking for everything from your academics, your analytical skills, communication skills, quality of your work experience, your achievements on and off work and thought and reflection on your decisions. Why you have done the things you have and why you want to do things you have set out to e.g. pursue MBA etc.

Having said that you can to some extent ballpark your chances based on how you compare to the average applicant on some dimensions. Look at incoming class profiles (you will find the on the school websites in information for prospective candidates) for every school to determine how you compare with mean/median GPA, GMAT and work experience. This is only an indicator and does not give any concrete answers. Only way you will know for sure is to apply and give it your best shot.

Q2 Which schools should I apply to?

Apply to schools that you are really really excited about. Maybe its the teaching method, faculty, culture or people. Make sure it meets your career objective and it provides an atmosphere you can do well in. Pay some attention to whether you can get into the school by looking at the incoming student profile (refer previous question) but don't let that dictate your answer. As I mentioned in previous question its not just about a few parameters. Refer to my previous post 2007 and 2008 for my thinking on school choices.

Q3 How do I find out more about the school? How do I know if I fit?

The best place to start is the school website. Look at the resources for prospective applicants. What does the school say about itself. What is the teaching method, curriculum, culture, profile etc. What is the school philosophy and how does the school position itself. Rankings help here but see whats behind the rankings. Go to other sites on the web explore what is being said about the school. Blogs are a good source of this information. Some books also provide an overview of the school. Next, look at the things that are important to you based on where you are now and where you want to be. Examine different dimensions, not just career. Your fit or lack of it will start to come out. This research will put you in good stead when it comes to writing the essays.

Q4 What should I write in my essays

Each school has its own set of questions and is trying to find different information. Write a interesting story but keep it crisp. Dig deep and find out what drives you. The essays are insightful when you write not just what you want to do but why you want to do it. Think of incidents that shaped you and make you the person you are. Before you get down to the essays you should have resolved in your mind why you are pursuing MBA, what set of skills you have and those you looking for, what environment best suits you, and where you are headed long term and why? One thing I found helps in this introspection is to ask yourself 'why?' repeatedly till you fight the root driver of your feelings or thoughts.

Here's Sara Neher, Darden's admission director's advice on applicant essays

Useful links

Where do I start

Thinking about career goals

More to follow....

I'll keep adding to this post. Leave a comment if you want generic questions answered

Time for US to follow the world?

For most part of the 20th century America has dominated the world scene be it Business, economy or its military might. It is still by far the largest economy in the world and also has the distinction of being the oldest democracy. However over the last several years it has faced with some challenging issues. What does the future hold for this nation?

Having lived in US for several years as an international I have seen some great and not so great aspects of the American society. On a per capita basis US is perhaps one the most wealthiest countries in the world. However GDP per capita hides more than it shows. The obvious one is the divide among the rich and the poor. US ranks lower amongst most developed nations. Of course there are other measurements such as 'gini coefficient' and 'HDI' that do reveal some insights into this. I do however question the validity of such measurement as indication of well-being or happiness. Some of the happiest and most content people I have met were farmers in rural India who by UN standards live under the poverty line of $1/day. Anyway my point is not to debate these measurements but to inquire of the philosophy the increase production/ consumption as the answer to all questions on well-being.

Communism and Socialism were invalidated as answers to societal and political problems in late 20th century. There is simple lack of long term incentive to individuals to perform well. However we have found of late the glaring gaps of blatant capitalism, free market and government non-intervention. I wouldn't say that this is a recent problem in US. Health care and discrepancy in benefits available to rich and poor have been issues for debate over the years. By intervening in the markets US has severely impacted its credibility to preach on many occasions coax countries on free market philosophy.

Coming back to the original question of leadership. It is quite obvious that India and China would grow at an exponential rate from here. Many other developing countries would also catch up. We would most likely see them stand up on the global stage and weigh in on issues. Sometimes leadership is all about bringing the best out in others and letting them blossom. In my opinion US may be best served by following this approach and working towards integration with the world on thoughts, policies and collaborative actions. "lets make world a better place rather than let me show you how to do things our way!"

Though Europeans have had their issues, they have shown leadership in some areas. Signing Kyoto protocol and agreeing to reduce carbon emissions do stand out. Another important aspect is the current political structures in the European countries. In most countries you either have Labor or Social-democrats who lean 'left' in political terms. Might it be time for US to take a cue and think in terms of Public infrastructure, health care etc rather than how to pump more oil and give more tax credits to let people spend more. Not just Europeans but countries around the world are standing up and taking lead on issues that face the world. I do not agree that sending troops into sovereign nation is a act of leadership. It could be, but sometimes its better to be persevere and work collaborative towards a solution.

I may have been little bit all over the shop discussing this but what I am trying to say is countries around the world are doing interesting things. It might be time for US to notice that and learn; it might be time to follow.

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Added Sep 22

Some intersting articles on the topic.

Funny and cynical view on the same subject -

How We Became the United States of France
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1843168,00.html

Fallout between US and Europe on how to tackle the latest financial crisis. Some quotes and link to the article

“There’s a view in Europe that this is a U.S.-made problem, and that it should be solved in the U.S.,” said Charles H. Dallara, the managing director of the Institute for International Finance, a group of 340 global banks"

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, criticized the United States and Britain for opposing German attempts to put greater regulation, or at least reviews, of the financial sector on the international agenda last year, when she was leading the Group of 7.

“Everyone who produces a real product knows what it looks like and what standards it is up to,” Mrs. Merkel said, while traveling in Austria. “One also needs to know with a financial product what’s involved. Otherwise, these sorts of things happen that we then all have to pay for.”

Christian de Boissieu, chairman of the French prime minister’s council of economic analysis, said: “The U.S. must take charge of the budgetary costs of the crisis. I’m all for trans-Atlantic solidarity, but this doesn’t include financing the bailout.”

Foreign Nations Pledge Support, but Not Financing
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/business/23wealth.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin

US casino mentality blamed for meltdown

Getting the best out of case-method

"Wow!"

“That’s amazing”,

“I didn’t know that”

“Really?”

“That’s just not right”,

"I don’t agree at at all”

“Whats going on here?”

“ I have no clue”

“How is that related?”

“This is not working!”

are just some of the thoughts that go through your head while sitting through a case discussions. We have all been there and can relate to it. Sometimes we are amazed, sometimes confused and at times frustrated. Case-method is a roller-coaster ride. It is meant to be one. Some first years came by asking for advice on how to deal with case-method and the classroom discussion. I will share my experience and attempt a brief assessment of how one can maximize learning experience through the case-method.

Look at the case method as a three stage process first ‘prepare’, second ‘participate and engage’ and third ‘reflect’.

How often have you not followed the discussion as you were trying to brush up areas of the case that you didn’t read prior? To knowledgeably contribute to the discussion at hand you must adequately prepare all material prior to the case discussion. A lack of basic understanding can jeopardize the process by taking discussion to either irrelevant or already stated and documented facts. This does not mean that one should have figured out the complete answer to the problem. As and when you encounter issues you should note them down and raise them at an appropriate time in the classroom.

Case-method will only be effective when one chooses to actively participate in the conversation. The most insightful comments are those that directly relate to the topic under discussion or are an elaboration, responses or clarification to a point made short while earlier. To contribute effectively one must be engaged and attentive. If not one merely states a position they held before coming to the class which may or may not add value. My best learning moment came in a case that asked us to decide whether a for-profit company should take up a loss making venture for the benefit of the society. I was adamantly in the “no” camp but changed my point of view when a third camp framed it as “How can it be done” rather than “yes” or “no” question. While I had my point of view for good reasons I was attentive and interested in other points of view and left the class feeling enlightened. The discussions are least constructive when students hold certain assumptions such as “I know the subject better than anyone else”, “I know the subject and this is not going to add much value”, “I know my point is right and must convince others”, “I don’t really know the subject and must not talk”. In these situations the prophecy fulfills itself as the person leaves with the same opinions they held prior to the meeting.

Another important part of case-method frequently overlooked is that of reflection. Quite frequently we leave the classroom with some new insights, questions or frustrations. On one hand we must seek answers and clarify concepts that were not completely resolved during the discussion and on the other we must examine the process. We should explore if we were able to effectively learn from others, understand their viewpoints and clearly communicate our own. At the same time ask the basic questions; was the discussion effective? Did we collectively meet the objectives we set out for the class? This examination is primary source of ongoing improvement and learning.

I believe in the roller coaster ride that is the case-method. It is truly a powerful way to learn and like all things powerful it must be used right. So prepare, participate and engage and reflect to make your case-method experience a great one!

Readers please feel free to add from your experience. Lets do this in true case-method style.

Consulting summer internship in Sydney

I have done so much in the past few weeks both on and off work that I feel I can write a book on my summer internship and time in Australia. I am still a blogger though and I will make an attempt to distill all that in a blog post. As a result this post would naturally appear more as a laundry list rather than insightful write up of my experience. Hopefully in the near future I can follow up with some thoughts and reflections.

After the first couple of weeks of settling in I was beginning to get deeply involved in my project. The project was an organizational transformation initiative for a Business unit for a huge telecom company. As part of this initiative we were looking at Profitability analysis, operational performance, organization, performance evaluation, service and growth strategy all organized into different work-streams. I got to own a work-stream as well as contribute to analysis and discussions in other streams. Our team was based out of Melbourne so I was on the road for most of my internship. I definitely did enjoy the traveling-consultant lifestyle but it does get tiring. Another interesting aspect of my team was all the five members were from different continents. It was also somewhat reflective of the diversity in the office. For obvious reason I cannot divulge the details of the work I did but it was definitely exciting and I got to contribute a great deal. Darden first year had prepared me really well for this internship as I was well versed in different business areas as well had more than adequate analytical, communication and leadership skills to excel in my work.

Our company also organized numerous events and social activities. These included the Sydney harbor bridge climb, several lunches and dinners with other consultants at some of the best restaurants, client briefs with partners, AFL (Australian football league) experience at MCG in Melbourne, experience sharing meetings with consultants and managers and a dinner at partner's houses. There was no dearth of activities to keep us engaged and entertained as well as give us a good insight into the lifestyle of consultants, managers and partners. To add to that we also indulged in the office social events and the consultant off-site.

We (SAs) did get together to plan a few events ourselves. First was an exciting trip to Blue Mountains where we hiked one day and explored the ‘Jenolan caves’ the next. The place is just a couple of hours drive from Sydney but being there it felt isolated and exotic. All of us really loved this adventurous experience. The second was a trip to Phillip Island where the highlight was seeing the penguins, feeding the Koala, wallabies and kangaroos. I have never seen these animals live before so that was great first for me.

I would sum up my summer experience as very rewarding both on and off work. I don't think this post does justice to that but if you get an opportunity to see some of the pictures you will get a better taste. I came off learning a lot, enjoying myself, developing good relationships and not to forget getting the offer! I was definitely very pleased to secure the offer. Too wrap it all up we received personalized cuff links from Tiffany and co as parting gifts. With the summer internship wrapped up I am excited to get back to Darden for the Second year program.

The best and the ‘West’

The Olympic fever is on and the Chinese have put up a spectacular show. Whether it’s the amazing infrastructure they setup, the flawless execution and organisation, the hospitality of the locals, the sporting crowds, or the spectacular performance of its athletes blowing away the opposition, they have been impressive. Any which way you look at it they have done a brilliant job and I admire them for that. I think it truly deserves applause no matter your viewpoint on the Chinese political and human right situation.

However, it seems that nothing Chinese achieve is going to be good enough for the ‘West’. I have news feed from different sources across the world just so that I get different perspectives on complicated issues around the world. Views from the western media on Olympics have been particularly intriguing. Before the Olympics started there was furore over Chinese human rights record and the Tibet issue. Western media blew the Chinese apart conveniently forgetting parallels such as NATO occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq, Guntameno Bay, attacks on minorities and migrants in US, ruthless detention on illegal immigrants etc. Then there was huge outcry about polluted Beijing and China’s irresponsibility when it comes to climate change. China accounts for 13% world’s Carbon dioxide emissions with 1.3 Billion citizens while US accounts for 25% of world’s emission with 300 million citizens. Add to that it is the only developed country not to have ratified the Kyoto protocol. Ah… and there was the opening ceremony where the Chinese had the girl lip sync to the song sung by another girl, presumably because of physical appearance. I agree that is very prejudist but aren’t these values transported out of the west where ‘fashion industry’, big labels, reality beauty shows and ‘who wants to be a supermodel’ rule? What about the controversy of the underage gymnast in the Chinese team. To my knowledge Gymnastics is the only Olympic sport where the age limit applies. I guess the objective is to prevent children being pushed into the sport and being exploited. Then why does it not apply to other sports such as swimming where Australia is happy to push 15 and 16 years into Olympic competitions. Also how can one claim these girls are underage, just by appearance? It’s very apparent to anyone with some understanding of Asians that due to their culture and physical attributes they look lot younger than westerners. Having said that, they could still very well be underage and the Chinese may have cheated but to assume this and pass judgement is plain ignorant and prejudist.

The ‘west’ has time and again raised the issue of ‘freedom of press’ in China and Russia. They say it is the only way to ensure unbiased reporting of events. Well! If you look at the past 5 years of American journalism or even at the events currently unfolding in Georgia I would have serious doubts about this claim.

Coming back to the Olympics, so why is there such a huge outcry against the Chinese? Is the ‘West’ jealous that someone has challenged their long standing dominance or are the Chinese just oppressive, dictatorial, cheats and child abusers? You decide!!

One person I am sure the Chinese are grateful for is ‘Phelps’. Thanks to his extraordinary performance American press has finally something good and relevant to talk about.

Disclaimer: I have not run any fact check on this, neither do I claim to have an unbiased opinion on the issue. I have just attempted to put forth my thoughts on what appears to me as a very hypocritical stance whose underlying motivation is not very clear to me.

Management Consulting Summer Internship in Sydney – Week 1-2

We started our internship with 3-day training in resort in cape-cod. We were all provided lavish rooms in villas on the resort and most of the training took place in the conference rooms in the villa. The event as much for socializing with other interns form all over world as familiarizing us with tools used by the firm. Also included were case practice and sessions to help us understand what to expect in the consulting world. I particularly enjoyed the social events in the evening; casino night was easily my favorite.

After a long flight we reached Sydney on Monday and were glad that we didn’t have to go to work today. I joined another intern to explore the surroundings and get a first look at Sydney. At first impressions I compared Sydney to New York, lot smaller with little more culture and lot more flair, ah and of course lot better weather too.

View of Sydney harbour bridge from down the street

Our office was on the 22nd floor right in downtown with a great view of the opera house, Sydney harbor and the bridge. You feel truly blessed to have such a view at work. We figured that concentrating on work would be a challenge to which our manger joked about putting us on the opposite side of the building but thankfully didn’t. We were setup with laptops and familiarized with the processes and policies. The rest of the week was slow as we got onboard and up to speed on the project. We did get opportunities to meet with partners and they briefed on some of the work they were doing. I was amazed at both the quality of the work and opportunities to make such a huge impact. It all sounded very interesting. Some of the B-school myths about consulting were getting cleared.

View from our office

There were 4 interns from US B-schools HBS, Tuck, Hass and Darden (me) and one from Melbourne Business school. The US school interns were all based in Sydney, by choice. I was assigned to a project for one of the big banks in Australia. However, the client suddenly decided to cut back on costs as it approached end of financial year (End of July in Australia) as a result the project was delayed. As an intern, it was not possible for me to wait so they reassigned me very quickly to a project for a telecom client. This work pertained more to organizational change and turnaround, which I had no previous experience in and hence very excited to pursue. I always thought I would be pretty good in organizational issues through my years of experience in service industry but I guess I’ll find out soon. IN spite of quick reassignment I had free time on Thursday and I was offered an opportunity to leave early and explore Sydney. I took the opportunity and headed to check out Bondi Beach which though not crowded was a good sight. I still firmly believe that nothing can beat the beaches back home in Goa.

Bondi Beach
The weekend the office headed for a Ski-trip offsite to Thredbo. The winter here has just about started and we landed their on the first weekend the Ski slopes opened. Rumour has it the entire event was moved up so that Summer Associates could participate. That would make us an unpopular group but if the office folks felt such emotions they did a good job of hiding it! With only one ski slope open most people chose to skip skiing in favor of hike to Mt. Kosciusko. There was plenty of snow around and it was just slightly above freezing. The 3 hour hike and back was delightful. A small group of us had some extra fun slipping and sliding on the slopes rather than sticking to the trail. The scenery around was beautiful and especially so while sitting on the lift up and down as it allowed us time to view and absorb it. Later that night we had bit party at the local bars and club. It started just before the France-Australia rugby test and went late into the night. The dinner and drink expenses were all borne by our firm which I thought was exceptional generosity. My HBS-buddy and me ordered a Kangaroo and we had the pleasure of cooking it as well. It’s very common to find “cook it yourself” places in Australia apparently and I enjoyed both the Kangaroo and the experience of cooking it.

On our way up to Mt kosciusko

Next morning we tried a run on the bob-sled which was lot of fun. On our way back our colleagues were generous enough to divert to Canberra to give us a glimpse of the city. We also stopped by parliament building for a few minutes. We were back in Sydney late evening. I reflected on the exciting and eventful first 2 weeks on my internship.

Parliment building in Canberra
To be continued…

Summer Internship

I realise I haven't really talked about my internship yet. If you follow other MBA bloggers you might be seeing their posts on internship progress, while I continue on and on about my travels. The reason is I haven't started it yet; I start tomorrow. I am interning with a top consulting firm in their Sydney, Australia office. The world of consulting excites me and I feel lucky to have secured an offer from my top choice firm. I am equally excited about working in Australia. I have never traveled there and continue to hear excellent thing, especially about Sydney. I first fly to a destination within US for a 3-day training and offsite, and then head down to Sydney. Its going to be a long flight!

Since I came back from Europe I haven't done much except eat, sleep, drink, watch movies and read books. Though I did take a intermediate salsa class and play a few games of tennis. All in all it was a pretty leisurely time. Now I have to change gears again to a hectic work life. I am not sure how I feel about that. I was getting used to doing absolutely nothing and living at my own pace. Well! lazy thoughts apart I am still pretty excited about Sydney and consulting work. I shall keep you posted on my progress.

Backpacking in Europe - Paris : Day 3-4

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things!

Having covered a lot in the first 2 days, the next two were less hectic but equally enjoyable. Weather wasn't the best though but the slight persistent drizzle didn't stop me from seeing what I wanted to. My disappointment was not being able to see Palace of Versailles as it was closed on Mondays. I only got to see it from outside and walk around in the gardens. However, the visit to 'Hotel des invalides' on Day 3 and Basilica of Sacre Couer, Notredame and Ste Chappelle more than made up for it!

Catching the RER train to Versailles
Palace of Versailles

Gardens in Palace of Versailles
More from the gardens

Pillars opposite to Hotel des invalides

Hotel des Invalides

Moulin Rouge in Montmartre Basillca of Sacre Couer
Notredame
Inside Ste-Chappelle

Paris has way too much stuff to see in 3 or 4 days. Everything is spectacular and interesting, city is diverse, exciting and on top of all that, Romantic. I definitely think it lives up to all the hype that is created around it.

This brought and end to my 2 week backpacking trip. I felt I wanted to travel more, a lot more. There were so many places in Europe left to cover, I had to come back. I felt such incredible energy and freedom during this trip. I was doing whatever I wanted, going where ever I wanted staying as long and enjoying myself to the fullest. At the same time I learned a lot about Europe's history, art, culture and lifestyle. I felt enlightened enough to the recognise the limited extent of my knowledge and understanding. This trip certainly cleared some misgivings I had about Europe and Europeans. It came at the right time for me as I try to be more open minded and perceptive. I have always been on a quest for meaning and purpose, and this experience was another critical element of my construction and philosophy.

I leave you with a famous quote from Mark Twain

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.

Backpacking in Europe - Paris : Day 1-2

Paris, je t'aime! Well what else can I say. A lot has been said and written about Paris. I definitely found it to be a very romantic city; beautiful with great history and culture. At the same time I was amazed with the number of people. A huge urban sprawl wasn't one of things I expected to see in Paris and it was that neat either. This facts apart it still was a really delightful place to be in and I thoroughly enjoyed my 4 day stay. In fact there is so much too see in Paris and I took so many pictures I'll have to narrate my story in 2 posts. Here goes

Beautiful narrow streets in Latin Quarter

River seine from one of bridges

Famous Pyramid entrance to the Louvre. The museum houses over 200,000 paintings. It took me about 5 hours to cover. Most people stay for the entire day

Napoleon's dining room(Part of Napoleon's quarters) Inside the Louvre

Obelix at Placa de la concorde. You can also see Champs-Elysees and Arc de triomphe in the backgroundView of Champs-Elysees from in front of Arc De Triomphe

Arc de triomphe at the end of Champs Elysees

My first close look at Eiffel tower

Champs de Mars as seen from an Eiffel tower. A concert had just started.

Spectacular view of Paris from Eiffel tower. You could identify many landmarks. Can easily see Hotel des Invalides with golden crown, place where Napoleon is buried.

The other side from Champs de Mars. View from Eiffel tower

Eiffel tower lit upFirst two days were indeed exhausting. There is so much to see in Paris and the streets are so inviting that you could walk them endlessly. I certainly ended up doing that a lot. Next two days were quickly exciting. Stay tuned for more pictures.

Backpacking in Europe Part 2 - Barcelona

My second stop on the backpacking trip was Barcelona. I was not staying in a hostel this time around but I heard 'Kabul' is a really good one and located very close to 'La Rambalas'

I had been to Barcelona before, in March, and covered most of the popular sites. I have written all about it here

http://anandologue.blogspot.com/2008/03/barcelona-gbe-part-two.html

http://anandologue.blogspot.com/2008/03/barcelona-gbe-part-two.html

this time around I chose to enjoy the Barcelona Nightlife and cover sites around the city. I'll describe those in this post.

Sitges beach as you approach from the town

Streets of Sitges

View of Barcelona from Mirablau bar on Mt. Tibidabo

Exotic Restaraunt in midtown Barcelona. It had couhes and beds for couples to lie on and eat. Never seen that before. Barcelona has excellent variety of restaraunts with great food. Its much cheaper than other European cities. It also boasts excellent nightlife with clubs open 7 days a week, packed from atleast wednesdays to sundays and open till about 7 am in the morning. Sorry I dont have more pictures for public viewing ;)

Heading towards Monserrat on cable car

Looking down at the tram system from St. Juan

Beautiful shrine atop St. Juan

Approaching the Monastery in Monserrat

Monastery entrance

This trip to Barcelona was little bit different from my earlier one but equally if not more enjoyable. Barcelona is a beautiful city with lot of character. It boasts a variety of sites from historical, architectural splendours, musuems, palaces to gardens for recrreation to variety of restaraunts, bars and clubs for exciting night life. If you haven't been here you are really missing something!

Backpacking in Europe Part 1 - Madrid

Here is my travelogue on the backpacking trip in three parts. Since there is a lot to write and pictures tell a thousand words, I will make this a photo-blog, mainly narrating my travel through pictures. It so happens that this is also my 100th post and writing about my Europe trip seems an apt way to go about it. When I started this blog I never would have wondered that I would reach this milestone. Anyway, here goes. Hope you enjoy this 3 part series

First Look at Plaza Mayor. it was originally founded in 15th century

walking down calle mayor. One of the beautiful streets in central Madrid

Kids dressed up for Festival of San Isidro. The celebration marks the beginning of the bull fighting season

Traditional dance form I caught in Plaza Mayor

Cathedral Nuestra sra. de la Almudena. Right next to the the royal palace

Palacio Royal. view from the cathedral. Palace is magnificent and the luxury reflects the grandeur of Spain in medieval times

View of Madrid from the cathedral

Fuente de neptuno (Fountain of Neptune) on Paseo del Prado

Entrance to Museo del Prado. One of the most famous museums in Europe. Has a great collection from 14th century to modern times

Downstairs Bar at cats Hostel. Hostel I stayed at. It was a fun and exciting place to meet travelers from all over

Parque Del Retiro. A huge park near the center of Madrid. Houses 2 museums, a lake, rose garden and was the biggest park I have ever seen

Rose garden at the park

More from the Park

The magnificent entrance of the National Library

Goodbye Cats Hostel. I am Leaving Madrid for Barcelona

I did also manage to see Musuem Thyssen Bournemisza, Archaeological Museum and the Atocha station. Also of note is the fact that night life in Madrid goes from 12 am to 7am every night, yes 7 days a week. The flurry of tourist does help to keep it going but the lifestyle amongst city's younger population is pretty much of living life and partying. Not only did I enjoy the great sights and museums Madrid had to offer but also the exciting and energetic nightlife. I Definitely recommend a visit to anyone who hasn't been there yet.