Beat The GMAT a GMAT & MBA community

Admissions Status: Kellogg (accepted & attending), Michigan Ross (accepted). Duke Fuqua (accepted with scholarship), Wharton (wait-listed), Harvard (Ding), MIT (Ding), Darden (Ding)

Profile:
Location: London, UK
GMAT: 720
Work Ex: 8 years - 4 years Supply Chain, 4 years Public Sector Consulting
Education: Post Graduation in Management from Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

Introduction and structure of the Post
I have divided my post into three parts. Part 1 was published last month and covered two topics: school selection and GMAT. Part 1 also provided some information on my profile as an MBA candidate.
That post is available here http://www.beatthegmat.com/my-b-school-journey-part-1-of-3-t82929.html
Part 2 was also published last month and covered four topics: school visits, recommendations, essays and applications submission. That post is available here http://www.beatthegmat.com/my-b-school-journey-part-2-of-3-t83341.html#366768
This (final) part covers three topics: Interviews, decisions, and preparing for school. I hope that readers preparing for B-school admissions find this helpful.
You can also read about my time at Kellogg by following updates on my personal blog at http://ramanjulka-mytake.blogspot.com/

I've structured the post as follows:
Part 1 - The decision to apply and the approach to school selection. Why MBA?
Part 1 - GMAT
Part 2 - School visits
Part 2 - Essays, including networking and reviewers
Part 2 - Recommendations
Part 2 - Applications submission
Part 3 - Interviews
Part 3 - Decisions
Part 3 - Preparing for School, including networking

Interviews
Time: August-October 2010.

Two of the schools I applied to offered an open interview process. Both Kellogg and Duke allow candidates to schedule and attend an interview even before the application is submitted. This is an optional process. In any case, if you do not interview during the open process, you may still be invited for an interview if you’re shortlisted. All admitted candidates have to interview. In my case, the open interview process for Kellogg and Duke meant that I had fewer interviews to worry about at a later stage in Round 1.
The open interview process is a great opportunity to demonstrate your strengths as a candidate, especially if your profile does not come across as stellar straight away. In my case, I was up against the fact that I had completed my post-graduation in business studies, and that my years of work experience put me in the wrong side of the class age-range. However, I was aware that if I had a chance to get in front of the interviewer, I could share my motivation for pursuing the course as well as share my thoughts on the value that I could add to the class.
My interview preparation involved brainstorming to ensure that I had content for key interview topics - strengths, areas of development, why B-school, examples of leadership, team work, failure etc. I also undertook in-depth research for each school in order to form an informed view on the activities and clubs I wanted to be a part of. I also ensured that I had a good understanding of the school culture so that I could highlight the relevant areas of my experience that aligned with the culture.
A few days prior to the interview, I condensed this content into bullets onto an A4 sheet so that I could review the cues and ensure that I picked the right stories and examples. This worked well for me. However, a word of caution: you will certainly be asked questions that you may not have thought of or prepared for. Hopefully, if you’ve prepared well enough, you would have developed the right technique to be able to think on your feet and answer the question in a structured fashion.

My general tips on interviews are as follows:
- If you have the opportunity to attend open interviews, please do so. Not only will it help you to make a stronger case for your admission, it will also alleviate some scheduling pressure, especially if you’re applying to multiple schools in the same round.
- Remember to do in-depth research about the school and the activities that you can be a part of. The interviewer may test your genuine interest in the school by checking what contribution you can make as a student.
- Prepare three or four good questions to ask the interviewer. Also, please make sure you don’t ask for information that is readily available on the school website!
- Remember to thank you interviewer for his or her time. If the interviewer exchanges a business card with you, use the email address to thank them. Also, don’t expect a response! In many case, interviewers are advised not to respond. But that should not stop you from thanking them for their time and your opportunity to interview.

Some relevant resources:
http://www.clearadmit.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
http://www.beatthegmat.com/mba/category/interview
School websites


Decisions
Time: December 2010 - February 2011.

I was in a fortunate position to receive multiple admission offers. The final decision, though, was quite a straightforward one. The main reason was that right at the start of the process, I had drawn up an objective list of schools, and Kellogg was my top choice. The key reason was that it was the only 1 year course I was applying to, and the school had the strongest curriculum focus in the areas of my interest (social enterprise, public policy and consulting). So, rather than spend time on how I made the decision, I think it makes sense to talk about the process involved in offers of admission.
Depending on which schools you’ve applied to, the decisions start to be released around Christmas. By the second week of December, a number of schools begin to roll-out admission notifications, and there tends to be a raft of decisions by Christmas. Around Christmas, there is a frustrating and anxious hiatus, and the process re-starts around the second week of January. Of course, I’m referring to Round 1.
Most schools will offer you the admission and then expect you to provide the deposit by early March, for you to be able to secure your place. Therefore, in real terms, you have between two and three months to make up your mind. These timescales are much shorter if you’ve been offered a place as part of the early-admissions process which is an option in a number of schools (for example, Duke).
The best way to use the time between offer and deposit payment is to attend the new student events offered by some schools. If you are particularly split between two schools, then the best way to decide is to attend these events and get to know the school from close quarters. Not only will you be able to see the school in action, you’ll also meet some of your potential classmates.
Personally, my view is that you should not spend too much time in making a decision. You should have done your research at the start of the process, added to that during the admissions and interview process, and really should have a pretty well-informed view of which school you should attend. Once you’ve got the decision out of the way, and you’ve informed the other schools that you appreciate their offer but you’ve decided to attend another school, you should get cracking on preparing to attend the school. The more time you have for that, the more value you can get out of your time at school.
My general tips on decisions are as follows:
- If you have received multiple offers, then you should make a decision as soon as possible in order to give yourself more time to prepare for the school.
- Use the admission events for admitted students to experience the school from close quarters. This will also allow you to see the city and assess housing options and cost of living - factors that you may decide to integrate into your decision process.
- If you’re unable to decide between two schools, be open and seek advice from experienced people - alumni, admission counselors, or people from the industry you’re targeting to move to after school.

Some relevant resources:
School websites

Preparing for school
Time: February 2011 - May 2011.

Once I’d made my decision to attend Kellogg, I got down to re-connecting with the students and alumni I’d met during the application process. The questions and information I was seeking at this stage was very different - my focus was on understanding about living in Evanston (Chicago-suburb where Northwestern University is located), understanding what I should be doing to prepare myself for school in order to get the most out of the experience, and figuring out details about the industry I was looking to join after school. I also decided to attend the student event on campus, even though I’d already decided to join Kellogg.
Some of you may be aware that the 1-year program at Kellogg begins in the summer (June). This additional term is used to complete the mandatory first-year curriculum. Therefore, between attending the “Day at Kellogg” event in February and starting school, there was a lot that needed to be done in 14 weeks. I used the DAK event to finalize housing and find a pre-school place for my son. At this point, I also had a fair idea of the costs involved which enabled me to complete my financial planning. I also used the event to connect with many current and incoming students, with whom I remained in contact since.
For international students, the visa process takes up a lot of time between decision and attending school. Therefore, it’s important to take that into account as you plan your holidays and travel during this time.
I’ll be posting more details on my preparation for school on my personal blog.
I hope you enjoyed the three-part series of my journey to B-school. You can follow my experience of my time at Kellogg through my personal blog at: http://ramanjulka-mytake.blogspot.com/