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Hi Samir,

I have a query regarding community work. Like most Indian candidates it was missing from my profile too, so I have been volunteering for Tech of India since mid Decemeber and teach municipal school kids for 3-5 hrs every Saturday. I will be applying to BSchools next year, just wanted to know will this be a +ve for my profile or as you as "I am shooting myself in the foot" by starting it just about a year before the app.

Thanks,

Choosing a Bschool: Is Harvard the best MBA program in the world?

While selecting bschools, variations of this question pop up in the minds of MBA applicants. Other queries falling in a similar category are as follows.

- Which is the best 2 year (or 1 year) MBA program?
- Are US universities better than those in the UK or Europe?
- Should I choose international business schools over Indian MBA colleges?

All of these questions are natural to have and justified, considering how much you would be investing in the program. Ask most Indian applicants and most would have a standard answer...Read More

Simon MBA Rochester admit with scholarship

MBA scholarships are tough to come by at the good business schools. Convert $20,000 into Indian Rupees (what would you do with the extra 10 lakhs that you save?) and the MBA success story sounds so much better.

For Ankit Chopra, all this came after he had put in more than the usual share of MBA application effort. Starting from his GMAT preparation to the time it took to write the best possible MBA essays. The end result was that the helpful Associate Dean from the Simon MBA program was advising Ankit on the electives he should be taking in the course that would be aligned with his career interests...Read More

rednblue wrote:Hi Samir,

I have a query regarding community work. Like most Indian candidates it was missing from my profile too, so I have been volunteering for Tech of India since mid Decemeber and teach municipal school kids for 3-5 hrs every Saturday. I will be applying to BSchools next year, just wanted to know will this be a +ve for my profile or as you as "I am shooting myself in the foot" by starting it just about a year before the app.

Thanks,

Teach for India is a respected and credible initiative to be associated with. Plus your involvement will be for an extended duration. So you aren't shooting yourself in the foot.

But I hope you are also connected with this for reasons that go beyond MBA applications. Involve yourself completely in the process and you'll get much more than just additional stories for your MBA essays.

Ensure that the kids get something worthwhile so that they look at you as their hero and remember you for something that is much more than the weekly 5 hours you spend with them.

Smeal MBA Penn State Full-tuition scholarship plus stipend

When MBA education costs are spiralling out of control, a full-tuition scholarship can mean a lot to Indian candidates with pockets that aren't as deep as their other MBA classmates.

Smeal MBA granted a full-ride (100% tuition waiver) and more, in terms of a steady income (stipend) to Kumar Pushkal.

He stands tall and confident today, as the entrepreneur in him knows very well that he's already got his RoI even before he starts his MBA program at a top school known for its Supply Chain specialization.

In this guest post, he describes how and what he did to get not only an admit but also a whole lot of free money from one of his top choice business schools...Read more

It's time to revisit MBA entrance processes



My article in Firstpost.com focussing on the lopsided weightage given to standardised entrance tests in Indian Bschools.

Got an opinion about it? Please share it as a comment below that article...Read more

Vanderbilt MBA in HR - Human Resource Management

Sonal Yadav thinks of the Vanderbilt MBA program as the 'Harvard in HR'. She had a bit of a rough ride with her GMAT score and she was pretty clear about the schools that she wanted to apply to. And many of her advisors and well-wishers painted a bleak scenario for an international candidate trying to get into a Human Resources role in an American company.

But she went ahead and applied to the Vandy MBA. Minutes after she had wrapped up a fantastic interview with the Vanderbilt admissions officer, she got a shock. And then soon after, a pleasant surprise. Sonal has written interesting articles for a US-based newspaper. See if her flair for journalism comes across in her writing....Read More

Management Consulting Jobs: 1. Why consulting?

Our last post on strategy consulting jobs got a lot of interest (check out the comments to that post vis-a-vis the others). But due to our focus on MBA essays, we couldn't write more about the topic. Then we got to know about Jaineel Aga, a management consultant turned private equity professional who's been active in the field for many years. In fact, he has also written a book that explains how Indian professionals can get consulting jobs...Read More

Story of an MBA dropout - An IITian goes Beyond The MBA Hype

This wasn't meant to be a promotional post for the MBA book. In fact, many of the events in this story happened many years back, before the book was published. I had almost forgotten about the interactions with our friend, Amit (name changed).

But he got in touch again after reading the book and mentioned that the content and advice in the book resonated with the discussions we had many moons back. I asked if he'd be willing to share his story with others who might be thinking a lot of what's mentioned in the book is pure fiction.
Several names (including the narrator, bschools and his employers) have not been revealed, for reasons that will become apparent once you read his story. And trust us, this post isn't made up...Read More

Does your designation really matter?

Beyond setting an internal pecking order within the organisation, from an employee's perspective, what is the utility of this tag? Read more

Vanderbilt MBA in HR - Human Resource Management

Sonal Yadav thinks of the Vanderbilt MBA program as the 'Harvard in HR'. She had a bit of a rough ride with her GMAT score and she was pretty clear about the schools that she wanted to apply to. And many of her advisors and well-wishers painted a bleak scenario for an international candidate trying to get into a Human Resources role in an American company.

But she went ahead and applied to the Vandy MBA. Minutes after she had wrapped up a fantastic interview with the Vanderbilt admissions officer, she got a shock. And then soon after, a pleasant surprise. Sonal has written interesting articles for a US-based newspaper. See if her flair for journalism comes across in her writing....Read More

MBA essay writing tips for Indian MBA Applicants: Part 1

Writing MBA essays can be tough. Writing it for an Admissions officer who may not have an indepth idea about Indian business is tougher. There are pre-conceived notions that can work against you if you don't address them clearly in your MBA essays.

In a guest series, our good friend Jon Frank, founder of Precision Essay, offers MBA essay tips on what Indian MBA applicants can do to create the best MBA essays within the given constraints (the tough indian IT male applicant pool) and increase their odds of making a positive impact on the MBA application reviewer...Read More

Family owned business management vs professional companies

In India, family owned businesses have done very well. They generate a lot of jobs and keep the economy growing. Millions of employees work with a single entrepreneur managed or family businesses. Quite a few of such family businesses grow into empures, big enough to take on the might of the best multinational companies. But the original small company culture tends to get retained. Some like it, some don't.

Shantanu Bhattacharya has worked with both types of companies and has strong opinions about why the family owned business model doesn't work for him. Shantanu is also a King Kong when it comes to Ping Pong. A very talented Table-Tennis player who could have done very well in sports (national and international level) if the corporate work hadn't lured him in....Read More

Management Consulting Jobs: 3. How important is the MBA brand?

Management consultant Jaineel Aga started the blog series on Management Consulting Jobs with a post on Why management consulting and followed it up with why consulting jobs roles are popular. This week he talks about the relevance of business schools in the recruitment process...Read More

MBA essay writing tips for Indian MBA Applicants: Part 2

MBA essay writing can be a challenge. But once you know what you specifically need to focus on, it gets easier. This is more important for Indian MBA applicants (many from engineering and information technology IT backgrounds).

Jon Frank, founder of Precision Essay, started a guest series to share MBA essay tips for Indian MBA applicants. This is part two in the series...Read More