Mariyam Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 Guys' date=' I just dont want to put up details online. Suffice in knowing that holy will be getting back to books. :confusedman:[/quote'] Thats wonderful Holy. :two_thumbs_up: Good luck with the MBA program. How did you prepare for the GMAT? Does it require coaching/tuition? I've gone through a few sample papers and find that their verbal part is pretty straight forward. Although the essays that I read were borizzzzzing. I think for most of us English shouldn't be a problem at all. The maths part however seemed difficult. And the questions too were quite confusing. I remember reading this one question that said; which of the following is not the right answer. Mark all the options? Which book(s) did you refer to? Kaplan?
akshayxyz Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 Thats wonderful Holy. :two_thumbs_up: Good luck with the MBA program. How did you prepare for the GMAT? Does it require coaching/tuition? I've gone through a few sample papers and find that their verbal part is pretty straight forward. Although the essays that I read were borizzzzzing. I think for most of us English shouldn't be a problem at all. The maths part however seemed difficult. And the questions too were quite confusing. I remember reading this one question that said; which of the following is not the right answer. Mark all the options? Which book(s) did you refer to? Kaplan? For your kind of background, Verbal (RC and CR) would be pretty easy, but you will need to learn and practice "Sentence Correction" to get high scores in verbal. As for Maths - if you don't have a good background, you will need to practice a lot. Don't need to go for Kaplan. Official Guide is enough - at least for Verbal part. But if you have lot of time at hand - then you can afford (and might need) to refer various sources for Maths part. Also, GMAT is only one part of the application process. Do you have any particular schools in mind (US, Europe, or desi ISB, NUS-SGPR ??) - a lot depends on that too.
hari504504 Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 Apart from GMAT and work experience.. if you are looking at the good B-schools.. make sure you have solid CSR (Community Service Experience) with atleast one of your references coming from the organization. Plenty of candidates come with high GMATs and high academic grades with good work experience behind them. CSR often turns out to be the differentiator. (Entrepreneurial experience comes a close second)
chanakya Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 GMAT is easy... Honestly though Kaplan 800 is good for RCs etc, they put you to sleep if you can wade through them then you can score high in English Other than that Manhattan Sentence correction if you struggle with English like most Indians do Maths tricky just practice and dont let your ego catch up But seriously GMAT is the easiest part, its the freaking essays for B schools that are killing, requires hours of research and rewrites. If anyone needs some help with essays etc drop me a mail, though i dont check in often hopefully will catch up. and CSR is important for two big things, aloows you to networ and if you have less experience allows to potray your leadership skills. Doesnt matter which MBA school its always about leadership :D
akshayxyz Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 Apart from GMAT and work experience.. if you are looking at the good B-schools.. make sure you have solid CSR (Community Service Experience) with atleast one of your references coming from the organization. Plenty of candidates come with high GMATs and high academic grades with good work experience behind them. CSR often turns out to be the differentiator. (Entrepreneurial experience comes a close second) That is one of the biggest myth. Never do/put something just for the sake of it. Top schools can easily separate it (fillers) out from something you did out of passion.
hari504504 Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 That is one of the biggest myth. Never do/put something just for the sake of it. Top schools can easily separate it (fillers) out from something you did out of passion. dude, when I say have it, I mean get some CSR done !..:haha:.. not bluff. Its not for the sake of it.. they assess candidates based on a profile , ones with high GMAT scores and 4.0 GPA in undergrads are not very uncommon. Whether you do it out of passion or just to get into a top business school, doing community service is huge. And what really proves to them that you made a commited effort - is the reference letter you get (which ofcourse you only would if you did a good job).
chanakya Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 Actually trying for Online MBA through good schools. there was a good article about harvard MBA by doing classes outside or something, check it out comes at 1/4th the cost and you need only 6 months full time classes or something
hari504504 Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 there was a good article about harvard MBA by doing classes outside or something' date=' check it out comes at 1/4th the cost and you need only 6 months full time classes or something[/quote'] really ? I just checked the Harvard website http://www.exed.hbs.edu/Pages/faq.aspx#faq9c
chanakya Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 http://www.extension.harvard.edu/ you do some courses in the extension school, then carry forward the credits for the MBA :) thats how i remember it, will try and look up the article
chanakya Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=harvard%20extension%20school%20mba&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CFMQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpersonalmba.com%2Fhacking-higher-education-harvard%2F&ei=GgJWT4bnGs_KrAfogsCvBw&usg=AFQjCNGrHV1xLw7TuHb_88mx89qfYQYsnw&cad=rja unable to open it in office... says its a hacking site :D personalmba.com very decent site
zen Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 Getting in to a top B-school is a difficult process but if you know how to play your cards, you could make it easy for yourself. In my case, the 3 top b-schools in Ontario all wanted me as their student. Your MBA application should be no different than what you would be doing if you were applying for a job. You need to evaluate yourself, pick out your strength and present yourself as a brand. All B-schools applications have the following underlying themes: * Why MBA? * Why this b-school? * What can you bring to the MBA class? Top B-schools have a holistic approach to evaluating applications. GPA and GMAT are important but what's also important is your work experience, how you present yourself and the interview process. You need to show that you are a perfect fit for that particular B-schools' environment. This is where it is important how you evaluate and present yourself. After you have decided how to brand yourself, the first step should be to send your resume to the B-school asking them if you could apply. If your resume is strong, many times, the b-school make up their mind on whether they want you. If they want you (you fit their profile of a strong candidate), their communication with you would be such where they are guiding you to get you in. These B-schools receive tons of applications but there are a few students that they want and your focus should be to show them that you are the one. In my case, when I went to interview and tour the b-schools, the once outside Toronto paid for my hotel and traveling expenses. I don't know if this is the norm as there were other prospective students attending as well but it did not appear as if they received similar benefits. MBA was something that I always wanted to pursue. In the past, I was suppose to be going to a reputed B-school in Spain but things didn't work out at that time. During the Christmas holidays, I did some introspection and finally decided to check this off my to-do list. In Jan, I applied, in Feb I was in. May be I was destined to do MBA this year and which is probably why things worked out this time. Good luck to all the applicants.
punjabi_khota Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 Holy I thought you had a big family bizness going on :D, why MBA , its only gonna train you for manipulating spreadsheets and powerpoints ? :phehehe: Are you going the Ambani sons' route :acute:
hari504504 Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 http://www.extension.harvard.edu/ you do some courses in the extension school, then carry forward the credits for the MBA :) thats how i remember it, will try and look up the article very interesting man :hmmm: Good Info..
punjabi_khota Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 Harvard extension degrees, though taught by several Harvard instructors, are awarded separately. Just FYI.
Holysmoke Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 Thats wonderful Holy. :two_thumbs_up: Good luck with the MBA program. How did you prepare for the GMAT? Does it require coaching/tuition? I've gone through a few sample papers and find that their verbal part is pretty straight forward. Although the essays that I read were borizzzzzing. I think for most of us English shouldn't be a problem at all. The maths part however seemed difficult. And the questions too were quite confusing. I remember reading this one question that said; which of the following is not the right answer. Mark all the options? Which book(s) did you refer to? Kaplan? To be honest, I've always been good at these kind of math and verbal aptitude tests. The math i find easy, English is the one that I tend to mess up sometimes. I actually studied for the CAT, so l used RS Agarwal for math. English I didn't really study for.
Holysmoke Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 Holy I thought you had a big family bizness going on :D, why MBA , its only gonna train you for manipulating spreadsheets and powerpoints ? :phehehe: Are you going the Ambani sons' route :acute: :haha: Asswhole. :finger: This school I'm going to has some good placements. If I end up getting a good offer I will not come back to my family business in the near future.
akshayxyz Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 dude, when I say have it, I mean get some CSR done !..:haha:.. not bluff. Its not for the sake of it.. they assess candidates based on a profile , ones with high GMAT scores and 4.0 GPA in undergrads are not very uncommon. Whether you do it out of passion or just to get into a top business school, doing community service is huge. And what really proves to them that you made a commited effort - is the reference letter you get (which ofcourse you only would if you did a good job). that is only half information. When I said - do not do just for the sake of it. I was specifically referring to examples, where people start thinking about CSR just before apping - e.g. someone who just started thinking for 2013 today, reads somewhere that CSR counts and realizes its missing in his profile..., and then just goes and join some NGO or something, just to have a bullet point in CV. There is no argument that, if you already have 'significant' CSR experience ( esp leadership type), it puts you slightly ahead of those with everything else same. But, even then - the quality of experience matters a lot. Admission committee of top bschools is not fool to not see through one's NGO experience that started just 3-4 months before application process. Agreed that an all round profile (CSR, + good acads / GMAT, + career progression, + recommendations to substantiate your app/CV points) - is preferred.. but it does not mean that if CSR is missing, it will be seen as disadvantage. If you have stood in top 5% in your area, with leadership experience to show off.. no one would bother about missing CSR. It is like - whatever you have done, you must have done well enough to be outstanding in your field. And then again CSR is not the end of it there is quota for diversity also. e.g., you can be contributing to some professional body like tennis-academy, weekend event organizers or something - out of your passion, and not some random NGOs just for the sake of it. Why CSR is so popular for additional brownie points is because - more often than not, people with genuine leadership skills tend to have touched various disciplines of life - CSR being one of the most common (besides work related experience). It is not like, if you have not done CSR you can not display those skills in your app.
gaurav92 Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 Good Luck Holy :icflove: And now get into your books and stuff, and pass on the IPL tickets to me :P
akshayxyz Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 In short - if you are planning to apply for next session, continue doing what you have done well, and write your best app out of what you already have. But if you are planning for something 2-3 years down the line, then you can plan for CSR, or anything else that you really enjoy doing besides your work... it does not have to be just CSR.
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