Goizueta - Accepted

Finally I am in! The rat race sees the completion of a lap. Goizueta has offered me admission into Two year program with good scholarship!

And like a true sportsperson, my heart says it is not the end! The journey has just begun for bigger and better things in life! So with an immense satisfaction in my heart, I just take a deep breath and move on!

Goizueta Interview

Emory experience:

Had my interview with Emory yesterday - like I had heard, it was quite relaxed and conversational. My car broke down just 5-10 minutes after I left house, but thankfully my Dad, my superhero was there in another 10 minutes to drop me off for the interview! *Respect*

It started a little different from the usual “Walk me through your resume”.

I: So I assume Amex would have been like a traditional campus recruitment for you right?

Me: (Inside) I am glad you asked

(Outside) No! It was through networking!

I: Wow! Tell me about it.. That’s unconventional..

Me: Yes.. I did.. Blah n blah blah…

I: Great. So you landed the job anyway. How was your learning curve at American Express

Me: Steep! My TM and TL went on maternity leave after 3 months, and then you know… blah n blah n blah

I: That’s great. So you had no idea you would be stepping into this?

Me: No! But the passion for what I do is so high, that it doesn’t feel like a stretch any day. I love what I do!

I: That’s quite rare you know. Anyway..so tell me about your transition from AmEx to Accenture.

Me: Yea… I was headhunted... Industry exposure and blah blah

I: So you have applied to our 2-year program right? Did you even consider the 1 year program

Me: No. I want program with internship and stuff.. since I am an international applicant. Blah blah

I: Good. That’s what I wanted to know… if you have given it a fair thought. So why MBA at this stage?

Me: Reached a comfort zone. Need to make next professional move.. and hone existing skills and gain new ones such as leadership skills

I: What do you expect from your future MBA class?

Me: I am a person who’s comfortable with being uncomfortable. So I wish to be a part of class that’s challenging.. and also a collaborative class… blah n blah

I: So what companies are you targeting?

Me: Mainly consulting firms – like mckinsey, bain, delloite and the kind.

I: So how did you narrow down on your list of colleges, since you are an international candidate? You can’t visit a campus and stuff…

Me: Yea.. I started with us news… to college websites… but most imp.. talk to current students… that’s the best feel

I: I am happy you have reached out to our team proactively. That is indeed important. So tell me about what you look for in a college.

Me: I look for curriculum, I match with my target industry and companies… and small class size is also important to me..i don’t want to be just a number…

I: One place to visit in Delhi

Me: Old Delhi – real feel and blah blah

I: One thing you will miss about India when you are gone

Me: (She caught me off guard for this one) maybe the extreme weather!

Well overall..it was quite a good interview.. a few "wows" and "tell me more about it".. Guess its going to be Emory next season!

Fuqua Interview

Well I am done with my dream school interview - Duke Fuqua. Close to a month's wait and the D-day was finally here. Though I m not much of a morning person, I still scheduled my interview on 14th morning - I believe its the best time of the day for an interview - you are fresh, the atmosphere is bright and for a hotel lobby - there is no crowd to disturb you for one of the most important conversations of your life.

So my interview was at 9.00, and I reached at 8.10. Yes my calculations failed me for traffic and it took me only 10 minutes to reach my destination as compared to the usual 30 mins. I had to meet Dan Mccleary, the Regional head for India at Duke Fuqua.

The interview started at the set time. Dan and I sat in the breakfast area. The ambiance was particularly motivating. Nice cup of coffee, sunlight breaking through the glass walls, fresh watered plants smell - like I said morning seems to be the best time for such things.

The interview was very conversational - Dan first asked me to walk him through my professional life since college. What did I choose? and why did I take those steps?

From here on I started to tell about how I developed an interest in Analytics and how I went on to pursue it in my job. How I was head-hunted by the next firm and why I see it as the perfect field for me. Quite surprisingly he did not ask me standard why MBA, or why now questions? Instead, I walked him through minute details of my resume. What work have I done at clients and what it taught me?

He next asked me how did I chose Fuqua and if I contacted any alumni to get more information. At this stage, I told him about my true revelation-kind of experience. How an exchange student whom I met at Kuala Lumpur, really defined the Fuqua experience for me.

30 minutes and we were done! Wow! But then came the best part. The best I have ever encountered in any B school interview. Dan asked me if I would like to attend one of the Marketing classes for Executive MBA that was being held in the same hotel.

Isn't that amazing? I mean, for a person who has to interview a dozen candidates a day - Dan really took a step more to familiarize a prospect with the class-like environment. 

How lucky I was to see it with my own eyes - students gathered around tables to solve case studies. And Mark from the Global Institute classes - not just friendly but also motivated like Dan to familiarize me with the environment. Wow! I was amazed. For the 2nd time, the "Team Fuqua" spirit was really proved to me beyond blogs and websites.

Overall, my experience was simply extraordinary. I came back to my home a very happy person - how I wish I get to interact with the same folks  for the next two years, but at the same time, I will never ever forget this feeling.

Fuqua,

You admit me or not - doesn't matter. I am a Fan forever!

I wish we had an app for..

1. Smelling a fragrance and telling you what brand it is.
2. Searching for a song by just humming it.
3. Fashion-policing for how do you look - just like mirrors in Harry Potter books!

Am I asking too much?

Fifty-one shades of B-schools!

Kick starting the MBA journey!

The MBA season is up, and I have started my applications with Duke Fuqua.

It was not long ago that I started narrowing down my list. Not that I did not have a list beforehand, but few MBA Crystal interviews and few other blogs inspired me to aim a little higher. In one of such pursuits I stumbled across Early Action round for Duke Fuqua.

The concept of withdrawing applications from all other colleges sounded so threatening at first. But Fuqua did not take long to prove why it fits for an EA round. The school is all about positive vibes. So I thought, why not share few good resources I found for Duke Fuqua.

So here I list my list of places to look for insider information for Fuqua:

1. Start off with business week. No I do not mean the ranking, but look for finer print with recent graduates comments sections. I found this section to be personally very helpful in drilling down to initial list of schools. Duke Fuqua amazed me in this section. Students sounded so enthusiastic! Insider Information # 1

2. The school website: Guys. No gyaan. But this is indeed your bible. I went through the entire site one by one. It was like finding hidden gems - small notes in collapsed section about tips for essays, other useful stats about the school.

3. My favorite : Blog by Duke Fuqua students. This was the stage I fell in l♥ve with Fuqua. The student experiences on this blog impressed me beyond limits. The enthusiasm, the classroom experience just amazed me! This was my insider information place # 2.

4. Duke Chronicles website - another website that fed my hunger to know more about Duke Fuqua.

5. You needn't come this far - I am plain obsessed! :P I read even the Cross Continent MBA program blog. All the archive I guess.

So I am nearly done with my essay. My obsession shows in my essays as well. I hope Fuqua falls in love with me as much as I fell in love with it!

Signing off,

The MBA Girl