When I applied for a select few colleges this year, I was pretty sure that I would get selected in atleast one of them. But as always, life throws up unexpected situations. I had to stop my application process midway for few colleges. And the others, I was not even called for an interview. While I had prepared myself for rejections from colleges, I was in no way prepared for rejection at the pre-interview stage. This despite having a “good” score in the exams and  a decent profile in terms of work experience. My initial reaction was total shock and disbelief.  I had no backup plans and that did not help things either.

While I am not yet totally ”out of the woods”, I am quite positive that everything will end well. I also realised that for each “success story” of MBA candidates published in the internet, there are ten unpublished stories of candidates not making it. In other words, get inspired by the success stories; do not get carried away by them.

But for people like me out there in a similar situation, the following is what I have learnt from this experience.

1) Re-visit your TRUE purpose for MBA. Is it still valid? Do you still agree with that purpose? ( If you do not have a TRUE purpose, find out that first. It actually helps you to progress further.

2) If your purpose is valid, what are the other ways of achieving this “purpose” without having to do a MBA. If it is a career shift, can it be done by taking some other courses / certifications? If it is a job change within the same industry, can you make some changes to your profile to get that dream job instead of ploughing through a MBA? If it is about proving yourself to somebody, can some other “activity” convince them? If it is to escape the effects of recession, can any other courses help?

3) Check if you are ready to wait for one more year to do a MBA. This means that you will have to retake entrance exams (if any) and go through the entire admission process again. This also means that you will be graduating one year later.

4) If you cannot wait for one more year, check for colleges with the admission cycle still open. These colleges might not exactly be what you wanted and you might have to compromise in a few areas. You might not have enough time to find out where you have to compromise. In those cases, just apply to the college while researching simultaneously. You will still have time later to decide if you want to actually join them.

All said and done, coming to terms with a rejection can be difficult (atleast initially). Taking a break, or better, indulging yourself  along with a positive attitude definitely helps…

It has been a long journey towards CAT 2008. By this time next month, i would have reached a major cross road and the path would be much clearer than what it is now.  Irrespective of the result, I will be a relieved and much wiser person. During the course of the 3 years of preparing for CAT, I have learnt a lot. Not just in terms of English Grammar or Quantitative abilities, but also in terms of life skill and personality traits.

For an outsider, these exams may seem to test just the math and english skills with the syllabus of a Tenth standard. But for those who have actually been working themselves out, it is not just about some formulae or some grammar rules. It is about how you handle a situation and how you handle yourself and how you improve upon yourself. In these 3 years, I have been able to gain some acquaintances, and some close friends, thanks to CAT. I have also been forced to battle some of my weaknesses with mixed results. 

To successfully crack the CAT ( or any other challenge for that matter) , one needs to do the following

1) Have a clear Goal: To achieve anything, you need to have a vision of what you want and why you want it.  Though the CAT is hugely popular, it need not be the best option for you. There is no need to study and slog for CAT / MBA, just because your friends / colleagues are doing the same or because you parents wish for it.  Take the time to analyse what you want to do with your life and how MBA will help it. Study the various specializations offered and choose which one would be the best fit for you. Then analyse if there is any other way to achieve your goal. If the other ways prove to be a better option, then follow that path.

2) Plan your journey: Once the goal has been decided, it is time to plan your journey. Evaluate the resources available to you. Estimate the time and money you would need and the level of effort you would need to put.

3) Live the journey: Once your clear on what you want to do, why you want to do and how you want to do it, take the jump and start working on it. Remember to stay focused. This is the part where the men are separated from the boys. This is where you face your weaknesses along with other obstacles. When you fall in doubt, energise yourself by looking at your goals. Take help from your friends and othe well-wishers. When you achieve successes on your way, remember to celebrate them. They serve as a memory during other times and they also help you to boost your confidence.

4) Learn the lessons: Once the journey is complete, remember the lessons you have learnt and make sure that they stay in your memory. Irrespective of whether the journey is successful or not, remember that you took the effort to pursue your goal and you did your best…

Last week, when i had made this post , I definitely did not foresee anyone reading it. The next day, i was pleasantly surprised to see that some students from ISB had actually read it and left some encouraging comments also.  Now, I am not an avid blogger ( atleast as of last week.. ) , nor did i publicise this blog at all. As a result, the fact that i received a feedback was totally unexpected.  Wondering how this happened, i sifted through wordpress and google. Lo!!!! my blog entry was in the top 10 in wordpress and and in the first 5 pages in google. That really made me appreciate the power and simplicity of technology  ( blogs & search engine) and its ability to connect people like never before.

On the downside,  my decision to skip ISB is in doldrums now. Not that I mind, though. ISB has always been an attractive option. That considered, It is very liberating  to be told that there is still a fair percentage of chance to get a call. I still have to think about retaking the GMAT though. The Question is not about the effort involved. It is about the timing. If i chose to retake the GMAT, i presume it would need around 1.5 months of preparation at the least. i.e. the exam will be in mid-August. The AWA and the official report would take 4-5 weeks to arrive. If that is the case, then applying in Round 1 becomes tight since the scores would need to be uploaded along with the admission process and i wanted to apply to ISB by round 1.. . But if applying in round 2 with a “hypothetical” higher GMAT score can help, then well wat can be done?

I have to start working on the ISB essays though. one essay in particular is difficult. It poses the applicant as an employee of a company involved in Dam construction and asks him/her to convince( or atleast try to convince.. ) the leader of the movement which is opposing the dam construction. I am clueless as to what the adcom is looking for here? Are they looking for innovation or are they looking for the strategy adopted or something else? I have to dig for information somewhere.

P.S: Thanks to all the ISB students for their words of encouragement and useful information. Hopefully , i will be spewing out some words of encouragement to some one else next year…;)

Few Days back, I had requested an evaluation of my chances for a call to ISB. Much to my surprise, I recieved a response from the Admissions officer suggesting that i retake the GMAT and improve from my current score of 700 to around 740. After going through forums at pagalguy, came to know that ppl having a similar profile and score as mine were not even called last year for the interview.  After a lot of Deliberation ( as usual.. ), i have finally decided to refrain from Applying to ISB. My chances of applying to a foreign university are pretty slim. And the number of colleges accepting GMAT for MBA is very less ( only 3 per my knowledge).

Even If i do retake the GMAT,

 a) there is no guarantee that my score will improve drastically. ( though the probability of a bigger score is very high given my dismal performance in Quants section of the GMAT last time). 

b) Even with an improved GMAT score, the chances of getting a call is very less given the fact that The applicant is from an IT Industry and as such does not contribute to the “diversity” of the class.

c) Last but not the least, spending 10,000/- out of my pocket for a couple of colleges ( SP Jain and ISB ) does not seem to be that viable.

What happens now…? Candidates applying to ISB will apply to SP Jain also, I presume. As a result, the Only college where i can realistically use my GMAT score is Great Lakes. I sincerely hope to land myself in a college better than that ( and also in a college which is not in Madras .. ) That said, the only way available is CAT ( and some related exams like CET, NMAT, etc.. ) and so… i have registered with TIME for CAT Classes which effectively means that I will be more busier during weekends than during weekdays….  :( But this time, it is a whole new ball game.For, by 2009, I would have either joined a College or Dumped my MBA plan once and for all and this would be my last shot at any MBA entrance exam.

Oh My,… In my enthusiasm towards ISB and to avoid certain “difficulties”, I had given my supervisor’s details to the ISB apllication some time back. My manager told me that she recieved a link asking for her evaluation. I have not informed her of my decision. For all the trouble i went through,  I can atleast get a honest evaluation of what she thinks..

But am i being too unrealistic by not retaking the GMAT and losing out on the good colleges???… the deliberations continue…