Happy New Year!!

And Merry Christmas! (sorry for the delay, but I couldn't post in the last few days!).

I hope everyone have a wonderful 2010!!

Coincidence??

Well... for the last few days I have been thinking about the two schools that admitted me: Kellogg and Chicago Booth.

When I thought about Chicago Booth, I recalled this post of mine: the MBA vs Cars comparison, and guess what I have written?! That I felt very identified with the Volvo, the Chicago Booth car!! Do you think is it just a mere coincidence??

MBAJourney 2 - MBA Adcoms 2

It's even.
I started with an overwhelming 2 - 0 in my favor, but last Friday, in a lapsus of 3 hours, it was a draw. I received 2 dings: Wharton and MIT!
(By the way, I couldn´t post because I had very limited conectivity during a trip I had to do the last couple of days).

It was kind of a bummer the MIT ding. I believed it was a good application, and having interviewed with Wharton, I had the feeling that I would have the chance to interview with MIT! However, it did not happen.

Anyway, I am very happy that Chicago Booth and Kellogg had admitted me! And I look forward to getting to know the schools even better to make a decision! Furthermore, don't forget about Tuck!!

In at Kellogg and Chicago!!!!

December 15th... It was D-Day for HBS and Stanford applicants, but also for me! In a few minutes, I was admitted into 2 awesome schools!!

Just wanted to let you know. I will write something in the next few days! But I'm VERY happy!!!!

Some tips on the goals essay

This is a post for R2 applicants! Or maybe, for next years applicants!
As I don't know the results of the universities yet, I rather not to give any advice based on my own essays. If I get admitted to some school, maybe I will post some tips and insights of how I adressed the essays.

In the mean time, I recommend you to read this post in the Beat the GMAT Blog, that I think it's great! It's from the founder of magoosh and makes a thorough analysis of his own goals essay for Berkeley!

What's the deal with the adcoms?

Well, this a complaint post! Yes... not everything is nice (besides the dings) in the MBA Application Process. I have my reasons to believe that AdComs are very evil!

In this week, I received 3 e-mails. One from MIT Sloan, one from Chicago Booth, and the other one from Wharton. When I saw each, my heart almost stopped beating! But they were just to "Join a Chat" or see the new events available.
It's OK to know that. HOWEVER, this kind of communication at this time of the process can CERTAINLY end with my nerves!!! This does NOT make the wait easier! hehe. AdComs are mean...

Kellogg started releasing decisions!

I saw the other day on the BW forums that someone got accepted. Now Kellogg is making it official through this post:

"12/7/2009 9:52 AM
Decisions are being released
The Kellogg School has begun releasing decisions (Admit, Waitlist, Deny) for Round 1. Decisions will be released from now until the notification deadline of January 11, 2010. Each applicant will be notified via email from the Kellogg School Office of admissions when a decision has been rendered. After receiving this email candidates will be able to view their decision on the Status Check page located on the full-time program’s homepage."

Of course, I didn't receive anything!

Best of luck to all Kellogg Applicants!

Yet another GMAT Resource: Magoosh

Here's another interesting GMAT tool to learn: Magoosh. Definitely worth trying! For what I looked, It is pretty cool. It was created by a couple of Haas (Berkeley) MBA students!

MBAJourney's GMAT Tips

Being an active reader in the blogosphere, I read in almost every MBA Blog about the GMAT. Every one has something about it. So, I guess that an MBA blog isn't complete if it doesn't contain a post on the GMAT! Just kidding!. Well, I also have something to say about the GMAT, and I hope it helps everyone who is preparing it.

I will comment primarily on the materials and the prep.

Materials
I used all the following books:
- Kaplan 800 Score
- Kaplan Math Review
- Princeton Crack the GMAT
- Manhattan SC Bible
- Official Guide (OG) 11
- Verbal Review
- Quantitative Review

I definitely do not recommend the Kaplan 800 and the Princeton Crack The GMAT. The have some generalities about the test, but the exercises are not like the test.
The Kaplan Math Review is a good book to practice some hard Math, although, again, it is not very representative of the GMAT.

The Mahattan SC Bible is a great book. It covers the concepts of every single SC problem of the OG and the Verbal Review, and gives great explanations for them. I believe this book is a must.

Without any doubts, the best books for practice are the official ones. More on this on next section.

Prep
I must say that I won't be objective at all with my opinion here. I joined the Knewton GMAT Prep. Those dollars were really well invested! The online classes are excellent. The Teachers and TAs are great (My regards to all of them, especially Dave, Alex and Joanna!). They really put an effort in the learning of the students. I totally recommend joining at least for the trial! You'll see how great they are. Also, I was of the first customers. Taking into account their philosophy, I am confident they are even better now!

Anyway... what I recommend for the prep, is to do every single problem of the OG and Reviews at least twice! If you remember the answer, don't just pick it, but reason the problem until you understand the concept behind it. I couldn't do this entirely, however, I managed to many SCs twice (my personal major weakness), and really helped me.

Also read, or I should say DEVORE, the Manhattan SC Bible in order to acquire a solid base for SC.

Finally, do CATs! They help you a lot for your timing. Don't do the GMAT Prep at last just as an "avant premier" of the score on test day. Do each GMAT Prep 3 or 4 times. Yes, you will get repeated questions, and your score will be higher than if you hadn't done any of those questions earlier. However, it will help you a lot with the timing and you will always get new difficult questions! Furthermore, doing other CATs as Manhattan's (if you buy the book, you get some free tests - I believe the math is more difficult than the actual test -, or they have got a free one) or Knewton's (which are REALLY great).

Bottom line
Start studying early, give yourserlf at least 4 months if you have a very demanding job. If you can, join a prep course! (I cannot stress enough that Knewton's course is awesome). It's money really well invested; they even organize the study for you, optimizing your time! I ended up with a solid 720 (it isn't a 740 or 750, but definitely not bad), and I believe Knewton had lots to do with it!

I hope this is helpful for those thinking of facing the GMAT!

Tuck interview

This week I had Tuck's interview. It was OK. I believe better than Wharton's but worse than Kellogg's (the Kellogg interview was stellar!). I met with an person from admissions who was definitely very nice and committed in depth with Tuck's community.

The questions were:

• Why MBA and why Tuck
• What are your passions
• Tell me about a mistake you made and what did you learn about it? 
• If I sit with your siblings, what would they tell about you? (she kind of got me on this one, however i kind of address it with some leadership)
• What can you add to tuck inside classroom and outside?

So now I am again just waiting without any other MBA related activities! I think I will write some more about my thoughts of the different business schools, and maybe some insights of my process.

Kellogg interview

Yesterday I have had the best interview till now, and it was Kellogg's. I believe it went so well because the interviewer, an alumnus, made me feel very comfortable. I didn't get nervous at all and everything I had prepared flowed smoothly. The guy was a very down-to-earth and humble Kellogg Graduate. I really saw myself reflected on this guy. In certain way, Kellogg has raised some points with me in this interview, because I kind of sensed its community. I felt so comfortable, that I saw myself much more enthusiastic to attend Kellogg than before! (And I have always been enthusiastic about Kellogg!).

Well, for what matter to you guys, here are the interview questions:

• Tell me about your current project.
• Tell me a time you had to build a team.
• Tell me about your experience in Spain.
• Tell me a time your had to be a leader.
• Tell me a challenging interaction you had with someone.
• Why MBA
• Why Kellogg

Now I have to prepare to Tuck's interview!

Wharton interview

Sorry I haven't been posting that much! I was very busy at work and preparing interviews!

Well, I just had my Wharton interview. Again, it didn't go amazingly. I am sure that I am better in interviews than what I showed today. I got nervous in the Why Wharton question, and I think I screwed up there. I didn't mention a couple of things I had prepared. Then, it was very difficult for me to go back to the cool-calmed-easy-going guy I was during the first part of the interview. I ended up with a headache. In the end, it wasn't that bad. I just believe it could had been much better!

I met the alumnus at the airport of my city as he came for business for the day. He was very friendly and conversational. The interview lasted a little less than an hour.

The questions he asked were:

• Tell me about your professional experience 
• Tell me about your experience in Spain / why didn't you stay there. 
• Tell me about you undergraduate experience.
• Why Wharton 
• Why MBA and not any other masters degree 
• Do you need an MBA to become a manager at ? 
• Strengths and weaknesses 

Then we talked about Wharton and the life in Philly. He was very nice and gave me lots of advice.

So, I believe it was not a bad interview, but again, I don't know if it will be enough. (I kind of believe it won't :( )

Now, I have Kellogg's interview tomorrow, and I have also been invited to interview by Tuck! So preparation continues...

Wharton invite!!! and other updates

I got the mail from Wharton!!! wow, what a feeling... I couldn't share it with anyone because I was about to enter a meeting! Anyway, this morning I was writing this: "Wharton: Hopes are lost. We are one day to the deadline of the mid decision, and no invite came. I really liked Wharton. Anyway... I'm sure the experience will be great in whatever school takes me in!" But it seems I'm still in the game!

Here comes the updates part.

Tuck: Well, after working hard all weekend, I submitted Tuck on Monday. I prepared those essays in only a week! I was able to use a lot of ideas of my previous essays. People say you shouldn't, however, it worked for me at leat for essay writing. Let's see if it works for getting in! As I am international student, I couldn't go to Tuck to interview, so, if my profile interests them, I will be called for an interview. Otherwise, people will prove right for that thing of not using the others school essays!

Kellogg: I did receive an invite! I thought they were forgetting about me. I hope to schedule it for next week and prepare it well!

MIT & Chicago Booth: In the not-sweet wait. I have a wait of more than a month for both. For Chicago Booth, I'll be waiting for the final decision, and for MIT, I'll be waiting for an interview invite!

So, I will have to prepare two interviews (K and W) kind of in a rush. I don't know if I should split them in the time that is left, so as to be totally focused in one at a time. The thing is I've already written to my Kellogg alumnus proposing him a day and time. If he says yes, then I have to try with the W alumnus to stretch things a little. I don't know... I will see in the next couple of days.

I'll keep you guys informed!

Some application strategy

Given that neither Kellogg nor Wharton sent me an invite yet (ok, now i'm worried!) and that my Chicago interview didn't go spectacularly, I will give it a shot to Tuck. I have been intensively working on the Tuck's essays I once began writing. I know I have a good fit with Tuck's close-knit community!

I believe that Tuck having the 1st round the same day that Wharton's mid decision and very close to chicago´s is not a mere coincidence... And it worked for me!!

I am surprised at Kellogg as I have not received any news. Not even the mandatory invitation to interview!

Anyway... I still have some hope that at least one of these schools will admit me!

Interviewed by Chicago!

Well, i have had my first interview!!
It went pretty well. It was with an alumn in a city outside the US (I am an international applicant). The guy was very straight forward and nice. He introduced himself, told me his career pre-mba and post-mba.

Then we started with the questions:

- walk me through resume


- why so much community work? (i did a lot of community activities!)

- tell me the course you like the most during undergrad

- when did you have a chance to apply that knowledge

- some accomplishment at work

- tell me atime you were frustrated at work

- tell me a time you had to accept someones decision (like loosing a discussion)
- tell me something that impressed you about spain.
- Are you aware of chicago's line of thought?

- why mba, why chicago, why now?

- what do you think about the MBA and the financial crisis? do you think MBAs need a more human side?

- he asked me to recommend him a book
 
I think it went quite well. It was no stellar, but it was more than OK.
So, I am very happy!
 
Good luck to everyone!

Chicago Booth Interview invite!

My first interview invtation arrived, and it is Chicago Booth!

It starts like this:

"Congratulations, we have evaluated your application and are extending an invitation for you to interview with us in the next phase of our admissions process."

Then it just gives some instructions about the logistics of the process.

I wasn't expecting it at all! I mean, I had the hope that it was going to arrive, but I was expecting it for later!

WOW ! Now, to focus on the interview questions!

MIT submission, no news from Wharton nor Chicago

It's too much going on today!

First, after having a weekend of proof reading my Sloan essays, and adjusting minimal details (which I hope they give more bright to the essays!), I submitted Sloan's app. I will now call my recommenders to remind them that the deadline is over us!

Second, Chicago Booth is supposed to start sending inteview invites today! But i still didn't receive one. As with Wharton, I don't expect to be one of the first people who receive one. I will be happy if I receive one in the first days of november! Some guys in the Business week forum claim to have received an invitation. All the luck for them in the interviews!

And finally, Wharton's inteview invites are shining for their absence. They were supposed to be sent since October 22nd. Only one person in the Business Week forum claimed to have received one! (I'm getting adicted to that forum... I read that it could happen). However, it is kind of rare that almost no one in the internet received and invitation.

I believe the best thing is not to worry about this issues until November 7th... but it is VERY difficult!

Wharton interviews and uploading MIT materials

Just a notifier for those waiting for Wharton: Today the adcom was starting to send invitations to interviews! Of course, I haven't received one. I hope to receive one more close to the mid decision deadline, which is November 12.

Regarding Sloan, Today I will be uploading the transcripts. The essays are almost done, and my recommenders told the have started working. Hopefully everything will be ready by Monday!
Sloan allows you to upload many scanned transcripts file, which is great! Because I don't have to worry about the file sizes when appending new scanned pages. As I am an international applicant, I have to also scan the translations, which means I have to send double the number of scanned pages! But Sloan makes it easy for me :).

MIT essays weekend

We have only seven days to the Sloan deadline!
This weekend was a very productive one, in terms of the essays. I spent more than 18 hours writing the essays! I will now wait a couple of days to review them, to refresh my mind.

I feel much better writing the MIT essays, which reflects my past performance. Also, they are not asking to suck up to the school, as most of the others are.
Furthermore, I am happy I could meet the word limits in all of the essays! I still have to cut some words off from the cover letter.

Now I will start bugging my recommenders, because I think they haven't written anything yet!

MBA - Cars comparison

I found this excellent comparison of cars with MBA's here: http://mbaapply.blogspot.com/2007/06/top-mba-programs.html.

HBS is like the British luxury car of varying quality - Bentley, Aston Martin, MG, Rolls-Royce. They are Establishment, tophats and all. Some drivers are able to break the "unapproachable" mold and will take their cars for a bit of a joyride, but some are trapped in the pomp and circumstance of their cars.

Stanford is like the Italian sports car - Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Alfa Romeos, Maseratis. They are bold, distinctive, and anti-authoritarian. They aren't the most reliable cars, but they sure look good, and they are the ultimate joyride car, risks be damned.

Wharton are like the German sports cars - Porsche and AMG-Benz. They combine the quality/reliability of German engineering that the British and Italian sports cars don't have, with the cachet that rivals only the British and Italian luxury cars. However, they don't quite have the same cachet of the British and Italian luxury cars, even though many drivers would still kill for a Porsche 911 turbo or AMG.

Chicago GSB is like a Volvo - the quality, performance and reliability is probably as good as any luxury automaker, but it doesn't do as good of a job at marketing itself. It has a reputation for being a bit staid, boxy, boring. But it's like a tank - impenetrable to any kind of criticism because its owners will try really hard to explain why its car is as good as any German car out there.

Kellogg is like a Volkswagen - they aren't the most reliable cars, but they are sure fun cars to drive. They also have a very young, hip and aspirational image - but one that is within reach of many people. They are very good at promoting and managing its reputation as a “cool and hip” car to drive.

Sloan is like an Audi - more people have them than you'd expect, and for a German car, they are a bit younger and hipper. Particularly it's S-series. They are mentioned alongside the other great auto manufacturers, but still fly under the radar in most discussions.

Columbia is like a BMW - an amazing machine that combines performance, quality and cachet, but it also attracts a disproportionate number of aggro drivers who believe they own the road, and act accordingly (blasting their music for everyone to see, cutting people off in traffic, honking their horns, etc.).

Tuck is like a Saab. It's quirky, relatively small in number, but has a fiercely loyal following of aficionados. Not many people know the car, but those that do rave about it.

What will I be?
If I do a reverse rationale, that means, match my personality with a car, and then the car with the MBA, I think I would have Chicago Booth as a first option, and then MIT! That's funny! Try it out!

MIT essays!

MIT's essays are very different from the other schools'!
As reviewers say, they look for your demonstrated leadership and all that MBA stuff in the past. Nothing about goals nor plans.
I went to an information session where the presenter said "we don't ask you for your goals, because we don't believe you!". Although it was a joke, it was kind of scary! However, I believe it is a correct approach. Although I would like a more direct way to demonstrate my fit and genuine interest in MIT Sloan.

If you would like to read some tips on MIT essays, take a look at this links:

• http://accepted.mbablogs.businessweek.com/archive/2009/06/10/rl04odaopt6c
• http://www.stacyblackman.com/2009/09/01/tuesday-tips-mit-sloan-essay-tips-2/
• http://www.vibranture.com/essay/sloan-mit-mba-essay-writing.htm
• http://www.mbamission.com/blog/2009/06/28/massachusetts-institute-of-technology-sloan-essay-analysis-2009-2010/
• http://mbagameplan.wordpress.com/category/mit/

Hope they help!

My short list

I am a round 1 applicant for the following schools:

• Kellogg
• Chicago Booth 
• Wharton 
• MIT 
• Tuck (maybe)

As for today, all of the schools have something that really wake my attention.

For Kellogg, the community and collaborative philosophy. I went to an information session, and it was filled of alumni! They all conveyed this positive about their community.

I believe that Chicago Booth's academic rigor is definitely a plus. I see Chicago Booth graduates as highly intelligent and analytic people.

Wharton's rank says a lot of the school. Consistently ranked among the best three, it has a great reputation in many fields, specially finance. Big network.

MIT, for now, my favorite. I can't hide the engineer that is inside me!

Tuck. In addition to an excellent and intellectually demanding program, probably the best community and one of the most active networks. The only issue that doesn't convince me, is the little town. I want my significant other to capitalize the experience by studying or working. Living in Hanover imposes some limitations, although not completely.

So well... that is my short list. You may be asking about HBS and Stanford!! Those will go for 2nd round ;).

Humor - Essays

To my second post, I am publishing this really funny admissions essays I found here: http://paloaltoforawhile.blogspot.com/2009/05/real-admissions-essays.html

The are the real thing!

Here it goes:

Harvard: Of which Fortune 1000 company are you going to become the CEO and why would you pick that company?

Wharton: Of which Fortune 1000 company are you going to become the CFO and why would you pick that company?

MIT: Draw an ASCII picture of your favorite Lord of the Rings character and describe three lessons that today's business leaders can learn from Lord Of The Rings.

Stanford: Why? (100,000 words recommended)

Chicago Booth: Provide a detailed statistical analysis of why Chicago-Booth is #1 in BWeek and never higher than #3 in USNews. Do the math in your head.

NYU: How badly do you need a vacation from your ibanking job, and what makes you think you will be able to get back into ibanking upon graduation?

Yale SOM: Which nonprofit organization do you plan to run, and what about running a nonprofit makes you feel important?

Columbia: In your opinion, what is the best way to sabotage the Whartonian CFO of your company and become CFO?

UC Berkeley Haas: What makes a hippie like you think you can succeed in business? Use the words 'sustainable' and 'green' at least twice in your response.

Cornell Johnson: Describe how awesome being an Ivy Leaguer would make you feel.

UVA Darden: How badly do you want your ass to be kicked by our professors on a scale of 9 to 10?

Notre Dame: Describe how awesome Irish Football is, and list ten ways we can make our MBA program as well-known as our NFL training program.

London Business School: Answer NYU's essay and use the find/replace function to replace all 'NYU' with 'LBS', 'New York' with 'London' and 'program' with 'programme'.

Wash U Olin: How early are you willing to wake up to serve coffee to our medical students?

UNC Kenan-Flagler: See Notre Dame but replace Irish Football with Tar Heel basketball, and NFL with NBA.

U of Phx (pick 2 of 4): When your boss finds out you have enrolled here, how loudly will he/she laugh? Have you ever wasted a lot of money on something useless before? Would you be willing to appear on a billboard or would you rather keep your enrollment a secret? What is 5+8?

Tuck: Do you remember summer camp? How amazing was that!?!? Don't you wish you could go to camp for 21 months? Attach a letter you wrote to your parents in fifth grade summer camp explaining how awesome it was.

UMich Ross: What was the craziest thing you did while tailgating during undergrad, and are you prepared to tailgate like a pro again? In your essay, try to include the words moonshine, goat, and anus.

Kellogg: Explain why you think good quantitative skills are not required in business and discuss the importance of teamwork in situations in which no one is skilled enough to do the job by himself.

UCLA Anderson: Have you seen that show "The Hills?" Isn't it amazing? Discuss your strategies for getting into clubs to party with the cast of "The Hills" so you can feel important.

Duke Fuqua: What are your short-term and long-term career goals? Begin your essay with the sentence, "My career goal is to provide investment and business advice to the much more successful graduates of the Duke Law and Medical Schools."

Carnegie Mellon Tepper: Draw an ASCII picture of your favorite MIT student and list three things that business leaders can learn from MIT.

INSEAD: List the number of languages in which you are fluent, and explain how knowing a bunch of languages and studying in one of the world's slowest economies for ten months will make you an effective business leader.

CEIBS: Would you rather be upper middle class in the US, or rich in China? Pleeeeeeeease say rich in China!

Blog start!

Well, I finally decided to start blogging!!

I hope to share my thoughts and experiences of my journey with anyone who is interested. And hopefully to be of any help to MBA aspirants.