Kellogg class of 2014 essays released!

Well, yep, I know... I haven´t been around too much. The internship is consuming me! but it is good :)

Ok, so Kellogg released the 2011-2012 application essays! You can find them here. I am not sure, but I believe that essay 4 changed a little bit! Also, the title is wrong, because the 1Ys that will enter this recruiting season, will be class of 2013!

Search the internet for the tips of the experts to better approach the essays!

Good luck!

A year finishing...

Yep, and I wish I could have written more!

But anyways, all the first years are getting away... and all the 2nd years and 1Ys are celebrating everywhere. Facebook and twitter are full of "done", "MBA!" type of exclamations, which is awesome, but kind of sad at the same time, because of so many really awesome people that I met, that I won't see in a long time.

Congrats to all graduating MBAs!!

"Kellogg Photosynthesis" - Another great Kellogg video!

Well, this year's videos were a total success. This is another video that a classmate made for the admitted students that came to DAK (Day At Kellogg).

Honestly, it is great to see all the teamwork and creativity that is going on here at Kellogg, and not to mention the amazing job opportunities and learning experiences!

Former president of Colombia at Kellogg!

Needless to say, the event was outstanding. Having former presidents is definitely a big deal. You can sense so much wisdom and leadership...

But get the full debriefs at Orlando´s blog and Andre´s blog (the latter in portuguese!).
Nothing else to add.

Kellogg Lip Dub!!

The Kellogg Lip Dub was a great success!! We had a lot of fun making it! A team of about 80 people worked and acted to create this fun but very well done video!

Just in case you don't know what a Lip Dub is, it is a video that you film only in one take! So it requires A LOT of coordination.

Of course I did participate, and it was another opportunity for meeting awesome Kellogg Students that I haven't met before!

I hope you enjoyed it!

Beth Flye leaving Kellogg

And to start with the news, here is one that actually makes me kind of sad. I talked to Beth a couple of times and she is awesome. I frequently saw her buying coffee.

I wish her the best!

And for Kellogg, I am confident Beth will be covered by someone as awesome as Beth, because Kellogg is a great school! The current admissions team is also very experienced and wonderful, so it wouldn't surprise me if somebody from inside the team takes her place.

I'm back!

Well, after a long time, I've decided to come back.

Long story short, I decided to come to Kellogg based on fit! It was a tough choice, but definitely the correct one for me. I am having a wonderful time here! I also have a job for the summer (so no more networking nor interviews!)

I must say that all the good things people say about Kellogg, are actually true. I hope to write about the many examples that show these things.

Keep tuned!

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!