Tuck Tale

A day at Tuck

2008-07-16T18:22:00.000+05:30

Admitted to Ross

2008-06-27T10:12:00.003+05:30

Well it doesn't matter anymore now but I have been admitted to the Ross School of Business at University of Michigan. I am pretty surprised by this development because firstly I was never interviewed by Ross. I was put on the wait list without an interview in R1. Secondly, since I received an admit from Tuck I didn't pursue the Ross-WL any further. So I didn't make any phone call to the admissions committee and never sent any update on my professional/personal achievements.

Still receiving an admit is quite heartening. Obviously I have turned it down. Now I can happily claim an admit rate of 60%. Not bad, I guess !!!!!!

Visa Experience

2008-06-19T17:29:00.005+05:30

Ok, So I had a unique Visa Experience. We (me and my wife) had scheduled an appointment for 10:45 AM on June 16th at the US Embassy in New Delhi. It was raining heavily that morning. Suspecting delays because of the water logged roads in Delhi we started early. We reached embassy in time, at 10:15 AM, and stood in the queue of non-immigrant Visa applicant. This was outside of the Embassy.

It was a long queue and it took us 1 hour 15 mins to reach one of the counters. We handed our documents to the lady at the window. She keyed in some information into her computer, checked our forms, stamped SEVIS Ok on one of the form and asked us to go inside.

Once inside, we stood in another queue which was for registering our finger prints. It took us 10 mins to get the job done and then we moved to another queue where we waited for our interview turn. It was a small wait of not more than 2 mins and we were asked to go to one of the Visa Officers.

The talk went something like this :

VO : Hi, How are you doing?
Us : Good, How are you sir?
VO : Preety good. So why are you going to US?
Me: Sir, I have got admission to the MBA program at the Tuck School of Business.
VO : Wow !!! That's a great school. Pass me your passports please.

He then began keying in some information into his computer .........

VO : How long have you been married?
Me : We got married this April
VO : Congratulations, so are you liking it better now? (with a smile)
Me : Yeah I am. You know how it is after marriage ..........
VO (laughing) : Yes I know what you mean.

He kept on keying in more and more information and then asked both of us to again scan our fingers.

VO : I hope you are ready for the cold New Hampshire?
Us : Yes Sir we are preparing for it.
VO : Ok, you will receive your Visa in 5 days time. Have a great stay in the U.S

That was it !!! He didn't ask for any documentary proof of sufficient finances. Unlike other interviews, he didn't even ask me for my degree, marksheets, GMAT scores etc. So the interview was like a walk in the park for us.

Now the TO DO list gets really long - I have to book tickets, get myself vaccinated etc etc. 2 months seem too less for all this. Hoping for the best.

Financial Aid & Visa

2008-06-04T15:47:00.003+05:30

It's been a long time I updated everyone. Life has become crazily busy after marriage. Now there are so many new things that I have to take care of. Nonetheless, I am enjoying every bit of it.

So the news on Tuck is that I have been awarded 100% financial aid which will cover my tuition expense, living expense and some other miscellaneous expenses. I must say Tuck is really great here since loan procurement is always a troublesome process for International students. For my loan I do not need to show any collateral or a US citizen as a consignor. Also, 100% financial aid is guaranteed to all students.

Some days back I also received the i20 forms for me and my wife. Now all I need to do is take an appointment and appear for an interview at the US embassy at New Delhi. So watch out for my next post where I'll post my Visa experience.

Last Few Days ........

2008-04-14T20:20:00.004+05:30

........ of my bachelorhood. Yes, I am taking a big leap on the personal front. I will be a married man in exactly 7 days from now. So, how should I spend these last few days? Anybody ??

I may be sounding a little depressed from the prospect of getting married. However, I want to clarify that it is not so. I have known my would be wife for past 5 years and I can't feel more happy that I am finally tying the knot with her.

It's one of those moments when you know that this is the single most thing that you were born to do. Everything seems to be in balance. So here I am doing that thing. And until my marriage it's Adieu from Yepsee !!!!!

Google Balloon

2008-02-21T16:25:00.003+05:30

The grapevine has it that Google may buy a balloon company to build wireless networks. The idea behind this is that launching a balloon costs significantly lesser than establishing a wireless receiver. Now, this is some serious innovation at Google, but then this is expected out of folks there. Here's a video to Google Balloon plans.

Meeting Dean Danos

2008-01-17T11:55:00.001+05:30

Yesterday was one of the most fruitful day of my life. I met Prof. Paul Danos (Dean, Tuck School of Business) in New Delhi. He was here to host the Tuck Reception and do some interviews with the press. I was moved by the fact that he spared one full hour from his busy schedule to have a chat with me.

Dean Danos is a great guy. Just few minutes into the conversation I realised how knowledgeable and down to earth he is. I think that's what Tuck brings out in people - humility. We talked at length about Tuck, Credit Card business (my domain), Indian economy and India v/s US MBA programs. A few key notes that I could recollect are :-

This was a record year for placements at Tuck with average salary figure at $175,000 (base + guaranteed components) - Up from last year's figure of $155,000.

Contrary to the popular belief the downturn in US economy hasn't impacted the recruitment much. As an example, the Dean quoted that last year 85% of student converted their internships into full time job offers. This year the figure is 80%, which in no way is drastically lower compared to last.

Number of applications have gone up. The total application volume of EA+R1+R2 has been around 2200.

I'll keep updating this post as I remember more points from the meeting.

And yes there was another person from P.R office too. He gave me a flavour of what life would be like at Tuck - Weather, community, culture etc. Thanks to him I feel better prepared to handle the change that I'll go through.

MBA Gyan

2007-12-26T13:03:00.001+05:30

Lately I have received a lot of questions around the b-school application process. Therefore, I decided to dedicate this post to address all such questions. Below I have keyed down points that one should keep in mind while creating a b-school application.

I might sound a little fixated on my views, but these opinions are a result of a rigorous research that lasted 2 years. Still you are free to close your browser windows at any point :-)

So with the hope that these would add value to your applications, let me begin :-

STOP worrying about how to differentiate yourself from the crowd. You are already different. The point is that you should showcase your unique personal experiences (big or small, doesn't matter) and highlight how you've inculcated the learnings from these experiences to become a better person.
UNDERSTAND the school you are applying to. Go beyond the website. Talk to students, alumni and see what's it like to be at that school. If you don't know any student or alum use google, linkedin, orkut, facebook etc. I used these websites and connected with lots of people. Your application will sound much more genuine after you've done this kind of a research.
TREAT the application form (where you put in extracurricular, academic achievments etc.) with the same respect as your essays or recommendations. This is valuable information that goes into your admit/reject decision.
ANSWER the question. Isn't this obvious? Believe me, too often than not we don't do that. So if the goals essay doesn't ask for your career progression then don't spend time explaining how you learned critical lessons of leadership and teamwork while at work. The ad-com will simply brand you a rambler who hasn't even read the question properly. Also such kind of a response invokes the feeling that you have applied to a school which asked for the career progression and that you've copied the matter from there. An absolute killer of your chances.
USE short sentences in your essays. They are easy to understand.
DON'T put all the information/stories you've (about the school, about yourself) in your essays. Leave something for the interview also, where you would be dug deeper into each and every aspect.

Lastly but most importantly DON'T say what ad-com wants to hear. These guys are incredibly smart people who have been reviewing applications for years. They can easily identify people who try to personify. So showcase who you are. If the ad-com still rejects you then don't worry. You were never a great fit for that school.

Tuck Calls

2007-12-18T15:24:00.000+05:30

After going through days of anxiety I've finally received the much awaited admit call from Tuck School of Business.

Tuck has always been my first choice and that's the reason I applied in the ED round. I am feeling ecstatic. It's truly a remarkable feeling when you see the results of your hard work in front of yourself.

I am starting this blog to list the experiences of my run-up to Tuck as well as my stay at the school. Hope this will help people get a better idea about the school.