I've got my final B-Schools list

After I took the GMAT and the TOEFL, it was clear that the next step was shortlist the B-Schools I will apply for. It's been more than a month since I finished the tests and now I have narrowed and arranged the schools in order to take the next step in my application process.

I decided to apply to 5 schools in the first round and 3 on the second. I won't tell the names in this post, nonetheless they're not so hard to guess since I'll talk about some criteria I used to shortlist my initial selection. I concluded that it's more a result of a subjective analysis than a quantitative comparison of ratios and figures. Of course, some objective features must be considered but without deeper thinking it's impossible to know whether a school is a good choice for you.

Among the main criteria I chose to shortlist my selection, I think these ones were capital:

• Location: Admittedly, to be in the place where top businesses run is very important to me. Top school + beautiful place to launch my career abroad, it's like a dream, isn't it?
• Students' passion for the school: All of my students-network friends have a very big enthusiasm for their school, however, there are some of them that are strongly passionate about their school, when you listen to them, all you can wish is: "I want to live that as well!"
• Strength in finance: Due to my finance background and long-term goals, I selected schools that provide strong finance-oriented courses so that I can major my MBA in finance.

One of my students-network friends suggested me to do a final research in the B-Schools' web sites so that I can refine my own vision about the facts and features that are the most important for the schools themselves. I agree with that, I'll take some time to do it.

My students network is working fine (and helping me a lot!)

When I started this process I didn't know anybody studying at my preselected B-Schools, but now I am in contact with some students and they're always willing to help me regarding my application process questions and concerns. Indeed, now I consider them my friends (and, of course, more helping hands along the way).

I must say Admissions Officers helped me contact them in most of cases though there are some schools whose policies don't let them give applicants emails and names from students or alumni. However, some of the latter have special forums so that all the people in the forum is noticed when any applicant makes questions, then many of them (even some admissions-related people) are willing to give you their advice and thoughts about your questions.

Regarding the questions, these are the main ones I ask students in order to get a better insight into the school:

• Why did you apply to X school? I mean, what attracted you the most?
• According to your experience, what are X school's pros (the main ones) and cons (if any)?
• What do you think are the qualities and/or abilities that X school values the most in applicants?
• What kind of achievements are the most appreciated by X school (individual, as a leader, as a team member, etc.)?
• What tone or elements make an essay fit more with X school?

By the way, now I'm sure I've chosen a group of winner schools because all the students are truly happy with their schools, I've learned there are several reasons to choose this or that school and I think that's why it finally goes to a "fit" question. I think the best school is the school that makes you feel as proud as my "insider friends" in their respective schools.

I am also glad that some of my students-network friends are from my same country, even one of them is from my same elementary school (it's true that we live in a small world hehe...). On the other hand, my foreign network friends are as supportive as the others, I feel we've been friends all the time. I really thank all my "insider friends", they have helped me to know better all the schools on my wish list. Now I have a clearer picture of every school from inside and I can tell one from the other.

Standing on the shoulders of more MBA-blog giants

Finally, I think I have completed my MBA-bloggers research about schools and application process. From my point of view, these are the most useful posts I found in the blogs I selected to help me during my process:

Essay Tips:

• How to answer the "Why MBA" question: http://i4iday.blogspot.com/2007/02/why-does-someone-want-to-do-mba_22.html
• Essay writing tips: http://i4iday.blogspot.com/2007/03/essay-writing.html
• "What to write about?" musings: http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2006/08/b-school-essays-what-if-im-just-mere.html
• Stanford's "What matters most to me and why?" essay tips: http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2006/08/what-matters-most-to-me.html
• HBS essays deconstructed: http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2006/09/celebratory-post-hbs-essays.html
• The looooong Stanford essays deconstructed: http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2006/09/recommendations-submitted-long-long.html
• The super shrunk Wharton essays: http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2006/09/supershrinked-wharton-essays.html
• The "ultra cool" Chicago essays: http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2006/09/ultra-cool-chicago-essays.html
• General tips and other subtleties regarding writing essays: http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2007/04/essays_04.html
• Who should review your essays? http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2007/04/your-angel-essay-reviewers.html
• Some thoughts on essay writing process: http://rungee582.blogspot.com/2006/09/some-thoughts-on-essay-writing-process.html
• Essay FAQ: http://rungee582.blogspot.com/2007/05/faq-essays.html
• About essay feedback: http://asiangalmba.blogspot.com/2006/09/on-essay-feedback_20.html

B-Schools info:

• Short-listing B-Schools tips: http://i4iday.blogspot.com/2007/02/school-selection.html
• "Which school should I apply to?" reflections: http://i4iday.blogspot.com/2007/03/school-selection.html
• Initial B-Schools research: http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2007/03/do-not-waste-250-gmat-fee-do-some_23.html
• Various comments regarding B-Schools http://rungee582.blogspot.com/2006/08/review-of-adcom-panel.html

General Admission Tips:

• Essay writing schedule (an example): http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2006/09/one-more-packed-month-coming-up.html
• Concerns of early career applicants: http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2007/01/concerns-of-early-career-applicants.html
• Building your fact sheet: http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2007/03/your-fact-file-preparatory-ego-massage.html
• Resume tips: http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2007/04/resume-tips.html
• Pondering schools when admitted: http://rungee582.blogspot.com/2007/01/pondering.html
• Application Strategy FAQ: http://rungee582.blogspot.com/2007/04/faqs-strategy.html
• The B-School mythbuster: http://asiangalmba.blogspot.com/2007/04/b-school-mythbuster.html

Interview Tips:

• Preparing the personal interview: http://i4iday.blogspot.com/2007/04/personal-interview.html
• Insight into the Chicago interview: http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2006/11/my-chicago-interview.html
• Comments regarding the Wharton interview: http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2006/12/my-wharton-interview-insert-huge-grin.html
• Tips with regard to the Wharton interview: http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2007/02/wharton-interview.html
• Insight into the HBS interview: http://rungee582.blogspot.com/2006/11/three-down-two-to-go.html
• Insight into the LBS interview: http://rungee582.blogspot.com/2006/12/still-rolling.html
• Wharton interview report: http://asiangalmba.blogspot.com/2007/03/wharton-interview-report.html
• Columbia interview report: http://asiangalmba.blogspot.com/2007/03/columbia-interview-report.html
• Interview preparation: http://asiangalmba.blogspot.com/2007/02/interview-prep.html

Recommenders Management Tips:

• Obtaining solid recommendations: http://i4iday.blogspot.com/2007/04/obtaining-solid-recommendations.html
• Recommender info packet: http://rungee582.blogspot.com/2006/07/recommender-info-packet.html
• How to obtain recommendations: http://rungee582.blogspot.com/2007/05/faqs-obtaining-recommendations.html
• Selecting your recommenders: http://blog.clearadmit.com/2007/05/admissions-tip-selecting-your-recommenders/

GMAT Preparation Tips:

• The three-month preparation: http://i4iday.blogspot.com/2007/03/3g-months_13.html
• A preparation strategy for the GMAT: http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2007/02/much-dreaded-gmat_28.html
• GMAT FAQ: http://rungee582.blogspot.com/2007/03/as-promised-some-faqs-gmat.html

Financing the MBA:

• About the Wharton Scholarship essay: http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2007/01/wharton-scholarship-essay.html
• Funding your MBA: http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2007/04/funding-your-mba.html

I think I should arrange them on the right side of the page along with the posts I included in my previous "Standing on the shoulders of giants" post in order to improve my MBA Intelligence Center. I hope I can do it soon.

On the other hand I'll stop my blog research for a long while so that I can finish my insider-based research regarding my B-Schools wish list.

By the way, it was Newton who wrote to Robert Hooke in 1676: "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants".

Is the glass half empty or half full?

I forgot to tell that I'm spending most of my "free" time (for instance, when I'm lying with my baby boy) to finish reading the blogs I'm using as a guide (they are on the right side). I'm just finishing "In between dreams", it's really a helpful blog. I think I'll need to make a second part of my "Standing on the shoulders of giants" post.

With regard to the title: my birthday is on next Saturday, so I will be 35 just for a few more days. I think I'm gaining more experience day by day. Even this endeavor to make my way to a top international MBA is a new kind of learning. It's an adventure, I will build my own path, I like that.

What about the half empty glass? A friend at college used to say every time somebody celebrated his/her birthday: it's not one more year for you; actually, it's one year less to live. Hmmm... In case of senior applicants this might be sadly true. However, I see the glass half full and expecting for more water to be poured in it ...

God bless the optimists!

Writing on weekdays

Yeah right. I know I said I wouldn't write on weekdays but I only wanted to keep the track of what I've done these last days (including the weekend).

It's kinda tiring all the research one has to do in order to get the adequate insight about the schools to apply for. And it's a harder job when you're an international applicant because it's not so easy to visit all the schools you intend to apply. Fortunately, I found very supportive students that let me ask them about their experiences with this or that school so that I have a better idea about the particularities and differences among top B-Schools.

Unfortunately for me, this is just the time most students are starting working on their summer internship so I have to wait a few days for their reply. I think it's not so bad anyway, I guess I'm not the only one trying to contact them. That's why I'm doubly grateful to those who are writing to me almost every other day.

I took the last days to build my career timeline. I would share my template if I knew how to attach an Excel file into the blog, if someone knows how to do it please let me know. By the way, I was really surprised when I realized that my "workaholic stage of life", as I call it, matches almost perfectly with the time I didn't attend any long course (I mean Diploma, Specialization, Master, etc.). I know this let me gain invaluable work experience and add some achievements to my list but the coincidence puzzled me.

Anyway, regarding my career timeline, one question popped up: ¿what's really an achievement and a failure for top B-Schools? When you have many achievements (and some setbacks), this is really a concern. I asked to the gurus and current students in order to clarify that point. I think Linda's advice (from Accepted.com) summarizes better the point: preferred achievements are: being promoted as a result of an outstanding performance, and significant contribution in a team project (no matter the role). On the other hand, a failure or setback always teaches a lesson that changes our mind someway. Of course there are some nuances but that's the main idea.

What else? Well, I asked many questions regarding the schools to my new insider friends in the schools. They let me contact them either by email or by phone. On the other hand, some schools don't give students info to contact with but they have forums where you can ask all your questions about the school, admissions, etc. The problem with the forums is that almost everyone is out of the school (I said it at the beginning of this post) :-O

Standing on the shoulders of MBA-blogs giants

Have you ever tried a search on Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com.pe/)? It's a specialized articles, papers and other scientific texts seeker, I heard first about it last year while studying in Holland. So, what's this got to do with my application process? Just a phrase in the main page of that searcher: Standing on the shoulders of giants.

I think all MBA applicants do that we stand on others' shoulders in order to do our best in our application process: successful test takers, admitted applicants, alumni and students networks, consultants, specialized forums and also MBA bloggers. I have to thank all this people for giving us all the things they learnt either along their way to MBA or while giving advice to many applicants. As far as I'm concerned, all these "giants" saved me much researching time and let me focus on researching about some specific topics regarding my own process' particularities.

So, what it all comes down to? Here's a list of posts from other bloggers that I found very helpful:

B-Schools info:

• School-specific chat transcripts (from Accepted.com and Clear Admit): http://daveformba.blogspot.com/2006/07/accepted-admissions-consultancy.html
• Choosing the right Business School (Podcast): http://daveformba.blogspot.com/2006/09/not-sure-which-schools-to-apply-to.html
• Best Business Schools for Getting Hired: http://asiangalmba.blogspot.com/2007/02/50-best-business-schools-for-getting.html
• Harvard Info Session (kinda old but thoroughly detailed): http://daveformba.blogspot.com/2004/09/harvard-info-session.html
• Wharton Info Session (2006 version): http://asiangalmba.blogspot.com/2006/11/on-wharton-info-session.html
• Wharton Info Session (kinda old but thoroughly detailed): http://daveformba.blogspot.com/2004/10/wharton-info-session.html
• Columbia Info Session (kinda old but thoroughly detailed): http://daveformba.blogspot.com/2004/10/columbia-info-session.html
• About INSEAD Info Session: http://rusgirl.blogspot.com/2005/11/about-insead-special-information.html
• About LBS Info Session (in Moscow): http://rusgirl.blogspot.com/2005/11/about-lbs-information-session-in.html

General Admission Tips:

• The Admit's Office Hate List (from BW article): http://daveformba.blogspot.com/2006/08/b-week-article-admit-offices-hate-list.html
• Not sure where to start? (Dave's to-do list): http://daveformba.blogspot.com/2006/09/applying-and-not-sure-where-to-start.html
• Tepper's MBARealityCheck website (interesting): http://daveformba.blogspot.com/2006/09/school-highlight-tepper-announces-new.html
• Books to get for GMAT and essays preparation: http://daveformba.blogspot.com/2006/10/what-books-should-i-get-in-preparing.html
• About what round to apply in: http://daveformba.blogspot.com/2006/10/applying-in-which-round-will-improve.html
• Useful MBA Podcasts: http://daveformba.blogspot.com/2006/10/mba-podcaster-audo-podcasts-available.html
• Best of MBA Blogs 2006-2007: http://blog.clearadmit.com/2007/04/best-of-blogging-2006-2007-results/

Essay Tips:

• Strategic Recommendations for Writing your Admission Essay (Podcast): http://daveformba.blogspot.com/2006/08/mba-podcaster-strategic.html

Interview Tips:

• What to expect at an interview: from the perspective of the interviewer: http://daveformba.blogspot.com/2006/09/what-to-expect-at-interview-from.html
• What to ask when attending the MBA tour (1st and 2nd comments): http://daveformba.blogspot.com/2006/10/gmac-trying-to-make-gmat-testing.html
• How to prepare interviews: http://asiangalmba.blogspot.com/2007/03/how-i-prepared-for-my-interviews.html

Networking Tips:

• The Alumni Connection: http://asiangalmba.blogspot.com/2006/09/alumni-connection_15.html

Recommenders Management Tips:

• "Recommenders Pack": http://asiangalmba.blogspot.com/2006/09/busy-busy.html
• Provide your recommenders with: http://asiangalmba.blogspot.com/2006/12/provide-your-recommenders-with.html

Last month I spent some time reading Dave's blog; hey man, what a good job you did! It took me many hours to read all your posts, but I think it was worth the time. Thanks Asiangal & Rusgirl as well, your blogs are really helpful.

Asking the Admission Gurus

Some blogger friends suggested me to ask Admission Consultants for free advice. I found four of these gurus in the BusinesWeek Graduate forums (http://forums.businessweek.com/bw-bschools/start/). You have to create an account and register for free but I think it's a good deal.

The experts I asked about my situation are:

• Alex (from MBAApply.com: http://www.mbaapply.com/)
• Linda (from Accepted.com: http://www.accepted.com/)
• Sandy (from Cambridge Essay Service: http://world.std.com/~edit/index.htm)
• Graham (from ClearAdmit.com: http://www.clearadmit.com/)

By the way. Clearadmit home page offers a free initial assessment if you send them your CV. I think it's a great thing that those consultants offer free advice through the BW forum so that one can decide after chatting with them if hiring their services is a good idea. From my point of view, I think the price of their service is quite expensive for most people from emerging countries.

They agreed in the fact that my application's enemies are my 10+ years of experience and my previous local MBA. On the other hand, my strong points are my nationality and my low 700+ GMAT score. Besides, clear career goals are a must for my application process; although I didn't tell them about my career goals in specific terms, I do have clear professional goals and plans for my future years, that plan includes a top MBA as an important step.

Regarding BW Forums, many bloggers advice not to check the forums about failures to getting accepted because it's too depressing. They say it's full of stories of gifted and outstanding candidates who didn't make the grade. My advice regarding this is: build your own way, if you think there are some schools that fit for you, just go for them! There's no worse decision than doing nothing and giving up before the race starts. Don't compare yourself with others, just trust yourself.

By the way, we have a saying here in my country: when God closes one door in front of you he opens another one for you.

Essay Tips from Accepted.com

Last week I subscribed to Accepted.com and I got a minicourse by email called "5 Fatal Flaws Mini-Course". I'm copying here part of the introduction mail:

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Sometimes in writing essays, applicants make the right noises, including "leadership" "communications skills," "teamwork," and "analytical abilities." They may even embellish their essay with a rhetorical flourish or two, but their essays are as empty and occasionally as nonsensical as my grandson's baby talk - and a lot less cute.

By signing up for this mini-course, you are ensuring that you will know what the 5 Fatal Flaws of MBA Essays are and how to avoid them. Without further a due...

5 Fatal Flaws of MBA Essays:

1. Lack of substance - nothing demonstrating the qualities claimed.
2. Failure to answer the question.
3. Clichéd.
4. Superficial.
5. Muddled thinking.

Enjoy Accepted.com's complimentary five day email mini-course that will help you write engaging, revealing personal statements and application essays.

------------------------------------------------------------------

The related pieces of advice they send in the remaining emails are:

Avoid Fatal Flaw #1: Bring your essays to life with self reflection and astute use of examples balanced by analysis.

Avoid Fatal Flaw #2: Keep the application alive. Answer the question.

Avoid Fatal Flaw #3: Write pointed and direct answers to the questions.

Avoid Fatal Flaw #4: Use specific examples to distinguish yourself.

Avoid Fatal Flaw #5: Thinking clearly and honestly before beginning to write.

Thanks Linda!

Starting to network top B-Schools alumni and students

One of the best things one can do to get valuable knowledge about a school is contacting alumni or current students. This is an advice I got from blogger friends and I totally agree. Nowadays, I have sent some mails to former or current students in order to know their insight about my main concerns about my application process age (or work experience, if you want) and previous local MBA.

By the way, I still don't have any reply from INSEAD, but I already got the one from NYU:

• NYU: Students who have earned an MBA outside the U.S. are eligible for admission. We do not have a minimum age requirement for the program. In order to be eligible to apply for the MBA program, you must hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited college (or its international equivalent). You are not eligible to apply if you already hold an MBA from a US institution. The admissions committee looks at academic potential, career history and goals and personal characteristics.

Not so bad, they talk about minimum age requirement, not maximum. Anyway, I sent them another email in order to clarify that point. I'll contact alumni or students directly to ask about my getting-a-job-after-the-MBA-and-near-the-40s concern.

At this point, I've started emailing to either current or former students from my selected schools. I hope I finish my initial contacts next week. Their help will be crucial for me because I don't know any alumni from my country (except one from HBS who is a friend of a friend) and even though I can talk about my MBA intentions with some of my friends or relatives, they don't know much about these top MBAs world. Besides, only a few people in my country speak English, so I will really need the help of my starting "top MBA alumni and students network" not only to get advice and insight from inside but also to help me reading and validating my essays. I hope they're not going to feel overwhelmed doing these favors to me.

By the way, I found very supportive students at RSM Erasmus and Columbia (the schools whose students I contacted so far).

I also registered to these forums:

• Wharton student2student: http://s2s.wharton.upenn.edu/wh-wharton
• Chicago students forum: http://www.chicagogsb.edu/fulltime/forums/

Moreover, I think any top B-School should have a kind of ambassador student in any country; that would be really useful in order to talk face-to-face with someone who has lived the experience at this or that school, specially for international students like me and many other applicants.

Building my MBA Intelligence Center

I started this blog as a way to help me through my application process, so I think I should link it to the main websites I regularly visit. I even included some historical information about links that I don't click much nowadays but that were very helpful some time ago. I hope it also helps my visitors.

The tools I added include one MBA info seeker to find useful information about B-Schools, MBA blogs, GMAT stuff and other free resources on the web directly from this site. On the other way around, I wish I knew how to upload Excel files to the posts I write. It would be really helpful if I could download and check the info at any place, not only at home from my own laptop.

By the way, time management it's a real concern when you have a demanding full-time job, an ongoing personal project and a newborn baby boy while researching about B-Schools and trying your best to get accepted. Fortunately, I managed to leave the office no later than 8 pm and dedicate the nights to contact alumni and admission officers from my target B-Schools. On the other hand, I spend most of the weekends' mornings and afternoons with my baby boy while my wife tries to take some rest; thank God my baby boy is very calm and not used to crying for everything. I also take advantage of this time to read some MBA blogs that I downloaded to my Palm handheld.

About social life, I almost said goodbye to it except for a few holidays and important birthdays. I'll have more time after I complete all the requirements for the admission process. I know it's worth the sacrifice.