MBA Admissions - Do you need a Consultant or a Mentor??

During R1 applications, I reached out to Yael, who is an MBA from NYU Stern. She has worked with one of the top i-banks and then she quit her job to be a part of NYU Stern's admissions team. I have already written a post on Yael's MBA consulting oops "MENTORING" venture - Admit1mba. But that was when i had only briefly interacted with her. Now, after working with her on my apps (Chicago and INSEAD) and getting to know her better i can say with even greater confidence that Yael is one of the best MBA mentors out there. I might not have made the final cut, but that's due to my own choices and decisions (not to pursue an MBA from a college outside top5, not to apply to more than 2 colleges etc etc).

Most importantly, lengthy discussions with Yael often bought me closer to myself. More than an MBA journey it became a journey of self realization. Time and again i have said on this blog that i spent close to 3 years on MBA apps (GMAT, School research, app, re-app) and to no avail. But the journey has made me a much better and confident person. I believe that i was lucky to work with someone like Yael and with bloggers such as "Forrest Gump", who boosted my confidence, questioned my assumptions and helped me move to the next orbit. The chief reason is that Yael and Gump are not consultants, they are mentors and friends.

Yael has just made a video where she shares the shit admissions consultants say, watch out before you head out to one. And if you really want to get help then seek a "mentor" (you know who i am talking about) ..

All da best
Sayonara

p.s - my keyboard is not working properly, pls mind the spelling mistakes :)

End of the game for me

After 3 years of hard work (GMAT + Essays), research and gruelling wait i have decided to call it quits. Today was a bad day, as soon as i stepped out of home i met an accident. Then received ding from one of the 2 schools i had applied to in R1. No interview invite :'(

Compared to last year i had much stronger essays and some of the current students who read my essays reciprocated my belief. Worst part is even after putting in 100s of hours i don't know what is wrong with my app. 740 GMAT (92 percentile in both sections), amongst top 3 students in undergrad (dean scholarship holder from a top engg college in India), tonnes of EC and leadership roles (played hockey at national level, chairman and cofounder of an NGO for past 5 years, various roles at my current organization) , excellent career progression (7 years of work exp at one of the global banks and leading a group of almost 30 people), have some patents to my name, one failed entrepreneurial venture, good recos...and decent essays

I am disappointed and feeling perplexed, not because i failed but because i don't know what caused this failure. And since i don't know where i am lacking i can't think of ways to improve my candidature. I have wasted almost 10% of my life on chasing my MBA dream..10% of my life WASTED..

But was it really a waste? i think i have become a better person in process of applying to b-schools. My communication skills have improved, my awareness of the world has increased..i met some of the most wonderful people in this journey..and most importantly i learnt to INTROSPECT...so it was not that bad...

something might be missing in my app that's why i am not attending a b-school..there would be a lot better candidates than me..and i have to accept it...feels bad but that's life....and i wasted lots of $$ on this game..bad bet..

I don't know how i am gonna keep this blog alive...atleast for next few weeks i just want to let go off this sad feeling....till then ciao...

Clear Admit Career Guides - Review

Disclaimer: The views expressed below are my personal opinion and in no way related to clear admit or any other company.

I recently bought Clear Admit Career guide for Marketing. I am really sad to say that the publication disappointed me. Rather than a true career guide the pdf serves as a handbook for comparing Marketing curriculum of various US b-schools {that too is not a detailed comparison}.

The guide speaks about the career in Marketing only for 1 page. Yes you read it correctly, its "1 page". And this description is also limited to "Brand Management or Product development" paths in Marketing.

The publication could have been a lot better had it served the following purposes:

1. Provided clear cut distinction between a Marketing career in CPG industy and a Marketing Career in non-CPG industries {such as Financial services}
2. The guide could have explained the career progression in Marketing industry and could have explained the roles and responsibilities of Marketers at various stages of their careers
3. Also, the guide fails to describe in detail the skill-set that is required to kick start a career in Marketing,

Good points:

1. Gives you a good flavour of Marketing curriculum at various schools -- though you will have to explore the website and other resources to get the whole story

in short, for $40 the clear admit guide for Marketing is not a value for money buy...if i have to rate this guide on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the highest:

My verdict: 1.5/5

INSEAD vs US b-schools

Yesterday Miss "S" threw some questions at me, forcing me to think hard. Though i could answer most of them but found myself struggling while answering others.

Miss S:  why Kellogg or Booth and why not INSEAD? Your ultimate goal is to move to strategy and INSEAD does as well as top US schools when it comes to placing students in strategy.

Me:  i want to do an immersive program and a 10 month program is too short to even fully live the MBA experience.

Miss S: But consider the ROI. INSEAD offers highest ROI. You have to forego only 1 year salary and the total amount spent on tuition and living is also less in case of 1 year prog.

Me: Agreed!

Miss S: Forbes 2009 ranking. Have you seen them?

Me: Yes..Salary for INSEAD class of 2004 in 2008 was $218, 000 and for Kellogg it was $165, 000. INSEAD students take 2.5 years on average to repay their education loan while Kellogg students take 4.4 years.

Miss S: that's a big difference..

Miss S: So why not INSEAD? It s going to offer you greater diversity, access to same set of recruiters, it has campuses in multiple locations. I assume INSEAD would offer you similar courses and would have great faculty too.

Me: That's true but INSEAD is too big. 900 {is it 900 or 1800? 900*2} students passing out every year. Thats like a factory output

Miss S: rubbish!! Ultimately they are going to divide you in sections and that's what will matter to you. Is the batch size any how going to affect your learning?? And INSEAD is a great school {top 5 in every ranking}, so having a large alum network is a plus.

Me: that's right!! But INSEAD is skewed towards consulting. What if i change my mind during MBA?

Miss S: Have a better look at their employment report. You will get the answer.

Me: But INSEAD is not that well known outside Europe.

Miss S: People who are going to recruit you and people who are going to work with you will know about INSEAD. How does it matter whether your friend from high school or girl next door doesn't know about INSEAD.

Me: Thats right too!!!

Miss S: see, if you can get into INSEAD you will do as well as you will in case you go to any other top US b school. But you will repay your loan faster and can start enjoying sooner.

Me: I will definitely discuss this with my fellow bloggers and gain some insight ... you have confused me :'(

I know Kellogg students take more time than those at INSEAD to repay their education loans. But i would like to carry Kellogg/Wharton badge for the rest of my life. Maybe because my parents, my friends hold these brands in high esteem {And i don't know how good is this reason for choosing a particular school.}. I think all of us have unconcious fascination towards some particular schools. I never feel anything about Stanford or Berkeley or SLoan but the mention of K/W/Booth/Ross/LBS etc sets my pulse racing.

But the 2008 salary for class of 2004 is a big differentiator, K students earning $165, 000 and INSEAD students earning $ 218, 000. Money matters after all :) .... I have still not fully accepted the idea of applying to INSEAD but i will surely explore this great school before i take any decision.

Why MBA ..Which School...Why Now??

As i move ahead towards my MBA dream, i am forced to think hard about the following questions:

1. Why MBA?? -- In my previous post Why MBA? I had mentioned few reasons that motivate me to pursure an MBA. But specifically linking an MBA program to my career goals is a bit tough job. For this reason its an absolute must to be crystal clear about your short term and long term career goals. Once you have done so get in touch with student ambassadors or b-school students {who have similar career aspirations as you do} to understand how an MBA has helped them in realizing their goals. I have found a very interesting pattern in that a lot of people do not stick to the same career goals that they mentioned in their essays. Thats fine also, pursuing an MBA will expose one to various career streams and being flexible is a good option. My why MBA story to get into a b-school can be very different from my Why MBA once i pass out of the school.
An MBA can help you mingle with people from your target industry, can give you a platform to interact with recruiters of your choice {Mckinsey, BCG, Bain don't recruit everywhere..}. You can develop certain traits that your future job might require. Also being an engineer i can never expect to learn economics, accounting or marketing in my job so an MBA can help me in getting a hang of these subjects.


Which b- school?? --No matter which school i try to explore i find the same courses offered in the "CORE" and almost similar sounding "Electives" {Barring few}. Every school boasts of a great faculty and pioneering research. Every school offers almost similar clubs such as conculting, marketing, I-banking etc. and every school talks about developing leaders.

Then there are few differences too -- Harvard and Darden - case centric...Kellogg, Ross -- great for marketing and team work is very imp. ... Wharton - -emphasizes a lot on innovation...Then there are schools with small class size {300-400/ batch} and then there's H/W {800-900/batch}. Also US and european MBA's differ in many other aspects too. {I am not getting into details of european vs US schools as i am focussing on US b-school only for some reasons.}. Location of a school is another imp. factor..Cornell, Tuck and Ross are at an disadvantage when compared to Columbia, Kellogg, Wharton, Harvard etc. Sloan and Haas are tech centric..Chicago lets you choose all your courses except one right from 1st year.

Why Now?? -- .. Need help !!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

B-school Ranking -- Which source is the best??

First thing that comes to the mind of perspective MBA candidates while shortlisting the target b-schools is the b-school rankings. Now, we have a number of b-school rankings in the market. How to determine which source is best? Obviously no two rankings place the same school at the same slot {for eg Businessweek places Tuck at 12th while forbes has recently placed Tuck at 2nd}. Things become tough for applicants when they see FT or WSJ or US news rankings. The top 5 would comprise of same schools but pegged at different places.

The big question is which ranking is the best and which one is the most accurate. While rankings cannot be ignored, they should not be the sole criteria for shortlisting b-schools. Why? ok, they should be a factor because the school from which you will pass will be the brand that you will carry for the rest of your life. Why not?ok, even if you go to harvard and cant learn a single thing and cant make it to the career of your choice then whats the use of brand name Harvard. {I might be in trouble when i say this :) }. Ok i will try to cover my @ss.

Prada means prestige but consider a stileto by Prada having 12 inch heels {i guess gals wud better be able to link up with this example}. While you will wear it, you will feel tall but will you be comfortable?? And how about the side effects that follow??{high heels may contribute to knee and back problems, disabling injuries in falls, shortened calf muscles, and an awkward, unnatural gait.}. People will be impressed by Prada but when you will have to walk you will curse your choice.

I would rather wear an inexpensive unbranded footwear than wear a prada and feel like a fool.

So before one peeps into rankings one must answer the following questions honestly:

1. Why MBA {what are the reasons apart from money??}
2. What are the skills that you want to learn {Now MBA bridges the gap between your existing skill-set and the desirable skill-set that you would aspire to have post MBA. }
3. What kind of  class environment you are looking for?? is it ultra competitive or collaborative??
4. What is the mix of class room learning and peer learning? or mix of case learning and theoretical learning?
5. What are the long term career prospects?? Whats the long term ROI??
6. Whether i will b able to switch careers {say you want to switch from IT to consulting, and you get into Harvard, now you will have to compete with best of the best for a place in the coveted firm. }
7. Whats the Alum network like at my perspective school?

Once you answer these questions in great detail start lookingat the rankings. If ROI is the biggest factor in your decision making process, go no further than Forbes Business School rankings.

Forbes Ranking
Forbes ranks return on investment of MBA programs based on:
Average 5-year increase in compensation compared to pre-MBA salary for each school's graduates
Cost of each MBA program, including estimated foregone salary

Detailed MBA Rankings Methodology 

Forbes ranks MBA programs based on return on investment (ROI) achieved by graduates. Forbes surveys alumni at over 100 schools and compares their earnings in their first five years out of business school to their opportunity costs (two years of forgone compensation, tuition and required fees). Forbes then:

1. Adjusts for cost of living expenses
2. Discounts earnings gains using a rate tied to money market yields
3. Discounts tuition to account for students who pay in-state rates and for the non-repayable financial aid from schools
4. Accounts for required fees that students must pay on top of tuition

Now let us consider FT rankings.

The Salary incremental {Outgoing salary - Incoming salary } is one of the biggest factor in FT rankings. Now this is something i dont like. ISB is ranked ahead of Kellogg {Man its not Kellogg corn flakes, its Kellogg Business School}. To make the matters worse FT uses some PPP conversion index = value provided by world bank. Thus weighted average salary calculated by FT comes out to be:

WAS = average of salary (with some adjustments) x PPP ;

thus ISB's "WAS" becomes larger than Kellogg's or Ross's or Duke's WAS...crap.

*Personally i dont give a **** to FT rankings after this debacle.

BusinessWeek Rankings

BusinessWeek bases its MBA rankings on:

1. 45% on student satisfaction surveys of recent MBA Program graduates
2. 45% on surveys of corporate recruiters based on their experiences with a school's graduates
3. 10% on "intellectual capital" calculated by BusinessWeek, which tallies points for appearance of the faculty's research in 18 specific publications

Fairly good indicator of a school's worth!! {atleast i think so}

The Wall Street Journal MBA Rankings

The Wall Street Journal bases its MBA program rankings 100% on surveys of recruiters' perceptions of the MBA programs from which they recruit.

Now i dont like this method..Why? Where's the students Perspective?? Where's the ROI?? Good that you are asking the External customer about his satisfaction level but what about the satisfaction level of Students?? I dont think one goes to a b-school to make the recruiter proud {that might be one reason} but money, career opportunities, learning, ROI etc play a big role.

U.S. News & World Report bases its MBA rankings:

1. 25% on ratings by business school deans and MBA program directors
2. 15% on ratings by recruiters of the schools at which they recruit
3. 35% on placement statistics provided by each school
4. 25% on school-reported "selectivity", the percentage of applicants the school accepts for admission

Now this is again a good method to rank the schools.

Once you are done with the introspection part, i would suggest that Businessweek, Forbes or US news be used as a reference to shortlist schools of top reputation.

Berkeley Haas Admit Gets Candid !!

I had the opportunity to interact with a Berkeley Admit {Bhavin Parikh} and i would like to share the finer points of our conversation with all my fellow bloggers. Bhavin scored in the 99th percentile in GMAT and applied to Wharton, Haas and Stanford. This information will be extremely useful for all the applicants who are planning to apply to Haas. Also, Bhavin is a co-founder of  "GMAT preparation site Magoosh" {"Magoosh - a play on the Old Persian word "magush" meaning "one who is highly learned, wise, and generous."}. As of now, Magoosh offers Quant preparation at a killer price {INR 499/- or approx $12}. Below is the transcript, read on:

Braveheart: Bhavin, to which all schools you applied? and why you chose Haas ?

bkparikh: I applied to Wharton, Stanford, and Haas.
I had been living in Philadelphia at the time, which was the primary reason I applied to Wharton. However, the school was not a good fit for me. I prefer a smaller class size, And I was heavily interested in technology.

Braveheart: so Haas is good for people who intend to pursue career in technology? How about the scope of strategy or Finance at Haas?

bkparikh: being close to Silicon Valley, Haas is definitely good for technology. But many students come here pursuing finance, strategy, consulting and marketing opportunites as well.
While Haas may not be as focused in Finance or Marketing as some other schools, the school does provide resources to help students succeed. Especially if they want to stay in the California area after graduation

Braveheart: but do Management Consulting/ Finance firms recruit in same proportion at Haas as they do at Chicago or Kellogg?

bkparikh: To be honest, I don't know the levels of recruitment of those schools. However, I know that last year 7% of our class came from Deloitte Consulting, most from a management consulting role So Haas does bring in mgmt consultants and also sends out mgmt consultants

Braveheart: coming back to app process :) .. What are the factors that an applicant should keep in mind while applying to a b-school?

bkparikh: Ah, good question!

I sometimes think applicants, including myself, place too much emphasis on the GMAT

Braveheart: you are bang on...

bkparikh: the GMAT is important, however it is not the only factor. Many applicants who score 750+ still do not get into top schools while other who are below 700 do get in

The most important component of the application is your "story" meaning...why at this point in your life do you want to go to business school, and why is the particular school you are applying to the best fit for you. All your essays, short answer questions, work history, and interview are part of your story it needs to make sense

Braveheart: absolutely...

bkparikh: to add a little moreI also believe if you can show that you have a unique experience that others can learn from, that will help you. b-school is much different that undergraduate in that you often learn more from your classmates experiences than you learn at your classes

Braveheart: makes sense.. so, how one should approach the essays? should the essays be tackled while keeping the adcom in mind i.e what is it that adcom wants to hear or would you suggest applicants to be themselves...?

bkparikh: The applicants should be themselves.

When I applied to Haas, I was myself. And the school made sense for me.

If an applicant knows why he/she wants to go to bschool, he/she should just write the story. It will be more genuine and the adcom can see that

Braveheart: Can you please share the interview experience at Haas?and how was it different from that at other b-schools?

bkparikh: I only interviewed at Haas and Wharton. I traveled from Philadelphia to Berkeley for the Haas interview, even though I had the option of interviewing off-campus. For me, it was important to come to the school since I had never been there before.

I was interviewed by a 1st year student.


This also signalled something to me...that the student opinion really matters and that the community is very student-driven

Braveheart: right..

bkparikh: Anyway, he had no knowledge of my essays. He just asked about why I wanted to come to Haas and asked about my prior experiences in difficult situations, being a leader and some personal questions I was quite nervous, but the interviewer actually put me at ease made it more like a conversation than an interview

Braveheart: and do they ask the same typical questions like why MBA? why Haas? or were there any surprises for you?

bkparikh: There were no big surprises, they asked the typical questions. But because I was myself in my essays, I felt comfortable being myself in the interview knowing that my story would be consistent which I believe is very important

Braveheart: and there is only one round of interview or multiple rounds?

bkparikh: I only had 1 round

For Haas, it depends on when you interview


For instance if you apply in round 1 or 2, I believe you have multiple interviews on the same day


I was round 3, for which the process is a bit different

Braveheart: ok..thats interesting... Any special advise to future applicants for tackling the Haas interview? {apart from presenting your trueself ...}

bkparikh: (1) Like I said before, have a good story about why b-school at this time and why this particular school, you'll need to be your trueself because the adcom can see that

(2) Learn as much as you can about the school. All the extra activities, etc... Think about what activities you would take part in if you were a student and bring those out

(3) Don't be afraid to bring in your personal life if it helps with your story. My fiance was living in Hawaii and I was in Philadelphia. So Berkeley made sense because we could both move closer to each other

Braveheart: Any word of caution for Indian applicants {I think it is one of the most competitive group}?

bkparikh: Bring out your personality. Why are you different from another Indian applicant? What unique experiences do you have? Don't force it or lie just reflect and find out what makes you unique

Braveheart: How would you describe your experience at Haas? What is the learning model at Haas? How is the faculty? What %age of work/assignments are done in teams?

bkparikh: My experience has been amazing! I have met a great group of friends. The culture is very student-driven, so the students have a lot of responsibility but can also make a lot of things happen

The small class size 240 students enables everyone to know each other at some level fostering a great sense of community.

Tying into the learning experience...the collaborative aspect of the student body helps everyone learn. Everyone is always willing to help each other even though classes on graded on a curve. Students care more about helping each other than about their grades

For example, I had a classmates who waived out of the core Accounting class because she was an accountant. But she still helped me when I had questions on my homework

And I helped her in classes like Statistics and Economics

Braveheart: that sounds like a great student body..

bkparikh: It is! I honestly cannot say enough good things about it

They even welcome partners of students (like my fiance) making her feel like part of the community

Braveheart: Thats a great news for applicants with partners...

bkparikh: The classes are a combination of case and lecture. You can learn from specific case examples but also learn general theory from lectures

The first semester is very busy, with classwork, networking, recruiting for summer internships etc...It is really a lesson in prioritization and time management

You can't do everything so you must figure out what is most important to you

Much of the work early on is done in teams. Your team is assigned by the school. Usually to be quite diverse. Teams of 5 (typically 1-2 females and 1-2 international students per team)

Braveheart: and you work in a single team for entire semester or you get to be a part of different teams for different subjects?

bkparikh: for the first semester you work in a single team but afterwards you get to work in different teams for different subjects

Braveheart: How do you find the alum community at Haas?

bkparikh: I would need to check to be 100% sure but I believe most Haas alums remain in the California area at first. That being said, they are extremely helpful
You can reach out to them and they typically respond quickly and are willing to talk with you
Braveheart: and do they also offer support when it comes to recruitment?

bkparikh: I believe part of this is because the class size is small so you build closer bonds to the school than you may otherwise yes they do,

many come back to campus and talk with students or advocate for Haas students to be hired

in fact last year during the recession, our Dean sent a message to the alums asking for help in job openings and many responded within a day providing openings at their companies

One concrete example is that a former alum from Google sent an opening to Haas directly and to no other schools

Braveheart: Any idea as to how easy it is for a student to switch careers post an MBA from haas? Say can a person from manufacturing or IT enter consulting/finance?

bkparikh: It is possible but not easy. To switch careers requires a lot of work on the students' sides to prove to the company that they are truly knowledgeable and interestd in that space however, the career services office does provide a lot of support and as a student, you can get involved in your new interest in many ways but you must definitely work at it

Braveheart: one thing that you would like to change at Haas?"

bkparikh: wow, good question

Braveheart: :)thanks

bkparikh: I would like for Haas' brand to be more widely recognized. Haas consistently ranks very high in the MBA rankings but does not have the national brand of some other top schools

Braveheart: you are spot on...

bkparikh: Haas has a great brand on the West Coast, but for someone like me who has family on the east it would help

Braveheart: thanks a lot for sharing your experience at Haas.... You have started a GMAT prep company, tell us more about that..

bkparikh: I am working with 2 Haas classmates, and one other individual on the site. We feel that there's a gap in the market right now. Classes (whether in person or online) are very expensive, running hundreds or thousands of dollars


Books, while cheaper, do not provide any level of personalized instruction

We are trying to provide some level of personalized instruction and metrics at roughly the cost of a book

The site is still in its infancy, with only GMAT Quant right now. We have plans to expand to GMAT Verbal and GRE in the near future

Braveheart: You have already shared the USP of Magoosh ... can you please tell us by when do you plan to launch verbal prep section?

Any tentative deadline as to when the verbal section would be up and running?

bkparikh: Ideally the verbal content would be up by the end of October

Braveheart: And would the cost of verbal prep be same as that of quant prep? {499 INR/-}

bkparikh: At first, we may provide verbal for a free trial

we haven't finalized the cost yet after that

Braveheart: Would you like to throw some light on video explanation feature of Magoosh?

bkparikh: Yes. We and our expert tutors believe videos provide a better way for students to learn than just reading text. We do recognize that some videos go into a lot of detail that many students may not need. But the goal is to help all students. The more advanced ones can skip over the videos while the less advanced students get the benefit of a very detailed explanation

The videos are also created to help students learn general concepts from one question that they can apply to another question

Braveheart: Any comments on Quant faculty at Magoosh? Like Manhattan and Kaplan always boast of 99percentile tutors

bkparikh: All of our quant content is currently provided by one tutor who is 99th percentile scorer

Braveheart: I personally belive GMAT score is not reflective of one's teaching capability but still in order to market your brand you have to boast ...

bkparikh: he also used to be a featured expert on beatthegmat.

we also believe that your score is not reflective of your teaching ability. so we sought out a tutor that has a high score and a lot of teaching experience he has taught for over 7 years and has worked at a large test prep company

in addition, we plan to continually focus on 99th percentile tutors. However, because we may get only verbal content from a given tutor and math from another...its more important that the tutor is strong in that respective subject than being strong overall

Braveheart: How you and your team mates come into picture? Do you also plan to take some sessions or you are involved only in technology and financing part of this project?

bkparikh: We do not create the content. However the four of us, having scored very well, are willing to share our GMAT prep experiences. We do review the content.

Our main focus however is the technology, financing and marketing

MBA from Spain -- How logical?

We have seen Spanish b-schools breaking into top 10 in BW or FT rankings. I.E and I.E.SE both are choice of number of b-school aspirants. Till now both these colleges have been boasting 90%+ placement within 3 months from graduation. The average remuneration given to students from these 2 schools is comparable to that of other top European and American b-schools. Taking other factors such as quality of life, climate and culture into account, Spain is an attractive destination to pursue MBA.

But, consider this, majority of the students from these 2 schools are placed in Latin America or Spain. Given the current state of Spanish economy how wise it is to go to IE or IESE? Let me share few points raised by John Mauldin in his newsletter about Spanish economy:

1. Is Spain a second Japan in making? Spanish banks are in big trouble and so is Spanish economy. Why? Because Spain has as much unsold houses as US has {but US is approx 6 times bigger}, Spain is only 10% of EU but it accounted for 30% of newly built houses in Europe since 2000. Most of these houses were financed through foreign capital and with the prevailing financial crisis the things will worsen.

2. There is an 850% rise in outstanding loans in last 8 years given to Spanish housing developers. The current outstanding loan amounts to well over 50% of Spain's GDP {near;y 470 bn euros}. And most of this will go bad, Can you imagine the fate of Spanish banks if most of these loans go bad?

3. Unemployment in Spain is well over 17% {4 million Spaniards are unemployed}, govt might make policies which could make it difficult for international students to get jobs in Spain {85% of class in IE is International}

4. Spain might land up in a situation similar to what Japan landed in 1992, but Japan had 3% GDP surplus and Spain has a deficit of 10%.

Given the current state of Spanish economy i would refrain from applying to Spanish b-schools until and unless i dont give a sh** to employment post MBA.

MBA and Job Switches

I am in a dillema for past few months. I have been working for past 5 years and I have already worked with 3 organizations{ and due to a severe accident i had to stay at home for 6 months, so there's a gap of 6 months in my resume}. I will be applying to b-schools next year in R1 and R2, recently i got an offer from a consulting firm. So i am confused whether to stick to my current job {for stability per se} or make the move.

Before i invite thoughts of fellow bloggers and b-school students and alums, i would like to share my story with you all. I am a Mechanical Engg and started working for a leading automobile manufacturer in my country. But soon i realized that i don't have a flair for manufacturing. The job on the shop floor is too monotonous {until and unless you are in design shop} and then i got a project which involved lots of analysis and strategy formulation. I performed brilliantly on this project and the project was selected as one of the best projects of the year. Then i met with an accident and had to stay at home for 6 months. It was during this time i realized that i would fit best in an industry where i could put my analytical ability to the best of use.

As i spoke to my friends and college seniors they advised me to look for a job in consulting domain. With all the time at hand, i researched a lot more about consulting industry and felt that i can work happily for the rest of my life in a consulting firm.

I sent my resume to a lot of consulting firms but never got any invite from any of the firms. I was disheartened but i applied to an analytics firm and was selected. I started working as an analyst and really enjoyed my work. At times i had to bust my ass for 36 hours at a stretch but i never complained because i loved what i was doing. The projects were challenging, i could see my efforts helping the client and there was huge learning.

Unfortunately, my organization's biggest client started a captive centre and took away all the business. The firm bled badly and with its future looking bleak there was an exodus of employees from the organization. I followed the suit.

Next, I joined the analytics team of one of the biggest bank in the world. The team was new and i got an opportunity to work on some of the good projects. The best part was that i helped my team grow from 2 people to 15 in a span of 2 years. Currently i am leading a fairly big group of analysts. Have already got one out of term promotion and might get second in next 6-8 months.

Now i have got an offer from one of the consulting firms {not the top 3} and i am in a big confusion. I want to get into consulting post MBA and this switch will really help me when i sit for placements in b-school. BUT, i already have 2 job switches on my resume and i don't want to be perceived as a job hopper by the Adcoms, so am not sure what to do.

I have a big chance of getting promoted in next few months in my current organization {would be my 2nd promotion in 30 months} which can be a very positive factor when i apply to b-schools.

In nutshell, i want to invite thoughts of my able fellow bloggers so that i can cover various pros and cons and finally take a better decision.

Snapshots from hell! - Book review {actually my view}

Just completed the book called "Snapshots from Hell". Its a nicely written book and gives a very good insight into the life of MBA students {esp students from non quant background} at Stanford.
The author of the book {Peter Robinson} was working at White House as a speech writer for mr. reagan {yes you read it right}. Then he tells the readers that he became interested in business {his version of why MBA?} and applied to Stanford. But even before his journey begins he is crippled by various negative thoughts. He adresses himself and other people from non quant backgrounds as "Poets". Now as per the book, poets are admitted to b-schools for the sake of diversity and poets are unable to cope up with the strenous life at the b-school {thats why the name "Snapshots from Hell"}.
The book takes reader through pre term boot camp, where author has humorously highlighted his incompetence in quant related topics. Then he goes on to further share his thoughts about other subjects and professors. I found that the author was unable to cope up with the rigor of b-school life and one could infer that the author is trying to criticize the b-school experience. This could be due to misfit {thats why finding the right school for pursuing the MBA is utmost important else one is forced to go through hell}.
As per the author, poets found the curriculum too difficult and had little time for networking and other jollies of life {a luxury which was enjoyed fully by consultants, i bankers and people from quant background}. As the story progresses one finds that author fares miserably in his first term but then slowly learns how to dodge the exams {passing the exams becomes his motive, god knows what happens to learning }.
The best part is where author reveals the value of aan MBA degree from a college like Stanford. He quotes his professor who says that even if students at Stanford and other top b-schools are not grounded hard and simply asked to play golf and enjoy life for 2 years, even then companies would recruit them in abundance and at a premium price. {brand does matter, Gucci, Versace.. vs non branded clothes}
Towards the end author loses his grip over the story but nevertheless Snapshots from Hell is a good read for any MBA applicant. Its reasonably priced and well written {no doubt that peter wrote speeches for Reagan}