Fellowships to Rochester and ISB, Carnegie Interview

After my interview in Delhi, I got an admission offer and a 20% tuition fellowship from Rochester on Tuesday. This evening, I got an sms from ISB offering me admission and later an email offering me a 22% fellowship. Rochester has given me till May 1st to decide while ISB has given me only 15 days! Thats a really short time to decide. My parents are both in favour of me joining ISB and while my dad said it openly, my mother pretends to be impartial. ISB seems to them to be a safer bet, and I think every parent, no matter what they say, would like their children somewhere close by. I on the other hand though, especially after spending the past 7 years here, want to be far away. I'm not sure of what to do, though I think I would prefer Notre Dame for the change of pace, wider exposure, diversity and more non-techie students, the two year course with the internship and so on. Anyway, I have to decide in the next couple of days since Beks and I are off on our month long trip from Monday onwards. Any views will be appreciated.

In other news, I had a telephone interview with Carnegie Mellon on Tuesday which I think went off pretty well. They'll let me know their final decision by March 12th. INSEAD invited me for an interview but the alumni I was supposed to meet in Cochin said he's out of town for the next couple of months. Since I will anyway be travelling in North India for the next month, I've asked them to hook me up with an alumni in Delhi to meet for the interview. They will let me know their final decision by March 14th. Anyway, all these dates won't really matter if I decide to take up ISB... In other schools, I'm still waiting to hear from Duke and LBS. The more I think about it, 15 days is really too short a time to finalize on a school.

Waitlisted at Babson

Didn't make it to Babson but am waitlisted there. Not sure exactly what that means and what my chances are of getting through now. I was really disappointed because I had really hoped to get into Babson. Whether I would have chosen Babson without aid over ND is another question... Anyway, now all my R1 results are out and its only the R2 apps left. I was also wondering whether it made sense to work for another year, setting up a retirement community in Chennai, and apply again for 2008 or 2009. I guess I will make a final decision after all the application results are in by April or so. Fed up of this waiting and uncertainty.

Interview for Simon

I just got invited for an interview with the adcom of the Simon Graduate School of Business - University of Rochester. I have a choice between either going to Bombay on the 21st or Delhi on the 23rd. In either case, I guess my planned month long holiday will now turn into a month and a half. It doesn't make sense for me to travel back to Kerala since I have to be in Haridwar on the 29th for my white-water kayaking trip, and then Beks and I are planning our month long trip in Feb from Jaisalmer to Varnasi. Anyway, maybe I'll go to Delhi early and hang in Mussorie or go up to Gangotri to pass the time.

ISB Interview, ND Deposit, Other Apps, New Blog

I had an interview with the ISB adcom in Chennai on the 30th of Jan. Yes, it was quite a long time back but I had got a blogwriters block. Anyway, think it went ok, though can't say for sure. Questions went something like: What would you do differently if you started Shaadis.com now? What did you learn from closing down your family business? How did you learn guitar on your own?

They were the only guys who didn't however ask which other schools I've applied to, or why ISB. They did tell me to contact their career guidance centre and perhaps consider a career in operations as well. This was contrary to what all my other interviewers said which was that entrepreneurial experience will be excellent for a consulting career. Anyway, will have to wait till Feb 15th for the final results.

Sent in $1,000 as a deposit to ND. The deadline was one month from the notification so couldn't miss out on it. Anyway, will have to consider that a sunk cost and factor it in, at the time of making my final decision by April 1st I guess. As of now though, I still haven't got a choice at all.

I sent in my Duke and CMU applications. Decided in favour of LBS instead of Chicago again mainly due to the European location. Will send that in only by the 15th though. My Duke essays came out quite well I think but lets see how it goes.

In other news, I started a new blog Whatever I Feel Like. I felt that since I had put this blog up on the MBA opencoder list, I would be wasting people's times by my constant divergence from MBA related stuff. Anyway, got a feed from one blog to the other if anyone is interested

Fellowship from Notre Dame

I've got a $30,000 per year fellowship from Notre Dame. That almost covers the entire tuition fees of $34,000 per year. I had a telephone interview with them on the 4th of December and an email with an admissions offer on the 8th. I was really pleasantly surprised since they had announced Dec 20th as the notification date. Anyway, last night I got the fellowship offer.

I was obviously thrilled and could hardly sleep last night after I got the news. I kept worrying about not being able to sleep since I had a video conference interview with IESE today. I had the interview at Reliance WebWorld. It was my first experience in a video conference and it was a really great experience. The interview lasted for around 40 mins though they say it normally lasts for an hour. The interviewer said that I answered the questions very directly and to the point which made it shorter. Don't know whether it was a compliment exactly... They'll let me know the final decision on the 20th.

However, Notre Dame's fellowship offer has introduced a whole new variable for me to factor in. ND has given me the opportunity to finish the MBA completely debt free. At this point, it seems like an offer too good to refuse. Have to speak to someone who actually studied there I guess. Not that I've been admitted anywhere else so its not like I have much to choose from at the moment. But I don't even feel like applying to Chicago, CMU and Duke which I was planning to do in Round 2 and have even completed my essays for. It still hasn't properly sunk in, but without debt, I'm free to do anything I want or get any job I want after the MBA. I can move back to India faster if I don't have to worry about paying off loans and so on...

Anyway, I'm not complaining. So many more decisions are now to be taken.

Dinged or Donged

I got dinged (or is it called donged if I got dinged without an interview) by Wharton and Cornell. I guess I was initially kind of disappointed, though by the time the actual result came, I had more or less already discounted it. Anyhow, it made me finish my second round or late 1st round applications. I guess I'm counting on Babson and IESE now.

I felt better after a day or two, cause I feel that God knows me much better than I do, and that things will always work out for the best. So I might think that I know which college is best for me, but God will know better. Or whether its better in the long run if I do an MBA this year at all. This may sound defeatist but I think otherwise.

Finally sent in my ISB application today. ISB is the only place which requires your 12th standard marks and so I missed the first round while I applied for a duplicate marksheet. They're also the only place which asks that you send in paper recommendations and in fact, the entire application has to be printed and mailed in after submitting online. Contrast that to Notre Dame or Carnegie Mellon which even lets you sign the Applicant Certification and send in a scanned copy. Adding a third to the list of ISB's peculiarities, it is the only school which says that a 2nd Round applicant will have less chance since seats will fill up! Anyway, that was supposed to be my back up school but the future looks a little bleak...