Adieu and See U !

Attended a farewell party for friends who are leaving for their September MBA classes.

Enjoy getting a preview of what it would be, and hopefully soon for myself. I have the habit of imagining myself in a position much look forward to. The images fuel my motivation and negate the not-so-enjoyable process of GMAT preparation and essay writing.

I also got to meet a few current MBA students and tried to get more application and interview advice. It’s always important to have a clearer idea of what are required in a successful application and what to expect in an interview. Every opportunity will be a networking practice particularly with people of different background and nationality, as years of staying in the same country and working in a largely localized position have not been providing much training ground for this aspect, and networking is crucial for thriving on an international business career. The bonus is always to receive from current MBA students a positive brief assessment of my application success rate. At a stressful time like this, any boost of confidence is never too much.

The SunTze Art of War says:
To win every war, thou shalt know in depth your opponent and yourself

Side point:
The farewell party and a recent wedding dinner only further illustrate the interconnectivity of my social circles. It can get freaky sometimes… although I have displayed unintentionally tell-signs of my alternative future, I’m not interested to let my colleagues unravel the puzzle too fast.

Beat the GMAT

I'm using Kaplan GMAT Prep and The Official GMAT Guide to prepare for my GMAT scheduled 3 weeks later.
Kaplan is great. It provides good analysis of the different question types and their relevant strategies.
The Official GMAT Guide simply gives lots of real GMAT questions to practise.

Manhattan Review seems to receive very good reviews but it is not available at any of the major bookstores here. Funny...

Have been attempting to wake up earlier to pratise GMAT questions. It will be helpful since the test will take place in the morning, and I'm an owl definitely more alert at night...

One advice from Kaplan to programme the right frame of mind for a great score:
- View GMAT as an exciting challenge which you eagerly want to beat ! :)


Alright... WHO invented this GMAT test ?

Little Surprises

I derive some side benefits during the process of essay writing. It's nice to have surprises now and then :)

- radio songs past midnight are wonderful and soul smoothing. great way to keep myself accompanied and relaxed while my braincells sacrifice themselves in this war

- to download email via phone browser is much easier than what I imagined. the minus point: can't download any email attachment. Plus point: avoid falling into the trap of high downloading charges.

A story of a recent Harvard admit

A story of a recent Harvard Business School admit :

Harvard - Admitted
INSEAD - Admitted
London Business School - Dinged
Stanford - Accepted
Columbia - Dinged
Chicago - Dinged
Kellogg - Admitted

He applied for all 7 schools at one go... just the thought of writing 7 sets of customized essay can blow my mind...
( should admire his recommenders too...)

Conclusion from him:
You could never know what the schools are really looking for.
You could never know what plan God has for you.

Application essays

I’m working on my application essays.

My approach was to consolidate the points from my essay outline, as advised by the MBA essay writing books and MBA bloggers’ tips I’ve been reading, and sent out the first raw draft to 5 readers for reviews. Despite all the useful guidelines gathered, a writer under the effect of ‘MBA essay fatigue’ definitely needs some third party's opinion. I asked for honest and critical (which could be brutal) reviews of the overall content from an admission officer’s position.


I selected 5 readers to help review my drafts
- a current student who kindly offers his help and insider perspectives
- one of my recommender who recently graduated from a MBA and who is in-charged of my company’s scholarship scheme
- my best friend who is a psychologist and had previously involved in a prestigious scholarship selection committee.
- my close friend who has a similar overseas experience with me
- a recent admit who shares a similar background as me


I can’t underscore further the importance of establishing contacts with the current students. The most insightful pointers could come from the most unexpected source. The theory of diversification improves overall returns is applicable everywhere.


It’s extremely useful that each of them notice different areas for improvement and blind spots. I was unconscious of these shortcomings of my writing style without them pointing out.

- be extremely direct to the questions
- sell, market, advertise harder
- remove unnecessary personal traits
- modesty is not a virtue here
- remove passive and indirect tone
- focus on the pull factors, be forward-looking
- think big and think like a man. Afterall, it’s a business course dominated by male.

I doubt it’s enjoyable to edit essays, and am extremely grateful for having these people’s help! These are the best birthday presents I could ever have this year !

Courtship

You get to know a few potentials.
Among them you focus on a few to spend time knowing them better.
First impression typically doesn’t last. Love at first sight can’t work. You only have one chance for a lifelong relationship.
Wanting to verify the claims and uncover the truth underneath a well-groomed façade, you talk to his family and friends. Their experience and opinion help paint a fuller picture.
The helpful ones even offer insightful advices.
You invested efforts to give a positive impression throughout. He’s a great catch.
It’s a mutual selection process. The guessing game can be a torment.
You wait for the targeted proposal.
And will accept it. Because you believe he is the right one to grant you the happiness you pursue.

The ‘ring’ will come in the form of a thick admission acceptance package.

My inventory

As I look at the inventory of events which have impacted my development, I realize that many of them happened without a purposeful plan in the beginning. Of course, there will be achievements attained when I started with an objective and goal. However, many were just activities I participated in the name of exploration and fun. They nevertheless individually taught me useful lessons along the way. Simply put, the higher the variety and frequency of experiences, the more understanding of my strength and weakness I could derive. I am therefore grateful for all these experiences, particularly those which have impacted my life positively, albeit the occasional pain and tears.