My journey to a B-school…….

Every time somebody asks me about profile-building for applying to an MBA program, I get reminded of the book: “How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life.”  The book is about a girl named Opal Mehta, whose parents are hell-bent on making sure that she gets an admit to Harvard. Unlike most of us, who start thinking of applying a maximum of 3-4 years in advance, Opal was preparing for this since the age of three or something.  So by the time she is ready to apply, she is fluent in four languages, has attended a number of leadership seminars, has undergone music classes of all kind and in addition, has a matchless academic record. 

In sum, she has a perect profile for admission to anywhere. As expected, she sails through the admission-interview impressing the dean at every stage. But Opal is stumped when she is asked “What do you do for fun?”. She has no clue what fun is, because there’s nothing that she has done because she loves it. Everything was fed to her keeping the unidimensional Harvard path in mind. The dean asks her to go back and apply in the next cycle. Sure enough, she goes back, learns to live life and lands an admit in the next cycle. 

The bottomline: You do need to have a good “profile” to get in. But if the profile means bullet-points on your resume without any real passion for any of the activities, then it may actually contribute negatively to your application. 

I follow and advice a very simple rule for profile-enhancement: “Identify your passions/strengths, follow them; Identify your weaknesses, address them”. Keeping this rule as the base, here’re some other quick tips for “profile-building”.

• Strengths: Think of it, what are the things that you are really good at. Are you a terrific classical singer? Then, what about initiating a SPICMACAY chapter? Or were you the college  tennis-champ, who does not get to play now, because there’s no good partner to play with at office? Try talking to company HR and initiate a tennis-club at office. Get a coach for training employees after office-hours or maybe if you are good enough, volunteer to be a coach yourself. 
• Passions: What is that that excites you? Did you always miss having a strong alumni community in your undergraduate days? Perhaps, now that you are an alumnus, it’s time that you start working towards it. If you are passionate about your alma-mater (like I am), you must be in touch with at least some of the current studnets and some of the alums. Use this and work towards improving alum-institute interaction. (I did, though this still is a work in progress.)
• Weaknesses!! Everyone of us has some and we shy away from situations that may expose them. But  I always believe that first step to identify a weakness is to identify that it exists. Second step would be taking conscious steps towards addressing that. So if being on stage gives you heebie jeebies, then starting a Toastmasters club may be a good idea. This would not only help you overcome stage-fear, but would also give  you a lot of leadership opportunities. 
  /* As an aside, I would like to mention that I rate Toastmasters right next to my undergrad-institute in list of organizations that have changed my life. If you’re interested in starting a club/knowing more about it, leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you. */
  Similarly, if you are somebody having zero international experience (and have no realistic chances to add to that) and you feel that your school is concerned about cultural sensitivity, consider picking up a foreign language. (This was the feedback given by Tuck to a friend, who apped last yr.)
•  Extra-curricular leadership, not just activities: If you closely see the examples that I have stated above, each one of them involves some initiatives, some leadership or some organizational opportunities.  Being just another member of the local NGO doesn’t count for a lot, but leading the membership-drive or organizing a fund-raising program for the same NGO surely means something. 
  Please note that leadership is not synonymous with holding offices. Everyone of us has seen lots of Presidents, chairpersons, who hold the post just for the tag and have nothing substantial to show for. At the same time, each one of us has seen dedicated people, who work tirelesslly without holding any post. If you can be the latter and do your job well, the offices would follow you automatically. 
• How does the school benefit: You may have a great story about how you were passionate about a certain activity and how you followed your passion giving you great personal and professional heights. But the story would look incomplete if you don’t fit in the last piece: How does the school gain out of your passion? 
  This is also a great opportunity to showcase your homework about the school. Tell them how your passion fits in the activities of a certain club or if it doesn’t, how do you plan to start a new club for that. If you are a techie, who feasts on new technologies and ideas, tell them how you would contribute to the activities of Technology-club. 
  An example of the same from my application. : I researched and found that Tuckmasters (Toastmasters club at Tuck) is now defunct. So I offered to work towards the rejuvenation of the club. This homework found some appreciation in the telephonic interview that I had with them. 

Finally, a word on ethical aspect of profile-building. Many applicants feel that profile-building just for the sake of MBA applications is a bit manipulative and unethical.  I’d agree with this if your profile-building steps strictly fall under the category of “just for the sake of MBA applications”. A quick test for this would be to ask yourself: Would you still be doing it if you already have the admit from your dream-school? If the answer is “yes”, go ahead and build your profile; you actually have a passion for your passion. But if your answer is a clear “no”, you will be just another Opal Mehta and you may not be as lucky to get a second chance.
But what if you are in doubt? In that case, I would still encourage you to go ahead with your profile-building activities. At least, you would be getting some opportunities and exposure, which may actually ignite your passion for that activity. In any case, you are still doing a better job than those losers,  who cook up stories in their essays just by buying off some certificates.

So wish you all: Happy Profile-building! Happy apping!!

It’s almost two years back that I had written a post with exactly the same title.. At that time, I had not taken the test myself and hence, wasn’t sure enough of whatever I was suggesting. Since then, I have pointed to the mentioned post to a number of friends, colleagues, juniors, friends of friends  and total strangers looking for advice for GMAT preps and many of them haved used that successfully. (Some of them are already B-school students a year ahead of me.)

Recently, when I forwarded the old link to an interested batchmate, he pointed out that with sentences like “perhaps I’m not the right person to rely upon for guidance” and “none of this has been tested to work.”, the old post perhaps needs some brush-up. I re-read the post and somewhat agreed to what he said. In addition to the removal of sentences like these, the old plan could do better with a bit of tweaking:some steps about which I got to know in the later part of my preps.(though in essense, the old plan still remains more or less the same.)

So here’s how I would recommend tackling the GMAT:

1) Get started!! Dont know anything yet abt GMAT?? Know everything about it right at the first encounter. Start by taking out a slot of 3-3.5 hours for yourself on a weekend and go for a full-length test. I would recommend going ahread with Powerprep Test-1 first.

/*You can download Powerprep and GMATPrep from the following links: 
http://www.gorillatestprep.com/ppgmat30.exe
http://www.mba.com/mba/TheGMAT/DownloadFreeTestPreparationSoftware/
*/

First one is older version of GMAT software from makers of GMAT.. Second one is the latest one.. Both of these can help u know what all things r asked in GMAT..But I’d suggest u use Powerprep now and save GMATprep for a later stage , when u hav a fair amount of preparation under ur belt.. At that time, GMATprep score will giv u a fair idea of what u r likely to get on the G-day.

2) Now u know at least something about each section of GMAT.. Also, by this time, you know your areas of strengths and areas which require immediate atention. Now is the time ot get the real preps started. Pick up some strategy book like Kaplan(comprehensive/premium) or Princeton Review.I have heard mixed reviews about PR, but Kaplan is something that I have tried myself and would surely recommend to anybody. From whatever I’ve heard, I’d suggest staying away from Barrons

 3) For a good number of aspirants, sentence-coorection is the major pain-point. To have a control over this section right from the start, go with Manhattan Sentence-correction guide. That’s really an amazing book to get you started on sentence-correction. Some people recommend brushing up grammar from books like Wren-n-Martin. I personally don’t think that it’s of much use (though it’ll never hurt). Because GMAT doesn’t test the puritan-grammar. It tests what we can call as GMAT-grammar, where sometimes you need to pick from two grammatically correct sentences and decide which one is more correct. And if strengthening your GNAT-grammar is your aim, there’s no better way to start than Manhattan SC guide.  

4) Once u feel that you have perfected the strategies, go for Powerprep-2 and compare the results since you first started.Another reason for going for Powerprep-2 at this stage is that a number of Qs in the test are directly from the OG. So it’s better to use the test before u start with OG. 

5) Next is the turn of the bible: Official Guide to GMAT.. At my time, it was OG11, but i guess OG12 is already in market. Complete it from cover to cover.. Excellent collection of Qs and all the real ones.. No strategies, just Qs, As and explanations. But u know the strategies quite well from step (2)..Better do all 5 sections in parallel.

( Most ppl preparing for GMAT do (2) and (5) in reverse order; I too did the same as suggested by many ppl.. Did OG11, then Kaplan Comprehensive) Still I’d suggest u to do a strategy book first.. OG will give u lots of chance to apply those strategies)

6) By the time u reach this step, u’ll know a lot of things, and u can decide for urself what u want to do next depending on your prep-level.

In case, you clearly know that one section needs attention, tackle that first. In case, it’s still sentence-correction, you can  try Sahil’s or Spidey’s notes (Look over on net and u’ll find these)

In case you feel that your preps are in a good shape: you are scoring 700+ consistently, but want to take it still  higher. go for Kaplan 800.. The level of Qs is higher than the real GMAT, but still that’ll gear you up to face Qs at the toughest level. 

7) In between all these steps, keep taking timed tests to guage ur progress.. 

Final lap: Back to the basics: In last two weeks, it’s recommended that you come back to the basics. Do OG a second time. Even if the Qs are same, try attempting them. Don’t allow your mind to fall in the trap that you know the answer. Ask yourself whether you are really clear why that particular option is the answer.

Also do join som active mailing list/forum to discuss Qs…. It particularly helps u utilize ur free office time  when u dont have access to books and would not like to open GMAT forums..:D Also read success stories from PagalGuy/Businessweek/GMATClub ( hope u r already a member at all these forums.) That’ll keep u motivated and charged up… 

Some FAQs: 

Is coaching needed??
Depends. IMO, most of the stuff that is asked in the test is quite elementary and can be learnt if you plan properly and then stick to your plans meticulously. Moreover, lot of online help is available in form of online study groups/forums. But coaching can be useful if historically, you have had probs with Maths/Grammar. If this is the case, you should actualy go for a coaching. The stuff that they ask is quite basic and can be covered well with good guidance. 

How many full-length tests?
As I have written above, keep taking the tests regularly. Keep the average to a mininum of once every two weeks to a max of once every week. The tests not only keep you updated of your preps-level, but also provide you with the test taking mindset, which is missing in most of us after years of corpo-life.  

Is AWA important? 
No, it isn’t, unless it’s absymally low. But if you’re like me, you won’t like your score of GMAT 770 to be accompanied by AWA 4.0 or something. Mine was 5.0 (55 percentile) and it pinched me everytime I needed to fill it up for any school. (Particularly, the percentile part. ) Trust me, with very little effort, 5 or more is quite attainable. 

Which tests??
Nothing can come close to the real thing. So GMATPrep and Powerprep are surely unmatchable. Next, I would rate the MGMATs by Manhattan. You can certainly locate some Qs which you won’t ever expect to see on the actual test, but still the overall level is quite similar. Kaplan tests are surely not a representative of the real thing, but I would still recommend them to build test-stamina. 

How much is a good score?
Depends. I have seen people with 650 getting calls from everywhere and people with 770 getting dinged at a number of places. So GMAT is actually just a part of the package, But remember, it’s one of the only few parts of the package on which you still have control. Moreover, if you are from a competitive pool (like Indian-IT-Male), chances are that you’ll need a good score to have a reasonable chance at your dream schools. 

In case you have any more Qs about the above steps or GMAT preps in general, leave ur Q in the comments and I’ll try to answer that.