Thursday, October 21, 2004
It's sad that I'm getting used to these dings. When I got the news from INSEAD, I met it mostly with indifference. Granted I was disappointed with the result but it lasted maybe 30 seconds -- just long enough to say damn and delete the message. After that, life simply continued as if it never happened.
What's encouraging with my INSEAD application is that I was invited to interview. And I mean a real interview; not one of those where everyone who applies is offered one. This means that my essays are getting better and that I'm one step closer to the goal. So what now?
I'm going to keep quiet with my Plan B but I can tell you what Plan C is. If Plan B doesn't work out, I will apply to 3 European MBA programs - of which, INSEAD for Jan. 2006 - for next year and look for work in London. So the future is still blurry, but one thing is certain. By the end of this year, I will retire from blogging about applying to b-school. '4-app' just sounds terrible and 'crap' isn't flattering at all.
ps: Euro, thanks for the offer. How about a double amaretto instead?
What's encouraging with my INSEAD application is that I was invited to interview. And I mean a real interview; not one of those where everyone who applies is offered one. This means that my essays are getting better and that I'm one step closer to the goal. So what now?
I'm going to keep quiet with my Plan B but I can tell you what Plan C is. If Plan B doesn't work out, I will apply to 3 European MBA programs - of which, INSEAD for Jan. 2006 - for next year and look for work in London. So the future is still blurry, but one thing is certain. By the end of this year, I will retire from blogging about applying to b-school. '4-app' just sounds terrible and 'crap' isn't flattering at all.
ps: Euro, thanks for the offer. How about a double amaretto instead?
Friday, October 15, 2004
Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding... and Ding again. But not shinged yet. Mum's the word for now, gotta go.
ps: wonder if I would've gotten in if I applied in the second round.
ps: wonder if I would've gotten in if I applied in the second round.
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Bon, trève de plaisanteries. Ce week-end, je sers comme guide et interprète au president d’un pays africain. J’ai donc bien intérêt à me comporter proprement au cours des prochains jours.
Ça me réjouit de pouvoir utiliser mon français à Taiwan, mais je dois avouer qu’il est un peu rouillé. C’est ce qui arrive lorsqu’on passe les dix dernières années dans un milieu anglophone. Mon français est quand même d’un assez bon niveau, j’ai après tout fait mes études dans un lycée et écrit le Bac. Il suffit juste que je lise quelques articles en français pour me mettre bien à l’aise.
Back to posting in English. By tomorrow, I will find out whether I'm accepted at INSEAD. So before the decisions are released, I'm going to evaluate my profile according to their admissions criteria.
1. Excellent Academic Achievement:
Pro: got good grades in finance and stats courses and earned the CFA desgination.
Con: screwed up my first year, so my overall GPA is low. Moot: GMAT slightly under average.
2. Professional Experience and Managerial Potential:
Pro: showed progression in my career with several leadership experiences and some managerial responsibilities.
Con: worked all five years at the same company.
Moot: work experience is somewhat unique.
3. International Outlook and Language Skills:
Pro: already fulfill the 3-language requirement, speak another 3 at a beginner's level and traveled to 8 different countries in the past fourteen months.
Con: no actual experience working abroad.
4. Ability to Contribute to the INSEAD Experience:
Pro: diverse volunteer experience from fundraising to mentoring.
Con: don't know. Depends on how many other people have a similar profile to mine.
Moot: my accomplishments. I think they're great but it's all relative.
Final outcome: only a few spots left in R3, so there'll be more emphasis on how diverse my background and experiences are compared with the competition. What do I think? Who cares! It's what they think that really matters.
Ça me réjouit de pouvoir utiliser mon français à Taiwan, mais je dois avouer qu’il est un peu rouillé. C’est ce qui arrive lorsqu’on passe les dix dernières années dans un milieu anglophone. Mon français est quand même d’un assez bon niveau, j’ai après tout fait mes études dans un lycée et écrit le Bac. Il suffit juste que je lise quelques articles en français pour me mettre bien à l’aise.
Back to posting in English. By tomorrow, I will find out whether I'm accepted at INSEAD. So before the decisions are released, I'm going to evaluate my profile according to their admissions criteria.
1. Excellent Academic Achievement:
Pro: got good grades in finance and stats courses and earned the CFA desgination.
Con: screwed up my first year, so my overall GPA is low. Moot: GMAT slightly under average.
2. Professional Experience and Managerial Potential:
Pro: showed progression in my career with several leadership experiences and some managerial responsibilities.
Con: worked all five years at the same company.
Moot: work experience is somewhat unique.
3. International Outlook and Language Skills:
Pro: already fulfill the 3-language requirement, speak another 3 at a beginner's level and traveled to 8 different countries in the past fourteen months.
Con: no actual experience working abroad.
4. Ability to Contribute to the INSEAD Experience:
Pro: diverse volunteer experience from fundraising to mentoring.
Con: don't know. Depends on how many other people have a similar profile to mine.
Moot: my accomplishments. I think they're great but it's all relative.
Final outcome: only a few spots left in R3, so there'll be more emphasis on how diverse my background and experiences are compared with the competition. What do I think? Who cares! It's what they think that really matters.
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Please allow me to introduce two new terms to the MBA lexicon: shing and MPAWS.
Shing [verb, etymology: shit, ding]: to be denied admission at all schools applied during a particular year. If 3app doesn't get into INSEAD, he'd be shinged for the 3rd time.
MPAWS [acronym, pronounced '-em'pause', not to be confused with menopause]: stands for MBA Post-Application Waiting Syndrome. Term used to designate the idiosyncratic behaviors of MBA applicants during the admission decision period (ADP). Preliminary research has uncovered seven documented cases of MPAWS:
The Arrogant: overconfident during the ADP. First to post his impressive stats. Vents when he finds out that some have received interviews and he hasn't. When he gets dinged by his dream school, rants on the BW Forum that it's their loss and that he won't donate his future billions of dollars to them.
The Coaster: confident during the ADP. Usually works for a management consultancy or an investment bank, and has a GMAT score over 750 and GPA over 3.7 from an Ivy League school. Applies only to Harvard, Stanford and Wharton and is admitted to all 3 schools. Pretends to be a female on the BW Forum and gets a kick out of it.
The Frantic: over-reacts during the ADP. Reads all threads and MBA blogs on a daily basis. Tends to be the first one to ask whether someone has received an interview and tries to figure out whether there is a correlation between the submission date and the interview date. Insists on finding stats of other applicants. Frequently seeks advice from the Ask Sandy and Accepted threads. Re-reads his or her essays a few times during the ADP.
The Mute: silent on the BW Forum during the entire ADP, but upon acceptance writes his first post. Thinks that ADCOM are trying to match the profiles of applicants with posters on the BW Forum.
The Over-Achiever: asks inane questions during the ADP but still gets into the school of his choice. Extremely gullible. Gifted in technical areas yet clueless in performing mundane tasks. Known to ask if he can exceed the word limit by 5 words, if 1.5 lines can be considered as double-spaced, and if getting an interview is a good sign.
The Touchy-Feely: seeks emotional support during the ADP. Tends to bond with The Frantics and The Over-Achievers. Always writes words of encouragement on the BW Forum and on blogs. Likes to please others. When accepted, posts on the BW Forum that he can't believe he got in and that such school is his dream school.
The Comedian: tries to write funny material on his blog, but doesn't realize that no one is reading it.
Shing [verb, etymology: shit, ding]: to be denied admission at all schools applied during a particular year. If 3app doesn't get into INSEAD, he'd be shinged for the 3rd time.
MPAWS [acronym, pronounced '-em'pause', not to be confused with menopause]: stands for MBA Post-Application Waiting Syndrome. Term used to designate the idiosyncratic behaviors of MBA applicants during the admission decision period (ADP). Preliminary research has uncovered seven documented cases of MPAWS:
The Arrogant: overconfident during the ADP. First to post his impressive stats. Vents when he finds out that some have received interviews and he hasn't. When he gets dinged by his dream school, rants on the BW Forum that it's their loss and that he won't donate his future billions of dollars to them.
The Coaster: confident during the ADP. Usually works for a management consultancy or an investment bank, and has a GMAT score over 750 and GPA over 3.7 from an Ivy League school. Applies only to Harvard, Stanford and Wharton and is admitted to all 3 schools. Pretends to be a female on the BW Forum and gets a kick out of it.
The Frantic: over-reacts during the ADP. Reads all threads and MBA blogs on a daily basis. Tends to be the first one to ask whether someone has received an interview and tries to figure out whether there is a correlation between the submission date and the interview date. Insists on finding stats of other applicants. Frequently seeks advice from the Ask Sandy and Accepted threads. Re-reads his or her essays a few times during the ADP.
The Mute: silent on the BW Forum during the entire ADP, but upon acceptance writes his first post. Thinks that ADCOM are trying to match the profiles of applicants with posters on the BW Forum.
The Over-Achiever: asks inane questions during the ADP but still gets into the school of his choice. Extremely gullible. Gifted in technical areas yet clueless in performing mundane tasks. Known to ask if he can exceed the word limit by 5 words, if 1.5 lines can be considered as double-spaced, and if getting an interview is a good sign.
The Touchy-Feely: seeks emotional support during the ADP. Tends to bond with The Frantics and The Over-Achievers. Always writes words of encouragement on the BW Forum and on blogs. Likes to please others. When accepted, posts on the BW Forum that he can't believe he got in and that such school is his dream school.
The Comedian: tries to write funny material on his blog, but doesn't realize that no one is reading it.
Monday, October 11, 2004
I always enjoy reading press releases of business schools trumpeting the diversity and accomplishments of their incoming class. But I wonder, does the media actually report on this? Maybe the business schools could get more coverage if they issued something like this:
The General Mill School of Management at Eastwestern recently welcomed the full-time MBA Class of 2006 (actually 2007 since most of our students take longer to graduate). In early September, the Class of 2006 began their tenure at the General Mill School by taking the required pre-term “Toilette Etiquette in Organizations” course. This intensive course teaches MBA students, chiefly men, how to conduct themselves in washrooms and immediately provides them with a common language about personal hygiene.
“The class of 2006 is really a diverse group of individuals,” said Jane Doe, director of admissions. “Some students are stupid, while others are really stupid. They represent a broad range of interests, leadership experience and professional backgrounds.” She commended several students for proactively making a difference in the lives of others – from beating up bullies to founding community service groups and non-profit organizations.
Of the 100 members of the Class of 2006, 20 percent are women, 2 percent are she-males, 20 percent are minorities and illiterates represent 30 percent of the class. On average, the incoming students are 28 years old and have the maturity of a 12 year old. The students come from over 20 different streets from around the neighborhood. The depth of diverse talent that makes up the Class of 2006 includes:
* A student who had a GMAT score of over 500
* A student who finished Grand Theft Auto 2: Vice City in under 2 hours
* The neighbor of a friend of a friend whose second cousin cleans the White House's Presidential Office
* A student who read all the Harry Potter books
* The founder of a program to support bald men applying to business school, Bald men in Business
* A student who founded the American Greedy Foundation and raised $100,000 for the organization
* A class member who was appointed to determine how to equitably cut the slices of an abnormally shaped pizza
* A student who discovered the meaning of life, but forgot to write it down
* A student who's actually typing this absurd post
Approximately ten students are enrolled in the General Mill School 's One-Year MBA program. The One-Year MBA program, established yesterday, is an accelerated program designed for students who want to complete their program in one year.
An additional 20 members of the Class of 2006 are enrolled in the joint-degree JD-MBA program offered in conjunction with Eastwestern University School of Law. The three year JD-MBA program teaches students how to swindle money from shareholders and avoid jail time.
The General Mill School of Management at Eastwestern recently welcomed the full-time MBA Class of 2006 (actually 2007 since most of our students take longer to graduate). In early September, the Class of 2006 began their tenure at the General Mill School by taking the required pre-term “Toilette Etiquette in Organizations” course. This intensive course teaches MBA students, chiefly men, how to conduct themselves in washrooms and immediately provides them with a common language about personal hygiene.
“The class of 2006 is really a diverse group of individuals,” said Jane Doe, director of admissions. “Some students are stupid, while others are really stupid. They represent a broad range of interests, leadership experience and professional backgrounds.” She commended several students for proactively making a difference in the lives of others – from beating up bullies to founding community service groups and non-profit organizations.
Of the 100 members of the Class of 2006, 20 percent are women, 2 percent are she-males, 20 percent are minorities and illiterates represent 30 percent of the class. On average, the incoming students are 28 years old and have the maturity of a 12 year old. The students come from over 20 different streets from around the neighborhood. The depth of diverse talent that makes up the Class of 2006 includes:
* A student who had a GMAT score of over 500
* A student who finished Grand Theft Auto 2: Vice City in under 2 hours
* The neighbor of a friend of a friend whose second cousin cleans the White House's Presidential Office
* A student who read all the Harry Potter books
* The founder of a program to support bald men applying to business school, Bald men in Business
* A student who founded the American Greedy Foundation and raised $100,000 for the organization
* A class member who was appointed to determine how to equitably cut the slices of an abnormally shaped pizza
* A student who discovered the meaning of life, but forgot to write it down
* A student who's actually typing this absurd post
Approximately ten students are enrolled in the General Mill School 's One-Year MBA program. The One-Year MBA program, established yesterday, is an accelerated program designed for students who want to complete their program in one year.
An additional 20 members of the Class of 2006 are enrolled in the joint-degree JD-MBA program offered in conjunction with Eastwestern University School of Law. The three year JD-MBA program teaches students how to swindle money from shareholders and avoid jail time.
Friday, October 08, 2004
The apparent king of MBA rankings, Business Week, was released yesterday. Other than Queen's claiming the top spot for international schools, there were no major suprises. So what do I think of the results? Well, I treat them all the same. I scoff at the actual rankings but find the accompanying data very useful.
I consider the rankings not representative of the actual perception out there. In reality, the rankings of FT, Forbes, BW, etc. should be very close to one another, but because the goal of these companies is simply to increase circulation, different criteria are used to distinguish themselves from one another.
I think the best way to rank schools is to poll a large sample of MBA applicants. The best schools should be where students would go if given the choice, as most of the learning takes place in classroom discussions and group work.
The quality of the faculty, to me, is not that important. Take for example professional sports, baseball in particular. If I were an owner, I'd rather own a team with the best players (students), the Yankees, than a team with the best coaching staff (teachers). As great as Joe Torre is, I could probably coach them to a playoff berth.
So with the above in mind, I've prepared my own ranking of MBA programs. Instead of ranking them numerically, I've categorized them into groups (that's what I also do in my fantasy football league) based on what I think most of my friends and I would choose. In other words, if I were accepted at Harvard, Stanford and Wharton, I would pick Harvard (despite making a strong case for Stanford in the past). Without further ado:
Group A (the best of the best): Harvard
Group B (the elite): Stanford, Wharton
Group C (the contenders): Chicago, Columbia, IMD, INSEAD, Kellogg, MIT
Group D (the sleepers): Berkeley, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, London Business School, Michigan, NYU, UCLA, Virginia, Yale.
Group E (the rest): the rest! Unless it's an obscure program, it doesn't really matter which school you choose. Between Notre Dame, USC, Georgetown and the likes, the perceived difference is marginal. People prefer to debate who's the better player between LaDanian Tomlinson and Clinton Portis than between Amos Zeroue and Warrick Dunn.
Disagree? Then sponsor the survey to prove me wrong.
I consider the rankings not representative of the actual perception out there. In reality, the rankings of FT, Forbes, BW, etc. should be very close to one another, but because the goal of these companies is simply to increase circulation, different criteria are used to distinguish themselves from one another.
I think the best way to rank schools is to poll a large sample of MBA applicants. The best schools should be where students would go if given the choice, as most of the learning takes place in classroom discussions and group work.
The quality of the faculty, to me, is not that important. Take for example professional sports, baseball in particular. If I were an owner, I'd rather own a team with the best players (students), the Yankees, than a team with the best coaching staff (teachers). As great as Joe Torre is, I could probably coach them to a playoff berth.
So with the above in mind, I've prepared my own ranking of MBA programs. Instead of ranking them numerically, I've categorized them into groups (that's what I also do in my fantasy football league) based on what I think most of my friends and I would choose. In other words, if I were accepted at Harvard, Stanford and Wharton, I would pick Harvard (despite making a strong case for Stanford in the past). Without further ado:
Group A (the best of the best): Harvard
Group B (the elite): Stanford, Wharton
Group C (the contenders): Chicago, Columbia, IMD, INSEAD, Kellogg, MIT
Group D (the sleepers): Berkeley, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, London Business School, Michigan, NYU, UCLA, Virginia, Yale.
Group E (the rest): the rest! Unless it's an obscure program, it doesn't really matter which school you choose. Between Notre Dame, USC, Georgetown and the likes, the perceived difference is marginal. People prefer to debate who's the better player between LaDanian Tomlinson and Clinton Portis than between Amos Zeroue and Warrick Dunn.
Disagree? Then sponsor the survey to prove me wrong.
Sunday, October 03, 2004
So now the real waiting begins, with only 12 days to go. However, it does seem a long time if I count from the day I submitted my app to the day decisions are released, 149 days to be exact. But this turned out to be a good thing. Thanks to my SNAFU (my mailed-in materials arrived after the R2 deadline), I was able to shelf my MBA plans for a few months and enjoy my best summer ever.
Friday, October 01, 2004
I finally completed my second interview for INSEAD. It only took me 49 days from the day I received the invite to do so. That's what happens when I'm gone for a month and my interviewers are also on vacation.
Remarkably, the person who interviewed me in Taiwan also grew up in Montreal and graduated from the same university and with the same degree as me. I forgot to find out if we also have the same blood type. Anyway, I can never tell if I did well on an interview. It all depends on how the interviewer interpreted my responses. One of the questions he asked was why I chose my previous job. I told him the truth and said something like this:
"To be honest with you, I didn't have job offers coming at me when I graduated so I had to work hard to find my first job. At that point, I just wanted to get my foot in the door in the financial services industry and work my way up. Fortunately for me, things worked out and I found a challenging position in a field that interested me."
So on one hand, my interviewer can write on his report that I'm a sincere and humble person. But on the other, he can write that I don't know how to sell myself or that I'm not good enough for the school or some other negative point. Anyway, I'm not worried at all about my interviews. I simply said the things as they really are, much like the Foreign Minister of Taiwan but not as colorful. You gotta love him.
Remarkably, the person who interviewed me in Taiwan also grew up in Montreal and graduated from the same university and with the same degree as me. I forgot to find out if we also have the same blood type. Anyway, I can never tell if I did well on an interview. It all depends on how the interviewer interpreted my responses. One of the questions he asked was why I chose my previous job. I told him the truth and said something like this:
"To be honest with you, I didn't have job offers coming at me when I graduated so I had to work hard to find my first job. At that point, I just wanted to get my foot in the door in the financial services industry and work my way up. Fortunately for me, things worked out and I found a challenging position in a field that interested me."
So on one hand, my interviewer can write on his report that I'm a sincere and humble person. But on the other, he can write that I don't know how to sell myself or that I'm not good enough for the school or some other negative point. Anyway, I'm not worried at all about my interviews. I simply said the things as they really are, much like the Foreign Minister of Taiwan but not as colorful. You gotta love him.
