Tuck-Ding.

December 15, 2006

Dear GT,
Thank you for applying to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. After much thought and careful consideration, I regret to inform you that we are unable to grant your request for admission to the Tuck Class of 2009.

It is often difficult to fully appreciate the competition for admission to Tuck. Our decision is not a reflection on your intellectual abilities, personal achievements or potential success in management. The factor that most often contributed to our decision to not admit an applicant was the rigorous competition created by a strong applicant pool and our commitment to maintain a small class size. This year’s pool is exceptionally strong. We know that many of the applicants who were not granted admission possess excellent characteristics that will serve them well in business school and beyond.

I sincerely appreciate your interest in Tuck and all the time and thought that went into your application. You have my genuine best wishes for success in achieving your future goals.

Warmest regards,

Dawna Clarke

Director of Admissions
Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth

...and thats the way it is.

The first leaves of...spring?

Ah,ye admits have started flowing in...

JatWarrior has gotten into 1 of my fav schools - Tuck. I have been following his story from last year and I think this has been long overdue. Absolutely fantabulous-congrats dude! (slight shade of green ;-) If you were to look at his application submission dates, you can see the kind of work he has been putting in long before his apps were due...wow.

MBABlogger apparently has done some very hard work on his apps and added a pinch of pixie dust and guess what...its working! With admits from Darden and UNC, our mans on the moon already!

Heres to hoping all this rubs off on the rest of the gang too...sigh....amen.

Col. Mike Martin is dead.

- The man who choose the desert and the SAS over a wife is dead.
- The man who introduced me to the H&K MP5 and the Ka-Bar is dead.
- With these lines in his mind, he died...
And how can man die better,
than facing fearful odds,
for the ashes of his fathers,
and the temples of his Gods?

After trekking through the deserts of Arabia, the jungles of Borneo, the streets of Belfast and the Afghan mountains, after no-god and god, tending a garden, slitting enemy throats and stitching up dying friends, he is finally gone - dissolved and disappeared amidst the sordid reams of pulp fiction.

And in a way like Col.Mike Martin, Forsyth too is kind of gone...a relic of an era bygone. After some racy books like The Day of the Jackal, The Devils Alternative and The Veteran, Forsyth kind of lets us down with The Afghan. A decent plot with deep background, lots of interesting facts but a loose storyline and some improbable coincidences make for a very superficial novel (not that international conspiracy thrillers are expected to spout metaphysical truths) which is half Forsyth and half-not.

And a very shallow reason to kill Mike.

So long and thank you for everything, Mike - the Brecons, Qui Audet Vincet, Horatius and the Lays of Ancient Rome, the terrible beauty of Ireland, the Holy Quran, Saddam and the House of Sa'oud. If my father had not insisted, perhaps we would have known each other better - in the Paras, the Grenadiers or the Rifles....if only life was not what it was...ah, but it is.

Rest in peace,Colonel.

Tuck

Submitted appl: 11-Oct
App turned complete: 31-Oct
Interview call: None
Decision date: 15-Dec
Like the school: Really do
Pref for admission: In top 3

Attitude 1
Tuck is a hands-on school-believes in interviewing all potential candidates. Its been 3 months since I applied and I havent even got any interview call. Results are due next week.Therefore I am as good as out -DINGED, OUT, KHALLAAS, MATTER-KILOSED.

Attitude 2
I have been emailing Tuck since 2005 on how serious I am about their program. I have interacted with their Dean directly and met up with their alumni/profs while they were in India last year. Since I have been doing all this, they dont think they need to meet me - they think I fit perfectly! I fit,therefore I am...likely to be admitted. A week left for celebrations! Yoohoo!

Attitude 3
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;

Thank you, Mr.Kipling.

Darden reception at Bangalore (2/2)

ACT 5-ACTUALLY SPEAKING,THE ACT BEGINS
Step 1: Settle in after fried mushrooms for the actual presentation.
Step 2: Smile and nod at regular intervals.
Steps 3.1 to 3.9:
Listen to Jay Bourgeois speech on Darden "High touch, high tone, high octane". Pop peanut. Understand that its a small and young school. Known for high standard of ethics. No specializations. Listen to gyan about how school truly helped out an Indian applicant who lost his father. Pop peanut.

Listen to the prof's challenge about whether any other school's dean would reply in person to a mail. Seems like a nice small school in a nice small town. Not bad. Pop peanut-miss mouth. Dirty looks from Neha,Ishita,Anu and Mehgna. Decide to be careful....wonly for Ishita's sake ;-) Immediately decide to apply.

Sigh when Jay announces a case study-RIGHT HERE,RIGHT NOW! Yeah,wow! ;-( Case on Latino banana plantation which brings in workers and provides acco. A socially responsible move to get local prostitutes involved as workers backfires when man leaves wife+kids and shacks up with one of the new women. In South American jungle. House goes to woman and kids? Man does what? Keep him? Sack him? Kids?Sob,sob.... Almost an Oliver Stone movie.Pop peanut.

The knives are out...Listen to Northie chap questioning morality of the move and establishing an ethical culture; Jay does a nice war dance over his arguments and stamps them out. Am very happy for my unhappy Northie friend-practice a double peanut pop.

Listen to women arguing for commitment. Wonder how this relates to business. Finally someone realizes its not about ethics and its about business. Jay closes the case by bringing in a priest into the picture and khallaas! The problem stands solved-priest decides whats right and whats wrong. Case over. Ultra-kuwik decision and resolution to pop in last mushroom for the day.


ACT 6-BYE BYE ISHI DAHLING.
Step 1: A last sip of wine,a long and lasting look at Ishi Dahling and out we go...train at 9.45, Ganja at hotel at 9.35. Will he make it? Thanks to a decent Citrix employed Mallu former entrepreneur (who ofcourse wants build a company and become an employer), Ganja gets a lift...quick exchange of thoughts on admission process and entreprenuership as we zoom down in a Corsa. Leave calling card and vaguely exchange promises of getting in touch etc etc. Indian Railways saves the day and brings the train home late.

ACT 7-HORROR IN THE ORIENT EXPRESS
Step 1: Funny looking Mallu guy says "Hellllluuuu" to snotty looking lady.
Step 2: Both exhange the usual "weather, naadu evude" etc etc in sadly practiced English accents-Ganja entreats the powers of the universe that they dont become kilose and friendly.
Step 3: Bury head into Man's World mag and stare at Claudia Schiffer,I-pods, Azzaro Silver Black and the Graham Chronofighter. Ah, the fates...two born again X'ians with fake accents.Why? Why? Why in S1?
Step 4: Man spots opportunity and asks the dreaded question "Are you Xian?" naheeeeeeeeeennnn...why me?!!?
Step 5: Denominations exchanged-Protestant/CSI. World views exchanged-Born again/Always was.The guy gently lets loose a whopper of a statement "Yaactually I gawt a Maasters in Theoology and now am eentu sochal serveez"-Go dude!
Step 6: BOOM-that statement does it! Bibles brought out-Arguments exhanged-Interpretations cast about-David the sinner/Thomas the doubter/Mary the mother. Ganja cringes and hopes they dont spot his rosary. Thankfully they dont.
Step 7: Louder and louder arguments continue till 1am. A pissed off Ganja considers giving his version of Xianity by example and then asking to shut them up, but decides to get aggro and snaps off light. Silence observed for 10 seconds. 5-5 man decides not to confront 5-11 Ganja. Softer interpretations sally forth.

There you go-that was a fine step by step description of sequential events. Logic in my blood and water in my tie...tch tch...just so like me! Gut nacht!

Disclaimer: For all the yak yak that he did, its very likely that he is actually a social worker running an orphanage or old age home somewhere in Kerala. Its just that I personally have a problem with action over words...esp when its this "my God's bigger" business. If a religion is as nice/deep/profound or true as it claims to be, it should show in the practitioners' behaviour and not in their words. With such a smug homily on religious values, GT gets back to work.

Darden reception at Bangalore (1/2)

SUMMARY
Attended the Darden reception at the Windsor Sheraton,B'lore on Sunday evening.Darden is a "warm" compact community driven B-school which espouses the case study method strongly. Has many things in common with Tuck like "designed to be small", located far away from the big cities with a closely knit community.If you are OK with that and the "Case Study" method, you should apply.

DETAILS
Ms.Lynn Garnett,Asst Director-Admissions and Prof.Jay Bourgeois, Asst Dean of International Affairs (whatever that means!) were present. I had just landed in from Cochin on one of the many a/cd Volvos that ply to Bangalore;awkward business of lobbing around a suit, a laptop and a airbag. Reached the hotel in time and stepped into the cloak room to change into the shoot.

ACT 1-SET WET
Step 1: Put on tie
Step 2: Put on jacket
Step 3: Bend over to wash face
Step 4: Withdraw wet tie from sink

ACT 2-EVEN JAMES BOND MAKES LOUD AND RANDOM NOISES.
Step 1:Bend to tie shoe laces
Step 2:Realize you cant bend or bow too much with a jacket on.
Step 3: Flex knee to chest to tie laces.Proud about flexible body.
Step 4: Lose balance and knock over brass flower pot and dust bin.
Step 5: A composed,serious, jacketed gentleman greets the hotel staff with an sophisticated, amused, puzzled look and turns away to tighten his tie before walking away smartly.
Step 6: 20 minutes later a panicky jacketed gentleman runs back to toilet to check misplaced mobile phone.

ACT 3-SUAVE AND SOPHISTICATED LAUGHTER
Step 1: Bend to sign in the register; ignore water droplets that drip on the table from wet tie. Disdainfully dismiss weird looks from next signatory.
Step 2: Agree with Lynn Garnett when she asks if you just flew in
Step 3: Agree with Jay Bourgeois when he asks if you are staying overnight
Step 4: Quickly join in the laughter and after 5 minutes realize it was directed at self.
Step 5: The protagonist smiles wisely at everyone again just to show he is a man of humour and walks off for a glass of Shiraz.

ACT 4-UNE PROBLEME DE COUTURE
Step 1: Join Prof. Jay in animated discussion-listen to how he offered free seats at Univ of Maryland desk for any Indian applicant who could get his name right. You naughty,naughty man!
Step 2: Happily explain about the beauty of Kerala, about the joy of work and ofcourse the Thrissur pooram.
Step 3: Mistake his animated gesture for a handshake and extend own hand.
Step 4: Realize mistake and withdraw hand just when hes extended his.
Step 5: Nervously laugh and spill some wine...put on "I ponder,therefore I am" look and walk off for another glass of Shiraz.
Step 6: Prop up sinking heart after realizing that the prettiest babe in room saw your fumble. Recognize the old "I saw you do it!" chuckle and put on stiff upper lip again.
(To be contd...)

MAD Part 2: The Interview

Preparation
- Trawl the internet for 4 hours on how to buy a new suit.
- Consider 3 buttons, 2 vents, more wool than polyester and ponder between classic black, quiet grey, navy blue and adventurous stripes - consider philosopical questions from friends "Are you zebra?"
- Try out 32 new suits in 4 different showrooms - blow off persistent salesman with specific requirement of "a single vented, three-button grey suit with a 75:25 wool ratio and flatfronted trousers".Run away while he's searching.
- Read up on schools; read up on courses; read up on interviews;practice talking in front of toilet mirrors, surprise maintenance staff at office.
- Hum out answers in the elevator; practice body language and try to act natural when the lift opens on your classic "If I were to slice my career into 4 signficant parts" gesture.
- Dress up for interview.
- Wear just tie, vest and boxers...walk around...just to get those streaks of juvenile lunacy off before the big hour.
- Practice "Serious look", "Thoughtful look", "Look of awe and wonder" and "Thinking fingers aka twirling thumbs".
- Look stupid in sticky new suit.
- Look stupid in sticky new suit in an auto in Bangalore.
- Look very stupid in sticky itchy new suit in front of 3 giggling schoolkids.
- Look very stupid in sticky itchy new suit in front of Nepali gurkha who says interviewers office is closed.
- Consider Vanaprastha in the Himalayas.

Week after 1 okkkkkay interview and 1 good interview
- Start gathering statistics about interviewed vs. selected.
- Pore through Business Week's selectivity and yield ratios for different schools.
- Try to create historical trends and juxtapose them against respective country GDPs and come up with a statistical trend to prove favourable future. (Only for experienced MS Office users; at this point, novices to consider The Art Of Living courses).
- Read interviewed University brochures again and again hoping that the greater laws of the universe will work in favour of those putting in really hard work...ie staring at pretty women in brochures er..sorry...assimilation of the school's culture and statistics.

Week 2 after 1 okkkkkay interview and 1 good interview
- Get smarter...install mobile Gmail on phone.
- Check Gmail on phone every 10 minutes.
- Stop just visiting applicant blogs and instead start commenting - "you got anything yet? what abt u? huh...me too ;-("
- Micro Schadenfreudish relief at people who havent got any invites from your fav schools....then realize the tilting of cosmic scales against you...quickly ask forgiveness and try to swing the scales again...muditaaaaahhhhh! (Powers of the Universe to take note)

Who says life is not beautiful...atleast until Dec 20/21.

Going MAD(MBA Applicant Disease)-Part 1

Common symptoms
Patient cuts off most social contacts.
Walks around with dazed look.
Misses meals at random and wakes up hungry at night.
Dreams on alternate nights about getting selected and getting rejected.
Dream of walking around downtown Chicago, wearing a green Tuckie Tshirt, meeting the girl in the Wharton brochure, the Boston cold and the Stanford heat.
Wakes up with cozy feelings and realizes it was all a dream...deferred.
Often starts praying in the middle of the day.

Detailed breakdown of effects

Week of submission.
Submit online application.
Check next day if application status had turned to "complete" status.
Check again in the evening. And midnight.
Consider sending an enquiry mail to AdCom about status.
Read Dave's blog about persistent applicant horror stories and decide not to.
Repeat checking business until finally breaking loose and sending a "If you dont mind, could you check my application which I submitted (along with $250) a month back and havent even received an acknowledgement yet" (Last drastic step not advisory unless one has the Bush surname.)

1st month post submission
Wake up.
Turn on lappie.
Check mail to see if any i'view invites have come in.
Act surprised that they havent.
Check HBS site to see if status has changed.
Check Stanford site to see if status has changed.
Check Wharton site to see if status has changed.
Check Ross site to see if status has changed.
Check Tuck site to see if status has changed.
Applaud the Chicago and Columbia software which sends updates for every teeny weeny status change.
Walk around with a demented smile after getting 1st invite.
Smile at high targets, smile at the over made up secretary, smile through the pollution, smile through a stupido superboss comment.
Get greedy and go through check-site routine again.

2nd month post submission
Start worrying about 2nd invite.
Invoke God's mercy, grace and goodwill in the 10 seconds that Gmail takes to open.
Option 1 - See spam in mail box that promises enlargements, vitality and every piece of crap except an interview - torn between throttling random spammers and smashing lappie.
Option 2a - See empty mail box and feel totally hollow inside.
Option 2b - See empty mail box and ponder about the mysteries of the universe-calm down with remixed classic quotes "This too shall bloody pass"..."Rome was not built in a frigging day".
Start doing the Mine Vs.Yours-compare no of invites with other applicants.
Start obsessive worrying about not getting any 2nd invite.
Get 2nd invite-do the demented smile routine again.

(The Interview - Contd in Part 2..;-)

Hello Chicago GSB, say Hi to Ganja Turtle...

CHICAGO
Chicago, in comparison to Wharton seems almost, old fashioned...but in a very attractive classic way.Chicago was one of the first universities to start a leadership course and it is, their website claims ...ahem..."still one of the finest". Chicago GSB is known for its strong theoretical foundations and some phenomenal Nobel prize winning faculty. And at a different level, Chicago seems much more level headed and down-to-earth than some of its Ivy league peers. One occasionally hears stories about its "quant-jock" reputation as also about some resident ultra-nerds who use calculus to arrange the furniture...and comes away feeling scared! But interacting with Chicago alumni has somehow put me totally at ease. In the last 2 years of aspiring to go to a business school, I would say the only other school that operates at this personal a level or perhaps at a better level is Tuck - the Tuck staff really impressed me with their very personal touch...if you were to read sghama's blog, you would hear about how he chose Tuck over Chicago... and even Stanford seemed reasonably humble-except for some whacky streaks of "humour",the Stanford reception was quite cool.

But like I found out, apart from the glitzy presentations, the matte laminated classy brochures and the slick websites, the alumni of a B-school remain the best way of finding out how a school is...more or less.

The Chicago interview
Called the alum to fix up a an interview and he was like "dont wear a tie etc"...I was like "Am sorry, sir?"...hes like "Dont wear all that crap - we wanna know how good you are and not how could you look"...am like Wow......"Hey,thank you"...one morning of stupidly roaming around the roads of Bangalore in a dark suit averted!

Managed to find his home located at one of the fabulous palm lined "Hollywoodesque" villa compounds that seem like a piece of America...beautiful place just getting done. The door was opened up by Mrs.Alum who invited me in and offered a glass of water.I sunk into the sofa,came up for air and sunk in again-keenly watched by a pair of cute 10 year old eyes...noticed a lovely copy of a Monet on the wall, a miniature of Cupid & Psyche (After the Pieta, its one of my favs) on the side table. So fa,so good like the ad says. But Ms.Keen-eyes sits opposite me and fixes me with a serious glare...so I try my friendly act "Hi"...and get a stern "HI" for a reply...Over the next 2 minutes, I manage to squeeze out bits of info from the lil lady who glares at me for,I guess,coming on a Sunday morning..."My name is Pooja". Junior who alternates between screaming and smiling and jumping and gurgling was "Vidyuth-brother".

Thankfully the alum comes in by now and rescues me from Ms.Lil Glare...greeted me and took me inside. Explained why and how we would proceed...and the next 1 hour
was easily one of the best interactions I have ever had with an alum - I had read up on his background...what us Tamils would call his "history & geography"...but for
someone who was running his own company and had applied for a fundu patent, he was amazingly down to earth and totally put me at ease...he quizzed me on my goals, my background...whether my childhood was different because of having a Master Mariner father and a professor for a mother...what I planned to at Chicago...why I wrote poetry...and all these questions (I realized later) were almost sidepoints in a what transpired to be a very interesting conversation. He explained how Chicago was good...and why...and why these things mattered. He also explained in a very honest way about what he thought was fundamentally different about Chicago as compared to other schools-with an amazing "3 MBAs in a room" example!(which I have quoted to alteast 10 people by now!)

I was reminded of some of my interactions with prospective students at BIM-Trichy. Finally I was also more than a bit curious about a product that the alums company was coming up with, so asked him to clarify a point which had potential to become an interesting debate....but we were running out of time, so we shook hands and I told him that it was a wonderful experience and possibly my best. I probably sounded like "I think I did really well!" so he said"Thats good for you!"

Its very difficult for an alum to sound this way about an experience or a place unless one is really passionate about it...and in this case, it really showed. It made a whole lot of difference to me - this interview! I am quite convinced that I would fit into Chicago...now if only Ms.Rosemaria Martinelli and her team would agree, we could be done with all the formalities!

Now onwards, my friends,onwards...to 20th December, when the lights of the world will descend on the select few...the chosen ones! Until then like Ulysses,one shall try "to strive, to seek to find and not to yield..."

Hello Wharton! Ganja Here...open up, open up!

Whew...finally managed to complete my interviews for Wharton & Chicago. Became especially tight since, the Wharton i'view was fixed at very short notice.

About the schools
While both Wharton & Chicago are reknowned for the large no of grads who join finance/consulting, there seems to be a very distinct difference about the mindsets that drive students/personalities to Wharton or to Chicago -as a recent alumnus said, they operate on entirely different planes... this is where the famou F word of B-school admissions comes in - "FIT".

WHARTON
Wharton seems to be a classic Ivy league school; takes in a large number of very proactive ultra-confident individuals who want to make a lot of money/ transform themselves and the world. Wharton allows them to freewheel, gives them cutting edge analytical skills from fantastic professors and then unleash them on the world.
A former colleague now at McKinsey remarked that while Harvard guys are born believing that their fathers own the world, Wharton guys step out thinking that they own the world post Wharton. Uber-confident (to the point of being arrogant sometimes), capitalists, Ivy league pedigree and an ability to come on top of any situation - this eems to be the quintessential Wharton grad - I know am going out on a limb here because like every other B-school, there is no "typical" student...but if one were to check the Wharton resume book, speak to alumni, attend receptions and check recruiter speak, this is what one would carry away from the "Wharton" experience.

You wanted to be a master of the universe in your Armani suit and Fendi shades? Wanted to jetset across to the Riviera and fly down to Pattaya for a colleagues engagement and be back in the Big Apple to close THE deal of the month...you belong to Wharton! Although one hears that much of this competitive "shark" reputation is undeserved and is a vestige of the schools investment banking/ financial roots, one cannot clearly make out a stance otherwise. A lot of us esp....sales/mktg/ibankers like this "fast/hard/results" reputation...and if you do, then Wharton is for you. One gets the feeling that to belong to Wharton, you need to be very quick on your toes and mind, have a clear idea of your priorities while at school, have what you can call the entrepreneurial ability to gel-well with a wide range of individuals and kind of do your own unique thing...among 1000 talented others! An amazing school in its own right...maybe ideally suited for the fast forward, global business environment of the 22nd century.Maybe.

THE WHARTON INTERVIEW
I got the standard questions during the Wharton interview...
Run me through your resume...
Where else have you applied?
What are your plans after wharton?
Why Wharton?
Biggest disappointments?
Valued achievements?
Why take you instead of the other 10K odd applicants?

Ganja Turtle did quite well
...as well as one can do in a full suit in a non-a/cd office at 2pm on a Bengalooru afternoon...did a classic Ganja fumble..."So, I basically think I am unique because of a. my passion-in all that I do, my passion shines through...for eg..etc etc.
b. because of my multifaceted personality - I am a performer at work, a quizzer, a poet, a volleyball/tabletennis/soccer player, an avid reader, a martial artist etc etc.
c. and finally because of the amazing experiences that I have been through - Indian telecom in the last 5 years, a merger with an MNC etc etc...

Not being satisfied with merely stating 3 points, GT attempts a masterly conclusion here...
"So to sum it up...
"ONE"(thumb goes up-amaerican shtyle) My experiences...
"TWO"(a well practiced index finger pops out) my multifacetedness (all behold, a new word was born!)
"THREE"....the middle finger pops out right on time...but my mind jams....uh oh...total traffic jam. I try to do the "thinkers frown" while my mind desperateley races about what the #@&$%# my first point was...but naaahhhh...while my finger twitches around, my mind says naaahhh,not today,boy!

Thankfully, the interviewer had the graciousness to turn away and start writing in his golden monogrammed Wharton notebook.

Except for this big stumble (aow!) and one small one (ouch) about Whartons core curriculum, I think I managed to come across quite well - expressed my career goals,
the reason behind pursuing my MBA and why Wharton. Somehow all I do now is to think and chuckle about this goof-up...a colleague tells me its my way of rationalizing a
bad experience...thats me, your everyday Freud, chuckling away while the gates of U.Penn slowly close...(slow, flowing sad music and lights dim,please!)

More about Chicago in my next post...