Yes, finally it seems like things are falling into place. Finally, i feel like my hard work is paying off. It's been close to 2 years since the time I started planning and preparing for my MBA.
First came the GMAT. phew! I have somehow come to develop a phobia for GMAT now.
I took up my in 2007 and failed miserably. This happened due to a lot of reasons; I was not in the best frame of my mind then. I had already postponed the exam twice - once due to my onsite trip to Spain and second when my dad fell ill. There was noway i could postpone it again. I just wanted to give it a try, though i was not very confident about my preparations. As was expected I scored miserably and was utterly dissappointed. Like Murphy's law says - Anything that can go wrong, will! Thats is exactly what happened with me last year. huh! what an year 2007 was! failure after failure.. and for someone like me who can not take failures so easily, it was like going through hell. All my confidence was going for a toss.
In hindsight, I feel I took up too many things at a time. GMAT, Job shift and the worst of all was going through the pain of my dad's illness. (something kind of manifolded the effect of all the problems: something that I am still trying to cope with). This possibly was the worst time of my life.
I was damn serious about my preparations for GMAT. I had to crack it no matter what. I was aiming at a score of 700 +
New job required a lot of focus and time. I realised that a job shift at this point was not a good decision. But, in a way it was this job which made me take up GMAT again. I decided to focus on studies completely - took down loads of notes from internet, referred multiple books, even pulled out the cable connection at home, fearing its addiction :p hmm.. yes.. i can go to extremes when I really want something. Even after all this, there was something lacking.. and that was my 100% concentration. I had too many things in my mind, was trying to mend things which had gone out of control.
Finally, it was the G-day :) yeah the GMAT day! I was doing extremely well in the practice tests, getting a score of 700+ consistently. I was confident of my preparation and was hoping to do well.
But I screwed it up!! I didn't score as per my expectations. I don't want to get into the explanations of how, why.. I don't like to make excuses when I am really at fault.
I decided to give all of this a break and focus on work. After few days, I was again set to move ahead in the path of achieving my goals. I started my research on the universities and came up with a list of the ones that suited my requirements and limitations (in terms of my GMAT score). I spoke to a lot of friends too, and it was encouraging to see so many of them providing support and advise. Some people asked me to take up GMAT again. I knew of many smart people with same scores as mine and having gotten through some excellent universities. I decided to apply with my score and not take up GMAT again.
Next step was to prepare good applications for the selected universities. First came ISB, since it had an earlier deadline. I completely focussed on this one and started writing essays and collecting all the necessary documents. I was keen on getting through ISB, since this worked the best for me - I could continue to stay in India, and managing the fee amount wudnt be difficult as well. But again the black magic of 2007 was way too dominating and my application got rejected. Whatever little of cofidence that I had managed to get back, was gone. Everyone - my family and friends were trying to convince me that it was not a big deal. After a couple of days I got back to normalcy and began my work on the remaining universities in my list. Next one was the Lancaster university in UK. One of my friend is studying there, hence I got a lot of first hand information about this school from him. I wrote my essays, got recos - from my college and old office and submitted my application. I was told that it would take about a month's time for the decision to be made on my application. Next univ in the list was cornell, USA. I was in 2 minds whether to apply to this univ or not. First, i was a little apprehensive about my score and second, the application fee was way too much. After some careful analysis, I decided to apply! And yeah, I was done with all the app work for cornell by mid Jan 2008 and submitted my application before its 3rd cycle deadline. I was glad that the scary 2007 had finally bid goodbye!
Yes, it surely did!! 2008 came with good news from Lancaster - my application was shortlisted and I was asked to take up an alumni interview. I understood that i would be asked to take another formal interview once i was through this one. Alumni interview went well and I was confident of getting a call for the formal interviewand I was right! I got a call for the interview and started preparing for the same. Interview got over and i was told in a couple of hours time that I had made it to Lancaster!! wow.. this was the best news I had heard from a long time. I was delighted!
I must admit that, this whole process was nerve wrecking and its not just an MBA but also the process of getting an admit into a good school that hones your skills and prepares you to face future challenges. I have learnt a lot during this process!
Now, when I look back i have learnt one thing for sure, that is to handle failures more gracefully and to take them in my stride. It is very important to stay composed when things don't work as expected. This is part of life. We can't have everything our way, but at the same time its important to not give up and to pursue our goals and give it our best shot. I completely believe in hard work and I definetely believe that sooner or later hard work pays off!
There are many uncertainties in my case, many things to sort out before I can accept my offer. But I am positive that things will fall into place very soon.
First came the GMAT. phew! I have somehow come to develop a phobia for GMAT now.
I took up my in 2007 and failed miserably. This happened due to a lot of reasons; I was not in the best frame of my mind then. I had already postponed the exam twice - once due to my onsite trip to Spain and second when my dad fell ill. There was noway i could postpone it again. I just wanted to give it a try, though i was not very confident about my preparations. As was expected I scored miserably and was utterly dissappointed. Like Murphy's law says - Anything that can go wrong, will! Thats is exactly what happened with me last year. huh! what an year 2007 was! failure after failure.. and for someone like me who can not take failures so easily, it was like going through hell. All my confidence was going for a toss.
In hindsight, I feel I took up too many things at a time. GMAT, Job shift and the worst of all was going through the pain of my dad's illness. (something kind of manifolded the effect of all the problems: something that I am still trying to cope with). This possibly was the worst time of my life.
I was damn serious about my preparations for GMAT. I had to crack it no matter what. I was aiming at a score of 700 +
New job required a lot of focus and time. I realised that a job shift at this point was not a good decision. But, in a way it was this job which made me take up GMAT again. I decided to focus on studies completely - took down loads of notes from internet, referred multiple books, even pulled out the cable connection at home, fearing its addiction :p hmm.. yes.. i can go to extremes when I really want something. Even after all this, there was something lacking.. and that was my 100% concentration. I had too many things in my mind, was trying to mend things which had gone out of control.
Finally, it was the G-day :) yeah the GMAT day! I was doing extremely well in the practice tests, getting a score of 700+ consistently. I was confident of my preparation and was hoping to do well.
But I screwed it up!! I didn't score as per my expectations. I don't want to get into the explanations of how, why.. I don't like to make excuses when I am really at fault.
I decided to give all of this a break and focus on work. After few days, I was again set to move ahead in the path of achieving my goals. I started my research on the universities and came up with a list of the ones that suited my requirements and limitations (in terms of my GMAT score). I spoke to a lot of friends too, and it was encouraging to see so many of them providing support and advise. Some people asked me to take up GMAT again. I knew of many smart people with same scores as mine and having gotten through some excellent universities. I decided to apply with my score and not take up GMAT again.
Next step was to prepare good applications for the selected universities. First came ISB, since it had an earlier deadline. I completely focussed on this one and started writing essays and collecting all the necessary documents. I was keen on getting through ISB, since this worked the best for me - I could continue to stay in India, and managing the fee amount wudnt be difficult as well. But again the black magic of 2007 was way too dominating and my application got rejected. Whatever little of cofidence that I had managed to get back, was gone. Everyone - my family and friends were trying to convince me that it was not a big deal. After a couple of days I got back to normalcy and began my work on the remaining universities in my list. Next one was the Lancaster university in UK. One of my friend is studying there, hence I got a lot of first hand information about this school from him. I wrote my essays, got recos - from my college and old office and submitted my application. I was told that it would take about a month's time for the decision to be made on my application. Next univ in the list was cornell, USA. I was in 2 minds whether to apply to this univ or not. First, i was a little apprehensive about my score and second, the application fee was way too much. After some careful analysis, I decided to apply! And yeah, I was done with all the app work for cornell by mid Jan 2008 and submitted my application before its 3rd cycle deadline. I was glad that the scary 2007 had finally bid goodbye!
Yes, it surely did!! 2008 came with good news from Lancaster - my application was shortlisted and I was asked to take up an alumni interview. I understood that i would be asked to take another formal interview once i was through this one. Alumni interview went well and I was confident of getting a call for the formal interviewand I was right! I got a call for the interview and started preparing for the same. Interview got over and i was told in a couple of hours time that I had made it to Lancaster!! wow.. this was the best news I had heard from a long time. I was delighted!
I must admit that, this whole process was nerve wrecking and its not just an MBA but also the process of getting an admit into a good school that hones your skills and prepares you to face future challenges. I have learnt a lot during this process!
Now, when I look back i have learnt one thing for sure, that is to handle failures more gracefully and to take them in my stride. It is very important to stay composed when things don't work as expected. This is part of life. We can't have everything our way, but at the same time its important to not give up and to pursue our goals and give it our best shot. I completely believe in hard work and I definetely believe that sooner or later hard work pays off!
There are many uncertainties in my case, many things to sort out before I can accept my offer. But I am positive that things will fall into place very soon.
