Last weekend, my wife and I had gone to London to meet my friend Mahesh (who had recently completed his MBA from Warwick University). We went around to different restaurants and enjoyed the weather.
We went to a few places in Central London and the main business district. The area around Canary Wharf has changed dramatically over the past 5 years (new high-rises and lot more pubs/coffee houses).
These pictures were taken at Trafalgar Square.
The interview event at JBS is a full day affair. It is also an opportunity to meet the current students and interact with the faculty. My wife and I reached the school by 8.45 AM and there were prospective students (about 15 to 20 of us) from far and near. We were given the welcome package and schedule by Jo from the admissions office.
Let me outline as to how the entire day progressed
1) 9.00 to 9.45 - Introductory talk
Prof Arnoud de Meyer (Dean, JBS)
Dr Richard Barker (MBA Director)
Dr Simon Learmont (MBA Deputy Director)
Cathy Butler (Careers Advisor)
Rachael Barker (Alumni Officer)
2) 10.00 to 11.00 - Opportunity to sit through an actual class session
Kevin Roberts (CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi), made an inspiring talk/presentation about Leadership and Business (more on the lines of Marketing and Advertising)
3) 11.00 to 11.30 - Meeting with Dr Simon Learmont
4) 11.30 to 12.00 - Tour of the JBS Building with Luisa Marrone
5) 12.00 to 12.45 - Interview with two members of the faculty
6) 13.00 to 14.00 - Lunch and discussion with the current students. This was a fabulous opportunity to talk to students and faculty about the area I was interested in. My wife also had an opportunity to ask a lot of questions.
7) 14.00 to 16.30 - Walking Tour of Cambridge (It was wonderful to get a fully guided tour of Cambridge and the Colleges. Very helpful to know about 'Living in Cambridge')
My wife and I enjoyed the entire experience. The admission office had put in a lot of effort to make this happen and had given us a good opportunity to experience the JBS MBA. This organized and professional approach was one of the reasons that made me decide to join JBS.
Hope this gives a good idea about the JBS Interview day. The pictures were taken during the walking tour of Cambridge for the interview candidates.
Financing the MBA can turn out to be a pretty daunting task. Especially, if the student is coming from a developing country like India, China or Brazil. The MBA at JBS this year will cost about GBP 39,500 (USD 79,000) . In anybody is planning to stay with their partner/family, they need to pitch in a bit more.
While applying to the schools, I made sure that I apply only to those schools that had some sort of arrangement with banks to help students finance their education. International students at JBS can apply for the HSBC loan. The interest rate as of today is 8.25% (which is 2.75% above the Bank of England Base Rate). One can only dream about a Japanese Yen loan (with a Base Rate of 0.75%).
JBS also has some generous scholarships. I will make a separate post about scholarships; once I collate more information from fellow (future) classmates.
I will also post (at a later point of time) my experience with the JBS-HSBC Loan application/approval process.
The interviews are a very crucial part in the selection process (both for the school and the prospective students). It is good to go prepared for the interview. My interview experience at JBS was a very nice one. I was interviewed by two members of the faculty. It started off with an introduction, a few questions about my work experience and projects. The discussion then moved on to community activities I was involved in, short-term plans, long-term plans. In the end I had a few questions about teaching methodology, global consulting project/summer internship and interest groups.
A few things that may be of help for you
1) Ensure that you review everything that you had mentioned in the application (Be sure to remember what you had written in the application :) )
2) Learn more about the school (from their web-site or current students)
3) If you have any questions, feel free to ask the admission office
4) If possible, take the interview at the school (as this gives you a lot of opportunity to network and show as to how keen you are about the whole program)
5) You might want to ask one of your friends/family member to run you through a mock interview (in case you have not been interviewed for a very long time)
Some online sites that may be helpful
1) Ivy League Admission MBA Interview Tips
2) Some common interview questions
3) Podcast information
4) PagalGuy MBA Forum
Even before I took the GMAT test, I started researching about schools. The key factors I was looking for were
1) One year or one and half year programs
2) Location (in terms of being near technology centers)
3) Diversity
4) Career Service
5) Reputation
6) Return on Investment
7) Scholarships
8) Loan (even for international students, without requiring co-signers)
9) General Management (with electives in Strategy, Technology Consultation et al.)
10) Firms recruiting at the school
11) Ranking
Based on these factors I shortlisted Cambridge University's Judge Business School (JBS), Oxford University's Said Business School (SBS), IMD (Switzerland), London Business School, National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Business School Singapore (NBS), MIT Sloan, Warwick Business School, HEC Montreal and HULT Business School.
I applied to 5 schools, was interviewed by 4 schools and got an admit from 3 of them. I visited the schools, spoke to a few faculty members and current students.
All the schools were equally good. Each one had its own strengths. I finally selected JBS, as it was a good fit for what I was looking for.
A few tips based on my experience
1) Start early - Prepare early and apply early
2) Prepare the essays/cover-letter with care - Take your time and double check everything
3) If possible, visit the schools - This will help to find more about the school
4) Talk to faculty and current students - They can give you a lot of information that will help you make the right decision
5) Ranking is important, but should not be the only thing driving your decision
6) Check with your friends and family - I got a lot of help and inputs from my friend Mahesh, who had recently completed his MBA
After deciding to pursue an MBA, I set out preparing in September 2006 for the GMAT. The first thing I did was to buy the following books
1) KPLAN GMAT
2) Official Guide for GMAT 11th Edition
I prepared for about 2 hours on a working day and about 6 to 8 hours on the weekends. I found the mornings the best time to prepare, as my energy levels took a dip in the evenings(I'm more of a morning person:) ). After working for nearly 10 years, it was a little tricky to recall and learn school Math and English. However, it was an enjoyable experience (especially the Math part). I did a few practice tests from the books, and it helped me to time myself and prepare a strategy for the D-Day. I also used the Free GMATPrep Test Preparation Software.
I then booked a date for the test --- November 30th 2006.
There was no test center in Pune (my work place). Hence, I had to travel to Mumbai (about 3.5 hours drive) to reach the test center. I completed the test on time (both the Quantitative and Verbal part) and got a score of 690. I was not pleased with my performance as my target was to score at least 700 (the verbal part pulled me down, as I did not prepare well).
A few tips for test takers
1) Relax - GMAT is not a difficult test.
2) Three months of preparation should be good enough to get a good score
3) The Official Guide will give you a good flavor of questions
4) Undertake a lot of Practice tests and build up your stamina (so that you will last till the very end of the test). This is very very essential.
5) There is a bounty of material available online, feel free to use those as well for your preparation
6) Balance the preparation (between the Math and Verbal parts), both are equally important (This was my biggest mistake during preparation)
7) Make sure that you time yourself. In case you get a difficult question that you are not able to answer, move on to the next question quickly.
8) Relax and enjoy your test.
Wishing the BEST to all future test takers !!!!
A few useful links (Please note the links might change and if there are any broken links, please feel free to GOOGLE to pick the right link)
1) GMAT Official Site
2) The official - Free PowerPrep Software
3) Free Princeton Review practice test
4) Free KPLAN Material
5) Free Peterson's Tests
6) Manhattan GMAT (some free stuff as well)
7) 800 Score (with some free stuff)
8) GMATScore tests
Starting September 2007, I will be pursuing an MBA from Cambridge University's Judge Business School. I will briefly outline my journey so far, in terms of gaining an admit. I will start with the reason as to why I decided to do an MBA.
I started my career as a trainee/programmer and currently work as a Project Manager at the Global Technology Center of a large international bank. Working for clients in various industries (Mutual Fund, Medical Systems, Utilities and Banking)and living in India, UK, US and France has helped me gain a good understanding of the software industry.
As the next step in my career, I would like to move on to provide business technology consultation (especially to large project/programs). In the long run I would like to start my own business technology consultation practice.
An MBA will help me gain a holistic management education (aspects like finance, strategy, human resource, marketing, entrepreneurship etc.,). In addition, an MBA will help me network and work with a diverse group, which in turn will help me learn from others experience. There are a lot of other reasons as well and the list is quite long, but the gist of it hangs on two points 1) Holistic management education 2) Networking and learning from peers and experts.
With this in mind, I set out to go back to school and do an MBA.
Hello, Welcome to my space in the Blog World. This blog is intended to enable a free flow of information and thoughts that might help others or spark a fruitful debate/thought.
Cheers,
Alvin.
