Tools to ease the online application process

If you are sorting out the documents you need to scan and upload for the online application and need to manipulate the transcripts and other supplemental documents, here are some tools that would help. See the 'Resources' tab for actual links to the tools if you are interested.

I got all my documents scanned with a 200 dpi setting on the scanner and extracted JPEG files (I believe this ensures that file size is low). I felt it would be easier to crop and edit the pictures, since that is inevitable. For example while scanning the document was at a slight inclination and I needed to first straighten it before creating the final PDF to upload.

I used Picasa to complete all the picture edits. Then used doPDF tool to convert all the jpegs to pdfs. This tool is free and does not create any watermarks. You can also specify what paper size you would want it to fit in, e.g. A3 or A4.

Later I needed to assemble the various pages of my transcript (each a single pdf at this point) to a single pdf. I used PDF reDirect PRO which is a 90-day free tool. Again spyware free and no watermark additions, this tool can merge multiple PDFs into a single one. OR it can also extract different pages from a multi-page pdf to create the pdf you want.

Hope this helps anyone who's struggling with the Dec deadline. Ofcourse the R1 guys must have already gone through this!

Whatever you do, dont forget to ...

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Backup ! Backup ! Backup !

Boom ! My nephew just knocked over my laptop and while it came crashing down, my cousin carrying a tray of coffee mugs tripped over my nephew making a sticky situation even stickier. Distraught watching the horrible liquid all over my dumped laptop keyboard, I suddenly panicked! My essays! The number of hours I spent reviewing, revising my umpteenth draft. Was all of that gone ?

Press the Rewind button.

That did not happen. But what did happen was me waking up early morning at 3 am and rushing to get my external hard drive. Weeks of preparation and becoming the essay writing factory, you do not want to be in this situation EVER!

So however you need to backup your Bschool data (essays, resume, bookmarks, etc)
- Mail it to yourself
- Google docs
- External Hard drive, USB

... do it everyday !

I am still preparing for my Haas essays, although I think I will never stop revising the essays until the submit button presents itself on 2nd Dec. I've finally finished what I think is my near final draft for another school and sent it for another review.

I think I kinda keep improving each draft, but its a lot of hard work. And no. You really cant use an essay (even the common why MBA one) of one school application for another. However I am able to juggle snippets and stories around.

One learning from the week was that watching an actual case competition video helps a lot. Gave me a good visual of what is to come!

"Great application essays for business school" Book review

Its been a while since I've been reading various books on Bschool applications and been attending various application editor led webinars. In the gamut of so many of them, I thought it was easy for any applicant to be lost in the need for precise direction and ideas when writing essays. I was as lost when I wanted to understand how to communicate leadership in the essays and the highlights of my career and personality that I'd like my recommenders to remember.

I picked up a book a few months ago called "Great Application Essays for Business School" by Paul Bodine from Accepted.com. I've really gained from this book and although I'm still in the process of writing my essays with no applications submitted yet, I believe a lot of people are now looking for urgent direction and thought this resource could be an option to consider.

I thought I'd breeze through the book just like I had read other books like Richard Montauk. The more I read it, the more I realised that the content was very concise and illustrated with specific examples. They broadened my ideas, explained what Adcoms really want to know and demonstrated the "show not tell" writing strategy that every Bschool essay editor blogs about. As I had not still given my GMAT retake then and didn't plan to start my essays until R2, I stopped reading it until I was really ready to tackle the essays.

What does this book not talk about ?
It is not aimed at someone researching their goals or schools. So if you need advise on how an MBA would help you, what are your career options and possible future MBA career track, this book is not going to help. If you are trying to understand how the entire application process works right from understanding 'why MBA' to researching schools and finding recommenders for your target schools to dealing with application rejection, then I would suggest the comprehensive book by Richard Montauk.

Who is this book for?
You have a list of your target schools and done a reasonable amount of research into your fit with them?
You have a application deadline you are working against?
You really dont have the time to trawl through lists of blogs and webinars to understand what and how to write?
You don't really know what specific answers the admissions committee are trying to provoke through their essay questions?

What does it tell you?
- The method to 'show not tell' by giving illustrative essay examples (Surprisingly the essays in this book are not as some other books publish i.e., extreme high achievers like doctors delivering babies mid-air, grandsons of holocaust victims leading non-profits, etc that threw me off the idea of applying for Bschools itself!)
- Data mine your life by answering specific writing prompt questions
- Structure your essays with suggestions for opening lines, developing the story, concluding the essays, etc.
- Advice on what not to do when answering specific essay questions
- Specific advise on non-goal essays like failure essays, leadership essays, passion and extracurricular essays,  and other unusual topics like the ethics essay
- How to use the optional essay and what not to use it for

Lastly, there is a short chapter on Letters of recommendations with dos and donts. There is also a sample recommendation letter to understand yet again 'show not tell'.

I keep going back to sections in the book when I'm having a second go at my essay drafts. Many times I remember I've not really put in a differentiating factor that I could have used. So if you need specific advise on different essay topics and have not already bought any books nor registered for application editing services, I would highly recommend getting a book and would rate this one highly. Ofcourse, the book is not the solution to the enormous personal effort that is required, it just is an useful aid to find a direction and a lot of inspiration to writing Bschool essays.

Hope this was useful!

PS : Kaneisha's webinar on word count weight loss program was a great show yesterday. And just at the right time when I was struggling to learn some techniques. Hope you were there!

Disclaimer : All thoughts are my own and I have no affiliations with any Bschool advisory organisation whatsoever. 

What is the Newly launched Beat the GMAT practice questions all about ?

Best Slideshow Software by VisualSlideshow.com v1.2

Beat the Gmat is launching a new version of its 'Beat the GMAT practice questions' tomorrow, 2nd November. Since I've used a few other products online that also provide additional practice to GMAT test takers, I was very curious to learn more about it when Eric, the VP and founder of beatthegmat.com asked me to do a review of the new version. So here goes..

Overview
This product has over 700 quant and verbal questions to practice with. You can choose to (1) View the dashboard - your performance in terms of statistics e.g. time taken to answer questions, percentage of correctly answered quant and verbal questions, etc (2) Practice a custom session according to the type and difficulty level that you want to practice (3) Review your answered questions by understanding their difficulty level, your response time against the average, along with an option to flag the question you would like to review/practice.

Features 

Video explanations - Each question comes with a video explanation, which gives an in-depth explanation of the question itself and the reason why each option is right or wrong. Although these video explanations do not explain how to approach that particular type of question directly, one slowly gets the hang of what to look for and what constitutes the right answer. For example, while explaining the reading comprehension questions it aptly explains the need to understand the underlying meaning of certain sentences, rather than relying on only fact finding.

Personalized practice - A test taker can create a custom practice session by specifying the type of Math/Verbal question, difficulty level, number of questions, etc. One feature I liked about the customization options is the feature to set the difficulty level to 'Adaptive' mimicking the GMAT adaptive behaviour. Another striking feature is the option to practice questions that a user would have flagged in earlier sessions. So incase its a good question that catches you off guard or you take a lot of time to solve, you can practice to improve your performance by creating a session of these flagged questions. These are features I have not found in other online GMAT practice products such as Grockit and gmatclub.

Review progress - The review provides good insight into the strengths and weak areas as exhibited by the questions answered during various time periods, so you can gauge your improvements as you keep practicing . You can jump to any of the questions in the review table to view the full question, your answer and the video explanation. However, one additional feature which would be very useful would be to provide graphs providing the test taker's week-on-week and/or session-on-session progress in various sub-areas.

Quality - Neat interface that provides a healthy mix of quality Math and verbal questions. Although the videos do not provide tips and tricks directly, they provide clear, concise and coherent explanations that would help an average GMATer understand the approach to take while solving the question.
The quality of questions vs the real GMAT correlate for the most part. I did feel the real GMAT sentence correction questions were much harder than the few I practiced with in my review account (has only a sub-set of questions), but I would say that this is the case for most GMAT products (books and online products). The quality for Math correlates with the real GMAT and does not go overboard, like Manhattan CAT Math goes. The quality of the video explanations is excellent and explains how one can conclude on the correct option.

For anyone who has exhausted their OG practice and looking for a at-home product, the BTG practice questions is a useful adaptive and personalised product.

Disclaimer : I am to receive a few premium accounts of this product for my efforts to do this review. My aim was to review the basic features of the product and to give a view on the quality of the questions available, based on a healthy sample. Although I have given a comparison, regarding certain aspects, with other GMAT products, my intention has not been to directly compare any of the products comprehensively, but to help give readers a point of reference.

What to make out of a 680

Finally after a anxious half day, I finished my GMAT retake with a 680 (Q48,V34). It seems like a more respectable total than my previous take. Still increasing my total by 20 points (only 1 point in verbal made the difference) hopefully makes my $250 investment in the retake worth it in the long run. The score comes close to  the average of many schools like Tepper and Mccombs that I'm targetting. No ISB and Haas though! (sigh). Also the propects of scholarships has me worried.

About the test itself, the quant section was very close to the OG level of difficulty. While I practiced with Grockit and Manhattan, I certainly felt the manhattan level is slightly higher than the actual test for quants. So if you can do Manhattan, you would have a high probability of achieving that score for quants in the real test. I finished with 7 mins to spare, which I could have used in the verbal section, if only it was allowed. The verbal in manhattan however is accurately as tough as the real test. Getting an RC when I had 5 questions left and only 10 mins was no help at all. I was nervous throughout the verbal section, with frequent anxious glances at the timer ticking away. I can guess that a lot of that played on my productivity. But so be it. Its done and dusted.

I hadn't practiced the Analysis of Issue and I wasn't happy with my essay for the Issue section. The Argument essay went well since I had practiced it well. Hopefully the score of one compensates for the other and I get something respectable.

The last week I really stepped up my prep rather than lower my guard. Thanks to Random wok who gave me that piece of advice. I solved all OG, OG verbal guide questions again and went over the Manhattan idiom list. While I think this was good to improve my confidence levels in Math and SC, the CRs unfortunately were not any help since I knew the premise of each argument when I read them again.

Another plus this time was my last GMAT investment of Rs 85 on a can of Red bull. The last time I faced fatigue in my verbal section. I just couldn't wait for the test to end. This time I was alert all through. Maybe it works for some, and doesn't for others. I've never really had a red bull till yesterday, so its not proven to work every time.

A list of what I used as GMAT resources :
OG 11
OG verbal and quant guides
Manhattan SC
Powerscore CR bible
Grockit standard membership practice questions (CATs are buggy, more on that in another post)
Manhattan CAT practice tests
Kaplan free online practice test and CAT CDs
BTG DS strategy overview series

Now, onto to the next chapter. Re-assessing my school choices and getting started with the school essays.
Watch out for my review on the soon to be launched NEW Beat the GMAT practice questions. I also have a few premium accounts up for distribution !

My GMAT study in 4th gear

So for all the folks who are only familiar with auto-transmission, let me first mention that there are 5 gear positions in car running on manual-transmission, or something known familiarly as the "Stick shift". While going on the 4th gear doesn't seem like a lot, yet the fact that this is my second time studying for the GMAT and the fact that the last time I gave my GMAT test at the center, I drove to the center in a cervical collar, makes this a good gear for me.

Studying for the GMAT the first time around had meant I spent hours on my laptop, with little concern for ergonomics. I've been constantly working for the past 10 yrs on a PC at my workplace, so why did the GMAT study hurt me bad enough to cause tingling numbness in my left arm, headaches and neck aches was beyond me. The orthopedic and the physiotherapy did little to alleviate my pain and I was sore that my GMAT study (in the fifth gear at the time of the first incidence of the pain) was all going to waste. Nevertheless, gave it anyway and landed with a 660.

After coping with the illness for over 4 months, later discovering the awesome techniques of Yoga and Pranayam, and a lot of time attention to healing and practicing yoga for over 2 months, I picked up the GMAT Official guide again (for the nth time!) a couple of weeks ago. I'm glad to say I've survived 3 weeks with constant use of my laptop (this type hooked to a external keyboard and mouse, with my laptop kept at a elevation = Great ergonomics) in perfect health. Still practicing the yoga though, which is now part of my life.

What I've discovered in the 4th gear is, after solving the OG, the OG Verbal and Quant guide, I still wanted more practice to solve more questions and some interactivity. I found two fun things to do.

1) Participate on forums - I'm checking and posting on the BeatTheGmat.com forums morning and evening. I have great buddies who keep posting good questions. With the timer that BTG has so thoughtfully placed on top of each post, I can time myself on each question posted. Members on the forum constantly debate and question, and I have gained an understanding of the little nuances I never noticed before. I encourage anyone studying for the GMAT to get into those forums and share questions, give opinions, etc. Its a useful tool to study, ofcourse don't expect people to teach you - you have to do your homework and self study.

2) Grockit - Games people play, eh? This is a nice create-your-own-game-to-play with GMAT question types that you can choose and play it against others in the same virtual room. You can even schedule them as you please so others can sign in for it in advance. Unfortunately the free membership limits you to only 10 questions per day in a group study. So now I'm debating if I should buy the grockit standard membership (at 79$ post 20% BTG discount - Doesn't sound like a lot until you do the dollar conversion) which gives me full access to over 100 hours of practice with 1200 questions in the bank to choose from and 5 full length CATs. The only thing holding me back is no reviews on the CATs and doubts on their score calibration software, since again - no reviews found !

I've bought the MGMAT CATs, so that $40 gone already. Hopefully the MGMAT CATs don't bring my morale down since their scores tend to be a downer!

Today I tried the Veritas prep, and compared with the 620 in my last take 4 months ago, I clinched a 710 today. Veritas gave my GMAT total score as 680, but I re-checked that Q45 and V42 round to a 710 total score. So I'm pumped !!!

I'm leaving a good picture at the top, as a reminder to everyone to be safe while on their laptops. You do not want to be using our grandma's cervical collar, believe me!

MBA Fairs - Any advantages?

Yesterday I attended the MBA fair in Mumbai organised by The MBA tour. Whilst, I had attended a fair by the same company in January this year, at that time I was clearly new to the bschool admissions journey and therefore my experience was different. I didn't know what to ask, what kind of an MBA I wanted to do, what schools are a good fit for me, etc. This time around having done a lot of research, I was better prepared.

Format :
The format of the event was completely different this time. The previous event had round tables to which groups of students were assigned and for about 15 mins each school representative would come to the table to present the main features of their school. It was almost like speed dating. A bell ringing 5 mins before the end of the session and at the second bell the representative would have to move to the next table, while a different school rep would be at your table. The advantage of this format was you were always present to listen to what each school had to say about their program, so incase you never thought you would like one, you might change your mind during the 15 min presentation. You had to listen to each one of them. The pain point though is that having around 10-12 schools doing this without breaks, feels like too much to take in with too little time, towards the end one nearly started to feel each school was just like the other.

Yesterday's event did have presentations from schools, but they had 3 schools doing it in parallel in 3 different rooms. Each session was 30 mins, so the schools actually had a good amount of time to increase their interaction with the candidates for general questions. The only thing was you had to always choose among the 3 schools that were running their presentations in parallel. Especially if there was a popular school doing their presentation, the attendance at the other school's session dwindled. But I still preferred this format, as I made up my mind to apply to a school I had not thought of earlier.

Fair interaction :

Although the round table format expected having a more personalised interaction owing to the fact that representatives got to interact at each round table with the candidates, the 15 min sessions hardly gave any time for this interaction. It also did not culminate into schools going behind a booth when they were ready to answer questions. Candidates ended up surrounding the admissions representatives 360 degrees and leaving little room for circulation. Yesterday's event had 33 schools from around the world go behind their booths with a large area in the center for students to circulate and visit them. My reservations about the usefulness of the school's interaction were allayed, the advice given by the admissions representatives were not generalized and were objective highlighting features and viewpoints specific to the school. I must say webinars have not proved this useful.

Takeaways from the MBA Fair experience :

• Exposure to schools which you didn't consider : I made it a point to sit through presentations given by some schools that I had not considered, but were recommended by some of my friends. The exposure helps in widening your school pool.
• Personal interaction : I was able to ask questions to the admissions committees that were specific to my profile and get very objective answers in comparison to responses in a webinar/emails. Every school view's on your specific questions could be different.
• Fee waivers : Some schools did distribute a application fee waiver, some dollars saved!
• Build relations with the admissions council through your interactions.
• Check out the competition. Other candidates also have reasons to believe their candidacy is deficient due to some aspects in their profile, you are not the only one and maybe better off.
• Little research, no problem : Even if you are just starting out and have done little research, yet going to a fair is a big plus in terms of exposure.
• Check out the resources section of this blog for articles on advice on how to interact with the Admissions committee members.

In hindsight, both MBA fairs proved very useful since this is the only way for International students to interact with international schools, the next best thing to the campus visit.

Clear Admit iPhone app

Now that the admission season has started, everyone in need of a planner can take advantage of this app from Clear Admit. It has got very useful features to track your application status and school deadlines, including essay questions, and a checklist of other application requirements that need to go in too. The best part ofcourse is that its free and very useful!

Best Features :

• Personalize your planner - Add your choice of schools from a list of 21 US schools and 10 top global Bschool programs.
• Rankings at a glance - Get a consolidated list of top schools with their respective rankings from FT, US News, Business week in a page.
• Brief school stats - View each Bschool's class profile highlights such as avg. GMAT, acceptance rates, and links to the school and application website.
• School application checklist - List of essays within each school app page with features to write notes when they strike you and free essay tips from clear admit.
• Planner status - Main page of your listed schools shows you the number of days left to your application round dealines, along with a %tage completion of your checklist
• Clear Admit offers - Links to specific bschool strategy, interview, etc guides from clear admit with discount codes.

Some drawbacks/improvements :

• Limited amount of schools since Tier II schools are missing. This could be a welcome addition.
• Releasing this application on other mobile platforms would help non-iPhone users to explore this app.
• An option to include other checklist criteria like TOEFL scores, other forms for international students would make it more comprehensive.
• I did notice that the deadlines mentioned for ISB, India are incomplete and incorrect. It mentions only Jan 1st, while the school website has earlier deadlines for Indian students and Jan 15th for Internationals. Assuming this app is meant for use globally, maybe the app can mention earlier deadline dates as well.

I had actually made a planner for my use until I installed this app and used it. Definitely a great tracker tool.
Thank you Clear admit!