A Beautiful Mind

I just came across this latest ranking of top performing CEOs via the ClearAdmit blog. Created by the INSEAD professors, the ranking compares the performance of the CEOs across the globe and ranks them based on the shareholder return and change in market capitalisation. Top 200 CEOs can be found on http://knowledge.insead.edu/home.cfm site and a slide show can be found on HBR’s website.

An interesting aspect that I observed is this:

Among the  Top10 CEOs in the list: 5 (50%) hold an MBA degree.

Among the  Top25 CEOs in the list: 9 (36%) hold an MBA degree.

Among the  Top40 CEOs in the list: 11 (27.5%) hold an MBA degree.

Among the  Top50 CEOs in the list: 14 (28%) hold an MBA degree.

And, many of the CEOs were insiders.

This yet again proves a very important about the MBA degree. You can (and most likely will) become the CEO of your company if you work through the ranks even when you do not have an MBA. But, the MBA degree will act as a tool to perform well and deliver value to the shareholders or take the company to the next level. As we move up the ranking charts, we see more MBA holders. The MBA perhaps facilitates the leader in driving the company results or making decisions or defining the strategy.

Aahhhh. My Ross application has taken maximum time when compared to that for my other app that I have submitted till date. The Ross essay questions are good in terms of allowing me to express both, my professional achievements and my personal story. The questions are generic enough to give the write an opportunity to choose his or her own unique experience either from the professional background or from the personal background. At the same time, the questions are to the point in asking the writer to write about his or her leadership style, achievements and clarity of career goals.

For me the most interesting part of this has been the word limits. The four Ross essay questions (1 to 4) have strict word limits of 500, 500, 300 ad 300 respectively. I am currently editing my third draft of these essays and I am still not within the word limits of two of my essays. I hope with this draft will I will come within the limits and the final draft will be for proof reading by one of my angel reviewers. I am most likely not going to need the optional fifth essay as I had a very good undergraduate academic record and my GMAT score is also good and balanced. And the beauty of the Ross essays is that the third essay allows the writer to express his dream job, his own unique personal quality or interest. So I have only four essays but these four have been good enough to snatch away my holidays from me. Lets hope I will enjoy the moment I hit the submit button. My plan is to submit my Ross app by this weekend so as to avoid last-minute hassles and also track down my recommenders on the coming Monday. I don’t want to disturb them during their Christmas break but I wish they are done with their part of the job

Go Blue !!!!

Today I had my UNC Kenan-Flagler interview. It was with an alumnus at a coffee shop in Mumbai. The alumnus was cool, in a complete weekend mood,  and was wearing two-thirds. On the other hand, I was in a serious interview mood and wearing business professionals. He himself apologised for not informing me about the dress code in advance but appreciated the fact that I was keeping safe when it came to dress code. Anyways, he ordered coffee and stared directly with why Kenan-Flagler. I gave him my reasons and then he started talking about his similar experiences and why he chose Kenan-Flagler. There were no questions on Why MBA, Why Now or What have I done till date at my work place. The questions that followed were on my achievements outside of my work area, my other extracurricular activities, my interests, my personal background and other similar stuff. He also asked me about other schools in my list and we also talked about the current economic scenario in US. He passed out in 2001 and so he faced similar difficult situation due to the dot-com bubble in those years. We talked about some of his experiences at the school and while finding jobs and internships.

Finally, it came to questions from my side. I asked him 2 questions and got the answers. His coffee was over and we started talking a walk. He also recommended me a few things on the career/job search during difficult times and we finally concluded. All in all it was more of a conversation that I usually have with anyone I come across during the two hours of my travel from my home to office. Local trains (or tube trains) are good to meet different people with diverse backgrounds

I feel like I could have said a lot more than what I did but these things were not directly related to the discussion we were having. I guess either I need more practice on highlighting my self or this is indeed the way blind alumni interviews are conducted.

BTW …. there are some discussions going on few forums like BW about Kenan-Flagler inviting a lot of candidates for interview. Untill last year, Kenan-Flagler followed a different interview policy where the calls were divided into two seasons. An Open Season and a Closed Season. In the Open Season they interviewed anyone who submitted Part One of the application.  In mid-January they would move to Closed Season.  At that point they reserved the interviews for people they have screened and invited to interview.  But this year they have moved to ‘Invitation-only’ policy. So if you get an invite then that is a positive indication of the admissions committee’s preliminary assessment of your candidacy. Here are the details: http://blogs.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/mba/2009/08/18/and-the-admissions-season-starts/

My UNC Kenan-Flagler app went in on last Friday and so my R2 apps have started. Well practically it appears to be a very late R1 as many of the business schools have their R2′s ending in early to mid January. I kept Kenan-Flagler for R2 mainly because I started writing my first essays with Kenan-Flagler and going by the experience of many people who have been through this cycle, I decided to submit it late in order to incorporate any improvements that I will learn during all of my apps. With each app, the content of my essays was getting better and better. My final set of Kenan-Flagler essays was a lot different from my first set (although the basic idea presented was the same).

I had submitted my Part I of the application a few weeks back and that included my GMAT report and my updated resume. Based on these, I received an invite for an interview from Kenan-Flagler a few days back. So now I have sent the interview request to a Kenan-Flagler alumnus in Mumbai and let us see when he responds. Till then, I just need to wait for my interview call from Johnson (Cornell) and Fuqua (Duke).

Johnson usually takes some time to release the calls and they do not have any formal dates for interview calls. They can call the candidates for interview right up to the last week of the decision deadline. And I guess some people are yet fo finish their R1 interviews at Johnson. But in case of Fuqua, they will release interview calls on December 8 (early morning December 9 for me). Only a couple of days to know if I stand a chance to get into Fuqua. Fuqua students and adcom team have been very helpful throughout my application process in answering my queries.

Now, as far as other R2 apps are concerned, I am most likely to stop here for some time as I believe I better get some news from my R1 apps in order to move ahead with R2. If I get interview calls, then I can easily reuse the idea’s (not the content off course) from my R1 essays. If not, then I will have to rethink about everything that I did for R1. So far I have applied at five schools with interview calls from three of them. My ISB interview was fine, my Olin (WUSTL) interview went good but my Kenan-Flagler interview call is based on my GMAT and resume. I will try to finish my Kenan-Flagler interview before the holidays but till then no more R2 apps. In any case I am most likely to apply at only one more school. I believe, if I can’t make it to any of the six schools in my list, there is no point in applying at more. The only decision to be made is, which one is the sixth one?

After waiting for an interview invitation from the schools I have applied to and trying to kill the wait period by indulging in numerous activities, I finally got the invitation for an interview from Olin (WUSTL). It was kind of a nice feeling after seeing this invite. The interview was a face-to-face interview with the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Olin on last Monday. All in all it went fine and was more of a conversation.

I reached the location a lot earlier than expected and we came across each other. The interviewer was kind enough to advance my interview by 30 mins. It started with usual question “Walk me through your resume”. I was able to (or allowed to) control the flow here and she kept on noting down the important points. Then cam the regular Why MBA and Why Olin questions which again went smooth. The some work related questions, questions about my company (including LB to Nomura transition) and some team work related questions. All in all it was like a regular conversation like my informative interview but this time she had read my file completely and was already aware of some of the key facts of my background. We also talked about the important aspects of Olin and some of its distinguishing aspects. About the people I know at Olin and so on. Finally came the last part where she asked me about my questions. I asked her a few and got them answered.

Like I said, it was more of a conversation rather than anything else and was good in the way it was conducted (next to the pool at The Taj Mahal Place and Tower ). Officially, the decision can come anytime before January 22, 2010. But she said she will be back to the school on December 9 and they might release a few decisions close to holidays.

This week I had my informative interviews for Rotman (Toronto) and Owen (Vanderbilt). These were primarily resume based as I have not submitted my apps yet. It was kind of nice experience with the adcom members of both the schools as they were patient in listening to my story and were interested in knowing more about both – my work related background and my extracurricular interests.

I had both the interviews on the same day at the same location. But since I have been in touch with current students and alumni from both schools for a long time now it was not difficult to talk about specific topics about both. I had my questions prepared and it was nice to get the answers to those firsthand. Here is the experience as far as I remember:

 Rotman (Toronto) interview: Interview with Bailey Daniels at 10:30 am. Started with “Walk me through your resume”. Went for about 10 mins (Yes … somehow I was able to keep a tab on the time). She noted a few things about it. Why MBA and Why Rotman questions. Then a talk about my target firms post Rotman and Rotman’s alumni contacts in those firms. Questions on my extracurricular activities.

Then came “Why this activity? I am thinking this is only for people who like to kill.” I was thinking WHAT??? This activity is known for a lot more thing than killing/hunting. (It was about Shooting) Told her about why I enjoy it. Then a talk about some of the Ice sports possible in Canada.

Finally, “Any Questions for me?” Had a few and got the answers. All in all it went for around 20 mins only. But it was nice. I guess there was not grilling on any particular topic as it was an informative interview and Rotman would love my $200 at-least (Just kidding).

I am waiting for some clarification from the school on loan programs and hence will submit my app only if I hear some good news. I was asked to wait for 2-3 weeks.

Owen (Vanderbilt) interview: Interview with John Roeder at 12:30. He started with talking about his background and some other Vanderbilt related info. Then came “Walk me through your resume”, questions related to my work, working in teams, 1-2 leadership related questions, Why MBA and Why Owen, How did you do your research on selecting the school, and then finally “Any questions for me?”. I had a few questions and got them answered. App status is the same as that for Rotman. I am waiting for some clarification from the school on loan programs and hence will submit my app only if I hear some good news. The interview lasted for around 30 mins and was another normal experience.

Both the interviews were regular and quite expected in nature. I was able to control the flow and there was lot interaction rather than plan questions and answers. Perhaps this is how most of the informative interviews are conducted. However, one thing important was the notes taken by the interviewers. They noted almost eveything I said and I am sure this will be useful when they will evaluate my full application.

Coming Up next: Olin (WUSTL) formal (after invitation) interview.