1 ) Liked the analogy of bschool and a beautiful chick. If you want to date her , you wouldnt say that she is great because of so and so attributes. She must have heard it a thousand times. You would say , you have dreamed of a person who had those beautiful eyes like those of megan fox or the lips of a Angelina Jolie. Some one who carries attitude and at the same time not arrogant, whose smile is as sweet as honey .... and so on....
I made that mistake at ISB. I openly wrote that ISB is good in this way and that but never said why it would suit me.
So trying to relate my personality, goals to a few schools that are already on my list.
Darden : This is the first that comes to my mind. Relating it to my personality , I want to go to a school that stresses on teamwork and helps me develop / enhance my leadership skills. My reason behind wanting to go to a bschool is to gain a diversified set of skills that would help me make a transition to consulting. While this sounds mundane , the difference is how Darden fits into this scheme of things. After four years of work and having seen people of different types, I am sure that an attitude and interest to work in teams is the best culture. Darden develops that. Additionally , during my consulting assignments I had observed that stimulating discussion is what leads to an effective solution. It covers a wide variety of angles , concerns and helps to identify all the corner cases for a problem (excuse me for the software terminology). Here is where case methodology fits in. I feel I will fit perfectly with the kind of environment Darden has and it's teaching style.
Duke : Having worked in Finland and South Africa , I have the first hand experience of how diversity in professional setting helps you to grow both as a professional and as a person. For ex, I heard first hand the brutal effects of apartheid in South Africa. I understood the difference of work cultures in Europe and India, explained a lot about India to a German team mate of mine in Finland , learned about Czech culture and had stimulating discussions on various topics. In that way , Duke ranks at the top of my school list simply because of the diversity that exists in the class both professionally and culturally.
Secondly , Operations and strategy leadership is something that I am looking for through an MBA. Having designed and developed software to improve various operations parameters , for clients , I am of the firm belief that supply chain consulting still has a huge role to play. Given that India is rapidly growing economically this leads to a lot of opportunities in various sectors where best operations practices would help. In that sense I want an education that has good courses in operations , supply chain management and strategy. I went through the course list on Duke's website and it has a well rounded set of courses that would surely come in handy.
Duke is young and vibrant as I understood from it's alumni and additionally Dean Shepperd created a very good impression on me. Attend his conference last year and was truly attracted by what he said , especially about Duke trying to develop an international outlook. Their expansion plans are a testimony to the same. I hope these exercises have a ripple affect on the curriculum and culture at Duke.
Ross : Again international Diversity and hands on experience. Simply an action packed school with so many options like tauber , MAPs and WD institute . Being someone who wants to work in India in the longer run , I feel WD institute would provide me with the necessary contacts. A look at ross website shows how much of a team oriented school they are and they have an excellent program in General management covering the ares of operations and strategy. No doubt I will be apping to Ross in R1. Ross again has some awesome courses for Supply chain management along with a very active club and the internships Tauber can offer are an incentive. Ross has very good descriptions of the various courses on it's website and it is certainly worth looking at. MAPS are a definite plus and for people who want to move to consulting , they are sure to enhance your skills.
Kellogg : What gives you a chance to interview with top tier consulting firms ? -- brand and that is exactly what Kellog has. You can choose this school simply for it's value but the buck doesnt stop there. Team culture is something that Kellogg breathes day in and day out. Additionally , it has excellent courses in strategy and operations along with some very well known names in the management field - Sunil Chopra , Deepak Jain. Another dimension of Kellogg is it's international perspective through GIMs. Infact Kellogg is the first school that helped me get a very good idea of what operations consulting is about. The ops club at Kellogg organizes leadership series and site visits which help gain a fist hand perspective of operations.
Johnson (cornell) : Class size , very good focus on consulting, responsive alumni and students. Infact cornell, ross alumni have been highly responsive to my emails. Spoke to Christian P , the consulting club president at Cornell and his enthusiasm was evident even through the mails. The immersion programmes appeal to someone like me who likes a more practical learning that class room based teaching. Immersion in strategic operations is a program that I would surely look forward to if I make it to cornell. The bigger advantage is the Cornell experience , with a strong alumni network cornell should rank among the top 5 for my app.
Kenan flagler : Met their adcom in a meeting in Bangalore and have been thoroughly impressed. Not only by the school profile , but also by their strength in General management and operations. They have quite a few good courses in this area and in my research I found this to be the only school that gives high importance to Sustainability. Given that my long term plans are to start my own consulting firm in India, sustainability is an aspect that would be core to my plans. Learning about creating sustainable enterprises would certainly help. Again a small class and tight knit community
That kind of sums up ....
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