Chicago GSB Admit: Any Questions Anybody??

[Susie Derkins]

Chicago admits... dumb question...
What person should one use while answering this question:
If the admissions committee were to interview one of your closest colleagues, what aspect of your personal development would this person say is especially important for the admissions committee to know?

I know it won't hurt whichever I use but just need an opinion.. Should I go...

"Susie breaks glass, smashes faces and throws shoes in team situations that turn sour...."

OR

"My half-witted colleague would probably say that I need to improve in...."

[iday]

Originally Posted by Susie Derkins

Chicago admits... dumb question...
What person should one use while answering this question:
If the admissions committee were to interview one of your closest colleagues, what aspect of your personal development would this person say is especially important for the admissions committee to know?

I know it won't hurt whichever I use but just need an opinion.. Should I go...

"Susie breaks glass, smashes faces and throws shoes in team situations that turn sour...."

OR

"My half-witted colleague would probably say that I need to improve in...."

As u said, either voice would work fine. I used a mix of both. Started with "If u were to ask a colleague he wud say..." and then explained it with "I did such and such stuff..." and closed the essay with "This is why my colleague wud say what he said".

But if u r gonna use the exact two sentences u just quoted, the second one sounds more funny

[sumit4mba]

Hi Iday,

Any advice on the Recommendations of Bschool. Would like to know how did you go through the whole process..coached the recommenders, career goals essays etc

Any advice will be helpful

tks
Sumit

[Sathya2006]

Originally Posted by sumit4mba

Hi Iday,

Any advice on the Recommendations of Bschool. Would like to know how did you go through the whole process..coached the recommenders, career goals essays etc

Any advice will be helpful

tks
Sumit

Dude.. just chill! Reco's are necessary component but so far I found that they are not so important (that's my personal opinion!). I personally know of people who wrote their own reco's and surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly!) they did get an admit from those schools.. but it is always better to get it done by the recomenders, just send them bullet points to remind them of what you did.. adcom people are smart enuf and will identify the similarity in style between reco's and the essays! Maybe u can sit with the recomenders and help them out in filling the recos, if ur not so confident of what they will write when ur not with them

If not, if u happen to fill it urselves, just like somebody said in ISB thread, "Do whatever u want, just don't get caught"!!

[xtremelegacy]

hey keya , congrats!
could you help me out here? i was thinking of giving both the cat and gmat back to back in my final yr of engg. ..
a) is the prep for CAT and GMAT similar??
b) will this GMAT score be considered, say in 2010 , without any bias towards it being 2yrs old..

[inblue]

I am just a one time CAT taker and 1 time GMAT taker. but here's my 2 cents

1. CAT math is lot lot tougher than GMAT. But GMAT verbal is lot lot tougher than CAT.
2. The GMAT is valid for 5 years. Some school do have a bias towards scores older than 2 years. They think it does not reflect your current ability but most schools have no bias. The best answer for this is with the adcom members.Shoot this out on Wharton s2s and Chicago forum. I am sure they'll say that its not a big deal.

Now what is exactly different between the GMAT and CAT . Here are my 2 cents. ( though PG has big GMAT dudes )

In the GMAT is the approach. GMAT is a CBT. you cant come back to the question. You have to do it then and there and the correctness of your question determines the next question and also your score. So basically you have NO CHOICES. You have to attempt every question. The aim is to maximize your hit rate. Again, the first 10-15 question decide your score-orbit. The better you do on the first 10 -15, the higher your score rises. Having said that, each question you answer correct, the next question is tougher than the previous. In all the equation is complex.

CAT, on the other hand offers you a choice (not now though, you can skip questions initially , return to them, re-think them and so on.

GMAT is a real time thing.

I am sure, Iday would have a lot more to say on this. He's a vetran.
I am a 690 lazy GMAT. I treated the GMAT just as a requirement. Was always in the 700-710 range. Never scored 710 + in any of my preps.

[amitnsitian]

Originally Posted by inblue;

I am sure, Iday would have a lot more to say on this. He's a vetran.

not bigger than me after taking CAT four times and GMAT once and scoring a 710.

As rightly pointed out by inblue, it is the approach which is different for both the tests. In the GMAT, one has to answer the question, even if one is not able to make out head or tail out of it but CAT offers that flexibility. But looking at the latest trends in CAT, it is moving closer to GMAT. 5 choices, lesser questions, ample time per question. Additional in GMAT is the AWA section.

One more thing, the English part especially RCs are way tougher in GMAT.

All the best for your prep

[inblue]

Originally Posted by sumit4mba

Hi Iday,

Any advice on the Recommendations of Bschool. Would like to know how did you go through the whole process..coached the recommenders, career goals essays etc

Any advice will be helpful

tks
Sumit

'I' -man you world US times, so i am taking the liberty to answer in India time.

Scary isnt it? coaching your recommenders, telling them you'l be leaving soon.. ah! Not really.

Before you approach the recommender with a formal request, make some efforts and let your recomender know you well. If it your manager, client make sure you discuss a lot of things with them - what you want to do, movies, sports, politics etc.. It helps. Again this is not a must, its just an add on. The shades of this will appear in your recos.

Do not approach your recommender unless you have your school strategy in place. Analyse what all are you telling the school and what all should the recommenders say.
School have different essay topics and reco questions. analyse the whole application before making notes for your recommender.Do not let reduncancy creep in.


Write your essays first.
(Tough its not mandatory to provide them to your recommenders.)

Notes for recommender :

1.Write down all incidents that you want your recommenders to mention per question
Eg :
Strengths
A ( exapmple a , example b)
B ( example a , example b)

so on.. for weaknesses, leadership and team work. Without examples/stories the recommmendation dies. Again these examples should be little different from the ones you are using in your essays. balance the reco with the 1, 2 examples from the essay and 3 -4 new examples.

2. Things about the school you are applying to.
What are the things that attract you to the school ? What are the strengths of your school
'Fit' with school when comes out in the essays and also slightly in your recos, creates a holistic image.

3. very breif description of your short term and long term goals and why do you want them. why do you want an MBA ( ideally 1 to 2 page document in bullet points )

4. Word limits, deadlines, do's dont's for recommendations and sample recommendation

Follow up :

Keep in regualar touch with your recommenders. Go over the recommendation that he/she has written. Discuss the examples. Basically brain storm the whole story with them. If they say that you spend ur free time in the Gym and you say that you spend your free time playing pool in the office- hmm , that's a crime. Try to be as honest as possible and encourage your recommenders to do so as well.

Coax him/her to have the reco reviewed for language ( my recommenders were cooperating enough to have them read by the technical writer )

[inblue]

Originally Posted by amitnsitian

not bigger than me after taking CAT four times and GMAT once and scoring a 710.

Yep dude ! I guess there are a lot of vetrans.
I feel humble

Inblue

[iday]

Originally Posted by inblue

I am sure, Iday would have a lot more to say on this. He's a vetran.
I am a 690 lazy GMAT. I treated the GMAT just as a requirement. Was always in the 700-710 range. Never scored 710 + in any of my preps.

Me? Veteran??? I know how i slogged my ass to get that GMAT done
And dont u say that abt urself. I know the exact situations under which you prepared and appeared for the test. Any other time, you would have scored more i'm sure.

Originally Posted by amitnsitian

not bigger than me after taking CAT four times and GMAT once and scoring a 710.

Royal Salute to the Veteran Amit!!!
Happy dude???

Originally Posted by inblue

'I' -man you world US times, so i am taking the liberty to answer in India time.

I have taken leave and am celebrating at home. So i dont do heavy work during when the sun is out
BTW - he/she PMed me and i've replied.