A funny conversation with my GM

So last night I stayed back late to finish off a project - I had tons of materials to read through before I could form my own analysis & develop my proposal and the deadline was end of this week! Whilst discussing the matter with one of my colleagues, my GM came to join our discussion. Except, she wasn't really interested to talk about work. Instead, she point-blank asked me about my future plan. This was how it went last night...

GM:   So, your boss told me about your MBA plan – are you going to resign?

Me:    Erm, I don't want to resign but the HR dept asked me to resign!

GM:   Oh, them...

Me:    Yes, them. But if you allow, I would like to apply for my 12-month unpaid leave entitlement. 

GM:   Yea, ok. That can work but do I need to keep you in your position? Can I hire someone else to fill in your position while you're gone?

Me:    Oh, I don't know. You can do whatever you want with my position, it's your decision - according to the HR people, ha ha ha.. but if possible, I don't want to cut tie with this company lah, although I'm committed to my post-MBA career goals, a lot (of things) can happen between now and then... 

GM:   So, where are you going to? Bile you nak pergi ni (when are you leaving, again)?

Me:    Oh, about that - I haven't even gotten a firm offer yet! That's why I don't want to say anything yet... but I applied to Kellogg, Stanford, Wharton, and HBS.

GM:   Eh, can you please go to Stanford so that my friends and I can go visit you? It's so nice in California, then we all can go lepak at your place. Chicago and Philly are too cold...

Me:    Erm... yea sure, let me call Stanford...>.> 

If only it was totally up to me to decide where to go for my MBA...

Dear Stanford GSB Admission,

Can you make my boss' wish come true?

28 February 2013, 50 Raffles Place, Singapore

There goes my New Year resolution of blogging at least one new post a month…

Whew, January flew by just like that and now we’re already in mid-February! Work has been absolutely crazy – I remembered a comment made by my GM; I thought New Year ni everybody would start a bit slow, but you guys are moving on gear 4 already! Chill la, it’s only January.

I must say, although most of my bosses and colleagues knew that come Fall 2013, I’ll most probably be gone from the company, they are not letting me go without a bang. It seems that I still keep getting big projects & major assignments and my fear of being slowly phased out from work once I made my BS journey known to people at my workplace was totally misplaced.

Now, although I’m grateful that I still get to dirty my hand with some real challenging projects, the downside of it is that I’m stretched too thin for anything else! I’m leading a business expansion strategy for one of our business units and working on a major organisational review of 1,000+ employee in a business unit. On top of that, I have my normal share of market intelligence research, company profiling, management papers, communication strategy etc. If nothing else, I hope that these experiences would be good inputs in my BS classes!

So, after a gruelling January, a few buddies of mine decided to drive down to Singapore for a fun weekend. Instead of gambling at Marina Bay Sands’ casino, we opted for Night Safari and Universal Studios… talk about leading high-stake lifestyle! Anyway, as I was going through my emails one last time before driving down to Singapore (no work during vacation), a single email caught my eye – You’re Invited To Join The Team-Based Discussion by The Wharton School.

OMG!

Omgomgomgomgomgomgomg…

That was my actual reaction! Hahaha, I was pleasantly surprised that Friday morning when I clicked open that email and immediately booked my interview slot on 28^th February 2013 at BCG Singapore. So, yes folks – Wharton has been so kind as to extend me an invitation to their team-based discussion!!!

I think I’ve said this so many times in this blog that I felt so connected to Wharton – its essay questions, its data form, its courses, its majors, its leadership programmes, its venture treks (did I mention they go to Antarctica on a crazy but totally awesome leadership exercise?!!). Even the communication between the adcom office and the applicants sounded so genuine (unlike HBS, ehem…). Needless to say, I was over the moon with the invitation as part of me always has this nagging feeling that I may not have the stats/profile/stories for top US BS!

So, at the end of this month, I’ll be sharing my thoughts and experience about Wharton’s TBD. But I will only reflect on my experience and will not be sharing any sensitive information as to respect Wharton’s instruction to keep as much of the process confidential as possible, as to not to spoil the experience for future invitees J

And did I mention that Wharton is also throwing a reception to the invitees in Singapore? It’s a chance to connect with alumni and listen to their experience whilst in Wharton. Though I have a sneaking feeling that this whole reception could also be a test of some sort… haha, so better be on my best behaviour all day long!

The Wharton School – I can’t wait to see you!

2012 Last Post - Hello 2013

So moments ago, I just submitted my Wharton’s app. I feel good about this app, mainly because I think Wharton really allows the applicants to express their individuality through the essays. I’ve also grown rather fond of Wharton and its many Venture Treks are really something that I look forward to the most – hello Antarctica & Cotopaxi!  

Looking ahead, I have just one more application to be submitted – Stanford GSB. Now, applying to the most selective MBA program in the world comes with its fair share of anxiety, self-doubt and many sleepless nights. If Wharton lets its applicants to shine through its essays, GSB really forces us to dig down and deep, on our motivations, passions, and goals for life. It ain’t easy, but I managed to get there. I’m surprisingly happy with how the essays turned out to be, and this is another application that I’m proud to submit and regardless of the outcome, I know I’ve done my best (barring silly last-minute typo errors).

So what next?

Actually, I went into my MBA cave to finish off my Wharton and GSB essays knowing that come July 2013, I may well be enrolling in one of top US BS. On 17^th Dec, Kellogg was nice enough to put me on their waitlist.

Now, waitlist may not be everybody’s favourite response but considering double rejection from HBS, I’m willing to take anything that these prestigious BS are willing to dish out to me.

Let’s talk about Kellogg

I’ve also grown fond of Kellogg over the course of this MBA application season. It’s the no.1 school in marketing (which is supposed to be a big deal) and McKinsey and its other MC siblings seem to love Kellogg grads (so that’s a huge plus). One of my bosses just came back from Kellogg’s AMP and she seemed to really enjoy her experience.

Now, the thing that really excites me about Kellogg is how everything the students do seems to revolve around groups. The last thing that I’m willing to put up with at this age is sharky, snarky type-A jerks (who seem to go to BS to “transform” themselves). So on that merit alone, I personally think Kellogg sounds like a really good place to gain some crucial business knowledge and skills and build lifelong friendships that are based on genuine mutual interest.

The question now is, how do I get off the waitlist and into Kellogg MBA Class of 2015?

I love me a good challenge!

 

It’s probably not a good idea to watch an action movie whilst trying to draft your MBA essays…

True story, but me being me, I’d have 10 thousands things opened at the same time, cluttering my screen, just to get things done. Some people need order to focus, some thrive in chaos, I seem to do best in orderly chaos…

A quick update on my Rd 1 application…

I tanked HBS again and interviewed at Kellogg. But then again, Kellogg interviews anyone who requested to be interviewed, so it was really not an indication of how strong my application was. I have mixed feelings about tanking HBS for the 2^nd consecutive time. On the other hand, I should’ve learnt enough from the previous experience to submit a better application but the application pool itself is super hyper competitive – HBS is a stretched to everyone (unless of course, your whole family goes there and made tons of donation to the school…). And because of the hyper competitiveness of their pool of applicants, a rejection from HBS does not automatically mean that my application was weak (at least, that’s why I’m telling myself to mend this broken heart!).

An interview with Kellogg…

I thought it went well. I clicked with my interviewer. It helped that we both came from the same industry, so the lingo was not lost and I don’t have to de-jargonise my resume all that much. At one point, I thought I was doing the interviewing since we were trading questions, back and forth – he asked me why Kellogg, I asked him how was his Kellogg experience etc. All in all, it felt more like a conversation between 2 people who shared the same passion (for Kellogg).

But here’s the thing; being too comfortable during the interview could also give you false signal. Maybe, just maybe, he was such a great interviewer that he immediately put me in such comfortable state that my answers came unfiltered. I knew that I could’ve answered some of this questions better… but alas, what’s done is done.

Round 2 strategies…

I guess not getting in HBS was actually a great thing – I wouldn’t have researched Wharton at all, had I gotten an interview invite with HBS. Initially I was a bit put off by Wharton, mainly because the school’s reputation as the “finance school”. I did not see myself slaving away at any financial institutions in the near future.

But that all changed.

After all the research, reading student’s blogs, the s2s boards, watching the available lectures, seminars etc, I finally GET Wharton and ironically, Wharton is the school I felt most connected to now.

I personally feel that the fit come from the fact that Wharton, out of all the other schools (that I’ve researched), is the most quant-driven, in a good way. I think a lot of people get easily intimidated by any quant-heavy subjects, and Wharton makes no qualm about how quant-heavy their program is. But here’s the thing, they make it more than just about crunching the numbers but giving greater emphasis on what the data tell you about a problem. This mind-set, this way of approaching a problem, so analytical and methodological – speaks highly to the engineer in me. I guess that’s why I’m gravitating more and more towards Wharton!

Plus I now find a newfound appreciation for PE… ha ha ha. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll write about a PE specific goals in my career essay for Wharton.

I’m still applying to Stanford’s GSB…

As off now, I’m searching my soul to find what matters the most to me. There are many things that matter to me, some matter more than others but to nail what matter the most and why – let me tell you my friend, it’s gonna be a long and arduous journey (till new year).

But right now, let me enjoy The Expendables 2 first!

Reflection on HBS Application

First off, I probably will drive myself crazy obsessing over HBS application AFTER submitting it. it’s done, it’s done and nothing I do now can change anything. That being said, I was up till 1 am last night twitching every second and double-triple checking every single alphabet that I put in the application form… until FINALLY I told myself that I needed go to bed because I have to go to work in less than 6 hours…

But then, I had the WEIRDEST dream – that I was in an interview for HBS and the only question I remembered that was asked of me was this “how do we know that you will commit to HBS since you’re applying to other schools?”. I wish I’m some sort of oracle who can read my future through dreams because I would give anything to make that dream come true!!!

Now, moving on I still have another set of essays to worry – that’s for Kellogg. I have a good 3 weeks to outline and write and revise the essays to perfection… that shouldn’t be a problem, rite?....

Class of 2014 vs Class of 2015 Application

My first reservation about submitting another HBS application after rejection from last year was that I couldn’t write much about how much I’ve improved over my last application. I thought that last year, I covered a wide range of experiences throughout my life in that set of essays that spectacularly bombed with the admission committee. I worry that even before they read my new application, they would just put it in another pile that says “stank last year, probably won’t be better this year”… gosh, I was super paranoid!

But boy, was I glad that HBS actually revamped its whole application structure – new essays (well, actually they were similar to old essays but with more words to play around) and that was the saving grace for me this year. I was extremely happy with how my two essays turned out to be and they were enthusiastically endorsed by a HBS alumnus, a future INSEAD MBA, a Stanford GSB alumnus and some of my closest friends. It kinda validated my positioning for this year’s application. If nothing else, I hope the admission committee this year see the maturity in the essay and how far I’ve come since submitting my application last year.

The second part that made the most different this year was my letter of recommendation. I was extremely grateful to two of my managers and another friend whom I’ve worked with on a charity organisation. They have graciously agreed to write my LOR and incorporated most of my inputs and recommendations (I hope so) and submitted their part way ahead of the deadline!

One of the tragedies last year was that my previous superior whom I worked closely for almost 2 years completely and utterly bombed his LOR. He left it to the last minute, refused to talk to me to discuss how to write LOR for US BS MBA application and the result was a lukewarm standard LOR, which did more harm than any good whatsoever at all… But I was glad that I learnt this lesson though. It made my selection of my recommenders for this year way more stringent and it forced me to really find people who share the same level of enthusiasm about my personal growth and development as me and most of all, whom I could totally depend to write a great LOR to support my candidacy!

It’s somewhat anticlimactic when I think about these two situations. I still remember early this year (I submitted Rd 2 application in Jan 2012) where I almost cried in the office of one of my recommender when I knew that on the morning of the deadline, he haven’t even started anything yet and started to be defensive when I gave him an outline of stuff to write. Come to think of it, that was the moment where I knew my application was going to waste… ha ha, and I was right!

Looking Ahead…

So I have to wait till the week of 17^th – 24^th October to know my fate this time around, after which I can move on to other application or if lucky, be invited to an interview, where I will then be paranoid about every single thing that I wrote down in my application and will probably lose many nights thinking about the post-interview reflection. Plus I have the tendency to be too honest in my interviews… so, yeah… we’ll see!

I just wanna give a shout-out to all those who have helped me with my HBS application. I couldn’t have done it without your support, so THANK YOU!!!