Initially the event was scheduled to start at 7.00 and finished at 9.00 pm and I thought I would have to break my fast with a sip of water (I was used to it though, from my university fasting days in the UK but I definitely was not looking forward to it...). But a couple of days before the event, Stanford sent an email updating the change of time. So the event started at 5.30 instead, to allow the Muslims who needed to leave for buka puasa to leave around 7.15 pm ish... how thoughtful!
So I arrived there at around 5.15 pm with two of my friends whom I managed to drag (ha ha!) and we were greeted by Sabah, a very lovely lady who's also the Assistant Dean of Admission (if I'm not mistaken). She looked a bit tired from the traveling but nevertheless, she was really welcoming. I asked if she's gonna be joined by some alumni but unfortunately according to her all of Malaysia-based alumni were not availble for the event... oh, what a bummer (I was really looking forward to network with the alumni, especially since these people are the leaders in local businesses)
The event then started pretty much on time, and there were about 10 of us, so it was really an intimate session. A few others who came in late sneaked in in the middle of Sabah's presentation. So I think in the end, there were about 15 of us who sat there listening to Sabah's presentation.
The presentation itself was nothing new, though it did give me some insights on how to tackle the essays... (guess that's what happen when you can remember school stats by heart). But what made a lasting impression on me was how simple the presentation was - the slides were very plan with a picture or a comic graph and a buzz phrase that captures what GSB stands for or is looking in applicants. There was this one slide with Vegemite that immediately get me to chuckle (honestly, I didn't why I chuckled at that moment - the mental image of Stanford looking for Vegemite just seemed odd to me). But the slide also kinda shed the light into how to approach the tough essays - be who you really are, some people might like it, some might not but if you're vegemite, just let Stanford know you're vegemite!
There were two parts to the presentation - the first part was more about Why Stanfrod, What We Offer etc - the marketing thingy. The second part talked about the application process itself. Again, all of the info was not new to me, who has been obsessing with top US BS for years... but I guess it was useful for the potential MBA applicant who were just starting to get obsessed with the whole process!
So in the end, although I got some really good pointers for my essays, I didn't feel like I learnt anything new about the school. But I knew I had to make an impression on Sabah, so I chatted with her for a few minutes after she wrapped her presentation. It so happened that we had something in common - we both once worked in Malawi! So, there was some obligatory reminiscing about the good ol' Lilongwe and I asked for her email before I left for buka puasa.
Overall, I was glad that Stanford made the effort to come to KL. Most other top US BS didn't bother to stop in KL for their admission event - Bangkok and Singapore are their fav spots. Unfortunately, I can't just drop everything I was doing to go on a trip to Singapore or Bangkok for each admission event... HBS, I'm talking to YOU!
I'm definitely liking Stanford more and more... I just hope they will like me too!!!!
OK, now I need to drop Sabah an email to remind her about my application...
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