My Interview experiences

ISB: Rejected
Ross: Rejected
Duke: Rejected
Darden: Wait listed
NUS: Shortlisted for interview - Interviewed - Waitlisted

I was asked about my Job profile...i started talking...felt very weird...there was no response from the other end...in between i thought that the call got disconnected also :-(...somehow completed the answer...but i wasn't comfortable with this way of interview at all... Then i was asked about the challenges i face..i talk...am cut half way and asked some thing about American healthcare..i asnwer...then they ask me about an asian business leader that i admire...i think think...and talk about the founder of Toyota...and talk a couple of lines about lean manufacturing and 5 why analysis which he came up with...thats it...15 min and end of interview... and they waitlist me..I have heard that they waitlist evryone after a certain date coz they are not sure of the numbr of admits they give...
I am not at all happy with the admission process followed here...There have been people who applied after me and have admits before i have been interviewed too!!! Thats very unfair to say the least...

In fact I am disappointed with the way in which all the US B schools handle the admissions process...They do not give any kind of an status update till the very last minute...they hardly ever respond to the e mails in time...the interview calls are chaotically given...the responses always say things like" as we have had unprecedented number of applicants this year.....blah blah..." WTF!!! I dont care how many people have applied...Is it even my headache...But when this XYZ b school takes 180 off $'s as application fees i feel they have an obligation to atleast keep me updated about what is happening with my application...and finally...If a school cannot manage its application process...it doesnt show too well about the kind of managers that it will churn out...Atleast a B school has to manage the application procedure better than other institutions...but as it turns out the converse is true more often than not...

IIM I: GD and Interview (12th Feb @ IIM B)
GD was a case study of a person who wants his company to change its age old strategy to reap benefits in the current scenario, but his boss is a traditional fool who fails to understand his juniors suggestions... I did well...Spoke reasonably well and spoke good amount of sense..
Interview started with thermodynamics and moved to non-conventional sources of energy..then went to my hobbies...IPL vs ICL..What would i do if i were Mukesh Ambani...blah blah... and then to stock markets...

IIM L: GD and Interview (23rd Feb @ B'lore)
Essay writing topic: Men without deeds are like a garden full of weeds (WTF!!!)
I scratch my head and try thinking...I try this exerciss for a minute and realise that its no use and just start putting down on paper whatever comes to my head..I use all examples that come to my mind..Mhmd.Yousif...gramin bank..Al Gore..Climate change...Ratan tata...Nano....and then i start digressing (just like my blogs) into more of a lecture mode (Rajni would know a lot about this :-P) and instruct the teachers, studnts and the entire community at large...make weird analogies between garden and human mind...talk about human value system...and time's up..
GD: We were supposed to discuss about the same topic (man...this is getting too much for me)...Some guy starts off in a tangential manner...and i am too bored already to bring him in the right direction...a minute passes by and people are talking like politicians...i draw up all my patience and composure and enter the GD with an example i had written..it goes on..we all just rephrase the same lines and say them again and again...Moderator realizes that its high time he ends the disucussion and obliges us!
Interview: I enter the room..before i sit down comes the first question..he asks about crammers rule, applications, descartes principle, linear programming, simplex algorithm, primal and dual solutions, graphical solutions...
then after a while the other interviwer asks me about why MBA?, hobbies...T20 and test cricket comparisons...blah blah..why Cognizant pays soo less to people?? blah blah...End of the IIM L torture.. :P

IIM K: 5th March @ IIM B
GD: About Tiger Preservation and related stuff.the group fantastically starts talking about terrorism within 5 mins of discussion!! :P Somehow normalcy returns and we are back on track...I made some 5-6 points, which were decently taken by the group
Interview: Starts with basketball...how does it move...explanation about Newtons laws with lots of cross questioning..how does a human eye see a basketball...why cant i see an electron...how can i locate an electron...what is the size and mass of an electron...who discvovered it...heisenburgs uncertainity principle... (by this time i feel i'd be obliged if they just ask me to leave)...then the other guy takes over...asks me how does a merchant banker determine the price band of an IPO..I try explaining for 5 mins...they listen and say its all wrong..and merchant bankers never use such methods..then i am asked about beta coefficients of some stocks and how are they calculated...
The worst interview ever!!!Easily...I feel i have just wasted money by attending this interview

IIM C: 14th March in B'lore
GD: It is a case study about some organization facing a bill of reservation in a state where it has major operations...What should it do...
I was all charged up after my dismal performance in my last GD/PI and this saw me totally dominate the initial parts of the GD..I also came in again towards the end with some options :-)
Now after the GD i feel it would have been good if the GD had a higher weightage!! :-P

Interview: Started with Salsa...I told about why i learnt salsa..the origin of the dance and all the things i knew about it...Then they ask me" what city would i choose if my frnd wants to invest in starting an IT company in India and why?"..I answer this and give my reasons...they cross question on a couple more criteria...i answer...Then..about Cricket...Recent success of Praveen Kumar...i discuss him as a bowler and the way he got his wickets...Then they ask me about the books i read...I say Ayn Rand and Malcom Gladwell...one interviewer says good and asks me to read The Kite Runner..i am happy..just then the other one says...thats all u read?..and in a responce...i blurt out Paulo Coelho..and a round of firing about the themes and underlying reasons about his novels..i wasnt abl to answer a couple here... Then i was asked about a reason other than the Sub Prime Crisis that is affecting the global econmy...answer this..with some cross questioning and i cant answer a couple of questions here too...
Thats it...End of Interview...

Well...I hope that i make it to some good B school...

Ohh...Btw i think i have been shortlisted for IIM Shillong GD/PI also :-) I dunno how keen i am on this but it never hurts to have another option in hand...

More laters...

From - Your friendly neighbourhood B-school aspirant :-)