HKUST - still Not Out!!

I looked into HKUST more and some guys on pagalguy.com gave me real insight into the school. No doubt, the school is great for Finance and HK is the hub for financial institutes and since HKUST is ranked 17th globally by FT and 11th by … (I don’t remember), you cannot go wrong with HKUST if you are a finance guy.
But the school offers quality education in other functions too and since I am somewhat inclined towards asian market and also considering the cost and ROI, I am still considering HKUST.
I am looking for a career in Information Management/Systems or General Management. Not at all interested in Finance(as of now) and Marketing requires you to have good Mandarin speaking skills if you are targeting China for that matter. So as of now I am considering management career in Tech companies only.
Any insight from any of you would help and will be appreciated.
HKUST – still there. :)

While reading about HKUST, I thought about NUS as well. Didn’t go deep into that but got an idea that NUS has majority of Indian students, that is what I do not want. A single HKUST batch represents at around 21 countries. Wouldn’t that be great listening to someone from Japan, Thailand, Russia, UK, USA, South Africa and so many other places. Diversity is one thing I am looking for.
Will do more research on NUS though.

chao

HKUST out: Lesson learnt. Do the research early.

What you want and what a college offers should be in sync.
Everywhere they say, do the college research and see what a college is offering. But most of the people do not look deep inside the college. Most of them are not even sure about what they want. And I am one of those people only. But going through this, I have realized that going through the admission process only, tells you so much about yourself. If you don’t know what you want in life, go through MBA admission process and you will get to know more than you ever knew.
From the very beginning, I know at least that I do not want to go in Finance. I am thinking about going in either Management in IT or Marketing.
I had shortlisted just a few collges. HKUST, CEIBS, Krannert, SP Jain and a few more but every day this list is getting shorter, and I do not have much time to research more colleges and get one of my choices, and then apply.
From the very beginning I have some inclination towards Asian Bschools. And HKUST seemed to be a good option. Expenses play a very important part in the school selection and that’s the main reason I have not selected many US B schools. The total expenses including tuition fee and living expenses go upto $100,000 for most of the schools. Moreover they ask for a Loan Co-signer. And the schools which didn’t ask for a co-signer earlier are now asking for it due to the recent global turmoil.
So due to above reason, HKUST sounded even better to me. Total expenses (Tuition + living expenses) go upto $55,000, as mentioned on its site.
Today I sat to dig more into HKUST Business School. And within some time I realized that the school is good but most of the recruiters were from finance sector.
And fortunately I got more clarity on this from some guy who was considering HKUST at one time. Thanks to him, he replied instantly and gave me more insight into the same. He has been in Hong Kong and that part of the world for long now and he suggested that one should only look for Singapore or Hongkong B schools if he is interested in Finance as career.
So despite of my proclivity/predilection for Asian Schools and Asian market and because of my disinclination towards Finance, HKUST is out from my list :(
So do the research early. It’s really important.
Chao

Krannert also requires TOEFL..

Krannert is one school I am really looking forward to and will definitely apply.
Today i got a news. Krannert also requires TOEFL scores.
http://www.mgmt.purdue.edu/programs/masters/Degree_Programs/Full_Time/Admissions/requiredapmaterials.asp

I dropped Kelley just because I can't take TOEFL as of now.
But for Purdue, i guess i have got some time.
Lets hope for the best.
Am still reading blogs and some books to know more about schools/culture/essays.
One of the best blogs you can read is i4iday.blogspot.com
This guy is in ChicagoGSB. you must be knowing him, if you are a regular blogger and applying to a bschool.
He writes really well

I ll get back to the reading stuff.
Chao

Dropping Kelley :(

Kelley, Indiana University, needs TOEFL score as well. I was pretty impressed by Kelley in the MBA fair in New Delhi, on 27th September. Kate O’Malley, Associate Director, Marketing was representing Kelley in MBA fair held in Intercontinental Hotel. Once I started listening to Kate, I realized, how much a B-school like Kelley adds to your personality. She was repeating the question first, asked by someone standing over there, and then giving a very sensible answer, addressing each and every person standing on that stall. I listened to other representatives and alums but I was very impressed by Kate, representing Kelley and Veronica Ho who was representing USC Marshall.
Moreover, the Kelley curriculum is really impressive. The real time industry experience while you are still in college adds so much to your personality and profile. Moreover Kelley Business School is very well known for Specialization in Marketing.
I made my mind to apply in Kelley. I did a good research on Kelley. But Kelley needs the applicant to take TOEFL as well. The first round deadline is 15-Nov-08. I have time but I will not be able to manage taking TOEFL and writing essays for Kelley and other schools, so I am dropping Kelley for now.
I have not started writing yet. So I better get back to the thinking process.
Chao.

Loan Co-signer..

When you are applying for a Bschool in USA, or I should say when you start thinking about applying in a Bschool, there are lot many things you should consider before applying.
Generic things like – what do you want out of a 2 year MBA course, which school you want to get in, which function/industry are you looking for after your MBA.
These are the things, everyone thinks about but there are few things you need to care of.
My mentor ‘B San’ kept on telling me this and today I really took care of it.
There are a few schools for which you need a Co-signer to get a loan for your Tution fee + expenses. There are some schools which don’t need any co-signer upto your tution fee and if you need loan for your expenses as well, you need a co-signer and third category is the best one – No co-signer needed for a loan upto tuition fee + living expenses.
I have a very close friend of mine in US and I was counting on him. He had asked me not to worry about the monetary matters and concentrate on my GMAT and application part.
Now I am done with my GMAT and trying to work upon my applications, so I thought I should talk to him :)
So I talked to him. And now I am applying to the schools which do not require any co-signer up to tuition fee. Expenses will be taken care of by him. Thanks bro.

I could not sleep last night. All the time I was thinking about essays. Some schools are asking me about –
• my career objectives
• my 5 year plans, 10 year plans
• What are the 2 or 3 strengths or characteristics that have driven your career success thus far? Do you have other strengths that you would like to leverage in the future?
• What do you expect from your MBA program? How and when will you measure the return on your investment in the MBA?
• Briefly describe the career path you intend to pursue immediately after b-school. Explain why this career option appeals to you and why an MBA is appropriate at this time.
• Describe an ethical dilemma that you faced in your professional career. How was it resolved and what did you learn from the experience?


And the most interesting one from Kelly, Indiana University
• Suppose you had to choose three people people alive now or people from another era to travel with you on a cross-country automobile trip. Who would you choose and why? What would you hope to learn from them? (Think carefully about the company you want on those long stretches through Nebraska or Kansas.)

Come on man. I feel like I don’t know myself. I know what I want 10 years down the line but these things are not specific. I do not know which industry/function I want to work after my MBA.
I really need to think, think and think.
I hope putting my thoughts over here will keep me on the track.
Chao

've you already thought about it?

I am sitting with a laptop, thinking deeply about what I really want in life.

“What do you want?” this sounds very simple sometimes, if you ask someone or is it being asked from you. What do you want?

Answers can be infinite varying from anything to everything. But when it is asked by a Bschool, you just can’t go on and say anything. You got to be very clear about what you want in your life because an MBA is a big investment of your life whether it be the money, the 2 years or the hard work you are putting for getting into a bschool or the hard work you are going to put during those 2 years.

The very first question any Bschool asks is – what is you career objective?

If you have never thought about it, it’s the high time. It’s the time for, as one of my friends says, Self Realization. It doesn’t matter whether you are 21, 25 or 28 years old. What matters is do you know yourself.

Ask yourself,

What do I want?

What am I going to do after a few years?

Am I going to work at the same place?

Am I going to do the similar kind of work?

Will I get a break I am looking for?

When will I get that break?

Am I looking for any break btw?