PGSEM Apping process

Basic steps are:
1. Register yourself to the PGSEM site. You would have to check out what was the important dates - application dates/cutoff dates etc before you will be able to start with the application process.
2. The application filling is simple - just the basic information is required to be filled in it. You will have to pay the application fee (there is an online option which is pretty convenient). Be careful on the Photo upload part. If you need to, get a digital photo clicked with the necessary resolutions that is expected.
3. Submit the application. No other documents need to be supplied at this point. Make sure that you submit the application before the cut-off dates etc.
------------End of Round 1------------------
4. In due course, your application may or may not be shortlisted. You will be intimated via an email either ways (I guess - I got an email about the shortlisting part, not very sure abt the rejection part).
5. Once that is done, the one main thing that you will have to start working on is to start working on the SOP part. Though there is no explicit deadline mentioned in the SOP part, I think it would be useful to get it sorted out of the way as soon as possible (though from the looks of it, it seems to be required only before the faculty interview). This is the hardest part and will take most of the time.
6. There is another form that you should be getting from your superior - get that done too earlier rather than later.
-----------------End of Round 2--------------
7. The alumni interview dates will be announced before the faculty ones. The alumni interview is somewhat informal (no tie or coat required or expected). The basic aim seems to be to see if you are good fit for the course. Moreover they are there to check if you have any questions about the course etc.
---------------End of Round 3----------------
8. The faculty interview dates will be intimated in due course.
9. Go to the interview with a tie (coat would be an overkill - especially during summers :)) and formals.
10. Make sure that you reach the interview before time (I got late - they did not seem very happy :))
11. You will need to have all the originals and a copy of all the marksheets/degrees/experience letters/GMAT/CAT score sheet etc. The copies need to be submitted and the originals will be used to validate the copies.
12. Take the interview.
13. Wait for the final call.
14. Hope for the best :). You should get an email again with the details in due time (either ways).

Note: This is for all the lazy bums (like me?) who do not want to go through all the information that is present in the website.
Refer to
http://pgsem.iimb.ernet.in/academiccalender.html
for more details.

sidvish

PGSEM - Myths and Reality

For starters, why PGSEM? Before applying, I think that each one should have realistic expectation with respect to what you will achieve once you are done with this course.

A few expectations that might not be fulfilled at the end of the course are:
1. You will sprout wings and become superhuman and start flying without airline tickets - what that translates to is that domain shift is something that would be really difficult if not impossible to do once this is done.
2. You may or may not get super perks and roles/responsibilities based on your completion - my hope is that this is possible, but I'm still very low key about that.
3. You will not have a super duper network across all the hotshots in different organizations. This seems to be one of the drawbacks of the program since interactions would happen only twice a week max .
4. You will not be a part of the recruitment that would happen for the other MBA folks. You will still continue with your current job, though you can use the degree to search for more lucrative jobs elsewhere.

So, I have shot out 3 main reasons (#1, #3, #4) why people do MBA out of the window right away. So, did I hear someone whisper as to why do people do this course? I'll try to give you a few reasons that I had:
1. A degree is a degree - you will get the same degree as what a normal IIMB guy gets at the end of the course. Moreover the course content is the same as that of the PGP MGA program (including the electives). There are even times that you do your classes with the PGP folks (if that happens on a Friday or on a Saturday)
2. This course is a more flexible approach to getting a degree - in case there are any problems with you attending a trimester, then you have the option of skipping it (though I would definitely not suggest that, and neither do I plan to do that.)
3. The sheer exposure that you will get when you talk to your peers and your profys should be a great experience. IIMB has got a world class faculty (or so I've heard :))
4. Though networking would not happen much, chances are that you could get lucky. Case in point - there was a former collegue of mine who joined my company via another collegue of mine whom he met in the PGSEM course. So things like those are possible.
5. At the end of the years, you will get a better perspective on all the mundane things that you keep doing in and out (project planning maybe?)

Hopefully this blog helps someone understanding what could be expected off the course.

Cheers,
sidvish

Life, now and then...

Continuing from where we left off 1.5 years back, the dynamics have completely changed with my apping:

1. I am a married man now.
2. I have a home loan to repay and hence I cannot afford to leave off everything to study full time.
3. I am reasonably happy with the direction to which my job profile is moving towards.

Given these changes, and not wasting my GMAT score by just not doing anything with them, the only option that I could think of was to apply for PGSEM course in IIMB this year. Other than the reasons mentioned above, I guess I thought that during these times, only a BE will get you only to that level. Though this might not be the same as a full fledged MBA degree, it is something as compared to nothing that I already had. :)

I'll categorize the next few blogs on the apping front etc just for continuity (retroactive documentation - I do that all the time in my projects :D). The current update is that I am already done with my faculty interview and waiting for my results (though not expecting much from it given the way my interview went - read more about it in one of my later blogs.)

So long,
sidvish

Back again

Its been some time since the day i decided to create this blog. Guess, I'll have to start getting my lazy butt to work towards the goal.
The busy schedules and a few interesting trips did not help my cause.

World fair details on topmba.com. It is coming to Chicago at about the day when I should be leaving for India. Life sucks :(

Anyways, I should start jugging more information on the colleges and the list.

I'll come up with the post of the list of colleges to which i am going to app in a week's time (deadlines are the only way to work towards a goal - otherwise it keeps getting postponed - something which i am seeing at work too.)

see you in a week.

cheers
sidvish

Interesting blog

I found this interesting blog about a guy (an Indian) from i-flex (my former company) who did his MBA from McCoumbs, Austin.

Pretty interesting, even the profile seems to match well.
Blog URL: http://metalrulz.blogspot.com/

Chow till the next time.

sidvish

Blog aim

I will try to post something or the other in this blog as and when i do something on the apping front...I will, I should...i hope i do...:)

sidvish

Apping dilemma

I get into the apping dilemma, where to apply, what all things to do, what all essays to write, where to get the recos from....me being lazy by nature is not helping me in any way.

Other than that, i was waiting for a friend of mine to take his exam and hoped to app together...but i just came to know that he got screwed...so my only reason to stall the apping thingy just went out of the window...

Let's analyze the entire situation in a practical manner...

The first few things that has come to my mind that will be the first step in the entire apping process are:

1. Where all to app?
2. What is that you want from an MBA degree? (I need to have a round of self realization because i can't say that i am bored with the work that im doing and need something different to do in life - the extra money is the carrot in front of the donkey too:))
3. Need to contact a few people who have already gone through the entire cycle...their take on the entire process.
4. Checking if there are any opportunities to check out the college and their program.
   

Once this is done, then would the second process start - creating the application (though i think that this can start with the first step so that not much time is lost in the entire process and you get late for deadlines)

1. Get recos.
2. Start writing essays.
3. Get it proof read from at least a couple of people - one who knows you and one who doesnt.
4. start sending it to the colleges.

The third step will be the time when you have your fingers crossed and have a lot of faith in god all of a sudden. (It helps to have god in your side in such times in your life. :))

Then a bulr of activities at the end of which I will hopefully be in a b-school....phew, and that's when all the fun will start all over again...

Looks easy, isnt it?

sidvish