Tough Decision

I am planning to move all my applications to Round2. Well, hmm.. I can still complete my applications by Nov1 deadline for Ross, Emory and Darden. But my apprehension is that i may not be able to put my best application forward. You attend bschool only once in your life and dont screw this. I want to give my best shot at it and no matter what the result is, i wanted to have a regret free life at the end of the application season. I must admit and digest the fact that i am a good planner but a very bad implementor. I did all the planning to apply for schools in R1 and did the sufficient research on the schools, on the recommenders, on the essays, on the GMAT, on the goals in no particular order. But things didn't work out as per the plan, one main reason could be that i slackened and an auxiliary reason could be a little bad luck.

Resons for moving to R2:

1. Primarly the low GMAT score. I have to improve it and that is the only solution that i can see now. May be i stand a meager chance with my current score but i don't want to take chances. It is because i still have time with me. Yeah..Only if i move my apps to Round2.If i am to apply with my present score, i would promptly drop Ross from the list. It has the mean gmat score in 700's and i am no where near it. I still think and believe that i have the necessary leadership qualities in the work place to convince the adcom that i will make a good mba student. Also, i
am sort of clear on my post-mba career goals. The worrying factor is the GMAT score and i want to see the darn improvement. This really bolster my chances. Atleast they won't reject my application based on the low score.
So, what went wrong the last time?
Verbal...A very poor score (in 20's) in this section toppled the total score.
Quant - I scored 50 in this section. Consciously, i was unable to solve one problem and may be that stopped me from scoring 51. But it doesn't matter. I am happy with 50 and i will take that score on any day. I have a highly imbalanced quant-verbal score and this is added to my worry list.
AWA - i scored 6 out of 6 in this. So just want an encore of this. Even a dip in half a point won't hurt.
Retrospection:
I devoted a good amount of time preparing for verbal. But looking back, i am able to identify why i scored badly in verbal. Its the RC and CR. I never never practiced RC in the right spirit. True. I always used to think that doing RC's is a waste of time and i can simply ace these without preparation. In my practice tests, Out of 13 questions, i used to get 6,7 or 8 questions correct and in most tests my concentration levels used to fade when i do RC. I just hate these. I was always keen on doing SC's. But RC's are quite boring for me and proved to be my nemesis. CR's take a middle stance. I am never too confident at the sametime i am never bugged by these. May be i made enough mistakes in CR's as well to plunge my score to abyss. All in all, the results speak volumes on how bad i am in verbal. It might be that i fared very well in RC's and CR's and totally screwed SC's. Who knows. But before the test atleast i knew that my preparation for RC's and CR's suck.
What am i doing these days to improve the score?
Actually nothing much..I started the prep few days back but again didnt touch the book in the last 5 days. This could be the heights of procastination. hey, its i and anything is possible. I can see that this is high time to get done with GMAT forever. I will be taking the test in Nov. Initially i planned to take it in Oct end, just before the deadlines. But it looks like a very risky proposition. If i do the prep in haste and endup with a low score again, the whole purpose behind i retaking the exam is gone. This time, i want to write the exam with full preparation. Even if i end up with the same score, atleast i knew that i was prepared well for the exam.

2. There is no reason two. GMAT is the only factor that is holding me back.

Why i planned to apply in R1.
Though i am not done with GMAT, i am doing reasonably good in other areas (atleast i think so). My schools for R1 are Ross, Emory and Darden. I filled the application forms (except for few fields which i am doubtful of). I started working on the essays. The initial drafts forall Emory essay's are ready. Except third essay, i drafted Ross essay's also. Though i didn't start Darden essay's, i am fairly confident that it won't consume much time after finishing Ross and Emory essays. Since the deadline is 20 days away, i can easily finish the essays. This led me to think that i am not out of the game and can still submit the application in Round1. I have one recommender who is very supportive and is ready to recommend me. But i am slightly skeptical of the other recommender (real busy guy) and this is a cause of little concern to me.

These blogs answered few of my questions and i found them helpful.http://metalrulz.blogspot.com
http://eklavya-mba.blogspot.com.These guyz have low gmat scores and struggled a bit in the application process.

The ball is always in my court because applying in R1 or R2 is my decision in the end. But i want to take a good decision on this. Either I can stretch and finish the whole prep (gmat) in the next two weeks or prepare for 2-3 hours daily for a month and work on the essays simultaneously. I will take the decision soon (next 2-3 days). Acutally i took the decision, but i just wanted to make sure that i am not doing something wrong.

Adios.

Ross event

I attended Ross event recently and i find it pretty useful and informative. Unlike other events where we find huge crowds, this event is attended only by few souls who look very interested in Ross. The event started with alumni introduction followed by a presentation on Ross. As expected, they highlighted their MAP program and really thinks that it is their USP. They also explained about the I-MAP and the other internship opportunities available at Ross. I came to know about the william davidson institute where students get a chance to work with profs on certain projects.
I asked one lame question on GMAT. Hold on.. Its not that i gave them my GMAT score and asked for my chances. I asked them how schools will look at multiple scores, does it have any negative impact on your application. I know the answer even before asking this question. But just wanted to get the answer straight from the horse's mouth.

Key points:
1. Ross alumni are quite excited about their school. I mean they really like their school and are passionate about it. It shows when they talk about it.
2. They liked the life in Ann Arbor. Simple college town, close knit community and the Football.
3. Whenever you go to any fair/event, you will find some guyz who ask really really meaningless stupid questions. Its really irritating and even in couple of occassions the alumni simply ignored to answer him.
4. They patiently answered all the questions on the Post MBA career and i appreciate that.

Finally i got drunk(for the first time) and spoke with alumni for some time. Didnt really remember what i asked them.
Attending this event only bolstered my interest in Ross. Now i feel more eager to work on Ross essays. Expect third essay i finished the first draft of remaining three essays. Essay3 is a real stumper. Gotta think carefully and write this.

I ain't missed much

Time and again i start my post with "It's been a while since i blogged". But this is the fact. I am not blogging as i don't have any interesting updates. I was on business travel and just now my life is regaining normalcy. Looks like things are falling into place and i am gonna take few major decisions in the days to come. Looks like our fellowmates in this blogosphere are making quite a progess. Few have submitted their first application, many are working on the essays and the remaining very few are preparing for gmat.

As i was on business travel, i couldn't attend this MBA fair. I deeply regretted for missing this as i planned this months in advance. I blamed myself for all the pre-planning. But after getting update on the fair from friends and from posts such as(http://www.gmatclub.com/forum/t53371), i came to know that it ain't no big deal. Some of my friends (applicants), who are right there in the city didn't attend the fair thinking that it's such a waste of time. Anyhow, its a lost opportunity.