It has been a year,that I reached Leh and frolicked around in the land of Lama.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
How to choose recommenders for B-school Application?
I have gleaned some information w.r.t recommendations from various sources and would like to share it with people so it could give a broad guideline to people, in terms of, who is preferred and what is the best course of action. I have tried to rank the various criteria which should be considered while selecting recommenders. I would consider them in the order below and feel that this ranking would more or less be applicable to most of the situations. Feel free to share your opinion though.
While choosing your recommenders (referred to as "they" in the points below) check if they meet these criteria (preferably in this order)
1. They are willing to give you a positive recommendation. All said and done a negative reco from anyone in the world is not going to help.
2. They can talk about your professional accomplishments. B-schools prefer professional recommenders over academic, as they are trying to assess your business acumen rather than academic prowess. Also, academic recommenders can rarely talk about your team skills and professional promise.
3. They are your current supervisors. Although B-schools allow applicants to use other recommenders (like previous supervisors etc.) and explain the situation in an optional essay, they prefer current supervisors. The simple fact that they want us to explain "Why couldn't we get it from our current supervisor" shows that they value the recency of the recommender's comments. I think they believe, the older/indirect the context of recommendation, the more irrelevant it becomes, because the applicant could have changed since then, the applicant could be putting up a face in front of the recommender as there could be vested interests and the recommender could have forgotten the exact details. Also in the case of older contexts, the chance that the applicant is writing her own reco is higher. If your current supervisor is the CEO then so be it, but designations would not be relevant beyond a certain level.
4. They can spend some time and support their comments with specific examples. Recommendations are used by the B-schools to know more about the applicant. They would like to hear from people who can talk passionately about the applicant with real life examples. The less the number of examples the more lifeless the recommendation.
5. They can write grammatically correct, good English. This is an area where most of the recommenders would do well but it’s still noteworthy so that in case you are in a situation where the recommender struggles with English you could help her with it. Although, the tricky thing would be, “How do I tell my boss that you need help?". Be careful with your choice of words.
6. They have a good idea of the advantages of an MBA and especially if they are familiar with the MBA at the specific B-school. This is why, a recommendation from an alumnus would become important, but only if he meets all the above criteria.
7. They have a good cross section of people to compare you with. They can add the right kind of perspective while comparing you with others. This is why a recommendation from a person with cross functional experience of different functions with substantial overall experience (preferably 10 years+) helps. These recommenders would be able to objectively differentiate you from other people at your level.
8. They can talk about different aspects of your personality which the other parts of your application, or other recommender(s), don’t cover. Ideally you should use different recommendation to strengthen different parts of your candidature.
I guess these points do not cover all the various situations which you might face but in my experience I have found this list to be a good starting point.
While choosing your recommenders (referred to as "they" in the points below) check if they meet these criteria (preferably in this order)
1. They are willing to give you a positive recommendation. All said and done a negative reco from anyone in the world is not going to help.
2. They can talk about your professional accomplishments. B-schools prefer professional recommenders over academic, as they are trying to assess your business acumen rather than academic prowess. Also, academic recommenders can rarely talk about your team skills and professional promise.
3. They are your current supervisors. Although B-schools allow applicants to use other recommenders (like previous supervisors etc.) and explain the situation in an optional essay, they prefer current supervisors. The simple fact that they want us to explain "Why couldn't we get it from our current supervisor" shows that they value the recency of the recommender's comments. I think they believe, the older/indirect the context of recommendation, the more irrelevant it becomes, because the applicant could have changed since then, the applicant could be putting up a face in front of the recommender as there could be vested interests and the recommender could have forgotten the exact details. Also in the case of older contexts, the chance that the applicant is writing her own reco is higher. If your current supervisor is the CEO then so be it, but designations would not be relevant beyond a certain level.
4. They can spend some time and support their comments with specific examples. Recommendations are used by the B-schools to know more about the applicant. They would like to hear from people who can talk passionately about the applicant with real life examples. The less the number of examples the more lifeless the recommendation.
5. They can write grammatically correct, good English. This is an area where most of the recommenders would do well but it’s still noteworthy so that in case you are in a situation where the recommender struggles with English you could help her with it. Although, the tricky thing would be, “How do I tell my boss that you need help?". Be careful with your choice of words.
6. They have a good idea of the advantages of an MBA and especially if they are familiar with the MBA at the specific B-school. This is why, a recommendation from an alumnus would become important, but only if he meets all the above criteria.
7. They have a good cross section of people to compare you with. They can add the right kind of perspective while comparing you with others. This is why a recommendation from a person with cross functional experience of different functions with substantial overall experience (preferably 10 years+) helps. These recommenders would be able to objectively differentiate you from other people at your level.
8. They can talk about different aspects of your personality which the other parts of your application, or other recommender(s), don’t cover. Ideally you should use different recommendation to strengthen different parts of your candidature.
I guess these points do not cover all the various situations which you might face but in my experience I have found this list to be a good starting point.
Guaranteed loan and Indian bank's educational loan
Here is some information which I felt would be useful for those who are exploring educational loan options for their MBA.
This is based on information gathered from various B-schools which offer guaranteed loans without co-signor and Indian banks which offer educational loans.
Guaranteed loans or loans without a co-signor mostly cover both years and some schools include living, books & supplies expenses.
Loan documents are also sent to the admitted students so they could show them to the visa officer as proof of funding. If one gets admitted to any B-school which offers a guaranteed loan(most of them have an excellent reputation considering that banks agree to give loans on their word), visa officers should not probe for other funding options beyond the bare minimum. But, it is always better to show whatever funds one can show. There is no advantage in not going prepared with all the funds related papers for the visa interview. On the other hand, one can only show as much as one can. Normally, if one can show funds equivalent to the first year's expenses visa office should be satisfied.
Banks in India would ask the loan requestor to sign an undertaking that she would not be taking any other loans apart from the loan being issued to her for that purpose. This also becomes important as banks issue loans on the basis of the co-signor's payment capacity and the kind of debt burden the co-signor is already under or is planning to go under.
Banks in India look into the payment capacity of the co-signor, normally parents, as a guarantee. Some banks do not allow loans beyond 40% of the liability free income of the co-signor during the repayment period. e.g. if X's father earns Rs.5 lacs per annum and there are no liabilities in terms of exisiting loans and X can pay the loan in 10 years, banks could sanction a loan of upto Rs.20 lacs(which is 40% of Rs.5 lacs X 10 years). However, for any amount over Rs.4 lacs banks would also ask for a collateral of equal or higher value.
This is based on information gathered from various B-schools which offer guaranteed loans without co-signor and Indian banks which offer educational loans.
Guaranteed loans or loans without a co-signor mostly cover both years and some schools include living, books & supplies expenses.
Loan documents are also sent to the admitted students so they could show them to the visa officer as proof of funding. If one gets admitted to any B-school which offers a guaranteed loan(most of them have an excellent reputation considering that banks agree to give loans on their word), visa officers should not probe for other funding options beyond the bare minimum. But, it is always better to show whatever funds one can show. There is no advantage in not going prepared with all the funds related papers for the visa interview. On the other hand, one can only show as much as one can. Normally, if one can show funds equivalent to the first year's expenses visa office should be satisfied.
Banks in India would ask the loan requestor to sign an undertaking that she would not be taking any other loans apart from the loan being issued to her for that purpose. This also becomes important as banks issue loans on the basis of the co-signor's payment capacity and the kind of debt burden the co-signor is already under or is planning to go under.
Banks in India look into the payment capacity of the co-signor, normally parents, as a guarantee. Some banks do not allow loans beyond 40% of the liability free income of the co-signor during the repayment period. e.g. if X's father earns Rs.5 lacs per annum and there are no liabilities in terms of exisiting loans and X can pay the loan in 10 years, banks could sanction a loan of upto Rs.20 lacs(which is 40% of Rs.5 lacs X 10 years). However, for any amount over Rs.4 lacs banks would also ask for a collateral of equal or higher value.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Asian B-schools not doing well on the rankings
While going through one of the threads on a B-school forum I came across this question, why don't Asian B-schools do well in B-School rankings?
I can only guess that the following could be some of the reasons:
Most of the rankings come out in American and European publications. These publications have a target reader group concentrated in Europe and America so there surveys mostly deal with those schools which they feel their readers are primarily interested in. Although IMO, they could be missing out a larger audience. To run these surveys they need resources and most of the publications don’t want to invest so much. It’s about ROI, I think!
Also, some of the Asian B-schools haven't participated in the rankings as they don't think that sufficient number of their prospective applicants access that information. One can also extrapolate the reasons given above, to the B-schools.
B-school phenomenon originated in America and then spread over to Europe and then Asia. The pros of the ranking game are the old warhorses of the arena. They know what the rankings want and some of them could have been used as benchmarks while the rankings where being designed, so in that sense it could be skewed. E.g. B-schools in US were not traditionally International in nature (some confirmation in one of the HBS cases taught to the class'07).I wonder how many points are given to the international focus in these rankings. I am sure Asian schools also have a long way to go in terms of taking their brand outside their immediate geographies but some of the European schools would like more points for their international reach. After all very few Fortune 500 businesses are limited to one country, in fact I can't recall 1 right now.
Also, I guess B-schools like ISB are too new to have enough alumni and research work etc. which could propel them into the rankings. But they would get there and so would the IIMs, NUS, and NTU etc. You can already see some of these in few of the rankings amongst the top 100 B-schools but they are destined for better ranks in the future. It would take a lot of work on their part though!
Bottom line, look at the rankings but then look beyond them. Think about what you want to do and which B-schools are going to help you get there. I would advise candidates not to limit their search to any one geography. That would include only some of the vendors who can service the business education and career needs. One should spread the due diligence efforts to B-schools all over the world and take the first steps towards going global.
I can only guess that the following could be some of the reasons:
Most of the rankings come out in American and European publications. These publications have a target reader group concentrated in Europe and America so there surveys mostly deal with those schools which they feel their readers are primarily interested in. Although IMO, they could be missing out a larger audience. To run these surveys they need resources and most of the publications don’t want to invest so much. It’s about ROI, I think!
Also, some of the Asian B-schools haven't participated in the rankings as they don't think that sufficient number of their prospective applicants access that information. One can also extrapolate the reasons given above, to the B-schools.
B-school phenomenon originated in America and then spread over to Europe and then Asia. The pros of the ranking game are the old warhorses of the arena. They know what the rankings want and some of them could have been used as benchmarks while the rankings where being designed, so in that sense it could be skewed. E.g. B-schools in US were not traditionally International in nature (some confirmation in one of the HBS cases taught to the class'07).I wonder how many points are given to the international focus in these rankings. I am sure Asian schools also have a long way to go in terms of taking their brand outside their immediate geographies but some of the European schools would like more points for their international reach. After all very few Fortune 500 businesses are limited to one country, in fact I can't recall 1 right now.
Also, I guess B-schools like ISB are too new to have enough alumni and research work etc. which could propel them into the rankings. But they would get there and so would the IIMs, NUS, and NTU etc. You can already see some of these in few of the rankings amongst the top 100 B-schools but they are destined for better ranks in the future. It would take a lot of work on their part though!
Bottom line, look at the rankings but then look beyond them. Think about what you want to do and which B-schools are going to help you get there. I would advise candidates not to limit their search to any one geography. That would include only some of the vendors who can service the business education and career needs. One should spread the due diligence efforts to B-schools all over the world and take the first steps towards going global.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Anecdotes from Gwalior fort
Recently I visited Gwalior fort and had my first real encounter with a tourist guide. So far I was averse to the idea of hiring a guide as most of them are known to spice up historical facts. Although there were instances in Washington DC, USA and Mysore, India when I was part of a group and the guide came along with the package, I never thought of hiring one.
This guide however had earned my cousin's respect during his last trip to the fort. Staying in Gwalior, my cousin has been there a couple of times. Every time people like me visit Gwalior he takes them around town in keeping with the traditions of a true Indian host. Mr. Guide was really impressive with his above average vocabulary (like he he knew that the "Hindu Trishul" is called a Trident, he knew the difference between an alligator and a croc etc.).
Something which I really want to share with everyone is the guide’s interpretation of some common ground between Hinduism and Christianity. He told us that the main palace inside the fort was built as per the norms of Hindu architecture and had various Hindu Symbols engraved into the walls. One of them was a triangle which symbolized the holy trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh – Creator, Sustainer and destroyer). We were told that the holy trinity in Christianity was the Holy Father, the Holy Son and the Holy Ghost (although they might not perform the same roles). Another revelation came in the shape of decoded “GOD” (Wow!). We discovered that day that GOD is actually an acronym for Generator, Operator and Destroyer (Interesting stuff, ha!). I had learnt earlier that Hindu religion also has a mention of the flood and a king (Manu) saving life on earth by protecting one specimen of each species so this just brings the two religions even closer, I suppose!
Another interesting aspect of the Gwalior fort, which I was unaware of, was the huge rock carvings of Jain statues resembling the Bamiyan Buddha. It seemed like the same sculptors had worked on these carvings to save their talent from Taliban.
Not to forget the "Saas-Bahu" temple this reminded me of the hit theme of some of the Indian Soaps. But it was only the name; the architecture was pre-Mughal with lots of carved figurines inside and outside the temple.
Another discovery at the fort was that due to the physical properties of sound it was eerily quiet in the fort while we stood away from the parapet but as soon as we reached the surrounding wall we could hear the humdrum of Gwalior city quite clearly. Seemed like a nice way to choose when one wants to stay clued in and when one would like to enjoy tranquility.
This guide however had earned my cousin's respect during his last trip to the fort. Staying in Gwalior, my cousin has been there a couple of times. Every time people like me visit Gwalior he takes them around town in keeping with the traditions of a true Indian host. Mr. Guide was really impressive with his above average vocabulary (like he he knew that the "Hindu Trishul" is called a Trident, he knew the difference between an alligator and a croc etc.).
Something which I really want to share with everyone is the guide’s interpretation of some common ground between Hinduism and Christianity. He told us that the main palace inside the fort was built as per the norms of Hindu architecture and had various Hindu Symbols engraved into the walls. One of them was a triangle which symbolized the holy trinity (Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh – Creator, Sustainer and destroyer). We were told that the holy trinity in Christianity was the Holy Father, the Holy Son and the Holy Ghost (although they might not perform the same roles). Another revelation came in the shape of decoded “GOD” (Wow!). We discovered that day that GOD is actually an acronym for Generator, Operator and Destroyer (Interesting stuff, ha!). I had learnt earlier that Hindu religion also has a mention of the flood and a king (Manu) saving life on earth by protecting one specimen of each species so this just brings the two religions even closer, I suppose!
Another interesting aspect of the Gwalior fort, which I was unaware of, was the huge rock carvings of Jain statues resembling the Bamiyan Buddha. It seemed like the same sculptors had worked on these carvings to save their talent from Taliban.
Not to forget the "Saas-Bahu" temple this reminded me of the hit theme of some of the Indian Soaps. But it was only the name; the architecture was pre-Mughal with lots of carved figurines inside and outside the temple.
Another discovery at the fort was that due to the physical properties of sound it was eerily quiet in the fort while we stood away from the parapet but as soon as we reached the surrounding wall we could hear the humdrum of Gwalior city quite clearly. Seemed like a nice way to choose when one wants to stay clued in and when one would like to enjoy tranquility.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Origin of governments
I always wonder what would happen to societies if there were no governments. Do we know how to respect each other or are we just artificially restrained? If given a chance would we miss out on an opportunity to grab someone else’s share of the pie, as long as no one minds?
Where did the system of enacting laws initiate? How did the societies accept the laws? Laws which were initiated by rulers who were only as legitimate as the strengths of their armies(as long as the armies were loyal)
I follow the articles by SA Aiyar in Sunday Times. The article this weekend gave me some food for thought. It mentioned that early rulers were mostly plunderers or robbers to start with (Thoughts of Changez Khan, Taimur Lane, Mohammed Ghauri, and Ahmed Shah Abdali flashed through my mind). They enacted laws and collected taxes as protection money (I was reminded of the “hafta” which my neighborhood tea stall owner pays to the uniformed protectors). Police and the other law enforcement agencies came into their present shape as the governments became more and more legitimate with increased societal acceptance.
When I look at the palatial residences of some of our royal heritage and the gold and silver encrusted on their cutlery I am not sure how many people had to starve to earn that. If I am not mistaken the royals were really upset when Indira Gandhi took the Privy Purse away.
Looking at the pictures and hearing the stories emanating from New Orleans there is another reminder that without a government (in control) the best of societies turn to anarchy. We have enough dictatorial democracies in the world to tell us that participation of people is still limited to the grassroots. People should actively engage themselves in the societies they live in as their is no way out of politics and governance. In this context, India has traveled a long way from its colonial past and we still have miles to go (especially after looking at the images of Haryana police venting their anger on unarmed people).
Where did the system of enacting laws initiate? How did the societies accept the laws? Laws which were initiated by rulers who were only as legitimate as the strengths of their armies(as long as the armies were loyal)
I follow the articles by SA Aiyar in Sunday Times. The article this weekend gave me some food for thought. It mentioned that early rulers were mostly plunderers or robbers to start with (Thoughts of Changez Khan, Taimur Lane, Mohammed Ghauri, and Ahmed Shah Abdali flashed through my mind). They enacted laws and collected taxes as protection money (I was reminded of the “hafta” which my neighborhood tea stall owner pays to the uniformed protectors). Police and the other law enforcement agencies came into their present shape as the governments became more and more legitimate with increased societal acceptance.
When I look at the palatial residences of some of our royal heritage and the gold and silver encrusted on their cutlery I am not sure how many people had to starve to earn that. If I am not mistaken the royals were really upset when Indira Gandhi took the Privy Purse away.
Looking at the pictures and hearing the stories emanating from New Orleans there is another reminder that without a government (in control) the best of societies turn to anarchy. We have enough dictatorial democracies in the world to tell us that participation of people is still limited to the grassroots. People should actively engage themselves in the societies they live in as their is no way out of politics and governance. In this context, India has traveled a long way from its colonial past and we still have miles to go (especially after looking at the images of Haryana police venting their anger on unarmed people).
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