Booked my TOEFL date. The test will be taken on the 19th of this month. Yeah - u read that right. In just about 6 days from now. I spent some real good time investigating about the test, the level of questions etc etc and i found myself comfortable with the whole stuff. I was also in a fix coz i must give time for the ETS guys to report the official scores to the schools before the deadline. Now i have to chose atleast three other schools to which i am planning to apply in R2. This gets tricky now as i haven't given my R2 list any thought. I must also check to see if ANY of the schools i am considering to apply have clauses like Kellogg. I don't want to end up in a situation where i find in the zero hour that i sent the scores to a school that waives it off and have not sent to one that doesn't waive TOEFL.
Preparation wise, i am void. Planning to take Monday off and give this three solid days. There are already signs of one of them going wasted as i jus received an intimation of a school-friends-gathering. Hope i don't spend a lot of time over there. Will i say no to this gathering, i might not coz i expect it to be interesting. And deep inside, i have this feeling that TOEFL isn't really difficult for me to crack. Signs of over confidence??? I hope not!
I have started the process of material collection and the only decent material i cud gather were the two software given by ETS - Sampler and PowerPrep. Still haven't used any of them. Planning to install PP after i make this post and check out if it has as much instructions and section wise stuff as the GMAT PowerPrep Software had. [Update: TOEFL PP has almost zero practice content. It has 2 full legth tests like the GMAT PP.]
Heck i hate this detour, but i guess i am still safe enough coz of the progress i made. No big problem. I might not be able to work on my essays over the next one week, but that i guess is okay. Had some extended discussions with my recommenders today. My mentor said he'll finish all five in the two weeks. We had a intro-discussion today and we have decided to have frequent discussions as and when he requires some info from me. My senior has jus one to work on and he has promised that he will be work on it tonight and get back to me tomorrow. My manager is the slow one and i have to handle him pretty carefully. I have a backup option - my HR manager. But she's on maternity leave and i don't wanna disturb her. I want to finish these recos by the 25th at most. Hope i can push these ppl faster and get work done.
So yeah - over the next one week, watch this space for more info on the TOEFL detour :)
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Monday, September 11, 2006
News from Kellogg
Exactly 1 month to go for my first application submission deadline and i get this minor setback from the Kellogg AdComm. Nothing big really, but i was hoping this would never happen. I was trying to waive my TOEFL requirement off from Kellogg and after one painfully long month of deliberation, the AdComm representative today quoted the exact phrases in their website and said "Please take the test" :)
The whole experience has really been bad because of the following reasons:
Even as i am typing this mail, i get more news from Kellogg. For my recent query, the AdComm just confirmed that they will accept Self-Reported scores for the TOEFL test to start processing my application. This means that i can schedule a test even in early October and still submit my application for R1. Well, i want to now figure a date which is not to soon and not too late :) I really like everything i hear about this school and i really want to apply in R1. So I'm glad that it is still possible.
But as i mentioned above, i need to find some time out of the application stuff to finish the test. Just checked the TOEFL Sampler and the questions and the test in general look pretty easy. Hope it remains the same and i sail thru this test comfortably and get to work on the Apps again.
Speaking of working on the apps, i started working on my Harvard essay and all i could do was to review and rework on one essay. I got obsessed with TOEFL and spent all the time on it. Anyway - if this has to be done, this has to be done.
The whole experience has really been bad because of the following reasons:
- Kellogg is the only school in my list which requires me to take TOEFL. I qualify for a waiver at all other schools.
- I knew this by the time i sent them a mail asking for a waiver. If they were very rigid about their rules, they need not have taken one long month to inform me of the same again. This could have been done immediately.
- The person who picked my mail when i sent it long back asked me to fax my resume and went on a vacation for two weeks. I promptly fax the resume, send a confirmation mail and i get a "Out on vacation" mail. This delayed the process by atleast two weeks. I have no rights to crib about the person going on a vacation. But if you are going on a vacation, why pick the mail and add it to your to-do list???
- And after the person returned, i still had to wait for two weeks to get informed about stuff on their website. I was first told the resume i faxed could not be found. Luckily i had also mailed the resume. Unluckily - they had problems opening the document and i was asked to resend it. Luckily i was online by this time and i sent the resume again in about 5 mins. And then i had to wait for 10 days to send a reminder to get to know the fate of my waiver request.
- I will be able to submit Part I of the Kellogg application only after i get done with TOEFL.
Even as i am typing this mail, i get more news from Kellogg. For my recent query, the AdComm just confirmed that they will accept Self-Reported scores for the TOEFL test to start processing my application. This means that i can schedule a test even in early October and still submit my application for R1. Well, i want to now figure a date which is not to soon and not too late :) I really like everything i hear about this school and i really want to apply in R1. So I'm glad that it is still possible.
But as i mentioned above, i need to find some time out of the application stuff to finish the test. Just checked the TOEFL Sampler and the questions and the test in general look pretty easy. Hope it remains the same and i sail thru this test comfortably and get to work on the Apps again.
Speaking of working on the apps, i started working on my Harvard essay and all i could do was to review and rework on one essay. I got obsessed with TOEFL and spent all the time on it. Anyway - if this has to be done, this has to be done.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
A fruitful weekend
I finished my Chicago essays, sent the essays of Chicago and Stanford for review, finished the long overdue Harvard Ethics essay, prepared a Resume and filled in transcripts for all four schools to which i can submit self reported transcripts. I have to mail paper transcripts to Kellogg, for which i think i have to travel to my college sometime. It is a two day job - that's how it appears now.
I jus did all that i wanted to finish this weekend and i can now move over to see some movie as a satisfied individual. With all that out of the way, the only painful thing that still remains is the online apps. This i hope to finish during the next two weeks. I am sure that it is going to take a long time to finish them. If i remember correctly each school has a different bunch of questions and hence it is not gonna be any easy. But again, this is another important part of the work and hence requires some quality time.
Some good news for all those cribbing abt filling in transcripts, atleast to the ones who are applying to the same schools as me. Fill in one and u r done. Harvard, Stanford, Wharton and Chicago use the same template for their self reporting transcript sheets. It was such a pleasant surprise for me when i realized this. Columbia has a different template. Since i was in a mood to fill in transcripts, i thought i wud finish that too. But this one is kind of tricky. For starters, i dint understand what they are asking. So i filled in whatever i cud and decided i will finish it later.
So yeah - the rework on essays stuff begins tomorrow. I feel that i have covered decent ground here. Looking forward, i need to fine tune my resume, rework on the essays, fill the online apps and submit them. That still is a lot of work to be done, but i think i have traveled far from where i began.
It feels really good if you can finish your work on time and look forward to what's next :)
I jus did all that i wanted to finish this weekend and i can now move over to see some movie as a satisfied individual. With all that out of the way, the only painful thing that still remains is the online apps. This i hope to finish during the next two weeks. I am sure that it is going to take a long time to finish them. If i remember correctly each school has a different bunch of questions and hence it is not gonna be any easy. But again, this is another important part of the work and hence requires some quality time.
Some good news for all those cribbing abt filling in transcripts, atleast to the ones who are applying to the same schools as me. Fill in one and u r done. Harvard, Stanford, Wharton and Chicago use the same template for their self reporting transcript sheets. It was such a pleasant surprise for me when i realized this. Columbia has a different template. Since i was in a mood to fill in transcripts, i thought i wud finish that too. But this one is kind of tricky. For starters, i dint understand what they are asking. So i filled in whatever i cud and decided i will finish it later.
So yeah - the rework on essays stuff begins tomorrow. I feel that i have covered decent ground here. Looking forward, i need to fine tune my resume, rework on the essays, fill the online apps and submit them. That still is a lot of work to be done, but i think i have traveled far from where i began.
It feels really good if you can finish your work on time and look forward to what's next :)
How divided are we
The Indian Social set up appears to be screwed up left, right and center. I mean, we all know this isn't it?!?!? No - we don't know it enough. We never know enough. Yesterday, i had a bitter reminder of this fact when i got to know someone knew.
This is a female who had got in touch with me almost two months ago - might be more. She was planning to appear for the GMAT and wanted to clarify some doubts. She saw my posts in PG and courtesy my good score, i was chosen :) I received a message from her stating all this and also things abt her u get to know in a intro session. Now my profile in this forum just says "iday" and so she asks "what's ur name?" I reply with mine and she's gone. Whoosh...
Now, she was a Gujarati and it did occur to me that something might be wrong here. But i dint want to take any wrong meanings out of it and left it as such. But yeah, the girl was really GONE :) She dint ask me any questions abt GMAT and it proved it. Then, to my surprise, she re-appeared yesterday. Same old GMAT clarification. We shared our yahoo ids and were chatting.
I decided that i better ignore the whole thing coz i dint want to create any awkward moments. So we talked a lot about GMAT. Once this was all over, she dropped this question "You are a Muslim right???" Now i cudnt stop myself anymore.
Me: Yes i am! Isn't it obvious from my name? But - Why did u ask?
She: Nothing - aise hi.
Me: Coming from a gujju, this question has a lot of meanings. So it wud be better if u can explain.
She: No, i am generally afraid of Muslims.
Believe, me! I was kind of prepared, but not for something like this. I don't blame the girl. Anyone who had been there during the riots would have developed strong sentiments about either sides. As someone who has read a lot about this, i knew i was gonna face this sometime. I had a gujju guy in my dance team which performed recently. But he dint seem to have any of these apprehensions. He has moved back to Ahmedabad and we are still good friends. But this one was so awkward.
This girl had been so affected by all that happened that she had kept herself off from Muslim folks till now. She apparently dint attend lectures handled by a Muslim prof :) I then asked "Okie - but what made you get in touch with me again?" She replied "I changed. My managers in my company are Muslim and they are good people". It was really heartening to see that she actually thought she should get back in touch with me and let me know :) She could have really not bothered at all and there are so many others who can perhaps give her better GMAT tips than me :)
But what she did is representative of all of us, the common ppl. We common public are generally nice. We normally wudnt do those kind of things that happened during those riots or any other riots. I am not gonna get into stuff like which community is wrong and which is right. There are lot of theories doing the rounds and it is really not my business. My general theory abt this has always been the same and this is exactly what i told her yesterday "There are ppl with screwed up minds in all communities. Infact, they are beyond the community tag. I don't think they even qualify to be called humans. So as common ppl, it is better that we look and value ppl for what they are and not based on any other discriminating characteristics - including age, gender, caste, community or social status."
There was a huge grin on my face when i was telling this to her. I was thinking "what if i had tried to explain this to her when she was, err, still afraid of Muslims???" I'm sure she wudnt have bought it. I'm glad she realized. I'd be glad if the others do realize as well. I'll be really glad/thankful if the politicians dont play with sentiments and allow the ppl to realize.
This is a female who had got in touch with me almost two months ago - might be more. She was planning to appear for the GMAT and wanted to clarify some doubts. She saw my posts in PG and courtesy my good score, i was chosen :) I received a message from her stating all this and also things abt her u get to know in a intro session. Now my profile in this forum just says "iday" and so she asks "what's ur name?" I reply with mine and she's gone. Whoosh...
Now, she was a Gujarati and it did occur to me that something might be wrong here. But i dint want to take any wrong meanings out of it and left it as such. But yeah, the girl was really GONE :) She dint ask me any questions abt GMAT and it proved it. Then, to my surprise, she re-appeared yesterday. Same old GMAT clarification. We shared our yahoo ids and were chatting.
I decided that i better ignore the whole thing coz i dint want to create any awkward moments. So we talked a lot about GMAT. Once this was all over, she dropped this question "You are a Muslim right???" Now i cudnt stop myself anymore.
Me: Yes i am! Isn't it obvious from my name? But - Why did u ask?
She: Nothing - aise hi.
Me: Coming from a gujju, this question has a lot of meanings. So it wud be better if u can explain.
She: No, i am generally afraid of Muslims.
Believe, me! I was kind of prepared, but not for something like this. I don't blame the girl. Anyone who had been there during the riots would have developed strong sentiments about either sides. As someone who has read a lot about this, i knew i was gonna face this sometime. I had a gujju guy in my dance team which performed recently. But he dint seem to have any of these apprehensions. He has moved back to Ahmedabad and we are still good friends. But this one was so awkward.
This girl had been so affected by all that happened that she had kept herself off from Muslim folks till now. She apparently dint attend lectures handled by a Muslim prof :) I then asked "Okie - but what made you get in touch with me again?" She replied "I changed. My managers in my company are Muslim and they are good people". It was really heartening to see that she actually thought she should get back in touch with me and let me know :) She could have really not bothered at all and there are so many others who can perhaps give her better GMAT tips than me :)
But what she did is representative of all of us, the common ppl. We common public are generally nice. We normally wudnt do those kind of things that happened during those riots or any other riots. I am not gonna get into stuff like which community is wrong and which is right. There are lot of theories doing the rounds and it is really not my business. My general theory abt this has always been the same and this is exactly what i told her yesterday "There are ppl with screwed up minds in all communities. Infact, they are beyond the community tag. I don't think they even qualify to be called humans. So as common ppl, it is better that we look and value ppl for what they are and not based on any other discriminating characteristics - including age, gender, caste, community or social status."
There was a huge grin on my face when i was telling this to her. I was thinking "what if i had tried to explain this to her when she was, err, still afraid of Muslims???" I'm sure she wudnt have bought it. I'm glad she realized. I'd be glad if the others do realize as well. I'll be really glad/thankful if the politicians dont play with sentiments and allow the ppl to realize.
Chicago - finished
I think these are the most complete essays i have written till date in terms of content. As they say, u get better as u write essays and considering the fact that Chicago was the fifth school in my list, i must admit that "they" were correct. I feel really good about the essays i have written for this school and i don't think there will be any major change in them till i hit the submit button. Having said that, now i need to change some stuff in the essays of the first three schools to include the new stuff i used in the Chicago essays. Not much of content change, but stuff like minor focus shifts, a bit more explanation at some places, a bit less explanation at some places, no explanation at some places - heck this game is getting too interesting now :)
The good news is that i just have one more essay to finish now and i am planning to finish that today. The remaining of today, i want to spend filling up Transcripts and preparing my Resume. I have discussed with two of my recommenders about the recos and got them going. On Monday, I must be meeting one of them again and also the third one returns back from his vacation. So before Wednesday, the reco discussions must be complete and the recommenders must start writing them.
If i can stick to this plan, the only stuff that will be left will be the online applications. I have filled in all basic info in the online apps for all my target schools, sans Columbia. I have not started the Columbia application as i plan to do it after submitting all these schools. I really want to do it early, but i don't wanna add the extra load till i finish these apps with October Deadlines. So for these five schools, i will work on the online apps over the next few weekends. Starting this Monday, all my weeknights will be spent on reviewing and reworking on all the essays of the schools. I expect this to go on over the next two weeks and hopefully by the last week of September i must have complete Application packets for all these five schools. That's the plan as of now...
The good news is that i just have one more essay to finish now and i am planning to finish that today. The remaining of today, i want to spend filling up Transcripts and preparing my Resume. I have discussed with two of my recommenders about the recos and got them going. On Monday, I must be meeting one of them again and also the third one returns back from his vacation. So before Wednesday, the reco discussions must be complete and the recommenders must start writing them.
If i can stick to this plan, the only stuff that will be left will be the online applications. I have filled in all basic info in the online apps for all my target schools, sans Columbia. I have not started the Columbia application as i plan to do it after submitting all these schools. I really want to do it early, but i don't wanna add the extra load till i finish these apps with October Deadlines. So for these five schools, i will work on the online apps over the next few weekends. Starting this Monday, all my weeknights will be spent on reviewing and reworking on all the essays of the schools. I expect this to go on over the next two weeks and hopefully by the last week of September i must have complete Application packets for all these five schools. That's the plan as of now...
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Kellogg and Wharton Applications are up
The penultimate essay
I am struggling to move forward with only two essays to finish. I am sure this is not an issue related to the writing flow. This is purely because the essays are tricky. I am speaking abt the first essay of Chicago and the Ethics essay of Harvard.
I have been fighting with the Chicago essay for quite some time now. The trick here is that this is the most prominent essay in their application packet, almost twice as long (or wordy) as all the remaining essays put together, and this essay is so very specific, as is all their other essays. I just scrapped a version of this essay coz i fell into the common trap - of trying to explain all that i did till date in chronological order. I wrote some 900 words of stuff and had this gut feeling that my essay was not right. So i read and re-read the question again, when i realized what i was doing wrongly. Now i know what to do. I just created the frame work and i will finish this by the weekend.
I still have my concerns reg the Chicago essay - i feel that they are extremely concise and specific. Hence i do not have space to fill in all that i want to. I can only write what the essay asks for. This is kind of bad, but we don't have any option do i!?!? I hope i have provided enuf material. Compared to schools like Harvard (2600) or Wharton (2500) word - Chicago's essays, with a total word count of 2300, are not too far behind in word count. But three of their essays are completely off topic and take away 300 words from the game. So now this is 20% less wordy compared to Wharton and that's quite a bit.
Anyway - come Saturday and this essay shall be conquered :)
And so will be the Ethics essay of Harvard. I am speaking no more of that. Enuf said...
I have written enuf stuff to call my recommender for a meeting. I am hoping to do this tomorrow. In places where i can provide him with information, i have gathered enuf stuff. For others, i am gonna make him speak. Luckily - he immediately has the weekend to work on them. He tends to forget stuff. I'm gonna stack up printouts on his desk tomorrow :D
This week, i have slipped deadlines like crazy. But i took time off from the essay stuff and finished two novels. I feel light now and, as they say, am BACK! This weekend, the agenda is to finish these two essays and prepare my resume. Then i am planning to fill up all the self reporting transcript sheets. Then there is Kellogg's online application to start and fill up. Busy weekend again...
PS: Am wondering if i can sneak in some 3 hrs to go see "Lage Raho Munnabhai". Let's see if that is possible...
I have been fighting with the Chicago essay for quite some time now. The trick here is that this is the most prominent essay in their application packet, almost twice as long (or wordy) as all the remaining essays put together, and this essay is so very specific, as is all their other essays. I just scrapped a version of this essay coz i fell into the common trap - of trying to explain all that i did till date in chronological order. I wrote some 900 words of stuff and had this gut feeling that my essay was not right. So i read and re-read the question again, when i realized what i was doing wrongly. Now i know what to do. I just created the frame work and i will finish this by the weekend.
I still have my concerns reg the Chicago essay - i feel that they are extremely concise and specific. Hence i do not have space to fill in all that i want to. I can only write what the essay asks for. This is kind of bad, but we don't have any option do i!?!? I hope i have provided enuf material. Compared to schools like Harvard (2600) or Wharton (2500) word - Chicago's essays, with a total word count of 2300, are not too far behind in word count. But three of their essays are completely off topic and take away 300 words from the game. So now this is 20% less wordy compared to Wharton and that's quite a bit.
Anyway - come Saturday and this essay shall be conquered :)
And so will be the Ethics essay of Harvard. I am speaking no more of that. Enuf said...
I have written enuf stuff to call my recommender for a meeting. I am hoping to do this tomorrow. In places where i can provide him with information, i have gathered enuf stuff. For others, i am gonna make him speak. Luckily - he immediately has the weekend to work on them. He tends to forget stuff. I'm gonna stack up printouts on his desk tomorrow :D
This week, i have slipped deadlines like crazy. But i took time off from the essay stuff and finished two novels. I feel light now and, as they say, am BACK! This weekend, the agenda is to finish these two essays and prepare my resume. Then i am planning to fill up all the self reporting transcript sheets. Then there is Kellogg's online application to start and fill up. Busy weekend again...
PS: Am wondering if i can sneak in some 3 hrs to go see "Lage Raho Munnabhai". Let's see if that is possible...
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
The standard deviation
I am on a book reading spree...
I felt hugely burnt out with no entertainment (apart from the 2 movies i have seen in the last 50 days). I thought i needed a break. So, what did i do!??! I read two books over the past two nights.
After finishing the second essaay of Chicago, i thought i'd take a small break. I couldnt concentrate on the essays anymore. So there was no point in writing them without my not being in a mood to do so. So i started with "five point someone" Monday night. Between 1AM and 6 AM, i went through a minor nostalgic trip to many happenings and possibilities in my past life :) It was a good read.
So i thought i would finish the other book by the same author. This one was not as interesting as the prev one but still i finished it yesterday night. And again - i went through the same journey :) IU have some good take aways from both the books. More importantly, i feel adequately deviated :) So today i have to get back to writing the essays.
Time to go to office now...
I felt hugely burnt out with no entertainment (apart from the 2 movies i have seen in the last 50 days). I thought i needed a break. So, what did i do!??! I read two books over the past two nights.
After finishing the second essaay of Chicago, i thought i'd take a small break. I couldnt concentrate on the essays anymore. So there was no point in writing them without my not being in a mood to do so. So i started with "five point someone" Monday night. Between 1AM and 6 AM, i went through a minor nostalgic trip to many happenings and possibilities in my past life :) It was a good read.
So i thought i would finish the other book by the same author. This one was not as interesting as the prev one but still i finished it yesterday night. And again - i went through the same journey :) IU have some good take aways from both the books. More importantly, i feel adequately deviated :) So today i have to get back to writing the essays.
Time to go to office now...
Monday, September 04, 2006
Back to being on time...
I finished the Chicago second essay today as i wanted to. I also worked a bit on the first essay of Chicago. The real big twist about the first essay of Chicago is that i have more info now to speak about why i want to go to this school. Before the last time i worked on this one and now, i have atleast two major improvements. One, i attended the student meet @ bangalore and two, i met a Chicago Alum who is the person who started my team @ H.C.L. Technologies. He has moved out of my team and started a whole new Business Unit for HCL and is currently mediating H.C.L' s new association with Microsoft. So yeah, some interesting stuff to write here.
The essay i wrote today went by without any big issues. I had the incident, i had the theme, i had a supplementary incident (which is basically a reference into some other essay) and i was done. All the work done over the past few months hasn't really gone waste i guess. I only hope tomorrow will be equally good and then i will only have the Ethics essay to work on. Once i finish the Chicago essays, i am planning to work on my Reco and finish that meeting with my Manager. This should be done ASAP to give him enuf time to work on them. I badly want to finish the meeting by this week, but i need to be prepared.
A friend of mine will be taking GMAT this Wednesday. He has grown from a really reluctant learner into a pretty confident guy these days. From some 500 odd scores in the initial test, he has scored a 770 in one of his recent tests. Here's wishing him some good luck as he tightens up the last few screws on the day before G-day. My mentor got married on Sunday and will be returning back to work next week. He has some serious work to do as he is one of my recommenders :) Also tomorrow is onam, the annual harvest festival celebrated in Kerala and by Keralites the world over. Happy Onam folks :)
The essay i wrote today went by without any big issues. I had the incident, i had the theme, i had a supplementary incident (which is basically a reference into some other essay) and i was done. All the work done over the past few months hasn't really gone waste i guess. I only hope tomorrow will be equally good and then i will only have the Ethics essay to work on. Once i finish the Chicago essays, i am planning to work on my Reco and finish that meeting with my Manager. This should be done ASAP to give him enuf time to work on them. I badly want to finish the meeting by this week, but i need to be prepared.
A friend of mine will be taking GMAT this Wednesday. He has grown from a really reluctant learner into a pretty confident guy these days. From some 500 odd scores in the initial test, he has scored a 770 in one of his recent tests. Here's wishing him some good luck as he tightens up the last few screws on the day before G-day. My mentor got married on Sunday and will be returning back to work next week. He has some serious work to do as he is one of my recommenders :) Also tomorrow is onam, the annual harvest festival celebrated in Kerala and by Keralites the world over. Happy Onam folks :)
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Some work done
But not all that i wanted. I cud not proceed with the Ethics essay. Jus no mood to write. I have this huge word document where i have more than three pages if stuff from which i need to write a 400 word long essay. It is only a work of picking the right stuff, organizing it in a good way and creating an effective essay. But i was not in a good frame of mind to write it today. Some other day. At this rate, i guess this is gonna be the last essay i sit down to finish.
I finished writing the three small ones from Chicago. The "Recommend a Movie, Book or Play" gave me some difficulty. Not because i dint know what to write, but because i had loads to write. I had more than 1 page of info on this book and had to shrink it to all of 100 words. This was like morphing Mt.Everest into a football and playing around :) I had to read, re-read and re-read sentences and decide on their fit, merge few sentences into one, shrink sentences - do a hell lot of stuff to use three or four effective sentences in a same theme to speak everything i wanted to speak about the book. I don't think i have ever breathed a louder sigh of relief. I already knew what "People dint know about me". It was easy to write about it. I had few options about "Value to the study group", which again went thru the will-it-fit-in-will-it-wont and is-it-required-or-can-i-do-away-wit-it routines. 100 words is such a tight limit and i am glad i started this now after so many essays. I was already succint enough in thought and word and hence cud move faster on these essays. These three are done, atleast for the time being.
I then worked on the second essay of Chicago - i chose the one that asks abt what quality a close colleague will say about me. Long time back i had written down some possible answers for this. Now i was smiling seeing them - they all stood rejected. I now knew something else about which i wanted to write. I collected material i had earlier written about it and that's where it stands. I will work on it and finish this essay tomorrow.
So - that is all that i have done on this weekend. I guess i stress myself out too much with all the work i do in the weekdays. I am in this perennial state of tiredness during the weekend. I slept by 1AM yesterday and woke up by 1PM today :) Guess that's enough energy gained to work over the coming weekdays :)
Sometime this week, i need to gather material for my Reco meeting with my manager. This week i want to finish this and the Chicago essays. I think i can finish the essay number two tomorrow and since essay one is basically a big compilation of many of my previous essays i am hoping i can finish this by Wednesday. This means that i will only have Harvard's ethics essay to finish all my essays. Then the re-work starts :)
The plan for this month is that i will request my recommenders to submit their recos by the third week of Sept. Starting next Monday, i will finish filling in all the online information on all the applications. This is gonna be quite time consuming. If that is done, all that is left is to finalize on all the essays. Starting from Harvard, i plan to work on the schools based on their deadlines. Hope everything goes as per this plan :)
I finished writing the three small ones from Chicago. The "Recommend a Movie, Book or Play" gave me some difficulty. Not because i dint know what to write, but because i had loads to write. I had more than 1 page of info on this book and had to shrink it to all of 100 words. This was like morphing Mt.Everest into a football and playing around :) I had to read, re-read and re-read sentences and decide on their fit, merge few sentences into one, shrink sentences - do a hell lot of stuff to use three or four effective sentences in a same theme to speak everything i wanted to speak about the book. I don't think i have ever breathed a louder sigh of relief. I already knew what "People dint know about me". It was easy to write about it. I had few options about "Value to the study group", which again went thru the will-it-fit-in-will-it-wont and is-it-required-or-can-i-do-away-wit-it routines. 100 words is such a tight limit and i am glad i started this now after so many essays. I was already succint enough in thought and word and hence cud move faster on these essays. These three are done, atleast for the time being.
I then worked on the second essay of Chicago - i chose the one that asks abt what quality a close colleague will say about me. Long time back i had written down some possible answers for this. Now i was smiling seeing them - they all stood rejected. I now knew something else about which i wanted to write. I collected material i had earlier written about it and that's where it stands. I will work on it and finish this essay tomorrow.
So - that is all that i have done on this weekend. I guess i stress myself out too much with all the work i do in the weekdays. I am in this perennial state of tiredness during the weekend. I slept by 1AM yesterday and woke up by 1PM today :) Guess that's enough energy gained to work over the coming weekdays :)
Sometime this week, i need to gather material for my Reco meeting with my manager. This week i want to finish this and the Chicago essays. I think i can finish the essay number two tomorrow and since essay one is basically a big compilation of many of my previous essays i am hoping i can finish this by Wednesday. This means that i will only have Harvard's ethics essay to finish all my essays. Then the re-work starts :)
The plan for this month is that i will request my recommenders to submit their recos by the third week of Sept. Starting next Monday, i will finish filling in all the online information on all the applications. This is gonna be quite time consuming. If that is done, all that is left is to finalize on all the essays. Starting from Harvard, i plan to work on the schools based on their deadlines. Hope everything goes as per this plan :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
