Way2Top

The website “wordcount“, is an artistic experiment in the way we use language. It presents the 86,800 most frequently used English words, ranked in order of commonality..

The book published in 1971 is worth looking at. It gives a feel of how Computers were imagined by common people.

http://davidguy.brinkster.net/computer/

The topic “This Year, Next Year, Sometime…?“, particulary is worth looking at…

15 years ago, when Internet was not available to masses, People sought the help of library for Essay writing skills, Vocabulary improvement and elegant Sentence formations. But today, there is a magic wand called “Internet”. You get so many tips and tutorials on “how to write good Application Essays?”, each providing atleast one solid suggestion. The process of looking up for alternate words, for conveying a message, is amazingly simple. Years before, one had to go through the dictionary, page by page, to fit and match different words. Now you have all those reverse dictionaries, synonym finders etc. either in a software or in a website.

Another advantage that the current day people have is the forums, where like-minded people share information with each other on all aspects of business schools, including applications. Yet another advantage is the email which puts you in touch with your friends(reviewers) all over the world. Review process becomes much simpler with Advanced word processors like Microsoft word.

Naturally, with so much assitance from technology, Application essays are becoming increasingly professional, well-formed and looking great! Standards have increased. But there are some people out there, who literally do ‘copy-paste’ plagiarism either from old essays or websites. with today’s search engines like “google”, such plagiarisms can be easily identified in an essay, . Many applicants fail to see through the underlying threat and persist with plagiarism. Moreover, its always best to present yourself as you are, in a honest fashion. Otherwise, true colours will come out one day, spoiling all your hard work till that date.

Keep in mind that I am talking only about presentation of essays. The content for the essays would in all probability be a unique one, as experiences and circumstances of each individual are vastly different.

With so much free assistance thrown at you now-a-days, it will be foolish to neglect them. Admission committee knows these forms of assistance, so naturally the expectation rises. So, wish you all the best with your essays and I kindly request you to utilize all the facilities that you have in your hand today…

PS: There is a misconception regarding adcoms comparing AWA with your essays. No way this comparison would yield a result. Simply because the AWA is written in 30 minute time frame, with little time for presentation of essays and review of essays. Application essays on the other hand, is an output of days or weeks or months of effort! The Comparison doesn’t come close at all…

Gmail has introduced “Pop Access” and “Email Forwarding” features. Here’s what it has to say…

“It’s your mail. You should be able to choose how and where you read it. Access your mail the way you want to, with free POP access and automatic forwarding. You can even switch to other email services without having to worry about losing access to your messages. Think of it as email portability.”
Cool!

The ISB Best Blog Competition has stirred huge amount of interest amoung netizens.

Fine, But I have a doubt. When I search in google with “The Best Indian business school blog” in quotes, only 4 sites turn up with a blog from “Mandevian” turning up at #1. When I search in google the same phrase without quotes, Sumit Dhar’s page turn out somewhere at 12/13. In one way Mandevian is the winner, in other way Sumit dhar is the winner..So who is the real winner?? ISB’s search light clause should make this clear!!! Or it will be an issue later…

If I have to make a prudent choice, the Quoted search should not be considered..But…………..

ATTENTION search-light team!!

If you want fun, then follow the simple steps. For each day google on the phrase “The best Indian business school blog“, and see how different sites turn up daily. The reason for the variation is the different tactics followed by each one. Only way to beat the system is to hold your important tactical weapon till the last moment…like a wounded sea-snake!!!

For ex., One person has given a big heading on his blog of this size!!..
The Best Indian business School blog.

It’s a long weekend in Belgium [November 11 - November 14]. These 4 days will help me to a great extent in catching up with the pending works and in pushing towards the dealine.

I asked the Admission Committee of ISB if I can ask my Recommenders to directly email the Recommendation Letters to them. I got a reply saying the approach is perfectly ok.

“Dear,
You may use the attached format and request your evaluator to forward the recos directly to admissions@isb.edu
”

This approach is faster and easier. INSEAD, OXFORD also have online Recommendation forms. So I have to send the conventional postal mail only for CRANFIELD.

BTW, INSEAD and MANCHESTER have chosen the approach of “NetApply”. You have to see the PDF application of INSEAD to believe it yourself. It’s clean, tidy and snappy. There is a button “Request Recommendation links” or something. Upon pressing that, it will generate two links, which you should send to your recommenders. It’s professional.

The Architecture of “NetApply“.

The “NetApply” team has also come out with the following idea “NetApply USB”. This is a memory key(USB Flash drive), which can be used by Academic institutions to send out it’s application materials, Campus videos, Dean messages, Student talks etc., Cool!

2 months back, when I was not sure if the Recommenders will complete the letter before deadline,I devised a strategy to get Reco letters from 4 people (yes!). 3 were Client project managers and one was my Director. 2 of them completed the Recommendation letters a week ago (except for some additional questions). Today I got a surprise from my Director who has completed the Recommendation letter. He said he has given very good recommendation saying that he wanted to do some favour for me for what I have done to the organization. That’s cool! Now, I am thinking about sending all 3 letters to ISB.

Looking back, I really can’t believe that I am in the finishing stages of application. It was a solid effort which started way back in March-April. I have been living the life of Analysis, Research, Preparation, Strategies etc., 45 days from now, I would have completed all my 4 apps and would be waiting eagerly for Interviews (Oh yeah! “The last mile”). I am looking forward for that relaxing period. But the sad thing is by that time, all my colleagues in Belgium would have left Belgium, so I would have to spend my time lonely here …Since I am busy with Apps now, I am not feeling the loneliness much. Tough times ahead..I will treat these things (I am bit sentimental!) as a kind of sacrifices one makes for achieving their goal!

Last week, While I was browing net, I came across this good checklist, which is worthwhile giving away to your reviewers to keep in mind

Ask editors to read with these questions in mind:

1. WHAT is the essay about?
2. Have I used active voice verbs wherever possible?
3. Is my sentence structure varied or do I use all long or all short sentences?
4. Do you detect any cliches?
5. Do I use transition appropriately?
6. Do I use imagery often and does this make the essay clearer and more vivid?
7. What’s the best part of the essay?
8. What about the essay is memorable?
9. What’s the worst part of the essay?
10. What parts of the essay need elaboration or are unclear?
11. What parts of the essay do not support your main argument or are immaterial to your case?
12. Is every single sentence crucial to the essay? This MUST be the case.
13. What does the essay reveal about your personality?
14. Could anyone else have written this essay?
15. How would you fill in the following blank based on the essay: “I want to accept you to this college because our college needs more ________.”