Foreword

An MBA programme, especially from a leading international institution, teaches you many marvellous things, but most importantly, it teaches you to learn to be an inquisitive student for life. The programme teaches you not only to systematically analyse and gain mastery over, to the extent possible, the chaos and complexities that surround business situations but also to make the most optimal decisions in the face of risks that cannot be eliminated. It is indeed a noble calling, and those who emerge from the programme are, without doubt, more effective managers and leaders. No wonder then that every year, hundreds of thousands of hopeful aspirants from across the globe apply to the hallowed institutions of business education. Limited supply and ample demand make for intense competition, and only a fraction of those who apply get in. Clearly, the most talented of the applicants have a better chance to make it, but the best prepared applicants can, and do, dramatically swing the odds in their favour, and win at this brutally competitive game.

In October last year, I had the privilege of being the alumni speaker at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) admission conference at the magnificent ballroom of the Taj Mahal hotel, Mumbai. After the GSB admissions officer had run through her presentation about the School and its admissions process, it was my turn to field questions from the audience and to answer them from the vantage point of someone who had successfully negotiated the myriad pitfalls associated with applying to a top US business school.

Most of the questions went along expected lines, but there was one that I found rather provocative but quite relevant. It went somewhat like this, ‘What chance does a normal person like me, who is not an IIT graduate, have of getting into one of the top five business schools?’

The question was greeted with a fair amount of good-natured and polite laughter, not in the least, I suspect, because the vast majority of the aspirants in the room were indeed IIT graduates.

If you too, dear reader, are an IIT product, then let me assure you that you have a clear cause for joy. Even though the MBA admissions process is very competitive and calls for systematic and sustained hard work from each applicant, no matter how qualified, it is my personal observation that the odds are somewhat in your favour (for those statistically inclined, I am merely implying a correlation, not causality). I am yet to undertake a scientific study on this but from my subjective, personal experience this is what I have found—if you meet an Indian who has secured admission to a top MBA school, you can safely assume that s/he is an IIT graduate as well.

And I am not alone in my belief. During my first week at Stanford, the one phrase that I invariably heard from classmates and the faculty when I introduced myself was ‘Oh! You are from India? How wonderful! So, which IIT did you go to?’ It will also be of great comfort to you to notice that both the very accomplished authors of this wonderful book are also IIT graduates.

But what if you, dear reader, like the inquisitive aspirant from the Taj ballroom, does not have a pedigree to boast of? Do you give up hope? Do you pre-conclude that a top school is beyond your reach? Do you make more productive use of your time applying to lesser schools?

Heed my reply well: If I could do it, so can you. Consider this—I graduated from a rather unknown college of Kerala. Even there, I was not the best student in my class. After college, until I started my MBA programme five years later, I worked as an IT professional, one among a million other Indians who could claim the same distinction. Neither of the two firms I worked at during this time was considered the top IT company even within the country. And even then, I could count many among my peers who were ahead of me at what I did. Turning now to my MBA application, the first time I hurriedly put together an application package, even I found it so dishearteningly mediocre that I decided against sending it, choosing instead to spend another year polishing it. Probably the only thing I had going for me was a rather decent GMAT score but these days an acceptable GMAT score is little more than a hygiene factor.

So what makes the difference? Surely some amount of providence; but in these matters, you have to make your own good fortune, and work yourself into a position where luck has a chance to help you out. In addition, it takes a lot of personal commitment, thorough preparation, blind optimism and tons of good advice.

You have surely heard by now that the secret to a strong MBA application lies in the fact that every applicant is truly unique. And this is true. Each individual is the owner of unique talents, strengths and experiences—a unique story—that can potentially differentiate the applicant in the eyes of admissions officers from the best of schools. The beauty of the US MBA admission process is that it offers each applicant, especially through the MBA essays, an opportunity to tell their story in their own style. An opportunity to let their personality shine through. A chance to highlight their strengths and to explain away shortcomings. To market. To influence. To persuade.

A story well told can make all the difference, but it takes deep introspection, infinite patience and a good measure of writing skills. As I am fond of pointing out to all those who seek my advice—I spent just one night writing my Stanford essays, but I spent six months prior to that agonizing over what to write.

In 1998, when I was putting together my application package, for the most part, I had to find my own way around the MBA admissions landscape and there were not many signposts out there to show me the way. I clung to every book that I could get my hands on, to every Web site that I could Google up, and to every word of advice that was handed out to me. Also, over time, I was able to build up a rather effective support group—from friends and friends of friends, who had gone through the process before (with mixed results) and were extremely candid and generous in sharing their experiences, to distant cousins in the US who recommended books, to family members who spent long hours brainstorming about my essays.

In the final analysis, my approach may have yielded results, but looking back, it was very inefficient as well. Sadly, even today, I find that most applicants go through the very same wasteful process of discovery that I went through years ago.

Why hasn’t someone distilled all the information, learnings, experiences, checklists, motivation, optimism, advice and signposts into a single, handy reference manual?

At long last, a couple of enterprising authors have done just that. Together, Mohit and Harindran have pooled their own successful experiences and those of other successful applicants to produce a book that will take you right from the ‘Why?’ of applying to a top MBA programme to a detailed analysis of the ‘How?’ And they have done that in a crisp and lucid style that makes for compelling reading. They speak with informed authority and every foreign MBA aspirant will do well to pay close attention to what they have to say.

Kiran Thomas
Mumbai, India