Next up in our series of featured MBA bloggers is ccatcher, author of the blog, ccatcher’s mba chronicle. Please enjoy ccatcher’s thoughtful answers and use them to help you make your way through the MBA admissions process.
Accepted: First, can you tell us a little about yourself – where are you from, where did you go to school and when did you graduate; and what prior degrees do you hold?
ccatcher: I am from India. I graduated (Bachelor of Technology) with honors in Electronics and Instrumentation from Uttar Pradesh Technical University in 2007.
Accepted: When do you plan on applying to business school? Which schools will you apply to? Do you think you’ll apply to a “safety school”?
ccatcher: I am applying for the courses starting in fall 2012. I am applying to five schools- two of them are dream schools, one is a good fit and the other two are safety schools.
Accepted: Do you have an area of concentration that you’d like to focus on at business school (like marketing, IT, accounting, etc.)?
ccatcher: I plan to major in marketing in my MBA.
Accepted: Do you plan on returning to your pre-MBA job (in a more prestigious/lucrative position) after you finish business school? Or do you plan on moving to a new function or industry?
ccatcher: I plan to move into a new function in the same industry.
Accepted: What courses or experiences or people have motivated you to go to business school? How?
ccatcher: During my four years at work, I worked on many products and took the initiatives to suggest new products. My thinking from the technology and product design perspective was always sound. Through my interactions with the senior management of my company while discussing my ideas, I came to realize that an MBA will prepare me to make the transition in my career that I have always wanted. Earlier, I never thought about applying to international schools because I somehow had the impression that the costs are prohibitive. After, some of my colleagues made it to some great b-schools, I realized that I can very well apply to international schools.
Accepted: Do you have topics in mind for your MBA application essays?
ccatcher: The first thing that I did before starting to write my essays was create an Excel sheet which had details of the deadlines and essay questions of all the schools I was considering. This gave me a fair idea of the kind of questions I will have to answer. Then I filled up a grid. It had three simple columns. Date>Event>What it tells about me>What I learnt. To recall the stories, I talked to old acquaintances and friends.
For any particular business school, I first go through the business school website and read blogs by admissions, students and alumni. This helps me develop an understanding of the schools. Then, I write the essays. I found that the Kellogg essays are a good option to start with.
Accepted: Why did you choose to blog about the MBA application experience?
ccatcher: I blog about the MBA application experience because it’s a good way to track my progress. When I was preparing for the GMAT, I got a lot of good advice from fellow bloggers. It also is good preparation for writing the essays because it’s important that you sound like yourself in the essays. I often used my blog entries to do the comparison: Would someone say that the same person wrote this blog and this essay? And yeah…it’s a great way to network with fellow applicants.
Do you want to be featured in Accepted.com’s blog, Accepted Admissions Blog? If you want to share your MBA journey with the world (or at least with our readers), email us at mbabloggers@accepted.com.
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Read the full article: MBA Blogger Interview: ccatcher’s Journey
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