Clearadmit Tuck Guide Review

I submitted my Tuck application in the November round. Yesterday, I submitted the scholarship essay as well. I am just gonna explain that how did the Tuck guide help me.

When I start writing an app for a school there are three things that I need to be clear about-
-Where do I stand
-Where do I want to go
-Where does the school come in picture

The first questions were no problem for me as I had already done an application. It was the last question that I really needed help with. I can’t even start writing the essays until and unless I have developed a “feel” for the school. The “feel” takes two months to develop if left to its natural course. The natural course involves spending a lot of time on the school website, admissions blog and networking with current students and alumni.

Now, I didn’t have two months at my disposal. I started with reading the guide cover to cover twice. This built an initial perception of the school and also worked as a roadmap to browse through the school website, admissions and students blogs. I also got the points from the guide which I looked up in detail on the website.

The guide starts with a good summary of the history of the MBA program itself and the MBA at Tuck as well. I loved this part because it kind of completed the picture in my mind in terms of what was offered at the MBA program at Tuck. Then the information about the faculty, academics and clubs prompted me to dig deeper into the details and end up falling in love with the school. Mind you….the falling in love is very important before strating to write the essays. Please, don’t double time any school….DO NOT multi-process. Complete the essays for one school first and only then start the cycle for a second one.

Their guidance about the Tuck essays was also useful. I read it after having written my essays to validate if I went on the correct lines by myself.

In all, the clearadmit guide is an awesome option to start with if you already know about where you stand and what are you looking for. Please DO NOT copy any lines straight from the guide as it increases the chances of ypou having common lines with someone else’s essay a gazillion times.

After doing all this, if you still find it difficult to fall in love with the school, just google some images of the school and gaze at them for sometime. If you are looking for a good laugh, you can watch this .

Burn out??

I feel tired all day long. No more do I read the school websites tirelessly. I don’t go on sending mails to current students and admissions people with my questions. I don’t check all the MBA blogs for updates. I don’t even read my essays over and over again. Nor do I send them to my friends anymore. Am I burnt out? I am done with just two schools so far. Tuck is not even complete yet. I am still to submit the scholarship form and essays. What’s wrong with me??? Seriously. I can’t put all my eggs in one basket and keep praying for Kellogg till December 18.

I really need to do a good job for my safety schools to get some scholarship. I do need to go for an MBA this year because after having told my manager about my plans, I really can’t stick out another year at my job. It’s time to gear up I guess. May be starting my running routine would help pump back the gumption.

Tuck app submitted in Nov round

Submitted the Tuck app just 15 minutes ahead of the deadline, Pffff!!!

Well, I must say that the Clearadmit Tuck Guide came in handy. Before starting the essays, I had read the guide cover to cover twice. It helped me frame out the essays in my mind. The information about the academics and faculty was very useful. For some information about the clubs, I went back to the school website for details. In all, Tuck app: Check

Belated happy diwali…….and Tuck

Dint go home this diwali because of the MIT deadline and then didn’t submit the MIT app in R1. There were multiple reason. The recommendations didn’t shape up on time as my recommenders were in the festive mood. Also, I hadn’t interacted enough with the school. So, I postponed the application to round 2. I have the essays kind of ready. Will send them to my reviewers soon.

All that said, I love Tuck….everything about it, especially the great sense of community. I grew up in a close-knit community which was comprised of a diverse set of people. Now, what am I doing to go to the college I love so much. So far I have went through the school website. I am reading the clearadmit  Tuck guide. It’s a good and concise compilation of the information about the school. Stay tuned for a detailed review.

Recommendations!!

I have had a tough time getting the perfect recommendations not because I didn’t know even two people willing to write great things about me but because I had too many choices. For my remaining apps, I plan to stick to the two safe options from work.

I Kellogg and Tuck, I submitted one recommendation from my ex-manager. He tried too hard to make it sound real due to which the recommendation sounded kind of week. To offset that, I submitted a third recommendation from my current manager which was great. I just hope that in all the three recommendations work out fine. In Tuck, again the ex-manager was too qucik to submit his uber-real recommendation. There also, I plan to send a third one from my current manager. Now for MIT, I sent an extra-curricular one. This recommender commented that after reading the draft I had sent him, he thinks that modesty is not one of my virtues. I just hope that he didn’t write the things exactly as I had sent them. Now, I have just three more schools left. I am going to stick to my safe bets.

Reviewed Kellogg Essay: Doing it all over again

This is what happens when you have too many reviewers. I kept slashing things as my reviewers kept suggesting. Finally, my most informed reviewer says that my essays are too vanilla. All work no fun.

Damn you other reviewers. I hate you guys. So, instead of taking a good nap, I am here just reading the comments over and over again. I am gonna read them till I learn all the comments by heart.  Then I will sketch the basic structure for all the essays on paper. And then I will write them all over again. Once done with this, I will cross check them with the comments and probably make someone else read them for grammar and flow. That’ll be it.

Too bad that all the experiments are happening on my dream school app. I plan to read the Tuck guide this weekend. Stay tuned if you are interested.

State of essays

It’s decided. Tuck goes to round 2. I haven’t developed a “feeling” for the school yet which is extremely important to me (yeah GMATters, I noticed…. “which” can refer to both “developing a feeling” and “the school” and I mean exactly that 😛 Both are extremely important to me…Tuck because it is such a pretty school with such nice people and such close community- all of which I totally dig…..and developing the feeling because how else am I supposed to write the endless essays, which will stretch way beyond the word limit. Then while cutting down the essays, my heart will break into a thousand pieces as I will have to scrap away story after story of my awesome life. God….do I transgress 🙂 ).

My friend and namesake reviewed my essays. She didn’t like the flow in essay 1. Provided some comments. I have incorporated them and now it seems to be better but still is 780 words long. 180 more to cut down which I am sure will be accomplished with “a little help from my friends”.
She liked my second essay but asked me to elaborate the “what I did” part. I did a good job with the elaboration but now just the two leadership stories with some random rant about the leadership skills I want to develop has gone to 1200. This needs a 50% compression. OMG….I am feeling claustrophobic.

Btw, in the MBA fair, I met this good guy who is also a Kellogg alumni. He told me that my 690 GMAT might be OK for Kellogg if write stellar essays. But the good lady from Rotman told me about the importance of a 700+ score for a scholarship. Now, since Tuck is anyways postponed, I will stick to the retake plan.

MIT or Tuck???

No, it’s not about which one to apply to. I got this mail from clearadmit asking if I would like to review one of their guides and which one-MIT or Tuck. I went for Tuck as I am writing the Tuck essays right now. Stay tuned for a review of the guide.

Great weekend

I spent the weekend at my sister’s. Had a lot of great food. Booked the tickets for a trip with the gaal friends 🙂 Three new dresses and some pounds richer….here I am…back in the MBA land.

Sent the Kellogg essays for the “does it sound like me” review. This reviewer lady is also a grammar nazi. She will also do the final trimming down to the word limit. Now, I only need the “adcom eye” review. ( refer to who shud review ur essays )

I may devote the end of the weekend to either MR SC guide or may be I ‘ll start the Tuck essays.