After that awfully long post, this one's rather short.
Updates: Confirmed the admission with SP Jain by paying their acceptance fees of USD 2500. This hurt a lot because of the rising dollar rates (~48). I have sent in my documents and they have been verified. But I have deferred my admit to the April 2009 intake. This for specific reasons:
a. The rising dollar rates of course!! I'd be stupid to pay up with an exchange rate of almost 50, though I admit that I fear looking even more stupid if the rates increase beyond that.
b. I needed time to arrange my loans, as the current situation was a 11% (min) with the interest compounded annually. Almost all banks are offering a rate of interest as high as 11-14%. The rate of 11% was the lowest I could find with UBI. So I thought I'd defer my intake and look out for other options- personal loans etc.
c. It was a bit too early to fly for the dec 08 intake. I needed time to get into the prep mode.
And so now I have to wait until april 09 for my program. I'll be busy till then making payments for the program by december. Morover, I haven't totally ruled out options of the top 5 Indian b-schools. Which means, I still am preping for my CAT, XAT and GMAT.
Till my next update.. cheers!!
Mba Summit
Newbie
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
My stint with SPJCM
And the Award for Procrastination goes to..... YOURS TRULY!!!
First of all, my apologies to write in after such a long break. But then I do my reason, even though it's the most common and inexcusable of all- I simply didn't have the time. But then I do have something interesting to report and I promise this to be the longest of posts until now. So get ready!!!
Yours Truly has bagged the admit to the GMBA PMM program at SPJCM. For all the newbies, SPJCM stands for SP Jain Center of Management- Dubai, Singapore. GMBA stands for Global MBA and PMM is an acronym for Product Marketing and Management.
Well, you see.. I had my plan to take the GMAT in November 08. And the lazy bum that I am, I hadn't taken any mocks until July 08. That is when I came across the link for the SP Jain admissions for the Dec 08 intake. I wouldn't have taken more than a passing look at it, if it wasn't for their admission criterion. 'SP Jain accepts scores from three entrance test - CAT, GMAT and SP Jain Aptitude test (SPJAT)'. I googled and pagalguyed out for the SPJAT and found out that it is a relatively simpler test although the competition is still quite high ,as the thread on pagalguy put it. The pattern of the SPJAT is more or less like an aptitude test or a corporate placement paper. It's a typical 1hr paper that tests one on Numeracy, IQ, Verbal, GK, RC and Visual Reasoning. Sounds simple right! It is except for the GK section. I was lucky to have attempted just one question and it turned out right. Why?? Because the SPJAT has negative marking and variable at that. The negative marking varies for each question which makes it tough to assess each question for its difficulty and then choose to answer it. To cut a long story short, You are made to calculate your ROI (return on investment) for each and every question.
I really wasnt expecting a great score on the test. But I knew I had done enough to get a 9 as my first digit. And turns out that I actually did just enough. My score card reads 90 percentile. I was happy that I did just fine with my first ever real entrance exam. This was enough motivation for me to crack the GMAT. But just when I was about to close the mail that informed me about the score, my friend suggested, "Hey, Why don't you apply for the Global MBA program at SP Jain with this score?" Ignore the question mark and the operator 'Why' for you can sense the authoritative tone. And so I started about filling up the form with her sitting by my side always. I am still not sure of her intentions at that time. Was she extending support while I was filling up my form or was she assuring herself that I did? Anyway, I did submit my form and went about my daily routine after that.
Three weeks later. I am at my workplace after an awful long time and so after a long day at work, I was close to just shut up my work station and move on. But turn out that my friend with who I travel back home was caught up with a bit of last minute work and so I had to wait for him. I chose to login to my mail and get done with the checking up earlier than usual. And there it is..clearly subjected "Evaluation Call'. SP Jain had given an evaluation call for the GD/PI on the 27th / 28th September 08. Shit!! Just a week more. Why didn't I check this before?? No idea.. That's how I am.
And So, I keep aside my preparations for the GMAT aside and concentrate on the GD/PI now. Just a week and so much to do. I did away with choices of learning all the possible GK in the world just so that it may marginally help me in the GD or PI. Instead, I chose to just work on my profile and prepare for any awkward, off guard queries on my profile which by the way is a bit unusual (I have a brief stint with the non conventional energy sector while serving one of the most premier institutes in the country-IIT Bombay and my second stint was in the education industry that dealt with educational media and games). I had chosen Product Marketing as my specialization and so prepared for all the profile connect questions already. With 3 days to go, I went over to look on the sub-prime issue in the US, the US-Indian nuc deal, the recent Olympic performances and brushed up on some facts that I believed I could throw in for my GD. 1 day to go and I was rushing up with preparing my document folder that ensured that they got to see all my extra curricular certificates, proof of my community work in the field of education and sports, so to say.
The D-day, 27th September 2008. I reached SP Jain, Mumbai at around 11:30 with enough time to loiter around and pick up bits and pieces of information from other applicants already present. Finally at around 12: 15 pm, we were shown into a lecture hall and told to submit copies of all our documents in a folder. And it started.
Round 1: Essays. We were each given a unique sheet of paper with essay topics already written on it. No one got a similar version to what someone already had. I had my essays as follows:
Essay1: Give a candid assessment of your strengths and weaknesses? 100 words
Essay2: Define Success? 100 words
Time limit 15 mins combined. I think I wrote well. My prolonged preparation on any profile based questions paid off here itself. I tried to disguise my weaknesses as strengths if one can see it as the other side of a coin.
Round 2: Case Study. Again the sheets were distributed as in round 1. This time, we were to perform a case study.
Case Study: 'Delivering Global Indian products to the market has been the concern of Indian Businessmen for the past 15 years. Suggest and elaborate on any three areas/strategies that you would take as head of a business to deliver world class Indian products.' 500 words in about 20 mins.
I again wrote well to my satisfaction. Took about 5 mins to jot down my points. Having done that I just had to elaborate on them. I chose to write about focus on customer needs, focus on research and focus on brand image as my three strategies. Once I had figured out these issues, I just went about blah blah blah... writing comes naturally to me. :)
Round 3: GD. We were split into batches of 11 or 12 and told to appear for our GD. I was in batch 1 and went in immediately. One look at the blackboard and my heart sank. The topic read, 'Value based politics is the need of the hour' I mean of course, ya. Who'd say no and take an opposite stand? So you see, the topic had an unanimous consensus amongst our group. Having said that, nothing can be added more and that is the disadvantage of this topic. It simply doesn't give way for discussion beyond the intiial point or two. To add to that misery, the girl next to me started first. Off course with her having said yes to the topic, nothing was there much for any of us to add. And the topic stirred off to politics to Indian politicians and their greed n......... I tried to intervene on many occasions for the first 5 mins but couldn't, either because the other person was too loud in his talk or there was a heavy argument on between two or more. I distinctly remember the convenor use the term 'Fish Market' to halt the GD at one point. But then it started off again. I guess that is the price one pays for having immature and unresolved candidates as one's batchmates for a GD. But after a much prolonged discussion on just Indian politicians, there was a bit of silence. Now or never, I butt in. I used this opportunity perfectly to try and stir the discussion towards another possible side of the topic. I introduced the concept about how politics is found not just at the governmental level, but also at grass root levels amongst families, schools, companies, organizations, communities etc.. And so the scope of the topic is beyond just Indian politics. I spoke in brief on the two sides of politics-the proposers and the opposers. But how both are in the duty of serving the system with which they are associated with and how any decisions should be taken keeping the welfare of that system in mind..and blah blah blah... Finally a signal of the hand from the convenor brought the GD to an end. We were given 30 seconds to assimilate our notes and then a minute each to summarize the GD. I observed that neither of the two convenor would give even a slight hint of their observations, conclusions as an expression on their faces. Guess they are trained to do just that!!
Round 4: PI. We were again split into two groups and taken to different venues for our PI. Before that, the our documents were verified with the originals..just incase they didn't believe us. :P After that we could do nothing but wait for our turn to face the panel. One by one, we were called out inside a door where I assumed, sat the panel. Yours truly was called just after the lunch break. I remember, during vivas for our undergraduate engineering courses, we used to curse if we were just called in after lunch break. Many of us to to reason out that it gave fresh vigour to the panelist to screw us further with their could-be-never-answered questions. This thought did not in any way help me to relax during the lunch break. Anyways, I had no choice. Finally I was called in and with a strange mix of confidence and anxiety, I opened the door to the PI room.
There were just two panelist. Panelist No.1 (PN1) was a elderly male who I have recently discovered to be my Dean, Marketing (my specialization). Panelist No.2 (PN2) was an equally elderly lady who did not give leave any expression to escape from her face. I wished both and sat down to take my chair, only after I was told to do so. A common mistake, I understand from many mba discussion forums.
PN2: So, you are fran.....? (looks up at me quizzically)
Me: Franxan maam.
PN2: Thank you. So Franxan, can you tell me about yourself.
Me: (relieved cos I was prepared for a profile based q) blah blah blah....(mostly focused on my strengths)
PN1: (suddenly) Define Branding?
Me:(caught aback but remained composed) Told...
PN2: Any of your significant achievement?
Me: I spoke of my community work as a honorary teacher in a high school and how I was always assigned below average or detained students. Yet, In all the 4 years that I taught, the average SSC score was always 55-60%. (PN2 now shows signs of a good impression. I was satisfied with this because I knew I had chosen the right talk. Thanks to a SPJIMR Allumni I was already briefed that SP Jain has immense focus on community work and greatly contributes to social work)
PN1: Franxan, why PMM?
Me: Told (This is a usual but important question)
PN2: What do you want to do next? As in, what would you like to do in about 5 years from now?
Me: Told her that I'd be leading a vertical, optimistically a large firm in the education or sports industry.
Pn1: Education and sports? Why?
Me: Told about how education and sports are going to be very emergent industry in India and how I personally a passion in those fields.
PN1: But then Why PMM? You should be taking up Service Marketing instead?
Me: Told.
Pn1: (still not convinced or was playing the irritating panelist, I am not sure) Look Franxan, I'll be very blunt with you. In PMM, We teach you about branding and market strategies to build business around a tangible thing or a product. And with your views, I don't think that PMM is the needed branch for you. You should try SMM.
PN2: (nods her head in agreement)
Me: (a lil jittery, of course but knew that this was the one chance to demonstrate that I think differently and that I do that with foresight) I spoke about how education and sports industry, esp the former is changing face. How currently both are in the service based sector. But there is immense research and development of educational tools that is currently in place. Both education and sports will changeover to a tools-based industry like educational films, games, self do kits, educational novels and comics etc. And the industry will roll out their products in about 2 years from now. By then, I would like to equip myself with PMM theory and practice to be able to reap early bird rewards. This will help me to cash in on the first mover advantage.
PN1 and PN2: (seem convinced although Pn1 tried to retain his previous role of as irritating panelist)
Pn2: Ok Franxan, that is it. You may leave now. We will inform you of your result in a while.
Me: Thank you maam, Thank you sir. (and left the room after a formal greeting)
Out of the room and phew!! I didn't know how it went and for that matter, if I advanced to the next round. But momentarily I was so relieved that If I were told to pack my bags and leave for the day, I'd have gladly done it. I was fatigued too considering that I had too long in that day for this. Anyway, an officer moves in only to come out in a short while holding a file with a label on it. I tried to be the peeping tom to read what;s on the label, but not before she turned around to face me. She very joyfully for some reason informed that I had been selected for the final round of evaluation-the Dean's interview and that I will have to wait for some while in another room before he calls me in. Again, I did not know if I was glad or annoyed to hear that. I followed her directions.
Final Round: Dean's interview. I entered the venue of the final round only to find some other candidates waiting outside in the lounge. After the initial introductions and a narration of my encounter with the PI panelists, I relaxed on the couch. My turn comes and I walk in.
The dean turned to be pretty cool in a sense that he appealed pleasantly. With a strong accent that evidenced his global exposure in life in a literal sense, he signaled me to take my seat.
Dean: So Franxan (yeah he spelt it right in the first attempt, an achievement in my opinion), tell me about yourself?
Me: Told
Dean: What's this ***** *********? (he asked about my work)
ME: Told him and apparently it excited him to ask me more about my work. This by the way involves production of education films and to a marginal extent, educational comics.
Dean: How would you go about a chapter?
Me: Told about the entire process.
DEan: That's interesting. Are any such products in the market?
Me: Few, but not enough.
Dean: Will more come?
Me: Yes.
Dean: Are they any companies that will come out with this?
Me: Yes. Told
Dean: So when do you think such products will be abundantly sold and used?
Me: In about 2-3 years.
Dean: And so you want to go in for PMM before that?
Me: Yes, absolutely right.
Dean: Hmm.. Ok Franxan, any questions for me?
Me: Sir, what contributions does a SPJCM program or SPJCM make to an entrepreneurial future?
Dean: Told and convinced me that I would be right in choosing SPJCM if entrepreneurship was ever on my mind.
Dean: Anything else?
ME: No sir, Thank you.
Dean: Thank you Franxan for coming in for our evaluation. We'll keep you informed of our decision in about a week. Good Luck!!
Me: Thank you sir.
I got up and left the room after the usual polite greeting. Outside and I promised myself not to keep any expectations about the outcome of this evaluation, if I was to save myself from a week of extreme anxiety. But even while promising myself, I knew that I had done it. I had cracked the GD/PI. Nothing more or less than that.
As promised, I refrained from checking into my mail account for a mere 3 days. It was October 2nd when I chose to do so, only after I had convinced myself that it was silly of me not to check other mails too. I type in my id and password and the web page takes time to load. No reaction from me. I am busy checking stuff on another tab. Finally my attention focuses on the email tab which says Gmail Inbox-(1) Just one mail even after 3 days. Man, my networking skills suck!!
I open the email tab to savour the one mail that I received. There in bold, very clearly and invitingly lay the message
..from gmba admissions office subjected "OFFER"
'We are pleased to inform you that you have been invited to join our GMBA program at SPJCM-Dubai, Singapore Campus. You have been admitted into our December 2008 intake. Congratulations.........blah blah blah...'
I was silent..then it dawned and I smiled.
First of all, my apologies to write in after such a long break. But then I do my reason, even though it's the most common and inexcusable of all- I simply didn't have the time. But then I do have something interesting to report and I promise this to be the longest of posts until now. So get ready!!!
Yours Truly has bagged the admit to the GMBA PMM program at SPJCM. For all the newbies, SPJCM stands for SP Jain Center of Management- Dubai, Singapore. GMBA stands for Global MBA and PMM is an acronym for Product Marketing and Management.
Well, you see.. I had my plan to take the GMAT in November 08. And the lazy bum that I am, I hadn't taken any mocks until July 08. That is when I came across the link for the SP Jain admissions for the Dec 08 intake. I wouldn't have taken more than a passing look at it, if it wasn't for their admission criterion. 'SP Jain accepts scores from three entrance test - CAT, GMAT and SP Jain Aptitude test (SPJAT)'. I googled and pagalguyed out for the SPJAT and found out that it is a relatively simpler test although the competition is still quite high ,as the thread on pagalguy put it. The pattern of the SPJAT is more or less like an aptitude test or a corporate placement paper. It's a typical 1hr paper that tests one on Numeracy, IQ, Verbal, GK, RC and Visual Reasoning. Sounds simple right! It is except for the GK section. I was lucky to have attempted just one question and it turned out right. Why?? Because the SPJAT has negative marking and variable at that. The negative marking varies for each question which makes it tough to assess each question for its difficulty and then choose to answer it. To cut a long story short, You are made to calculate your ROI (return on investment) for each and every question.
I really wasnt expecting a great score on the test. But I knew I had done enough to get a 9 as my first digit. And turns out that I actually did just enough. My score card reads 90 percentile. I was happy that I did just fine with my first ever real entrance exam. This was enough motivation for me to crack the GMAT. But just when I was about to close the mail that informed me about the score, my friend suggested, "Hey, Why don't you apply for the Global MBA program at SP Jain with this score?" Ignore the question mark and the operator 'Why' for you can sense the authoritative tone. And so I started about filling up the form with her sitting by my side always. I am still not sure of her intentions at that time. Was she extending support while I was filling up my form or was she assuring herself that I did? Anyway, I did submit my form and went about my daily routine after that.
Three weeks later. I am at my workplace after an awful long time and so after a long day at work, I was close to just shut up my work station and move on. But turn out that my friend with who I travel back home was caught up with a bit of last minute work and so I had to wait for him. I chose to login to my mail and get done with the checking up earlier than usual. And there it is..clearly subjected "Evaluation Call'. SP Jain had given an evaluation call for the GD/PI on the 27th / 28th September 08. Shit!! Just a week more. Why didn't I check this before?? No idea.. That's how I am.
And So, I keep aside my preparations for the GMAT aside and concentrate on the GD/PI now. Just a week and so much to do. I did away with choices of learning all the possible GK in the world just so that it may marginally help me in the GD or PI. Instead, I chose to just work on my profile and prepare for any awkward, off guard queries on my profile which by the way is a bit unusual (I have a brief stint with the non conventional energy sector while serving one of the most premier institutes in the country-IIT Bombay and my second stint was in the education industry that dealt with educational media and games). I had chosen Product Marketing as my specialization and so prepared for all the profile connect questions already. With 3 days to go, I went over to look on the sub-prime issue in the US, the US-Indian nuc deal, the recent Olympic performances and brushed up on some facts that I believed I could throw in for my GD. 1 day to go and I was rushing up with preparing my document folder that ensured that they got to see all my extra curricular certificates, proof of my community work in the field of education and sports, so to say.
The D-day, 27th September 2008. I reached SP Jain, Mumbai at around 11:30 with enough time to loiter around and pick up bits and pieces of information from other applicants already present. Finally at around 12: 15 pm, we were shown into a lecture hall and told to submit copies of all our documents in a folder. And it started.
Round 1: Essays. We were each given a unique sheet of paper with essay topics already written on it. No one got a similar version to what someone already had. I had my essays as follows:
Essay1: Give a candid assessment of your strengths and weaknesses? 100 words
Essay2: Define Success? 100 words
Time limit 15 mins combined. I think I wrote well. My prolonged preparation on any profile based questions paid off here itself. I tried to disguise my weaknesses as strengths if one can see it as the other side of a coin.
Round 2: Case Study. Again the sheets were distributed as in round 1. This time, we were to perform a case study.
Case Study: 'Delivering Global Indian products to the market has been the concern of Indian Businessmen for the past 15 years. Suggest and elaborate on any three areas/strategies that you would take as head of a business to deliver world class Indian products.' 500 words in about 20 mins.
I again wrote well to my satisfaction. Took about 5 mins to jot down my points. Having done that I just had to elaborate on them. I chose to write about focus on customer needs, focus on research and focus on brand image as my three strategies. Once I had figured out these issues, I just went about blah blah blah... writing comes naturally to me. :)
Round 3: GD. We were split into batches of 11 or 12 and told to appear for our GD. I was in batch 1 and went in immediately. One look at the blackboard and my heart sank. The topic read, 'Value based politics is the need of the hour' I mean of course, ya. Who'd say no and take an opposite stand? So you see, the topic had an unanimous consensus amongst our group. Having said that, nothing can be added more and that is the disadvantage of this topic. It simply doesn't give way for discussion beyond the intiial point or two. To add to that misery, the girl next to me started first. Off course with her having said yes to the topic, nothing was there much for any of us to add. And the topic stirred off to politics to Indian politicians and their greed n......... I tried to intervene on many occasions for the first 5 mins but couldn't, either because the other person was too loud in his talk or there was a heavy argument on between two or more. I distinctly remember the convenor use the term 'Fish Market' to halt the GD at one point. But then it started off again. I guess that is the price one pays for having immature and unresolved candidates as one's batchmates for a GD. But after a much prolonged discussion on just Indian politicians, there was a bit of silence. Now or never, I butt in. I used this opportunity perfectly to try and stir the discussion towards another possible side of the topic. I introduced the concept about how politics is found not just at the governmental level, but also at grass root levels amongst families, schools, companies, organizations, communities etc.. And so the scope of the topic is beyond just Indian politics. I spoke in brief on the two sides of politics-the proposers and the opposers. But how both are in the duty of serving the system with which they are associated with and how any decisions should be taken keeping the welfare of that system in mind..and blah blah blah... Finally a signal of the hand from the convenor brought the GD to an end. We were given 30 seconds to assimilate our notes and then a minute each to summarize the GD. I observed that neither of the two convenor would give even a slight hint of their observations, conclusions as an expression on their faces. Guess they are trained to do just that!!
Round 4: PI. We were again split into two groups and taken to different venues for our PI. Before that, the our documents were verified with the originals..just incase they didn't believe us. :P After that we could do nothing but wait for our turn to face the panel. One by one, we were called out inside a door where I assumed, sat the panel. Yours truly was called just after the lunch break. I remember, during vivas for our undergraduate engineering courses, we used to curse if we were just called in after lunch break. Many of us to to reason out that it gave fresh vigour to the panelist to screw us further with their could-be-never-answered questions. This thought did not in any way help me to relax during the lunch break. Anyways, I had no choice. Finally I was called in and with a strange mix of confidence and anxiety, I opened the door to the PI room.
There were just two panelist. Panelist No.1 (PN1) was a elderly male who I have recently discovered to be my Dean, Marketing (my specialization). Panelist No.2 (PN2) was an equally elderly lady who did not give leave any expression to escape from her face. I wished both and sat down to take my chair, only after I was told to do so. A common mistake, I understand from many mba discussion forums.
PN2: So, you are fran.....? (looks up at me quizzically)
Me: Franxan maam.
PN2: Thank you. So Franxan, can you tell me about yourself.
Me: (relieved cos I was prepared for a profile based q) blah blah blah....(mostly focused on my strengths)
PN1: (suddenly) Define Branding?
Me:(caught aback but remained composed) Told...
PN2: Any of your significant achievement?
Me: I spoke of my community work as a honorary teacher in a high school and how I was always assigned below average or detained students. Yet, In all the 4 years that I taught, the average SSC score was always 55-60%. (PN2 now shows signs of a good impression. I was satisfied with this because I knew I had chosen the right talk. Thanks to a SPJIMR Allumni I was already briefed that SP Jain has immense focus on community work and greatly contributes to social work)
PN1: Franxan, why PMM?
Me: Told (This is a usual but important question)
PN2: What do you want to do next? As in, what would you like to do in about 5 years from now?
Me: Told her that I'd be leading a vertical, optimistically a large firm in the education or sports industry.
Pn1: Education and sports? Why?
Me: Told about how education and sports are going to be very emergent industry in India and how I personally a passion in those fields.
PN1: But then Why PMM? You should be taking up Service Marketing instead?
Me: Told.
Pn1: (still not convinced or was playing the irritating panelist, I am not sure) Look Franxan, I'll be very blunt with you. In PMM, We teach you about branding and market strategies to build business around a tangible thing or a product. And with your views, I don't think that PMM is the needed branch for you. You should try SMM.
PN2: (nods her head in agreement)
Me: (a lil jittery, of course but knew that this was the one chance to demonstrate that I think differently and that I do that with foresight) I spoke about how education and sports industry, esp the former is changing face. How currently both are in the service based sector. But there is immense research and development of educational tools that is currently in place. Both education and sports will changeover to a tools-based industry like educational films, games, self do kits, educational novels and comics etc. And the industry will roll out their products in about 2 years from now. By then, I would like to equip myself with PMM theory and practice to be able to reap early bird rewards. This will help me to cash in on the first mover advantage.
PN1 and PN2: (seem convinced although Pn1 tried to retain his previous role of as irritating panelist)
Pn2: Ok Franxan, that is it. You may leave now. We will inform you of your result in a while.
Me: Thank you maam, Thank you sir. (and left the room after a formal greeting)
Out of the room and phew!! I didn't know how it went and for that matter, if I advanced to the next round. But momentarily I was so relieved that If I were told to pack my bags and leave for the day, I'd have gladly done it. I was fatigued too considering that I had too long in that day for this. Anyway, an officer moves in only to come out in a short while holding a file with a label on it. I tried to be the peeping tom to read what;s on the label, but not before she turned around to face me. She very joyfully for some reason informed that I had been selected for the final round of evaluation-the Dean's interview and that I will have to wait for some while in another room before he calls me in. Again, I did not know if I was glad or annoyed to hear that. I followed her directions.
Final Round: Dean's interview. I entered the venue of the final round only to find some other candidates waiting outside in the lounge. After the initial introductions and a narration of my encounter with the PI panelists, I relaxed on the couch. My turn comes and I walk in.
The dean turned to be pretty cool in a sense that he appealed pleasantly. With a strong accent that evidenced his global exposure in life in a literal sense, he signaled me to take my seat.
Dean: So Franxan (yeah he spelt it right in the first attempt, an achievement in my opinion), tell me about yourself?
Me: Told
Dean: What's this ***** *********? (he asked about my work)
ME: Told him and apparently it excited him to ask me more about my work. This by the way involves production of education films and to a marginal extent, educational comics.
Dean: How would you go about a chapter?
Me: Told about the entire process.
DEan: That's interesting. Are any such products in the market?
Me: Few, but not enough.
Dean: Will more come?
Me: Yes.
Dean: Are they any companies that will come out with this?
Me: Yes. Told
Dean: So when do you think such products will be abundantly sold and used?
Me: In about 2-3 years.
Dean: And so you want to go in for PMM before that?
Me: Yes, absolutely right.
Dean: Hmm.. Ok Franxan, any questions for me?
Me: Sir, what contributions does a SPJCM program or SPJCM make to an entrepreneurial future?
Dean: Told and convinced me that I would be right in choosing SPJCM if entrepreneurship was ever on my mind.
Dean: Anything else?
ME: No sir, Thank you.
Dean: Thank you Franxan for coming in for our evaluation. We'll keep you informed of our decision in about a week. Good Luck!!
Me: Thank you sir.
I got up and left the room after the usual polite greeting. Outside and I promised myself not to keep any expectations about the outcome of this evaluation, if I was to save myself from a week of extreme anxiety. But even while promising myself, I knew that I had done it. I had cracked the GD/PI. Nothing more or less than that.
As promised, I refrained from checking into my mail account for a mere 3 days. It was October 2nd when I chose to do so, only after I had convinced myself that it was silly of me not to check other mails too. I type in my id and password and the web page takes time to load. No reaction from me. I am busy checking stuff on another tab. Finally my attention focuses on the email tab which says Gmail Inbox-(1) Just one mail even after 3 days. Man, my networking skills suck!!
I open the email tab to savour the one mail that I received. There in bold, very clearly and invitingly lay the message
..from gmba admissions office subjected "OFFER"
'We are pleased to inform you that you have been invited to join our GMBA program at SPJCM-Dubai, Singapore Campus. You have been admitted into our December 2008 intake. Congratulations.........blah blah blah...'
I was silent..then it dawned and I smiled.
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