Stanford Diversity Weekend

This past weekend, I went to 2 diversity events hosted by Stanford's admissions committee. The first event was called XX Factor and the second was Many Voices. The goal of these events was to help potential applicants get to know Stanford GSB a lot better. I am so glad I went because these events totally changed my perspective as far as goals in life. I have the following impression from this weekend:

Stanford students love to dream and think big, but they are also very grounded.

On Friday, I sat in on an operations class in the afternoon. The admissions office was apologizing to me ahead of time that the class would be boring because it was the end of the semester. I thought the class was a good time. There's a TA that logs class participation and students seemed engaged. There was also a Friday happy hour event hosted by a student run organization but paid for by the GSB. I went to this event hoping to meet some GSBers. At first I was very intimidated but then I told myself that this was my one big chance to get to know the school via students. So I dove into the crowd and started talking to people and they were all very nice. I told them that I was a perspective student and asked if they'd be willing to answer some of my questions. Of course everyone said yes. Some even gave me their card.

I went to a women's conference the next day. My key takeaway from women's conference is that Stanford's first essay should be real easy to people, at least that's what everyone on the current student panel seemed to think. Also, I learnt that many Stanford students go into GSB not knowing what they want to do. Then they leave still not knowing what they want to do. That was quite freeing.

The second day was a minority day and I don't think I met one person whom I did not like. The agenda was the same as the previous day. I did get a better understanding of the extent to which the entrepreneurial spirit runs in the GSB. It runs pretty deep and inspired me to want to start my own business. There's always been things that I've wanted to do but didn't quite know how. I felt very empowered and inspired after listening to the alumni panel and current students. Before this weekend, I wasn't really considering applying to Stanford. After this weekend, I think Stanford is my #1 choice in B school!

GMAT Debrief

I took the GMAT on February 14 and here's a debrief:

Went to the test center 1 day early to scope out the location. Didn't want to get lost on my way there the actual day.

Test day: Had with me a Starbucks iced tea, power bar and a few tangerines for a snack. The test center lobby was full of people taking all sorts of tests. I think there was only 1 or 2 GMAT takers. I took a number, sat down, waited to be called. When they called my number, I gave them identification information. They took my picture and showed me the lockers where I could lock my stuff. I put my snacks into the locker, sat back down and waited for my name to be called. A lady called my name, I walked up to them, peered behind her and saw testing room for the first time. Some other lady took my finger print, offered me some earplugs (which I took), and ushered me to my computer. She logged me in to my computer and the test started.

Everything was pretty much like GMAC's test preparation software. I started with the essays and did everything I was taught to do. Make an outline, have words like first, second and third to offer the essay structure. If I were to take the GMAT again, I would actually practice writing essays though, even though schools don't really look at the essay portion of GMAT. I felt rushed during the second essay (because I had no opinion on the topic) and was scrambling towards the end of the alloted time.

I opted for a break at this time and I REALLY wished that I had practiced my breaks during preparation for the exam. I know this sounds really stupid. After the second essay, I really wanted to unwind and relax. I went to the bathroom, enjoyed my snack, enjoyed my iced tea. I DID NOT think it would take me more than 7 minutes to eat a power bar and use the lady's room. Even though I'm an engineer, the quant section has challenged me. 2 weeks before my actual GMAT, I had been doing amazing on the GMATclub practice reviews. Before then, I was doing, meh. So I really needed all the time I could get on the quant section. When I got to my computer, I was horrified to find out that 2 or 3 minutes from my quant section was gone because I had taken too long during break. I ended up finishing the quant section but I was scrambling at the end.

I learnt my lesson after first break. I decided that break was not meant for relaxation. It was meant to take care of business. So I went to lady's room, had some more iced tea and went back to the computer. The verbal portion of the exam, as expected, was so much easier than quantitative and I finished with time left.

I ended up getting a 700+ which is in line with what I was getting a week before. I might take the test again because I feel that my score was improving as I practiced during the week right before the exam. Also, I feel that if I had those extra 2 or 3 minutes, I might've done better on quantitative.