1. Not long ago, most of your recruiters were in your shoes – they are human. Be respectful, but don’t be overly impressed. You should go to interviews and corporatepresentations prepared to have a conversation and tell them about yourselves.

2. If you do not get involved with some activity outside of the classroom, you will not be reaping the full benefit of the MBA experience. There is a multitude of ways to get involved, and you will learn as much from these activities as you will from your studies. Activities will also help with you with networking and give yousomething to talk about in your interviews.

3. While plenty of people go back to their summer employer, many do not. Even if you end up not enjoying your summer internship, it’s still worthwhile to have the experience, and learn from it. Better to find out you don’t like banking on an internship than a full time job. Do your best and know that no matter what happens, it is a valuable learning experience.

4. Summer positions are often more competitive than full time offers. If you are not able to land your dream internship, you still have a great chance at the same job full-time.

5. Your grades really don’t count all that much. Even if your school has a grading system, after you graduate, no one is going to ask. So go to class to learn but don’t study so much that you miss out on the rest of the experience.

6. Your classmates will seem to be phenomenally accomplished, perhaps even intimidating. Don’t forget that you, too, were accepted into the class for a reason.The school believes that you have a great deal to contribute so make sure that you do.

7. Even if you are entering school with a firm idea of your career goals, use this time to explore a few options. Go to diverse corporate presentations, take classes in new subjects, interview with one company outside of your focus – you may be surprised.

8. You will probably gravitate to the “people like you”, from the same country, with similar backgrounds. Your MBA class is an extremely diverse group. If you make aneffort to get to know those outside of your comfort zone, your experience will be greatly enriched.

9. Not all, but most MBA programs are very flexible and constantly evolving. If youare dissatisfied with some aspect of the curriculum or programming, don’t sit back and complain, rather speak up and do something. Often you will be able to initiate a new class, a trip, a club, a conference and more.

10. Remember that your classmates, whether you like them or not, are your professional network. Your class and the classes above and below you are all members of this priceless network. While you will want to relax, enjoy and make friends, always keep in mind that you may network with any of these people down the line.

1. Laptop Bag – Some ideas

a. Brief

b. Messenger Bag

2. IPhone/iPod Touch/iPad – with Apps such as Pages, PDF Converter

3. Texas Instruments BA II Plus Calculator

4. Portable Harddrive/Thump Drive (atleast 16 GB)

5. Laptop (Duh!!)

6. Mini-Stapler

7. Pens and Pencils – Including color ones for better notes making..And highlighters.Yes I am a geek. :-0

8. Name Plate

9. Business Card

10. Phone Charger

11. Wireless Mouse

12. Headphones

13. Books

More to come

I have reached out to three banks and 1 private institute.

Credila – is a private financial arm of HDFC Bank that offers bank loan to students. They need co-signer from India and any property or insurance policy or investment as collateral. One important thing is that you can title your siblings or relative as co-signer. Link

Andra Bank – provides the similar loan. You need to cognizant of the interest rate and loan amount. Check out the NRI Education Loans section. Link.

State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) – If you have an account with SBH, it will come handy. Again, they offer same loan scheme. Check out the Education Loans to NRIs for more information. Link.

Federal Bank – offers a more lucrative loan like others. They call it Vidya Loan. Check it out. Link

While I can’t solicit advice on the selection of bank, here are few things to remember -

1. Check out the interest rate of each bank. If you are not an NRI, it’s even better. You have more banks that can offer great interest rates. Also, remember that interest rate is negotiable. If you are heading to the top business schools from Europe, United States, China, Hong Kong, Singapore,etc, you can potentially dig more heels during your negotiation. After all, you are expected to get a better pay after MBA and can repay the loan soon enough. Why shouldn’t you?

2. If you can offer property or investment to be used as collateral, your chances of getting loan will considerably increase.

3. Select co-signer who is below 60 years of age.

4. Apply early as this process will take a lot of time.

Any questions or comments!!Most welcome!!

1. Kindle
2. Evernote – For taking notes and syncing with every mobile device.
3. Pages – (Price: $9.99) With Pages, Apple has created an extremely powerful word processing application on a mobile device. Containing Templates, advanced layout tools, and easy-to-use touch commands, Pages makes putting together papers easy and efficient. Pages also offers the ability to export documents to Pages ’09 for the Mac, Microsoft Word, or PDF, ensuring compatibility regardless of what your specific campus. Source
4. Numbers. (Price: $9.99) Numbers is the spreadsheet version of Pages, with the same compatibility and feature list offered with its word processing counterpart. It makes creating spreadsheets on the go simple and effective. Numbers offers exporting compatibility with Numbers ’09 for the Mac, Microsoft Excel, and PDF. Source
5.NotesPlus – Nominated in two categories in 2010 for Best App Ever, NotesPlus is a winner. Handwrite your notes and personalize them by font, color or “pen” size. Distinguish important material by colors or doodle the name of you and the hottie in your class ala 6th grade style. Handwriting, typing and audio recording are all supported in this app. Source
6.Read It Later – Similar to online “bookmarking” the Read It Later app allows you to read articles and webpages without an internet connection. Whether you’re on a plane, train or automobile get the information you need. The Read It Now app is an all-in-one place to save your bookmarks without cluttering your browser or email; tied to a single account you can access your reading material on your phone, home computer, work computer, and wherever else you may need those important files. And the best part, it’s free! Source
7.PDF Expert: I purchased several PDF readers and have to say that, for me, the winner is hands down PDF Expert. It’s simple to annotate (and not too costly). Then, to top it all off the new auto sync with my Dropbox!!! I am in heaven. I can access my annotated notes from any computer via my Dropbox account. This is exactly the feature that all Grad students need. Many other features make this my #1 iPad App for Grad students. Besides, it’s just better for the environment, too, when there’s no need to print. Source
8. Documents To Go (invest in the Premium version for 16.99) – Allows you to view and edit Word documents and Google Documents. Once again, this app allows syncing to your online Google Doc accounts… so important in my opinion. Source
9.AudioNote. With the ability to record without a time limit and annotate recordings, you may feel a little better about daydreaming during lectures. AudioNote also allows you to share with other users so you and your classmates can benefit from each others’ notes. ($4.99)Source
10. HQ: To Do & Task Lists. With all that work you might go crazy trying to remember all your responsibilities. With HQ you can maximize productivity by creating color-coded task lists with progress and deadline indicators. ($2.99) Source
11. Cram. Easily create flash cards and multiple choice tests to study for your exams, so maybe you just won’t have to cram! (3.99) Source

1. Present yourself in professional attire. – Business casual/suit all preferable. Message is “dress for success”. If you are wearing just a jacket and no pants, it’s no good. Your mind needs to think that you are preparing for something important. Also, your grace (i.e. interviewer) could ask you to stand up.
2. Professional setup – Take your interview in a most professional environment. Clean up your desk; Turn your table facing a clear wall; Close your door so no one can interrupt you; Keep a notepad, pencil and a glass of water. Also, check the background light – neither too dark nor to bright.
3. Test your mic and webcam. Call your brother or sister or friends and have casual conversation. At the end of the conversation, ask if they were able to hear properly. If you are experiencing voice-breakup or the call is dropping, better check your internet connectivity. Also, ask your sibling or friend if they can see you properly without delays or frozen screen. If you are not able to fix any of the problems, let you interviewer know before the start of the interview.
4. Check the room temperature – adjust the thermostat accordingly; See you can’t do this in face-to-face interview. I found out that I was able to best perform when it is more chilling. It’s just me.
5. Before the interview, make sure you know who is going to initiate a call. If not, call the admission office and ask clearly.
6. Make yourself available 20 mins before the call; Some colleges do skype testing, which could disrupt your mental state.
7. Make sure no other program is running in your laptop or computer. Close browser/explorer/etc.
8. Prefer to get a call on phone; Even inform your interviewer that you could call them if possible. Some interviewer will allow it. If you are using Skype for voice call, make sure you speak slowly as it is known to have problem.
9. Pass proper pleasantries to your interviewers. Remember their names.
10. Once you get a turn to speak, first let them know about any ensuing system problem/voice drop.
11. Maintain proper eye contact and “SMILE”. Do not forget to smile.
12. Don’t come too close to webcam. Maintain proper distance.
13. Do not make any unusual facial expression. This happened with me. I said something wrong and grimaced. Be confident. Apologize if something went wrong.
14. If you are not able to listen to your interviewer, apologize and ask them to repeat. While apologizing, you can say that you are having problem with your internet. They will understand.
15. If you are unsure about the question, apologize again and clarify it.
16. Show your hand moments only if required.
17. If your legs are shaking, don’t worry. They can’t see you. But try to calm yourself down. And don’t shake your body.
18. While replying, still maintain eye contact. Don’t stare up or down. You can probably do in face interview. But in skype interview, it connotes wrong intention. The interviewer may think you are looking some prepared answers.
19. This goes without saying. The remaining format of the interview is the same. Be clear, confident. Answer with personalized examples. Ask any question if you have.
20. During your interview, sit straight. Your body language is still very visible to everyone else.
21. At the end, finish the interview with the closing arguments. Thanks them for their time and apologize for any inconvenience.
22. Take your time to shut off the webcam and mic before you talk to your family. If mic is on, they can still hear you.

Just for the sake of discussion, what is your source of funding? You can use the poll or comment…..If you haven’t thought about it, it is not too late to at least mentally outline the source….

As I continue to research for suitable and stable sources of funding, I will share my experience….

But before I take you to this journey, let me tell you one thing – I am not a typical candidate. I have lived in both India and the United States. Now the kicker for me is that I can’t get any bank loan because I don’t hold the permanent residency in either country. So it is much more difficult to go to bank and ask for regular student loan.

In my next post, I will talk about the student loan for NRI….Stay tuned.

Hong Kong, China, is easily one of the most interesting cities in the world and has a little bit of something for everyone. If you are studying Asian cultures, international business, or economics, this is a great place for you to study abroad. However, if you are studying Mandarin Chinese, you should not study in Hong Kong because they speak Cantonese. However, it is still a great location to study abroad. Here are our tips for some things you should do while studying abroad in Hong Kong to really get a feel for the city and take advantage of some of the things it has to offer.

1. Learn about Hong Kong’s history. The Hong Kong Museum of History is a very informative museum about the history of this city. There are short movies and displays throughout the museum, which makes it more interesting than your average museum. I think the most interesting displays are those which deal with the city’s more recent history. The museum is only 10 HKD and is free on Wednesdays, so it is a budget-friendly way to spend a day. The museum is quite large, so allow for at least half a day to really see everything. Some other museums you should check out are the Hong Kong Space Museum and the Museum of Art.

2. Escape from the city in Lamma Island. Lamma Island is about a 30 minute fast ferry ride from the Central District of Hong Kong. Lamma Island is a great place to escape the hustle-and-bustle of the city for a day in favor of fresh seafood restaurants, hikes around the island, and some time at the beach. Some of the hikes on this island will give you fantastic views, so make sure you bring your tennis shoes and comfortable clothes to explore in.

3. Have a drink and watch the action at Lan Kwai Fong. This little area is home to some fun bars and pubs. It is also a great place to do some people-watching, especially during Halloween, Christmas, and New Years, when people dress up and party in the streets. There are many establishments in this area, so you are sure to find at least one that appeals to your tastes. You should go here on a Friday or Saturday night and plan to spend at least a few hours here. Go to Marlin if you want a margarita or other tequilla-fueled-drink; theirs are by far the best in Hong Kong!

4. See the aquariums and ride the rides at Ocean Park. This theme park is a really fun place to spend a free day. The park features traditional theme park rides, an aquatic zoo, and the Ocean Theatre. My favorite part are the seal shows at the aquariums. Most of the food is overpriced here though, so you might want to bring snacks with you or be prepared to shell out some cash. Buses run from the city to the park fairly often, but I recommend going earlier in the day to beat the crowds.

5. See Ten Thousand Buddhas at Man Fat Sze. Make sure you are wearing comfortable shoes when you come here because you have to climb many steps to get to the top of the hill where the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery is located. However, as you walk, you will get to see many different Buddha statues, which gives you an excuse to take a lot of photos and rest as you climb. The view from the top of the hill is beautiful and well worth the climb. This isn’t exactly what I would call a tourist spot, but it is worth the effort to visit it at least once while you are studying abroad in Hong Kong.