MBA Applicant Blogger Interview Kruthikas Journey

Next up in our series of featured MBA applicant bloggers is Kruthika, author of the blog, The MBA Journey. Please enjoy Kruthikas 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? Kruthika: I am Kruthika Rathinavel, 25 years of age, currently working as an IT consultant at Logica Pvt Ltd. in Chennai, India. I was born and brought up in Tamil Nadu, the southern state of India, and did my schooling at the Cluny Convent (founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny) in Neyveli. I obtained my Bachelor of Engineering (with honors) in Electronics and Instrumentation from Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani (or, BITS Pilani, as it is famously known), which is one of the premier institutions for Engineering in India. I started my career as an IT Consultant at Logica Pvt Ltd. I have learned so much in the last three years at the organization. As I progressed, I started to participate in employee engagement events, and slowly took part in organizing the events. Today, I am an elected representative of the Special Interest Group (Employee Engagement Club at Logica, India), organizing events that help employees maintain the work-life balance. Accepted: When do you plan on applying to business school? Which schools will you apply to? Do you think youll apply to a safety school? Kruthika: I am currently focusing on retaking the GMAT, considering my first attempt was not satisfactory. However, I am planning to apply to certain schools with my first GMAT score, focusing on strengthening other areas of the application. The following are some of the schools I am planning to apply to: Indian Business School, INSEAD Business School, NUS (Singapore), IE Business School (Spain), IMD (Switzerland), and NYU Stern. I am considering a lot of factors while applying to business school, including: Target school’s average, median GMAT score. Average age of people in the business school, together with my experience level. Tuition fee (should be affordable at least to a certain level). Job prospects. Of course, the ranking of the school. Location – how close it is to India? Accepted: Why do you want to go to business school? What are some of the factors motivating you? Kruthika: I know my potential, my strengths and weaknesses, and I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur. To fill in the gaps of my knowledge and understanding of the business world, as well as to develop my strengths, I need to go to a business school. Whenever I got stuck in a situation, not knowing how to handle it efficiently, the one thing that always struck me was get an MBA; the learning will strengthen the gaps. And so here I am, preparing to go to business school. Accepted: Does cost play a factor in where youre applying? Do you plan on applying for financial aid or scholarships? Has your current job offered to pick up part or all of your b-school tab? Kruthika: Cost definitely plays a role in applying to business school. I will definitely look for schools which closely fall within my means; but if I happen to get into a really good business school, then even if they are pretty costly, I will go for them. I will definitely be applying for financial aid/scholarships. Accepted: What courses or experiences or people have motivated you to go to business school? How? Kruthika: Getting into business school has always been my passion. My family runs a small business, and looking at how things have grown from scratch, I was always curious to learn the systematic methods of management. One other inspiration is my workplace. I witnessed my office grow from a few hundreds to thousands in just three years. The brand management, and organizational focus on the wellbeing of the employees impressed me so much, that I now want to learn how to address all this methodically. One more important factor that drove me to apply to b-schools is the event organization activity that I have undertaken at Logica. This role requires good communication abilities and the need to deal with things systematically. And more importantly, it requires the ability to lead and manage a group. Fine-tuning my skills as a good leader is essential going forward in my career path. All these factors led me to apply to b-school. Accepted: Do you have topics in mind for your MBA application essays? Kruthika: Regarding application essays, yes. I have a basic idea of how to go about cracking my essays, but I guess it is just the beginning. If required, I might get help from Acceped.com as well. Different schools look at application essays at different priority levels, so I think it is good to consider all the factors before diving into writing essays. Accepted: Good answer – especially that part about seeking help from us! Finally, why did you choose to blog about the MBA application experience? Kruthika: Blogging/writing has always been my passion. Something you are passionate about will automatically trigger you to perform better in any related field. Apart from being my passion, blogging brings me closer to related peers. My blog has been a gateway to knowing and interacting with people of closely related interests. It brings me closer to the MBA circle. In fact I got to learn a lot more about GMAT preparation/MBA applications through my blog. And you have contacted me through my blog. In addition to the above, my blog serves and will continue to serve as a reference for future MBA applicants. In my MBA blog, you will find information about my progress, but my personal blog talks about my areas of interest. Though I have not been able to spare enough time to my personal blog, I have plans to make it better. And for me, writing a best-seller is one of my long term dreams. And I guess a blogging platform is a tester to learn/improve on your writing skills. Do you want to be featured in Accepted.coms blog, Accepted Admissions Almanac? If you want to share your MBA admissions journey with the world (or at least with our readers), email us at mbabloggers@accepted.com.