a UCLA Anderson MBA experience

Jakarta Bombing on Two Luxury Hotels: Marriott and Ritz-Carlton

2009-07-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

I am vacationing in my home town when this morning, I received news about two subsequent bombings in Jakarta's luxury hotel: JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton. Nine were pronounced dead and 50+ injured during this bombing attack. It's a sudden flashback on the previous 2003 bombing at JW Marriott where my friend was having a meal at Marriott and the bombing occurred (thankfully she is fine).

It's been 4 years since the last bombing in Indonesia had occurred and we are again reminded that this country may not be as safe as we had believed. Some says that this occurrence is related to the recent president election but again who knows for now.

Some pictures of this attack from an Indonesian website here.

*picture shown is courtesy from detik.com

Business Idea?

2009-07-15T18:43:00.000-07:00

There are some arguments that said Business schools make entrepreneurs-wannabe to be scared to start their own businesses instead of prepare them. I can see that. When researching about starting an online jewelry site that sells bangles/bracelet to small wrist women (because i have a 5 1/4" wrist whereas an average size in US is 6.5") make me analyze the market (google trend, google search volume), create financial projections ( look into search marketing and potential click through to my website etc etc). And in the end leave me to conclude that there is too small a market for me to try.

Now when I start telling my friends/ fellow small wrist women about this idea, they say they LOVE and welcome the possibility to finally purchase a small bangle and would love to invest in my idea..

How about that?

I'm on to my next idea .. www.gotousschool.com which this time will not be bursted by too much over analysis..

update for my UCLA Anderson MBA blog

2009-07-10T00:28:00.001-07:00

Yes I owe you guys a ton of updates.. i cannot believe that the last I update was before I went to business school and now I've graduated..

Well let's see where to start.. I went in to UCLA Anderson in 2007.. looked into going into i-banking, consulting etc and decided that I didn't want to do any of those. I somehow ended up in a top high tech firm and loved my summer internship experience there. I was doing finance in the firm and love the fast paced high tech world in comparison to my old job and I'm going to return to the company to work in August! Thank God for the job offer.. it has really been tough this year to get a job for MBA students. I wouldn't be surprised if only about 60% of the '09 graduates have jobs by now.

Another update is that I will be staying in US for a lil bit longer than expected before.. I was planning to return straight to my home country but decided to extend a lil bit in US.. maybe permanently .. we'll let you know..

I'm still pursuing my entrepreneurial interest and hopefully will be able to start something before I turn 30..

So that's the super short update that I have for now, if you have any question at all.. feel free to drop me a comment!

Cleaning Up my Closet

2007-08-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

Okay 'tis bigger than my closet.. it's my whole room.. In my three years absence.. I had managed to stack all documents and stuff (3 years or 4 years old) in the drawers, cupboard, desk in my bedroom in Indonesia. Last weekend, I've decided to clean them all out.. guess what I've found : my acceptance letter to UCLA undergrad dated in 2003, my UCLA orientation binder from 2003, my junior highschool grade reports HAHAHA.. I have lots of junks there...

but it makes me nostalgic that hey once more I'm at the same turning point in my life where I'm going to US for school.. pretty crazy.. Also remembered that in 2003, before school started, I had decided to perm my hair ( a decision which I had just repeated a few weeks ago and I have been regretting ever since ).. bad hair day for the next 6 months!!!

Anyway, life's good! My last day at work today, will get my salary in hard cash (coz I have no saving account here :P) and hopefully not spend it all out in one weekend.. This weekend is going to be an interesting one though ;) I shall NOT update you guys hahaha ..

Happy fall!

Freaking out

2007-08-26T07:46:00.000-07:00

Summer is going to end soon... ohhh... nooo....... In one hand I feel excited... school is starting, I'll be busy.. at the other hand I'm gonna leave Indo.. my friends and my family here :'( I can't believe I've been home for 3 months ..

It's been a really great and different Summer this year.. Met with lots of ppl, new friends, old friends, interesting friends, new found close friends.. Must say that I've learnt a lot from this summer (career wise, relationship wise, my point of view, friendship)..

Going back to LA in 2 weeks time!! Darn time fliess...

dya believe in Horoscope?

2007-08-18T03:03:00.000-07:00

Libra

The Bottom Line

Unpredictable changes will make this day different from the day you planned.

In Detail

Today will start off like a cuddly lamb, but it could evolve into a growling lion before you realize it. Unpredictable changes will pop up throughout the day, which could send you down a much different path than you've mapped out. Luckily, these changes will create some amusing moments in your day, so you won't mind altering your plans too much. Expect someone to offer you an apology when none was necessary -- assure them that they don't need to feel bad.

Leadership

2007-08-18T02:28:00.000-07:00

Had to go and see the company's big boss today because I had to ask for his signature in the acquisition document. I was supposed to get his signature by Thursday but had forgotten to ask for one document. So there I was, on a Saturday morning non-working day, going to the big boss' house to get his signature..

When I got to his place, he was surprised to see me.. he thought I would have asked someone else to get his signature (couriers or drivers - common in Indonesia) and the craziest thing happen.. he told me "sorry to have bothered you..."

And I'm like thinking.. hermmm this is actually my fault that I didn't know he need to sign this document on Thursday and I'm his employee who needs to get my work done so technically I should be the one who said sorry to bother him on a Saturday morning non-working day to his house.. and there he was... the big boss.. saying that he's sorry to have bothered me..

I told him no it's my fault.. but at the same time am very amazed with this kind of leadership. I've heard of his family's leadership style -pretty known family in Indonesia- who is famous as humble leader and who respect its employees. But hell.. this is beyond! If I were in his shoe, I would have thought nothing of my (going to his place to get his signature) act.. I would have thought: hell yeah you should finish this job and I would have never thought of even saying sorry ...

Maybe it's the influence of Eastern culture ( where ppl are really polite and saying sorry for everything -which I can never understand) but this taught me a valuable lesson - of respecting people who work for you and to be a humble leader.. I have the utter most respect to this family and its leadership style and will always remember this lesson.

Will's question

2007-08-06T23:55:00.000-07:00

William's queston :
Found your blog from admission411 website and it's very interesting.

Well, I have some questions related to the MBA interviews + goals and was wondering how you tackled them.

About myself. Born in Jakarta, went to Spore for my secondary school, skip JC, went to US for B.S. in Computer Engr and worked for the past 3 years in the semiconductor company.

I kinda take the whole application for granted. Didn't prepare much and I am sure my essays are very vague. Got dinged by 4 schools and invited to 1 school after I raised my GMAT from 650 to 710 (I think I was lucky enough to given a second chance).

Ok, here are the questions. Btw, thanks a lot.

1. How do you tackle leadership question? What are they actually looking for? The significance? I don't have any supervisory role at work. But I did become Permias President in college. =p

2. Failures. How did you tackle this? I read from the interview guides that they just wanted to know how I rebounce and learn from failures. But, somehow, those failures cannot be just like "lazy" etc. Cannot be too simple and cannot be so huge that there are no recourse.

3. This is a long one....
- In my essay which is very vague, I said that I want to be an entrepreneur in high-tech service provider. Then, I said for my short term MBA goals is to be an equity research analyst.
- Not sure what I was thinking then, but I know it's pretty hard to make the connection of going to IB as research analyst and the long term goal to be an entrepreneur. For most of the Indo student in the US, it's pretty common to go back to be an entreprenur.
- Do I need to have an viable business idea to begin with to tell the interview? How much detail I should be?
- I think I will drop the research analyst short term goal argument (I wanted to say that I want to become an analyst so that I can raise my own capital for my start-up company. Pretty lame, I know...)
- Instead, I am thinking management consulting dealing with start-up for my short-term MBA. Will they buy it?

Ok that's all. Thanks a lot for any help / comments. My interview is on 17th August (Indo's National Day). I hope it's a sign that I will WIN. =p

My Answer:

Hey Will,
shoot me an email for more question next time at little_cute_one@yahoo.com

To answer your questions :
1. For my leadership question. I wrote about a situation where I implemented a new procedure thus I highlighted on initiative, ability to influence people and ability to carry out a project as well as ability to be a flexible leader. Now in writing about leadership question: bear in mind that the adcoms will read thousands situations that show leadership experience so you want to kinda personalize your experience. Other than just showing the problem - how u respond - end result, also talk about why you solve the problem that way, what characters of yours are shown through the process, what you learnt from this experience. I think for most essays, they really just want to learn more about why you did something and what you learnt from it.

2. Failure essay. I didn't write any failure essay. But if I were to write a failure essay, I would first think about a specific incident where I had failed and see how I have learnt from it, how from that experience I have learnt to not make the same mistake again, or how the failure has changed myself, how it has prepared me better if something like that is to occur again. I think writing about a big failure is okay because certainly it has a bigger impact on you no? My take on essay writing is to concentrate on how the events have impacted myself.. Maybe other people who read this can offer help?

3. Haha I did this same mistake of having a vague short term and long term goals essay. I think it'll really hurt if you dont have a clear goal in mind. How detailed should the goals be? Just make it as detailed as you can envision it. Make the Short term in line with the long term goals as well.. 2 years ago I made the same mistake of not being clear about my goals because I thought how can I write something that I am not sure about.. but I started talking to other people and they told me yup you have to be clear about the goals even though you prob wont end up doing it... So your IB research analyst and then high tech start up haha.. yeah that's hard to argue.. Consulting dealing with start up? herm is it like general consulting right? Is there a specific field of consulting that deals with Start up? ( u have to check on that.. have to back up ur stories with facts). If I were you, I think a short term goal in technology company will make more sense.. or consulting with tech specification. Don't you think? Because if you return to Indo, you will need to have a competitive advantage over other ppl.. get your domain knowledge in tech first and start a tech company in Indo. ok so how detailed does ur essay have to be? I said I wanna go into Global consumer product to learn about the market dynamics.. (marketing, strategy, data analysis) and then with my previous finance working experience, I will go into microfinance in Indo.. well I think it's pretty specific.. for you.. u can say Short term of consulting or tech works, and then combined w something about ur previous working experience, u're gonna open a tech company in indo..

B.A.L.I

2007-08-03T02:27:00.000-07:00

Been such a bore lately with my stories bout work and all aint I? Well BORE NO MORE.. Heading to Bali tonight!! Anyone out there heading Bali too?? Luckily I have a friend who works in Bali so tonight he's taking me to check out the night scene in Bali.. a much needed distraction.. I'm only gonna be there for 2 days! Oh MI! Bali is about 3 hours away by flight from Jakarta?? So since I gotta work on Monday, I must be back in town by Sunday night..

I'm also going to Jiwa Spa at Conrad Hotel. Gonna be my first time going to Spa ever.. well I'm actually going for this traditional "lulur" package - an Indonesian spa sort of - Don't ask me what it is .. as I said.. my first time..

So I WAS planning to go with only friendss.. and haD been able to drag my galfriend to Bali.. and then somehow her mom comes into the picture and then my aunty and my cousin (my aunt and the gf's mom are bestfriends) and in the end my mom.. so there you go 3 gals and 3 moms going.. Not complaining coz I'm going to leave the moms in the hotel tonight :P sorry...

Well so my previous trips to Bali had always been filled with Shopping and Food.. Well this time around we're going to the beaches... haha okay i shall stop this excitement :)

Now for my previous trip ...... I went to Hong Kong.. HAHA first time there.. Visited my banker friend who works in HK. Dang I met up with SOOOO many bankerss in 3 days, it's a shame I don't want to do IB. Seriously! I met with associates, associates-turning-directors, banker-turns-PE... (What's the noun for someone who works at Private Equity? analyst at PE??) Anyway you get the point.. the night scene is pretty nice except that it's really hard to get to any clubs without reservations/VIP/ opening up a table. Kinda like Clarke-Q in Singapore but better clubs. The food is goodd... haha well actually I didnt try the street vendor foods coz my friend has only been there for a while and am not familiar with cantonese.. but I did manage to try good dim sum, chinese food, and REALLY GOOD Lobster Pasta.. (Italian food, i know!)

The view in HK is breath-taking! (See the pic above, I took it while at this lounge at the top of the building) Seriously! it's like this beautiful city scene surrounding your life... or maybe because I only went within 7 miles of the heart of the city.. The shocking thing is that I didn't shop at all there.. not a single item.. not a HK souvenir t shirt.. I don't know.. they have HUGEE malls but I just wasn't in the mood to shop.. I did manage to get around the city by myself when my friend was working.. through the bridges that connected the malls.. (Don't judge me.. the city is FILLED with malls and the malls are connected with these bridges..) I basically walked my way from the apartment to three different malls using these bridges...

Okay so that's my summer travel..
Oh got my UCLA parking permit! yai

Happy birthday, Paris!

2007-07-29T23:02:00.000-07:00

Paris is 3 years old today.. well okay 29 July 2007.
Happy birthday baby!

Apartment hunting

2007-07-26T00:18:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna talk about apartments near UCLA, especially those that allow dogs.. Hahaha since I have a dog, i know how H A R D it is to find a pet friendly apartment in LA..

So this listed below are apartments that allow dogs:
1. www.westsiderentals.com ( got mine from here) but remembering that everyone is using this listing, you really have to be quick to get an apartment
2. Westside Villas try 310 4703141 - am not confirmed bout the phone number but google them( they have a few locations : Santa Monica, Purdue, Beverly Glen) and they allow dogs.. they are quite pricey if you are looking to live on you own
3. Century West Properties they have the listing of available apartments online. some allow dodgs some don't
4. Archstone Apartments - expensive but nice.. the nearest one to UCLA is in Sawtelle I believe..

Now let's not forget our feline friends: most of the apartments stated above should be cat-friendly as well.. also try Barrington Plaza on Wilshire, Villa Azure near Howard Hughes, Westside Terrace on Sepulveda.

Other apartments ( may not be pet friendly ):
http://www.pbmmgmt.com
http://www.lrapm.com
http://www.kmkmanagement.com
http://www.rstrents.com
http://www.mdrents.com
http://www.roque-mark.com

Good luck with apartment hunting.. I'm staying at my current apartment. Was planning to move in with my best friend who's taking care of Paris at the moment coz she has a dog too, but her job is not near UCLA :'(

Going off

2007-07-25T08:10:00.001-07:00

Haha I managed to squeeze some holiday time despite my internships.. Am going off (out of Jakarta) this weekend to visit a friend.. and then next weekend I'm heading to Bali.. yeahh babyyy.... Bali here I come :) Anyone wanna join me??

Pretty excited.. hahaha.. though I'm so gonna be exhausted when Mondays come.. ah well..

This weekend.. hehe I need some time off to forget my problems.. forgetting the past, embracing the future.. moving on.. Next weekend Bali.. same agenda :)

The party! How could I not mention it.. It was fun :) Met with long time friends whom I've not seen for at least 3 years.. some for probably 4 or 5 years.. One pet peeve though.. Indons like to flake.. Many people cancelled or didn't give notice of not coming to the party :| must get used to this.. hah.. Met also with new friends.. It's funny tat now I'm hanging out with my blog readers in Indo and we click pretty well (hollaa to u guys ;P )

Btw I met up with some gals at my party last weekend along with MBA grads from Kellog and Berkeley and we were discussing about how some people go to MBA to find a partner.. or how often MBA students whose partners are not B school students would dump the partner and date another B student.. :P or even divorce the partner and hook up with a B school student.. (I've been told............... I cant confirm it.. but they said it happened in both Berkeley and Kellog) .. And the gals told me to start up a blog ( they didnt know i have one) to talk about the eligible bachelors in B schools.. HAHAHA

Another joke would be that a gal would graduate not only with an MBA but also a Mrs.

Hohoho since I'm returning to Indonesia, I'm def not in this boat.. hehe but I'll try to confirm these stories..

On another note, my other Indonesian scholars are meeting up tomorrow in Singapore.. sigh.. too bad I couldn't join them.. In 1998, there were 40 of us went to Singapore to study for our O level.. It's crazy but they're like my close friends.. we don't necessarily keep contact with each other constantly, but there's that bond that connects us.. 40 teenagers having fun/studying together in Singapore.. miss those days :)

Let's see if I need to mention anything MBA related.. I got my student visa.. Heard another Indo gal got her I-20 from UCLA as well, the other Indo guy hasn't gotten his yet.. think some international students at UCLA haven't gotten theri I-20s and getting anxious bout it.. Hang on u guyss.. they're coming (that's what the International Student Officer said in the email)

This whole UCLA thing is turning real as the months draw nearer.. more emails from UCLA to prepare us ( to configure laptop, sign up for email address etc etc.. ) wow.. I can't believe I've been in Indo for almost 2 months.. Am leaving in 5 weeks.. wow gonna b pretty sad bout it :'( many good friends in Indo to leave behind..

A life worth living

2007-07-22T05:09:00.000-07:00

I wonder if this is what banker does

2007-07-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

The company that I worked for is acquiring a bank which provide micro-loans to people. (Notice: Acquiring and Microfinance). Part of what I do day to day is of course learn about microfinance in Indonesia and how the loans are structured ( as compared to in Bangladesh/Phillipines/etc). Now the other part is spent in preparing the documentations to acquire this bank to be submitted the Bank of Indonesia.

The documentations work this way : meet with lawyer and the bank officers. Done with meeting. Lawyers disburse us some documents that we need to work on. Each party fill in the parts that each of them need to fill and collaborate in parts that they need to write together. Our company writes something, reviewed by lawyers, reviewed by the Bank officers, reviewed by us again, reviewed by lawyers again, reviewed by the Bank officers again ( totally not in order, anyone can review anyone's works).. Although this is not as tedious and painstaking as the process described at Monkey Business, I can only wonder if this is what Banker in M&A does... Is what is written in Monkey Business true? Someone enlighten me...

But anyway, I realize I enjoy working with people (read: go around meet people and not sit on my ass 8 hours a day which will drive me crazy one day)..

On another note, I'm throwing a party at my place this weekend! Wii.. what party? no ocassion just feel like throwing one.. The last one I threw a party at my house was in 2003 and really enjoyed it.. So updates later. Was planning to invite around 20+ /30 people but now the guestlist become 40 :O HAHA

My Internship Experience

2007-07-10T07:07:00.000-07:00

is different... I've been away from Indo way too long.. My first week at work and I had merely spent USD$1.4 for lunch at a very simple house-turned-restaurant. I had to walk on a small alley to get to this 'restaurant' ( small alley as in I can extend both my hands and that's how wide the alley is). That is by far the cheapest lunch I've ever spent on during my current stay in Indo... The food are served in a cupboard ( not fridge or hot stove) and people are free to pick the food themselves. From where I sat, I could see people washing plates using big buckets.. and thank God I could only see half of that room.. Well the food is good though.

Another experience would be that I had riden on a 'Mikrolet' ( see picture) once again after about 10 years. I was kinda hesitant on riding it but since my other co-workers wanted to ride 'Mikrolet' to get to the restaurant, I had to follow.. I couldn't be a spoiled whiner by refusing to ride on one.. So for you who don't undersand my hesitation... sometime it's not safe to ride on the public transportation in Indonesia (pick pocket, bully, etc etc )

These are all things that I had not done in 8 years ( since the last time I moved to Singapore for my high school). Funny thing is I didn't even remember missing these experiences.. These all seem a life time away from my time in Singapore or LA. HAH but I guess my going back to Indonesia this time really introduces me to life in Jakarta again. Had I join the XXX bank which is famous for recruiting overseas graduate, I would have never riden angkot or eaten at some random 'restaurant' ( coz in the building they will have clean and nice cafetarias or restaurants). Hanging out with my friends don't help either because most of the overseas graduates are already used to our overseas lifestyle that we wouldn't even think of doing this..

Okay so now about the job.. still interesting but sometime tedious.. Today for example, I just didn't feel like doing anything.. I miss the freedom to step outside and get coffeebean or starbucks (they dont exist in my office building).. to refresh myself /save myself from the sleepiness.

Now other than the job.. I had attended a friend's wedding during the last weekend. While I sat at the church, I couldn't help thinking bout.... Paris... and having Paris on my weddng day as the ring bearer.. Him wearing tuxedo, walking along a small cute girl in her green dress ( no pink thank you.. saw too much of it )
HAHAHAHAHA i'm sorry but that was what I was seriously thinking about..

and then there's this poem that is ringing on my head.. it was posted on my dentist's wall. In the past, while waiting to see him, I would stare at it and try to memorize it but I never could.. It's about love..
it said something about Love is not loud, it's not boisterous.. bla bla bla.. and I can't remember the rest.. a friend said taht it's from the bible.. 1Cor 13.. I didnt think so but still I couldn't find that full poem..

Steve Jobs' speech at Stanford

2007-06-29T18:54:00.000-07:00

Bluetulip had just posted steve jobs' speech during Stanford's commencement in 2005.

It's both sad and inspiring to read that speech for a second time, especially in this time of changes where I often ask myself am I following the right path or questioning God/Whoever why I meet that person and there has got to be a reason for everything..

I will try to follow this words:

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.

I got an internship

2007-06-26T02:22:00.000-07:00

at a start-up microfinance bank in Indonesia.. HOHOHO SO I'm pretty excited.. Going to start work tomorrow. And my visa interview is tomorrow too so wish me luck. You'll have a report of me crying tomorrow if my visa application is rejected..

arniway.. more on the internship : it's an institution that wants to acquire another bank and wants to inject more capital to the bank. It aims to be the first microfinance bank in Indonesia. So I'm gonna be this person (who will head the bank) 's personal assistant.. haha okay not a very glamorous job. but hey i'll take whatever I can get to learn bout microfinance in Indonesia. It's been pretty good since the past week I've been beefing up on my readings bout microfinance. Had finished reading "Banker to the Poor" by Muhammad Yunus, and a few other articles on microfinance in Indonesia.

Now this internship didn't really come smoothly.. I was actually interviewing with another XXX bank in Jakarta and was offered a position in marketing but then this microfinance offer came up and I couldn't let it go.. Funny thing is I actually got this MFI internship through this blog's reader.. Now wow.. who knows blogging could help me this way :) Thank you btw :)

Okay so I have no idea what my hours are like at this new job but I imagine it should be pretty hectic. Wish me luck :)

Other than this internship, I've been meeting with old and new friends in Indonesia. It's great to be back and socialize in Jakarta from a vaccuum of almost 3 years. I'm really excited about the opportunities available in Indonesia and will definitely return back to Indo in the LR.

On the down side, I actually have not been travelling much.. Haven't gone to Bali yet and I've also promised to visit a friend in HK.. Will update you guys and do share of your experience in waiting to start for B School..

In Memory of an Anderson MBA '07

2007-06-08T02:47:00.001-07:00

I never know Carl Peter Odebjer but I'm sure he will be missed by the Anderson family, his family and friends.

ASEAN Scholarships for Indonesia

2007-06-07T03:52:00.000-07:00

Click HERE for more info

The ASEAN Scholarships for Indonesia is tenable for 4 years leading to the
award of the Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education 'Advanced'
(GCE 'A') Level (or equivalent) certificate.

The Scholarship is for studies in selected Singapore schools from Secondary
Three to Pre-University Two and is renewed annually, subject to the satisfactory
performance of the scholar.

Students from Indonesia are welcome to apply for the ASEAN Scholarships for
Indonesia to enter Singapore schools at the Secondary Three level. Candidates
who are not short-listed for the scholarships will be considered for the Merit Awards.

Students who meet the following criteria are invited to apply for the scholarship.
1 Nationals of Indonesia
2 Between 14+ to 16+ years old
3 Sat for SMP 3 National Final Evaluation Examination (EBTANAS/UAN) and
have done consistently well in school

Any dates given below are tentative and are subject to changes.
1 Application period - 2 June to 20 July
2 Selection test dates - mid August
3 Selection interview dates - late September
Candidates short-listed for the selection test/interview will be notified a week
before the selection test/interview dates
4 Award of scholarship - early to mid October
5 Arrival of scholar in Singapore - late October

1 Singapore Consulate in Pekanbaru
2 Singapore Embassy in Jakarta
(Address: Embassy of the Republic of Singapore
Gedung Graha Surya Internusa
19th Flr
Jln HR Rasuna Said Kav X-0
Jakarta 12950 Indonesia)
3 Singapore Ministry of Education

Please click here to download the application form

The selection tests and interviews will be conducted in the following cities:
1 Medan
2 Jakarta
3 Surabaya (if there are sufficient candidates)

1 Allowance of S$2,200 (Secondary) / S$2,400 (Pre-University) per annum
with hostel accommodation
2 S$400 settling-in allowance (once only)
3 Economy class air passage to Singapore and back to home country upon
completion of course
4 Waiver of school fees and donation to the Education Fund
5 Waiver of GCE 'O' and 'A' Level examination fees (once only, if applicable)
6 Subsidised medical benefits and accident insurance cover
7 Bridging courses (if applicable, in Singapore before start of course)
8 THERE IS NO BOND ATTACHED TO THE SCHOLARSHIP

Update on Books

2007-06-05T02:23:00.000-07:00

So I've done some book reviews in the past. Just to close the Monkey Business review : IB doesn't suit me..

Now on other books :
I just finished reading Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends & Influence People.. Great book!!! Wow.. It's definitely a must read. He proposes communication principles with real live examples from his classes and that really convinces me of his principles. It definitely has helped to me revamp how I deal with people : to see from the other person's perspective.

Just an example : I was in the doctor's office a few days ago. The doctor was supposed to be in at 9am and I was his first patient. 9am he's not there.. I waited.. 9.15am.. still not there I'm getting irritated.. 9.20am still no sign of him. The ipoel in the past would have gone to the nurse/receptionist and asked irritatedly what time the doctor would come and could she please contact the doctor to come ASAP..

Now having read the book and it said that the other person(the nurse) doesn't give a damn if I'm irritated of waiting etc.. and I should try to be friendly in communicating my needs as to make the other person WANTS to help me. So that's just what I did. Gulping down my irritation of the late doctor, I came over and greeted the nurse nicely and asked if she knew what time the doctor would come and if she could possibly inform the doctor that I was waiting and not to forget to thank her...

Welll she did help me call the doc and said that the doc is nearby.. Did it help make the doctor come earlier? NO.... but at least it leaves me in a better mood while waiting in that room..

So yeah good read!

Now I'm moving on to the "Play Like a Man, Win Like a Woman" book after I had read the "Nice Girls don't Get the Corner Office" just a few weeks earlier.. Pretty similar advices...

Next I'm gonna read the "Rich Dad Poor Dad" book.. boy I really have nothing to do eh?

Summer is Coming and I have Nothing to do

2007-06-03T21:09:00.000-07:00

CFA has come and gone.......

IT WAS BAD........................... OMG... I have to guess my answers like 50% of the time................. It was like....... now let's see... which one sounds right? which one looks right?

oh well.. now that CFA is over.. I found myself... listless... ( okay fine fine i know i've been waiting to get it over with) but I now have nothing to do.. I have this stupid sore throat as a reason for me to rest and lay low, but once this illness is gone, I have to plan something.)

Few choices :
1. try to get internship
2. join chinese class + painting class + go travelling with family

HAHAHA which one should I pickk??

oh btw, my I-20 is on the way... YAI......................................

About CFA from MaybeMBA

2007-06-02T03:36:00.000-07:00

SO longgggg time agoooo I said I would write a post on CFA.. but I never did.. Luckily, maybeMBA has posted a very thorough post on CFA.

So enjoy :)

Modern Day Slavery

2007-05-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

Slavery is still happening even in US. I wonder why there's not much coverage on this bizarre event in US news.

A wealthy NY couple is charged with slavery.

Steak : Carlitos Gardel

2007-05-23T23:45:00.000-07:00

Alright, alright I'm supposed to be studying for my CFA but I'm always distracted to post on foods...

Next :

Carlitos Gardel
Argentinian Steak Restaurant

7963 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA
90046

Phone: (323) 655-0891

LOVE their steak :

Ojo de Costilla a La Criolla

Tried the garlic fries.. not v impressed. Fresh fries but I was never a fries-freak. Do a half order if you guys want to try it. Tried the famous empanada with spinach filling as well. Pretty good.

I will say that the steak is comparable to Mastro's

Sweet Lady Jane

2007-05-23T23:36:00.000-07:00

As promised, another hang-out place in LA that I often go to is Sweet Lady Jane. I always get their Tripple Berry Cake. Service is infamous, place is cramped, but the cake is sooo gooodddd.... My friend loves their Carrot Cake and Tiramisu (only available on Friday and maybe Saturday)

Sweet Lady Jane

8360 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90069
323-653-7145
M-Sat 8.30am to 11.30pm
Sun 10am to 6pm

*smaller photos are from Sweet Lady Jane's website

Sample Sale in LA

2007-05-23T23:27:00.001-07:00

WHY.. Oh WHy.. does this sample sale happen when I won't be in LA anymore...
OH WELL! For girls out there who wanna check this out. Sample sale of lots of designers (past events have DVF, Miguelina, Park Vogel, Geren Ford) and jewelleries ( Uyen-uyen, Mabel Chong). It's more of those upcoming or new designers I believe... They're for the next coming season and around 50-70% off.
I've been to two events and really loved it. The stuff are still pricey despite the sale but worth it.

Billion Dollar Babes
at :

Ivar Studios
1525 Ivar Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90028

on June 8-June 10th, 2007

You have to sign up to attend! And oh, leave your boys at home.

Doing Business in a Men's Jungle

2007-05-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

I'm currently reading Monkey Business by John Rolfe and Peter Troob that describes about their lives as Investment Bankers once they were out of the top B-schools. Let's just say it reminded me about my worry of why I do not want to do IB: long hours, making tedious changes to pitch books, lots of booz and men and possibly MCP (male chauvinist pigs), boring works, crazy bosses.

But then again, I can't judge if I have not tried it so let's still put that IB in for my summer internship.

Reading this book, however, has reminded me of what I'd learned from working at my previous company. It was a predominantly men company at the analytical division. We do have a consulting division which I would say is composed of 60%male-40%female ( if not 65-35). Down at the analytical division though, female is a scarce commodity. My team had never hired a female until me and so that is 7 years without any female in team. To think further, in the analytic departments, there are only 3 finance-women. Me as an analyst, 2 others as senior associates. I'm not counting the MDs.. there are a few women MDs. I'm also not counting the few female programmers who work in my floor.

SO WHAT HAVE I LEARNED FROM THIS PREDOMINANTLY MEN WORLD?

1.YOU CANNOT BE HUMBLE! Tell others what you have done
I read an article that says female tends to downplay their works as compared to male. Which I feel is true. Before working here, I felt that people will always notice what you do and so you don't need to say that you've done so.. WRONG! If you're not putting in those extra hours after work, people won't know that you're working hard.. it's all about perception.
So I learnt to not be humble at work. If you know how to do it, TELL THE OTHERS YOU KNOW! Even if you don't, say you know and go find out afterwards ( that's what MEN DO!)
If you don't do this.. you'll be churned by the others ( Lesson well learnt by me )

2. BE SELFISH ( To a certain extent)
When your team members do not do their work, don't cover for them.
If a member is not in the office during a sudden meeting, too bad...
selfish? more like survival

3. PERCEPTION
I notice that people who were rewarded as hard-working in my office are those who SAY that they're busy all the time..
Q:"Hey wanna go for lunch?"
A:"Sorry busy"
Q: "Hey how are you?"
A:"Life is hell. I need to finish this project bla bla bla"
Seriously, act busy!

Okay that's all I can think of right now.. anyone wanna give some tips?
This reminds me of that book :
Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office

Actually, you know what I'm going to get that book right now along with Play like a Man, Win like a Woman book.

Another tips I read from the review of Why Good Girls Don't Get Ahead but Gutsy Girls Do

-Don't always need to be liked
-Don't smile too easily
-Don't apologize too quickly
-Don't clean up after other colleagues (especially men)
-Don't be a perfectionist at the expense of innovative thinking or getting things done

I'm going to second the first 4 tips!

Let's start with a list of websites you SHOULD know

2007-05-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

As a friend of mine was asking me about applying to Business School, I came up with a list of websites that an applicant should know :
1. admissions411 on details of applicants to each school
2. accepted.com - great for essays, interviews preparation
3. Clear Admit -submit your CV and you can get FREE initial assesment of your profile
4. Clear Admit's blog
4. Businessweek's Forum
5. Volunteer matching website
6. opencoder for a list of MBA blog
7. Wharton's MBA blog
8. MBA.com
9. The winner of Best of Blogging 2007 - rungee who's going to Wharton

Check out past posts on MBA books and encouragement

A long overdue reject by

2007-05-15T18:04:00.000-07:00

NYU finally come today. Oh well.....

Where is my I-20???

2007-05-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

Killing me.. I submitted my financial forms to UCLA around end of March and until now I'm I-20-less. First, they say they didn't get my financial statement. Now, they say they didn't have any data on what I did after my graduation from UCLA thus cannot provide me with my I-20 yet (my guess is that I need to show my H-1B working visa bla bla bla )

SIGHHHHHHHHHHH and I'm going back to Indonesia in 1.5 weeks.. come on chop chop.. OKAY well to be fair, the person who is taking care of this is sweet and helpful.

Other than that, my CFA is suffering. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna fail. I have 6 Schweser books and the test is on June 3rd in Jakarta. Right now, I have 2/3 a book to finish. But I have yet to do any of the practice questions.. Lalalalala...... okay haha I'm not exactly in a studious mood because of my pending vacation :P

Osteria Latini

2007-05-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

YUM.. look at my lunch today!! Hahaha this not-working-thing is going to hurt both my wallet and my waist line. Anyway, I went to Osteria Latini at Brentwood. The one I had is a spaghetti with seafood ( forget what it's called) and it's really yummy

Lots of customers there seem to be complementing their salads as well.. Btw, in case you've never been to LA.. women here LOVE LOVE to eat salad for lunch for whatever reason.. I'm more of a meat-eater..

Since I'm filling my day with food and studying for CFA, I figure I make a list of restaurants that I've been to as well so other admits/students know where to go in LA.. Definitely recommends this restaurant!

Osteria Latini
11712 San Vicente Blvd.
Brentwood, CA 90049
310.826.9222

Done with Work

2007-05-09T18:23:00.000-07:00

I'm done with work.. I quit... well last week actually ( and after extending one extra week stay from my supposedly quit day in April )

I'm both estatic and sad in leaving my job.. it is anyway my first ever job and I did learn much from the position... I'm saddest because I won't be seeing my wonderful co-workers, all who were supportive of my MBA journey and my personal well-being..

Now that I've quit but am still in LA, I'm spending my days by studying for my CFA level 1, basking under the SCORCHING sun along with Paris, making frequent trips to the fridge while studying and packing my stuff..

I actually had a phone interview with a consulting company in Indonesia yesterday and I had a CASE INTERVIEW.. haha which I sucked at because I do not have enough practice.. haha will let you know how that goes..

I had lunch today with my friend who is currently in Anderson and he's been influencing me to go into Investment Banking.. He says that since I have a background in finance anyway, I should pursue IB. He also says that IB likes to have more women and that they kinda lower the standards for women ( Don't kill me.. i'm just a messenger ) hahaha.. it's pretty tempting.. he says that my going to consumer product (Short term essay goal) is crazy because in Indonesia, I will be paid the same as or a little more than the local graduates ( fresh bachelor's monthly salary in Indonesia is $200 ).

So we'll see.. he says pursuing both Consulting and IB is still manageable and not as HARD as others would say.. Told me to pursue at least IB for summer.. tempting... tempting..

Oh well so that's the update for me......

H-1B

2007-05-03T18:18:00.000-07:00

I've just been told by my friend who's an Indonesian, had worked in the States previously before her MBA with her H-1B visa that after I graduated, I will certainly get an H-1B visa. THis is because before my MBA, I have already had an H-1B visa and thus I can use that lot again..

I'm not sure about how the process works but to know that I will definitely have an H-1B upon graduation is enlightening.. She found this out from an immigration lawyer who went to her B-school and talked about this..

On the other hand, I had just spoken to my friend who were applying for H-1B this year and she told me she didn't get it.. she said she didn't get the lottery for the H-1B and is returning to school. This is really bad news..

Update
From MBA Hairtwirler's comment :
If you had an H-1B in the past 6 years and have not left the U.S. for more than 365 days since being in H-1B status, you are not cap subject and can change your status to H-1B after you graduate. I'm going to write more on immigration matters in the next week or so...

Why not many women go to B school

2007-05-02T18:30:00.000-07:00

As many would complain why the ration of Men to Women in B school is 30-70% instead of the around 50-50 at Law school and medical school, the proposed reasons are :
1. B schools interfere with the age when women want to start to have family. The average working experience of 5 years mean women will enter B school at the age of 27. This maybe an obstacle for some ( definitely for Indonesian women remembering my parents/family nag for me to get married soon.. )
2. Lack of Role Model.. and here's where I want to point you GALS to this special report by Business Week on Women Entrepreneurs and role models of women entrepreneur
3. Gender stereotyping that believe men are better managers than women ( ERR... ?)
4. "Women tend to be more risk-adverse than men. Elissa Ellis, executive director of the Forté Foundation, says women are even more cautious than men about holding onto their jobs and forgoing B-school during a economic downturn, -- partly because women earn less and have less of a financial cushion."
5. "Curriculum. Until recently, the culture at many business schools was a boy's club -- replete with beer busts and golf outings. The classroom curriculum also tended to turn off females, who are usually more interested in using their careers to contribute to the greater good of society, according to Catalyst studies. Students add that the case studies rarely include women subjects or women-friendly businesses, which makes it harder for women to relate."

When God made You

2007-05-01T21:49:00.001-07:00

Sad song.. haha at least for me who is currently going through another heart break

UCLA Knapp Competition

2007-04-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I had the chance to attend the UCLA Knapp Business Plan competition.. ( more like crashed into ) since I'm the only admit there I think.. anyway it was exciting.. there were LOTS and LOTS of team giving a 30 min presentation in front of professors, guest Venture Capitalist and fellow students. Of the three presentation that I attended, two of them actually made it to the four finalists. That really helped in identifying what makes them tick :)

So one team was giving a presentation about Mr.Fob, a website that gives info on ethnic food and restaurants currently within LA. The team behind Mr. Fob also holds food tours ( Not so sure how often they hold it ) to ethnic restaurants in LA. Each person will pay $30 for the food tour and a food tour-guide will attend and give brief cultural background on the ethnic food. That is interesting :) they give presentation on how much funding they need, what the growth future for the business, the competition and how they can overcome it.. etc etc..

So that is interesting and for once, I'm impressed of the entrepreneur program in UCLA ( refer to my thought about Anderson day ). Last time, I didn't have a very good vibe on the entrepreneur program at UCLA because I feel that students merely want to ace in the class, however looking at how the students gave presentation at UCLA Knapp Competition really changed my mind. I guess it's more about if my interest is in Enterpreneurship, I should immerse myself with those who have common interest with me.

Why I think these students make it to the top four :
1. Data data data
2. If you have a business plan to show for the competition, it's best if you have realised the first few stages of your business idea to better prepare the business idea.
3. You can get a professional at other industry outside of UCLA to join your business team ( which the other team did by having a well-known doctor who had treated Glaucoma to join them )
4. Think about all the possible problems you may encounter in setting up the business
5. Practise presenting the idea

Now on a side note of the Kate Moss' picture : The yellow asymetric chiffon dress -inspired by this one that Kate wore - is FINALLY available! Kinda disappointed of the detail of the dress by TopShop so I won't buy it haha but others may be interested..

Girls out there, please be careful!

2007-04-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

Girls out there.. PLEASE BE CAREFUL! Especially those who're going to stuy or live in New York.. Why? This is a news about a Columbia graduate student who was raped and tortured in her apartment just a few weeks ago.

Things to note :
1. Buy a pepper spray!
2. Be paranoild like me and have 911 on your speed dial. Or if not, this accident can be prevented if you just talk on the phone with someone when you feel wary of a stranger. The stranger/ prospectful criminal may think twice before attacking you because you're on the phone with someone else
3. Try to live with a roommate. Cheaper, safer, and someone may be able to take care of you when you're sick
4. If you're in a public parking area and going to enter your car, please have your car key handy and get into your car quickly and lock the door. Do NOT stand in front of your car, trying to grab your key from your bag or worse sit in your car with your door open. You'll be a good target for this prospectful criminal.
5. Take self-defense classes..
6. Don't trade in your safety over rent price.. Try to find out the crime rate in the neighborhood you're interested in by checking out the local police website.
7. For international students who are coming to US/Europe/ other countries than their own and esp if you have never studied abroad.. please be cautios of others and your surroundings ..

read read read

2007-04-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

Okay I give up waiting for comments.. I'm following Iday's approach and am starting to read all the students' blogs one by one.. Thank God I did.. because there's a reason why they're writing those blogs.. For us the upcoming MBA students to learn and carve the best plan for our 2 years MBA experience....

Okay so I'm gonna be away for a while burrying myself in all the blogs :)

Vote for your favorite blog for BOB HERE!!

2007-04-16T20:56:00.000-07:00

So here are the list of nominees for BOB this year :

Applicant Bloggers:
AGirlsMBA - http://agirlsmba.blogspot.com
Anand - http://anandologue.blogspot.com
Asiangal - http://asiangalmba.blogspot.com
B-School Diva - http://bschooljourney.blogspot.com
Forrest Gump - http://run-forrest.blogspot.com
HairTwirler - http://mbajamey.blogspot.com
Iday S - http://i4iday.blogspot.com
Inblue - http://inblueblogs.blogspot.com
ipoel - http://youngmbagal.blogspot.com
JatWarrior - http://jatwarrior.blogspot.com
Juggler - http://thembasaga.blogspot.com
Katrina - http://katrinamba.blogspot.com
MBA babe - http://mbababe.blogspot.com
mba_salsera - http://mbasalsera.blogspot.com
Meru SAVARNI - http://merusavarni.blogspot.com
necromonger - http://onwardtomba.blogspot.com
Peter - http://aamba2009.wordpress.com
Rohit - http://wannabdictator.blogspot.com
Rungee582 - http://rungee582.blogspot.com
RusGirl - http://rusgirl.blogspot.com
ScareCrow - http://scarecrow07.blogspot.com
StressTensor - http://stresstensor.blogspot.com
Suser - http://susulicious.blogspot.com
TJ - http://flexibleimage.blogspot.com
UniQpath - http://uniqpath.blogspot.com

Current Student Bloggers:

Angel Angie (LBS) - http://angelangie2008.blogspot.com
Ash (Stanford) - http://gsb2008.blogspot.com
Ashwyn (IESE) - http://stereoscopy.blogspot.com
Benny (Tuck) - http://mba-benny.blogspot.com
Bronowski (Yale SOM) - http://brownoski.blogspot.com
Divine Miss N (LBS) - http://divinemissn.typepad.com
FM (LBS) - http://ehfm.blogspot.com
FromCali (Ross) - http://fromcali.blogspot.com
Hallonman (INSEAD) - http://hallonman.blogspot.com
Jacek (ESADE) - http://eumba.blogspot.com
Jerry Blank (Yale SOM) - http://flatpointmba.blogspot.com
J-Term Johnny (Columbia) - http://j-term-johnny.blogspot.com
Karlitos (LBS) - http://karlitosgoesmba.blogspot.com
La Laudiaria (Wharton) - http://heiressmba.blogspot.com
Le Voyageur (Chicago) - http://mbaperegrinations.blogspot.com
MBA Gladiator (Yale SOM) - http://mbagladiator.blogspot.com
Mbwana (Stanford) - http://mbwana.blogspot.com
Nagendra (Oxford) - http://nagsblog.blogspot.com
Noelle (IESE) - http://spanishnoelle.blogspot.com
Patxi (LBS) - http://commitment.es/mba2008
Perpetual Motion (Wharton) - http://perpetualmotion.wordpress.com
Rubeo Boy (Stern) - http://newlifecity.blogspot.com
The Dirty Canuck (Chicago) - http://the-dirty-canuck.blogspot.com
Tim K.(McCombs) - http://southpawtiger.blogspot.com
UCLADawg (Anderson) - http://ucladawg.blogspot.com

OKAY! SO THAT'S A LOT! And to be frank, I have not been following most of them.. I had definitely browsed most of the applicants' blogger but not so much of the current students' blogs.. SO I think this voting by the nominees will not be very fair ( assuming most of the nominees are like me.. which of course I might be wrong ) but anyway.. I'm calling ALL BLOG READERS to nominate your favorite posts!! Okay so then you guys will help me SCREEN for the posts... I will of course still read your nominations and pick my fave post :)

Nominees are welcome to nominate yourself too.. That will help me check out your interesting post.. because there's no way I will go through each nominee's postSS throughout the year..

For Example, let me start : I like my excerpts post for long term goal and family essays.. just to help applicants to really see a concrete essay. After being rejected in early 2006 from 4 top B Schools, I contacted a friend of mine who had gotten in to 4 even TOP-PER Bschool and ask if she's willing to share her essay with me. She's kind enough to share with me and that helped me identify my mistakes :
1. don't ramble too much about my jobs -> adcoms don't call about my daily tasks' details,
2. try to be very specific about your short/long term goal even though you're not very certain what it is..

What else.. I think my blog is different because it helps the applicants with a. less working experience or b. international applicants to get a feel what B school is really about. ( It's really all about the ALCOHOL ) jk.

Now my favorite post will be when I ask others what they REWARD themselves for getting into B school... BOY That one receives a hell lots of comments.. haha

OKAY you guys get the point, please vote for your favorite blog's post in my comment box ! KAY! deadline for me to vote is coming up

Excerpt from my Long Term Goal Essay

2007-04-10T20:17:00.000-07:00

In the past, I've posted excerpt from my family essay ( that I assumed help me get into Anderson ), so here's another one of my LT goal:

In a departure from the office, my recent trip to Indonesia has also helped me reshape my long term goals. I was accompanying my family to travel to remote areas of the country – the contrast in living condition between the locals and those living in the capital struck me profoundly. After much thought, I recalled the story of a businesswoman in India who had set up a microfinancing company to provide women living in isolated parts of her country with small business loans. These loans allowed the poor to advance their economic standing as well as attain their independence. I realized that the business model of microfinancing would apply equally well to the situation I had witnessed in Indonesia. My long term goal is therefore to set up a company that issues micro-loans in remote areas of my country in the near future. It is evident that my current work in the field of investment debt provides an excellent foundation, however, I intend to further develop my ideas at Anderson through its [say club name].

So, I hope you guys can note that from my two excerpts, I try to show :
1. something personal
2. something in the past that makes me what/who I am right now, makes me want to do something, explains my motivation for the future.. and that's why in the present I'm pursuing an MBA.. ah life is a circle ( HAHA I remember my literature class while studying "Joy Luck Club" : it's a circle. the begining is the end and the end is the beginning")
3. something different ( everyone will write about their work experience and how they go beyond the expected and bla bla bla.. this is good! Yes.. but try to inject something else.. something personal, some explanation why you went beyond)

Happy essay-ing!

B School Interview is different than job interview

2007-04-07T15:46:00.000-07:00

So how is it different?

At B school interview, the school wants to get to know about you as a person: your strength but also your weakness, your likes and your dislikes, your motivation as a person, your goals in life..

Job interview : the employer wants to know that you have MORE strength than you have weakness, your working style, your interpersonal relationship, your goals in alignment to the company's goal..

During my interview with USC, I let myself by me.. In asnwering " What's the most common misconception about you?"

I answer : I'm a very outgoing and bubly person that sometimes at work people don't take me seriously

Q: What do you not like about your job?
A: very detailed oriented and tedious as opposed to my working style that likes to take a look at the big picture

Okay IF that was a job interview, the interviewer would let me out the door after 5 mins..
But hope you guys get the picture, that's what others are saying when they give you advice to be yourself during interviews..

Now WHY didn't I know this Best of Blogging Award before

2007-04-06T10:38:00.000-07:00

As fate would have it, I'm nominated for the Best of Blogging 2007. Hell, why didn't I know this thing before.. and the winner gets an Ipod Video??? I want one too.............

But anyway haha Thanks for nominating me!! I'm honored..

Now for the story about Paris.. I haven't talked about him for a long time now have I:

I went home from work yesterday and found his vomit in front of the door ( Sorry.. gross ) but okay so I'm like.. great.. what now.. and then I saw to the left of it is ....

MY HAIR TONIC CONTAINER CHEWN..

OH SHOOT.............. Okay so I'm not as panic as I sounded because I immediately recalled that Paris had eaten : tylenol, my heartburn medicine, acne creams, PENSS, pencils..
I'm amazed I never had to take him to the vet

So he was pretty tired through out the night, didn't eat anything and just drank water. My first ALERT was when I gave him a new toy I had bought at Petco and he did NOT play with it.. We're talking about Paris who lovessss squeaky toy and would tear it apart in one day..

Hah.. I pretty much studied my CFA last night with him on my lap, making sure that he's still breathing. Did call the 24hr Vet and they said that it's a normal sign of eating something bad and I can go to the vet if I'm worried.. Good to know there's 24 hr vet service..

When I called the vet I was like : my dog ate my hair tonic and I don't know if he's having food poisoning..
Person on the other line : So what did he eat? What's the ingredients..
Ipoel scrambling to get to the box of this hair tonic.. and......... OF COURSE IT DOES NOT HAVE ANY INGRDIENTS written ot it .. because this tonic is from Indonesia and Indonesians do NOT list any ingredients on their products.. DARN
ipoel : I don't know.. it doesn't say anything
Other person : then I can't tell you if it's poisonous or not..

Okay so there you go.. anyway back to Paris.. he's fine now.. eating.. I'm actually working from home now to "monitor" his health.. hahahahaha

Tips on How to get to know a School more

2007-04-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

Any of you had that experience where you're in a B school info sessions and all these adcoms are around you.. but you have no ideas what to ask them?? or maybe you see other people are told to contact current students /alumns to ask about that school's particular MBA experience and you're like WHY... ISN'T IT ALL THE SAME?

Okay well I had that experience.. lotsssss of time.. As you guys remember about how I decide to pick schools is solely by location.

Well here are tips and explanation WHY you should try to find out about schools you're interested in and HOW.

Now the HOW :
1. Talk to current students/ alumns. And ask them: how do you like the program/school? Is it what you thought it would be before you join MBA? Is there anything you are disappointed about? Is there anything you really enjoy? What do you think about the professors or the clubs? Do you think you learn anything from B School? if yes, WHAT?

It'll help to talk to someone with the same background or long term goal as you have.. for example at the Q's bar just before Anderson day, I actually met someone who has similar background as I do.. it's almost insane :
He's from India, went to Singapore for scholarship for his undergrad ( I went on the same scholarship for my high school ) and then he worked in fixed income ( ME TOO ) and then he moved to LA to do his MBA at UCLA and he plans to return to Asia to be an entrepreneur..

WOW.. Really gives you insights..

2. Okay other than talking to current students/alumns, talk to professor/ staffs from the B School. I met with a few entrepreneur professors at UCLA and asked tons of questions : such as
- how can you teach Entrepreneur
- what's your program like
- how many of your students really become an entrepreneur after MBA
- name me some who are successful

ETc ETc ETC..

3. browsed the school's website , its international exchange program maybe if you're interested, take a look at the classes they offer, read the school's catalogue back to back

4. read all the blogs and forums about those schools and get a feel of HOW others view the school and also the rankings..

5. Okay I'm out of idea.. :)

ReCap on Anderson Days..

2007-04-05T23:35:00.000-07:00

I know.. it's a bit late that I would only go through my A days experience now... I went to the first A days (March 11-12). Although most of the people I met at A days are nice and friendly, this includes the admits and the seniors, I must say I didn't really bond too much with these students. Partly because I was too busy trying to talk to every Entrepreneur students and professors in Anderson. During that period, I was still unsure about whether I should really go on with my MBA plan or go back to Indonesia for good. So, I went to talk to every one who's related to Entrepreneurship there and just asked for his/her opinion.

Now about the Entrepreneurship in UCLA : must say that Bruins are v proud of their entrepreneur programs. It's not the best in the nation.. ( number 10 according to USnews ranking for Entrepreneurship) but yeah it's not bad. Anyway, I (speaking as an international student who's looking to return to Asia upon graduation and start my own business a few yrs after my graduation) am kinda disappointed with the program. I think that the program is great for students who want to do business here in US, but won't help much for biz in Asia.

Why? I have a feeling that the Entpreneurship program (possibly in the whole US) is more geared towards helping wanna-be-entrepreneurs to get funding from Venture Capitals... Which is totally wonderful and sensible.. ( IF you're gonna stay n do ur biz in US )...
There's also the fact that I FEEL the Entrepreneurship program is more talk than do.. U are taught to PRESENT your business ideas to the VCs, work the data and show them why your biz idea is brilliant.. BUT that's not what entrepreneurs are all about.. Entrepreneurs are about doing... not selling ur idea to get funding.. OF COURSE there are SOME who will work on their biz idea after they get funding.. but seems like the students are more into PRESENTING their ideas to get good grades..

NOW HOW do I come to this conclusion : I went to one Business Plan Development class.. and well I believe about 30% of the students are going to work on their business ideas.. UCLA also has fellowships.... where if you want to work on ur biz idea during ur Summer, U can apply for this grand to make it happen.. Of course.. this is brilliant.. though i doubt many students will do that..

OKAY SO anyone who wants to do entrepreneurship in UCLA should not be discouraged because of my post. I think it's what you want to gain out of the program... I've definitely met with lots of determined entrepreneurs who are concurrently working on their business while doing their MBAs.. yes, their paths are not as straightforward as those who want to do Investment Banking or Consulting but UCLA still help you with their Knapp Competition (business plan) or fellowships program!

Yes that's my insight of the Entrepreneurship program here.. which may be useful if you have the same long term goal as I do..

Overall: the people are nice and friendly. Pretty dominated by Californian people : NorthCal, SouthCal. But meeting people from Chicago, NY, Washington is not uncommon. I skipped a lot of their A day program ( namely Dinner with a Dozen, early moning class ) just because I was too tired.. but def a good experience..

Before the A days, people meet up at the bar Q's on Wilshire and they do hiking/biking together so that's a good bonding time before the real A days come.. I regret I didn't go to the outdoor activities.. but remembering my dermatologist told me I should not sweat else acnes will be popping out.. I'd rather stay home. ( Hell, I sound bimbotic..)

Advice for Young Applicant, specifically international applicant

2007-04-03T22:53:00.000-07:00

From my experience meeting with admitted students at A-days and through casual dinners around LA, I'm painstakingly aware of my age as compared to other admitted students. OKAY I'll admit I'm not THAT young.. I'm 24 going to 25 this year.. Whenever the other students start talking about "OH u went to UCLA too? Which year..? "I kinda want to not say anything.. :)

But anway back to the advice.. so I guess my advice will really mostly apply to international applicants ( sorry locals.. ) I think the international applicants at an advantage if they're applying with less than ave working experience.. why? because of course they have the diversity going on, and they have more to offer to the class in terms of global network and cultural differences. Also if you happen to be a young FEMALE applicant, you're in better luck than the fellow males because from my conversation w other ppl ( DISCLAIMER: I say from conversationsss ) seems like B school understand that :

OURBIOLOGICALCLOCKISTICKINGASIWRITETHIS

and that we want to start a family soon yada yada yada and thus Adcom give us a break for applying early.

Now while getting into B school w less than working experience, there are things to consider :

what can u give to other students from ur limited w/e.. maybe ur diversity, maybe ur internationa w/e, maybe your non-profit experience, maybe u worked for only 2 yrs but u have done an amazing job at it.. Whatever it is, make sure u know what u can offer to the school..

Of course then there's that conversation about how we are at a disadvantage because we never manage anyone before.. If you have strong extracurricular activities where you have managed people before.. GREAT.. I've spoken to current students about this.. Most of them react : HELL YOU GET IN.. who cares..
One though says YES DEF u're at a disadvantage.. I asked WHY? He says you'll learn a topic well when you tell ur self : HEY That's what I SHOULD HAVE DONE before.. But i guess that's debatable..

Now from my reassesment of whether I want to do MBA last month.. u guys should pick an important lesson! PLEASE do research about why you want to do mba BEFORE you apply to schools.. HAHAHA but then again I guess I might be discouraged from applying had I known other applicants have much stronger profile than I do.. Okay lemme admit how I pick schools :

I know I def want to do MBA. WHY: prestige, educational value, international network

HOW I PICK SCHOOLS : okay which schools are in big cities ( NY or LA).. okay next, which school are top 20... Okay then :
UCLA, BERKELEY, USC, NYU, COLUMBIA

Hah okay u get the point, I'm nuts..

But I must say, I'm a general representative of the international applicant ( OKAY.. maybe that's too general.. how bout Indonesian.. No? Ok I ll stop generalizing)

but yeah that's what I've been doing for my undergrad: didn't research what major I need to do, didn't know what classes there are, didn't know why I want to go to a specific school.. Location Location Location..

OK anyway I know it's hard for international applicant not in US to really get to know the schools other than through websites or catalogue. Access to alumns are probably limited. I've only done my research after I got in schools: I've never talked to current students/alumns before. The idea ofo researching about a school before was too abstract.. I always wonder about what I should talk to with these students.. maybe because my goal at the first place is not clear about why i want to do MBA.. Once you know what you want to get out of it, then you start researching more.

Anyway, I believe this applying to B school process is AS IMPORTANT as getting in.. Hell, networking, researching, talking and emailing current students.. These all are NEW to me..

Anyway back to advices : Don't be too stressed out if your w/e is not too much.. it's quality not quantity. it's also about what you want to achieve with your MBA. what's your goal after MBA. if it makes sense then by all means apply early. I believe that my career progression and MBA is in line in achieving my LT goal. Thus I apply..

Also don't think about failing.. You should always think about doing your best. Do the best for your application : GMAT, essays etc.. Then when all that fails, think again why you fail.. talk to other ppl why they succeed.. Failure is just a postponed success.. My gmat is lower than other students, my w/e is nothing as well.. but I think essays really help .. so work hard :)

Any other advices... Herm.. not at the moment.. but good luck !

I think adcoms who read my advices here will want to kill me.. what's with them telling ppl not to apply to early.. and here I am telling ppl to shut that off and just concentrate on what you want to get out of MBA..

Two Laziest Dog in the World...

2007-03-29T23:54:00.000-07:00

and of course both of them happen to live with me at the moment..
okay the one in the front is not only lazy but also always camera-ready..

Anyway.. congrats on everyone who just hear good news ( katrina, of course miss agirlsmba, and others.. )
Okay for those who didn't hear good news.. it's okay!!! seriously!! just get a couple drinks ( don't drive ), get wasted, and you'll be fine.. HAH okay i'm not helping..
but yeah seriously for guys : get drunk, for gals: go shopping..
and then once the mourning ends, start all over again for next year :)

Let's see any update for me... I'm still going for MBA.. despite my colleagues' attempt to collect bets on whether I will return to US or stay in Indonesia ( and get married.. so they say )

AND OF COURSE... ALL OF THEM say I will NOT return to US

GEEZ.. thanks for your support guys!

But yeah I'm still here doing mba.. more Indonesians are accepted to the Anderson..
This will be an exciting journey

Alrigty then.. update me on what you guys are planning to do before school starts!
As for me.. I'm still scouting for upcoming internship opportunity in Indonesia..

my poor CFA

2007-03-24T16:26:00.000-07:00

I have NOT BEEN STUDYING FOR CFA! I'm supposed to be studying right at this moment but instead I'm blogging..

I'm 2.5 weeks behind according to my personal SCHWESER calendar so anyone out there doing CFA this june : STOP BROWSING THE NET AND START STUDYING!

and that's exactly what I'm gonna do right now...

ENROLLED IN UCLA ( Did I tell u guys this before .. herm )

2007-03-24T16:05:00.000-07:00

It's been 3 days and I haven't changed my mind about going to MBA... HIP HIP HOORAY!!!

I want to thank Lindy, Natasha, my baby, Paris, my mom, and everyone else whom I have been bothering the past month about my dilemma of going to B school or not.. I'm very happy to say that I have NOT changed my mind for THREE DAYS!!!

ThANK you THank You..

HAHAHA okay I'm over-reacting....

but anyway

I HAVE PAID my deposit to UCLA $1000 ( aka one Paris Biarritz bag .. SIGH )..

Yai.. I'm officially going to UCLA Anderson class of 2009!

And I actually might have found an internship with KIVA to do microfinance in Yogyakarta, Indonesia... I had the chance to talk to a friend's friend who is involved in micofinance organization, KIVA, in Indonesia. He's heading to Indonesia in June to head up a microfinance project and he invited me to join the group.. Okay.. I haven't heard back from him.. but still yai..

OH did I tell you guys : I'm interested in doing microfinance in Indonesia in the future ( that's my LT goal in the essay )

Okay I had the chance to chat with another Indonesian current Anderson student yesterday.. What a mind-boggling experience!!! THIS GUY is sooo darnnn talented..
Okay so he told me he did double major in his undergrad at Purdue I believe in Finance and Computer Science. Then he worked in Singapore, did his GMAT and scored 750.. Got contacted by MIT to do a Master in Engineering for Supply Chain something... He was offered admission with tuition for MIT.. did that.. and then work at a consulting company for a while... and joined Anderson 2 yrs ago ON FULL SCHOLARSHIP ( yes meaning two years full scholarship )

KILL ME... He's going to join AMGEN corporate finance upon graduation.. and was offered a position at BCG Singapore. He did summer internship at JP Morgan , Hong Kong to test the water but didn't like IB.

Okay so yeah I feel small ...

Tralalala but oh okay I also found a sublessee ( did I spell it right?) to take over my apt from June-August.. Now I'm thinking of bringing my dog, Paris to Indonesia for vacation for 3 months.. ANyone with similar experience of bringing your dog abroad???

See everything is clearer now.. One step at a time...

I also want to CONGRATULATE sa_ir, a fellow Indonesian, who's been accepted to Indiana Kelley School of Business.... CONGRATS.. And I believe, One-Toe, another Indonesian guy is going to MIT Sloan.. Am I right?

Craig Hubble, the admission directer for Anderson had also informed me there's another Indonesian gal who just got accepted to Anderson.. hahaha wow oka I should stop mentioning about the Indonesiansss....

happy spring break holiday!!!

the baby polar bear

2007-03-21T15:12:00.001-07:00

Okay this is so totally unrelated to B school.. but oh so cute!!

Ipoel Has a Plan ( to take over the world.. )

2007-03-18T09:11:00.000-07:00

So here's my plan.. I'm going home in May for a long vacation til August. I'm currently trying to find a summer internship oportunity in either Jakarta or Singapore ( Anyone?? Hook me up, please ) It'll be in either consulting or Global Consumer Products
My plan for now is to return to US in early September to go to school. Now let's hope I don't change my mind in my 4 months there. Part of the reason I'm going home and work in Jakarta is to find out if I do like it there and if I can find opportunities in Indonesia.

I'll be quitting my job in end of April ( anyone interested shoot me an email at little_cute_one@yahoo.com ) It'll be an entry level job.
I'm gonna be bringing Paris to Indonesia. I'll be subleasing my apartment from May til August ( I'm thinking whether I should just break the contract so I have no obligation to return here if I do like it in Indonesia ) HERM..
But YUP that's my plan..

I really do want to thank all the readers and the new contacts I have made through this website :)
DO BOMBARD ME WITH QUESTIONS IF I DECIDE TO NOT GO FOR MBA !!!

On a more serious note, I've been talking to current students, alumni, professors and friends, and most of them would tell me that I don't need an MBA to be an entrepreneur.
If you want to work as a professional ( in a corporate world ), by all means yes take an MBA..
If you want to work in US, any job, YES Take the MBA
If you want to be an entrpreneur in US, I'd say take MBA because it helps you to get funding and learn the structured way to get funding/meet VCs
But if you want to be an entrepreneur not in US.. most people tell me : go home, work and find your niche..

Okay so maybe other international students who aspire to return to their home country and be entrepreneurs can tell me why they're doing the MBA..

but there it it

Ipoel has a plan

OH did I tell you I get rejected by Berkeley...
and ipoel is going to be heart-broken when she returns to Indo in May ( this has easily turned to be a once a year thing.. shucks )

Vacuum

2007-03-14T11:19:00.000-07:00

After being gone for so long.. okay a week or so.. i'm back .. Congrats to people who have received good news.. ( agirlsmba, Katrina, and others whom I have missed... )

Sorry to people who have not heard the news that they had expected.. just like how I'm expecting a Ding from Berkeley pretty soon :)

But now the journey is nearing the end for me.. and I refuse to say which decision I'm going to take ( home or here ) but I hope everyone who is struggling with his/her decision too can get the answer pretty soon as well...

SO.. I'm deciding whether I should maybe postpone my CFA test.. I don't even know if I can do that.. hahaha and maybe I should quit my job earlier.. I'm thinking of Hawai, since I can't go outside of US..

WELL let me know how you guys are doing!!

Withdrawing my candidacy from USC

2007-03-07T00:06:00.000-08:00

Okay so any USC waitlist or hopeful applicants, REJOICE!!! I've told the school that I won't be attending USC for Fall 2007.. Feel kinda bad coz today I received an email from a current USC student who congratulates me on my acceptance and invites me to a gathering event for Marshall candidates.. but oh well... life goes on..

Okay So I'm pretty sure I'll be rejected by Berkeley.. No interview invite at all... SIGH SIGH SIGH.. okayyy Berkeley I accept your rejection :)

All the best for others who are still waiting for answers..

I'm scramming to study CFA for this June 2nd test.. Kinda thinking what did I get myself into :)

Hello, Call my name..

2007-03-03T08:46:00.000-08:00

Okay so that's the ring tone for my best friend's here in Indo.. I called her so often that the song gets stucked in me :

Hello call my name.. so much stories you shared with me.. that I.. bla bla bla

but anyway NOW MY MOM IS requesting me to consider going back for good and work in Indo instead of doing MBA.. thanks to my brother who always doubt B School and its usefullness...

Hate being indecisive.. hate hate hate hate...

:) BUt oh well.. I'm returning to LA tomorrow morning.. you guys will see more posts about this b school process.. and hopefully news from Berkeley as well so I can decide soon..

And I'll be withdrawing my position from USC..

okie dokie

Re-Affirmation

2007-03-02T09:37:00.000-08:00

Okay so yesterday was the PMS- ipoel talking.. now it's the almost normal ipoel writing...

My thoughts on why I may not want to do an MBA :
1. wasting my time ( 2 yrs )
2. I could have just started my own business if I want to be an entrepreneur in Indonesia
3. I could have helped my parents' business now instead of 2 years later down the road
4. so many opportunities in Indonesia.. maybe I'm missing something if I don't start right away
5. peer pressure.. looking at fellow friends who are my age but are busy preparing/opening their start up business in Jakarta
6. it's nice to be w family
7. I may have been blinded by the American culture in deciding that I need an MBA to succeed in Indonesia
8. I'm having my PMS and thus I worry a lot

So for now I have decided that I WILL STILL do my MBA :
1. talked to parents, esp mom and somehow now she suports my going to B School
2. I want to finish what I have set out to do two years ago
3. one of my goals in life : MBA
4. I've promised myself not to live in the fast lane.. age is but a number
5. let me take a chance .. for once/twice/thrice

okay.. so.. wish me luck and I hope myself luck too..

Why MBA?

2007-03-01T09:54:00.000-08:00

It's too late I know.. but I now start to ponder why am I doing MBA.. The steps I had thought would be the right ones to take do not appear so anymore.. While vacationing in Indonesia, I see people who are successful without MBAs, I see people with mights and guts that an MBA would not prepare me for..

What I also see is a network of people in Jakarta.

And being an indecisive Libra, I start to question my life : Why MBA? Do I really need it? Having been away from home for so long distant myself from my obligations and my parents/ society's expectations on me...

WHy am I wasting my youth in B school, why am I wasting my opportunities in Jakarta for 2 years..

and then all the what ifs.. what if I take the wrong decisions, what if I lose those opportunties..

This is so me.. to impulsively make a decision ( apply to MBA ) without thinking the consequences thoroughly and then worry just before plunging into the decision..

In the past, all I do is just push myself to take the first step to plunge myself over the hill and close my eyes off all other options..

WHY...

Remembering the chat with my boss

2007-02-22T16:30:00.000-08:00

I had just told my supervisor that I am going to reapply for Business shool again this year after brutally rejected by four top shools in 2005. He and I started to chat about why I want to do MBA, what I want to specialize in etc.. Then came the "Plan B" question :

Boss :" So what will you do if you don't get in to any Business shool again? "
I : "No plan.. Right now I'm just going to make sure I'll get in.. If I don't, I'll think about it later "

Pretty stubborn of me but makes me giggle if I remember this moment

Getting Bored

2007-02-21T21:06:00.000-08:00

Here I am on my vacation days.. .with nothing to do but studying for CFA test in June!! most of my friends are working so I can't meet up during the day time.. My mom is currently out of town, my dad is working, my other brother is working, my youngest bro is studying til 3pm everyday.. my vacation days only start at 6pm when everyone is out from work and I suddenly need to juggle spending time w my friends in Indon, my friends from LA who are in Indo and my family..

My not being able to drive around in Jakarta adds to my already boring life here.. So why don't I drive here.. other than because my parents deem it to be too dangerous for me ( high crime level ), and because there are thousands ... ten thousands..hundred thousands... motor bikes all over the street.. You'll be driving forward while motorbikes around you are driving the opposite direction ( OH YES IT's true.. ) and people practically not follow traffic lights in areas other than the center of the city ( which accounts for wat.. maybe 80% of the city )..Not to mention that ppl here don't follow the car lanes.. Three car lanes will be filled by four or five cars along with the motor bikes...

And then more often than not, you'll see people carrying carts ( selling food or carrying things ) walking at the side of the road.. if not on the middle of the roads

OH WELL!!!!!

I'm patiently checking my emails to see if Berkeley will show me some love... Anyone in the same boat?

Reflection on Columbia' reject

2007-02-18T02:11:00.000-08:00

Okay so let me try to list the reasons :
1. Reapplication so I only had one reapplication essay, which I think was pretty good but I guess was not good enough
2. One new LOR only from my supervisor which is good but not stellar.. Usually I had another Associate write me a LOR and he's pretty detailed in his LOR
3. Never visited the Columbia campus maybe?
4. My lack of w/e
5. My gmat scores

I think at the end of the day a lot of more qualified ppl applied to Columbia and what's with their well-prepared applications as compared to my lousy essays in my first time applying, I lose out...

First Ding.. OUCH!

2007-02-16T13:36:00.000-08:00

Yup so Columbia.. rejected me twice in a row.. OUCH ouch OUcH.. but oh well...
I'm in Indonesia now people!!! I had checked my email yesterday when I saw the change of status in my Columbia application and the internet here is SOOOO SLOWWWW... that it takes me 10 minutes !! just to go to the login page and the check status page...

SIGH!
So anyway this is like 4.30am in the morning.. and I was up since 3.30am.. Jet Lagged. so what's my opinion of Jakarta after not being here for 2.5 years... SO DIRTY! oh mi god.. okay maybe because the flood has just receded recently but wo.. you see trash all over the place.. in front of the small houses.. on the alley..

another shocker : as my plane was landing, it showed me the current outside temperature... from 9 degree C in LA, 14 degree in Hongkong to 35 degree in Jakarta.. I was like.. WHAT THE HELL?

Okay so maybe it's more like a 32 degree celcius which is like about 100 something F.. but you see when I stepped out of the airport.. the 100 degreeF in LA feels hotter than the 100 something F here in Jakarta.. maybe because in Indonesia it's humid instead of really burning hot..

So anyway while I'm awake.. I was studying CFA, eating Rotiboy (some bread from Malaysia .. very buttery.. ) and updating my blog

Now let's talk about my experience w my mom... Before I went home, I knew that she would complained about my looks ( I don't know why she does this non stop my whole life : you're too skinny, you're too fat, your hair is messy, your clothes! ) okay so I did whatever I could before I head home.. facialist, eye brow shaping, hair cut.. and not to mention I had dropped 18 pounds through out last year.. but anyway.. met her yesterday and :
you're too skinny
you look unhealthy
if you want to stay skinny can you please go to the gymn and gain some muscle
maybe you should gain 4 more pounds
your clothes!!! ( speechless.. too much complaining )
your hair
YOUR FACE!! ALL THOSE SCARS and pimples.. and wanted to drag me to her dermatologist ASAP

Alright it's not as bad as it sounds.. just because I had gotten used to this 24 years of my life and all those words went from one ear straight to the other :) Asian mom just can never be satisfied.. or even if they are .. they still find ways to complain.. Is it just mine?

Hardworking is Overrated!

2007-02-07T21:04:00.000-08:00

Okay the title will not have anything to do with what I'm going to talk about.. I just remembered hearing it from TV.. must be from "My Name is Earl" show or something.. Or okay.. maybe I'm just venting some frustration at work

But anyway... some people have been getting interview invite for the Second Round.. I'm getting pretty listless.. Where is my newss?? I'm still waiting for Columbia ( uncertain of what to hope for ) and Berkeley ( either waitlist or reject).. but still I would love to know sooner than later..

Especially since my vacation to Indonesia is coming up in a week... (I'm heading home on Feb 14 night so you guys won't see my posts for a few days.. if not 2 weeks.... ) What I dread is if I get an interview invite one of these days that ask me to sign up for interview while I'm on vacation.. I'll be back in LA on March 3rd... But yeah that's just ol' hopeful' moi.. isn't everyone tho'

So let's get back to the interview invites.. AgirlsMBA just got her interview invite to Columbia today for her Regular decision.. oh well oh well oh well.. AgirlsMBA is really something! Applying to 9 schools and invited for interviews for 7 schools and maybe more to come ! DANG! that's crazy.. all the best for her...

For those of you who are aiming those top schools, reading blogs of people who apply to those schools and seeing how they progress would help you achieve your goal too.. You can learn how they are able to get interview invite/ being accepted.. So good luck !

On a site note, the picture is of a vest I bought from J. Crew.I thought I would post it to show what stuffs I have bought after my mother demands me to shop more ! Shoot.. I bet lotss of daughters would LOVE to hear that from their mothers...

Jakarta Flood

2007-02-05T22:35:00.001-08:00

A word of Encouragement

2007-02-04T19:09:00.000-08:00

Dream Bag but I'm broke!

As you guys know, I was rejected by four top 15 schools last year when I first applied. As 2005 passed on, I was rethinking about my choices. Should I re-apply to Business schools again or should I pack my bags and head home ( Indonesia ) as I had planned to ..

Being waitlisted at Anderson last March was an encouragement and I wanted to see if maybe I would be admitted if I reapply. And that's what exactly happened.. I reapply and got in to UCLA..

But in between being rejected and admitted.. there's a major step left that I had yet to discuss in detail : the works!

Yup the improvements to the essays, the revision revision revision of essays, the hours spent reading websites about b-schools application, the emails to and fro to applicants who made it into B schools...

SO if you're thinking of applying B school, thinking of re-applying and you are unsure whether to apply or to reapply or to try that top B schools : don't give up ! Until you know for sure that you should let go of your MBA dream.. don't !

Anyway, my mother was the one who helped me in this process last year. She called and asked me what was the plan for B school.. Am I reapplying? I told her yeah.. but was still unsure of what to do next... She told me : well, talk to people who got in ! Ask them why do they think they got in! Go to those GMAT preparation classes and improve your GMAT score... Read books about the essays.. Ask professional for help with your english..

And so I did.. I asked my friend's friend who last year had applied to Wharton, Berkeley, Ross and UCLA ( And got accepted to all of them. Indonesian too btw )

Link to her website here.

I sent her a long email, asking her why she thinks she got in, what's her view about my kinda-low GMAT score, how did she write her essays, any tips for improvement. And she kindly replied with detailed answers :
She told me to check out MBA game plan to help me revise my essays. Note : I find that their services are not consistent because the evaluators are either current students in top B Schools or alumns from B schools. I had two evaluators : one was kind and encouraging and the other was fine but not v helpful.

And then she told me I can try to retake GMAT.. she told me to REVISE REVISE REVISE my essays.. ask friends/coworkers to read them and give feedbacks. And this is a very important factor ! SO People start asking for feedbacks and revise your essays if you're planning to apply this year!

Let's see what else.. Don't forget to check out all those helpful websites
1. MBA Blog list
2. www.accepted.com for the list of interview questions
3. www.admissions411.com
4. www.mba.com to download the free GMAT test software
5. Business school forums at www.businessweek.com

I'm out of ideas but you guys get the idea.. especially for those of you applying outside of US. Last year, I was quite ignorant. I didn't check out any forums or blogs or websites because I didn't even know they exist but seriously these websites and blogs are really valuable.. so set aside time to check them out

What else.. herm herm.. OU! Recommendation letters.. again for international applicants.. When you ask someone to write you a LOR, you can help them by giving them examples any leadership experience you had done in the past to refresh their memories. Also ensure to talk to them about why you want to do MBA and all those stuff.. Google it :) I didn't do this.. but from reading from other people's blogs and websites, this seems to be a norm and I think it's a brilliant idea!

So okay.. I'm out of words.. If you want any more info, shoot me a comment and I'll try to attend to them..

Good luck!

Aim High!

In at USC

2007-02-02T19:52:00.000-08:00

Received a call around 5 pm plus from the lady who interviewed me ! And she welcomed me to the Class of 2009 for USC Marshall !!

WOW.. first time I got an acceptance phone call.. Crazy..

I never really thought of SC before but now that I got in.. a few friends are telling me : SC has good entrepreneurship program ( better than UCLA ranking according to usnews.com ) and their alumni network is REALLY STRONG...

Hah.. that will help me decide

What do you reward yourself for getting into B school?

2007-02-01T18:34:00.000-08:00

The question says it all.. but the answers I'd love to hear.....

Let me know.. be it a CAR (!), a new wardrobe, a gadget ( the new i-phone coming up in June?), a vacation somewhere??

I was planning to get myself a nice bag if I got into one of the B schools.. but then I had a breakout on my face in December that was so bad that I had to go to a dermatologist. I don't know what cause it.. but it was nasty... Huge pimples on my forehead and they kept coming out. Luckily, I went to Dr. Harold Lancer here in LA. I totally swear by him! He's a miracle worker.. But anyway , yeah there goes my budget for a new bag...

My mother seems to be encouraging me to get a new wardrobe though.. Every time she called or text me, she would ask me : have I shopped recently? Have I cut my hair to make it look nicer? Have I bla bla bla... I was pretty concerned about it.. Is she trying to set me up with some random guys in Indonesia while I'm having a holiday there.. I confronted her today and she had told me that she was just utterly shocked to see how I look when we had a video call a few weeks ago.. Well that makes me feel better ( or Not.. )

Now that I have this encouragement to get myself a present, I wonder what I should get..... What are u guys getting ?

I'm thinking :
1. a bag
2. earring
3. nice bracelet
4. vacation somewhere? maybe Europe or China?

I'm considering earrings or a bracelet from uyen-uyen

Waitlisted at.....

2007-01-30T17:50:00.000-08:00

NYU Stern..

So let me analyze how I feel right now : grateful mixed with a little surprise

Wow.. This is one of my re-application attempts. Last year, my application was not stellar ( bad essays, so so gmat, no working experience ). I was actually expecting a reject because all I could do to reapply was to submit ONE 500 words essay describing what is my long term/short term goals and how NYU can help me achieve it. 500 words!!! okay.. well I went over the limit... way over :) I submitted a 750 essay... hahaha

And I also created another art/collage work for the essay to describe myself to the classmates.

So yeah, pretty surprised that I got waitlisted.. Well now I feel like I need to go to New York and visit NYU as well as Columbia. I need to see which school I really want to go.. I love UCLA.. and NYU is in New York.. When can I squeeze this trip to New York ( I have minus 1 vacation day after my upcoming trip to Indonesia )

Excerpts from my UCLA Anderson essay about my family

2007-01-29T15:17:00.000-08:00

My family situation had much influence on my outlooks on life and work. My parents are both self-employed. My mother started her own business ... Her career grew fast ever since; even faster than my father’s. She is stubborn, bossy, ambitious, and both a workaholic and a perfectionist; whereas my father is more laid-back and pessimistic. On weekends, my mother would be on her phone, strategizing promotions to attract more clients whereas my father would go to the town square to play kites with his friends. ... My mother used to advise me not to be too content in life like my father and to always be ambitious. Often time, I would remind her that had she not marry a person as contented about life as he is, no one would be there to remind her to take a break and enjoy her hard work. Having these two significant yet contradicting figures in my life reminds me to strike a balance between career, hobby, and family every single day. Even now, while I also work full time, I am taking an oil-painting class, a past-time hobby of mine and spending my evenings and weekends playing with my year old puppy.

My International Experience

2007-01-29T14:59:00.000-08:00

When I was 16, I was offered an ASEAN Secondary school scholarship from the Singapore government. Basically, I would be able to study in Singapore for grade 9 and 10 and all my accomodation were provided for.
I stayed in the Raffless Institution Boarding house with other students from South East Asia, China, India etc. It was a really memorable experience.
Even now, 8 years since then, I always fall back to my friends from Singapore for help.
For ex : who did I ask to check on my essays while applying to B school :
1. Joan, my best friend and previous roommate in Singapore. She's an Indonesian who has been able to master the English language ( unlike me, who never seem to be able to make one piece of writings without any grammar mistake) She was in Singapore and I had sent her the essays through emails
2. Ha, my Vietnamese friend and ex roommate from Singapore. She was in the Mid west and I had sent my essays through MSN and asked her to check them!
3. Ruby, my Indonesian scholar mate who is working in LA.

It's mind boggling isn't it.. Here I am in LA and all these friends all over the world and I still ask for their helps

I must say studying in Singapore really gives me a vast network...

Nothing...

2007-01-24T23:23:00.000-08:00

No interview invite from NYU .. :(
SIGH.. Okay.. live goes on..

Marshall USC had told me that they would get back to me next Friday on the decision.. That's about 2 weeks faster than the afore mentioned deadline. We'll see.. I kinda screwed up the interview since I didn't research much about SC's program...

In 3 weeks time I'm going back to Indonesia.. YAIIIIIIIIIIII.............. I haven't gone home in like 2 years plus.. My friends and family are missing me.. I'm actually going home for Chinese new year on February 18th.. So a day after I reach Jakarta, I'm flying out to Semarang, my grandparents' home town. Chinese always celebrate events by having a dinner with the whole family.. This will be exciting..

I'm also going to hold my late house(apartment) warming party at my tiny studio apartment here in LA this weekend.. I actually had moved in last year October but was so busy with the B-School application - giddy from the UCLA result, that I only have time to throw a party now..
When I was working on the guest lists.. I ended up with 20+ people.. And that is not going to fit my tiny apartment.. SO I had to cut down my list to less than 10 ppl.. HAH!

I'm going to have Indonesian food for the party.. ( Ordering in, I don't cook, and My friends don't trust me in cooking )... This will be fun.. Paris will be excited to see many people at my apartment.

As a result of my upcoming party, I have been checking out www.apartmenttherapy.com to seek inspirations to design/re-design my apartment.. My close friend is tired of my talks about changing the position of the furnitures/ hanging more stuff on the wall/ painting the kitchen brown...

Okay I think I've been talking all over the place tonight :)

USC interview questions..

2007-01-23T21:23:00.001-08:00

Questions from USC interview :

1. why dya want an MBA
2. why MBA now?
3. what’s a feedback u have received from ppl
4. wat’s a common misconception about u
5. wat’s ur leadership style
6. wat dya do in the spare time
7. which leader will represent ur leadership skill (HUH???)
8. if u’re the adcom and u’re reviewing ur own application, what dya think is the biggest weakness in the application
9. tell me bout ur career progress
10. tell me bout ur professional aspiration
11. gimme an example when you have failed miserably
12. show me a time where you show a leadership quality
13. what will you bring to USC
14. what do you not like about your current job

Damn! That’s a lot of questions for a 30 min interview..

Remembering UCLA decision

2007-01-18T22:32:00.000-08:00

I had just received my admission packet from Anderson today. What a big binder...... It still seems surreal reading all the letters congratulating us for being accepted..

Last year when I had applied for MBA the class of 2008 R2 or maybe R3?, I had waited until the notification date and yet no news until 5.02pm on March 24th, 2006 :

Dear Ms. Ipoel:

We have carefully considered your application to the UCLA Anderson School of Management for Fall 2006 admission, and have placed your name on the wait list.

The wait list is a select group of candidates who we believe have strong qualities and yet are not admissible at this point in time. As we continue to develop the Class of 2008 we would like to keep you in mind for further consideration.

And then on 11.26am, June 15, 2006 :

Dear Ms. Ipoel:

The Admissions Committee has carefully reviewed your application materials and I am sorry to inform you that we are unable to offer you admission to UCLA Anderson School of Management for Fall 2006.

Our admission decisions have been especially difficult due to the large number of highly qualified people who applied for the limited number of places in the MBA Class of 2008. Typically, given the high degree of self-selection, at least eighty percent of our applicants could succeed in our MBA program. Thus, we are forced to choose and balance our class from an immensely talented and genuinely impressive pool of applicants. We in no way question your ability to succeed in a fine graduate management program or become an effective manager. Though your application presented many strong qualities, it is our opinion that other applicants demonstrated greater potential to both contribute to and benefit from the academic and professional program at The Anderson School.

Although this may not be the news you were hoping for, we feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to review your application. We appreciate your interest and efforts in applying to UCLA Anderson and we wish you well in your plans for the future.

Sincerely,
Linda Baldwin
Director of Admissions

USC Interview coming up...

2007-01-17T22:11:00.000-08:00

I had just remembered in answering USC Marshall's question on :

We all experience significant events or milestones that influence the course of our lives. Briefly describe such an event and how it affected you.

, I had written about my recent break up....

NOW... If this is not a blind interview... I better prepare myself in discussing my personal experience to a stranger.

I had only asked ONE bestfriend of mine to edit this essay and the thought of having to talk about this with the interviewer is daunting...

For you guys who are still in shock of why I would write such a personal topic : I felt that my break up was really a milestone that had set the course of my life to this point. I was going to return to Indonesia for good after I was rejected by all 4 B schools that I had applied to.. But this event made me stay

CFA continuation and Self-Improvement

2007-01-12T22:47:00.000-08:00

The next day after I signed up for the CFA test, I started to be a lil panic... From my conversation with another coworker who is going to take the test as well :

"WHAT?? CFA test is 6 hours??? Are you kidding me???"
"It's Multiple choice right???? Thank god!"
"Where on earth is the test center?"
"Whyy oh why do I know so little about this and still sign up"

I'm really only thinking of doing the level 1 and not going through the next level 2 and 3. Firstly, I'm not intending to go into finance after my graduation from MBA. Secondly, I'm only doing CFA because I need a closure to my working life.

My group leader who wrote me a letter of recommendations to B Schools told me that my weaknesses are my lack of quantitative skills in the fixed income industry as well as my public speaking ability. I never had any finance class in my undergraduate and I didn't know anything about fixed income instruments when I went in for my job. The only access I had to this knowledge is the Fixed Income Handbook by Fabozzi, given to me on my first day. My first task was to read some chapters out of it and grasp the gist out of the book. Never being able to study from a textbook ( always prefer listening to someone explaining to me), unsurprisingly I gain v little knowledge about the Mortgage Backed securities as well as the Asset Backed Securities.

SO : to make sure that my experience working in this company is not futile, I've decided to take the CFA level 1.

Now, to improve on my public speaking ability, my co- worker introduced me to Toastmaster.

Basically you meet about once or twice a week for two hours with a group of 10-20 people and during the meeting, you need to do presentation. I think almost everyone gets to speak up during the meeting..

Went once last week and it was really interesting. I definitely think that I can improve my public speaking ability by joining this club...

More on that when I go to the next meeting

Taking CFA Level 1 in June

2007-01-09T23:36:00.000-08:00

I've decided to sign up for CFA exam in june 2nd, raking $1100 from my pocket for registration and books. Been thinking about it for a few weeks and by talking to my co-workers, I've decided that I'm at no loss in taking the CFA ( unless I fail... )

Working in an investment company, many of my coworkers are pursuing CFA and see many benefits out of it. Moreover, my company would award us $500 and reimburse the test fee if we pass the exam.. So.. we'll see :)

I changed my MSN nick name to be "Taking CFA Level 1" and my brother's first response was :

" You're taking CFA?? What for? Omigod.. why are you so excited about studying..."

Background : he went to Australia for his Accounting undergraduate degree. He had never enjoyed schools and felt that working is more useful than studying. Although he graduated from his undergraduate at the age of 21, he saw no point of taking MBA.. SIGH

Another best friend of mine saw my nick name and said the same exact thing : "You're taking CFA??? And MBA?? Geez.. why do you love studying so much... "

And I thought it's a norm here.. well at least I'm only thinking of taking level 1 and not finishing the whole series...

Networking for International Applicant

2007-01-08T20:16:00.000-08:00

From where I come from, networking is uncommon unless you start working. Now, my being away from Indonesia since I was 16 has yet introduced me to this networking skills. While a senior in UCLA, I went for a "Jump Start" career seminar by the career center which introduced me to the 'networking' skill to secure a job.

The idea just seems WRONG...... That means that I need to be extremely friendly and nice to a stranger because I want something in return. I need to pretend I'm superly interested in someone because of who he is, when in fact I am only interested in getting contacts or getting a job link from this person. The perplexing thing is that the person that I pretend to like know that I am "using" him/her for a job link... But he/she lets me do it.. Probably because he/she had done the same thing in the past.

While I view myself as an extrovert, I don't really try to strike conversation to everyone in the room to make myself known.. Usually if it just happens I click with someone.. then well I will talk a lot to that person..

I don't know.. I begin to accept this 'networking' but I must say I need to adjust myself to doing it... It was kinda a shock to me .. My Indonesian friends admitted that it was really hard for them to adjust to network to strangers. I must admit though networking really opens up many doors

USC Interview Invite

2007-01-08T20:02:00.000-08:00

I've received an email from USC Marshall Business school to invite me for on-campus interview between January 10 to January 29th.

I'm partially excited because I have gone through the whole process just weeks earlier of being estatic to hear news from school.

Informal Meeting with Anderson admits

2007-01-07T00:34:00.000-08:00

A few days ago about five of us who were accepted to UCLA anderson met up at the Westwood Brewing Company near UCLA.. We chatted about the whole admission process, which other schools we are applying to, what our career goals are..

It's pretty informative because some people shared their experience as they visited the class in UCLA. This specific person really enjoyed both the class he attended at UCLA.

All of the other people I met are pretty successful in their career, so that gives an idea the kind of people I would meet in UCLA if I decide to join the school :)

Book Review : Business School Confidential

2007-01-07T00:27:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I skipped the first few chapters which discuss about applying to Business school and choosing the schools .. but I started reading from the chapter on "Choosing B schools if you are admitted to more than 1 "
Not that I have any more admit, but I just want to know more about the process.
Pretty much a good book, it aims to remind us on the preparation we need to do to return to school, it also has some review on the things we may want to join once we're in b school : For example it talks about how you may want to join the math camp if you're not an economic/math/ business major for your undergraduate
Also talks about how to finance your school and the options you can take to do so..
I've only read about a third of the book, but pretty much enjoy it

How Many People Have Been Accepted to UCLA Anderson?

2007-01-07T00:11:00.000-08:00

The people who have been accepted to UCLA Anderson R1 were invited to join this specific yahoo groups and currently they already have about 60 members.. So does this mean UCLA has accepted about 60 people for their Round 1 application? Maybe...

A little more info about UCLA Anderson from Linda Baldwin's chat with Accepted.com in 2003 :

sandrat (Dec 15, 2003 9:31:27 PM)
Will Round 1 decisions be released on a rolling basis or all at the same time on Jan 21? How will the decisions be released? email, web status, phone calls?
LindaBaldwinUCLA (Dec 15, 2003 9:37:22 PM)
Sandrat - admit decisions are made and sent on a weekly basis beginning the third week of December. Decisions are emailed. Deny and waitlist decisions are made closer to the deadline mail out date.

Janqs (Dec 15, 2003 9:00:35 PM)
I think I heard someone from Anderson say that GMAT scores for International students are reviewed within the pool of applicants from their own countries. Did I hear right? Is this true for Anderson? Do you know if this is true for other schools?
LindaBaldwinUCLA (Dec 15, 2003 9:03:58 PM)
International GMATs are assessed based on their strength in comparison to all applicants. We do, in addition, take into consideration the GMAT scores of other applicants from that same country. I don't know the policy of other schools.

B School and Alcohol-Tolerance

2007-01-04T15:09:00.000-08:00

While chatting with the current Anderson student, we stumbled across the topic of alcohol..

To let you guys know : I don't like to drink...

I don't like beer, sake, red wine, white wine, champagne, sho-ju, shots...

I do occasionally drink cocktails - whatever that is sweet..

So, the Anderson student had said that I'm at a loss for not being able to drink.. During recruiting season, I would need to network with the recruiter. Other than looking at the qualifications, recruiters would like to know if someone has a fit with the company ( or I guess the people in the company).

I said : But I can just order Apple Martini and that's alright right...
He : No.. you have to order the right thing... No screwdriver, scotch and coke and all those.. Those are adolescents' drinks...

ERRR................ U guys should know that Indonesia's population is 90% muslims and muslims are not supposed to drink alcohol so drinking is not really a common daily life drink in Indonesia.. Of course there are still market for beers.. but you don't exactly drink beer almost every day.. In Indonesia, we drink tea... coffee.... coconut juice ( tropical country )
And don't even imagine about going to HAPPY HOUR every week... no no no..

But okay, apart from the culture difference.. I personally do not like to drink alcohol.. I actually went to a lounge yesterday night. My friend had made me cranberry juice mixed with vodka. But I didn't stir the drink yet before I drank it. My first gulp was the taste of vodka and I actually SPIT it out because it was too strong ( Gross I know.. but I'm trying to make a point ).

Alcohol smell reminds me of the alcohol solution I used to clean Paris' dirty fur...

So basically I'm screwed for not being able to drink...

Interview with Current Anderson Student

2007-01-04T14:49:00.000-08:00

I had lunch with a current Anderson student yesterday. He is also an Indonesian and the UCLA Admission director actually emailed me his contacts so I can find out more about the Anderson's experience

He is specializing in Finance, Operations something (?) and Real Estate. He also said that he loves the whole B School experience and confirmed that the first quarter in Anderson where everyone has to take 5 classes was the"worst time of his life" [verbatim]. OKAY don't panic yet, I asked him why was it the worst time in his life and he said :
1. he has to take FIVE classes ( i think a usual quarter will have 4 classes )
2. he was still adjusting to being a student once more ( he had 3 years working experience before B School )
2. BUSY.. company presentation and networking session started on the second week of the quarter

I asked him the question that my mother had asked me the day before : What can you gain out of MBA? Is it really useful?
He said : Yes! ( of course )
Explanation : In B School, you learned case studies .. You are required to make decisions over these real life business problems. You are also required to present your decision.. He said during exam, he would be given a case study. He would need to work on his laptop, create some financial model (? I thought he said something along this line ) and present it in a Word Doc.

So okay, I'll tell my parents that the next time they ask me.

What really impress me was Anderson students' career progression. So there are 3 Indonesian currently in Anderson. The guy I interviewed worked from Australia before. He then said he was contacted by Booz Allen ( consulting company ) in Sydney because they had come across his resume on the resume books... And in the end, he's offered the position.
Another Indonesian guy is going to work at McKinsey Singapore. Another one has an offer from another consulting company in Asia but will work in corporate finance in MidWest.. I think with AMGEN...

So : WOW!

My question ( was kinda worried ) : Why are most of them offered jobs in Asia? Is it because they are Indonesians or because they had wanted to return to Asia ?
His Answer : Both ways actually.. I was contacted by Booz Allen from Australia and I had planned to return there. The other guy who is going to work in Singapore needs to return to Asia because he is a scholar from an Indonesian company. And the other one is staying in the States.

Question : Are there many people hired to be banker? I heard that we're kinda in a disadvantage for being in the West coast .
Answer : There are about 40 people out of 360 who are going to work in IB
( forgot to ask which part of the States they're going to work at though.. east or west coast?)

Question :How long do you usually stay in school til ?
Answer: about 9am til 4pm

Okay That's about all I could remember from our lunch.. Would write more later on

Recap on My UCLA Anderson Interview

2007-01-02T14:04:00.000-08:00

I had my interview pretty early on October 2nd 2006. I actually met a really nice lady who was familiar with the company I worked with ( ! ) She had an interesting background. She was a banker in Hong Kong and then came to Anderson to do a career switch to the entertainment industry. She told me about her AMR project on the entertainment industry as well.

Anyway, it's been a long time ago but these are the questions that I could remember :
1. Why MBA?
2. What's your short term and long term goal?
3. Why Anderson?
4. I'm not sure but I think something along what clubs are you looking to join in Anderson
5. Give an example of time when you have motivated your team members?
6. If you are in a team work and you only have a few hours left to do presentation, but someone in your team did not finish his/her part of the work, what would you do?

That's all I could remember folks...

I actually had had an interview in 2005 ( I'm a reapplicant ) and that previous interview was something along this line as well...

Why I think I got In

2006-12-29T11:07:00.000-08:00

(The Above is not Paris)

But anyway, a lot of better qualified people will probably scratch their heads and think why is this girl with a less than 700 GMAT, less than 2 yr working experience got into UCLA ?

I'll try to explain to my best knowledge :

1. I'm a reapplicant and I took the one year to make my application stronger :
1.1. I applied in 2005, worked extra hard for my #1 family essay. I spoke from the truth about my family and how it had shaped me as a person. My parents are pretty unique in some ways and it made me develop certain traits as a person ( ie. always trying to strike a balance in life ). Was waitlisted last year. I emailed the Admission Direction for International student and some others but didn't get too far and was rejected in the end.
1.2 While reapplying in 2006, I went to The MBA Tour and Anderson Information Session. I met the Admission Director for International student in person and started talking about how to make my application stronger. He didn't really remember me but at the end of e day, he looked at my file and suggested some tips for me :
1.2.a. UCLA likes me but I lack the working experience ( I graduated in Sept 05, applied in Dec 05 )
1.2.b. Try to write more on professional work in my reapplicant essay and get professional recommendations this time
1.3. Tried to make my GMAT better but didn't work. My math improved, my verbal dropped. What to do? Life goes on

2. I have a clear career goals in life. I took the one year off to really think about what my goals are in life. I want to be an entrepreneur in the future. I rationalize what kind of short term career goal I should aim to get and within 10 years I'll most probably be in Indonesia. I guess having a clear career goal and showing that I'm actually working towards achieving it helps.. UCLA actually has a specific club that matched my long term goal so I talk abous joining this club/fellowship while in UCLA.

3. Diversity :
3.1 I'm from a 3rd world country : Indonesia. I'm a girl. ( Some people says that help, but I don't know ). For UCLA, they take into consideration that English is not my first language so they give me a break for not performing like other locals in GMAT verbal.

3.2. I studied in Indonesia til I was 16. Got a scholarship to study in Singapore for high school. Came to UCLA for undergrad after that with 1 yr credit. Finished up my Bachelor in 2 years.

4. Extracurricular : some leadership skills from clubs in Singapore and US.

5. My interview on October 2nd actually went pretty well. I'll write about that later on.

Hope this helps :) Anymore questions, shoot me a comment

Top 5 Books for MBA Applicants

2006-12-28T22:36:00.001-08:00

Top 5 Books for MBA Applicants
From Karen Schweitzer,

Preparing for business school is a huge event for any MBA applicant. There are currently many different books available to help make the experience easier. Here are the top five books for MBA applicants.
1) Peterson’s MBA Programs 2006
This is a great book for anyone who is researching MBA Programs. Containing information on more than 3,900 MBA programs at 1,000 different institutions, this definitive guide has everything an MBA applicant needs to choose the best MBA school.

2) Official Guide for GMAT Review
Every MBA applicant needs to prepare for the GMAT. Written by the actual administrators of the GMAT, this book contains 800 questions (and answers) from actual GMAT exams. The guide covers all of the exam subjects and makes an excellent foundation for exam preparation.

3) The Vault MBA Career Bible
The Vault has created many different business guides. In the MBA Career Bible, you’ll find information on all of the different career paths that are available to MBA students.

4) The Wetfeet Insider Guide to Industries and Careers for MBAs
This guide is great for MBA applicants. It covers 19 different industries and 10 different career functions, with current salary ranges and overall job prospects. You can also learn more about more about the top ranked companies and common MBA career paths.

5) Official MBA Handbook 2006
The most recent edition of the MBA handbook has been updated to include more information about the MBA degree, choosing an MBA program, taking the GMAT, and financing your MBA. This book will come in handy for any MBA applicant.

2006-12-28T22:33:00.001-08:00

Now.. That's the kind of brown my kitchen will have..

Beard Papa Cream Puff = 220 calories

2006-12-28T22:29:00.000-08:00

NO WAY??? Look at the delicious, crispy puffs with the vanilla fillings.. And you tell me it's only 220 calories.. Hell! I can afford to eat two at once then...

Check this out and tell me I'm wrong : Serving size says 2 3/4 oz which I assume is ONE whole puff.

Still In Disbelief State

2006-12-21T22:35:00.000-08:00

Good thing tomorrow morning ( at 3 am ) I'm going to mammoth for a snowboarding trip with a couple of friends..

I must say I'm not a big fan of snow activities, but wth I should go for vacation. Just good timing :)

Went to had dinner at BOA steak house.. Not so good steak, I like Morton's better..

But still very excited..... Keep on thinking that this may not be true.. Now I should think about my priorities in case I get into the other B schools.. columbia? haas? stern? ucla?

SIGH

Anyway.. I went home from the dinner and found that I had forgotten, and put my landlord's xmas present at my door handle.. Paris, then tore out the paper bag, ate my $2.5o a piece oh so good Teuscher chocolate.... all four of them with CHAMPAGNE inside of them..

Chocolate is toxic for dogs btw... Don't know about the champagne part.. Ahh.. well

And that's all

2006-12-20T22:34:00.000-08:00

Just when I thought I would be rejected by Anderson
Just when I thought I may have to re-re-apply again next year
WOW!
This marks an end to my one plus year of worrying, doubting, trying..

No Freaking Way... I got into Anderson

2006-12-20T22:33:00.000-08:00

Dear Ms. Ipoel:

Congratulations! On behalf of the MBA Admissions Committee, it is my pleasure to offer you admission to the MBA Program at UCLA Anderson for fall 2007. You were selected from a large and exceptional group of applicants based on your impressive academic, career and personal accomplishments. I am delighted to extend a warm welcome to you and look forward to having you join the MBA Class of 2009.

Apartment

2006-12-19T22:32:00.000-08:00

Oh how I wish my apartment looks like this.. I do have the same wall colours sans all the fancy furniture and colors.
I have been enlightened! Sure I'm going to live a life of misery while waiting for B school results.. But at least I can now do what I have wanted to do while busy preparing my application :
1. Read novels and finance books
2. Paint my kitchen
3. Decorate my studio ( ie. paint a big painting, paint the door frame )
4. yoga -ing
5. play with paris more

Facial at Skin Haven

2006-12-19T22:31:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, Natasha and I went to have a facial at SkinHaven.
It's a really pretty place.. and the facial is really relaxing.. Now I have problems of having lots of black heads n white heads and I'm not 100% satisfied with the facial.. but I'll give them A+++ for the relaxation.. Anyway they are a SPA place.. not a dermatologist

My First Day as a Free Woman

2006-12-19T22:29:00.000-08:00

No more essays bogging me down.. well there's that one recommendation not in but I can talk to my recommender about it. He's been very helpful to me and he himself is applying to B school this year.

Only half a day that I have started waiting on my results and already, I feel restless.

What if I don't get into Anderson... I think I won't get into Anderson... Why did I submit it so early ( R1, coz I'm impatient and I don't like to wait )

Maybe I should take a long vacation.. OH wait.. It's exactly one month from now.. I think I should take one month vacation or make it two months.. where I have no access to internet wat so ever... That'll be nice.

HELPPPPP

All Done

2006-12-18T22:28:00.000-08:00

Finally I have submitted the last application for B School in 2006 to Columbia. Everything is done now but I don't feel like partying.. All the worries are dragging me down... I didn't know that UCLA's annoucement is for January 19.. I thought it was for January 29..

I don't think I can handle this.. I think I should go home Indonesia for vacation soon.. SIGH

Decision is In

2006-12-12T22:23:00.000-08:00

I meant my decision to not apply for Wharton and Yale :)

Paris is alright

2006-12-11T22:17:00.000-08:00

Talked to Natasha about Paris' condition and she said he's probably just feel tired from the lack of sleep and the upset stomach...

I'm like : yeahh I'm gonna bring him to vet tomorrow, was thinking of bringing him in but Emergency wait can lasts for hours..

Nat : That's hardly an emergency..
Ip : That's not?
Nat : NOOO.. that's just lack of sleep and food
Ip : oh okay..

Working at Home

2006-12-11T22:16:00.000-08:00

Ahhh....
The beauty of Remote Desktop Connection.. Here I am 2.45pm still at my apartment. Staring at the lovely weather outside, ocassionaly taking a break by walking my dog, Paris, while walking to the fridge every hour or so...

I had a sore throat last night and decided that if today I don't feel better, I will work from home. Not because I am scared of infecting others if I go to work. More like : I don't want to get infected by others. I'd say 40% people in my company is down with flu/sore throat/ cold.. I don't plan to join them, so I'll stay at home.

A few months ago I had flu twice and each time it cost me 2 weeks.. So please understand my paranoia

And after all, Paris is sick with diarrhea. He's been sleeping the whole day since the morning tha t I have to go to him once a while and make sure that he's still alive ( another paranoia that I have ) and yes I had just walked to Paris again, checked that he's breathing, and return to writing.

Anyway, Paris has been having diarrhea for 2 days now. Yesterday it wasn't so bad so I didn't think much of it. It's coz I had changed his food ( to DUck and rice from Lamb and rice ) and I thought it was okay for me to completely change his food.. Turns out no..

But yeah last night, he slept at about midnight. 1.30am he woke me up with his whining, had to go to him, open his crate and let him poop.. Gross.. but then okay once more at early morning.. and he kept on whining non-stop..
The poor baby...

He hasn't drink anything today.. So im getting really worried... I even tried to spoon him some water but he refused to...

Worried.. worried worried...

Second Thought

2006-12-11T22:15:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if I should apply to Yale and Wharton... Should I .. Should I not...
Should I?
Should I not?
I want to specialize in Entrepreneurship, so Wharton is a good choice.

Yale has a good reputation and top 20 school...

Should I ?

My Life, My Spoiled Dog

2006-12-09T22:17:00.000-08:00

I usually gave Paris to eat Nutro Lamb and Rice dried food, however I just found out that he could be allergic to his food.

Recently I came across an emailing list for coton de tulear where a well known breeder had said that :
if your dog is chewing or licking his paws, it's most probably because he is allergic to his food

And Natasha had told me that her other dog is also very sensitive to food and her vet told her to feed the dog either duck or salmon.

Let me repeat that : DUCK or SALMON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So my journey to Petco started, where I picked a Natural Balance DUCK and rice dried food for him.

HELL............. I don't even eat duck once a week..

Oh well, my friend has told me that Paris' eye stains seem better after Paris eat the new food.

Me, Myself, and I

2006-12-09T22:15:00.000-08:00

I think I am crazy. I've just been reading all the MBA blog out there about B school applicant this year. And there are people out there with 2.5 years working experience interviewed by top B school and was told : you're kinda lacking work experience..

And I think : I only have one year working experience.. 1 year 1 month a few weeks to be exact

Am I missing something here?

I'm probably just missing some screws up there but oh well I am a stubborn person.

When asked by my mom : what are u going to do if you get rejected again?
Answer : apply again next year
Mom : WHATT? When are you going to get married??

-> Typical Indonesian mother.. sigh.. she basically just want to marry me off and make sure I have kids before I'm 30

Ohh well..... I'm getting all nervous now

UCLA : checked , expecting answer Jan 29. Frigging nervous about this coz this is like my #1 choice and the only school I have a chance to go too.. other than USC but that's a diff story
USC: submitted
NYU Stern : V. V. doubtful I can get in , especially with the limited reapplication essay. But I've submitted this one too
Haas Berkeley : Just submitted this a few hours ago. Pretty much wasting my $175, remembering Jett had told me they don't really like to admit people with less than 3 years working experience

So I still have columbia, yale, wharton. I deserve a break .. just today.. I'll start writing again tomorrow... Remembering I'm going to mammoth in 2 weeks time and before I know it , it'll be new year and then another application deadline..

SIGHHH

xmas is coming

2006-12-08T22:14:00.000-08:00

With Xmas coming, and the xmas office party just around the corner.. I suddenly had a ZIT on my forehead!! A gigantic zit....

I had not have a gigantic acne for monthssssssssssss.......... more than 6 months at least

this sux..

i blame this to cashew nuts in my salad, stress, working late night on my essays every single day