BITS2BSCHOOL Application tips: Ramya Laxman (BITS ’00, CMU-Tepper ’12)

In an email conversation and Q&A with BITS2BSCHOOL, Ramya Laxman talks about her app-ing experience and what urged her to go for an MBA. Read on to find out about more in her own words…

Application TipsSealing the deal

I graduated from BITS in 2004 with an Information Systems degree. I accepted my campus job from Dell Bangalore and after a successful 3 year stint, I joined Yahoo. Throughout, I have been working in the Oracle ERP space in different domains of CRM, SCM, Finance and HRMS.

Then I moved to Houston in the US and started working as a consultant. I was soon absorbed as a full-time employee in an Oil and Gas company. After working for more than 2 years, I wanted to gain more exposure and explore other domains that lead me to pursue an MBA degree.

On my application journey, I applied very selectively to a few schools that excel in the Technology Leadership space. CMU-Tepper School of Business was obviously my first choice in this set of schools. I visited Tepper for a diversity weekend and that sealed the deal. It was an amazing environment, wonderful adcom and nice set of people I met during this event. However, I also applied to a couple of other schools for personal reasons. I got recommendations from different companies I worked for and worked hard on my essays! The Tepper admit was a welcome reward with the fellowship being the icing on the cake.

1. On applying to Tepper.

As far as Tepper tips are concerned, I would encourage students to do their research and visit the campus for sure. This would tell them what they are in for. Students sometimes blindly apply to schools and that comes across in their applications. So that would be my blanket suggestion. Please take some time and effort to identify what exactly you want to do, understand the different specializations offered and pick one! I found Tepper’s website extremely resourceful, so please exploit that option. Also reach out to the BITSAA community, a very friendly and useful resource.

2. What was the differentiating factor that you portrayed to the adcoms?

The Differentiating factor I would say – at work was my varied experience. I was working in an Oil and Gas company while applying for my MBA and before that I was in an Internet industry (Yahoo) and Manufacturing (Dell) bef. I actually started off my career interning at a R&D company (HP Labs). And on my co-curricular activities, I was a Radio Jockey while at Houston and I think it was a clear differentiator in terms of helping me showcase my other side apart from work!

3. Your GMAT score.

690

4. The other admits you got.

I applied only to schools with a Technology focus and also ones that were geographically suitable for my spouse’s relocation. I got admits from Georgia Tech and RICE (I was local to Houston!)

5. Any advice you want to give to people who want to become a Fellow – what outstanding traits they should possess?

Tepper was very clear about their requirements for Fellowship. Fit and merit were the 2 things they were looking for. So I would just advise people to highlight why they want to join the school and why the school should take them. Explain clearly why it is a win-win situation for both! As far as the merits are concerned, we just need to make sure the right ones are highlighted.

To gain access to more such resources and B-School guidance from Alumni, join bits2bschool@yahoogroups.com

Using Trello for all BITSAA International Teams

Exciting times lay ahead for all BITSAA Volunteers – we are getting hooked to a really good app called Trello!

So we have been losing a lot of information over e-mails and a lot of To-Do’s have been getting lost in this process. Hence from now on – each one of us who is part of BITSAA International is going to be communicating internally via Trello. Though a volunteer organization we are always the 1st to get hooked on using some really neat apps out there, and we have been supported by many of these orgs with their products.

Some of them – Gust, Recruiterbox, Dropbox, YMC have already been hits internally!

Trello is a simple online app which allows a team to track like a Sticky Note Board, all the tasks and align that with the Goals taken up by the respective team for the year. It’s really neat and has simple UX/UI which makes it very intuitive and easy to use.

To understand how to use Trello – follow the below 2 links and check this screenshot by the CXO team who is using it as well for our own tracking purposes.

1. http://blog.trello.com/launch/

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaDf1RqeLfo&feature=youtu.be

If you have any doubts – please feel free to reach out to me at vijaysharma@bitsaa.org. This is a great app and I am sure we will have fun using it.

Look forward to all of your support and enthusiasm in implementing this.

BITSAA Leadership program deadline extended to July 8. Apply now!

Dear BITSian,

If you are still mulling over the BITSAA Leadership Program 2012 (BLP 2012)application process, we have some good news for you. The deadline has been extended to 8th July 2012, 11:59 p.m IST to give you some extra time. This will be our last and final extension.

Are you are still thinking about why you should apply for the BLP 2012? Here are 4 reasons why you should send in your application rightaway!

  1. Feel proud to give back to the awesome institution that BITS Pilani is. Santhosh Lakshman, our BITSAA Leader reflects on his experience of volunteering with BITSAA International and tells us why giving back to BITS Pilani makes you awesome.
  2. Experience the magical power of the BITSian network. Rishabh Kaul, another BITSAA Leader talks about how BITSAA International acts as the backbone for the wider BITSian network.
  3. Pave your way to the top BSchools / Grad Schools in the world. Here are some of our BITSAA Leaders who think that their experience from this volunteering activity played a vital part in their success.
    BITSAA Alum Role in BITSAA School
    Sandeep Thalapaneni Fundraising Cornell
    Aakash Goel Technology Georgia Tech (MS in CS)
    Abhilash Ravishankar CEL/ Embryo Haas, Berkeley
    Mahima Jain Communications IIFT
    Kushal Agarwal Communications IIM A
    Vishrut Shukla Technology/ Chapter Relations IIM B
    Nilesh Rathi Scholarships IIM B
    Santosh Lakshman M BITS Spark IIM C
    Deepak Malani LPBP IIM C
    Shashank Sharma Technology IIM K
    Rohan Sripad Career Center Kelly School of Business
    Raghavendra Datta Paleti Human Resources LSB
    Abhisek Rathi Human Resources MDI
    Bhargav Addala BITS2MSPhD/ Operations – BGM MIT
    Kris Inapurapu Fundraising MIT
    Kartik Bandhuvula Fundraising Ross School of Business
    Uzma Barlaskar Communications and Marketing, (CMO) Stanford GSB
    Saurabh Ladha Campus Relations Stanford (MS in Management Science & Engineering)
    Ashish Garg CEO Wharton
    Manoj Vasudevan Sponsorships Head – BGM Wharton
    and many more…
  4. Break the monotony of everyday life – hang out with BITSians and have fun working on game changing initiatives like BITSAA Global Meet,BITS Connect 2.0BITS Spark etc.

If you have already applied, share this with your BITSian friends and urge them to join – this is your chance to work again with your wingies, department-mates, batch-mates and friends!

If you want to hear more about the experience, just send us an email and we’ll get you connected with a current BITSAA Leader.

Apply, Come on board and join us in this fun albeit fulfilling ride!

BITSAA Leadership Program Deadline Extended – 30 June 2012

Dear BITSian,

The BITSAA Leadership Programme holds a promise of learning, transformation, and lots of fun. It has been designed to allow Leaders to improve their skills while volunteering for a Nonprofit along with giving back to our Alma mater and creating a strong and resilient network across the world with your peers and senior Leaders.

Over the years, our Leaders have successfully gone on to pursue careers (including but not limited to) in academia, entrepreneurship, management and technologies. A host of our Leaders make it to top business schools and engineering schools worldwide every year. Check out our website and blogfor more information on the BITSAA Leadership Programme including details of previous BITSAA Leaders and what they achieved.

We have received an amazing set of applications this time and applications are still pouring in. We realize that most of you are mulling over the application process, so we are giving BITSians who have just heard of the BLP a great chance to do their best!

To give you some extra time, we are extending the application deadline to 11:59pm IST on June 30. Please do submit your application by this date so that we can send you a decision and welcome you to the BITSAA Leaders family as soon as possible.

If you want to hear more about the experience, just send us an email and we’ll get you connected with a current BITSAA Leader.

If you have any questions about the application process, the Leaders, or BITSAA, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Looking forward to an enthusiastic response! Together let us make BITSAA the best connected alumni network in the world.

Warm Regards!

My take on BITSAA

My foray in BITSAA was by an accident. Like most things in my life. By some unforeseen circumstances, I found myself as part of a tiny team that was to make the agenda of the BITSAA Global Meet. The Meet itself seemed like such a funny event. The first few days were just spent thinking, “Wouldn’t it be awesome, if we could get Sam Pitroda?”, “Wouldn’t it be awesome, if we could Amartya Sen?”.

We finally did manage to get Sam Pitroda, but that is another story.

While BITSians who attended the BGM will remember it for the biggest ever BITSian meet since the first campus was erected half a century ago, or for the long line on the first day when we had completely sold out the tickets, or for the Battle of Brain of BITS which in true BITSian style ended at 4 in the morning, for me it was so much more than that.

It was shooting out over 500 mails and spending days in the offices and homes of the team that really pulled it off on the ground. It was spending months on skype with the team from the US that brought in processes and synergy (the jargon actually fits in!) and showed me that the alumni is a complex organism that spans across borders. It was nearly getting kicked out of my practice school and then getting back in, and it was testing the limits of my personal relations with those that are the closest to me (for I really did lose a track of time). Throughout all this, there was simply so much to learn. So many mistakes to make, so many promises to keep and so many iterations to make. Because if any of you have ever organized any event, you know that nothing is finalized until the D-day. And even then, things aren’t finalized. But as long as you have a great team to work with, it all works out in the end. And the BGM, thanks to the chutzpah of the BITSAA members that were behind it, was just that.

After BGM, and the fatigue that had set in, I thought, phew, that’s it. It been one heck of a ride, but boss, I’m done with active BITSAA volunteering for a few years. But another accident took place and I found out that BITSAA was coming up amazing new initiatives in entrepreneurship. And thus started my second major commitment to BITSAA, in the form of Spark Angels.

I hope by now, most of you would have heard of Project Spark.

And before I knew it, that familiar feeling of preparing for those weekly calls was back. And Spark Angels; the all BITSian angel network, to fund and mentor the next generation of BITSian entrepreneurs, was as challenging as putting up the BGM.

Why, you ask?

Try asking any investor, how long it takes them to raise funds and you will see a sheepish grin. Putting together an angel network in the nick of time, relying mostly on word of mouth and shout-outs to the community and actually reaching a point, where one feels that, we can actually make a difference to the lives of BITSian entrepreneurs, is an exhilarating feeling. You also realize that funding is merely one step in the larger aim of supporting the BITSian entrepreneur, which is just one step in the larger aim of supporting any BITSian.

This time, I got to work alongside a new set of folks. Folks who I have started to respect as much as the team that worked for the BGM. Folks, who are possibly the most passionate bunch I have met.

And you know what the strange part is? I think that the passion resides in each one of us. It is perhaps when we work together, that we see it in someone else. Because that passion transforms into action.

Over the years, my association with BITSAA has turned out to be a very emotional experience for me. Emotional because it got me really seeing the power of the BITSian network, which I have come believe, in its current form is nothing short of magical. I have met so many wonderful BITSians, and each one of them has a spark in them (sorry for the pun).

I am going to make an generalization and say that each one of them feels grateful to this institution which played a pivotal role in shaping who they are and most of them feel that they would like to show their gratitude in some way or the other.

Some do it by letting a junior, 30 years younger to them in age, share a glass of scotch with them. Some do it by setting aside their personal wealth to invest in companies started by BITSians. Some just enjoy meeting more and more BITSians and realizing that BITSAA is probably the largest family they had.

As for me? I resonate with BITSAA because I am just glad to be part of an institution this awesome.

I also admire BITSAA for what they have been able to achieve. What I love about BITSAA is that there are just so many ways in which one can give back to the college. And BITSAA acts like the perfect backbone for that process.

And above all, I would like to thank Vijay Sharma (’06), a dear friend, and the bloke that comes to my room late one night and scribbles something. The writing on my wall in Mal bhawan (I think they might have whitewashed it by now) said, “Stop Talking, Start Doing”

That writing on the wall is what got me to jump in like a fool, with comprees around the corner to work for the BGM. That is what got me to work for Spark Angels. Revisiting that saying on the wall is what gets me excited about every new initiative of BITSAA that I hear.

I hope it excites you too.

So what are you waiting for? Come aboard. I am sure, for whatever skill you bring to the table, there is something here, that can engage you, keep you motivated and help carve out a meaning. The more the merrier.

As Stevie Ray Vaughan says “When house is rockin‘, don’t bother knockin‘, come on in”

Rishabh Kaul (’06)

rishabhkaul@bitsaa.org