New MBA Admissions Consulting Service

As many of you requested, I will now be offering a professional MBA Admissions Consulting Services. Over the past year I have already assisted many of you with your journey towards a top MBA program. If you read through my blog, you should have realized that applying to your dream MBA program will require a very complex application.

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We will simplify the process for you, provide you with all the candid feedback that you require, and be with you every step of the way. Our services include:

• General extensive guidance on the entire MBA experience, the application process, the GMAT, etc.
• Selecting the business schools, scheduling time line, and defining your most appropriate application strategy.
• Targeted structure of the application for each business school, including selections of topics for the essays, structuring each essay, etc.
• Selecting the recommenders, and structuring the recommendations.Essays and other written material reviews.
• Interview preparation.

So if you want to study an MBA in a Top Tier business school; If you want an international experience that will last for your entire life; If you want to have your dream job in just one or two years – don’t hesitate to schedule your free of charge Introductory Meeting/Phone-call with us today!

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Preparation to INSEAD

I was admitted to INSEAD in May, and it's been a couple of crazy month since. There were a lot of things to arrange. Here is the list.

Accept INSEAD's Offer and pay the deposit of 4500 euros (they accept cheques and bank transfers).

Login to NetVestibule – Upload a picture, update my profile, and read all the guides.

Arrange a loan (if you need one) - There is a special loan for Israeli students through Bank Leumi, but the interest is a bit high. Some French banks offer loans for aroung 3% interest rates, but only if you have French underwriters. Check out INSEAD website for more details.

Make the second tuition payment – 29000 euros.

Rent an apartment - There were three sources of information that I used for this: bonapart.org city-junction.com, and NetVestibue Message Board. Bonapart is a website intended to rent a place near INSEAD (in the surrounding villages mostly) by contacting the landlords directly by email. City-junction is an agency which offers some apartments in Fonty (mostly) for a special fee. In NetVistibule Message Board you can contact students from last year who recommend on apartments. Some people flew to Fonty to check the place out, and rented the apartment there - It is a bit costy approach, but safer for sure.

Rent/Buy/Lease a car – I used leasing (there is a tax reduction for students), and it costs 4000-6500 euros for the year. In this option you can get a new car with insurance and garage services for an ok price. You can have diesel and automatic Citroen C3 for 4000 euros. The other option is to buy a used car from one of the students (check out NV Message Board). This option is much cheaper, but you get a used car with potential problems.

Career Leader test – one month before the studies begin you take this computerized test. It should take a couple of hours to fill this (somewhat annoying) questionnaire.

Learn a third language – I chose to study Spanish (because it is easier then French). It is best to study a bit before the school and by that maybe to reduce some of pressure during school. Some students come one week ahead of time and take a full week's course in the third language, and need to take only 2 semesters.

Order the preliminary reading books – I asked alumni and they said it is not worth it. Everything will be covered during term. So I chose not to order them (I will let you know if this was a smart choice).

Pay and come to the Preliminary Week - I asked alumni and they said that for my background (engineering) it would be a waste of time and money. So I passed.

Get health insurance – There is couple of options (through French agencies, and Israeli ones). I chose "Harel" insurance – an Israeli standard insurance for those who live aboad.

Issue a student Visa – for you and your partner.

Order a flight to France – if you need a specific date I suggest you do it well in advance. An open ticket for a year cost me around 560$. If you are flexible you might want to wait for the last minute when you can perhaps get a cheap one-way ticket for around 200$.

Buy a Laptop - this is a must for an MBA student (or so they say). It should cost you 1000-1500$ .

Buy a suit - you will need it for events and job interviews. I bought a nice one in Zara.

Deliver your stuff to France - There are several ways to do it (by air or by sea). You can only carry to the flight 20Kg each (+5Kg handbag). This is obviousely not enough, and overweight is overpriced, so you will have to send your stuff through a mail service. I found EMS, the Israeli Post Office service, very cheap (55$ for 20Kg box, and delivery is in 2-3 business days) - so this is what I will use. In addition I had to buy some suitcases.

Open a bank account in France - You can do it in advance. Simply email the bank with the request, and send a copy of the passport and the attestation form of INSEAD (that can be printed) . This can be done also in France.

Issue an international driving licence - Just in case.

Meet your fellow MBA students - It is nice to know who comes with you to study (and speaks your language). Also, everybody does things a little differently and you might even save time and money by following other's advice.

Disconnect from cable TV, internet, newspapaer and other liabilities.

If I remember something else I will add it here.

Buying a Laptop for School

One of the things I had to do while preparing for school was purchasing a laptop. This is a must for any MBA student. There were several options, such as a tablet PC or a notebook. I decided that I personally will never write on the computer screen, so a tablet was out of the question.

In Israel the prices of laptop are high. In the price of an old generation computer you can purchase a new model notebook in the states. One more problem is that you cannot assemble your computer - you must buy what the supplier delivers. If the supplier provides only notebooks with Window Vista, then you cannot get a Windows XP computer. So I decided to focus on buying the computer in the internet, and have someone deliver it to me.

After some research I had to decide between Dell, the Latitude D630, or Lenovo, the T61 model. I purchased the Dell in the end, and it seems really good, but I guess the Lenovo would be just as good.

Here are some parameters that I considered when I purchased my laptop:
1. The laptop will be in use for only one year. After that if you need a computer at work, they will probably give you. I have a strong computer at home, so the notebook is not a suitable desktop replacement for me (from my experience laptops are never as strong as desktops). So for 1 year, spending more than 1000$ on a computer seems like a waste.

2. Well, you can get a decent computer for that price, but not the models I described earlier. I like my computer to be fast. I am a software engineer, so I know what I want from my computer. I am willing to go as high as 1500$ in order to get good specs for my computer.

3. I don't trust Windows Vista. Don't get me wrong, I like new technologoes, and I am always the first one to use them, but doing my research I got a bad feeling regarding Vista. The demanding requirements for video card and memory, the consumption of battery, the problems connecting to some hardware such as printers, and the lack of backward compatability to software from the XP generation - all were red lights. I guess I will wait for a year or two before I use Windows Vista. So I wanted Windows XP Pro - this way I don't have to get familiar with a new operating system, and I know the requirements of the hardware.

4. I wanted to get as much memory as possible, ie 2GB. It's not worth to save money here - because for the extra 100$ you boost your performance. I like to run a lot of processes at once, and memory is an important factor. You can never get enough memory.

5. Battery Lifetime is also very important. So for extra 40$ I got myself a nice 9-Cell battery - which lasts for about 4.5 hours.

6. Screen size - 12 inches is small. Too small to work. If I could I would have gotten the 15"4 (widescreen WXGA+), but then the computer would have weighed 3 Kg. the 14"1 screen that I got eventually weigh only 2.5 Kg. This is important, because as a student I would carry the computer everyday. I can tell you that the difference between them (in screen size) is very small, and the 14" screen is great.

7. Processor - I selected a Intel Dual Core 2 2GHz. I could have chosen a faster one, but I did not see the need for Win XP. This should be enough (a better processor cost more).

8. Connection to TV - OOPS, my computer was delivered without S-Video output (this is the 21st century, right?). Now I cannot connect my computer to the TV! I have to buy a very rare adapter, which is very hard to get, and cost around 70$. The pitfalls are always in the small details!

9. Warranty - For about 100$ I get a full warranty for 3 years, including if I spilled my drink all over the laptop, or I scratched the screen.

To summarize this, you can configure the laptop that you need (including all the parameters) in the manufactor's website. For 1500$ you get a fantastic computer with warranty. All you need to do is have someone send it to you from the States.

I will follow-up on this, and let you know if the computer is any good, and what useful software I installed on it.

Issuing a French Student Visa (Israeli Version)

A disclaimer first: Yesterday I issued the Student Visa for France, and I will write here everything that I did in order to get the visa. All in all it’s a friendly process, and can be done quickly if you bring all the documents to the consulate. You might not even need a visa. I suggest you contact the consulate to verify everything I wrote here (I'm no expert). Their phone is: 03-5208508. It's best to call after 14:15.

The Consulate
You must come to The French Consulate in TA (1 Ben Yehuda St. - Migdalor Building) in order to issue the student visa. Office hours are: Mon-Thu 8:00-10:00 (at Wed 8:00-12:00). There is a parking lot in front of the building.

The Documents You Need To Bring
You need to fill some forms. You don't have to come to Consulate especially to take the forms, because you can download the forms here. You need to fill them in two copies (in English or French). A translated version (English) you can find here. You can fill the forms at the Consulate when you come with all the other documents, and they have a Hebrew version of the forms there.

In order to fill the forms you need to know INSEAD's address in France , and your permanent address in France. Also you need to write your employer's address.

Additional documents you need to bring (for all the documents you need the original and a copy):

• The forms (2 copies, must be original).
• Copy of your passport (you need to also bring your passport).
• 2 passport pictures (4cm x 5cm).
• Attestation Form (French Version) from INSEAD (printed from NV).
• A copy of the rental agreement in France (or some kind of proof) – my landlord faxed it to me.
• A letter from the bank (in English) stating that you have more than 7300 euros, or 680 euros per month.
• A Previous student card.
• Medical insurance for 3 month in France (I did it through "Harel").

The arrangements you need to do prior your arrival to the consulate:

• Go to your bank and get that letter.
• Rent an apartment in France.
• Arrange a medical insurance.

You don't need to open a bank account in France for the Visa.

When You Arrive To The Consulate
The consulate is located in the 11th floor. On the 10th floor there is the Cultural Services Office of the French Embassy. You have to bring the Attestation Letter (and passport), and they will give you a letter that you need to bring to the consulate. Go to this office BEFORE you go to the 11th floor. You should call in advance to this office and schedule an appointment (although I did not call in advance and it was still ok).

Once you have everything ready, go to the 11th floor, and if you have all the documents, the clerk will issue you the visa on the spot. You need to pay around 280 NIS (by credit card or cash). It all takes around an hour (depending on the line).

A Student's Partner
If you come with a partner to France (wife/husband) you need to bring some documents on behalf of them:

• Two forms (original)
• Their passport (and a copy)
• 2 passport pictures
• Some proof of the marriage (the passport was ok).

You can come alone to the consulate (your partner does not have to come). Once you get the visa, your partner will not be able to work, only accompany you. The clerk said that I should arrange for a document that proofs the marriage in English or French (they might want to see it in France). The Partner's visa costs around 560 NIS.

All Done
Once you get the Visa, it is valid for 3 month in which you must enter France. So don't do this too soon! I wouldn't leave it for the last minute also (but I knowL people who arranged the visa in the last week before their flight). Later you will have to get a "carte de sejour" (but that will be done in France).