Hello and welcome to a fresh installment of Stacy Blackman’s B-School Buzz! This week’s featured bloggers are just getting into the Zone, whether that means hard-core essay writing, GMAT cramming, or taking a moment to reflect on their MBA journeys as they gear up for the classes, cases, conferences, and competitions that await them.

Updates on every front — The Phoenix has been a busy bee since we last checked in as he writes and re-writes multiple essay drafts and is faced with a never-expected problem…struggling to encapsulate his life into 600 or fewer words. He also offers essay advice in this post, and shares his decision about applying to a fourth school in round one.

Preliminary G-Day results are in –After spending 41 days preparing for the GMAT, Kruthika realized that this just wasn’t enough to get to her target score. While she has always done well in SC, she admits that math has never been her cup of tea, and RC is her weakest area. The exam day started off with snarled traffic, a six-floor hike, and total mind-freeze, which ultimately translated into a less-than-stellar score. We wish you better luck for next go-around in late October.

Remember when… — My, how life has changed since Ellipser began his b-school application journey! With the first few weeks at Cornell’s Johnson School now under his belt, he decided to dedicate a post to providing some fresh prospective on an entry from March called “Remember When… App Nostalgia“. Here’s a sampling of what Ellipser is waxing nostalgic about: “Remember when… we used to make up questions just to have a touch point with admissions officers? HAHAHA so true!  And now the admissions officers are our friends!  It’s nice to see them in their own element.”

The engineer-to-MBA story — We’re happy to feature the b-school musings of Engineer to MBA, a group of three MBA bloggers at Harvard Business School who want to assist other engineers in their MBA admissions application process. This post, written by Pavan Sirpa, lays out what he learned in his first year at HBS and how much he’s looking forward to an enriching second year.

Do you have a b-school-centric blog? Want it featured on B-School Buzz? Email me at buzz@StacyBlackman.com.

This week, our featured B-School Buzz bloggers face the beginnings and endings of key moments in their business school experience. Whether it’s fleshing out a compelling answer to an essay question or embarking on life after B-school, each is reveling in a moment of peace and satisfaction…for the time being, at least!

What to do when an essay question haunts you — Unfathomable is finally ready to tackle Stanford GSB’s hallmark essay prompt, “What matters most to you and why?”. Developing the answer into an essay theme and weaving a story around it was daunting, he says, but trying and then rejecting various ideas eventually lead back to his original idea from almost 20 months ago. Lesson learned: always follow your heart, because sooner or later it will take you in the right direction.

Most important lesson learned at HBS — Military to Business will graduate from Harvard Business School in just two weeks, and he’s already begun to miss those hallowed halls of learning. Where else can you encounter dozens of fascinating people every day, absorb the wisdom of world-class professors, and then play sports together in the afternoon and hang out at night? Follow the link above to read his take on the most valuable aspects of an HBS education.

A chapter ends today — Although he won’t be traveling the globe like some of his peers headed to Cornell’s Johnson School in the fall, Ellipsing My Way…to Business School shares the news that as of today, he is leaving his job of the past two-plus years for a summer gig with a substantial pay bump. “Given the hit that my bank account has taken over the year, I can now breathe a little easier knowing that I can enter school with some money in my savings account,” says Ellipser.

Advice for future MBA bloggers — For those on the fence about starting an MBA blog during the application process, Random Wok’s Mark Wong says, do it! In this post, he shares three key things he learned from writing from the MBA applicant’s point of view: blog about both the good times and the bad; work to help others; and don’t make profit a priority. “If you use your blog to find your voice and speak your mind, I promise you that you won’t feel alone while taking on one of the biggest challenges of your life,” Mark says.

Do you have a b-school-centric blog? Want it featured on B-School Buzz? Email me at buzz@StacyBlackman.com.

It’s been another busy week for our B-School Buzz bloggers as they’ve been continuing their GMAT prep and essay drafts, sharing new projects and offering advice to those still agonizing in waitlist limbo.

Not enough hours in the week — In this week’s post, Carl Incognito tallies up the hours required for his weekly commitments and comes to the realization that he might be taking on too much. As panic starts to set in, Carl admits he isn’t doing everything as well as he would like…which means something’s gotta give.

Words of hope for all those waitlisters out there — With many friends of his own stuck in waitlist limbo, Ellipsing My Way…To Business School urges those in the same boat to hang in there! Now is the time when people on various waitlists start turning down spots, which means places will be opening up soon. “Don’t get discouraged just yet… but also…don’t quit your job just yet!,” he counsels.

Back after a lengthy absence — Finally back to the blogosphere after a two-month hiatus, Unfathomable checks back in this week with some updates on his GMAT preparation, essay drafts for the Indian School of Business, and recent blogging nomination. The biggest application hurdle now: how to condense ones experiences and their correlation with future goals into just 300 words.

The start of a new chapter — After deciding to forgo business school for the next two years, Mukaam posts this week about formally becoming a 2011 Teach for India Fellow. Although the resources may be scarce, she finds great inspiration in the 13,500 children whose lives she and her fellows are about to change. Best of luck Saloni for an amazing experience!

Do you have a b-school-centric blog? Want it featured on B-School Buzz? Email me at buzz@StacyBlackman.com.

Welcome back to another edition of Stacy Blackman’s B-school Buzz! Whether it’s an etiquette issue, test-taking tip or thoughts on how to define culture, our bloggers share insights that can help all would-be applicants.

Wharton waitlist etiquette — As Random Wok points out,  each school has its own policy when it comes to waitlist etiquette. While some programs such as Babson welcome additional information that might strengthen your candidacy, Wharton strongly discourages any contact from waitlisted candidates, unless it’s to remove yourself from that pool. While some people flout Wharton’s recommendation, Mark refuses to do so.  “While I really would like to get accepted to Wharton,” he says, “I’m not willing to sacrifice my integrity to get there.”

Defining culture – Fit and culture are two important aspects to consider when choosing your target business schools, and in this post, new Buzz blogger Carl Incognito attempts to break down what culture is and how to identify it. Carl lists categories such as strength of the alumni network, teaching methodologies, class size and diversity as just some of the areas applicants should consider when trying to identify a school’s culture. But, he cautions, “none of this is relevant unless you can relate culture back to yourself.”

Essay advice — The essay component of the application is one of the most difficult parts for many people. Stanford GSB 2013, another new Buzz blogger we welcome this week, shares some of the tips and resources that he found helpful on this journey. It all boils down to writing what you want to say, not what you think admissions wants to hear, he says. But, as he reminds readers, “There are probably better ways than others to say what you want and so you really do need to spend lots of time thinking, writing, revising, and editing.”

Proven to boost test performance — Siv the GMATblogger shares a link to research conducted by the University of Chicago which has found that test-takers can boost their exam performance by writing down their test-related anxieties and tensions. He says this is due to the fact that by laying it out on paper (or computer screen), the individuals free up brain space, which can help in boosting the performance on the exam. Thanks for the tip, Siv!

Do you have a b-school-centric blog? Want it featured on B-School Buzz? Email me at buzz@StacyBlackman.com.

Welcome back to another week featuring the latest exploits of our B-School Buzz bloggers! The admitted are gearing up for life as MBA students while others have identified GMAT tools that work for them. And check out the great post about a train ride in India that ends with applications in at two of the top American B-schools.

Preparing for business school – The hectic pace that is the life of the MBA applicant is nothing compared to life post-acceptance,  Ellipsing My Way…to Business School has found. He’s already set on Cornell’s Johnson School and offers sage advice to anyone lucky enough to be wavering between multiple programs: Ask yourself if in five years you’ll be able to reach out to the students who are at the school now.  “If you don’t think that the current 1st and 2nd years will respond to you, then how do you think the folks who have been out of school for 10+ years will respond?”

Maybe the rankings should include weather? — UCLA Anderson admit weekend proved to be a great experience for Random Wok, who says the school’s culture and environment stood out from the competition. In fact, some admits were choosing Anderson over Tuck and Chicago Booth simply for the sunshine factor. The experience definitely gave Mark some homework; he says he needs to sharpen his story and career goals as well as come to terms with the reality that he’ll soon leave behind his job and comfortable salary to go to B-school for two years.

Three great GMAT tools — We welcome new Buzz blogger Kruthika, aka MBA Odyssey, who shares the joy of India’s win over Pakistan in the ICC World Cup Semi-Finals as well as three great tools for GMAT success.  Besides being in love with the revamped BeatTheGMAT site, Kruthika swears by using an error log, flash cards and a GMAT progress chart.

The journey to Wharton — Reaching My Mukaam tells a great story about a chance meeting that turned into a lovely friendship with a fellow B-school applicant, also from Bangalore. Over the course of two days on a train, Mukaam connected her new friend with an adviser to help polish her essays for Stanford and Wharton, and she ultimately managed to overcome dodgy internet connections to submit her applications with mere hours to spare. So how does this story end? Read her blog to find out!

Do you have a b-school-centric blog? Want it featured on B-School Buzz? Email me at buzz@StacyBlackman.com.

Are you thinking about applying to B-school? One of the best ways to learn about the MBA world is to read about the experiences of current applicants, as well as the students who have gone before you. With this in mind, here is what our B-school Buzz bloggers have been up to this week.

Golden nuggets of information– Waitlisted candidates often feel quite helpless, thinking there’s nothing they can do to influence the admission committee’s decision of whether to accept them to their program of choice.  With that in mind, NaveenVenkataraman of Rocky’s Journey to a Babson MBA posts a link this week to an extremely helpful video from Babson College admissions director Barbara Selmo with an explainer of the waitlist process and what action points you can take to strengthen your file. If only all MBA programs were this accommodating to applicants!

13 reasons to go to business school — New B-School Buzz blogger Pardeep, aka Rolipolli…a walk through life,  has been thinking about getting an MBA for a long time. This mechanical engineer from India has come up with 13 reasons why now is the moment to go for an MBA. Among his reasons: not wanting a boss “sitting on my head 24X7″ as well as the chance to meet “someone special.” Best of luck as you chase your B-school dreams.

Final weeks at HBS – With less than a month of cases remaining at Harvard Business School, Military to Business reflects on how some classmates are spending their remaining weeks. His peers are either looking for a job, conducting last-minute networking, expressing regret about their job choice, or relaxing and reflecting. As for our blogger, Military to Business says he now has “the confidence to not pursue every shiny ball that bounces in front of me…HBS has not only given me the skills to succeed in whatever I pursue, it has also helped me prioritize and reduce the white noise of life.”

The ROI is already apparent — Bemoaning a lack of inspiration for his blog now that he’s been admitted to UCLA Anderson School of Management, Mark Wong of Random Wok lays out the differences between MBA applicant and student blogs. Whereas applicant blogs are filled with drama, stress and the highs and lows of dings and acceptances, an MBA student blog is usually a snooze. One thing he celebrates this week: the leather business card holder and laser pointer/flashlight pen included in his UCLA admit package. “I’ve already spent thousands of dollars applying to business school.  Now I’m finally getting some ROI,” he jokes.

Do you have a b-school-centric blog? Want it featured on B-School Buzz? Email me at buzz@StacyBlackman.com.