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mNeo
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 03 Sep 2007, 23:08
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forcefeed

I am interpreting this question to be similar to the HBS culture shock essay. I'm going to write about my first trip to China and how I initially struggled to connect to people there but adapted quickly to be successful in my project.
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Dude, you stole my idea !!
What are the rest of you writing in this "Outsider" essay? A cultural difference experience is something obvious that we can fit here. But to be honest, I've never felt like a true "outsider" in any country that I went to. Well except for China .. where I was getting a lot of stares because of my non-chinese looks and my height. But I can't think of anything that I learned from that experience :? (Except that "I don't look Chinese")

I was hoping to write about some experience where my ideologies and thoughts were outsiders. But I can't think of any :( So what are the rest of you writing about? Gimme some ideas guys!
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 03 Sep 2007, 23:20
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I'm writing about moving to India, and how I still felt like an outsider even though I was Indian (born raised in the US).
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mNeo
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 03 Sep 2007, 23:29
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You may not like it, but "America born Indian going to India" and "India born Indian moving to America" are going to be very common themes. Not that you shouldn't write about something just cos it's a common theme. Who knows, maybe you'll shine in that essay.
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 04 Sep 2007, 00:28
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Thanks for the input mNeo, it's a bit more than that...I've grown up in the US, Europe, Africa but the thing that hit me most when I went back to India was people asking what caste I am etc...Something I always thought of as antiquated and only read about in the history books. Plus some of things I've heard from coworkers friends on my caste have been shocking.
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 04 Sep 2007, 05:54
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i may be the only person NOT writing about going to another country for my outsider essay. havent left the country in 20 years :oops:
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 04 Sep 2007, 06:01
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I'm not sure what I'm going to do for that essay yet. I've never left the US....actually I've only left the Northeast twice. So I'm going to have to think of another take on being an "outsider". I did feel like sort of an outsider during college since I didn't drink, listened to music no one heard of, etc... and found it difficult to connect to people, but I feel that may be too cheesy.
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 04 Sep 2007, 06:03
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jjanders
I'm not sure what I'm going to do for that essay yet. I've never left the US....actually I've only left the Northeast twice. So I'm going to have to think of another take on being an "outsider". I did feel like sort of an outsider during college since I didn't drink, listened to music no one heard of, etc... and found it difficult to connect to people, but I feel that may be too cheesy.
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i think thats a pretty good idea...i think the outsider in another country idea is a bit played out
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 04 Sep 2007, 06:06
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That's true. Another option would be to write about when I took Intro to Womens Studies, and was one of like 3 men in a class of 250 women. I took the class on purpose to kind of step out of my comfort zone, and I think it'd be a good story....but it was my senior year of college which was 6 years ago, not sure if I should try to find something more recent
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 04 Sep 2007, 06:10
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jjanders
That's true. Another option would be to write about when I took Intro to Womens Studies, and was one of like 3 men in a class of 250 women. I took the class on purpose to kind of step out of my comfort zone, and I think it'd be a good story....but it was my senior year of college which was 6 years ago, not sure if I should try to find something more recent
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i personally like the first one better...a class is just a limited part of a day, whereas the first one affects your entire social life at school
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 04 Sep 2007, 06:14
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Yeah, maybe I'll try writing up a rough draft of both and see how they come out.

It's the last essay I need to do for Wharton, the others are in pretty good shape I think.
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 04 Sep 2007, 10:30
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dabots
i think thats a pretty good idea...i think the outsider in another country idea is a bit played out
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I completely agree. The "outsider in another country" thing is going to be extremely common. And in many cases, it'll prove that we haven't truly understood what "outsider" means. That is why I wanted to talk about some experience where my ideologies and thoughts were outsiders. Unfortunately I can't think of any.

jjanders, your story about college may work. Just make sure to show how you overcame those obstacles in the end.
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 04 Sep 2007, 10:33
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What about corporate culture? That can vary widely and provide a "culture shock" experience so to speak.
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 04 Sep 2007, 10:38
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Back from the Wharton Ad com event in Delhi - the diro of Admissions was hosting it no less.

Surprising thing was a grand total of 0 Wharton alum turned up. This compared to 4 awesome Stan grads in yesterday events (an stan has a class size one third or something) was quite funny.

That been said the adcom was brilliant - seriously I thought I'll catch him out by asking some obscure question, but he really knew his stuff - guess thats why he's the diro of admissions ;)
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 04 Sep 2007, 10:40
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does diro mean director?
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 04 Sep 2007, 10:41
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Oh !! That wasnt even what I was gonna post on......

I am not apping to R1 Wharton, but I did write my outsider essay (dont ask me why - I am an idiot). Am writing abt when I changed schools........I came from a very small (near village) to Delhi.........an all the kids picked on me. Is this too lame/too in the past.

An oh - I seriously think that cross country culture essays are gonna look very generic + very recycled from Insead
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 04 Sep 2007, 10:42
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mNeo
jjanders, your story about college may work. Just make sure to show how you overcame those obstacles in the end.
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Well I've never really "overcome" them in the sense that I have always been a bit of an outsider due to my personality, interests, and opinions, and probably always will be. I would say that I have accepted and become much more comfortable with this fact, though, which is what I can focus on.
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 04 Sep 2007, 10:55
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jjanders
mNeo
jjanders, your story about college may work. Just make sure to show how you overcame those obstacles in the end.

Well I've never really "overcome" them in the sense that I have always been a bit of an outsider due to my personality, interests, and opinions, and probably always will be. I would say that I have accepted and become much more comfortable with this fact, though, which is what I can focus on.
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Hmm .. that's certainly going to be different from most other applicants. Well .. in that case, make sure that you do not sound like a difficult team-player. I am sure you are taking care of that already :)
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 05 Sep 2007, 03:52
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dabots
does diro mean director?
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Yep - Thomas Caleel.......Kryzak I hope you're apping to Wharton........Mr. Caleel speaks Russian
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 05 Sep 2007, 04:12
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sangoman
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does diro mean director?

Yep - Thomas Caleel.......Kryzak I hope you're apping to Wharton........Mr. Caleel speaks Russian
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And conversational French....lol gotta love the wharton profiles.
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Calling all Wharton 2008 applicants 05 Sep 2007, 04:23
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Met him during wharton session in Sydney.

Bloody good presentation skills eh.

sangoman
dabots
does diro mean director?

Yep - Thomas Caleel.......Kryzak I hope you're apping to Wharton........Mr. Caleel speaks Russian
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