False Alarm

So, I return from hours of meetings (if anyone out there wants to be a consultant, I hope you like meetings) and I see one of the emails in my inbox is from Harvard Admissions. I am like "NO FREAKING WAY," thinking presumptuously that HBS might have granted me an interview invite. It didn't help that the word "Interview" was in the subject line. Sadly, it was just that - truly presumptuous of me. The email was from the College regarding my role as interviewer (yes, it's mildly ironic that I am interviewing kids for admission into Harvard College while I am waiting to get an interview from HBS... and no, they are not tied together in any way, shape, or form, so there's no conflict of interest... I asked).

The agony of the wait is rough. So, I kill time by anticipating when I might hear my next bit of news... here is what I have in store.

Early Nov. - HBS starts releasing invites. This is scheduled to extend up through early- or even mid-January. My guess is that most invites go out late November through late December, but that is pure speculation on my part.
Nov. 13 - Receive decision as to whether I am invited to Duke's Weekend for Women.
Nov. 13 - 17 - Interview at Wharton.
Nov. 17 - LBS releases their interview decisions. I find out if I am invited to interview or a victim of DWI.
Dec. 19 - If I'm still in the running for LBS, I will receive my admit/WL/reject decision.
Dec. 19 - Receive the Duke admit/WL/reject decision.
Dec. 21 - Receive the Wharton admit/WL/reject decision.
Jan. 15 - If I'm still in the running for Ross, I will receive the Michigan admit/WL/reject decision. [Note, I have no idea when they start/stop releasing invitations to interview].
Jan. 18 - If I'm still in the running for HBS, I will receive the HBS admit/WL/reject decision.

My friends, that is a lot of waiting. I am not patient. In fact, when my manager asked what I thought my weaknesses were, I put that somewhere near the top. Of course, if I am fortunate enough to receive more interview invites, I'll be able to add in activities to prepare for those. I am currently brushing up on my Wharton application and gathering lists of questions from ClearAdmit.com and Accepted.com to prepare for my interview at W. Plus, somewhere in this extended period of time are one or two more R2 applications, but I'm not worried about those yet.

I have decided to put a positive spin on this period of time by considering it a semi-transition back into normal life (i.e., a chance to leave my obsession behind). I plan to catch up on some movies, go to a few weddings and holiday parties, and I have planned a weekend trip with my husband and some friends to get away for awhile. I haven't really been doing those things b/c every weekend has involved me getting up, going to Starbucks, and writing applications for the majority of the day. While I definitely have done other, non-app things, they usually are restricted to a few hours rather than a whole day or weekend.