Barely Awake

This past week was not so lovely. Not only has it been pouring for like a week (do we get monsoons in DC?), but even if I had wanted to go outside, I could not. I spent many, MANY hours writing a deliverable. In fact, I pretty much survived on no sleep. :)

To make matters worse, my husband decided to cancel our internet at home and get a new service provider. That would've been fine except he didn't realize the new service will have to be connected and this would take a week. Ah - no internet for a week? Well, this unfortunate turn of events did allow me to focus on writing essays (rather than surfing the web for more school info).

So, apparently, HBS essays came out! I wasn't even aware (a thanks to Juggler for that information) given my state of hibernation. More things to think about (and worry about). I have put together my "recommenders packet" w/ everything they would need to know about me to write a nice recommendation letter. Still need to actually ask, though.

Well, until my internet comes back up, I may not write for a bit. I hope that isn't too long!

Join the club

I've recently discovered at least four other people at work that are going to be applying in the same cycle as me. It's nice to have some company... I hope they will keep me on track. ;) We just sent people to Dartmouth, Michigan, and Wharton. Last year, we had some in the ranks of Harvard and Stanford too. I guess that's pretty par for the course, considering I work for a major consulting firm. On one hand, it's comforting to know that business schools find that kind of experience valuable, but it also means there's *very* similar competition (though one could argue the massive numbers of other consultants are just as similar).

Anyway, I have some progress to report! I finished my business school resume and I finished the dossiers for Columbia and Haas. I'm going to start outlining those essays this weekend... umm... unless it's really nice out... haha. Now, I have to admit, I realized that I am actually really ahead of the game when I was talking to someone who just decided this week that she wanted to go to b-school next year. She still needs to research schools, come up w/ her top ones, and take the GMAT before she even gets to outlining essays.

That's all for now... pretty much just checking in. :)

Dossiers

In an effort to follow the schedule I laid out for myself, I started my essays (sorta) for Columbia and Haas. By sorta, I mean that I put down some disjointed thoughts that could work to answer the standard questions. I also went through all materials I have for those schools thoroughly to see where I could work in their highlights. Sadly, I have not gotten very far w/ this at all. If I could convince my husband to turn the TV off for 10 minutes I might make some more progress. Grrrr.... stupid desk tops and their lack of mobility.

Also, I realize that coming up pretty soon I need to approach my recommenders. Yikes. I had a clear idea of who I wanted to write these (and still do), but now suddenly I have to actually ask them to take time out of their very busy lives to wax poetically about my unique gifts. I hate asking people for things like this. Back when I was applying to colleges, it was pretty easy - first, I only applied to one school and second, most schools had common applications anyway. I was amazed by the recommendations I received - they were awesome - very heartfelt and clearly thoughtful (even though I waived my right to read them, my recommenders provided me w/ a copy of what they wrote). I'm hoping for something similar with the B-school application.

Will post updates - promise!

Choosing Schools... the search continues

I've still been trying to narrow down schools. Unfortunately, others are not helping b/c when I start talking to them about schools, they're like, "have you considered school X for reasons Y and Z?" No, I hadn't, but that just makes it all the harder!

I was researching both Haas (Berkeley) and Columbia b/c they have announced their essay topics for next year. Initially, neither of these schools really interested me. Haas b/c I figured if I was going to go to the Bay Area, I'd rather be at Stanford and Columbia b/c I don't want to live in NYC if I can help it (great city to visit but seems a little overwhelming as a place to live). However, as I researched more, I became interested in both. Haas has a Health Care Certificate and Global Mgmt Certificate; Columbia is very strong in Int'l business. The programs both appeal to me. Argh.

One of my previous posts listed my three tiers of schools. I have re-shuffled a little. I think I'm currently at this list:
Tier 1:
Wharton
Stanford
LBS
Columbia

Tier 2:
Michigan
Harvard
Kellogg
Haas

So, I pruned a few off, but the rest really seem to fit for one reason or another. Now, if it was just my own effort and money going into this process, I would honestly apply to all of them. I'd be willing to suffer through all those essays and dish out $200+ in fees for each application. But, I have recommenders too. And they are very busy. I don't think it's reasonable to ask them to write eight recommendations. So, I would LOVE to drop two more schools off the list. Six is still a lot, but manageable. I am going to approach my recommenders within the next month - so fingers crossed. :)