Rungee Goes to School

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

2007-06-22T18:45:00.001-04:00

Today was my official last day of work (although I really haven't done much since Wednesday in general). We had a happy hour to celebrate, which was fun. My husband finally got to meet a lot of the people I have talked about over the past few years (he had met a few of them already). It felt very strange to leave my first job. It was a good proving ground - I learned a lot and met some fantastic people that I would be lucky to work with again.

What made it feel even a little more weird was this unusual situation where I was due up for my annual review but was, of course, leaving to go back to school. Still, both I and my team wanted to complete the review and document my activities / progress over the past year. That was finished earlier this month and I just had my debrief today. Incredibly, the result was a promotion! How many people get promoted on their last day of work?! I was honestly quite impressed with my company that they gave the go-ahead on that decision when I had one foot out the door and was extremely happy about it. It was a very nice way to go out, and of course, leaves the door open to return.

Other than that, I have just been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. :) I'm in the midst of packing my apartment, finalizing my pre-term registration details, and getting ready for my trips to Central and South America (all of which needs to be done by next Thursday). I guess the craziness that has been my life recently is good practice for what is coming up next!

Death by a million papercuts

2007-06-08T10:30:00.000-04:00

Somehow I never thought getting into school would require so much paperwork. There is a veritable mountain of it. I have a page-long list of stuff I have to complete (and soon). Those who are in the ranks this year already know what I am talking about... those who will be applying this year... just an FYI... you can look forward to lease agreements, financial aid forms (LOTS of those), health insurance, health information (immunizations), termination / leave policies, course registration, waiver forms, etc. Maybe this is some pre-pre-term test... can you organize the barrage of requests and find obscure documents that were long-forgotten (for instance, I had to go through my old records from undergrad to find syllabi to provide course waivers... that took awhile... and my immunizations records?! ha! still trying to figure out who might have those... obviously a doctor somewhere... question is, which one).

I could have been better prepared for all this. I know I will get it all done, but I hate running around trying to do this mundane stuff when there are so many more exciting topics to think about! All I can say is that I really do feel for the international applicants... you guys have it way worse and I pity you for having to wait in lines for a visa and all that. My advice to all those would-be applicants? Once you get your admits, don't wait until the last second to start on all this paperwork. Compile financial documents, get your health records, try to come up with past course materials (if you need them to waive a course ... I know some schools don't allow it), and get on top of getting things squared away as soon as possible.

While I struggle w/ my paperwork, I also have to deal with a new issue that reared its ugly head. I was in a car accident last week and we were just informed by the insurance company that the car is considered totaled. :( I loved my car, so I was sad to hear that. We are trying to decide whether to buy a new car with the insurance money or not. We were going to go down to one car anyway but were planning to sell my husbands car since mine was better (until some stupid 16-year-old girl ran into it anyway). Fun times.

Other than all that, not much else is new over here as I await my move to Philly. I'm wrapping up things at work. I'm having mixed feelings as I near my departure date. I am certainly going to be sad to leave my colleagues and friends ... they are great and I really can't tell you how much I'm going to miss them ... but I am also clearly excited to move onto school. Two weeks to go!

Till next time...

Happy Birthday to MEEEE

2007-05-31T20:10:00.000-04:00

Yes, I am so self-aggrandizing that I sing myself happy birthday on my blog. :) Well, my birthday was actually earlier this week. I can now rent cars w/out an additional surcharge and my car insurance should drop. Wow -- I'm so excited? That's really the last milestone birthday where you get access to something you couldn't get before (even though it is nothing to brag about) until you get to retirement age. My husband and I went on vacation to the beach in Florida to celebrate, and it was great (albeit too short). I am tan now... very excited about that... as are other people, I'm sure, as they were starting to be blinded by my paleness.

When I came back, I had my Wharton packet sitting in my mail box as well as the final information needed for me to secure my Stafford loan. I already made it through one of the Wharton books (information on courses, waiver, etc.), and I need to start on the other one which apparently explains more tactically what I need to do to get ready for the MBA program. I'm trying to figure out what I need to take in pre-term, and also looking ahead to figure out what I can waive for the core classes (most classes to do w/ econ can probably go since I was an econ concentrator in undergrad). We have to take (and pass) a math test, which freaks me out a little. It looks simple enough, but when you haven't done calc for 7 years, you worry a bit. I feel for those who have been out of school longer than I have. I have been brushing up on my math and will continue to do so to make sure I am prepared (I knew I saved my calc notes from high school and freshman year for a reason)!

I also decided I should get a smartphone for corresponding between classes so I won't have to boot up my computer to check emails. My husband is concerned for my health b/c he says the last thing I need is a way to check email constantly. :) I am somewhat OCD about my email. Anyway, my phone is new and pretty... and I love it. Hehe. I got the Red BlackBerry Pearl thru Cingular (or AT&T... whatever they are calling themselves today). I talked to quite a few people last time I was at Wharton and Cingular seemed to get the most consistent service in that area (my Verizon service was very sketchy and I kept dropping calls when I was on the bottom level). After my legendary battles with Verizon, I'm glad to say good-bye to them at last.

Like iday, I also made a shopping list of stuff I need to get for school. Most of it is boring stuff... need some simple furniture for the apt. since my husband is taking our "real" furniture with him. I also need to get a lap top and a calculator. I am just burning money left and right... you'd think I already had my MBA salary in hand. ;)

Great minds think alike?

2007-05-23T08:01:00.000-04:00

Haha... so I wrote about recs last night and then I saw this post this morning. Just wanted to add this resource to my last post! :)

FAQs - Obtaining Recommendations

2007-05-22T17:17:00.000-04:00

OK - so I'm just going to dive right into this post... here are some of the questions I get a lot from prospective applicants regarding Recs. Usual disclaimers apply! :)

Who should I ask to write my recommendations?

You’ll hear this a lot, but choose recommenders who know you well rather than someone who carries a big title. If they happen to be CEO of your company, all the better, but let’s face it, the majority of us probably do not know our CEO that well. I truly believe having someone who can give specific examples of your strengths and skills can add a valuable perspective to your candidacy. For most schools, you will be asked to submit recommendations from supervisor(s), although some schools (Stanford) ask for peer recommendations and/or leave the relationship up to your discretion. I chose people who managed me in different capacities (administratively, on a project, etc.) I had a few conversations with adcom trying to establish what a “supervisor” really meant b/c I have about 5 or 6 managers. In the end, the definition is a bit open to interpretation, but I took it to mean someone who had official responsibility for me in some capacity.

Of course, asking a supervisor for a recommendation requires telling them that you would like to leave the company in the future. This may put you in an awkward position if you are in an industry where going to b-school is not the norm and your manager may take your desire to leave personally. Thankfully, in consulting, leaving to continue your education is very common, and I found wholehearted support and understanding. Then again, all of my recommenders are pretty awesome in general, so I think they would have reacted that way regardless of whether it was common or not. :) If you absolutely feel that you cannot ask a supervisor, my best advice would be to ask someone else who can still speak to your business, leadership, and teamwork skills (maybe someone from an extra-curricular pursuit?) and explain why you could not use a work supervisor in your optional essay. From conversations on the Wharton student boards, this is not all that uncommon, and you won’t be penalized.

When should I ask them and how should I approach them?

Early! I let this go longer than I intended, but I still got around to finalizing my recommenders by the beginning of September (a little over a month before the first R1 deadlines). Most of your recommenders probably won’t fill out the recommendation forms until closer to the deadline, but giving them a heads up relieves stress for you (you have secured people to write your recommendations) and allows them to take the recs at their own pace.

As for approaching them, I would set aside some time when you can talk to them. I was close enough to my recommenders that I could just sort of pop into their office and chat with them when I asked if they had a few minutes, but for some people, setting up specific time on their calendar may work best. I know some people take their recommenders out to lunch to “pop the question,” which is also a nice gesture. :) However, make sure you are prepared to have the conversation when you do sit down with them… they will likely have some questions for you. Which leads me to…

What do I give them to help them with the recommendation?

I took the approach of preparing an initial recommender packet with the information I felt was pertinent and left the door open for them to ask me for additional materials, as needed. My initial packet included:

An overview of my strategy (e.g., I was going to apply to 5 R1 schools and would only apply to R2 schools if I needed to)
An outline of the recommendation process (e.g., I would input their name in the system and they would receive an electronic message guiding them to the recommendation form)
A list of the schools, their websites, their key criteria for evaluating their candidates, and the deadlines (both my recommended deadline and the actual deadline for the school)
A bullet list of accomplishments tailored to the recommender (i.e., if I worked on a particular project with them, I outlined some of my key accomplishments on that project)
A draft of my career vision essay (though I talked them through the whole “what do I want to get from my MBA” idea as well)
Copies of the rec forms. This was apparently really helpful to my one recommender who was traveling extensively during the rec writing period. He did not have access to the online forms, so he wrote my recommendations from the packet I gave him and then input the content later
My MBA resume

If you think of something else they would need, throw that in there too! One recommender asked me for my view of my strengths and weaknesses in addition to this initial packet. I know some other people whose recommenders asked them to outline the rec and they would fill in the blanks. I was really glad I didn't have to do that (not b/c of the work involved but b/c it feels weird writing your own rec). Just be prepared for whatever else they may ask for and try to get it to them within a reasonable amount of time.

Do I need to follow up with recommenders as deadlines approach?

That would be a good idea! Your recommenders are likely your managers, which means they are probably even busier than you are. :) I asked my recommenders if it was OK for me to follow up and remind them at certain intervals. They all seemed perfectly fine with that, so I had permission to pester them a reasonable amount, if needed. I sent reminders 2 weeks out, a week out, a few days before, and in some (panicked) cases, the night before. Some recommendations were submitted weeks ahead of time (you will be informed via the system when a recommender has submitted a rec)… others, about 12 hours before. I had a friend at my company whose manager submitted it mere minutes to the deadline! Be aware that some recommenders will need more follow up than others, and you may find yourself biting your fingernails. Friendly but insistent reminders usually work. After all, they do want to help you, but they also have their other priorities to content with.

Should I thank them? How?

YES!!! Given that the recommendation forms do take some time to fill out and your recommenders have work and their lives to balance as well, I think thanking them properly is important (they did you a great favor after all!). I took my recommenders out for a meal (if they so desired), but I think anything that shows your gratitude would be appreciated. I wanted to do something for them right after they wrote the recs, not after I got interviews or got accepted b/c I wanted them to know how much I appreciated their efforts regardless of the outcome! Some other ideas I heard were to get them a piece of apparel from your school once you decide where to go, or buy them something they would like (a round of golf, a bottle of win, cigars, etc.).

So, that concludes my planned FAQ series. I guess if any readers out there have particular questions, you can feel free to leave a comment and I'll try to address them in later posts.

In MBA news, we're supposedly getting our first matriculation packet from Wharton in the coming weeks with news on Pre-Term. I've been on SPIKE, the Wharton online portal, and that has gotten me VERY excited about what I am getting myself into. :) In the meantime, I am also finishing up the planning for my summer vacation, which includes trips to Miami, Peru, and Costa Rica. Not too shabby, eh?! So many things to be excited about!!!

Good Old-fashioned Update

2007-05-04T08:06:00.000-04:00

After recovering from my coma-inducing post the other day, I realized that I haven't really provided an update on my matriculation process in a long time. I've actually almost completed the entire thing at this point (thankfully... I hate paperwork and will be more than glad to have it over with).

I received notification that my employment verification was completed and that my matriculation deposit has been received. This allowed me to create my Wharton email account. For some reason, getting my email made everything about going to Wharton suddenly very real to me. Forget the admissions letter, the matriculation fee... it's the email account that really gets me excited about business school... go figure! ;)

In addition, I got my Financial Award Letter, which tells me how much I am expected to pay, how much I was awarded in merit grants, how much I will probably get in Federal student loans, and how much I will have to fund through alternative (bank) loans. I have to say that it came back better than I thought it would be, so that was nice. After that, I completed my FAFSA. Apparently, I am now waiting on some additional information from Wharton (a promissory note of some kind) before I move forward with the loan process.

I also found a place to live! It's right off Rittenhouse Square in Center City. I got a small studio, which is all I really need. Seems like a good place and I know of a few more incoming students who will be staying there as well. I paid the deposit but have not yet signed the lease (I'm *trying* to sign the lease but no luck in actually receiving it from the rental office yet... hmmm).

So, there are a few loose ends to tie up, but for the most part I am all set! I hear we get another package at some point later this month, so I am looking forward to that. Time is flying by so fast -- I am going to be up in Philly before I know it!!!

FAQ - Essays

2007-05-01T23:28:00.000-04:00

I’m ashamed that it has been a month since I promised to write my Essay FAQ. Sorry! Well, you’ll see why it took me so long (it’s a LONG post… BRACE YOURSELF). Part of the reason it is so long is b/c I get so many questions about this -- so don't blame me -- blame those who are frequently asking the questions. ;)

Ah, the essays. The part of the application that we all love to hate…they are a powerful weapon on our side when wielded correctly, but are nonetheless the bane of an MBA applicant’s existence when words are not flowing freely and the deadlines are rapidly approaching. I like to break down the “essaying” process into three parts: preparing, drafting, and editing. As always, I want to add the disclaimer that this is just my advice and I’m sure there are many ways to go about writing essays that are equally successful for other applicants.

Preparing

Make a list. It is very helpful to create a list of ALL the amazing (and even mundane) things you have done in the past 10 or so years. I would suggesting listing everything you can think of and then crossing off the ones that are least impressive. I’ll warn you that it is somewhat depressing when you realize you can reduce your entire life down to a (seemingly) short list of accomplishments but believe me, you’ll have some good stuff in there and you can use this list to identify your unique selling points and the common themes to thread through your stories.
Choose your key messages. What do you want to convey in your essays? Ideally, I think you want to be able to marry the description of who you are with what the adcom would like to see in a business school students (focusing on either alone is potentially dangerous as you may find you have a disconnect). For me, I wanted to convey maturity to alleviate any concerns about my young-ish age and I wanted adcom to be able to identify my strengths. This helped me to figure out how to talk to the chosen items from my list. Good stories you can cross off several messages.
Prep the essay. This is definitely a personal preference. I’m an outliner – looooove the outlines. Creating an outline of the main points for each essay is a good way to start. No matter how you go your preparation, it’s usually a good idea to organize your thoughts before diving in. This is especially important when you have a set of essays – you want to be able to look over the whole package and see if you have any holes (seeing the big picture, if you will).
Strike a balance. Find a way to weave personal and professional stories into your writing. The former is a great way to give adcom a sense of the person behind the paper and the latter is important b/c, well, this is business school after all…. you want to be able to show an ability to accomplish something in the business world.

Drafting

Show and tell. Make sure you illustrate why you are making your claims. If you are trying to convey that you are a young applicant with great leadership skills, describe an anecdote that bolsters this argument. You may not be able to tell a story for every point you want to make, but you do not want your entire essay to be unfounded generalizations.
Be detailed. This is somewhat related to the first point. I think the more you are able to convey your passion and rationale for attending School X, the more the adcom at School X will imagine you in their midst (and this is likely a good thing!) Of course, what you write needs to make sense. I wrote about clubs I wanted to join that would support my career or personal development. I felt this was a way to show adcom that I realize this MBA deal is a two-way street – sure, I will come away with a great education but I also plan to give something back to the school community in return.
Timing. It took me 1-2 weeks to draft an essay and another week to refine it. I mostly worked on the weekends. Figure out how long you will need based on how quickly you work and what your availability will be. I would suggest leaving some additional leeway in your timeline b/c as we all know, life happens. Given the importance of the essays, I would suggest not waiting until the last minute to finish them up.

Editing

Revisit the essays before they go out for review. Before you go out asking people to look at your essays in depth, I would suggest revisiting them yourself. I found that my first essays were miles behind my last essays (practice makes perfect, right?) Which leads me to my next point…
Don’t be afraid to rewrite your essays. You may find that you need to take those first essays, or any that no longer seem to sparkle, and polish them up a little. At worst, you go back to the original if your re-do doesn’t work out the way you thought it would, and at best, you have another highly-tuned essay.
Find the right mix of reviewers. You will likely want a few different kinds of reviewers. You want someone who can check your grammar, someone who can tell you if you are appropriately representing your personality, and someone who can do a thorough content review (ideal for the last one is someone who has done an MBA or is in the process of applying as well and therefore knows the system).
Create a review strategy. This is a highly personal choice but you may want to figure out the best way to field your essays for review (especially if, like me, you are trying to push a lot through the pipeline at once). For instance, I decided to send ALL my reviewers my first decent draft of my HBS core essays (i.e., the main essays that were asking “Why MBA? Why now? Describe your accomplishments, etc.” but not the ones specific to the school like the Ethics essay). I took this feedback and incorporated it into all my other essays as I drafted them. I knew I could not continue sending all my essays to all my reviewers (well, I could, but I have a feeling I would have gotten marginal returns as fatigue set in), so, I sent each set of essays – a set defined as the group of essays for one school – to one or two reviewers and just asked them to do a thorough review on that set. This seemed to work fairly well.
Follow the directions. Honestly, I was that person who would not even go one word over the limit stipulated by the schools. I hear that most schools go by the rule of +/- 10% on word limits... anything less and they’ll wonder why you don’t have anything to say and any more and you clearly are violating the directions. If the schools asks for 1.5 line spacing with Times New Roman 11 points font, make sure you do that. I highlighted the directions in red and put it at the top of every essay as I started writing as a reminder (I took that off before I submitted them though). Why give the reader any reason to be annoyed with you?

OK – so this was obviously the longest post ever (I feel like I have said this many times in the past... hmm... I really should work on being more succinct). Frightently enough, there are probably quite a few more points that could have been added. However, I refer you to my fellow bloggers for those -- they also have great ideas on this topic! However, I think the length of this post is appropriate b/c the essays really are the keystone of the MBA applicant’s candidacy, in my opinion. This is your best chance to make the adcom remember you and form an emotional attachment to you (at least enough to invite you for an interview to find out more)!

Happy essay-ing to the future MBA applicants out there!

Wow! Thank you for the BoB!

2007-04-24T10:28:00.000-04:00

I am honored to receive this award!!! :D Thanks to everyone who voted for me and another very BIG thanks to Clear Admit. And, congrats to the other bloggers as well! I wish we could do that thing from the ending scene of Mean Girls, where Lindsay Lohan's character breaks the prom queen tiara into bits and gives them to her fellow nominees - we are all winners here, people! (except maybe me in real life b/c I watch teen movies starring Lindsay Lohan in my spare time). Seriously, though, I think we, as a blogging community, had a great time learning from fellow applicants as well as current students. Let's hope the next crop of MBA bloggers (and their readers) get as much out of it as we did.

This is extra motivation to get the rest of my FAQ series done (essays advice is next) so I can prove my blog worthy of the title that has been bestowed upon it. :)

Thanks again, guys!!!

So sad

2007-04-17T19:51:00.000-04:00

While I don't usually comment on current events on my blog, I feel compelled to say something about the VA Tech shootings. Mainly b/c this is all happening in my backyard... literally. The shooter went to my high school. Yup, he's right there in my senior year book (as a freshman then). He didn't look happy in his year book picture... clearly things didn't get better for him. His house is right across my little sister's middle school, and they had reporters swarming there all day long. Some of the victims are also from my area (thankfully, my friends that are still at Tech as safe).

It's all incredibly sad (I know I am understating the obvious). I don't understand why someone would do something like that. But, I don't understand a lot of things that happen in this world. I watched the movie "Blood Diamond" recently, about the war in Sierra Leone and the diamond trade there that funded the fighting in the country. I was particularly struck by the portrayal of child armies. I started reading "A Long Way Gone," an autobiography of an Oberlin alum who was actually in one of these armies. Children being forced to do horrendous acts until it becomes natural. It's a wonder any of them recovered (and I'm sure many never did). Terrible things happen every day, and most of the time we don't notice b/c it doesn't affect us. I'm guilty, I admit it... I read CNN or BBC and shake my head but don't really dwell on it for the most part. It's part defense mechanism and part learned helplessness. But, when some event does hit home, it really does put things in perspective. My thoughts go out to the victims' families and friends. :(

Look Mom, I'm Famous! (BoB Nomination)

2007-04-06T15:49:00.000-04:00

Wow - I am nominated for Clear Admit's Best of Blogging Awards (BoB)! :) Awesome! Thank you so much!!!

I have basically stalked the Clear Admit site for the past year (seriously... it's the first link under My Favorites and I check the updates religiously) because I think it's such a great source of information. In fact, when I found out that some friends were also applying to b-school, Clear Admit was the first place I told them to check. I know it just sounds like I'm sucking up so I can get some of those votes that count for 25%, but it's true!

Congrats to my fellow bloggers who made the list as well. I'm sure I'll be casting some votes in your direction b/c I've also learned so much from your posts during this process. But, in case you want to sway my opinion, all bribes can be made in the form of a check. j/k ;)

Have a great weekend everyone!

FAQ's - Strategy

2007-04-02T14:53:00.000-04:00

Before we get into the MBA-related information, I just wanted to say how happy I am that it is finally Spring here in the Mid-Atlantic. I love Spring... everything is blooming so it smells amazing and it is warm enough to walk around in summer clothes but you're not sweating yet. It's quite possibly the most perfect time of the year, in my opinion. :)

I am also in a great mood b/c I finally sent in my matriculation papers. I decided to attend Wharton in the fall! :D Wharton was a frontrunner for quite awhile (see a previous post on the topic), but the last Welcome Weekend really solidified my intentions. I am REALLY excited about it! I just secured an apartment in Philadelphia so the ball is rolling!

Ok - onward...

I wanted to cover questions I have been getting on how to set up a whole application strategy. I love strategizing because, for me, it means organizing information and actions into a comprehensive plan, and I love organizing!

Q1: How many and to which schools should I apply?
A1: My personal approach to choosing schools was to start by doing some brief research on each school in which I had an interest. But, how do I know which schools I am even initially interested in, you ask? Ah - well, I started with the rankings. I knew I wanted a top school, so I looked across several different rankings to see who was considered the "top," both in the US and abroad. I looked at US News & World Report. Financial Times, Business Week, and Forbes. I think US News & World Report reflect most people's perceptions of the schools' reputations, at least in the US. Then, I sat down to think about what was really important to me in attending business school. I wanted international flavor, an excellent reputation, and health care management (if I could swing it... there are not many schools that had this option so I was willing to forgo a dedicated health care program and try to weave health care into my experience in different ways, if I had to). At this point, I had a list of about 20 different schools.

I created a spreadsheet and documented the following information for all schools on this list:
- Cost
- Average Years of Work Experience
- Average GMAT Score
- Acceptance Rate
- Specialized Focus (if any)
- Number of Students
- Teaching Methods (e.g., case, lecture, experiential, mixture, etc.)
- Average Starting Salary for graduates
- Top Sectors for graduates
- Top Employers for graduates

At this point, I could see which schools fit into my "strike zone." From there, I narrowed it down to about 10 schools based on which seemed to fit what I would like in a b-school and where I would have a decent chance of getting in (note that I was not above the averages on all the key criteria for any of the schools... I was usually under the average on either GMAT, work experience, or something else but this didn't mean I eliminated the schools). I considered this my list of schools to which I would like to apply, even though I knew I probably was not going to submit 10 applications. For these 10 schools, I created more comprehensive dossiers that included information on their curriculum, special programs, student body, etc. You can save yourself a lot of time if you look into getting the Clear Admit school guides. I had already gone through the laborious process of creating my own by the time those came out but they seem like they would have some good information that you could reference in your application process.

How many schools you end up with is dependent on your time and energy. I felt like I could have done all 10 but I didn't want to ask my recommenders to write 10 different letters. I eventually settled on seven apps - 5 in Round 1 and 2 in Round 2 (if I needed them). I felt my recommenders would take the time to write nice, thorough, and thoughtful recommendations if there were 5 but they are very busy and I thought I would be pushing my luck to ask for more than that at any given time. My final seven included 2 "reach" schools (Harvard, Wharton), 3 schools I was fairly sure I could get into but potentially risky (Columbia, LBS, Kellogg), and 2 schools I felt I should have a really solid chance of getting into (Duke, Michigan).

Q2: Which schools should I do in Round 1 and which should I do in Round 2?
A2: If you lay out the due dates and decision notification dates for each of the schools in your final list, this could help you make your choice. I decided to push to get quite a few schools in Round 1 but they were spaced out (Harvard and Wharton were due in early October, LBS in the mid-October and Michigan and Duke in early November). This not only gave me some breathers in between applications so I wouldn't be rushing but also ensured that my recommenders would have time to write recommendations. Columbia was pushed to "Round 2" because I didn't want to apply Early Decision and the next option was Regular Decision in January. Kellogg got pushed because I just was less interested in it than I was in the others (not that it isn't a great school -- I just found more specific things I liked at other schools) and I felt it could be a R2 school b/c I knew someone who could help me get in there, if I needed the assistance. Many of the schools I chose for R1 gave their decisions early (late December), which meant that I could probably know whether I was admitted before I had to submit R2 applications. In the end, this is what happened and I never had to finish my Columbia or Kellogg applications (which made for a more enjoyable Holiday season).

Know yourself when deciding to go R1 vs. R2. If you like to plan your attack and know you can get everything done on time, I would suggest trying for R1. This will allow you to get your decisions sooner and adjust your plan as needed. However, there are certainly many examples of people who put all applications in R2 and had a very successful admission season so if you need the time to write your apps, R2 will work just as well. :) They say that R1 and R2 are statistically similar, i.e., you don't have a better chance getting admitted if you apply in one vs. the other. R3 is pretty much a death wish, but it can be done. For schools with four rounds, I think you see diminishing admits in R3 but R4 is really the death wish round.

Q3: When do I need to start the application process? When should I try to finish the essays, have my recommenders secured, finish writing the application, etc.?
A3: There are so many ways you could do this and submit a successful application, but here's my advice for preparing to submit in R1 (for R2 and R3, move back the dates as needed).

April - Finish up the GMAT, if you have not already done so
May - Do research and narrow down your list of schools
June - Draft some preliminary thoughts - lists of accomplishments, draft of career goals, etc. that will assist you when it comes time to write essays (see my next post on Essay Writing for more information on this, I guess)
July - Begin outlines for essays that have been released by schools; decide which schools will be in R1 vs. R2 and prioritize your writing accordingly
August - Kick essay writing into full gear; Ask recommenders if they can/will provide recs for you; Attend information sessions for schools in which you have an interest
September - Send essays out to reviewers and leave time to edit once you receive responses; Attend more information sessions; Check in with recommenders to make sure they are on track; Begin writing the applications (these will take longer than you think so don't leave them until the last minute!)
October / November - PUSH THE SUBMIT BUTTON! :)
December / January - Have all the b-schools knocking at your door, offering you money to attend their school (wishful thinking for now but it will certainly be a reality for a lot of you!)

Well, that's all for now. Next up is Essay Writing!

As Promised - Some FAQs (GMAT)

2007-03-19T16:55:00.000-04:00

In my last post, I promised that I would publish some FAQs I am getting from friends who are just starting their b-school application journey and provide what I think would be the answers. I sat down and actually thought about the kinds of questions I was getting and they fell into some distinct categories:

(1) GMAT (everyone's favorite right now)
(2) Strategy (including timing)
(3) Writing Essays and Applications
(4) Obtaining Recommendations

These are all a bit much for me to cover in one post, so I'll do GMAT first since that's the most pressing issue for many that are starting to think about applying in Fall 07. I assume some basic knowledge of the test in these questions. If you are really just starting out, try reading the "real" FAQ's on the GMAC's site here.

GMAT Questions
Q1. How do I improve my Q or V score?
A1. I just read Juggler's post, and it is a great source for those looking into GMAT prep materials and techniques. See here.

Q2. What score do I need to be competitive to get into a top 10 school?
A2. My perspective is that the score you "need" is largely dependent on the other factors in your package. Of course, there's no cut off, but few top schools take many people with less than 650. If you have amazing leadership experiences, a solid academic record, and a compelling argument for "Why MBA, Why Now," I don't think your GMAT really matters as much. If you did poorly in quant classes (or just didn't take any) in college, the schools will almost have to look to your GMAT for evidence that you can handle the quantitative course load. As a general guideline, an 80/80 split is good but certainly not necessary. I had less than 80%, on the quant side no less, but had other items to bolster my candidacy and it seems to have turned out OK.

Q3. When should I take the GMAT?
A3. As soon as you think you can get ready. You need to balance the need to prepare thoroughly with the desire to get it over with quickly. Taking it early offers several advantages (I consider "early" to be anytime before May/June of the year you plan to apply). You have plenty of time to take it again if you mess up for some reason and when essays start coming out in July/August, you can focus on those instead of studying. Of course, this is for R1. You can push that timeline back a few months if you are shooting for R2 and even farther if you are shooting for R3 (though R3 is so tough, and I'm not sure why anyone would count on this round as part of their initial plan).

Q4. What if my score sucks?
A4. Well, no worries, you can take it again (which is why I think you should leave ample time for retakes, if necessary). Some people seem to be worried about sending these "bad" scores to the schools. If this is really a concern, you can chose not to send scores at the time of the test and have them sent later (for something around $25 each). Some schools (e.g., Harvard and Wharton) allow you to self report your scores rather than send official copies, which could save you some money. If you are accepted, you will have to provide official scores, though. Most schools only consider your top score when evaluating your candidacy. However, most do ask you to report all the times you took the test and what you scored. So, if you have a 720 already and keep taking it over and over to try to get to 750 or something, that may make you look a little nutty. Basically, act with common sense given your overall package when deciding if you need to retake and how many times.

I'll write about the other topics in subsequent posts... I know, the anticipation is killing you. ;)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

2007-03-08T08:20:00.000-05:00

Dickens could not have been more right. The past four or five weeks have been brutal. I am convinced I could never be an investment banker now. I have been working from 7:30 AM - 2:00 or 3:00 AM every day (yeah - including weekends) and I can't imagine doing this for years on end. I feel like it's very similar to when I used to go to the beach (warning: random analogy is headed your way) -- you would go in the water, feeling fine, and then a wave would come out of nowhere and knock you over. You would finally get your head above water, only to get pummelled by another wave... and another, and another, etc. OK - I'm done complaining now. I had to get it out of my system. :)

There have been some good points, too. I turned in my Wharton financial aid paperwork and started the verification process! Yay! I also made plane tickets to visit Central and South America this summer. I am really excited about that. And, I have started helping a lot of my friends with their preparations for the application process for this coming fall. Once word got out that I was going to b-school this year, I had a surprising number of people contact me to ask for my advice. I'm starting to notice there are some frequently asked questions, so I have been thinking that I would collect those and put them here, along with my responses. Sadly, that will have to wait for another post once I find some more time in my schedule... so, I leave you with the promise of things to come. ;)

Wharton Winter Welcome Debrief

2007-02-10T16:06:00.000-05:00

I went to Wharton's Winter Welcome event this week. It was awesome... loved it. Loved the school, loved the people. Let's quickly go over the highlights.

People
I met a lot of great people (one of which was fellow blogger UniQpath!) Many of these people are still deciding among several schools, and I found myself hoping that we cross paths in the future here or elsewhere b/c I had a great time talking with them. I got the meet many of the people behind the curtain that is the Admissions process, including Mr. Thomas Caleel. I felt like I should give him a big hug and a thank you, but I maintained my composure. :)

Activities / Parties
We went out to dinner and then to a pub when I arrived on Wednesday night. Since I only have a few hours of sleep the night before, I was sorely tempted to go back to my hotel to sleep. However, I was having too much fun, so I stayed up and played with everyone else. The next night featured Follies (which was hilarious and a very uncensored take on student life), MBA pub (not my fav - too crowded, loud, and lacking in pizza), and bowling! We went to a bar afterward and then home to sleep. Lastly, there was the closing reception and party at Copa Miami.

Hints / Tips / Info Overload
Well, I had all my questions answered and more. Here is some information that might interest some of you:

GND: This got a lot of airtime. Apparently, the 1st year class was worried about what would happen given the faculty's changed stance of grade non-disclosure last year. However, they took a survey just recently (after DIP week - where most interviews are conducted) and found that something like 96% of the people hadn't run into any questions about grades. And for those who did, they simply said they did well/great/average and the recruiter left it at that. So, everyone is much more relaxed and they expect everything to go back to normal. So, it seems there was much ado about nothing.

First Year, First Semester: Hell. Just get through it and it's downhill from there.

Class Waivers: Try to get as many as possible, and then pick and choose what you want to take and what you don't.

Cool Stuff: Umm... I don't think I have enough room to list it all here. Venture Programs, Global Immersion Program, Clubs, treks, trips, etc.

Housing: Try to do it somewhat early if you are looking for an apt. vs. a brownstone. The housing thing stresses me out a little. It would probably be cheaper to rent a 2B w/ a roommate, but that involves finding someone to live with, which is time consuming and awkward (hi, will you be my roommate... no? ok, I didn't want to be your roommate either, I was just wondering...). I may just avoid the situation by getting a studio, which will be a little more expensive but will save me logistical hassle.

There was a lot more, obviously, but I can't remember or recount it all here. I am not sure if I will go back up in April for Wharton Welcome Weekend, but it's very tempting. I would love to meet more people as well as have an opportunity to look for housing if I have made a decision by then. At the same time, much of the information will be the same and there's not much reason to hear things twice. We'll see!

On the random thought front... I really wish this cold spell would snap. We've been so spoiled with a warm winter that I can't deal with the freezing cold now! :)

Pondering

2007-01-21T23:27:00.000-05:00

Well, the pleasure of being admitted to four schools has not yet worn off, but I have since found a new fixation to replace my obsession of wondering whether or not I will get in somewhere – trying to figure out where I should spend my next two years! I warned readers that there would be more to come on this and here it is!

So, what to do? You would think this would be an easy choice. I think one of the things that helped me gain admittance to these schools is now working against me – I found them all a very good fit for me for one reason or another. I was able to explain very clearly why I wanted to go there. None of the schools is truly a PERFECT fit, but most are pretty darn close except maybe one or two aspects. The question is – do I go with the school that will get me there via a direct path or do I want to take the scenic route? So, here are the parameters against which I consider each school (not necessarily in order of importance to me):

Achieving my Short Term Career Goals
I have two main things I would like to come away from my MBA with – ability to work internationally (difficult if you don’t have the international experience to begin with) and ability to move into the health care sector. For me, LBS is the clear winner on international, but it lacks the defined health care component. Wharton is the clear winner on health care… hell, they have a whole program devoted to it. Duke does as well, but I personally find Wharton the stronger of the two, mainly b/c the overall school seems to come off stronger. Both schools have some international programs, but it's not the same as actually studying internatinally. Michigan has a little of both, but nothing to outdo the others. In the end, I think I need to focus more on building my knowledge of health care and try to work in the international component where I can.

Winner: Wharton

Cultural Fit
This is one of the hardest things to assess. From everything I’ve heard about LBS, I really think that it would be an excellent fit. The students are diverse in comparison to the US schools, the class is small (this could be a negative in terms of alumni network, but I think I would get to know more people on a more intimate level), and the students genuinely seem to have a good time. I do not think B-school is just about having a good time, but all other things equal, I’d rather have fun with my teammates while learning. Duke was great at reaching out to me as a female candidate and Wharton has been absolutely spectacular in the post-admit support (I think I've gotten no less than six or seven emails and calls from people offering to discuss Wharton and answer all my burning questions). I am interested to see the effect of the change in the Grade Non-Disclosure policy at Wharton, though.

Winner: Undecided (previously LBS but Wharton is winning me over as we go along)

Brand
Ah – yes, I am admittedly superficial when it comes to this... I like name brands. I chose a name brand undergrad over full ride scholarship offers from several other schools. When it came time to decide on job offers, I again went for name brand over a small and intimate firm where I would certainly be working on projects in my desired domain and making more money. But, I have seen the power of brand, which is why it’s hard to ignore. No, it’s not the be-all, end-all, but it doesn’t hurt. I think Wharton has a wonderful brand and people are starting to understand it is not just a Finance school. From what I can tell, LBS is considered to be on par with the top schools in the US over in the EU, but it is relatively unknown in the US. I would be happy to work in Europe for awhile, though, so this wouldn't inhibit in my short-term goals. It would be helpful if the brand were stronger over here, though, for when I want to come back. I think LBS will be able to grow its brand outside Europe, but it's going to take some time. I think Duke and Michigan are about equal...they're great schools, but not in the same tier as the H, S, W triumvirate.

Winner: Wharton

Money
Well, I don't have my aid package from Wharton yet, so I don't know how they will ultimately shake out. But, for now, let's assume zero from them. Duke's scholarship offer combined with the lower costs in general make it the most affordable by far. Following Duke is Michigan (again, a scholarship offer and lower overall costs). Next is LBS thanks to a scholarships (otherwise, it is by far the most expensive b/c of London's high cost of living and the horrid exchange rate), and Wharton brings up the rear. So, how much is the name brand really worth? An important question. I'm looking at a very considerable difference... so, how long do I want to be in debt?!

Winner: Duke

Location
North Carolina definitely has the best weather. I did not particularly like how spread out the school and Durham is... I felt like a car would make life much easier there, and I don't really want to have to deal with a car while I'm at school. Everywhere else, I will have to deal with moderately crappy weather, but, hey, I can suck it up. Philly has great restaurants, although I'm not too keen of the city overall. London would be AWESOME for all the obvious reasons. Ann Arbor is small but, again, I would probably be better off with a car and it is wicked cold.

Now, along with location, I have to consider distance from my husband, who will probably stay here. His job is going extremely well and we both think it makes sense for him to stay to see what opportunities come to him. Plus, he'll only need to find a new job once rather than do that now and then again when I graduate. The only exception is LBS -- we felt that was just too far, so he would move w/ me if I were to go there. He is clearly pulling for Wharton b/c it closest. Duke is also within driving distance. Michigan is farther but still only a 1.5 hour plane ride away (and cheap air fare)!

Winner: Tie - LBS for fun, Wharton for distance, and Duke for weather

Of course, there is no way to know which decision is the "right" one since there is no way to look into the future. But, I don't really think I can go wrong... these are all excellent choices and I always said I would be happy if I got into any of them alone. I am leaning toward Wharton right now, but I decided not to make any final decisions until I had gone to the admit weekends and rec'd all my financial aid information (or as much as I can get prior to the due date for submitting my decisions to the schools). I looked back to my earlier posts talking about which schools I liked more than others and there were definitely changes from my initial list to my final application list. Likewise, I'm sure some things will be shuffled around with these factors too, and I will probably think of more parameters for comparison, so we shall see what happens in the end!

HBS Puts a Halt to My Streak

2007-01-17T13:13:00.000-05:00

I am on the Wait List, which I think is pretty much a Ding. I guess this means I'm like 4.5 for 5. Maybe 4.25 since there is little chance of getting off the WL at HBS. :) Anyway, since I've had a lot of good fortune prior to this decision, the blow was definitely not that bad. What I did think was funny, though, was I got three emails from my family today to ask what the decision was and NONE of them emailed me for any of the other schools. Anyway, busy day at work so gotta run. Congrats to the bloggers that did get in!

Back in the Saddle

2007-01-12T21:26:00.000-05:00

Finally back from the bitter cold of New Hampshire with some exciting news (which I'll share in a bit). My aunt lives on a ski resort in Colorado, so I'm not terribly impressed by East Coast skiing in general, but I think this place (where a famous economic agreement was signed... hint hint) would have been good had it not been so unseasonably warm. The first day I was there it was a balmy 40 F (which is ridiculously warm compared to the negative numbers we experienced only a few days later). Sadly, due to the warm weather, only about 1/4 of the slopes were open. I managed pretty well, given that it has been 2 or 3 years since my last ski trip.

There was one black diamond that gave me a hard time (Bode's Run... for those who are familiar with Bode Miller of skiing fame). I ate it at the top of a mogul field and fell all the way to the bottom... kept both skis and my poles with me though! The second time I tried it, I ended up in some trees to the right side of the run. Third time was not a charm. I finally decided to admit defeat and stop going down it before I ended up with more than just a bruised ego. My only consolation is that everyone else that went down the run fell as well. It was too freaking icy and steep I guess.

After 13 hours in the car yesterday (due to my husband missing a road he was supposed to go on, road construction, and an accident that shut down 95), I am finally back home. One thing I do like about driving through New England, though - you get a sense of accomplishment when you get through nine states in a day. :)

Anyway, I got a call from Michigan today and I am in! (This was the exciting news I referenced earlier.) I rec'd some scholarship money too. I felt bad b/c I wasn't as excited as I would normally be on the phone... not b/c I wasn't excited about the offer but b/c I was so exhausted when I got the call after my car trip marathon! I hope the person on the other end didn't think I was being an ungrateful ass.

I don't think I mentioned before that I also received (rather substantial) scholarship offers from LBS and Duke. I have not yet filled out my financial aid application for Wharton (Juggler is way ahead of me... I have barely begun to struggle through that) and, of course, I haven't heard from HBS as to whether I'm in or not so I don't know what the deal is there. So, now I need to think a little bit more about the money factor (which I was conveniently ignoring up until this point). As if the decision isn't hard enough already! I'm still organizing my thoughts on how to make this decision, but believe me, there will be more on that (whether you want to hear it or not!) in the posts to come. :)

Out with the old and in with the new

2007-01-04T08:41:00.000-05:00

I decided to be like the fashion magazines and make a list of the old (out) and the new (in) b-school related trends for Rungee as we turn to 2007.

Old - Holing myself up in a Starbucks on weekends to do applications
New - Going out to celebrate acceptances and the return to student life
Old - Stressing about whether I will get into b-school
New - Stressing about where to matriculate
Old - Working
New - Traveling (not until summer, but I am already looking forward to it and trying to decide where to go!)
Old - Steady income
New - Debt
Old - Blaming the combination of applications and work for my sloth
New - Exercising regularly (yeah right!)

I had one of the most relaxing New Years ever, and it was great. We went with a Spanish theme (Sangria and tapas), and we stayed home with friends rather than going out. The result - no hangover! Due to interviews, holidays, and vacations, I haven't been at work for a full week in the past 2 months. Seriously. Thank goodness my team likes me. ;) And this trend will continue b/c I am leaving to go skiing in New Hampshire next week. Too bad the weather has been so warm this year. I knew I should've decided to go to Colorado instead! We rented a house with 8 other friends, so it should be a good time, snow or not.

Congrats to all those who submitted their R2 applications. Best of luck in the process!

The Big W

2006-12-21T12:34:00.000-05:00

I got into Wharton! I am so excited and a little overwhelmed by my recent good fortune, so I think I'll have to post something a little more comprehensive later, but just wanted to shout that out to the world. :D

Twice as Nice

2006-12-19T13:55:00.000-05:00

Yessssss - I rec'd an admit from Duke! I was at client site all morning, but when I returned to the office, I had a missed call from a NC area code and a message telling me to check the online system. When I logged on and clicked on the "Your decision is now available" link, I found out that I had made it into Duke as well! Now I have choices... ahhhh... I am a lucky, lucky girl. :)

The MBA blogging community is having a great day, as I see many fellow bloggers heard positive news from Chicago... congratulations to all those who got admits! :D

EL - BE - YES!

2006-12-19T06:53:00.000-05:00

I got a nice surprise yesterday - an admit from London Business School!!!! :D It came a day early. I am delighted to be in at such a great school, and one that I am truly excited about.

When I got the email, I did something akin to a fist pump (I'm sure my office mate thought I was having seizures or something), and then started calling a few key people to let them know the news. Needless to say, I was less than productive for the remaining few hours of the day (which I paid for later on that night by having to work at home, but that's OK)!

Ciao.

Being sick sucks

2006-12-14T11:57:00.000-05:00

I managed to bring a nasty cold home with me after an airplane flight this week. Every single year, I get sick around the Holidays. I'm not sure why... maybe this time is just stressful and that lowers my immune system, or the changing seasons finally kick in and mess up my sinuses. When I was little, it was particularly bad... I would get strep and the flu together and always during Christmas.

As I've grown older, sick holiday time has morphed into a consistent pattern of colds. There are four phases to my December cold season. (I) I start getting sick with a small sore throat and some sinus pressure, (II) sore throat goes away but sinus pressure intensifies and I start sneezing and sniffling all the time (very annoying for my officemate, I'm sure), (III) the tempest of all things gross and uncomfortable about a cold come together - barely able to breathe, sore throat, slight fever, etc., and (IV) due to post-nasal drip, I lose my voice entirely and cannot talk above a whisper. I'm in Phase II right now.

When I got my acceptance letter to undergrad, it was approx. mid-December, and I couldn't tell anyone b/c I was out of school and had laringitis (Phase IV). When I received my job offer, I had to have someone else call the recruiter back b/c, once again, I was suffering in Phase IV and I could barely whisper into the phone. This year looks like another Phase IV debacle... the stars are aligning and I will be going into Phase IV next week when I receive decisions from three schools. So, good news or bad, I may be unable to share the news with friends and family right away (well, at least I can still write about it)!

I really hate waiting for decisions... I just want to know already! I wish work were busy so that I would have a distraction, but it's really slow right now. ::sigh::

I'd like to take a moment and give a little shout out to those who have already rec'd some good news from their schools (Tuck and Kellogg mostly)... way to go! I'm very happy for you! :)

Still Rolling

2006-12-05T11:41:00.000-05:00

Two things to talk about... this is going to be a long post, so brace yourself.

First, I had my London Business School interview. I loved it! I'm not even kidding. I went to my interviewer's office in the city. The interview lasted... get this... over 1.5 hours! It was a marathon, but the last 20 minutes or so were mostly comprised of answering my questions. The interviewer was very personable, and we started by talking through my job... what I do in an average day, what responsibilities I hold, what my career progression has been, what I like/don't like about my role. We went over my strengths and weaknesses and that segued into a series of questions where I was asked to give examples of leadership, dealing with challenging situations, etc. Because the interviewer had already reviewed my entire application, I had to come up with different stories to illustrate these points. We didn't necessarily cover more ground than in my other interviews, but we dived much deeper (lots of follow-up questions). At one point, the interviewer referenced a sheet that had been provided by the admissions committee with specific questions they wanted answered (man, did I want to see what was on that sheet)!

At the end of the questioning, it was time for the presentation. My interviewer had picked a very interesting topic, but it was a little difficult because it was something I could have thought about for days. Nonetheless, I had 5 minutes alone to prepare my response and then I presented my position on the topic. I chose to present sitting down b/c it just felt weird standing up with only one other person in the room. I structured my presentation with an introduction to re-state the issue, introduced my recommendation, presented three salient points to support my position, and finished with a conclusion that re-capped the strength of my argument. The interviewer was smiling by the end of it, which I took as a good sign. I asked a LOT of questions, and I felt like I got a good sense of the school and the people who go there (I mean, you can only get so much from a conversation, but the comments were very honest and thoughtful).

I also went to Duke's Weekend for Women, which was held last week/weekend. They put us up in the Washington Duke Inn, which was amazing. I was impressed by the spirit of this whole event. Certainly one of the best displays of commitment to getting women to come to b-school that I've come across. The weekend was comprised of many activities. I went to a class visit on Thursday afternoon and then we had a dinner, where we were paired with student liaisons who could answer our questions about... well...anything. We also had a party, of sorts, at a local bar after that.

The next day was packed with activities. We were welcomed by some Deans and got a nice surprise from the Director of Admissions (not guaranteed admission but something almost as good!), we heard from alumnae about the value of their MBA experience, we were taught a representative class, and went to special interest panels. We got to experience Fuqua Fridays, too, which included dinner and drinks (we all had to show ID!!!). Saturday was another packed day with discussions on careers and life at Duke/Fuqua/Durham. We also had a chance to mingle with more students at lunch, where they had set up tables with specific topics of conversation. Lastly, we had a final dinner, which was nicely arranged.

Some thoughts on my time at Fuqua.
- It's an older crowd, for sure. This wasn't a surprise since I knew the average age of the student body was a bit higher than some other schools I am looking at.
- The class I attended was not conducive to participation, so it was more of a lecture. I got a different vibe (less energetic) than at some other schools, but that could have been the class or the professor.
- I noticed that they really emphasized the various ways that students could get involved in leadership positions on campus.
- Even though most people love their school, the Fuqua people really love their school AND each other. It really did seem like a family... and this includes not just the students, but the administration as well.

I'm starting to realize that IF I am lucky enough to get more than one acceptance, it is going to be a very difficult choice! Still, I wouldn't be upset if I had the "problem" of choosing between multiple schools. :)

Well, apologies if any readers fell asleep half way through, but I hope the post at least contains some good info. for other applicants!

Three down, two to go

2006-11-28T08:58:00.000-05:00

Well, my HBS interview is over and done with, and I had a great time. That makes three down, with Michigan and London Business School to go. I really don't know if I did well or not with HBS, but I had fun anyway. I had to get up at 4:30 AM on Sunday to make the 8-hour drive back from my in-laws to catch my plane to Boston. Unfortunately, they oversold the flight. I got my seat assignment, but to my surprise, someone was already in it. The flight attendant told me to just sit in any empty seat, but within 5 minutes there were none. So... rungee got to fly to Boston in first class. :) It's not a very long flight, but I still enjoyed it.

I took the T (Boston's subway) over to Harvard on Monday morning and walked through the Square and over the bridge to the HBS campus. I forgot how beautiful the campus is. The weather was also gorgeous yesterday, so I sat on the benches between events. I arrived at Dillon, where the MBA Admissions Office is located, about 30 minutes ahead of time. There was a man and a woman in the waiting room, who were also there for interviews. The woman quickly left to go find her interviewer, who was in another building (so you may have to navigate some additional buildings if your interviewer doesn't sit in Dillon). My interviewer was punctual and brought me up to her office. I got the logistics run-down (i.e., I've read your application, we'll talk for 30 minutes, I won't really leave time for questions unless you having something pressing), and we started.

Like Cornfed's HBS interview, my questions were quite specific to my application but not quite in the way I had imagined. My interviewer used what I had in my essays as a springboard to delve further into certain aspects of my candidacy, but she didn't reference any of the items I had written about at any point. In fact, she asked that I stay away from those examples and provide new ones during the course of our discussion (which was a little difficult even though I had thought about it). We covered what I wanted to do in the long term and what I would do when I got there (i.e., what big-picture issues I wanted to take on). We talked A LOT about leadership - another leadership example from work, how my leadership style had evolved, what others thought of my leadership style, what I would do if I were running my current company (I got a little push back from my interviewer on my answer, but I really felt what I proposed was the right thing to do, so I stuck by my answer and explained it more thoroughly). Lastly, she asked me if I had anything else I wanted to discuss (I said I didn't, but now I can think of a few other items I should have said here). A few times, she asked me basically the same question but in a different way, which made me think I had not answered it appropriately the first time she asked. We didn't cover why HBS or even why an MBA... I have to hope that was so obvious from my essays that she didn't feel the need to discuss those topics. She wrote notes the entire time I talked. Usually, I can tell if I'm on track or going in the wrong direction just by the body language or responses from the interviewer, but I really didn't know how I was doing and still don't know if I created confidence in my strengths or confirmed HBS's worst fears about my weaknesses. Guess I will find out on 1/17!

While I was there, I met a friend for lunch in Spangler. I actually saw a few other people I knew there as well. It was fun (food is pretty good too)! I also went to a class, which was awesome. The section representative picked us up... she was really nice... she walked us into the class, found seats for us, and introduced us to everyone. I know I'm a huge dork for saying this, but I really wanted to participate in the discussion. I had heard that people clapped when someone gave a particularly insightful response, but that doesn't really do it justice... it was more like thunderous applause, a standing ovation, and wave! There was definitely a good mix of nationalities and ages in the class, too. The professor had the students vote for how they would solve the problem presented in the case using these electronic buttons in the seating panels at the beginning of class. She didn't have to cold call anyone b/c there were many volunteers (and different people spoke throughout the class). All in all, a good trip!

Now it is time to refocus for my other interviews, which are rapidly approaching!

London Calling...

2006-11-17T07:18:00.000-05:00

I rec'd my London Business School invite yesterday! I was quite excited. I got it right before heading off to a late meeting, and I just came into the meeting w/ a big smile on my face. I don't know when it will be yet, as they are coordinating it with local alumni. The London Bus. School interview is known to be longer than the norm (I heard about 60 min.) and they ask you to analyze an issue and make a short presentation on it. I feel like that is actually going to be fun... sorta like a debate (well, no one is debating you on the other side, necessarily, but you still have to create a structured argument and present your position). I am really excited about the possibility of studying, living, and working overseas, so this is big!

And... it's Friday. Yessssss.

Good Things Come in Threes

2006-11-14T15:59:00.000-05:00

Well, I've finished my Wharton interview. I think it went pretty well. It ended up being more of a conversation than an interview... the interviewer really did a great job of putting me at ease right away (he asked me about my trip... I relayed some snafus... he commiserated). I interviewed with a 2nd year student on Wharton's campus. The interview is blind... they only have your resume (which you provide when you get there). Below are the questions I was asked:

- What led you to your current job?
- Why do you need an MBA?
- When I told him what I wanted to do post-MBA, he followed up with Why do you want to go into that field? He also happened to know something about that field, so he asked me what were the pressing issues I saw for the near-term
- Why Wharton?
- Tell me about a defining leadership moment
- What makes a good leader?
- How do you deal with a difficult team mate?
- What extracurriculars would you like to get involved in at Wharton? Why those?
- What role would youp lay on your learning team?
- What will you need to do to be successful at Wharton?
- Is there anything you want to add? Any weaknesses you'd like to address?

He scribbled notes as we went. The interview lasted about the 30 minutes allotted (maybe a minute or two over). So, they seem to run a pretty tight ship to keep on schedule. Anyway, I really enjoyed the whole experience. The main Wharton building just pulses with energy when all the students are running around... I liked the environment.

Just thinking that my interview went well was enough to make my happy, but I checked my email and found two more reasons to celebrate (this is definitely a good day). I got interview invitations from both Harvard AND Michigan!!! :D

HBS gave me a date and time for an on-campus interview. While I'm thrilled to get the chance to go back to Boston, the date could be better as the plane tickets cost an arm and a leg (it's flanking the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, so there are almost no available seats left!) The Michigan invitation gave me the options of interviewing with a local alum, interviewing with Adcom up in Ann Arbor, or interviewing over the phone. There wasn't much to think about - I need to see the school, so to Ann Arbor I will go. Thankfully, that ticket won't be nearly as expensive.

I admit - I'm feeling very lucky. Not only did I get these interviews, but I got them fairly early in the process, so I don't need to keep biting my fingernails day in and day out (will resume doing that between the end of interviews and the decision release date). I just hope some of these interview invites also turn into acceptances. Good luck to all those who are still waiting out there in the blogosphere ... I know your invites will come through as well. :)

False Alarm

2006-11-02T16:36:00.000-05:00

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.

And then there were none

2006-10-29T20:25:00.000-05:00

I submitted Duke and Michigan today, ending my R1 application submissions. I am a little fatigued of writing apps, revising essays, etc., so I hope I reviewed them as thoroughly as necessary. I have promised myself not to look at the applications now that they are submitted unless I get an interview invite (at least in the case of Michigan, since I already interviewed at Duke). Inevitably, I would find something I wanted to change and would agonize over it... and I just don't need that! I plan to take next weekend to just relax. I haven't done that since early August. I'm sure my husband will be happy to know he has his wife back (at least temporarily). Haha. :)

Ahhhhhh!

2006-10-27T09:51:00.000-04:00

That "ahhhh" is really a shout of joy b/c I received a Wharton interview invite in my email this morning! :D I know there is still a long way to go, but I am definitely very excited about this. I have decided I am definitely going to campus to interview, but I am waiting to hear some news on my project before I sign up (I may have to go out of the country, which would impact the dates I could interview). I also want to leave myself enough time to adequately prepare, so I can make sure I nail this interview.

Good luck to everyone else waiting for an interview invite... I hope it works out for you all too! :)

Report Out

2006-10-17T10:59:00.000-04:00

I had my Fuqua interview recently. I decided to fly down to Duke for the interview, so I could look around the campus. The facilities are nice. They are doing some construction, which was loud, but certainly will help to expand the facilities. I liked the student center - it seems very much alive with energy.

They have the interviewees wait in a lobby outside the office. They also have students sit with you to talk to you and answer your questions. I thought this was great! It put me immediately at ease, and I ended up asking a lot of questions. While they had particular students who were apparently "assigned" to sit there with us, many of their friends saw them there and stopped to chat as well. They were very friendly!

My interviewer came out to get me right on time. We went to a room and she offered me something to drink. She broke the ice with a few questions about my trip and visit thus far and then we got down to business. She noted that I worked in consulting and must travel a lot. I told her I did and she asked where I had gone. She also asked if I had ever had an eye-opening travel experiences when traveling to a place w/ a different culture. She then jumped into some standard questions:

Why do you want an MBA? What are your career goals?
What could you contribute to the Fuqua?
Tell me about a challenge you faced at work - how did you handle it?
What are the qualities you consider critical in a leader?
What classes outside your major did you enjoy in your undergraduate studies?
What would you do at Fuqua to round out your learning experience? Any specific extracurriculars?
How would your friends describe you?
What would you do if money were not an issue?
Any questions for me?

The interview lasted about 45 minutes. I could have done a better job on a few of the questions (I felt I started and ended strong, with just a little dip in the middle). I hate silence in interviews, so I have a tendency to ramble at times. I haven't interviewed in about 3 years, but I did practice the standard questions beforehand to smooth my story. The positive thing was that when I was explaining why I wanted an MBA to help me on my career goals, I was getting a lot of nods and she even said something like "that makes sense." I wanted to be like... "yeah, I thought so too." :) I went about answering the questions honestly, so I think they got a fairly good picture of who I am. I actually kind of enjoyed the conversation. I always have to reign myself in during interviews, as I have a tendency to just keep talking and asking questions because I enjoy meeting new people so much (my undergraduate interview lasted 2.5 hours!)

She also told me about a Weekend for Women, which sounds awesome. You have to apply (probably b/c Fuqua foots part of the bill while you're there). I am definitely going to try to get into that. I think it would be a great experience. Overall, I very much enjoyed my visit to Fuqua. The staff and students were engaging, the interview wasn't at all painful, and I learned a lot about the program and the school.

Here we goooooooo

2006-10-06T06:52:00.000-04:00

I submitted Harvard and Wharton. Phew. I gave myself a final deadline of midnight tonight to hit the button. I was making minute changes up until last night, but I figured it was finally time to just let it go and submit (I tend to wordsmith things to death). I've got my LBS application ready to go, but I want one more weekend with those essays to make sure I don't have any other changes.

Ahhh... it feels so good to get those out of the way! Now the waiting game begins...

Some thoughts on the essay writing process

2006-09-20T17:00:00.000-04:00

Now that I've had time to digest my initial success of at least finishing a first draft of all my essays, I have some thoughts that might be helpful to others out there just starting the essay writing process or those true early-birds who may not be applying this year but are just reading through the MBA blogging community:

1. Start Early. This is listed first for a reason. It's imperative. It will allow you to avoid stress, allow time for others to review, and allow you to take a week or so off w/out reading them and then come back w/ a fresh set of eyes. Plus, it will probably take longer than you think... things come up, work gets busy, and before you know it, there's a little schedule slippage. If you start early enough, this won't cause a problem.
2. A caveat to #1 - I would not suggest you start writing ravenously when essays start appearing in July. I did this and spent time wring most of my Columbia essays before I realized that, for me, those wouldn't be due until Jan. Figure out which deadlines come first, which schools makes sense to write to first (i.e., you're comfortable with the questions), and THEN go to town.
3. Be strategic in your essay writing approach. This has many facets. For an individual school, you may want to jot notes down for each essay and then take an overall look - did you fit all your good stuff in there? do you have to force it (probably not good)? will your essays portray the general picture you'd like to give adcom? Also, look across the schools. I personally liked writing my HBS essays first, with their stringent 400 word limits. It made me focus on the most important pieces of what I wanted to say. In the longer essays for other schools, I took that core piece I had created and expanded on it. Some others may like the opposite approach, but my point is, consider which works best for you before you start writing.
5. Tailor your essays for each school. Yes, my career vision is the same regardless of school, but I might highlight certain pieces of it more than others in one school vs. another. I think this is obviously important for the Why School X question. You don't want to speak generically about what you like about School X... do your research and then SHOW them you are crazy about their school b/c you've done your "background check" and you totally dig them! Great resources for this information are websites, current students, alums, and school magazines.
6. Recognize the role of reviewers. First, love them. They are taking time out of their schedules to help you. They will give you great insight. Give them time to do it right and help you out. Also, know that if you have carefully crafted your essay to read 399 words and the limit is 400, you will have that totally blown to hell by the time you are done w/ it. Yeah, I definitely didn't realize that until I had spent way too long working to the world limits... *sigh*.
7. Make sure what you tell your recommender about your career goals, strengths, weaknesses jives with what you are putting in the essay. If there's a disconnect, it may raise some eyebrows (why didn't the applicant communicate clearly what they want to do w/ this degree to their recommender?)
8. Don't discount your extracurriculars. I personally think they are a great way to show uniqueness... especially for people like me (consultants) who comprise a large portion of the applicant pool. I initially shied away from talking too much about sports. I thought it seemed childish for some reason (like... aww... the little girl likes to play games with her friends). Anyway, I found I could write passionately about my sport and what it taught me and still sound mature. I think that brought some life into my essays.
9. Don't forget that you chose to do this. :) Have some fun w/ your stories and use that creative writing you might not get to use at work (I don't get to be overly creative with wording in client deliverables, but I love descriptive vocabulary words that can bring text to life).

I wish I had a 10th point to round out my list ... but I'm just out of advice. :)

I went on the Wharton S2S forums today for the first time in awhile. I was afraid they'd be like the BW boards (all about stats and whatnot). Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised. I was searching for something in particular, and I found out what I wanted to know fairly quickly. So, I am no longer banning those from my life (I'm sure that will hamper my productivity, which has already dipped to lower levels than I would like... oh well).

Done and done

2006-09-17T16:55:00.000-04:00

I finished the last of my essays today. Finally! Now they are all out for revisions. Phew... I am so happy to have at least the initial weight of completing them off my shoulders. I gotta unwind from all that writing, so I'm not going to put anything more here for now... just wanted to share!

Forte Forum

2006-09-12T10:18:00.000-04:00

Last night I attended the Forte Forum. I joined the fray a little late b/c of traffic. Upon arriving at the Forum, I did a quick tour to identify the schools I wanted to talk to. They all had tables set up throughout the room. I had about 45 minutes before the first panel started, so I wanted to talk to at least a few of them before then.

I started with Wharton. The Wharton rep was nice... she encouraged us all to gather around the table, so if someone had a question we were curious about, we'd all get to hear the answer. Some people had fairly specific questions, and the ones that were general were things I already knew. She did suggest I reach out to the head of a student club if I was interested in it to learn more about what they do (good idea!).

From there, I moved on to HBS. OK, I really like my alma mater, but I didn't get the friendliest vibe from the reps. It's not that they were unfriendly, but I sort of felt like they just wanted to get my question over with and move on. Maybe b/c I was late and they were fatigued... who knows. Anyway, I did pick up a brochure (which I thought didn't exist offline), so that was good.

I heard the Michigan rep speak more about the MAP program, which was really helpful. She gave more examples of the projects and talked about how you're placed in one. Picked up a new brochure there too (for women).

By then, it was time for the alumnae panel. This was my first chance to accurately gauge how many people were there... I guess around 250 - 300? They had four women speak about their business school experiences. They stressed that an MBA can transform your skill set and advance your career. They all had different views on what the MBA was all about... some said it was the connections, some the skill set (my person view is that it's really all of those things). They all agreed that B-school teaches you how to break down a problem in a clear, structured way for analysis. It teaches you a new way of thinking. They also warned that the career search starts IMMEDIATELY when you hit campus, so be prepared so you can take full advantage of it. Also, FYI, Forte is going to be hosting online chats w/ alumnae and current students on 10/3 and 10/5, if anyone wants to check that out.

After the panel, it was more school-by-school action. I finished up the night by talking to the remaining schools in which I have an interest. I got a few more people to contact for my very specific questions, but I think most of the general stuff I heard at the tables were things I had heard before. There was an admissions panel at 8:15, but I decided to go home instead.

I saw several people from work there that I didn't know were applying to b-school. I even sawpeople I work w/ manning the tables as alumni. That was a little weird b/c of this specific situation: one of the girls just started here a few weeks ago and she's on my team. So her manager sent her to talk to me about how to be successful at the company and just generally answer any questions she had. Now, the tables are reversed. I'm sitting there asking her how to be successful in writing applications to get into b-school and how to be successful once I'm in. Haha. Well, now I know I have another resource in my company if I have specific questions.

Anyway, I'm not sure this review was particularly helpful for any other applicants, but I would encourage you to stop by a similar event if you have a chance. The real value was in being able to access the admissions staff if you have specific questions and get a feel for how they interact w/ applicants. Hearing from the alumnae was interesting too. Oh, and the brochures, if you are as enamored with them as I am. :)

Till later!

Double Booked

2006-09-10T15:31:00.000-04:00

I just realized that I agreed to attend two events tomorrow... dinner w/ my Mom, Aunt, and Uncle, and the Forte Forum. As much as I'd like to go hang out with my family, I feel it's very important for me to attend the Forum to learn some more about the schools I'm interested in. Once I told my Mom about the conflict, she said wouldn't allow me to come to dinner anymore b/c she thinks I should go attend the Forum. She's very supportive of this whole MBA endeavor! My Aunt also encouraged me to go. So, I guess that's that. I'll post a review if I learn anything new and interesting. Tomorrow will also be exactly 1 month prior to my first due date (HBS)! Yikes.

I finished up the Duke essays today and got a start on the Michigan ones this weekend. So, with any luck, essay writing will be completed by next weekend. After that, it's reviewing, writing applications, and checking on recommenders. I've taken a new approach to getting MBA stuff done. Whenever I come home from work, I am too distracted. It's just very hard to focus intently in a 1 BR apartment b/c my husband is usually watching TV and if I go into the bedroom, I inevitably fall asleep. Soooo... I've decided just not to come home from work! Haha... it's not as bad as it sounds. When I finish my actual work, I switch gears and open up my essays or applications and start writing. Staying at my desk for another hour or two per night has really helped me make some additional progress. It's sort of like the library was at school... a sanctuary for private thought and contemplation. I never thought I'd view my work desk like that, but there you have it!

Wharton Online Application Up and Running

2006-09-07T17:31:00.000-04:00

Ask and ye shall receive! :) I mentioned in my post this morning that I was waiting for that and now it's up. Voila!

I wish all of life was so convenient...

Online App

2006-09-07T08:52:00.000-04:00

In my efforts to at least start all the online apps, I have been filling out some of the basic informatin. I was surprised how long it took me. It definitely made me realize that I need to leave ample time to complete that portion of the application process as well. Some of it is a little confusing too. HBS asks about part-time work and they say to include summer internships. So, I'm guessing I am supposed to include all part-time work I held in college? I mean, I don't mind putting those on there, but is it really helpful for adcom to know that I sat at a desk in front of the pool for several hours a week? I guess it shows I have some crucial time management b/c I was working, playing a sport, and taking a full load of classes, but it just doesn't seem all that relevant. Now, I would agree my summer jobs were important b/c they really helped steer me toward my current work. The app also asks for salary and most of my part-time stuff was hourly wage. Argh. Oh well... I'll figure it out. If all else fails, I'll just email the admissions office for some clarification.

Speaking on online apps, I read on -tvu's blog that LBS had gone live with its online application. Yeah! That's 4 of my 5 first round schools that have released the app. Only Wharton is left... and what is taking so long with them? I figured they would have it available by now! I can tell you I will be anxiously awaiting that release. Mostly b/c I want to get all my recs out the door.

Ciao a tutti!

Labor Day Weekend

2006-09-05T20:38:00.000-04:00

Thank you to Cornfed and Hobbes for thoughtful responses to my last post... I appreciate your thoughts and suggestions! I am going to attend some info sessions in the next week to try to make a more informed decision. If I think a visit is really going to help me as I move forward through this process, I'm going to go ahead and do it. Otherwise, I'm going to wait until interview decisions come out. I do appreciate that I have the privilege of proximity, but I still want to carefully consider the visits.

Anyway, I'm back from the middle of nowhere (which was great, btw). Luckily, with a whole house full of early risers, my family made sure I wasn't so lazy that I did nothing but be a bump on a log. I managed to almost finish my Duke essays. I still have one to finish up (my favorite one), but I know exactly what I want to write... hopefully that will translate into fairly quick writing and reviewing! I can't believe it's just over a month until the first deadline... scary! Gotta kick everything into high gear now.

Reconsidering Visiting Schools

2006-08-30T15:54:00.000-04:00

I think I talked about my desire to visit most of the schools to which I am applying (especially since most of them are on the East coast... I can't complain they are too far). However, as it is now time to actually start doing that, I find myself hesitating. I have so much to do, both w/ regard to applications and at work, between now and mid-October that I'm not sure I really want to visit each and every school before I submit my application. Plus, there's the whole money aspect. I have a hard time actually pressing that button that charges my credit card when I'm reserving flights. I was talking to a few other applicants about this, and everyone has already managed to visit a few schools. They said it was well worth it... I agree... I am just having a hard time actually committing to the trips. *sigh*

Ciao... a presto.

Talking with Alums

2006-08-24T20:21:00.000-04:00

I know I have been reticent in blogging. In my defense, it has been really busy at work (which means I am working very late)! I did get a chance to work on my some more essays this weekend, though not as much as I would have liked. I am just a bit behind schedule, but I am not terribly worried b/c I am going to my Dad's house for the labor day holiday. He lives in the mountains of North Carolina, so there isn't much to do... perfect time for essay writing! Well, essay writing and playing with all my dogs. My dad's two labs (chocolate and black), my aunt's yellow lab (she is out of town so the yellow lab is visiting), my little cocker spaniel, and my sister's boxer will all be there. So many dogs... I love it! We're all going swimming in the river!

Ok... back to the MBA... focus, Rungee!

I have been talking to a lot of alums from the programs I'm interested in. If you have the chance to do this, I would highly encourage it. They provide an honest view of the school's pros and cons and can give you the "inside scoop" on how things work there. I just talked to a Duke grad the other day, who had some interesting insights about the health care and international opportunities. Previous or current students can describe the culture in detail and generally give a richer sense of what to expect from the school.

I have also scheduled some time to talk to a Wharton grad next week. One of my good friends from undergrad is starting at HBS and another is in his 2nd year there, so I told each of them I want to pick their brain for awhile (they're not alumni yet, but current students work too!). I also have some leads on graduates of Michigan, Kellogg, and a current student at Columbia. These are all people that were at my firm before school or who work here now. Having this sort of network is one of the perks of working in a large company, I guess! And everyone is so excited for me and supportive! I wish I could find an LBS student or alumni. I figured it would take me a little longer b/c there is less likely to be one in my group here at work. I haven't looked on their website yet to see if there's an opportunity to speak directly to students... that would be great!

Reinventing the Wheel (but with a good outcome)

2006-08-20T17:32:00.000-04:00

I thought I was done with my two required Wharton essays. Well, I at least thought I had a decent rough draft. But, then I read them again. Eww. What was I thinking?! They weren't good at all. I wanted to dig deeper and offer more reflection on my past, present, and future. So, I ended up rewriting a good portion of the first essay (careers goals, why Wharton), and I rewrote the second essay (twice actually). BUT... it was well worth it. I definitely feel they are much more solid and really help show the true me rather than some superficial portrait. Let's just hope I feel the same way when I read them next!

Procrastination

2006-08-13T17:21:00.000-04:00

I have found yet another way to procrastinate... updating my blog. :) A little prodding helps too... thanks Juggler.

This week was a tumultuous one, as I reassessed where I was applying (AGAIN). My recommenders are going to kill me. First, MIT keeps sending me stuff. Wooing me with fancy looking things apparently works to some extent. Second, I rediscovered Duke, and subsequently considered swapping Duke for Stanford. I would LOVE to go to Stanford as much as any of my other top choices, b/c I think their curriculum is such a good fit for me, but I feel like my chances are lowest there for some reason. I am usually a fairly decisive person so this constantly waffling among school choices is driving me insane. Argh.

I decided that this recent uncertainty about a few schools should not prevent me from continuing to make progress on the essays for the other schools. So, I put some finishing touches on my LBS essays and got about half way through the Wharton essays (1st essay was 1000 words... so long and yet not enough room... hmmm). Surprisingly, the failure essay has been sort of difficult for me to write. I've had a few missteps here and there, but nothing that I feel would make a truly good topic, especially in the professional realm (I plan to cover some other extracurricular things in other essays, so in the interest of a balanced application, I wanted to do a prof. essay here). If I can get a draft of the rest of the Wharton essays done by tonight I will be totally on top of my schedule (I've created a calendar with my self-imposed deadlines for everything... I love it... it's even got symbols).

I also just rec'd all my feedback from friends and family for my HBS essays and I'm incorporating their comments. I got some really valuable revisions, but I was very happy that they all thought I got my points across. I asked them to name the themes they would take away from the essays. Thankfully, they all identified the themes I was trying to convey! Guess that means the essays are well on their way to being final. :) *little celebratory dance* I finally got up the energy to start researching and outlining that damn ethics essay too. I'm not ready to write it yet, but at least I'm a few steps closer.

There are only about 7 weekends left before due dates start rolling around... that's just plain scary. I think I'll definitely have to put some time in during the week. I can see a few days off in my future (perhaps late September when panic hits).

All right, back to writing!

Happy Saturday for Rungee - more essays done

2006-08-05T22:50:00.000-04:00

I managed to finish all but one of the LBS essays today. Yeah! I want to wrap up some loose ends and revise the ones I have already completed tomorrow. The only one I have left is the one about leading a group. I know what I want to write, but I think I need to do a little more research about the particular group and how I might be able get involved in it.

I signed up for two more information sessions in the past week. There is an HBS info session scheduled for mid-August. I'm not sure if I'll actually go to this or not. I feel like out of all the schools, I know HBS the best. I wish they had a brochure (I just like having something to hold in my hands for some reason). The excuse for why they don't have one is that they went to a completely paperless system. Most people think it's just b/c they consider themselves "special." No comment from me on which explanation is more plausible. :) The second info session is sponsored by the Forte foundation... several schools will be in attendance. I think the actual presentation is not explicitly by the schools' adcoms, but they will be on hand to answer questions before and after the session.

OK, now to celebrate my progress, I'm going to continue my never-ending Friends marathon. :) I love that show!!!

Review of AdCom panel

2006-08-02T08:06:00.000-04:00

So, as I mentioned in my last post, I went to a UPenn Alumni Club event with members of the admissions committees at Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg, and MIT. Most of the answers were pretty standard, but I did find a few interesting tidbits.

There were surprisingly a lot of people there... I would estimate about 200 - 250. This made me nervous b/c I was thinking if there are this many people here, consider how many will be applying to these top schools in just the entire DC area. They polled the audience in the beginning to get an idea of work experience (most people were applying with 3 - 5 years of experience), whether or not people had significant others that would join them at school (only about 10 -15 people!!!), and how many had already taken the GMAT (just under half).

Each member of the panel spoke about a different part of the admission process.
General comments - they really do read the entire package. They all agreed that they never look at stats and then just put you in the reject pile. At least two people will read your package (including all essays).

Kellogg Rep - GMAT and Transcripts

Want to demonstrate you can handle rigor of program. Will understand a lower quant score if you were an English lit major. Everything taken in context of the overall package.
AdCom is looking for improvement and trends.

MIT Rep - Work experience and recommendations

Average is 4 - 5 years of work experience, more or less years is fine but make sure you goals are clear and the "why now" comes out in your essays
Being sincere will help you to differentiate yourself if you are in a common group (e.g., consultants). Be sure to show the impact you've had and let your passion come through.
Write about your accomplishments, not your tasks
Recommendations should highlight your strengths; best way to make sure that happens - get someone who knows you well to write the recommendation

Stanford Rep - Extracurriculars

Cover extracurriculars in college through current time; try to focus on leadership, scope of responsibility, size of organization and what kinds of activities that organization does, impact you've had
Non-leadership positions can be valuable too - sometimes you made an impact as a team (sports) or perhaps you tutor kids (individual accomplishment). Attaining a certain level of achievement (e.g., All-American) also shows your dedication and self-sacrifice
They look at context. Understand that if you are working crazy banking hours and flying every week for work as a consultant that it would be hard to get involved. However, it is therefore even more impressive if you have managed to do that.

HBS Rep - Essays

Essays are the heart of the application. Will help if you see it as an opportunity rather than a chore.
Chance to distinguish yourself. Make the AdCom excited to get to know you (they'll want to see you for an interview!)
AdCom should feel like they've gotten to know you well after reading your essays
Ask your reviewers to think about whether this is you when they read your essays

Wharton Rep - Interviews

Gain insight into passions, career path, why you want/need an MBA
Rehearse your story and do your homework on the school - just don't get to the point where it's just recitation and not a conversation
Every school does its interview process differently - make sure you understand it for each

After this general discussion, there were prepared and open Q&A. Here are some things I found interesting:

All schools except Kellogg were very open to younger applications, particularly women (this stems from realizing that women often want to go to school earlier because they do include family planning in their career). Kellogg didn't say they were against younger applicants, but I guess they really value work experience.
All schools are really trying to get more women. They pointed out that law and med school has reached a 50/50 representation while b-schools still hover around 30%. (as a side note, MIT has clearly been proactive about this. I got a letter in the mail from the school highlighting their focus on recruiting and training women in business).
Optional essays are truly optional.
If you come from a non-traditional background, that's great b/c it represents diversity. But, you may have to do a bit more explaining about what you do so AdCom can understand.
Types of classes: Kellogg - variety, MIT - variety, Stanford - case, experiential (a few lecture), HBS - 80% case, rest are experiential (50% of their students do field studies in 2nd year), Wharton - mix of case and lecture
Most schools have a global business component (some more so than others). Stanford talked a little bit about their new curriculum, but I found it echoed the information available on the website.

That's it! :) I hope that was helpful to some fellow applicants.

One step forward, two back

2006-07-31T16:54:00.000-04:00

This weekend was such a loss. I had to work all weekend and in any free time I did have, I was meeting up with people who were in town and I wouldn't see again for awhile. I managed to write one 150 word essay for LBS. Wow. WOW. Good progess (note the obvious sarcasm there). Now I'm involved in three projects at work, so I may not see the light of day again for several months. I just hope I don't have to work every weekend... I need to write essays!

Tomorrow night, there is a Penn Alumni Club B-school admissions panel in DC. I'm not part of the Penn Alumni Club but they let me sign up anyway. :) Adcom members from Penn, Harvard, Stanford, Sloan, and Kellogg are going to be there to answer questions (and I have a lot!) I'll post anything of particular interest on here.

Recommender Info Packet

2006-07-25T09:20:00.000-04:00

Rungee needs to give her recommenders their info packets and she needs help...

I have the following already prepared for them:
1. Very brief intro of schools to which I am applying, including BOLDED deadlines
2. Process for writing recs for each school (e.g., online, paper, etc.)
3. My career vision/goals essay
4. My resume

Anything else? I want to make sure I give them as much as they need w/out overwhelming them.

Being so focused on essays, I just was looking through other application requirements yesterday and noticed that Harvard and Stanford both require 3 essays rather than 2. Only diff. is that HBS lets you choose anyone (I'd rather have a manager, I think) while Stanford requires a peer. I remembered Harvard's requirements so I have someone in mind, but I forgot about Stanford. Hmm... a peer? I'm not sure who I want to write that one... this will require some more thought.

Back to work!

Spin it like a pro

2006-07-23T20:24:00.000-04:00

Well, the essays continue. If I could progress any slower on these, I'd be moving backward... sooo frustrating! I'm trying to tailor my general vision essay to fit different schools. It's the same basic story, but I'm trying to spin it so it fits well w/ the program. Who knows if this is a good plan or not. I'm going to farm out several of these drafts and ask my reviewers to make sure I don't lose my overall message w/ the spin. I've taken my Columbia essays (w/ their very liberal word limits) and whittled them down to the more restrictive word limits required by some of the other schools. I find this makes things go a little easier (though strangely not any faster).

One of the reasons I've fallen behind was because a good friend came up to stay with us for the weekend (obviously, this is a good reason to fall behind!). It is so much fun to catch up with close friends when it's been awhile. She's currently still in school and she's going to apply for her masters next year, so we were commiserating on the application process.

And now I'm going to go make double fudge brownies to procrastinate further! :)

Well the landslide will bring you down, down

2006-07-15T15:41:00.000-04:00

So, now Wharton has released essays. I'm starting to feel the weight of the landslide here as schools start releasing essays and I struggle to catch up. Word limits are currently the bane of my existance. I realize I'll probably have a better, tighter essay because of them, but trying to be that succinct is seriously difficult.

Well, I soldier on... hoping to continue making progress.

Back on Track!

2006-07-10T16:02:00.000-04:00

I feel fresh and invigorated. I'm not even sure why. Maybe it was getting the deliverable out the door, maybe it was playing softball this weekend (it's been forever since I've played) in the sunshine, or maybe it is just the extra coffee I had this morning, but I am in a great mood and full of energy.

I worked my essays this weekend. I have a decent rough draft of the Harvard and Columbia essays. They are certainly still in development and somewhat rough, but I can say that there was definitely progress made this weekend! I aim to send those to friends/family for a first revision by the end of the month (I can't be this slow with all my essays but I figure once I get the first few under my belt, the others will be easier... I hope!). Also, I just saw that LBS essays came out... sweet... now I can get started on those too.

I also officially asked one person to be my recommender today. He's a bit farther afield (read: not at my work) so I wanted to get in touch with him early.

With these updates, I am back in line w/ schedule I set for myself: http://rungee582.blogspot.com/2006/04/timeline.html. I love being on schedule!

Barely Awake

2006-06-26T15:13:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-15T21:09:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-06T22:13:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-03T07:18:00.000-04:00

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. :)

Espana!

2006-05-29T22:00:00.000-04:00

So... several small updates... some MBA-related, some not.

First, I just survived another birthday. I'm entering the mid-twenties, not w/out a little intrepidation mind you, and I rang it in by sleeping 11 hours a day. I was trying to get over a particulary nasty cold that left me w/out a voice.

Second, I got the cold when I was traveling back from SPAIN! As usual, Spain was marvelous. My husband and I spent some time in Madrid, and we managed to do many things we didn't get to do on our last trip (unfortunately, we still didn't get in a trip to El Escorial or to a bull fight... next time!) We went to the Museo del Prado, toured the Palacio Real, shopped, and visited some new plazas and Tapas bars. My Spanish is really not as good as I thought it was. Also, I forget how much slower things move over there... which was fine since I was on vacation but the whole time I was thinking, could I handle living over here and dealing w/ this pace all the time (remember, IESE, which is located in Barcelona, is still in the running)? Hmmm. We also went to Granada and I finally got to see the Alhambra. It was great - everything I expected and more!

Third, my one piece of MBA-related news... many fall deadlines are being announced and in some cases, essays are even coming out. I would suggest keeping up w/ Clear Admit if you want the latest news. Since I've been out of the country and very busy pulling some double-duty at work, I haven't had much time to read entries and what not... I just hope things let up near September so I'll have time to write essays!

Adios.

My bad

2006-05-15T20:06:00.000-04:00

I know... I know... it's been forever since I last posted. The reason was two-fold. First, I was extremely busy with work, which finally picked up. Second, and related to the first, I didn't have much time to do anything business-school related. I did, however, have a little chat w/ my manager at work and indicated a desire to go to business school. He was supportive. I didn't say I when I was applying, as I'm not sure I want to deal w/ that yet.

Anyway, things are rolling along well. We actually have several people going to business schools this year from my company. So far, I've heard of Tuck, Michigan, Wharton, and Stanford. Last year, we had two off to HBS and another to Michigan (these are just the ones I know of, there may be more). This gives me hope that I actually have a chance at these schools! Of course, I'll still be the youngest to apply, but I have good reasons on why now is the time.

I'll try not to make it so long before I write again!

Timeline

2006-04-12T17:00:00.000-04:00

I've recently been wondering when to start my B-school efforts in earnest. I mean, I've been researching schools and I've taken the GMAT, but my time committment has been fairly low up until this point. I outlined a timeline, but there are definitely a few fuzzy spots.

Already completed: GMAT, preliminary school research

April
Make a list of leadership positions, achievements, strengths, weaknesses, etc. that I may want to include in essays

May
Draft my response to the standard essay questions (why MBA, why school X, why now?)

June/July
Ask recommenders for their support and give them an idea of expectations, timelines, etc. (this is perhaps just a bit early, but I want to make sure they have enough time!)

August
Essay questions should be posted on school websites - start drafting answers to the specific questions

September
Revise essays - have friends, family, coworkers review the essays
Check in w/ recommenders to make sure they're on track to meet deadlines

October
Finalize essays, fill out the aps, and submit for 1st round

(For 2nd round, move it all to the right by about 2 - 3 months)

Now, one major thing missing in this whole plan are the visits to schools. As I mentioned in a previous post, I think it's important that I do this to get a feel for the school, the students, and the surrounding areas. I have no idea when the best time to do this would be. Do I go next month (May), before this year ends? Or, do I go in September when the information I gain will be fresh in my mind for essays? The only problem with that is that I'm sure I'll be pretty stressed out w/out trying to fly all over the place to go to schools. I would probably have a lot of time to go over the summer, but, of course, then no one will be there! (Well, no students anyway). If any other MBA applicants or students out there have any thoughts on this, I'd love to hear them! =)

It's a race... it's a race!

2006-03-27T13:40:00.000-05:00

I am back at work on this lovely afternoon after a somewhat relaxing weekend in North Carolina. I decided to fly down to Charlotte and then drive back with my husband, who had been in NC for an entire week on his spring break. In order to get a cheap ticket, I decided to fly out of BWI, which is one of the outlying Washington, DC airports. I love flying. I would so much rather fly than drive that if it is the least bit shorter than the car ride, I will fly (even if the cost is more... although it does get prohibitive at some point). I think this preference stems from my need to be in constant motion. It seems like everywhere I go, I feel the need to get there fast. If I'm in the airport, I get to walk quickly from garage to ticket line, from ticket line through security, from security to shuttle bus, etc. I feel like I'm accomplishing something. Then, I get to sit and rest, read, sleep on the plane. If I'm in the car, I still have the same sense of urgency but no instant gratification! On the contrary, I have to sit and pay attention to driving for hours while feeling like if I could just got 150 mph, life would be better (obviously, I try to at least keep it w/in 20 mph of the speed limit - don't want any reckless driving tickets!).

I have decided I definitely want to visit the schools I am most seriously considering. This will involve a trip to Chicago (for Kellogg), San Fran (for Stanford and may as well visit Berkeley to see what I think of it while I'm there), Durham (Duke), Philadelphia (Wharton), and London (LBS). I've been to HBS already while I was a senior and sat in on a class, so don't really feel the need to go back. I'm going to Philadelphia next week for work, so I may even try to squeeze that one in then, but I have no idea if we'll have any time. We have relatives near Duke, so I am hoping next time we go see them, I can take a little jaunt over that way. The trips to San Fran, Chicago, and LBS will be a bit more difficult, but definitely worth it, I think. I really like both SF and Chicago, so I am excited for those trips. I've never been to London, so we'll see what it holds!

Sorry for the chopping writing! Just in a hurry (what a surprise, right?) ;)

My blog is lonely

2006-03-20T23:00:00.000-05:00

I just noticed today that it shows how many profile views I've had. A whopping 4. My blog is so sad. =(

Of course, it might help if I actually told people about it...

I'll work on that!

Buy the by

2006-03-19T19:15:00.001-05:00

So, I had a brilliant idea today. I thought I would be productive and go do some research. I tend to have an aversion to libraries after many unfortunate sessions of lugging a HUGE pile of books back to my dorm from the far-flung Harvard libraries. I figured I would head over to Barnes & Noble, which is right down the block, and just read through some of the business school materials they had. They have a cute little coffee shop (with amazing flavors!) where people often sit and read. Usually, I feel like this is cheating the system or something. I always think, man, they are basically getting a free book by doing that. In fact, there was someone in there today with an SAT prep book that was actually doing problems from the book and then put the book back on the shelf!

Anyway, I decided that if B&N was just going to accept this behavior, who was I not to take advantage of the situation? I bought a coffee to assuage my guilt (and three other books...) and sat down to read about writing a winning essay. I figured I had read a lot online, but this book might have a few good tidbits. Well, I got really absorbed in it and decided to buy it. I'm such a sucker. Maybe that's why B&N lets people sit down to read their books there. Once you realize you can't read the whole thing in one sitting and you are emotionally invested in the content, you feel like you have to get it. Anyway, if it's any good, I will post the review on here to lead others in that direction. =)

I also got The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs. He came to speak in one of my economics classes. He's amazing - so charismatic and passionate about his ideas. Plus, the guy is just brilliant. I thoroughly enjoyed his lecture and I am very much looking forward to reading his book. He deals mostly with the economics of third-world countries and how environmental factors affect their economics. I find his theories intriguing and would love to be involved in something someday that puts some of his ideas into practice.

The other two books are for my nephew, who is 2. They're much lighter reading. =)

I love lamp

2006-03-16T17:22:00.001-05:00

I've been extremely bored all week at work. Why is it that I'm either so ridiculously busy that I can barely breathe or I'm so bored I just want to fall asleep? Is that just the nature of business? I haven't had any other job besides this one so it's hard to know. Anyway, I notice that when I am bored and I actually get a task to do that I am very inefficient at getting it done. You would think I'd be excited to do it and would do it well. Instead, I mosey through it and it takes me twice as long to organize my thoughts.

This got me thinking... maybe this is why I've always stayed busy. Maybe every time I slowed down enough to think I actually lost the ability to put together intellectual thoughts. Ok, this probably isn't true, but it's an interesting theory. =P I do feel much more envigorated when I'm bouncing from one thing to another. I always have stopped short of committing to do too much, as I want to make sure everything I do is at 100% effort, but sometimes I get really close to that line. I just feel so useless sitting around.

Since I was bored today, I made plans for tonight, of course, so off I go... just wanted to jot down some quick thoughts to share with the world!

Lexus

2006-03-13T23:10:00.000-05:00

I am currently reading The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas Friedman. I know this is a very popular book, but for those who aren't familiar with it, the topic is globalization. I find it very interesting. I love books such as these. First, the writing style is straightforward yet thoughtful and presses you to think about your own position on the issue. Second, it amalgamates several theories presented from various fields of study (economics, psychology, ecology, etc.) and puts them all together. It's an opportunity to find the connections between things that would appear otherwise distinct.

My interest in globalization is somewhat recent and stems from my interest in international relations. It probably started in college, which was my first real opportunity to interact with people from other cultures in an academic setting. I really appreciated the different ways people approached problems and how their backgrounds led to their varied contributions to our discussions. I learned so much from my peers during that time, and I think that's one of the things I hope to get out the business school experience. Even if I don't focus strictly on international studies within my MBA, I definitely want to go to a diverse school so that I may have the opportunity to learn from people different from me. That's why the schools abroad are so appealing right now. I was also considering the Wharton/Lauder option today. It all looked great until I got to the language requirement. I speak Spanish and Italian but, in the traditional American fashion, I can't speak either one very well. (I have decided my kids are going to learn a second language from early on and will continue with it... argh... stupid public schools and their lack of resources). Still researching all the options out there...

Slick

2006-03-08T21:19:00.000-05:00

I ordered an info packet from a few schools. The one from LBS arrived today. I read through it, and it was quite informative. I probably could have gotten a lot of the same stuff off the website, but there's something nice about having it there in hard copy. And, for some odd reason, I felt like I was special for getting it (even though I obviously ordered it and there's nothing special in that). Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting the few others I ordered and continuing research. I've been talking to some business school alumni to get there thoughts too.

I've been trying to add some cool stuff to my sidebar, but I can't seem to figure out how to do it! I know some HTML and I totally thought I was making the changes correctly (even according to the help tutorial I found), but it just didn't work. Argh. Techology.

Researching schools

2006-03-04T15:18:00.000-05:00

My school research continues. I am leaning even more toward an international focus. So much so that I've started looking more carefully outside the US. At first glance, London Business School (LBS), IESE, and ESADE seem to be my top choices. I know INSEAD is great, but I'm just not feeling it when I look through the website. I think it would be so much fun to go abroad for school and would definitely give me a chance to explore my interest in international business. I've talked about it with my husband and he thinks it's a great idea too. We both love Spain (never been to London, though) and I think we'd be happy there. He doesn't speak much Spanish, but I think he'd learn pretty quick. :P

I have decided that if I don't go overseas for school, I definitely want to take part in an exchange program so I at least get the international flavor. Several schools offer that option. I don't believe I've seen much in the way of study abroad opportunities at HBS, so that might knock it out of my target school zone (though it would be hard not to apply b/c I love Boston and the area offers a lot of opportunities for my husband).

So, at the current time, here is my list of top schools. It's rather large, but I definitely plan to cut it down over the next few months to get it to a reasonable size.

The "I'll cut my left arm off to get in" schools:
- Wharton
- Stanford
- LBS
- Duke
- Kellogg

The "I'll still be pretty psyched to get in" schools:
- Harvard
- IESE
- ESADE
- Dartmouth
- Chicago

The "Eh, at least I'm in business school" schools:
- UVA
- Cal
- Michigan

Not to say that any on the bottom of the list aren't great schools, but I'm just not sure they fit what I'm looking for as much. That's why I'm still doing LOTS of research. I hope to only apply to 5 schools, so I seriously need to whittle the list down. I know I said this before, but I just really want to apply already. Enough waiting. Of course, come application time next fall when I'm scrambling to get my apps in, I bet I won't be saying that! :)

BTW - if you happen to be another future MBA student reading this blog, you should definitely check out www.clearadmit.com or http://mbaleague.blogspot.com. Both have some great insight and links to other blogs! I love reading those! Makes me feel like I'm not alone. ;)

That's all for now - I hope that it won't be so long between blogs next time!

GMAT fun

2006-02-18T14:43:00.000-05:00

I said I was going to write something about the GMAT at some point, and today seems as good a time as any. I took the GMAT at the end of December. I studied for it using the Princeton Review Prep course. It didn't really teach me all that much, but it did provide me with the discipline to study. Unfortunately, my project at work was very demanding about that time and I didn't study as much as I could have.

I was worried about finishing the Math section in enough time. I had struggled with that a little on my practice tests (which I thought were harder than the real thing). It was fine, though. I ended up breaking the magical 700 barrier. Pretty good, though I'm sure I could have done better. I decided not to retake the test.

I think studying is by far the easiest way to improve your score. Doing the practice problems again and again. I feel fairly confident that if you are reasonably intelligent, you can score well if you just study (I definitely should have done some more... but I really have promised myself to just let go of it... you can tell I'm doing so well, huh?;P).

I'm a little worried about my score b/c it's below the average (or around it) of the schools to which I plan to apply. Since I don't have a ton of work experience (although I feel what I do have is pretty valuable), I feel like every other part of my application has to be stellar. *sigh* I wish I could get this application process started already. I thought it would be great to get a head start by taking the GMAT early (and I do still think this relieves a lot of stress) and researching schools, but now I just feel like I'm waiting to get a move on. Argh.

Rough night

2006-02-10T22:53:00.000-05:00

Well, here I am posting on a Friday night at 11:00 pm. I recently got off work. This week has been rough. Oh well, what can you do?

The only exciting news I have for today is that my husband got a job offer! He is graduating in May with a Masters, so he's been applying to jobs. This was one he really wanted, so I'm very happy for him. He's out celebrating right now (I figure I'll probably join him in a little bit once I've sufficiently recovered from my hellacious Friday).

I've been reading other blogs from people applying to b-school this year. Seems stressful. Can't wait till it's me this time next year! Haha.

Night!

The beginning is a very good place to start...

2006-02-08T19:39:00.000-05:00

This is my first blog EVER! I hope to use this as a vehicle to get out all my thoughts, frustrations, and excitement about my journey back to school. Currently, the plan is to apply next fall ('06) to a business school to attend in Fall '07.

A little background on me:
I am a 23-year-old female. I'm from Virginia originally and then I made the long (and freezing cold) trek to Boston to go to Harvard for college. I played around for 4 years, slept very little, and graduated with a degree in Economics. I now work as a consultant for a leading strategy consultant firm. I like it for the most part, but I'm not sure I want to do it forever. The problem is that I have no idea what I want to do instead! Well, I have some ideas... I really like health care and international work, so I would be interested in doing management in either of those sectors. International is pretty broad - I would probably focus on economic development or something. Anyway, I recently decided it was time to go back to school to help transition to what I want to do. I just took the GMAT (I guess I'll write a separate post on that later) and now I'm researching Business Schools. Right now, I would really like to take a closer look at Duke/Fuqua (good health care focus), Wharton, Stanford, HBS (alma mater), and Northwestern. We'll see how it goes!

That's it for now!