Sustained Agony: MBA Admissions

Sticker Shock

2008-05-06T07:46:00.004-04:00

I've been working on my budget for next year, and I am so relieved to be going to the school that offered me the most money. It isn't a factor I considered when I was choosing schools, but it sure is nice to know that I'm not spending more than I have to! These numbers are unreal.

I've also been looking for housing up around Hanover. Hanover is surprisingly expensive, and I'm not a fan of the quality either. Things seem to get better in Vermont, especially as you move further from the White River and deeper into the state. Of course, I want to live as close to campus as possible for convenience as well as to minimize gas consumption.

Also, thanks to folks who voted for this blog in the "ClearAdmit Best of Blogging 2008" awards!

It's Tuck!

2008-04-26T20:47:00.003-04:00

I submitted my deposit yesterday, and I don't have any regrets today. :)

To respond a bit to people's comments, which I always love:
* I am indeed all about general management. I don't think I have a finance bone in my body.
* I do plan to stay in the US, or at least I don't have plans to leave it.
* I tested Chicago and Tuck career services and I found Tuck to be a lot better suited to my needs. Admittedly, it was just a test, but it's the best information I have to go on.
* Having gone to Harvard undergrad, I am unimpressed by rock star faculty. I care a lot more about the student/faculty ratio and the way faculty engage with students. From what I hear, it's point Tuck here.

Also, on a totally unrelated note: If you are going to HBS or Sloan next year and you are looking for a nice place to live in Cambridge, leave your email address in a comment and I'll send you a link to the listing for my condo on craiglist. It's up for rent, but I'm also meeting with real estate agents to talk about putting it up for sale.

Unwillingness To Take Next Steps

2008-04-24T09:50:00.003-04:00

In my head, I have made up my mind that I am going to Tuck. I was so impressed by the students, the administration, the faculty, and the community as a whole! And I do like the idea of a more coherent core curriculum and a better-rounded general management program.

I am having trouble telling either Tuck or Chicago as much, though. It is really hard to let go of Chicago. I don't think going there would be the right thing to do.

I think one thing I'm a little scared of about Tuck is housing. I have a condo and I was thinking I'd rent it out and find a place to rent at Tuck. (I can't live on-campus.) But the quality of the rentals in the area is discouraging. Now I'm wondering whether I should sell my condo and buy a house in Hanover. The inventory of properties to buy seems a bit nicer.

I think it's because I care so much about my living conditions that I'm so fearful of committing to Tuck. But there's no way I can resolve that before next week, when my decision is due. So I expect that I send the necessary letters off this weekend. It's just so hard to do! I really would like to go to both.

Where My Tuck/Chicago Head Is At

2008-04-15T19:41:00.002-04:00

You wouldn't believe how much I've been thinking about Tuck v Chicago these days!

Unfortunately, I change my mind about which way I'm leaning every few days, which is very hard. I will admit that I have probably spent more time leaning toward Tuck than I have toward Chicago.

I had previously posted pros and cons for each. What I'm going to share now are the things that might make me really pick one school over another.

You may disagree with some of these! Please bear in mind that I'm presenting them as my analysis, not as facts.

Tuck:
* More individual attention due to smaller class size.
* Better general management program.
* Better connections to socially responsible firms, especially in my target industry.
* Scholarship $$.

Chicago:
* Better brand name outside of the Northeast.
* Slightly more rigorous/quantitative program.
* Slightly better caliber students.
* More to do outside of class.

So as you can see, it's not clear-cut for me yet. Tuck's ASW is this weekend and Chicago's is the next. I promise to update you if my perceptions change!

P.S. I'm really surprised to have been nominated for a ClearAdmit Best of Blogging Award! I started so late and posted so much less frequently than other bloggers. But I am flattered, and I appreciate the nod!

Tuck V. Chicago Pros And Cons

2008-03-28T09:48:00.003-04:00

I've been thinking hard about this over the past few days. I've also been getting input from friends, family, and select colleagues. It's hard to do so, though, when I'm still trying to keep this a secret at work!

So here we go:

Tuck Pros:

General management focus (I have a liberal arts background and broad exposure to business fundamentals)
Sizable merit scholarship
Very strong brand in Boston area (but I don't know whether I ultimately want to be here)
Responsive alumni network
Small class size (as an undergrad my class size was 1650, so this would be a real treat for me)
Family feel
Country living
Close to family and friends (most of whom are in Boston)
Easier to manage condo (I'll be renting it out)
Dartmouth Farm (super cool)

Tuck Cons:

"Drinking in the woods" culture

Chicago Pros:

Better brand nationally and internationally (I would love feedback on this. In Boston Tuck almost has a better brand than Chicago. What's the case elsewhere?)
City living
Good to live outside of Boston
Large alumni network
More flexible curriculum

Chicago Cons:

Commuter culture (strong negative)
Finance focus (not to the exclusion of other fields)
Far from family and friends
Can't fly with two cats (I have two cats, and I'm figuring that to go between Boston and Chicago I'd have to drive 15h. Airlines let you fly with only one cat per person on board. No, I'm not checking them!)

The one thing that's not on this list is the quality of the students and professors. That's probably one of the most important things to me. I want to go to a school where people are smart, people are nice, and I fit in. I got a good sense of that at Chicago, where I really liked everyone I met and I felt like they would be great people to be in class with. I didn't get that impression at much at Tuck, but I also didn't get to interact as much with students there.

And YES, I plan to attend both Admitted Students' Weekends. I'll have to make my decision immediately after Chicago's, though, so I am going to try and have a tentative decision before then.

Your input much appreciated!

First thoughts post-admits

2008-03-25T21:08:00.005-04:00

To start with, I am thrilled. I was so worried that I wouldn't get in anywhere!

It is so much more fun considering where to go than it is considering where you will or won't get in.

So to dive right in: Right now I am thinking Dartmouth or Chicago.

I really like UVA -- just not as much as I liked Dartmouth and Chicago. I'm not sure why, but I am sure of it.

I wasn't happy with Duke. My experience there when I visited was disappointing, and there were times when I considered withdrawing my application altogether. It would have been good to visit before applying, but that wasn't possible given my travel schedule.

So that's where my head is right now. I'm going to try to visit both Dartmouth and Chicago. I'm not sure if it'll prove problematic that Dartmouth wants an answer BEFORE Chicago's admitted students weekend. I am hoping they'll give me a few more days.

I'm also drawing up a pros and cons list, which I'll share soon.

In the meantime I would love to hear people's early thoughts!

Admitted to Chicago!!!!

2008-03-25T13:19:00.001-04:00

I am SO excited.

I can't express how thrilled I am to have these great options to choose from.

ADMITTED TO TUCK!

2008-03-21T12:42:00.000-04:00

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With $$, too!

Admitted to UVA!

2008-03-21T11:14:00.001-04:00

Not sure what the $$ situation is, but I'm psyched about the admit!

Waitlisted by Berkeley

2008-03-19T12:58:00.002-04:00

This is actually a pleasant surprise. I had expected to be rejected outright since I didn't get an interview invitation.

That said, I am kind of appalled by how much they expect of waitlisted candidates. They indicate that we should: 1) schedule an interview 2) retake the GMAT 3) enroll in courses at a community college 4) submit more recommendations and/or 5) submit an "update" essay.

That's an awful lot of work to do for a slim-to-none chance of acceptance! I feel like one or two of these would be reasonable, but all five? That said, I'm sure waitlisted candidates will end up doing all of these things whether or not the school suggests them.

I think my game plan is to accept a place on their waitlist and then see what Tuck, Chicago, and UVA have to say. If I get into any of those schools (FINGERS CROSSED), then I certainly won't bother with the Berkeley waitlist. And I'll wait until then before I start doing heavy lifting.

Admitted to Fuqua!

2008-03-07T10:03:00.001-05:00

HOORAY!

Dinged by Kellogg

2008-02-25T19:17:00.001-05:00

I guess I saw this coming. I don't think my interview with the weird alum helped. I definitely should have done an on-campus interview. But, who knows, maybe that wouldn't have helped.

Yay Chicago, Boo Harvard

2008-02-19T21:52:00.002-05:00

I visited Chicago recently and I just loved it. I definitely felt the "fit and match" they always talk about! I can see why not everyone would, but it is just style. Happily, I think my interview went well. I have the girl's card, too, so I will be sure to write her a thank you note!

Nothing yet from Harvard, Stanford, or Berkeley. I have given up hope on Harvard, given its admission that the "vast majority" of its R2 invites have already gone out. At this point I am a little angry at Harvard. Yes, that's irrational, but it is what it is.

I think Stanford and Berkeley might still be sending out a few invites, but I'm not very hopeful about either of them. Berkeley's Super Saturday is March 8, and it's getting pretty darned close. And I have never felt I had a good shot at Stanford.

That means that I have interviewed or will interview -- and am therefore still in the running -- at Chicago, Tuck, Kellogg, Darden, and Fuqua.

Wish me luck!

Eek -- Forgot Thank You Note

2008-02-11T20:25:00.000-05:00

I visited Duke a few weeks ago and interviewed with a current student while I was there. Just a few moments ago it hit me: I never emailed him to say thank you.

What's more, I have lost his business card. I think I put it in the information packet they gave me. But the information packet was completely useless -- nothing in it was informative -- so I threw it away. :(

Is there anything I can/should do at this point? I don't remember his name, only that he was a second year student. It's also been so long that I'm not sure it's a good idea to email now even if I do find his email address.

Any thoughts?

The State Of Hope

2008-02-06T10:19:00.000-05:00

Not Obama-style hope, but interview invitation-style hope.

I've got interview invites in hand from Chicago and UVA -- hooray! I would be a lot more relaxed about the others if I were sure that these interview invites would translate into admits, but I think both schools interview more than half of applicants. The ClearAdmit guide to the Chicago interview explicitly indicates that the interview is not an indication that the applicant has been "pre-screened" for admission but rather just another component of the application process. I read that as "Chicago hasn't yet decided to ding me," as opposed to "Chicago is nearly ready to admit me."*

So what schools have I not yet heard from? Harvard, Stanford, and Berkeley.

Harvard started sending out interview invites Jan 25 and claims that it will continue to do so until the notification date in March, per its admissions blog. But the general consensus seems to be that the vast majority of interview invitations will be out by mid-Feb, so I've decided to give up hope on Valentine's Day. Honestly, I've kind of already given up hope though. I thought I had a strong application, but I feel like I've already been dinged.
One rumor has it that Stanford's admissions office started sending out interview invitations on Jan 21. But another rumor has it that they hadn't sent any invites out yet as of Feb 1. I'm not sure if I'd even know if they'd started going out. After all, because they have a smaller class I think they interview far fewer people than, say, Harvard.
I don't think Berkeley has sent out many interview invites yet. I've only seen one or two reported in various forums online. I could be wrong about this, though. In any case I am keeping Super Saturday weekend open (I'm on the West Coast for work the week before and after).

So I don't actually have very high hopes for any of these schools: Harvard because it's already so late, Stanford because they admit so few people, and Berkeley because -- well, I don't know why.

* I bought the ClearAdmit guide on the recommendation of B-School Bound; his recommendation was unsurprisingly quoted by ClearAdmit itself here. I don't think buying them was a bad decision. After all, it's hard to put a dollar value on any insight in these guides. Who knows how much any one interview question really makes or breaks an application, after all? That said, I was disappointed by how little school-specific content was in the Chicago guide. So the guide was helpful for sure, but not as helpful as I'd hoped.

Invitation To Interview At UVA!

2008-02-04T11:55:00.000-05:00

I am psyched! Thank God, Chicago is not a fluke. I'm looking forward to going down to Charlottesville, which I haven't visited since I was a kid.

Interestingly, I haven't received any email notification about this. I noted that my status had changed from "Pending" to "Schedule An Interview" only because I've been obsessively logging in to check every few hours!

Invitation To Interview At Chicago!

2008-01-30T10:10:00.001-05:00

HOORAY!

I am not sure that I could be more excited. Or relieved, for that matter!

It is so nice to get some validation that my applications are actually ok.

Dear Ad Comms,

2008-01-29T10:03:00.000-05:00

Dear Ad Comms,

It's been a while since I've heard from you. I'm wondering how you're doing. I hear you are starting to be in touch with other applicants. Perhaps you'd like to send me a note, too? I know, why don't we get together for a chat? Perhaps you might even call this chat an interview. If you are amenable, please send me a note at your earliest convenience. I'll be checking every few minutes or so. Please don't keep me waiting too long!

Best,
EightSchools

Frank Assessment Of My Chances

2008-01-25T22:06:00.001-05:00

This may be about as frank as this blog gets. I'm going to share my honest assessment of how likely I think I am to get into the schools I've applied to. This is the kind of stuff that's banging around my head lately, and I would really like to get it out. Thank you in advance for bearing with me. :)

Here's is my appraisal of how my applications look in general:

What I have going for me: Untouchable performance at an amazing job most 50yos in my industry would love to have. High 90s GMAT verbal score, high 90s GMAT overall. Amazing college extracurriculars. Really well-written, well-conceived essays. One outstanding recommendation from someone very senior at my company.
Neither good nor bad: My immediate supervisor's recommendation isn't very well done, even though it says good things. My extracurriculars since college are ok, I think, but I haven't been elected mayor or anything. I have an average (for these schools) GPA in the Ivy League.
What I have going against me: Low 70s GMAT quant score. Humanities major.

Here's what I think about my chances at each school:

Berkeley: This is the hardest one for me to estimate. I think that my career plans make me a really good fit for Berkeley. But I'm not entirely clear on how selective they are. If I had to guess, I would put my chances somewhere around 20%, but that's probably the wildest of all these guesses.
Chicago: I get the feeling that Chicago cares more about GPAs and quant skills than other schools, and that might tank me. But I do think my PPT and essays were good. I really like Chicago and I hope that shows. Plus, they have a higher admission rate at 25% than schools like Harvard and Stanford. I give myself a 30% chance.
Dartmouth: I had a great interview here, and I think I'm a good fit for the school. However, a friend of mine was told that her 70-something percentile GMAT quant score got her waitlisted. She hadn't taken any quant courses, though, while I've done so and done well in them. I'm guessing my chances are 40%.
Darden and Duke. I'm think my chances are similar for Darden and Duke -- I'd guess about 50% or more. I'm much more into Darden, though. I really like the case method and how hard the students work.
Harvard: Long shot. The scores and GPAs I see in online forums for Harvard admits depress me. And someone from my firm who had a very similar role to mine didn't even get an interview last year. However, this person also admits to having done a "shitty" job on the essays. I give myself a 20% chance of admission.
Kellogg: I think I'm a good fit here. My essays do a good job of making the case, but I'm not sure my interviewer will back that up. I feel ok about my chances here. I think it could go either way, so let's say a 40% chance of admission.
Stanford: Very long shot. The GMATs and GPAs for Stanford admits that I see on mbabuzz.com and Admissions411 make me feel pretty pessimistic about my chances. And I'm special in my industry, but I haven't founded a nonprofit that is close to curing cancer, which seems like the type of thing most Stanford students have done. I'm going to give myself a 15% chance of admission.

I guess we'll never know how right or wrong I am, but this is how I'm feeling right now. It's hard to stay optimistic, especially as Harvard interviews start to go out. (Today was the first day, and I didn't hear anything.) I'm trying hard, though, let me tell you.

Wish me luck!

Poll Results & Kellogg Info Sesssion

2008-01-18T07:23:00.000-05:00

Thank you to everyone who's voted in the poll to the right! I've really enjoyed watching the results come in. It is downright fascinating how Harvard and Stanford stay neck-and-neck. Sometimes I wonder whether people are voting for one or the other specifically to keep them tied!

I also wonder whether the results would be any different if Wharton were on the list (it isn't because I'm not applying there.) I know that "other" has a decent number of votes, but people are less likely to vote for "other" than they are to just pick the closest fit for them on the list. I'm tempted to say that Wharton would be coming in third if it were listed, but I don't really understand enough about Wharton's appeal to be sure.

I'm also a little surprised by Kellogg's strong showing! I'd expect it to be closer to tied with Dartmouth, which apparently is less popular with you all than it is with me.

I'd love to hear why you're voting the way you are. If you'd like to share, leave a comment below.

I went to a Kellogg information session, though, and I understand what you all like about Kellogg. The info session was much better than my interview. In fact, I really wish I'd done a Kellogg info session before the interview, both to know more going in and to be more confident that I understood what Kellogg folks were like.

Some good news from the Kellogg info session -- the ad com rep there said that decisions are often released early, starting from "six weeks after you submit your Part II app." I'm guessing they also need the interview report to be in, though, which would be at least two weeks after my Part II app. So that means I COULD hear as early as March 1. I won't count on it, but I won't be stunned by it either.

She also said that they WILL applicants you a decision is made and that we don't have to check our status online every day. That's nice to know, and backs up a comment someone made about his status not changing until the decision was in.

Kellogg Interview Report

2008-01-16T17:31:00.000-05:00

I had my Kellogg interview recently. While I'd love to share every last detail and paint a vivid picture for you all, I'm also concerned about maintaining this blog's anonymity. I'll give a sketch of the outlines, though.

I emailed the alum, who works and lives in my city, to set this up in late December. Good email exchanges, and he said not to worry about dressing formally. (Phew.)

I prepped using the questions folks have posted on the great interview wikis at ClearAdmit. The one for Kellogg, which is obviously the one I used, is right here: http://www.clearadmit.com/wiki/index.php?title=KelloggInterview.

I made sure I had ready answers to all of the questions and I practiced the slightly tough ones a bit. He asked standard questions, so I was pretty well prepared, I think. I don't think I could have prepared much better. The only one I didn't expect was about experience working internationally. My response wasn't the absolute strongest I could have given, but I think it was ok.

That said, it was really hard to judge how this alum felt! He was watching me like a hawk while I was talking. I'm not sure I've ever felt so carefully inspected or throughly judged. It definitely made it hard to feel like there was any connection, and I'm not sure that there was. In fact, I'd say there definitely wasn't.

This was very unlike my Tuck interview, which was intensely warm and friendly.

I feel like an interview is a success if you connect with the interviewer and make them like you. I don't feel that I did this with the Kellogg alum. But who knows? Maybe he's always like this and he doesn't really "connect" with anyone. It's certainly possible.

He was very unlike my stereotype of Kellogg or other Kellogg alums I've known!

Interestingly, my Kellogg app is still in "received" status. I submitted both Part I and Part II well before the respective deadlines. Maybe the interview report has to be in before it's
"complete."

What News When?

2008-01-14T07:28:00.000-05:00

I've assembled the key dates that I know of so far:

Jan 30: Chicago interview invites start going out
Early Feb: Berkeley interview invites start going out
Feb 20: Chicago mid-decision point (no interview invite by this date = ding)
Mar 7: Duke decision
Mar 19: Darden decision
Mar 21: Tuck decision
Mar 24: Berkeley decision
Mar 26: Harvard decision, Chicago decision (if interviewed)
Mar 31: Kellogg decision
Apr 3: Stanford decision

I find it interesting how much the time it takes these guys to make decisions varies. The Berkeley R2 application deadline was Dec 11, but they don't decide any sooner for all that extra time.

I also really appreciate Chicago's mid-decision points. I've seen the BW forum postings where people hold out hope they'll still get into schools at which they weren't invited to interview. They're usually desperately asking whether there are still interview invitations going out -- and who knows, maybe there are.

The good news is that I'll be traveling during most of this period, which will keep my mind off of things. I'll be with clients all day for some of these days. I can easily envision myself fighting back the desire to log in and check my status.

Well gosh, now what?

2008-01-09T22:31:00.000-05:00

I knew it would be like this. Just one day after submitting my final app and I'm already completely stressed out over not having anything else I can do to improve my chances. At least when I was working on my apps I could always improve them.

My dad asked me, "Well, what would you do if the stress got to you?" My honest answer is that I'd probably apply to more schools! Bad answer, but honest answer. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

I've seen other bloggers make lists of things they're going to do, so I'll follow in that pattern:

* Volunteer . They'll take as much time as I can give them.
* Take an accounting course. I'm not sure how much time this will take, though, as it's just a single course.
* Run. I'm coming back from a stress fracture, though, so I'll have to be sure not to overdo it. Mixing in swimming and elliptical should keep me safe.
* Cook. Always relaxing. If only I had more people to cook for.
* Read even more. Nothing is as distracting as a good book!
* Focus more on my job. Oddly, there isn't any real need to do so. My performance at work has remained steady even as I spent all my nights and weekends on apps. I think I've just gotten better about being productive during the workday.

Plus I'll cram for interviews!

Last app submitted!

2008-01-08T20:18:00.000-05:00

Hooray! I just pressed "submit" on the University of Chicago application. I am very pleased with how it turned out, especially given that I only chose to apply to Chicago about a week ago. Either the Chicago application was a lot simpler than other schools or else I've gotten frighteningly good at this. Or maybe I just missed stuff! (Perish the thought.)

If you've been reading this blog, you know that I have trouble not letting my feelings toward application influence my feelings toward the school. Well, Chicago's app definitely made a good impression. A lot of the little quirks in other school's online applications were absent from Chicago's.

It is stunning to be done. Eight applications all in round 2 was an awful lot. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with myself now, other than worry. And, of course, prepare for interviews. I have Kellogg and Duke coming up.

Meanwhile, I'm wondering what to get my recommenders. I have some ideas, but I'm wondering what other people have done. I don't want to do anything offensively lavish, but I want to show just how ridiculously grateful I am! Your suggestions much appreciated!

I Heart The Chicago PowerPoint

2008-01-06T13:26:00.001-05:00

It is such a pleasure not to have to type up another essay. I think this PowerPoint conveys who I am about 10x more effectively and convincingly than any essay I've written. I think that's partially due to the slightly richer medium and partially due to the completely open-ended question. ("Who are you?" is better than "What matters most to you?" in my book.)

That said, Chicago makes up for the PPT by giving you a 1500 word max on the goals essay. That's an awful lot of writing. I'm finding I need to pull in content from other essays I've written for other schools. The challenge is to do so, taking tagents here and there, without ending up rambling too much.

Some applicants are so well-designed that they leave you with a more positive impression of the school. I feel that way about Chicago, for sure. Berkeley, UVA, and Duke had the opposite impression on me. I don't know how much it was their application interfaces (theirs were the worst, despite being on the same platform as others), but I really didn't enjoy doing those applications much.

Admissions Office Bedside Manners

2008-01-04T21:21:00.000-05:00

I've had a few random questions for some of the admissions offices, and their responses have varied pretty dramatically in tone. Stanford's responses have been outrageously speedy and really very. And the mass emails I get from them are really almost heart-warming: "We look forward to learning more about you."

In comparison, Harvard copied and pasted an answer into a form letter when I emailed them a question. You could even see which part of the email was the normal template (blue font) and which part was from their book of stock answers (black font). I get that they're in a rush, but if it's such a frequently asked question why not post it on their FAQ page?

I hate to judge from this type of interaction, but it's hard not to. That said, my experience visiting Harvard was nothing like this email interaction.

Adding University of Chicago to the list

2007-12-30T13:40:00.001-05:00

Last night around 5pm I thought I had just one school (Kelloggg) outstanding, and I was getting closer and closer to completion.

But by 7pm I'd decided to apply to University of Chicago as well. What's wrong with me? Am I afraid to be done with applications?

In all fairness, I should have had Chicago on my list from the very beginning. But I'd stereotyped it as too quantitative, which I think was unfair.

Their goals essay is a lot longer than other schools', so that will require some more work. Their "whose shoes would you wear for a day" is similar to Berkeley's "who would you like to have lunch with" essay. But PowerPoint thing I'm baffled by, but I make PowerPoints for a living so I don't think that'll be a problem.

I hope I'm not going to do a shoddy job on this one, though.

And I've decided not to retake the GMAT. I think I did as well as I possibly can, and I can't possibly imagine studying even more than I did before .

Only Kellogg Remains

2007-12-28T17:07:00.001-05:00

I'm ready to hit submit on Stanford, UVA, and Tuck. I'm feeling great about each and every single one of them. I have really done everything I possibly can. And I have turned out some really nice essays.

Kellogg is still outstanding, but it's not due until Jan 11. Plus, the essays all overlap with other schools, so there's less greenfield writing to do.

At this point my thoughts are turning a bit toward likely outcomes.

Here are the schools I'm applying to in order of my perceived likelihood of admission, which may be completely off base:

1. Duke
2. UVA
3. Kellogg
4. Berkeley
5. Tuck
6. Harvard
7. Stanford

And here are the schools I'm applying to in order of present preference (I say present because this seems to change nearly every day):

1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. Tuck
4. Kellogg
5. UVA
6. Berkeley
7. Duke

You may find it interesting that these lists are almost perfectly inverted. I just find it annoying!

Should I Retake The GMAT?

2007-12-28T09:02:00.000-05:00

I am torn about this one.

I'm at 96% overall -- a great score, right?

But I'm at 73% for quant. Not super. And I've heard that some schools want to see quantitative scores in at least the 80th percentile.

It's funny how 99% on verbal plus 73% on quant = 96% overall.

I've been thinking that after all of my apps are in -- and they almost all are -- that I'll retake the test with a focus on the quant section. But I don't want to do so if it's not worth my time .

I have one quant course on my undergrad transcript with a bad grade, but three from evening courses after graduation with good grades. And I use stats pretty heavily in my work.

Any opinions? Retake or not?

I Love My Reviewers

2007-12-27T19:47:00.000-05:00

You may have good reviewers, or maybe even great, but I'm pretty sure I have the best.

I am truly in awe.

Retraction?

2007-12-25T19:58:00.000-05:00

My reviewer had great feedback on one of my Dartmouth essays, and it happens to be one that I already used for Harvard.

Of course, I already hit the SUBMIT button on the Harvard app.

I had a feeling this would happen! Then again, I probably would never have gotten to the Dartmouth app if I hadn't submitted Harvard's. I could easily have obsessed over that one until March.

Meanwhile, I've got a first draft down for Stanford.

And I'm experimenting with color coding school names -- if you hadn't already noticed!

Merry Christmas to everyone out there, and good luck to those of you who like me are spending your holiday break working on applications!!!

Finding More Reviewers

2007-12-24T23:26:00.001-05:00

I've been fooling myself thinking that my mom is enough of a reviewer! Of course she likes everything I write.

So I've gone out on a hunt for tough love, and I think I've found two good folks who can give it to me.

It's hard to share these essays, though. They feel so intensely personal, even when they're not about particularly personal subjects.

UVA And Dartmouth Done

2007-12-23T10:27:00.000-05:00

Both apps are complete, though I won't submit them until I've got the recommendations done. See this post for why.

I think they're pretty good applications.

The trickiest one for me is Dartmouth's "How will you contribute to culture at Tuck?" It's hard to know just how widely to write. How can you cover personality, values, background, and life experiences in 500 words without resorting to a bullet list? I am not sure you can, unless you've got some perfect story that happens to encapsulate them all. This means that you have to sacrifice a few.

Same issue with the same essay for Duke, although they say "diversity" instead of "culture." I'm pretty sure they mean the same thing.

I rather liked the UVA essays, but I'm concerned that they don't paint the whole picture. There's no room to talk about my career experiences, for example, except to whatever extend they support my point about leadership experience. Bummer.

So at this point I've got three apps submitted (Berkeley, Harvard, Duke), two apps done (UVA and Dartmouth), and two apps outstanding (Kellogg and Staford).

Unfortunately those last two really are completely outstanding. The only work I've done on them is really work that I've done for other apps that happens to transfer well. There isn't an awful lot of that. Even when I have good raw materials to work with, I'll still have to a lot of reshaping.

What If I'm Done Before My Recommenders Are?

2007-12-22T12:54:00.001-05:00

Some schools (Berkeley) specifically say that if I finish my app, I should press submit -- even if my recommenders haven't submitted their recommendations yet.

One school (Stanford) explicitly says that I shouldn't do this.

I wonder whether there are schools that don't say either way even though they DO have a preference.

For example, after I submitted Duke's I got email saying they'd be contacting me to let me know what materials are outstanding. Well, I know my recs are outstanding, and they will be until early Jan. I hope that isn't annoying to Duke. And I hope it doesn't mean they put my app at the bottom of the pile!

It would be great if this were in every school's FAQ.

Haas Complete, Kellogg Interview Impending

2007-12-20T08:13:00.000-05:00

Received notification from Haas that my app is complete. Now nothing to do but worry!

Also received alum contact interview for Kellogg. The interview cramming begins. It was time to do that for Kellogg anyway, since I need to write those essays next week.

Perfect age for an MBA

2007-12-18T18:55:00.001-05:00

A business partner mentioned today that college is utterly wasted on his college-age kids. I think that's probably always the case.

His proof point, however, was his wife's experience in business school. She got her MBA after she had some work experience under her belt, and he said that her experience was far better than the people in her class who came straight from college. So I guess she wouldn't be a fan of Harvard's 2+2 program.

This prompted a former colleague of mine to observe that he's biding his time and applying to business school at 60, immediately after retirement, when he's reached his maximum number of years of work experience. :)

In all seriousness, do you think there's a perfect age to go to business school, all other things being constant? If so, leave a comment.

Essay Security

2007-12-17T23:01:00.000-05:00

I'm on the road this week for work, and I'm finding that I'm scared to touch my essays. I've got this irrational fear going that somehow something will go wrong with my laptop and I'll lose my work.

This is too bad, because I usually get my best writing done in airports and on planes.

I should have printed out my essays to read on planes. After all, it's hard to do permanent harm with just a printout and a pencil. And I do find that I read them best when I read them printed out.

Extracurriculars: List Or Essay?

2007-12-17T11:04:00.000-05:00

Both UVA and Berkeley ask for lots of information about extracurriculars, but neither provides any guidance as to format. Some schools just give you forms to fill in, but Berkeley asks you to upload a Word doc and UVA gives you lots of blank space to paste an answer into.

In my Berkeley app I provided it in list format. For UVA I'm writing about a paragraph's worth of text for each extracurricular instead. I think this is better because it gives me more room to explain why the extracurricular and the work I did with it are special.

I guess my concern is that I might be giving the Ad Comm more essays than than they wanted -- and annoying them in the process.

Anyone have any experience doing one or the other?

What's Wrong With Round 2

2007-12-17T10:11:00.001-05:00

Beyond being more competitive, submitting all your apps in Round 2 is also a bad idea because you don't get any feedback on how well you're doing before you have to submit every last stinking app. If the deadlines were staggered by a few months, you'd at least know whether you were heading in the right direction. Instead, they are Dec 11, Jan 3, Jan 7, Jan 9, and Jan 11.

I can imagine applying to seven schools in Round 2 and not getting into a single one of them. At that point the only remaining options would be Round 3 and next year -- neither of them particularly attractive.

But it's very hard to finish 7 apps using the same strategies and tactics when you don't actually know whether your strategies and tactics are effective.

I guess this is why people pay thousands for coaching services, something that I am far to proud to do.

The Starting Point

2007-12-16T20:12:00.001-05:00

There's no way around it: I've got to blog about my MBA applications.

I'm starting to do so pretty late in the process. I'm past the point of pondering whether to apply, wondering which schools to apply to, or even worry much about what to write. At this point I'm writing essays and submitting apps for Round 2 at seven schools.

Yes, I said seven. I really want to go business school, and I don't have a good sense of what my chances are.

Here are the schools I'm shooting for and a brief run down on what I've done so far for that school:

Berkeley: Visited, submitted app.
Dartmouth: Visited, interviewed, wrote essays, haven't yet submitted app.
Duke: Submitted application.
Harvard: Visited (3x -- I live in Boston), submitted app.
Northwestern: Submitted Part I.
Stanford: Visited.
UVA: Wrote essays, close to submitting app.

My stats: 28, Harvard, consultant, 730, 3.3.