Best B-School Essay Analyses

Ok so I will admit that I have been abandoned my BeatTheGMAT family for the time being.  Don't take offense though because I've abandon practically everyone/thing recently.  Only a couple of more days to go though.  But...2 days ago I was perusing through my Google Reader and saw a link that had the name of a school that I'm applying to in it regarding essays.  Since I'm in the midst of essays right now I was curious to see what it was all about.  It was in fact a video from the Beat The GMAT youtube channel from a couple months ago.

So I clicked on the video and noticed that it was just shy of an hour long.  This was interesting and is VERY rare.  So then I was watching the video and Eric (Founder of BTG) said that the person who was going to be talking used to work in admissions at the school to be discussed but now works at ClearAdmit.  So then this really piqued my interest!  I must admit that I didn't think that the video would offer any information that I hadn't heard before but BOY WAS I WRONG?!?

The beginning of the video maybe 20-30 minutes was dedicated to breaking down each essay question and what that particular school is looking for.  Then the next segment (about 20 minutes) was dedicated to a Q&A session.  Both of these sessions were invaluable.  Upon finishing the video I emailed Eric and David at BTG and asked them A.) how I missed those video series and B.) how great the video was.  I then told them how it made me nervous about my application.  So then I emailed my consultant at Veritas to follow up with some questions that I had that were mentioned in the video.

In any event, I urge anyone applying to any of the schools below to watch the videos.  They are incredible and I wish I found out about them sooner.  Better late than never I suppose:

HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL ESSAY ANALYSIS

WHARTON ESSAY ANALYSIS

CHICAGO BOOTH ESSAY ANALYSIS

MIT SLOAN ESSAY ANALYSIS

STANFORD GSB ESSAY ANALYSIS

COLUMBIA ESSAY ANALYSIS

KELLOGG ESSAY ANALYSIS

UC BERKELEY HAAS ESSAY ANALYSIS

TUCK ESSAY ANALYSIS

Essays are a funny thing

Here is where I spent most of my day today...laying on the floor in front of the fire doing work (for work) as well as working on essays (for the very reason you came to this blog).

I was able to finish an essay draft earlier today / late last night... and then I began working on another essay and got totally stumped.  It's a 250 word essay that is identical to a 300 word essay for another school.  When I say identical wording I mean 100%, so if you do your research of the schools I'm applying too you'll know which one I'm referring too.  Ok fine it's Haas and Michigan.  Both have What is your passion essays.  One would think that this would be an easy task.  Just write a 300 word essay for Michigan and then use that and then cut it down to 250 words for Haas.  Nope sorry .. no such luck.  

For one of Michigan, the topic I'm going to use was already used in another essay and I am not willing to change it.  Luckily, the Michigan essay gives the option of talking about your passion or writing about teaching your classmates, so I'm going to write about that one plus it goes with my story quite well, if I may say so myself!  So while I was stuck on how to convey my passion for my Haas essay... 2 hours later of writing and re-writing... I decided to pour a glass of wine and just come back to that one.  So I worked on the Michigan essay question and wrote 450 words in 35 minutes.  Now I'm not saying that it's the final draft and is ready to be sent to the printer, but considering it's a 300 word essay, I think I got all of my ideas out of my head.  I always write more than I should and then go back and consolidate and cut things out and merge and purge and all that jazz.  It's easier for me and I make sure that I say everything that I want to.

So... with that being said I officially have 2 more essays to go.  This last Haas essay which will be done in about an hour and then the one essay I've been putting off and off and off.  But the good news is that it will be done before New Years.

Ok this break was long enough and I must go back to writing these essays and then send them off to a myriad of folks aka Team Richard!  

Countdown: Day 8?

So I lost track of how I was doing the countdown, so that's the reason for the question mark.  It doesn't really matter though because when I make this blog post I will officially have 1 week to hit submit!!!  Disbelief that this process is almost over is beginning to set in.

As per the last update - here is what I have to accomplish.  When all of the essays get to 10 then I can hit submit.

Consortium Essay 1 - 9

Consortium Essay 2 - 1

Consortium Essay 3 - 9

Cornell Essay 1 - 7

Cornell Essay 2 - 7

Cornell Essay 3 - 7

Michigan Essay 1 - 5

Michigan Essay 2 - 8

Michigan Essay 3 - 8

Haas Essay 1 - 5

Haas Essay 2 - 5

NYU Essay 1 - 8

Tuck Essay 1 - 9

I CAN SEE THE FINISH LINE UP AHEAD!!!  

OVER IT

So by now everyone knows that I keep in contact with many people who are going through this process now.  It's funny when we speak to one another because we're all agonizing over writing essays and just this process in general and like clockwork at some point in the conversation we all say that we are:

Everyone who has gone through this process, whether he/she is in business school now or applied but decided not to go or whatever the case may be has probably gotten to this point of just saying "I'm so over this process!"

So for those of my friends who are reading this... even though we are all OVER IT... just remember that it's ALMOST OVER!

So to that end... I will be planning an event at some location in NYC either Jan 14th or Jan 15th (WITH OPEN BAR) so that we can all let loose and reclaim our social lives back!


More information to come!

Blizzard = No Work = More time for Essays

If you haven't heard, the East Coast got/is getting hit with a blizzard!  Under normal circumstances I would just consider the snow a nuisance but since the NJTRANSIT buses are suspended for the time being, I cannot make it to work tomorrow!  Since I no longer work in NYC, I actually have an excuse for not making the hour and a half commute into the city - that excuse is I like my life and I don't trust anyone to drive under these conditions!  The snowbanks 2 feet outside of my front door come up to my belly button.  I kid you not!  Also, there was a snow plow stuck in the snow in the street out front!  I'm not sure how my mother is going to make it to work in the morning, but I'll ask her because her alarm clock will be going off in an hour.

Meanwhile - back at the ranch - guess what is being copied to a DVD right now?  My video essay!  I'm sooooooo glad to be done with this essay you have no idea.  It will definitely free up time to continue working on other essays.  Luckily I had blank DVD's at home otherwise it would have just prolonged the process.  I am in love with the final product.  I won't be sending it to anyone because they won't know why I put in what I did.  I've gone through many versions and many reviews that I now have what I deem the best finished product and don't need anyone telling me what I should and should not include in the video.  In this case...with this school... I feel confident that it gets everything across that I want it to.

Also, yesterday I finished 2nd drafts of two Michigan Essays!  I'm going to finish the third one Today and send them to my friend.  I also reached out to my friend/next door roommate from Rutgers who is a 2nd year to ask him a question about something I can potentially use in my essays.  That reminds me, I need to email him back with that question.

I've got to also email my Consortium "Why MBA" essay off to one of my recommenders.  (Going to do that right after I finish this post).  I don't want to do too much stuff on my computer right now for fear that the burning of the DVD will mess up.

Today I plan to get the rest of my essays done so that I can shoot them off to all of the people who will be reviewing them.  Gotta give them time to get back to me so I can get back to them so they can get back to me until it's time to hit Submit!

I'm looking forward to Thursday of next week since that's the day that I will no longer have an obligations regarding this business school APPLICATION process.  I do know that I need to monitor my savings account because should I be accepted...Deposits will be due shortly thereafter, May need to sign for an apartment in the Spring, may need to pay for a couple of trips in the summer.  Lot's of things to still "do" but hey... if I can get through the front-end of the process...the back-end should be a cinch!

Just as I put the exclamation mark on that last sentence my DVD popped out!  Now it's time to play it in a real DVD player to make sure everything works properly.  All I can say is - WHEW!

Nursery University

So in my spare time today in between writing essays I was perusing itunes for a movie to watch.  I stumbled upon this movie Nursery University which depicts the crazy life of a Manhattan family trying to get their child into Pre-School.  I kinda knew how much of a big deal it was but watching this Docurama opened my eyes to what they really go through, and this is just for NURSERY SCHOOL...then they have to go through the same process again for Elementary School -> Middle School -> High School.

So the movie revolved around 4 families and their toddlers (about 2-3 years old).  Oh..also these pre-schools are about $20,000 a semester and to get in requires lotteries and interviews and kissing butt and name dropping.  It's a grueling process that takes about 6 months.  Apparently, the Tuesday after Labor day is when the parents have to call all of the schools between the hours of 9-11 to REQUEST APPLICATIONS.  One would think that you could simply download and application online and send it it.  Nope Nope that's not how it's done.  You have to call and call and call to request an application.

Then you send the application in and wait to hear back that the school is interested in your child AND your family!  Yes they are screening the whole family to see if it's a fit. Sounds a lot like something I'm going through huh?

One of the program directors told one of the parents "Should you be put on the waitlist, you should call me everyday so I remember you."  Another parent gave a donation to a school.

Why all the hoopla you ask?  Well... their thinking is that if they go to one of these top private pre-schools, it will serve as a good feeder program into the top elementary schools, which feed into the top middle schools, which feeds into the top high schools, which feeds into the top colleges (mainly the ivy's).  I do think there is some truth to this.   I mean I'm not so sure about from the nursery school level, but as I look through my friends Facebook profiles, I see that a large percentage of my friends who attended Ivy League schools (or Stanford) did in fact attend top private schools or one of the New England boarding schools.

I haven't asked them where they attended nursery school, but I can see why parents would get caught up in the whole process.  It was funny watching parents write essays about their daughter and use phrases like "interpersonal skills."  I'm like... um.... she just wants that toy that you're playing with.  But you know what...I guess if you have the means, AND MANY NEW YORKERS DO, to spend $20,000 on nursery school then hey...who am I to say no?  I would do it too...

If you'd like to see the trailer here you go - Nursery University

Countdown: Day 12

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!  No really... Merry Christmas folks!  On today's agenda I want to get three essays done and sent off to the appropriate folks.

As per the last update - here is what I have to accomplish.  When all of the essays get to 10 then I can hit submit.

Consortium Essay 1 - 9

Consortium Essay 2 - 1

Consortium Essay 3 - 9

Cornell Essay 1 - 5

Cornell Essay 2 - 5

Cornell Essay 3 - 6

Michigan Essay 1 - 1

Michigan Essay 2 - 1

Michigan Essay 3 - 1

Haas Essay 1 - 1

Haas Essay 2 - 1

NYU Essay 1 - 5

Tuck Essay 1 - 9

Essay Reviewer Types

Happy Holidays

Having essays be reviewed is very humbling.  It's weird because I've reviewed my friends essays and when I see how many changes I've tracked it's usually a lot!  But the changes that I suggest are definitely helpful...or so I'm told.  It's funny that I can review my friends essays but have trouble editing my own.  I think that's just the nature of the beast.

In any event I wanted to write this post explaining the differences I've found between essay reviewers.  The key is to find a reviewer that will add the value you need.  And yes... in my opinion this can be the same person.  But here's what I've found - let me know if you agree or if I'm missing any type.

The Grammar Checker - This title is self explanatory haha.  This type of reviewer is very important for me because I can be a lazy writer, hence the title of my blog.  I know I've said it before but I use Ellipses because I'm lazy and for me it's to be used when I complete a thought.  So it's a big help when someone says that a comma should be somewhere or a semi-colon.

sidenote - I got a 5.5 on my AWA.  I was surprised by this since I only spent 15 minutes on each and didn't even check it.

The Negative Nelly - This is the person who reads through the essays and just picks apart everything that they don't like.  They don't give any constructive criticism but just say "Oh I don't like this part" or "Why is this in here?"  What they don't realize is that this is the not the final product yet so it's a work in progress.  But this person is necessary because they keep you on your toes.  I've found that while some of my harshest criticism has come from this type of person, some of my best ideas have blossomed from something this person has said.

The Positive Paulie - This person loves it and everything you've done and thinks you should submit it right now.  When you need a pick me up and someone to just cosign on what you've done, this person should be your go to.

The Suggester - I like this type of reviewer because they point out things and ask questions.  This is the type of reviewer I tend to be.  When I'm reading an essay, I try to understand the direction the person is trying to take the essay in and then I input a lot of questions to fill in the holes knowing that it will get them to their desired finished product.  Me....personally....will never tell someone "I think you should change this essay and write about something else."  I simply won't say it because I don't like when people say that to me.  It's not helpful.  I love when people say "I would have done it ______" because then I think to myself... "Well great... when you're writing your essay then you can write it that way, but clearly I chose to write mine in this manner."

I say all that to just warn people to make sure that the people who are reviewing your essays are providing the right kind of feedback.  Gotta go!  Happy Holidays

Business School Essay Monster!

So my pity party is officiall over!  It actually only lasted a day but last night I was too busy working on essays to update my blog.  I’m still semi embarassed by my new score, so even though I claim to disclose everything on my blog, I am not ready to disclose my score just yet.  But like I said on Monday, I did receive my highest Quant score ever, so that’s a plus.  

Meanwhile back at the ranch, now I’m in a position that I never thought I would be in.  Do I take the GMAT a fourth time, knowing that I can get a higher score or do I submit my best essays and leave it at that?  Do I think I could score higher?  Definitely, without a doubt, but the thing about the GMAT is that you need to “show up” on the day that you take it.  My highest Quant score was this past monday and my highest Verbal score was  in October when I took it.  Had I matched my verbal score this time around, I would be content, because I would have gotten at least a 650.  

But honestly, I’m not going to dwell on it now.  Actually, that’s a big fat lie because anyone in my position knows that now my brain is racing trying to contact everyone possible to determine whether or not to take it for an uncoveted 4th time.  I know that it’s frowned upon to take it again, but when you hear from X,Y, and Z person that you should take it again, you start to believe it.  In any event, I’m not allowing myself to think about the GMAT until after I’ve submitted my applications.

So that’s where I am now.  I am an essay monster right now!  Last night I was arguing with Osirus (yes B, I called you out) over what I should do regarding the GMAT, and then we got into the topic of essays.  I sent him the video to the first version of my Tuck video essay and he gave me some feedback.  I actually have two versions of this video because I wasn’t sure which direction I wanted to take it.  He gave me feedback and said that he would have liked to see/hear more of my come through in the video and it triggered something in my head.  We had this discussion at 3am, and when he said that I started working on the video again until 4am.  Anyone who knows me knows that my best work is done between the hours of 12am and 3am.  Maybe that’s when I should have studied for the GMAT.

Productivity during those hours has always been at it’s best for me ever since high school.  I can’t explain it, nor do I try to explain it any more it’s just me!  But yeah so I worked on my essay for about an hour and got it to where I think it needs to be.  Had I not been arguing with him, I would have not gotten to the point where he made the comment he made so everything happens for a reason right?

Aside from that video essay, I’ve also almost completed two of my Consortium Essay questions.  I sent them off to my reviewers and went through a couple of rounds.  I have a friend who loves to look over my essays, oddly enough, and I love sending them to her haha.  Once I edit the essays after talking to her, I send the essay off to my other reviewer - aka my veritas consultant (from the package I won last February via BeatTheGMAT). I sent two essays to her today and got feedback on both.  I’m waiting on feedback on one of my other essays from my friend who got into Chicago as well.  He understands my story and what I’m trying to portray with this specific essay so who better to have review it for me?

So right now I’m solely focused on my essays. I have bits and pieces of essays done because I’ve worked on them previously, so now it’s actually relieving to be able to work on them hard core.  Knowing that I’ll be hitting submit in less than 2 weeks!  I cannot wait - granted I don’t know what’s going to occur post submission, but to be able to hit submit will feel sooooooo good!

Typing Fast

and the winner is: GMAT

all I'm going to say is that my Quant score went up.  That's that...  no discussion necessary.  On to essays... if it even matters any more  ::sigh::  (let me have my pity party for a day and then I'll be back to normal)

GMAT: Going on Hiatus

So I've decided to go on hiatus until after my GMAT exam.  It's way to important this time around to be distracted.  Not to say that it wasn't important the other two times I took it, but ya know this is the 3rd time!

This will be my last post until AFTER my GMAT.  I'm not saying when it is but if you'd like to still "follow" me, I'm sure I will be tweeting periodically so you can follow me there!  That's also where I'll be able to disclose my score after I get it because I won't be near a computer for many hours after that!

Follow Me on Twitter by clicking HERE

Nervous Wreck for No Reason!

So yes my GMAT is coming up very very shortly and I'm so calm it's eerie, but there is something that I'm NOT calm about and that's decision day.

Like many people, when I'm at work I have gmail open all day which means that I am also on gchat.  Now being on gchat isn't so bad except that's where all of my business school contacts lie so we talk via gchat quite frequently.  Now that we are REALLY in the midst of decision season, having real time access to people who are waiting to find out if they've been accepted or rejected is stressful!

Here is something that you SHOULD NOT do if you have not applied in the round that is being notified.  DO NOT GO ON THE FORUMS!  I can tell you from personal experience that this is not a healthy option.  If you are like me, most people aren't, then you will make yourself go crazy.  I think today I was more nervous about decisions than people who were actually finding out!

I have had this date on my calendar since the summer.  December 17th is the day when the Tuck early decision applicants find out if they were admitted or rejected.  Since I was soooo sure that I would be done with the GMAT and have my application in by the October deadline, I figured that today December 17th would be a stressful day for me.  Much to my regret, my GMAT saga continues, so I wasn't able to get my application in early.  In any event, I was on one of the forums earlier today and I hit refresh and saw that someone received their acceptance call from Tuck.

If you took an x-ray of my stomach when I saw this it would have looked like this:

I nearly threw up.  Ok not really that bad, but my hands started sweating and my heart was racing.  In hindsight I think it was the realization that the time has finally come and the admissions office is putting together a class and now it's official!  I was just as excited on Wednesday when my friends were finding out.  Yeah that's it... it wasn't nervousness... it was EXCITEMENT!  haha..  You say potato.. I say french fries!  ;-)  

Going forward, I am not going to go on that particular forum any more because yeah people begin to get accepted but then if you think about it closely, you inevitably start making yourself go crazy.  For example here is a thought that actually went through my head:  "Ok which continent is reporting that they have received calls?"  "Ok now...how many people are joining the admitted students facebook page?" "Ok... with every admit that's one less spot for R1 applicants and subsequently R2 applicants." This is not healthy banter to have with yourself, let alone having it with yourself at work, WHEN YOU AREN'T EVEN IN THE ROUND THAT'S BEING CALLED!  So I say all that to say that I will be staying away from that forum from now on.  It causes too much stress!

On another note... it looks like a lot of people found out today from other schools!  I haven't heard much from my batch of friends but that's because all of us are applying through the Consortium.  So those applicants won't begin to hear until January.  I won't begin to hear until March!  It seems so far away, but I know that it'll be here before I know it.

This post is done for the day because I have one more thing on my mind that I want to get off my chest, before calling it a night.

Good Luck to my friend A - TOMORROW IS YOUR DAY BUDDY!

Countdown: Day 21

As per yesterday, here was the plan for today:

- Morning Commute - Put together a video for a friend for her birthday! - CHECK

- Lunch - Verbal - #FAIL (work got in the way)

- Evening Commute - Relax - CHECK

- Evening - Quant - CHECK

- Email Tuck regarding Interview - CHECK

- Send essay to friend for review - CHECK

The plan for tomorrow is as follows:

- Morning Commute - Verbal 

- Lunch - Quant

- Evening Commute - Relax

- Evening - Quant

Bankers vs. Consultants Rap

I saw this Bankers vs. Consultants rap video posted on a friends wall on Facebook and HAD to share it with you guys!

It's HILARIOUS

Damn It Feels Good to Be a Banker - A Wall Street Musical

Countdown: Day 22

As per yesterday, here was the plan for today:

- Morning Commute - Verbal - CHECK

- Review Recommender Packet with Manager - CHECK 

- Lunch - Quant - CHECK

- Review Recommender Packet with VP - CHECK

- Quant - CHECK

(bonus) did Verbal too...

The plan for tomorrow is as follows:

- Morning Commute - Put together a video for a friend for her birthday!

- Lunch - Verbal

- Evening Commute - Relax

- Evening - Quant

At this point I need to find the humor in me having to take the GMAT again.  It's coming up and when I think about it I'm just like "really Richard?  really?"  There isn't much that I can do at this point about it except study the material I've been given.  I'm also making sure that I get the proper amount of sleep.  I do feel that this time around my quant score will be higher than a 38.  ::crosses fingers::


Like I said yesterday, my exam is some day soon at 4pm (or is it 3? I should get that checked out), but I won't be able to update my blog with my score until around 11pm that night, so if you want to know what I get when I get it you're going to have to follow me on -
Twitter Click Here:  Money9111

Super Tuesday - Business School Decisions

"In the United States, Super Tuesday, in general, refers to the Tuesday in February or March of a presidential election year when the greatest number of states hold primary elections to select delegates to national conventions at which eachparty's presidential candidates are officially nominated."

Business School Super Tuesday - Clearly it was today because Harvard Business School, Yale SOM, LBS (was supposed to), Chicago, and Stanford gave out a lot of decisions!  I was watching the message boards on GMAT Club (yes the first time I've ever called out this website) and kept refreshing to see what was going on, but then after a while when things slowed down, I x'ed it out.

So I'm online talking to my friend on GCHAT around 11:50... and I ask her "so have we heard anything from J and she said "He just texted me he got into Chicago!!"  I said "got in got in or interview?"  She said "NO HE GOT IN!"  So I said "OMG OMG" and then proceeded to text him.  He said he lost his voice from screaming so much and when I picture that scene in my head I die laughing!  I'm so happy for him!  He, has been going hard through this process for about 16 months so it's great to see his hard work paying off!

So after that 11:50 debacle when I almost teared up for him, my other friend on GCHAT says HBS just released their decisions, so then there was a whole bunch of texting going on to find out which one of my friends knew people who applied.  Surprisingly, no one knew anyone who applied to HBS early.  Or we do know someone but they just aren't telling us, so maybe that's a bad sign.  ::shrugs::  But my friend on BeatTheGMAT.com, Eskimoroll, was accepted to HBS and then got the call from Booth - so congratulations on that front as well!

My whole thing is this - what do you do after you've just been accepted to HBS and Chicago?  The next day at work is it simply business as usual?  How can you possibly focus shortly after receiving such information?  I mean for instance lets say I were to have applied to HBS early decision.  On a normal tuesday night if I didn't have applications to be thinking about, I would be watching Glee.  If I was accepted to Harvard Business School 8 hours prior, is there really anything on Glee that could hold my attention?  I think I would watch The Money Chase: Inside Harvard Business School, on Hulu and keep repeating to myself "that's going to be my school!"

Then after watching The Money Chase, I would probably change the background on my laptop, then I would go shopping online for HBS apparel and buy this t-shirt: http://bit.ly/f4F6Yj and then I would probably start drinking.... but that's just me.

While I am not applying to Harvard, hopefully I'll get a sense for what an acceptance feels like in March!  However, I will not know what it feels like if I don't go study.  So....  adios!  I had to get this off my chest though.

I'm almost positive there will be some new updates tomorrow and definitely on Friday when Tuck's decisions come out.  So again I say... Good Luck to Everyone else who is waiting to hear back within the next couple of days and upcoming weeks!

Accepted to Chicago Booth!

Remember how yesterday I was so excited for my friend who nabbed an interview from Columbia?!?!  Well today, Super Tuesday, I found out that he got accepted to Chicago Booth!!  I'll write a post about my day today later, but I just wanted to put out a congratulatory post to him!

CONGRATULATIONS J!

I know he's on cloud 9 right now.  He's still got a couple more schools to wait for but at least he knows he's going SOMEWHERE!

Harvard Business School Decisions

Well tomorrow is the day that Harvard Business School makes some people very happy, others incredibly distraught, and some ambivalent.  I cannot imagine what people are thinking right now as they wait for about 12pm tomorrow.  From what I hear though some people have already gotten word as to the status of the candidacy.  I'm not sure when that officially started, but according to an article on Poets and Quants there were about 800 Early Decision candidates!

What's more is that the acceptances and rejections from HBS, Stanford, and Wharton will set the tone for a lot of other people who applied to other schools because of the whole trickle down effect.  

What I really want to know is... ok so tomorrow is a huge day and obviously the kind folks at HBS understand this.  Do you think tomorrow is an exciting day for them too?  You know how you go to work day in and day out and there may not be that much excitement, but when some big event is coming up, then you can feel it in the air.  Do you think it'll be like that tomorrow at 12?  Also, who gets to hit the send button or give the okay to start sending out the decisions?  Do they do a countdown?

I'd pay to be in the admissions office at HBS on a day like tomorrow.  I guess tomorrow officially sets off the season huh?  I know that some people should be hearing back from Chicago, LBS, and Tuck this week.  Tuck is friday - I had that date on my calendar, just in case I got my application in R1.

To all of those people who applied to HBS Early Decision/Action - GOOD LUCK Tomorr...TODAY!  ;-)  I think I'm enjoying this day more than anyone else for some reason.  Maybe because studying is going well...

620 GMAT = Columbia Interview!

Yes Yes it's true!  I want to congratulate my friend ______  for getting an invite to interview for the Columbia GSB Class of 2013!!  The reason his text made me smile today was because we were sharing war stories over our GMAT scores as we have identical scores and he was invited to interview for Columbia, yes with a 620 GMAT score, so see folks.  It can be done!  I know he'll knock the interview out of the park because he's a very personable and laid back person but yet know what he wants.

The hard part is over I in my opinion.  Now they're just screening people to see who would be a good fit.  If you get the interview I feel that the rest of the quantitative aspects of your application have passed the test so to speak.  His text said to me "There is life after the GMAT.... tell a good story..." So he's giving me the motivation to weather the storm.  Everything will work out if it's supposed to right?

There is still a long road ahead of him though.  He has applied to a boatload of schools.  I don't know how he did it, because I'm fed up with my 5!  But he did get through them all, so it should be interesting see how it pans out for him.

Sidenote - I'm glad that he's going through this anxiety ridden part of the application process before me just so I know what to expect!  I know he's laughing now, but it's all good in the hood!

Countdown: Day 23

As per yesterday, here was the plan for today:

- Study Study Study - CHECK

The plan for tomorrow is as follows:

- Morning Commute - Study Verbal

- Review Recommender Packet with Manager

- Lunch - Quant

- Review Recommender Packet with VP

- Quant

What is your plan B?

My mom picked me up from the bus stop yesterday and I was talking about this business school process of course, and she said "What if you don't get in to any schools?  What's your plan b?"

I'll be honest, my heart sank and I immediately said "There is no plan b."  She responded,"There should always be a plan b." I said "I don't have time to think about a plan b."  But the short conversation got me thinking...  What if I don't get in to a school?  Am I overestimating the quality of all of the other applicants?    Am I too confident in thinking that what I am doing is actually going to work?  If I have done as much as I have up until now, what in the world could I do differently?  These are all of the questions going through my head now.

I was venting to one of my friends I made at the NYU diversity conference about this and he said "that's why we apply to so many schools."  I told him, "I'm only applying to 5."  He applied to I think 10, so this week is a HUGE week for him.  I think he finds out about LBS and Chicago and he also finds out if he's to be interviewed for a couple other schools.  He reassured me that everything will be fine, but now I can't help but think.... "What's your plan-b Richard?"  What are you going to do should you not be admitted to any school?

He's going through what I dread going through in a couple of months.  Your whole life can change with 1 phone call or with the receipt of a rejection email.  That's gotta be tough to swallow.  He said he's surviving because of Xanax, so I think I'm going to have to find a doctor to prescribe me some for that month.  I also think I'm going to take a vacation that week so that I'm somewhere warm with a lot of alcohol!

But you know what?  I'm not going to dwell on that right now.  The only thing I can do is make my application the best that it can be so that I have the best chances to be admitted!  According to my Horoscope next year is going to be a pivotal one for me!  So that's what I'm going to do and keep pounding the pavement!

The End Is Near!  RBB

LAST GMAT ATTEMPT!!!

The day is almost here!  My GMAT is schedule and I am glad that I will NEVER have to give GMAC another $250 for this friggen exam.  I have a funny story or at least I think it's funny.  Last week at work everyone was sick and I felt myself getting sick.  If you remember right after Thanksgiving I mentioned in a post that I was beginning to get sick.  So anyway at work there was a girl who was really really sick and I was trying to avoid her.  She caught on that I was trying to avoid her and asked me what I was doing.  I said "I have the biggest test of my life coming up and I cannot get sick."  Her response was, "This is the third time you've said this...just be done with the test already!"  and I just hung my head down in shame.  What could I say to that?  She was right haha....  I know my coworkers probably cannot wait for me to be done with this test.

So yeah, my test is coming up, and while I will not explicitly say when the date is in this post, I will say that it's soon.  

How am I feeling?  Well if I can be frank... I'm feeling just fine.  I know that I this is the last time I'll ever have to take it so it's keeping me calm, but I have so many other things to concentrate on that I don't have time to get stressed or nervous or anything of that nature.  I do verbal and quant every day.  Before I started writing this blog post, I did about 20 SC's and only got 1 wrong.  I think I may post the one that I got wrong on BeatTheGMAT, because I really don't understand it.  But I digress... so yeah... I'm feeling content. 

Do I think I will score higher than 620?  Without a doubt.  I am definitely THAT confident!  I have a score in mind that I'm aiming for but I think it's going to come down to how focused I am on test day and whether or not I make stupid mistakes.  I'm trying to practice hedging against that and things have been going better.  I've realized that I know the information (although my tutor may think differently), but I do.  I mean it's been a year - I should right?

I just never thought that I would be in this position where I would be scrambling to get everything completed and it's all a result of this test.  I'm definitely slightly embarrassed by my struggle with the GMAT, but hopefully it will pay off very shortly.  I texted my tutor the other day "I'm so over this exam and wish it would die."  to which he responded "Kill It Kill It Kill It!"  I didn't mean to set him up in that manner, but it was very fitting!  I guess I do need to just "Kill It!"  

I don't know what my life is going to be like after my exam when I don't need to worry about it any more.  I'm going to have so much free time to work on essays and not feel guilty and WRITE BLOG POSTS SO THE QUALITY DOESN'T DECLINE.  

My test is in NYC and I won't be able to update my blog for another like 5 hours after the exam until I get home, so if you want to know what my score is before I update my blog, you'll have to follow me on Twitter!  I'll also be tweeting that whole day since my exam is at 4pm!

Twitter:  Money9111 - 

Business School Recommenders

Ironically... the day that I need to respond to a poster about why the quality of my posts has been declining... I find the time in my day to add a couple new posts!  Funny how things work out right?  Well I got through everything that I needed to get done this weekend, and I accidentally drank soda around 9pm so I'm wide awake right now!

So this week I have two meetings set up with my two recommenders.  If you remember back in... the summer I guess, I "Bagged a Recommender" and told my job I was applying to business school.  So the time has come for me to actually sit down with my VP of Marketing and my Manager.  I'll break down why I chose both of these people.

Why I Chose VP - Well for starters... she's the one who hired me.  There has been a lot of turnover in my marketing department, and I'm one of three people who have been there for two years and the VP is one of them.  She started a couple months before I did.  I even remember her asking me in my interview why I was interested in working for Bloomingdales.com and then I asked her why she chose to come here.  I figured that by choosing her as a recommender she would be able to speak to my accomplishments and characteristics from a perspective different from my manager.

Even though I didn't report to her directly, for a year my manager reported to her and I reported to my manager, the department was so small that there wasn't any real hierarchical (i love that word btw) difference and I could just walk into the VP's office to talk about whatever.  Then my manager left for another company and I reported directly to the VP for about 4 months (Feb - May 2010) and worked on a few projects with her directly.  She is also the person who I did my yearly review with because I didn't have a manager at that point.  She cosigned on everything my manager said, so she's been the one constant that I've had at work.  There is now a director of acquisition in between our VP and my Manager, so I'm more or less twice removed from her, but I do not foresee that being an issue.

I had enough foresight back in May to give her a heads up so she's been waiting for this meeting that I have set up with her on Tuesday.

Why I chose Manager - Well this is a no brainer for me.  You should have someone write at least 1 LOR (letter or recommendation) who you report to.  So I report to my manager, so she's writing me a LOR.  Easy Squeezy.  I'm going to see if I can find time on her schedule on Tuesday to go through everything and then I'll send them off on their merry little ways.

I will say that back in the summer I was going to have my old manager write my 2nd letter of recommendation because I hadn't worked with my new one long enough, but now that it's been 7 months and I have worked on many projects with her, she's the best person to be able to speak to my current ability.

So what am I going to talk about with them?  - Well I don't know if I've mentioned it before, although I think I have, but I have put together a Recommender Packet for each of them.  What's in this packet you ask?  Well at this point it's my little secret and after I hit submit I will tell the contents of the packet.  It's proprietary!  Ok it's not really proprietary, but I pooled resources from many sources and made this packet.  I will tell you that I am including my 1 year review.  I knew this time would come so I made copies of the review shortly after I had it.  So that will be 1 of 5 things in the packet.

So yeah that's Tuesday, so be on the look out for a post about how it went!

Blog Post Quality = #FAIL

Some very kind person was nice enough to leave this comment on my wall not too long ago.  When I read it I was on the bus on the way to see my tutor, so I couldn't respond to the post as quickly as I would have liked too.

To whomever this user is, please don't be "sorry" to say it.  If that's what you feel no need to preface with an apology because the "sorry" doesn't lighten the blow of you saying the quality of my blog posts seems to be declining.

But in full disclosure... I'm going to agree with you.  I mean CLEARLY the blog posts are not as full and lengthy as a couple months ago.  I will give you that much.

The real question that should be asked is "Why is the quality of your blog posts declining?"

The answer there is... How can I possibly justify spending an hour to two hours writing a blog post when I have so much to accomplish in order to hit the submit button on my application?  Also... my GMAT is on the 20th.  So do I spend an hour or two writing a post or study?  Cost/Benefit analysis says study.

The truth of the matter is for me.. and many applicants out there trying to get everything done for Round 2 Consortium Deadline, there is nothing glamorous about the last couple of weeks in December and I'm not going to pretend like it is.

Everyone has heard me complain about the GMAT, Essays, finding Recommenders etc etc.  To tell the truth I'm actually tired of writing about it.  And you know what?  That's the life that I'm living right now - my reality, which is the whole reason for my blog.  If one has followed the cadence of my excitement from the beginning of my blog, he/she would understand.

Yes it's fun researching schools... visiting schools..... talking to current students... establishing new friendships prior to business school.  That's all well and good, but then you get to a point where you are simply over it all.  That's where I am now and it is reflected in my posts - and that works for me.  The quality of my life has declined this month so it's natural that the quality of my blog posts will decline.

But don't fret - Just give me a week until after I take the GMAT and I will back to blogging with more conviction.  But right now... yeah... for the next week...  you'll have to be fine with the posts I do make.

With that being said, thank you for your comment and for reading my blog.  Contrary to popular belief, because I did consult some people and ask "What did this person mean by this?", I hope I did not offend you.

Over and Out!

PS - These types of "venting" posts only take me 15 minutes to write,

Countdown: Day 24

As per yesterday, here was the plan for today:

- Finish Consortium Essay - IT WILL NEVER BE FINISHED

- Send Consortium Essay to reviewer - CHECK

- Study Quant for 3 hours - CHECK 

- Finish Dartmouth Video Essay - WORKED ON IT

- Study Verbal - #FAIL

- Watch Wall Street 2 (Bootleg DVD) - CHECK

The plan for today is as follows:

- Study Study Study 

Countdown: Day 25

As per yesterday, here was the plan for today:

- Morning commute - Verbal - CHECK

- Lunch time - Verbal - CHECK 

- Evening commute - Nap - CHECK 

- Evening - Quant - CHECK

The plan for today is as follows:

- Shower

- Finish Consortium Essay 

- Send Consortium Essay to reviewer

- Study Quant for 3 hours

- Finish Dartmouth Video Essay

- Study Verbal

- Watch Wall Street 2 (Bootleg DVD)