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Thursday, September 30, 2010

Cornell Johnson Means Business - ACCEPTED!

So if you couldn't tell from the post title - I was accepted to Cornell's diversity conference = Johnson Means Business!  I knew that today was the day that they would be sending out acceptances because tehy said it on their website.  So then today I was watching my GMAIL account like a hawk!

Then at 5:26 my email refreshed and this popped in my inbox!


You can't believe my excitement after being waitlisted by NYU and Dartmouth.  I was like god just give me one please.  My prayers worked.  I still haven't heard back from NYU yet and their conference is Next Thursday/Friday/Saturday.  Tuck's conference isn't until the 2nd week in November, so I have time for that one.

So upon reading the Cornell email I immediately texted my friend who is on a 3 business school tour right now.  I said "Omg Omg Check Your Email!"  I knew she was driving but she's able to get her email via her phone.  So her response back was "YES!!  ROADTRIP!"  Hahahaha...  So I'll most likely be going with her and maybe one or two others.  

What's cool about this is that Cornell will have students host you (most schools do that anyway), but they'll also reimburse us up to $200 for travel!  Now... How clutch is that since it's so close to R1 deadlines!  I mean I'm already struggling to find money.  Like really struggling, but that will be tomorrow's post.  So yeah Cornell makes it very easy... well.. easier!  So I think maybe someone is going to drive or maybe I can convince them to take the Cornell Campus to Campus Luxury Coach  that leaves right here from the Cornell Club in NYC.

This acceptance just rejuvenated me!  Actually all of today's events rejuvenated me!  I wish I could tell you all about the latter half of my day, but I can't.  You'll find out about that at a later date.  Don't even think about asking either!

I'm going to go do some more research on Cornell before calling it a night.  Because October is probably going to be the busiest month of my life, I must make sure that I rest AND EAT.  I say that I must eat, because my mom will read this post... and then email me and say 'You must eat too'.  Now she's reading that last sentence and smiling... and now she's laughing and thinking "You're crazy."  

In any event...


Gay Business School Applicant memoirs

Hi World or those who read my blog.  I am writing this post at 9:40pm because I have a long night ahead of me and I don't want to be interrupted later by thinking "Oh I have to stop studying and write my post."  I have wanted to write this post for a while but the time never seemed right.  But now it is...

So today at work I was thinking about attending the Reaching Out Conference in LA in a couple of weeks.  Just to get you caught up it's a conference for LGBT MBA Students and Professionals with some pre-MBA students (me and 10 others) sprinkled in there.  Let me not forget that there will be LGBT Allies there as well!  :-) 

In any event, I was sitting at my desk and logged into my google analytics to see the types of things people were searching for on Google and how they found my site.  Today someone typed in "how to tell business school lgbtand this simple query reminded me that yes there are other LGBT students going through this process and I will only speak for myself in saying that it's very interesting.

So back in August when I was writing my first drafts for my Tuck application I was answering the question "What's the hardest thing you've had to overcome and how did you overcome it?"  Something to that effect.  So for that initial essay I wrote about how the hardest thing for me was coming out to my mother.  I thought it was a great first draft for that essay.  Then my consultant responded with very good constructive criticism essentially saying "What separates your story from all of the other coming out stories?  Was this really the toughest thing you've had to overcome?"  I don't think she meant it as "yeah right this is not the hardest thing you've had to overcome." but more along the lines of..."this is a common story!" 

So then I will admit I got defensive internally thinking "of course it was the hardest thing!  who cares if it's a common story?  it's MY story and it was hard!!!" lol... yeah that's how I talk to myself in my head.  So fast forward to today.  I've learned a lot in the short weeks since that essay review discussion.  I now know that the hardest thing for me was not coming out to my mom (Hi Mom... cuz I know she's reading this blog right now).  I have honed in on what the hardest part of coming out was and that's what I will write about going forward.  (Sorry... too much competition out there right now for me to "give" my story or ideas away).

I had a friend ask me the other day, "Why are you doing so much research into the LGBT climate at these schools?  Everyone at the schools is an adult and will treat you just fine."  For me, it's not necessarily about being treated fine, but in order to understand why I take the LGBT culture so seriously is because living in NYC... it's a part of my everyday life.  Of course it doesn't have to be and trust me I would be comfortable at a school where I was the only LGBT student.  Let me take a step back though and give you some insight into my reality here everyday in NYC.  Yeah, I'm gonna pull the NYC card - BAM!

1. So... my roommate is gay,
2. I work for a Luxury Retail heavily invested in Fashion so by default I work with maybe 80% women, and of the 20% men 80% of us are gay.  So if the company had 100 people, 80 would be women, 16 would be gay men, and 4 would be straight men.  Needless to say there are a lot of shall we say...conversations about peep toe shoes and shopping and not so much about Monday night football. ;-)
3. 95% of my male friends here in the city are gay, so when we go out where do you think we go?
4. Then I come home and I'm around my roommate again...

I can and have gone a week without talking to a straight male.  Not by choice, but in retrospect, that's just the way it's happened.  I'm not saying whether its good or bad to be in said environment, but it's just the way it is.  Am I looking forward to changing that environment?  Most definitely!  I've done NYC and I may or may not be back here for the rest of my life post-mba, so I'm definitely looking forward to leaving for a bit.

With that being said, the reason I look into the LGBT cultures at each school is simple.  While I can bond with anyone it's just nice to have some people you can turn to/ talk to/ or just give a glance too and they understand what you're thinking and have been through what you've been through.  Don't get me wrong I haven't been through anything that I know a lot of other people have.  I don't think it's tough to explain, but I think people understand what I'm trying to say. 

Think of it this way... let's say you played football your whole life from Pop Warner up until College.  Then you go to business school.  When you watch the Superbowl, you just want at least one other person in the room who also played football and knows why you may be yelling at the TV when the referee blows the whistle!  Sure, there will be some people in the room who played soccer or basketball their whole lives and love sports too... but they may not get IT.   Of course you'll still have a great time but it may have been better with that other football player in the room.  That's the best analogy I can make guys haha...

I think it may also be a lot of my prior thinking that B-school was a bunch of type A I-bankers, and having that stereotype becoming a factor in determining where to go to school.  But, had I not had that mentality when I started researching schools, I would have never gotten to the place I am in now where I know that THAT is not the case.  B-school has a myriad of people most of whom don't even care about ones sexuality.  I got that sense when I visited Yale, Dartmouth, and NYU.

Also, at any school I attend I plan to have an active role in the LGBT club on campus.  If there isn't one then it's not so much that I couldn't start one, because I could, but not having one would give me a sense of the types of students that are at the school.  I don't think (I could be proven wrong) that a school with no LGBT club would be the right school for me.  I have also heard stories about people not feeling comfortable in b-school being out, which hey to each his or her own, but I can't fathom being in an environment like that.  Don't get me wrong.  I don't go around carrying a purse and dressing in drag although I have friends who do and let me say that they are looking forward to Halloween!  It's funny when real women are asking gay men in drag "omg who did your make-up it's better than mine!" Only to have the guy give her a nasty look like "How dare you even ask such a thing?  I did it myself!"

I won't even touch the prospect of dating someone in business school... lmao... I'm sure that's an issue in and of itself!  Not to mention there's probably no time for it!

I'm not asking for there to be 40 LGBT club members all wearing rainbow flags on their backpacks, because A) that's overwhelming...too many colors all over the place  B) it's not sincere.  But, an LGBT presence on campus says a lot to me about the school itself and the students.  If anyone thinks differently I'd be glad to hear your opinion, but you won't change mine.  Not on this!  Ok maybe you can...but probably not!  I'm stubborn (I'm a Taurus and an only child) so even if I think you may have a point I'll spin it so that you don't.   I should have been a lawyer but you all know how I LOVE THE LSAT!  lmao... ok now I'm rambling!

I am SOOOO looking forward to this conference though!  ;-)

Here are some resources that I've found this past year and I'd like to share them with anyone willing to click on them.  This is exactly the type of post that I was looking for when I was starting this business school process.



Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Gay Business School Applicant

Hi World or those who read my blog.  I am writing this post at 9:40pm because I have a long night ahead of me and I don't want to be interrupted later by thinking "Oh I have to stop studying and write my post."  I have wanted to write this post for a while but the time never seemed right.  But now it is...

So today at work I was thinking about attending the Reaching Out Conference in LA in a couple of weeks.  Just to get you caught up it's a conference for LGBT MBA Students and Professionals with some pre-MBA students (me and 10 others) sprinkled in there.  Let me not forget that there will be LGBT Allies there as well!  :-)

In any event, I was sitting at my desk and logged into my google analytics to see the types of things people were searching for on Google and how they found my site.  Today someone typed in "how to tell business school lgbtand this simple query reminded me that yes there are other LGBT students going through this process and I will only speak for myself in saying that it's very interesting.

So back in August when I was writing my first drafts for my Tuck application I was answering the question "What's the hardest thing you've had to overcome and how did you overcome it?"  Something to that effect.  So for that initial essay I wrote about how the hardest thing for me was coming out to my mother.  I thought it was a great first draft for that essay.  Then my consultant responded with very good constructive criticism essentially saying "What separates your story from all of the other coming out stories?  Was this really the toughest thing you've had to overcome?"  I don't think she meant it as "yeah right this is not the hardest thing you've had to overcome." but more along the lines of..."this is a common story!"

So then I will admit I got defensive internally thinking "of course it was the hardest thing!  who cares if it's a common story?  it's MY story and it was hard!!!" lol... yeah that's how I talk to myself in my head.  So fast forward to today.  I've learned a lot in the short weeks since that essay review discussion.  I now know that the hardest thing for me was not coming out to my mom (Hi Mom... cuz I know she's reading this blog right now).  I have honed in on what the hardest part of coming out was and that's what I will write about going forward.  (Sorry... too much competition out there right now for me to "give" my story or ideas away).

I had a friend ask me the other day, "Why are you doing so much research into the LGBT climate at these schools?  Everyone at the schools is an adult and will treat you just fine."  For me, it's not necessarily about being treated fine, but in order to understand why I take the LGBT culture so seriously is because living in NYC... it's a part of my everyday life.  Of course it doesn't have to be and trust me I would be comfortable at a school where I was the only LGBT student.  Let me take a step back though and give you some insight into my reality here everyday in NYC.  Yeah, I'm gonna pull the NYC card - BAM!

1. So... my roommate is gay,
2. I work for a Luxury Retail heavily invested in Fashion so by default I work with maybe 80% women, and of the 20% men 80% of us are gay.  So if the company had 100 people, 80 would be women, 16 would be gay men, and 4 would be straight men.  Needless to say there are a lot of shall we say...conversations about peep toe shoes and shopping and not so much about Monday night football. ;-)
3. 95% of my male friends here in the city are gay, so when we go out where do you think we go?
4. Then I come home and I'm around my roommate again...

I can and have gone a week without talking to a straight male.  Not by choice, but in retrospect, that's just the way it's happened.  I'm not saying whether its good or bad to be in said environment, but it's just the way it is.  Am I looking forward to changing that environment?  Most definitely!  I've done NYC and I may or may not be back here for the rest of my life post-mba, so I'm definitely looking forward to leaving for a bit.

With that being said, the reason I look into the LGBT cultures at each school is simple.  While I can bond with anyone it's just nice to have some people you can turn to/ talk to/ or just give a glance too and they understand what you're thinking and have been through what you've been through.  Don't get me wrong I haven't been through anything that I know a lot of other people have.  I don't think it's tough to explain, but I think people understand what I'm trying to say.

Think of it this way... let's say you played football your whole life from Pop Warner up until College.  Then you go to business school.  When you watch the Superbowl, you just want at least one other person in the room who also played football and knows why you may be yelling at the TV when the referee blows the whistle!  Sure, there will be some people in the room who played soccer or basketball their whole lives and love sports too... but they may not get IT.   Of course you'll still have a great time but it may have been better with that other football player in the room.  That's the best analogy I can make guys haha...

I think it may also be a lot of my prior thinking that B-school was a bunch of type A I-bankers, and having that stereotype becoming a factor in determining where to go to school.  But, had I not had that mentality when I started researching schools, I would have never gotten to the place I am in now where I know that THAT is not the case.  B-school has a myriad of people most of whom don't even care about ones sexuality.  I got that sense when I visited Yale, Dartmouth, and NYU.

Also, at any school I attend I plan to have an active role in the LGBT club on campus.  If there isn't one then it's not so much that I couldn't start one, because I could, but not having one would give me a sense of the types of students that are at the school.  I don't think (I could be proven wrong) that a school with no LGBT club would be the right school for me.  I have also heard stories about people not feeling comfortable in b-school being out, which hey to each his or her own, but I can't fathom being in an environment like that.  Don't get me wrong.  I don't go around carrying a purse and dressing in drag although I have friends who do and let me say that they are looking forward to Halloween!  It's funny when real women are asking gay men in drag "omg who did your make-up it's better than mine!" Only to have the guy give her a nasty look like "How dare you even ask such a thing?  I did it myself!"

I won't even touch the prospect of dating someone in business school... lmao... I'm sure that's an issue in and of itself!  Not to mention there's probably no time for it!

I'm not asking for there to be 40 LGBT club members all wearing rainbow flags on their backpacks, because A) that's overwhelming...too many colors all over the place  B) it's not sincere.  But, an LGBT presence on campus says a lot to me about the school itself and the students.  If anyone thinks differently I'd be glad to hear your opinion, but you won't change mine.  Not on this!  Ok maybe you can...but probably not!  I'm stubborn (I'm a Taurus and an only child) so even if I think you may have a point I'll spin it so that you don't.   I should have been a lawyer but you all know how I LOVE THE LSAT!  lmao... ok now I'm rambling!

I am SOOOO looking forward to this conference though!  ;-)

Here are some resources that I've found this past year and I'd like to share them with anyone willing to click on them.  This is exactly the type of post that I was looking for when I was starting this business school process.










Tuesday, September 28, 2010

GMAT Critical Reasoning becoming easier to reason

That's how I used to feel about Critical Reasoning

Now I don't claim to get every Critical Reasoning question right YET!  But I will say that by doing either 20 Critical Reasoning questions or 20 Reading Comp questions a night since my last tutoring session on 9/18 has given me a positive outlook on Critical Reasoning and Reading Comp.

I just finished my last set of 20 Critical reasoning questions in the blue verbal review guide book.  I didn't know how many critical reasoning questions there were in that section, but day by day I could see how they made the questions harder.  I didn't get any more right or wrong towards the end of the section either!

That was nice for me to see... I did see that I got some of the same ones wrong that I got wrong back in April.  Now that's not necessarily because I haven't learned anything (some may think differently) but that's a function of me not being able to solve questions that I've seen before.  Here is the reason I find it difficult to solve questions I've seen before....

- I read the premise.  If I recognize it I try to remember what the premises were about...the story they told
- I look at the answer choices and remembering two of them sticking out in my head for some reason.  The reason usually being because those are the two I narrowed it down to previously.
- Then I reread the premise again
- Then the two answers again..
- Then I hone in on one answer and then debate in my head if I'm choosing that answer because it's the best one, or if it's the OPPOSITE of the one I chose the last time, but the thing is.. I don't remember which one I chose the last time.

Needless to say instead of looking at the question with a fresh set of eyes, I'm going off of the time I previously saw the question.  It's just the way my brain works so leave me alone!  :-)

But now I am more confident than ever about reading comp and CR.  There is still one type of question that I need more practice with and I'm going to point it out to my tutor.  Sometimes the two answer choices seem exactly the same to me. This is something I need to work on so that I go into my exam confident about my answer choices and not debating on whether I should choose the answer opposite from the one that I want to choose!  Oh yes!  I have gotten to that point before...

On that note - I've also done it before during a practice set hahaha...I wrote on a separate piece of paper the answers I would have chosen for a select few problems that I couldn't pick 1 answer on, and I said to myself "I'm choosing B but I think C is the better answer but I just don't know why and can't justify it."  Then I wrote C on another piece of paper and I got it "right" lmao.  Hey gotta make yourself laugh sometimes right?  I obviously know that I can't do that in the exam - or can I?  ;-)

Needless to say - Critical Reasoning is becoming easier to reason

Tomorrow I'll write a real update about conversations I've had with folks and upcoming events.

Tuck Diversity Conference Update!

So today I was on gchat with a friend and we were talking about Johnson Means Business at Cornell and then all of a sudden my gmail updated with an email from someone at Tuck.

Headline:  TUCK DIVERSITY CONFERENCE WAITLIST...



Yeah my heart sank when I saw this and subsequently read the email.  It's a very similar email to the one I received last year when I applied!  What changed between this year and last year in terms of my candidacy?  Well a lot!  Last year I didn't even put my GPA or GMAT (hadn't taken it yet) in the application and I was waitlisted as well.

So then of course my conversation with my friend took a turn to speculating as to why I may have been waitlisted.  I don't believe it was my essay because I believe that was solid.  So with that being said I can't help but think that it has to do with my GPA/GMAT combination.  I didn't want to write that last sentence because I don't want to keep bring it up because it depresses me, but for full disclosure purposes for potential applicants, I think it's important for people to think about it.

Now I don't think any differently about any schools I am applying to that have put me on the waitlist for the diversity conference (NYU, still waiting on Cornell), but as an applicant I can't help but think "What else could I have done?"  For starters... yeah I could have scored higher on the GMAT than I did.  That's the only other piece of information that I can change right now going forward until my application is submitted.

So imagine the motivation THAT email was in terms of my thinking about the GMAT hahaha...My target score went up about 20 points!

I have my other reasons for thinking that the GMAT/GPA was not the reason I was put on the waitlist.  The other reasons I'm thinking of are actually more plausible, but I can't change those factors, so they're not worth discussing.

Then as I was speculating about the decision with my friend she said that her friend just told her that he was accepted to the conference.  I just thought - "LUCKY!" haha...

I do find it curious that I saw queries to my website about the Tuck Diversity Conference.  I didn't think we would hear back this soon, but then today I saw that people were typing in the following things:

"how many people are invited to tuck diversity conference"
tuck diversity conference"
is it tough to get invited to tuck diversity conference"





Up until today I never saw any queries about the diversity conference come through, so this alerted me that today may be the day.  It'll be interesting what happens when Class of 2013 acceptances come into play.  I'll have to let you guys know when R1 Decisions come out haha... (not applying R1 so I won't be nervous!)

In any event, I'm going to go do the following:
- finish my Verbal Set for the day
- watch glee
- quant set
- Update blog again
- sleep

Monday, September 27, 2010

In the Zone...with Everyone Else!



So yeah sure whatever I just made a post a couple of hours ago, but today is a new day technically speaking. As deadlines approach I've noticed that everyone around me in this Pre-MBA bubble has his or her head down and is barreling through the process.  It's interesting to take a step back and see where people are in the process... people I now consider friends!  I don't know what I would have done had I not started this blog.  I think ::crossing fingers:: that some of the people I've met this past year will be attending school with me next year.  You know who you are!

I just read through my google reader where I see everyone elses updates about their journey's and we're all either juggling GMAT prep and essays, or just essays, tracking down recommenders, visiting schools, reaching out to everyone we know at each school.

It's definitely nice to see that I am not the only one going through this.  Even though I will be neglecting my friends for another month and a half, at least I can seek refuge and solace in other peoples stories.  Just as you guys send me kind messages wishing me the best with my studies, I love seeing updates about progress that everyone is making.  It's like we're all in it together albeit competiting against one another, but there's a bond we share going through this process.

Just think guys... this is all a right of pasage!  Everyone who has gone to a top b-school has endured this process.  If they can do it... so can we!  It's funny because after I do a round of studying or take an exam, there are two people I usually call and one that I email.  I always call or text Brandon and I text my friend Jessica!  We all know the pain.  So if anyone is following my blog and is embarking upon this arduous journey, I say to you - FIND OTHER PEOPLE IN YOUR SITUATION!  They will keep you sane!  You'll have someone to vent to on a Friday night when you're in studying and your friends are out partying.  The conversation will go something like this:

Me - "this damn exam is going to be the bane of my existence!"
Other person - "OMG I KNOW... I just did ______ and _____ and scored a ___ but I'm not too worried because last night when I did _____ i realized that I just need to ______!"
Me - "Yeah... when I did _____  it was so easy!  But then I got to ______ and I had no idea what to do!"
Other person - "Did you hear about _____ they scored a _____ and they used ____ Tutor at $X/hour"
Me - "Wow that's great!  My tutor said ______... so it'll be interesting to see what happens to ______"
Other person - "Are you going to the ______ event on Saturday?"
Me - "Yeah I registered for it a while ago.. do you need the link?  I'll send it to you!"
Other person - "Yeah I do thanks!  I was too busy doing my essay for ______ and totally forgot about the ______ event this Saturday!"
Me - "Ok I'll talk to you tomorrow on gchat we both need to go study some more!"

I just can't wait until the week when admissions decisions begin to go out!  I'm going to reference this post when it does come.  That will be an exciting time and I have already envisioned how that will play out.  I just know there will be a lot of text messaging when people start getting phone calls!

Today I walked into my colleagues office.  She graduated from the McCombs School of Business.  I walked into her office and said "APPLYING TO BUSINESS SCHOOL IS A TOUGH PROCESS" and she just started laughing.  She agreed with me but said that it was the best two years of her life!  I can't wait until I can say that.  We talked for about 10 minutes and she walked me through the day she got the call from McCombs informing her of her acceptance.  She said she jumped up and down on her couch!  I can only imagine what that felt like.  It was another good motivator!

So this post is for everyone out there going through what I'm going through!  LET'S KEEP OUR BLINDERS ON... HEADS DOWN..... AND ROCK THIS _____  ;-)

My benadryl is kicking in right now so I am going to sleep!  Tomorrow I'll update my blog with a link to our Bloomingdales.com Friends and Family  Coupon for anyone who wants to go shopping!  ;-)

No Update Re: Tuck, Cornell, or NYU Diversity Conferences

Took "Full" Practice CAT today - lmao



So I just finished taking a MGMAT Cat Exam.  The reason I put "full" in quotes is because I didn't do any RC.  I've seen those passages more times than I would like to admit, so for me to do them would be pointless.  Well maybe not totally pointless because yes I know it would help with stamina and what not, but I knew that I had other things to get to tonight.  But when I say that I literally pressed B for all 12 RC questions... that's exactly what I did!

So what was the outcome you ask?  Well I got a 43 which is not my highest, but I feel good about that 43 for one reason.

3 of the 37 were 500-600 level.  - 0 incorrect
8 of the 37 were 600-700 level. - 3 incorrect
26 of 37 questions were 700-800 level!  - 16 incorrect  :-(

A closure look at the ones I got incorrect tells me the following:
a.)  I need to not be so cocky about Geometry in thinking that I'm a Geometry master and that if I can't immediately see how to solve a geometry question that I can't figure it out.
b.)  need more practice with overlapping sets
c.)  combinations and probability are hopefully topics my tutor and I will go over shortly
d.) Exponents and Roots - not to be so cocky!
e.)  last but not least I need to keep listening to my tutor because he's helping.

Now we're getting to a point where the harder topics (the ones people say you don't need to study) are the topics getting in the way of me scoring 46/47/48.  I also didn't get as much sleep last night as I would have liked to have so I'm 100% sure that played a part in my lower quant score!

This is what I emailed my tutor after I saw my test score:

" need you to kick my butt on Thursday!  Also remind me on Thursday to ask you a question about homework...

November 1st!  I'm starting to feel it in my bones so knock me off my high horse and bring me back to "reality" well your reality...  I'd rather think I don't know how to solve anything and go into the exam over prepared than vice versa."

I don't even think he wanted me to take a full test yet, but I need to do so in order to see where I stood.  I wanted to make sure that my Sentence Correct skills didn't drop to a detrimental level.  I got 4 SC and 4 CR incorrect. and 10 of the RC question incorrect lol.  I guess B was correct for two of the 12 questions.  I was just surprised that I got so little SC incorrect.  Everything seems very promising, but I will NOT let this make my head blow up!  Need to stay humble because otherwise I'll be like "I GOT THIS" and then my Quant section will be full of Number Properties!

Sidenote - As I was writing this post my Tutor responded to my message with:

"will kick your butt on Thursday, don't worry  ;)"

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Beat The GMAT $100K Challenge!

So last week, the kind folks over at Beat The GMAT started a pretty cool contest.  I can tell you from personal experience that Beat The GMAT always comes through with great prizes and this time is no different!


Win One of 500+ Awesome Prizes

1 Elite Business School Tour ($25K)

Visit HBS, MIT Sloan, Stanford GSB, Haas and one more US business school of your choice. We'll pay for everything, including a flight from anywhere in world.

42 GMAT and MBA Packages ($25K)

Win one of 38 GMAT courses or admissions consulting packages from Veritas Prep, Knewton, Kaplan, The Princeton Review, Manhattan GMAT and Grockit.

500 Beat The GMAT Premium Practice Question Accounts ($50K)

Get full Premium Access to Beat The GMAT Practice Questions: over 700 GMAT math and verbal practice questions, each with a detailed video explanation walking you through the solution. All questions and explanations are written by veteran GMAT instructors.

Here is the link to learn more about the Beat The GMAT $100K Challenge!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Cornell Diversity Conference update

So in analyzing the analytics on my site it there have been a couple people searching on Google the following things:


So I wonder if Cornell has begun to send out acceptances/rejections to their diversity conference "Johnson Means Business".  I checked my email and haven't received anything yet, but I think we're supposed to hear before the 30th!

Here's a video I found on the Cornell website about the event:  http://www.johnson.cornell.edu/odi/jmb/quesone.html

I'm keeping this post short today because I have to get ready to go to Hoboken.  I'm still kind of hung over from my friends birthday party last night, so I think I'll just stick to soda tonight!  Plus if I drink a lot tonight, I won't get any studying done tomorrow.  



Thursday, September 23, 2010

GMAT Number Properties = Stupid Nonsense that I'm not a fan of!

Basic my ass!!!

Don't mind me... just had a frustrating night with number properties.  What I think is the most important topic on the GMAT, because it can be tested so many different ways, is giving me the most issues... incredibly frustrating WTF.  

Here is the dialogue I have with myself as I approach each type of question (no lie):

Geometry - Sweet this is going to be fun!
Rates - Ok what rate am I looking for?  Ok...got it... time to solve
Algebra - make sure you don't make stupid calculation errors dumbass and be sure to check your work.
Exponents - count your blessings because you got this!
Combinations - try it out but do not spend more than a minute trying to solve it...just move on
Percents - read this shit carefully and when you think you have the answer read the question again to make sure you have what they're looking for
Variables in Choices - choose numbers and do not make calculation errors stupid ass!
Easy number properties - you can figure it out
Hard Number Properties (usually w/ primes) - Oh fuck fuck fuck I don't know how to do this.  Ugh I'm going to get it wrong and then the next question will be easier.  Why do they put this on this damn test?  When was the last time anyone ever asked you to solve something and said "Oh but I just want to know the prime number?"  Ugh I hate this shit... Fuck I wasted 45 seconds... Ok lets try to solve this... Oh shit I set it up wrong... damn it.  Oh! Let me try using numbers!  Ok so if I use 2 and 3 then the outcome is X but wait... no maybe I need to use negatives.. ok so if I use -2 and 3...Hhmm but maybe the test makers know that people are going to choose 2 and 3.. so let me try other numbers.  Fuck... now I only have 20 seconds left... Let me choose 8 and -9... hhmm yeah now I can't do all those calculations that quickly... Shit I'm over time by 10 seconds!  Let me try to think it through... Well all of the answer choices work WTF?!?  Fuck it let me just choose C and move on.... then the next question is like 1+1=2!

Oh and if the number property question is a data sufficiency question I know I'm going to get it wrong.  

Why do I feel this way right now?  Hhmm let's just say I did a set of 37 today... got 25 wrong!  'nuff said.

PARDON MY FRENCH BUT I NEEDED TO VENT!

I am tired and have a long day tomorrow... going to sleep!  Night


The Best Business School Admissions Article I have read!

I just read this article on Poets and Quants at work and could not stop reading it.  I then decided that I wanted to share a link to the article with everyone.  Since I can't get on my blog at work because blogspot is a blocked site, I am using the computer of my coworker who does Social media because she has access to everything.

With that being said here is an article from PoetsandQuants.com written by John Bryne.


The Rebel Savant of MBA Admissions Consulting


Enjoy!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Coming to terms with Business School Admissions

Oops I forgot to write a blog post yesterday!  ::shrugs::  oh well!  Let me tell you about my day...

Today I had "Lunch" with my friend who just aced the GMAT.  She's also someone who first reached out to me back in May when she read my blog after I posted a write up about a Tuck information session.  She just got a new job and works a couple of blocks for me so we met up at an equidistant location today after chatting on GCHAT for a bit.  I actually think we met at the base of the building that Boston Consulting Group is in.

Neither one of us was particularly hungry so we just found a place to sit in the sun so we could work on our tans.  (Ironic because we're both African American!)  We had a 45 minute discussion about all things business school application related.  It was refreshing to speak with someone in person who echoed my thoughts not to mention she cracks me up!  We have the same sense of humor and hopefully we'll get to spend a lot of time together if we attend the same school.

We realized that the actions we have taken to get to this point are incredible!  At one point I said to her "Shoot... if we don't get into ________ ... who else will?"  Don't get the wrong idea I didn't mean it in a manner like "Oh... we're the best people out there so if we don't get in then no one else will."  But it was more of... we've done everything that we're supposed to have done.  Who has done more research on school X than us?  Who has the stories we have?  Who has the score YOU have?  (because she definitely doesn't have to worry about that being a factor that keeps her out of the running any more).  It was a conversation that put us both at ease a little bit more.

With that being said, I would like to say that this process is not stressful for me anymore.  The caveat is that stressful does not mean time consuming.  It is DEFINITELY time consuming, so much so that I had my last dinner with friends tonight and told them "Ok see you in the 3rd week of November." and I wasn't joking either.  The next 8 weeks will impact the rest of my life and I am entirely dedicated to positioning myself as best as I can.

When I said that the process isn't stressful for me anymore, I meant that I have come to terms with the process itself.  I no longer worry about anything in my past that I cannot change.  I tell myself that if I submit the best application possible and the school decides to ding me because of that one element, then that school is not one that I would fit with for two years.  I’ve become confident in that I believe that the application process is not simply about trying to prove yourself to these schools.  If done correctly, I think every applicant should get to a point where they are confident enough to “say” to the school “If you don’t like me from the application I’ve submitted and the interaction you’ve had with me, then I’ve misjudged your school and am not upset about being denied the opportunity to attend.  This peace of mind has me smiling all day everyday!




Now I must go back to studying for the night - just had to get that off my chest!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Funny MBA and Business Buzzwords

This is a funny list I found online in the blogosphere about funny business/mba buzzwords.  I've highlighted in red the words that I hear on an almost daily basis at work.  If you can put these words in context it's absolutely hilarious!  



- actionable (adj.)
Capable of being acted on or completed in the near future. "Which items on our list are actionable in the next quarter?" I recommend showering after using this one. Note: "actionable" has a long-standing legal meaning different from the above.
- at the end of the day
Based on the frequency with which they use the phrase, it would seem that members of senior management are required by law to begin every third sentence with "at the end of the day," a phrase similar in meaning to "when all is said and done." For instance, your favorite CEO might say, "At the end of the day, it's our people that make the difference." Insert platitude here.
- bandwidth (n.)
Plan your work well lest ye run out of "bandwidth," or physical, mental or emotional capacity. Spake our friend Frank B. Kern, Internet Guru, "....I just don't have the bandwidth to handle this at the minute," meaning "I don't have the manpower or ability to handle this at the minute."
- best of breed (n. and adj.)
The finest specimen or example to be found in a particular industry or market. Like Papillons preening for the judges, companies position themselves as best-of-breed. In truth, however, few ever make it through the qualifiers.
- best practices (n.)
Another widely used term promulgated by the arch-demons of business - management consultants - "best practices" is used to describe the "best" techniques or methods in use in a company, field, or industry. Unfortunately, companies often confuse latest or trendiest with best, and the best practices of one era are soon superseded by the ever-more-ludicrous fads of the next.
- boil the ocean (v. phrase)
Clearly the least efficient way to produce a pile of salt. If a member of the corporate pantheon suggests you are trying to "boil the ocean," he or she thinks you are doing something incredibly inefficiently. It's time to prepare your resume, Einstein.
- bring to the table (v. phrase)
Refers to what one offers or provides, especially in negotiations. Personally, I bring a fork.
- business model (n.)
An amorphous term having to do with identifying the specific ways in which a business creates value, or simply put, how it sells stuff for more than it costs. I'll show you my business plan if you show me yours.
- buy-in (n.)
A cute way of saying "agreement" or "consent." If you hope to get anything done in today's corporation, you'll need management buy-in.
- centers of excellence
Certainly beats centers of failure. Most companies have a nice set of both.
- circle back around (v.)
A very roundabout (pardon the pun) way of saying "Let's regroup later to discuss."
- circle with (v.)
Like its cousin "circle back around," it means "to meet and/or discuss with." Usage example: "Why don't you circle with Robert tomorrow to discuss the Ebbers case?" I can't help but envision two well-dressed exec types holding hands and madly circling around to the delight of everyone in their cubicle farm.
- c-level (adj.)
Those modest, hardworking souls at the top of your org chart: CEO, COO, CFO, CIO, CPO, CTO, Chief Dog Walker, etc.
close the loop (v. phrase)
To follow up on and/or close out an area of discussion. Closely related to "circle back around" and "loop in."
- commoditize (v.); commoditized (adj.)
A great fear and apprehension in business is having your product or service become "commoditized," or turned into Just Another Mediocre Piece of Junk (JAMPoJ to those in the know), completely undifferentiated from its peers.
- componentize (v.)
Nigh unpronounceable, this gremlin means "to turn into a component." For what purpose will forever remain a mystery.
- core competencies (n.)
Simply put, it means "what the company does best." When a company focuses on its core competencies, it gets back to basics. I recommend leveraging these.
- critical path (n.)
A sequence of events where a slip in any one activity generates a slip in the overall schedule. Used extensively in the exciting world of project management. Not to be confused with "criminal path," which is a sequence of events that leads to jail, a la Andy Fastow of Enron fame.
- cycles (n.)
A reference to computer processing cycles, this one can be used interchangeably with bandwith. Either way, it's a bad idea comparing yourself or another humanoid to an indefatigable machine. You'll lose.
- deliverables (n.)
Denoting project output or assignments, "deliverables" are often "tasked" (see below), but seldom completed.
- descope (v.)
Please see "scope"
- dial-in (v.)
Despite the obvious reference to a telephone, this one means to "include." For example, "We need to dial-in the materials list."
- dialogue (v.)
It's true that Shakespeare used "dialogue" as a verb ("Dost Dialogue with thy shadow?"). But I've got news for ya, buddy: You ain't no Shakespeare. Resist the temptation to use this utterly superfluous verb as a substitute for "talk" or "speak." Usage example: “Let’s dialogue telephonically via land line," meaning "call me at the office." Sigh.
- disintermediate
In the bleak days before the arrival of our savior, the Web, Big Tony used to claim that he had "eliminated the middleman to bring direct savings to you." Big Tony used a shotgun to eliminate ("disintermediate") intermediaries in the supply chain; today's companies use the Internet.
- disambiguate (v.)
This mouthful began life in the exciting field of linguistics only to be co-opted by the high-tech business set. It means to settle on a single interpretation or meaning for a piece of data, or to bring meaning and order to ambiguity. Much like this Web site.
- disincent
The third member of the axis of evil.
- drill-down (v.)
To get down to the details. One starts at a "high-level" and "drills down" to the boring details - where exectutives fear to tread.
- drinking the kool-aid (v. phrase)
A rather tasteless reference to the Jonestown massacre of 1978, "drink the kool-aid" means to accept something fully and (oftentimes) blindly.
- driver (n.)
If you think this one has something to do with the people who drive trucks, you're wrong (but I still like you). It refers to the factors or agents that move something forward: "What are the key drivers of organizational change?"
- eat(ing) your own dog food (v. phrase) 
When your company starts using its own products internally and suddenly realizes why the rest of the world hates them so much.
- ecosystem (n.) 
Companies now longer participate in industries; they inhabit vast ecosystems comprised of consumers, partners, innocent bystanders, and, increasingly, competitors. The idea is to be at the center of your ecosystem, so integral to its operations that the actions of all other participants seem to benefit you as much as them. But remember to look out for lions.
- elevator story (n.)
A pitch to a corporate executive, or bored janitor, as the elevator goes from floors 1-10 and you have a captive audience. Also the name of an upcoming Tom Hanks movie.
- enabler (n.)
Like your dysfunctional family, business is full of enablers - things that enable something else, often of a self-destructive nature.  For instance, were you aware that "Total Facilities Management is a Core Business Enabler"? Weird, I wasn't either.
- end-to-end (adj.)
Seemingly naughty, this one means "complete, from the front-end (the end that faces the customer) to the back-end (your back office, which no one sees)." Try to avoid this one in mixed company.
- facetime (n.)
A foreign concept to many of us in the Internet world, "facetime"refers to time spent speaking face to face, especially to senior management. For example, “I need to arrange some facetime with you next week.”
- feature/scope creep (n.)
The temptation to add more and more features to a product release until it becomes a confused mass of incongruous elements, twisted and evil.
- functionality (n.)
Simply meaning "functions" or "features," this one has gained widespread currency.
- gain traction (v.)
To gain momentum or acceptance. "Cisco's new routers are gaining traction in the marketplace."
- going forward (adv.)
Meaning "in the future" or "from now on." For instance: "Going forward, we see our gross margins increasing as our new high-margin products gain traction."
- granular (adj.); granularity (n.)
Getting down to the fine details, the nitty-gritty. Busy people might stop you mid-sentence if you get too granular. Like sand through an hourglass, these are the days of our lives.
- go-live (adj. and v.)
A new product or system becomes available to the public on its "go-live" date. Presumably, the same product or system will "go-dead" soon thereafter.
- heads-up (n. sorta)
"This is a heads-up" is a very American way of saying, "I'm telling you this now because xyz item is hurdling in your direction and you're going to need to do something or get out of the way." It's simultaneously a notice and a warning.
- helicopter view (n.)
- high-level (adj.)
Senior executives, far-sighted individual with godlike abilities to see the big picture, want anything brought to their attention to be "high-level", that is, neatly summarized and dumbed down so they can understand all the techno mumbo jumbo.
- incent (v. tr.)
A transitive verb meaning "encourage" or "influence": "The program was set up to incent users to spend more." Also the leading member of the incent-incentivize-disincent axis of evil.
- incentivize (v. tr)
The second member of the incent-incentivize-disincent axis of evil.
- instantiate (v.)
The unholy offspring of "instant" and "substantiate," "instantiate" means to verify or document an instance of a particular behavior or issue.
- leapfrog (v.)
To surpass your competition, usually by engaging in one gigantic, hopelessly ambitious leap of faith that is almost sure to end in ruin and despair. Bring a parachute, golden or other.
- learnings (n.)
Word favored by consultant-types meaning "something learned." Apparently, "lesson" wouldn't do despite 500 years of continuous use in the English language.
- leverage (v. tr)
The grandpappy of nouns turned verbs, "leverage" is used indiscriminately to describe how a resource can be applied to a particular environment or situation. "We intend to leverage our investment in IT infrastructure across our business units to drive profits."
- level set (v.)
To get everyone on the same page, singing from the same choir sheet, etc. Why neither of these tired, but well-understood perennials is good enough is beyond me. I guess "level set" just has that I-am-slightly-smarter-than-you-all ring to it.
- long-pole item (n.)
Those of you who enjoy the occasional camping trip may recognize the provenance of this one: The long pole holds up the center of the tent and is therefore the most essential structural item. Likewise, a "long-pole item" is the most essential element of a system or plan, upon which all other elements depend. A linchpin, as it were.
- loop in (v.); keep in the loop (v. phrase)
Used by loopy people who mean to say, "to keep apprised."
- low-hanging fruit (n.)
The easy pickings, the obvious steps that an organization should take to improve its performance or take advantage of new opportunities.
- mindshare (n.)
Sorta like "marketshare," but without the revenue and sounding a whole lot creepier. Don't use this one around Vulcans.
- mission-critical (adj.)
Meaning "critical to the functioning or success of a business or project," this one is generally used in reference in insanely expensive computer hardware that should be bulletproof, but, alas, is not.
- modularize (v.)
To turn into a training module. Say, you start off with a simple piece of information that anyone with a 6th grade education and a quartet of functioning brain cells would instantly grasp. To justify your position as a highly paid corporate trainer, you might try to veil this information in a cloak of incomprehensibility, rendering the straightforward a smelly pile of jargonous bile. Indeed, the information has been modularized.
- monetize (v.)
The noble mission of Web slingers everywhere: figuring out how to make money off each page view, visitor (eyeballs), or anything else. If you work at an Internet company, you've used this term... don't lie. Hell, even I've used this term.
- next steps (n.)
"Next steps" are the tasks delegated to attendees at the close of a meeting. Next steps often result in deliverables. I believe "next steps" and "action items" are synonymous. Do humanity a favor and avoid both.
- net-net (n.)
The end result, the bottom line, etc. ad infinitum, ad nauseam. "Net-net, we're still ahead."
- network effects (n.)
A wonderfully prosaic term from economics describing how some products or services become more useful as the number of users rises. Online auctions (eBay), operating systems (Windows), and social networks (Facebook) are three oft-used examples.
- offline (adv.)
"Let's discuss this offline." Euphemism frequently uttered in long office meetings meaning: "Let's discuss this later in private because you're way off topic again, idiot."
- operationalize (v.)
A horribly polysyllabic way of saying "carry out" or (gasp) "do." Oh, the humanity!
- out of pocket (adj.)
Out of touch or out of the office for a few days.
- paradigm [shift] (n.)
Paradigm is an extra fancy word for "model." A paradigm shift means moving from one model to a new one, generally in a grand, expensive, and ultimately disastrous manner. If I had a pair of dimes for every time I've heard this one...
peel the onion (v. phrase)
To conduct a layer-by-layer analysis of a complex problem and in the process, reduce yourself to tears.
- performance management (n.)
A euphemistic way of saying to micro-manage, berate, motivate, psychologically manipulate, threaten, and then fire someone.
- ping (v.)
A "repurposed" UNIX command meaning to send a message to another computer and wait for acknowledgment, ping means to follow up with someone via email on an urgent, but arcane matter and wait interminably for a reply. "I'll ping Henry on the Ewok matter."
- proactive (adj.)
The modern-day antonym of "reactive." Rumor has it that this gem was created in the 1970s out of the parts of lesser words.
- productize (v.)
An fugly word meaning "turn into a product." Why should software vendors offer free technical support when desperate users will pay $3 a minute for help?
- programmatically (adv.)
If your people are too daft to do something correctly, maybe you should look to software programs to automate the task. If you follow this approach, you are completing the task "programmatically." Ugh.
- pushback (n.)
If you have a lot of sound, logical ideas, you're bound to run into a lot of resistance in today's surreal corporations. This resistance, often polite but always absurd, is euphemistically called "pushback." Try not to take it personally: you're dealing with the insane.
- quick win (n.)
Everyone in business is always looking for "quick wins," small steps or initiatives that will produce immediate, positive results.
- ramp up (v.); ramp-up ( n.)
To increase over time. "We intend to ramp up production in anticipation of holiday demand." Just try not to cramp up.
- reach out (v.)
To call or email. For this one, we can blame those old AT&T ads that encouraged folks to "reach out and touch someone." Obviously, you can't actually reach out and TOUCH anyone due to your company's stringent sexual-harrassent policy. But you can "reach out" (but, again, no touching) to a co-worker for information, support, or to start one of those crucial conversations. But keep any interaction to a phone call or email just to be on the safe side.
- real-time (adj.)
Everyone probably has an intuitive understanding of what is meant by "real-time," but that hasn't stopped many companies and consultants from using the term to describe a quixotic concept whereby a company's data is always up-to-date and available to whomever needs it, whenever they need it.
- repurpose (v.)
To take a process or system designed for one task and use it for another -- usually in way unforeseen by its creators. In the fast-moving Internet economy, repurposing has become a viable substitute for true innovation.
- robust (adj.)
Typically used in reference to software, this classic means "not buggy and not a huge waste of resources." Or more precisely, something that works well even under extreme conditions.
- roll out (v.); roll-out (n.)
Companies are constantly introducing new products and services that you don't want or need. The elaborate process of introducing something new is a "roll-out." The verb form is used thusly: "We rolled this piece of crap out to the curbside."
- rough order of magnitude (n.)
Fancy way of saying "to make a wild (ass) guess."
- scalable (adj.)
Describes how flexible a system is in response to increases in scale (number of users, hits, etc.). It might also have something to do with mountain climbing.
- scope (v.)
To set the scope of a product, i.e. to determine what "functionality" will be included. After products are "scoped," they are invariably "descoped" as reality reasserts itself.
- seamless (adj.)
The holy grail with ERP and other complex systems is to produce a "seamless end-to-end solution." The seams are the bottomless pits of hell into which your data falls when transferred from one end of the solution to the other. See also the entries for "end-to-end" and "solution."
- skip-level (n.)
A meeting where big-shot execs ignore the normal corporate hierarchy, jump down a level or two, and slum it with the plebs.
- socialize (v.)
To share a document or plan within an organization, in the vain hope of getting actionable feedback from your "peers." Also, the act of taking Fido to the park to get him used to other dogs.
- solution (n.)
Companies no longer sell products or services; they sell "solutions," which are products or services, but more expensive.
- soup to nuts (adj.)
To build every aspect of something from beginning to end. An integrated approach. Oh, the hubris of it all.
- space (n.)
The final frontier? Are you daft? No, just the niche or market segment your company currently inhabits or hopes to enter. Or, as your CEO might put it, "How can we leverage our core competencies to enter the web-services space?"
- special sauce / secret sauce (n.)
We can thank McDonald's for this one. It's used to refer to anything proprietary.
- surface (v.)
While many of our more jargon-illiterate readers might envision submarines upon first hearing this word, it is used by management professionals as a synonym of "raise," as in "raise concerns." For instance: "I think we need to surface those issues before the product is launched."
- synergy (n.); synergize (v.)
The (often illusory) value gained by combining two or more companies or divisions. Also known as "economies of scope" and "corporate merger BS."
- takeaway (n.)
The essential points of a presentation, activity, etc. that the author hopes you will "take away." Also has something to do with food in the Queen's English.
- take to the next level (v. phrase)
I used to know a guy with a Level 20 Wizard. But seriously, this means to move a product, service, or organization from its current level of dysfunction to the next level of dysfunction.
- task (v. tr.)
Yet another noun turned verb, this one means "to assign." Now go task someone with some deliverables.
- 30,000 feet, at
A high-level view or explanation. Please keep in mind that oxygen is in short supply at this altitude, so you may experience lightheadedness.
- touch base (v.)
A naughty sounding gem, "to touch base" is simply a request to meet again to discuss the current status of a project or task. "Rebecca, I would like to touch base with you later to discuss the Smith account." You gotta think this one leads to a lot of lawsuits...
- tps reports (n.) see Office Space (The Movie!)
- traction (n.)
Something you should be trying to gain right now.
- turnkey solution (n.)
Wouldn't it be great if you could buy a complex system or piece of software, plug it in, flip a switch and be off and running? Oh poor Odysseus, you have once again been beguiled by the IT sirens' song. Keep dreaming.

-value-add (n.)
What's the point? No, really, that's what it means.
- value chain (n.)
As I find it impossible to define "value chain" without sullying myself with the very thing that I abhor most (jargon, for those of you keeping score), I've chosen to "borrow" from another site a definition so preposterous that I just had to include it: "a business methodology that helps companies manage marketplace variability and complexity, and align company strategies with execution processes." Thanks for clarifying!

- value proposition (n.)
The unique set of benefits that you offer to customers to sucker them into buying your product or service. Sometimes shortened to "value prop," as in "What's your value prop?" Word.

- wet signature (n.)
I'm not sure I want to touch this one, but apparently this means a human signature, as opposed to an electronic one. I mean, do you plebs still sign stuff?
- wetware (n.)
You, me, your grandma, everyone (assuming you're a carbon-based life form). That is, a human-based solution, as opposed to a hardware, or silicon-based, solution.
- win-win
It's a win for us; it's a win for them. Everyone's happy and drinking the Kool-Aid.
- world-class (adj.)
Means you're best in class, a benchmark. If your product, service or solution ain't world-class, you might as well close up shop and go home. Luckily, everything at your corporation is either world-class now, or will be by next quarter. Or at least that's what management's been telling everyone.
 
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