Disappointment in B-School

There hasn't been a day recently where I've blogged twice in a row so this is a special treat haha.  I wanted to write this post because I feel like this whole time I've written about great things that happen in business school.  I want to say that there ARE low points in business school and today I've experienced one, yet again.  I don't think I wrote about the other one, but maybe if I ever write a book, I'll talk about it.

I will not go into details about my day today, but it definitely started off very well!  Then around 1:15 I got some not so nice news that threw me for a loop.  I was completely consumed by the conversation that I had with someone and for the next couple of hours after my class I was running (not really running) around Sage trying to get a lot of the administration's input on the situation.  The great thing about business school (at least here at Johnson) is that there is always someone to go to for guidance.

That's essentially what I did.  I wanted to know how to best go about tackling this situation so I sent emails to people asking for a couple minutes of their time.  I wanted to hear multiple views on how I should proceed and then formulate my own opinion of the situation.  Each person that I met with was definitely fully invested in the situation that I was bringing up and I'm thankful for their input.  The final outcome was one that I knew I would go with, but to hear different perspectives was very important for me.  Sometimes you just need a sounding board right?  Well that's what I got today.

There are two things that I can do NOW that I've gotten some clarity about the situation.  I could dwell on it or I can put it behind me and move forward.  For those of you who know me, I'm sure you can guess which one I'm going to do.  I had to take a deep look at my innate modus operandi to determine how I would move forward.  So I'm going to focus on the future and not so much what just happened today.  It's out of my control so there's no reason to dwell on it right?  at least that's what I'm telling myself.  It's definitely a not so fun situation though - I'll tell you that much!  That's the way the cookie crumbles I suppose.  I am incredibly thankful that I had an army of people to turn to though!

Admits, Waitlisted, & Dinged

Hello everyone!  I wanted to write this post really quickly because I've just received four messages from admitted students, waitlisted students, and dinged students and I remember being in those shoes not too long ago.

ADMITTED STUDENTS - Right now at Johnson and at all of the other school's us current students are preparing for our schools' respective admitted students weekends.  I hadn't realized all of the planning and CORRALLING that goes on behind the scenes to pull off one of these events.  I am definitely excited to meet the class of 2014!  I've met a lot of them over the last couple of months and it's been an absolute thrill to be able help them out and answer their questions as they are in their quest for choosing a business school.  I loooove receiving email updates from them about their acceptances.

In some cases (not lying) it is interesting to have to speak to folks who are deciding between different schools.  I speak to them in two ways.  First, I keep my Johnson hat on and answer any and all questions that they may have.  Then I take off my Johnson hat and speak to them objectively.  The reason I do this is because I want all admitted students, to whichever schools, to end up at the school that is right for him or her.  It doesn't do anyone any good to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to go to a school that they are going to absolutely hate.  I've seen it happen to a friend at another school and I just cannot imagine being in that type of situation.

I'm getting some questions now from admitted students as to what they should do now.  I just tell them to cherish this time and celebrate!  There are a few weeks left before the deposit deadlines so simply make sure that your finances are straight and start preparing to figure out your exit strategy from your job.  Another thing that one should start doing is looking for a roommate should one want one.  Those are the simple things.

WAITLISTED STUDENTS - This is an interesting one.  One thing that I never really thought about as an applicant was being waitlisted, nor was I waitlisted.  I was straight accepted and dinged from schools.  Managing the waitlist is very interesting.  I've seen and heard things being on the other side of the table now that makes me want to let everyone know that managing the waitlist IS possible and does work in some cases.  It just depends on why you were put on the waitlist.

A lot of people think that if they are waitlisted that it means that there was something in their profile that the admissions committee didn't like or see.  That's not necessarily the case.  A lot of it has to do with yield and how many other offers they've given out thus far.  That's why it's better to apply earlier than later.  The waitlist doesn't mean - oh we don't like you.  In fact, it's quite the opposite and managing it can be done.  I've helped someone do just that - granted said student applied in an earlier round.

I've been asked - Do I need to retake the GMAT?  Take additional coursework?  Send another letter of rec?  And I think each case requires a different tactic.  In some cases that will work.  In other cases it may not work.  It depends on the reason you were put on the waitlist.  Reaching out to the admissions officers whom one has been dealing with could shed some light on that.  That should definitely be the first step for anyone wanting to know how to navigate the waitlist.

DINGED STUDENTS - This one just sucks.  It's definitely easier to get a ding once you've been accepted to A school, because then you know that at least you have the option of going somewhere.  What interests me though is when students apply to schools X,Y, Z and then get dinged from X and Y and then choose not to go to Z an re-apply to school's X and Y the following year.  I do understand cases where life happens and one just cannot go to school, but why would one spend time on school Z's application and then not go.  It's just of like, well why did you apply in the first place?  ::shrugs::  I'll never know.

I will say however that the later you apply the more likely you are to get DINGED.  That goes without say, and I think that if you've managed to submit applications to school, you already know that.

I think that's it for the day.  I have some great news that I will post about next week!  Whew - almost through my 1ST YEAR!  It's been one hell of a ride, but there's a lot more to go!!!!!!!!!!!  BOOM OVER AND OUT!

Random Updates & Pictures from Johnson

So as you can probably tell by my lack of blog posts, but I've been very busy these last couple of weeks since I got back from Winter Break!  Because I am doing the customized immersion here at Johnson my course load this first half of the core is a little bit lighter than many of my classmates.  I did in part due to the fact that this is MY recruiting season now.  Most of my classmates have their offers already and know where they are going.  Due to the nature of recruiting for Tech Companies, the recruiting cycle just starts much later.  That's all I'll say about recruiting for now.

Instead I'll talk about some other things that have been going on here.

CLOSING OF THE PALMS - Well one of the major things that has occurred is that The Royal Palms (a staple bar here in Collegetown) closed down last week!!!!  This was a huge deal as it had become our unofficial hang-out spot aka our default bar!

What was interesting about the closing of this bar is that many Cornell alums were coming back to Ithaca to have one last drink before they closed down.  I met a lot of interesting Cornell alums during the last couple of weeks they were open.

Here is a picture of my friends and I partying it up!

In the apartment complex that I live in there are about 100 other Johnson students so last week some of my classmates planned a Pig Roast!  Sure it was cold outside, but it was a must attend event!

Like I said in other posts, I've been going skiing more and more often.  Next year I definitely want to have my own gear so that I don't have to keep renting equipment.  It's nice to have a near professional skier as a friend because he loves skiing.  I think he would go everyday if he could.  So anytime I feel up to it, I just text him and say "Hey... let's go"  I've been twice with him this year.  Here is he choosing his beats before we head back up the lift.

I've also been attending  a lot of Hockey games.  After the pig roast last week we went to the #2 Cornell vs. #1 Union hockey game WHICH WE WON and were tied with them for first place (for a day).

That's the only short little update that I'm going to give tonight.  But I promise that I'll update my blog more frequently now!

Tuck Ski Weekend

Clearly I've been MIA.  The thing about blogging that I've realized is that it's not that complicated or time consuming to write blog posts when you're consistent with it.  Once you take a break for a couple days/weeks then it's even that much more difficult to start up again even though there are many things that you may want to talk about.  So this blog post is going to essentially be a brain dump of my last couple of weeks.  A lot of things have been happening regarding recruiting but I won't talk much about that.

Instead I will talk about the fun things that I've been doing.  Well one thing that I've been doing is mock interviews with prospective students.  Thankfully all of them thus far have been admitted.  I'm still waiting to hear back from one person who applied to Johnson.  I really want this person to get in because this person simply gets IT and what it's like to be a Johnson student.  Actually I just realized that I'm waiting for two people not just one.  ::shrugs::  considering I've been in contact with at least 8 people Johnson/non-Johnson students, I'll take the odds.  It's very weird right now as a first year.  I'm not sure if my friends at other schools feel the same way.

Initially the focus from the school for the first half of the year was on us since we were bright eyed and bushy tailed 1st years.  Now that we're in the 2nd semester of our 1st year, the focus is now on the incoming class (Class of 2014) as well as the outgoing Class of 2012.   Us 1st years are like "hhmm well this is interesting."  as we all try to wrap up our recruiting efforts.  So there are some things that I've been doing to keep busy - aside from class.

3 weeks ago I went up to Vermont to Smugglers' Notch Resort for Tuck's 3rd Annual Black Graduate Business Retreat.  I had an INCREDIBLE time!  It was great to see old friends from other schools.  The schools that I remember being in attendance were of course Tuck, Stanford, NYU, Columbia, Duke, hhmm Rochester, Syracuse.

We left Friday morning bright and early at 4am, hit up a Dunkin Donuts and then went on our merry way.  It was a 7 hour drive but definitely well worth it.  Once we got to the resort I went to get my equipment and wanted to hit the slopes at least once before the days festivities began later that night.  Plus the slopes were closing shortly, so I had to rush.  The next day I was out on the slopes for about 7 hours with a break in-between for lunch.  It was GLORIOUS haha.  Later that night there was a 90's party and dinner.  (I'm speeding through this post because I'm waaay behind and I want to write another one tonight).

After the 90's party we went to an afterparty thrown by NYU.  Apparently, I ate all of their Tostito's and Salsa!  Yeah man, I was very hungry!

There isn't much to the weekend that happened other than what I've told you.  Okay Okay actually that's a big fat lie.  A lot of things happened that weekend but what happens in Vermont - Stays in Vermont!  So with that trip I've been bitten by the ski bug and I'm thankful that I go to a school with a ski slope that is 20 minutes away!