Insomniac's Post

Hi All!  I have to apologize for not writing more often but things have been crazy with Thanksgiving and Finals coming up this week!  I can't believe that the 1st half of my 1st year is practically over and done with.  The last day of classes for us is on Wednesday and then I have my Finance final on Saturday, Strategy Final on Sunday, and then my last final, Statistics, on Tuesday!

As I wrap up this portion of my first year there are a lot of things that I write about, but I should really be sleeping. I was up late working on a Finance Assignment, and couldn't force myself to go to sleep.  My GMAT Tutor would not be surprised that this has happened.  So basically right now I'm doing company research and I figured, I would upload some pictures from school.

This picture below was taken in 2010 after the NYU Stern Diversity Weekend, which I attended as a prospective - obviously.  The gorgeous woman in the middle is my friend who just graduated from Stern in 2011.  On the right is my friend who I also met that weekend and became good friends with.  He is now at Columbia.  

This picture below was taken this past October when we were all at an MBA Conference in Dallas!  My how things change!!!

This picture below is from the Winter Formal Masquerade party that we just had this past weekend at Johnson.

My friend and I did not plan to wear similar outfits this day.  We had a Citi Integrative Case competition and when most people were in suits, we were not!

Aw two of my besties are pictured below! 

This is a picture of a handful of us who attended the Cyberposium at Harvard Business School, the Saturday after our Boston Trek!  That was an incredible conference with a lot of heavy hitter speakers.  Keynote speech was the CEO of Sony - Don't get that everyday huh?

On our Boston Trek we visited Microsoft and here is a picture we took.  What you really need to see if the view outside the window we were staring at.  Absolutely incredible!

Here is a picture of me in our library using the Bloomberg Terminal.  See... I did learn something in business school!  My friend from Greece taught me when he saw me sitting there one day trying to send an email to someone!  (Just kidding... but he did help me navigate)

So we have a bowling alley on campus.  Literally ON CAMPUS in the middle of the freshman undergraduate dorms.  This is a silly picture we took after a couple games!  One of my favorite pictures.

#LifeAfterSubmission

Ok so as you can tell the last couple of posts have been about my friends whom I am incredibly happy for, but now it's time to get back to ME!  There is a lot that I have to cover so I'm going to hop right into it.  oh btw... lately I've become very hashtag happy.

1.  Anxiety over this Investment  - It's interesting when you are going through the application process and you're soooo wrapped up in making sure that your GMAT, Essays, Recommenders, and all that jazz is tight.  You always hear about the cost of tuition and what not but a lot of the time, at least for me, it was simply a necessary evil.  Sure I applied through the Consortium so the chance of my receiving a fellowship was/is (I don't even know at this point) refreshing, but now as fellowship decisions are being delivered the big elephant in the room is becoming more and more obvious.  I spent nearly a down payment on a house (in some cities) to get a mortgage (in some cities).  Essentially that's what transpired this year.  I'm okay with it... or at least I will be...but I think all applicants who are going to go through with business school and are paying for it, need to go through this mental wrestling match with themselves to fully understand what we are getting ourselves into.  I could not imagine doing this without having an end goal in sight.  That'd just be weird...  #HaveAPlan.

2.  Speaking of fellowships hahahah... Congratulations to all of my friends who did receive fellowships to various schools!  I know the joy one experiences when you get the acceptance call but I can only imagine what it must be like to get the acceptance call and then find out that you've received the fellowship too!  So... to my friends at whichever school I end up at... you guys are buying dinner that first night!  #JustFYI

3.  Admitted students weekends are around the corner.  Well not really arond the corner, but Destination Johnson at Cornell is in 30 days.  I have to register for that tomorrow actually - or maybe right after I finish this blog post.  I cannot wait to meet my potential future classmates.  I'm going to keep saying potential future classmates, because I have not received the final word from three schools just yet.  As it stands right now, I'll only be invited to one ASW, so I don't have to juggle 5/6/7 of them.  I have it easy compared to some of my friends.  #WhoaIsThem

4.  So do you remember when I met with a guy who was interviewing at Cornell and wanted to meet up with me?  Well I bet you're wondering how his interview went...  it went very well!  I'll probably talk to him tomorrow to get the full low-down but I hope he nailed it so that we can be potential classmates.  I was also just talking to him and we're plotting against our tutor lol. #GladICouldHelp 

5.  Tomorrow (today) I'm going to be doing a mock interview with someone who became a friend after we partied it up at the NYU Diversity Conference.  I actually haven't seen him since the conference but we're Facebook friends and talk all the time.  He applied to three schools and just recently received an interview invite for Columbia.  I told him to send me his resume and that we would do a mock interview.  I want all of my friends to get into business school so that they understand rather than complain when I say that I'm too busy for things.  No but actually...I really want him to get into Columbia.  He did go there for undergrad so I'm going to need to come up with some more difficult questions that convey fit.  I already told him that I was going to be hard on him.  #LoveRolePlaying

6.  Also tomorrow is a big day because I find out if I was waitlisted or dinged from the University of Michigan.  I have a prediction so we'll see how it plays out at 4pm tomorrow.  #DingDong

7.  JUST REGISTERED FOR DESTINATION JOHNSON!  #WOOPWOOP

NYU Diversity Conference Day 1

So... today was the first day of the NYU diversity conference.  As I lay here on my bed I figured I would write an update before going to sleep.  I'm going to write it as the days events happened...

First I went to work haha.  Unlike a lot of the people, about 50% of people are not from the tri-state area, I live only a couple of subway stops from NYU.  So I got to the Kaufman building around 4:30.  Upon picking up my name badge I was told that I look familiar, by someone from NYU.  I said "yeah I've been here last year for a marketing event."  They said, "Oh yeah.. and your last name is unforgetable."  I smiled and thought to myself "Thanks mom and dad!"  If you guys don't know, my last name is Battle-Baxter.  Battle is my moms last name and Baxter is my dads last name.  It just happens to flow.  Say it outloud and you'll see...  Richard Battle-Baxter.  If you throw in my middle name it sounds even cooler...  Richard Alvin Battle-Baxter.

Anyway, upon arriving I was escorted into a reception area with soda, coffee, and some snacks.  I met a couple of cool people.  You know how that goes.  Initially everyone is standing in a small group of 3/4 asking the standard questions - "What do you do?"  "Where are you from?" "What other schools are you looking at?"  Just have these answers ready because you will be asked them by other prospectives at every event you attend.

So then after the little hour long reception we went upstairs to the 11th floor and sat at tables for an introductory speech to the weekend.  I noticed that there were about 100 prospective students there.  Actually, I think it was closer to 90.  So after that speech it was time for ice breakers.  It was similar to musical chairs in that each table was given a scenario ie. "You are the owner of a restaurant and have to come up with a dish that represents NYU."  or "You are an olympic planning committee and you are to come up with a city and new sport for the next olympics!"  The games were fun and interactive and allowed us to meet a whole bunch of people we probably wouldn't have met otherwise.

Then after the ice breakers it was DINNER TIME!  Dinner was only across the hall but it was a complete 180 from where we were previously.  It was as if we were at a 5 star restaurant!  I sat at a table with my friend Jessica and we had two current students sit with us, as well as the director of admissions, Issor Gallagay.  I personally love 3 course meals.  We had a nice appetizer.... steak and potatos....this amazing cupcake...and coffee. Oh... do not let me forget to mention that the wine was flowing!  My glass was never empty and at one point I said to the person next to me.. "they really want us to get drunk don't they?"  which was funny because then the waiter echoed my comments as he refilled my glass.

One of the best parts of dinner was listening to the Dean speak.  Being a minority himself, he could really relate to the positions that we were all in.  If I tried to begin to mention all of the accolades of this dean, I would write a 9 paged book.  He's phenomenal and has this hhmm... ora... about him.  The dinner conversation was great.  It's always nice to hear from current students, but this time it was different.  I think maybe because we were sitting at the table for so long and the personalities of the two current students assigned to our table, we got a lot of great insight into the Stern experience.

After dinner we were lead downstairs into the basement for Beer Blast which was dubbed Sangria Blast for the evening.  From what I understand this event occurs every Thursday and is open to all Sternies.  So we get down there and it's hot because there were so many people, but it was fun!  I saw a couple of my friends who go to Stern and talked to them for a bit.

An coincidental thing happened though, which in hindsight is not too surprising considering my past experiences.  So one of the students who was sitting at my table saw me at Beer blast and told me to come find her after I got my drink.  So I did, and she introduced me to the two people she was talking too.  One of the guys told me who he used to work for and I'm like... Oh did you work in Ohio?  He said yes.  So I asked "do you know ________ and _______?"  He's like "oh I love _______ and yes I know ________ and (Current student sitting at my table) knows him too!"  I thought that was weird so I turned to her and said "How do you know ________?"  She said "I grew up with him!"  I thought that was weird because I grew up with him.  We played soccer together since we were very young and I had never met her.  So I said.. did you live in Old Bridge?  And she said "No... our parents grew up together in Nigeria so we've know each other forever!"  I was like "wow... what a small world?"  Now if you guys are wondering who this person we were talking about is... Well.. he's my friend who is now at Duke Fuqua!  You know... This Guy!

With that being said - and I could have said much more - I'm going to go to sleep.  I have a very long day tomorrow and I'd rather not be tired.  Plus I'm excited to get to wear my new custom suit that I got last month!  Not sure which shirt I'm going to wear with it, but I'm sure I'll figure it out in the morning!

Later...

Diversity Conference + Work Conference = Busy Week

So this post is going to be relatively quick because this may be the busiest week of my life and I gotta get back to getting my life together. So really quick...

1. Yesterday I took a MGMAT CAT exam and scored a 36 on Quant.  Not too sure why that's the case and of course it A.) Surprised me and B.) Pissed me off!  Nonetheless, I'm writing it off an an anomaly and not thinking about it.  There's explanation for scoring in the mid 40's and then all of a sudden back to mid-thirties.  It's not like I forgot the information!  So yeah, I'm going to just go back to my routine and discount that one. 

2.  Last night one of the Tuckies I've become friends with (the one I ran into at the Tuck Reception) was having a going away party down in Chelsea.  I got an email earlier in the day, and I told him that I would come and buy him a drink and thank him for his help.  I'll also see him next week at the Reaching Out conference in LA, so it wasn't all bad.  So I showed up at the bar...said hi to him and was talking to his friends.  

Now I can talk it up with anyone especially when drinks are involved, but this night was fun.  Let me explain to you who was in attendance... about 5 recent Tuckies...a Harvard undergraduate...Stanford B-school graduate... So yeah I was "wide eyed" as my friend so eloquently put it.  Needless to say there was a lot of "So what do you do now?" Questions.  All of their faces looked so familiar to me because I've seen them at various events except they were on the other side of the table.

3. Here is the schedule for my week - ready for this?

Sunday - Quant then work on Essays and clean my room

Monday - I'll be attending the Search Marketing Expo (SMX) at the Javitz center

Tuesday - SMX

Wednesday - SMX

Thursday - I'll be in the office but we have a vendor coming in that we're vetting.. and then I have to leave at 4pm to head down to the NYU Diversity Conference that starts at 5. 

Friday - NYU Diversity Conference

Saturday - Diversity Conference

Oh and Mon - Sat I'll have to find time to study, eat, and sleep, in there as well!

With all that being said, I must be going now.  Reading Comp awaits!

NYU Diversity Conference - ACCEPTED off Waitlist!

So today around 4pm my gmail updated itself and the following email w/ corresponding subject line came through:

I smiled and said "YES!!!" to myself again haha.  Then of course I immediately texted my friend who was also accepted!  The same one who I will be going up to Cornell with.  

The conference is NEXT WEEK!  But don't cry for me Argentina, I had already warned work that I would be taking those days off.  I told them last week that it was tentative, but to keep it on the schedule.  At least I don't have to worry about lodging and traveling costs lol.  I'll just use my metrocard and in the morning instead of going East on the subway I'll go South.  Just a hop skip and a jump.

Here is the schedule for the days events:

Thursday, October 7        
4:00-5:00 p.m.            Registration
5:00 p.m.                    Welcome and Icebreaker
6:30 p.m.                    Opening Dinner Featuring NYU Stern Dean Peter Henry
8:30 p.m.                    Stern Beer Blast (optional)


Friday, October 8        
9:30-10:15 a.m.          Check-In and Breakfast
10:30 a.m.                  Mock Class
12:00-7:00 p.m.         Association of Hispanic & Black Business (AHBBS) Students Conference
7:00 p.m.                   Happy Hour with AHBBS (optional)


Saturday, October 9        
9:30-10:00 a.m.         Check-In and Breakfast
10:00 a.m.                 Career Development and Student Activities Presentation
11:00 a.m.                 Your 60-Second Pitch Workshop
12:00 p.m.                 Mock Application Workshop
1:30-3:00 p.m.           Luncheon with Stern Alumni
8:00 p.m.                   A Night out with AHBBS (optional)


So I'm looking forward to it!  Reminds me that I must put my suit in the cleaners!  Ok I just wanted to give you guys an update.  


Here is my weekend in preview:


Friday night - Study then watch Freakanomics on iTunes.
Saturday - Take a full length MGMAT CAT Exam...  Go into work to do some stuff... Study....Continue writing essay.
Sunday - Study... Continue writing Essays

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...

Hey! Where did my friends go?

APPLY TO BUSINESS SCHOOL!

Critical Reasoning Update:

So it's 11:44pm on Saturday night and I've just completed my set of 20 Critical Reasoning questions.  My friends are out at a house party :-/ .  I had a friend ask me when the next time I would be available because he wanted to plan something.  I told him "The third week of November....no I'm not kidding... the third week of November."  At this point all my friends understand what's at stake.  I still get invitations to go out and I simply say "I'm studying."

After meeting with my tutor today we think we finally picked up on my issue with Verbal.  I was not paying attention to the modifiers in the passages and premises, thus making me deem correct answers out of scope!

So I was excited to try my next set of CR after our session today and I just completed it.  I am happy to report that I only got 2 incorrect out of 20.  I'm not going to get TOO excited just yet but at least it's a step in the right direction!

NYU Diversity Conference Update:

So I finally heard back from NYU regarding the diversity conference.  I was WAITLISTED!

At first I was bummed about this.  I found out at about 6:30 on Thursday while I was on the crosstown bus going home.  I was immediately disappointed upon hearing and then naturally went to that place in my head saying to myself "Well if I can't get into the diversity conference then there's no hope for admissions."  Of course everyone says that they are mutually exclusive, but it's natural for one to think that.  Then I texted Brandon and he made a great point that turned my mood around.  He made a great point.  He said "Well that's a good sign if you were waitlisted with your GPA and GMAT."  I responded with "...you know I didn't think of it that way.  So the way I'm going to interpret my waitlisted status is that NYU finds my profile interesting, but with the combination of my GMAT and GPA, there's no real way they could justify openly accepting me to the diversity conference, since there wasn't an essay."

Yes my text was about that long, but it contained some curse words because I curse like a trucker.. again... I'm from Jersey!

MBA Event - ::sigh:: another one

So I've decided to come full circle and attend The MBA Tour tomorrow here in NYC.  This was the first MBA event that I attended last year when I had no idea what I was in for.  I think I was THAT guy in jeans and a cardigan with a button down.  I remember what I wore last year because I was like "hhmm this should suffice because no one will remember me anyway since I'm not applying this year."

Tomorrow I have an agenda though...there are a couple people that I need to speak too.  Well one in particular!  Here is a preview of tomorrow's agenda...

Ok I'm gonna go take a benadryl because for this upcoming week my tutor said that I have to get 52 hours of sleep!!!!  I told him that I don't think I've ever gotten that much sleep since like 10th grade.  There's no way that I'm going to be able to do that I can tell you all right now.  That means that I would need to be ASLEEP right now.  Ain't gonna happen....just not a possibility so I'm going to push back on this one.

Business School Diversity Conferences

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  Let me give you some quick updates:

1.)  My friends heard back from the NYU Diversity Conference, but unfortunately I did not.  My friend Jessica was accepted on Thursday around 6pm.  They said they would let everyone know by the 10th, but I still have not heard back from them.  Doesn't look like a good sign.  Guess I wasn't diverse enough.  We'll see though, I wasn't rejected at least.  So I'm still hopeful.  If I am rejected I have my suspicions as to why that would be the case.  More to come when I find out the answer....

2.)  After much hard work I THINK I have completed my essay for the Tuck Diversity conference.  I put a lot of time into this essay and my friends can attest to that statement.  I just want to get someone to look over my resume again, so I know that it's perfect to submit.  The Tuck Diversity Conference essay was to be 250 words.  The question was "Why do you want to learn more about Tuck and why do you feel you're a good fit?"  When I first wrote the essay, I was all over the place, but after speaking with a coworker I realized that I needed to revamp it.

I also looked at the essay that I submitted last year to the Tuck diversity conference and I will say, there's a huge difference!  Something incredible happens when you've had the interaction with the school and students vs. not having interaction.

3.)  This week I have to submit the Cornell Johnson Diversity conference essay.  This one is a tad bit more robust.  It's 400 words and the question is "In 400 words or less, please discuss the following: What career do you plan to pursue upon completing your MBA and why? How will the Johnson School help you achieve this goal?"  As standard as this question seems, I must admit that I have not put as much time and energy into Cornell as I have Dartmouth.  The interaction I've had with Cornell students has been positive, but this darn GMAT exam has me distracted so to speak.  No worries though, I'll be able to get this essay done this week.  


Here's the kicker though - I HAVE TO STUDY FOR THE GMAT!!!  ::sigh::  All these hiccups in the process.  I will not let them be detrimental though!


4.)  I changed my Tuck interview from 9/24 to 10/26.  I'll be taking off the whole last week of October.  Monday, I'll be on my way up to Dartmouth for my interview.  Tuesday is my interview.  Wednesday morning I'll be on my way home.  Thursday, if accepted to the Cornell Johnson diversity conference, I'll be up there Thursday - Saturday.  


It's a grueling process, but it's gotta be done!

Tuck - Ross - NYU - Relax

Aside from my CR meltdown, I need to look ahead to the events and deadlines occurring over the next couple of days.

Tomorrow is the Tuck Reception at the Yale Club here in NYC.  It's amazing that I still have questions that need to be answered, but these questions are more about processes than admissions.  I emailed one of the Tuck CDS Fellows whom I met when I was up there in March, to see if she would be at the event, but there hasn't been a response yet.  I bet if I emailed her directly she would have responded, but this was through a LinkedIn message.

I got my dry cleaning today and will be looking very dapper if I may say so myself!

Then when I get home I have to do my application for the NYU Diversity conference.  I decided not to apply for the Luxury Retail event @ NYU on the 16th because I should be studying instead, but I have to attend the diversity conference - if I'm accepted.  Like Rashida, I find it amazing that prospectives have to apply to attend special events at these schools geared towards prospectives.

OMG - This is phenomenal haha.. I literally just checked my email and that Tuck student just responded to my email.  I'm going to take a screenshot with the time I received it, in case you don't believe me!

I had to cut off her email address obviously but it's the one RE: Tuck Reception on Thursday.  I think I sent that email at 4am this morning, so true to form Tuckies prevail again!

So anyway... to apply to the conference I just need to fix my resume a little bit and then fill out all of the required GMAT/GPA/Undergrad questions and "junk".  Yeah that'll be embarassing, won't be surprised if I'm rejected from that.

Then on Monday I have to submit a similar application for the Michigan Ross diversity event.  Not sure which one I'll be accepted too but whichever one I am is the one I'll attend.  If both, then I still know which one I will attend.

At the very least - Saturday I will be at my friends lake house relaxing and taking the boat and jet ski's out... then Sunday is a friends birthday.  I think I may have to get both diversity applications completed tomorrow just to be safe.  Lord knows that it would not be who of me to do the Ross application on labor day while I'm recovering.

So on that note... I'm exhausted and going to go to bed before 11:30 (rare occurrence that probably happens 4 times a year)

Night All!