What is your plan B?

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

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

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

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

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

The End Is Near!  RBB

2011 Looks Promising = Horoscope

Today I don't know what prompted me to look at my 2011 horoscope.  It's not something that I do on the regular.  Probably once ever couple of months or so, but when I saw my horoscope for 2011 I was shocked and excited.

Here are some snippets of my 2011 Horoscope: (They're in red)

"If the past few years have been difficult, Taurus, you'll be relieved to know that 2011 is going to be better than previous years. The tension you've experienced will definitely lighten up!"

Well this I hope is certainly true because the tension is from this darn application process!
"While you could make some major changes in your life - such as a new residence or a more challenging job - you'll deal with them."

I hope there are some new changes in my life next year!  Preferably a new residence and a lack of a job!!!

"March and May should be your best months."

This sentence made me smile because March is the month I should find out about any acceptances, so to hear that it's slated to be one of the "best" months is promising!  Then... May is right around when I should be writing a phat deposit check!  Not that writing a couple thousand dollar check is always fun, but considering the circumstances, I'd rather be writing a check that month than not writing one.

"New friends will appear - so you'll have a strong support system. Watch for new potential friends in July and September."

HHmm.. July..September... NEW FRIENDS?  I mean if I start business school I'll definitely be meeting a lot of new people who will hopefully become my friends!!!!!!

So with those snippets it's clear that someone thinks 2011 will go in my favor.  Now what I need to do is ensure that I do everything correct up until December 31st to position myself in such a way that 2011 DOES go in my favor!  In order to do that, I must be going to sleep now so I'm not exhausted tomorrow.  I have some things to vent about tomorrow too!  ::sigh:: work...

Business School Acceptances and Rejections

From looking at my blog analytics, I'm seeing a lot of people googling things like "business school acceptance call" or "accepted to Columbia business school", so I gather that schools are beginning to notify the students who applied for early decisions.

I believe the official deadlines for notifications are next week, but from what I've heard the phone calls to accepted students can start going out a week to two weeks prior.  So... this is the week for some people!  I know that I would be a nervous wreck.  Even more nervous than pressing "Get Score" at the end of the GMAT exam.  As I think about that week in March when I should hear back from all of my schools, my palms start to sweat.  I'm going to be a HOT nervous wreck that week - trust that!