Preparing for Business School

Okay Okay Okay I'll write another blog post!  hahah it's funny that the people who get "mad" at me and tell me to write another blog post are the folks who I talk to all day every day either via gchat or text message.  I feel like to those people I'm reiterating things that I write here.  To combat my assumed redundancy I honestly had to take a step back and remember where I was this time last year.  About this time last year I scheduled my first GMAT exam.  So I need to remind myself how I've come full circle.

The reason for my apparent absence isn't because I don't feel the need to blog anymore but I guess it's because before there were specific processes that I could blog about.  Whereas now there isn't anything specific in terms of getting IN to a business school.  But what's interesting is that I think back to all of the students whom I spoke with last year and they all said "once you're accepted it doesn't stop."  Of course I didn't believe them nor care to digest what they were saying.  I just wanted to get accepted first and then worry about the rest of the stuff.  I mean what could be more hectic than applying to business school right?

Well let me tell you... things just accelerate and and start going a mile a minute.  You know how when you're applying to school you're just focused on the deadlines.  Well now I'm focused on other things.  Let me back up a bit first...

So Destination Johnson Weekend...  let me just say that this whole business school thing, finally set in and hit me this past weekend.  It was a very humbling and empowering weekend.  I'm glad that I got to meet many of my future classmates - who are all amazing.  Like I stated in my last post, I'm not going to go into detail what all went down at DJ, but just know that we all had a blast and were completely exhausted by the end of it.  I'm not sure how people can go to 2/3/4 admitted students weekends.  They are so draining.

It was interesting texting my friends who were attending ASW's at other schools to get their perspectives.   I had a different experience from the experiences of some of my friends at other ASW's.  I think if you go into an ASW still trying to decide on a particular school, you'll have a completely different experience.  I've had so many conversations with friends about which schools they should attend... but basically tell them all that they will get that ZEN feeling when they're at the school that they are supposed to end up at.    I know it'll work out for them but in the back of my mind I'm glad that I've already been able to invest fully in Johnson since I know I'll be attending.

I will say though that for anyone debating between two/three schools.  Really take a look around at the 1st and 2nd years and ask yourself if in 5 years you'll be able to reach out to them.  If you don't think that the current 1st and 2nd years will respond to you, then how do you think the folks who have been out of school for 10+ years will respond?  During DJ all of the 1st year students ended with "we will be here to help you guys..."  That's very powerful as cliche as that may sound, but hey... it's true.  It's also one of the reasons I wanted a small school.

Another thing I realized is that I need to start preparing for the school year now.  I have about 4 applications that I need to fill out for things that will impact my first year.  There's so much to do... so little time!  OP is around the corner....hopefully CTLS is around the corner... I have to move to Ithaca in July... MBA Math is in the summer...hopefully the P&G brand camp is in the summer... Johnson Math Camp is in the summer... and then school starts!

Oh and also...  the money coming out of one's bank account does not stop after you've been accepted!  Just FYI for those who have depleted bank accounts.  Trust me... it's tough.  I feel like I need to take out a loan just to pay for the stuff leading up to business school.  Unfortunately, I won't be able to quit my job in the next couple of weeks like a lot of my counterparts.  I'm jealous of them!

::sigh::  I'm tired just thinking about it, but it's definitely going to be another fun ride!

Shout out to the Johnson Class of 2013!!!

On Cornell Bus Going To DJ

Hey Hey everyone!  I just wanted to write to let you know that right now I'm on the bus going up to Destination Johnson!  This weekend and next weekend seem to be big weeks for admitted students.  I know that this weekend is Cornell, Chicago, Indiana, Michigan and some others I'm sure.

But right now I'm on the bus and should arrive at Sage hall in about an hour.  I'm sitting in the back of the bus with my new classmates.  ALl of whom I met at the Happy Hour that was organized two weeks ago.  We played cards essentially the whole time on the bus.  It was fun times.  I probably won't be blogging about my experience at DJ just because I A.) Don't feel like it and B.) want to really get to know my classmates without thinking "Oh I can blog about this experience later."  Which seems to happen on occasion.

I will say that I am looking forward to this weekend and cannot wait for it to begin.  I wish everyone well and safe travels if you are traveling to other ASW's.

BEST... oh... feel free to follow me on twitter @ money9111

#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