School

11Mar08

I’ve got a plan. I haven’t written anything resembling a blog since high school, so what I’m going to do is start simple. Just churn out content. Tell enough of my story, lay out my ideas in no particular order, and eventually stop using the first person so much.

So. Business School. For the sake of historical record (and in the likely event that I add this blog to one of those fancy business school internet communities), here’s what I did in the fall of 2007: I became disenchanted with my job, met a really cool Wharton student, and decided to give b school a shot. I had kicked around the idea for a long time, often in the context of things I would never do, like fight a gorilla or vote republican. But my new friend from Wharton was a former DNC apparatchik with no background in finance. So much for my prejudices.

Anyway, I made the decision to apply in November. I realize now that most b school applicants take a much longer time to prepare, that not applying in R1 is essentially evidence that you are disorganized or can’t find recommendation providers or that you bombed the GMAT and need another chance. But I didn’t know that then. I studied for about a week, took the GMAT, scored in the 96th percentile, and started my applications. There is an important step missing here: when did I research schools? I didn’t really. I read a few books, checked out websites and magazines, but I missed out on the crucial step of talking to people. I didn’t make the rounds with business contacts, family friends, and alumni until after I submitted my apps.

You’re probably thinking I’m an idiot. Man, I feel like one.

So, with no framework for what an application is supposed to look like, or what admissions personnel want to see, or how the process really works, I applied to Stanford, NYU, Columbia, and UVA. All told, I threw a lot of money at this thing and am unlikely to get any ROI.

Stanford is my top choice, by the way. Sunny Palo Alto. Winter has dragged on forever here in New York and after almost 7 years in the city I’m very much ready for more temperate climes. From what I can tell on various forums, Stanford R2 invites have not finished going out. That said, there’s only about a week or two left where, within reason, a candidate can be interviewed and considered before decisions are mailed out in April.

My chances are not good but then again I might as well be hopeful while it’s an option.

ps for anyone who’s curious: I know I bombed my NYU app and I do not expect to hear from them at all. Columbia is rolling admissions. I submitted 2 weeks ago, so there’s roughly 10 weeks left until I get a decision. UVA I submitted R3, so that’s essentially on the same schedule as Columbia at this point.

pps I’ll talk about my professional interests in another post. I promise.

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Tags: business school, columbia, ego, NYU, stanford, UVA, wharton