MBA on the Horizon

Despite my planned break from MBA application activity until I return from my lovely beach vacation, I have been reading blogs, checking school websites, and assembling my to-do list and excel file of deadlines, essays, and other things I need to keep straight between 6 different schools.

Anyway, all that to say I dug up a blog post by a current Wharton student during her application process that reminded me that we all share the same feelings of self-doubt from time to time. You can read it for yourself here: http://thembasaga.blogspot.com/2006/08/b-school-essays-what-if-im-just-mere.html

It felt great to read that. Throughout my organizational efforts, I have been mulling over my essays and the complete picture of myself I want to portray. Some days, I think of wonderful anecdotes and compelling stories to answer this essay prompt or that interview question. Other days, I wonder how my lazy sloth of a self has managed to claw my way into my current position of even considering applying to the elite set of schools.

I'm sure I'll be able to come up with something, put together a plan, and portray myself as well as possible with the work that I plan to put into my essays. But in the meantime, it helps to remember that other people feel inadequate sometimes, too, even the ones who got into Wharton, Kellogg, and Booth (continue reading that blog).

Posted in: essays on Sunday, June 14, 2009 at at 8:38 PM 0 comments Links to this post    

I realized this morning that the first deadline - Wharton - is coming up on October 1st. That's less than four months away! I think that after planning and researching and dreaming for the past five or six years, the fact that I could potentially be starting school in just a little more than a year is still hard for me to believe.

In about two weeks, I'm going on a wonderful beach vacation with my step-sisters for a week. Our big plans are to drink and lay on the beach/by the pool. After that, it's full speed ahead with applications.

I want to give myself plenty of time to devote appropriate energy to each essay - planning, writing, editing by others, editing by me.

I will also need to tell my boss a) that I'm applying to school and b) that I'll want her recommendation. Anyone have any advice on that? Lastly, I'll need to figure out who my other recommender(s) should be. I have ideas for people who would work - other colleagues/management, individuals from my extracurricular activities, but no one really stands out as the clear other person.

We'll see. In the time before I leave on my trip, I'm easing myself back into the MBA admissions world. I did ease out a bit after the GMAT when I had to return to regular life, but now that I'm back to normal, it's time to get back on it. I'm getting back to updating this - clearly - putting together files on the shortlisted schools, and starting to put together my rough ideas for what I want to convey through essays.

So, here goes. I know that this whole thing is a process, and I should enjoy this part of the ride, too. Quite a bit of it will be reflection and self-examination, which will be a good exercise to go through. I also need to make sure to enjoy my family and friends, since theoretically, this will be my last real summer here.

Here's to the rest of my life...

Posted in: essays, recommendations on Thursday, June 04, 2009 at at 8:53 PM 1 comments Links to this post