MBA on the Horizon

I went rollerblading yesterday, which is both my favorite way to exercise and one of the best times for me to think about things.

Yesterday my thinking revolved around my schedule - insane - for the next several months. It crossed my mind to push my GMAT studying (again!!) until January when life has calmed down, but let's be honest - the only reason things look calm in January is that it's 4 months away, and I haven't made plans out that far yet. Not to worry, by that point I'm sure I'll have planned that time out too.

Moral of the story? I will always have way too much going on. I have a job that requires frequent travel, and it will always be like that, so my GMAT studying has to fit in. I also think that this is good preparation for business school, ironically enough. I'm remembering how to juggle frantic studying, work pressure, maintaining relationships, and running (growing!) a club. It's fun, and scary, and intimidating, and exhausting, and SO exciting.

And people wonder why I'm purposefully single...I would be a terrible girlfriend right about now!

Posted in: GMAT, time management on Monday, September 15, 2008 at at 7:37 AM 2 comments Links to this post    

My "wedding season" this year got off to a late start. Usually it seems like my weekends are a steady flow of weddings/wedding related activites through the summer, but this year all the fun didn't start until today. Today one of my first friends at work is getting married, immediately followed by another next weekend and yet another in a few months.

The wedding today is exciting (as all weddings should be) but this one is a little strange for me. When this particular friend and I started at our current place of employment (same training class), we were similar in many ways - one of which was our general feeling towards career and men. That feeling was that marriage would come eventually with the right guy, but we're not tripping over ourselves to find it. Meanwhile, on the work side of things, we were hard at work towards advancing our careers...and didn't want a relationship to get in the way.

You know the story. Then she met THIS guy, and things changed, now she's moving to where he lives (which works out well for her job, don't get me wrong) but her fire for success in her career is somewhat tempered, and generally had a disclaimer involving what works for the soon-to-be hubby.

I'm not saying this is a bad thing, far from it - a good relationship is precious, and I'm unbelievably happy for her. But I can't help but wonder if I'm going to be like that...meet a guy, and suddenly put subjectivities on the ends of my career/school aspirations. Maybe, and maybe that would be good for me. I'd like to think not, but time will tell, I suppose.

Posted in: wedding on Saturday, September 13, 2008 at at 7:30 AM 0 comments Links to this post    

I have been reading other blogs and such lately for advice on asking for recommendations, specifically when the target is my boss who is unaware of my plans. As I was reading and picturing the conversation in my head, I started to get butterflies in my stomach as I realized that I am really jumping into this crazy dream of mine. I'm going to effectively tell my boss that I am leaving (hopefully) in about a year, although I suppose on the bright side she'll have a year to replace me and I'm not going to a competitor. My conundrum at this point is whether to give her the heads up early (as we are fairly close and she is always saying that she can't help us further our careers if we don't tell her our plans) or to wait until summer when I actually need the recommendation and shock her. (My industry isn't exactly one that churns out the MBA applicants, so shock really is the appropriate word there.) I'm thinking that if she is on board, she might help me position myself well as far as what I work on over the next year or so. Hm...

I've also been reading the essay questions from the different schools, and some of them make me want to go out and cram in a few more achievements so I have more to write about. I realize that it doesn't work like that at all and that I'll position my apps based on who I am, what I've done and where I'm going...but the urge remains to go start a non-profit and save the world or something.

No time for start-ups, back to studying for the GMAT...

Posted in: GMAT, recommendations on Tuesday, September 09, 2008 at at 10:52 PM 0 comments Links to this post    

I think I need to stop (obsessively) reading the articles about the MBA applications skyrocketing, MBA grad salaries dropping...you know the ones I mean.

I am of the opinion that either the top schools make sense for a person or they do not. The desire and need and fit of these schools don't make sense to everyone, as evidenced by an earlier post of mine about safe schools.

As a result of said articles, I have been considering applying to some lower ranked schools as well in hopes of some scholarship help. But if I do get into one of the top schools, is it worth a few $$ to forgo my dream? And if I get into a lower school, even get a scholarship, will I really take that and give up the chance to get some feedback and reapply for my dream the following year?

I don't think so...but when I'm looking at number in the $100k+ range, I'd like to know for sure. I do think that the key is to make sure that I have all of the information, which I have recently realized means researching the other schools too. How can I make such a huge life decision without looking into every possible option? It's what I do in my professional life...time to start running my MBA endeavors a little more like I run my professional life.

Posted in: MBA on Wednesday, September 03, 2008 at at 9:34 PM 0 comments Links to this post    

As I may or may not have mentioned in the past, I am very involved with a club called Rotaract (similar to Rotary but for the 20-something crowd) - we focus on community service, professional development, and social activities. We put on two big fundraising benefits per year, and we've been doing the same ones for years. I'm actually the president of the club, and this year I pushed to change it up and try a new event (we didn't have the best experience with last year's beneficiary).

We did decide to change it up, and were getting a bit concerned as we have been trying to get sponsors for an aspect of it to no avail. Then, out of nowhere, we got three today. Three! Plus we found someone to donate some other things as well! I can't take the credit though, there are two amazing fundraising chairs on my board who are doing an amazing job, not to mention the rest of the board who is knocking the cover off the ball as well.

It's amazing how life works like that. I had this vision of my year as president fading off into oblivion as "the girl who decided to put on that bad event"...and I'm feeling a little better now. It also makes me want to convince everyone I've ever met to come to the event to make sure it's successful from an attendance perspective as well, but easy girl...one step at a time.

Posted in: community service, event, fundraising, sponsor on Tuesday, September 02, 2008 at at 10:36 PM 2 comments Links to this post    

It's official. I gave myself the month of August for summer fun and relaxation, and I'm officially going to begin studying for the GMAT starting tomorrow. I'm now working on putting together a study plan, but I don't think that I'll put the whole thing together just yet because I need to take a few practice tests first and see where I need to focus. I have several books already, and plan on working my way through them, ending with the OG's.

In other news, I am going to try something else. I'm thinking that disciplining myself in one area (studying) will help me discipline myself in other areas. One of my personal goals is to get back in good shape and correct my eating habits. I'm going to start my healthy eating and exercising regimen tomorrow as well. I'm not going to be ridiculous about it, just exercising a few times per week and eating well.

One more disciplined effort that I need to embark upon this month...grad school is a little pricey. Ok, it's a lot pricey. And while I have no illusions that I will save enough money in the next couple of years to pay for the whole thing, I would like to try to save enough money to pay for my living expenses while I'm there (I would like to avoid financing things like my groceries and rent). I can do it, I know very well how to live on a budget, it's just a matter of doing it.

So, tomorrow it is. Ironically, I won't actually be studying for very long tomorrow (Tuesday nights are Rotaract night and being that I run the meetings, I can't exactly skip it) but I will try to get at least a practice test in. It's a milestone, really. Here goes...

Posted in: budget, business school, discipline, exercise, GMAT, health on Monday, September 01, 2008 at at 1:32 PM 3 comments Links to this post