Stop posting your admit calls!!

The draining wait, the incessant posts in the forums by admits who received calls from Chicago have practically killed all the excitement in me. The nail in coffin was the post by some Singapore-based guy(Hama, Forrest - is that you??) who got the call a few minutes ago from Esther Choy.

This might very well be the end. Now, I'll have to pass the whole damn day to find out the possibly ugly news. Sucks!

Running on Chicago time

34h:43m:11s to go..

As an aside, here is an interesting pic. Guess the name of the movie.

Plan B

With the Chicago decision less than two weeks away, now would be a good time to prepare myself for the worst. What if no Chicago? I see two options

(1) Put in one more year of face-time at my current job & re-apply next year to a wider gamut of schools.

(2) Look for a new job; more in-line with my post-MBA career interest. Analyst level position dealing with financial modeling/risk management/quantitative analysis n such. In this case, re-apply after at least two yrs in new job.

Option (1) is status-quo. Need not move my ass one bit. Just continue the same routine.

Pluses
* Assured great recommendation from boss. Yeah, my boss loves me and is totally with me on this MBA game ;) Also, if I should decide to give INSEAD a try, my boss can write my recommendation in french :)

* The atypical industry (from bschool perspective) that I am in. Bschools dig applicants with non-traditional work experience (I think so, yes?) and I can play up my current experience from this angle.

* Possibility of a promotion later this year.

Minuses
* Total irrelevance to post-MBA goal.

* Lack of cranial indulgence. :(

I have more but I don't want to get fired just as yet :P

Option (2) is more interesting and is one of the reasons I applied only to a few schools. (The other reason, of course, is that I'm plain lazy. But I guess you already know that from the frequency of my blog update) If things don't work out this time around, I can afford to wait longer than to comprise on quality of the school I will attend. Age is on my side.

This option, however, is more difficult to execute. The kind of companies I'm interested in are very elitist and far more risk-averse in their candidates selection than bschools are. Not sure how successful I'll be.

Denied...

...Says who? Columbia. Was hoping for atleast an interview invite.

I did a post-ding review of my application. Could see two potential problems

(1) Not much school specific detail packed in my essay 1 (Don't know how I missed something this basic :-( )
(2) My answer to 'What are you most passionate about in life ?' feels a little immature when I read it now.

Theory of Inflated Expectations*

When you start out on the application process, you are quite motivated but realistic at the same time. You acknowledge the vagaries of the process, the uncertainty of get admitted etc.

Then, you start on your essays and realize you have nothing to write about. You never saved the world, nor did your boss heap you with three promotions in two years. Reality is further reinforced.

You struggle for weeks and finally you have something that has a slight semblance of a convincing story. Finally, you kinda figure out the game. Now you are on a flow. Applying is no more as painful and you quickly end up sending applications to 3-4 schools. You are moderately hopeful and and develop a little confidence in yourself. Still, you are firmly grounded in reality. You acknowledge the possibility of rough jolts ahead and are mentally prepared for the worst. You start forming backup plans in your mind to ease the blow should the worst happen.

Then you get invited for an interview. Immediately, reality is thrown out the window. You feel special although a good 60% of the applicants received the same. This invite is like the first mini-success in the whole 3/4 months application period and as a result you ascribe more significance than you rationally should. Your friends are in awe. "Friends" you haven't spoken to in years call unannounced! People start asking for advice, application strategies, websites/books to refer etc. Parents are happy. You are THE STAR.

An 'inflated expectation' of you to deliver has set in - both from yourself and from others.

Now, you want that 'bschool admit' real bad. A failure from this point on will happen in a very wide public view. A lot of people are now aware that you've made some strides. You've climbed a little too high that 'the fall' is gonna hurt. And real bad at that.

* - This theory is applicable only in certain social circles.

Waitlisted at NYU

Although, I'm a little upset, I pretty much expected this. NYU appears to have been waitlisting hordes of R1 applicants and my essays to NYU were mediocre(being my first bschool application and all). It'll be interesting now to see what Columbia will decide on my application. Columbia essays, in my view, were pretty much same level as Chicago.

NYU encourages waitlisted applicants to send supplemental materials to strengthen their case. And given the high number of waitlisted applicants, I can't imagine how they handle the immense volume of letters they'll be receiving almost everyday. So, whatever I decide to send has to be quite impacting. An average "I so love NYU.." letter will not cut it. Will think about it after finishing my Chicago interview which I've scheduled for Monday.

Chicago Invite!

Finally, after weeks of restless waiting, some news in the right direction - Invited to interview at UChicago!! This lifts a huge stress off me. I was beginning to doubt the strength of my candidacy as the deadline for receiving invites neared.

However, New York continues to remain as silent as ever. It's been ages since both my NYU & Columbia applications went complete. Still no word. I hope I receive as pleasant a surprise from the two schools as I received with Chicago. Fingers crossed.

I re-read my application essays to all the three schools today. I could see a marked difference between my Chicago essays and the rest. (Chicago was my last application and hence it is obviously expected to be better than the previous ones. But the difference I'm talking about here is more significant than just a result of the natural learning curve in any process). Or, it's just me trying to justify the Chicago invite. Any psychology majors out there?!

I'll be able to lend more insight into this once I know the other schools' decisions.

MBA Application - Phase 2

After what is looking more and more to be a disastrous phase 1(NYU/Col/Chi), I'm deciding on my next round of applications - LBS & IESE.

Any material that has to be sent via post is a royal pain. IESE requires photographs & transcripts; LBS - recommendations & transcripts. Cost involved in sending official GMAT scores through ETS is another pain - both LBS and IESE need it. I wonder why these universities can't go the top U.S schools way - self reported transcripts/self-reported GMAT score/online recommendations.

Come to think of it, NYU needed posted transcripts and official GMAT score as well. Is it that top schools are more trusting of their applicants than the schools in the next level :P

NYU application sent!

Finally! I've managed to let go of one of my applications. Submitted barely hours before the round 1 deadline after an all-nighter on wednesday night. I re-read my essays again today. Bad mistake. I don't feel very good about my essay 1. Anyways, nothing much can be done now except to cross fingers and pray. Let's see. Now on to Chicago and LBS applications. Also, moved IESE application to Jan 16 deadline.

By the way, a friend of mine asked me minutes ago why I had titled my blog "Dateless Dairy" and only then did I notice that glaring error that has been existent like forever! Of course, I meant to title it Dateless Diary!! Changed it now. I feel so stupid.

Chicago - Bumped to R2

Pretty pissed at myself. I clearly underestimated the time essays take. I had been mulling over idea after idea for each essay in my head without ever writing a single word. A week and a half ago, when I decided it was time to put the thoughts into words, my inadequacy in the english language was glaring! Essays were far from anything worth submitting. Only the "Why MBA" essay, which I had worked on for 3 weeks, was to my satisfaction. I stayed up until 3 a.m. Monday night to see how far I was able to go with the Chicago essays. Couldn't even finish essay 2 to my satisfaction.

While, I've heard and read the "R1/R2 doesn't make much difference" sermons a thousand times, I'm currently overcome by a bad feeling that I may just have screwed up my already slim chances further more.