Done...until next year

Well it's certainly been a while since I posted. Since then, I've decided not to rush an application into Columbia before their deadline, as I didn't think I could really put something of quality together given the time constraints and my work commitments. So, I've decided to call it a day and start looking ahead to the next cycle of admissions. My boss has continued to be great and completely supportive, and we are in the process of finding a new 1-year long project I can take on when my current job's rotation ends this July.

I've certainly learned a lot from the process this year and am certain I can use my experience to prepare better apps next year. I'll also be re-thinking school choice for this next attempt. I'll probably only post from time to time until the next app season heats up, since without MBA admissions my life can get a bit dull to read about. (Sample post: "Hey, I went to work again today, then came home, and will probably go back to work tomorrow.")

A big Thank You to all my fellow applicants and bloggers out there who have commented on my blog and lent their support. For those of you who were accepted in R1 - congrats! and good luck as you prepare for class this fall, and for those waiting for R2 decisions I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I'm still here

Just a quick post with some updates. As you can see from my sidebar, my applications did not go nearly as well as I had hoped. I've been spending the past few weeks thinking about options, and while there are some interesting opportunities in my firm's consulting practice that I could get into, I don't think I'm quite ready to give up on this year's application cycle. Columbia was my fourth choice and, while it's certainly late in the game, I'm pretty sure I can put together a good application by their deadline. I'll have to give it some thought over the weekend and talk to some people early next week to decide whether to give this year one last shot, or just hold off and try again for the class of 2011.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to everyone out there! I'm taking a bit of a break, but will be back to posting in January.

...and it's over

Dear Mike,

Thank you for your interest in Chicago GSB...Unfortunately we are not able to offer you admission into the Class of 2010...etc etc etc.

The deadline is near...

Well I was not one of the lucky ones to get a call from Chicago Adcom yesterday, so I got to have one last fitful night waiting to learn my fate. I'm not giving up hope yet, since they were only making calls for about 4 hours yesterday, but my anxiety is pretty high now as the minutes tick away to the 9am CST decision release. I'll be sure to let you all know how this turns out...

Holy flame war, Batman!

Things are getting a little testy over at the BusinessWeek forums. See the flame war that has erupted on the HBS thread. People need to just chill out. Sure, none of us enjoy the anxiety that goes along with waiting, or the fear and disappointment that comes along with not yet having received interview invites. But this is just a little bit childish (and if the people involved were truly interviewed by HBS, perhaps I'm better off not having them as classmates).

Good luck to everyone waiting for a decision from Chicago. Rumors are swirling that calls may start today for admitted students, even though Rose said in her chat last week that calls are only likely to start tomorrow, and even then that some admitted students may not get called until after the Wednesday morning decision release.

Is that large woman starting to sing?

Throughout the application process, I have tried to remain optimistic. Maybe because of my auditing background (the virtue of skepticism was indoctrinated into us from Day 1) it hasn't always been easy. But now, I am starting to seriously think that my chances at HBS are just about nil. The HBS Admissions Blog says that they're just about done sending interview invites for R1, with "maybe a handful" left. I have not received one. Likewise I haven't heard from Stanford yet and with the new year rapidly approaching I'm starting to think my chances there are pretty slim. All of this makes me even more nervous about the Chicago decision next week, since it looks to be the only school I have a shot at in R1. I'm still pretty confident about my chances - I re-read my application last night and it made me feel good. But nervous because a ding from Chicago would almost certainly mean complete lack of success in R1, with no other applications in the pipeline, and therefore lack of success for fall 2008 admission.

Speaking to my boss the other day, I mentioned how nervous I was about the upcoming decision and he said he had learned in life to worry about the things you can control, and to let the things you can't control roll off like water down a duck's back. He quickly added it's easier said than done. It is certainly good advice, but I'm having trouble putting the decision out of my mind.

Thank God it's only 5 days until the decision - I'm very glad I won't have to live with the uncertainty through the holidays.