Take Two Bskool

Still Here!

2006-09-16T06:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry, everyone, for not posting over the last two months. I'm about to land a big promo at work and I've been working my tail off. I'm also trying to finish up my danged Stats class... 3 weeks left.

One of the people that I manage is applying this year. I went over to his office to chat about a project, and he had the Kellogg site up on his computer. He still hasn't taken the GMAT, though... I told him to get as close to a 700 as possible and make sure that quant score is 80 or better. He seems pretty nervous... poor guy. However, I like seeing my team members shoot for the stars... hopefully he slays the GMAT and gets into one of his target schools!

Better post coming soon. I really promise this time!

Father Time

2006-08-07T17:36:00.000-07:00

I actually saw him with my own two eyes! It was just this weekend.... a white-bearded old'man in boots, black pants and a scraggly old jacket, walking slowly with a crooked cane 'cross Hole 3 at Lincoln Park Golf Course in San Francisco.

Strangely, he reminded me of my status in the MBA blogging community, as I arrived back from Italy to see that a whole new crop of MBA bloggers has emerged! This is a good thing.

More to come soon, I promise. For now I have to log off the blog.

Candidacy on Ice

2006-06-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

I have not posted for quite some time. I write today to let my readers know that I have shelved my B-School candidacy for the 2006 intake. Instead, I will apply for the 2007 application intake.

I do not make this choice lightly. I came to a decision after much reflection, finally choosing to focus on other priorities -- personal, professional and financial -- for the next 12 months. Two years of application seasons has taken a toll on me. I look forward with great pleasure to a fall and winter season free of application pressures.

In the meantime, I continue to focus on improving my candidacy on several fronts, as I've outlined in previous posts. I will definitely post here periodically regarding my progress.

That's it for now! Pupstar will be cold-kickin' it in Italy as of July 8. I'll return with fresh posts in August.

Ciao!

Mistake

2006-05-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

I postponed my vacation and I am at work this week. Why, oh why, did I do this?

It's relative, man. It's all relative.

2006-05-14T17:34:00.000-07:00

Hola, blogger friends! Long time no blog. Pupstar is sorry.

Today is my first installment of "Dinged? Who Cares? Let's Party, Man!" These periodic posts are intended as a shameless rebuttal to those blogging about their glorious admissions options. Well, my friends... while you all buckle down for two years in HELL, Pupstar's gonna be living it up.... until August, that is. ;)

Following is Installment I of "Dinged? Who Cares? Let's Party, Man!"

The Benefits of Being a Ding-Dong:

-- Budget, budget, budget. Extra cash saved for grad school dollars is now allocated to luxuries like a new iPod Nano (that's right!), insurance and gas for my first ever vehicle in SF (six years with no car makes one grumpy dude), and two-week July trip to Italy (Come stai?!?!)
-- Blogosphere status as 'fifth-year senior.' It's rare air up here my friends. The freshman chicks love me. I know all the 'cool' bloggers. I get invited to the 'best' blogger parties. And... I can mock the cute newbie bloggers who are struggling with GMAT prep. How precious! ;) (only kidding here, folks)

Vacation for the Mind

2006-04-29T17:58:00.000-07:00

Never before have I compared blog posting to essay writing, yet I am compelled to do so today. On more than one occasion over the last two weeks, I have hovered above my laptop, banging out a sentence, deleting it, and banging out another. Ah, screw it, I think. I’ll post later.

The last month has been a mishmash of activity. Work continues to challenge my ability to maintain a positive attitude. A major problem is that my rate of learning has slowed tremendously over the last few years. Add in the usual office politics, the daily drudgery of the rat race and a lack of real vacation, and KAZAM!: you get one burnt-out dude.

Regarding vacation, I used most of my prior vacation time to study for the GMAT or write essays. Fortunately, I took action to rectify this. I requested and was granted the entire week of May 15 as vacation. I have no plans to travel. Instead, I will sleep in, hit the gym and peruse life in San Francisco for the non 9-5 crowd. By Friday of that week, I anticipate that I will be bored to tears. And thus, this will be a TRUE vacation for the mind.

On the b-school application readiness front, I am still enrolled in Stats. Things are progressing swimmingly -- I took the course as a college freshman, so much of the material is familiar. I also plan to complete an Accounting course this summer, thus adding (I hope) two A's in quantitative courses to my academic profile.

Votes for Sale: Best of Blogging

2006-04-12T08:51:00.000-07:00

That's right, kids. My Clear Admit "Best of Blogging" vote is for sale. I accept cash, check and barter.

*Chortle* *Titter* Hardy har har! Heh heh. Ahem. I'll be here all night, folks!

Ok, seriously -- I did complete and turn in my ballot yesterday. The competition was THICK. Though several bloggers have recently posted insightful application tips and tactics post-acceptance, there was a special place in my heart for those bloggers that gave a relatively candid play-by-play throughout the admissions process. Naturally, no blogger (myself included) revealed their entire hand of cards prior to final admissions decisions, but several of you were quite forthcoming and honest about yourselves in your pre-acceptance (or pre-denial) blog posts -- an approach that I consider quite admirable.

Finally, I do have one update to share about myself in my ongoing quest for MBA admission. I have enrolled in a Statistics class. I have a slightly lower quant score on my GMAT (73%), a respectable but not brag-worthy GPA (3.22), so a quant class or two on my transcript won't hurt me as I head into this fall's admissions process.

ENTER the PUPSTAR

2006-04-10T12:15:00.000-07:00

That's right, Pupstar is back! Did you miss me?

Rested? Check.
Resilient? Check.
Determined? Check.
Deluded? Possibly.
Inspiring? Time will tell.

My MBA blogging hiatus has been brief but sweet. Although I set aside the last few weekends to veg on the couch and catch up on sleep, I also spent considerable time mapping out a plan for my final attempt at business school admission. This year's applications ended in disaster, but I remain very confident about my chances to attend a top 10-15 institution. Future posts will outline a sampling of the multiple steps I am taking to strengthen and improve my candidacy in the next 4-5 months.

Like I tell my friends, and anyone who will listen: anything worth having is worth three attempts at attaining. Just ask my girlfriend how much convincing it took her to date me ;)

The Stages of Post-Traumatic Rejection Response

2006-03-19T16:00:00.000-08:00

Stage One: sorrow, defeat, shock.

Stage Two: drinking.

Stage Three: more drinking.

Stage Four: hangover.

Stage Five: dread for possible third attempt; research into upcoming R3 deadlines.

Stage Six: tentative decision to move forward with third and final attempt for R1 2006.

Stage Seven: realization: sh*t, only four months left until schools post essay questions.

Well, friends, I wish my second journey through MBA apps had ended in a redemptive and glorious victory over the nation's elite business schools. Such is not the reality. The cloud of last week's rejection letters has lingered over my weekend. My decision to move forward with a third attempt is based on the following:

I feel that my candidacy was strong (Haas interview invitations represented the top 20% of the school's 2700 applications -- not a bad achievement.)
I didn't apply to enough schools and should have included schools lower part of the top 25 that would still have positioned my to achieve my goals;
I knew that my applications had several small weaknesses that likely had an aggregated effect on my decision, i.e. below avg. undergrad GPA at state school; 'avg.' overall GMAT score; less than 80% Q score; a couple of relevant points that my essays should have made/clarified; 'avg.' extracurriculars; perhaps not clear proof of desire to really do BM/CPG, i.e. could have joined/gotten involved with certain marketing/BM professional organizations.

I am confident that I can make the appropriate steps (starting tomorrow) to address these weak areas. I am not concerned about possible delay of my longer-term goals... I turn 28 this June and I have another 30 years to pursue those goals. For many reasons, mostly professional, but some very personal, securing entry into a top-tier MBA program is a very important goal for me.

I know that the year ahead will be a very difficult one, and that I risk an identical outcome. However, if I don't give this process one more attempt, I know that I will always regret not having tried. If the process does not work out, I can move forward knowing that I gave it my absolute best shot.

PAR FOR COURSE

2006-03-17T15:59:00.000-08:00

dinged at haas.

have no idea what went wrong w/ my apps this year.

A dose of humility

2006-03-17T08:47:00.000-08:00

More than anything, the rollercoaster ride of the last two weeks has been a dose of humility. Confident by nature, and a veteran of a prior application season, I was definitely surprised by the incoming rejection letters. I definitely anticipated more choices at this stage of the process, and there is a very real possibility that my only choice will be to apply again, if Haas doesn't come through. (C'mon, Haas, make sure you accept me! Would it help if I ditched old loyalties and cheered for Cal in the NCAA Tourney?)

A friend yesterday helped me realize that I am indeed NOT 'trapped,' and that life and my career are what I make of each. This, along with a good night's rest, has helped me to bounce out of my funk. Last night I made a tentative timeline for a possible third and final attempt to enroll in a top-tier MBA program. Barring any MBA dreams ever coming to fruition, I will begin to execute on a major longer-term goal and skip the middle step of an MBA and several years at a CPG.

That's it for now. Thanks again for all your comments and support over the last couple of weeks!

What a day

2006-03-16T16:39:00.000-08:00

1 ding, 2 hours of sleep and 3 times the workload! I'm exhausted. The reality of this morning's ding dong has set in. I wonder if the R2 timing of my application impacted the competitiveness of my candidacy?

I wanted to clarify a comment in my earlier post -- some folks at work know about my MBA aspirations, but they are peer-level, trusted friends as well as my two recommenders. I think my 'cat out of the bag' comment painted a more bleak picture. Rather, I simply wasn't looking forward to swallowing my pride and letting friends know that ding #2 had arrived.

Wow, so I did NOT expect to be in quite this position at this point in the game, but I still feel great about Haas, a program that I consider an excellent fit. Thanks to everyone for your encouraging comments... I hope to have some good news to share with you all soon.

P.S. Brownoski -- I'm gonna sweep your March Madness pool ;)

Zero for Two

2006-03-16T06:44:00.000-08:00

Dinged at Wharton. Not sure where to go from here. Hoping Haas comes through in next couple of days. Monday is D-day, but could hear back before.

Pretty bummed out. It's a competitive year... not sure how I could have improved my Wharton app except better GPA and a slightly higher GMAT. Makes me wonder who I'm competing against here... I mean, I thought I was competing against humans... people that are more or less accomplished leaders.

In any case, this is gonna suck at work as the cat's out of the bag on my MBA apps. Gonna get dozens of questions today.

This really sucks.

"Calm" before Wharton Storm

2006-03-15T12:15:00.000-08:00

"Calm" is the last adjective in the English language that could even remotely describe my current state. Haas decisions are coming out anytime before or on Monday, and Wharton decisions begin to be released tomorrow morning.

I never knew that I could achieve this level of anxiety. I wish it was happy hour.

Submitting follow-up materials

2006-03-13T23:07:00.001-08:00

Although each institution has just 2-3 days left to review my candidacy, I've decided to submit follow-up materials to both Haas and Wharton. To demonstrate my intellectual prowess, I will send:

video documentary of Pupstar installing his first Linksys Wireless G broadband router on March 13, 2006;
Pupstar's seven different 2006 March Madness brackets.

To stretch the adcom's heartstrings to the maximum distance, the package also includes:

a circa 1983 picture of Pupstar and his twin brother (seriously adorable, folks);
Pupstar's third grade report card, in which the teacher refers to Pupstar as 'exceptionally talented, and only occasionally pisses himself;'
Pupstar's 1996 tax returns... which could make anyone weep.

Haas Interview & Super Saturday Recap

2006-03-12T09:05:00.000-08:00

I had my Haas interview -- also see the Wiki post -- yesterday during the school's 'Super Saturday' event for Round 2 applicants. Comprised of the interview, student & career panels, lunch, a tour and welcome/closing remarks by the admissions directors, the event was a 6 hour affair. Fortunately, my interview took place during the first two hours of the day, allowing me to enjoy the rest of the event free of pre-interview nerves.

A first year student conducted my interview. After some initial chit-chat, we got down to business. Her questions ran like this:

1. Walk me through your resume.

2. The admissions committee told me to ask you this: Why have your career goals changed? (I am a Haas reapplicant)

3. Discuss your leadership style. How do you lead?

4. Discuss a time when you were part of a group of peers and you failed to meet your objective. How did you deal with this?

5. What is it about Haas, specifically, that makes you want to attend this program?

6. If you are admitted to Haas, what attributes will you bring to the program? How will you contribute?

7. Do you have any questions for me?

Overall, I think this was my strongest interview of the application season. Prior to my interview, I reminded myself to be confident, but modest, and to take more time when responding to questions (both from the perpspective of taking a moment to choose an answer and from the perspective of speaking at a slightly slower pace.) The most challenging question was #4 -- I struggled to recall a good example, but came up with a fairly general example that I think sufficed.

Number 2 was somewhat of a surprise, given that I explained this change in my application (and that this was a blind interview). I assumed that the adcom wanted to ensure my interview response was consistent with my essays, so I kept the response as such, while providing additional detail about the broader 12-month process I had undertaken in determining the post-MBA field that 1.) I was most attracted to/passionate about, and 2.) would ideally leverage my existing experience.

However, I remain slightly worried. Although I've put a tremendous amount of research into my career goals in the last year, speaking with dozens of brand management MBA students/alums, talking to current CPG brand managers, and studying/analyzing the elements of each MBA program that will ideally position me for this career path, I still have a nervous feeling that schools who have seen my my previous applications think I'm this crazy nutter who wanted to do one thing last year and a new thing this year.

After 30 minutes of providing answers, I had 15 minutes to ask my interviewer some questions of my own. This was great, because there were definitely some elements of the Haas program that I wanted to hear more about. Given the program's small size, I asked a several questions and follow-up questions about the process of on-campus recruiting vs. the process of working through the career center to pursue an employer not recruiting on-campus. I also inquired about academics, clubs and I asked my interviewer about her own goals and how she was structuring the Haas program to help her achieve these goals.

In parting, I should add that the depth of the Super Saturday program helped answer a lot of lingering questions I had about the program, especially in regards to career services and recruitment.

On Safety Nets

2006-03-10T15:14:00.000-08:00

I've gotten many questions from friends & family regarding the lack of 'safety net' schools in my target program mix. I briefly touched on the safety school topic in early November, but I never quite explained my target school choices.

Most importantly, I wanted to select target schools that, if accepted to any, I would be absolutely thrilled to attend. Ideally my target mix would have included 4 schools, but my September GMAT date coupled with increased responsibilities at work had me against a tight timeline. I chose Wharton, Haas and Kellogg for the following reasons (among others):

-- general management focus at each school
-- strong track records of post-MBA placement in brand management positions
-- healthy, student-run marketing clubs
-- reputation for accepting and producing bright, motivated and driven professionals
-- my academic focus on marketing would not mean sacrificing a strong base of cross-functional knowledge in core & non-core classes
-- national and international alumni networks (though Haas has strong West Coast reputation, it has a great brand name and many alumns working across the country and world)
-- excellent email, phone and in-person conversations with students from all three schools and a general comfort/fit with each school's cultures

I chose not to include a safety school(s) because I simply cannot justify the the expense of a degree that could possibly fail to position me to achieve my own goals. I learned this lesson the hard way -- there simply wasn't the recruiting at my mid-tier undergraduate institution that my six-figure investment warranted. This lesson was near and dear to my heart when choosing target schools at which I would make an even larger six-figure investment (most of which will be loans) into a graduate institution.

This strategy, of course, is a risky one. Take Two Bskool could easily become Take Three Bskool if my bet doesn't pan out. I'm just that insane. ;) Let's hope Take Two is the final take!

Big Thanks to All -- and Updates

2006-03-07T21:56:00.000-08:00

All -- thanks so much for all of your comments and emails over the last 36 hours. The last two days have been more stressful for me than the entire MBA apps process ever was. The good news is that my girlfriend is doing better and she should be home soon. We are hoping she is allowed to return home from the hospital tomorrow, and if so, I may take a couple of more days off (or do the work from home thing) to keep an eye on her.

As I wrote last night, the Kellogg ding hurt, especially given the rotten timing. I had little time to think on it, though, given the larger circumstances. My girlfriend and I chatted about it a bit today, and we agreed that the reason for my denial is likely something outside of my reasonable scope of control -- something perhaps that I overlooked and that I still would have overlooked if I had to do the application over again; perhaps my essays just failed to resonate with the particular reader(s). Who knows. The good thing is that I now know I won't be attending Kellogg this fall, and in many ways, knowing is better than not.

More good news: I sat down 20 minutes ago to check my email and lo and behold: an invitation to interview at Haas this Saturday! I am very excited at the opportunity and hopeful for my prospects.

I want to thank everyone again for all the thoughtful and supportive comments on my last blog post... reading your thoughts and remarks were tremendously helpful.

The horrible, no good, very bad day

2006-03-06T22:04:00.000-08:00

Today was not a good day. Although everything is fine at present, I spent 12 hours at the emergency room at UCSF, followed by another 3 hours at UCSF's Mt. Zion hosptial, arriving home only a short time ago. My girlfriend, it turns out, had complications from treatment for a stress fracture and had a blood clot in both her leg and lung. It was a very, very emotional day, but I am happy to report that everything is ok with my girlfriend and that she will be fine, although she is still in the hospital at present (at least for a couple of days).

I know that after a day like today, nothing else should matter. Unfortunately, I arrived home to a bitterly crushing denial email from Kellogg. After taking massive lengthts to improve my candidacy and put last year's waitlist & eventual rejection behind me, I don't know how else to describe my reaction except to say I was shocked and upset. The day's events coupled with the rejection email is absolutely and totally overwhelming.

Warm Fuzzy to MBA Bloggers

2006-03-04T11:16:00.000-08:00

I sat down at my laptop this morning to conduct my usual neurotic read-through of all things MBA. First, I checked my own blog and its 'comments' section... replying to most of the comments, or taking a mental note to reply at a later date. Next, I clicked on several MBA blog links listed to the right, leaving my own comments here and there. Following that, I perused Hella's list of updated blogs. Finally (and as Sorebrek would say) I nuzzled 'gainst the dark one's teat: the BusinessWeek boards.

This morning, though, I also updated my own blog with new links from additional MBA blogs that I have taken to reading regularly. As I added each blog, I suddenly realized just how quickly the MBA blogging community has grown, and how much larger the community seems this application season compared to last. I know that those in professional situations similar to mine would agree that this online community is an amazing resource, from both an informational perspective and from a 'mutual support' perspective. Without the presence of the MBA blogging community, I have little doubt that I would be far less informed and far more isolated.

Thus, I send a big *WARM FUZZY* to the MBA blogging community. You all are great, and I appreciate all the comments & support you've given to my own blog and my own MBA ambitions!

Wharton Interview Recap and Philadelphia Experience

2006-03-02T00:46:00.000-08:00

The Flight: My brother was kind enough to drop off my arse for a 7:10 a.m. flight Sunday morning out of beautiful Oakland International, home of Southwest’s Bay Area hub. This airport slightly resembles the drive-up theater of our parents’ yesteryore.

The Arrival: Ah, Philadelphia. I had no idea what to expect. One of my bosses hails from Long Island (he could have a neurotic Seinfeld character modeled after him), and his description of our nation’s former capital was: “definitely a second city… definitely.” I digested his opinion with a grain of salt… I figured the city was probably typical Northeastern: a mish-mash of cultures/peoples, New England architecture and cold winter weather.

I was right about the weather. Temperature upon my arrival at 3:00 p.m. EST was 27 degrees Fahrenheit, but 12 degrees with the wind chill. I checked into my room at Club Quarters on 16^th/Chestnut. Great little part of town, and as I found out later, an area where many Wharton students reside. Lots of restaurants and shopping.

I showered and booked it down to Old City, ‘round 5^th and Chestnut. It was essentially what I expected… I breathed the American history in… then I booked it back to my hotel. It was just too dang cold to be outside for longer than an hour.

The Interview Prep: I called my girlfriend that evening to run through some interview questions. For some reason, I was nervous as crap. I was extraordinarily worried about the points I needed to make, rather than just letting the conversation flow.

Pissed, I got of the phone and conducted a personal pep talk. I went to the mirror and recited over and over again: “You can do it. This is easy. You can do it. This is easy. I can do it. This is easy.” I did some deep breathing. I sat down at my desk. I asked myself, “Pupstar, why do you REALLY want to go to Wharton?” I ignored my previously constructed talking points and answered myself from a common sense perspective. Finally, I was flowing. Of course I knew why I wanted to attend Wharton… after all, wasn’t it little old Pupstar that had done a tremendous amount of research into the school? Wasn’t it me who emailed and called current students and alumni? Wasn’t it me who knew the marketing curriculum inside and out? Wasn’t it big bad Pupstar who knew each of the prominent marketing faculty and what noteworthy research they had conducted?

Damn right it was me. I ran through another 40 minutes of self-practice, then got ready for bed. Still on west coast time, I purchased a movie and stayed up til midnight, even though I had an early 6 a.m. wake time. (The movie was “Just Friends,” not that great, but I do have a tiny crush on Amy Smart).

Campus Visit and Interview: I arrived on campus around 8:30, then attended a Marketing Strategy course for second year students. The case study topic in class was Pfizer and its product Viagra. As you can imagine, the discussion was interupted with multiple stifled and not-so-stifled *chortles* and *giggles* from the students.

Following class, I took a walk around Penn’s campus. It reminded me of Chicago GSB, a campus I visited last year. Overall, I thought the campus was quite nice.

I walked back to Admissions for my Noon interview. The admissions office was a hot box of prospectives & visitors. After 35 minutes of waiting, my interviewer called my name. I wasn’t too nervous, until I arrived in the tiny room from which the interview was to be conducted. The room was SMALL. My interviewer was a very nice and polite second year student that had just secured a brand management job in the bay area. This was perfect… given my focus on BM, I knew that I wouldn’t have to do a tremendous amount of explanation for my career goals.

The questions ran like this:

1. Walk me through your resume, explaining how you got to your current point, and then explain how this ties into your MBA and post-MBA goals;

2. Tell me about something you have done at work that you are particularly proud of;

3. Tell me about a time at work when you had to make a decision without having all of the facts;

4. What would your managers say is your greatest strength;

5. What would your managers say is your greatest weakness, and would you agree with them?

6. Discuss a weak point in your application;

7. Do you have any questions for me?

The conversation lasted about 40 minutes. I started off fine, but for some reason I got extremely nervous during the first portion of my resume walk-through, stuttering over a couple of points and sounding very unconfident in myself. I think it was the small room and just a case of normal nerves. After this initial nervousness, I was able to recover quickly and take control of the conversation and the points I wanted to cover. From then on out, I was essentially on-fire. A bullet train. An MBA force to be reckoned with!

Overall I give myself an A minus grade. I could have framed a couple of responses a bit better, and I should have been less nervous at the beginning... but this was a big new experience for me and I can’t give myself too much crap for having a very brief case of the nerves.

Following the interview, I did the formal campus tour. The facilities are truly exceptional… probably the best I have seen and very comparable to Chicago GSB.

The departure: Right before departing campus, I did a little networking with the other prospectives and met a potential client for my PR agency. Then, I hailed a cab back to my hotel. I changed out of my suit and sought out the nearest bar… which happened to be Ruby Tuesdays. Now, I’ve heard of Ruby Tuesdays, but it is one chain restaurant that I have never been to. Finally, I can mark the Ruby notch on my chain restaurant belt, right next to Chevy’s, Applebees and Olive Garden.

Several cocktails later I was asleep on my plane back to Oakland.

Recovery and Wharton Interview

2006-02-25T22:30:00.000-08:00

Today, a morning of recovery was followed by an afternoon of interview preparation. This groggy recovery period was mandatory following last night's gathering of Bay Area and visiting California bloggers! Several of us MBA types got together at a local joint in San Francisco's Mission District to trade notes on b-school applications, interviews, the GMAT and the entire process in general.

After several beers (and stiff margaritas), all pretense of cordiality collapsed under the weight of inebriation. Just prior to leaving the bar, the inevitable blogger chanting began: drink... drink...Drink... DRINK DRINK DRINK!!! Not since my fraternity days have I witnessed such a display... and I loved every minute of it ;)

Our beer consumption session was followed by some serious chowing at a nearby taqueria. For those of you not residing in the Bay Area, the taquerias here are like no other. Myself, I gobbled down a massive Super Burrito (guac and sour cream included!)... then proceeded to eat Sorebrek's leftovers (a steak quesadilla, I think?) prior to nibbling from I Will Make It's chip and chicken/mushroom quesadilla platter. If there is anything I can tell you about I Will Make It, she loves her Midori Sours and Mushroom Quesadilla's ;)

Other prominent and prolific Bay Area bloggers in attendance included the great Marina, the crafty FooBarMe, the logistics master Brownowski, the Dartmouth conquerer Vatsa, as well as several other friendly new bloggers and friends of bloggers.

After my morning & mid-day recovery, I decided to get down to business. I completed my FAFSA and tax returns (can anyone say..... FEDERAL RETUUUURN!?). This was followed by some serious Wharton interview prep. Naturally, this process required utiliztion of the most excellent of MBA interview prep resources, the Clear Admit Wiki. My girlfriend ran me through some mock interviews and I was able to practice and refine my responses to the most important interview questoins (Why MBA, Why Wharton, Why Now?).

Tomorrow I fly to Philadelphia. I'm excited for several reasons. First, I've never been to the City of Brotherly Love. Second, I'm interviewing with an amazing academic institution. Third, I have Monday off of work and the day will be spent pursuing my number one goal: MBA admission.

Given that my flight leaves at the crack of dawn, I'll be retiring to bed shortly. I bid my readers good night (hopefully my readers are not online at this unGodly hour).

The latest (non MBA related)

2006-02-22T22:12:00.000-08:00

1:00 p.m., February 21: Pupstar leaves iPod in gym lockerroom! Unfortunately Pupstar does not realize iPod is missing.

8:00 a.m. February 22: Pupstar realizes iPod not in apartment. Pupstar mopes to MUNI Underground with no theme song. Pupstar arrives at work and calls gym. Morning gym worker unsure about missing iPod, asks Pupstar to drop by at Noon.

Noon, February 22: Pupstar visits gym. Multiple gym worker witnesses confirm that iPod was turned into lost and found the prior night. Gym workers request that Pupstar return to gym that evening when Mr. Gym Manager is present. Mr. Gym Manager can then open they gym safe, where iPod must certainly be located. Pupstar proceeds to treadmill and has incredibly dismal workout, setting world-record for shortest jog. Pupstar REALLY misses iPod at this pont. Pupstar retires to showers.

6:00 p.m., February 22: Pupstar returns to retrieve iPod. iPod mysteriously GONE! Pupstar furious and proceeds to question Mr. Gym Manager. Mr. Gym Manager helps clarify abstract concepts such as why 'today is a different day than yesterday, and why it would be impossible for Mr. Gym Manager to go back to yesterday when the iPod was here.' Pupstar thanks the gym manager for helping clarify this very, very confusing point. Pupstar makes mental note on merits of re-purposing this type of critical thinking during next year's MBA studies.

6:30 p.m., February 22: Pupstar pissed! Calls new gym to determine membership rates. Sales manager's spiel makes Pupstar feel greasy and dirty. Pupstar not interested in taking test drive of and/or purchasing certified pre-owned fitness center.

10:00 p.m., February 22: Pupstar still fuming.

Lazy Monday

2006-02-20T12:39:00.000-08:00

Enduring nearly two years of prep & execution on my business school applications has taken it's toll on my ability to r-e-l-a-x. Today, I plan to re-learn how to relax.

After sleeping a full 12 hours (when's the last time I got this much sleep???), I got up, brewed a pot of coffee, cancelled all plans, and turned on the tube. Only a handful of circumstances will prompt me to rise from my cushy seat: food, shower, and fetching the mail.

Oh, and a call from Kellogg.

Edit: Sorry, I did not mean I got a call from Kellogg... just that it's one of the few circumstances that would get me off the couch today. Yikes! Sorry for any confusion... but trust me, if that call comes, I'll write quite the celebratory post.

So close I can taste it...

2006-02-15T08:59:00.000-08:00

Like that initial sip of morning coffee, I'm so close to the MBA promised-land that I can *almost almost almost* taste its glory.

Each day I rise, put in my contacts, check my gmail, check the blogs, check the boards. In the shower (apologies for the unecessary imagery, here), I dissect my Kellogg interview of two weeks prior: "Geez, why couldn't I remember the name of that one student/community volunteer club!! Oh crap, now I finally see what she was looking for with her questions about my planned campus activities... more detail! I'm a fool! Aagggghhh!"

I get dressed. I pack my gym bag. I forget to comb my hair. My girlfriend and I walk to the MUNI underground in 50 degree weather. We acknowledge our spoiled Bay Area existence as we discuss current winter temperatures in Chicago and Philadelphia.

I arrive at work. I'm a few minutes late. I couldn't help it, the line at Peet's Coffee gobbled up at least 10 minutes. Regardless, it doesn't seem to matter much these days. Part jaded PR flak, part optimistic MBA aspirant... I simply assign less urgency to work.

One of my staff comes in. She's worried about a project. "Don't worry," I say. "Seriously, has there ever been a PR emergency for a small company selling b-to-b software?" Instead, I tell her what I learned in my Italian class last night. "Buon giorno. Come sta? Non c'male. Arrivederci." We laugh. We're not representing tobacco companies, here. This is the part of my job that I love... my relationships with my teams, especially the several younger employees that I serve as manager and mentor for.

I log on to the blogs, the boards, my gmail. My Kellogg application has gone 'complete.' No word from Haas. *BIG SIGH.*

Time to book my Philly travel.

Luck with On-Campus W Interview

2006-02-14T09:17:00.000-08:00

Looks like Monday, February 27 has opened up as a day for interviews at Wharton... so I'll be heading to Philly to interview... only need that Monday off of work!

Wharton Interview!

2006-02-13T11:26:00.000-08:00

Oh baby, just got the invitation from big W!!!! Wow, what a thrill! I know I'm nowhere close to being finished with the process, but I'm pretty excited to have made the first cut!

I'll be booking tix to Philly -- need to visit campus and meet the students while I'm interviewing. Since I wasn't able to visit last fall, I consider an on-campus interview as an additional way to demonstrate my sincere interest in the program.

WOW!

EDIT: Looks like the day/times left to interview on campus are very limited. Flying from SF for a mid-week interview (not M or F) would require two days off of work on very short notice. I may be interviewing here in SF.

'dis and 'dat

2006-02-11T12:51:00.000-08:00

I write this post the day following oral surgery. All four of my wisdom teeth were removed yesterday morning. YOUCH! Today I switched from my prescription painkillers to ibuprofen... those strong painkillers make me way too woozy and loopy.

Some interesting occurrances yesterday and today on the Wharton S2S boards... seems some decisions have been released by the school -- and I'm not sure it was by design. The normally edgy S2S board has gone full neurotic in the aftermath. I checked my status -- still 'complete Round 2," so we'll see what happens before next Thursday, February 16.

Although Kellogg indicated that my application confusion has been cleared up, my online status page still reads 'incomplete.' If this isn't rectified by Tuesday, I'll give them another call.

No word from Haas. Although some R2 interview invites have gone out, I'm not sure for how long they will continue to issue invitation. "Super Saturday" interview day is March 11... so I assume I'd have to have an invite in hand before February is out.

Finally, I've been meaning to write about my experience with Clear Admit's wiki. I checked it out in advance of my Kellogg interview a couple of weeks back. I copied and pasted all of the wiki's Kellogg Interview reports into one document, then had friends run me repeatedly through all of the questions. As a result, there was not a question asked by the interviewer that I wasn't prepared for. Outside of having a professional consultant prepare you for interviews, this has to be the best resource I've found in terms of interview prep.

Beep! Beep!

2006-02-09T11:31:00.000-08:00

Updates forthcoming:

Haas: no word, no interview invite. "Super Saturday" interviews are around March 11.

Kellogg: mixed up my app, notified me that it was "incomplete." Called the school today, sorted it out... things should be ok now.

Wharton: no word, no interview invite. One week left to receive interview invite.

More on Me

2006-02-08T10:45:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged by I Will Make It and SgHama. I've been putting this off, but let's face it... this post is a nice respite from post-app anxiety, and I also kinda like talking about myself ;)

Four jobs I've had in my life
- Janitor
- Power Line Construction
- Road Construction
- Timber Mill Worker

Four movies I can watch over and over
- Shawshank Redemption
- Forrest Gump
- The Matrix I
- Rocky

Four places I have lived
- Las Vegas, NV
- Eugene, Oregon
- Livingston, Montana
- Glenwood, Minnesota

Four TV shows I love to watch
- Chapelle's Show with Dave Chapelle
- Newsnight on CNN (R.I.P.)
- Daily Show, with John Stewart
- ESPN SportsCenter

Four places I have been on vacation
- New Orleans, LA
- New York
- Ketchum, Idaho
- Lake Tahoe, CA / NV

Four of my favorite foods/drinks
- Spaghetti
- Lasagna
- Burritos
- Thai food

Four websites I visit daily
- HuffingtonPost.com
- Drudgereport.com
- Espn.com
- Google.com

Four places I would rather be right now
- On vacation in Europe
- On vacation in South America
- On vacation
- On vacation

Four bloggers I'm tagging:
I think they've all been tagged.

Kellogg Interview

2006-01-28T17:31:00.000-08:00

I had my Kellogg interview today (you can also find this interview report at Clear Admit's Wiki) The interview was held at McKinsey's offices in the SF's Bank of America building. I had a 10:00 a.m. slot -- Kellogg alums ran the 1:1 interviews -- 12 applicants per hour starting with the 9 a.m. slot and ending with the 1 p.m. slot.

I was matched up with a recent Kellogg alumn ('01) who had pursued brand management following Kellogg. There was an added bonus -- following her consumer products stint, she went to work for a bay area consumer tech company, and had a good sense / grasp of what I do for a living (agency PR focused on technology clients).

After some initial chit-chat, we got down to business. The flow went something like this, with lots of follow-up q's and back-and-forth conversation:

1. Walk me through your resume?

2. What are your short-term career goals?

3. What are your long-term career goals?

4. Why Kellogg?

5. What is it about Kellogg that attracts you to the school?

6. Describe a time when you were a leader.

7. What do you do for fun?

8. What do you want to get involved in when if you are accepted at Kellogg?

9. Q&A

The conversation lasted an hour. There was also some discussion about how I had improved my candidacy -- as I felt it was in my best interest to communicate that I was a reapplicant this year.

Overall I think I made a good impression. I was nervous, but a good kind of nervous, the sort where I perform well. I was definitely enthusiastic. I think perhaps the only thing I could have improved was reigning in the scope/breadth of a couple of my responses. All in all, I can say that I definitely was myself -- Kellogg saw the real me, even if I was a bit excited.

Finally, I should add that I met up with bay area blogger Sorebrek at the interview sessions. We actually had a chance to chat a few minutes prior to our respective interviews. Witnessing my interaction with Sorebrek, my interviewer asked me if I was already making friends with the prospects... I actually had to confess that I had met Sorebrek 'online,' which I quickly qualified with an explanation of the tightknit MBA blogging community.

Wharton Under Review

2006-01-18T18:56:00.000-08:00

The Wharton app status changed today from 'received' to 'complete for round 2.' A student reviewer may be reading my essays as I type this.

The last two weeks have been a period of reflection about the entire application process, from studying, to conducting career research, to conducting school research, to finalizing target schools, to writing essays and to finally hitting 'submit.' The most persistent challeng was simply finding the time and energy outside of work to do all of this. Although the hours are tolerable, the pace in my workplace can be absolutely brutal. Sitting down to write essays on weeknights, I often found myself completely tapped of energy, mentally and physically. In October, November and December, I definititely had to make sacrifices in the workplace... I took longer on some projects, delegated more work and was slightly less involved all-around. Although I felt a bit guilty, I considered the sacrifice worth it... the energy this helped me to preserve was critical in the last mile of the application process.

So the wait continues. Although my pre-decision anxiety remains at increased levels, I find myself much more relaxed at work and at home. Challenges and obstacles at the office seem easier to tackle. I have more time to spend with my girlfriend after work and on the weekends. I sleep better... and I am probably more pleasant to be around ;)

May not be able to tolerate....

2006-01-10T18:04:00.000-08:00

the wait for a decision. Just a few days after my final submission, I am already beside myself with anxiety. To top it off, I caught a typo (repeated word, out of place in sentence) in one of my Wharton essays. Embarrassing, but not a major deal as my other essays are typo free. Just embarrassing that I made the oversight.

I find myself analyzing what on earth I'll do if I don't get into one of my target programs. I have no desire to attend a lesser school. If forced to apply again (need to get rid of that thought), I want to avoid changing employers. But, for many reasons, I'm at the point in my career where I'm having trouble even contemplating the thought of staying on for another year.

Ack!

As for my chances, I feel good about my about Kellogg and o.k. about Wharton and Haas. I feel that I did an excellent job thoroughly researching each school and really driving home the points (with specific supporting details from student/alum conversations and my own reading, etc.) on why each program makes sense and is a good fit for my goals and my background. Although I consider my Wharton app stronger than my Haas app (based solely on the fact that I had an extra month to work on Wharton), Wharton's average numbers (GPA and GMAT) trend a bit higher, which gives me some pause.

Enough paranoia for now. I will know by mid-Feb whether I have an interview at either Wharton or Haas. If yes, then I'll have to wait up to another month on a yes/no/waitlist decision.

On the bright side of things, I have a tremendous, and I mean TREMENDOUS amount of free time on my hands. What did I do with myself before I started this whole process last May? I honestly can't remember. One activity that has kept me busy is celabratory drinks. This weekend I ended up having quite a few beers... though not enough to suffer any serious day-after ramifications... just a bit of sleepiness. As a matter of fact, I should be meeting up with SF MBA blogger Marina (and hopefully some other Bay bloggers!) soon, for a celabratory drink. She has challenged me to a beer drinking duel... and I don't think she knows who she is up against! ;)

Kellogg Interview

2006-01-07T18:11:00.000-08:00

I received notification that my off-campus Kellogg interview will happen on January 28 in San Francisco. No doubt I will make use of several resources to prep for this, including Clear Admit's wiki and Marina's Kellogg interview recap.

For tonight, I have no worries. Today was my first non-application stress day in eight months. I just dropped $250 in gift cards on new clothes, and my girlfriend is throwing me a celebratory dinner in North Beach. Oh, happy day!

KELLOGG SUBMITTED!!!!

2006-01-05T22:06:00.000-08:00

And so, eight months following my last school denial, the reapplication process (minus interviews) has come to a close. I am thrilled to be done... and I am hopeful to get an admission. From GMAT practice tips, to test-taking sanity, to MBA program research, to essay writing tips, to juggling the demands of work with this insane process... I have learned a tremendous amount over the last eight months. Most importantly, this process has taught me that there's a fire in ma' belly, and I am ready to take on any future challenge.

Wharton Submitted!

2006-01-04T09:44:00.000-08:00

Bordering on exhaustion this morning. Behind on workload. Need coffee.... but Wharton is in!!!

Word of advice -- just have your undergrad institution send official transcripts. Filling out the self-report form was more of a time-suck than I anticipated, especially where I had to manually calculate my year-by-year GPAs.

Was hoping to have Kellogg in today as well, but that looks more likely Thursday night at the earliest, but probably Friday morning.

Two down, one to go!

Special thanks to all of my essay editors! :)

It is all worth it. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

2005-12-30T22:29:00.000-08:00

Gregarious by nature, a Friday night spent indoors writing essays (all alone, I might add), is absolute torture.

I re-wrote my Wharton teamwork essay (3A). I adjusted the first portion of the essay to better reflect the team structure, dynamics and relationships. I elminated a lot of industry-specific situational detail that I felt really matters less when it comes to describing the challenges or achievements of a team.

500 word limits makes these sacrifices necessary.

Had an AWESOME conversation with a Wharton alum today. The more I actually speak with Wharton students and alums, the more I am pleasantly surprised by their willingness to provide help, guidance and advice.

About to ship out some essays for edits... if I can tie up the ending of Wharton #1. Watch out, assigned editors... words and graphs being sent yo' way.

Nerves of Steel

2005-12-28T22:56:00.000-08:00

Work has been slow this week. I spent about 4 hours yesterday and today on essays. I meant to work on essays tonight, but I had an eye doctor's appointment late this afternoon. My eyes were so dilated that I could not look at my computer screen. So I went to a dark bar with friends and had a couple of beers. Although my essays are in strong shape, Friday through Monday will prove critical.

I have not yet submitted Wharton or Kellogg, yet here I am worried sick about whether I will get an admit from any of my three targets. I thought about adding a safety school. Given my career goals and my program preferences, I cannot see myself in a lesser program.

Wharton is 95% done. I really like my Wharton essays. I would admit myself, but I am not an adcom. My main Wharton essay may need a bit of work... I'm running it through some friends of mine. I really want to make the case for attending Wharton, but I want to avoid writing a laundry list of reaons the school is right for me.

Kellogg is 85% done. I have decided that I do not like short answers. By the time I am done writing my compelling lead, I only have 50 words left. Ugh!

Back in Deadline City

2005-12-26T21:22:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone for the recent comments / emails... and apologies for not replying. I will try to do so over the next few days. The vacation was hectic. Three cities, two families, one day of snowboarding, one bat mitzvah, one Xmas celebration, and six days of essay writing.

Whew!

Round 2 Wharton and Kellogg deadlines drop late next week. I plan to submit both applications on Wednesday, January 4. Applications forms are complete (more or less). With the exception of one Kellogg short-answer question, all essays are near final. I expect much editing, refining and finalizing over the next week and weekend.

I sure hope the work-week is quiet. Luckily, Friday is a half-day and Monday is a vacation day... three and a half day weekend.

Finally... congrats to Sghama for getting both Chicago and Wharton in. Excellent deadline management!

Sacrifices in Ketchum, Idaho

2005-12-21T10:58:00.000-08:00

Me: Working on essays in cafe.

Everyone else: Snowboarding.

*sigh*

Can't wait for this process to be done!

I'm nearly finished with my Kellogg essays. Essay #2 (unique background) was challenging. I felt this was my BEST essay from last year's applications. However, I did not want to submit the same essay twice. So, I took one of the supporting points from last year's K essay #2, wrote a new lead with tons of imagry, then dedicated the rest of this year's essay to that theme. The result: A completely new, perhaps more powerful essay that drives home a personal characteristic that I'm particularly proud of.

Wharton essays have been sitting idle. However, it shouldn't take more than a week to whip into shape what I already have done. I would say Wharton app. is about 70% done.

Sweet Inspiration

2005-12-16T13:22:00.000-08:00

Inspiration comes in many forms. This week it came in three forms:

1. The "M" got accepted to Columbia. Congrats to Marina! That is fantastic news -- and it prompted me to really step it up on my applications. Me! Me! Pick me, B-School!

2. I sent a version of one of my more personal / personal history essays to my colleague. She read it, then unbeknownst to me, forwarded it to her friend who works in undergrad admissions for a very well-known, top tier school. The result: Amazing feedback... which actually created a brand new idea for an additional essay.

3. Vacation. I am sitting in cafe in downtown Boise, Idaho. No work, no work email, no work worries, no work desk, no work office, no work politics, no work stress, no work hours... NO WORK!

Ah -- sweet inspiration.

Haas Submitted!

2005-12-11T17:30:00.000-08:00

I sat down at 11:00 a.m. today to do a final review and submit my Haas application. Somehow I did not finish until 4:00 p.m. I went through my essays with a fine-toothed comb, adjusting minor grammatical inconsistentcies and in one instance, minorly restructuring three paragraphs to create an improved logical flow.

BUT I AM DONE! As a reapplicant, I'm not required to submit recommendations, but I went ahead and had two of my bosses provide reccs. One is complete and turned in, the other is pending completion, and should be in prior to tomorrow's R2 deadline.

DONE! One down, two to go.

This year's Haas application is dramatically improved. Outside of my numbers, the most significant improvement was my revamped and rethought career goals. Identifying and finalizing my career goals was the most difficult process of the last 9-12 months. Perhaps this is easy for some, but for me it was an intense exercise in self evaluation and assessment.

Also dramatically improved was my research into Haas. From academics, to career guidance, to student life, I investigated all aspects of the school and made certain that my essays reflected this research.

I hope to be invited for an interview at Haas. Should I not, I can say with all confidence that I gave this application my absolute best effort.

Gaining Ground

2005-12-09T21:40:00.000-08:00

I just wrapped up my Haas application. I plan to hit "submit" by Sunday. After several editing sessions, I am giving the Haas essays a couple of days to breathe while I work on the Wharton and Kellogg essays.

In other developments this week, I visited Haas on Monday. I will post a full debrief when I'm not so exhausted. I will share that the day ended at the "Bear's Lair" pub with my old college friend who is now a first-year at Haas.... let's just say we tried a bit too hard to relive our glory days and I woke up with a nice little headache.

I also spoke with two Kellogg students via phone and exchanged emails with a very friendly Wharton student over the last few days. All three students were very friendly and great resources -- sharing their own applicatoin stories, their Kellogg/Wharton experiences, tips/tactics for admissions, etc. Amazing what a little outreach can produce.

Time for a glass of wine and some relaxation. Tomorrow is a full day of essay writing!

Torn - up!

2005-11-30T21:38:00.000-08:00

I just finished a one hour editing session with a friend. We focused on my Haas essays. I chose this particular friend because he is an analytical, meticulous sort and he also works in a completely different industry than me.

Well, let's say my essays will take a turn for the better following this editing session. As I indicated in my previous post, the Haas short answers challenge the writer to compress key points into very brief space. My friend helped me with to identify the best examples/anecdotes to use with my key points. One good piece of advice was to not focus so much on what I have done (this is often covered in my resume and personal history forms), but to focus on exactly how a particular characteristic or element of my background/personality/work history will help me impact or contribute to a program.

My 'name a time when you were a leader' essay is going to be completely rewritten -- for the better. The specific example of leadership will remain the same, but I intend to expand the essay to describe key elements of the background situation that I left out. I also intend to expand on a few points on exactly how my actions made an impact.

Thank goodness for friends.

Holiday Weekend Progress

2005-11-27T16:41:00.000-08:00

Happy belated Thanksgiving to those of you that celebrate. I was able to use the weekend to make tremendous progress on my applicatoins. Haas is 95% finished, well in advance of the December 12 deadline. All essays have gone through my girlfriend's stringent edits, and now lie in the editorial hands of a couple of friends.

Haas has an interesting take on its essays, breaking out some traditional MBA essay topics (what is your best accomplishment?; what is unique in your background?) into short answer questions of 250 words. I had some excellent content on hand from the previous year's essays for other schools, but each of those were the 500 word format. Identifying my main points and compressing these larger essays into the shorter format was a more challenging exercise than I anticipated. However, it was a productive process, helping me to really hone in on the exact message I wanted the reader to take away from each essay. In one instance, the process helped me to identify new, more powerful points and anecdotes to include. I actually think my shorter essays may be more powerful than the longer, similar essays I wrote last year.

I plan to make a return visit to Haas (only 20 miles away) this week or early next. I visited last fall as well. I have a couple of friends attending this year. They have been awesome resources for school-specific details.

Regarding my other two target programs, Wharton is nearly complete, per my update a couple of weeks ago. Kellogg remains largely untouched, although the main essay (why mba, why now, career goals) does share significant content with my main essays for Haas and Wharton (with the exception of any school specific detail), so I suppose I could say a portion of the application is underway. I plan to contact both Wharton and Kellogg this week to determine best methods for getting in touch with professional clubs and/or students pursuing my target career. I want to make sure I'm not shooting correspondence to the wrong individuals. The broader goal is to get some insider insight on students' experiences with each school's curriculums, clubs and career resources. This might be hard since I'm not visiting either school, but it's the best way I can think of to get more school-specific information.

DEADLINES

2005-11-15T20:57:00.000-08:00

Deadline-initiated panic set in today. One month to Haas! Less than two months for Wharton and Kellogg!! A scheduled 10-day Northwest holiday vacation in between!!!

Oh my.

So, for what I feel like was the first time in a long time, I had a two and a half hour session of lucid writing. Wow! What a rush.

As I mentioned in previous posts, I think I placed far far far too much pressure on myself during my early drafts.

Strategy from here on out is staying late at work to get good writing in, then spending at least 8 hours a weekend on essays.

One hiccup -- I think I make too many assumptions when discussing my job. The reader may know little about agency PR and even less about technology companies. I need to keep this in mind.

That's it for now.

Essay Progress

2005-11-08T20:29:00.000-08:00

I am nearly finished with solid drafts of each essay for the Wharton application. Essay #1 has been a beast with the writing and re-writing, but I am comfortable with it whether the submission deadline was this weekend or in January. I'm wondering whether I used the best example in the 'teamwork' essay. I am going to sit on it and revisit in a few days.

After this week I'm setting aside all Wharton essays to focus on the Haas application, which has a looming Dec. 12 deadline.

One logistical time saver: I don't need to send transcripts to any schools this year. Haas and Kellogg already have my transcripts. Wharton lets applicants self report college grades (until admitted).

On a personal note, I am in Week 3 of a new gym routine. I get up by 5:30 a.m. to hit the gym for a 4 mile treadmill session followed by weights. However, this makes me very sleepy very early at night, like right now. I have been doing most essay writing at work on the weekends. I do some minor editing and tweaks during the weeknights, unless I get a burst of energy. I don't know why I started this new gym routine during apps, but the exercise consistency helps me feel much better physically and mentally, so it was probably a good trade-off.

Kellogg Info Session

2005-11-04T19:15:00.000-08:00

I attended Kellogg's Silicon Valley Info Session on Nov. 2. The session included an admissions committee spokesperson and several area alumni. The session was broken down into three parts: academics, clubs/career services and admissions.

Following is a quick summary of the session:

Academics -- Top-notch educators & coursework combined with student involvement:

Heavy emphasis on team leadership skills;
Lecture learning is combined with real-world application of the knowledge (see following on case studies, independent studies);
Priorities are professor research and classroom innovation;
Students are actively engaged in the learning process:

TCE: teacher course evaluation: student feedback tool that is used in teacher reviews

Students are considered co-creators in the curriculum

Case study courses: opportunities within the curriculum where students can work directly with professors as well as executives inside companies

Case study courses, LEAP, Independent Studies that are aligned with faculty members

Pre-term courses on leadership in organizations.

Clubs and Career Services -- Professional guidance coupled with student initiative

Student led conferences
Student Professional Clubs

help prepare resume

drive incoming leads

help students stay connected to the industry of choice

Community service is big

Neighborhood Business Initiatives – help local non-profits

GIM: Global initiatives in Management is a popular elective course

2 week field experience

Meet with local business leaders

Joint Ventures for sig. others and spouses
Career management: active for life
Alumni network: get in touch w/ alumns in your field
Career Services driven by ongoing input from students and recruiters

Admissions:

#1 goal is most diverse class possible
Encouraged to honestly talk about yourself and your background in your essays

How rigorous has your work experience been: talk about it

Why is it the right time; make sure Kellogg understands why it is the right time, what is your logic

GMAT is seen as an indicator of first-year academic performance
Know and communicate what do you really want to do with your MBA as you’ll be submitting your resume before you leave for winter break
Really talk about who are you outside of work, what personal qualities
Write to club leaders

The main theme of the session was easy to determine: student involvement and leadership. Seems like students have a hand in everything, from driving academic change to spearheading career services initiatives. The session was an enjoyable one, even though I endured 2 hours of Bay Area traffic before arriving. Turnout was good... I'd say about 135 people.

That's it for now... going to turn in soon.

Incremental Progress, Target Change, Kellogg Session

2005-11-01T18:44:00.000-08:00

Oh man what a couple of weeks. Essay writing has been pure hell. I think I've been placing too much pressure on myself to draft works of greatness. Certainly last year's rejections have contributed to the self-imposed stress.

The good news is that I finally I had a breakthrough this past weekend -- cranking out some good material that I can move forward with.

In other news, I had some conversations with a close contact at Wharton and decided to put an application in. I was a little hesitant, but he convinced me that I had a good shot at admission, assuming of course that my essays clear the bar.

In the interest of targeting programs that really "speak" to me, I am primarily targeting:

Haas
Kellogg
Wharton

After these applications are finished, I may consider 1-2 more schools, including a safety school.

I purchased the Montauk book last week. Good essay tips lie within. I also purchased "65 successful HBS essays," by the staff of Harbus.

Tomorrow I am headed to a Kellogg info session in Silicon Valley. I missed Wharton's session in SF. I plan to contact the school and clubs to arrange conversations with students. I will not be able to visit Wharton / Philly before submitting my app. Hopefully an interview invite will gve me that opp!!

Ch-ch-ch-Changes!

2005-10-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

Things are whirlwind around here. I've finally got my recommender packets distributed. All of my recommenders are on board.

My girlfriend just moved in with me... the apartment is messy and in transition... but I'm excited for this step that we are taking. She is my number one fan :)

My job is... interesting and more stressful. I got promoted to management back in February. I find myself teaching a crew of 7 staff... it's rewarding, but mighty challenging. I almost miss being an experienced junior staff person, but I like the authority & final say that comes along with my new title.

Essays are moving forward. I've been putting at least an hour in every night. With the exception of a couple essays, I have a solid grasp on the topic and content of each essay. The primary essay (why mba, why us, blah blah blah) is on draft 10. Really. I've re-written it many a time, but I'm confident that the current draft is on the right track.

I've noticed it is a bit quiet across the applicant blogosphere... I assume some folks are meeting that R1 Kellogg deadline this Friday....

Final Four, Paranoia and other Observations & Questions

2005-10-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

So after much thought, I've decided to target the following:

Kellogg
Harvard
Haas
Columbia

The first three (Harvard, Kellogg and Haas) are attractive for one major reason: a general management focus. The final school is more finance focused, but I am attracted to the school's marketing curriculum, reputation and placements.

There are a couple of other schools in the mix. Things may shake out slightly differently over the next couple weeks, but I will stick with these four for now.

On the paranoia front, it dawned on me recently how much personal information I have disclosed in this blog. In the spirt of sharing even more, please note that I bank with Wells Fargo and that my Social Security number is 897-39-3407.

More seriously, I will try to be a bit more discrete in future postings... and I may delete a couple of the older postings.

Finally, do any of the other bloggers out there know the latest with the League of MBA Bloggers? Seems like the site administator has been on quite an extended leave. In particular, the RSS feeds aren't functioning...

In parting, hope all's well with the MBA blog-o-sphere.

Target Schools & App Progress

2005-10-16T17:48:00.000-07:00

I've done a lot of thinking over the last two weeks -- really trying to narrow my potential schools from 7 or 8 down to about 5. The process has been more stressful than I anticipated. I want to focus on schools most friendly to applicants of my career background and personal characteristics. I'm trying to balance this with location. For personal reasons, I strongly prefer to study in a major American city.

The other major factor is my realistic chances at admission. This has been the hardest element to judge.

Aaahh, choices. The good news is that I've settled on 4 initial targets. I may add one additional... if my recommenders don't herniate.

To write or not to write... dat ees da kwestyyyon!

2005-10-14T22:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm about 1.5 months out of my self-imposed deadlines. I'm working on Essay 1 (the one for all schools) . Once I have a solid draft... I'll ready to tackle the supplemental essays. I'm feeling a little behind where I would have liked to be at this point, but that is reality. Tomorrow is the weekend -- two full days of writing opportunity.

More to come soon... apoligies for the brevity.

Why Round 2?

2005-10-06T21:23:00.000-07:00

A few folks have asked me why I'm applying to my target schools in round 2. The simplest reason is that with many round 1 deadlines hitting next week, my applications are not ready. I was focused entirely on the GMAT before test day (Sept. 6). Since that time, I've been primarily focused on two things: 1.) Catching up at work; and 2.) determining target schools, refining and solidifying my "why MBA, why now, why us" (ongoing conversations with marketing / brand management contacts, as well as current students and alumni at a couple of my target schools) .

My goal is to submit all applications before December 1. There is some flexibility with that deadline, as many round 2 deadlines hit in early January. However, I prefer to submit my applications earlier in the round.

By next Monday I plan to have all my recommenders notified, supplying each with a 'guidesheet' for each school app recomendation. As for essays, I have a lot of good 'material' on hand from last year's applications. My best material highlights the compelling aspects of my background (childhood, family, undergrad experience, work experience). There is some material that I won't re-purpose -- mostly the essays in which I outlined my post-MBA goals. As I've discussed in earlier posts, I was pretty lost when it came to this aspect of my application... and it showed.

I wish I had the time to apply round 1 -- but I'd rather put my best foot forward. Hopefully my strategy pays off!!

Essays Underway

2005-10-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been an interesting year. Last October I was wrapping up applications for my preferred MBA programs. This year, I'm just beginning applications for all of my target schools.
I've commenced writing the main essay for all schools "Why MBA, Why us, Why now?" Most of my deadlines (all Round 2) fall in January, although a couple fall in December. Regardless, my goal is to have every application complete by December 1.

More progress to share soon.

45-50 Essays... No Prob!

2005-10-01T20:28:00.000-07:00

I just finished gathering all essays and short answer questions for my 7 target schools into one document. It appears I'll be writing 45 or so essays. Yikes! Luckily several essays are shared topics.

My favorite question topic: "tell us about yourself / background / etc." This is the big one to demonstrate how I'm different from every other Caucasian American late-twenties applicant out there.... and there are a lot!

My least favorite: Ethics. What a tricky topic. Most ask that I describe an ethical dilemma, or explain what my biggest area of ethics weakness would be. Tricky, tricky!

There’ll be time enough for countin’

2005-09-30T22:04:00.000-07:00

Go -- go -- go. Bang away, get it done, head down, not starin' forward but lookin' down and gittin' it done.

That's the theme these days. Work is hell and apps are here and there are a helluva lot of decisions to make. Targets: Kellogg, Wharton, Harvard. Second Targets: Haas, NYU. Third Targets: I don't know.

I've been speaking with several post-MBA contacts in marketing. I've also been chatting with my non-MBA friends in marketing, mostly tech industry. I'm confident in my stats, my story, my ability to identify and sell my key messages. My primary focus is post-MBA job research -- making sure I know my story for interview day.

The Goal: Write down my focus, and practice saying it (out loud) until I can do it in 30 seconds. Wny? Well, every interviewer will ask the same question... why MBA... why us? After my spiel, I'll practice articulating key points.

Sell myself. Sell my goal. Sell my vision.

Good to see the MBA-blogosphere is picking up. Good luck to all MBA bloggers... Forrest, Sghama, Paaji, Axechick... and the rest of you. Class seats await us... somewhere!

What's been happening..

2005-09-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

I've been checking the BusinessWeek B-School Message Boards lately, which could be a good or bad thing, depending on one's point of view. There's some informative stuff there, but the characters and conversation can also reflect a fifth-grade schoolyard.

I arranged a conversation last week with recent top 3 MBA alum. working in marketing for a F500. She had a lot of great advice and offered many candid thoughts on the application process, strategies she used to get accepted, her current career path, etc. My current field has very, very, very few MBAs... it just isn't needed to climb the ranks. It was nice to hear from someone with a similar background who had catapulted (quite successfully) into another field via MBA.

And finally, work has been happening... too much. Work is insane right now -- I'm averaging 12-hour days of non-stop intensity. Oh I miss vacation...

The Ducks... and a Test Day Re-Cap

2005-09-11T18:12:00.000-07:00

First, let's all take a moment and recognize the 2-0 Ducks for successive wins over Houston and Montana. Next week's game vs. Fresno State will be a tough one... and it's followed by a tough Pac-10 conference schedule... but the Ducks look GOOD this year.

Secondly, here's a quick and dirty test day recap -- hopefully a potential GMAT taker finds some good information or insight in here:

Essays:

Last Year: 4.5 out of 6.0
This Year: 5.0 out of 6.0

I improved this year's score by actually using a strategy (Kaplan). I think last year's scores reflected my OVERLY concise writing style. Kaplan advised a lot of repetition of details in the intro and conclusion paragraphs. I would never write in this style at work, but I used this method on test day. Also, for the 'argument' essay, Kaplan advised that instead of just pointing out weaknesses in the author's argument, as I did last year, that I actually make 'suggestions' that would help strengthen it.

Math:

Last Year: 43 scaled score, 7oth percentile.
This Year: 44 scaled score, 73rd percentile.

BRUTAL section. I'm pretty sure I got the first five questions right. Between questions 5 and 15, I was on the receiving end of one probability problem, one complex combination problems and one 'dependent probability based on a combination' problem. These are my MAJOR areas of weakness. Last year I saw only one question in these topic areas -- and it was in the last five questions of the test. I also saw 3 geometry problems, including a triangle INSIDE a cylinder... nothing I had seen before.

I felt strong during the first five questions and again during the last ten. I finished the section with 3 minutes left. The middle 22 questions severely tested my 'not freaking out' ability. I tried to take each question as it came -- forgetting about it after I had chosen my answer. I guessed ALOT. I couldn't even eliminate wrong choices on some questions.

I performed well on proportion and number property questions. I was runnin' scared on combined work, geometry, combination, permutation and probability. In retrospect, I would not have focused so much of my prep on the ETS Official Guide (finished every question in the OG, then worked the last 100 questions in each section (DS, PS) again) Instead, I would have focused in on my areas of weakness -- either through additional outside practice material or by hiring a GMAT math tutor.

I'm not *thrilled* about a 73rd percentile, but I'm happy for both improving my score, even if just slightly, and for not panicking and tanking the entire section. Overall, I feel the score is close enough the the rumored '80/80' guideline of top-tier admissions departments. As an undergrad business major, I have dozens of credits in accounting, economics, finance, calculus and statistics... and an A minus average across them all. This should help balance any possible worry about my quant abilities.

Verbal:

Last Year: 36 scaled score, 81st percentile
This Year: 41 scaled score, 93rd percentile

Although the math section left me a bit rattled, I took my full five minute break, splashed my face with cold water, did some deep breathing and a bit of stretching, then tackled the Verbal section with all the mental focus I could muster.

I only spent only 10% of my prep time on Verbal strategies, but I was confident that I could nail this section. I made a concerted effort to practice the Kaplan 'mental focus' strategies that I learned. To that end, I spent much more time on each and every RC and CR problem. I pretended to have a strong interest in every passage and argument stimulus, thoroughly reading and taking notes on each problem.

For RC, I saw two business passages, two social science passages, and one physical science passage. Some answers were difficult to locate... I had to buckle down and re-read appropriate sections, then mentally talk myself through the logic of each answer. The process of elimination was HUGE in helping identify the correct answer.

For CR, I saw every topic area possible. Most questions asked me to either identify an assumption or to identify a weakness. A couple of problems asked me to 'choose which statement logically flows' from the stimulus... sort of a reverse CR.

For SC, nearly every sentence was LONG. If I immediately identified an error, I wrote down the error on my scratch paper, then looked for that specific error in the answers. If the answer choices didn't reflect that error, I would use the process of elimination. If I had any doubts or was forced to choose between two 'seemingly correct' answers, I ALWAYS chose concisely written, 'active voice' answers over all others.

I finished the section with three minutes left, compared to last year, when I finished with 14 minutes remaining.

As my scaled score indicates, even a two-point increase on this section can raise a percentile score significantly. I'm most proud NOT of the percentile increase, nor for employing better strategies, but for not allowing my experience with the math section to impact my performance on verbal.

Overall:

Last year: 650, 85th percentile
This year: 700, 93rd percentile

Would I have liked to nail a 720 or more? You bet. However, I'm extremely pleased to have raised my score more than 30 points, which is the average margin of error. I'm happy that I took the time and the energy to retake the exam. Most importantly, I proved something to myself and I came out of this entire experience with a renewed sense of self-confidence and a stronger sense of self-reliance. Now... I'm ready to tackle the application process!

Thanks to everyone (you know who you are) who helped me out during test prep. Thanks also to my fellow bloggers, Sghama, Forrest, Paaji and others, who posted encouraging and congratulatory comments!

THE SWEET NECTOR OF VICTORY

2005-09-06T17:09:00.000-07:00

A worthy foe, I must pay the GMAT some respect. In particular, I bow down to the supremacy of the GMAT math section. However, when the match was said and done, only one of us could be victorious. IT WAS I!!!!

Today I nailed a 700 (my exact goal) on the GMAT. I feel calm, cool and confident heading into R1 and R2 applications with an 'average' score. Last year a 650 got me in the door (waitlist) to Kellogg, but eventually contributed to mynon-admission.

More to come on the details of test day... in particular, my ongoing battle with GMAT math and some observations on the whole damn thing. For now, Jack Daniels is calling my name.

Forty, Forty, Forty Two Hours to Goooo!

2005-09-04T18:05:00.000-07:00

I wanna be sedated?

The countdown is on. I have one day between now and test day. Although I feel more prepared, practiced and confident than my first exam sitting last August, I am a bundle of nerves. Fortunately, I've always dealt well with standardized test formats and the stress that comes with.

I've performed well in recent practice exams but I decided not to take any full-length tests this week. I don't need the confidence boost that comes with a good score or the confidence drop that comes with a score below expectations. I decided to practice my timing through 10-20 problem increments rather than through a four hour practice exam. I'm hitting about a minute & twenty seconds per problem at this point.

I've also weighted this week's review towards math problems... honing in on 'number properties' and 'properties of sets.'

That's it for now.

Milepost 26

2005-08-27T19:27:00.000-07:00

My vacation and study marathon has been cut a day short to allow for work-related travel. I hit the road at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow to catch a 6:20 departure (with connections) to Boston. I arrive in the glorious land of baked beans at 5:30 p.m. ET. The early rise and all-day travel is NOT ideal, but I'll certainly have some free time to study.

It's been one hell of a haul over the last 13 days and nights of intense studying. Coupled with my off-and-on June/July studying (primarily ETS Official Guide math problems), I've done five-fold the preparation than that of last year. Overall, I'm pleased with my progress and confident that I can beat my previous score.

For now I'll hold any GMAT prep advice. Should I achieve my target score (700 or close to it), I'll post a full GMAT prep and test-day de-brief here. Should I not achieve it -- well, you'll find me at the nearest bar drowning my sorrows in whiskey. Hell, I suppose I'll have a few whiskey shots either way.

I am dreading my departure from Oregon. I haven't been back home for more than 7 days since the summer of 1997. Memories of that summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college are not fond -- I worked graveyard shifts (7:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.) at a local lumber mill. I pulled eight-foot green chain all night (for those with knowledge of the timber industry) and slept in until 3 p.m. every day, ending a multi-year streak of award-winning summer tans.

However, I am so NOT- excited for my Wednesday return to the San Francisco that I would trade it right now to have the summer of 97 back. I don't pine for the crowded, smelly rush-hour City subway rides or the stress-filled work environment... and certainly not the inane recycling truck schedule that jolts me out of my slumber every Monday and Thursday at 5:00 a.m. If it wasn't for the City's mild winters and gorgeous scenery, my friends, my brother and my girlfriend, all of whom are local... I don't think I'd return at all.

Also, I need that paycheck. Ahem.

On that note, it's nearly time to tuck in for the night. More notes to come on the GMAT prep front. Test day is Tuesday, September 6... 9 days!

Friday Night = Study Time

2005-08-26T20:11:00.000-07:00

Although the study marathon has taken a toll on my daily energy levels, I'm excited to report that this evening's GMAT PowerPrep Test score was above my target range.

Although I've never felt better after finishing a GMAT math section, there is a lot of work ahead in the next 10 days. My primary initiative is to re-work dozens of problem solving and data suffiiency questions from the ETS Official Guide to the GMAT. I recently learned (from www.beatthegmat.com) that the last 100 questions from each section not only have a higher rate of 'hard' questions, but are ETS' most recently 'retired' GMAT questions.

Study Marathon Day 9:

2005-08-23T21:43:00.000-07:00

I have almost completed the ETS math section. Although there are 714 math problems, I don’t feel completely prepared for the math section of the exam. My primary weaknesses remain questions in the following areas:

Proportions
Group problems
Combinations and Permutations

To to strengthen these, today I purchased Kaplan's GMAT Q Bank for $199. The Q Bank has 1000 questions (math/verbal) and allows you to create custom timed or un-timed quizzes of any length. You can also focus on specific elements, say 'hard' proportion problems in data sufficiency format, or 'easy' algebra problems in problem solving format. Although I wasn't thrilled to spend the cash, I feel more confident with this resource at hand over the next 13 days.

I also plan to practice 10-30 problems each from Critical Reading, Reading Comprehension and Sentence Correction daily. I’ll supplement all of this with daily review of my notes and flash cards.

I’ll take another practice CAT at the end of this week, saving the remaining two practice CATs for next week.

I remain confident that constant, focused practice of 'attention to detail' and speed will bolster my score on test day.

Day 7: Lessons Learned at GMAT Marathon Mid-Point

2005-08-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

*disclaimer -- this photo of the Initech gang has nothing to do this post.

Lessons from my 'Study Marathon!':

** Study & test prep focus are only learned through continual practice.
** I’ve worked harder and longer in the last seven days than at any point during my undergraduate studies.
** It's important to cease all studying at least two hours before bedtime or I’ll lay awake pestered by thoughts of unlearned GMAT material.
** Seclusion works. There are no major distractions in this small town. Non-study activities today consisted of a trip to the grocery store for Doritos and fresh study materials (scratch paper, etc.).
** Morning jogs can keep one’s sanity intact.
** Caffeine is my friend – perhaps even my best friend.

Test Countdown: 15 Days (Sept. 6)

Kaplan Online Course -- CATS

2005-08-20T13:16:00.000-07:00

A few choice words about the Kaplan online course CATs: f*#(! this s*($!

I love the Kaplan online study material but the timed, full-length practice CATs are brutal -- in particular, the math sections. I'm desperately trying place little emphasis on my Kaplan CAT scores, as the problems are much harder than what I'll see on test day.

The frustrating part is how long it takes to complete several of the early and mid-test problems, which takes time away from the remaining problems, which ensures I'll be guessing from questions 30-37.

Seriously, Kaplan CAT-makers... do you really think I'll see 10 complex geometry problems on test day?

Venting over.

Study Marathon!

2005-08-19T10:20:00.000-07:00

Today marks day five of my self-imposed 14-day GMAT study marathon. I’m writing from my parent’s house in Oregon… boy, is it quiet out here! Relocating my studies from smoggy, foggy, noisy, hectic, San Francisco to lush, green, peaceful, quiet rural Oregon is the best test prep decision I’ve made to date.

My parents live on the outskirts of an old logging town. Because I attended high school in the logging town and completed college only an hour away, I have many memories associated with this area. The town’s old lumber mill, positioned smack dab in the middle of main street, burned down about a month ago – ignited by an overheated wood dryer. It was eerie to drive past the remains. Talk about a knife in the heart of the local economy. Yikes. I suppose I could elaborate on the shortage of timber industry jobs and the economic impact on small Oregon towns – but that wouldn’t cheer anyone up.

I’ll also spare you from the mundane details of my study itinerary. You’re welcome! Please do know that I’ve made solid progress on the math front. I still make a few silly computational mistakes and oversights, but my grasp & memorization of GMAT math concepts far exceeds that of last time around. My verbal skills are rusty, but a few more days of practice ought to polish them.

Separately, I’m pleased to see my site meter has registered some hits! I take quiet pride in the fact that someone, somewhere, has the patience to skim through my MBA and GMAT thoughts. Also, thanks to everyone that left the encouraging comments in the last few weeks!

I’ve got to get back to the grindstone for now. I’ll leave you with a few Oregon factoids:

Portland, Oregon: Not the state’s capital, but its largest city. Portland was once called Stumptown by locals. Trees were felled so quickly for late 19th century development that city builders were unable to pull the left-behind stumps for months. Also the setting for Beverly Cleary’s “Ramona” series of children’s fiction.

University of Oregon, Eugene: Famous for track & field, hippies & protests. Eugene-area is a national hotbed of anarchist organizations (oxymoron)? The university was the on-site location for the filming of National Lampoon’s Animal House in the late 70’s.

What a Difference a Year Makes

2005-07-28T22:48:00.000-07:00

Gliding up the escalator to the fourth-floor screens of a local theater last winter, my girlfriend and I were were discussing probable MBA program entry dates. At a point near the end of the conversation, I made a comment to the effect of, "hey, if I don't get in this year, my impending promotion and raise will make another year in the Bay Area quite tolerable."

Hooooo... boy was I W-R-O-N-G!

After four and a half years in the PR agency world, I was promoted to the gilded ranks of agency management about 6 months ago. Because the promotion coincided with a handful of 'it's not you, it's me' denial letters from my target B-schools, I took solace in my tidy salary bump and the new, unfamiliar authority I now wielded over several client accounts and corresponding agency staff.

I won't get into the specifics of how that big bubble of 'can do!' enthusiasm I once held for my new position now resembles a torn latex glove in a shady back alley. That would just depress everyone. Simply know, dear reader, that work suuuucks. Bad.

The most frustrating of all is my lack of time to study for the GMAT. Treading water in a dead-end career is one thing, but when the very act of keeping one's head above water exhausts one to the point of being unable to take the necessary strokes towards the island of GMAT, B-school and career change glory -- well that's enough to drive one to drink. Heavily.

Ranting & venting aside, I am still finding about three hours of study time during the week and 8-12 hours on the weekends. In a few weeks I'll be heading home for a full 14 days of vacation... studying at home in the quiet environment of the Pacific Northwest. If you haven't had the pleasure of spending time in the land of Totem Poles... you should go. Now.

That's all for tonight. At some point, I'll figure out how to add some other blog links to this blog... perhaps that's tomorrow's study break project. Until then...

Giddyup! Neiiiiggghh!

2005-07-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

That's right, this horsey is excited! After a couple months of stop and go studying, I decided to purchase Kaplan's $599 online course today. I purchased the course primarily for the 5 CAT practice tests and the math lessons. My math has improved but I'm still struggling with grouping and proportion problems.

I take two weeks off in late August to study full time. I haven't yet confirmed my test date, but it appears August 27 may be the date.

Good tidings update: The other day I got a fortune cookie that read "You will pass a difficult test that will make you happier."

GMAT Prep Progress

2005-06-09T20:21:00.000-07:00

Practice Test #1 (GMAT PowerPrep) went o.k. Verbal outstanding, Math brutal. The good news is that I knew the math, versus last year when I tackled the math with the strategies of the Princeton Review rather than understanding the concepts. I think given a few more correct answers that I would have been near a 700.

We'll see this weekend when I take Practice Test #2.

Forgive the brevity and lackluster writing of this post. Work has been a brutal slog of 12 hour days and it will continue through the end of June.

Thoughts on GMAT Prep Approaches

2005-05-31T21:23:00.000-07:00

Last year I used a friend's Princeton Review materials (yes, he paid over a grand for the course, then kindly donated his materials to me) to prep for the GMAT. This year, I've made it a goal to broaden my scope of test prep materials. The Official GMAT Guide has been my primary prep tool to date, as it contains more than 1400 problems (and solutions with explanations) that have actually appeared on past GMATs.

I can see that I relied far too much on the Princeton Review approach last year. The Princeton Review teaches many 'shortcut' strategies to the GMAT's math problems, which, in my opinion, is a watered down approach that left me hanging on test day.

Most solutions presented in the Official GMAT Guide are done so in algebraic terms. This can be frustrating at first, especially when it comes to algebraicly arranging word problems with solutions that are based on the memorization of archaic number properties or the rules for adjusting formulas for inequalities. After tackling 50-100 or so of these problems, though, the algebraic approach becomes second nature, and you're no longer tied to the quick & dirty short-cut approaches of the Princeton Review. Feel the power! Algebra is your friend.

I plan to take my first full-length practice test this weekend (GMAT PowerPrep Test). I'll post the results here.

My one and only Toggy

2005-05-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

No, Meesta TV. No. No no no. NO. Well.... NBA playoffs you say? No, I can't. Well, maybe just a peek. Meesta TV, you are so wily.

I'm sorry Meesta TV. There's someone else. Her name is Toggy... short for The Official GMAT Guide. I'm sorry... she calls. I must go see her. Did I mention that she is intellectually stimulating?

Data Sufficiency is My Friend

2005-05-28T18:46:00.000-07:00

Hello, Mr. Data Sufficiency problem. It's nice to see you again. How are you, old friend...? Good. Good to hear. I am well myself, thanks for asking.

What's that you ask? What have I been up to? Well, I recently took a trip home to attend a friend's bachelor party.

Oh, no, Mr. Data Sufficiency, it wasn't a long trip... just a few hours from here. How long did it take to get there, you ask?

How about we analyze this in the form a GMAT Data Suffiency problem?

How long did it take PupStar78 to drive nonstop from his home in Pleasantville to the bachelor party destination?

1. If PupStar's average speed for the trip had been 1.5 times as fast, the trip would have taken two hours?

2. PupStar's average speed for the trip was 50 MPH.

Now, Mr. Data Sufficiency, to answer your question, I ask you:

A. Is Statement 1 ALONE sufficient, but Statement 2 not sufficient?
B. Is Statement 2 ALONE sufficient, but Statement 1 not sufficient?
C. Are BOTH statements TOGETHER sufficient, but NEITHER statement ALONE is sufficient?
D. Is EACH statement ALONE sufficient?
E. Or, are Statements 1 and 2 TOGETHER NOT SUFFICIENT?

C? WRONG! What, are you daft? The answer is A. Given your current critical thinking ability, I'm afraid you're doomed to attend UC Riverside. Better luck next time, ol' pal.

Ode to My Roommate

2005-05-12T21:48:00.000-07:00

Burt (pseudonym), my roommate, spilled the beans tonight. He hates blogs. I believe the words he used were... "gives everyone a foghorn to trumpet their inane thoughts, mindless banter and poor writing skills," or something to that effect.

Luckily, I'm confident that this blog might surpass his expectations. On the chance that it doesn't, I think he can deal with it.

I got some great advice today from a former MBA career center counseler in regards to my short-term / long-term career goals and how management consulting (MC) might fit in. I am considering MC as a logical career step post-MBA, but I wasn't sure what area of consulting made the most sense for someone of my professional background. Career focus was a problem with my applications last year.

Her advice was to focus first on my long-term goals, such as starting my own company or working in a marketing, ops or biz dev capacity at a start-up, and then figure out how a post-MBA job in MC would help me get there. According to her, taking this approach to constructing my career goals (both in concept and in my application essays) would require less insider MC knowledge than would a career goal of, say, senior partner at an MC firm.

It's common sense, really, but I was happy to get her feedback.

My roomate had some common sense feedback tonight as well: "Don't work for the man. Start your own business. Do it now. Don't be a slave to salary and vacation policy."

Smart words indeed. That's it for now. Off to bed. Well, maybe just a few minutes of SportsCenter.