tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66003826696041854532024-03-05T04:39:41.359-08:00CassiopeiaMy whirlwind of a journey...Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-47315852205845019632011-12-20T15:36:00.000-08:002011-12-20T16:10:12.206-08:00Extremely Good NewsI've been accepted to Wharton!Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-56649625272750760332011-12-15T14:42:00.001-08:002011-12-15T14:53:02.362-08:00Second DecisionI have been wait listed at Kellogg. I don't know if anyone ever anticipates being placed in MBA purgatory, but here I am. To say that this is a disappointment would be understating how I feel. In general, I don't deal well with being in limbo. I process any <span style="font-style:italic;">maybe</span>'s as <span style="font-style:italic;">no</span>'s especially because I don't know what I can do to ameliorate any weaknesses that I haven't done already. I took [expensive] courses to augment my quantitative profile, performed well on the GMAT (my score is higher than their average), went through eight iterations of my Kellogg essays, and practiced for my interview. Perhaps my age has given cause for concern? I can't imagine there are too many people like me in the applicant pool. Sure there are other 700+ GMAT scorers from ivy leagues, but my career goals are pretty unique [so I've been told] and you just don't find too many people in my industry applying to business schools.<br /><br />So, now I wait to hear from Wharton. Hopefully Tuesday will bring better news, but my hope has waned after two straight days of disappointment.Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-1881165629395777062011-12-14T10:14:00.000-08:002011-12-14T10:16:43.934-08:00First DecisionI received my official Stanford rejection letter today and to my surprise I wasn't disappointed by the decision. I think I was more relieved than anything to close the door on one potential path. <br /><br />In any event, congratulations to those who were accepted!Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-83238121387741230432011-12-13T17:29:00.001-08:002011-12-13T17:38:11.479-08:00The Waiting Game Part DeuxI can't believe a month has flown by since my last update. Within the span of four weeks, I got an interview invite at Wharton, went to London, went to Paris, flew to Philadelphia, interviewed, wrote some first drafts, wrote some second drafts, went to a few holiday parties, and roasted a turkey! <br /><br />I wasn't expecting to hear anything from Kellogg until next week, but I unwittingly looked at the gmatclub Kellogg thread to see that the school has already begun making admit calls. They've also started sending out dings. So now I'm on pins and needles hoping to hear something. I've checked my application status several times and nothing has changed. Is no news good news? I don't know, but I'm getting scared. What if I don't get in anywhere at all? I guess that's what R2 apps are for. <br /> <br />My nerves are shot to hades right now.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.counselor.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Anxiety.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 480px; height: 270px;" src="http://www.counselor.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Anxiety.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-26546586980006240572011-11-11T15:52:00.000-08:002011-11-11T15:55:20.075-08:00The Wait is OVA!I've been anxiously checking my email everyday since 10/27, the day that Wharton began sending out interview invites. As I hadn't received anything and today was the last day they'd send out invites, I assumed that I would surely receive a ding today.<br /><br />Imagine my delight when I checked my email at 1:15 PST, and saw an invitation to interview! Of course all of the SF hub interview slots are full and I have to fly to PHL and of course the most cost effective day for me to go is the day after I get back from my week long trip to Europe, but I'm not complaining!<br /><br />I'm in a celebratory mood, but hunny bunny (my boyfriend) and I are sick, so I'll have to have a glass of champagne in the house.Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-43757712467458012482011-11-03T13:30:00.000-07:002011-11-03T13:37:09.329-07:00Kelley School of BusinessI went to a Kelley School of Business admissions event last night. It was awesome. Instead of sitting us down and giving a power point presentation, we had a cooking class led by two professional chefs. There was lots of wine and I got to know the alumni and staff very well in this informal gathering! <br /><br />The chef is meant to be sending us the recipes from what we made, and I really need that recipe for the turkey sliders. They were simply phenomenal.Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-91603820765974547222011-11-02T12:48:00.000-07:002011-11-02T15:12:57.937-07:00Waiting for a decision is pure agony!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2008/10/7/128678626127149695.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 666px;" src="http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2008/10/7/128678626127149695.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-74379930874384416672011-10-30T12:02:00.000-07:002011-10-30T12:33:29.404-07:00A Year Ago TodayI took the GMAT. I had been studying diligently for three months and spent top dollar on a ManhattanGMAT Preparation course. The highest I had scored on a practice test was 710, but I could never duplicate that score again, so I resolved to score in the mid 600s on the real test and just take it again. <br /><br />Looking back, I have never been so ready for game time than I had been on that day. The evening before, I decided to take it easy and go get a manicure, so my hands were looking quite pretty. When I got to the testing center, I was so ready to rock. I had played my game song for the GMAT on the way to the building so I was in the zone.<br /><br />Halfway into the quant section, I knew I bombed the test. I got stuck on a particularly hard question and lost crucial time. I had to basically hack away at some of the questions so I could have a bank of time at the end to finish strong.<br /><br />Convinced I bombed quant, I figured that verbal would be my saving grace as it's always been. But I felt like I was bombing that too at one point. I got to a particularly technical passage for RC, read through it twice, and still couldn't retain anything. I tried to use process of elimination, and wound up eliminating all the answer choices. I sped through the next few sentence correction and critical reasoning questions to make up ground so I wouldn't be penalized for not finishing. <br /><br />When I got to the end of the exam, I was relieved to have finally taken the test and had braced myself for the 600 I thought I'd see. Imagine my surprise when I hit show me the score and saw a freaking 730. I had scored that high in quant before and that high in verbal but on separate tests! The moral of the story is don't cancel your score. Because the test is adaptive, the better you're doing, the more you'll feel like you're flailing because the test will give you harder and harder questions. The other moral of the story is to make the most of your GMAT prep course. I know folks who took them and didn't really do all the homework and take advantage of all the resources the company provides. I lived, breathed, ate, slept the GMAT for three months and I went from a 590 (practice exam) to a 730. It can be done, but it's not easy. <br /><br />And finally, my GMAT theme song, Cosmic Slop by Parliament Funkadellic. It has absolutely nothing to do with overcoming obstacles or winning. It's actually just a really funky song with a nice bass line and guitar riff that always got me amped up to go through a 3 hour practice test. <br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BxnbVGFK1W0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-68046120994044422132011-10-29T15:10:00.000-07:002011-10-29T15:36:07.899-07:00Good Idea/Bad IdeaMy boyfriend has gone home to Los Angeles to attend the CAL vs. UCLA football game. Initially I thought it was a good idea for me to opt to stay at home this weekend and work on MBA applications, but now that I've been sitting in this coffee shop for two hours, working on an essay for USC Marshall, I am starting to think about all the fun going down at the game. Tailgating. Touch downs. On-side kicks. Cheerleaders. Hot dogs. Beer. Man, I'm missing out.<br /><br />I've tried to refrain from looking at the MBA message boards while Wharton is releasing decisions and focus my attention elsewhere, but I just can't. At least over the weekend, I won't have to worry about anything coming in. I'm afraid that I'll get a rejection notice while I'm at work and be in a sour mood for the rest of the day. I honestly don't know how I'd respond. Will I cry? It's very likely. I am a big crier and am known to cry at sappy engagement commercials and have cried everytime I've watched that cheesy movie The Notebook. Or will I be relieved to finally have an indication as to where I stand and be able to use that indication to formalize a round 2 strategy. One thing's for sure, although there is a weakness in my profile, I'm feeling very optimistic. Not just about Wharton, but about my future in general. <br /><br />I've had two shots of espresso, and am contemplating a third in another hour or so. My energy is insane right now, so it's time for a dance party!<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4M0b7wcKjJo" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="320" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x1l1td"></iframe><br /><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1l1td_beyonce-get-me-bodied_music" target="_blank">Beyonce Get Me Bodied</a> <br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oAOUHRslG0w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-67271698040870828702011-10-23T19:39:00.000-07:002011-10-23T19:44:06.303-07:00So, tell me about yourself?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://itstrulyrandom.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/interview.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 438px; height: 338px;" src="http://itstrulyrandom.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/interview.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Today I had my Kellogg interview, and I do think that it went well. There were two questions that I probably could have answered better but I'm happy with how it went. After having written so many essays, I actually had quite a few stories at the ready for some of the behavioral questions. I also think that I made a great case for <span style="font-style: italic;">Why Kellogg</span> and I loved seeing how my alumni interviewer had very strong ties to her alma mater. Hearing her talk about her experience at Kellogg and her experience as a Kellogg alum reinforced my desire to attend. Now I cross my fingers and hope for good news come December.Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-18867045275383448372011-10-20T16:23:00.000-07:002011-10-20T16:35:14.291-07:00Party's over<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrndTuwF1uU27kVwAJX_iwek0nuhk4V6Jn-eUP-6fe3bA3eJpBwM4jjxdlXRlH-ri-tmH5sVtz9eCnyP7fQ7CQeZowsI-h70rUU4EROVJo9HdJw8rOuSeUUSA1XuZZQNQGTtBECFP4B_S5/s1600/The+pony+engine.jpg"><br /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzpXLEs22qT8gGSQOL6BDfRQp7HcC8eYo17_Suvzlv0AI5kKumyfOXkC12Rcz5rWUawmVrQ61kRBJbASq_dYaoyaPTgwNgHTiAzaou2OGLWz3fLYkpg9sOpAkxb7GBprbRwT5yybopjI71/s1600/parties+over.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 453px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzpXLEs22qT8gGSQOL6BDfRQp7HcC8eYo17_Suvzlv0AI5kKumyfOXkC12Rcz5rWUawmVrQ61kRBJbASq_dYaoyaPTgwNgHTiAzaou2OGLWz3fLYkpg9sOpAkxb7GBprbRwT5yybopjI71/s1600/parties+over.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />On Tuesday, I celebrated being done with R1 with a few two dollar Martinis, and now that I've got the fun out of my system, it's time to turn my attention back to my apps. Focusing on R2 apps will also take off some of the anxiety of waiting to see if the R1 schools want to interview me.<br /><br />I need to get a version of my HBS R2 essays to my reviewer by Monday. Since HBS is a last minute addition, I still need to do some research on the school, so it's taking me longer than I thought to complete the career goals essay. Outlines for Setbacks and Achievements are chugging right along, and I have a few ideas for the question I wished they had asked me.<br /><br />I am also going to try to make the 11/15 R1 deadline for consortium schools. This gives me about a month to make things happen, and if it doesn't happen, then I'll at least be halfway done for January submission.<br /><br />The other day I had an ingenious idea for Booth's power point pages, and I made a sketch of it so that I won't forget it.<br /><br />Full steam ahead!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrndTuwF1uU27kVwAJX_iwek0nuhk4V6Jn-eUP-6fe3bA3eJpBwM4jjxdlXRlH-ri-tmH5sVtz9eCnyP7fQ7CQeZowsI-h70rUU4EROVJo9HdJw8rOuSeUUSA1XuZZQNQGTtBECFP4B_S5/s1600/The+pony+engine.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 309px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrndTuwF1uU27kVwAJX_iwek0nuhk4V6Jn-eUP-6fe3bA3eJpBwM4jjxdlXRlH-ri-tmH5sVtz9eCnyP7fQ7CQeZowsI-h70rUU4EROVJo9HdJw8rOuSeUUSA1XuZZQNQGTtBECFP4B_S5/s1600/The+pony+engine.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-35755183880991885832011-10-18T14:34:00.000-07:002011-10-18T14:43:01.823-07:00Kellogg is in!YES YES YES! As of today, all of my R1 apps are in and submitted. More champagne for everyone!!!!<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3GwjfUFyY6M" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-47433948991488075512011-10-12T18:10:00.001-07:002011-10-12T18:12:02.301-07:00Stanford is in!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images.sciencedaily.com/2009/12/091231110436-large.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 469px; height: 340px;" src="http://images.sciencedaily.com/2009/12/091231110436-large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Congrats to everyone who submitted a Stanford app. I might have to pop a bottle of cheap champagne when I get home. This one took a lot out of me!Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-16958313557812559302011-10-11T19:32:00.001-07:002011-10-11T19:54:37.957-07:00The Stanford Data Formis not a game. I was on it for 3 hours today and am still not finished.Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-76271089315620010522011-10-03T19:58:00.000-07:002011-10-03T20:02:00.372-07:00Congratulations<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.themerrymartini.com/blog/uploaded_images/champagne-731890.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 278px; height: 432px;" src="http://www.themerrymartini.com/blog/uploaded_images/champagne-731890.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSDndjfHPi9iwI3pK38-sBQzZWIgqgACuCjgsCsN8IYIWxohX5t"><br /></a><br />Congratulations to everyone who submitted Wharton or HBS applications today!Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-21756981648752143722011-10-01T18:16:00.001-07:002011-10-01T18:35:36.785-07:00Wharton due MondayCome hell or high water, this Wharton application is getting submitted. I considered putting the app off until round 2, but I've been on this b-school journey for over a year now and I'm really ready to get this party started already. <br /><br />I spent last night clarifying my career goals in my professional objective essay. I like it. It sings. I've just got to cut out some extraneous words, and that's a done deal.<br /><br />I spent most of today redoing the interpersonal essay. In my earlier versions, I felt like I didn't own up to my mistakes in navigating this experience so I gave it a minor face lift to reflect these mistakes.<br /><br />I spent the last few hours overhauling the innovation essay, and am still at it. <br /><br />Through this essay writing process, I've learned two things -- 1) you have to choose who you're going to take your feedback from and how you're going to use it and 2) you can get feedback until the end of time so at one point you have to create a plan and roll with it.<br /><br />As far as my other applications....<br /><br />Tuck -- I visited campus and loved it. My interview with the student ambassador went well. No hard ball questions and I am happy with it.<br /><br />Kellogg -- got some encouraging feedback so now I'm going to rewrite two of the essays. One is completely done and I'm not changing a thing. The career goals essay needs a bit of clarification. This app is on hold for the moment in light of the two deadlines that are more pressing.<br /><br />Stanford -- I have been neglecting this baby. Actually that's not entirely true. I've done some good work on the last two behavioral questions and my career objectives were all but set in stone until I had a stroke of genius on the plane ride to Cambridge. I started the career objectives over from scratch and sheer brilliance was flowing through these fingers here. Of course that computer crashed, and along with it, the brilliance. I think I can get into that zone again. It was truly the realest thing I ever wrote (cookie to anyone who got that Tupac reference). I have a draft of What Matters to Me Most, but I'm not confident with it and don't think it's an accurate reflection of what matters to me most.<br /><br />My boyfriend is out of town this weekend so I have no distractions outside of the 4th season of Mad Men on netflix. I'm on episode five and it's getting quite good so I have to resist. I've been listening to a lot of Prince to power through this....<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Yyh_U32gbOo" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-87306017607912055012011-09-18T00:31:00.000-07:002011-09-18T00:40:47.648-07:00My Stanford essays suck but are in good shapeQuite a paradox. How could this possibly be? My Stanford essays currently aren't worth the paper they're printed on yet I consider them to be in good shape. Everyone says that Kellogg's essay questions are the hardest, but I wouldn't know it. Stanford is kicking my behind. These word limits are the bane of my existence right now. I'm having a difficult time distilling my behavioral essays to their essential parts so that they fit into 300 words. 300 little words. <br /><br />I received confirmation that the stories I want to tell are compelling, so in my opinion, they're in fighting shape. I have a starting point (well not quite, since I've rewritten these things multiple times), and know how I can improve them. it's just a matter of sitting down to do it. <br /><br />In other news, I am feeling confident about both my Wharton and my Kellogg essays. My resume has been sealed with a kiss and I do not forsee additional alterations. I do not have the mental bandwith to think about Chicago's application or essays right now. They only have two essays and a power point presentation, so it's much less writing intense than Kellogg's essays, but the esoteric "leadership" question has me at a loss. I'm sure I can dig deep and find some jewels, but until I get Stanford to a point where I'm just fine tuning things, I don't think focusing on Chicago will do either school justice. <br /><br />It is late, and I've spent my day off writing essays. Although there is no rest for the weary, I'm going to lay my head on my pillow.<br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qf3o6EW8P0g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-576291810487109282011-08-29T14:12:00.001-07:002011-08-29T14:38:49.663-07:00Writing Everyone's Essays But My OwnBefore I get started, in honor of Mondays...
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<br />One of my colleagues in the Management Leadership Tomorrow program remarked that I am probably having an easy time right now because writing is one of my strengths. He's right, but then he's wrong. He's right in that I have an easy time with grammar, word use, etc, and that I can see for myself where an essay needs work. He's wrong in that I'm going to have to write just as many drafts as everyone else will. I'm not so cavalier as to think that I've got the essays <span style="font-style: italic;">in the bag. </span>That type of hubris in this process is what results in rejections. In fact, the bar will probably be higher for me as an English major who works at a publishing company.
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<br />I do enjoy the essay writing process more than the studying for the GMAT process, though. I like to write and always have. You may be surprised to learn that I never wanted to be a fiction writer. The few times I've tried my hand at fiction, I have found myself bored and never felt compelled to see my work through to completion. I'd stop at the first draft and just lose interest. Non-fiction is where my heart was/is. At one point in my life I wanted to be a journalist so that makes sense. I love to recount true stories and find the symbolism, pathos, and humor in things that normal people do on a daily basis. Even still, my attention span has never allowed me to see any of my non fiction work through to the end (but I would love to write a biography of my grandmother -- she just refuses to be interviewed). Sure, I'm a decent writer, but my real talent (I think) is for bringing out the strengths of other writers. Kind of like a writing coach (or editor).
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<br />That same colleague sent out an SOS and asked me to look over some of his essays this weekend. He had received the same feedback multiple times and when he thought he was improving, his reviewer told him he hadn't made any progress. I looked them over and what had happened is that the treasure was buried deep, deep in the essay. Several paragraphs into a 750 word essay. He meandered through the essay making a few claims and never substantiating them or introducing ideas and never reconciling them. He had some cool ideas for metaphors but needed a coach to help him make the metaphors work and sing. I went through and helped him create a structure and develop a theme.
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<br />I also have a friend applying for medical rotations and she asked me to help her with essays for those programs. Unlike my colleague, She had so many treasures in one essay that readers were getting overwhelmed and she failed to connect the dots for why she wanted to go into radiology in a way that we could understand. So I helped her with creating an outline that kept her on track as she rewrote the essay. We have all of her treasures connected with a central theme that we laid out in the beginning of the essay.
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<br />While I was doing all this essay help, I avoided rewriting my own Kellogg essays. It did not help that I can now stream all four seasons of Mad Men on Netflix.
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<br />I spent Saturday watching Season 1 and pretending to write. To my credit, I did manage to finish a first draft of my Wharton essays at 2 AM last night and I'm glad that I got my ideas on to paper. As much as I preach about the benefits of outlining, I totally winged it on my career goals essay and wrote what I felt as it came to me.
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<br />Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-52168394979475853532011-08-23T16:58:00.000-07:002011-08-24T19:15:22.855-07:00Got my Kellogg Essays BackI'm happy to report that my essays were in better shape than I thought they were. I am awesome at those <span style="font-style:italic;">Situation Task Action Results</span> essays. Simply awesome. Where I am much less awesome is the <span style="font-style:italic;">Career Goals</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Why This School</span> essays. I've actually decided to alter my career goals. More on that later.Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-52755138490754706642011-08-17T12:45:00.000-07:002011-08-17T13:21:00.122-07:00Don't Sweat the Small StuffRecently, I got hooked on a series of blog posts wherein an admissions consultant was sizing up an applicants chances for a variety of schools. Though entertaining, I found myself a bit demoralized after reading these posts and started second guessing my accomplishments, chances, and choice in schools. I know that my GPA is low and am prepared to overcome that hurdle, but the emphasis on working for a big name firm is what got to me. Am I wasting application fees here? I know that it's unlikely that I'll be accepted everywhere I apply, but I do want to have a fighting chance at the school's I apply to. Now is not the time to lose faith in myself, so I decided to tune the self-doubt out and stop reading the series. I will instead channel that energy into fuel to produce stand out applications.
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<br />So my theme song for the day...
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<br />Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-29417852716295137562011-08-16T12:09:00.001-07:002011-08-16T12:24:16.312-07:00Onward, Ho! More Essay OutliningI had a lovely evening last night. Simply lovely. Despite leaving work at 6 PM, I did not make it home until 8 due to protests on the subway.
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<br />I won't go into the details of the protest or even offer an opinion on them as my blog is not political in nature. All I will say is that my subway station was closed and I wound up having to take the expensive ferry home. Though inconvenient, it was a beautiful ride on the SF Bay.
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<br />The subway shut down took a chunk of my time last night that I was going to devote to writing Wharton essays, but last night I managed to get outlines for all down on paper. After having written a set of essays for Kellogg, my ideas flowed more freely. I'm going to be able to re-use an anecdote for Wharton that I've used in my Kellogg essay. I will not be copying and pasting, however, because the Wharton question is actually different from the Kellogg question. It's just that the theme is similar.
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">So why Wharton? </span>
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<br />Wharton is a program that I got excited about in the last month after learning about the small business development center and their integrated marketing and operations major. I originally hesitated because it's a larger program and after speaking to some marketing students I got the impression that their support for those entering brand management wasn't that great. Upon a more thorough reflection of my career goals, I realized that Wharton's emphasis on finance and analytics is perfect for me in that I'll be forced to develop a knowledge base in areas that I'm currently lacking and through experiential opportunities, I'll be able to connect marketing and analytics in a way that I haven't been able to before.
<br />Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-8803897992454737092011-08-14T18:35:00.000-07:002011-08-14T19:12:35.309-07:00Kellogg First Draft Finished<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.old-picture.com/american-history-1900-1930s/pictures/Typing-Woman.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 448px; height: 672px;" src="http://www.old-picture.com/american-history-1900-1930s/pictures/Typing-Woman.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>
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<br />After a brutal seven-hour writing session, I have completed the first draft of my Kellogg essays. I need to give my boyfriend a special thank you for his understanding. We were supposed to go to the movies and out to eat this weekend but I just haven't had the bandwith. I managed to make breakfast and lunch today but have not changed from my pajamas. I had to send him to the store to get things for dinner, and at 9 oclock we will have our Sunday snuggle time. :) Right now, I'm unwinding with a cheap glass of Sauvignon Blac.
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<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Reminders to myself about essay writing:</span>
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<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Be yourself.</span> I'm sure you've heard admissions officers and consultants advise applicants to be themselves and not try to paint a portrait of what they think the adcom wants them to be. Truer words have never been spoken. I had trouble articulating the motivation behind my long term goals on paper and I hesitated to go for broke in talking about my career plans because I was afraid the adcom wouldn't believe I had the juice to make a career switch. For weeks, my career goals essays were boring and seemed too force. They actually pained me to write. Today, I restructured my career goals essay and talked about the deal with my father that led me to this career goal. My words flowed so naturally and so much easier than they had before.
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<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Brainstorm and outline. </span> It is essential to have a plan before you start attacking an essay. You need to know what you want to highlight in your essay, what anecdotes you want to tell and why they're relevant before you set pen to paper. This outline is your essay's skeleton. This outline allows you to think through your essay and establish a structure. I am a big structure freak. Structure in writing fascinates me. James Joyce is painful to read but I had to respect dude's structure. In fact in undergrad, I contemplated doing a PhD in Literature studying narrative structure (yes I'm that much of a geek). Structure gives the reader sign posts. The reader needs these sign posts so that your points are not lost. It also gives you a frame work to operate in so that you don't get lost in the writing sauce yourself.
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<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">A rough draft is just that. Rough.</span> I am an experienced writer and spent my college education writing papers upon papers, but even with that experience I had to remind myself that the first rough draft is to really get your ideas on paper. There's no way in Hades that you're going to sound like Maya Angelou or Nabokov as soon as you put your fingers on the keys. It's just not happening. If the outline gives you a skeleton, the rough draft puts the meat on that skeleton. Power through those moments where you get stumped. One of my tricks is if I get stuck on how to describe something or on a word to use I'll write a stand-in phrase and put brackets around it so I know to go back and clean it up when I do my first repass. Some people work best when they do this rough draft through stream of consciousness (a literary style that I've always hated due to my love of structure), and this may be you. So you have to let the words flow through you and write your thoughts out. Follow the map you created in your outline until you get to the end and don't worry about how crappy or how good the essay is when you've finished.
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<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Do not be afraid to abort the mission. </span> This is another tip I picked up writing papers. I have thrown away pages of a paper and entire essays because after I got them on paper they sparked an idea for a paper that was much better than what I had. In the past few weeks, I wrote maybe two entire essays that I abandoned. I lifted maybe one or two sentences or ideas and used them to spark the essays that I have labeled my first draft. You have to give yourself ample time to write garbage. Nabokov's first iteration of Lolita was probably rubbish, so keep in mind that the greats got that way because they practiced, practiced, practiced. We're not writing novels here, but expect to go through some iterations before you get your polished jewel ready to submit to the adcom.
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<br />It is almost time for True Blood and Breaking Bad. My first draft has been sent off to my MBA application coach and I look forward to seeing what she has to say. I should include another self-reminder -- humble yourself. You need someone to keep it real with you and tell you where and why your essay sucks. I'm expecting lots of constructive criticism. I'd be kidding if I told you that I will squeal with glee when I see all of the comments about what I need to change and what sucked, <span style="font-style:italic;">but I need and want to hear this. </span>Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-4039752915708887172011-03-28T23:38:00.000-07:002011-03-29T23:10:42.950-07:00Time fliesI can't believe it's been a month since I last took the time out to draft a blog post. So much has happened..<br /><br />1) My work trip to MD has been canceled. I planned to take a week off afterward and visit Tuck, Wharton, Columbia and Yale. After much deliberation on how to get the best bang for my buck, I decided to push off visiting the east coast schools until September. This situation is not ideal, but I am going to make the best of it by getting all of my west coast visits out of the way now. Which leads me to point #2...<br /><br />2) Not going to MD means that I can go to the Many Voices conference. If I were going to MD I would not be in the bay area for the event, so there is some silver lining in that cloud. Stanford is my top choice right now. I visited in the fall, and sat in on a class, but did not speak to very many students outside of my former Housemate. This weekend I'll get to hear more from students, get to speak to admissions officers and ask questions, and get to partake in an actual class. The Many Voices folks have sent along assignments -- one of the readings is 40 pages long. I'm going to have a veritable read-a-thon.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwuOPcQxcF-uqGAMJtx9mtZR-FP19aMmaFtu1PVUCPoz2mHSLFk7ErlwCDXBxU-KWCXLav0gH2RWM1d509LezqpOJIhIOC3FBAnPj6RHjY_JCITH15_Q4uSTWWEI7kAl6bTV3xyp9AuYGR/s1600/readathon.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 301px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwuOPcQxcF-uqGAMJtx9mtZR-FP19aMmaFtu1PVUCPoz2mHSLFk7ErlwCDXBxU-KWCXLav0gH2RWM1d509LezqpOJIhIOC3FBAnPj6RHjY_JCITH15_Q4uSTWWEI7kAl6bTV3xyp9AuYGR/s1600/readathon.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />3) Speaking of visiting campuses, I had an opportunity to visit Darden at the beginning of this month for the MLT kick-off seminar. I wound up getting to Virginia pretty early on Thursday so I planned to visit a class, take a campus tour and attend a chili cook-off. Well I wound up falling ill that first day. I don't know if I was dehydrated or what, but I did not feel up to touring campus etc. Lucky for me I got to see a lot of the campus over the weekend and it's gorgeous. Like absolutely stunning. We also got our own classroom experience as one of the most popular professors at Darden led a case-based discussion for us. I enjoyed the case method. It was stimulating, but it didn't strike me as something that I must have as the dominant/sole teaching method. One could argue that with the case method you are always applying theories, but I'll have to think about devoting my entire 2-years to case studies. I spoke to numerous students over the weekend and they were all very friendly. I heard a lot about the benefits of going to a school like Darden when it comes to recruiting for management consulting. I also heard from quite a few future brand managers (more than I expected). I'm still undecided on Darden. It's a beautiful campus -- there's no denying that. I would get a great general management education there and I'm sure I would land a great first gig post MBA. I need to do some soul-searching to see if I can adjust to living in a small city. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://proto.cavalierdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/ns-darden-dan_tarjan_file_photo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 450px; height: 274px;" src="http://proto.cavalierdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/ns-darden-dan_tarjan_file_photo.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><br />4) I wound up getting an A on my calculus final and subsequently an A in the class. Yay me! I'm glad that it's out of the way and I've got my Thursdays back. Now I have a stats course and a calc course under my belt -- and I got A's in both. Woot. I had originally planned to take Micro economics and accounting in addition to calc and stat, but my MLT coach has me rethinking my original plna. I long ago abandoned the idea of taking 4 courses and settled on 3, but she thinks that 2 is sufficient. A 3rd would just be me driving the point home. I have a few months to think about what I'm going to do. I can take micro economics, lose another 4-6 hours out of my week and pay about 800 bucks. Or I can save the money for something else. If the $800 puts me closer to my long term goal without putting me into the red, it's probably worth taking the additional course. Fortunately I won't have to cross that bridge until May when the extension school offers the micro economics course.<br /><br />5) This past month I researched Duke Fuqua. The students I spoke to seem excited about the program, but right now I am undecided on how I feel about it. I plan to visit the school in the fall to experience life on campus.<br /><br />6) I gave my resume yet another face lift and have included more figures to show impact<br /><br />7) I spoke with a former house mate who is a 2Y at Wharton. She's majoring in marketing there and I wondered how that was like for her. When I hear Wharton, I think consulting, not so much marketing/brand management, and as it's a school I'm considering, I wanted to talk to her on the phone about her time at Wharton. As it turns out, she thought she was going into finance but after a few weeks she quickly realized that it was not for her and managed to shift her career focus before recruiting started. She gave me the email address of one of her cohort mates who, like me, is from a publishing background and who, like I hopefully will be, is going into brand management next year. I need to email her to arrange a time for an informational interview.<br /><br />8) My little sister surprised me with a visit this past weekend. She came up from Southern California for a weekend and wound up spending most of her time playing Call of Duty and hanging out with one of her friends who moved away from Santa Barbara. She did cook a fabulous dinner for me on Saturday and we got to spend some time together despite my pretty hectic schedule.<br /><br />In summary, my list of schools is looking like this now:<br />Stanford<br />Tuck<br />Wharton<br />Fuqua<br />Darden<br />Anderson<br />Marshall<br />Stern<br />Columbia<br />Haas<br />Georgetown<br />Yale SOM<br />Kellogg<br />Booth<br /><br />Keep in mind that this is a long list and I haven't researched all of these schools in depth yet. Stanford, Haas, and Anderson are definitely on my short list.<br />What's on the agenda for April: <br /><br />Many Voices Conference<br />Toastmasters Speech # 5 (I've already got an idea)<br />Lent<br />Vegas and Janet Jackson at the end of the month with two of my bffs<br />A visit to Haas and hopefully a visit to USC and Anderson<br />Career planning and informational interviews with brand managers (I'm trying to paint vividly what my short term and long term goals are. They are abstract right now and for b-school apps, they need to be crystal clear).<br />And an email to my grandmother, and that I'll do right now.Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-74111266040483524262011-02-25T15:35:00.001-08:002011-02-25T15:37:11.389-08:00Task 1 CompletedMy application to the Many Voices Event is signed, sealed, and delivered.<br /><br /><object style="height: 274; width: 450"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nkQKk2ukiyw?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nkQKk2ukiyw?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="450" height="274"></object>Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600382669604185453.post-78769664405663351662011-02-25T13:16:00.000-08:002011-02-25T15:54:36.095-08:00SO.FREAKING.BUSYI'm busy both at work and outside of work. I've been occupied every night this week. Monday with my Prince concert. Tuesday with Toastmasters. Wednesday with laundry. Thursday with Calculus and tonight I have a work event. I have to come in to work tomorrow for the same work event. On top of that I have an application for the Many Voices at Stanford event due today and I haven't yet set pen to paper to figure out what intellectual diversity I bring to the student body. I've got to figure out something to do with my mentee on Sunday. Monday I've got an MLT assignment due. Tuesday I'm giving a speech at Toastmasters and on Wednesday night I'm off to UVA. In the words of Prince, LET'S WORK!<br /><br /><object style="height: 274; width: 450px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SGHgGCB-rMc?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SGHgGCB-rMc?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="274" width="450"></embed></object>Cassiopeiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13235047738766438370noreply@blogger.com0