So you're telling me there's a chance... *YEAH!* :)

Mood:  Freezing. After having record highs (close to 100 degrees) in my PNW city this past weekend (passing up optimal outside bronzing time/floating down the river/Warrior Dash for GMAT studying), the weather has returned to normal and it is finally starting to feel like fall.   Unfortunately this means that our poorly-insulated old house in our trendy hipster enclave is going to transform from being an oven this summer into a refrigerator this fall aka, oh heating bill, it's you again.  

Musing:  I am less than 10 days away from turning the big 2-5, aka onset of the quarter life crisis (ha).  This is the final "hurrah" to cross...though not much will change (lower car insurance? yay?)  Part of me starts to panic - there are people who did amazing things by age 25.  Lady Gaga sold 13 million albums, Mark Zuckerberg created and launched Facebook, and I'm pretty sure Shakespeare wrote his first play before he turned 25. 

Then I watched this National Geographic video then this one about there being 7 billion people in the world and felt just a teensy bit insignificant.  

Who doesn't love National Geographic?

I'm definitely very appreciative of all my experiences up until now, but I also want to make sure that I'm taking advantage of all the opportunities that have been given to me and reflective of my choices.  I have always thought, why MBA and why now, but now more than ever, I realize how ready I am at this point in my life to go back to school. The video has been on my mind the last couple of days, and made me think about the inter-connectedness of the world and the potential for combining education + global impact. My international experiences in work and education have been some of the most memorable, and it would be amazing to have the opportunity to work and study abroad.

Moving forward with the application process, I'm now starting to narrow down my list of schools and realistically assess my chances.

First move was to submit my profile to Sandy aka the HBSGuru on Poets & Quants to get his opinion.  I figured if I needed someone to give it to me straight, it would be him.

Here's the profile I submitted, and Sandy's response, which I'm very grateful that he took the time to compile.

Key takeaways:

• Hardest news to hear: "For the reasons you mention–low GPA and lowish GMAT, plus non-blue chip firm—you’re asking them to blink twice or maybe 1.5 times, and they will take someone similar to you with better stats and schooling" Ahh. And there it is - the truth. *gulp*
• Most encouraging news to hear: "I like you, and my guess is, with real solid execution, which should be easy, given how smoothly your goals flow from your experience, you could be real strong candidate at Kellogg, Haas, Yale, and Duke."  *yay!* These are some schools that I am, also, very excited about.
• Alignment with my future goals: "The rest of this is just so solid. A neighbor of mine started an educational consulting company right out of Harvard Ed School, doing what seems like what your company does, and he had an HBS grad working for him." That sounds amazing and right up my alley.
  
• To end: "Explain the grades in some way and stress international do-gooder stories, and write back and tell me you made it to Harvard or Stanford." Check and check, and if I do, you can expect a manuscript :)

So basically what I got out of it was, your chances realistically at some schools are not very high, they care about numbers, but give it your best shot because you have some other things working for you.

What can I control? My GPA is history, and I don't have time to take additional classes now. I can focus on my recommendations, community service and essays, and getting that GMAT number up.

Immediately after I read his response, I felt like Lloyd in Dumb and Dumber shouting out, "So you're telling me there's a chance?!"

Hit me with it! Just give it to me straight!

So without further ado, here are my preliminary list of schools along with the percentage chance of acceptance that Sandy has "handicapped":

• Stanford (joint degree in School of Education): 15% to 20%
• Harvard Business School: 20% to 30%
• Berkeley: 40+%
• Yale: 50+%
• Wharton: 25% to 40%
• Northwestern: 40% to 60%
• Columbia: 40% to 50%
• Duke: 50% to 60%

Using what I learned about probability from my GMAT quantitative prep, the chances that I will get into ONE of the above schools is equal to 1 - the chances I get denied at ALL of the schools multiplied together (ha) or, 1-(.15*.20*.40*.25*.40*.40*.50) = .99976.  Now I will take this figure with a grain of salt...but statistically, I should get into at least one or two of the schools on the list.  I just need to put forth the strongest application I possibly can!
 

It's going to be helpful in breaking down my list of schools in each blog posting and digesting what I have to offer the schools and what they have to offer me in return.  Some might wonder, "Why aren't you applying to more safety/reach schools? The answer being, MBA admissions is not like college where you HAVE to go somewhere so you need "a safety school" in case all else fails.  I applied to maybe 11 different colleges, a mix of liberal arts schools and universities, public and private, in every corner of the US, and had originally planned on going to the school that offered me the best financial aid package.  Due to the generous policies of schools meeting all financial need, I was able to go to my dream school.  

I know business school is not like that, and financing my experience will be another posting in itself, but I definitely only will apply to schools that I feel I would genuinely be happy to attend.   If I don't get in, I'll want to know why and what I can do to improve my profile, whether it is work experience, a higher GMAT score, or better crafted essays and statements.  Not just because it is what a school asks for, but also because I want to be a well-rounded student when I enter. 

I was lucky enough to attend my "dream school" at my undergraduate institution, but am also realistic in having more than one "dream school" for B-School :)

Before I start, it might help to list out what I am looking for in an ideal school "fit" 

• Brand Name & Reputation.  Is that superficial? Let me clarify then - I don't necessarily mean the exact rankings, but one that is well-regarded and a record of taking credit for creating leaders.  ;)  There's a reason why schools have strong reputations - a degree from that institution carries a high value, and the experience and connections are priceless.  On the other hand, I'm not going to apply/choose a school that is ranked #10 just because it is ranked higher than #11.
• General Management Focus, not just finance-y or only known for being numbers heavy, but a school that aims to and has a history of producing real leaders.
• Social entrepreneurship connections - ideally they would be high up on the Beyond Gray Pinstripes rankings for social, ethical and environmental stewardship.
• Most Importantly, school culture and fit - students that are collaborative, positive and PASSIONATE, not just ambitious.  I don't want to be sitting next to students who only want to crunch numbers all day and earn the big bucks on Wall Street (though, I grudgingly admit we may need those people too), but also connected to those who are earnestly wanting to change the world (I mean GLOBAL impact) for the better.  I want to be around people who dream really, really big, and have the drive and talents to back it up.  On the other hand, I recognize that I would gain a great deal learning from those who have different skills than I do, and so what I'm really looking for is a BALANCED student body - one where I would naturally fit in. 

Icing on the cake:

• West Coast Location - okay, that is a definite plus so that I can be close to family, but I will live anywhere. Heck, I'll even suck it up for cold weather. I was raised in Alaska, so I don't mind walking around in a snow suit if I have to.  In fact, that would be probably very fashionably ironic and retro in my current city!  I picked my undergrad school partly based on the sunshine, but this is serious grad school stuff we are talking about here ;)
• Management Consultant Firms recruiting, or track record of sending a high number of students into consulting
• International draw or opportunities for study abroad
• Joint program with schools of Education
• Emphasis on recruiting women or a female-friendly environment, student organizations for women in business, strong female alums
• Fairly young student body - want to be going to school with students that are around my age, similar interests in starting up company and early in career.  Of course having older students to learn from different perspectives is always beneficial.
• Connections to entrepreneurship in general; down the road, I'd love to start my own company/organization.
• Balanced curriculum - I think I can gain the most from curriculum that is structured in that it has a solid foundation of the required basics, but also electives.  I have had a taste of the case study method and I do feel like it is very compatible with my style of learning.
• Oh and a beautiful campus sure doesn't hurt!

There's probably more...but those are some of the most important factors as of now.

So here we go: first school to break down on the list is the first school I actually visited (was in Singapore for business this Spring and coincidentally, was able to attend a Friday evening informational session):

INSEAD aka Innovative, eNtrepreneurship, Sexy (and Socially Impactful), European, globAl, Diverse

Pros: 

• Truly a global business school in terms of curriculum, diverse student body, companies that recruit,
• Highly ranked and great reputation (outside of the US would be stronger than within the US)
• Heavily recruited by management consulting, send many graduates into consulting, but also have strong entrepreneurial ties
• Visited the campus and expressed interest, love that you can study on both the Singapore and Fontainbleu France campuses
• Will only be forgoing one year of salary, though on the other hand, I'm not sure I can get all I want out of an MBA experience in just one year.
• #28 on Beyond Grey Pinstripes for social impact

I love Singapore as a city and living in a french chateau for part of a year could be really freaking charming.  *Pardon my French, literally, because it is non-existent and I'm pretty sure any attempt will butcher the language and result in me inadvertently uttering an expletive.  Case in point: I love the word pamplemousse, and when I first learned the word in High School, I repeated it incessantly, just because I liked the sound.  Little did I know it is also a slang term/insult, and learned that the hard way when I told a native french co-worker of my favorite phrase...good thing they understood my intentions..!

great word. even better great fruit, second only to mangos :)

As much as Insead may fit my interests on paper, I'm not sure the "chemistry" is there.  I didn't quite feel the "click" I was looking for when I attended the presentation, albeit I didn't get a chance to look around the campus or speak individually with many students (talked with a few).  If I may make another one of my far-out stretchy analogies that I am prone to doing, Insead in many ways is like Viggo Mortensen, who embodies what many might consider a "perfect" renaissance man:

Why the sudden Viggo interest?  One reason: Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings orchestra is coming to my city....and the repressed LOTR fanatic in me is very tempted to get tickets and geek out

 You are probably wondering who Viggo is.  Recognize him now?

Oh yeahhh. The orcs have nothing on you :)

Much like Insead, he's got humor, charm, intelligence (he writes books! he paints! he photographs!), is socially conscious (started a publishing house for non-traditional authors), is bold (Aragon! Fight Scene in Eastern Promises!), plus is fluent in 5+ languages (you need to know how to speak 3 languages as a student at Insead), and is undeniably European too, Danish to be exact (cultural differences keeps things exciting!)

But chemistry-wise?  Yep, as dreamy as Aragon is, realistically Viggo is probably (and by probably, I mean definitely) not the guy for me.  There's also that whole age thing, aka he is twice my age (average age of Insead students entering in is 29, I'd matriculate at age 25) aaaand I'm pretty sure that he doesn't even know I exist :). Insead on the other hand - I hope they do - I made sure to RSVP and sign in!

From my visit and looking around at the prospective students around me, and the student panel in the front, my immediate feeling in the room was; I feel SUPER American and SO young - which might not necessarily be a bad thing. Is adjusting to living abroad going to be difficult at the same time as I'm learning 2 years worth of MBA curriculum in one jam-packed year?  Plus a European MBA may be very different than an American one in terms of the doors it opens and connections to students who will probably go on to work globally.  As much as I would love to be an expat for a short period of time, I don't think I would want to live internationally the rest of my life....

In other news, I am now aiming for Round 2.  When I initially started, I thought I would submit to schools for R1, but after spending so much time on the GMAT and traveling for work, things have gotten pushed back.   I don't think it will hurt my chances as much since I've read that many R1 applicants are typically the "traditional" candidates such as Management Consultants or I-Bankers who have others helping coach them through the process, they have everything in top-shape early on.  Hopefully my profile, despite being in "consulting" as the broader industry, would be considered more "nontraditional" or "atypical" and I can still get by with R2.  Plus that will give me enough time to build solid essays and enhance my work/community experiences. 

Okay. Time to snooze.  I can't believe my GMAT re-take is just a few days away...and this time, I really hope it will be my last!

Au Revoir, (one of the only other french phrases I know...)  Somehow I have a feeling I'll be dreaming of Joey learning French from Phoebe..

Mango


Bucket List Continued:

28. Work and/or study in a different country for at least a few months.  Soak up the language, culture and grub.  Challenge myself outside of my comfort zone so that I can be truly adaptable to all situations.  Come away with a better understanding of how I fit into the global fabric and how I can contribute.

Getting down to the Wire (Good thing I didn't start watching the show, I've learned my lessons in procrastination from college)

Mood:  Inspired. Just co-facilitated a workshop today on multidisciplinary 21st century skills.  If you haven't deduced yet, I work in consulting in the educational sector :)  After sharing this TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson to highlight the importance of inventive thinking, I was reminded again of why I'm in the field of education, why I hope to remain here long-term, and why there needs to be change especially in the approach and organizational structure.  This is a rant best saved for another blog entry, but it is something that I'm quite passionate about, and hope to shape it into a running theme of my B-School essays.

Music: Revisited my Jack Johnson Pandora station.  It reminds me of last spring when my best friend and I backpacked (we like to call it flashpacking) through SE Asia and would put Jack Johnson on in the evenings while were sitting in our cabanas, looking up at the stars.  Those flashpacking trips (we've covered Puerto Rico, SE Asia, Mexico, and most recently, Brazil) bring me back to when I was truly carefree and removed from the crazy realities of life.  On a bus once, we asked our driver to put on our iPod.

His response?  "As long as its not that awful Jack Johnson or John Mayer sh*t the backpacker kids always make me play!" to which we responded, "Uh...no. It's Britney :)"

Remote Ko Lipe Island in Thailand...the best 2.5 weeks of my life :)

Random Musings:  I've just updated my LinkedIn page, started connecting with my clients, and am trying to pull all my different social-media identities on the web into a central location, through an "about.me" page.  I figure about.me is the quickest way to summarize what I am about, almost like a virtual business card! 

With 1 week left, the pressure is building!

In the past, when I have had to cram for exams, I've always found reasons to procrastinate.  Case in point: My sophomore year, I had stayed away from all the hype surrounding Grey's Anatomy until finals week when I was looking for a distraction.  That came in the form of McDreamy, McSteamy and during those fateful few weeks, I crammed while watching almost an entire season.  Two years later, it came in the form of Pac Man on Facebook.  Amidst writing final papers, I perfected my Pac Man strategies and wound up as one of the top 50 players in the world, my profile proudly displayed on the winner circle.   That week I received a flurry of messages from Pac Man fans all over, friend requests, some asking for pointers while others had more uh, odd requests.  They're pending in case I am ever in need of a self esteem boost, ha!

Surprisingly, I've avoided getting hooked on any new TV show or achieving champion level of any games (though I'm so ready to get back into bar trivia nights!).  I chalk this up to maturity, and of course, my job.  Last week, we had our quarterly, all-day firm-wide team meetings where I was catching up on work in the evenings, which is generally reserved for GMAT.  Last Tuesday afternoon, I was looking forward to getting in some much needed time with permutations and probability, my greatest weaknesses in Quant, when I was shooed along to a company-mandated associate dinner.   It was like a family reunion, with many of my out-of-town co-workers coming back and we had a blast indulging in delicious PNW food,  sending drinks back and forth, and catching up.  As much as I wanted to socialize afterward and go karaoke with the group, I knew that studying was the wiser decision and I couldn't give my best rendition of "Since U Been Gone" knowing that my GMAT books were probably thinking the same thing about me.

Of course, this past weekend was dedicated to more studying. After taking another practice test on Sunday, my score went down to 690.  When I saw that score, I panicked. What is going to happen, am I doomed to be hovering around the 700-mark, not knowing if I would go over or under? I know that 700 is the big hurdle to jump over, but I didn't want to just hop over it, I wanted to clear it with a lot of breathing room.  So I decided to analyze my test scores, and direct my focus to my weak spots.  Since I had purchased the Manhattan GMAT set, this provided access to 6 practice exams online. I could take each exam multiple times, and I had two others from the GMAC, so I did not need to worry about running out of exams to take.

Here's the crazy thing - I've worked through much of the GMAT OG, Manhattan GMAT series, as well as Kaplan and Princeton review guides.  I placed sticky notes on each page detailing the problems I got wrong and right.  I timed myself on individual problems from the books and generally stayed under 2 minutes for math, close to 1 minute for writing.  Why was I doing well in practice problems but not so well on the Exam?  Why am I coming out confident but missing almost half of the problems?  I've come to realize that a lot of it is just due to the nature of the test and testing - I have a terrible time pacing myself in Quant and need to be better at distinguishing when to complete and when to skip problems so I don't get trapped at the end. 

So.  Crunch time counting down to test day, a week away.  My goal? Take a practice test daily leading up to G-Day.  A little extreme?  Nah.  I am determined to conquer and be comfortable with the test!

Yes, those are Sentence Correction post-it notes stuck on my door :)

To close, I'll admit I'm a huge fan of success stories and happy endings.  When a hero faces an obstacle and over comes it despite their shortcomings.  Well. I'm definitely no hero but the GMAT is a beast.  I remember referring to the application process as a marathon not a sprint. The GMAT is a huge mental marathon. And all the practice problems are like mini sprints.  Looking back, I should have spent equal time on my test-taking abilities, as those have declined as well.  Knowing the information is one thing, but being about to pound it out problem after problem and while your confidence is eroding?  That takes instinct, resolve, and of course, practice.

Steve Prefontaine is a great hero where I'm from.  This was one man who embodied charisma, confidence, and endurance, not to mention he really knew how to rock the 'stache ;).  "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift"

I know my best is somewhere in there... Let's hope it comes out when it really counts!

Less than a week until G-day!!

Mango

PS - A recent incident (aka realization that I am reaching my quarter-life mark) prompted me to reflect on what I hope to accomplish by age 30.  As determined as I am to attend B-School, I don't want that to be my only significant accomplishment in the second half of my 20's.  As I post entries, I hope to add to the 30 x 30 list and hopefully that will reveal a little more about my aspirations outside of my career, and my personality :)

to start...

30. Give a TED talk about something I can claim some sort of expertise in (outside of Pac Man). Inspire others. Make them chuckle.

*DEEP breath....here goes something!*

Hi All,

First off, I am elated that the rich text editing toolbar offers "Georgia" as a font.  This font is very dear to my heart as it is the font I used for my very first blogs (Xanga then livejournal) in High School.  Back then, I mostly talked about cute boys, clothes, crazy adventures in the city, studying, and school applications...so nothing much has changed :) I've since made the switch to Garamond, but will always look back at this font with nostalgia. So here we are united...via Blogger!!

Okay. I'm getting off topic. So this is supposed to be an prospective MBA applicant blog...as I started doing my research (aka google searches), I discovered that there were countless such blogs floating out in the blogosphere. I do love my blogs and was fascinated by these thoughts people had and their obsession with getting into a top MBA program.  It was just like college applications all over again!  Some made me laugh (http://omgmbaapps.blogspot.com), some made me excited about motherhood (http://tombaornot.blogspot.com/) and others made me wonder the sanity of people who I might be locked into spending 2 years with...(those need not be mentioned).

They were all so smart, driven, accomplished, yet in pursuit of this one thing that was uncertain. As in, there was never a guarantee whether or not they'd be accepted in their program of choice.  It's this uncertainty that sparked my interest.


So here I am...semi-anonymous. A few facts about me, which hopefully will not reveal too much of my identity.  I'm a proud inhabitant of the PNW (thats Pacific Northwest) and I currently spend most of my time working as a consultant, traveling extensively, contemplating the meaning of life, taking and posting pictures, being semi-coordinated in gym classes, talking with strangers and stuffing my face with delicious food.  I've calculated a good portion of my life is spent on an airplane, longer than the time I spend showering, eating meals, petting my cat, riding the bus to work or brushing my hair, hence the airplane themed background.

With that said, I am hoping to be raw on this blog, as it will chronicle my hopes, fears, musings, ramblings, rants, and anything else that comes to mind. I'm talking sashimi-just-imported-first-class-from-Japan toro tuna raw. Okay, maybe not that raw since I have been told that filters are good, and I should use one, and not just for my house....

I'm supposed to be up in a few hours at work...but while it's on my mind here's what I hope to capture through this blog:

My admission process (from choosing schools to the GMAT, writing essays, asking recommenders, all that good stuff)


Funny stories from work/life on the road.  Travel tips. Identifying details will be removed and key parties left anonymous. 


Questions about the application process, which I hope YOU can give me your 2cents (or fiddy cent to get me through the GMAT studying..)

and of course, Por qué MBA?  In other words, why am I applying for an MBA program now in my life? What am I looking for in a MBA program? and the eternal question....Is an MBA program the right path to my life goals?  

Any thoughts and comments are very welcome!