Testing 1, 2, 3..

It's all over.  As of 11:00 a.m. today my first quarter at Chicago Booth has come to an end.  I finished my last final exam this morning and will never again have to understand what a z-score is or how much a government subsidy will need to be in order to incentivize a monopolist to lower their price.  Now that finals are over I can finally do all of the things that I have neglected to do for over a week, such as write cover letters for internship applications, working out, preparing the marketing campaign for a startup I'm working on, sleeping, doing my hair*.

Think First, Ask Never

Last February I wrote a post venting my frustration at some of the posters on MBA forums (check out Etiquette 101).  While some people agreed with my assessment there were others who didn't take to kindly to my words.  Meh, oh well. You can't please everyone.  Alas, I am once again feeling the need to offer some candid advice to this year's crop of applicants (and actually applicants in perpetuity).  However, in the name of personal growth I am going to try my best to avoid name calling and keep the curse words to a minimum.

The Life and Times

It's almost 10 p.m. and I am still on campus.  I am holed up in a study room with three of my classmates working on our presentation for a case competition.  Tomorrow afternoon I have a midterm for which I have yet to study.  In the words of the Beastie Boys, there will be "no sleep til Brooklyn!" I don't even know what that means (no one knows what it means but it's provocative...it gets the people going!), but I know I won't be seeing my queen size bed anytime soon.

This week has been a killer. I'm smack in the middle of midterms, and am once again way over committed.  Oh, wait!! I just found someone to replace me in an admissions info session I was supposed to do yesterday.  Yay! That's 1 hour of my day I get to reallocate.  I know that I sound whiny, but I'm not necessarily complaining (well I am complaining about midterms, but I haven't figured out how to get them banned yet).  I wanted to do this case competition and thus far I'm enjoying the work.  Actually, I'm more so enjoying working with my teammates.  I think we've come up with a really good solution.  We all come from different professional backgrounds and it's pretty cool to see that diversity in action.  I was able to contribute a pretty solid retail plan.  Our finance guy is figuring out the NPV of our investment.  The hedge fund lady is making sure all of the numbers are tight and our engineer is all over the nuances and numbers behind the market research. I'm looking forward to presenting all of our findings this weekend.  Even more than that I'm looking forward to getting some sleep afterward.

This Weekend is Brought to You by the #2

I am not a morning person.  It's not that I won't wake up early.  Years of working have permanently reset my internal clock to awaken before 8 a.m.  However, just because I'm awake that doesn't mean I am functional.  8:30 a.m. classes do not agree with me, and I tend to take advantage of any day that I can laze in bed til noon.  Saturdays are supposed to be that day, but this past weekend it was not meant to be.  Self selection and the nomination of my peers had me representing my cohort in the annual Leadership Challenge.  Leadership Challenge is part of Booth's LEAD program.  It is an all day case competition judged by distinguished Booth alums.  More importantly, Leadership Challenge is an inter cohort competition with points, bragging rights, and cash prizes up for grabs.  So of course I want my team to win. 

Just Keep Swimming

 “I’m drowning,” I replied to his inquiry about how things are going. 
He looked at me, his expression neutral, then shrugged. "You ain't drowned."
Not quite the response I was expecting.  For over a week I had been functioning on minimal sleep and time.  My days were filled with 3 hour long classes, study group sessions, club presentations, training sessions, and forced networking.  I was exhausted and overwhelmed and staring down an additional eight hours in a day that already had the first eight in the bag. I thought I would find a moment of solace from the sympathetic ear of a second year MBA.  Not so much. But upon second thought maybe his words weren't really dismissive, but rather encouragement.  Was he telling me that struggling against an undertow is still better than being on the bottom of the ocean?  Right now I am not so sure.

One Sixth

"Let's get a black woman's opinion on this issue.  Are there any black women in the room?" The facilitator scanned the room for a target.  Immediately, I averted my eyes and fixated on the lint on my sweater.  Maybe no one would notice me in the far corner.
"Here's one!" the assistant announced, striding toward me with a microphone in her hand. 
I should have known I wasn't going to blend in, because even in the middle of a diversity session with nearly 300 classmates I was still the only person in the room who looks like me.

Fill in the Blanks

Aaahhh...it's the weekend.  A time for relaxing, sleeping in, eating elaborate breakfasts, and doing a whole lot of nothing.  Unless, of course, you're applying to business school in Round 1.  If you're an applicant then a September weekend means essay writing.  Last year at this time I was trying to get my Kellogg career goals essay down to 600 words from an original draft of 1400.  Calling that process arduous would be an understatement.  From my observation of friends' applications and MBA forums it appears that this year's crop of R1 applicants to Chicago Booth are going through an ordeal of their own: the infamous Power Point.

Leadership Training

How does an elite business school mold tomorrow's captains of industry? By dressing them in matching t-shirts, loading them onto a dozen buses, and shipping them 2 hours north to Lake Geneva, WI for two and a half days of outdoor activities, team building exercises, and cohort competitions. Thanks to Chicago Booth I pretty much relived my days at Camp Is-Sho-Da Girl Scout camp, albeit in a co-ed setting with better accommodations and four drink tickets.  This excursion known as Leadership Orientation Retreat (or LOR as Boothies call it) is the kickoff to Booth's only required course, LEAD (Leadership Effectiveness and Development), the six-week class designed to help students develop our leadership style by giving us a deep and accurate view of our strengths and development needs.

Take Two

I started today by making omelets.  3 egg whites, 2 full eggs, turkey sausage, sauteed spinach with diced onions, and a sprinkling of feta cheese.  A hearty yet nutritious breakfast intended to take me from late morning through mid afternoon.  I took care in choosing what to wear for the day, something chic yet casual (lest I look to be trying too hard).  I forewent makeup but styled my hair. At my roommate's request I emerged from my room, dressed and ready to go, in less than 10 minutes.  We walked the three short blocks to the train at a quick pace, hurrying not to miss the soon arriving train.  We hit the platform as the outbound cars pulled into the station.  Stepping onto the train I looked to my right, searching for a seat. Instead, I saw a familiar face.  Walking over to greet my friend I saw another person I know, then another and another.  It suddenly dawned on me that in that train car I was surrounded by classmates.  As one guy offered me his seat he said, "Aww look! You brought a lunch box."  I smiled and replied, "Well it is the first day of school."

Necessary Evils

22 hours.  That's how long it took me to get from downtown Philadelphia to downtown Chicago.  According to the pushy GPS lady who lives in my Blackberry (don't judge me; I'm waiting for the new iPhone), Chicago is a 12+ hour drive from Philadelphia.  I had scheduled a 9a.m. move-in for Sunday so I left Philly before 8 a.m. on Saturday to give myself plenty of time for rest stops, fuel ups, detours, and car naps.  I got to my apartment building nearly three hours early.  Unfortunately, my movers arrived nearly one hour late.  Fast forward 5 hours and my life looks something like this:

On the Road Again

It's early. Very early. Even when I had a job I was never awake at this hour, but today I have to not only be awake I also have to function.  It's moving day and I have "miles to go before I sleep."

Chicago is about a 13 hour drive from Philadelphia.  Yesterday I loaded up my car, left my summer residence (casa de mami y papi), and drove four hours to Philadelphia to unburden myself of the storage locker that has not only taken a $200 bite out of my bank account every month but also held all of my furniture and 95% of my belongings since May.  It took 3 hours for my movers to transfer everything from my 10X10X8 garage and transfer it onto the 26ft moving truck that I am sharing with one of my Booth classmates.  Let the hauling begin.

Funemployment

This blog is growing cobwebs and housing tumbleweeds.  I didn't get the chance (i.e. was too lazy) to write an entry after my birthday and before departing on a 12 day European vacation. I am currently in Vienna, Austria and having a ball.  Somewhere between Rome and the night train to Vienna I learned that I have an uncanny attraction to French men who smell of booze, coffee, and cigarettes. It's an intoxicating scent.

Where FOMO Leads

Today is my birthday.  Although I do have dinner plans with friends this evening to celebrate, thus far I've spent most of the day in Chicago's O'hare airport.  Why am I not on a beach on this gorgeous sunny day that commemorates my entrance to the world?  Because I am returning home after spending three days in Chicago at the MBA Jumpstart Diversity Forum for Financial Services and Consulting.  What is MBA Jumpstart?  JumpStart MBA Diversity Forum is an intensive two and a half day program that educates participants on both the financial services and consulting industries.  "But Cheet, why would you attend Jumpstart when you're not interested in either financial services or consulting?" you ask.  I asked myself the same question several times over the last couple of days, but I did have my reasons.

Ask and You May Receive

 Now that I'm on the other side of the application process my friends (and total strangers too) who are targeting Fall 2012 applications often ask me for advice on all things b-school.  I received a ton of support, encouragement, and words of wisdom when I was applying so I think it's only fair that I take everything that I learned and pay it forward to this year's applicants.  It's July now, so by this time last year I was past the GMAT (yet contemplating a retake), waiting for updated essay questions, and fretting about recommendations.  I knew that asking for recommendations sooner was better than asking later.  I had already asked my former indirect manager, but I held off broaching the subject to my direct manager.  It turns out all of that trepidation was for naught.  She was happy to do it and even encouraged me to go all out in my pursuit of a full-time program.

In Training

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I have a confession.  I am nervous about business school.  It’s been over a decade since I’ve been a student.  Thanks to the GMAT studying isn’t the distant memory it once was.  However, studying for one exam doesn’t compare to managing a full course load, especially when that course load is focused on the subjects that gave me fits in undergrad.  I have a healthy fear of stats and economics, fueled by complete disinterest and my brain’s inability to make sense of concepts like marginal revenue=price and correlation coefficients.  Whether I like it or not the only way to an MBA is through these subjects.  Since I am spending my summer happily unemployed, I figured it would be a good idea to face my fears head on and get reacquainted with stats and econ and introduced to case studies and Excel modeling before school starts in September.  Enter Manhattan GMAT Pre MBA bootcamp.

Great Expectations

I’m not one for writing in series.  Save for a few exceptions each entry in this blog is self-contained.  Last week an email from a friend tipped me off that I may have unintentionally created a “Pedigree” series about business school admissions and MBA programs.  I never intended to do this, but I guess the many facets of this topic have been on my mind.   If you count Money Over Everything as Part1, The Real World as Part 2, and False Alarm as Part 3, then I guess this one is Part 4.

The other day I was chatting with a friend who plans to apply to business school in the next two years.  He wants to wait a little longer so he can get a new job and knock out the GMAT.  I suggested that he could apply to school sooner than he thinks because his work experience, while non traditional, is definitely relevant and he’s had some really good achievements at work.  Will a new job at a more recognized firm help his candidacy? Sure, but he’s still in the ballpark for getting into a top 15 school from his current employer.  When I suggested he apply to Johnson he replied, “I work at a no name employer and have a lower GPA from a no name school.  I have to go to a top school to get the job I want.”  I paused for a second, surprised by what he’d said.  “But Johnson is a top school,” I replied.  In that moment it suddenly dawned on me that we had gotten caught in the MBA matrix.

Sunset

From the week before Memorial Day to the week before Labor Day my company operates on summer hours, which means HALF DAY FRIDAYS!!! Today I left work at noon just like I would on any other half day Friday. However, this Friday is different.  Unlike before, I will not be going back to work on Monday.  I won't be  going back on Tuesday or any other day.  This half day Friday was my last one with the company I have been with since I graduated college in 2002. I turned in my company car, handed over my laptop, and left my office keys on the desk.  I am officially done.

False Alarm

"Whew. Longtime reader here. I agree with you, but I definitely have a crazy different background than anyone I've met and Kellog, Tuck and Duke all admitted me this year (headed to Kellogg in the fall). I actually think you're generalizing everyone into one of two camps - blue chip and other - instead of the three camps that really exist. Sure "blue chip" is the largest group, but for aspiring applicants, "other" should be divided as "boring" and "exciting". Seriously! I have a little bit of a blue chip background (2 out of 6 years) but the other 4 years have been crazy exciting with startups that no one's heard of and enough stories to write a tell-all about the tech/entertainment industry. If someone's applying without blue chip experience, I say go for it as long as it's exciting/different/scandalous... and to be honest, it's us different ones who make bschool fun for the rest of ya'll squares."

The Real World

"We're going to start things off with a little ice breaker," the section leader said to us.  I sat in a classroom with 69 other newly admitted MBA applicants and prepared myself for the ritual I now knew by heart.  We would state our name, where we went to school, our current line of work, and one fun fact that could hopefully elicit a chuckle from the crowd.  We started on the opposite side of the room and I listened as one by one my potential classmates gave the condensed version of the last 7-10 years of their lives.

The Ones that Got Away

At 5:00 p.m. yesterday I transferred $1,000 from my savings to my checking and paid the second tuition deposit at Chicago Booth.  If it wasn't already settled before, it definitely is now.  I am attending Booth in the fall.  I have already dived into being a Boothie.  I found a great roommate who also has an aversion to community laundry facilities; started three Booth class of 2014 fantasy football leagues; and worn my complimentary Booth t-shirts all over town (an alum even stopped his car to chat with me for a sec when he saw me sporting the maroon).  Best of all I am Random Walking to Fiji in August with The Keychain (mpg2011 from GMAT Club) and a dozen other Boothies.  However, in the midst of all the excitement and anticipation there are times when I find myself wandering over to Wharton's class of 2014 Facebook page or logging onto the Kellogg admitted students' website.  Sometimes in the quiet moments between all of the Booth hoopla I wonder what if I had chosen differently.