Are You For Real

In his ubiquitous hit song, "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," Marvin Gaye sang, "Believe maybe half of what you see and some to none of what you hear."  I think this lyric should be modified for MBA applicants who frequent b-school forums.  "Believe maybe half of what you see and some to none of what you read."  I've been an active participant on the GMAT Club forums for almost a year and if the site is representative of the applicant pool then I guess 90% of applicants have 740+ GMAT scores, 3.7 GPAs from top 10 schools, and all have stellar work experience.  It's easy to feel intimidated by the number of outstanding competition.  However, I'm starting to think that maybe some of those scary good competitors are of the boogie man under your bed variety.  They do not really exist.

Out of my Misery

I'll confess. I was getting worried.  Three weeks of invites had passed and my mailbox was conspicuously empty.  Well not empty, just lacking the right email: the invitation to interview at Wharton. According to GMAT Club, in the first two waves of invitations the only people to report receiving them were international and Lauder applicants.  In the third week the love got spread to the domestic applicants, but none toward me.  Although I felt that my Wharton application was my best one I still worried about getting an invite.  The applicant pool is ridiculously competitive and I know that there are people with better stats applying.  Seeing other people get their invites while I didn't reinforced these thoughts.  I know, I know, I know....I always say that being in the 1st wave (albeit domestic wave) isn't a big deal.  But I will admit that it's nice to be put out of your misery sooner rather than later.  Intellectually I knew that there was still plenty of time to receive the invite, but I will admit that my internal crazy did tick up a notch or two (maybe from a 2 to a 4).  I confided my worries to a few close friends and put on my best optimistic facade for everyone else.

Etiquette 101

It is no secret that I like to participate in online MBA forums.  GMAT Club is my favorite.  I think that these sites are great resources for finding information on everything from essays to interview questions.  I've even met some very cool people from the site with whom I am excited to potentially attend school.  But lately, GMAT Club has been getting on my last nerve.  Correction, some GMAT Club members have become as grating as nails on a chalk board.  After finding so much useful information from other posters I have done my best to pay it forward, answering questions about Kellogg's admissions process, giving advice on post-interview thank you notes, and sending words of encouragement to nervous posters.  However, in the last month or so my posts have taken a turn toward the bitchy.  Why? Has the pressure of R2 gotten to me, causing me to lash out at poor, unsuspecting posters?  Hmmm...not so much.  See the problem is not me, it's THEM.  Maybe I didn't see it in R1, but R2 has brought forth some of the least self-aware, most obnoxious personalities I've encountered online.

Stay Tuned

I've been wanting to update my blog for the last few weeks but have been uber busy.  There's a ton I want to get into, like my Booth interview, waiting on Wharton and Stanford invites, Day At Kellogg, and the craziness that is MBA forums.  I've been swamped with work and other stuff so I haven't had the time to sit down and write a proper entry.  Oh and I'll be working on a joint blog post with my good friend The Senator from GMAT Club.

I promise I will come back soon to share all of the details about DAK, Booth, and life very shortly.