Tell Me About a Time

Since January the halls of Harper Center have been alive with the sounds of recruiting.  From calls of "good luck" as friends march toward the temple of doom (interview rooms) to the hushed condolences after a botched case interview recruiting is all around us.  In fact, it's even spread to the applicant pool as schools have now released (or are releasing) the round 2 interview invites.  Inevitably, after the cheers of joy for moving on to the next phase in the process, the panic of moving on descends.  In honor of this festive season of nerves, paranoia, and ocassional nausea I would like to recount my interview experiences from last application season and give some advice for this year's applicants (Booth's in particular).

What's Fit Got to Do With It?

Now that the dust has mostly cleared from Round 1 applications there are some very happy recent admits amongst us.  Congratulations to all of you once again.  For some people December brought multiple admissions offers.  Remember being worried that not even one school would say yes? I definitely do, so it feels amazing when two, or three, or even four or more schools see just how awesome you are.  It's also just nice to feel wanted.  I encourage you to bask in your achievements for a while.  However, all good things must come to an end and when it's all said and done you can only enroll in one school. So which one is gonna be?

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.

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.

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.

Consultation

I have a confession.  Two years ago I don't think that I was aware that the consulting industry existed.  MBB could have stood for Making Butts Bounce for all I knew.  I remember classmates in undergrad who recruited for Deloitte but for some reason I always thought they were going to do something related to finance or accounting.  I did not know that there were companies devoted to giving other companies advice (and pretty power point decks).  I learned about this wonderful world of frequent flyer miles, black suits, and power point prowess when I embarked upon the b-school path.  I briefly considered it as a potential post MBA career but immediately let the idea go upon hearing about the hours consultants worked.  I'm not built for 70-90 hour work weeks.  Once introduced to consulting I soon learned that there's a consultant for everything.  And when talking MBA there is none more prevalent than the admissions consultant.

One Down...

It's been 8 days, 12 hours and 22 minutes since I got the admit call from Kellogg.  I'm still walking on sunshine, but I've started to come down a bit from my euphoric high.  There are still Round 2 applications to complete (too many of them since I procrastinated through most of November and December).  What's that you say? Why am I applying in Round 2 if I'm already in at Kellogg?  Aren't I set on going to Kellogg?  Isn't Kellogg my first choice?

The simple answer to the last two questions is, no.  I'm not set on going to Kellogg and it's not my first choice.  However, I don't have a first choice.

Forethought

I started to consider getting my MBA late last summer. I knew that I needed to take the GMAT and write a ton of essays in order to apply.  I thought that I could study for my GMAT, take the test, and apply to 6-8 schools between September and January.  Oh, how naive I was! Thank God my promotion last fall kept me from trying to exercise that delusion.
Thanks to a 10% pay increase, better title, and cross country move to the East coast, I got a whole year to prepare for the Fall 2012 admissions cycle. It is quickly becoming apparent that I underestimated how short a year really is. As Round 1 deadlines quickly approach and the weekends on my calendar get reserved I am wishing I had used the extra time to prepare better.