So the other day I attended an info session for Wharton held at the Wharton West campus in San Francisco. It was specifically targeted for Women and minorities. It was a pretty good turn out. The presentation by the staff was pretty standard. They had an alumni panel as well. I though the alumni were pretty down to earth people I would enjoy working with.
I'm not sure how I feel about Wharton. Based on the info session I have a pretty good feeling about it. But it has its drawbacks. First of which is the class size. I feel like having a class size of 800 at the top b-school would probably foster a pretty competitive environment. The other drawback is that they don't really have a good program in terms of what I want to do. But really, I think any b-school program will apply to whatever you want? I'm not so convinced any top school's program is better than the next? But I could be wrong...
Anyway, I'll consider Wharton. I want to go there to visit and see what I think about it in person. But if I apply it won't be until the second round. I've already decided on my first round schools, 1) Columbia, 2) Stanford, and 3)Yale. I am pretty sure the second round will be only 4) Georgetown and 5) Sloan or Wharton or UCLA. But I make no promises!
In other news...to all those Californian's reading this Vote No on Prop 85! I just spent my entire afternoon signing up new volunteers and handing out literature about Prop 85, a repeat of last year's Prop 73, the parental notification proposition. The title alone irks me. The supporters of this prop could care less about parental notification...they just want to chip away slowly at a woman's right to choose and they know that coming right out and yelling anti-choice propaganda will get them shot down in California so this is there way at limiting access to woman's health care. Read up on it and make sure you vote and if you want to get involved send me an email and I can put you in touch with the right people! Now I'll get down from my soap box.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Tomorrow is always a better day
Today is my tomorrow of yesterday and it is definitely looking better! I just wanted to thank everyone for the support regarding my miserable GMAT experience! I really do appreciate it!
Yesterday I enjoyed my own little pity party for a few hours then got back on track. I mapped out my goals over the next few months. Goal and priority number one is to get a job! That being said, when I walked into my unpaid internship this morning they offerred me a full time paid, albeit temporary, job on a campaign! I haven't decided yet if I'll be taking it but I'm leaning toward yes. There are a few cons and many pros to the job.
The cons:
1) It pays next to nothing (but I knew that money was not my goal when I decided to switch into the non-profit sector).
2) No health insurance or vacation time, it's contract work.
3) The hours will be insane thru September and October up until the election in November when I need to be focusing on essays.
The pros are numerous:
1) It'll be GREAT leadership experience for me! Something I can definitely use on my apps.
2) Satisfies goal #1 that I outlined for myself yesterday.
3) The experience will be invaluable.
4) I'll be doing something I can finally be excited and passionate about.
5) It may lead to a full time real position with health benefits and vacation time here in public affairs that just opened up that they won't be filling until after the election.
I think I'm going to do it. I really need to learn to sacrifice my fun time if I'm serious about this career change and b-school. I've never chosen the easy routes in my life, I can't start now! So my days will be consumed with the campaign and nights consumed with my application essays (after I get back from my 5 day backpacking trip in Yosemite..damn this sacrifice thing is going to be difficult!).
Thanks again, all those that commented! It's nice to know there are others out there that feel my pain! Good luck to all of you!!
Yesterday I enjoyed my own little pity party for a few hours then got back on track. I mapped out my goals over the next few months. Goal and priority number one is to get a job! That being said, when I walked into my unpaid internship this morning they offerred me a full time paid, albeit temporary, job on a campaign! I haven't decided yet if I'll be taking it but I'm leaning toward yes. There are a few cons and many pros to the job.
The cons:
1) It pays next to nothing (but I knew that money was not my goal when I decided to switch into the non-profit sector).
2) No health insurance or vacation time, it's contract work.
3) The hours will be insane thru September and October up until the election in November when I need to be focusing on essays.
The pros are numerous:
1) It'll be GREAT leadership experience for me! Something I can definitely use on my apps.
2) Satisfies goal #1 that I outlined for myself yesterday.
3) The experience will be invaluable.
4) I'll be doing something I can finally be excited and passionate about.
5) It may lead to a full time real position with health benefits and vacation time here in public affairs that just opened up that they won't be filling until after the election.
I think I'm going to do it. I really need to learn to sacrifice my fun time if I'm serious about this career change and b-school. I've never chosen the easy routes in my life, I can't start now! So my days will be consumed with the campaign and nights consumed with my application essays (after I get back from my 5 day backpacking trip in Yosemite..damn this sacrifice thing is going to be difficult!).
Thanks again, all those that commented! It's nice to know there are others out there that feel my pain! Good luck to all of you!!
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
CANCELLED!
I just took the GMAT. I panicked and basically just threw $250 in the garbage. I am at a loss right now.
The other day I took my final official GMAT practice exam and scored horribly on it. I messed up my time management and I just couldn't keep my head focused, which seems to be a recurring theme in my life right now. I tried to muster up my confidence the two days prior to my exam and apparently I wasn't successful. I had the same time management problem on my official exam. The last 10 questions on the quant I basically just rushed thru and guessed blindly. Then on the verbal I was so distracted by my performance on the quant that I couldn't even try to focus on the verbal. So I panicked. I stared at my options REPORT SCORES, CANCEL SCORES. It took me about 5 minutes and then I finally decided to cancel.
So now what do I do? I need to start working again. I need to work full time. My time management has sucked since I haven't been working. And now I'm thinking maybe I should just forget about these top schools and use my first offical GMAT score to apply to lesser schools? Or maybe I wasn't cut out for this MBA in the first place? OK so I'm just throwing myself a little pity party right now. Once I recover from this blow maybe I'll be able to rationally figure all of this out and determine what my next step will be. Until then, I'm going running with my dog...Happy trails...
The other day I took my final official GMAT practice exam and scored horribly on it. I messed up my time management and I just couldn't keep my head focused, which seems to be a recurring theme in my life right now. I tried to muster up my confidence the two days prior to my exam and apparently I wasn't successful. I had the same time management problem on my official exam. The last 10 questions on the quant I basically just rushed thru and guessed blindly. Then on the verbal I was so distracted by my performance on the quant that I couldn't even try to focus on the verbal. So I panicked. I stared at my options REPORT SCORES, CANCEL SCORES. It took me about 5 minutes and then I finally decided to cancel.
So now what do I do? I need to start working again. I need to work full time. My time management has sucked since I haven't been working. And now I'm thinking maybe I should just forget about these top schools and use my first offical GMAT score to apply to lesser schools? Or maybe I wasn't cut out for this MBA in the first place? OK so I'm just throwing myself a little pity party right now. Once I recover from this blow maybe I'll be able to rationally figure all of this out and determine what my next step will be. Until then, I'm going running with my dog...Happy trails...
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Haas Visit
OK so first thing's first...practice exam #5. I took my first GMAT Prep exam. Overall score was only 690 Quant 47 and Verbal 38. Wow, I missed a lot of questions. On the Quant section the first question I missed was #5 and we all know that's a big no-no. Then I continued to answer another 14 questions incorrectly! My time management was really bad as was my focus...again. I know this about myself alrady so why do I try to take these exams in public places? I was at Border's. I swear the next one I take (Wednesday) will be in a room at the library! The verbal section I didn't miss nearly as many questions but still there were a lot of incorrect answers, 9 to be exact. And again time management on verbal was horrendous. The last 10 questions I had approximately 2 minutes to answer. Oops. But I suppose since I seemed to screw up so bad and still managed to get a 690...that's a good thing? I'm trying to look on the bright side. My next practice exam I need to take really seriosuly because it's my last GMAT Prep exam and from what all you MBA bloggers say, those are the ones that tend to be closest to reality.
Now about my visit to Haas. I had to wake my lazy bum up at 6am to allow time to shower, get dressed into the suggested 'business casual' attire, get my coffee, and make my way to Berkeley (an hour drive). I got there just a little after 8 and was able to find parking really close just across the street. They had sent out an email warning us that parking would be difficult and suggested a lot that was about a 15 minute walk from Haas. I'd like to see you walk 15 minutes in heels! No thank you! So I paid $0.50/hr for the lot across the street that I'm not sure I was supposed to be at, but there was no ticket when I got back to my car.
I entered the Bank of America Forum and there was quite the spread of pastries, bagels, fruit and of course coffee. I definitley did not expect anything like this. The info sessions at Stanford and at Yale were so quick and short and informal, I guess I was expecting more of the same. They had people registering and eating until about 9am. I spoke with a few potential applicants but not too many. I was also surprised about the number of people in attendance. They said 250 people had signed up. This was their first ever Saturday, summer time info session...apparently it was a success.
We were seated in the Arthur Andersen Room, a rather large auditorium, and the info session began. First to speak was one of the Director's of admission. This was the first school to actually take advantage of the university's notoriety. When I went to Stanford and to Yale, neither of the presentations said anything about the fact that the business schools were at Yale or Stanford. I think those are big selling points and shouldn't be overlooked. Anyway, the guy from Haas took note of the fact that Haas is located at UC Berkeley and that Berkeley is a great university in itself. Anyway, he sold Haas and the rankings and the programs and all the basics. And of course adding that there's a collaborative, not competitive environment at Haas (Yale and Stanford said the exact same thing...hmmm??). At this point, about an hour into the presentation I was starting to think I might want to apply to Haas and consequently starting to panic about adding another application to my to do list. Then a second director of admissions spoke about the application process. I really liked how they presented themselves. They were very clear and honest about the entire process. So now, 2 hours into the presentation and I am cursing at myself because I like what they had to say and dammit, now I'm going to have to consider Haas too?!
At the 15 minute break we were able to ask the adcom guys some specific questions (I asked about the fact that as an engineer for years at the same company my title never changed but my responsibilities did and I had many salary increases, he gave some good advice on how to show that on my resume and how to work with my recommender so that he too could note that in his letter).
After the break the Director of Career Services came on. I wasn't impressed. The only thing that I liked about their career services was that they emphasized the interview counselors and how it's very important to take advantage of the mock interview sessions that are available to you, as many as you want as long as you sign up. Other than that I wasn't impressed. So now I'm thinking ok at least there's an item I can put on the con side of my pro/con list...maybe there's hope and I won't have to apply to Haas after all!
Then the financial aid guy came up to give his presentation. He covered all of the basics. No surprises there. They, like Stanford and Yale, have a loan forgiveness program for people who go into non-profit or gov't as long as their salary is below the standard $70k.
At this point I am pretty impressed with the time they took to prepare this info session and the comprehensiveness of it all. It was very informative and they did a really good job presenting everything.
So now comes the 6 student panel. 2 students were about to start their second year at Haas, 2 had just graduated in '06 and 2 had graduated in '05. Three men and three woman (definitely not representative of the class I'm sure). They took questions from the audience and a couple students answered each one. After the panel spoke they gave us a quick tour of Haas. And I have to say out of the three schools I've visited thus far Haas has by far the best facilities!
The student panel is where I lost my interest in Haas. To tell you the truth the the staff of the school had me sold but when I heard the students I decided this isn't where I want to go to school. No disrespect to that panel. They all seemed to be nice and incredibly bright people but for some reason I kept thinking that I couldn't imagine working on a team with any of those people on the panel. I can't place my finger on why? I'm just not sure? I mean it's hard to judge that from just listening to them answer questions for an hour but I think I have good intuition and I know myself well. I just don't think Haas is the place for me.
What this did teach me though is that I definitely need to go back to Stanford while it's in session and talk to some current students. I've met the alumni and I really felt a connection with them so at least I know that. At Yale I met students and didn't feel a connectin with them like I did with the Stanford alumni but I thought I could definitely work with them in groups and would have no problems. My point behind all this blabber is that I now FINALLY understand that word everyone keeps throwing around..."fit". I just didn't "fit" at Haas.
Now about my visit to Haas. I had to wake my lazy bum up at 6am to allow time to shower, get dressed into the suggested 'business casual' attire, get my coffee, and make my way to Berkeley (an hour drive). I got there just a little after 8 and was able to find parking really close just across the street. They had sent out an email warning us that parking would be difficult and suggested a lot that was about a 15 minute walk from Haas. I'd like to see you walk 15 minutes in heels! No thank you! So I paid $0.50/hr for the lot across the street that I'm not sure I was supposed to be at, but there was no ticket when I got back to my car.
I entered the Bank of America Forum and there was quite the spread of pastries, bagels, fruit and of course coffee. I definitley did not expect anything like this. The info sessions at Stanford and at Yale were so quick and short and informal, I guess I was expecting more of the same. They had people registering and eating until about 9am. I spoke with a few potential applicants but not too many. I was also surprised about the number of people in attendance. They said 250 people had signed up. This was their first ever Saturday, summer time info session...apparently it was a success.
We were seated in the Arthur Andersen Room, a rather large auditorium, and the info session began. First to speak was one of the Director's of admission. This was the first school to actually take advantage of the university's notoriety. When I went to Stanford and to Yale, neither of the presentations said anything about the fact that the business schools were at Yale or Stanford. I think those are big selling points and shouldn't be overlooked. Anyway, the guy from Haas took note of the fact that Haas is located at UC Berkeley and that Berkeley is a great university in itself. Anyway, he sold Haas and the rankings and the programs and all the basics. And of course adding that there's a collaborative, not competitive environment at Haas (Yale and Stanford said the exact same thing...hmmm??). At this point, about an hour into the presentation I was starting to think I might want to apply to Haas and consequently starting to panic about adding another application to my to do list. Then a second director of admissions spoke about the application process. I really liked how they presented themselves. They were very clear and honest about the entire process. So now, 2 hours into the presentation and I am cursing at myself because I like what they had to say and dammit, now I'm going to have to consider Haas too?!
At the 15 minute break we were able to ask the adcom guys some specific questions (I asked about the fact that as an engineer for years at the same company my title never changed but my responsibilities did and I had many salary increases, he gave some good advice on how to show that on my resume and how to work with my recommender so that he too could note that in his letter).
After the break the Director of Career Services came on. I wasn't impressed. The only thing that I liked about their career services was that they emphasized the interview counselors and how it's very important to take advantage of the mock interview sessions that are available to you, as many as you want as long as you sign up. Other than that I wasn't impressed. So now I'm thinking ok at least there's an item I can put on the con side of my pro/con list...maybe there's hope and I won't have to apply to Haas after all!
Then the financial aid guy came up to give his presentation. He covered all of the basics. No surprises there. They, like Stanford and Yale, have a loan forgiveness program for people who go into non-profit or gov't as long as their salary is below the standard $70k.
At this point I am pretty impressed with the time they took to prepare this info session and the comprehensiveness of it all. It was very informative and they did a really good job presenting everything.
So now comes the 6 student panel. 2 students were about to start their second year at Haas, 2 had just graduated in '06 and 2 had graduated in '05. Three men and three woman (definitely not representative of the class I'm sure). They took questions from the audience and a couple students answered each one. After the panel spoke they gave us a quick tour of Haas. And I have to say out of the three schools I've visited thus far Haas has by far the best facilities!
The student panel is where I lost my interest in Haas. To tell you the truth the the staff of the school had me sold but when I heard the students I decided this isn't where I want to go to school. No disrespect to that panel. They all seemed to be nice and incredibly bright people but for some reason I kept thinking that I couldn't imagine working on a team with any of those people on the panel. I can't place my finger on why? I'm just not sure? I mean it's hard to judge that from just listening to them answer questions for an hour but I think I have good intuition and I know myself well. I just don't think Haas is the place for me.
What this did teach me though is that I definitely need to go back to Stanford while it's in session and talk to some current students. I've met the alumni and I really felt a connection with them so at least I know that. At Yale I met students and didn't feel a connectin with them like I did with the Stanford alumni but I thought I could definitely work with them in groups and would have no problems. My point behind all this blabber is that I now FINALLY understand that word everyone keeps throwing around..."fit". I just didn't "fit" at Haas.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Practice Test #4
I know the scores of these test don't matter but it is really nice once you get to that 700 score! I am really happy with my latest exam. Q-50, V-37.
The verbal score remains low but there is a specific reason for that this time around. I missed a bunch of questions right when the power went out (the heat wave in California is about to kill me with all these power outages!) and there was all sorts of activity around me and it was a series of reading comp questions that I missed. And since reading comp is my strong point, I'm not worried. I missed 6 reading comp questions, but only one sentence correction and one critical reasoning questions.
The quant score was fine. I had bad time management so I missed 4 of the last 5 questions and got everything else correct. Next exam I have to be a little more aware of the time.
All in all, I'm really feeling good now. My next step for this week is to take the two GMAC practice exams. Then the following week maybe try out a Kaplan practice exam. Or maybe I should reverse that so the Kaplan exam doesn't screw with my budding confidence? But what is most important is that I find an air conditioned, quiet place to take the exam. It's been very difficult to a good place to take these exams! The library has no wifi, my house has no A.C., and the coffee shops with free wifi have too many distractions. I may try my mom's house, but her internet connection is so slow. I'll figure it out!
The verbal score remains low but there is a specific reason for that this time around. I missed a bunch of questions right when the power went out (the heat wave in California is about to kill me with all these power outages!) and there was all sorts of activity around me and it was a series of reading comp questions that I missed. And since reading comp is my strong point, I'm not worried. I missed 6 reading comp questions, but only one sentence correction and one critical reasoning questions.
The quant score was fine. I had bad time management so I missed 4 of the last 5 questions and got everything else correct. Next exam I have to be a little more aware of the time.
All in all, I'm really feeling good now. My next step for this week is to take the two GMAC practice exams. Then the following week maybe try out a Kaplan practice exam. Or maybe I should reverse that so the Kaplan exam doesn't screw with my budding confidence? But what is most important is that I find an air conditioned, quiet place to take the exam. It's been very difficult to a good place to take these exams! The library has no wifi, my house has no A.C., and the coffee shops with free wifi have too many distractions. I may try my mom's house, but her internet connection is so slow. I'll figure it out!
Friday, July 21, 2006
Dinner with Stanford GSB Grads
Wow! I am almost at a loss for words! Last night I was lucky enough to join a bunch of Stanford GSB graduates at dinner and it was fantastic!! All of them geniuses! Their successes before grad school and their successes after are just unbelievable. And their love for the school is amazing. They all spoke so highly of the program. They gave me a bit of advice and all said I would love it there. However, after hearing their stories I am really quite intimidated and feeling a little less confident about my chances. But all I can do is present Stanford with the best application I can come up with and hope for the best.
I know some of you who have read my posts regarding branding probably think I'm a snob. But last night I realized why brand is so important to me. I'm not saying that every graduate out of a top 5 business school is a genius nor am I saying you can't find geniuses at a lower level institution but as I witnessed last night, there is a reason Stanford is branded the way it is. These guys were incredibly bright and it showed in the level of conversaton at the dinner table. They weren't discussing the latest gossip about Britney Spears or what happened on American Idol...the conversation went from business to equality in education to the biological and social factors that divide men and women to the differences between good leaders and good politicians and then they reminisced a bit about their days at Stanford. It was a wonderful evening and I am so happy I was able to be a part of it. Every day I get more and more excited about my change of career and my decision to pursue this MBA. I know I've made the right choice!
I know some of you who have read my posts regarding branding probably think I'm a snob. But last night I realized why brand is so important to me. I'm not saying that every graduate out of a top 5 business school is a genius nor am I saying you can't find geniuses at a lower level institution but as I witnessed last night, there is a reason Stanford is branded the way it is. These guys were incredibly bright and it showed in the level of conversaton at the dinner table. They weren't discussing the latest gossip about Britney Spears or what happened on American Idol...the conversation went from business to equality in education to the biological and social factors that divide men and women to the differences between good leaders and good politicians and then they reminisced a bit about their days at Stanford. It was a wonderful evening and I am so happy I was able to be a part of it. Every day I get more and more excited about my change of career and my decision to pursue this MBA. I know I've made the right choice!
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Practice Test #3
I finally sat down in my non air conditioned 100deg house yesterday to take my third practice exam from Princeton. I was finally very pelased with my performance on the Quant section. I answered only 2 questions incorrectly and ran out of time before I picked an answer for the last question. The two questions I answered incorrectly were done near the end of the exam. Now you'd think that with that performance I'd earn a pretty good score for the Quant section but I just got a 43? So now, there is definite proof that the scoring algorithm used by Princeton is a bit out of whack. Or am I missing something here? Regardless, I am thru stressing about the score on the practice exams. I was happy with my Quant section.
Verbal was another story. I did great the first half of the exam but by the second half I was losing patience and focus and just couldn't pay attention long enough to get the answers right. I did great on reading comprehension but only so so on the sentence correction and critical reasoning. What really surprised me was that the 4 of the last 7 questions were R.C. Once that long ass passage popped up I figured I was doomed, I was running out of time and there was no way I'd be able to answer these correctly. But I did. I answered all of them correctly and barely skimmed the passage. So now I am going to start spending less time reading the passages and see if I can continue with getting the R.C. questions right. If that's the case I can spend more time on the critical reasoning questions, where I seem to need more time with anyway.
All in all my overall score wasn't what I wanted but surprisingly it did boost my confidence a bit. Only a couple weeks left until the big day...better get cracking now!
And on the school front...I have a meeting with a couple of current students at Stanford GSB next week that I'm looking forward to. Hopefully I can get some more insight into the program. I also spoke with a guy who graduated from Columbia this weekend. He was very helpful as well. I am attending an info session at Haas soon as well as an info session for Wharton at the Wharton West campus in San Francisco. There is also the MBA tour happening in September in San Francisco that I will be attending too. I'd be happier if I had started this process about a month prior but I think I'm on track to accomplish my goals.
Verbal was another story. I did great the first half of the exam but by the second half I was losing patience and focus and just couldn't pay attention long enough to get the answers right. I did great on reading comprehension but only so so on the sentence correction and critical reasoning. What really surprised me was that the 4 of the last 7 questions were R.C. Once that long ass passage popped up I figured I was doomed, I was running out of time and there was no way I'd be able to answer these correctly. But I did. I answered all of them correctly and barely skimmed the passage. So now I am going to start spending less time reading the passages and see if I can continue with getting the R.C. questions right. If that's the case I can spend more time on the critical reasoning questions, where I seem to need more time with anyway.
All in all my overall score wasn't what I wanted but surprisingly it did boost my confidence a bit. Only a couple weeks left until the big day...better get cracking now!
And on the school front...I have a meeting with a couple of current students at Stanford GSB next week that I'm looking forward to. Hopefully I can get some more insight into the program. I also spoke with a guy who graduated from Columbia this weekend. He was very helpful as well. I am attending an info session at Haas soon as well as an info session for Wharton at the Wharton West campus in San Francisco. There is also the MBA tour happening in September in San Francisco that I will be attending too. I'd be happier if I had started this process about a month prior but I think I'm on track to accomplish my goals.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
The Fear of Average
I just completed the diagnostic exam in the O.G. Based upon how many questions you answer correctly there is a scale where you will fit into one of five categories: 1) Excellent 2) Above average 3) Average 4) Below average and 5) Poor. This time around I was mostly at the high end of above average and the low end of excellent. This made me a very unhappy camper. I was only happy with my performance on the R.C. portion of the diagnostic test, I only missed one question. The rest of the sections I felt I could have done much better. And there is no real pattern to my mistakes other than silly errors. So I'm not sure where to concentrate my studies? I really am having a hard time focusing while doing problems, even at the library where i've removed every possibly distraction! I suppose I could blame it on the recent unemployed status. I tell myself that everything is great but I think the stress is rearing it's ugly head in my practice problems. I'm giving myself three more days to do practice problems to work out all the lack of focus issues, and then I'm taking another practice exam. I've set a goal for myself of getting only a 680 for this practice exam. Then I'll increase it from there.
Is anyone else afflicted with the fear of being average? When I start reviewing the practice problems I've done from the O.G. I get this knot of anxiety in my stomach. I have this overwhelming fear of being average (it's the same anxious feeling I get when I'm hanging out with my married with kids friends in suburbia at their kid's soccer games...but that's another story for another day). Sometimes I feel like I'm fooling the people around me who have such faith in me. I'm scared that one day they will eventually catch on and I'll be labeled a fraud. If i think logically about my abilities I know I'm a smart girl but logic doesn't play into my insecurities over intelligence. And this whole GMAT/application process is not helping the situation at all! I know, I know, as my best friend tells me all the time "Get over it!". Well for today, according to the O.G., at the least I am above average and at the most I'm excellent. Next time I'll just be purely excellent!
Is anyone else afflicted with the fear of being average? When I start reviewing the practice problems I've done from the O.G. I get this knot of anxiety in my stomach. I have this overwhelming fear of being average (it's the same anxious feeling I get when I'm hanging out with my married with kids friends in suburbia at their kid's soccer games...but that's another story for another day). Sometimes I feel like I'm fooling the people around me who have such faith in me. I'm scared that one day they will eventually catch on and I'll be labeled a fraud. If i think logically about my abilities I know I'm a smart girl but logic doesn't play into my insecurities over intelligence. And this whole GMAT/application process is not helping the situation at all! I know, I know, as my best friend tells me all the time "Get over it!". Well for today, according to the O.G., at the least I am above average and at the most I'm excellent. Next time I'll just be purely excellent!
Monday, July 10, 2006
All good things must come to an end
The vacation has come to an end. If you haven't been to Lake Shasta I highly recommend it! It is beautiful! The weather was perfect. It was about 95 degrees but the water was around 80 degrees and there was a nice cool breeze. It really was perfect. I have also discovered that water skiing gets boring and wakeboarding can be the source of many a bruised limbs. I get a little too adventurous at times and my body pays the price. But it was totally worth it. I got a little gmat studying in but not much. I started to stress about it yesterday and then this morning when I got to work I found out that I have plenty of time to be studying between now and G-day.
After a week off on vacation I come to work this morning to find my job has come to an end as well. My boss left me a lovely note, yes a NOTE, that basically says "we are having some major financial setbacks and your services are no longer needed, effective immediately". Then the impersonal jack ass asks me, in the note of course, to give hime a rundown on where all my work is and what still needs to be done, etc. I just stood up and walked out. I don't plan on ever going back. I knew they were having financial difficulties and they had already let a lot of people go that's why I though I was safe. But alas, I was the final one to be let go. And it's fine, I understand their reason....they are marketing more their software than their packaging so it makes sense to let go of the single mechanical engineer...but a f'ing note? How rude!
After about 10 minutes of freaking out I realized there was definitely an up side to this. I am going to start looking for a job now but I don't plan on starting work until after labor day. I'll use this time to do lots of GMAT studying and then I'm going to Yosemite to hike and camp for a few days and then I'll relax a little bit before going back to work. The big suck about all of this is that I really wanted to only work part time so I could do the volunteer work with planned parenthood but I highly doubt I'll be able to find part time work that pays as well. But it'll work out. It always does for me :-)
So for now, off to the library to work a bazillion permutation and combination problems. My only weakness on the quant side.
After a week off on vacation I come to work this morning to find my job has come to an end as well. My boss left me a lovely note, yes a NOTE, that basically says "we are having some major financial setbacks and your services are no longer needed, effective immediately". Then the impersonal jack ass asks me, in the note of course, to give hime a rundown on where all my work is and what still needs to be done, etc. I just stood up and walked out. I don't plan on ever going back. I knew they were having financial difficulties and they had already let a lot of people go that's why I though I was safe. But alas, I was the final one to be let go. And it's fine, I understand their reason....they are marketing more their software than their packaging so it makes sense to let go of the single mechanical engineer...but a f'ing note? How rude!
After about 10 minutes of freaking out I realized there was definitely an up side to this. I am going to start looking for a job now but I don't plan on starting work until after labor day. I'll use this time to do lots of GMAT studying and then I'm going to Yosemite to hike and camp for a few days and then I'll relax a little bit before going back to work. The big suck about all of this is that I really wanted to only work part time so I could do the volunteer work with planned parenthood but I highly doubt I'll be able to find part time work that pays as well. But it'll work out. It always does for me :-)
So for now, off to the library to work a bazillion permutation and combination problems. My only weakness on the quant side.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Vacation Reading
Yesterday I finally sat down with the Associate director of Public Affairs at Planned Parenthood. I am really excited to work for her. I'll be starting when I get back from my vacation next week. I think it will be a great learning experience. I expressed to her my desire to really learn how a non-profit runs, particularly one that involves public policy. I also told her that I fully understand that an intern is going to responsible for a lot of grunt work and I'm willing to do that with no complaints as long as I can really get a glimpse into this world of non-profit. I hope its everything I want! If it's not...god only knows what I'm going to do with my life?!
On another note, my week ends with a bit of a wimper. I have decided that I must sacrifice some fun in the sun for the sake of my b-school ambitions. But this sacrifice will begin after next week where I will spend the entire week on a houseboat in Lake Shasta. Wakeboarding, water skiing and probably lots of eating and drinking. But before you get too excited for me, the vacation is with my entire family...aunts, uncles, cousins, mother...let us hope everyone survives. 5 days on a boat with no escape but the vast waters of Lake Shasta. I fear for the life of a family member! :-o
I have compiled a list of reading material for my 5 days on the boat. Exciting stuff...brochures from Stanford, MIT, NYU, Columbia, Wharton and I may throw in The New Yorker and/or Rolling Stone magazines for kicks. And of course the good old O.G. I am determined to get in 1 hour a day (how hard can that be?) of practice problems while on the boat. Wish me luck! Happy 4th of July to all the bloggers from the U.S. and happy weekend to all the rest :-)
On another note, my week ends with a bit of a wimper. I have decided that I must sacrifice some fun in the sun for the sake of my b-school ambitions. But this sacrifice will begin after next week where I will spend the entire week on a houseboat in Lake Shasta. Wakeboarding, water skiing and probably lots of eating and drinking. But before you get too excited for me, the vacation is with my entire family...aunts, uncles, cousins, mother...let us hope everyone survives. 5 days on a boat with no escape but the vast waters of Lake Shasta. I fear for the life of a family member! :-o
I have compiled a list of reading material for my 5 days on the boat. Exciting stuff...brochures from Stanford, MIT, NYU, Columbia, Wharton and I may throw in The New Yorker and/or Rolling Stone magazines for kicks. And of course the good old O.G. I am determined to get in 1 hour a day (how hard can that be?) of practice problems while on the boat. Wish me luck! Happy 4th of July to all the bloggers from the U.S. and happy weekend to all the rest :-)
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Not even close!
Oh my god! I just took my second Princeton practice GMAT and am consequently freaking out! This is NOT OK! After having studied for a couple weeks my score has not improved at ALL??? WTH? My first practice exam before any studying was a 640, 41-Q 37-V which pretty much sucked, I should have done MUCH better on the quant. The verbal I expected to suck at. But I blamed it on the fact that my time management sucked and with a little review and practice I'd do fine the second time around...well it turns out I'm just plain stupid. This time I still got the 640 with a 42-Q and 36-V? I am borderline retarded apparently.
I am going to try really hard to not go crazy over this. I have to hunker down and stop playing so much. It's time to give up the salsa dancing until August. Dammit! I'm going to go take a nap now until I feel better.
I am going to try really hard to not go crazy over this. I have to hunker down and stop playing so much. It's time to give up the salsa dancing until August. Dammit! I'm going to go take a nap now until I feel better.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Practice makes perfect, right?
This weekend I did a lot of practice problems. Well "a lot" is relative I suppose. I did roughly 10 s.c., 35 C.R., 22 D.S., and 30 P.S. I made 1 mistake on the SC, 4 mistakes on the C.R., 1 on the D.S. and 2 on the P.S. What irritates me about my mistakes is that once I review the problem without knowing the correct answer I can find the correct answer immediately. The mistake I've made is either reading the question wrong or when I narrow my answer choice down to two choices, I pick the incorrect one. Doing each section separately I didn't make any errors until at least 10 to 15 prolems in (accept for the S.C., I made that error on the second question!).
I keep reading about how the Princeton Review is too easy and I'm starting to worrry. Although the practice problems they have me doing are from the O.G. 11, I still worry that I should be doing worse than I am? Or maybe I should just have a little more confidence and assume that my practicing is making me almost perfect ;-) ? I am going to take my second Princeton practice exam tomorrow. My first one didn't go so well (640) but that was done before I did any studying. So I'm hoping this time I'll get at least a 720. Then by my next practice exam I can reach my official target score of 750 and keep that consistent for the following practice exams.
I can't help but wonder if I should be taking more practice exams? At the moment I am only doing what is assigned by the Princeton Review course. Maybe I should start taking 1 practice exam per week? Maybe buy the Kaplan book with the CD of pracitce exams? I can build up my stamina for the real thing? One of my major problems with the GMAT is sitting still for that long. I think I have adult on-set ADD! Even at work I have to get up every 15 to 20 minutes. I just can't sit still for that long.
I'm also starting to worry about applications. I've done nothing in terms of figuring out goals, leadership examples, why now, etc., ...I just can't multitask. I am not the typical woman. I can't balance work, studying, and applications all on top of my regular day to day life. I have my properties to manage, tenants to pacify, a dog that must go on a 5 mile run every day, salsa dancing to do, etc. etc. etc. I guess I could change my priorities around a little bit like all of those other bloggers out there that are complaining of no life but the GMAT, but I just can't do it. I like my life too much. I just need to get teh GMAT out of the way first and then I can focus on apps. I just hope I am not leaving myself too little time for the apps considering I'm not taking the GMAT until the beginning of August? I suppose only time will tell!
I keep reading about how the Princeton Review is too easy and I'm starting to worrry. Although the practice problems they have me doing are from the O.G. 11, I still worry that I should be doing worse than I am? Or maybe I should just have a little more confidence and assume that my practicing is making me almost perfect ;-) ? I am going to take my second Princeton practice exam tomorrow. My first one didn't go so well (640) but that was done before I did any studying. So I'm hoping this time I'll get at least a 720. Then by my next practice exam I can reach my official target score of 750 and keep that consistent for the following practice exams.
I can't help but wonder if I should be taking more practice exams? At the moment I am only doing what is assigned by the Princeton Review course. Maybe I should start taking 1 practice exam per week? Maybe buy the Kaplan book with the CD of pracitce exams? I can build up my stamina for the real thing? One of my major problems with the GMAT is sitting still for that long. I think I have adult on-set ADD! Even at work I have to get up every 15 to 20 minutes. I just can't sit still for that long.
I'm also starting to worry about applications. I've done nothing in terms of figuring out goals, leadership examples, why now, etc., ...I just can't multitask. I am not the typical woman. I can't balance work, studying, and applications all on top of my regular day to day life. I have my properties to manage, tenants to pacify, a dog that must go on a 5 mile run every day, salsa dancing to do, etc. etc. etc. I guess I could change my priorities around a little bit like all of those other bloggers out there that are complaining of no life but the GMAT, but I just can't do it. I like my life too much. I just need to get teh GMAT out of the way first and then I can focus on apps. I just hope I am not leaving myself too little time for the apps considering I'm not taking the GMAT until the beginning of August? I suppose only time will tell!
Monday, June 19, 2006
The sun is an obstacle to a 750 GMAT
How on Earth am I expected to sit inside and practice GMAT problems when it's 80 something degrees outside and the sun is calling my name? It's a serious problem! They really have this application process backwards. We should have to take the GMAT at the start of spring. We could study all thru the winter when the days are shorter and there are less fun things to do during the week (weekends are always good for some snowboarding at least ;-). Application deadlines should be at the start of summer. It may be hard to write essays thru the spring due to that damn sun again, but I seem to be more inspired in the spring so in the long run it'd be a benefit. Then we could have our entire summers to mountain bike, run, wakeboard, salsa dance, or just sit on the patio with a margarita listening to some music while adcom did their thing and we waited for word on our fates.
All that being said I did manage to squeeze in a few hours of studying this weekend despite the sun shining in a clear blue sky. I'm pretty happy though because I seem to be gaining that patience I so lacked at the start of the studying. I did about 40 data sufficiency problems and only made 2 careless errors at about 25 questions in. I also did about 35 sentence correction problems but didn't do as well. I missed about 4 of those questions. But once again those mistakes were careless errors so as long as I keep working on my patience I think I'll be fine. I will get that 750 on my GMAT no matter how distracting that sun may be!
Tonight my cousin's boyfriend, a Phd student at Stanford, has put together an event near the Stanford campus to watch the Espana world cup game. UNIVISION (a local spanish channel) will be at the event too. He had a similar event for the other Espana game and the TV crews were there as well. My cousin was the only female there so they forced her to do an on air interview. I fear that this time we will be the only women there and I will have to avoid the cameras like the plague! Anyway, I really couldn't care less about the World Cup but my cousin's boyfriend told me that some of his students (he teaches at the Stanford GSB) will be there and that I could interrogate them about Stanford GSB! Yay!!
All that being said I did manage to squeeze in a few hours of studying this weekend despite the sun shining in a clear blue sky. I'm pretty happy though because I seem to be gaining that patience I so lacked at the start of the studying. I did about 40 data sufficiency problems and only made 2 careless errors at about 25 questions in. I also did about 35 sentence correction problems but didn't do as well. I missed about 4 of those questions. But once again those mistakes were careless errors so as long as I keep working on my patience I think I'll be fine. I will get that 750 on my GMAT no matter how distracting that sun may be!
Tonight my cousin's boyfriend, a Phd student at Stanford, has put together an event near the Stanford campus to watch the Espana world cup game. UNIVISION (a local spanish channel) will be at the event too. He had a similar event for the other Espana game and the TV crews were there as well. My cousin was the only female there so they forced her to do an on air interview. I fear that this time we will be the only women there and I will have to avoid the cameras like the plague! Anyway, I really couldn't care less about the World Cup but my cousin's boyfriend told me that some of his students (he teaches at the Stanford GSB) will be there and that I could interrogate them about Stanford GSB! Yay!!
Friday, June 16, 2006
Brand Name Whore
I am a brand name whore. I like brand name clothing, sunglasses, jewelry, watches, etc. Don't get me wrong I have plenty of $5 sunglasses and clothing from Target but I do indulge myself on 5th Ave in NY once in a while.
And yes, I want the brand name MBA! One of my best friends tells me that I'm an education snob. But then again he only dates "hot" chicks...so he's not allowed to judge...he likes those girls for their bodies and I like men for their brand name education...I think both of us are probably in the wrong here, but that's a story for another day. Last night I went out with another friend. I've been quite the party girl recently, by Sunday I will have gone out 6 nights this week? Wow, I really should be studying for the GMAT!...but I digress. Back to my story. Some guy was hitting on me at the bar. We got to talking and as soon as he said that he had gone to a community college for a few years and then finally finished his degree up at State (mind you, finally meant that he had taken an additional 4 years to finish at State) I lost all interest. Now it's not completely fair to judge me at this point as I'm not sure I was all that interested in the first place. But I wonder if he had said that he had just finished up at Stanford or Berkeley or any other top school if that would have peaked rather than waned my interest? Regardless, it occurred to me at that moment that brand name in education matters to me. So I decided that I will not settle for getting my MBA at anything less than a top ranked school! Call me what you will, but I am a sucker for brand names and I've just come to accept this about myself. Now I will have to blog anonymously forever because anyone I meet at b-school in the future will have read this and, probably rightly so, will have decided that I am a complete snob!
And yes, I want the brand name MBA! One of my best friends tells me that I'm an education snob. But then again he only dates "hot" chicks...so he's not allowed to judge...he likes those girls for their bodies and I like men for their brand name education...I think both of us are probably in the wrong here, but that's a story for another day. Last night I went out with another friend. I've been quite the party girl recently, by Sunday I will have gone out 6 nights this week? Wow, I really should be studying for the GMAT!...but I digress. Back to my story. Some guy was hitting on me at the bar. We got to talking and as soon as he said that he had gone to a community college for a few years and then finally finished his degree up at State (mind you, finally meant that he had taken an additional 4 years to finish at State) I lost all interest. Now it's not completely fair to judge me at this point as I'm not sure I was all that interested in the first place. But I wonder if he had said that he had just finished up at Stanford or Berkeley or any other top school if that would have peaked rather than waned my interest? Regardless, it occurred to me at that moment that brand name in education matters to me. So I decided that I will not settle for getting my MBA at anything less than a top ranked school! Call me what you will, but I am a sucker for brand names and I've just come to accept this about myself. Now I will have to blog anonymously forever because anyone I meet at b-school in the future will have read this and, probably rightly so, will have decided that I am a complete snob!
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
The Internship and Salsa Dancing
As of right now I am still an engineer but only part time. It's quite a cushy set up I have. I only work about 20 hours a week, I come and go as I please and I get very well compensated. You may be asking yourself "umm why is she only working par time?" Ok so maybe you aren't asking yourself that but I have asked myself that many times...trying to justify my laziness I suppose. I came up with the following excuse: I wanted to have more free time to do my applications and I wanted to find work part time in the non-profit world since that's what I want to go into after getting my MBA. So I did it finally! I got an internship at Planned Parenthood! I am so excited! I'll be working there 20 hours a week in their public affairs and clinic advocacy departments. I'll be working full time now more or less.
I'm hoping this internship will give me the chance to develop my leadership skills and show my desire to adcom that I am comitted to this career change to non-profit! Plus now I'll have more fodder for my essays and a greater pool of people to ask for Letters of Rec! Woohoo!
Totally unrelated to my MBA...Salsa dancing is good for the soul. I swear it. Every time I go dancing I leave totally refreshed and happy. Not to mention my ego is very well stroked over the course of the evening :-) I am so easy when dancing..."Eres tan linda, Que hermosa! nos casamos?, bailas tan bien! Increible!". Really they say this to every girl they dance with but I am putty in their hands everytime :-) (only if they are good dancers, of course! I am such a salsa snob, not sure when that happened?). Thank goodness I have my partner in crime to bring me back down to earth. She reminds me that we call them our "salsa boyfriends" for a reason! Not to be taken outside the salsa club! I've made that mistake before and sadly I've lost one of my favorite dancing partners. He won't dance with me anymore :-( I had a salsa crush on him and I thought just maybe the crush would last outside of the salsa club but sadly I was mistaken. And his feelings were hurt...girls who want to find a sensitive man...find a salsero! I swear they were all girls in their past lives! Or if you just need a nice evening of ego boosting...go salsa dancing! And boys, if you want hot, barely clothed girls (not saying I am one of these, but clubs are full of them) hanging all over you...learn to dance! Just my 2 cents worth for today.
I'm hoping this internship will give me the chance to develop my leadership skills and show my desire to adcom that I am comitted to this career change to non-profit! Plus now I'll have more fodder for my essays and a greater pool of people to ask for Letters of Rec! Woohoo!
Totally unrelated to my MBA...Salsa dancing is good for the soul. I swear it. Every time I go dancing I leave totally refreshed and happy. Not to mention my ego is very well stroked over the course of the evening :-) I am so easy when dancing..."Eres tan linda, Que hermosa! nos casamos?, bailas tan bien! Increible!". Really they say this to every girl they dance with but I am putty in their hands everytime :-) (only if they are good dancers, of course! I am such a salsa snob, not sure when that happened?). Thank goodness I have my partner in crime to bring me back down to earth. She reminds me that we call them our "salsa boyfriends" for a reason! Not to be taken outside the salsa club! I've made that mistake before and sadly I've lost one of my favorite dancing partners. He won't dance with me anymore :-( I had a salsa crush on him and I thought just maybe the crush would last outside of the salsa club but sadly I was mistaken. And his feelings were hurt...girls who want to find a sensitive man...find a salsero! I swear they were all girls in their past lives! Or if you just need a nice evening of ego boosting...go salsa dancing! And boys, if you want hot, barely clothed girls (not saying I am one of these, but clubs are full of them) hanging all over you...learn to dance! Just my 2 cents worth for today.
Monday, June 12, 2006
The Back Up Plan
I believe congratulations are in order! I've come up with a back up plan just in case Stanford or the others don't want me! My back up plan is to win the lotto. And just in case that doesn't work out I have even thought of a back up back up plan, I will marry a filthy rich man on the verge of death. I feel that my chances of accomplishing my back up plans may be much more likely than getting into Stanford or any other top 10 school.
After reading the billions of blogs and forums and student profiles...I have decided that I am not as impressive as I used to think I was. When comparing oneself to the general public it is quite easy to come out on top. However, start comparing onself to other top 10 b-school applicants and all the sudden it's not such a pretty picture! All of you mba bloggers are so damn accomplished and successful do you really need your MBA? Maybe you should reconsider and let the less successful folk, such as myself have a chance? Gee Thanks! That would be swell! Well I'm not that bad, after all I have run a marathon and I am a pretty good salsa dancer...you think that can compare with those mba applicants that have their own million dollar corporations? Hmmm? I have my doubts.
Yesterday I went car shopping with my mother. She brought a binder full of research that she had done on all the cars she wanted to test drive. She was driving me insane and I told her that she has over researched her car buying process and thus taking all the fun out of it! Maybe that's what I'm doing with this MBA? Ugghhhh now back to sentence correction drills.
After reading the billions of blogs and forums and student profiles...I have decided that I am not as impressive as I used to think I was. When comparing oneself to the general public it is quite easy to come out on top. However, start comparing onself to other top 10 b-school applicants and all the sudden it's not such a pretty picture! All of you mba bloggers are so damn accomplished and successful do you really need your MBA? Maybe you should reconsider and let the less successful folk, such as myself have a chance? Gee Thanks! That would be swell! Well I'm not that bad, after all I have run a marathon and I am a pretty good salsa dancer...you think that can compare with those mba applicants that have their own million dollar corporations? Hmmm? I have my doubts.
Yesterday I went car shopping with my mother. She brought a binder full of research that she had done on all the cars she wanted to test drive. She was driving me insane and I told her that she has over researched her car buying process and thus taking all the fun out of it! Maybe that's what I'm doing with this MBA? Ugghhhh now back to sentence correction drills.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Stanford GSB Info Session
Well I had my first "official" info session at an MBA school. I have the sneaky suspicion that after every info session I am going to proclaim my love for that particular school? Anyway, Stanford GSB...
I Live near by Stanford so it reallyis not a problem for me to get there. However, I am directionally challenged and ended up passing up turns in my car while blabbing away on the phone. Once I found visitor parking ($3 for two hours), I ended up running from one end of campus to the other as to not make a late first impression! I walked into the classroom and immediately felt uncomfortable in my incredibly casual attire. I was wearing a tank top, cargo capris, and my flip flops. I live in Cali, I blend in with the general public! There were already 6 or 7 people seated in the exaggerated oval classroom (not sure I like this classroom set up? I'll have to see a class in action to see how the interaction is) and all of them looking quite professional in slacks and shirts. Oops, strike one for first impressions! Then walked in the Assistant Director of Admissions to give the power point pesentation.
She had us all introduce ourselves and a bit about our background. During this time about 5 people walked in late...all of them in casual attire. WooHoo! I wasn't the latest nor the most casual one there!! She began the presentation and I started to fall in love. Is this going to happen everytime I visit a school? Ugghhhh! So these are the immediate things I liked about Stanford:
Small Class Size
Location (I already own a duplex here. I wouldn't have to move. I have friends and family close by to help me take care of Rico, my dog, when need be).
Emphasis on team work and not a competitive environment (this is very important to me since I am extremely competitive. If I were in a competitive environment I imagine I would be less focused on actually learning and more focused on doing better than the guy next to me.
It's Stanford for goodness sake! need I say more?
Access to Professors there are no office hours, just open door arrangements between students and professors.
New Curriculum is more flexible I imagine this can be a negative as well as a positive considering next year's class will be the guinea pig?
Mentor. They are introducing a new mentor program with a second year as well as with a faculty member.
Emphasis on a community and not "networking" I hate that word and apparently, so does Stanford.
Heavily Quantitative based program. Although I don't necessarily want to be an engineer, I am. And I like Quant!
I'll have to make a more comprehensive list as the info sessions continue at different schools. And I'd also like to go back when class is in session to sit in on a class and meet with current students and discuss the environment a little more. I didn't expect to like Stanford all that much but their marketing campaign has dazzled me a bit. But there's always more research to do!
Am I a complete dork for getting so excited about this? Or maybe it's my hangover high from a good night of salsa dancing last night? Who cares, either way there will be a smile on my face all day today!
I Live near by Stanford so it reallyis not a problem for me to get there. However, I am directionally challenged and ended up passing up turns in my car while blabbing away on the phone. Once I found visitor parking ($3 for two hours), I ended up running from one end of campus to the other as to not make a late first impression! I walked into the classroom and immediately felt uncomfortable in my incredibly casual attire. I was wearing a tank top, cargo capris, and my flip flops. I live in Cali, I blend in with the general public! There were already 6 or 7 people seated in the exaggerated oval classroom (not sure I like this classroom set up? I'll have to see a class in action to see how the interaction is) and all of them looking quite professional in slacks and shirts. Oops, strike one for first impressions! Then walked in the Assistant Director of Admissions to give the power point pesentation.
She had us all introduce ourselves and a bit about our background. During this time about 5 people walked in late...all of them in casual attire. WooHoo! I wasn't the latest nor the most casual one there!! She began the presentation and I started to fall in love. Is this going to happen everytime I visit a school? Ugghhhh! So these are the immediate things I liked about Stanford:
Small Class Size
Location (I already own a duplex here. I wouldn't have to move. I have friends and family close by to help me take care of Rico, my dog, when need be).
Emphasis on team work and not a competitive environment (this is very important to me since I am extremely competitive. If I were in a competitive environment I imagine I would be less focused on actually learning and more focused on doing better than the guy next to me.
It's Stanford for goodness sake! need I say more?
Access to Professors there are no office hours, just open door arrangements between students and professors.
New Curriculum is more flexible I imagine this can be a negative as well as a positive considering next year's class will be the guinea pig?
Mentor. They are introducing a new mentor program with a second year as well as with a faculty member.
Emphasis on a community and not "networking" I hate that word and apparently, so does Stanford.
Heavily Quantitative based program. Although I don't necessarily want to be an engineer, I am. And I like Quant!
I'll have to make a more comprehensive list as the info sessions continue at different schools. And I'd also like to go back when class is in session to sit in on a class and meet with current students and discuss the environment a little more. I didn't expect to like Stanford all that much but their marketing campaign has dazzled me a bit. But there's always more research to do!
Am I a complete dork for getting so excited about this? Or maybe it's my hangover high from a good night of salsa dancing last night? Who cares, either way there will be a smile on my face all day today!
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Grammar?
Last night was my second class in the Princeton Review. Our assignment over the past week was to do some reading and to sit down and take the first of 5 (or 6?) online practice exams. My first practice exam wasn't so impressive, about 80 points short of my target score. The one thing I was happy about was on the verbal I got the first 10 questions correct which is obviously so important on the GMAT. Surprisingly I got 2 of the first 10 questions incorrect on the math! I'm an engineer for god's sake! What the hell? But I'm hopeful that the class and the practice will lead me to my target score.
The first hour and a half of the class the instructor reviewed grammar for sentence correction. The entire time I kept thinking to myself, "self, that year you spent in South America teaching English is so going ot benefit you now!" Seriously, tell me what engineer actually knows what an infinitive is, not to mention the past perfect tense? One of the guy's in the class, also an engineer I believe, speaks English just fine but with an accent. Obviously English is his second language. I felt awful for him. His speaking English really was fine, but how the hell does he know what an idiom is? And considering we speak grammatically incorrect here, how would he ever recognize the mistake? Poor guy! I have a new found respect for ESL speakers taking the GMAT!
In the meantime I am trying to decide if I should fly out to do a tour of the East Coast schools I want to visit in July or should I wait until classes start in Sept? The thing is, I want to figure out what schools I'll be applying to soon so that I can concentrate on those particular essays. But just visiting the campus and not speaking with a student nor sitting in on a class...is that really going to help me decide? I don't know? I suppose this whole B-School process is really going to help me refine my decision making skills.
The first hour and a half of the class the instructor reviewed grammar for sentence correction. The entire time I kept thinking to myself, "self, that year you spent in South America teaching English is so going ot benefit you now!" Seriously, tell me what engineer actually knows what an infinitive is, not to mention the past perfect tense? One of the guy's in the class, also an engineer I believe, speaks English just fine but with an accent. Obviously English is his second language. I felt awful for him. His speaking English really was fine, but how the hell does he know what an idiom is? And considering we speak grammatically incorrect here, how would he ever recognize the mistake? Poor guy! I have a new found respect for ESL speakers taking the GMAT!
In the meantime I am trying to decide if I should fly out to do a tour of the East Coast schools I want to visit in July or should I wait until classes start in Sept? The thing is, I want to figure out what schools I'll be applying to soon so that I can concentrate on those particular essays. But just visiting the campus and not speaking with a student nor sitting in on a class...is that really going to help me decide? I don't know? I suppose this whole B-School process is really going to help me refine my decision making skills.
Monday, June 05, 2006
A Back Up School?
This weekend I was speaking with my uncle about applying to B-schools and as I was listing the schools I was considering applying to he asked me, "Aren't you going to apply to a back-up school?". My response to him was my theory that MBA's are a dime a dozen and in order to shine amongst the thousands of b-school graduates every year your resume better have a top 10 school listed on it! Plus I'm going to spend almost $150k for two years in b-school. To me, an MBA just doesn't seem to be worth the time, effort nor the money if it doesn't come from a big name.
But then I started thinking. What if he was right? What if I'm shooting too high? All of this work and preparation not to mention $$$$ to apply and what if I don't get accepted to a top 10 school? Is it worth going to a lower ranked school? Or maybe Yale is my back up school? Depending upon which ranking you look at, it's not even in the top 20! So now the question begs to be asked, what is considered a back up school? How far down the ranking pole do you have to go to ensure admittance? So back to the rankings I go...more school websites to read, more programs to research...does this process ever get easy?
But then I started thinking. What if he was right? What if I'm shooting too high? All of this work and preparation not to mention $$$$ to apply and what if I don't get accepted to a top 10 school? Is it worth going to a lower ranked school? Or maybe Yale is my back up school? Depending upon which ranking you look at, it's not even in the top 20! So now the question begs to be asked, what is considered a back up school? How far down the ranking pole do you have to go to ensure admittance? So back to the rankings I go...more school websites to read, more programs to research...does this process ever get easy?
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Miss Domestic!
I can't believe I just cooked...well prepared dinner for 4 people. I have finally started working on my patio. I bought some planter boxes some plants did some much needed gardening. And I just bought a new patio furniture set and decided I must put it to use. I was feeling ambitious and thought I'd try to cook for my friends. Now let me make this clear...I can barely tell the difference between my stove and my oven. Until today my refrigerator had some ketchup, some peanut butter and some corn tortillas (why must corn tortillas come in packs of like 500? seriously!)I DO NOT cook. But today I broke the mold! So now I am awaiting the arrival of a few friends, my patio table is set, my kitchen is clean and the food is waiting to be cooked. I am so impressed with myself and since nobody is here yet to pat me on the back, I must do it myself. I wonder if I could use this experience in my essays? Oh if Adcom only knew what an accomplishment it was for me to be cooking!
Meanwhile my baby, my child, my dog, is begging me to play catch with him and so I will!
Cheers!
Meanwhile my baby, my child, my dog, is begging me to play catch with him and so I will!
Cheers!
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