Essay Retrospection

Many of you have read my blog for a while and you probably have a good sense of who I am. Most of you have never met me and yet, you may have preconceived notions as to whether or not we'd get along. This is very similar to your business school essays, but likely, you have not even a handful of essays to demonstrate who you are and what you bring to the table.

The season of hopes and dreams is like clockwork, we bust our booties for hours on end to finalize between 1500 and 3000 words about us, our aspirations, our research and our hope to join the business school community of our dreams. And here we are - some of us with admits to die for, others with a full set of dings and another group still pending decisions. No one knows what sort of miracle it took to hit the grand slam or what sort of luck it takes to completely strikeout. We're all good candidates in our own right, but did we whole heartedly communicate that in our essays to the adcom?

I've had the pleasure of reviewing a few essays for some friends, however, I don't count myself as an expert. As I read, I try to put myself in the adcoms' shoes, but I honestly don't know for what they are looking anymore than the next person.

It's dawned on me though. Someone made a comment about my Day@Darden post and how I truly know how to express myself. Truth is, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. I think this blog has helped me over time sort out my thoughts as has my personal writing that I don't post. More importantly though, I know who I am.

Since I started on my essays many moons ago, people always told me to show my passion. My extra advice, remember what's important to you. If you look at Stanford or Darden's what matters to you most question and after a few minutes you still draw a blank, you need to figure out who you are. It took me thirty seconds to choose a topic for that question. And I understand the question seems weighted, but it doesn't have to be the perfect answer for the adcom, just for you. If there's a laundry list as there is for a lot of us, pick one thing that you feel can define who you are.

Even though a lot of people talk stats, I believe this process is so much more than the numbers we produce.

The Details

I'm a week out from my Darden interview and I must admit, I'm a bit nervous. For some reason, I have a strong feeling about Darden and things working out, but I can't explain it any better than that. Of course, it could be a false sense of security and simply hope on my part. Ever since I walked into the San Francisco information session, I've had a comfort feeling when it comes to the people at Darden and I'm hoping it works out. I still have yet to hear from Ross and although they say Ross can still request an interview, my outlook is glum. I await a decision from Georgetown as well. I have confidence in my essays, but don't feel as strong about my interview. Definitely something I would have changed in my process...interview after essay completion.

I have my flight booked to BWI on Friday and I'll be hanging with Mack in DC this weekend. It should be a blast, but I have to make sure I don't go overboard with the alcohol on Saturday night (not that I ever do). Sunday, I pick up my rental car from the DCA airport and drive the supposed 2 hours to Charlottesville. As of this moment, I have yet to book a hotel, which is my goal today before I head out this evening. Sunday, I don't have plans and Monday, I plan on exploring Charlottesville and the UVA campus (any suggestions would be greatly appreciated). I figure on Monday night, I'll find a local pub and watch the national championship. Tuesday, I have down time in the morning and then my interview is at 11 am. Finally, my flight home is out of the Charlottesville airport at 4 pm.

My interview preparation has been nonexistent. Yesterday, I printed all my essays and added them to my packet of Darden information I had printed a few weeks ago. After some searching, I found the Darden brochure mixed in with a stack of brochures I haven't touched in months. I've read through all my correspondence with Darden staff, students, and alum. Next up, review notes I took at the information session and start writing down MY story. What do I want to say about myself in the 20 minutes or so I am given to talk? Of course, this depends on if the interview is blind or not. I shouldn't cover similar topics to my essays if they've already been read. At that point, I need to disclose 'additional' information. Time to prepare for both scenarios!

Happy 2008!

Accumulating Injuries

As an avid soccer player, I never fail to injure myself. Every week, I assess the weekend's bruises on Monday morning. Often, I plan on taking a few days rest because of ankle injuries, and recently, a hip flexor injury. Well, it's time to add one more to the list, which is making this post entertaining to type. I jammed my knuckle into some guy's forehead in my first game yesterday. I'm still not sure what he was trying to do, but nonetheless, my index finger hurts. Luckily, I'm left handed, at least for writing and eating, although I still use my right hand for a lot of activities, for instance typing. I can barely turn my car on with my right hand as it shoots immense pain as I apply pressure against the finger. Talk about a bummer.

Subsequently, I believe I'm done with applications. I've jumped back and forth as to whether I would or not turn in a LBS application. Even though, a lot of the material overlaps with previous essays, I'm not in the mood to write another 6 essays. In addition, hopefully I will receive an acceptance from another school. By the time LBS decisions for even interviews arise, I hope to be planning my summer travel schedule. It's scary to think, I should receive decisions from all schools by February 1st. That's definitely enough to induce a slight panic attack, luckily, I've never had one.

The Train has Left the Station

...and won't be returning. It's official, DING, Kellogg is out of the picture. I have the desire to click on the Kellogg folder in my inbox and press delete. I'm not exactly sure what that would do for me, but perhaps I would feel some sort of redemption for all the hard work I put into their application. Granted, there are many tweaks I would make to those essays if I were submitting them today, but I didn't want to wait until Round 2. From here, I can only look forward, which is to say, I still have 3 other schools to hear from, although Michigan's silence worries me a bit. In the past, I did not carefully consider any Round 2 schools, but on some level, I feel I should have. There is still time, but if I don't have the drive to write essays for LBS, I can't imagine having the drive to write essays for any other school. My oh so happy Thursday just became a little ho-hum. I will skip the coffee chat - already sent that email off. There is not reason for me to waste their time and mine. Tonight I have dinner plans and a few holiday shindigs... hoping those will brighten what now seems to be a damp Thursday.

Essay Creation and the Interview

As I ponder how to prepare for my interview, I think about the admissions process. By no means would I consider it fun, however on its own, its a bit life changing - even with the acceptances and dings. I am not the same person I was when I first started writing business school admission essays three months ago. Each question from each school has given me new perspective on how to approach the next essay as well as a new perspective on myself. When I hear about the adcom reading essays that have the wrong school name, I wonder how these applicants did it. No two essays of mine are alike and although they may share some of the same ideas, they were each written from scratch and tailored to the specific school to which I applied. Please don't miss interpret this, at times, short paragraphs referring to my background could be copied and pasted. I wrote essays based on deadlines, but in a way, that order actually help me. Kellogg was a good start because with a defined page length instead of word limit, I cultivated more ideas (of course, in retrospect, I could have been more concise). The next essays I tackled as one set instead of two, alternating days between the two schools - Virginia and Michigan. There was almost no question overlap and minimal idea overlap, but working on the essays concurrently kept me interested and created a solid picture for each school. Plus, I finally understood the word limit issue. Finally, I tackled my Georgetown essays, which proved to be quite difficult initially. After being used to a 300-500 word limit per essay, 750 words seemed like an eternity. What more did I want to say without simply adding filler words and BS? Somehow, I figured it out. This set of essays is where I think I discovered my idea and definition of Leadership. Not to mention, they ask you to specifically define it in your own words. It look me a lot of hours to fully wrap my head around the concept, the story, and the articulation, but after writing this set of essays, I feel I am a better candidate and can hopefully articulate it in my next interview.

The interviews I have had to date have been...interesting. I felt that I was under prepared for the first interview, but particularly because I did not analyze the Georgetown questions as I should have. Additionally, I didn't write my essays for those questions until 2 months after my interview. The thoughts were better constructed by then. My Kellogg interview with a local alum was more interview and less conversation than I anticipated. A slight miscommunication had me thinking we were meeting for brunch, when in fact, it was simply an interview at a restaurant at brunch time. Overall, the interview had flow and I was more confident when he related his experience to my own. Next up is Virginia. This will be the first campus I visit. At times, I see people attending sessions and campuses a year or two before they intend to apply. In some ways, I envy them and contemplate what I would change about my personal process, but then reality hits, I DO NOT want to do this again next year. The sole action I would change through the entire process is I would have visited campuses. Although I have the funds, the time was not there by the time I narrowed the schools and realized the Round 1 deadlines.

ClearAdmit Wiki has some good comments on interviews. For the most part, I don't feel interview preparation is anything more than knowing your personal story, preparing for the generic questions, and knowing the school. And as a wise adcom rep once told me, remember, it's ok to pause (and in that pause, have silence).

Upcoming decision deadlines:
Kellogg - January 7th
Ross - January 15th
Georgetown - January 25th
Virginia - February 1st

Application Deadlines:
LBS - January 4th

Also, one last end note - because this is primarily a personal blog, you will see posts about all sorts of subjects, I apologize in advance to those who primarily want MBA applicant information.

Not So Lazy Sunday, But Also, Not "Productive"

I'll admit, I miss the lazy Sundays. Those days when you honestly had nothing important to do and it could all wait until tomorrow. Today was definitely not one of those. Last night was the Spinsters Holiday Ball, which was indeed entertaining, but I "worked" more than I would have liked. The volunteers last night were helpful and yet, completely annoying at the same time. I had a person here and there not show up, but perhaps it worked for the better. Who knows? Afterwards, some friends and I did a little dancing at Bruno's in the Mission, then I carted everyone home and crashed around 3 am.

Although the sun is not rising at three, it is late considering I had to be up, yet again, at 7:30 am for soccer. I truly love and enjoy the sport of soccer, but sometimes I wonder if I should give myself a break. My hip flexor is still bothering me and after the tournament on Saturday, I'm sure the THREE games I played today didn't help. Additionally, I have returned home after a day playing in SF and I'm exhausted. At the rate I'm going, I'll probably be asleep by 8 pm. However, I STILL have not started my LBS essays and with each passing day, I have less enthusiasm to complete them. Granted, it's not required that I apply to another school in Round 2, as I have finished the rest of my applications in Round 1. Furthermore, if I apply at all, I want to put my best foot forward. All I need to do is sit down one night and get the first drafts complete, but like other applicants, I'm having trouble focusing. Even now, my shoulder aches as I type, and the thought of another 4 hours on the computer makes me sleepy.

I read and glance over various blogs in the student and applicant world of MBAs. Receiving my invite to interview at Darden has definitely made me excited, but knowing that I'm only waiting for an answer from BOTH Georgetown and Kellogg puts me on the verge of crazy. Ross noted that they can request an interview up until their decision deadline, but the more I hear about others interviewing, the more worried I get. Also, I have read that people are getting DINGs from Kellogg and actually a personal friend in SF, the only other person I actually know that is applying to business schools, received his DING. Three months ago I did not know what a DING was, and here I am discussing the logistics of one. I guess it's natural that you won't be accepted to every business school to which you apply. We often empathize with other applicants and sincerely wish them the best of luck, but truth is, we hope that luck is ours as well. I need to book my flight to Virginia for my interview and work out the details of my weekend in DC. I have close friends in DC and thought seeing I'm flying to the East Coast, I might as well make a trip out of it...

As much as I know I should start typing essays right now, I think I may change into some sweats that don't smell like soccer, turn on the tube and relax. Hopefully I can focus tomorrow.

Darden Interview

My heart skipped a beat, maybe it was two. Every time I open my Mac email, which has been set aside primarily for MBA contact, I take a deep breath and cross my fingers. With .Mac, you view the number of new messages before you can view who they are from. It's an added step, but over time, I've found that I like it. The enhancement of anticipation is almost welcoming, thought nerve wrecking.

Sure enough, today I opened my email to receive a Darden email message with "account status change". This is where the stomach locks, I had to look up my login information for the Darden website, the whole time praying, please please please, let this be good news. And for some reason, I thought it would be. I signed on and in the right hand corner it states: "Call/Hold for Interview". I released some pressure on my gut with a deep exhale. As I understand it, I have been invited to interview! WOW! By far, I was most happy with my Darden and Ross essays. Although the Darden essays were different, I thoroughly enjoyed the introspection they provided.

The interview is required to be held in Virginia - on campus, which I think is a good way to gage the interest of a candidate. There are set interview dates in December, before Christmas and in January, shortly after New Years. I kindly mentioned to my boss that I received an interview and he noted that January would be preferable because of our business.

I don't touch on work very often other than noting that I went to work, did something, and came home. I guess part of that is because I would hate someone searching for Ensemble to run across my personal blog. At one point, I changed my myspace profile because it would show up in a Google search - third from the top. I'll touch on work in another post, but the reason it is preferable for me to be here through Christmas is because the busiest time of year in our Philanthropic sphere is right before year-end. Conversely, year-end statements are our largest quarterly mailing of the year. It's a lot to ask to be gone for one if not two days.

On another note, I also got invited to be a member of the Membership Selection Committee for Spinsters, which in my opinion, is a high honor. :)

London - Round 2?

COMPLETE - as I typed that word what seems to be many moons ago, it felt good. The significance is, I intended Georgetown to be the last of my business school applications. Granted, I always said that I would apply to 5 schools, but after the procrastination bug got me, I ended up completing 3 essays in essentially 4 days. Not only was it a lot of work, but it was also taxing on my body as I did not sleep much. If it wasn't for Dom, I'd had been SOL. Of course, he's already warned me that with his new job, he won't be able to do that again. (Dom, Thank you for your help... I will be coming to CO and buying you dinner.)

London - Fabulous school and the pinnacle of an international experience, which I dearly want to have. London's essays are short if I recall correctly and many of them are similar to essays I have already written, but if I choose to write them, this means I continue on the my journey in essay land. A land with which I was expecting to be done. The good news however is I would not be so focused on hurry up and wait. So perhaps, returning to essays would be mildly beneficial.

If I start this lot by Sunday, I will apply.

OMFG... I'm done!

It is Friday November 30th and I have had 8 hours of sleep in the last three days, but I feel renewed excitement as I just clicked the "submit" button to what I'm hoping will be my final business school application. This long process started sometime this past February when I decided it was time to attempt the GMAT, a test which I had put off for a solid 11 months. Initially, I purchased a book from Borders with a gift card I received for Christmas last year. My boyfriend at the time was a full-time student finishing up at a university, which made studying together an easy and productive activity. Even though I took a Kaplan class in 2006, I knew I needed more materials if I was to succeed on the GMAT. Thus, I purchased 7 books off Craigslist for $100 and with these books came 10 minutes of the Brit's time - an invaluable 10 minutes it was.

I put myself on a self-study schedule and commencing in May 2007, I quit drinking for practically two months. However, I did not restrain myself from continuing to enjoy my life. Although I was disciplined, studying each day after work during the week and 5-6 hours each day on the weekend, I still went out every weekend and played soccer regularly throughout the week. Additionally, I focused on getting back into peak condition. Basically life was soccer, gym, studying and work.

July 16, 2007 was the date I set for the GMAT. This day was a Monday, two days before my 25th birthday. I had forgone researching schools because my original plan was to score a 600 and attend the University of San Francisco part time MBA program. Needless to say, I outdid myself and walked out of the testing center with a glowing smile. Consequently, I had thrust myself into a whole new ballgame with endless options.

I started basic research utilizing rankings, school websites, and other search engines. The first information session I attended was that of Wharton. Though very interesting and an inviting program, I chose not to apply because of the level of competition. In the end, it probably doesn’t matter. The most valuable resource I found was the San Francisco MBA Tour. A number of schools attended and presented 30 minute presentations about their programs. Furthermore, the fact that the MBA tour was early in year was an incredible benefit. There were approximately 8 different session times with about the same number of choices in schools for each session. The schools were cascaded so that you may attend 8 different schools for the day, or only see the schools to which you are interested. Subsequently, I chose to attend sessions for Michigan, USC, UCLA, Duke, Texas, and Georgetown. As my interest piqued, I continued in depth research of each school and viewed their list of Bay Area information sessions. For the majority of schools to which I applied, I had at least two instances of direct contact with officials, students or alumni of the school.

After four applications and a few more than a dozen essays, it is safe to say, I'm spent. I can no longer adequately pretend that I enjoy watching which words I type, which conjunctions I utilize, if I add a comma or not, if my transitions present sufficient flow, if I need to delete a word because I'm over limit, or whatever other minute details seem not to matter at this moment. Luckily, I should not have to resume this sort of analysis.

Now however, the waiting game begins. With my Kellogg and Georgetown interviews complete, I simply await answers. Conversely, I await answers from Virginia and Michigan, but hopefully in the form of interview invites.

Here's hoping, wishing, and all that jazz. Best of luck to other candidates of the hopeful MBA classes of 2010. Thus far, it's been an experience. On that note, I'm signing off for the weekend. My shoulder hurts from immeasurable hours on the computer and my body desires a long slumber.

Leadership

It took me four business school applications, fifteen essays, and four complete essay rewrites on my last essay for me to articulate Leadership. For some reason, I had difficulty wrapping my head around a concept with which I have great familiarity, but this is what I finally understand.

While leadership is the ability to organize, motivate, and positively influence a group of individuals to work collaboratively in order to execute a vision or attain a common goal, it is ultimately the bigger picture. Leadership is effectively defining purpose for a team, group, or organization - for profit or not.

A good leader will balance risk versus reward in undertaking risky or difficult situations. As well, their traits, will include a high level of integrity, be confident, decisive, proactive, dependable, and selfless.

The Last

It's only been 2.5 hours since my last post, which isn't bad considering the additional essay revamp Georgetown two just received. I think I'm finally confident about my essays. It's a great feeling seeing that I was highly confident with all my essays when I hit the submit button on my last two applications, 3 weeks ago. It's time to give the rough drafts to dad for last minute changes. Additionally, my reviewer received one more copy for comment. Subsequently, I think I may have to fly to Colorado and take him to dinner, you will never know the value of a good reviewer unless you go through this process. My gratitude seems unrepresentative of how he has helped me. Lastly, my boss needs to finish my recommendation. Talk about cutting it close. ;) Perhaps we truly do have something in common seeing I sent the recommendation to him in September. I will be amazed if this is all completed by tomorrow night - the due date. Phew, off to get my ... less than... 3 hours of sleep. OUCH!

Preview

HORRAY!! My heart is beating incredibly fast. I sent a preview of my Georgetown two essay to my reviewer, and he thought that I was on the right path. Although it's a double edged sword, on the right path is good, but it seems I need to think bigger. As comical as it may seem, you can tell I'm in operations. I'm too caught up with the daily details removed from the bigger picture. Write, read, delete, and rewrite.

Drawing Board

And so it seems, my attempt to rewrite Georgetown essay two last night was stamped with an "F". With the deadline looming, I'm running out of ideas and options. I'm tired, which is expected with the solid three hours of sleep I got last night. I'm stressed, but it is mostly self induced. And finally, I feel that I'm on the verge of a breakdown for which I don't have time.

Practical and positive, can those words be correctly used in the same sentence? Every time I think about my future, I try to be "practical", but if you're shooting for the moon, don't you need something bigger than practicality. There I go, discussing vague terms. I guess it's time to rocket out some essays.

Hours Left

As I lay in bed last night, I thought how instead of counting down days until my application is complete, I should count hours as there are not many left. Today, I am exhausted because I spent many of those hours fixing my Georgetown essay drafts and eventually, I hit the pillow a few minutes sub three in the morning. Any 'normal' person would probably drown themselves in coffee as it is 7 am and three hours of sleep doesn't remotely crest the sleep needed to function. However, even over three years in investment management hasn't made me a coffee junkie, so why start now.

By now, I'm sure you're thinking, enough of your rambling, yeah - I know, I apologize for being overly tired. You want the meat? Here it goes. On Monday, I was fortunate enough to find three victims to review my Georgetown essays. The most in-depth analysis came from a faithful friend in Colorado, who always seems to have an eloquent way to divulge all information. Let's just say, he "destroyed" what I wrote, but isn't that the point of a good review? Granted, a solidly demonstrated story or position does not need to be saturated in red ink, which leads me to assume, my paper was not such.

In the first of the three essays, I liked many of his suggestions, but I enforced what had already been written by adding numerical results to demonstrate my accomplishments. Next, I tackled essay three, which did not stray from the base story, but is now substantially cleaner than before. Finally, I resumed work on essay two, the outlier. After reading his comments, I felt even less confident about my choice of topic for Leadership because I feel I chose a topic that had the title, but did not necessarily display the leadership characteristics I wish to exhibit. Naturally, I did what any other applicant would do two days away from the due date, I scraped the entire essay but a paragraph and picked a new topic where I embodied the characteristics of a leader. I fear that this new essay will not be met with positive feedback, but here is hoping.

On a work note, I received a powerful email yesterday, which discussed "leaving your job". Most employees provide their employer the standard two weeks notice but as employees, we often forget that we may need our employer for a future reference or better yet, a general connection at some point in the future. Subsequently, as the days of your notice wind down, always remember to put your best foot forward and go out with a bang. You want to be remembered as a fantastic employee, who put in the effort until the end, instead of that employee that slacked off their last week.

Review Me

It is Wednesday and I'm 3 days away from my due date. I received the first of my reviews today and I'm feeling uneasy. Not because my reviewer pointed out anything that was untrue, but more because almost everything he wrote is true. I'm not exactly sure where I am going in my Georgetown essays and perhaps that has simply my pitfall. This is why I procrastinated so long on completing the first draft. I realize as this is the first draft, that the essays will drastically change over the next few days, but do I have time to change them?

Leadership. What a word that encompasses so much, yet nothing at all. I think of myself as being proactive and truly a leader at heart, but do I have the experience of a leader. Titles are easy to throw around, except I don't have many. My experience with coordination seems almost second rate right now. Honestly, I'm not good at negotiation and I lack delegation experience, so what is it that makes me such a good candidate...today, I'm not sure.

More Drafts...

You would think this would all be completed by now, but with a long "break", I am back to scrambling to complete my Georgetown essays. Had I not taken that weekend off... I may have had this completed weeks ago, but... I guess it isn't worth going into. Fact is, I procrastinated for 2 weeks and I have found that I focus better when I'm at home. I attempted to write my drafts in West VA, but between family, the wedding, eating gorges of food, football, and resting, I just couldn't fully wrap my head around the questions. I'll get off my soapbox now.

"Live life by design not by default"

Comment - B School Essays

I left the below comment about essays here today. It made me think that perhaps I can use some of my own advice, seeing I'm in the final stretch, working on my last set of essays.

Few things - first, I'm by no means an expert. I have been fortunate enough to get past the "mess" stage and submit a few applications. That being said, here are a couple of suggestions based on your post.

First, if you need to rewrite - go for it. The hardest part of the essays, imo, is the content. Once you get the content, you can fix the transitions. So figure out what you want to write, what makes you special.

Second, get a first draft complete. Yes, it won't be perfect, but when it's YOUR writing, sometimes it's hard to see the big or outside picture. Find a close friend that is good at editing and let them review it. (Two ways to review, just give it to them and let them tell you what they think or specifically ask them if you have answered the question and mark up syntax errors/grammar/spelling, etc.) In addition, another way to personally review your essay, esp. essays with word limits, read each sentence, make sure it relates to the question, then if it does, see if it's necessary and important. You'll be more concise.

Finally - remember, this is a process. And sometimes it's easier to leave an essay and come back to it later.


One last minute addition - from a very wise admissions guy named Jett. First draft - drink a beer, glass of wine, or even tea and just write. You can fix it later, but put words on the paper. Second, make sure you are writing about YOU, not what you THINK the adcom wants to hear. If a question asks about YOUR definition - don't google everyone else's because that is what the rest of the prospective students will do. Literally, define it in YOUR words.

Progression...or Not

It has been at least four days since I have bothered to look at my Georgetown essays. I'm feeling more lethargic by the day. Additionally, I am not sure if I will apply to London Business School. The program is vitally international, which is what I desire, but the cost due to the decreasing value of the dollar is not something that I care to pay. I realize that the cost will be paid back with interest due to the education and experience, however, I can get a similar education for 50% of what LBS will cost. That's significant. I will just have to work hard to study abroad and perhaps work abroad. With this in mind, I'm 2 weeks away from my final D-day. I'm attending a Georgetown information session tomorrow and hoping that it will revitalize my lazy attitude.

On a positive note, I practiced last night and felt "on", although my knee is bothering me a bit today. I haven't had knee problems, which are common injuries in the soccer world, but after tripping over the ball twice yesterday, I felt out of sorts. I'm hoping it's temporary because our game this week is make or break for our season. There's a possibility that three teams will relegate this season, and I don't want to be one of them.

Also, I'm getting back into the gym, TODAY! After my ankle tweak over 4 weeks ago, I have skipped the gym more than I have attended. I particularly notice it in my playing and my endurance. Even though I don't have a problem playing the entire game, when I am working out, I feel better when I play. I realize this is the last game of the season, but I'm looking to make an impression.

On another note (this is the post of random thoughts), I can't believe that Thanksgiving is NEXT week. Once upon a time, I had to go searching for appropriate clothes for the Greenbrier. Luckily, I am now completely on the side of appropriate. I guess it is a sign that I am growing up.

And finally, another Vegas adventure is in the works. It's been about 7 months since I have been (which is about as long as I have... we won't go there), so I'm quite stoked to dance the night away and catch the 6 am flight home. Hopefully we won't miss it. Unfortunately, the price went up from yesterday. I'm hoping it regulates because I'm not in the mood to pay an additional $40.

Kellogg Interview

So it seems my Kellogg application is officially complete. I finished the last of my requirements and interviewed with a 2000 Kellogg alum yesterday morning. Saturday night was not super late, but I didn't sleep well for various reasons. Although, even with the lack of sleep, I still managed to get out of bed and be presentable.

Jason, my interviewer, and I had set a 10:30 am appointment on Sunday morning, which I assumed was for brunch. (I don't recall if we mentioned brunch or not.) Needless to say, I was thrown off when I found that we were not eating.

The conversation started as any conversation would - talking about where we live, how our weekend had been etc... Then he said that he was going to ask me some questions. The first question was standard - walk me through your resume. So I started at the beginning.

Other questions asked:

Why Kellogg?

Why MBA? Why now?

Describe a time when you led a team?

Describe a difficult situation with a co-worker and how you resolved it?

How would your people describe you professionally or personally?

What is your preferred leadership style?

What is your greatest professional accomplishment?

Anything you want to ask me?

I wish I could say that I felt good or bad about the interview. I felt hungry more than anything though. I had expected to eat and we didn't. I guess it's simply hurry up and wait now. Here's hoping.

On another note, my Georgetown essays are in a standstill. I have no desire and no drive to write them. Instead, I slept all afternoon and night on Sunday, and Saturday I took a 3 hour nap. Of course, I'm not quite sure it was simply tiredness or perhaps, it was avoidance that kept my in bed. Either way, Georgetown is do on Nov 30th and I need to get on top of them. I also have one more application for London Business School, I plan on completing, but at the rate I'm going with my Georgetown essays, I may pass. I guess I should work on one thing at a time. I also need to get into the gym. Perhaps that is why I'm so tired and nostalgic.

Procrastination

I never thought that my Georgetown essays would be the most difficult and perhaps, they won't be, but to find out, I need to start them. I've been fussing on the computer and researching for the past few hours. I'm behind on sleep, as always, and I have my Kellogg interview set for brunch on Sunday morning. I'm a bit nervous. Need to relearn why I loved Kellogg so much. It seems that the differences in the schools blur as I write essays and complete applications. I definitely know the reason for applying best when I'm working on my applications.

Georgetown: The reason I am applying is their INTERNATIONAL emphasis. They may not be in Europe or Australia, but Georgetown is in the heart of a stateside international experience.

With revived determination, I'm ready to start writing.