It's amazing to me what reach this blogging community has. Just by being a part of Hella's list, a slew of "strangers" have read my blog. A handful of the active bloggers in the community will comment on my posts and give me their own thoughts and inspirations. Then there are the undercover readers. Those people who browse the articles, if you could call them that, leave anonymous comments or don't say anything at all. In this small world, I met one of those people yesterday.
As you know, I don't just write about my journey to an MBA because this blog was never started for that purpose. I often discuss random thoughts, fun activities, soccer, Spinsters and anything else under the sun that I feel the need express. Last night at a potential new member happy hour, I was introduced to a girl who was talking to one of our membership chairs. The membership chair said she's always curious how people find out about Spinsters and this girl noted an MBA blog, though she couldn't remember whose. From there we discussed Hella's list, which is where she found that blog and as I read every post on the list as well, I know I'm the only person who has mentioned and is a part of Spinsters. We concluded it was my blog! WOW! I always say that you never know who you are going to impact one way or another by your decisions and here I am just babbling random thoughts of my life and thus, someone found themselves amongst a group of fantastic women. Even with our words - we make an impact. Feels good.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Wavering Plans
And the details start to get in my way...
Original quit date: April 30th, which is an entire 27 days away. It seems that is now pushed to May 9th, with a possibility of May 16th. Though I'm told I'll get paid through the latter week either way, so I suppose it's another paycheck.
Original Europe vacation trip length: 6 weeks. As the dollar fluctuates and people return from Europe, the only thing I hear is, WOW, it's expensive! Granted I know THIS time will never come again, but due to various factors, I'm debating cutting my trip short - maybe 3 weeks of which 2 weeks will be a cruise to Italy, Turkey and Greece. Now do I travel before the cruise or stay the week after and more importantly, WHERE do I want to go. I was set on Croatia, but getting there isn't simple, so I've thought about London/Dublin or Paris or Amsterdam (all places where I know people). Decisions.
Original move-in date: July 27th, but my roomie wants to move to C'ville in July, so our new move-in date is June 21st. I planned on moving after my bachlorette party in Vegas at the end of July, but now I'm contemplating driving across the country at the beginning on July, making a trip out of it and then flying back home to "visit" for a few weeks. I have access to an extra car, which is nice, so the logistics are simply, when do I want to move??
Indeed, many of these decisions don't need to be made today, but plane tickets need to be purchased and trips need to be planned. The longer I wait, the more expensive it becomes.
Original quit date: April 30th, which is an entire 27 days away. It seems that is now pushed to May 9th, with a possibility of May 16th. Though I'm told I'll get paid through the latter week either way, so I suppose it's another paycheck.
Original Europe vacation trip length: 6 weeks. As the dollar fluctuates and people return from Europe, the only thing I hear is, WOW, it's expensive! Granted I know THIS time will never come again, but due to various factors, I'm debating cutting my trip short - maybe 3 weeks of which 2 weeks will be a cruise to Italy, Turkey and Greece. Now do I travel before the cruise or stay the week after and more importantly, WHERE do I want to go. I was set on Croatia, but getting there isn't simple, so I've thought about London/Dublin or Paris or Amsterdam (all places where I know people). Decisions.
Original move-in date: July 27th, but my roomie wants to move to C'ville in July, so our new move-in date is June 21st. I planned on moving after my bachlorette party in Vegas at the end of July, but now I'm contemplating driving across the country at the beginning on July, making a trip out of it and then flying back home to "visit" for a few weeks. I have access to an extra car, which is nice, so the logistics are simply, when do I want to move??
Indeed, many of these decisions don't need to be made today, but plane tickets need to be purchased and trips need to be planned. The longer I wait, the more expensive it becomes.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Darden Days
In February, I attended Day@Darden, which was an admit weekend for first round applicants. The short notice was difficult to plan, but the trip was quite beneficial. I always said I'd also attend Darden Days as you never know who you will meet or influence by being there. As my schedule gets more packed by the day, I'm starting to retract the thought of attending Darden Days at all. It doesn't make sense for me to go for one day of the planned 2 days if I'm flying to the East. That Saturday is my last women's game of the season and since my team is injury prone especially in the defense, I'll need to be there. Also, Spinsters has their biggest event of the year, Patron's Reception on May 2nd, I know I can designate tasks to my committee, but it would be a good idea for me to be there as well. It's not that I think Darden Days wouldn't be beneficial, but my deposit is in and I'm not sure one day justifies the cost to fly there.
Friday, March 28, 2008
We Received Our Apartment Assignment!!
HAPPY FRIDAY! It's been a whirlwind week and I've probably averaged 5 hours of sleep over the last 8 nights. I suppose you could distinguish it as practicing, however, I think it's crazy. I've been SLAMMED, but in the midst of soccer practice, soccer games and catching up with friends, I heard some great news today, my roomie and I have an apartment!!! WOO HOO! I'm still trying to figure out housing at Darden. Most people live in Ivy Gardens or Huntington Village, both are within walking distance of grounds. It seems these are basically dorms for grad students in the form of apartments, sounds good to me. :) We plan on having lots of visitors. We received our first choice - 2 bedroom + den. Apparently the den is on a SECOND floor, which makes me wonder if this place is bigger than the model. Suppose we'll see.
The roomie wants to move in during July, which is fine as we have to pay 12 mos rent anyhow, but I wasn't planning to drive out until end of July. I've thought that it may be better driving out early and then flying home for a few weeks and essentially "visit" home, but I'm not sure how feasible that idea is. I still haven't booked my trip to Europe. My dad just returned yelping about how expensive it is. I know that shouldn't deter me, but perhaps I'd be better off bumming around the US or the islands. I'll worry about this some other time.
Have a good weekend! :D
The roomie wants to move in during July, which is fine as we have to pay 12 mos rent anyhow, but I wasn't planning to drive out until end of July. I've thought that it may be better driving out early and then flying home for a few weeks and essentially "visit" home, but I'm not sure how feasible that idea is. I still haven't booked my trip to Europe. My dad just returned yelping about how expensive it is. I know that shouldn't deter me, but perhaps I'd be better off bumming around the US or the islands. I'll worry about this some other time.
Have a good weekend! :D
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Rankings
Is it just me or do you ever get sick of the rankings? The schools to which I applied were chosen based on more than what some magazine, website or book said. I did attend an HBS information session and I wasn't impressed. At an MBA tour, I walked into a UCLA and USC chat, I left the UCLA chat halfway through. It wasn't for me. Duke was also on my radar, but in the end, didn't give me butterflies. There are a handful of programs I didn't even bother in investigate - Stern, Tepper, Notre Dame, Yale, Chicago etc... It doesn't make them bad programs, I just made a choice early on and decided they weren't for me. I don't believe that is good or bad, it just is.
What is the "best" school for one person may not be for the next. Yes, they talk about fit and as we write our thoughts into 500 word essays we chuckle to ourselves, what the heck is fit? But in the end, I believe there's more merit to the concept than many of us give credit. It's important to feel comfortable in all aspects of the school, so that you never look back with, I should have.
Because of the rankings, I do believe schools build reputations and I do believe doors are opened, however, I want to be able to open some of my own doors. Yes, an MBA from the top 5 will lift eyebrows from anyone in or out of the MBA business. That's nice, but I would hope that I'm also chosen for a position based on my own aptitude. It sounds a bit silly huh? It's like those girls obsessed with Gucci, Prada, Dolce and Gabbana etc... at the end of the day, it's just a brand. None of schools that sit in ranks 10-20 or even 20-30 think themselves as a second tier school and I'm sure none of the attendees think that way either.
I guess what I'm saying is sometimes I think we're too focused on the numbers - rankings, GMAT score, age, years of work experience etc. There are a handful of candidates that attend business school immediately after college and another handful that wait until they are 50. There are so many other factors that make more sense than who someone else thinks is the best.
What is the "best" school for one person may not be for the next. Yes, they talk about fit and as we write our thoughts into 500 word essays we chuckle to ourselves, what the heck is fit? But in the end, I believe there's more merit to the concept than many of us give credit. It's important to feel comfortable in all aspects of the school, so that you never look back with, I should have.
Because of the rankings, I do believe schools build reputations and I do believe doors are opened, however, I want to be able to open some of my own doors. Yes, an MBA from the top 5 will lift eyebrows from anyone in or out of the MBA business. That's nice, but I would hope that I'm also chosen for a position based on my own aptitude. It sounds a bit silly huh? It's like those girls obsessed with Gucci, Prada, Dolce and Gabbana etc... at the end of the day, it's just a brand. None of schools that sit in ranks 10-20 or even 20-30 think themselves as a second tier school and I'm sure none of the attendees think that way either.
I guess what I'm saying is sometimes I think we're too focused on the numbers - rankings, GMAT score, age, years of work experience etc. There are a handful of candidates that attend business school immediately after college and another handful that wait until they are 50. There are so many other factors that make more sense than who someone else thinks is the best.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Evolution TSE
As half of us will embark on pre-MBA travels, some of us on MBA research tours and the rest on current MBA ventures - CHECK THIS OUT!
Travel search engines(TSE) have become very popular over the years. We all have our individual preferences - Orbitz, Cheaptickets, Expedia, Travelzoo and many others. The benefits are great as it is a pain to individually input the same information into even a handful of different sites. I used to love Travelzoo's Super Search functionality because you could still search individual sites (which tend to be a few dollars cheaper than TSEs) by clicking on the website name. Though the functionality is still there for some destinations, most of the displayed portals are now other TSEs instead of individual airlines.
Today, I found a new TSE, Momondo, though it is European based, you can still use it for cities around the world because you don't actually purchase the tickets through the site. They simply list the websites, prices and alternate flights that may be purchased at the designated price. However, they do not guarantee the price due to the fact that they are simply searching other sites. Momondo was among a handful of new sites to be recognized by CNN. Check that article here.
I'm also testing Yapta to track price changes as I haven't booked my tickets to Europe, Charlottesville or Vegas yet. I'll keep you posted as to what I think!
Travel search engines(TSE) have become very popular over the years. We all have our individual preferences - Orbitz, Cheaptickets, Expedia, Travelzoo and many others. The benefits are great as it is a pain to individually input the same information into even a handful of different sites. I used to love Travelzoo's Super Search functionality because you could still search individual sites (which tend to be a few dollars cheaper than TSEs) by clicking on the website name. Though the functionality is still there for some destinations, most of the displayed portals are now other TSEs instead of individual airlines.
Today, I found a new TSE, Momondo, though it is European based, you can still use it for cities around the world because you don't actually purchase the tickets through the site. They simply list the websites, prices and alternate flights that may be purchased at the designated price. However, they do not guarantee the price due to the fact that they are simply searching other sites. Momondo was among a handful of new sites to be recognized by CNN. Check that article here.
I'm also testing Yapta to track price changes as I haven't booked my tickets to Europe, Charlottesville or Vegas yet. I'll keep you posted as to what I think!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Stop Looking
I promise, I'm going to stop looking, but it's so hard! The market is crazed with sellers as JP Morgan announced yesterday that they will purchase Bear Stearns for $2 dollars a share. TWO DOLLARS?!? Are you kidding me? Bear is one of the largest securities firms in the world and it's being sold as a micro cap stock. On its plunge from $26 a share, it's taken the market with it, hence, I NEED to stop looking at my portfolio. I feel like a pin cushion and the needles are coming from all directions. Perhaps, it's hard to avoid the market as I do work in the industry. My dad and I spoke at dinner last night about our thoughts on the economy and what it means for the world. It's difficult because we guess about 10% of the population truly understands what's happening and it seems those 10% still don't know what to do about it. On some level, I'm extremely happy that I applied to business school this year because next year, there will likely be more applicants and another very strong pool.
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