Calling All Fall 2011 Yale SOM Applicants

For the Roll Call / record keeping...and future applicants reading old forums like I did:

Ding - 03/25/11

Me: 680 GMAT/ Domestic / 3.4 GPA Supply Chain / 10Yrs WE in Semiconductors / Entrepreneurship and lots of Urban Planning related non-profit experience on the side.

I sat on the fence for a long time reviewing options for schools and even degrees. What convinced me to go for an MBA as opposed to other degrees was the Yale SOM program. I'm seeking to career transition into the space of public enterprise management and public-private-partnerships and SOM seemed like an ideal fit. I'm a skeptical kind of guy and not really one to drink-the-kool-aid, but I found myself mixing it for others, singing this school's praises for understanding the intersection of private enterprise and public sector operations and policy. Even the structure of the curriculum spoke to more of the things that I have come to value in my work experience: skills that make you successful involve problem framing, pattern recognition, context awareness and emotional intelligence in relationship building. More than other programs I visited, these seemed to be recognized and touched upon by the school.

While I've been expecting the ding for about a month now, the lead up hasn't dulled the impact at all. It's humbling to have not received even an interview request. I put my heart and soul into the application and re-edited it down so many times for concision that it amazes me still how much time I spent on this one application. I had the choice (as we all did I suppose) of whether I wanted to go with a consultant and I chose not to, preferring to be judged on my own voice. I wrote about some un-business things in my essays that are true to who I am and the career I want to transition into and maybe a consultant would have steered me clear of that because I have some pretty strong work experience, too.

Perhaps retaking the GMAT would have been wise, too. I actually enjoyed studying for the GMAT (truthfully!)...but struggled with the time restriction on the test itself and ended up putting down random answers for the last three questions in the quant section because of time. I didn't do bad and was within the 80% range (or at least I was last year) and decided my time would be better spent tackling other tasks that would look good on the application than by retaking it. If I were to do it all over again...I'd probably reconsider that decision. The GMAT matters probably more than I would like it to. In contrast, there is precious little space on the application to enter in details on the umpteen projects or committees or boards that I work on outside of work, but the GMAT score is very visible and the difference between one or two questions is amplified in importance. The little space there is to write about extracurriculars doesn't fully capture what all went into those efforts, sadly.

Anyway...while humbled...I'm in no way bitter. I'm looking forward to an MBA and a future career, just at a different institution, in large part because of Yale. I have SOM to thank for that inspiration.

I really feel for the people who have 7 or 8 dings...I can't imagine what that is like. I'm having a hard time going back to my recommenders today and telling them I didn't make it into Yale after building it up so much and preparing them that I would be leaving town.

For those that did make it in...my sincere congratulations. Make the most of it!

Cheers!