This waiting is killing me.

I was talking with my former co-worker about my applications to B school.

I told him I was applying to UCLA, UC Berkeley, U of Chicago, and Stanford. Not exactly really easy schools to get into. I was telling him that if I don't get in this year, I'll just try next year and think about what to do next.

He says, "Wow, when I was applying to college, I got accepted to several colleges. You're saying you might not get in anywhere?"

He went to a local state college. I thought about explaining, but just said forget it. This guy's clueless.

Yea, thats a good way of summing it up. A lot of the people I work with went to local state colleges, borderline vocational stuff and I get the same reaction.

My boss went to a reputed university. When I told her about my admits, she was thrilled and understood the signifance.

It's amazing how many people have no idea that "college" doesn't necessarily equal "college".

I have a couple of cousins in college right now. They are twins, one at UCLA the other at Berkeley. I don't speak with the often, but I talked to the one at UCLA a few weeks ago. She was in pre-med (which is notoriously difficult) and getting her butt kicked. She said she regretted attending UCLA and wished she was at Pepperdine or Northridge where they have programs in accounting and nursing. Her sister had the came apprehensions about the lack of "professional preparation" of the Berkeley curriculum. I talked to her for a while and explained that she would realize the advantage when she went out and competed for jobs, but she seemed unconvinced. I wonder what she'd think about a degree from Princeton? I guess some people are just better cut out for vocational school.

Funie, my boss was like - "why do you need an MBA. I do not have an MBA! Even our CEO - Mard Hurd, doesnt have MBA! Why dont you get a PHD instead and HP will pay for it!"

After the string of post-its that kept getting stuck on my desk last summer, the present attitude in the office has shifted to more of a self-enhancement-reaction-syndrome-enviornment. Obviously, I don't broadcast that I am applying to XYZ, but the gossip manages to circulate fast and for some mysterious reason everybody has begun to talk (suddenly volunteer out of nowhere) about all their great accomplishments or what big plans they have set for the future. It's like a strange self-defense mechanism triggered reaction, when in fact I speak very little about the status of my application and consistently play down my chances of being admitted. Should have taken a few more behavioral psychology courses in college.

When I proudly told people in my country that I got a scholarship to Emory and Notre Dame, they just kept asking: where is that? that name is so unfamiliar. People in my country only know about Havard, Stanford, and Yale. That's it. The rest schools are treated equally, no matter what it is UPenn or Uni of Phoenix.
Some even told me: Beware. Maybe that University is cheating you. They give you a small scholarship, and charge you double. MY GOD.
Even in the U.S, Emory is not a popular name. They know more about Notre Dame than Emory. I really don't know why, since Emory outranks Notre Dame almost in each ranking.

I have a Japanese colleague studying as a B1 at Emory right now and she loves it. Arguably the second best b-school in the south, and most people working in the region can attest to the caliber of its graduates.

hahah...my boss has an mba from columbia..and he goes..son you can run but you cant hide..u will be here where I am

Football

i work for a smaller startup, so no one knows im trying to go back to school

Nice thread - wonder how I missed it.

First things first - Pelihu - drama queen? **must..grab...pencil and draw something..offsensive....*** ;) yeah Pelihu - we've been there, but hang on, you'll be fine once the results are out. When are they out anyway? What school do you *really* want to be in?

Regarding telling others - I told no one that I was applying to school. A total of 4 people knew, my 2 recommenders, my wife and a colleague whose help I took for reviewing my essays. That's it. Just did not want to debate "ROI" "but isn't it expensive?!" "what's INSEAD?" ;) etc. A lot of people tend to focus on the immediate returns "but won't you be making that much even if you did not do MBA?" -- duh, yes, but I'm not dying 2 years from now. It's an investment, just like property. You expect it to pay over the course of your career. When I'm 45 and trying to do something new or am building a business, I'd rather have a network with classmates in top positions in corporations around the world than not.

esp. now that Dalai Lama is paying a visit there..

https://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/02/05 ... index.html

I work for a start up and kind of wish my bosses weren't familiar with the bschool process. They both went to Wharton...talk about intense examples to follow!

bringing this thread to life so you guys can relate.

FYI, The wait once in an MBA program is just as awful, its just now you end up waiting for interview invitations, second round invites, and the almighty offer.

Good thread, the wait is quite dreadful for these apps. There's been tons of top 5 school MBA students trooping through my company's offices this week for various internship visits/interviews and they do look just as stressed by the wait, so I guess it never stops. At least they're in though!

I'm starting to go a little batty now that I really have no control over what's going on right now. I only applied to two schools and I'm freaking out that neither will accept me and that I need to cast a wider net. At least I got an interview at my top choice (really early) so that relieves a tiny bit of stress I suppose.

I think that my wife is going to end up divorcing me by December while I wait for decisions. She smacked me over the head with a pillow last night since I alternate between really optimistic and really pessimistic about the whole process and it's starting to drive her crazy.

It's not the end of the world if I don't get in and I need to remind myself of that constantly.

Now, to figure out a way to stop checking Cornell's app status 20 times a day.