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KingKREEP
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Three Regrets 08 Apr 2008, 19:42
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nick_sun

The mountain so high that no bird can fly over it.... This passion lives in people ranging from teenagers to really old ones who choose the climb and who can sacrifice a lot to get there.
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True...I'm sure you've read "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer - member of the ill fated Everest Expedition in May, 1996. If not, please do read it. A fantastic first hand account of high altitude mountaineering.
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Three Regrets 09 Apr 2008, 02:58
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nick_sun

The mountain so high that no bird can fly over it.... This passion lives in people ranging from teenagers to really old ones who choose the climb and who can sacrifice a lot to get there.

True...I'm sure you've read "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer - member of the ill fated Everest Expedition in May, 1996. If not, please do read it. A fantastic first hand account of high altitude mountaineering.
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I did, man. It was, indeed, a great reading.
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Morepower4me
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Three Regrets 16 Apr 2008, 10:59
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nick_sun
KingKREEP
nick_sun

The mountain so high that no bird can fly over it.... This passion lives in people ranging from teenagers to really old ones who choose the climb and who can sacrifice a lot to get there.

True...I'm sure you've read "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer - member of the ill fated Everest Expedition in May, 1996. If not, please do read it. A fantastic first hand account of high altitude mountaineering.


I did, man. It was, indeed, a great reading.
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And if you're lazy... you can watch the movie!
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Three Regrets 16 Apr 2008, 12:06
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1. attending Binghamton University rather than Cornell/NYU Stern
2. cramming 5 years of coursework into 4 years with no time for internship (switched from accounting to finance)
3. not finding a career mentor
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Three Regrets 22 Apr 2008, 05:06
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Great thread...

1. I am amazed by how common the "screwed up in college" regret is..I think we are all being way too hard on ourselves.. I want to hear from the GMATclubbers who actually did well in College ! What is the secret ? Did you guys grow up faster than us ? I know its easy to caption it as the "maturing" process..For me, it was the first time I was on my own..the first time I had to do my own laundry..first time i had to work...and I mean..honestly..Who thinks of GPA and MBA school when you are vomitting onto the grass after drinking way too many tequilla shots for the first time ? I try to look at it as : It took me a while to learn to manage doing everything on my own. I got so excited by the opportunities before me, that I jumped up at all of them..Screwed up a lot of things..including my grades.. ..but I did end up doing a few things well..and I genuienely believe I bring more to the table in an mba app because of the lessons from my failures..

2. Sold my soul to the corporate devil for the first couple of years of working life. Worked like a dog..Should have taken more time off to be with friends and family. Was hanging out socially way too much with my colleagues too..,I have enjoyed great career progression, but all my learning was only in the professional sphere..

3. Met my wife in in college. No regrets there...(not yet at least!)
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Three Regrets 29 Apr 2008, 18:08
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Yes, I'm new to this board. :/ Couldn't help it. I am currently a freshman. Thanks for posting the regrets so I know not to make! :] Here are my three regrets.

1. I wish I stayed my first high school instead of transferring twice. I have a very good reason.

2. Prepare for SAT and College search earlier. :/ Being the first child and grandchild going to college is tough.

3. Not finding better ways to prepare for studying these difficult courses. =.=;

=/ So much more to learn from my regrets. I'm definitely going to need to improve my GPA.
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Three Regrets 29 Apr 2008, 20:31
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TheRiskTaker
Yes, I'm new to this board. :/ Couldn't help it. I am currently a freshman. Thanks for posting the regrets so I know not to make! :] Here are my three regrets.

1. I wish I stayed my first high school instead of transferring twice. I have a very good reason.

2. Prepare for SAT and College search earlier. :/ Being the first child and grandchild going to college is tough.

3. Not finding better ways to prepare for studying these difficult courses. =.=;

=/ So much more to learn from my regrets. I'm definitely going to need to improve my GPA.
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You are doing what I wish I had the brains to do 10 years ago - start planning your career early. Stick on this forum, get advice, and in ten years, you'll be my boss.
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Three Regrets 30 Apr 2008, 13:21
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ashaker
Great thread...

1. I am amazed by how common the "screwed up in college" regret is..I think we are all being way too hard on ourselves.. I want to hear from the GMATclubbers who actually did well in College ! What is the secret ? Did you guys grow up faster than us ? I know its easy to caption it as the "maturing" process..For me, it was the first time I was on my own..the first time I had to do my own laundry..first time i had to work...and I mean..honestly..Who thinks of GPA and MBA school when you are vomitting onto the grass after drinking way too many tequilla shots for the first time ? I try to look at it as : It took me a while to learn to manage doing everything on my own. I got so excited by the opportunities before me, that I jumped up at all of them..Screwed up a lot of things..including my grades.. ..but I did end up doing a few things well..and I genuienely believe I bring more to the table in an mba app because of the lessons from my failures..

2. Sold my soul to the corporate devil for the first couple of years of working life. Worked like a dog..Should have taken more time off to be with friends and family. Was hanging out socially way too much with my colleagues too..,I have enjoyed great career progression, but all my learning was only in the professional sphere..

3. Met my wife in in college. No regrets there...(not yet at least!)
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i did well in college, because it fit my personality. unlike high school, i could plan my schedule and decide what teachers, classes that interested me. i skipped classes that i had to take but didnt find useful, and became pretty adept at figuring out the minimum level of effort i needed to put into school to get an A :). i had plenty of free time while doing my degrees in comp sci and business to do student government activities, some part-time work, fun electives, and drinking.
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Three Regrets 30 Apr 2008, 15:38
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To your question on pt 1 - I think it just depends on what expectations you had coming into college, I did reasonably well in college 3.8 CGPA while getting two fairly disparate degrees (Economics and Information Systems) while holding down multiple jobs and doing all kinds of EC's. But a lot of the drive for this was because I felt I went to a University far below my caliber, so that served as fuel to be very driven during my collegiate years.

Now before someone jumps on me lambasting me for being a martyr .. let me make it clear. I did the above because I am built that way ... I grew up very early in my teens and consequently was very mature if you will earlier than most college students.

Having said that, the cost of spending most of my time in structured activities is there to be seen in plain view. I didnt make too many friend, and I dont have that many moments I care to reminisce about.

So it is a trade-off for sure.

ashaker
Great thread...

1. I am amazed by how common the "screwed up in college" regret is..I think we are all being way too hard on ourselves.. I want to hear from the GMATclubbers who actually did well in College ! What is the secret ? Did you guys grow up faster than us ? I know its easy to caption it as the "maturing" process..For me, it was the first time I was on my own..the first time I had to do my own laundry..first time i had to work...and I mean..honestly..Who thinks of GPA and MBA school when you are vomitting onto the grass after drinking way too many tequilla shots for the first time ? I try to look at it as : It took me a while to learn to manage doing everything on my own. I got so excited by the opportunities before me, that I jumped up at all of them..Screwed up a lot of things..including my grades.. ..but I did end up doing a few things well..and I genuienely believe I bring more to the table in an mba app because of the lessons from my failures..

2. Sold my soul to the corporate devil for the first couple of years of working life. Worked like a dog..Should have taken more time off to be with friends and family. Was hanging out socially way too much with my colleagues too..,I have enjoyed great career progression, but all my learning was only in the professional sphere..

3. Met my wife in in college. No regrets there...(not yet at least!)
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Three Regrets 30 Apr 2008, 16:31
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this is tough, but here goes:

1. not taking more economics/finance classes in undergrad.
2. overextending myself junior year.
3. staying with my ex a year too long :)
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Three Regrets 30 Apr 2008, 16:47
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ashaker
Great thread...

1. I am amazed by how common the "screwed up in college" regret is..I think we are all being way too hard on ourselves.. I want to hear from the GMATclubbers who actually did well in College ! What is the secret ? Did you guys grow up faster than us ? I know its easy to caption it as the "maturing" process..For me, it was the first time I was on my own..the first time I had to do my own laundry..first time i had to work...and I mean..honestly..Who thinks of GPA and MBA school when you are vomitting onto the grass after drinking way too many tequilla shots for the first time ? I try to look at it as : It took me a while to learn to manage doing everything on my own. I got so excited by the opportunities before me, that I jumped up at all of them..Screwed up a lot of things..including my grades.. ..but I did end up doing a few things well..and I genuienely believe I bring more to the table in an mba app because of the lessons from my failures..
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Don't know that I grew up faster than most... I think most of the people I know would still consider me kinda childish :-D

In my case, I was premed, and an Indian-American with demanding (but wonderful) parents to boot. So I had to study my butt off. I don't think I missed out on much socially though, I had an amazing college experience (just ask kryzak how excited I got whenever my undergrad was mentioned by anyone at DAK). I just didn't sleep much during college.

I think the med school application process looming over me throughout undergrad kept me motivated to study. I know that my friends who went straight to law or other grad schools felt much the same way. If I had initially planned to work (consulting, IB, whatever) for a few years before applying to B-school, I might not have been as motivated. I dunno.
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Three Regrets 30 Apr 2008, 18:45
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terry12
Don't know that I grew up faster than most... I think most of the people I know would still consider me kinda childish :-D
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Hahaha, especially when he's had a few too many, lacking sleep, and playing flip-cup. :wink:

I think part of the reason I did well in college was because of my personality to "overachieve" too much. I'm probably not as obsessed as many other overachievers out there, and I don't consider myself an overachiever, but when all my friends always call me that, I guess there must be some truth in it! :P Basically, I'm very competitive, though not cut-throat, and that has kept me motivated all throughout school. Being an engineer definitely didn't distract me from my studies, even though I feel like I had a great time in college, just not the same kind of "fun" as many other non-engineers. :lol:

One thing I wished I had done was to study abroad during college. I was in such a rush to finish in 4 years like everyone else that I never considered that route. Now that I am going to B-school at Cal again, the semester system is pretty prohibitive with the study abroad process (losing 1/4 of your MBA experience is just too much for me to stomach). So I will definitely be on as many international study trips as possible, to make up for my one regret in college.

Oh yeah, and I probably should have dated more (i.e. at all) too. :lol:
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Three Regrets 30 Apr 2008, 22:42
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Oh boy! Even on the three regrets discussion my profile looks the worst.

I got an undergraduate gpa of 2.0 :( . I founded a business while at school and screwed up my courses. And now 2 years later I want to go to a good b-school.
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Three Regrets 01 May 2008, 07:54
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LOL 10 years I'll be your boss? :[ I feel so old!!! Ha ha! Yea I definitely will stick to this forum. :] I'm planning to become a Financial Analyst. Now, that I know how to prepare and study for college tests and exams, I just need to find ways to do better on GMAT, working to pay for my books, look for internships while in school,my future husband jk jk jk about the future husband part. Uuhh...I don't know what else yet. I should set up my profile which I will do after I'm done with finals. :[ Question, how important is computer skills? I feel like I didn't too well for Microsoft Excel Final exam today! :[ I just hope I get a B- in the course. Ugh computers and I don't get along, let's put it that way.
rhyme
TheRiskTaker
Yes, I'm new to this board. :/ Couldn't help it. I am currently a freshman. Thanks for posting the regrets so I know not to make! :] Here are my three regrets.

1. I wish I stayed my first high school instead of transferring twice. I have a very good reason.

2. Prepare for SAT and College search earlier. :/ Being the first child and grandchild going to college is tough.

3. Not finding better ways to prepare for studying these difficult courses. =.=;

=/ So much more to learn from my regrets. I'm definitely going to need to improve my GPA.

You are doing what I wish I had the brains to do 10 years ago - start planning your career early. Stick on this forum, get advice, and in ten years, you'll be my boss.
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Three Regrets 01 May 2008, 21:11
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3 regrets

1) Spending most of my college years in the library
2) Internalizing the norms of success set by capitalistic society
3) Caring more about myself than about others
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Three Regrets 02 May 2008, 15:15
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elhajoui
3 regrets

1) Spending most of my college years in the library
2) Internalizing the norms of success set by capitalistic society
3) Caring more about myself than about others
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Not bad for your 100th post! Good luck at W :-D
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Three Regrets 03 Oct 2008, 11:40
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1. Don't treat professors like adversaries. It's not high school anymore. They are your friends. They want to help you. Go visit them in their office. Keep in contact with them after graduation.

2. If you are not sure about college and are unmotivated, take a 1 year break BEFORE college or RIGHT AFTER your freshman year. I think this shows a lot of self-awareness and is 100x preferable to the typical "I got crappy GPA for 2 years" profile.

3. Don't ever stay at a company for more than 2 years, unless you really, REALLY like what you are doing there. Sometimes it makes sense to do a job you hate for a couple of years, just for the resume. But never longer than that.
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Three Regrets 03 Oct 2008, 15:26
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Tarmac


3. Don't ever stay at a company for more than 2 years, unless you really, REALLY like what you are doing there. Sometimes it makes sense to do a job you hate for a couple of years, just for the resume. But never longer than that.
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hmm not so sure about this last one Tarmac. I haven't stayed at a job for more than 26months EVER,( in my 70 month career), and sometimes I feel that I should have. Admittedly its also because I came to a new country to work and it took me a job to find my feet so to speak. I am always scared the adcom will look at my CV and think i lack commitment or something.

Also, I've known VERY successful people who have stayed at the same company for more than 2 years. I think your post should read "Don't ever stay at the same JOB for more than 2 years".


as for my 3 regrets

1) Not applying to non-engineering firms when i graduated. I graduated in a downturn and was too risk averse. It's now painting me as a career switcher when really i should have switched out of university
2) Not coming to the UK a couple of years earlier (when it was really booming in 2004)
3) Not learning a musical instrument when I was at school (was too busy playing sports)

- buff
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Three Regrets 03 Oct 2008, 16:25
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actually, I meant don't stay at a job *you don't like* for more than 2 years.
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Three Regrets 08 Oct 2008, 04:12
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1. Do something impressive and cool that is in no way related to work.

2. Take the German lessons seriously.

3. Don't hate student organizations.
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