Hey westsider,
You seem to come up with great ideas so frequently so I just want to commend you man. All this from you just makes me more happy that you will be attending the same school that I am going to. You hit the nail right on the head when you say that we don't get many people who actually understand and appreciate our accomplishments in terms of this whole application process. I sometimes find myself having to explain to people how difficult it was and what a 750 score means and how difficult the essay writing process was and etc....... By the way here goes my story:
Worked my ass out on the GMAT and was pleasantly surprises by a 750. I started out with a target of 700 as my username suggests but ended up with 750. I come from a small country and by what I know 750 is the highest ever scored from my country so that made me feel even more special.
After the GMAT I got down to researching the schools. I had to apply to UW because I have family in Seattle. I also applied to Yale and was very discouraged at being dinged without an interview. I didnt even apply to more schools in the US because I wanted to save on the application fees. I couldnt just go on spending application fees because the US$ to my country's currency exchange rate is 1US$=65 rupees so it really does cost me dear to apply to many schools.
Was very happy at being admitted to UW and was even more delighted to get a 16K scholarship.
I have also applied to RSM in Europe and am very happy to have been invited for interview there. Have applied to HKUST and NUS recently and am waiting on them.
All in all the journey has been very challenging at times and I know I have worked very hard as all people on this forum have done. Coming from my country, I am very proud that I even have a chance of applying to top schools in the US, Europe and the rest of the world. This in itself is a big thing but I am even prouder that I have actually got admitted into some of them. Hey guys, my hats off to you all and take this from me:
Even if there is no one who does not appreciate what you have accomplished rest assured that there is this guy who really does!!!!!