Monday, February 28, 2011

700+ plus A Days

It's been an eventful few days, which means I haven't posted anything in a while. So here's just a quick recap. I would say I'll add more detail later but I've made that promise in the past and never really follow through so I'm going to stop extending myself. Without further ado:

I retook the GMAT last Friday. The whole experience was bit harrowing, from getting to the test center to finishing the test. Fortunately, I improved my score. Unfortunately, it was only by 10 points. I went from a 700 to a 710, with my quant falling just below that magic 80th percentile. Quant was higher on my last test so I'm okay with it. It's great that my score improved, but I am thinking I could have scored higher on the quant/overall if I had another week or two. Oh well, at the end of the day I improved even though my prep time was limited. Hopefully it proves the point.

Now onto A Days at UCLA Anderson. Immediately after the GMAT I boarded a flight to the west coast, which apparently was a frigid mid-50s weekend. To be honest, my expectations were not incredibly high. I know it's a great school, good people, has all the specs but I never felt the intangibles. This weekend changed that. Overall, it was a great weekend. The current students, admits, staff, faculty, alumni were incredible. Maybe it's because it was my first admit weekend but everyone was thrilled to be there. I met a ton of great people and am thrilled to be accepted into this group. The weekend made a very compelling case of UCLA Anderson and I am walking away a lot more excited about the school. The people really made the experience. It was a tiring, yet exhilarating, weekend and I'm looking forward to keeping in touch with a lot of people I met. At the end of the day, the experience is all about who you are surrounded by, and I felt engaged and excited by those around me at UCLA.

They made a compelling case...but I'm still waiting to see what happens...I'll be thrilled when the decisions are final and I can begin to move toward one or the other. Either way, I am certain I'm in for an amazing couple of years. I just want it to begin!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Moving along

I finally booked the GMAT date. After much hemming and hawing, I finally just did it. It must be done before March 3rd so I can get the results to Haas and I've waited long enough. Well, I hope I waited long enough at least. I'm still a bit concerned I haven't practiced enough. But it must be done so it will. It will also help me focus this weekend after taking a weekend away from the test. I'll keep you posted once it's finally over.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Nothing from Ross

Well yesterday came and went without an email from Ross. It's fine. It really is. An interview there would have only made for another scheduling issue. Besides, I'm very happy with UCLA and I'm focused on getting into Haas. So at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter.

I'm still surprised. I figured I'd at least get an interview. I've now been interviewed by every school to which I applied this year..except Ross. Given the list of schools, I'm pretty surprised. It stings a little bit despite that I'm not thrilled with them. I wonder if that sentiment came through in my application. Who knows...who cares...well, I still do but don't have time to focus on the negative. On to the positive...

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Hard work paying off

Yesterday I received an interview invite from Duke. This morning I earned a 690 on a practice GMAT. Overall, a couple really good days. Hopefully everything will continue as I should hear from Michigan Monday and have my Haas interview next week.

Ok, so a 690 might not sound great when I'm trying to beat my previous score of 700. But it's only been a couple weeks since I began studying and the fact that I'm already back in striking range is pretty exciting. To make it even better, the last time I studied for the GMAT I never broke 660 on my practice tests. I've used ManhattanGMAT (yup, another plug for them even though I'm getting nothing from them but helpful tips and good service) during my studying which I've heard rumors provide harder quant questions than the test itself. Who knows if that's true but it makes me feel confident so I'm going to keep plugging it. Either way, in just a few short weeks I've increased by score from a 600 to a 690. That's pretty positive considering I still don't have a test date. Now for the tricky part, determining when to actually take the test.

Yesterday my Duke invite came. It was a long day...I figured I wouldn't really care since I have the admit to UCLA, which I'm excited about, and pressing for Haas, which is my top choice. As the day wore on, I became more and more distracted. It's nothing like it used to be, though it still hit a nerve. When the invite came through, I threw my arms up in celebration. It definitely feels good to be validated. At this point, I've received an invite from every program I've applied to this year. Yes, that stat does excite me but also makes me wonder why I only have 1 admit at this point. Oh well I guess but still a bit bothersome.

Back to the scheduling, I' already going to UCLA at the end of February for their admit weekend. Between now and then, I'm heading to Berkeley for a few days with a red eye back to the East Coast midweek. Then I have a full weekend with my girlfriend. There is one week between then and my LA trip. Now I have to find time to hit Duke and the GMAT, on top of taking almost a week off from work during February. At this point, they know I'm leaving but the culture doesn't exactly forgive that. Needless to say, scheduling is quickly becoming a nightmare. I suppose these are good problems to have but they're still problems. Last year, my problem was not having anything to do but question what went wrong. I'll take this year and stop complaining.