Dinged by UCLA! Can you believe it! As it was my first application, I probably bungled this one more than any sane MBA applicant should. My essays weren't the best, I let a recommender be late which caused my app to get moved to R2 (I submitted back in early October), I didn't follow up with the school very much. UCLA always felt like the longest of long shots with just that hint of possibility that made me click submit. It seemed so far away, so different than anything I had experienced. The ding was not unexpected. Congrats to those who got good news!
In work news, a guy on my team quit today, which has forced my manager to question how much longer I'll stick around. I didn't want to tell him yet that I've been accepted and will be leaving in June, but them's the shakes. I didn't give him a hard date, but told him what my final month would be.
Showing posts with label UCLA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UCLA. Show all posts
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Not Dinged by UCLA
Shocker of the century! R1 decisions went out today (well, other than the early admits they sent out a month ago) and I wasn't dinged. Or accepted. Or waitlisted. It's official, my application was moved to round 2. It's good because I know I HAVE to be the first person to submit for R2, having submitted my application on October 9th. A rogue recommender ruined my R1 chances and submitted 20 days late. Now it's a whole new ballgame. Of course, knowing what I know now I'd probably change some things on my essays.
The bad news: I won't get my official ding until March 26th. For those of you keeping score at home, I'll have submitted my application almost SIX MONTHS prior to getting a decision. Talk about a waiting game. I have pretty much given up hope on UCLA as neither my GPA nor my GMAT is really up to par with the rest of the class. It would be nice, though, living the dream out in LA.
Congrats to those that made it into UCLA Anderson Class of 2011!
The bad news: I won't get my official ding until March 26th. For those of you keeping score at home, I'll have submitted my application almost SIX MONTHS prior to getting a decision. Talk about a waiting game. I have pretty much given up hope on UCLA as neither my GPA nor my GMAT is really up to par with the rest of the class. It would be nice, though, living the dream out in LA.
Congrats to those that made it into UCLA Anderson Class of 2011!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Nervous Anticipation
My UCLA application is finally complete! I guess what happened was my second recommender had mailed in a printed copy of her rec, instead of following the online instructions. So, that app is all done; now I wonder if I'm still up for R1, or if I've gotten moved to R2. Either way, it's all a waiting game now.
On the Georgetown front, the main three essays are about complete. I don't really consider the fourth required essay as an all-important one, as it's basically just a list of your extra-curriculars and community organizations from college through the present. I've got lots to write about there: founding a chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi at Wake Forest, freelance promotional and event work, and volunteering for the Humane Society. That one should be fairly easy.
My interview has been confirmed for November 3rd. The tentative plan is to drive up Sunday afternoon, stay with a friend to avoid getting a hotel, then nailing my interview with a current student! I've been studying up on the questions frequently asked on accepted.com, as well as speaking with a few other people. I feel I've got a good grasp on this, it all comes down to execution. Any advice?
Now, I've heard that Georgetown is truly rolling admissions, and that once everything is complete, you can get a decision within two to four weeks. I'm not sure if this is still accurate, given the changes in MBA admissions the last year or so, but it would be amazing to have a decision before Christmas! Especially since my company was recently acquired, and no one is sure what will happen.
On the Georgetown front, the main three essays are about complete. I don't really consider the fourth required essay as an all-important one, as it's basically just a list of your extra-curriculars and community organizations from college through the present. I've got lots to write about there: founding a chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi at Wake Forest, freelance promotional and event work, and volunteering for the Humane Society. That one should be fairly easy.
My interview has been confirmed for November 3rd. The tentative plan is to drive up Sunday afternoon, stay with a friend to avoid getting a hotel, then nailing my interview with a current student! I've been studying up on the questions frequently asked on accepted.com, as well as speaking with a few other people. I feel I've got a good grasp on this, it all comes down to execution. Any advice?
Now, I've heard that Georgetown is truly rolling admissions, and that once everything is complete, you can get a decision within two to four weeks. I'm not sure if this is still accurate, given the changes in MBA admissions the last year or so, but it would be amazing to have a decision before Christmas! Especially since my company was recently acquired, and no one is sure what will happen.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Mental Block
The whirlwind surrounding Georgetown continues! I've gotten good feedback on the goals and leadership essays, and am continuing to tweak them. I've also scheduled my interview: next Monday, November 3rd! It's so soon! This is such a tight deadline for me. I've gotta get my scores and transcripts sent over as soon as possible as well. I'll refrain from submitting my application before the interview, though, as I'm sure I will gain more insight from another visit. The third essay, the one about the most significant change I have made to an organization is proving to be very difficult, as I can't use the experience I wrote about in essay two. Any suggestions?
I also reached out to a current student whose blog I found on the McDonough website. He's been extremely helpful, and serves as another example of how awesome the MBA community can be! I'm pretty sure a family friend went to Georgetown as well, so I'm going to contact him as well. Hopefully I can get them to read my essays and provide feedback.
Other than that, I continue to track down my second recommender for UCLA (note: she is NOT doing any other recs for me). My status has officially been moved to On Hold. I don't know if that means I can still be considered for R1 if she gets it in, or if I'm already moved to R2. If I don't hear from her soon, I'll have to call UCLA to have her removed. I'm sure that won't look to positive!
I also reached out to a current student whose blog I found on the McDonough website. He's been extremely helpful, and serves as another example of how awesome the MBA community can be! I'm pretty sure a family friend went to Georgetown as well, so I'm going to contact him as well. Hopefully I can get them to read my essays and provide feedback.
Other than that, I continue to track down my second recommender for UCLA (note: she is NOT doing any other recs for me). My status has officially been moved to On Hold. I don't know if that means I can still be considered for R1 if she gets it in, or if I'm already moved to R2. If I don't hear from her soon, I'll have to call UCLA to have her removed. I'm sure that won't look to positive!
Friday, October 17, 2008
The Fall Season
It's my favorite season of the year! I find fall and spring to be the best times, a period of active change. Sure, summer is nice and winter has its moments, but there's something about fall, changing your wardrobe to sweaters and jackets, Halloween, college football that really matters (Go Deacs!). MLB playoffs. The weather gets cooler, the skies a bit greyer, but I love it all.
Thanks for all the comments about my recommender situation. I finally tracked her down yesterday as I had another business matter to discuss. She said she was working on it and said "I've still got time, right?" I informed her the deadline had passed, and that the constant reminders of the 10/9 due date weren't a fabrication in my head. She actually had an upset look. To reiterate my cautionary tale: choose your recommenders very, very carefully!
UCLA is done as far as I'm concerned. I did start the application for Weatherhead, and I've looked more into Georgetown. I know it's not too late for me to change things up, and I may end up still applying somewhere in the short-term. Having to prioritize my finances has really made me think of why I want those schools in particular. It's some good soul-searching, let me tell you! Rather than just saying "hey, let's apply to eight top-20 schools in the hopes that I get accepted to one of them," I can say "My money is very tight; I can only apply to those schools I would absolutely kill to be admitted to!" I'd suggest everyone does this with their list, as it will undoubtedly lead me to the right school for me. If not this year, then next. Hopefully UCLA looks past my poor recommenders, my awful undergrad GPA, and my less-than-stellar community activities and let's me come in for an interview.
My upcoming plans are pretty tame. I was scheduled to be on vacation this week (Monday was a bank holiday, so I'd only use four vacation days and get the whole week!) but I cancelled that, due to a higher than expected workload and the fact that my trip was mainly to interview at UNC/Duke/Emory. Tonight I'm going to Mansfield Prison for a Halloween thing (parts of Shawshank Redemption were filmed there), then a clam bake tomorrow night.
Thanks for all the comments about my recommender situation. I finally tracked her down yesterday as I had another business matter to discuss. She said she was working on it and said "I've still got time, right?" I informed her the deadline had passed, and that the constant reminders of the 10/9 due date weren't a fabrication in my head. She actually had an upset look. To reiterate my cautionary tale: choose your recommenders very, very carefully!
UCLA is done as far as I'm concerned. I did start the application for Weatherhead, and I've looked more into Georgetown. I know it's not too late for me to change things up, and I may end up still applying somewhere in the short-term. Having to prioritize my finances has really made me think of why I want those schools in particular. It's some good soul-searching, let me tell you! Rather than just saying "hey, let's apply to eight top-20 schools in the hopes that I get accepted to one of them," I can say "My money is very tight; I can only apply to those schools I would absolutely kill to be admitted to!" I'd suggest everyone does this with their list, as it will undoubtedly lead me to the right school for me. If not this year, then next. Hopefully UCLA looks past my poor recommenders, my awful undergrad GPA, and my less-than-stellar community activities and let's me come in for an interview.
My upcoming plans are pretty tame. I was scheduled to be on vacation this week (Monday was a bank holiday, so I'd only use four vacation days and get the whole week!) but I cancelled that, due to a higher than expected workload and the fact that my trip was mainly to interview at UNC/Duke/Emory. Tonight I'm going to Mansfield Prison for a Halloween thing (parts of Shawshank Redemption were filmed there), then a clam bake tomorrow night.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
UCLA Submitted
Wow, seems like a popular topic today! I sent off my UCLA application tonight. I feel the essays were pretty good, and I know I'm a huge long shot, but I figured I'd take a stab, otherwise who knows! One thing that has me freaking out now are my recommenders. My manager said he submitted his over a week ago, yet the ApplyYourself website doesn't mention this, just that it was started. My other reviewer told me yesterday she wasn't finished yet, and according to the website, she hasn't even started! I gave them more than a month advance warning, followed up several times (including this week, where he assured me it was done and she said it was almost done. If my application gets pushed to R2 because they let the deadline slip, I will not be a happy camper!
Right now, it's in God's hands, so there's not much I can do. Either the admissions committee sees something in my application, or they don't. There's always next year, and I'm approaching this with zero expectations. If I get dinged without an interview (the dreaded DWOI!), it won't be the end of the world and I won't be curled in the fetal position for a week. I'll be bummed, sure, but it'll be ok.
Up next for me is my other application for this year, my ultra-backup-plan school of Case Western Reserve. That one is due awhile later, so I'll get started soon. There's still an outside chance of applying to one more school (most likely Wake Forest, to give me an out-of-Ohio option). As for Emory, USC, Texas, Virginia, Duke, Chapel Hill, and NYU, you will have to wait until next year! Unless, of course, Anderson wants me!
This blog will not die, so no worries. I'll continue my updates on whatever is happening on the MBA front, including further analysis of my schools and other visits and such.
Best of luck fellow UCLA applicants!
Right now, it's in God's hands, so there's not much I can do. Either the admissions committee sees something in my application, or they don't. There's always next year, and I'm approaching this with zero expectations. If I get dinged without an interview (the dreaded DWOI!), it won't be the end of the world and I won't be curled in the fetal position for a week. I'll be bummed, sure, but it'll be ok.
Up next for me is my other application for this year, my ultra-backup-plan school of Case Western Reserve. That one is due awhile later, so I'll get started soon. There's still an outside chance of applying to one more school (most likely Wake Forest, to give me an out-of-Ohio option). As for Emory, USC, Texas, Virginia, Duke, Chapel Hill, and NYU, you will have to wait until next year! Unless, of course, Anderson wants me!
This blog will not die, so no worries. I'll continue my updates on whatever is happening on the MBA front, including further analysis of my schools and other visits and such.
Best of luck fellow UCLA applicants!
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