Sunday, December 21, 2008

Dear R1 Applicant ...

Hey, big congrats to all admitted in round 1 - at the GSB or elsewhere. Good job! Now the real work begins ;) ... so do a lot of relaxing between now and next August.

But to those of you with a painful ding - my heart is with you. I know all about the frustration and disappointment of rejection. Unfortunately, this application process is subjective and, at times, arbitrary. There is not always a bright line between the successful and unsuccessful bschool applicant and this ding will not make or break your career. You are certainly not the first bright, ambitious, totally bschool worthy applicant to be culled in the final cut. So don't despair!! It's not worth it. Either you'll find another great school, get into the GSB another time, or go on and do fantastic things sans MBA. You're going to do great things one way or another. So relax, reassess and don't be too hard on yourself.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

thanks for the optimistic note. i'm an international applicant living in the US, stellar essays/WE and all but got dinged by all three schools (top five). i'm trying not to think too much about the rejections and realize that not getting accepted to b-school isn't the be all, end all.

Deadhedge said...

Hi Maybe MBA,
I've been updating my relatively new blog's blogroll to include Pacific Northwest MBAers since I blog about the Pacific Northwest and MBA's. I would like to add your blog to the list and thought that I should tell you (or maybe what I did is totally uncool in bloggerland)

thalassa_mikra said...

Hi, thanks for the post. I've been a business school skeptic who nevertheless applied to MBA programs as a backup to my MFE applications. I got interviewed and then dinged by Chicago.

I'm sure it's a very fine program, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that your post about the curriculum and the difficulty of getting choice courses made be feel a wee bit relieved that I didn't have to make a choice to go.

I'm starting an MFE next year, and it seems to me that I'd be happier doing it rather than an MBA (because I'm also a CFA Level II aspirant and taking it in June next year).

MaybeMBA said...

anon - i'm sure you'll do great in the end. i know how much work the apps are, so it's hard not to feel disappointed. good luck!

deadhedge - ha, i'm no expert on blogging etiquette, but getting a link is always a compliment, so thanks! i used to link to more blogs but am just linking to hella and bschoolers these days. so no offense that i don't return the favor.

thalassa - funny, i was interested in doing an MFE instead of an MBA at some point (before realizing how not cut out I was for that track!). so good luck! it seems like you are on a great track for yourself.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

Thanks for the wishes. I am an R1 admit and I would be starting my MBA with a 4 month old. I am looking forward to meeting you sometime and learning about your experiences.

Your blog has always been a great inspiration to me.

Thanks

Anonymous said...

Hi MaybeMBA, I am R1 waitlist and appearing for CFA level 3 in June 2009. I will be visiting campus sometime soon. Is it ok to meet you during my campus visit. I wanted to email you but could not find your email address. My email is g_nick_2000@yahoo.com