Feedback Session with Wharton
Early this May, I was pretty lucky to grab one of the last few spots for feedback session with Wharton's adcom. A friend tried to schedule an appointment on the following day, but she was told all the slots were already full!
The feedback session was scheduled to be 15 minutes. But even including the time I was put on hold, the whole phone call last no more than 3 minutes.
The message was pretty simple.
Basically, the adcom thought I was a very strong candidate and it became a tough call whether to admit me or not. My application packaged presented strong candidacy:
- Great academic performance;
- Excellent leadership experience (including very impressive story of how I motivated others);
- Top-quality extracurricular activities;
- Well-rounded and unique;
- Will have a lot to bring to the class.
The only downside of my application was about "why Wharton?"
Ouch!
But I wasn't quite surprised by this feedback. My essay on "why Wharton" is most likely mediocre in the eyes of adcom members, however, in contrast, my answer to "why Chicago GSB" was much deeper and more personalized. Even when I was waitlisted by Chicago GSB, I was still able to come up with additional in-depth and personalized reasons for "why Chicago GSB."
But why wouldn't Wharton just put me on the waiting list and give me another chance to elaborate how much I love its MBA program? (Yes, I love Chicago GSB, too. And yes, I love HBS and Stanford GSB! Kellogg? Uhhhh...Yes!)
Feedback Session with Kellogg's Adcom
My feedback session with Kellogg's Adcom was done some time ago. The whole 10 minutes I spent with an admission officer revealed how terrible my application was considered.
After very carefully reviewing my application materials, adcom members reached the following consensus.
1. It wasn't clear how an MBA from Kellogg would help my career development toward the short- and long-term objectives.
2. My career progression has been quite narrow. How can other students learn from my experience?
3. My leadership story(ies) isn't convincing.
4. No "extra" activities at work.
5. No community involvement.
What a disaster....
Congrats to Those Newly Admitted to Chicago GSB!
A few more candidates just got off the WL. Congrats!!
Relocation Package
Yesterday a friend of mine blogged about the headache of shopping, packing, moving and getting ready for the b school this fall. While reading her blog, suddenly I had a brainwave to share with the adcom to help boost the admission yield.
Sometimes b schools try to recruit top candidates by offering scholarship, but they may want to consider adding relocation assistance to the whole package - movers show up at your door, pack everything carefully, ship them to your new address near the b school where you'll matriculate and leave you alone with some time to wrap up the memory of your old apartment or to have another farewell party with friends in town.
Adcoms can set an upper limit for the relocation cost and will certainly request discounted rate from movers for moving a number of students. Overall, it's unlikely to cost the adcom a whole lot more $$, but I think it would be a nice gesture to at least some candidates.
Air Fest
This weekend there's an
Air Fest at Naval Air Station in Willow Grove, PA. I joined my friends from New Jersey and spent almost the whole day there yesterday. With self-claimed business mind built over the b school application process, I found it interesting to observe several things other than those air stunts. To many others, my "findings" can be obvious and even silly. But since I have been a scientist almost forever, it helps to understand the human behavior in business by observing the daily life around me.
First, the air fest must be one of the many great opportunities for b school applicants with military background to demonstrate their management skills. No matter how complicated the logistics is and how critical the safety and secuirty measures are, the whole event was planned and executed successfully, contributed by an individual's leadership in a team. environment.
The entire event was also a great marketing vehicle. Not surprisingly, I saw several booths with recruiting officers from the US military force, as well as dozens of local vendors' fliers and brochcures. In addition, every once a while, the PA system played GEICO's advertisement "spend 15 minutes and save your 15% auto insurance." As a GEICO's policy subscriber, I didn't bother to catch what the advertisement said. But giving the ad another quick thought, I realized GEICO was targeting the right audience, since all the spectators at the Air Fest got to arrive by car. Among the crowd, there're just so many decision makers who pick the car insurance for their families.
Last but not the least, I regretted for not pricing my lemonade more aggresively when I played "
Lemonade Tycoon" last time. In the game, I charged as much as $3.50 per cup at stadium, but yesterday a cup of lemonade cost $4.00!! I bet the profit will be quite nice.
Deferral Request Granted
My request for matriculation deferral till fall 2007 was granted by the adcom of Chicago GSB.
Hopefully this can free up a spot for someone on the summer waiting list.
Good luck to
all those still staying on the WL.
I CAN HEAR IT!!
An interesting article in today's NY Times talked about how high school kids use a "safe" cell phone ring tone for catching text messages in classroom. The ring tone is "safe" because it's essentially such a high pitch sound that the teacher, if at a not-so-young age, wouldn't hear.
Human nature prompted me to click the mp3 file loaded on the NY Times website. I have to admit the "safe" ring tone is annoying to me - it is indeed like a mosquito! But on the bright side, I'm quite glad I can hear it.
When I start the b school in fall 2007, I'll be over 30 years old. Maybe I can say I'm not that old yet, and I won't have to prove it by joining in every beer-pong parties, because I can hear the ring tone. :o)
CA's FFF
Last Friday before I got onto the train bound for Philly, I saved blogs cited by
Clear Admit's "Fridays from the Frontline" and took my time to read them on the way. Some bloggers posted interested links that I want to check out this week.
Why Blog? Why now? Why blogging here...?
"Explain the path that has led you to pursue a blog as the next step in your cyberspace development. Describe your short and long term blog goals. [Optional: What or who has influenced your choice of hosting websites, and what is it specifically about
www.blogger.com that is going to help you succeed?] (1,500 words maximum)"
Since this blog will be mostly about MBA and b school, its existence ought to have a rationale. Here's a list of reasons that I want to blog about my b school journey.
Reason #5. Engligh isn't my native language. Blogging in English can help me improve my English writing. Mr. L, my English mentor has repeatedly suggested I write something every week that he can comment on. But my procrastination must've let him down.
Reason #4. Network with other MBA alum/student/applicant bloggers. Isn't networking one of the top priorities in b school? Even outside the b school, hasn't anybody heard of "social networking" nowadays? Yes, myspace is huge, isn't it? Maybe soon I'll develop a blogging network with 24 1st-tier fellow bloggers, 246 2nd-tierd and 4602 3rd-tierd?
Reason #3. How about earning some $$ by posting Google's Adword? [Daydream starts from here: With increased popularity of my blog and every reader's generous 10 clicks per visit, the tuition of 2007/08 is all set.]
Reason #2. Keep my friends posted on what's happening with me on my way to the b school.
Reason #1. I leave it open for now.
