The Application Process

I'm anxiously waiting for your USC decision. I can't believe how nerve-wracking it must be. But at the very least you know that you ARE going to B-school! So that's definitely gotta be a load off your back...

mehtaprem, waiting a year may be the best option for you. You can give yourself lots of time to get the best score possible on the GMAT and write some good essays. Lots of them. BUT...every B-school says that Round 3 (or 4) has room for exceptional candidates. So it would be harder to get in this year, but certainly not impossible. You could just focus hard now and save yourself a year.

Right now I'm leaning toward UCLA, unless more scholarship money starts appearing in my inbox. And Darden sent me a tracking number for their admit offer, which I am very anxious to read, and it should be here next Weds. I'm hoping for sooner. But, I need to wait for USC, too, before making a decision.

Speaking of appearing money, UT-Austin came through with a $42K Merit Scholarship out of nowhere. I thought that they were supposed to notify you upon admission notification. I guess not. Or maybe they gave it to someone else first who ended up declining. This makes me think that I should let these schools hang as long as possible to see if they start sweetening their deals. Does that make sense?

Stanford: Denied w/o interview
UC-Berkeley: Denied w/o interview
UCLA: Admitted
Kellogg: Waitlist
Chicago Booth: Waitlist
UW Foster: Admitted
USC Marshall: Interviewed
UT-Austin: Admitted + 42K
Darden: Admitted
UC-Irvine: Admitted +$40K

So I have a question for you... If ou get less money from kellogg and booth but you get in... What will your decision be?

I was hoping to still get into Booth or Kellogg up until UCLA called me in. UCLA was higher on my personal rankings especially for it's fit, location and program. AND they are cheap compared to the Chicago schools. So at this point if one of the Chicagos were to accept me, there would be no scholarships and an expensive bill!

I'm pretty set on UCLA, with pending scholarships from comparable schools being a potential game-changer. Gotta keeping waiting until Weds for Darden's letter!

so you'll only find out if you get $ from Darden on monday correct?

can't beat UCLA's weather!!!! i'm not sure where you're located now, but i'm in NY and this weather is brutal!

Hey Ultraeasy,

I've been following your postings for some time now... as I've also been applying to schools, it's been really interesting following someone else's posts who's going through the same thing. No doubt, it's a difficult time to be applying to bschools this year... yet incredibly rewarding

Anyways, just thought I'd share what's going on with my apps. I feel kind of guilty reading all your posts and not sharing my own experiences!!!

Harvard: Denied w/o interview
Columbia: Denied w/o interview
NYU: Waitlist
UCLA: Admitted
Tuck: Interviewed
USC: Waiting
Yale: Waiting

I'll be sure to keep this updated. And who knows, maybe I'll see you at UCLA sometime soon!!!!

ps. believe it or not, I'm actually born and raised in Seattle... but didn't apply to Foster because I went there for undergrad... the new building should be incredible though!

Cheers,

when will you hear about Tuck, USC, and Yale?

Since I applied through the Consortium, some of the decision dates are a little vague and unclear. Moreover, some of the programs may or may not require a second interview (in addition to the Consortium interview).... which makes things difficult to gauge.

Here's what I do know:

-Tuck: by the end of this week.
-Yale: by the end of this month.
-USC: no idea, although for regular applicants it's by Feb. 1st.
-NYU: will review the waitlist beginning of spring.


Cheers,

MisterRoboto can you post your stats?

As it stands right now, I'm in love with the programs @ Dartmouth & Yale. NYU is down the street from me, so that of course is on the list. I'm confident I can write compelling essays to get in there.

How did you rank the schools? That definitely has to be a mind game - trying to rank the schools on your application, just by the nature of how they give out the fellowships.

Alright. There is more news for the record. First, Darden's letter reported a warm welcome to the school and community but nothing else other than a nice leather binder. With no merit scholarship from them and a high price tag, I will not be attending. But I'm sure it would have been a great experience had it gone the other way.

And the news from USC is good news, too. I don't know how good, because they didn't give me a phone call and my status changed to "admitted" online a day after the notification deadline. They are supposedly sending out an admit packet, as well. So it looks like I will be waiting for another few days or a week to get their final offer.

So I am pretty sure I'll be going to UCLA now, but, again, reserving the option for a comparable school to make a sweeter deal.

Good luck with the rest of the decisions to everyone else!

Congrats on the USC admit! You had impressive results with your applications.

ultraeasy... at least you're going somewhere! my friend was rejected from everywhere! can you imagine being in that position? thankfully you won't have too... i wouldn't wish that on anyone!

Thats funny that USC Marshall is making u wait considering the fact that they are not that highly ranked as the schools where u have got admits, was ur application weaker at this school? just curious

I'm just trying to wait it out until I have every school's final offer. Waiting a few weeks for UT-Austin ended with some cash on the table. But USC seems to be really distant in their admission's office. They still haven't called me and their congratulatory email was two sentences long. So I'm guessing that they will stay lazy and not report scholarships until they feel like it. That could take months. I'm anxious to get started with UCLA so I'm starting the matriculation steps now (sending in transcripts, etc...), but am holding off on the deposit for a little bit longer. They gave me until April to reply. But the other schools want to know my decision later this month.

But as far as my application strength went, my first one, Stanford, was the weakest because I hadn't quite developed my best story and plan yet. UCLA, was my second weakest because I rushed at the last second, literally, to submit in time. I started my audio clip at 7pm, finished it at 8:45, and found out the file was too large to upload at 8:50, and spent a nerve-racking few minutes on the phone to my friend who is a Garageband guru to talk me through the compression process. I ended up getting all of the boxes checked and audio uploaded, but with a few mistakes. I ended up submitting my optional essay at 8:58 that told them I was a great fit at "Stanford GSB". I'm glad they didn't hold that against me. But my Berkeley app was probably my best submission because they asked great questions in their essays so I could show a lot more than I could to other schools. But the other candidates who got interviews and admits must have shown them something more what they were looking for.

My thoughts are that you can't predict how admissions will view your application. Just do the best that you can, don't flip out if it's not perfect, and hope for the best.

Quick update for me. Bad news, but could be worse I suppose. Heard from Tuck and got placed on the waitlist... so still waiting to hear from two schools, but it looks like I'll be attending UCLA come autumn.

Harvard: Denied w/o interview
Columbia: Denied w/o interview
UCLA: Admitted
NYU: Waitlist
Tuck: Waitlist
USC: Waiting
Yale: Waiting

Here's my stats:

Age: 26
Current City: Tokyo, Japan
Gender: Male
Nationality: USA
GMAT: 710
GPA: 3.5
Full Time Work Experience: 2.5 years
1 year Japanese focused hedge fund (Seattle, Washington)
1/2 year Microsoft JV (Shanghai, China)
1 year German Conglomerate (Singapore and Tokyo, Japan)
Application year: 2010

Highlights: various leadership positions in student clubs, soccer team university/and local team captain, studied and lived intermittently in Asia for 4+ years, speak 4 languages (English, Spanish, Japanese and Mandarin- Chinese).

Career Goals: To get into Asia focused (and possibly Latin America focused) PE. Basically my idea is to bridge the funding gap between the three continents (i.e. Asia and North and South America).

Good luck everyone!