I know this update is a tad bit overdue but I've been held up. First off for the updates. I got into the LBS MiM as well and got dinged by Stanford (I guess that didn't come quite as a shock and the fact that I'd made peace with it helped.)
Now I had to decide between Fuqua, LBS and a job offer with a startup doing some very interesting work right here at home. And I decided that it'd be Fuqua over LBS regardless of LBS being a bigger brand because of employability, a merit scholarship, better economy and easier loan terms (I wanted to do this Masters thing on my own and not take help from home). And since the start-up has agreed to let me defer my joining by a couple of years, I think that going to Fuqua now makes the most sense and is a fairly riskless proposition.
I did have some doubts regarding whether or not to take the MMS program because the whole MM-now-means-no-MBA-later thing but I realise that now is the only time I can risk it and spread my wings a bit by getting out of home in an attempt to grow as a person. And if it turns out to be a mistake, then I have the rest of my life to deal with it as I have age on my side. And as far as the MBA is concerned, it's a bit too far into the future to base ALL my decisions in life thinking of the uncertain seat that is waiting for me in an M7 program half a decade or so from now.
So I shall be coming to the US this summer as part of the Duke Fuqua's MMS Class of 2013. I have dealt with all the protocols and am set to leave. I'm super excited about this new chapter, something in my life that I'm undertaking for and only myself- on my terms, but it comes with no little trepidation. I suppose, however, that that's how the package is designed. I don't know how things will turn out, I only hope that they will turn out good and I fully plan to do the absolute best I can to ensure it. But one things I'm sure of is that this experience will be great, will help me become a better person by finding and moulding my space and nothing can take that away from me.
So I wanted to keep you informed of all this progress and say a BIG THANK YOU for all your help in my journey the last 6 odd months!!!!! It has been absolutely wonderful having you with me. I hope it'll be okay if I keep you abreast of what happens in the future with me and should I choose to do an MBA later on, don't be surprised if you get a call from me.
Manoj
PS- I took some time off from all things MBA related (including BTG and ES blahg, and have just caught up on things that have happened in both places) and as you said in your April 13th post, it gave me some much needed insight on how to go forward.
