Kenan-Flagler; Boston College; Bentley University

Congrats! Tell us how you did it
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Just found out that I have been admitted to the Kenan-Flagler MAC program. Given that this is my dream school, I am quite happy. I have not yet received the official admissions letter, and so I cannot comment on the financial package. However, I am very excited. Still waiting for the BC and BU results, though they do not really matter much, at this point.

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by dmateer25 » Thu Dec 18, 2008 10:52 am
Congratulations!

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by AleksandrM » Thu Dec 18, 2008 10:56 am

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by AleksandrM » Sun Dec 21, 2008 6:34 pm
I should have probably posted my profile right away:

GPA: 3.79 (overall), 3.97 (major area of study)

GMAT: 640 (1st), 640 (2nd) - spent 6 months studying for the test; went from 490 to 700s on CATs, but was not able to repeat on actual exam.

Work experience: 20 months

* 5 months = internship at an HR services firm

* the rest = logistics/customs brokerage services

Extra.: research fellow at a laboratory for social science research; volunteered at a charter school helping early grade-levels with reading writing skills; Habitat for Humanity

Undergraduate major/minor: Sociology/econ + a lot of poli sci classes, too.

24 years old. Born in Uzbekistan, and speak a second language (Russian). Some travelling abroad (1 year, mostly Eastern Europe and Central Asia).

All recommendations came from former professors, all of whom also knew me outside of the classroom in some capacity (for example, one is the director of the lab for which I conducted research).

Spent 1 month writing essays and another 1 month polishing.

Any other questions are welcome.

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by gabriel » Sat Dec 27, 2008 5:29 am
Congratulations!! . I have been following your story on your blog for some time and am really glad to hear that you got through your dream school.

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by AleksandrM » Sat Dec 27, 2008 6:16 am
Thank you very much Gabriel. It was a long journey - at times very disheartening and difficult - but I just kept on pulling. I have seen a lot of people posting different items on this forum that were motivational in one way or another. I don't know if you have ever read "The Gulag Archipelago" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, but his story was a recurrent theme in my preparation. Thinking of all of the trials that he - as well as those he writes about - went through and survived made the GMAT, essays, and the rest seem rather trivial.

Anyway, thanks again.

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by mayonnai5e » Sat Dec 27, 2008 2:10 pm
Getting into your dream school is the best thing you can possibly hope for! Congratulations on a job well done. You have an interesting background and I know you will bring excellent discussion to Kenan-Flagler.
https://www.beatthegmat.com/my-blog-erro ... t4899.html
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by AleksandrM » Sat Dec 27, 2008 2:55 pm
Thanks mayo. I actually found out at work. I just saw "Aleksandr, Congratulations..." and then my vision went blurry and my heart jumped into the middle of my throat. I don't think I have been this excited since about the age of 4, when my parents came home and told me that I would be going to a circus show.

You are absolutely right, though. Getting into a dream school is an extremely fulfilling feeling. I really look forward to joining the program, which starts in May.

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2 out of 3, so far

by AleksandrM » Sat Jan 17, 2009 1:39 pm
Just found out that I got into Bentley (McCallum). They also offered me $10,000 in scholarship funds. Very generous of them.

McCallum was my 3rd choice.

Though I have already sent my acceptance of admission to UNC, I am curious to see what Boston College thought of me.

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by aj5105 » Sun Jan 18, 2009 1:10 am
super stuff ! Congratulations !

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by AleksandrM » Sun Jan 18, 2009 9:46 am
Thanks a bunch. The Boston College deadline to send out letters is February 15th. I'll update once I hear from them. I think that I will receive some scholarship funds from them as well. However, as I already said, it does not matter much, at this point. I plan to move to Chapel Hill on May 9th or so. Classes begin May 18th.

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by 334MBA » Tue Jan 20, 2009 11:03 am
AleksandrM wrote:Thanks a bunch. The Boston College deadline to send out letters is February 15th. I'll update once I hear from them. I think that I will receive some scholarship funds from them as well. However, as I already said, it does not matter much, at this point. I plan to move to Chapel Hill on May 9th or so. Classes begin May 18th.
Congrats! BC's great, but UNC is even better!

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by AleksandrM » Tue Jan 27, 2009 6:54 pm
Well, it is official: I have hit 3 out of 3. Just found out that I have been accepted to Boston College.

This makes me feel very good. While I am going to attend Kenan-Flagler, I feel very accomplished having been accepted to all three programs.

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by mayonnai5e » Tue Jan 27, 2009 8:54 pm
Woots! Congrats. I'm 1 out of 4 so far so you should be quite proud!
https://www.beatthegmat.com/my-blog-erro ... t4899.html
550 =\ ...560 =\... 650 =) ...570 =( ...540 =*( ...680 =P ... 670 =T ...=T... 650 =T ...700 =) ..690 =) ...710 =D ...GMAT 720 DING!! ;D

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by AleksandrM » Wed Jan 28, 2009 6:01 pm
Today, after work, I sat back and reflected on the year that is now behind me. It has really been a year of applications. I began my journey in January, when I began studying for the GMAT. Studying for the GMAT was like having a second job. I came home from work - around 6 PM - and sat down to study for the GMAT around 7:15 PM - after a workout (one thing that kept me sane). I would end my studying around 10 PM, watch the news, slap some food for the next day at work, and go to bed at 11 PM. I did this from January until the end of July. Let us not forget my absolute failure at the beginning of the process, when I scored 480 and 490, which I thought pretty much ended my graduate school ambitions there and then. I then rose into the 700s, to settle at a double 640.

While doing this, I also tried to maintain my participation in a program through which I volunteered with children from underprivileged families. I knew that these children needed my attention, and so I continued to help them every week until the end of the school year - for them - in June.

In May, my grandfather had a terrible stroke, which debilitated him tremendously. My family and I went through ups and downs and then some ups, before finally accepting the fact that he would not recover, and that every day brought him - and us - closer to the inevitable. I had to make all of the arrangements while he was at the hospitals and bombard the nurses from my telephone at work so that they would take better care of my grandfather and stop yelling at a grandmother who does not speak much English. I did this, by the way, while trying to keep my mind focused on math problems that I tried to solve during lunch. I also had to keep focused when he passed, and juggled a busy schedule as my family descended on our homes from around the world, at the end of June.

In July, I resumed my studies (I also visited Boston College and Bentley for a week in August), and retook the GMAT in September to a repeated result; I did not exactly care that much by then. I moved on to my essays, at the end of September; I am sure some will share my terror of looking into the abyss of a blank, white screen. While writing and rewriting my essays - each suffered through at least 8 or 9 drafts - I visited and kept on top of all of my recommenders - eventually getting screwed by one and looking for another.

While all of this was taking place, my fiance dutifully left me alone and swallowed words when I snapped from a lack of sleep, frustration with the state of my GMAT affairs, or when I simply came to pass by her the way one does by a vase or a chair. I owe much to her, and even more to her patience.

In early December, I found myself dealing with what felt like an anxiety attack as I pondered my-then upcoming interview at Kenan-Flagler. .

Needless to say, the whole experience has been filled with emotions that I sometimes did not know the names for to describe. It was filled with anger, frustration, grief, euphoria, sadness, and ultimately happiness and tranquility. When I look on my accomplishments thus far, I feel proud and rewarded. I do not look forward with thoughts of monterary reward and new status. Instead, I look forward, knowing that I will be able to weather anything that comes my way over the next year and thereon, given the determination I sometimes surprised myself with last year.

My point in writing this is to say that while much might stand in the way and it sometimes feels like you are doing all of this for a CHANCE not a certainty, but a chance that you perhaps, possibly, maybe, somehow might be accepted to one of the schools you would like to join. I say, keep at it. Do not let anything get you down; of course, you will. However, you need to get back on that horse and let it throw you off ten more times, but you must master it - to the best of your ability.

It is far better to fail, knowing that you gave it your best. Believe me, you do not want to look back and think that you really could have done better, but you just let the setbacks get the best of you.

Good luck to all.