Some people — okay, LOTS — get a little enamored — nay, OBSESSED — about the MBA. Or more precisely, they get a little obsessed about getting into an MBA program.
In fact, they get so darn uptight about the process of getting into bschool that they often lose sight of what will happen once they’re at bschool. ‘Cuz you think APPLICATIONS are stressful? The hard work has only just begun, my friend.
EssaySnark had a client in this category a few years ago. This Brave Supplicant will always be held in a cursed dear place in EssaySnark’s heart. This guy applied to like 20 different schools. Yes, 20. And that was before we met him. The challenge he laid before us was that he wanted to reapply at like 12 schools, since he’d gone flailing around in the bschool universe trying to make something happen all last-minute one Spring and got rejected all over, and then came crawling to us for help come the next Fall. And he was borderline manic about these applications. Throwing them out hither and yon. Yes, he did his research, he had that much going for him — lots of networking and outreach and the like. He basically left his regular job to devote himself to this practice. And he got stung by the rejections over and over again, and got really depressed about it. But those schools were just a tad outside his level. His GPA was smack and his GMAT was not high enough to truly compensate. He did in fact get several offers from some darn good (top 20) schools but he was never satisfied. In the end, he resigned himself to attending the one that his girlfriend liked the best. But he never seemed happy about it. He seemed to think he was H/S/W material (or at least Col/Chi/NYU material) but those schools for whatever reason didn’t seem to agree.
We were happy that he landed multiple offers. We told him he should be happy too.
Fast forward a few months, and the new school term has begun, and EssaySnark trades some how’s-it-goin’ emails with the dude, and lo and behold, he sounds TIRED. Not just tired, veritably EXHAUSTED. And more than a bit OVERWHELMED. Reading between the lines, we’re thinking that he’s probably not having all that much a fun time there. That his experience of bschool is turning out to be WORK. (And this isn’t even at a H/S/W caliber school!)
Don’t forget, friends, that all your hard work of the past few weeks is leading… if you’re lucky… to MORE HARD WORK!
Getting in to bschool is just the beginning!
cheetarah1980 says
This post reminds me of what my big sisters would say to me when I was pledging. Whenever my line sisters and I would complain they would say, “This is nothing. The hard part starts once you're in.” And sure enough, they were right. I often compare applying to bschool to pledging. Thanks for reminding me that the real work starts after I get in (PLEASE GOD LET ME GET IN).
AB says
Nice post EssaySnark… I was able to see what you are referring to in this post while visiting couple of schools: the first-year MBA students, who were only several weeks into the program, were already attending bunch of company-sponsored events, preparing their resumes, getting ready to recruit for internships. That was one of my takeaways–the application process is just a beginning.
ccatcher says
Came back here after a long time…like more than three days. Three cool blogs. I was kind of hoping funny
essaysnark says
Alas, ccatcher, no funny today, we're all sold out.
david says
The thing about b-school is that it's actually harder at a lower ranked school because one has to work harder to network and get a job. HBS/Stanford/Wharton are not easy by any means, but there's much less pressure, and the people there party their butts off and are having a great time. I know very few people at those schools who are stressed out.
alex says
david, yes, we party but I can confidently say that the vast majority of us are extremely overworked and stressed out. I think you have it backwards. At a school like HBS, the pressure to succeed (both peer and self inflicted) is enormous. Honestly, while I would never trade my experience at HBS away, if I had realized what this year was going to be like, I would have tried to enjoy my “free” time more before school started. 🙂
essaysnark says
Thanks Alex!
EssaySnark has *never* talked to a client who's not been totally stressed out within the first few weeks of starting bschool (top school or mid-tier). It gets better after awhile but it never lets up at all for the first year. Second year is a different story.
Anonymous says
I don't mind working hard. But applying to business school is more mentally stressful and many things are out of your control. But if you are already attending business school, you will have a goal to focus and you know if you work hard, you will get there.
I am wordless about that guy and he must have amazing recommenders who are willing to write so many rec letters!