Words of wisdom coming to you today from a STBBS* — these thoughts are coming in many months after this person completed their essays and got through the whole process and was ACCEPTED and has had time to consider what the application process was.
I’m definitely so grateful for this whole process. It definitely forced a lot of career self-reflection as I was writing my essays and applying, which carried forward into more personal self-reflection and now I’m just reading all sorts of stuff on how people measure their lives or fill them with happiness, and thinking about my own life beyond school and what I want out of it. I clearly need to start school, and stop having so much free time on my hands. Then again, maybe it’s a good idea that I have a better idea of what will make me happy and some contingency plans if it doesn’t work out.
That’s probably why I avoided all those crazy forums filled with b-school applicants. I read your blog. That was seriously it. Even reading any of the comments on your blog would sometimes stress me out. If you spend too much time on those forums, you’re surrounded by these people who are CONSUMED with business school. Obviously, a little bit of that is required to get in, since (in my opinion) you really do need a singular focus to finish a really good application. But, it’s like they can’t imagine life if they DON’T get in to one of those top schools, so I can imagine the depressing slide after a rejection letter. I certainly wasn’t feeling too awesome after [School X] rejected me (and I totally knew why and that it was absolutely my fault, and that I could have done better in my interview and perhaps gotten in, and it still sucked!)
I was reminded of something this week (I mean, I could probably have figured it out on my own, but I hadn’t ever really thought about it.) We all get the same 168 hours in a week. We all are required to sleep at least some of those, ideally more than 50 of them, plus another work another 40-100 hours more (investment bankers…). But, somehow the idea that time is the great equalizer is comforting. Obviously some people get a lot more done in those 168 hours than others, but that doesn’t magically give them more time. So, we need to actually make the choice of how we will spend those hours.
Sheesh, I’m getting all philosophical on you. Sorry.
Glad you did! And we took the liberty of bolding that last sentence. Life’s all about choices, isn’t it? It’s what every moment is comprised of. Maybe one reason that many bschools prefer somewhat younger applicants, “kids” (no offense intended!) still in their 20s, is because that group of people don’t necessarily have things all figured out yet — which makes for a much more interesting, and useful, experience.
* STBBS, you will recall, stands for “Soon To Be Bschool Student”
More Success Stories
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