Back when the world was normal last Fall, we worked with a super-impressive Brave Supplicant, and said this to them in December when they told us about their admits to multiple Great Schools:
Congrats! It must be a pretty great feeling!!! And if you’re now feeling like you have too much time on your hands… You can always write about your experience to be featured on the blahg! Your story would likely be of great interest to others. If you’re feeling inspired, for a paragraph or two (need not be fancy), you can send in to us and we’ll post. Or, just enjoy this delicious pre-MBA time!!! You deserve it!
And, this super-impressive NOW FORMER (yay!) Brave Supplicant sent in some excellent information about what they went through in the MBA application process! We share it herewith for you intrepid up-and-coming Brave Supplicants planning for the Class of 2023.
Hi ES,
Writing this in hopes my journey can be of help to other BSers! I’ve attempted to organize into some key categories.
Unanticipated challenges/parts of the process I wasn’t expecting
- The sheer amount of time the entire process took – I began studying for the GRE in January 2019, applied in rd 1 of 2019, and will matriculate in fall 2020. From beginning the process to matriculation, almost 2 years will have passed (I should mention I also got married/honeymooned during this time).
- In a similar vain- the amount of time it took to write essays. Not just sitting at the computer typing, but allowing enough time to brainstorm, let drafts marinate, and come up with new and better ideas. Often this required letting the drafts sit for a couple days before revisiting them.
- It was difficult to find thought partners or people that could help me correctly navigate the process (even with a fair amount of friends/colleagues at or alums of top 20 schools). I quickly learned that what worked for my friend/colleague might not work for me. Having the snark as a trusted advisor, someone that I could bounce questions/ideas off of, throughout the process was invaluable, and made the process much less isolating.
- How much I learned about myself throughout the process- turns out several months of introspection on your goals and background will do that!
- By far, the most difficult part of the process for me was managing imposter syndrome. Meeting lots of super impressive people at interviews and school visits is invigorating, but can also be really intimidating.
Some real insights there — and that’s only the beginning! This FORMER BSer has more to say! We’ll continue this excellent recap of their admissions process in a future post. Because yeah, it’s time to start thinking seriously about Round 1!!!
Tell us what you think.