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Nobody’s thinking about writing essays right now. Right?

November 6, 2020 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

We have plenty to say about researching schools, figuring out if you need to be planning for Round 2, how to construct a good essay… but now doesn’t seem like the time to be spouting that stuff.

If you live in any country but the U.S., you may be seeing news coverage of rising coronavirus cases in your area, or you might be adjusting to another round of restrictions, with curfews or closures or rollbacks happening again. Some places are talking about reinstating lockdowns.

If you’re in the U.S., you might be experiencing a strange sense of stall-out, where the murkiness of our current uncertainty seems to have put time into a molasses phase. The pundits and analysts told us that it might be awhile before the results were known, but nobody told us that it would make everything feel unreal and like it’s moving in slow motion.

Or maybe you’re just totally sick and tired of this being the only thing anybody is talking about?

Fair enough.

So how about this:

For most of you, you’ve been working towards a very concrete goal, spending significant time on it for maybe as long as a year: You’re trying to get into business school.

Sitting here today, in early November of 2020, your life is looking a particular way. It’s likely got more unknowns than knowns in it right now, what with the pandemic, and the election, and the pending decisions coming in about a month on your Round 1 applications.

You probably have felt like your whole life is on hold, in a way. Maybe you’ve curtailed plans for holiday travel, or you’re not traveling at all. So many restrictions. So many ways that life has been upended.

And yet.

This is only a moment. It’s a year that has felt endless, but in the context of your whole life, it’s small. Big impact indeed, for many of us, but the time scale we’re operating in is not that great.

Here’s the thing: Next year at this time, we’re betting that everything about your life will be completely different than now.

That’s because of the work you’re putting in on those apps, and it’s because we’re likely to have a vaccine by then, which will at least be slowly allowing us to resume life again. Travel, sporting events, going to the movies — at this point next year, we should either be able to do some of that (in small numbers perhaps, or limited regions) OR we will have a sense of clarity on when such events can begin.

We will know.

Or we will think we know, indulging in that very human propensity to believe that we understand what the future holds. We never do, but it gives us comfort as thinking/feeling creatures to imagine it. A false sense of security, but even a false sense still makes us feel better.

So here’s what you can do. Take a moment right now. Close your eyes. Think over the schools you’ve applied to, that you’ve made progress at, where you’ve interviewed, and felt a sense of belonging when you have interacted with that school community, where you have a sense of the fit, and why you want to go there, and why it would be a good place for you to learn and to grow.

Imagine yourself there. Next year, early November, 2021.

What will that look like?

What will that feel like?

What will that be like?

You are currently, right now, working to create a particular kind of future for yourself, based on the efforts you’re putting in with testing and essays and apps. All of that effort is to get someplace new.

Imagine it now. What will it be?

This weird moment is weird, but the weirdness won’t last. At some point soon, you’ll be in your future, and this weirdness will be gone.

What will your future look like?

Will you appreciate it when it arrives?

 

Consider putting an alert into your calendar for November 6, 2021, to remind you of this moment you’re taking now. Your future self can look back and remember your current self and this moment you’re spending in intentional reflection.

 

Filed Under: the world Tagged With: your life

« Previous: Accommodations
Next: You’ve probably read enough about the election by now… But here’s one last post on impact of politics on your aspirations for an MBA »

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Sometimes amused and often appalled by what candidates write in their MBA applications to top bschools, EssaySnark created this little blahg to share common mistakes. Learn from them and avoid making admissions directors laugh (or want to hurl) when they read your essays. If you are hoping to have your essay reviewed anonymously on the blahg for free, submit it for consideration.

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UPCOMING MBA APP DEADLINES

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From a BSer January 2020:
"love the guide books!"


CLASS OF 2023 MBA APPLICATION STRATEGY GUIDES

     
    The 2020 Berkeley-Haas MBA Application Guide - updated for the Class of 2023 application!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Berkeley Haas - refreshed and updated, with brainstorming exercises and structured maps to help you focus your stories!
   
    The 2020-2021 NYU Stern MBA Application Guide that covers the main essay, the EQ Endorsement and Pick Six!
SnarkStrategies Guide for NYU - discusses your requirements for the Class of 2023 essays!
   
    The 2020-2021 Columbia MBA Application Guide
SnarkStrategies Guide for Columbia Business School for 2020-2021 applications
   
    The 2020 Harvard MBA Application Guide - completely overhauled and updated for the coronavirus era!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Harvard Business School!
   
    The 2020-2021 Duke Essay Guide - covers the 25 Random Things essay and all the rest too!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Duke Fuqua - up to date for the current season!
   
    The 2020-2021 MIT Essay Guide covers the org chart, the contacts for two references, and additional tips for the cover letter and 'introduce yourself' video -- and everything else you need to know!
SnarkStrategies Guide for MIT Sloan MBA - totally revised for the Class of 2023!
   
    The 2020-2021 Tuck Essay Guide has been refreshed with latest insights and advice for your essays about "investing generously" and "why Tuck"!
SnarkStrategies Guide for the Dartmouth Tuck MBA - completely overhauled for 2020, to help you demonstrate how you are nice, aware, etc stuff!
   
    The Yale SOM MBA Application Guide for Class of 2023 candidates!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Yale SOM - updated for 2020-2021
   
    The 2020-2021 Chicago Booth MBA Application Guide - ready to go to support your Class of 2023 essay strategy!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Chicago Booth for this year's MBA app!
   
    The 2020 Wharton MBA Application Guide - even more advice on how to get to a win with those essays!
SnarkStrategies Guide for The Wharton School - with new tips for 2020!
   
    The 2020 Kellogg Essay Guide - with a full methodology to identify your 'lasting impact' and your 'values' -- plus tips on 2020 world events and applicability to your essays!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Kellogg MBA - updated and revised for the new realities of 2020!    
      The 2020 Stanford MBA Application Guide - for "what matters most" in your MBA application!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Stanford GSB for the Class of 2023
   
    The 2020-2021 UCLA Anderson MBA Application Guide - updated for Class of 2023 on "impact"!
SnarkStrategies Guide for 
UCLA
   
   

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What were we snarking about at this time in past years?

  • 2020: What "rolling admissions" means right now
  • 2020: ($) Coronavirus and the MBA: Which MBA programs are more likely to (possibly) resume oncampus instruction?
  • 2018: ($) International Re-applicants to U.S. schools who still haven't made it in
  • 2017: Success Story! Beyond bschool to the next big thing!
  • 2017: International student headed to the US for school? DO NOT BREAK THE LAW.
  • 2016: ($) If you thought you'd go to law school and now...
  • 2016: The other likely driver of increased MBA app volumes
  • 2015: To the adcoms: Nobody wants a deadline on a Thurs or Fri.
  • 2014: ($) MBA application challenge: "I work for a small local employer..."
  • 2012: The changes to Kellogg's programs Part 3
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