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“I may have screwed the pooch and I feel crappy about it.”

March 3, 2021 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

We all make the best decisions that we can, in the moment that we’re forced to make them.

If you’re sitting here now dreading the outcomes that are headed your way, with the sinking feeling that the apps you submitted in December and the first week of January all are going to come to naught, then you may be having a hard time not getting totally down on yourself.

We’ve never met a single BSer ever who submitted an application thinking it had no chance at all. Even those who submit Hail Mary apps to schools at the end of the season, or the ones who submit to H/S/W when they know there are big weaknesses in the profile, still, everyone assumes that there’s at least a sliver of a chance. Why pay the very expensive app fee if you didn’t think that it could have a shot?

Sitting here now, if you’re starting to get that sinking sensation that all those app fees were wasted and you’re feeling your hopes dashed completely, all we can say today is, yeah man.

This process SUCKS.

It’s so hard on the ego. It’s so tough on the emotions.

Even for those who make it in to the schools they had hoped for still often come out of it feeling a bit scarred.

The process of applying to a top MBA program is like signing up to be tortured, voluntarily.

The whole system just sucks, there’s no two ways about it.

If you’re currently sitting on one or more admits, then we just want to offer a gentle reminder that not everyone is feeling quite as pleased with themselves as you may be feeling right now, and to remember to be kind. It’s not necessary to gloat over your successes. Find people who can be enthusiastically happy for you and celebrate with them, but be sensitive when among others who may be feeling the sting of defeat in the moment.

If you’re still waiting for your schools to come through on decisions, you have likely gone through a full spectrum of feelings about everything already, and many people bottom out kind of convincing themselves that they’re probably not going to make it, while hoping desperately that they will. It’s a complicated mixed-up experience!! It’s really hard to sort through self-assessments of how did I do in that interview? and second-guessing how poorly or positively the whole application was constructed originally.

Many people end up selling themselves short, assuming that they must have bombed the interview, and replaying each and every moment of awkward answer or fumbling around. We tend to remember those moments more than the ones where we did just fine.

If you took shortcuts back in November and December in the lead-up to those deadlines, or if you simply didn’t have the time and energy to devote to the project of the apps as you now wish you had, please try not to nail your own self to the wall. It may be impossible not to let the self-critical scripts keep running in the head, but we do hope you’ll find a way out of those loops. Such self-recrimination doesn’t do anything except cause more suffering, and it’s hardly ever based in an objective view of what actually happened.

You did what you could in those weeks before apps became due. It was a really tough time for everyone. Fall of 2020 just absolutely sucked. If it turns out that what you were able to produce isn’t enough to earn an admit to the school you really wanted to go to, it’s probably going to be crushing for a time. There’s also potentially other schools to consider trying for now, even in this late-stage Round 3 moment. It all depends on the priorities you have for what you are aiming for and how you want to get there.

It’s never mandatory to have an MBA to achieve huge successes in life.

Hopefully today’s attempt at a reality check does not apply to many of you — hopefully the majority of you are feeling confident and hopefully of how things will land, or are already happy about where they have landed.

A not-uncommon reaction around this time of year is often one of regret, and that’s just a tough emotion to deal with. If that’s where your brain is taking you, then please try to talk it out with someone who is kind and compassionate, who can offer some perspective and help buffer the difficulties. Try not to beat yourself up about what happened to get you there. You did what you could, under really challenging circumstances. If it turns out that you’re headed to bschool in the Fall, then that’s super exciting — and if it turns out that that’s not in the cards, then there’s no escaping the disappointment, but that also means that there will be other paths and opportunities that will come available to you, including some that you maybe haven’t even thought of before.

There’s room for honest self-critique, and taking responsibility for mistakes made — but please don’t lose sight of how hard things were at the end of last year. Whatever you got done, was what you were capable of at the time. If now there’s a new world starting to peek over the horizon, then all of us will benefit from meeting it with grace and seeing where it will take us, and being kind to our past selves who did what they could to survive a difficult time.

 

Filed Under: general snark

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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: ($) What to consider with your Kellogg (or other school's Rd 3 Flex) app: Recs, timing, optional essay
  • 2020: ($) Coronavirus and the MBA: Kellogg changes the game
  • 2019: Is your GMAT good enough?
  • 2019: Volunteering and MBA applicants from the non-profit world
  • 2018: ($) If you took the GMAT while you were in college and now X years later you're applying for an MBA
  • 2017: If you get feedback from the adcom about your denied application
  • 2015: ($) Continued from yesterday: When will Harvard release their MBA app? And which app should you do first?
  • 2015: Which schools release MBA essay questions when?
  • 2014: Bschool is all about food.
  • 2013: Researching MBA programs
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