Ms. MBA (Quest for the MBA Impossible)

Journey begins here →

2007-05-09T10:40:00.001-10:00

Well, as many of the fellow bloggers are preparing to enter the class of 2008, I am beginning my own journey here. Not MBA, but my official Full-time work journey. I am proud to say, I am just like any newly grads, excited about working for a global company. Fortunately, I've gladly accepted an offer from Boeing to work on 737 (though, I want to work on 787, Dreamliner though).... =)

Of course, I would like to thank all those bloggers who showed much support and wise advices for my MBA journey. I've met a great number of ambitious, funny, outgoing, and serious thinkers here in this blog community. I love how everyone is chasing after the same goal, but each with a unique background and personality to share. I would love to continue my blogging here, however, I don't think any of my future posts will be related to MBA...not in a short while at least. So, I've decided instead of leaving this wonderful blogsphere, I will just create a different blog. New Blog addy.

Anyways,... I guess my journey → ends here and starts here ←

Good Luck to All of You who are accepted to the schools of your choice ^^

I hate Competition! (non-MBA moan)

2007-04-12T14:21:00.000-10:00

Outside, the rain fell softly. In Hawaii, this is somewhat common. Except today what it didn't follow was the peak from the sunshine.

Anyways, what brought me to my grumbling today was a thought on Competition.
Competition for MBA Talent:
Sometimes, there are so many qualifying applicants but only limited seats in an MBA program, so some of those unfortunate fellows must take the realistic rejection. It's hard. But what puzzled me was the type of method to further distinguish the already "qualifying applicants" to the final number of admits. I often wonder how did the adcom choose? What were they thinking? What was the criteria they use to make that final decision?

Competition for ONE position:
If you read my previous post, then you would know that I had my Boeing phone interview. And if you are reading this post now, then you will know that I was selected as the Top 4 candidates for the on-site interview. Was I happy? More than you think! I was excited, jumping up and down, making phone calls to my parents.... you name it. You might be thinking now why in the world was I so thrilled? Let's see... the manger reviewed 160 resumes, and then chose 10 applicants for interview (6.25% selection rate); finally, Top 4 were selected to be flown to Washington (down to 2.5% selection rate).

Now, there is just one issue. How many are they selecting out of the 4? Just ONE! -> (0.625%!!!) omg... I needed air. Would I say that those 10 people were of top talents already? Definitely! How about the top 4? No doubt! But to choose one out of the four... the same question flashed back to my mind? What method is Boeing using to finally differentiate these four candidates?
- At the same time, I was saddened by the fact that 6 of those top talents had received the cold rejection email. Knowing this, I felt guilty for celebrating my joyous news. But that's life... sigh! I guess I am more afraid to end up to be one of those after my last interview. Those who say, "Darn, I was so close".

Competition at the Workplace:
I don't understand that after you go through all those interviews to finally land a position at a workplace, some people would still attempt for more competitions at work as if that would be the sole media to acknowledge your existence and intelligence. I understand that in every field, competition often leads to greater innovation and productivity. But it's not healthy. It's intense. What's more important, I believe every position, similar or dissimilar, is equally important and hard. Why does there exist a need to compare each person's responsibility?

Does holding an MBA degree in fact translate someone into a "smarter person" than someone with a Bachelor degree with more years of working experiences? I encountered such issue at my workplace. I used to be the only Business-major programmer in an IT office; then an MBA fellow started working there. Since, there's a constant competition between him and I. What for? My job task was completely different from his. Maybe I naively wanted to pursue an MBA after college, and I failed. But does that grant him the right to belittle my initiation and actions followed? My education background might not be as impressive as his, but man... to deal with an arrogant individual is harder than I thought.

I am proud of my Plan B. But to have anyone contemn my plans, it's just pure disgusting.

I HATE COMPETITION!!

MBA Impossible is indeed impossible (for now @ least)

2007-03-29T14:54:00.000-10:00

Ding Ding... no, that is not any welcome doorbell ring from my MBA schools :(

Yes, once more, another rejection. At least UCLA is on time to release their decision. Early in the morning, I got an official rejection email that looks utterly familiar. Just like the other two that had been moved to my Trash folder as soon as I read them.

I am not so discouraged honestly. I knew it was an impossible attempt for me. Now, I am ever so ready to work and gain my real-world experiences. I am quite excited actually! Maybe it's because I read an article the other day that said something like..."recruiters don't view all MBAs the same", and that strike me. If I were actually accepted to any of the program, after kissing goodbye $100K, I wouldn't probably even find a decent job.

Anyways, so much for the loser talk. On a more positive note,

I got my second interview with Boeing! Horray! =)

Instead of spending my weekend grieving at my MBA failures, I have got to prepare for my interview.

It's about time...

2007-03-07T15:40:00.000-10:00

Got a phone call early in the morning. Not from any adcom, but from my friend who just got hired by Raytheon! For a college grad, $63K is awesome! Horray for him~Congrats!!!

It just reminded me that I will need to move on with my life, and get ready for my Plan B. As the days are counting down, I realize my dream to attend MBA this year is moving farther from me. I suppose, I should start packing my things to ship to LA, and to look for jobs there.

Status update: No news from any other three schools.

Reflection -->

Spending couple months working on the MBA essays made me find out something about myself. Perhaps, I don't need an MBA to pursue my entrepreneurial passion; it may be the working experiences which will lead me to accomplish what I want to do. And when I accumulate enough working experience, I will have a new profound for MBA journey. What I need to possess to be successful in business is not an impressive degree (as my entrepreneur experience had already proven that age/academic degree does not determine my company's potential), but is my persistence in chasing what I want. As an entrepreneur, I knew everything in the world has risk factor attached to it and I take risks. Applying for an MBA right out of college at 21 was a risk, I took it. I might fail or might not, but whatever it is, at least I tried and definitely No regret!

Well, here is my last attempt to apply for a school in a more specialized degree that I deemed to be more relevant to my future career. It is equally as difficult as applying for MBA, but... as always, I am willing to take the chance. :)

Ding from NYU Stern

2007-02-27T10:08:00.000-10:00

An email at 10am... the subject line: "Change in application status" email from NYU Stern.

My heart was pounding at an amazing rate. I debated whether I should read the email now, while at work. I decided to read it anyways. I am prepared for any situation and any kind of status.

After I pressed the "View Decision Letter" button that presumely would lead me to a letter, my eyes quickly skimmed through the lettter, attempting to pick up some key words. And I did. A whole cold sentence.

"...After careful consideration of your application and credentials, we are unable to offer you admission but we would like to encourage you to reapply in the future..."

I am not going to lie about my feeling. I am disappointed, followed by a serious reconsideration of my other options.

Note to myself: Ouch =(

Another valentine's day post

2007-02-14T15:01:00.000-10:00

I just can't resist the temptation to create a post on this celebrated lover's day. o(^-^)o

Nothing much has changed since the last post, except maybe, R2 interviews for Haas and NYU are opened. I wonder, if I would ever get an interview?

Boeing is coming to my campus for info session/interview, maybe this will be a great chance to jump start my Plan B. After much thinking, I realize I have come to the point of my life where every option is a good option. (A note to myself: hafta call that lady in the office to schedule an interview)

This Valentine's Day- I can't be more happier. I not only receive many love from my friends, but also from my that special someone <3. While I am so busy with my telepathic campaign with adcom... (interview invites, interview invites), I make sure I don't forget to say Love You to my dear.

mail box

2007-02-08T22:11:00.000-10:00

Today... I will talk about my 3-second froze in front of my mail box, but before I start my story, I have to tell you the dream I had couple nights ago.

It was all too real. I stood right in front of my mail box. Holding in my hands is a post card with a beautiful campus building on the front and few sentences on the back of it. I drew it closer to my eyes, and realized that the words said "Sorry, Ms. Christiana, ding ding for you.", and it was signed by UCLA. I thought, "wow, I just got rejected!", but amazingly I wasn't too sad (or at least not yet), then came another thought "how nice of them to send me a post card to enjoy the scenery while trying to swallow that big fat ding"

.......Then my alarm clock went off~

This is no wonder that I froze right in front of my mail box when I saw what was lying inside it. It was a post card, from NYU. I really don't remember why, but my mind flashed back immediately to that dream. OMG, it can't be true. They just rejected me? NYU, no ... how can they do that? Shouldn't the decision come in email first? All those thoughts just started popping up within those milli-seconds as I slowly turned around the post card.

"Thank you for applying to the MBA program at NYU Stern School of Business. We have received your application and look forward to learning about your experience....

NYU Stern Admissions"

And then there was silly laugh afterwards.... this whole waiting experience is really torturing my every day life.

Plan B... anyone?

2007-02-06T23:25:00.001-10:00

Yeah, I still managed to find time to write another entry. It only seemed like a good idea to jog down my thoughts that are carried from day to day until I receive the official email.

15 or 20 posts? That is the number of posts I read on MBA waiting experience. Most of them made it somewhere, if not Kellogg, then Stern...or Anderson~ Chicago (1), couple Whartons... man, I am beginning to get really worried!!

So plan B... basically is what I can do if B-school is out of the question. Let's see my options:

Move to California
Find a job (maybe 40K) ....why, I am a content person, not greedy...
FINALLY, and finally make my third business dream become a reality (wait, what happened to the second one?... oh that, well, it's still going. Like constipation, it's stuck...almost came out, but not quite ==") FU Wear Asia (Est. 2010)

Yeah, my Plan B is cool~ but an MBA would be even cooler~

still waiting

2007-02-05T17:32:00.000-10:00

Day 2 since I created this blogger.

February 5th, 5:32pm.... I am still checking my email every half an hour. My number one thing to do in the morning. Well, no news yet.

... I've heard that no news is good news. I certainly hope so. O_O

Diana (sister) just got an acceptance offer from UCLA. Damn, that was fast.

When is it my turn to jump up and down? Soon...I hope... really....

Is it done?

2007-02-04T14:04:00.001-10:00

I told myself.... I am not going to start another blogging site. But I did. Here's the proof: well, I am writing it now (duh)

MySpace, MSN Live, Mixi (Japan's equivalent of myspace), and now, the Blogger. I am torn among these sites to share my agonizing pre-MBA journey.

I chose Blogger at the end, mainly because so many other prospective MBAs chose this site to be the ONE that they shared their experiences on. Of course, I would like to read back, sometime in the future, knowing that I have at least some evidence in writing documenting my painful Quest for the MBA impossible.

Why do I call it the MBA impossible? It's not only because I am applying for top schools...not Ivy Leagues now...(thanks Nick for the correction), but also I feel like I am an underdog going for the big one.

The truth & the impossible:
I am a Taiwanese (not Asian American now). I came to the U.S. when I was 14 with my older sister (1 year older). Both of us didn't speak any language- (yes, the typical but real Language barrier). Not having parents by our sides was fun and challenging. We learned English all by ourselves, and fixed that broken toilet ourselves. We were proud of where we were from. I appreciate both the American and the Taiwanese cultures, hence, I don't call myself an Asian American (i mean...who am I? -an American or an Asian). I am still a Taiwanese... just one who lives in the U.S. That's all. (man, this paragraph sounds like a personal background, right there)

Armed with only almost 4 years of experiences as a young entrepreneur, I attempted the impossible of applying for Top Tier business school. As you can see, I don't really have an outstanding GMAT (c'mon, 86% percentage tile is not THAT bad), but my GPA tells you that I am definitely a hard worker, a persistent one too. My age...oh yeah... that too. Did you know the average age for MBAs is 27-28. That's a nice 6 years difference. This, I think, is what I have to overcome the most. How do I convince them that a 21-year-old can do as well as a 27-year-old?

Why MBA now if you are running a successful company? <-- this question I think is what I need to explain to them the most, which helps a bit too, since my goal is always clear. An MBA is going to give me a damning credibitabily when negotiating a contract; it's going to give me the network; it's going to find me another business partner....etc. That's it, I just need an interview.