Holiday from Hell

I didn't think that it was possible to have a bad holiday vacation. It started off ok. I arrived in New Orleans and drove to Baton Rouge. I usually spend Christmas in both places. That didn't happen this year because of a silly weather phenomena called snow in New Orleans. Yes, SNOW IN NEW ORLEANS. Since I was in Baton Rouge, I didn't get to see it. Every major road between BR and NO iced over. The State Troopers shut the roads down to prevent accidents.

I didn't get back to NO until Monday evening. I had a few great days. I spent New Year's Eve in the most horrible place to be on New Year's Eve, The French Quarters. I hate the French Quarters. Can you imagine a narrow street full of drunk Sugar Bowl spectators and other tourists? Well, it is not a pretty sight!

I got home from the night from hell and the morning from hell began. I ended up in the emergency room due to a stomach virus. I didn't see any bowl games on New Year's Day. This morning, I finally ate my first meal that included solid food. It was only toast with butter, but that was much better than chicken broth! To make matters worse, I had to extend my trip in order to attend a funeral on Tuesday.

My only resolution is for the rest of the year to be better. It can't get much worse! The good news is that it is officially KING CAKE SEASON. This time of the year only always makes me happy. Now, I will feel much better when I am actually able to eat the king cake!

Best Wishes for 2005!

Ding Da Ding

I apologize for posting this so late. I have spent more time fixing my computer than using it over the past few days.

The verdict is in . . . I will not be attending Wharton next year. Congrats to all who got good news! Surprisingly, I wasn't crushed. I took every possible opportunity to highlight the positives of this situation. I figured that applying this year would be a long-shot when I began this process. Nevertheless, I learned so much throughout this process and met so many great people. Do I wish that the outcome was different? Of course I do. However, I can accept the fact that I just wasn't good enough this time. Although, this is the first time that I have ever experienced rejection in an academic environment!

I'm sure most of you can guess where I went for dinner to commemorate the fact that I set a goal and gave it my all. I had a great time with a fellow prospect.

So what's next . . . I plan to have a feedback session with the Ad Com in the Spring. Most people don't think that my gmat score was an issue, but I feel like I have to give it another shot or two to improve my candidacy. Whatever I learn from the feedback session will be dealt with at that time.

I hope to have a different conversation with the Blog world this time next year. Until then, the journey continues. Except, the destination is a spot in the class of 2008!

Good luck to all current applicants, acceptees, and prospectives.

Happy Holidays!

7 Days, 11 Hours, 58 Minutes

It is currently 7 Days, 11 Hours and 58 Minutes from the Wharton Decision Announcement. When I got the emailed announcement this afternoon, I was relieved. If the decision had come out on 12/23, I would have been in route to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Instead of looking forward to seeing my family, I would have been looking forward to signing on to the closest computer with internet service. Even if it meant going to Kinko's and paying! Instead, I can go home with a clear head and a plan for the next 8 months. If I get in, I can start planning the move. If I don't, I can start making my application stronger for next year. Hopefully, I will get an admit invitation and not a waitlist invitation.

But . . .it's out of my hands now. I've prayed about it. My friends have prayed about it. Their parents have prayed about it. Even their boyfriends and their boyfriends' mothers have prayed about it! So, now I wait for 7 Days, 11 Hours and 42 Minutes.

Until then, I have plenty to keep me busy. Work, happy hours from Wednesday-Friday, team parties, team meetings, The Apprentice Finale, finance community parties, and a whole bunch of packing for my ten days away from Texas.

So, now I wait for 7 Days, 11 Hours, 38 Minutes . . .

It's been a while, but I'm back

Where do I start? The Wharton interview trip is a good place to start. This was the plan:

1. Get to the airport early.
2. Get a good night's sleep in NYC.
3. Wake up at the crack of dawn to catch a train to Philly.
4. Eat breakfast near campus.
5. Interview with a Wharton AdCom member.
6. Meet up with a Undergraduate Alum
7. Take the train back to New York and go to Del Frisco's.

Here is what actually happened:

I had every intention on getting to the airport on time. Unfortunately, I ended up staying at the office later than expected and I still had to pick up medicine for the allergy attack from hell. The pharmacy had not received my re-fill authorization and I couldn't get my medicine. I got on the highway and eventually ended up in a never ending stream of bumber-to-bumper traffic. Keep in mind that my office is only 6 miles from the airport. With 40 minutes until departure, I figured that I would still make it. Now its 30 minutes until departure and I still have 4 miles to go. At this point, I started to panic. With 20 minutes to go, I decided to take another route. I eventually made it to the terminal. As I walked up to the counter, I was overtaken by the sight of my plane pulling away from the gate. A certain 4-letter word that starts with "s", ends with "t" and has "it" in the middle began to flow through my mind like a hurricane's wind. Luckily, I could fly standby. I found a cute wine bar in my terminal, had a glass of Reisling and listened to my Ipod as I waited for the next plane.

I ended up getting to New York at 11:30 pm. I reached my final destination at about 12:00 am. This meant that I would get about 4.5 hours of sleep after I unpacked my suit and prepared for the next morning. That didn't happen. Since I couldn't breathe well due to sinus congestion issues, I only got 2 hours of sleep.

I woke up at the crack of dawn to have breakfast and decided to catch the train from Newark Penn instead of NY Penn. I lost my money for my PATH tickets on my way to the station. When I arrived at Newark Penn, I knew nothing about the station. I was informed that my ticket was for Saturday instead of Friday. Great. I had to change my ticket and pay an extra $25. I asked the Amtrak ticket agent where my train would depart from and she said "Track 4." It took me 5 minutes to find track 4. As I waited for my 7:22 train to Philly, I watched the clock. 7:15 here comes NJ Transit. 7:20 here comes NJ Transit. 7:21 no train. 7:22 no train. I went back inside and saw an Amtrak pulling away from Track 3. I asked the waving conductor if the train was going to Philly and he said, "It sure is." Here comes that 4-letter word again! Thank gosh I had my Ipod with me to calm my nerves down. I managed to get on the next train which arrived a little before 9:00 am. The cab stand line was never ending, but I finally arrived on campus at about 9:10. Unfortunately, I bought a muffin from ABP, but I didn't think that I would have time to finish it, use the restroom, and brush my teeth because I can't have muffin crumbs falling from my braces!

I turned in my resume and had a very pleasant interview. I won't know how pleasant until I receive my decision. The questions were pretty standard. You can find a wonderful list on S2S. I hung around for a little while and talked to a few students. I realized that I left the Alum's phone number on my computer in Dallas. Since I couldn't find anyone with the Alum's phone number, I moved my train departure up a few hours.

My Del Frisco's reservation was for 2:45. I figured if I got in for 1:47, that would be enought time to make it to Midtown. Well, my train was late and moved slower than I could ever imagine. To make matters worse, my congestion got worse and a whole bunch of other bad things happened. I got into Ny Penn at 2:30, which left me with enough time to get to Del Frisco's by cab. The problem was I couldn't get a cab if life depended on it. I ended up walking from 33 and 7th to 49 and 6th. I'm sure my Gucci loafers would have a few choice words for me if they could talk. Anyway, I made it Del Frisco's a few minutes late. I ended up sitting at my usual table and having a wonderful lunch for a discounted lunch price!

I was very sick on Saturday and too weak to go into the city. Therefore, I didn't get to hang out with most of my friends or see the city lit up for Christmas.

For all you future Wharton applicants reading this blog, the morals of the story are as follows:

1. Be on time for your airplane departure.
2. Don't trust the Amtrak ticket agent no matter what. If you do, you will end up somewhere in He Haw, South Jersey.
3. Bring a snack for the train in case you aren't able to have breakfast.
4. Carry your fully-charged Ipod with you at all times. It is more than a wireless, portable jukebox!
5. Never assume that you will be able to get a cab to Midtown.

Well, that's it for me today.

The Jitters Have Returned

I do not want to admit this, but the first round jitters have returned. I received the message that the Wharton Interview invites will be released between October 21 and November 18. I am so anxious now. I was fine with the thought of waiting until November 18, but now that I know that invitations will be released starting Friday I am all jittery again.

I have plenty to keep my mind off of this situation. I have a presentation to prepare on the new CPA exam and I am volunteering at a conference in some capacity from Wednesday to Saturday. I am really psyched about my presentation. While I was researching the new CPA exam, I learned a lot about the new exam. Let's just say that I am grateful that I already passed it! Maybe this break from the world wide web will enable me to calm the heck down!

Again, I am still soliciting for suggestions on how to get rid of these jitters!

Free Time - What the Heck?

If you haven't noticed, I am also applying to Columbia. However, my target finish date is December 20. I am going to take a week off to relax. That gives me two months to work on my Columbia app. Now that I have an entire week to myself, I am wondering what to do with all this free time that I have. After 6 straight months of GMAT, Essays, Recommendations, Transcripts and Online Applications, I honestly do not remember what life was like before I began this process. My friends do not even call me anymore. They generally assume that I am studying, writing essays, or doing something else related to B-School apps.

Seriously, I do not know what to do with myself. I studied for the CPA exam this time last year. I spent a lot of time running one of my favorite community programs until I got the results in March. I took about a month off and then I started studying for GMAT. As you can see, I am badly in need of a new social life!

So if anyone has any suggestions on how to piece back together you social life and make full use of free time after submitting your b-school applications, please post them here!

Good luck to all of the fellow b-school applicants!

It is Official Now

Today is a historic day for me. I submitted my Wharton application. I printed it out, reviewed the data one more time, and pressed submit. I guess that officially makes me a Wharton Round One Applicant. I have thought about this day for about 5 years now. I still remember when I got my very first Wharton application in the mail almost 5 years ago.

The nervousness that I forgot about for the past few days must have went on a short vacation. It all came back right before I pressed submit. Thankfully, I seem to be calming down a little more with each minute that passes by.

Well, that's it for me tonight. I am going to get some well-deserved rest tonight!

Countdown to Wharton Round 1 Deadline is now OVER!

Countdown to Interview Invitation Deadline = 1 Month and a Few Days