As I've posted on here before, my boss and my close co-workers (all 2 of them) are all in the loop with my business school plans, but I've kept it quiet at work outside of that small circle. I really wanted to keep it on a "need to know" basis until I had some decisions in hand and my boss was down with that. So imagine my surprise when I sit down in a meeting with several representatives from each department and have one of the senior managers (from a department other than mine) ask me how the b-school apps are going. Loud enough for other people to hear and go "What's that you say? You're applying to b-school?"
{picture my smiling face trying to hide the shock and desire to kick my boss's ass}
Yeah, not so happy about that, but what's done is done. I had my regular one-on-one development meeting with my boss shortly afterwards and I grilled him a little. I definitely felt betrayed by him and was not happy about the public ambush, but so it goes. He explained that at first he only told his boss (which is perfectly acceptable) and wanted to keep it that way. However, with the departure of one of our team members in early November and some reluctance by our site director to backfill the position, he had to bring more people in the loop and make the case for the backfill to maintain continuity of the business since I'll be leaving in less than a year (unless a catastrophe happens) and it will take a few months to hire someone and get them up to speed. He was in a crappy position and I understood why he did it, I just wish it could have been a little more discreet and I wish he would have told me before or immediately after he let the cat out of the bag so I wouldn't be caught off guard like that. The other thing that I'm worried about is corporate politics and what impact this might have on my performance rating/bonus. People are much less inclined to promote or reward someone who has plans to leave and they may make assumptions about checking out/slacking off in the final weeks. We'll see what happens, I just have to keep kicking ass and taking names and hope for the best.
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
My long awaited Chicago interview
Well, the fourth attempt was a charm and tonight I completed my interview for Chicago. I think it went pretty well. It was so conversational that it's hard for me to remember what specific questions were asked/answered, but I left feeling like my interviewer understood what I'm all about. He was a fairly young alum (98) and he works in the same industry as me so it was easy to lay the groundwork of the interview and really spend most of the time talking about why Chicago and why strategic planning/sports media & management. He was enthusiastic about my career plans and told me about his consulting experience and how that could be a back-up plan for me (work for a large consulting firm in their media/entertainment division or an industry specialized boutique consulting firm). He said that if most of my job search was off-campus, I could horde my bid points and use them to specifically target the big consulting firms and guarantee an interview. I thought that was helpful and indicated some confidence in my candidacy. We also talked about his experience with LEAD, both as a 1st year student and as a 2nd year facilitator. I think being a LEAD facilitator would be something I'd be interested in doing should I end up at the GSB. It sounds like an awesome experience.
I spent Turkey Day with a bunch of friends who are also non-native San Diegans. We had quite the spread and I'm glad it wasn't at my house because otherwise I would have gorged myself on leftovers. A couple of those friends are MBA grads who are working on starting up their own company, so it was really interesting talking to them about the whole MBA process and how they are making use of their knowledge (and of course their network) in their new venture. I went in to work for a few hours on Friday to get a couple of things done and make sure there were no fires to be put out since the rest of our team was OOTO. Saturday I met up with some friends for a little wakeboarding. IT WAS COLD! So much for that 120 degree rule I was talking about earlier. We met at the lake at 8:30 but it was pea-soup foggy and we couldn't launch the boat until the fog lifted 2 hrs later. Even then, it was still cloudy so the sun hadn't warmed up the air all that much. 54 F air temp, 55 F water temp. BRRR! Actually, it wasn't so bad while I was riding (except for my toes, and they turned purple to let me know when it was time to call it quits). It was worse in the boat afterwards. Thank goodness I packed my ski hat. And my friend just installed a heated shower on his boat...that warms the feet up quick :)
Stayed as far away from the malls/stores as possible this weekend. I'll have to go later this week to find a dress for our holiday party, but otherwise I will do all of my shopping online. It is just so much easier, especially when you have to travel. Rather than trying to fit everything in my suitcases and hope it doesn't get broken by careless baggage handlers, I ship everything to my parents' office and have them set it aside in my old room. I've done it this way every year since I moved away from home and it works like a charm.
I spent Turkey Day with a bunch of friends who are also non-native San Diegans. We had quite the spread and I'm glad it wasn't at my house because otherwise I would have gorged myself on leftovers. A couple of those friends are MBA grads who are working on starting up their own company, so it was really interesting talking to them about the whole MBA process and how they are making use of their knowledge (and of course their network) in their new venture. I went in to work for a few hours on Friday to get a couple of things done and make sure there were no fires to be put out since the rest of our team was OOTO. Saturday I met up with some friends for a little wakeboarding. IT WAS COLD! So much for that 120 degree rule I was talking about earlier. We met at the lake at 8:30 but it was pea-soup foggy and we couldn't launch the boat until the fog lifted 2 hrs later. Even then, it was still cloudy so the sun hadn't warmed up the air all that much. 54 F air temp, 55 F water temp. BRRR! Actually, it wasn't so bad while I was riding (except for my toes, and they turned purple to let me know when it was time to call it quits). It was worse in the boat afterwards. Thank goodness I packed my ski hat. And my friend just installed a heated shower on his boat...that warms the feet up quick :)
Stayed as far away from the malls/stores as possible this weekend. I'll have to go later this week to find a dress for our holiday party, but otherwise I will do all of my shopping online. It is just so much easier, especially when you have to travel. Rather than trying to fit everything in my suitcases and hope it doesn't get broken by careless baggage handlers, I ship everything to my parents' office and have them set it aside in my old room. I've done it this way every year since I moved away from home and it works like a charm.
Sunday, November 21, 2004
The monkey has left the building!
After losing the last 6 straight to the bad guys (including the last 3 as the heavy favorite), my Cougars have finally brought the Apple Cup home to Pullman! This win salvages a less than spectacular season, and it means the puppies of UW have gone o-fer in the Pac-10 for the first time in decades. BUWAHAHAHAHA! I love it! I will admit that last night when all was said and done, it hardly felt like a celebration. All I felt was relief. I couldn't really enjoy the game as I was watching it because I was so tense that shit was going to happen, AGAIN, like it has the past 6 years. The Cougs have such a knack for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, they even have a personalized verb for it....to Coug it. So while it looked like the game was in hand midway through the 3rd quarter with the Cougars up 28-10, I felt like I was going to throw up as I watched the Huskies start to rally in the 4th quarter. I don't think I've ever been so relieved to see time run out. Those last 90 seconds felt like forever. 28-25, Cougars win. Phew! I'm really happy I Tivo'd the game so I can watch it again and actually enjoy it and celebrate this victory the right way. I'm so happy for our seniors and for Wazzu fans everywhere and I hope this is the start of a new streak of Apple Cup wins for the good guys.
This morning was weird. We rarely get thunderstorms around here and we had a doozy around 6:30 this morning. Lots of very loud thunder and pouring rain. Now, it's beautiful, so I'm going for a walk around the bay!
This morning was weird. We rarely get thunderstorms around here and we had a doozy around 6:30 this morning. Lots of very loud thunder and pouring rain. Now, it's beautiful, so I'm going for a walk around the bay!
Friday, November 19, 2004
FINALLY!
I finally got my Chicago interview scheduled after the 4th attempt. Yippee! Man, that was frustrating! I had almost given up hope. I had been in contact with a member of the admissions committee this week and she told me if I still hadn’t heard anything from my assigned interviewer by Monday that they would either waive it or consider a phone interview. I’m really happy to get this thing scheduled because I feel like meeting someone face-to-face and being able to ask me questions and get to know my personality is a really important piece of my application. It’s interesting that the first interviewer assigned to me (that had recently moved to Cleveland) used to work for the same company as me, and the guy who is actually going to interview me works for a competitor. It’s a small world here in San Diego (definitely in terms of financial services companies)!
I’d like to send a shout out to all my fellow bloggers who received Wharton interview invites…you guys rock! Good luck with your interviews
TGIF…it has been a long week at work. Our quarterly forecasting process is ramping up and I’m taking the lead this quarter. In addition, we put together a pretty comprehensive strategic reporting deck this week and presented to senior management today. My boss was WAY stressed out about it and was in turn stressing me out, but the presentation went really well and I got great feedback…best presentation to senior management yet! Just in time for year end performance reviews, gotta love it. Is it happy hour yet??
No major weekend plans here. I need to get caught up on the chores I neglected because of long hours & stress this week. Never again will I rent an apartment without a dishwasher! Apple Cup is tomorrow, 4 pm PST…Last time WSU won was 1997, the game was in Seattle and I was a sophomore in college. It was an awesome game; they clinched a Rose Bowl berth and we all partied hard in Husky Stadium. It has been much too long since my boys won, but this is the year we get that damn monkey off our backs, I can feel it. Go Wazzu! Go Cougars! Beat those stinkin’ mutts!
I’d like to send a shout out to all my fellow bloggers who received Wharton interview invites…you guys rock! Good luck with your interviews
TGIF…it has been a long week at work. Our quarterly forecasting process is ramping up and I’m taking the lead this quarter. In addition, we put together a pretty comprehensive strategic reporting deck this week and presented to senior management today. My boss was WAY stressed out about it and was in turn stressing me out, but the presentation went really well and I got great feedback…best presentation to senior management yet! Just in time for year end performance reviews, gotta love it. Is it happy hour yet??
No major weekend plans here. I need to get caught up on the chores I neglected because of long hours & stress this week. Never again will I rent an apartment without a dishwasher! Apple Cup is tomorrow, 4 pm PST…Last time WSU won was 1997, the game was in Seattle and I was a sophomore in college. It was an awesome game; they clinched a Rose Bowl berth and we all partied hard in Husky Stadium. It has been much too long since my boys won, but this is the year we get that damn monkey off our backs, I can feel it. Go Wazzu! Go Cougars! Beat those stinkin’ mutts!
Monday, November 15, 2004
UT/McCombs Interview
I completed my interview for McCombs today. I met with an alum who graduated a couple of years ago at his office. It lasted about 45 minutes and was a very casual conversation. I was a little nervous because the website said the dress code was business or business casual…which could mean a variety of things. My office is casual (I mean casual…I wear jeans most of the time and wore flip flops pretty much every day this summer). Since I would be leaving mid-day for the interview and didn’t want to change, I went with business casual. My boss and direct colleagues know what I’m up to, but people outside our team don’t and I’d prefer to keep it that way. Anything dressier than slacks and a sweater set would draw way to much attention at work. The alum I interviewed with works at a local investment management firm, and while I was pretty sure they’d be business casual (this is San Diego not New York, after all), there was a chance my guess would be wrong and I’d feel uncomfortably underdressed. Lucky for me, I was right.
It was interesting because he asked me if I had trouble finding the place and I said no, I didn’t because I had been there before. He of course asked why and I answered him honestly…I had been there a couple of months ago for the Kellogg information session. Gaaaah! Have now admitted interest in another to school to interviewer!!! Doom. Dooooom. (Yes, I’ve just re-read Bridget Jones Edge of Reason, so that was Bridget-inspired.) Anyway, he put me at ease and said obviously you’re applying other places, don’t worry about it, this interview is just about your fit with UT/McCombs. Phew! A brief summary of the things we talked about:
--walked through my resume
--future career goals/why mba/why now/why McCombs
--talk about experience working as a part of a team in work experience
--hypothetical situation: you’re a part of a team and someone is not carrying their weight, what do you do
--what part of your application do you think could use some improvement
--any questions I had for him about UT/McCombs/Austin
He told me he was going to go off the script a bit and I’m glad he did because I think I was able to genuinely portray myself in my answers to his questions. I felt like it went really well and he confirmed that when he told me he would be strongly recommending me for admission and that he felt I would be a good fit for UT. He gave me his card and told me that he knew I’d be getting admissions and that if I needed to bounce some ideas off him or one of his colleagues (they have quite the range of MBA program representation) to give him a call. Very nice guy and a great representative for McCombs.
It was interesting because he asked me if I had trouble finding the place and I said no, I didn’t because I had been there before. He of course asked why and I answered him honestly…I had been there a couple of months ago for the Kellogg information session. Gaaaah! Have now admitted interest in another to school to interviewer!!! Doom. Dooooom. (Yes, I’ve just re-read Bridget Jones Edge of Reason, so that was Bridget-inspired.) Anyway, he put me at ease and said obviously you’re applying other places, don’t worry about it, this interview is just about your fit with UT/McCombs. Phew! A brief summary of the things we talked about:
--walked through my resume
--future career goals/why mba/why now/why McCombs
--talk about experience working as a part of a team in work experience
--hypothetical situation: you’re a part of a team and someone is not carrying their weight, what do you do
--what part of your application do you think could use some improvement
--any questions I had for him about UT/McCombs/Austin
He told me he was going to go off the script a bit and I’m glad he did because I think I was able to genuinely portray myself in my answers to his questions. I felt like it went really well and he confirmed that when he told me he would be strongly recommending me for admission and that he felt I would be a good fit for UT. He gave me his card and told me that he knew I’d be getting admissions and that if I needed to bounce some ideas off him or one of his colleagues (they have quite the range of MBA program representation) to give him a call. Very nice guy and a great representative for McCombs.
Sunday, November 14, 2004
Wakeboarding & Football
Hit Lake Elsinore today for a little quality time on the water. It's been about a month since I've been wakeboarding due to weather, friends in town, too many things to do, etc. I needed a wakeboarding fix BAD. I left San Diego at 7 am; it was a beautiful morning and a nice drive. Unfortunately, when I got to the lake it was pretty much blown out (i.e. wind chop), but we were all dying to ride so we gave it a go. It was CHILLY but tolerable, especially with a drysuit. My minimum requirement to ride is 120 F combined air & water temp. We were well above that (water 60 F, air 68 F) but the wind made it feel a lot colder. The lake was all chopped up except for one little corner, so we each got a couple pulls in and called it a day.
Washington State got waxed by Arizona State yesterday. (And the Seahawks lost today...ugh...at least my fantasy football team is kicking ass.) Always sucks to see my team lose (especially when it eliminates their chances a bowl game) but I thought TBS did an excellent job with the broadcast, especially the halftime ceremony to honor Pat Tillman and retire his jersey. All the ASU players wore "PT" stickers on their helmet. WSU coach Bill Doba & the team also wanted to honor him by wearing PT helmet stickers and did so after getting the OK from his family. I thought it was a very nice gesture and it reaffirms by belief that Doba is a class act. Time to move on from the loss as today is the first day of Apple Cup week. The Apple Cup is the annual rivalry game between Washington State University & the University of Washington. WSU has lost the last 7 in a row and it is time to get that monkey off our backs. These guys now have nothing to lose, and this will be a psuedo bowl game for both teams, so I think it will be a very good game. Wish I could get back to Pullman to see it, but I'll have to settle for getting together with a big group of San Diego Cougs at a bar to cheer our boys on. Beat those stinkin' Dawgs! Go Cougars!
One apple farmer has used the rivalry to create new marketing idea..."branding" apples with the WSU and UW logos. Pretty cool!
Washington State got waxed by Arizona State yesterday. (And the Seahawks lost today...ugh...at least my fantasy football team is kicking ass.) Always sucks to see my team lose (especially when it eliminates their chances a bowl game) but I thought TBS did an excellent job with the broadcast, especially the halftime ceremony to honor Pat Tillman and retire his jersey. All the ASU players wore "PT" stickers on their helmet. WSU coach Bill Doba & the team also wanted to honor him by wearing PT helmet stickers and did so after getting the OK from his family. I thought it was a very nice gesture and it reaffirms by belief that Doba is a class act. Time to move on from the loss as today is the first day of Apple Cup week. The Apple Cup is the annual rivalry game between Washington State University & the University of Washington. WSU has lost the last 7 in a row and it is time to get that monkey off our backs. These guys now have nothing to lose, and this will be a psuedo bowl game for both teams, so I think it will be a very good game. Wish I could get back to Pullman to see it, but I'll have to settle for getting together with a big group of San Diego Cougs at a bar to cheer our boys on. Beat those stinkin' Dawgs! Go Cougars!
One apple farmer has used the rivalry to create new marketing idea..."branding" apples with the WSU and UW logos. Pretty cool!
Thursday, November 11, 2004
No Whammies
I had to take mandatory anti-money laundering computer-based training at work today. That was 30 minutes well spent. Now I know a lot more about money laundering than I did before and if I’m ever in the unlikely situation where I need to launder some dirty cash, I have an idea of what NOT to do. Somehow, I don’t think this was the intention of the training. Anyway, every time we have to do stuff like this, I think of that old Warren G song… “REGULATORS!!! Mount up!” …Bank Secrecy Act, Patriot Act, FCRA, TILA, FDCPA, OFAC, AMLA, GLB, Sarb-Ox…you want job security? Work in Compliance!
I think the 4th attempt might be a charm on the Chicago interview. This time I was assigned an interviewer, given contact information, and he actually lives in San Diego. No reply from him yet, so I’m not officially declaring victory, but I feel closer to it. No word yet from Haas on an interview invite; keeping busy preparing for McCombs interview next week.
Speaking of Chicago, it’s been report by PowerYogi that Chicago has extended it’s Round 1 deadline from 11/12 to 11/15. Interesting. At least they notified people before the R1 deadline, unlike Michigan. Makes no difference to me, my app has already been launched into adcom-land. I think there were a couple other bloggers out there with Chicago R1 aspirations that had given up, hopefully you guys can pull something together for Monday.
Now that the apps are done, it’s time to start worrying about paying for this little endeavor. So I will spend this wait time investigating scholarships, financial aid, etc.
I have two recurring b-school related dreams. One worst case scenario, the other best case scenario. The first dream slash nightmare…I don’t get in anywhere, I don’t find out until the end of January so I’ve missed all R2 deadlines, have to re-take the GMAT, roll the dice in R3, and end up stuck in a job I don’t particularly like. The second dream I wake up with a smile on my face every time….get in several places and they offer me lots of scholarship money, I get a great performance rating and therefore a big bonus in March, quit in April (or they decide to downsize and I get a severance package, even better!), put my stuff in storage and travel until it’s time to go to school. Just picture me crossing my fingers, knocking on wood, rubbing a rabbit’s foot and saying a Hail Mary (even though I’m not Catholic)... "C'mon Option #2, BIG MONEY, NO WHAMMIES!"
I think the 4th attempt might be a charm on the Chicago interview. This time I was assigned an interviewer, given contact information, and he actually lives in San Diego. No reply from him yet, so I’m not officially declaring victory, but I feel closer to it. No word yet from Haas on an interview invite; keeping busy preparing for McCombs interview next week.
Speaking of Chicago, it’s been report by PowerYogi that Chicago has extended it’s Round 1 deadline from 11/12 to 11/15. Interesting. At least they notified people before the R1 deadline, unlike Michigan. Makes no difference to me, my app has already been launched into adcom-land. I think there were a couple other bloggers out there with Chicago R1 aspirations that had given up, hopefully you guys can pull something together for Monday.
Now that the apps are done, it’s time to start worrying about paying for this little endeavor. So I will spend this wait time investigating scholarships, financial aid, etc.
I have two recurring b-school related dreams. One worst case scenario, the other best case scenario. The first dream slash nightmare…I don’t get in anywhere, I don’t find out until the end of January so I’ve missed all R2 deadlines, have to re-take the GMAT, roll the dice in R3, and end up stuck in a job I don’t particularly like. The second dream I wake up with a smile on my face every time….get in several places and they offer me lots of scholarship money, I get a great performance rating and therefore a big bonus in March, quit in April (or they decide to downsize and I get a severance package, even better!), put my stuff in storage and travel until it’s time to go to school. Just picture me crossing my fingers, knocking on wood, rubbing a rabbit’s foot and saying a Hail Mary (even though I’m not Catholic)... "C'mon Option #2, BIG MONEY, NO WHAMMIES!"
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Done!
5 applications, 4 visits, 9 recommendations, 22 essays, and approximately 12,000 words later, I'm done.
Well, sorta.
I submitted by Chicago app this morning after one final read-thru. Feels good to be done with the application part of this process. Although I can't say I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders because I think I've traded one weight for another "wait." Time to keep myself busy to avoid dwelling too long on questions like "Will they like me? Am I good enough? Did I just spot a typo?! Did I bomb that interview? What happens if I don't get in anywhere? What happens if I get in everywhere?" Now that last one's a problem I'm sure we'd all love to have, but it's not very likely so I won't spend much time worrying about it. However, there are things I really like about each of the programs I've applied to and if I am faced with a decision between two or more, it's going to be tough.
I've got my McCombs interview scheduled for next week and I'm really looking forward to it. They turned the interview invite around pretty quick (3 days after going complete) so hopefully if I get the interview done quickly they will be inclined to send me a final decision quickly. I am still struggling to get an off-campus interview scheduled with Chicago. I put in my first request at the beginning of October. I hadn't heard anything from them after three weeks, so I had to cancel that request and re-request the interview. That time I got a pretty quick response. However, it turns out the alum assigned to me recently moved to Cleveland! How's that for luck? So, my second request was cancelled and I made a third request. It has now been a week and *nothing*. I attended a Chicago GSB Women in Business reception here in San Diego last week and the alum assured me that there are about 100 GSBers in this area. Not sure what the deal is, but since I'm on my third request with no prospects, it's looking pretty bleak and I'm thinking I'll probably end up in the "interview waived" category. At least I've shown a serious interest in the program by making a visit, attending events, and making several attempts at scheduling an interview. So it goes.
Well, sorta.
I submitted by Chicago app this morning after one final read-thru. Feels good to be done with the application part of this process. Although I can't say I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders because I think I've traded one weight for another "wait." Time to keep myself busy to avoid dwelling too long on questions like "Will they like me? Am I good enough? Did I just spot a typo?! Did I bomb that interview? What happens if I don't get in anywhere? What happens if I get in everywhere?" Now that last one's a problem I'm sure we'd all love to have, but it's not very likely so I won't spend much time worrying about it. However, there are things I really like about each of the programs I've applied to and if I am faced with a decision between two or more, it's going to be tough.
I've got my McCombs interview scheduled for next week and I'm really looking forward to it. They turned the interview invite around pretty quick (3 days after going complete) so hopefully if I get the interview done quickly they will be inclined to send me a final decision quickly. I am still struggling to get an off-campus interview scheduled with Chicago. I put in my first request at the beginning of October. I hadn't heard anything from them after three weeks, so I had to cancel that request and re-request the interview. That time I got a pretty quick response. However, it turns out the alum assigned to me recently moved to Cleveland! How's that for luck? So, my second request was cancelled and I made a third request. It has now been a week and *nothing*. I attended a Chicago GSB Women in Business reception here in San Diego last week and the alum assured me that there are about 100 GSBers in this area. Not sure what the deal is, but since I'm on my third request with no prospects, it's looking pretty bleak and I'm thinking I'll probably end up in the "interview waived" category. At least I've shown a serious interest in the program by making a visit, attending events, and making several attempts at scheduling an interview. So it goes.
Friday, November 05, 2004
Interview news
Got to work this morning and, to my pleasant surprise, I found an email from McCombs inviting me to interview :) It's amazing how validating it was to read that email. It's confirmation that things are moving along and that my application is competitve. Word on the BW boards is that McCombs interviews about half of all applicants and 96% of admits. I have two weeks to register for an interview and since their admissions are rolling I'd like to get it done ASAP to help expedite a decision. Since work is really busy for me this month, I don't think I'll be heading to Austin to interview, so I was happy to see there are several alumni interviewers in my area.
Took the afternoon off to drive up to LA for my interview at Anderson. Lucky for me there was also an information session and a "Women & the MBA" event. Three birds, one stone! The interview was with a 2nd year student and last about 40 minutes. Nothing out of the ordinary with this interview, basic resume review/why mba/why now/why Anderson. The interviewer and I established a quick rapport and I feel like she understood my motivations, so I feel like it was a good interview. The information session was with two 2nd year students. I really enjoyed hearing about the Applied Management Research project, which is a two quarter practicum required to graduate. You can do a field study with an existing company, work on starting your own company, or do an academic research project. You get to pick your team and your project. One example project was consulting for the Santa Barbara Fire Department, doing a feasibility study for a potential merger of the city and county fire departments. It seems like an awesome program and a good way to build on your internship with even more practical experience, which is great for career changers. It also sounds like due to the flexibility of the program in year 2 and the location, that it's totally feasible to continue to have an internship during your second year. The Women's event was pretty cool. It started with a social hour with snacks and mingling with 2nd year students at tables by industry/function. I was impressed with every student I spoke to. Although the formal presentation started a half hour late, it was interesting. Linda Baldwin gave a short address and told us that it was an excellent time to apply (I'm thinking maybe round 1 apps are low?), then there were two panel discussions. One was with alums, one with current students. It was interesting to hear the career changing stories of the alums. There were some good questions from the audience and some head scratching questions. One woman was really determined to find out exactly how many hours a week each panel member worked after her MBA. Ah, call me crazy but that's not an MBA issue, that's a choice of employer issue. An MBA doesn't mean you have to work 100 hrs a week in investment banking. If anything, an MBA gives you way more options. I'm beginning to realize that many women have misconceptions about the MBA, and I'm glad that organizations like the Forte Foundation and this UCLA event exist to dispel some of those myths.
Sounds like Anderson releases decisions weekly and will probably start releasing Round 1 decisions around Thanksgiving up to the January cutoff. I'll be waiting...and waiting...and developing OCD checking my email and status! :)
One other thing...for those of you out there with little to no work experience, the folks at Anderson were really pushing the message that they are open to early career folks (0-2 years work experience). I'm not an advocate of b-school without work experience, but they said if you feel like you're ready for an MBA, go ahead and apply. I think you'll get more out of it with experience and the context it provides, but I think they see this early career thing as a way to get more women interested in the MBA. Women do the math...22/23 out of undergrad + 5 years work experience + 2 years MBA, means you're 29/30 and re-starting your career...when do you start a family? It's probably a deterent to some women, like the one who was so worked up about how many hours a week the panel members work.
Took the afternoon off to drive up to LA for my interview at Anderson. Lucky for me there was also an information session and a "Women & the MBA" event. Three birds, one stone! The interview was with a 2nd year student and last about 40 minutes. Nothing out of the ordinary with this interview, basic resume review/why mba/why now/why Anderson. The interviewer and I established a quick rapport and I feel like she understood my motivations, so I feel like it was a good interview. The information session was with two 2nd year students. I really enjoyed hearing about the Applied Management Research project, which is a two quarter practicum required to graduate. You can do a field study with an existing company, work on starting your own company, or do an academic research project. You get to pick your team and your project. One example project was consulting for the Santa Barbara Fire Department, doing a feasibility study for a potential merger of the city and county fire departments. It seems like an awesome program and a good way to build on your internship with even more practical experience, which is great for career changers. It also sounds like due to the flexibility of the program in year 2 and the location, that it's totally feasible to continue to have an internship during your second year. The Women's event was pretty cool. It started with a social hour with snacks and mingling with 2nd year students at tables by industry/function. I was impressed with every student I spoke to. Although the formal presentation started a half hour late, it was interesting. Linda Baldwin gave a short address and told us that it was an excellent time to apply (I'm thinking maybe round 1 apps are low?), then there were two panel discussions. One was with alums, one with current students. It was interesting to hear the career changing stories of the alums. There were some good questions from the audience and some head scratching questions. One woman was really determined to find out exactly how many hours a week each panel member worked after her MBA. Ah, call me crazy but that's not an MBA issue, that's a choice of employer issue. An MBA doesn't mean you have to work 100 hrs a week in investment banking. If anything, an MBA gives you way more options. I'm beginning to realize that many women have misconceptions about the MBA, and I'm glad that organizations like the Forte Foundation and this UCLA event exist to dispel some of those myths.
Sounds like Anderson releases decisions weekly and will probably start releasing Round 1 decisions around Thanksgiving up to the January cutoff. I'll be waiting...and waiting...and developing OCD checking my email and status! :)
One other thing...for those of you out there with little to no work experience, the folks at Anderson were really pushing the message that they are open to early career folks (0-2 years work experience). I'm not an advocate of b-school without work experience, but they said if you feel like you're ready for an MBA, go ahead and apply. I think you'll get more out of it with experience and the context it provides, but I think they see this early career thing as a way to get more women interested in the MBA. Women do the math...22/23 out of undergrad + 5 years work experience + 2 years MBA, means you're 29/30 and re-starting your career...when do you start a family? It's probably a deterent to some women, like the one who was so worked up about how many hours a week the panel members work.
Monday, November 01, 2004
4 down, 1 to go
Submitted my Anderson app today and my Texas app over the weekend. I'm in the home stretch now with just Chicago remaining. I have procrastinated like crazy on a couple of the Chicago essays (because they're a bit off the wall) so I need to get crackin'. I'll be headed up to LA later in the week for my interview. I'm still waiting to hear about a Chicago interview. There were none available while I was visiting and my original off-campus interview request was received but not matched up so I had to re-request it last week. Still no word on that. Cue the Jeopardy theme music for all of this waiting.
My boss received his thank you gift on Friday, but told me today that he could not accept it. So awkward! I'm really disappointed that he won't accept it. Well, now I have two nice bottles of wine from my home state for a special occasion. My friends and I will probably have an orphans Thanksgiving since we are all from other places and unable to go home until Christmas. I'll break out the good stuff for that. Plus, my parents went to the Oregon-Washington State game a few weeks ago and picked up some Cougar Gold, a delicious and award-winning cheese produced by the WSU Creamery. She promised to send me a can for Thanksgiving and it will go great with the wines I selected.
I am soooooo ready for the election to be over, but I fear that it will drag out even more than it did last year, with all these teams of lawyers geared up in their Lear jets, ready to jump on the slightest hint of impropriety. I'm trying to finish reading up on the 53,426 propositions I must vote on tomorrow (really, it's more like 10 local and 20 state, but still...that's a lot of information and MISinformation to sort through and arrive at an informed decision). I talked to my mom earlier and I wanted to vomit when she dropped a "Fair and Balanced" on me and made fun of C-SPAN for giving full coverage of today's final push of the Kerry stumping. Hey mom, lay off the Fox News, they aren't exactly fair and balanced either. Damn, just got another spam phone call from the Lori Saldana for Assembly camp. They've been averaging 2 a day! Enough already!!!! Yes, I'm voting tomorrow, and no, I'm not going to promise my vote to anyone because it's noneyabizness ;)
My boss received his thank you gift on Friday, but told me today that he could not accept it. So awkward! I'm really disappointed that he won't accept it. Well, now I have two nice bottles of wine from my home state for a special occasion. My friends and I will probably have an orphans Thanksgiving since we are all from other places and unable to go home until Christmas. I'll break out the good stuff for that. Plus, my parents went to the Oregon-Washington State game a few weeks ago and picked up some Cougar Gold, a delicious and award-winning cheese produced by the WSU Creamery. She promised to send me a can for Thanksgiving and it will go great with the wines I selected.
I am soooooo ready for the election to be over, but I fear that it will drag out even more than it did last year, with all these teams of lawyers geared up in their Lear jets, ready to jump on the slightest hint of impropriety. I'm trying to finish reading up on the 53,426 propositions I must vote on tomorrow (really, it's more like 10 local and 20 state, but still...that's a lot of information and MISinformation to sort through and arrive at an informed decision). I talked to my mom earlier and I wanted to vomit when she dropped a "Fair and Balanced" on me and made fun of C-SPAN for giving full coverage of today's final push of the Kerry stumping. Hey mom, lay off the Fox News, they aren't exactly fair and balanced either. Damn, just got another spam phone call from the Lori Saldana for Assembly camp. They've been averaging 2 a day! Enough already!!!! Yes, I'm voting tomorrow, and no, I'm not going to promise my vote to anyone because it's noneyabizness ;)
Friday, October 29, 2004
Two down, three to go
It has been an interesting 24 hours, filled with good things and bad things.
First the good, which is actually MBA related. My Kellogg application is showing up in the system as “complete” (after a minor scare yesterday, when it went from “in process” to “no record found”, a phone call this morning cleared that up). Next update will be “Admit, Waitlist, or Deny”…oh my goodness, it has finally sunk in that this is REAL. Yikes! My Haas application is out the door. Conducted the final proofread yesterday and the super anal "just in case" proofread this morning before dropping the hammer. I feel pretty good about it. Haas is looking for interesting essays and I feel like mine are a good balance of personal and professional. Will they win the Pulitzer? No, but I think they serve their purpose. As I was submitting today, I tried to pay the application fee online. I wish I had tried this a few days ago because it was not working and causing me all kinds of stress. It must be a firewall problem or something along those lines. I dug around the site and realized I could pay by check and as long as it was postmarked today I'd be OK for Round 1. Phew! I caught a lucky break...I wish the same could be said for Aregon, Brit-Chick, and PowerYogi...I feel for you guys, I hope it all works out.
Now the bad, which is more personal. I usually don't get very personal on here but I need to vent. I broke up with my boyfriend last night. Which sucks on a normal day, but even more so when you're temporarily homeless and staying at his place. Called a friend at 11:30 pm and arranged to crash on her couch. Some warning signs had been surfacing as I began to notice some trust and jealousy issues. We were talking about that last night and I asked him to talk to me if there was ever anything bothering him. I was not expecting him to bring up stuff from my past (not “ours”, just mine) and basically reveal himself to be a bigot. He has issues with the fact that I’ve dated outside my race and said some things last night that absolutely disgusted me. It’s amazing how someone’s personality can make them more or less attractive. The attraction is now gone. Tolerance is one of my core values and I cannot fathom allowing this man to pass along his intolerance to our (hypothetical) children. This is not an issue of compromise and there is no point in being in a relationship with someone who doesn’t share your values. I'm sorry he feels that way and I think there are a lot of great things about him, but they were completely negated by the things he said last night. I’m angry, but in a way, because it was a deal-breaker type situation, I’m kinda at peace with it. There is no coulda woulda shoulda. Plus, it’s reduced my stress level for this whole b-school process because I’m free make decisions and only worry about myself. Everything happens for a reason. Except now I have to worry about finding a date for our company holiday party, damn!
Happy Halloween everyone :)
First the good, which is actually MBA related. My Kellogg application is showing up in the system as “complete” (after a minor scare yesterday, when it went from “in process” to “no record found”, a phone call this morning cleared that up). Next update will be “Admit, Waitlist, or Deny”…oh my goodness, it has finally sunk in that this is REAL. Yikes! My Haas application is out the door. Conducted the final proofread yesterday and the super anal "just in case" proofread this morning before dropping the hammer. I feel pretty good about it. Haas is looking for interesting essays and I feel like mine are a good balance of personal and professional. Will they win the Pulitzer? No, but I think they serve their purpose. As I was submitting today, I tried to pay the application fee online. I wish I had tried this a few days ago because it was not working and causing me all kinds of stress. It must be a firewall problem or something along those lines. I dug around the site and realized I could pay by check and as long as it was postmarked today I'd be OK for Round 1. Phew! I caught a lucky break...I wish the same could be said for Aregon, Brit-Chick, and PowerYogi...I feel for you guys, I hope it all works out.
Now the bad, which is more personal. I usually don't get very personal on here but I need to vent. I broke up with my boyfriend last night. Which sucks on a normal day, but even more so when you're temporarily homeless and staying at his place. Called a friend at 11:30 pm and arranged to crash on her couch. Some warning signs had been surfacing as I began to notice some trust and jealousy issues. We were talking about that last night and I asked him to talk to me if there was ever anything bothering him. I was not expecting him to bring up stuff from my past (not “ours”, just mine) and basically reveal himself to be a bigot. He has issues with the fact that I’ve dated outside my race and said some things last night that absolutely disgusted me. It’s amazing how someone’s personality can make them more or less attractive. The attraction is now gone. Tolerance is one of my core values and I cannot fathom allowing this man to pass along his intolerance to our (hypothetical) children. This is not an issue of compromise and there is no point in being in a relationship with someone who doesn’t share your values. I'm sorry he feels that way and I think there are a lot of great things about him, but they were completely negated by the things he said last night. I’m angry, but in a way, because it was a deal-breaker type situation, I’m kinda at peace with it. There is no coulda woulda shoulda. Plus, it’s reduced my stress level for this whole b-school process because I’m free make decisions and only worry about myself. Everything happens for a reason. Except now I have to worry about finding a date for our company holiday party, damn!
Happy Halloween everyone :)
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Leadership Development
Just spotted an interesting article on MSN. I think there's some good advice for MBA applicants in there related to demonstrating leadership potential and how to convey that in an interview and/or on a resume/application, especially those of us who have never had direct reports. Check it out...
Could you be the boss?
Could you be the boss?
Rainy Day
And the wet weather continues! It POURED last night, big puddles on the roads today, lots of accidents and whatnot.
Southern Californians + Automobiles + Rain = Bad Things
My morning commute is usually a piece of cake, except when it rains. The rain has no where to go but puddle and the folks around here aren't too experienced with driving in the rain. Lots of hydroplane action. I was supposed to head up to Irvine tonight for a UCLA information session, but I would rather poke my eyes out than drive 90 miles during the evening commute while it's raining. I could also use the extra time to put the finishing touches on my Haas application, not to mention bag up all of my food & medication so that it does not get contaminated when the fumigation starts tomorrow. I'm headed up to UCLA next week anyway for an interview and a women in business forum so I'll get the info and face time eventually. No worries.
All of my recommendations are now complete and submitted. I just Fed Ex'd all my Texas stuff (since their recos are paper-based) so they will arrive a few days ahead of the Nov 1 recommended deadline. They are rolling admissions so it's not a hard and fast due date, but the sooner the better IMO. My current boss & former boss really came through for me and I ordered their thank you gifts today. Current boss is a wine aficionado so I ordered him two bottles of my favorite Washington state wine from wine.com. Former boss is back in Virginia and I found this palm bonsai at Red Envelope and I thought it would be a cute way to send him a little slice of California.
I still have no idea what to do for a Halloween costume. I have a great Marilyn Monroe costume, but after two years as Miss Monroe, I'd like to do something else. Although I may not even end up doing anything for Halloween since it's on a Sunday and I could really use the weekend to finish up my UCLA & Texas applications. I'm invited to a house party on Saturday, so we'll see. It makes me feel old that I would rather spend the weekend doing work & chores than going to a party! Plus, I've been invited to go wakeboarding Sunday morning and I haven't been in a few weeks so I'm itching for a fix. It won't be as much fun if I'm hungover. Decisions, decisions.
Southern Californians + Automobiles + Rain = Bad Things
My morning commute is usually a piece of cake, except when it rains. The rain has no where to go but puddle and the folks around here aren't too experienced with driving in the rain. Lots of hydroplane action. I was supposed to head up to Irvine tonight for a UCLA information session, but I would rather poke my eyes out than drive 90 miles during the evening commute while it's raining. I could also use the extra time to put the finishing touches on my Haas application, not to mention bag up all of my food & medication so that it does not get contaminated when the fumigation starts tomorrow. I'm headed up to UCLA next week anyway for an interview and a women in business forum so I'll get the info and face time eventually. No worries.
All of my recommendations are now complete and submitted. I just Fed Ex'd all my Texas stuff (since their recos are paper-based) so they will arrive a few days ahead of the Nov 1 recommended deadline. They are rolling admissions so it's not a hard and fast due date, but the sooner the better IMO. My current boss & former boss really came through for me and I ordered their thank you gifts today. Current boss is a wine aficionado so I ordered him two bottles of my favorite Washington state wine from wine.com. Former boss is back in Virginia and I found this palm bonsai at Red Envelope and I thought it would be a cute way to send him a little slice of California.
I still have no idea what to do for a Halloween costume. I have a great Marilyn Monroe costume, but after two years as Miss Monroe, I'd like to do something else. Although I may not even end up doing anything for Halloween since it's on a Sunday and I could really use the weekend to finish up my UCLA & Texas applications. I'm invited to a house party on Saturday, so we'll see. It makes me feel old that I would rather spend the weekend doing work & chores than going to a party! Plus, I've been invited to go wakeboarding Sunday morning and I haven't been in a few weeks so I'm itching for a fix. It won't be as much fun if I'm hungover. Decisions, decisions.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
Back from Chicago
What a whirlwind weekend. Great trip. Here's a recap:
Wednesday...Scrambled to get out of work on time. Gave my boss one final reminder on the due date of the Kellogg reco. The weather in San Diego was pretty nasty. It hadn't rained here in 182 days (which is more than a little bizarre for someone who grew up in the rainy Pacific Northwest). It started raining on Sunday and hadn't let up by Wednesday. Totally reminded me of fall in Seattle. San Diego is one of the toughest landings for planes in the country, apparently, and it's especially bad in rain/clouds/fog and we had all that on Wednesday. From my building downtown, you can see (and hear) the planes that have to pull up and try again because they're coming in too high. Normally there's only one or two of those a day. I counted at least 10 a day this past week. So it was no surprise to get to the airport and be warned that although my flight was currently "on time" it might end up delayed. Fortunately, we left on time and I got into Chicago no problem. I also sat next to a very entertaining young Marine who made the flight time go by quickly. I stayed with two friends from undergrad in their apartment near Wrigley. Cool neighborhood, lots of restaurants, bars, and boutiques, really close to the "el". I could totally see myself living there. It was really good to see J & T, two of my oldest friends from WSU (we lived in the same dorm freshman year). Made it to their place in time to catch the end of Game 7 of the ALCS....YEAH RED SOX! Love it. Not particularly a sox fan, just a yankee hater. Plus, it's an awesome story. Can't imagine what it's like to be in Boston right now.
Thursday...Caught the el up to Evanston, super easy to find and use, and the Jacobs center is literally 2.5 blocks from the stop. Checked in around 9 but my first activity wasn't until 10:30, so I headed down to the atrium to get some coffee and review my essays/resume and get my wits about me for my interview later in the day. I liked that I had total control over my activities for the day and could attend pretty much any class and do whatever I felt I needed to do to get to know Kellogg. Talked to some students about which class to attend that morning and ended up choosing "Research Methods in Marketing" with Angela Lee. The lecture was about questionnaire design and sampling. One of the students I talked to said that this was a pretty typical class, but there have been a lot of guest speakers, often related to the latest case. Lee used humor and personal anecdotes to liven up the class, relating questionnaire design to the art of picking up a girl. She got into some stats with the sample size stuff...she lost about a third of the class and everyone had a good laugh about it. Next up was a tour. Nothing in particular stood out to me, just seemed to have all the typical things you'd expect from a b-school facility. I had lunch with a couple of other Kellogg hopefuls from the tour and we talked application strategy. The atrium was packed for lunch and seating was a challenge. After lunch, we attended an info session. It was led by the same woman who led the San Diego info session. She actually recognized my face, couldn't place a name or a location, but she knew she had seen me at a previous session. Not much new information as expected, but it was nice to hear a little more about LEAP and GIM than at the SD session. I ducked out a little early for my interview with an associate director of admissions. It went OK, I feel kinda neutral about it...I didn't walk out feeling like I nailed it, but I didn't feel like I bombed it either. Everything I read about Kellogg interviews told me that it would be typical questions and that it is mostly about establishing fit and that it's important to show enthusiasm and energy for Kellogg. My interviewer had probably been conducting interviews all day, she seemed tired and less than enthusiastic, kinda low energy. It's a challenge to maintain energy & enthusiasm when it's not being reciprocated, but I did my best and it's out of my hands now. For my fellow Kellogg applicants, here's a recap of the interview:
--walk me through your resume
--tell me about your career goals
--what's your plan B (if you can't get into your industry/function of choice)? (this may be just because my target industry is non-traditional, but who knows)
--how do you receive feedback at work? what are your areas for improvement?
--talk about a time when you had to work with your peers and there were issues/conflict
--what kind of critical feedback would you get from your peers?
--what has been your most significant leadership experience?
--what do you do outside of work?
After the interview, I met up with two co-chairs from the Entertainment Media Club. It was a very casual conversation, we chatted about their classes and internships, what they do for fun, etc. They are both very dynamic people and reaffirmed my interest in Kellogg and confidence that I can break into any industry with a Kellogg MBA and the network. Very cool and friendly student body, great curriculum flexibility, etc. Very impressed. I headed home and bundled up since I would be going with J to watch her flag football game in Lincoln Park. That breeze off the lake is ch-ch-chilly! They won and we hit their sponsoring bar, The Bird's Nest, for wings, beer, and baseball, then we called it a night. One other thing happened...we were going to take J's car to the game but discovered that it wouldn't start. We tried jumping it to no avail and came to the conclusion that it was probably the starter and thus would be out of commission for awhile. THANK GOD we tried to start her car Thursday night because the plan for Friday was that the easiest way for me to get down to U of Chicago/Hyde Park was to drive myself since I had to be there by 8 am. I'm very lucky we discovered this Thursday night and not Friday morning so I could create a back-up plan with the el and Metra to get down there in time.
Friday...Woke up before the crack of dawn to make sure I got downtown in time to catch the 7:35 train. Ended up getting down there with time to spare and was able to grab some breakfast at the GSB cafeteria. U of Chicago is beautiful, the gothic architecture is really interesting, especially with the fall colors. The new GSB building is STUNNING. WOW. It still smells new. The gothic touches like the arches in the winter garden are really cool and tie in the otherwise sleek and modern building to the rest of campus. The facility blew me away. Lots of bathrooms (apparently a problem in the old building), very high tech classrooms, group study areas that have plasma screen TVs to review presentations! First item on the agenda was a class visit. There were 5 visitors (2 women, 3 men) for the first class and 2 current students (one woman, one man). The guy was heading to new venture strategy and the gal was heading to business policy (aka existing org strategy) and funny enough, the guys went with the guy, the gals went with the gal. Not sure what that says about us :) Business Policy was taught by John Gould (former dean of the GSB, come to find out). He kicked off the class with a metaphor (I guess he assigns a weekly metaphor to his students). The metaphor the student used was the Red Sox...overcoming incredible odds, overthrowing the evil empire, rewriting history, etc. This class discussed the various business applications of this metaphor, then they talked about some of their readings. Next he divided the class into two teams of ~10 and gave them alternate situations for a previously discussed case, kinda a "case on the fly." Apparently he likes to do this, keep the students on their toes and keep the 3 hour Friday morning class interesting. He also showed the results of a recent assignment in strategic analysis: draw a company as a person or character (in a group) and give the corporation human characteristics, the process of telling a story with a picture as a way to get a more diverse set of contributors, the idea being that a visual reference in picture format allows you to convey an idea in a non-linear form, resulting in a livelier write-up. There was definitely a lot of moaning and groan from the students about this assignment and the results were pretty funny (ever try to draw a picture by committee? LOL). The students I talked to gave mixed reviews of the class--some liked it, some were totally bored. We cut out of the class at the break and I met up with the chair of the entertainment management student group. He was really candid about his experience at the GSB, talked about his summer internship, networking, classes, social life, etc. He was actually the only person I've had tell me "if you're serious about entertainment, go to Anderson"... flat out. Interesting because everyone else I've talked to has said go wherever because you're going to face the same challenges no matter what, even at Anderson. Something to think about, but that's neither here nor there at this point, I need to get admitted somewhere before that even becomes an issue. I caught back up with the group at the info session and I have to say, I was unimpressed (for the first and only time that day, but still...). I don't think Chicago put it's best foot forward with the student leading the session. She seemed a bit immature and was "not sure" about too many things to be in that position. Just not the best person to be in a marketing position, IMO (and the opinion of a couple of my fellow visitors). After that we had lunch with current students and we were supposed to attend another class but no one came to pick us up and at that point I had reached critical mass for information intake...plus I was at the perfect time to catch a train and get back downtown before rush hour and meet up with my friend. Kinda sucked though because it meant I missed out on meeting up with Byron (a fellow blogger...sorry, B! I was bummed). Impressions of Chicago GSB: AWESOME facilities, cool but fairly independent students, incredibly flexible curriculum, amazing faculty. I found it interesting that most other schools put a lot of effort into creating the sections and study groups with evenly distributed talent/experience, but that is left up to the students at Chicago (yet our visitor day was very structured...hmmm). Very libertarian/free market culture...no surprise from a Milton Friedman school. It was a very nice gesture that they gave us a $7 voucher for lunch. Big props for that :) Made up for the shortage of tables in the cafeteria and the fact that we had lunch outside in the cold! When I got back downtown, I had some time to walk around and get a little sightseeing done before meeting up with my friend. Later that night, we went out for dinner & drinks at a couple of establishments in their neighborhood. Laughed so hard I cried at some of their stories, had one too many Jack & Diet Cokes, then went home. It was a long day and my dogs were barking from all the walking.
Saturday...Slept in, then ordered some fantastic deep dish pizza and watched college football for awhile before heading downtown for some shopping. We also went up to the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the Hancock Building...amazing view of the city. Witnessed a proposal (she said yes). I really like Chicago. It is a cool town. So much to see and do, so easy to get around via public transportation, great restaurants and nightlife...it's only the winter that scares me. We watched game 1 of the World Series at a bar (great game), more laughter (this time at T's stories from her time working for Jerry Springer), then went dancing. Didn't make it a very late night since I had to be up early to catch my flight.
Back home to beautiful San Diego this afternoon. Got caught up on my email and blog reading. Confirmed that my boss submitted my Kellogg & Anderson recos on Thursday...whew! Anxiously awaiting Wharton/Columbia/HBS news on behalf of my fellow bloggers. This week: finish up my Haas, Anderson, & McCombs essays. Start on Chicago essays. Get kicked out my apartment to get rid of the bugs. Figure out a Halloween costume. See my boyfriend, I miss him!
Wednesday...Scrambled to get out of work on time. Gave my boss one final reminder on the due date of the Kellogg reco. The weather in San Diego was pretty nasty. It hadn't rained here in 182 days (which is more than a little bizarre for someone who grew up in the rainy Pacific Northwest). It started raining on Sunday and hadn't let up by Wednesday. Totally reminded me of fall in Seattle. San Diego is one of the toughest landings for planes in the country, apparently, and it's especially bad in rain/clouds/fog and we had all that on Wednesday. From my building downtown, you can see (and hear) the planes that have to pull up and try again because they're coming in too high. Normally there's only one or two of those a day. I counted at least 10 a day this past week. So it was no surprise to get to the airport and be warned that although my flight was currently "on time" it might end up delayed. Fortunately, we left on time and I got into Chicago no problem. I also sat next to a very entertaining young Marine who made the flight time go by quickly. I stayed with two friends from undergrad in their apartment near Wrigley. Cool neighborhood, lots of restaurants, bars, and boutiques, really close to the "el". I could totally see myself living there. It was really good to see J & T, two of my oldest friends from WSU (we lived in the same dorm freshman year). Made it to their place in time to catch the end of Game 7 of the ALCS....YEAH RED SOX! Love it. Not particularly a sox fan, just a yankee hater. Plus, it's an awesome story. Can't imagine what it's like to be in Boston right now.
Thursday...Caught the el up to Evanston, super easy to find and use, and the Jacobs center is literally 2.5 blocks from the stop. Checked in around 9 but my first activity wasn't until 10:30, so I headed down to the atrium to get some coffee and review my essays/resume and get my wits about me for my interview later in the day. I liked that I had total control over my activities for the day and could attend pretty much any class and do whatever I felt I needed to do to get to know Kellogg. Talked to some students about which class to attend that morning and ended up choosing "Research Methods in Marketing" with Angela Lee. The lecture was about questionnaire design and sampling. One of the students I talked to said that this was a pretty typical class, but there have been a lot of guest speakers, often related to the latest case. Lee used humor and personal anecdotes to liven up the class, relating questionnaire design to the art of picking up a girl. She got into some stats with the sample size stuff...she lost about a third of the class and everyone had a good laugh about it. Next up was a tour. Nothing in particular stood out to me, just seemed to have all the typical things you'd expect from a b-school facility. I had lunch with a couple of other Kellogg hopefuls from the tour and we talked application strategy. The atrium was packed for lunch and seating was a challenge. After lunch, we attended an info session. It was led by the same woman who led the San Diego info session. She actually recognized my face, couldn't place a name or a location, but she knew she had seen me at a previous session. Not much new information as expected, but it was nice to hear a little more about LEAP and GIM than at the SD session. I ducked out a little early for my interview with an associate director of admissions. It went OK, I feel kinda neutral about it...I didn't walk out feeling like I nailed it, but I didn't feel like I bombed it either. Everything I read about Kellogg interviews told me that it would be typical questions and that it is mostly about establishing fit and that it's important to show enthusiasm and energy for Kellogg. My interviewer had probably been conducting interviews all day, she seemed tired and less than enthusiastic, kinda low energy. It's a challenge to maintain energy & enthusiasm when it's not being reciprocated, but I did my best and it's out of my hands now. For my fellow Kellogg applicants, here's a recap of the interview:
--walk me through your resume
--tell me about your career goals
--what's your plan B (if you can't get into your industry/function of choice)? (this may be just because my target industry is non-traditional, but who knows)
--how do you receive feedback at work? what are your areas for improvement?
--talk about a time when you had to work with your peers and there were issues/conflict
--what kind of critical feedback would you get from your peers?
--what has been your most significant leadership experience?
--what do you do outside of work?
After the interview, I met up with two co-chairs from the Entertainment Media Club. It was a very casual conversation, we chatted about their classes and internships, what they do for fun, etc. They are both very dynamic people and reaffirmed my interest in Kellogg and confidence that I can break into any industry with a Kellogg MBA and the network. Very cool and friendly student body, great curriculum flexibility, etc. Very impressed. I headed home and bundled up since I would be going with J to watch her flag football game in Lincoln Park. That breeze off the lake is ch-ch-chilly! They won and we hit their sponsoring bar, The Bird's Nest, for wings, beer, and baseball, then we called it a night. One other thing happened...we were going to take J's car to the game but discovered that it wouldn't start. We tried jumping it to no avail and came to the conclusion that it was probably the starter and thus would be out of commission for awhile. THANK GOD we tried to start her car Thursday night because the plan for Friday was that the easiest way for me to get down to U of Chicago/Hyde Park was to drive myself since I had to be there by 8 am. I'm very lucky we discovered this Thursday night and not Friday morning so I could create a back-up plan with the el and Metra to get down there in time.
Friday...Woke up before the crack of dawn to make sure I got downtown in time to catch the 7:35 train. Ended up getting down there with time to spare and was able to grab some breakfast at the GSB cafeteria. U of Chicago is beautiful, the gothic architecture is really interesting, especially with the fall colors. The new GSB building is STUNNING. WOW. It still smells new. The gothic touches like the arches in the winter garden are really cool and tie in the otherwise sleek and modern building to the rest of campus. The facility blew me away. Lots of bathrooms (apparently a problem in the old building), very high tech classrooms, group study areas that have plasma screen TVs to review presentations! First item on the agenda was a class visit. There were 5 visitors (2 women, 3 men) for the first class and 2 current students (one woman, one man). The guy was heading to new venture strategy and the gal was heading to business policy (aka existing org strategy) and funny enough, the guys went with the guy, the gals went with the gal. Not sure what that says about us :) Business Policy was taught by John Gould (former dean of the GSB, come to find out). He kicked off the class with a metaphor (I guess he assigns a weekly metaphor to his students). The metaphor the student used was the Red Sox...overcoming incredible odds, overthrowing the evil empire, rewriting history, etc. This class discussed the various business applications of this metaphor, then they talked about some of their readings. Next he divided the class into two teams of ~10 and gave them alternate situations for a previously discussed case, kinda a "case on the fly." Apparently he likes to do this, keep the students on their toes and keep the 3 hour Friday morning class interesting. He also showed the results of a recent assignment in strategic analysis: draw a company as a person or character (in a group) and give the corporation human characteristics, the process of telling a story with a picture as a way to get a more diverse set of contributors, the idea being that a visual reference in picture format allows you to convey an idea in a non-linear form, resulting in a livelier write-up. There was definitely a lot of moaning and groan from the students about this assignment and the results were pretty funny (ever try to draw a picture by committee? LOL). The students I talked to gave mixed reviews of the class--some liked it, some were totally bored. We cut out of the class at the break and I met up with the chair of the entertainment management student group. He was really candid about his experience at the GSB, talked about his summer internship, networking, classes, social life, etc. He was actually the only person I've had tell me "if you're serious about entertainment, go to Anderson"... flat out. Interesting because everyone else I've talked to has said go wherever because you're going to face the same challenges no matter what, even at Anderson. Something to think about, but that's neither here nor there at this point, I need to get admitted somewhere before that even becomes an issue. I caught back up with the group at the info session and I have to say, I was unimpressed (for the first and only time that day, but still...). I don't think Chicago put it's best foot forward with the student leading the session. She seemed a bit immature and was "not sure" about too many things to be in that position. Just not the best person to be in a marketing position, IMO (and the opinion of a couple of my fellow visitors). After that we had lunch with current students and we were supposed to attend another class but no one came to pick us up and at that point I had reached critical mass for information intake...plus I was at the perfect time to catch a train and get back downtown before rush hour and meet up with my friend. Kinda sucked though because it meant I missed out on meeting up with Byron (a fellow blogger...sorry, B! I was bummed). Impressions of Chicago GSB: AWESOME facilities, cool but fairly independent students, incredibly flexible curriculum, amazing faculty. I found it interesting that most other schools put a lot of effort into creating the sections and study groups with evenly distributed talent/experience, but that is left up to the students at Chicago (yet our visitor day was very structured...hmmm). Very libertarian/free market culture...no surprise from a Milton Friedman school. It was a very nice gesture that they gave us a $7 voucher for lunch. Big props for that :) Made up for the shortage of tables in the cafeteria and the fact that we had lunch outside in the cold! When I got back downtown, I had some time to walk around and get a little sightseeing done before meeting up with my friend. Later that night, we went out for dinner & drinks at a couple of establishments in their neighborhood. Laughed so hard I cried at some of their stories, had one too many Jack & Diet Cokes, then went home. It was a long day and my dogs were barking from all the walking.
Saturday...Slept in, then ordered some fantastic deep dish pizza and watched college football for awhile before heading downtown for some shopping. We also went up to the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the Hancock Building...amazing view of the city. Witnessed a proposal (she said yes). I really like Chicago. It is a cool town. So much to see and do, so easy to get around via public transportation, great restaurants and nightlife...it's only the winter that scares me. We watched game 1 of the World Series at a bar (great game), more laughter (this time at T's stories from her time working for Jerry Springer), then went dancing. Didn't make it a very late night since I had to be up early to catch my flight.
Back home to beautiful San Diego this afternoon. Got caught up on my email and blog reading. Confirmed that my boss submitted my Kellogg & Anderson recos on Thursday...whew! Anxiously awaiting Wharton/Columbia/HBS news on behalf of my fellow bloggers. This week: finish up my Haas, Anderson, & McCombs essays. Start on Chicago essays. Get kicked out my apartment to get rid of the bugs. Figure out a Halloween costume. See my boyfriend, I miss him!
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
New shoes
Followed the lead of FMG, I bought new shoes today at DSW. I don't know if there's any validity to her theory, but it's worth a shot :)
Kellogg application submitted
As of 10:58 AM PDT, I have officially become a Kellogg applicant. My mom and I had one final proofreading conference call this morning and I decided my application was ready to be sent off into the wild blue yonder. The past few nights have been late ones, making final adjustments to my essays, trimming them down as much as possible to make sure I stay within the guidelines. Reading through my application as one package, I feel I highlighted my strengths, addressed my weaknesses, laid out my career progression and future goals, answered the questions asked and allowed my personality to come through. I sincerely hope the admissions committee feels the same way.
My Kellogg application is not quite complete. I will submit my transcript during my visit on Thursday. Also, my boss has not yet submitted my recommendation. I'm getting kinda frustrated with him. The first recommendation he started working on was UCLA, which isn't due until Nov 3. He says he wants to finish that one before he starts the others so he doesn't have to generate everything from scratch. That's all fine and good, but why are you working on a recommendation that's not due for two weeks when one is due this week? He assures me he will submit it tomorrow. I'm a little worried because I know he's busy today with his boss in town and one of my co-workers just put in two weeks notice. Crossing my fingers and saying a prayer.
Now that I've broken the seal, so to speak, I feel really good about finishing up the remaining four applications. Some of the stuff was actually pretty fun to write about and I think the process is a good experience, no matter the outcome. I'm really excited for my trip to Chicago and I can't wait to see one of my best friends from college. Should be a really good weekend and I will be sure to post a recap when I return with all the info about my campus visits and fun times in Chi-town.
My Kellogg application is not quite complete. I will submit my transcript during my visit on Thursday. Also, my boss has not yet submitted my recommendation. I'm getting kinda frustrated with him. The first recommendation he started working on was UCLA, which isn't due until Nov 3. He says he wants to finish that one before he starts the others so he doesn't have to generate everything from scratch. That's all fine and good, but why are you working on a recommendation that's not due for two weeks when one is due this week? He assures me he will submit it tomorrow. I'm a little worried because I know he's busy today with his boss in town and one of my co-workers just put in two weeks notice. Crossing my fingers and saying a prayer.
Now that I've broken the seal, so to speak, I feel really good about finishing up the remaining four applications. Some of the stuff was actually pretty fun to write about and I think the process is a good experience, no matter the outcome. I'm really excited for my trip to Chicago and I can't wait to see one of my best friends from college. Should be a really good weekend and I will be sure to post a recap when I return with all the info about my campus visits and fun times in Chi-town.
Friday, October 15, 2004
Haas visit
I made the trek up to Berkeley yesterday to learn more about Haas. It was a great day and I have oodles of information to spice up my essays in the next two weeks. With my work schedule and my ambitious plan for 5 round 1 apps, I had to squeeze my visit into a single day. Lucky for me, Southwest has a direct flight between San Diego and Oakland so it wasn’t too bad and they have great deals on inter-CA flights. I woke up around 5 am and caught the 7 am flight. That put me in Oakland just after 8:30. I was able to take BART into Berkeley than catch the campus shuttle bus up to Haas. I love public transportation and BART is one of the best. It’s clean, easy to use, convenient, and efficient. I had no problems and checked in at the admissions office around 9:30.
That left me some free time before the tour/lunch at 11:45, so I went down to the café to make some notes/list of questions, proofread a couple essays, and read the latest “Economist” (has a great section on the presidential election). Plus, I wanted to just sit back and observe Haas students in their element. People were very friendly, smiling/happy, and most people were working in pairs or groups. I talked to some students who were in the morning section of Microeconomics (the class I would be visiting in the afternoon) and talked to them about the pricing presentation they were working on. Everyone seemed very casual and laid back. I definitely got the “collaborative environment” vibe.
The tour through the Haas facilities was nice. I like the layout and central courtyard, lots of common space for interacting with your fellow students. I did notice the presence of the undergrads, but the tour guides and info session leaders said that there were very few issues sharing space and/or professor time with them (except for scheduling the study rooms, which can be done online). The campus itself is pretty cool, and of course Haas is situated at the top of the hill so all the older MBA folks get their exercise. We got some lunch and continued to bombard our hosts with questions.
After lunch, we attended the information session hosted by two student ambassadors. I didn’t get much new information out of it since I attended the Haas info session here in San Diego, but it was nice to get two new perspectives on life at Haas. My overall impression of Haas remains the same: a laid-back yet rigorous program filled with intelligent, down-to-earth folks who care just as much (or more) about the world around them as they do about making money, all in a very collaborative and student-driven environment.
Next, I attended the core Microeconomics class. It was different than a typical class since it was their final class of the half semester. Rather than a lecture or case study led by the professor, the learning teams each did a 5 minute pricing presentation on a variety of companies as a culmination of what they had learned. There was a wide range of presentations: some with one presenter and some with two, some who played it straight and some who went for funny, some with PowerPoint slides and some with no visual aids. I was happy to see that a handful of the companies selected were sports related and this showed me that even in a general class you can tweak a project for your industry of interest. The students I spoke with at the end of class told me it was a really interesting class, great professor, very “laid back yet rigorous”. As Dave reported a few days ago, the classroom was stifling hot! Public program = Less money for the luxuries.
Finally, I met up with the co-chair of the Entertainment Management Association. This was probably the most informative part of my day and will have the most impact on my essays. Two pages of notes from that discussion full of advice on using an MBA in the sports/media/entertainment industry, searching for jobs/internships, tailoring the curriculum to work for you, networking with alums and MBAs from other programs, different projects and seminars available at Haas related to the industry, etc. It was invaluable and I’m so glad I’ve set up similar meetings at Kellogg and Chicago next week. We wrapped up around 5:30 and I headed back to the airport. I tried to get on an earlier flight but failed, so I didn’t get home until around 11 pm. It was a very long day, but a great day.
I am physically exhausted and with 5 apps due in the next 4 weeks and my trip to Chicago next week, there is no reprieve in sight, yet my campus visit has me mentally energized and ready to attack my remaining application tasks. MUST…PUSH…FORWARD!
That left me some free time before the tour/lunch at 11:45, so I went down to the café to make some notes/list of questions, proofread a couple essays, and read the latest “Economist” (has a great section on the presidential election). Plus, I wanted to just sit back and observe Haas students in their element. People were very friendly, smiling/happy, and most people were working in pairs or groups. I talked to some students who were in the morning section of Microeconomics (the class I would be visiting in the afternoon) and talked to them about the pricing presentation they were working on. Everyone seemed very casual and laid back. I definitely got the “collaborative environment” vibe.
The tour through the Haas facilities was nice. I like the layout and central courtyard, lots of common space for interacting with your fellow students. I did notice the presence of the undergrads, but the tour guides and info session leaders said that there were very few issues sharing space and/or professor time with them (except for scheduling the study rooms, which can be done online). The campus itself is pretty cool, and of course Haas is situated at the top of the hill so all the older MBA folks get their exercise. We got some lunch and continued to bombard our hosts with questions.
After lunch, we attended the information session hosted by two student ambassadors. I didn’t get much new information out of it since I attended the Haas info session here in San Diego, but it was nice to get two new perspectives on life at Haas. My overall impression of Haas remains the same: a laid-back yet rigorous program filled with intelligent, down-to-earth folks who care just as much (or more) about the world around them as they do about making money, all in a very collaborative and student-driven environment.
Next, I attended the core Microeconomics class. It was different than a typical class since it was their final class of the half semester. Rather than a lecture or case study led by the professor, the learning teams each did a 5 minute pricing presentation on a variety of companies as a culmination of what they had learned. There was a wide range of presentations: some with one presenter and some with two, some who played it straight and some who went for funny, some with PowerPoint slides and some with no visual aids. I was happy to see that a handful of the companies selected were sports related and this showed me that even in a general class you can tweak a project for your industry of interest. The students I spoke with at the end of class told me it was a really interesting class, great professor, very “laid back yet rigorous”. As Dave reported a few days ago, the classroom was stifling hot! Public program = Less money for the luxuries.
Finally, I met up with the co-chair of the Entertainment Management Association. This was probably the most informative part of my day and will have the most impact on my essays. Two pages of notes from that discussion full of advice on using an MBA in the sports/media/entertainment industry, searching for jobs/internships, tailoring the curriculum to work for you, networking with alums and MBAs from other programs, different projects and seminars available at Haas related to the industry, etc. It was invaluable and I’m so glad I’ve set up similar meetings at Kellogg and Chicago next week. We wrapped up around 5:30 and I headed back to the airport. I tried to get on an earlier flight but failed, so I didn’t get home until around 11 pm. It was a very long day, but a great day.
I am physically exhausted and with 5 apps due in the next 4 weeks and my trip to Chicago next week, there is no reprieve in sight, yet my campus visit has me mentally energized and ready to attack my remaining application tasks. MUST…PUSH…FORWARD!
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Don't you just love landlords?
I typically enjoy the benefits of renting vs owning. I like not having to do yard work, fix things, buy appliances, etc. and having the freedom to pick up and move pretty easily. Sometimes it sucks. Like now. My landlord called me last night to inform me that our building needs to be fumigated and he wants to do it before the end of the month. We will need to be out of the building for 3 days/2 nights and I have no choice in the matter. Of course this can't be done while I'm in Chicago, that would be too convenient. I will be homeless Oct 28-30 and it's just my luck that I have 3 applications due within a week of that (Haas on the 29th, McCombs on the 1st, and Anderson on the 3rd). Fan-f'n-tastic. As if I don't have enough stress in my life right now!
I submitted part 1 for Kellogg last week. It's the first application piece I've formally submitted. It was terrifying! I triple-checked for typos, spelling, and grammar, but I was so tense when I hit that submit button. I now have one recommendation submitted for Haas and my recos assure me that more will be coming by the end of the week. I'm looking forward to spending Thursday at Berkeley. I've set up a lunch, tour, info session, class visit, and a meeting with someone from the Entertainment Management Association. It will be a whirlwind day and I'll be taking copious notes so I can finish up my Haas essays before my trip to Chicago next week. I'm getting nervous anticipating my Kellogg interview. I need to get some quality copies of my resume made, go over some practice questions, make sure I know my app/resume backwards & forwards, and pick up my suit from Nordstorm. Ended up buying a beautiful black pinstripe suit that should last me a long time. I also need to dust off my overcoat. It hasn't seen the light of day since I moved to San Diego.
As for the BW rankings, it all seemed like much ado about nothing. Not a lot of change, and those few changes didn't seem unexpected. It will be interesting to get current students perspectives on the Haas slip.
I submitted part 1 for Kellogg last week. It's the first application piece I've formally submitted. It was terrifying! I triple-checked for typos, spelling, and grammar, but I was so tense when I hit that submit button. I now have one recommendation submitted for Haas and my recos assure me that more will be coming by the end of the week. I'm looking forward to spending Thursday at Berkeley. I've set up a lunch, tour, info session, class visit, and a meeting with someone from the Entertainment Management Association. It will be a whirlwind day and I'll be taking copious notes so I can finish up my Haas essays before my trip to Chicago next week. I'm getting nervous anticipating my Kellogg interview. I need to get some quality copies of my resume made, go over some practice questions, make sure I know my app/resume backwards & forwards, and pick up my suit from Nordstorm. Ended up buying a beautiful black pinstripe suit that should last me a long time. I also need to dust off my overcoat. It hasn't seen the light of day since I moved to San Diego.
As for the BW rankings, it all seemed like much ado about nothing. Not a lot of change, and those few changes didn't seem unexpected. It will be interesting to get current students perspectives on the Haas slip.
Thursday, October 07, 2004
Sleep
"Elephants sleep only 2 hours a day."
This according to the lid from my diet Snapple iced tea this morning. Well color me jealous, I wish I could survive on 2 hours of sleep. As it is, that zombie feeling is starting to creep in and I don't see it improving anytime soon, even after my last deadline there will still be admission decisions to worry about, then financing and moving.
I've been working later into the evenings on my applications, and I'll plow through the sleepy feelings only to be ready to wrap up and hit the sack feeling completely wired. I'm having a hard time shutting my brain off when I go to bed. Makes it hard to fall asleep when I'm thinking about all the things I need to do, questions that still need to be asked and answered, etc. Once I do fall asleep, it's restless sleep. I've tried to do the watch a boring show or read a book thing, but I have this MBA ADD and my thoughts always drift back to my applications or all of the what if scenarios.... What if I don't get in anywhere? What if I get in to more than one program, how am I going to decide and how will I finance this little project? What if my recommenders let me down? What if I bomb my interviews? What if things progress with my boyfriend but he doesn't want to move with me? WHAT IF A THOUSAND RINKY DINKS COME ROLLING DOWN THE HILL???! (one of my father's favorite sayings when I start playing the "what if" game, a funny reminder to KNOCK IT OFF because it's useless)
Business Week rankings come out in just an hour and 15 minutes. I'll be tuned into the chat. Do I really care about the rankings? Are they going to change my application strategy at this stage? Definitely not, but all the hype surrounding the rankings, the snub by Harvard & Wharton, the endless debates on the forums....this thing is like a train wreck and I can't help but watch. I'll post my reaction later tonight.
I have a friend who is a department manager at Nordstorm so I'm going to pay her a visit tonight after work and buy a suit for my interviews. I haven't worn a suit since I interviewed with my current employer in the spring of 2000! Back then, I couldn't afford anything nice so the one I had is a bit beat up, dated, and doesn't fit me that great. It's time to be a big girl and buy something nice that will last at least the next 3 years and hopefully longer. Credit card is going to get some exercise tonight, ugh.
This according to the lid from my diet Snapple iced tea this morning. Well color me jealous, I wish I could survive on 2 hours of sleep. As it is, that zombie feeling is starting to creep in and I don't see it improving anytime soon, even after my last deadline there will still be admission decisions to worry about, then financing and moving.
I've been working later into the evenings on my applications, and I'll plow through the sleepy feelings only to be ready to wrap up and hit the sack feeling completely wired. I'm having a hard time shutting my brain off when I go to bed. Makes it hard to fall asleep when I'm thinking about all the things I need to do, questions that still need to be asked and answered, etc. Once I do fall asleep, it's restless sleep. I've tried to do the watch a boring show or read a book thing, but I have this MBA ADD and my thoughts always drift back to my applications or all of the what if scenarios.... What if I don't get in anywhere? What if I get in to more than one program, how am I going to decide and how will I finance this little project? What if my recommenders let me down? What if I bomb my interviews? What if things progress with my boyfriend but he doesn't want to move with me? WHAT IF A THOUSAND RINKY DINKS COME ROLLING DOWN THE HILL???! (one of my father's favorite sayings when I start playing the "what if" game, a funny reminder to KNOCK IT OFF because it's useless)
Business Week rankings come out in just an hour and 15 minutes. I'll be tuned into the chat. Do I really care about the rankings? Are they going to change my application strategy at this stage? Definitely not, but all the hype surrounding the rankings, the snub by Harvard & Wharton, the endless debates on the forums....this thing is like a train wreck and I can't help but watch. I'll post my reaction later tonight.
I have a friend who is a department manager at Nordstorm so I'm going to pay her a visit tonight after work and buy a suit for my interviews. I haven't worn a suit since I interviewed with my current employer in the spring of 2000! Back then, I couldn't afford anything nice so the one I had is a bit beat up, dated, and doesn't fit me that great. It's time to be a big girl and buy something nice that will last at least the next 3 years and hopefully longer. Credit card is going to get some exercise tonight, ugh.
Friday, October 01, 2004
That didn't take long
Mount St. Helens had a little eruption this afternoon, but it sounds like that will be it. She just needed to let off a little steam...don't we all?
My boyfriend and I had a real, proper date last night. We went to dinner downtown then went to the theater to see the traveling production of "Rent." I love the music, but this was just an OK production of it. It's interesting that in less than a decade material that was once controversial is now pretty mainstream.
I missed the presidential debate because of the show, but I Tivo'd it and plan to watch it sometime this weekend.
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