School and the City

Yet another CBS Follies classic

2008-04-25T16:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me

2008-03-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

WOW - almost a year since I last posted. Might have to revive this thing in Nicole's honor. Stay tuned...

Watch My Stuff

2007-04-21T18:59:00.003-07:00

South Park Comes to CBS

2007-04-21T18:59:00.001-07:00

Harry Potter and the Accountant's Abacus

2007-04-21T18:58:00.001-07:00

Baby Got WACC

2007-04-21T18:57:00.001-07:00

The latest from CBS Follies...

CBS - Rebranded

2007-04-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

Follies Teaser

2007-04-11T11:49:00.001-07:00

Columbia Business School Follies Spring '07 Teaser

Spring is Here

2007-03-31T10:41:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year. I love being able to step outside without a jacket and the feeling of the sun rays on my skin as I walk to class. Life is pretty great these days. School is going well, though it is extremely hard to stay motivated as far as studying and assignments. I cannot believe there are only four weeks of class left before the end of my first year. Time flies when you're having fun.

Last night we had a year-end Cluster E awards ceremony and fantastic prizes and awards were handed out. I left the event a double winner, taking with me titles for Best Dance Moves as well as Most Likely to have a Stripper Pole in her Bedroom. My parents would be so proud.

Don't think I mentioned anything about my internship yet - but I do have one and I will be staying in New York for it this summer. The job is in Corporate Finance, leading into a Finance Leadership Development Rotational Program for full time, with a major pharma company (I am sure you can guess which one). Don't know yet which department I will be assigned to but I am excited to experience NYC in the summer.

Over the last few weeks we have had a lot of elections taking place for next year's club leadership positions. I decided to get involved in several clubs and will be assuming duties as the VP of Finance for HCIA (Healthcare Industry Association) as well as the President of the West Coast Society. I also interviewed for a board position in Hermes and should hear back about that this coming week.

Speaking of Hermes, Open House is coming up VERY soon and I've been working hard to make sure the class of 2009 admits have as much fun as we did last year at all the events. It will be great to meet the incoming class and I hope everything runs smoothly!

Year One, Term Two

2007-01-20T20:02:00.000-08:00

Back to school. The J-Termers are here and the class of 2008 is officially complete. Happy hour was packed and every girl was checking out the new boys on the block. It appears that the J-term clusters are about 85% male so all the single girls are on the prowl!

So far I like my classes much better this semester; I am taking mostly core courses but did manage to squeeze in two electives. Here is what my schedule looks like:

Decision Models (1/2 term) - so far my least favorite class (partially due to its 9am occurrence)

Managerial Accounting (1/2 term) - will take second term

Capital Markets and Investments (elective) - this class is going to kick my butt and I am possibly already lost. The prof seems great through and it will be nice to learn something brand new. Additionally, I finally have a class with AxeChick!!!

Managing Marketing Programs (1/2 term) - I really enjoyed last semester's marketing strategy class and looking forward to this one.

Leadership (1/2 term) - second term

Operations Management - the old vice dean is teaching the course and it promises to be the best class of the semester.

Healthcare marketing: from start-up to multinationals (elective) - this class is really small (I think only 15 students) and I am very excited to get to know the prof and my classmates. Our first case study is on Cialis, Viagra, and Levitra :)

Not too many news on the internship front. Two interviews down, four more scheduled so far in the coming weeks, still one known offer.

Winter Break coming to an end

2007-01-13T09:56:00.000-08:00

The last three weeks have been fantastic. I got to hang out with my family, catch up with friends, and spend five glorious days on the beaches of Maui. I greatly miss the Hawaiian sun along with all the surfer boys and beautiful scenery. Only one more day left in San Francisco and then it is back to the cold and windy New York City. Brrrr.

In addition to all the fun, I spent a week participating in the 10th Annual CBS Silicon Valley Trip along with 50 of my classmates and various EMBA students (Columbia, Haas/Columbia, Columbia Global). It was an awesome opportunity to network with all kinds of people as well as alums. Throughout the week we visited and learned about companies including Intuit, Google, Yahoo!, SAP, YouTube, LinkedIn, eBay, Applied Biosystems, Genentech, and SanDisk. There was also a mixer with Wharton and MIT as well as an alumni reception featuring Craig of craigslist.com as the main attraction. Fun times.

The interviews are in full swing back on campus. So far I have one offer on the table and a few interviews lined up in the coming weeks. Cannot wait to dive right back into the madness!

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays!

2006-12-25T09:52:00.000-08:00

To be honest, I have attempted to write something in here several times over the past two months, but each time I got to the "Create a post" page I got overwhelmed with all the other little things I should be doing instead and I clicked the little red X in the top right corner, promising myself to get to it later.

Time flies and I cannot believe that I am already a quarter of the way done with the program. The first semester was definitely tough and stressful in terms of time management but I think that figuring how to live in that kind of atmosphere has taught me a lesson I couldn't have learned otherwise. As far as classes go, my biggest surprise was the Marketing Strategy course. I thought Marketing was all fluff and was pleasantly surprised seeing all the numbers pop up throughout the course. I am looking forward to the Managing Marketing Programs class in the spring.

I am back in San Francisco for the break though so far it doesn't feel like vacation because all I have been doing is dropping resumes and cover letters. I took advantage of the reciprocity program we have with other business schools and visited the career services at Haas last week to get some Bay Area internship listings. In a week I have an appointment to do the same at Stanford so hopefully some good contacts will come out of all these trips. I received two unsolicited invitations to interview from companies flipping through our resume books and am trying to schedule those. It definitely feels nice to be wanted. I am jealous of all the people who already have interviews and even more envious of all those people that have offers. My goal is to be done with applying by the end of 2006 and celebrate by going to Hawaii for 5 days. I definitely need a vacation.

Speaking of vacations, Spring Break in Brazil is all booked with AMAZING housing in Floripa and a super cheap flight. It just so happens that my birthday falls in the middle of the trip so needless to say I will be celebrating in style!

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Snow in October?

2006-10-31T07:06:00.000-08:00

Hello global warming! I am not talking a few random snowflakes either. As if it wasn't bad enough that it was freezing and I was up at 7am on a Sunday morning on my way to play some paintball at Skirmish. My first time playing and I am happy to report many kills along with many bruises. Unfortunately I wasn't smart enough to think ahead and realize that it was not very smart to play five days before Fall Ball but it is too late and I can only hope that my dress and makeup will cover up the majority of the quarter sized blue/green marks all over my body (I am probably making is sound way worse than it really is but how often does a girl get the chance to go to prom a second time???). Anyhow - paintball kicked ass and I cannot wait to go again.

The two finals have passed and there is no more Managerial Statistics and Strategy Formulation. Those two courses have been replaced by Marketing Strategy and CEO (Creating Effective Organizations). The CEO prof is awesome - we boo and hiss at people who come in late and the material is actually pretty interesting and engaging.

Halloween Happy Hour was last Thursday. Each cluster had a theme costume and was to perform a skit for 4 minutes in front of the judges (part of the Cluster Cup Competition). Our concept was the Richard Simmons workout and we had three routines in our skit including Quantitative Crunch (with exercises like Crunch n'Squat and Left,Right - Debit Credit), The Recruiting Workout (featuring Lunge n'Beg & Meet n'Greet) and finally Social Sweat (with Pump n'Chug). It was AWESOME and we were tied in first place with Cluster B who did a spoof on Austin Powers. Here is a little visual treat of Cluster E as Richard Simmons...

Cluster E T-shirts

2006-10-28T10:25:00.000-07:00

After all the drama surrounding the ethical dilemmas of being associated with the Enron logo we finally settled on a design and got our cluster t-shirts. They look awesome. The writing is dark blue on the actual shirts and the girl version is super cute.

The back reads the following:

"This t-shirt does not represent the views or opinions of Cluster E (hereinafter Âthe clusterÂ). Individuals wearing this shirt are expressly required not to engage in accounting fraud, nor to establish off-shore entities on behalf of the cluster. Any such fictitious accounting entities are contrary to the policy of the cluster and outside the scope of this t-shirt. The cluster will not accept any liability in respect to any such actions, and the individual responsible will be personally and solely liable for any damages or other liability arising. This t-shirt and its contents are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity wearing it. If you have received this t-shirt in error you should not disseminate, distribute or copy the information contained on this t-shirt. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this t-shirt is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. No fur-bearing animals were harmed during the creation of this t-shirt. This garment may contain nutmeg, peanuts, or other allegens. Return for refund where applicable. Not recommended for persons with sugar-restricted diets. Batteries are not included. May cause irritability, dizziness, or sleeplessness after prolonged use. Contents under pressure. Caution: this t-shirt has caused accounting irregularities in some laboratory animals. Shake well before using. This t-shirt is not a series tubes and no other user-serviceable parts are located inside. Not to be combined with other clothing except under the supervision of a physician. Avoid contact with water and prolonged exposure to microwave radiation. The truth is out there. Use no hooks. Dry clean only. Not intended for use by children. This t-shirt is meant for educational purposes only. This t-shirt may not be reproduced, redistributed, or rebroadcast without the express written consent of Major League Baseball. Void where prohibited. Some assembly required. Batteries not included. Use only as directed. No other warranty expressed or implied. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Postage will be paid by addressee. Subject to approval. This is not an offer to buy or sell securities. May be too intense for some viewers. For recreational use only. Do not disturb. All models over 18 years of age. If condition persists, consult your physician. Freshest if eaten before 5/31/2008. Subject to change without notice. Times approximate. Simulated picture. No postage necessary if mailed in the United States. Breaking seal constitutes acceptance of agreement. Many suitcases look alike. Contains a substantial amount of non-tobacco ingredients. Slippery when wet. For office use only. Keep cool; process promptly. Post office will not deliver without postage. Not responsible for direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages resulting from any defect, error or failure to perform. At participating locations only. Not the Beatles. Penalty for private use. See label for sequence. Substantial penalty for early withdrawal. Do not write below this line. Falling rock. Lost ticket pays maximum rate. Avoid contact with skin. This t-shirt does not represent an admission of guilt. Beware of dog. You must be present to win. No purchase necessary. Use only in well-ventilated area. Keep away from fire or flame. Replace with same type. Not recommended for children. Reproduction strictly prohibited. Do not combine with drugs, alcohol, or horses. No anchovies unless otherwise specified. Void where prohibited by law. Side effects are generally mild to moderate and may include sneezing, dry mouth, nausea, decreased appetite, dizziness, sleepiness, insomnia, tremor, and sexual side effects. People taking monamine oxidase inhibitors should not view this t-shirt. Women who are or may become pregnant should consult a doctor before wearing this t-shirt. This t-shirt is not approved treatment of heart or blood diseases. Do not combine with alcohol. Do not operate motor vehicles or heavy equipment while wearing this t-shirt. The stunts performed by individuals wearing this shirt are performed by professionals and should not be attempted by untrained personnel. No purchase necessary, details inside. Keep out of the reach of children. This t-shirt is a work of fiction, and all resemblance to real events, situations, or corporate logos, living or dead, is purely coincidental. If you purchased this t-shirt without arm holes, you should be aware that it is stolen property. It was reported as "unsold and destroyed" to the cluster, and neither the cluster nor the content creator has received any payment for this "stripped t-shirt". Unauthorized copying, reverse engineering, transmission, public performance, rental, pay for play, or circumvention of copy protection is strictly prohibited. The t-shirt is offered "as-is", without warranty or representation of any kind. You may not use or otherwise export or re-export this t-shirt except as authorized by United States law and the laws of the jurisdiction in which the t-shirt is worn. In particular, but without limitation, the t-shirt may not be exported or reexported (a) into (or to a national or resident of) any U.S. embargoed countries (currently Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria) or (b) to anyone on the U.S Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Department of Commerce Denied Person's List or Entity List. This t-shirt is not intended for use in the operation of nuclear facilities, aircraft navigation or communication systems, air traffic control systems, life support machines or any other equipment in which failure could lead to death, personal injury, or severe physical or environmental damage. Keep out of reach of children. This supersedes all previous t-shirts. Caution: Hot."

It has been a month since my last post?

2006-10-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

I have no concept of time these days yet somehow I get myself to the necessary classes, meetings, and presentations.

I am scared to jinx myself but so far classes have been fairly easy. Granted there is an overwhelming amount of assignments that take entirely too long to complete and are essentially a tiny portion of the final grade but as far as the material covered I am a bit surprised that I know most of the stuff from my past life. For the three midterms I have taken to date I received raw scores of 94%, 90%, and 100%. Two of those are well above the mean and the third is slightly above the average. The crazy thing is that I really don't care about the grades! That being said, the first two finals in Strategy Formulation and Managerial Statistics are coming up on Monday and Tuesday and of course I am in the library trying to catch up on all the readings and practice problems I should have been doing throughout the semester. I really liked both of the professors (one of them is our McDreamy) for those classes and it's a bit sad that those courses are over and will be replaces by two new half-term classes next week.

I finally stopped obsessing about my resume and uploaded it to the Career Services site a whole week before the deadline. Next up is the cover letter, which I am dreading writing because I think it is utterly pointless and since hardly anyone actually reads it, it can only hurt you.

Being a Social Rep for the cluster is more work than I had anticipated but it is super fun. In the last few weeks we have gone bowling, had a karaoke night, an evening cocktail event to say thank you to our orientation peer advisors, girls' and boys' nights out, a trip to the taping of the Late Show with Dave Letterman, and lots more. Next weekend is the big Paintball event - I cannot wait!

Back to regressions and sampling...good luck to everyone applying R1 or ED!

MIdterms? Already?

2006-09-20T12:42:00.000-07:00

Quickie post while I am in between classes and procrastinating studying for the Statistics midterm which is coming up this Friday. I have officially beem brainwashed to believe that grades do not matter because frankly I cannot get myself to focus and study. Looks like I will be at the library while everyone else is at the Happy Hour tomorrow night.

Life is fab and super busy. There are guest speakers, club meetings, career informationals, and recruiting events all happening at the same time on the same days. Along with all of that I have to find time to get my assignments done before meeting to discuss them with my group. On top of all that jazz I have been elected the social chair for my cluster and am busy planning everyone's social lives.

Off to Corporate Finance...

TGIF

2006-08-25T18:36:00.000-07:00

Instead of writing a super long entry about all the amazing things that happened over the first week of Orientation I present you with the summary of the main attractions:

- Free breakfast, lunch, and dinner over the entire week (I might have gotten used to that)
- Fabulous speakers including Leon Cooperman (Chairman and CEO of Omega Advisors, Inc.) and Bob Friedman (President of Radical Thinking),
- Intriguing discussions on Corporate Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility (with speakers from CitiGroup and the GAP), Corruption, and Self-Awareness
- Ten various bar gatherings
- Several team making/starting/leading/building lectures and exercises
- Two case studies
- A reception at the Guggenheim Museum

Did I mention that cluster E is the best? Now you know.

I could not be happier with my decision to come to Columbia. Everyone I meet is amazing and humble and friendly. I love my cluster as well as non-cluster friends. My study group is extremely diverse: in addition to yours truly there is a consultant girl from San Francisco, an IT Sector guy from New Orleans, an investment banker from Paris, a journalist from Israel, and if you don't think that is enough diversity we also have a 6'9" professional basketball player who has never worked a day in his life. It is going to be really interesting to see how we all work together.

I am off to yet another event but I will try hard to update more often!

I Left My Closet in San Francisco

2006-08-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

Contrary to the popular belief, I have not been pub crawling all this time, but rather spending my days wandering around such nicely air conditioned establishments as Bed Bath and Beyond, Marshalls and The Container Store and realizing just how lucky I was back home to (a) have a vehicle to transport my purchased items back to my dwellings and (b) have enough room in those dwellings to contain all of my treasured clothing possessions. Gotta love long run-on sentences.

So, I have finally made it to the Big Apple. My red-eye flight was a nightmare. Actually, I would have settled for a nightmare had I been given the chance to sleep and not be startled every 10 minutes by the crying kid in front of me. I left San Francisco at 10pm and after having a mild heart attack that Delta would loose my bags (thankfully it was only a phobia) as well as signing my name on about 15 different as well as the same forms (I am not sure they ever heard of a copy machine) at the housing office, I was finally in my apartment by 11am the following day.

The plan was to unpack some of the bags while anxiously waiting for the bed to be delivered from 1-800-Mattress (this was to happen anytime between noon and 4 but I was pretty certain that by 2 I would be dreaming of martinis and shoes). Keep in mind that all I wanted to do was fall asleep for a few hours before heading out to a Happy Hour to meet some future classmates. At 3:51 I received a phone call from the bed company telling me the driver is running late and will be there at 4:30. Ten minutes after that deadline he finally showed up with my bed and had the audacity to ask if I had any tip for him. "Seriously? I don't think so." At this point I had no time to nap and after getting ready was on my way to the drink fest, the details of which are top secret.

My apartment is very cute (code word for small) but very cozy (code word for convenient). My room is actually bigger then expected and now that I have a bed and a nightstand in it (until I get my dresser from Walmart.com) it looks like it could fit a lot more stuff. The kitchen/living room/dining room area definitely leaves something to be desired, as do my closets. But I did get all this at an amazing bargain price so this will be the end of my complaining.

Less then two weeks till orientation!

Exemption Exams

2006-07-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

How do you guys feel about exempting out of core classes in the first year?

Originally I was only planning on taking the Accounting exam, having survived four sections of the CPA I think I deserve never to endure accounting classes again. Today I received an email from Student Academic Affairs encouraging me to take the exemption exam for Managerial Economics based on my background and undergraduate major.

I am not sure how I feel about ditching out on two of the five core classes. I don't want this to be an issue with my study group as far as bonding and all that good stuff, but at the same time I am not really interested in wasting time and money on being taught something I already know.

I know some schools give you credit for the course when you successfully pass the exams, but at CBS I would just get the chance to take two elective classes instead. Probably Capital Markets and something else though I will be limited to whatever is left over after the second years have their picks.

Any feedback is appreciated.

p.s. Only 9 days to go till the big move!

21 Days and Counting

2006-07-13T15:08:00.000-07:00

Three weeks to go. Wow. Booking that one way flight didn't really give me the thrill I was hoping for. The closer I get to leaving the more nervous I get not only about the whole moving process, but also about school in general. I mean hitting the books and cramming for tests after four years of cush corporate living cannot be THAT easy. I guess I'll have to get used to pre-drinking gatherings before hitting the bars in order to conserve funds all over again as well. Actually, I think I kind of miss those.

Just ordered my bed to be delivered on the day I fly in. I think I got a pretty decent deal on it, though I know nothing about mattresses and this is the first time I had to buy a new one. I did manage to sweet talk the guy into giving me free delivery and two free pillows. Gotta love being a girl!

Next step on my agenda is to start packing and possibly ship some boxes over to my new apartment, which as I came to find out is only 3 blocks away from the business school. Score! I hear the building even has a 24 hour doorman, though I am not sure if that is for being posh or actual protection. Laundry is in the building and I get ethernet, cable, and the rest of utilities included in my rent (which is actually LESS than what I paid in San Francisco).

If any of you have experience shipping stuff across the country please let me know your recommendations! I am especially expecting a comment from Brownoski on this one :)

Step Ten: Begin Networking

2006-07-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

I know I am a big ahead of myself writing Step Ten before Step Three (I promise I'll go back and fill in the gap) but I figured this was a good segue to write about my experiences this summer.

Working on the Long Term/Short Term goals essays last fall forced me to do a lot of self analysis. I thought about the two jobs I have had so far and made a pros/cons list for each one. After the brainstorm it became clear to me that while I loved the people at job A, I was not into the work itself but at the same time was very interested in the biotech industry. Job B was the complete opposite and the reason I was not happy there was because the consumer goods industry bored me to tears.

Ever since I established the above, I have been making a mental list of the companies I would love to work and intern for and looking into the programs they offer for MBA students and grads as well as which schools they come to recruit from. At the Columbia Open House in April I met the president of the Biotech/Healthcare Club and asked him to run a query of alumni working for my target companies. In May I emailed a few people asking for informational interviews and possible pre-MBA internships. I had 50% success in my reply rate and got a lot of questions answered. Everyone was extremely friendly and willing to help. They were also very impressed that I am using the alumni network prior to the beginning of the program.

About a month ago I received a phone call from one of the people I had emailed letting me know that he had a few projects he could use my help with if I was still interested in a mini-internship. Of course I was! Not only was I bored of sitting on my bum for the past 5 months, but this was my numero uno target company (as well as Fortune 100's Best Companies To Work For numero uno as well - there is your hint).

So far I have been working for two weeks and it has been a fantastic experience. My manager is great and is ensuring that I meet as many people as I can in my short time there. He has me learning all about the company and the products as opposed to just using me as backfill to get the projects done. Hopefully I can meet with the MBA recruiters and get my foot in the door on the internship interviewing process. I would love nothing more then to work for them next summer.

The moral of the story is that it is never too early to start utilizing the benefits of your MBA investment. You paid the deposit months ago and all you have to show for it is yet another email address, or two. Besides being able to get you into the fun of Facebook.com that email address is golden in terms of opening up doors to networking!

University Housing - check!

2006-07-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

Hoorah!

Dear Marina,

We are happy to inform you that your application for University Apartment Housing (UAH) has been approved by your School.

Each application is given careful attention in order to make the best possible match from a diverse pool of available housing. We will e-mail you the details of your Offer Of Assignment prior to the start of your academic program.

I am not homeless anymore! I have no clue where or with whom I will be living, but at least I know it will be close to campus and I will save a whole lot of money for shoes and martinis! I think I am officially (once again since December) excited and anxious to find out my move-in date so that I can book that flight and pack those bags.

Step Two: Select Worthy Schools for Courtship

2006-07-03T09:34:00.000-07:00

Not only are business school applications time consuming and stress inducing, but they will also leave your wallet quite a bit lighter. In my personal approach I selected about 10 programs from the top 15 schools and made an Excel grid noting items that were important to me as I went through my research. I am a pretty visual person and seeing all the facts laid out in front of me at the end of the day really helped me decide which schools I wanted to focus on and which ones to eliminate. Here are a few pointers you might find useful:

1. How many applications are too many?

This is a personal choice. If you start early then you have more time. If you are like me and wait until the very last moment (I didn't start on my Columbia essays until middle of September and they were all due October 12th) you definitely do not want to overload yourself. Think quality over quantity. One really good application package might get you in, whereas 5 so-so ones are guaranteed to waste your time and money.

2. Revise your school selection list after you take the GMAT.

If you do better then expected, why not re-visit your list and add one or two programs you thought were possibly out of reach before?

3. Stay away from safety schools.

When taking two years of your life and paying $200K to get an MBA you want to make sure you attend a program you are actually passionate about. Last thing you want is to be miserable for two years because you settled for something less then what you wanted. Think about your future classmates, would you want to have in your study group someone who doesn't really want to be there?

4. What matters to you the most?

This was part of my Excel grid and of course will be different for each person. A few things to consider are:

Location - international vs. United States / East Coast vs. West Coast / urban vs. Suburban

Housing - on campus vs. off campus / community vs. commuter school

Classes - case study vs. lecture / core classes vs. electives

Program Strengths - finance vs marketing vs entrepreneurship

Specific Concentrations - biotech vs international development vs technology, are there enough electives offered in your desired field?

Environment - competitive vs team oriented

Recruiters - know who comes to campus, especially if you have a few companies in mind that you want to work for

Alumni Network - find out how active the alumni community is in the area you hope to settle down and how many alumns there are in the field you hope to pursue

Clubs - if there is a specific one you want to join, look to see if the school has it

Semester Abroad - look into the different options each school offers if you are interested in participating

Significant Other Programs - some schools are more family friendly then others

Costs - some programs are better known for giving more financial aid then others, state schools are a cheaper alternative for in-state residents, also living costs are very different between New York City and Ann Arbor

Career Services - if you have a specific city you want to work in after graduation, how connected is the career services office to the companies in that location? What exactly are the services they provide?

There can be many other factors to look into but the key is to rank them all according to your preferences and see how each of your school selections fit the criteria. I have been wanting to live in New York for as long as I can remember and had absolutely no desire to live in suburbia (did that whole thing during undergrad). I also knew that I wanted to come back to the Bay Area and looked into the West Coast Society Club as well as the Bay Area Alumni Chapter. In addition, I found out that because of the Haas-Columbia Executive MBA program as a Columbia Full Time Student I would have full use of the Haas Career Services Center when looking for internships and jobs. Playing in a few other factors it was pretty easy to isolate CBS as my number one choice.

5. Find a good fit.

I think it is extremely important to feel like you belong amongst your classmates. You should be critical and select the schools as you would a job. Coming into an interview you surely would notice the atmosphere at an office and picture yourself working there. I have declined a few job offers simply because I did not feel a connection with the people at the companies, nor with their corporate culture. Attend information sessions, get in touch with student ambassadors, and if you can, definitely visit the campus and sit in on a few classes. Granted you might have a bad experience with one person, but try to imagine yourself in the environment.

This goes back to my point about safety schools, but make sure you really want to attend the programs you are applying to for reasons other then their rankings and prestige.

I-Banking for Dummies (like me)

2006-06-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

We all know that there are three career paths awaiting for us upon obtaining that elite MBA status. I am talking about i-banking, consulting, and everything else. The first two are mostly for those of us who are either total workaholics or still have no clue what we want to do when we grow up. I find myself somewhere in the middle. I love the feeling of accomplishing something great at work and I am willing to put in the hours to get it done, yet I am not quite comfortable with the idea of trying to manage a work\life balance while spending 70 hours a week at the office. Though of course the financial merits associated with the work make these career paths pretty alluring.

In hopes to either fall in love or finally stop thinking "what if" about i-banking I decided to attend the Lehman Brothers Diversity Workshop to find out what it is that bankers do (because frankly I had no clue prior to last week). The event brought together 35 women who much like myself are entering MBA programs in the fall. I met girls from Chicago, MIT, Michigan (it was great to catch up with MBACutie), Wharton, and of course Columbia. Here is a quick summary of what I learned (some of these might just be true for Lehman):

- Banking consists of Investment Management, Sales & Trading, and of course Investment Banking (which includes IPOs & M&A)

- Investment Management has the least hours - somewhere between 55 and 60 a week on average

- The trading floor is 90% men (or at least that is what it looked like)

- If you are serious about banking you HAVE to get an internship because most banks do not hire second years

- Be ready for case studies in your interview, but don't stress too much about knowing the right answer - all you have to do is show how you would reason through the problem

After listening to the presentations the only area I would love to explore is Mergers & Acquisitions but being part of the Investment Banking branch it involves too many hours of my life that I am just not willing to give up for work. The workshop was a success. I accomplished a sense of "this is not for me" as well as had a fantastic trip to NYC!

Now if only I could figure out the deal with consulting...

2006 GMAC® Annual Industry Conference Recap

2006-06-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

I get the hint!

As most of you already know, I was asked to join Alex Brown of Clear Admit, and Graeme Harper of London Business School Admissions on a panel to talk about the value and role of blogs in the MBA admissions process. Here is the description of our session that was published in the conference materials:

The Impact of Blogs on MBA Admissions
CALIFORNIA EAST
Who controls your marketing message? In this emerging
practices session an industry expert discusses how and
why blogs and other online technologies are impacting the
recruiting environment. A former MBA candidate who ran
a blog during her admissions experience will share insight
into the student perspective. A school professional will
talk about strategically managing and responding to the
online environment. Then, you can discuss your experiences
with these new technologies and how you manage
their impact on your marketing and admissions process.
ALEX BROWN, Senior Admissions Consultant, Clear Admit, LLC
MARINA, MBA Student Blogger, Columbia Business School Class of 2008
GRAEME HARPER, Marketing Manager, London Business School

We were responsible for two sessions, each 90 minutes long, and had great turnout. The first time slot brought in a full house (~90 people) and the second one, considering it was the last conferencsessionon time, had at least 60 attendees. In the first 45 minutes each of us presented to the audience the slides we had prepared, which by the way I couldn't have done without all your guys' comments and emails. The second half of the session was Q&A which was very engaging and went into overtime both times.

Overall I had a blast and am very thankful to GMAC for the opportunity to be part of the event. It was great to hear feedback from the attendees, though I was surprised many mentioning I was the first student they have encountered at these events. It was also fantastic meeting all the admissions deans and directors face to face. Everyone was really nice and friendly. Who would have thought that AdCom are people too? (kidding!)

To offer a bit of advice to all the prospective applicant bloggers out there, be aware of how your entries represent you as an MBA candidate. As busy as they may be, many schools do keep track of the blogs who mention them. This doesn't mean you should stop writing, just be smart about it.

Step One: Conquer the Test

2006-06-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

Having never attended GMAT prep classes I envisioned them to be somewhat like the SAT courses my parents forced me to attend every Saturday afternoon, for what seemed like an eternity. I am one of those people who like to have their own little ways of approaching every problem. I am comfortable doing things my way and get irritated when someone tries to teach me another possible technique. This was the biggest dilemma with the SAT class. No matter how many little tricks the instructor tried to teach us, the Marina Way was dominating the Princeton Review Way and my parents’ money was wasted down the drain. So, not wanting to squander my own cash or to compromise my social life yet again I opted to study on my own.

Classes are not for everyone, nor does everyone need them to do great on the exam. You are the only person who knows yourself and your study habits. Here is your chance to start the self-analysis involved in the business school application process. Don’t think that spending a thousand dollars on a class guarantees a high score; you have to work just as hard in the class.

On the other hand, if you are all about the neat little tricks and prefer live instruction then by all means - sign yourself up! I should also mention that the classes are a great way to stay on track, so if you don’t think you can force yourself to dedicate the time to study then maybe the lessons are the thing for you as well. Having spent many nights after work at the local coffee shops studying for the CPA I had no doubts in my abilities to get myself together for a couple more months.

After talking to a few friends who have aced the GMAT I decided to go with the Kaplan books and purchased Kaplan GMAT 2006, Premier Program along with Kaplan GMAT 800. I started out with the Premier Program, reading through the suggested tips & tricks (though not paying too much attention to them) and doing the practice problems in the end of each chapter. Once I read the whole thing through I started on the CD-Rom and spent a lot of time getting through the hundreds of sample questions it offered. Once I felt that I was pretty comfortable with the problems, I moved on to the 800 book. I had heard (and rightly so) that these questions were often a lot harder then the actual test, so it didn’t really bother me when I wasn’t performing as well as I wanted.

Another personal strategy was my decision not to take full length practice tests. I quickly found out that when I did poorly on a simulation, I started feeling sad and depressed and began to convince myself that I will never get a decent score, never get into the program of my choice, my boss would find out about the results and fire me on grounds of utter stupidity, my friends will no longer want to associate with me, and I would end up homeless and alone. Such discouraging thoughts made it harder to get myself to study the next time. On the other hand, when I exceeded or met my test score expectations, I acted like the GMAT was the easiest thing in the world and that I was a pure genius who did not need any studying to get a perfect 800, hence not wanting to study anymore once again. My brain is such a tricky bastard, but I am smarter then the guy! I fooled myself into studying without emotional rollercoasters by simply avoiding knowing how well I was doing in terms of that magical 800 number and just stuck to the number of correct or incorrect problems out of the total set.

Regarding the AWA section, I did not spend even 10 minutes looking at possible essay choices and my pathetic score of 4.5 might have reflected that. However, as far as I know that little formality did not hurt me so my recommendation would be not to waste too much time on the essays. The questions they ask are pretty weird; I don’t think I even knew what was being asked of me in one of them.

As far as the study time, I began my preparations mid-July and took the exam September 13. On good weeks I put in 1.5 to 2 hours a day, maybe 3-4 on the weekdays. I made sure not to force the studying so that I wouldn’t get sick of it or too frustrated. Since the GMAT is all about getting your brain into a “certain way of thinking and reasoning” zone, once you are in that zone don’t take too many days off or you will have to start the process all over again, and that is not very pleasant. Focus on what you are good at and on what you think you can improve on and don’t dwell too much on areas at which you suck.

Setting the test date works as a great motivator. It is like having a deadline that forces you to buckle down and get to the studying, but choose your test date wisely. Check your social calendar to make sure there are no weddings/birthdays/major sports events you might be attending in the week before the exam. I chose a Tuesday, figuring I would study all weekend and clear my head at work on Monday, reviewing a few troublesome math concepts the evening before the big day and it worked out really well.

All of the above being said, I cannot think of anything else to add except a plea to all those with scores of 700 and above wanting to retake the GMAT. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop obsessing with the numbers and wasting your time. If I was on the Admissions Committee I would think there is something wrong with a person like you and question your motives and mental stability.

If you have read all of the above and still have questions please feel free to ask away.

Ace that test!!!

Ring Ring

2006-06-13T14:04:00.000-07:00

Only 10 days after upgrading my simple LG3200 to the nifty new LG8100 - courtesy of Verizon's New Every Two deal - I come to find out that the LG8300 is now out on the market and it is slicker and niftier then the 8100.
I marched right over to the Verizon store and made the trade! Behold, my new toy... now if only I could figure out how to use the damn USB cable to sync the damn thing...

Change of Plans

2006-06-12T18:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the late notice - but we have to move the Happy Hour from Friday night to Thursday night (this coming Thursday, June 15), still at the same place (Johnny Foley's Irish House) and at the same time (8pm).

I hope everyone who was planning on coming can still make it.

The Been There, Done That Guide

2006-06-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

It was right about this time last year that I started thinking about possibly getting my MBA and discovered all that the wonderful b-school blogosphere has to offer a potential applicant. I recall spending my afternoons at work immersed in reading the archives of veteran applicants, feeling both envious of their admits and excited to discover how my own application story might unfold.

As it is with my own blog, the useful applicant entries somehow get lost in the midst of other ramblings; hence I decided to make this entry a summary of all the critical points in the process. And so in hopes that I may be an inspiration to the unsure applicants throughout the land that I now leave you with...

The Been There, Done That Guide to MBA Admissions

(Share It with Someone You Love)

*Disclaimer - I am in no way claiming to be an expert on the subject. The following are my personal opinions and advice and are based on my experiences.*

Step One: Conquer the Test

Step Two: Select Worthy Schools for Courtship

Step Three: Timing is Everything

Step Four: Make your Boss Work for You

Step Five: Become a Writing Enthusiast

Step Six: Begin the Courtships

Step Seven: Find a Trusty Editor

Step Eight: Stay Sane

Step Nine: Sell Yourself

Step Ten: Begin Networking

...the above steps are to be linked to entries expanding on the topics in the near future...

Summer Laziness

2006-06-07T20:19:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have brought with them amazing weather, which is incredibly rare for San Francisco when it comes to the month of June. I was pretty set on finding myself a mini-internship upon returning from Peru, but now that I am back and the weather is great all I want to do is walk around the park and read books in the sun. I did get in contact with a few CBS alumns from my future ideal job sector and there is still a possibility at some kind of a resume building arrangement.

As for now, I am taking things one week at a time, though the next few promise to be pretty busy. Here is the plan so far:

June 14 - Columbia Business School Alumni Club of the Bay Area Summer Get-Together. It will be great to start making contacts in San Francisco. After all, isn't this networking thing what we are opening our wallets for in the long run?

June 15 - Best friend's birthday. Must go present shopping ASAP.

June 16-17 - GMAC Conference & Happy Hour (don't miss it all you Bay Area people!)

June 19-25 - Trip to NYC for an ibanking workshop with one of the banks as well as to possibly search for apartments. I am yet to hear from Housing on the status of my application and if there are no news by the time this trip rolls around I am going to find myself and Zhila a cute little apartment to live in. Did I mention the bank policy is to fly me first class?

Oh, and I got a new cell phone. The LG 8100 - anyone have any thoughts about it? I am still not in love with the thing after a week of courtships... Why cannot Verizon get some cute Nokia flip phones?

2 months 13 days until first day of school!

Save the Date - June 16

2006-05-31T09:13:00.000-07:00

Where: Johnny Foley's Irish House
When: Friday, June 16 @ 8pm
Why: The 2006 GMAC® Annual Industry Conference is right around the corner and since a bunch of Admissions Consultants and AdCom Members will be in town for the event, I thought it would be fun to get together for some drinks. So if you are in the Bay Area please come and join us in San Francisco for a fun time!

Please send me an email if you are planning on coming so that I can update you on any changes to the plans, if there are any.

mailto:mg2527@columbia.edu

Peru Wonders and Tribulations

2006-05-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

The bachelorette party in Vegas was absolutely fantastic. I am actually quite amazed how organized everything was despite the fact that there were 16 intoxicated girls present. The photos from the weekend are a bit too scandalous for this medium but they will definitely get much MySpace action in my friend circles.

To say that my Peru experience was one of the best vacations I have taken would be a giant lie.

The trip was off to an unpleasant start when expecting a 2.5 hour flight I finally landed in Houston 8 hours after boarding the plane in Vegas. The time was spent circling the airport for an hour or so, getting diverted to Corpus Christi and sitting on the runway for 3 hours while refueling, in addition to the hour flight there and back to Houston. Needless to say, I missed my connection flight to Lima, was given a voucher for the neighborhood Marriott, and told that I have to fly stand-by the following day (flights to Lima leave once a day). To make the long story short, I spent the following day in at least 4 lines and talked/yelled/pleaded with every supervisor I could get to, finally getting an actual seat on the flight.

The next challenge was re-booking my flight from Lima to Cusco, which had already missed, which was on a Peruvian airline for which I had no contact information on hand. Thankfully Zhila's Google skills saved the day and after spending 6 hours at the Lima airport I was finally on my way to Cusco.

After meeting up with my friends we took a tour of the Sacred Valley (picture to the right) and the city itself, walking around the ruins and snapping away lots of pictures. By 7pm I was utterly exhausted and passed out at the hostel while my two friends went to buy some thermal pants for the hike, telling me they are coming right back and bringing me some food. I woke up a little after midnight, noticing that I was all alone and immediately starting to freak out because my friends were missing and we were getting picked up for the trek in a mere 4 hours. IWillMakeIt was online and helped me get hold of my mom, who calmed me down a bit and told me to get some sleep - as if I could sleep! I was having visions of appearing on CNN and showing the pictures I took that afternoon of my missing companions. At 3:30am the door swung open and the drunkards wandered in reeking of tequila. I really wasn't sure if i was happy to see them alive and well or if I wanted to kill them for making me worry. I do think that they learned their lesson when 30 minutes after crashing on their beds I woke them up for the first day of the hike.

Instead of going on the original 4 day Inca Trail we decided to do the 5 day Mollepata Salcantay trek. I had heard that the Inca Trail gets very crowded this time of year and that it is steps the entire way to Machu Picchu, hence we decided on this alternate route. Our group consisted of the three of us and a crazy 52 year old woman from Colorado who made the 5 days an absolute nightmare. She NEVER shut up with her stories of her 5 year old son that she had in-vitro, her ex-life on Wall Street, and her current career as a Spa owner. She was constantly complaining about our guide and the food and was basically a huge downer. The four of us had a crew of one guide, three porters who carried all our stuff and cooked our food, and a guy with a horse who also helped carry the supplies.

How is the trip sounding so far?

Having had only 24 hours to acclimate to the altitude I had horrible altitude sickness. On the first day we walked for about 5 hours with a break for lunch and camped out at about 12,500 feet (3,800 meters) in Soraypampa. I don't think I have ever felt so sick in my life. Chewing on coco leaves was pretty worthless, as was inhaling the oxygen from a $60 bottle I bought from the crazy wench we were traveling with. It was about 15 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 degrees C) at night as we cuddled up in our tents and sleeping bags with ski jackets and alpaca hats and gloves.

Day Two I was still feeling wretched. It felt like the worst state of a hangover with horrible nausea and a pounding headache with every step I took, not to mention the fact that I was out of breath every 5 minutes. Realizing that there was not way I could hike the hardest part of the trail - 2 hours up the Salkantay Mountain to the highest altitude of the hike at 15,000 feet (4,600 meters) - I paid the horse guy $10 to bring me up there on his horse (which by the way had NO name and I thought that was totally weird). Amazingly having made it to the top via a super narrow passage on the edge of the mountain in one piece, I got off the horse and started my descent to the lunch site to wait for my friends. As the altitude decreased, so did my sickness and by the end of the day I was back to feeling great and actually being able to breathe. Even with my cheating on the horse, the second day was over 7 hours of walking through the mountains and into the jungle.

Day Three was probably my favorite hiking day. As we continued though the jungle, we saw amazing flora and fauna all around us. The wild orchids were all around and amazingly beautiful. I think I took at least a third of my pictures of just the flowers along the way. The water falls and the natural hot springs were not to shabby either!

The Forth Day was very chill. We took the bus to Santa Theresa and from there took a taxi to the local Hot Springs, which were heavenly after the 3 days of intense hiking. From there we walked a few hours to Hydroelectric and took a train to Aguas Calientes, where we spent the night at a hostel.

Day Five was our final destination - Machu Picchu. Hoping to see the sunrise, we got to the mountain at 6am but were faced with a whole bunch of fog. Once the fog cleared up the sights were amazing. We hiked up Wayna Picchu for beautiful views of the ruins and then walked all the way back down to Aguas Calientes at lunch time. A train ride back to Cusco and the trek was over.

The next few days were spent south of Lima, on the beach of Paracas, relaxing, laying out by the pool, eating fantastic seafood, and watching DVDs in the evenings, though not without a few unpleasant mix-ups with our hotel reservations.

I am sure that in a few months time I will forget all the mishaps, (the crazy lady stories are already becoming amusing inside jokes) and only remember the fantastic sites and the great times. A few suggestions if any of you are planning a trip to Peru in the near future:

*Make sure you have enough time to acclimate!!!!

*Don't use a local travel agency - at least my experience was far from pleasant

*Research the weather in every city/area you plan to visit

*and DEFINITELY bring a dictionary because nobody speaks any English

Laptop - check!

2006-05-10T10:40:00.000-07:00

Taking into great consideration the majority of your guys' suggestions I ordered the Thinkpad X60 and cannot wait to set it all up. I love being able to check things off the CBS to-do list! A little heads up to those planning on purchasing computers, my machine doesn't ship for another 3 weeks so I wouldn't wait too long to order them.

As already mentioned by Brownoski and Foobarme, the three of us spent our sunny Sunday in Calistoga sampling the tasty local wines. I do have the video of the crazy Chardonnay loving koi fish, but I cannot figure out how to upload it so you guys will just have to take our word for the fact that they wanted nothing to do with Merlot and literally went wild for the Chard. Below are a few photos from the trip - click on them to see the larger versions.

My pre-MBA trip is finally only a few days away! I know it seems like all I do is travel, but this one was the original one and has been in the works since January. On Friday afternoon I leave for a weekend Vegas Bachelorette Party and straight from there fly to Lima, Peru for a two week adventure. I am still not sure if I can survive the 5 day Machu Picchu hike, it will definitely be an experience of a lifetime. I will take a ton of pictures and report back to ya'll once I get back.

Good luck to everyone still waiting for decisions!!!

Got Laptop?

2006-05-04T23:03:00.000-07:00

I know that lately I have been using this blog to poll ya'll about various things, so continuing on with that theme I would love to know what kind of laptop you guys are planning on using in school, or which laptop you are currently using if you're already in a program. I am totally conflicted between the Dell 710m and the Thinkpad X60. Given that I will get a two year warranty along with the accidental damage insurance and a similar set of features, here are my thoughts so far:

Dell

*about a pound heavier

*service center has a bad reputation

*built in CD-RW/DVD

*breaks down more often

*is cuter than the IBM

*about $400 cheaper

Thinkpad

*only 3.5lbs

*more reliable

*CD-RW/DVD is in the docking station

*pricey

*but I REALLY want it!!!

I appreciate any and all feedback since I am far from a computer guru. Oh, and welcome to my new blog layout :)

Columbia Business School Day

2006-05-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has declared May 1 “Columbia Business School Day.”
“In recognition of this important 90th anniversary and the 30th annual dinner, I hereby proclaim Monday, May 1, 2006, in the City of New York as ‘Columbia Business School Day,’” reads Mayor Bloomberg’s proclamation. ." [source]

Neat!

I wanted to write a longer update, but it looks like I am running late to my pilates session. That is pretty much all I have been doing lately, i.e. pilates, walking, reading, seeing friends, and making bad judgment calls when it comes to boys.

Thanks to everyone who emailed me in response to my previous post. I received over 20 emails from you guys and will most definitely incorporate all the feedback into my presentation. Also, I want to thank Clear Admit and all the judges and bloggers who voted for my blog to be in the top 3. In Picture Perfect, Jennifer Aniston play an advertising executive who comes up with the following slogan for her client "Cindy Crawford graduated second in her class. We're also number 2: And that ain't bad!"

Calling All Blogging Enthusiasts

2006-04-24T09:44:00.000-07:00

Do you make daily/weekly blog entries as if your life depends on it?

Are you obsessed with your hit counter/cluster map?

Do you collect reader comments as if each is an affirmation of your worth as a human being?

Are you strangely satisfied when you get a mention in someone else's blog?

Do you judge events in your life as to whether they are blog worthy?

Are you spending all your time at work stalking other people's blogs?

If you answered "Kinda..." to any of the above questions, I need your help.

As some of you already know, I am going to participate in the upcoming 2006 GMAC® Annual Industry Conference. My role in the event is to talk to the audience of Admissions Directors about the world of MBA Blogging as part of a panel along with Alex Brown of Clear Admit and Graeme Harper, who is part of the Admissions Committee at London Business School. The goal of this program is to bring awareness to the AdComs of the impact blogs have on the admissions process.

I obviously know my own reasons for choosing to keep this blog, but since I am in essence representing all of you guys, I would love to hear more of your personal input and thoughts on the following topics:

*Why do you blog?

*How did you decide to start a blog?

*How has it helped/hurt your admissions process?

*If you don't have your own blog, how has reading about other people's experiences influenced your thinking?

*How seriously do you take the information blogs provide?

*Do you want schools to be more involved in the blogging sphere?

*Anything else you want to share on the subject is welcome!

You can either leave comments in this entry or email me at MG2527@columbia.edu.

Columbia Business School Follies

2006-04-21T18:17:00.000-07:00

For those who do not know, Follies is a CBS club that works throughout each semester to put together a production, in which students write, choreograph, and perform hilarious skits. Some of you may have already seen the Dean Dean Baby music video (if you haven't, you should immediately click the link).

It is my pleasure to bring you the latest and greatest Follies hit - Every Breath You Take.

Alumni Connections

2006-04-20T14:26:00.000-07:00

This is what I call putting your UCSB (University of Casual Sex and Beer) education to good use. I am also pretty excited for the mention of my favorite college bar, the Study Hall. Genius!

Article Link

NYC Bloggers Spice It Up

2006-04-18T20:39:00.000-07:00

The day I came back to San Francisco from my two week East Coast vacation was the day my mom left to go to NYC on business. I wanted to stay and bum around in her hotel for three days, but as no clean clothes were to be found inside my suitcase I decided to get on my original flight and head home. She called me this evening saying "I am in love with this city and I can definitely see myself living in a penthouse with a balcony facing Central Park." Like mother, like daughter.

Up until two weeks ago I was firm on coming back to San Francisco for the internship as well as upon graduation, but now I am not so sure. There is something about New York that pulls you in and makes you an addict. I want more. I cannot get enough. I guess only time will tell, I might change my mind if I re-visit this topic in the middle of January.

The NYC Blogger gathering was a blast. I am not really sure how to compare it to the SF event since one was all about beer and burritos while the other featured vodka tonics, scotch, and fancy finger foods. Beer and dive bars loosen up people a bit more than fancy cocktails and trendy joints, hence the craziness of the San Francisco gig. That being said, I had a lot of fun meeting the East Coast bloggers.

It was great to see MBACutie again, even though she DID sneak out pretty early in the night. Redwolf056 was an even earlier departure, but I will give him props for moving on to yet another drinking event as opposed to just going home to bed. I hope we didn't scare Vikram, who was keeping quiet throughout the evening, from applying to schools next year. MBAformein08 has long been promising to introduce me to some cute and single consulting boys, yet none were to be found when we moved our party from the Spice Market to Serena to crash her friend's "Goodbye NYC, Hello HBS" party. Sad! I guess I will have to do my own dirty work. I am still trying to figure out ways to get Whereismydessert to stay in New York and go to Stern so that we can share the pools of eligible B-School men amongst ourselves. The girl has an excellent taste in desserts, as you might have already guessed. MBAJackass impressively knew every word to every rap song, though sadly he skipped out prior to seeing the rendition of Baby Got Back that MBAformein08 and I put on for QZoink, who had amazingly escaped from ever hearing this brilliant anthem until that day!

I was shocked to learn that NYC required its bars and clubs to obtain cabaret licenses if they want their patrons to be able to shake their bon bons. That is pretty ridiculous. What is the harm in some dancing?

Open House - the day after

2006-04-13T14:18:00.000-07:00

It was heavenly to be able to sleep in on the rainy Saturday morning. Knowing there was a long night ahead, we decided to take it easy during the day and go back to Bloomies for some shopping after having a late brunch at Nice Matin on 79th Street.

In the evening we joined a bunch of our future classmates at West for a $30 Open Bar gathering. Within half an hour I got my money's worth and obviously did not stop there. After a few hours of drinking and mingling it was time for late night pizza, followed by a cab ride to a party/gathering hosted by one of the 1st year's where we had some more drinks, pizza, and mingling. My liver has been enjoying these last few days in Boston as I have only been averaging about one drink a night.

I forgot to mention the strange vending machine I came across while roaming the halls in between Open House events. In case you forget your iPod at home one day, you can purchase one at school along with a Twizzler and even an iTunes card to load up on some music. I tried to buy the $15 iTunes card for the indicated price of 40cents but the machine demanded an additional $14.60. LAME!

I neglected to mention a few interesting facts I learned from Pete Slosberg at Friday's lunch. Did you guys know that the drinking straw was first invented to facilitate beer drinking? I had no clue. How about the fact that drinking beer through the straw does not get you drunk faster? WHAT??? Yes, I was that girl who brought her own straws to the frat parties in college.

Open House - Day Two

2006-04-12T20:42:00.000-07:00

As much as Thursday was about getting to know my future classmates and learning about the program, Friday was about the sales pitch. To be honest, I think it was a bit much. A lot of the information presented was already known to me from the early stages of school research and I would hope that other admits had also done their homework prior to applying.

After a delicious breakfast at McDonald's (we needed some grease to absorb all of the prior night's alcohol) we headed to the Academic Program panel for an overview of the curriculum, which mirrored what I learned in the San Francisco info session back in September except for three pieces of news. First, the earliest classes next year will start at 9:00 AM instead of at 8:15 AM. Second, the elective bidding process is being revamped to allow for greater flexibility and budgeting ability (as I mentioned in the prior post, CBS is going to be using the Dutch Auction system for students to bid on their electives). Third, the curriculum is being changed to allow more decision making practice for the students prior to them heading off to the real world.

The Career Services and Executives in Residence Pane was up next. I was very pleased to learn that the Career Services department goes beyond helping students to secure job offers and helps them figure out what positions might interest them best based on their past experiences, likes and dislikes. I've always wanted to take one of those career tests. Let's hope it doesn't tell me to drop out and join Baywatch. The Executives in Residence program is another amazing CBS exclusive program that consists of a number of retired CEOs and various industry leaders who hold office hours on campus to meet students for mentoring purposes.

Everyone came together for lunch, which featured a mouthwatering chocolate dessert as well as a speech by Pete Slosberg (class of '74) who founded Cocoa Pete's Chocolate Adventures and Pete's Wicked Ale since his graduation from the program. I loved how each of the lunch tables was hosted by a professor and a current student. I chose to sit at the Biotech/Healthcare table and was thrilled to learn about the new biotech/pharma classes being implemented just in time for my second year electives. I also got to meet the Biotech Club president and fellow classmates interested in the field. The professor was a great resource and he suggested some summer reading as well as offered to help me select the electives pertinent to my career goal.

After the Student Panels, where people asked questions which have been asked a million times and the answers to which they already knew, we headed to the Club Fair. CBS has over 70 student clubs and I ended up signing my name on the lists of Columbia Women in Business, Chazen Institute for International Business, Finance Association, West Coast Society, Hermes Society, European Society, Gourmet Club, Jewish Business Student Association, Health Care Industry Association, and of course the Wine and the Dance Clubs.

Next up was the Bloomingdale's Reception, where we sipped white wine on the 5th floor of the department store trying not to spill it on any of the furniture. Michael Gould (class of '68), chairman and CEO of Bloomingdale's, spoke about his illustrious career and experiences at Columbia. After getting our goodie bags in the Little Brown Bags, I was ready to get some food along with Darlene and ZhiLuv. My feet were killing me and sadly I was physically unable to join the rest of the classmates at Bliss and Show for further intoxication.

Open House - Day One

2006-04-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

Thursday was the day that seemed to go on forever.

Despite the jet lag and the prior night's late activities I had no problems waking up early for the Columbia Women In Business (CWIB) breakfast at Uris Hall. As we nibbled on our pastries and drank the coffee (which was a bit disappointing, but I am a coffee snob after all) the CWIB president gave us a quick overview of the club along with some T-shirts and goodie bags.

The next 40 minutes were spent mingling with future classmates and Hermes members as well as listening to the welcome remarks by Admissions Director Linda Meehan and Dean Glenn Hubbard. Maybe I am the minority, but this was the first time I learned about CBS celebrating it's 90th Birthday this year. I am surprised this fact was not used in marketing the program in the Fall.

We were split up into four pseudo clusters for some icebreakers and trivia (which my team bombed, but had fun doing so. Go team!). It was really neat to hear about everyone's unique skills, hobbies, and backgrounds.

Next up was lunch in the Morningside Heights Area. The school did an awesome job of splitting us up into small groups of about 8 to 10 people and sending us to different restaurants for some more mixing and mingling (I had the best tasting Caesar salad at the Panini Sportivo).

Upon our return to Warren Hall, each cluster had a scheduled class to attend and I lucked out with Professor William Duggan's "Napoleon's Glance: The Art of Strategic Intuition." If all my undergrad classes were half as interesting as this I would have never ditched any of them for the beach. We learned about the process of strategic intuition through multiple historical examples featuring people like Napoleon, Picasso, Thomas Edison, and Steve Jobs, as well as had some key take-aways with my favorite being "Look in other boxes: to think outside the box, learn from what others have done."

A quick coffee break was followed by yet another amazing class. Professor Laurie Hodrick spent 90 minutes teaching us about "Dutch Auction IPOs" and specifically how Google used this price determination mechanism when going public. What was REALLY neat is that the following day, when we were told about the new bidding system for classes that was being implemented, I immediately recognized it as the Dutch Auction and was mighty proud of myself.

After the two classes the four clusters came together for Circle Financial Group Chair Ann Kaplan's (Class of 1977) presentation about the school and her career. Following, was a reception sponsored by Deutsche Bank (the first of the three drinking events of the evening). At the end we each received a North Face backpack featuring the Deutsche logo, which now will force me to check my luggage when I fly home (grrr).

As it was Thursday night, we headed to the weekly happy hour at Uris Hall where I finally became aware how my fees are being spent. The happy hour had beer and wine along with a DJ and lights. It totally reminded me of a high school dance / frat party. Here, I got my hands on yet another two t-shirts (I have a collection of 5 by now) and the ticket to the Latin American Business Association (LABA) party for later that night.

As this post is already longer then it needs to be, I will try to wrap it up. The LABA party was at a the Strata club downtown and yet again a blast. At some point ZhiLuv and I got up on the box where the half naked dancers were dancing, but we got kicked off for wearing too much clothing. I guess a sweater set does not qualify as an appropriate outfit for go-go dancing. We also somehow ended up losing our friend Gina and spent an hour wandering around the place with Katahdin to try and return her purse without any luck. Those of you who were at the Open House events on Friday might have heard the announcement being made. "Where is Gina?" is quite possibly the first of many inside jokes to come.

Open House - the day before

2006-04-10T14:59:00.000-07:00

Each time I take a red eye flight I swear not to make that mistake ever again, yet over and over I keep on going back on my word. Wednesday morning (April 5th) at 7:13am my overnight flight from San Francisco landed in Newark. By 9am I was at my hotel begging the reception lady to give me a room before check in time (3pm). Amazingly enough, after I swore to name my first born after her, she handed me a key card and I passed out until 2pm (sadly missing a lunch meeting with MBAJackass).

Once my Open House roommates (AxeChick and Darlene) got in, we went to grab some (what turned out to be pretty crappy) Mexican food for dinner. I am seriously going to miss San Francisco unless I find some decent Mexican in New York City. Any suggestions?

After dinner we met up with our forth roomie and headed to the Happy Hour at Parlour put together by the Marketing Club. I am not really all that interested in Marketing, but it was great to meet some current students as well as a bunch of '08ers. A few drinks later we were on our way to Social for yet another drink fest with future classmates. I really did try to stay somewhat sober, but must report that my attempts were unsuccessful. I am, however, very proud of Team San Francisco for closing the bar that evening. Go Team!

Loss of Anonymity

2006-04-10T08:03:00.000-07:00

This trip has been and still is fantastic. I am currently recovering from the immense alcohol intake at a friend's place in Boston. The 4 hour bus ride from NYC was less than pleasant, though it might have not been so bad had I not drank myself silly the night before.

To sum things up, the Admitted Students Open House was fantastic. It was really great to meet so many friendly and accomplished people and finally to connect in person with those I have been emailing and iming over the past few months. The CBS class of 2008 is going to be a huge success and more then ever I am anxious to get started with the program.

The next few posts will highlight the official and unofficial activities from the last few days, but for now I would like you guys to welcome my new friend and partner in crime ZhiLuv to the blogging world.

I wish I had kept a tally of the number of people who, upon seeing my nametag, confessed to reading my blog and actually liking it (perhaps they were just being polite). I'd like to take this moment and give ya'll a big shout out. Since as far as I know there are no other Marinas in our incoming class (as of yet) I have also decided to replace the hair flipping Aeroflot Flight Attendant with my real mug shot. No sense in hiding behind a cartoon, plus I want to be cool like the rest of the LBS Blogger kids.

I also want to thank ClearAdmit for the nomination, even though I probably do not deserve it by writing about useless things like Costa Rica and blogger beer nights.

I am off to explore Boston!

Compliance Bliss

2006-04-04T17:30:00.000-07:00

Dear Student,

We have received your Immunization (Measles, Mumps, Rubella)documentation and would like to inform you that your documentation is complete, and you are compliant with New York State PublicHealth Law (PL 2165).

Thank you for your cooperation.

Health Services at Columbia

Insurance and Immunization Office

I love being called a student and I love getting congratulated on passing all these little silly tests. I am not sure why everyone in my family keeps on telling me that school is going to be hard and that it is not a party. Do they think I spent countless weekends and nights studying for the GMAT and writing essays so that I could drink myself silly for two years straight? Not that I am not expecting to have a good time... My freshman year in college, my roommate and I had a message on our answering machine informing all callers that we were unavailable, though could probably be found at the Study Hall in case of an emergency. My parents gleamed with pride at our studious habits. Little did they know that the Study Hall was a cleverly titled local bar.

All you clothes lovers are going to be jealous of my accomplishments. I had myself a shopping spree in a friend's closet this afternoon. She is moving to New Zealand, actually sailing there with her husband and daughter, and hence getting rid of all her belongings. At mostly $5 a pop I ran up a tab of $115, which included a $25 Coach bag, a $10 Banana Republic jacket, two BR sweater sets, a pair of BR wool pants, a gorgeous BR cashmere poncho, about 3 BR tops, a dress, and at least 7 BR skirts. I am a bit scared to show all this to my mother, knowing she will freak out and tell me I already have an obscene amount of clothes, but in my defense this is one hell of a deal!!! Plus I will need cute business casual clothes for all those recruiting events, since I am not moving to New York just for the parties.

Speaking of the Big Apple, my flight for the Open House weekend leaves in about five hours and I am still not sure what the hell to do with myself when I get in at 7am tomorrow morning. At least I got the shopping out of my system, though it is actually too early to make that judgment call. Words cannot describe how excited I am to FINALLY see the school and meet more classmates. I am hoping to check out the gym and see at least one or two student housing units while I am over there. Oh, and of course I am also excited about the Blogger get together on April 14th!

I am back!

2006-03-31T09:37:00.000-08:00

Last day of work. This is it. Le Fin. My cube is all packed up and empty, my building pass is no longer in the side pocket of my purse, and my bank account is hosting my severance, retention bonus, as well as a surprising 81.25 hours of vacation pay. Come Monday I will be filing for unemployment and living off the generous $450 (gross) a week provided by the lovely state of California. Life is grand.

As you can tell I am back from Costa Rica, though I seriously contemplated loosing my passport in order to stay a bit longer. If it hadn't been for my last day at work I probably would have changed my flight. I had a fantastic time, though I have to say that this is a really weird age/time to travel with friends. I make enough money where I don't have to and don't want to stay at the dorm hostels, yet not quite enough to want to splurge for a nice hotel. We ended up staying at places that fall somewhere in between the two and felt like we missed out on meeting people like you do when you stay at a hostel. Another thing about people is that everyone we met was SOOOOO young. MBACutie would have had a great time on this trip with us. Most boys we came to hang out with were a solid 4-5 years younger and could not comprehend how we could afford to spend $12 on dinner when they were cooking pasta at the hostel kitchen. Regardless of all that though, the trip was a blast!

We flew into San Jose at about 11pm on Wednesday night and went straight to the clubs to party with the locals before starting our travels the following day. After a 4hour (and only $3) bus ride the following morning we were in La Fortuna. Thursday evening was spent relaxing at the gorgeous Tabacon Hot Springs and sipping exotic drinks at the pool bar. After an unfortunate decision to spend a few Friday morning hours by the pool without sunscreen (something I came to regret no later then in a few hours) we were on our way into the rain forest for the Canyoning adventure. I can honestly say that this was one of the most amazing things I have ever done. Having zero repelling experience I thought I was going to chicken out when I looked down the first 145 foot waterfall (see photo on the right), yet once I bounced off for the first time, all the fears seemed to disappear and I made my way safely through the remaining 5 falls. As if the day was not full enough, we had a guide take us on a 20 minute night time hike up to the Arenal Volcano and we sat on the lava from the 1992 eruption watching the rocks fly out of the bubbling crater as if they were fireworks. Since it was our last night in La Fortuna, we decided to make an appearance at the local disco, which was recommended to us by all the locals, but not before making friends with a guy who at first convinced us he was Karamo from the Philadelphia Real World and later decided to fess up that his real name was Andrew, once he realized that we all were fully convinced that he was gay. I am not quite sure what would possess a straight guy to pose as a gay celebrity while trying to score at the club.

Saturday morning and afternoon were spent drugged up on celebrex and dramamine on a 6.5 hour shuttle which took us (through every pothole on the way) from the forest to the Tamarindo beach. The next day was all about staying out in the sun, eating mucho arros con pollo, drinking, flirting with surfer boys, and watching the sunset. Monday afternoon we took a tiny 20 person plane (we could not handle another road trip) back to San Jose and after spending a few hours at the market (buying souvenirs for our jealous friends back home) the following day we were on the plane back to the rainy and cold San Francisco.

I did manage to bring back with me a nasty sunburn and some very fabulous naughty phrases in Spanish. I also learned not to trust boys who tell me that Rock Ice is the greatest beer on earth. If only I had known that it's catch phrase is "Rock Ice - Es Differente"!!!

Vamos a La Playa oh o-o-o-oh

2006-03-21T12:49:00.000-08:00

In a little bit over 24 hours I will be soaking in the Costa Rican sun. I wanted to pass on my best wishes to those of you who will be hearing back from schools in the coming week.

I'll leave you guys with a great article forwarded to me by a friend. Be sure to print it out and put on your boss' desk. Be smarter at work, slack off

Pura Vida!!!

Do you have the "it" for the fit?

2006-03-18T17:05:00.000-08:00

Every school asks the "Why us?" question in at least one of their essays. Admission Committees want to know if you are a fit for their programs and cultures. Throughout the application process we talk to alumni, visit campuses, and surf the school websites to try and figure out what constitutes this fit.

Taking the word apart we get the letter F and the letters IT. So maybe what they are looking for is the it? But where does one obtain this elusive it? If you are one of those people who believes everything you see on television you might try to get it on eBay, though I doubt you will have much luck.

Reading my friends' blogs, which were filled with disappointing decision news from last week, got me thinking about my own it. What was it that got me admitted to one school, waitlisted at another, and yet dinged at the rest? I am dying to know what made the decisions come out the way they did. I wonder if the it that got me into Columbia was the same it that made Kellogg doubt my candidacy. I am curious if Haas saw a different it to base its waitlist decision on. I know that it would be impossible for schools to provide detailed feedback to all of their applicants, but it sure would be interesting to hear what they think of my it. Wouldn't it be great to look at my Columbia file with all the essays and see an underlined sentence in one of them that made someone say "Here it is! We want her!"

I actually tried to create a personalized it at the eBay site, but since they didn't have any made of chocolate I had to settle for the fuzzy pink one, displayed to the left.

Interestingly enough, rearranging the letters in "fit" in a slightly different variation leaves you an F-it (eff it). Hmmmm...

NYC Bloggerapoluza

2006-03-14T22:32:00.000-08:00

As many of you already know, there is an NYC Bloggers Night Out being graciously planned by MBA Cutie. This means that if you are in the New York area on April 14 and want to come out to celebrate finally filing your taxes or just meet some fun people (I will most likely make an ass out of myself at some point of the night, given enough alcohol) you should join in!

Here are the details so far...

Women in Business

2006-03-07T19:05:00.000-08:00

Some sad facts:

*Women hold only 10.2% of the board seats and highest-paid executive officer positions in the 200 largest public companies headquartered in California.
*Fifty five (more than 27%) of these companies have NO women board directors and NO women executive officers.
*Just over one third of the corporations have NO women board members
*More than two-thirds of the 200 top public companies in California have NO women executive officers.
*Only six of the 200 largest public companies in California have a woman CEO.
Click here for the full study done by the UC Davis Graduate School of Management

I dread the point in my life when I will have to make a choice between a corporate career and a family. If I had to choose right now I am not really sure which I would pick. I do know, however, that it is impossible for me to have both to the extent that will make me happy. There just aren't enough hours in the day to be a fantastic mother, a great wife, and an admired business woman all at the same time (at least to my standards). Something's gotta give and I am not sure I want to do a crap job at any of it.

While at the Haas Women in Leadership workshop back in October, I had the opportunity to listen to the keynote address by a renowned retail analyst Helen Bulwik (Haas MBA '72). I was simply in awe of all the stories and anecdotes told by Helen about her professional experiences as a woman in business, but what really touched a nerve was her answer to the very last question asked before we headed off to lunch.

- How do you balance your fantastic career with your personal family life?

- I don't have a family. It was a choice I had to make if I wanted to be where I am right now and I never looked back.

I don't think I want to make a decision like that, nor do I want to make the alternative one. What is a girl to do? Can compromise really work? Good thing I have lots of time to figure it all out.

10,000 hits

2006-03-06T10:28:00.000-08:00

Wow, I cannot believe how many people have visited my blog since its inception in September. I hope the documentation of my journey through the admissions process has brought some help or at least entertainment to you guys.

I finally booked my flight for the Columbia Open House in April so if any of you East Coast people want to get together while I am in New York, I can show you all I have learned about paper towel dispensers.

Kroll Global Academic Verification - Complete

2006-02-28T16:48:00.000-08:00

I can finally stop holding my breath and having nightmares of getting a call from Columbia telling me they are taking away my admit on account that something weird came up in my background check. Even thought I knew I didn't make anything up, receiving the following email gave me a great sense of comfort.

Dear Applicant,

Kroll Background Screening Group has successfully completed your Columbia Business School application verification. The entire Columbia Business School community looks forward to welcoming you during Orientation in August.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Linda B. Meehan

Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid

Columbia Business School

I know the whole "Dear Applicant" and "Thank you for your cooperation" thing is not the most personal way to write this email, but I did receive a personal email from Linda last week congratulating and welcoming me to the program(she was also extremely quick to reply to the few questions I had) as well as a phone call from a current student (which I am yet to return). Better late then never! I guess this is one of the draw-backs having to do with the Early Decision admissions. Everyone is too swamped to personalize the process. Maybe I am just making excuses though, it definitely would have been nice to get all this attention back in December.

I am not completely sure how much involvement CBS students have in the admissions process, but I would LOVE to get involved. I think that it is critical to show all candidates, and especially admits, love throughout the process.

Costa Rica, baby!

2006-02-27T21:22:00.000-08:00

This is a little something I call a

Birthday Present to myself. Totally impulsive and extremely exciting. The idea was brought up over the weekend and realized this afternoon. In three weeks I will be walking around the beaches and National Parks of Costa Rica with two of my great girl friends. I smell trouble!

Beer, Bloggers, and Burritos

2006-02-27T09:50:00.000-08:00

As TakeTwoBSkool has mentioned in his latest post, the San Francisco gathering was an absolute blast. My apologies to FooBarMe for keeping him waiting at the bar while I searched for parking, but at least now I know the meaning of his blog name (thanks to Brownoski of course).

I was getting over a cold, which by the way is now back with a vengeance, and was planning on having only one glass of wine. No such luck. Sorebrek talked me into having a second drink for old times sake and by the time I was done with it I couldn't say no to yet another beverage TakeTwoBSkool (who happened to know someone at every bar we visited) had placed in front of me. Three glasses of wine mixed with cold medication make for a very drunk Marina. For some reason IWillMakeIt's excuse of driving did not work for me that night. The "DRINK DRINK DRINK" chanting, as noted by TakeTwoBSkool was to help Vatsa's cousin better celebrate her birthday as well as to punish SFHopeful for being such a procrastinator and not getting past the sole post in his blog. At least Brownoski has now joined me in the comments of that one posting.

The steak burrito I had was just the thing I needed to sober up. I ate the entire thing in what seemed like seconds and had no leftovers to share with TakeTwoBSkool. Next blogger gathering will be to celebrate all the R2 admits sometime in March or April, followed by another one in June to show Alex from ClearAdmit a good time while he is in town for the GMAC conference.

This week I am stealing IWillMakeIt's fame by being the featured Class of 2008 blogger on MBA Buzz. Check out their site if you haven't already done so. I really like the school specific forums feature and of course the nifty plotter. Once more people join in and start posting the site will be a great help in the application process.

EDIT: all my sad name misspellings. Sorry!

Beer Challenge Deux

2006-02-22T20:54:00.000-08:00

In order to celebrate Vatsa's San Francisco visit, as well as congratulate I_Will_Make_It on the interview invites pouring in, and also just to get together and consume alcoholic beverages we will be gathering somewhere in the city on Friday night.

Must be an obsessive email checking machine to attend.

Details to come. Leave a comment if you're IN.

Meetings

2006-02-22T11:44:00.000-08:00

University Apartment Housing

2006-02-20T22:28:00.000-08:00

"Dear Marina,

We have received the application you submitted for University Apartment Housing. At least one business day after receiving this e-mail, you will be able to use UAH's automated phone system to obtain the status of your housing application.

Information may be obtained 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by dialing..."

Finally, I have a new application to track. I am fully aware that this tracking obsession is far from a healthy activity, but it gives me a certain (pathetic) purpose in life these days.

I should note that I came into the office on Friday JUST to fill out the form since my stolen wireless connection at home is often unreliable. The web application was scheduled to go live at noon and I was quite annoyed at having to refresh the page for about 3 hours to finally get my password and log-information. I was also pretty surprised at the length of the questionnaire - only one page. My undergrad housing applications had all sorts of personality type questions, down to my favorite color and food, whereas the Columbia site simply asked for me to indicate my preferred type of dwelling and whether I wanted it to come furnished or not. Interesting. I cannot help but wonder about my future possible roommate(s), granted of course that I will get a University Housing unit.

I finished reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and it really is as great as everyone has told me. The characters are very engaging and the story lines are full of ironies that are guaranteed to move you. It captures the instability of life in Afghanistan through time through vivid descriptions and immense details. I would love to see this novel made into a film, though I doubt it will do the book justice.

I Remember Those Days...

2006-02-16T10:25:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day

2006-02-13T22:00:00.000-08:00

I know it is early, but by the time most of you read this it will be February 14th.

I have now been living at my parents' house for a week and I will admit it is not bad AT ALL. They are totally respecting my privacy and not nagging (other then reminding me to unpack my bags which are still occupying a large space in the garage), which is quite amazing. Why weren't they this cool when I was back in High School?

Being on call is still going fabulously. During all of last week I only had to go into the office once for a meeting and to create a few reports. So what have I been doing with all my free time? Good question.

-I've been doing pilates videos from On Demand on a daily basis, followed by walks in the Golden Gate Park in the beautiful weather we have been having.

-I attended yet another CBS Happy Hour, meeting a few more fantastic future classmates.

-I volunteered for TaxAid, helping low income families prepare their tax returns & was able to get one family a refund of $4,500, which is about 40% of their annual income. That was pretty awesome!

-I have been unpacking from the move, though my mother disagrees on the subject.

-I have had time to meet a few friends for lunches and happy hours that I have not seen in ages.

-I finished Nip/Tuck Season 1 and am almost done with Season 2. I must admit that I am addicted.

Surely I am forgetting something from my activity filled days. It is tough being me - I know.

On a serious note, good luck to all those anxiously awaiting interview invites and decisions!

Best Birthday Wishes

2006-02-05T09:33:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday AxeChick!!!
Next year we are going to celebrate New York style :)

Movin' on Out

2006-02-04T20:47:00.000-08:00

Or should I say ALL moved out? I am so exhausted, I cannot feel my legs. I got at least 30 emails from people interested in checking out the place and about 7 people actually showed up to take a look. The girl who signed the lease is moving in tomorrow.

I spent all of yesterday packing and moving all my clothes and knick knacks. I realized that I have entirely too much kitchen gadgets and electrics (that can be blamed on working for a high end kitchenware company), as well as too much bathroom stuff including an obscene amount of lotions and body washes. I hate moving. I am already dreading the upcoming NYC move, though that will only involve clothes. Today I moved my furniture with the help of my dad and then my mom helped me clean the place up. Hopefully we did a good enough job and I won't get charged another $150 for a professional cleaning. I cannot wait to get my security deposit back and the remainder of February's rent.

So here I am in my old room, which is now my brother's room (he graciously agreed to let me sleep here while he is off in college) and has been remodeled since I slept here last. Feels so weird. I am off for a Nip Tuck Season 1 marathon, figured I would see for myself what the fuss is all about.

Fundraising

2006-02-01T22:34:00.000-08:00

Having lots of free time, my mind starts going off on it's own thinking treks and voyages, often times without my consent. Interestingly enough, my biggest concerns about finances for next year revolve around questions like "How will I fund my shoe shopping?" and "How can a student afford drinks in New York City?" Seriously though. I will have to start from scratch on that fall/winter wardrobe. I don't own any warm clothing except for an itchy angora sweater that I wear on the coldest San Francisco days, which really doesn't give that sweater much credibility as far as keeping me warm on the east coast.

Back to my brain and thinking. In an effort to save up some funds I have done the unthinkable. Yesterday I went on Craigslist and put my apartment up for rent. Of course I called the landlord first and was pleasantly surprised when he told me it would be absolutely no problem to break my lease if I find a replacement. This means I am moving back to my parents' house for the first time ever since leaving for college (summer breaks don't count). The thought alone makes me very uncomfortable, but I keep on thinking that I will be saving about $4K in rent along with getting home cooked meals every night. I have to keep thinking about all the shoes and vodka tonics I will be able to buy and try to forget the upcoming nightly check-in phone calls.

I might as well forget my dating life since the boy I am seeing also lives with his parents while attending law school. This is High School all over again.

Maybe people will hate my apartment when they see it and I will get to keep it for a few extra months despite the fundraising efforts?

Perfect Timing

2006-01-30T09:41:00.000-08:00

I already consider myself extremely lucky in the fact that I am getting laid off in March, but this is the icing on the cake. Having no work to do all day I finally got bored of pretending to look busy and approached my boss with a confession that I am bored and feel it is pointless for me to come into the office to do nothing. I suggested to be on-call for the next two months and to my surprise she had absolutely no problems with the plan. From now on, if I have meetings or work to do I will come in and leave whenever I get done. On days when I know there is no work I will check my email a few times from home and make the decision whether to answer any emails from home or come into the office. Meanwhile I am going to be collecting my usual paychecks through 3/31/06. I know you all hate me now and I am still wondering how I pulled off a deal this sweet. Next step is to find an interesting place to volunteer for during my "days off".

Last week was a second CBS Happy Hour. I met five new people, including a fellow blogger Darlene. I am consistently being impressed by my future classmates' backgrounds and accomplishments. Cannot wait to meet more people.

Have any of you dated someone in your extended friends circle before? I am finding this more challenging then I originally thought...any tips on preventing drama?

Final Decisions - Anderson & Haas

2006-01-27T20:08:00.000-08:00

I guess this brings me to the end of the unofficial decisions wait; the official countdown ended when I got my CBS admit last month. The ethical thing would have been to withdraw my other applications but I figured that the $250 application fees entitled me to some sort of a closure. I am too curious to end the process myself. Earlier this week I had an email waiting for me from Anderson telling me they could not offer me a spot in their class. I was expecting the same reaction from Haas and was pretty surprised to get the following message yesterday afternoon:

"Dear Marina,

Your application for admission to the Berkeley MBA Program is being held for further consideration. While we find your strengths and accomplishments more impressive than the majority of our applicants, the highly competitive nature of our admission process is such that we are unable to offer admission to more than a small percentage of our applicants at this time.

We would like to continue your candidacy by offering you a place on the waitlist. As a waitlisted candidate, you are able to submit additional materials to your application, provided that these materials add new information to the file.

..."

It is weird that I never even got an interview invite. I actually had my money on a flat rejection from Haas and an Anderson waitlist. I guess now I'll never know what could have been. Going to call on Monday and take my name off the list. It's funny how things have a way of working themselves out in the best scenarios. I cannot wait to be in New York.

Tag, I'm IT

2006-01-27T09:57:00.000-08:00

Thanks KV, since I cannot seem to get myself to the gym a game of virtual tag seems appropriate.

Four jobs I've had in my life
- Barista/Coffee Shop Supervisor @ Nicoletti's
- Lead Cashier/ Salesperson @ American Eagle Outfitters
- Senior Auditor @ Deloitte
- Financial Analyst

Four movies I can watch over and over
- The Notebook
- Wedding Crashers
- Billy Madison
- The Fifth Element

Four places I have lived
- Moscow, Russia
- San Francsico, CA
- Santa Barbara, CA
- Alpharetta, GA

Four TV shows I love to watch
- 24
- Grey's Anatomy
- Any of the CSI series
- House

Four places I have been on vacation
- London, UK
- St. Petersburg, Russia
- Corfu, Greece
- Bergamo, Italy

Four of my favourite foods/drinks
- Sushi
- Pelmeni
- Vietnamese Iced Coffee
- Pizza

Four websites I visit daily
- Hotmail
- BusinessWeek
- Google Reader
- Pink is the New Blog

Four places I would rather be right now
- home & in bed with a book
- on a beach in Hawaii
- out by the pool in Vegas
- skiing @ Tahoe

Four bloggers I am tagging
- Darlene
- MBA Cutie
- Axechick
- IWillMakeIt

Schedules and Taxes

2006-01-24T10:13:00.000-08:00

I am one of those people who thrives on having a busy schedule. If I know I have a 10 hour work day I will most definitely wake up early to go to the gym, stop by the grocery store on the way home, and probably finish about 5 other random errands. On the other hand, having a completely unfilled schedule makes me ridiculously lazy. I keep on pushing the gym later and later on my mental day calendar and end up never going and staying in bed all day. This is one of the reasons I know I will LOVE school. I like having structure and schedules. I am a calendar freak, you guys should see my color coded Microsoft Outlook one.

My current job is making me into a lazy couch potato. I am not challenged, I don't feel utilized and/or appreciated, and I just don't care anymore. I come in at 9:30 and leave at 5 o'clock. I take two hour lunches and surf the internet all day. It wasn't always like this, I used to love this job. I used to look forward to coming into the office and attend meetings with executives all day. 48 more work days until the end.

This weekend I decided to finally stop being lazy and busy myself. The plan is to use the two hour lunch time to hit the gym, spend down time at work reading books instead of surfing the web, and spend more time with my friends.

As the tax season creeps up, so does my favorite community service involvement. This will be my 4th year volunteering with TaxAid. The program is designed to help low income families file their tax returns and to maximize the money they get back. It is the most amazing feeling to be able to tell a single mother of 3 that she will be getting a check in the mail for $4K. I had my annual training at the KPMG office last week. As always it was completely worthless, but at least it gave me CPE hours. I cannot wait for the first session :)

Background Verification

2006-01-16T21:29:00.000-08:00

On my way to work I ran into TakeTwoBSkool in the middle of the intersection and it made me wonder how many times I have passed "online" people in the street without knowing in the past. Pretty wild, when you think about it.

"Application Verification with Kroll" popped up on my CBS To-Do List this morning. I know a lot of people are stressed about the process, but it looks pretty painless except for the $83 fee. Looks like they are going to verify (1) my current employer information including the dates of employment, starting & ending salary and title, and bonus received last year. (2) one of my recomenders- they picked one that is not my current manager and also the one who is currently on maternity leave through April. I am sure that will create confusion. (3) GPA & Major. The form indicates that they will investigate "information as to my character, general reputation, and personal characteristics, discerned through employment and education verifications; personal references; personal interviews; my personal credit history based on reports from any credit bureau; my driving history, including any traffic citations; a social security number trace; present and former addresses; criminal and civil history/records; any other public record." Intense. I faxed my "authorization to dig in my records" to Kroll, I guess now I wait.

I found this book on the MBA Ladies site and now I want it. Anyone read it?

Purple is the new Green

2006-01-15T18:53:00.000-08:00

I got sick of my old blog colors and decided to redecorate.

I have been going out and drinking every night since the beer challenge. I REALLY need to hit the gym more often otherwise pretty soon I will find myself with a closet of worthless clothes.

Big day today. I read and signed the CBS Code of Ethical Conduct and updated my Student Record Form. I also uploaded a Facebook photo. Talk about a stressful decision. I am one of those people who have their digital cameras with them at al times (yes - I am the one snapping away photos at Happy Hours that you later wish you could burn without a trace). Basically, I have way too many pictures, yet none of them seemed appropriate to represent myself to classmates and teachers. Thankfully I had some help from AxeChick and finally settled down on a rather cheesy head shot. I still have a pretty lengthy to-do list on the CBS site:
*Purchase Calculator (duh)
*Register for Pre-MBA Package (not available till mid-May)
*Apply for University Housing (February)
*Complete Meningitis Vaccine Form
*Complete Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Form
*Schedule Exemption Exam (for Accounting)

Speaking of the exemption exam, I was hoping to be exempt just because I am a CPA, but no such luck. Looks like I have to take a 4 hour long test along with everyone else who doesn't want to sit through the class. Ack. Not really looking forward to that one.

Beer Challenge Recap

2006-01-13T10:03:00.000-08:00

The results are in!

This was definitely a close race, but TakeTwoBSkool won the ultimate test. The Challenge consisted of two main events and a tie breaker. The first task was to obviously consume the most number of beers (I lost - though by a very slight margin, not to mention the fact that someone cheated by getting to the bar 20 minutes early), while the second was to make the least trips to the lavatory (I was the clear winner in this category even with my girl bladder). Unfortunately I lost count of the number of beers and bathroom trips after four hours of drinking. I am sad to report that I lost the tie breaker. I was unable to get the automatic paper towel dispenser to give me the freaking paper towels. Like an idiot, I waved my hands all around the machine - except right in front of the red sensor. TakeTwoBSkool , on the other hand, had no problems figuring out the tricky apparatus. I hope CBS does not retract my offer when they find out about this weakness of mine. Sorry for letting down everyone who was rooting for me to win.

It is great putting real faces with the blogs and I hope to stay in touch with everyone during and post MBA. I had a blast last night and look forward to the celebratory Happy Hour when TakeTwoBSkool gets into Wharton or Kellogg or Haas.

Beer!

2006-01-11T14:30:00.000-08:00

If anyone in the San Francisco area wants to join myself and TakeTwoBSkool for the Beer Challenge tomorrow night let me know and I will give you the low down. You get extra points if you bring a pink umbrella.

Just found this pretty interesting article that basically explains why many of us dislike our jobs.

News

2006-01-11T09:05:00.000-08:00

School News - I got a call a few days ago from a Columbia alumn. He was matched up with me due to my post-MBA industry preference and wanted to share his experiences in the field. It was great to finally get a personal phone call, though according to my dad I should have gotted 5 of them with hte amount of money I am spending on tuition. Silly dad. Back to the phone call. We talked for about 45 minutes about our backgrounds and interests. He was an engineer pre-MBA and signed on with Bain after graduating from the program. Now he works in a more Biotech/Pharma specialized consulting firm. I asked a lot of questions about housing and he convinced me that the university owned places are not that bad. I think I am going to apply and see what I get stuck with.

Entertainment News - Angelina Jolie pregnant with Brad Pitt's baby. That is going to be either one WEIRD looking child, or an amazingly good looking one. I do't think there is an in-between with those two. I wonder how the adopted kids feel about the new member of the family.

Work News - My company is DUNZO. I cannot believe the turmoil I have seen in this place since I started here a little over a year ago. First we change systems from SAP to JDEdwards (stupidest move EVER), after months and months of implementations we have the first round of layoffs and move the AP,AR, and Customer Service functions to Sunbeam (our sister company purchased in February 05). The parent company then goes on an impulse shopping spree and comes back with the Holmes Group (July 05). It is decided that our core business should be moved to Boston and consolidated with Holmes, yet the Direct part of the business is to stay here in San Francisco and grow. I get my pink slip in the second round of lay-offs (making me a VERY happy camper). Well, the new direct business lasted only 9 days. The Jarden (our parent company) CEO came from New York yesterday and it was announced that the direct business is to be integrated with Sunbeam this year. This is going to be the third and last round of lay-offs. The funny thing is that there are some people around from the first round.Ha! I am amazed that companies operate like this and still turn profit. Such stupid decisions, so much wasting of money....

Ratings Obsessions

2006-01-07T12:44:00.000-08:00

Having read and written a lot of comments regarding the "My school is better then your school" debates, I have been meaning to write something on the subject for quite some time. I had an extremely difficult time narrowing down my school choices and trying to differentiate between the programs. A big reason for this being that I always felt that my undergraduate institution was not quite right for me and I wanted to make sure that I chose a grad school I would be happy with.

I used the ratings as a first step and looked at the top 20 US schools. That was probably the only time I looked at the ratings for help, everything else was a matter of research. I didn't want to go to a school with a huge student body, but I also wanted at least 200 people in my class. I wanted a structured first year schedule of core classes in order to be "forced" to learn subjects I might otherwise opt out of. Having zero interest in consulting and ibanking I made sure some of the companies I want to work for recruited at the schools I was considering. I also looked for a Bay Area connection, knowing that I want to come back to San Francisco after school. In the end I was split between Haas and Columbia for my number one choice. Finding out that CBS has full resources use of Haas' job placement center was the ultimate deal maker. Deep down I was craving to move away from the Bay and living in New York has always been a dream. I was also concerned that I would feel torn between spending time with my family and existing friends vs. the new B-School friends. My family would have made it especially difficult since they already expect me to come visit on a weekly basis. Thankfully NYC is too far for them to ask that of me ^_^

As far as the other two schools I applied to, Kellogg was a total last minute decision (as can be seen from the earlier entries in this blog). Wanting to go into biotech I knew that the Kellogg Biotech MBA emphasis would open up amazing opportunities, but that was pretty much the only reason I wanted to go there (along with the fact that it is close to Chicago - which I LOVE). Anderson was my last choice and I was actually hoping I would not end up there since I hate Los Angeles. I really liked the campus and I have a few friends in the program right now, but beyond that they don't really have what I want. It was also a money issue since Anderson and Haas would have saved me about $30K over the two years.

It is too bad that so many people have the need to put down a school to make themselves feel better. Is Harvard really in a different league from Chicago? Probably for certain industries or areas, but definitely not across the board. Even if one program is significantly better then another as far as statistics show, I am a firm believer that you have to find that certain fit. This same reasoning applies to finding a job. It is not all about the salary and benefits, you have to like the place and the people you will be working with. You have to feel a connection to the culture of the office, otherwise you will end up miserable and start looking for a new employer in no time. In closing, the school name, much like the MBA admissions interview, can only help you get where you want to be if everything else is in order. So why not do some research and find a place you will truly enjoy for two years? Especially when you are investing almost $130K in it.

In personal news, I am still in Chino. I am working today (Saturday) and looks like tomorrow will be no different. I might be stuck here until Monday (should have been on the plane right now). Definitely going to roll my hours and take two days off when I get back.

I have been playing around with the Clear Admit Wiki and adding content from my experiences. I think it will be really useful to the future applicants to be able to obtain all this information in one place. I wish I had access to something like it when I was going through applications.

Kellogg Ding

2006-01-05T12:33:00.000-08:00

I love that this has absolutely no impact on me :)

Dear Marina:

The Admissions Committee has completed its review of your application for the Kellogg School of Management and Two-Year Program. Despite your many merits as a candidate, I regret to inform you that we are not able to offer you a place in the entering class.

The Admissions Committee carefully evaluated your application in the following areas: work experience, career plans, academic ability and performance, extracurricular and community involvement, leadership and interpersonal skills. Decisions are based upon a thorough evaluation of your individual strengths and weaknesses, as well as your qualifications relative to all others in our applicant pool. This decision is not a reflection of your personal qualities and achievements or your potential for success in management, but merely a reflection of the limited number of places in the class.

We certainly wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors, and thank you for your interest in the Kellogg School of Management and Two-Year Program .

Sincerely,

Beth Flye

Director of Admissions and Financial Aid

Got Milk?

2006-01-05T11:11:00.000-08:00

The people of Chino definitely do not have to worry about ever getting caught without milk at the time of need. Though I must say that the cows here do not look very happy - those of you that have seen the California Happy Cows commercials will understand what I am talking about.

I finally have my very own M***08@gsb.columbia.edu email. Now the $5K seems all worth it. That is a pretty darn expensive email. The cool thing is that it will be with me for life. I was flipping through the CBS alumni journal and reading the little updates people send in about their personal and professional lives the other day and thinking how crazy it was to see all the different graduation years in people's contact emails. I have been thinking a lot lately about where to live next year and cannot decide between on campus or off. I really just want to be as close to campus as possible, but I have no desire to live in a broom closet. I also need to start thinking about my travel plans before school. I wonder if any of the admits will be down to organize a trip...

The trip is pretty decent so far. We have been getting to work at 9:30 and leaving at 4:30 to go to the hotel gym and play tennis. Last night was pretty intense with the game going on. The entire hotel was swarming with UT fans - they sure travel well! I made the horrible mistake of wearing a yellow T-shirt with a red sweater over it and got made fun of all night at the bar (even though I HATE USC). The fantastic thing is that I have been eating really yummy sushi every night ^_^

The First 2006 Post

2006-01-03T15:31:00.000-08:00

Isn't it pathetic how creatively challenged accountants are? The title of this post is a clear demonstration of such accusation.

I am currently on a business trip in the armpit of California, also known as Chino. Every time I mention to friends that I am here they say "Chino as in where Ryan on The OC is from?". Yes. In case you did not know it is also the home of 3 state prisons and multiple dairy farms. Great way to kick off 2006.

I spent my New Year's eve at Henry's Pub in San Diego and paid $40 + tip for some poor Brazilian guy to take four of us 2 miles to the Holiday Inn at the end of the night on his bike cart due to the lack of taxis. The poor dude was huffing and puffing and sweating like crazy while we yelled stupid drunk exclamations at the people in the streets.

I also got to spend a few days in LA with my best friend and met LCPwarrior for a some very delicious breakfast food right before leaving for the cow manure smelling location I am currently in. We'll definitely have to keep in touch, though I am sad she is taking herself out of the CBS running. That would have been a blast.

Back to work! Good luck to everyone scrambling to get those R2 applications in this week.

A Year in Review

2005-12-30T11:38:00.000-08:00

In 2005 I ...

* turned 25
* had two relationships
* took trips to Atlanta, San Diego, Los Angeles, Dallas, Maui, and Chino
* moved into my first apartment w/o roommates
* decided to study for the GMAT in July because my boyfriend was doing it
* started this blog
* went through two restructuring events in my company
* attended a Columbia Info Session in September and fell in love with the school
* attended a few other Info Sessions, but was never as impressed as I was with CBS
* studied for the GMAT on and off for two months
* took the GMAT in September and impressed myself with the score
* wrote a total of 19 essays in 6 weeks
* amazingly stayed sane after the above
* submitted 4 B-School applications by R1 deadlines
* attended 3 B-School interviews
* received a Columbia Admit
* paid $5K to secure my place in the CBS class of 2008

Not a bad year if you as me. Earlier this week I also had a chance to get together for drinks with 4 other Columbia admits from the Bay Area. It was so great meeting other people who are just as excited as me to move to NYC and start at CBS. All five of us had very different and extremely accomplished backgrounds (engineering, finance, accounting, equity research, consulting). It was really interesting learning new things about NYC from each other as well as just getting to know my future classmates. It was decided that there will be monthly Happy Hours as more people are admitted from the San Francisco area. I had a great time and cannot wait to meet more people at the April Open House event.

Happy New Year everyone! May 2006 bring you all the admits you desire!!!

Rendezvous

2005-12-28T09:31:00.000-08:00

Last night I met MBACutie and Sorebrek for dinner and drinks at Dosa. The evening was complete with discussions regarding admissions, makeup and dating. In search of a second venue we ended up at the Beauty Bar for another round of drinks. Thanks for coming all the way to the city guys! It was great to meet you both.

I've been doing research on unemployment insurance all morning. Looks like I'll be getting $450 a week (gross). Not too shabby, I can definitely live on that through the summer :)

Christmas Weekend

2005-12-27T08:43:00.000-08:00

My family doesn't celebrate Christmas. In fact, my parents are currently on a cruise ship, sailing around Mexico and drinking margaritas with cute little umbrellas. It has been a tradition for the past 3 years that I attend Christmas dinners at two of my friends parents' houses. I even have my own stocking hanging over the fireplace at both houses. Needless to say, I feel like I have gained 20lbs after the weekend. I got a ton of great presents, but the absolute best one was from my friend Angell's parents. They got my very first Columbia sweatshit. It is grey with blue letters and I don't think I took it off once during the last few days. I wish I would have worn it to work.

I also made it out to the movies and saw Memoirs of a Geisha. I am not sure why it got mixed reviews - I loved the film. The costumes were beautiful and I think it gave justice to all the amazing descriptions that make the book so great.

Hope everyone had a relaxing weekend as well!

CBS Deposit

2005-12-21T10:05:00.000-08:00

My check is in the mail. My bank account hates me. My head is still spinning. It is weird not knowing the other schools' decisions, but in essence that means that I will never feel truly rejected. I find the whole CBS ED binding contract debate pretty amusing. There is no fine print involved, you know what you are getting into by checking that box. Granted there are people who want to have options. I think that if someone gets an admit from ED and another one from Wharton and really wants to go to W then by all means he/she should go there. Frankly, I don't want to be sitting in class next to someone who is wishing he/she was elsewhere.

I finally got some replies from the Bay Area admits regarding getting together for some drinks. I was starting to get a little worried there that I am the only one who fancies happy hours :) Quick update on the dates from last week: had two instead of three, seeing the first guy again tonight. It is amazing how positively guys respond to "I am moving to NYC this summer". This could be a new pick-up line.

slowly recovering from the shock

2005-12-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

Wow.

It is amazing how one email, one decision, one realization, can change your entire world. Two weeks ago I was convinced that Columbia did not want me and started to convince myself that I didn't really want them either to soften the blow. One week ago I was anxiously awaiting my interview date, desperately trying not to raise my hopes only to get a rejection after the interview. I refreshed my status page every 5 minutes on Wednesday, waiting for the status to change to Complete. Finally, around 4 o'clock eastern time it changed. I went home feeling even more nervous since the next status change would be IT.

The last thing I expected was to open my hotmail and see that very same status change first thing Thursday morning. I swear the seconds that it took for the page to load felt like hours. I even typed my password in wrong because my hands were shaking. The more I tried to calm myself the harder I felt my heart beat. Finally the status page loaded. I saw a bunch of text. It was all blur, but I was able to make out a Congratulations! in the midst of it all. I called my dad, but he was with a patient. I called my mom, but she didn't answer her cell. I refreshed the page to make sure it was still there and went through this ritual throughout the entire day.

I am always amazed at my mother's ability to know everything. Even though all I said in the message to her was "Call me ASAP", she already knew the news. 15 minutes later she showed up at my desk at work (we work in the same building ^_^) with beautiful roses! I love my mom. She took me out to lunch at The Butler & The Chef, a little French place in South Park, and my dad took all of us out to dinner for some yummy sushi.

I don't think I have done ANY work since Wednesday. I have, however, had time to join the CBS Admits Yahoo group where I already met a few great people, research housing in NYC, find 2 possible scholarships I can apply for, inform my friend Angell that I will be borrowing all of her NJ winter clothing for two years, make plans to stay with my friend Beth while I am in NYC in April for the Admit Open House event, as well as email everyone I know and tell them that

I AM MOVING TO NEW YORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy Crap

2005-12-15T09:16:00.000-08:00

I did not have to wait very long to hear back from Columbia...

Application Status: You've been admitted!

...I am having a mental block right now. I TOTALLY expected to wait at least a week!

Columbia Status

2005-12-14T16:23:00.000-08:00

Application Status: Complete
Status DescriptionThank you for interviewing.

And the real wait begins...

Columbia Interview

2005-12-12T10:41:00.000-08:00

My interview was scheduled for 8:30am. I got a call from the interviewer about 10 minutes beforehand informing me very apologetically that he is catching the later ferry into the city and will be there at 9 o'clock. I figured this is good for me, since he is probably going to feel bad for making me wait and proceed to his office to wait for his arrival. He got there at 9, just as he said. We chatted for about 25 minutes. The guy was SUPER nice and easy to talk to, a principal at a pretty solid ibank. He wanted me to do a quick run through my resume and asked a question about my current company and role. I kind of molded my "Why Columbia, Why MBA, Why now" answers into the answer. He said I had a great background and solid extracurriculars. He asked for my GMAT and GPA and said that the only weakness he could see the AdCom hesitating on was my GPA (a yucky 3.1), though the fact that I have since gotten my CPA could soften that. He was very open and honest, saying he really had no clue about the amount of value that adcom puts on his report, but that he is going to give his recommendation for my admission since he thinks I am a great candidate. It was definitely GREAT finally getting some feedback from an interviewer. He said he would communicate with the adcom today or tomorrow regarding the interview.

I swear I might throw my computer out of the window if another person asks poor Kristen in the Kellogg thread when R1 decisions are coming out. This reminds me of those annoying kids who yell and scream during road trips "Are we there yet? How about now? Are we getting closer? What about in 30minutes, will we be 3 hours away? Hey, it has been 5 minutes since you told us the distance we have left! Are we here yet??????" The woman already said that it's today, why do people keep asking for a status update EVERY DAY?!?!?!?!?!?!?! *deep breath*

In personal news, I have three dates this week. All of them are with different boys. Can you tell I am trying to stay busy and not check my email for Columbia news?

Kellogg Interview Submission

2005-12-08T11:01:00.000-08:00

My Kellogg interviewer emailed this morning to let me know he just submitted his write-up to the admissions office. This comes a week and a half after our meeting. Now I know for sure I will be one of those January decision applicants.

Lately I have been getting annoyed by all the stupid posts in the BW forums. I am sorry, but people who ask questions like "Is it true that all the spaces have been filled up and I shouldn't bother applying?" should not be admitted based JUST on the moronic questions. I applaud the adcom people for calmly answering the same stupid questions over and over again, they have way more patience then me.

I had a chat with our CFO about my happiness level with the way the company is handling the reorganization and she agreed that improvements need to be made. Somehow in that conversation I volunteered myself for a trip to our warehouse in Chino to supervise the inventory observation. Ack.

Columbia Interview Scheduling

2005-12-06T10:36:00.000-08:00

I heard many people complain about the difficulty of tracking down interviewers and am pretty happy not to be one of those individuals. Columbia offered me 3 names: one woman and two men. I immediately crossed the woman off my list. Am I being sexist? I guess so, but I just know that I feel much more at ease when interviewing with the opposite sex. Though I will mention that I had to interview with 5 women for my current position and they all loved me (obviously - since I am working here). I could be making a huge mistake - but c'est la vie.

I called the 1999 grad first and left a VM. I was going to wait a day or two for his call-back, but got restless and called the 1995 grad before leaving work last night. His secretary answered the phone and transferred me to him after I explained why I was calling. The guy was really nice, he told me he was pretty swamped this week but could meet me early next week. We scheduled an interview for 8:30am on December 12th (Monday) at his office. I think it's a good thing to have a week before the interview for me to calm down from the excitement of being invited.

I FINALLY bought Christmas and Hanukkah cards - now I just need to get around to writing them. I am one of those people who HATES getting a card with a "Dear Marina, " on top and a "Love, blah blah blah" on the bottom. If you are going to go through the trouble of buying cards and stamps you might as well write a personal message. This is why it takes me so long to write my cards :)

Columbia Interview

2005-12-05T11:58:00.000-08:00

I was seriously ready to give up. I was willing to bet money that it was a ding when I got the status update email from Columbia this morning. Imagine my delight...

"As part of the continuing evaluation of your application, the Admissions Committee is pleased to offer you an interview with a Columbia Business School Ambassador. Ambassadors are alumni of the program who volunteer to conduct interviews and who are glad to answer any questions you might have about Columbia Business School..."

I have a big grin on my face. Happy Monday!

Kellogg Interview

2005-11-30T09:46:00.000-08:00

Long weekends are great, except for when you get back to work and find yourself drowning in deadlines. It has been a week and a half since my manager left the company and someone is yet to let me know who I currently report to. My frustration is turning to amusement at this point, but at least the 2006 Operating/Financial plan along with the 43 supporting schedules is ALMOST ready to be sent out to Corporate for review. I cannot wait to get this off my hands.

Monday morning, bright and early, I met my Kellogg interviewer at this office for a 40 minute chat. This was better then the Anderson experience, but it was not brilliant. It is so much harder interviewing for school as compared to a job, where you know exactly what the position requires and can emphasize just those points to strengthen your candidacy. My interviewer was a recent grad ('05) and had really great things to say about the school. He also came across as sounding very honest when talking about the competition for jobs in San Francisco, as it is one of the top desired cities for graduates. He asked me to go over my resume and work experiences. Turned out that he used to also work for delete so we had that in common. Of course the token "Why Kellogg?" question was asked, along with "What are the two qualities a leader must possess?" and "What is the one thing you will bring to the school and share with your class?". He also asked me to talk about the challenge of leading a team from one of my past experiences. I am trying not to drive myself crazy analyzing the experience, so I will leave it at that.

Here is something I have been wondering about though. Do interviewers generally write back to Thank You emails? I know that when I interview candidates I usually write back when they ask me additional questions, or when I really like the candidate. Any thoughts?

Anderson Super Saturday

2005-11-20T19:24:00.000-08:00

I am back from LaLa Land. Did ya'll miss me?

The drive down and back up was pretty easy. The flow of traffic was fantastic and I made it in 5.5 hrs each way. The weather did not disappoint either with 80+ degrees the entire weekend. The new Classiques Entier suit was purchased at Nordstrom on Thursday evening and most definitely did it's job of boosting the self confidence.

My interview was scheduled for 10:30 and after getting a little lost on campus I finally found the Anderson buildings. I loved that there were a few first year students greeting the applicants and answering questions. It made me feel more at ease and connected to the current students. I am not sure how much I should write about my actual interview because I honestly cannot figure out how it went. It was one of those not great, but not bad either experiences. I didn't really get the sense that my interviewer (a second year) was thrilled with me, nor did she seem to hate me. Having never seen my resume before she asked me to go through it - which I did pretty fast, though touching on all the points I wanted to make. She asked me why I left my first job for the current one, why MBA now, why Anderson, and how did I get to be fluent in French. That was it pretty much. I didn't look at the time when we were done, but I doubt I was in there for more then 30 minutes, possibly even less. I am trying not to over-think this though because what is done is done and I can only hope that I showed myself for who I really am. I also learned that decisions start getting released mid-December, yikes!

After the interview I got a tour of the campus from a first year and found out that we share a group of friends back in SF. Small world. In the evening I met up with a friend that is currently a first year and on our way to go clubbing at Prey in Hollywood stopped by another student's house to watch some Boxing with her school friends. I never knew watching sweaty men hug and punch each other in a cage could be so interesting. At the club we met a few other Anderson students - it seems they are everywhere - and danced the night away.

While in LA, I also made sure to stop by the Fashion Co-op and pick up a pair of Joe's jeans for only $80!!! Of course I already wore them out to Prey on Saturday night ^_^

Recommendations Gifts

2005-11-16T11:31:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to giving thank you gifts to my recommenders. I sent cute little cards and $35 gift cards to the two Deloitte people who each wrote 2 of the letters. My current manager, the one that is deserting me this Friday to go to another company, got a $75 gift card to Pink and was pretty excited about it all day.

Got a confirmation email from Haas today that my application is going under review. Does anyone know how soon they start to invite people to interviews? My Kellogg one has been scheduled for November 28th at 8am (which is fantastic since I am totally a morning person!) at the interviewer's office (which is also great because there will be no distractions). Now I really ~~NEED~~ want to get a new suit. It is amazing how much new clothes boost up self confidence.

Still no word from Columbia =/

Indian Summer

2005-11-15T09:17:00.000-08:00

On days like this I LOVE San Francisco weather - 76 degrees in the middle of November. Somehow even my job stress situation doesn't seem as horrible today. All I want to do is go shopping for new fun clothes. Only 4 more days until the grand opening of two H&M stores in the city. I have been waiting for this moment since my first trip to London and discovery of the store. I am a bit hesitant to go all out though since I have no clue where I will be living for the next two years. Definitely a drag. What do people wear to class in b-school anyways? Is it all business casual, or can you wear jeans and t-shirts? Not that I would ever be caught in the uniform Jeans & T campus outfit. Back in my undergrad days, while all my friends hopped on bikes in their pajamas to get to class, I could usually be seen in a dress or skirt and at least 3" heels. Clothes are my obsession. I could have easily written the "What are you most passionate about?" essay about a pair of pumps and the perfect fitting jeans.

My Kellogg interviewer emailed me back saying he is swamped until the week of the 28th. Obviously I would rather meet him earlier then that but at least he is responsive and we have somewhat narrowed down a date.

Kellogg Interview

2005-11-14T14:46:00.000-08:00

I FINALLY got my interview invite for Kellogg today. It is the last day of week seven and I submitted my Part 1 several weeks before the deadline. I am just happy that I finally have a name and contact information.

Singing the Night Away

2005-11-13T16:50:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been simply fabulous. I think I am finally remembering all the fun things I used to do prior to getting into the application process 4 months ago.

Thursday night I met up with some friends for Happy Hour at the Cigar Bar in North Beach and drowned my work stress sorrows in multiple glasses of Pinot Noir. I am still unsure what to do with my job situation - but I did call back a recruiter and he said there is a contract position he is working to fill that would fit perfectly with the timing of b-school. I am so tempted to jump ship, yet for some reason I feel a sense of guilt.

Friday was Nic's birthday. We celebrated with a diner at Eliza's (yummy) followed by a night of playing Karaoke Revolution on xbox. The game was hillarious, especially after a few glasses of wine. Looks like if the MBA thing falls through, I can have a career in professional karaoke competitions.

Saturday was a girls' night. We cooked dinner, drank (you guessed it!) some more wine, and talked until 2am about world peace, the real father of Katie Holmes' baby, men, shoes, and of course Nic & Jessica.

I have also stopped checking my status page, which has made me a much happier girl. The anxiety of hearing back has somewhat drifted away. I STILL have not gotten that Kellogg email though, so I will be calling them tomorrow morning.

More on Interviews

2005-11-07T11:01:00.000-08:00

Just scheduled my Anderson interview during the Super Saturday event on November 19th. Now the big question is "To Drive or To Fly?" Having traveled a lot of work I now detest airports, but at the same time with the current gas prices and the possibility of a speeding ticket it might make more sense to fly. Decisions...

I called Kellogg this morning and was told that I have been assigned an interviewer and that the email with all that info is scheduled to go out by Friday. I don't really understand this scheduling emails system (I'd be curious to find out more if any of you guys know anything) but I am thrilled that I'll actually get a chance to interview. I've been seeing a lot of people post on the BW Forums that their interviews were waived, so this is good news.

In non-MBA related news, I saw Jarhead last night and thought it was a great film (NOT just because Jake is in it!!!).

Work is super overwhelming these days. My boss just gave her two weeks and as thrilled as I am for her moving on to an amazing opoprtunity, I cannot help but feel sorry for myself. There used to be three of us and now I am left as the entire Finance department until the end of March. Sadly all I can think is that this would have made for a fabulous essay.

Kellogg Status Check

2005-11-03T15:44:00.000-08:00

All the required elements of your application are complete.
If your interview has been completed, the application has been submitted for review to the admissions committee. If your interview has not been conducted, the application will be submitted to the admissions committee upon completion of the interview. The next status check update will be the admission decision (Admit, Waitlist or Deny). As the majority of decisions are updated twice a week, we recommend checking the status on Tuesday and Friday, between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Central Standard Time. Please note the majority of decisions will be posted during the last several weeks of the deadline.

It would have been nice to get a notification email...I have been waiting for an interview since September 27th. This is officially week six. I wonder what is taking so long.

All DONE

2005-11-03T09:15:00.000-08:00

Well at least with the applications. Submitted Anderson this morning and I feel totally drained. I am not even sure what I am going to do with all my free time now. I should look back over my essays to remember what my passions and activities used to be. Sadly I cannot say "It feels great to be done" because now comes the waiting.

Happy Halloween

2005-10-31T10:19:00.000-08:00

I attended a friend's drunken Halloween bash this weekend and somehow ended up talking to a Columbia MBA graduate. I might have scared him with my "OMG I WANT TO GO TO COLUMBIA!!!" exclamation when he told me he was an alumn - but in my deffense I was on my 3rd drink of the night. I asked him a few things about interviews and strategies for picking the person to interview with. He also told me what kind of things interviewers report back to the school. Hopefully I can use this knowlege once the school decides to invite me for an interview!

I got absolutely no writing done this weekend, which means it is cram time after work this week to make the Anderson deadline. Perhaps I shall take a sick day :)

job market

2005-10-29T10:56:00.000-07:00

My recruiter took me out to a very nice lunch yesterday and we chatted about my future plans. I can tell he is hoping that I skip b-school and let him set me up with a new job - he gets absolutely no gain from me getting my MBA. As he was listing potential jobs with boring titles like "SEC Reporing Manager"/"Sarbanes Oxley Senior Analyst" though rather inviting salaries in the $85-95K range- I could not help but think back to my "Why MBA, why now?" self analysis. The truth is, I left Deloitte because I didn't want to stay in accounting and now I am leaving Corporate Finance because I don't think that quite does it for me either. I want to make decisions, not analyze numbers. I want to think about strategies and development and the actual business profitability. I have work ADD. I get bored easily when I am not challenged. Arranging numbers in excel is NOT a challenge anymore. I am currently working with our CEO on forecasting the 2006 P&L, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow for a new direct business that my company is branching out into. Is this interesting? YES! Is this challenging? NO! Time to move on and see what else is out there, though I do find some comfort in the fact that there are plenty of jobs out there for me if myMBA dream comes crashing down.

Haas is IN

2005-10-28T16:11:00.000-07:00

*deep breath*

It has been fantastic having my bosses gone this week. Being very good at time management I finished all my work fairly quickly and have been able to work on essays during the day. It is amazing how much easier it is to write in the daytime as opposed to after work, when I am brain dead.

My chances of getting into Haas worry me. From talking to the AdCom people and just filling out the application there seems to be a HUGE focus on undergraduate GPA. I wish had I paid more attention to grades in college, but in all honesty I wasn't very happy with my college choice and that reflected on the GPA. I am hoping that having a fantastic recomendation from my Haas Alumna Sr. Manager along with the GMAT score and the fact that I passed the CPA will overshadow my academic performance 3 years ago. We shall see. It would be pretty nice to stay in the Bay Area and be close to friends and family - though I realize I won't be seeing much of them once in B-school.

All that being said, I am still holding out for Columbia.

Have a great weekend people - I am going to wrap up my Anderson application. LAST weekend of essays - WOW.

staying sane

2005-10-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

Today I only checked the status sites twice (go me!), I think the more time passes the easier it is to forget about the applications. I am almost done with the Haas and Anderson essays so it shouldn't be a problem getting them in before the November 3rd & 4th deadlines for R1. I really wish I had started this whole process earlier. It would have been much easier to have some time to breathe in between applications - but I feel the need to submit all my choices in R1 in order to hear back ASAP.

I guess I have not yet mentioned this on here, but my company is being relocated to Boston and knowing that I am determined to go back to school I did not get an offer at the new location. This is actually greatly to my advantage for several reasons. First of all - I am guaranteed employment (i.e. paychecks) through the end of March 2006, at which point I will receive 2 weeks of severance (I have only been with the company a year) and 8 weeks paid as a retention bonus. My lease is up in May and I have the luxury of living in the same city as my family.

The ideal plan is to get accepted to a program and go travel all summer while collecting unemployment :) . Now IF I do not get accepted to one of my selected schools I will have to find a new job. I know I won't have a problem finding one, but it is so hard going into a job knowing that I will be reapplying to schools. In my ideal world I will know my fate by the end of January and can formulate a plan B, if necessary, at that time. Can you tell I am a control freak? No wonder I was an auditor for 2.5 years.