Tag Archives: MBA Over 30

A Startup, Wharton West, Travel Abroad, Google and other Updates

February 25, 2014

13 Comments

First, I’d just like to congratulate my admissions consulting clients from this season who have accepted offers to their target schools. Thus far, 2 of you are headed to Wharton, 2 to INSEAD, one to Duke, and 4 waiting to hear back from one of Wharton (2 more), MIT (1) or Darden (2). I only […]

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My First Quarter at Wharton, Rugby and a WSJ Response

October 6, 2013

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My first quarter at Wharton has been an unbelievable experience. When I last posted,  I was just getting my druthers after a fun but exhausting Pre-Term experience. I had also deluded myself into thinking that I’d do a couple posts last month. Negative. Out of nowhere, I was blind-sighted by a flurry of quant problem […]

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Philly Bound at Last

July 22, 2013

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This time tomorrow, I will officially be a resident of Philadelphia. Since I was admitted during round one (December), much of this transition has been anticlimactic for me since my excitement hit its zenith during admit weekend way back in February. It’s not that I haven’t been excited about going to Wharton, but the drudgery […]

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Funemployment, Prepping for Wharton and Turning 36

July 13, 2013

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I’ve never really been the jealous type. That notwithstanding, it can be quite a challenge to not become a hater when all of your rich banker classmates are gallivanting around the globe after having quit their pre MBA jobs months ago while you report to a cube each day. So naturally, I was more than […]

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Entrepreneurship Doubling at Wharton since 2010

June 24, 2013

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Every now and again (actually, quite often if I’m honest) I get yet another confirmation of having made the right decision in choosing to attend The Wharton School to get my MBA and focus on building a company. While I’ve never looked back or even so much as wondered about my having chosen the best […]

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GMAT Mode–Again (Well, Sort of)

May 4, 2013

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I experienced deja vu today. I was in the middle of reviewing some statistics info when I thought to myself, “really tho”?. Allow me to explain… I’m currently in the throes of prepping for my transition from brain dead, autopilot but employed 9-to-5 life in sunny Los Angeles to rigorous, stimulating but broke student life […]

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Roasted at Wharton’s R2 Welcome Weekend

April 13, 2013

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So…I’m sitting at the computer while taking a break from some freelance writing work. I’m watching this clip on YouTube that always makes me laugh so hard that I fart when my my phone starts beeping and my email notices from Facebook start blowing up. Apparently, just as I was laughing and in tears to […]

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A World of Opportunity at Wharton

March 12, 2013

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It is incredibly gratifying to finally be busy in a way that is fun and enriching (prepping for school, prepping for Philly, networking, planning etc.) rather than oppressive and numbing (GMAT, essays, interviews, waiting for results, et. al) as it relates to this whole MBA deal. Lately, I’ve been cyber stalking events such as the […]

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Why I’ve Chosen The Wharton School of Business

March 1, 2013

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I’ve chosen to invest my next two years into building a company and earning an MBA in Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management at The Wharton School of Business at UPenn. First World Problems From the moment that I first got “the call” from Director of Admissions Ankur Kumar welcoming me to Wharton’s class of 2015, I […]

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A Windy City Welcome Weekend at Chicago Booth

February 11, 2013

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Earlier today (Sunday) I flew back into Los Angeles from R1 Welcome Weekend at Chicago Booth. Over the past two weekends, I’ve gotten little sleep, increased my alcohol tolerance by a third and met several hundred of the most interesting and exceptional people that I’ve met all in one place in quite some time. If […]

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High Times at Wharton’s Winter Welcome Weekend

February 6, 2013

32 Comments

So last weekend I flew to Philadelphia to rendezvous with over 300 of my fellow R1 admits at Wharton’s Winter Welcome Weekend. To say that I had a blast and was impressed would be an understatement. The Whartonites definitely know how to sell their brand and showcase their culture to a horde of admits. The […]

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3 for 3: A Scholarship Offer from MIT Sloan

January 31, 2013

40 Comments

Touched Before Take-off [Location, JFK Airport, NYC en route to Philadelphia] – So I’m sitting on the runway awaiting take-off at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) almost exactly 6 hours ago. I’m having a good day. I’ve taken today (Thursday) and tomorrow off to attend Wharton’s Winter Welcome Weekend in Philadelphia. I’m also smiling about […]

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ACCEPTED at The MIT Sloan School of Management!

January 29, 2013

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Post Mortem Just an hour ago, I thought that I’d be writing a  very different post than this. About two weeks ago, I interviewed for a spot in the class of 2015 for The MIT Sloan School of Management. While I left the actual interview feeling pretty good, I began to wonder about whether my […]

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Networking, Reading and My MIT Interview

January 19, 2013

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At about 3 weeks into the new year, a few things are certain: 1. I’ll be moving to either the east coast OR Midwest sometime this summer. 2. I’ve just jumped down a rabbit hole of massive spending and relentless saving and budgeting that is likely to not end until at least 2015. 3. While the stress […]

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The People Make the Place

January 10, 2013

23 Comments

I really envisioned a carefree winter and spring after being admitting into Wharton and Booth a few weeks ago. Pipe dreams. Though, I must say that the kind of intensity that I experience now feels much better than it did when I was waiting to find out whether I “got in” to any of my […]

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MBAOver30.com – The Year 2012 in Review

December 30, 2012

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The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: 19,000 people fit into the new Barclays Center to see Jay-Z perform. This blog was viewed about 62,000 times in 2012. If it were a concert at the Barclays Center, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that […]

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NO MORE Business School Applications!

December 24, 2012

26 Comments

Woooo-saaaaahhhh (And Happy Holidays)! So about a year ago, I plunked down $250 and took my first swing at the GMAT. I had made a 650 on a practice test without studying, and felt that I should be able to do about as well without too much trouble, then pump out a few essays to […]

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ACCEPTED at The Wharton School of Business!

December 20, 2012

88 Comments

After getting an early morning acceptance call from the Chicago Booth School of Business two days ago, one would think I’d be more calm and zen than I was when I got up this morning. I was actually–its a huge relief that you have somewhere (really good) to go to for b-school after all of […]

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ACCEPTED at Chicago Booth School of Business!

December 18, 2012

85 Comments

By the time I had woken up this morning, I had read more than enough admit blog posts and BeatTheGMAT/ GMATClub status updates and posts to generally know what to expect on admit announcement day if you’re being offered admission. So when the area code (773) popped up on my iPhone as I was having […]

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Invited to Interview at MIT Sloan

December 14, 2012

53 Comments

The Plague So I’m sitting in my Friday product strategy meeting, and I’m wiping my sore and swollen nose for the 100th time this morning..  It’s flu season, so all the folks with school age kids  have brought their kids’ nasty cooties to work and kindly shared them with the rest of us. Bums. Since […]

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Final Judgement Cometh for R1

December 10, 2012

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During the next 10 days, I’ll know the final decisions for 4 out of the 5 programs that I applied to during R1. HBS graciously gave me my walking papers back in October; and Stanford’s silence has spoken volumes. I expect a ding notice from there this Wednesday.  That completes the list of schools where […]

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Waiting for MBA Admissions Results

November 27, 2012

17 Comments

Ok, so the Thanksgiving Turkey and fixings have all been eaten; and even if that were not the case, I wouldn’t have access to them anyway because all that stuff is back down south with my parents, but I digress. Around 3 weeks from now, the curtain will close on Round 1 of MBA admissions […]

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Writing MBA Essays During Thanksgiving Week

November 21, 2012

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The Pilgrims Had it Easy Earlier today, my mind wandered as I smelled the sweet aroma of German chocolate cake baking in my mom’s oven. “I wonder what gave the Pilgrims and the indigenous Americans the time to indulge in a feast so elaborate that it started a holiday (before the former murdered 90% of […]

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Booth and Wharton Interviews Complete

November 16, 2012

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I can finally see some light at the end of this very long tunnel of pre-MBA exam prep, test-taking, app and essay writing, interviewing, waiting, worrying, and just plain ‘ole stress. So here’s the status of my round 1 applications going into the weekend before Thanksgiving (alphabetically): Chicago – invited to interview; interview complete HBS […]

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The MBA Gods Smiled Twice in 2 Days: Invited to Interview at Wharton

November 1, 2012

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So the short version of the story is that the MBA Gods have smiled once again. I’ve just been invited to interview for a spot at The Wharton Business School, just 28 hours after receiving an invite to interview at The University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business (for which I’ve already been matched with […]

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A Halloween Treat: Invited to Interview at Chicago Booth

October 31, 2012

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Since I felt the “sting of the ding” from Harvard a week ago (I chose not to blog about it), I’ve done a fairly good job of keeping my sanity while in this wasteland of waiting for interview invites results. Blocking Out the Noise I’ve read half of Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, advanced 9 ranking […]

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Researching Kellogg, Tuck, Berkeley and Yale While Waiting for Interview Invites

October 21, 2012

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I’ve never been the type to spend too much time worrying about things that I cannot change. And so, I’m not allowing myself to worry too  much about the 5 MBA applications that I’ve turned in over the past 3.5 weeks for (in order of submission) HBS, Wharton, Booth, Stanford and MIT. I know that […]

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MIT App Submitted, No News from HBS

October 19, 2012

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I’ve just submitted my last and final app for Round 1: MIT Sloan. After weeks of an on again, off again relationship with this particular app, I was pleased to see how it came together in the end. Ultimately, it became one of my favorite apps to complete. Now let’s just hope that the Sloan […]

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MIT Deadline Approaches as Round 1 MBA Judgement Day Draws Nigh

October 16, 2012

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So today was boss’ day. Who knew? I sure didn’t–at least not until I arrived at work this morning to the sight of a whole grain and berry mini cake from Whole Foods on my desk decorated “Happy Boss’ Day”. I’d love to be able to tell you that I ate some and brought the […]

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On Age Discrimination in MBA Admissions and Rookie Hype

October 7, 2012

43 Comments

I’ve been hard pressed to achieve an insomnia-free night as of late; and to be fair to my fellow pre-MBA applicants, I must concede that I am probably not unique in that respect. At first glance, I’m just another one of thousands of applicants who has recently turned in a set of Round 1 applications […]

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