Presentations rock

Caffeine is my new best friend and Booth rocks for giving me the opportunity to create an awesome presentation. If consultants have a language it’ll be presentations and I’m very fluent in that language if I have to say so myself. However, I am aware that some people do not have the same love for presentations that I have but still want to send in an amazing presentation so I’m going to summarize my ‘introduction to presentations’ study pack (pecks of being a hoarder, I still have those from 2008), I hope its useful:

 

Mixed feelings

The essays are coming up well. actually, better than well. I can report progress on Stanford, Booth and Wharton essays. Sloan is on a different wavelength but I am certain I will tackle it within the next few days. I’ll get into more details on my approach (more or less; the things that are working for me thus far) but first I want to tell you what’s giving me mixed feelings: I just got out of my supervisor’s office and he’s heard from the grapevine that I am planning to leave for school. While he is supportive of the idea, it now means I may not be able to get into the projects I wanted to get into while I was still here and that really saddens me. He did promise that it would not impact on the decision for the short-term project assignments. I hope get admitted in round one otherwise I may lose out on more than one end.

 

One Month to go

Overwhelmed? Not me!

So Me. In exactly one month, I intend to click send on my Sloan Applications but at this moment it is all over the place as are my emotions and thoughts. I have spent more hours working this week than I spent on every other thing put together. I really am not complaining but I’m not thrilled about it either. I did manage to squeeze out three hours to spend with the Stanford admissions team when they came to Nigeria and I’m glad I did. Here’s a summary of the things I learnt or relearnt from that visit and some of them came from Derek Bolton himself, unfortunately, I didn’t get down which came from who.

 

Stepping away from it all

One of my strengths also happens to be one of my major weaknesses (I know this sounds cheesy and everybody advises you not to use that line during your interview but it is true). Let me explain: I have never met a problem I could not solve – which is good. I may not be the smartest, strongest or bravest person in the room but I will keep going at a problem until I get it solved. That is who I am, it’s in my DNA. On the flip side of that, I will rarely do something else until I solve it – not good at all and I usually go into some form of analysis-paralysis or the other. How does this translate to my MBA application?

 

MBA Application Snag

Let me start this with a summary of my applicant profile:

1. Work Exp: One year in a non-profit. Almost 6 years in consulting.
2. 710 GMAT (Q47, V40)
3. GPA of 3.92 out of 5
4. College EC’s: member of Student Government, Peer tutor, church volunteer.
5. Post-college EC’s: Founding Board member of a committee at work, professional mentoring to new recruits,  volunteer at church, photography, sports (volleyball & tennis)
6. Post-MBA goals: Entrepreneurship (Agribusiness)

Where’s the snag?

 

Application Status

In less than 50 days, I will be submitting my application for at least one of my chosen schools (Sloan has the honour of being the school with the tightest deadline for me). Here’s a look at where I am now with respect to my MBA applications

GMAT: Done (710 – well within the 80% range for all the schools I’m applying to)