So, it's been a while....

A while is definitely an understatement. SO many things have happened since I last posted. I'll try to keep this really brief, but still give you some insight into what has happened since July when I posted last.

A good friend of mine and I fall into terrible consulting speak used for corporate status reports when we quickly update each other on life, but it's a great way to share quickly so please forgive me as I borrow this method here.

School: Green

I'm definitely on track to graduate in a little over a month (I can't believe it!!) and looking forward to enjoying the last bit of my time here.

Internship: Green

My summer at Yahoo Groups ended really well. Unfortunately, I can never share the awesomeness of my projects with all of you since our project got canceled after I returned to school and none of my features launched, but it was a great learning experience.

Full-time Job Search: Yellow-y Green

This will definitely be green in the next few weeks as I finish finally figuring out where I'll be after graduation, but it's been quite the ride. The job market is definitely better, but employers seem to be looking for a bit more experience than most career switchers have when they graduate. At least, we're all getting interviews.

Life: Green

Especially as the job search slows down, I've started having a lot more time for life lately and I have to say that I like the new balance. I'm starting to work out more again, probably even going to be running more and perhaps signing up for another race. I will also have to share my recent progress with the painting I started way back last summer. Finally, I have time to hang out with friends and classmates and enjoy what little time we have left before we all return to the real world. It has lead to some great adventures.

Baking: Green

Since this did start out as a baking blog, I feel that I have to give a separate update in this category. I must say that I have been baking/cooking a lot more in the last few months with dinner parties and the like. Mostly, I've been making ice creams and gelatos in my new ice cream maker. Luckily, the banana bread I threw together today (too many overripe bananas...oops) turned out ok despite the fact that I added an additional banana over what the recipe called for. This spares you from a post with photos of horribly disfigured breads and lamenting over my poor choice.


All in all, things are going well. The last semester and a half have been very busy, but it's all slowing down a bit to allow me to do all of the things that I've always wanted to do. I look forward to enjoying every moment that I have left in my MBA.

I promise that I won't be nearly as MIA as I have been. You can thank one of the members of the Google Analytics team for re-inspiring my blogging through sharing a lot of the great features that are available in Google Analytics during my Designing Web-Based Products and Services class this morning. If you haven't installed it on your blog yet, I highly recommend it. Who knew that my most commonly searched for term would be "champagne buttercream."

Haas Interview

Earlier this week, I headed over to Berkeley for my interview at the Haas Admission's Office. I always mis-estimate the amount of time that it will take me to get to Berkeley because I don't know my way around that well yet and it seems that parking is always incredibly challenging and requires a long walk to Haas. I left myself plenty of time and ended up with about an hour to kill.

I wandered around Berkeley and chuckled at the many hilarious sights that you see wandering around along with the most intelligent comments from the homeless bums. (One bum was arguing that you owed him your spare change because you had not suffered as he had for years sleeping on cement and that it would be cheaper than paying his medicare.) After spending a few minutes relaxing in the sunshine and reviewing my interview notes, I headed to Haas.

The interview was an hour. We started talking about me (resume, why b-school, why Haas - those kinds of questions) and then we moved onto her background as an alum and then role in the Admissions office. Finally, we wrapped up with questions. She asked some very interesting questions about my resume that really required that I link common themes throughout my work experience. Most of these questions stemmed from my research paper about nonverbal communication. She also asked about challenging situations that I had encountered and how I had handled them. We talked about why I felt particularly drawn to Haas and why getting my MBA now. This conversation evolved into her asking me about which activities I was looking forward to participating in at Haas. Next, I got to ask her about her experience at Haas and the types of things that she wish that she could have done while a student. Also, she covered the remainder of the admissions process for me since I was interviewing on the decision notification deadline for the 4th round and the timeline over the summer before school starts.

All in all, I felt that the interview went really well. We had a great conversation and I got to show my knowledge of Haas and passion for business school. I can't wait to hear from them in the next couple of weeks so I can start feeling more settled about what my next direction will be.

Haas Interview Invite!!

Let me preface this post by saying that I turned in my application to Haas WAY back in December and after deciding on Fuqua, I had kind of resigned myself to the fact that I was going to reapply next year. I had almost forgotten about Haas.

Today, I got an email from them inviting me to a campus interview. I am so excited because Haas is one of my top choice programs and I have learned a ton more about the school since applying that makes me want to go there even more.

Now, I have the next week to prep for my interview to knock their socks off.

Fuqua Interview!!

I heard late last week that I got an interview for Fuqua! Very exciting. Luckily with all of the other insanity that's happening in the next couple of weeks at work, not at work and with GMAT stuff, I'm very glad that I got a phone interview with an Admissions Officer and do not have to travel to Durham, NC. I do want to travel to Durham at some point, hopefully for an Admitted Student weekend or something.

Now back to the remaining GMAT studying and interview prep for the weekend...

Grad School Update

I know I've been posting about all sorts of things lately from the etchings that my grandparents gave me to Dessert Night's first birthday, but I haven't let you know what's been going on in my life on the grad school front. Honestly, it's been a bit quieter lately which is refreshing after all of those nights being up super late working on essays. That aside, there have been 3 major things that have happened lately:

1. Stanford rejected me. Honestly, I wasn't super surprised about this one, just rather disappointed as I had been hoping that Stanford would be my new home as of next year. They seem to be one of those schools where everyone who would consider applying has a chance of getting in, but really no one has a GREAT chance. So, it was worth the shot to apply. I think I liked their application the best of all of them too.

2. I had my Kellogg interview! Before any of you go getting too excited, getting an interview for Kellogg doesn't mean what it does for other schools. Kellogg interviews everyone who applies (assuming you don't live in a remote village in the middle of Sudan or something). Luckily, there are a lot of alumni scattered about so not everyone has to make the pilgrimage to Chicago in the middle of winter. I met with my alumni interviewer at a local Starbucks and we chatted for about an hour. All of the questions that he asked me were questions that I had prepped for care of the ClearAdmit interview wiki. I felt really prepared and we had a great discussion. All in all, a good contrast to my Stanford rejection.

3. I'm retaking the GMAT. Did you let out a groan too? I can't say that I'm excited about this fact, but I could use the opportunity to bump up my score a few points. Historically, I've been a bad test taker, but it's all mental so I want to use this opportunity to change that for myself. (Though it's not going great so far, as I'm writing this post to procrastinate taking a practice test.)

That's all of the recent happenings on the grad school side of things. I will be sure to keep you updated as I hear back from my other 4 schools. Good luck to all of you fellow applicants!! The end is in sight!