Relief
And finally it is over. The much awaited, much debated and much dreaded interview with the Wharton AdCom has come and gone. Definitely the one bright spot in an otherwise horrible day. The presentation I was to make did not quite go as well as expected. My turn came about an hour after its scheduled time, due to major over runs by some of my predecessors. The moral of the story here is to never take anyone's word for granted when they claim they need 15 mins max. Always have a dry run and ensure that those 15 mins don't stretch to 60.
Anyhew, after the presentation over ran the scheduled time by 2 hours, after which I only had enough time to grab a quick lunch before dashing to the interview. Somewhere along the way, in what has become a habitual move, I lost the map I had printed (the same thing happened to me during my visit to HBS) and had to navigate by memory. Luckily I stumbled upon the spot about 20 mins ahead of schedule, and found parking right outside.
Again in another signature move, I made a gaffe on social etiquette (I really need to take a class on this, it is getting embarrassing now), since I had occupied the table in advance, I was seated when my interviewer stepped up to me, I stood up shook hands and promptly sat down, and wondered for a second why my interviewer wasn't following suit. Quickly realizing my mistake I extended the invitation to sit. My interviewer turned out to be this brilliantly successful alumnus who seemed very comfortable with Wharton and success. The interview was conducted in a completely stress free manner, to the extent that I did not quite realize the exact moment we were done with pleasantries and started with the interview. In one word SMOOTH! It was so smooth, that I sat there happily blabbing my heart out without any consideration for strategy when it hit me that this was my moment and I needed to seize it. Unfortunately this epiphany came a little late in the game about when the interview was coming to a close. Ah! Well Wharton has now gotten an uncensored version me, and I can only hope that it meets the standard.
The interview extended for close to 75 mins, but there weren't any concrete questions I can report due to the conversational nature of the exercise. But on hindsight, I would say the standard questions were all probed and touched up. Why Wharton, why now, future plans, story, etc. All in all an EXCELLENTLY conducted interview, left me feeling at ease through and through. It actually bought out my natural persona to the fore as compared to my interview one. So chalk one up to Wharton. I walked away happy to have had the opportunity to discuss my dreams and aspirations in such a conducive environment. Can't really say if the interview hit the spot for the alumnus, but atleast I wasn't given the impression that I had missed the mark either.
But this morning when I woke up, I was feeling extremely relaxed, at ease and energetic. This feeling had eluded me for some time now. The Wharton interview was something that was really that was giving me a lot of stress, the feeling that so many dreams rest on a conversation that is yet to happen was what was getting me down. But now that it is over, there is nothing I can do, other than pray, so I am relieved. At this point in the game, I have most of my applications in, and almost all my interviews completed. Now if and only if HBS decides to interview me, will the lucky shirt come out of the closet. Otherwise it will remain there till a welcome weekend. Sitting down to compose my Chicago essays now, and hope to get atleast the first draft ready by the end of the week.
Anyhew, after the presentation over ran the scheduled time by 2 hours, after which I only had enough time to grab a quick lunch before dashing to the interview. Somewhere along the way, in what has become a habitual move, I lost the map I had printed (the same thing happened to me during my visit to HBS) and had to navigate by memory. Luckily I stumbled upon the spot about 20 mins ahead of schedule, and found parking right outside.
Again in another signature move, I made a gaffe on social etiquette (I really need to take a class on this, it is getting embarrassing now), since I had occupied the table in advance, I was seated when my interviewer stepped up to me, I stood up shook hands and promptly sat down, and wondered for a second why my interviewer wasn't following suit. Quickly realizing my mistake I extended the invitation to sit. My interviewer turned out to be this brilliantly successful alumnus who seemed very comfortable with Wharton and success. The interview was conducted in a completely stress free manner, to the extent that I did not quite realize the exact moment we were done with pleasantries and started with the interview. In one word SMOOTH! It was so smooth, that I sat there happily blabbing my heart out without any consideration for strategy when it hit me that this was my moment and I needed to seize it. Unfortunately this epiphany came a little late in the game about when the interview was coming to a close. Ah! Well Wharton has now gotten an uncensored version me, and I can only hope that it meets the standard.
The interview extended for close to 75 mins, but there weren't any concrete questions I can report due to the conversational nature of the exercise. But on hindsight, I would say the standard questions were all probed and touched up. Why Wharton, why now, future plans, story, etc. All in all an EXCELLENTLY conducted interview, left me feeling at ease through and through. It actually bought out my natural persona to the fore as compared to my interview one. So chalk one up to Wharton. I walked away happy to have had the opportunity to discuss my dreams and aspirations in such a conducive environment. Can't really say if the interview hit the spot for the alumnus, but atleast I wasn't given the impression that I had missed the mark either.
But this morning when I woke up, I was feeling extremely relaxed, at ease and energetic. This feeling had eluded me for some time now. The Wharton interview was something that was really that was giving me a lot of stress, the feeling that so many dreams rest on a conversation that is yet to happen was what was getting me down. But now that it is over, there is nothing I can do, other than pray, so I am relieved. At this point in the game, I have most of my applications in, and almost all my interviews completed. Now if and only if HBS decides to interview me, will the lucky shirt come out of the closet. Otherwise it will remain there till a welcome weekend. Sitting down to compose my Chicago essays now, and hope to get atleast the first draft ready by the end of the week.
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