Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Ponderings

I am fast coming to the conclusion that the shotgun approach to Business school venture just isn't worth it. With those thoughts comes the dreaded feeling that I screwed up my application process. The what if scenario's keep running into my head till I am forced to purge them by giving myself a sharp smack on the forehead.

Despite desperately desiring to go to school at Wharton, I have been realistic about my chances of garnering one of the precious admits that they hand out each year. I was determined to go to business school this year and was not willing to take another year to take another shot at my dream school (if ultimately dinged). But recent events are forcing me to re-evaluate those thoughts.

With a Cornell admit in my pocket, I was confident of attending a school I liked. But the news out of Cornell reporting on the woes and miseries of current first year students in their attempt to get internship offers is really getting me down! From my sources there, I hear that recruitment is terrible for the current batch of first years, with some students getting multiple offers and others none. While I understand that competition is a part and parcel of Business school culture, the number of people without offers and the specific demographics that seem to be without offers is not merely disquieting but terrifying to say the least. Here is an interesting perspective of a Cornell First year student struggling to get his foot in the door.

Business school for me signifies a huge opportunity cost. We are giving up a lot to get the education. Without strong prospects for the future the ROI isn't worth what we are giving up. I am in the midst of a serious rethink of my plans and future strategy. I am actually toying with a plan B that has me applying to 2 maybe 3 schools next year in case I don't get into a school that I believe will help me get where I want to go. I guess what it comes down to is that if I don't get into a school of choice this year, I am not going to go to school.

This whole shot gunning is a farce. Why bother wasting your time applying to schools that can't help you get where you want to go in life? Why not take the extra time to apply to one maybe two schools that you really think will help you. The more I think about it, the more Riter's decision to apply to two schools in R1 makes sense. The more I feel I screwed up. All I can hope for now is that waitlist at Wharton materializes into an acceptance. Otherwise it is going to be a disappointing application season.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home