SgHama's MBA Dream

After 2 years of what if's and worrying about the finances... class of 2008 here I come!

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Tuck Financial Aid Deadline

Those of you applying to Tuck, don't forget the financial aid application which is due Dec 8. In my excitement of submitting the actual MBA application, I almost overlooked this little detail... I sent it out today (more damage to my credit card - express charges aren't cheap these days) and now I can finally close the chapter on Tuck for a while and focus on the other schools.

Monday, November 28, 2005

Out the door!

I've submitted my Tuck application! Woo hoo! Was hesitating for a while at the final submit button - should I submit or take one more last look through? ha ha.. but in the end just took the leap of faith. My status is officially "Submitted" now. Wonder when it'll change to "Under review"??

Tuck is done!

I am one step away from submitting my first application after what seems like forever since I started this process. Compared to when I was rushing for Wharton’s R1 (and didn’t make it), I feel comfortable with this application, and with a couple days to spare too. It’s not perfect, there are definitely weaknesses I can identify straightaway, but it’s as good as it’s going to get, and I hope the adcom likes it.

Now, I need to print out the application form and go through it one last time before clicking submit… and then check it again… and again…

Thursday, November 17, 2005

For those obsessed with application statistics

http://www.admissions411.com/

Another Tuck progress update

I've been spending the past couple of days working on the application form itself since my essays are with my reviewers now. I'm glad I started early - I never knew they would take this long. I've done my transcripts, filled up the activities section (this in itself took a few hours trying to fit each description into 300 characters, spaces included), and just finished my resume last night (also another tedious task given that I had to rephrase everything WITHOUT any consulting jargon. e.g. words like "benchmarked" had to be thrown out the window and replaced with something more accessible such as "evaluated" or "assessed").

Now all that's left is:
1. Employment information - I'll have to dig through my old salary letters to find out my bonuses, short job description (btw, can someone who's filled out a Tuck application tell me what goes in here? It says no paragraph breaks and has a 650 character limit...). I also had to convert my salary to US dollars and boy does it look paltry after the conversion.

2. Edit essays after I get feedback.

3. Follow up with recommenders to make sure they get submitted on time.

4. Financial aid form - This is one thing I almost forgot to do. Tuck requires original documents so I have to send this by post, and it has to reach them by Dec 9! Good thing I picked up on this - was originally going to work on it after Dec 1, but think I'm gonna have to start earlier. The thing is, it's a PDF file that needs to be printed out - which means I have two options: a) fill it out by hand, or b) try and find a typewriter (who the hell uses one these days??) so it looks more professional. I know it's probably a good idea to use the typewriter, but the problem is I haven't seen one in 10 years!

5. Hit submit before Dec 1.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Tuck progress

I haven't been posting for quite sometime - simply because work has been taking all of my time. To the extent of me not working on my apps for a couple of weeks.

Fortunately, I managed to get this weekend free, and I locked myself up at home with 90% of my time dedicated to getting my Tuck application ready (the other 10% had to be spent on inconvenient tasks such as laundry and eating). Unlike earlier occasions, I'm happy to report higher productivity this time round and I've completed second drafts for Tuck essays 1 to 3, and have just finished the first draft of essay 4! I plan to get them sent off to my reviewers as soon as possible. Oh and I have to say this - the team spirit and helpfulness of Tuckies is absolutely unmatched. One Tuck alum I got in touch with through Tuck Connections even offered to give me some comments on my essays! (I didn't ask... he offered!)

With Dec 1 only 2.5 weeks away, I need to work on the other parts of the application (resume/work history, EC descriptions, etc.) and I hope to start on some of it later today. I also need to come up with a few specific examples of my strengths that my recommenders can use.

Better get back to work, the clock's ticking.