Tis’ the Season For Racing Hearts & Sweating Palms–At Least For MBA Applicants

So yes my GMAT is coming up very shortly and I’m so calm it’s eerie, but there is something that I’m not calm about and that’s decision day.

Like many people, when I’m at work I have gmail open all day which means that I am also on gchat.  Now being on gchat isn’t so bad except that’s where all of my business school contacts lie so we talk via gchat quite frequently.  Now that we are REALLY in the midst of decision season, having real time access to people who are waiting to find out if they’ve been accepted or rejected is stressful!

Here is something that you SHOULD NOT do if you have not applied in the round that is being notified.  DO NOT GO ON THE FORUMS!  I can tell you from personal experience that this is not a healthy option.  If you are like me, then you will make yourself go crazy.  I think today I was more nervous about decisions than people who were actually finding out!

I have had Dec. 17th marked on my calendar since the summer.  That’s the day when my No. 1 school Tuck was to notify early decision applicants if they were admitted or rejected.  Since I was so sure that I would be done with the GMAT and have my application in by the October deadline, I figured that Dec. 17th would be a stressful day for me. Much to my regret, my GMAT saga continues, so I wasn’t able to get my application in early. In any event, I was on one of the forums earlier today and I hit refresh and saw that someone received his acceptance call from Tuck.

If you took an x-ray of my stomach when I saw this it would have looked like this:

I nearly threw up.  Ok, not really that bad, but my hands started sweating and my heart was racing.  In hindsight, I think it was the realization that the time has finally come and the admissions office is putting together a class and now it’s official!  I was just as excited on Wednesday when my friends were finding out.  Yeah that’s it… it wasn’t nervousness… it was excitement!

Going forward, I am not going to go on that particular forum any more because you inevitably start making yourself go crazy.  One thought that actually went through my head:  “Ok, which continent is reporting that they have received calls?”  “Ok now…how many people are joining the admitted students Facebook page?” “With every admit that’s one less spot for R1 applicants and subsequent R2 applicants.” This is not healthy banter to have with yourself, let alone having it with yourself at work, WHEN YOU AREN’T EVEN IN THE ROUND THAT’S BEING CALLED!  So I write all that to say that I will be staying away from that forum from now on.  It causes too much stress!

On another note… it looks like a lot of people found out today from other schools.  I haven’t heard much from my batch of friends but that’s because all of us are applying through the Consortium.  So those applicants won’t begin to hear until January.  I won’t begin to hear until March!  It seems so far away, but I know that it’ll be here before I know it.

This report is adapted from Richard Battle-Baxter’s blog posts at “Ellipsing My Way…To Business School.”

Previous posts by Richard at Poets&Quants:

Should You Hire an MBA Consultant?

Study for the GMAT or Polish Off an Essay?

Am I Really Cut Out For This?

My First Round Applications Are Looking Elusive

A Frustrating Day and Night on GMAT Prep

Having Trouble Hitting the Submit Button

It’s Nearly Midnight. Where Are All My Friends?

“Why An Admissions Consultant Objected To My Essay on Coming Out”

“Brain Racing at 4 a.m. Thinking About Business School”

“After Scoring a 620 on My GMAT, I Want To Die”

“Walk Me Through Your Resume” – My Interview at Dartmouth’s Tuck”

“My GMAT Students Are ‘Totally Obsessed Weirdoes With Unbelievable Work Ethics”

“With Apologies to Paul Simon, 50 Ways To Tell You’re Getting an MBA”

“My 30-Day Countdown to an MBA Acceptance”

Questions about this article? Email us or leave a comment below.