An Invite to Interview from Cornell’s Johnson School

woke up today feeling pretty happy.  I got my happy back! as per my facebook status this morning!  I’m not sure what it was that put me in a good mood but I was happy all day!  There was just something in the air!   I knew that Michigan’s R2 Batch 2 decisions were coming out today, but I told myself that I wasn’t going to think about that.  I thought that gauging from Friday’s results that invites would not go out until around 2pm so I was calm until about 1:30.  Then… I logged out of my gmail account around 2pm because I didn’t want a lack of an invite to take my Happy away from me.  I was on a natural high.

Then around 4:30 I had to check my email for something that I sent myself.  I scanned the 6 new emails that I had and saw that one said Johnson Interview Invite.  Initially I said to myself “Johnson is the school at Cornell…. wait… Interview to Invite?!?  OMG OMG OMG OMG”  Then I opened it… and read it and said “YES!!!”  I told my coworker who sits next to me and she gave me a hug.  Lol.. I know over dramatic yes… but she has her MBA so she knew what I was going through.  It was nice to be able to share the happiness with my co-workers.

I then told my recommenders and they congratulated me and what not.  So now I’m in a different stage of the game. Interviewing!!!  So yes I did interview for the Consortium back in October and that went well, but now I have to interview for Cornell by February 18th.  I have the option of doing a phone interview or going up to campus and doing a campus interview.  HHmm let me see here… what to do what to do?  DUH!  I’m sure by now it’s obvious to know what my decision will be.  I plan to go back up to Ithaca.  It’s only about a 4.5 hour bus ride – completely doable in a day.  Or maybe I’ll go up and stay over that day and come back on Saturday.  Who knows?!?  I have some friends up there we can hang out… take a chill pill… ok not really because I’m positive they’re uber busy.

My interview is scheduled on the Cornell campus for Wednesday the 16th at 10:15!  I emailed my friend (one of the guys I met at the Reaching Out Leadership Conference) who is a 2nd year at Cornell to see if I could crash at his place.

I will be taking the Cornell Campus-2-Campus shuttle on Tuesday and will arrive infront of Sage Hall a little after 5:00.  Then I’ll be going to my friends apartment.  I gotta remember to not forget to print out updated copies of my resume.  Note To Self

There is a lot going on behind the scenes now that I’ve been invited to interview.  I have a lot of research to do.  There’s a lot of emailing going on… What are the emails for?  Well instead of talking to my Cornell friends on FB, I need a more formal venue.  I just want to make sure that the things that I have in my head make sense.  I’ve also dug out the information that I received at Johnson Means Business.  I told myself to keep all of that information JUST IN CASE I needed them for an interview or as a re-applicant.  Thankfully it’s because of the former.

VIDEO ESSAYS – Tonight I sent my Tuck video essay to my friend because he wanted to see it.  Any time I send the video to people via YouTube, I upload it and then take it down immediately.  I do this even if the video is private just in case ya know?  Well I remember my friend from Saturday Night telling me that there were a lot of NYU ESSAY 3’s on YouTube.  So after I sent my video to my friend I started watching NYU Essays on YouTube.  I watched about 5 of them and the main difference between their videos and mine was the time allowed.

My video could be a maximum of 1 minute and 30 seconds.  Some of the NYU Essays were 10 minutes+!  A.) I can’t imagine editing and putting together a 10 minute video essay.  I know how long my video essay took so if I had to add another 8 minutes and 30 seconds to it, I would die.  I don’t think they had a time limit but I wonder at what point does one tell themselves “Ok this is a long video”   Then on the flipside – how do X amount of application reviewers watch that many videos that are that long?  It boggles my mind!  ::shrugs:: Oh well I didn’t have to do one for NYU thankfully, because that would have thrown a wrench in my plans.

Yale SOM – I received an email yesterday from Yale SOM saying that their decisions for my round would be released on February 25th.  Soooo……  I don’t even have to say “Next month I’ll find out official decisions.”  It’ll be THIS month!  Can’t believe the time has arrived.

It Doesn’t Stop – For all of those who are starting this process… just know this – once you hit submit…. “It” slows down but “It” doesn’t stop.  After March I will tell you what “It” is.  There’s too much competition now and the cost/benefit analysis doesn’t warrant me filling in the blanks at this juncture.

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”

“Tis’ The Season For Racing Hearts & Sweaty Palms”

“East Coast Blizzard Means More Time To Work on MBA Applications”

“Fear, Loathing & Panic In the Wee Small Hours of the Night”

“The Waiting Game Kicks In & It’s Brutal”

“If I Get Into a Top B-School, It Will Be the Happiest Day of My Life. If not….”

“25 Reasons I’m Over Obsessing About B-School.”