A 20-Day Emotional Roller Coaster: One Acceptance, Five Rejections

The past 20 days have been an emotional roller coaster. It began with a high on Feb. 23rd when I received my acceptance from Cornell’s Johnson School. And it slowly ended with my fifth consecutive rejection from New York’s Stern School on Monday, March 14th.

After all the preparation and work, the emails came fast and furious. The great news from Johnson, then two days later, a rejection from Yale’s School of Management. Berkeley’s Haas School said no on March 3. Michigan’s Ross School turned me down on March 8. Dartmouth’s Tuck School politely said no three days later on March 11.

I will admit that the Tuck rejection hurt a little bit!  By 3 p.m. on that day I knew the notice was coming so at 5 p.m. I was definitely prepared for the outcome. Stings just a little bit, not going to lie!

“Thank you for applying to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. After much thought and careful consideration, I regret to inform you that we are unable to grant your request for admission to the Tuck Class of 2013.”

In any event, I know that I did everything I could to submit my best applications to all of the schools I applied so there are no regrets on that front. Plus, I only applied to schools I would love to go to.

The rejections are pretty much the same: Here’s the one from Michigan

“Thank you for considering the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. The Admissions Committee has thoroughly reviewed your application. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer you a place in the Ross School of Business Full-time MBA Program Class of 2013.”

And the one from UC Berkeley Haas:

Dear Richard, After a careful review of your application to the Full-time Berkeley MBA Program, we regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you admission to the fall 2011 entering class.

And, of course, the good news that started this cycle off 20 days ago and culminated with this note:

Congratulations! On behalf of Dean L. Joseph Thomas and the faculty, we are delighted to offer you admission to the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. We value the qualities you displayed during the application process and consider you an outstanding candidate who can actively contribute to our community.”

I love Cornell’s Johnson School and am honored to have the opportunity to go there. I left nothing on the table which was my goal going into this application process.

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.”

“An Invite to Interview from Cornell”

“Eight Things for New B-School Applicants”

“The Sheer Joy of an Acceptance”

“After Getting An Acceptance, I’m Thinking About…”

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