Balancing and prioritizing

From the moment I decided to apply for an MBA what I have done is exercise the fine art of balancing my work and personal life.
For measuring purposes, my personal life means everything that is not related to my work and my dedication to the MBA application. And I can guarantee that there hadn't been a good equilibrium for a while. Then, add a girlfriend that needs constant attention. And, maybe you can call that a daily chaos, but I'd rather call that a very defying work environment, hehe.
I made a deal with my girlfriend that at least one day of the week, it would be ours.
I don't know if I am doing the right thing.. but, while I do things I agreed with her to do in this day, I feel very uneasy and uncomfortable since I am not giving full attention to my MBA application.
I guess that is a normal part of the process. There are sometimes that we just can't give the attention we want to give to our beloved ones. And the worst part is that we saw together this Adam Sandler's movie called "Click". And the whole movie was about a guy that couldn't give attention to his family and he has to face all the consequences of that...
Well, today is the day that I am committed to finish my essays brainstorms. Hope I can reach my drawn objectives.

Is there anyone who is still at the brainstorming phase and wants to do that together? :)

Thank you!

Thank you all for all support you've given me in this difficult time!
I was supposed to be flying to the US right at this moment, and, this certainly had a very big impact on my expectations. I surely would have been very happy to visit schools but, if I really can't do it now, I will make my essays the best possible.
That's why, today, saturday, I woke up at 5 AM! My goal is to draft a framework before working on the essays!!

Well, I will keep everyone updated on my progresses!!!

You guys won't believe this!!!

Hello everyone,

I have a very badddd news! Actually, I am feeling very bad because, believe it or not, I won't go to the US as planned!!
Remember I wrote here that I was planning to go to the US tomorrow, September 1st and return only on September 10th?
What happened was the most awful thing in the world! My travel was cancelled because my boss thinks I am too important in this moment of the project to not be around. This was very thoughtful of him, as he forgot that he, himself gave me the permission to have those days off.
The worst part was realizing that all my expectations of going out and visiting those schools totally have fallen apart.
But, I always think that, no matter what happens to someone, there is always a good and a bad side.
The bad side is this one that I've just written to you guys. The good part is that I've become extremely motivated to be accepted in a B-school in order to breathe some fresh academic air (out of corporate air, for a while..).
Well, that's it. If anyone has had a similiar experience, please, feel free to share with us!

I am scared!!!

I don't know if I am the only, of all candidates that is falling behind on the applications. As I read other applicant's blogs, I can't help noticing that everyone has a got a higher GMAT and they are also finishing the school essays.
I know that I have to trust my own feelings and my own pace.. but, it is very easy to notice when your neighbor's lawn is greener than yours...

Anyway, I know that I have to focus now. I cannot sleep, I cannot sleep.. and I'll try my hardest to go on with the essays....

I have a solution!

I have posted in a previous blog that the fact that I had only 4 working days to visit schools bogged me down for the last couple of days? Well, with the help of my friend Benny I have come to a conclusion that I should take my visit on-campus on a positive way, even thought I won't be able to see the what I wanted to.
First of all, I got in contact with the admissions of the schools I was going to visit: TUCK, WHARTON and HARVARD. I can tell you that all of them were nice.. but TUCK was the only one that really gave me that warmth feeling of welcome. I am not saying that the others wouldn't do that. But I guess that, given their size and their structure, it is more difficult to change certain rules, for instance, visit on-campus rules.
Well, at the end of the day, my on-campus visit to the schools will be like that:
- September 1st - leaving Brazil to the US
- September 2nd - September 5th - visiting TUCK and attending classes
- September 6th - visit HBS but not attending any classes or info-session so far :(
- September 7th and 9th - visiting Wharton but not sure if I will attending any class. At least, I've got an invitation to attend their info-session.

I am keenly looking forward to go to those schools and get a better insight of what is really an MBA school!!!

What a busy day!!

My day started at 5 AM. I usually wake up that early so that I can enjoy my breakfast and read the newspaper very calmy. Unless I feel lazy and I wait for the snooze to wake me up at 6 AM (well, I may tell you that this happens a lot).
Every Monday I have a status meeting with the consulting company to follow-up the planned activities of the project I am working in. It would be nice if it just was a 2-hour meeting at maximum. Instead, it is a painstakingly long meeting that lasts for 8 hours. Now, you may wonder how on earth does a meeting takes so long? I can assure that it would take longer if people didn't have to go home, hehe..
Anyway, I could just settle down now 12:07 AM on August 29th. That means that I will be working on my essays until 1:30 AM more or less and then go sleep. I wonder if lack of sleeping will have a lasting effect on my fugure sanity...

Visit schools and a dilemma

Next week's Thursday is holiday here in Brazil. September 7th is the day Brazilian independence day. That means that, from work, I've also gotten Friday as a holiday. So, I asked for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to rest and, guess where I am going? To the US!!! I am so excited!
But, this time, I am specifically just visiting B-Schools in order to get a broader vision of where it is best to apply and, of course, if I feel "right" in X-school or Y-school.
So, this week's Friday (September 1st), I am heading from São Paulo to Chicago. From there, I planned to visit 3 schools: Tuck (at Hanover), Harvard (at Cambridge) and Wharton (at Philadelphia). Everything was nice and beautiful, except for one thing! I knew that I would face time constraints since I'll be in the US for 8 days. And within these 8 days, 3 days are weekend days. My former consulting colleague that is now a Tuck student also told me that Monday is a holiday! I didn't know that!
Basically, I've got only 4 days to visit all schools. Plus, since it is the beginning of the terms, I probably won't be able to attend classes, have guided tours etc..
After thinking of all this things, I have to come up with a plan with the best logistics to visit all these schools and have a very focused visit. Maybe do a checklist of things I want to do in each school.

HBS / Tuck / Wharton:
- Visit campus
- Go to info-session (if it is possible due to the holiday)
- Talk to some faculty
- Talk to some students
- Visit X-center of entrepreneurship
- Meet the adcom

I guess that's it. Any comments?

School decision

I am not sure about you guys but I think that an MBA School choice is really a hard one.
There are so many shiny, colorful brochures that they all seem alike but, at the same time, you know that, deeply inside they are different.

I have some schools that are my top choices. They are: HBS, Wharton, Tuck and Stanford. I really know that each of them have very different characteristics that sets them apart. But, at the end of the day, if any of them offered me an acceptance letter, I probably wouldn't think twice.
And there are, of course, "backup schools". Those are the ones that you may want to send your applications but, you won't direct the same effort as you did with the "target schools". For the obvious reasons, I won't publish the schools I am applying as "backup schools." No one likes to be chosen just because there weren't other better choices...