Lessons

Hmm. It looks like Yale won't come a calling. I'm cynically preparing myself for a possibility that may turn out to be the truth. They are supposed to let me know by April 10th and I haven't heard as much as a peep out of them.

But as I look back on a wild year of change, a few things stand out.

1.) My intended post-MBA career path was investment management. I wasn't writing it out of some greedy pursuit of wealth. I have been a student of the markets for a long time and I was hoping that a graduate degree would propel me into the industry. I picked the wrong year to attempt to enter an industry that has contracted by epic proportions.

2.) I applied too early. I was ready mentally and emotionally but not with my scores.

3.) I still need more international experience before I can re-apply to Lauder. Maybe master a fourth language. Spend a year in Spain or China.

4.) The application process teaches you a lot about yourself. Your goals, successes, failures and stories. It's an amazing thing to have to break down your life and try to explain how your experiences make you uniquely more qualified to go to business school than someone else.

I'll take these lessons with me as I slide into a future admission period. I probably won't apply next year since the app rates seem to be just as high. But who knows? Life's full of turns and twists.