So bad at the blogging thing …

I really meant to keep up with my blog! 

Here I am, working on my third class in the T-GEMBA program at St. Mary’s!  The honeymoon period is over and although there have been some hiccups along the way in the program, I’m still really glad I started!  My fellow classmates are great and the instructors have been really professional. Doing the classwork is challenging with work and family.  I don’t do anything other than work and study these days. 

Last month, we held our classes on the St. Mary’s campus in Moraga.  Normally, we stay at the San Ramon Valley Conference Center, which is pretty great.  Being on campus was a terrific experience – except for the dorm rooms.  We got a little spoiled working at the conference center and having nice, comfy rooms with all the amenities of a hotel.  We were literally in an empty dorm room with sheets for the bed that even convicts wouldn’t be forced to use!  But other than the totally crappy accommodations and food, it was a blast.  Just like being a college student again … including the late night partying! 

One of the really exciting parts of this program is the overseas travel!  I’m not a well traveled person (outside of the US, of course) and I am really looking forward to learning more about business and cultures in Europe. Our first module on doing business in Europe will be in November.  We’ll be traveling to Graz and Vienna in Austria, a day trip to Venice, Italy (molto bene!) and then spending time in Brussels, Antwerp and Bruge in Belgium.  In total, I will be gone 11 days.  Ponied up some miles and $$$ and flying business or first class both ways!  It will be fabulous!

Next class coming up is Statistics but first I have to finishing writing a paper for my last class on being a better manager.  Sheesh.  I hate writing papers.  You know someone hates writing papers if they are looking forward to doing their statistics homework!

 

Finally something to write about!

Time flies when you’re having fun!  Here’s a recap of the last five months:

• Resubmitted my application to UC Davis on April 4th without new GMAT scores.  Just couldn’t do it again.  I’m too old to waste time like that. 
• Didn’t have a warm-fuzzy feeling about my chances so I researched more MBA programs.
• I moved into our Corporate Development department in April and now working on acquisitions full-time.  Global domination coming up … need a global perspective.  And an MBA more than ever.
• Found St. Mary’s College of California’s new Trans-global MBA program (http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/academics/schools/school-of-economics-and-business-administration/graduate-business/global-executive-mba.html)!  WOW!  A great school and a global focus.  And no GMAT required.  Gotta love private institutions!
• Submitted my application and glowing references.  I’m in!!!! 

So, here I am.  Ready to start my MBA program at St. Mary’s on 6/11 at the age of 43.  It’s a totally intense program and I’m scared witless.  I finally have something to write about!  More details on the program to come.

Not even a “Dear John” letter from UC Davis … jeez.  How rude.

 

Back to GMAT – second time around

I haven’t checked in lately so I thought I’d do an update!  It is now 2008 and almost deja vu …. I’m back to studying for the GMAT again. I am planning on reapplying for UC Davis’ MBA program but will have to wait for the second round applications.  I was shooting to complete the GMAT before the first round; however, never got my act together over the holidays enough to even pick up my study books!  So I rescheduled it (for the third time) and have it booked for March 22nd! 

I’m actually not doing too badly.  It appears that whatever stuck in my head from last year’s studying is still there.  My fabulous friend, Wayne, is helping me out with the problems I don’t get. I buy him lunch and we work during our break. Cheapest tutor I could find – works for food, literally! 

The lion’s share of my application is still valid (even the essay questions are the same) so I’ll be updating my resume, updating my essays a bit and will have my application in by the deadline of April 4th.
Technorati Tags: Manager-Tools, MBA, GMAT, UC+Davis, microeconomics, business+school, personal+development

 

Wow! Where have I been?

I’m still here. A lot has transpired since I last posted. Shall I recap?

1. Decided not to retake the GMAT right now.
2. Decided not to go to UC Davis this year.
3. Having too much fun with everything else.
4. Going to re-apply to UC Davis for 2008.

Agonizing … feelings of guilt … chewing over and over again everything in my mind. And finally coming to the conclusion that although I really want to get my MBA, I’m not ready to do it this year.  I have too much going on.  What in the world was I thinking?

I have to be realistic. I am 43 years old.  I have a lovely family, and nice job, friends, two podcasts and learning Italian! Che bello! And I guess all that is more important that starting school this year.  My daughter will be out of high school next year, and I’ll have more time to re-learn algebra and geometry!  I’ve even been knocking around the idea of quitting my job or working part time to go back to school. Shhhh.  Don’t tell my boss …. or husband. 

I’m going to keep the blog but probably won’t update too often unless there is something to let you all know about on the school front! I’ve got the GMAT rescheduled for December 15th and will probably pick up my study books sometime soon.  Every time I think about it I still get a bit itchy! 

 

Spoke too soon.

GMAT.  Those four little letters … coming back to haunt me.

I went to my interview last Wednesday and it went pretty well – from my point of view. I interviewed with one of the Associate Directors of the program, very nice woman, had a nice chat, wow’d the group with my presentation on my podcast experiences.  All in all, not a bad experience.

However, at one point in the interview, the interviewer asked me, and I quote, “So, tell me about your experience with the GMAT”. I laughed and said it wasn’t very positive. I made some joke about how no one over the age of 30 should have to take the test … cruel and unusual punishment and all that. Then she asked, “If the admissions committee asked you to take the test again, what would you say?”. I didn’t laugh. I waited a couple of seconds for the screaming in my head to stop and then told her I would take it again.  Oh, my, god.  I can’t believe I said that.

Okay, so that was last Wednesday.  Feeling positive … enrolled in a couple more classes over the summer … I know that I’ll hear something one way or the other by the end of the month.  Then I get a call this afternoon.

Guess who? The interviewer calls me to say the admissions committee would like me to take the GMAT again.  They are concerned about my ability to get through the program because of my low quant score. And they want me to take it by the end of June.  I need a higher score to be competitive in the pool of applicants.  Which I can understand. If they have highly qualified applicants and those applicants have higher GMAT scores, then I guess they could have just red lined me and be done with it.  But, they must see some potential in order to give me another shot at the GMAT. And what they are looking for isn’t impossible to obtain.  What the interviewer conveyed to me was that she was confident there would be a spot for me if I did better on the GMAT.  I guess she can’t come right out and say if I have a higher GMAT score I’ll be accepted.

I can’t believe I have to study for the GMAT again. I was so happy to be done and over with that test! But, I need to do better and better I will do.  I’m still in shock. I’ll post again when I get my wits back and let you know what I am planning on doing differently this time.

 

T’was the night before the big interview …

Zippp… we’re now at the night before my big interview with UC Davis! My, how time flies when you’re busy!  I’m a little nervous but not as much as I thought I would be.  In normal form, I haven’t put together any notes yet for my 5-minute presentation but I’m going to talk about my experience with podcasting so it shouldn’t be too hard. I think the hardest part will be to limit what I talk about for 5 minutes!

I wonder now if I should have thought about what kind of questions they will ask me in the interview portion.  It’s been a while since I’ve interviewed with anyone. Will it be like a job interview?  I’m very confident about why I want to attend UC Davis and think I’ll be able to clearly articulate my reasons.  I feel like I may not have prepared enough for the interview … enough?  How about at all? But, hey, I’m a professional!  I’m used to talking with people, clearly and persuasively, about all sorts of things.  I think it will be fine.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

 

Got an interview!

It’s been a while since I posted anything.  Frankly, because nothing exciting on the MBA front had been going on. I’m still taking the microecon class and tonight is my first test. Scantrons are still being used???? Wow, it has been a while since I’ve been in school.  I decided to try and take the Statistics class on-line along with the Financial Accounting class over the summer. 

But now I have some exciting news! I received an e-mail from UC Davis asking me to come in for an interview for their MBA program! I am so jazzed!  I’ve been out of town the last week, first to attend the Manager Tools Effective Manager Conference in Washington, DC (if you don’t know about Manager Tools - check them out!) and then to Indiana to visit family.  So it had been a while since I checked my personal e-mail but I’m so glad I did!  I’m scheduled for the interview on May 9th! Part of the interview is to give a five-minute presentation (without any visual aids) on a topic other than the program.  Of course, the topic will be something to do with podcasting!  I am not a very good speaker so I am going to beg and plead with my friend Wayne, who is a Toastmasters muckety-muck, to help me polish my presentation. Thank the gods (BSG fan?) for friends!

This interview is a very good indication that I will be accepted … as long as I don’t mess up the interview! In one of the admissions workshops I attended through UC Davis, one of the admissions directors told the group that they only extend invitations to the applicants they are planning on admitting.  I guess my 530 GMAT score wasn’t a complete deal-breaker! Looking good!

Okay, back to studying for the test tonight and catching up on all my work e-mail!

Technorati Tags: Manager-Tools, MBA, GMAT, UC+Davis, microeconomics, business+school, personal+development

 

I’m over the shock.

My last posting was a bit out of character. As you may have guessed, I didn’t do well at all on the GMAT. Putting it in financial terms, I didn’t receive a good return on my investment. I knew I was going to have trouble but I honestly thought I would get at least a 600 on the test. I ended up with a 530. So embarrassing…

Like I have said before, it is what it is. I did my best on my essays, submitted my application to UC Davis, and now it is just a matter of waiting to see what they come back with. If Davis finds me worthy because of my strong professional background, leadership potential, great references, my ability to pay the $60K for the tuition, and I work for a company that is a strong supporter ($) of their program, then I will step up proudly, work my keester off and get a Masters at an academic institution worthy of my time!

But, every smart girl has a Plan B …

Plan B1: Research other programs, pick a few others to apply to, and start my MBA program somewhere other than UC Davis.

Plan B2: Hire a tutor, study more for the GMAT, take the GMAT again and get a stellar score, reapply to UC Davis, get accepted and start the program in 2008.

Neither option for my Plan B is exciting me in any way, shape, or form, but those are my options.

I musn’t forget that I am still taking classes to support a successful start to my UC Davis MBA program! I had this last week off because of Spring Break (too funny! I can’t remember a time when I had time off because of Spring Break!) but back on the Microeconomic’s horse again starting tomorrow night. I was too busy licking my wounds all week to really do any reading, so in usual fashion, I am cramming all day today to make sure I am caught up to Chapter 5 in time for class. Missing out spending Easter with my family! I’m reading each chapter outloud and recording so I can do additional studying while I’m driving to and from work. Making my own audiobook!

Technorati Tags: MBA, GMAT, UC+Davis, microeconomics, business+school, personal+development

 

The GMAT sucks.

Is this something a 42 year-old woman should be saying?

Technorati Tags: GMAT, MBA,admission+essays, business+school, personal+development

 

T – 1 day and counting …

I will be taking the GMAT in approximately 25 hours. My admissions application will be due a day later. I don’t have my resume updated. I don’t have my essays written. I’m getting dumber by the minute … literally. I keep taking practice tests and each time I get a lower score. And yet, I’m moving forward. At this point, it is what it is. I will take the score I get, do my best to sell myself via 750 words or less, and cross my fingers.

Everything that I have struggled with this much in my life has always been worth it. I’m counting on this whole experience being worth it as well.

Technorati Tags: GMAT, MBA,admission+essays, business+school, personal+development