The Raver LA

Shallow DaRaverLA

2005-01-21T13:04:00.000+09:00

Co-worker: Hey, what are you doing this Saturday? I know this girl, and if you are interested, I can set up a blind date for you.

Me: Um, no, I am fine. I am not interested at this point.

Co-worker: Well, she’s really a nice person.

Me: No, thanks. I am ok. I think I have to do some errands this Saturday, anyway.

Co-Worker: Ok, I understand but she’s really sweet with great family values. And I could see you guys clicking in a lot of ways.

Me: I am sorry, but I am really not interested in meeting someone. I don’t even know where I would be in six months!

Co-worker: But you might like her. You never know. Oh, by the way, she’s working as an aerobic instructor at this fitness club. I shouldn’t say this since you haven’t met her... but she has a really, really nice…

Me: Actually, now come to think of it, I think I can make it this Saturday. Doing errands can wait. There are much more important things in life that calls for immediate attention. And I believe that this is just a classic example of understanding the significance of capturing that opportunity. And I do appreciate your consideration in arranging this sort of meeting with her. Oh, yes, you are definitely right about us being together part. I can definitely see myself with someone with her caliber. Given the high level of intellectual curiosity of mine and the nice personality and strong family values of hers, I can clearly see that we will immediately have something going between us. And please tell her that I am really looking forward to meeting someone like her who has a really sweet and nice personality. After all, that’s what I am looking for the most in a girl: great values and outstanding characters that would be rivaled to those of my mother. What time did you say it was? 6PM? Well, tell her I will be there by 5:00 sharp. ("Korean Time" be damned!) And yes, tell her that there is no need to "underdress" for the date.

Stay tuned for more updates after the Big Saturday...:)

I miss LA

2005-01-18T13:03:00.000+09:00

As I was reading through some of the much-deserved euphoric posts by WakeChick and CalGrad on their acceptances to the Anderson MBA program, I realized that I had, frankly, some mixed reactions to their news of getting admitted to the program. I was genuinely excited for them since we all know how tough, how uncertain, and how demanding this whole MBA application process has been for them. (much kudos to these two applicants. Despite their outstanding academic/professional profiles that would have gotten them to a top 5 school, they were determined to go to Anderson for their own unique personal reasons and willing to forgo the opportunities available at other schools in exchange of their places in the class of Anderson 2007. Not easy thing to do, at all) But at the same time, I couldn’t shake off a sense of strange envy I had for them. I really envy them so much because after a long soul-searching in the light of the current family situation, I have come to realize that LA is my home and that I really want to go back to re-establish my roots there. And naturally, UCLA Anderson MBA is, I recognized, my top choice at this moment - by far.

After a few days of grieving after my rejection notification from Wharton, one of my old friends from LA visited me here in Seoul, and he just went off at me for not keeping in contacts with him and other good friends I had left behind. I just didn’t realize how much I had left behind in LA until he made me feel really guilty about not being able to maintain friendship with some of my closest friends I had in the past. He basically told me that everyone missed me and that they had talked about me whenever they met and hang out. And that's when it hit me. LA is my home, and there is no place like home, truly. All of my American friends in Seoul had already left for the States, and I am here now without having any close friends. And just to show how lonely I have been (oh, boy, this post is really getting sentimental), recently, I have been going to movies alone, all by myself. And it’s not a pleasant feeling at all, especially considering the frigid, harsh weather in Korea that constantly aroused a sense of nostalgia every time I went outside.

Talking about weather, another critical factor behind the emergence of UCLA as my top choice is weather. The hash winter in Korea has been really annoying, as I had been sick for about four days in the last two weeks. And on one day, I couldn’t even move out of bed because I was so sick. Normally, I proud in myself and my ability to fend off any cold/flu symptoms with a couple tablets of aspirin, but this time, I was totally helpless. I just don’t want to spend another winter in this cold-climate country. As silly as this may sound, weather is such an important factor for me that it has even influenced the choice of MBA programs I now want to go to. Just for this weather reason alone, I decided not to apply to Kellogg and Tuck. It would have been awesome to meet fellow classmates such as Void and Attagirl, (that is, if I indeed get into the program) but at the same time, I need to think carefully, realistically about the kind of environment I want to be in for the next two years. Without sounding paradoxical, I know that the weather in New York where Cornell and Columbia are situated isn't that much better than that in Tuck or Kellogg, but my recommenders had already submitted their recs for me by the time I seriously began to take this weather factor into the consideration. So I just decided to submit my apps to these two programs. But, now, based on my own personal criteria that were not considered seriously in my previous Wharton application, UCLA is my only viable option as this time. There is no secret now: I want to go back to LA, live there, and work there.

So having said all these romantic, sentimental things, I realize that I need to become more proactive now. I intend to fly to LA sometime in the early February to meet the adcom at Anderson for an interview. I just cant wait for them to invite me to interview. I realize that I have to be more determined and passionate, and the best way is to act on it, as opposed to outguessing myself.

Columbia and Cornell apps submitted

2005-01-11T01:19:00.000+09:00

Thanks fellas for all the love and support you guys have shown me!

My New Year Resolutions: the Top 20

2005-01-07T01:35:00.000+09:00

1. Quit smoking. When every person claims that it’s bad for me, then it is probably, most likely, and obviously bad for me. So please refrain myself from arguing with him or her that it’s all propaganda promoted by media.

2. Settle down. I need to realize that I am not looking to get marred with the hottest babe at a bar. A wife is not a commodity, but a true soul mate.

3. Learn how to play piano.

4. Reconnect with my father. Before he is my father, he’s a human being. And that comes
with territory and price. Accept this fact first and then start respecting him for the sacrifices that he’s made for me but I might be not aware of on a conscious level.

5. Send an email to all of my old friends at least once in every two weeks. Understand that my friends are the only people in my life outside the family whom I do not share any business interest with. And that is the true blessing in disguise.

6. Stop bitching about life. Life is not fair. I should know this by experience. But do look for the silver lining in the clouds. After all, life is equal in the eyes of every person.

7. Always carry the changes so that when I see a person in need of mer help or cash, I would always have the money to spare. For every ten alcoholic freeloaders, there must be at least one person with soon-to-be rejuvenated determination for a new life.

8. Increase the bench-press weight at least by 30% by the end of this year.

9. Learn to how finish one-mile run on a consistent basis. And please, please don’t stop for a cigarette break while I am at it.

10. Respect my older brother. After all, he’s four years older than me. And please remember the very fact that it was him who bought me a new pair of the Andre Agassi shoes - out of his first meager paycheck.

11. Learn how to hold liquor in a manner comparable, or at least mildly acceptable, to the standard of my friends. By now, I should have figured out that it’s freaking embarrassing to deliberately try to spill the overflowed alcohol on the table when they are not looking. And please try to realize the obvious that I am not the only person who has noticed this blatant, poorly calculated strategy.

12. Learn to hold the door for ladies. Being in Korea doesn’t give me the exclusive right to adopt the nation’s prevalent way of life and to disregard the mannerism I have acquired previously.

13. Enjoy walking. If I can’t get the morale of this advice, it might be useful for me to take a look at myself in the mirror, because I look pretty amazingly, unbelievably pale, even in comparison to those Korea high schools senior girls who spend most of their time studying at school.

14. Do approach a girl that I find attractive. For every ten girls who quickly avert their eye contacts from mine, there must be at least one girl who might be interested in what I am doing for a living. Oh, and if she does indeed ask me for what I do for a living, don’t try to be cute by saying, “it’s a secret.” That strategy never worked even in high school, and most likely, it will never work in the future either.

15. Don’t get perplexed and disappointed if a Korean girl tells me, “No way! You can really speak English well!?” After all, she does have every reason to doubt my fluency in English, given the profuse amount of evidences of the poor grammar being used on this blog.

16. Learn how to say, “Oh, I am sorry. The word ‘recalcitrant’ means ‘unruly’, not ‘polite’ as I have just told you” in a very humble manner. After all, all my students probably figured out by now that they have more potential to score above 600 on SAT Verbal section than I do.

17. No, I will not buy a motorcycle, no, no, no, not ever in my lifetime. So please stop hanging around that bike shop.

18. Learn how to look cool in plain white shirt and a pair of jeans. After all, it is a SKILL to look cool in plain fashion.

19. Please understand and accept that the real-life case of “being good under pressure” applies only to Michael Jordan and no one else (not even to the beloved Kobe). And learn to stop procrastinating.

20. And finally, try to drop a note to every blogger who has been considerate and caring enough to log on my site and leave me a message.

Because they do mean a lot to me at this juncture of my life.

Submitted the Application for UCLA

2005-01-06T16:54:00.000+09:00

And ready to submit the Cornell app....yet again, for the 5th time....

Life is good!

2004-12-23T01:49:00.000+09:00

First of all, I want to apologize for my belated reply to my blogging friends who had left messages yesterday after the dismal rejection notice. I tried, but I really wasn't in a mood to post a lengthy message at the time.

However, I do feel alot better now, and I want to thank everybody for the supports you guys have given me.

By the way, today was by and large the most productive day in recent months. Here are some of the things I managed to do:

1. Wrote the first draft of UCLA Essay #1

2. Wrote the first drafts of UCLA Career Goal and Tuck Career Goal Essays.

3. Wrote the first draft of HBS Essasy #3

4. Successfully pestered my recommder to submit a rec to Tuck.

5. Emailed the other recommender and updated her with a list of new schools.

6. Proofread my student's essay (or personal statement) for Boston University, NYU, and Michigan.

7. Updated my resume.

8. Reviewed my Cornell essays for the final time before submission.

Yes, the show must go on!

Oh, also I have just added Kellogg on my new list:)

Rejected

2004-12-21T23:03:00.000+09:00

I wanted a chance to present my case in person, and I got it.

For that, I am very grateful.

Thank you, Wharton, Alex Brown, Summitcounty, FanaticFan, Wykim, Deadhedge, and others for all your help!

Is this true?

2004-12-16T21:05:00.000+09:00

TEACHING MATH AT WHARTON

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 ofthe price. What is his profit? Please create six different financial scenarioswith notes.

TEACHING MATH AT COLUMBIA MBA

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 ofthe price, or $80. What is his profit?

TEACHING MATH AT KELLOGG

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 ofthe price, or $80. His profit is $20. But that's irrelevant - what would be acool slogan to put on his truck? Please indicate color scheme as well.

TEACHING MATH AT SLOAN (MIT)

A logger exchanges a set "L" of lumber for a set "M" of money. The cardinalityof set "M" is 100. Each element is worth one dollar. Make 100 dots representingthe elements of the set "M." The set "C," the cost of production, contains 20fewer points than set "M." Represent the set "C" as a subset of set "M" andanswer the following question: What is the cardinality of the set "P" ofprofits?

TEACHING MATH AT UNC

A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 andhis profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

TEACHING MATH AT DUKE

By cutting down beautiful forest trees, the logger makes $20. What do you thinkof this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answeringthe question. How did the forest, birds and squirrels feel as the logger cutdown the trees? There are no wrong answers.

TEACHING MATH AT HARVARD

By laying off 402 of its loggers, a company improves its stock price from $80 to$100. How much capital gain per share does the CEO make by exercising his stockoptions at $80? Assume capital gains are no longer taxed, because thisencourages investment. No need for financial analysis.

TEACHING MATH AT UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

A company outsources all of its loggers. They save on benefits and when demandfor their product is down, the logging work force can easily be cut back. Theaverage logger employed by the company earned $50,000, had three weeks'vacation, received a nice retirement plan and medical insurance. The contractedlogger charges $50 an hour. Was outsourcing a good move? Answer is always YES.

TEACHING MATH AT STANFORD

A logging company exports its wood-finishing jobs to its Indian subsidiary andlays off the corresponding half of its Canadian workers (the higher-paid half).It clear-cuts 95% of the forest, leaving the rest for the spotted owl, and laysoff all its remaining Canadian workers. It tells the workers that the spottedowl is responsible for the absence of loggable trees and lobbies Parliament forexemption from the Endangered Species Act. Parliament instead exempts thecompany from all federal regulation. What is the return on investment of thelobbying costs? Extra Credit: DO in conjunction with someone from Public PolicyBackground.

Eh......I picked a wrong sport

2004-12-15T22:56:00.000+09:00

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Quarterbacks still get the girls

By By Jason McIntyreSpecial to Page 3Who says this is the year of the tight end? While that seems to be the mantra among football heads because of the emergence of Antonio Gates in San Diego, Jason Witten in Dallas, and a couple other goons we've never heard of who happen to be effective in the red zone, let the truth be told:
This year belongs to the quarterback.

Look around the league -- who's dating the A-list actresses (Tom Brady), Playboy Playmates (Jeff Garcia), and hanging out with barely-legal pop stars (Kliff Kingsbury, Eli Manning)?
All quarterbacks.

I mean, let's be realistic -- how important is red-zone efficiency when you're dating the most desirable female athlete on the planet (A.J. Feeley)? The trend of quarterbacks romancing starlets dates back to the 1960s with Broadway Joe Namath, and the tradition continues today, with signal-callers in 2004 burning up the gossip pages alongside celebrities.
TOM BRADY, New England PatriotsThe current crown prince of football. Mothers wish their daughters could date him, guys want him as a wingman, and magazines eat up his cover-boy looks. He scores on the field (two Super rings) and off the field, he spends his free time with 34-year-old actress Bridget Moynahan.

Perhaps most importantly (to a certain segment of the population) he has single-handedly brought the butt chin back. Brady's sudden rise to fame didn't begin at the University of Michigan, but in April of 2002, when hard-partying actress Tara Reid told a magazine that she asked her agent to set her up with the Super Bowl MVP.

Apparently, uttering the phrase, "I'm going to Disneyland" is akin to, "Ladies, I have arrived." The Boston papers had a field day with Brady's nightlife antics after the Super Bowl -- he supposedly was dancing in the vicinity of songstress Mariah Carey, and then Britney Spears was in beantown for a concert, and made efforts to hang out him. By all accounts Reid was most persistent, and in September of 2002, he invited her to watch him carve up the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football. The couple lasted all of a month.

But Brady, 27, apparently found love late in 2003 with Moynahan, a leggy brunette whose movie credits include "Coyote Ugly" and "I Robot." Meryl Streep she ain't -- but she's much, MUCH, easier on the eyes.

Is marriage in their future? Or if he wins another Super Bowl, does he upgrade from Moynahan -- is that even possible?

A.J. FEELEY, Miami DolphinsOn occasion, I'll look to the sky and ask, "Why is it blue?" Or maybe I'll look wistfully up at a basketball rim and ask, "Why wasn't I born to dunk?" In sports bars, I frequently hear, "How the [expletive] is A.J. Feeley dating Heather Mitts?

In the event you're out of the loop on women's soccer here's the skinny on Mitts: As a member of the U.S. National soccer team and Page 2's Hottest Female Athlete of '04, Heather Mitts is one of the most desirable female athletes on the planet (apologies to golf's Next Big Thing, Natalie Gulbis). Mitts, she of the cover-girl looks and disarming smile, has attracted many a suitor, namely ex-boyfriend, Pat Burrell (overrated Philadelphia Phillies outfielder) and actor John Cusack. A newspaper report in June of 2001 alleges Cusack attempted to kiss her after taking her to dinner in Manhattan, but she responded with the pullback. Ouch.

Feeley, 27, appears to have won her heart. Back in October of 2002, a newspaper spotted the couple cutting a rug on the dance floor at a club in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Three months later, things got quasi-serious, as they attended the Super Bowl together in January of 2003. By March, they were Philadelphia's cutest couple (meanwhile, Burrell privately stewed and had the worst season of his young career).

Many predicted the relationship would go kaput when Feeley signed with Miami. Not quite. Word on the street is the 26-year-old Mitts has moved with him in Florida, and of all the quarterback couples, these two appear to have the greatest staying power.

KYLE BOLLER, Baltimore RavensAfter a rookie campaign that could only be considered a disappointment, Kyle Boller faded into the offseason last winter a forgotten man. By April, while the rest of the free world expressed concern over the status of Seth and Summer's relationship on "The O.C.," Boller was in New York City, cozying up to Tom Brady's ex-girlfriend, Tara Reid.
It was all on the down low until the two showed up together at an Xbox party in the Hollywood Hills in May, where they partied with the likes of Lindsay Lohan and Nicky Hilton.
Baltimore was positively giddy, with Tara sightings at the Power Plant, arm-in-arm with the city's hot new commodity (KB was quickly absolved of last year's putrid quarterback rating of 62.4 -- he was giving the city cred!).

But to show you how new Boller was to all of this, in June, he flew out to see his parents in California -- with Reid -- to celebrate his 23rd birthday. Come on Kyle, you know the parents can't meet her until at least the five-month mark. Anything earlier than that and it's the kiss of death. By July, Kyle and Tara were history.

KLIFF KINGSBURY, New Orleans SaintsWho? Generally, third-string quarterbacks who wear a baseball cap and tote a clipboard don't make lists like this. Then there's Kingsbury. College football afficionados may recall his days as a fringe Heisman contender in 2002; a quarterback who took 60 passes a game to accumulate half a dozen touchdowns. Kingsbury finished ninth.
What the 25-year-old has going for him these days is his deep southern roots. He's one of those classic stories -- quarterback at a tiny high school, leads his team to State-Championship glory, rejected by all the big colleges, gets his chance to shine (at Texas Tech), proves all the doubters wrong, and gets all the girls (in this case, "hanging out" with Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson, though not at the same time).

What's the connection? The south. Spears is from the sticks in Kentwood, Louisiana; Simpson from a suburb of Dallas, and Kingsbury from New Braunefels, Texas. He's undoubtedly got that Southern charm -- that's probably how he ended up on Britney's tour bus in 2002, and received gifts and handwritten notes from the singer; and it's probably how he ended up hanging out a New Orleans Hornets basketball game this season with Jessica Simpson (she's in Louisiana filming the "Dukes of Hazzard").

Odds are good he's the type to break out the cowboy hat and guitar at the campfire and setting the southern ladies hearts aflutter.

JEFF GARCIA, Cleveland BrownsWhat is it about Cleveland Browns quarterbacks and centerfolds? Surely you recall the unjustly evicted Tim Couch and his much ballyhooed relationship with 1999 Playmate of the Year, Heather Kozar (and how his "friend" quarterback, Cade McNown, temporarily stole her from him). Couch and Kozar now live together in Wisconsin.

The current Browns quarterback, Jeff "I'm not gay, Terrell Owens just says I am" Garcia, is dating another one of Playboy's finest, 22-year-old Carmella DeCesare (2004 Playmate of the Year). Must be something in that blue-collar Cleveland air. The two began dating this summer, and after Garcia and Owens had it out in the media, she came to the red-head's side, saying, "I can attest 100 percent that he is not gay."

Later in the summer, she duked it out at a Cleveland club with Garcia's ex-girlfriend, someone named Kristen Hine. According to a police report, on Aug. 21, DeCesare "launched" herself at Hine three times, and then kicked her in the head.

The 34-year-old Garcia's NFL days may be numbered, but the real question is: Will Luke McCown date a Playmate of the Year? I hear Brande Roderick (2001) is available.

ELI MANNING, New York GiantsThe emotionless rookie has been downright awful in 2004, but perhaps it's because he's been quietly living it up on the New York party scene. A national magazine made the claim that on Dec. 6 (just one day after a miserable showing by Manning in a 31-7 loss to the equally woeful Washington Redskins) the rook showed up at NYC lounge Butter.
Having attended the Monday night event on more than one occasion, I can tell you that the draw is mostly models and the Olsen twins. On this night, the 23-year-old Manning supposedly swapped phone numbers with 18-year-old actress Lindsay Lohan. If even a morsel of this is true, then although the rookie has left much to be desired on the field, at least he's showing promise off it. Jason McIntyre covers sports and entertainment in New York City.

Dear Aregon23 and ClassyNFun

2004-12-14T01:55:00.000+09:00

Good luck on your Johnson's RD decision tomorrow!

Keep the good news flowing in to this blogging community!

Would the history repeat itself?

2004-12-13T10:02:00.000+09:00

Four years ago, when I was in my last year at UCLA, I had this friend who was just fucking around by skipping classes and midterms, sleeping in till afternoon, and simply not doing his work as he was supposed to do. After a couple quarters of sub 3.0 GPA, he withdrew himself from the school with only a quarter left to go before graduation.

Since I was a couple years older than him and had known him for a long time, I was at liberty to scold him and tell him what to do. I was especially upset with him since he used to be such an outstanding student before (he had something like 3.8 GPA going before he dropped out), and overnight he just decided that school was not his top priority.

So, one day, I decided to approach him and give him what he didnt want to hear in a plan, blunt fashion.

Me: "Hey, J (no, it's not the same "J" mentioned in Classynfun's blog), what are you gonna do? I see that you are fucking up a big time. Why don't you come back to school and finish your educatoin first?"

J: "Well, I dont know. My stocks are doing well. I still have some money left..."

Me: "Hey! What you are making at this stage of life is nothing compared to how much money you will make later! So just listen to me, and come back to school. Hold on, wait...you are not telling me something here. What is exactly your plan that you are not telling me right now?"

J: "Actually, now that we are really talking about this, I am thinking about investing in and managing a hotel. I've been thinking about this for some time."

Me: "What?! Buying a hotel? Are you outta of mind!? Do you know just how hard it is to buy a hotel? I mean, you just dont wake up in the morning and decide to buy a hotel overnight! You dont even have the money to buy a hotel in the first place! You first need some sort of concrete plan and capital to buy a hotel, not to mention the expertise in managing hotel!"

Fast-forward three years to the present time.

In spite of all those lecturing and pep-talk I gave to him on that day, he still has not gone back to school to finish his education. But what I didnt know at the time was that he was really in the process of buying a hotel with the capital provided by his father, a retired banker.

And currently he is looking for housing development opportunity someplace in Inland Empire area in Southern California.

(So, who's the dummy now?)

However, the funnier thing of this whole story is that that, yesterday, I had a chance to talk to him and listen to his own version of lecture on the current state of my life.

J: "Hey, man, what are you doing still in Korea? I know that you are teaching and all, but aren't you gonna come back to the States soon? What happened about going into real estate investment stuff you were talking about before. Why don't you come back to the States and start looking for some stuff you will have a future in?"

Me: "Well, I dont know. I am doing well here. I am not starving, and I actually enjoy this teaching profession..."

J: "Listen! I understand that you are enjoying what you are doing. But the important thing here is that, do you have a future in what you are doing? Will you be satisfied with what you are doing in 5, 10 years? So just listen to me, and come back home. Maybe you are not telling me something here. What do you wanna do? What is exactly your plan at this time?"

Me: "Actually, now that you brought it up, I am thinking about MBA programs, Wharton in particular. Believe it or not, I've been thinking about this for some time."

Me: "What?! Wharton? Oh, man, do you know just how hard it is to get into Wharton! I know soooo many people who applied to Wharton and got dinged with 750+ GMAT and 3.8 GPA!!! After all, you are only a teacher. You are just teaching kids right now. If you want to get into the top MBAs, you need to close transactions, not teach! I mean, you need to have some sort of a long-term plan to prepare for this kind of stuff. You first need to ace GMAT to compensate your low GPA, get recommendation from CEOs, blah.... You need to do.... you need this... you need that...blah, blah"

...............................................

I didnt get to hear what he was saying from that moment on, because much of it really sounded like music to me.

Disappointed at myself

2004-12-10T11:06:00.000+09:00

It’s fucking official.

I still have a long way to go before I indeed become the person I portrayed myself as in my Wharton essays.

Yesterday, after getting off from work around 10 pm, I realized that I needed to buy food for Casper, so I decided to cross the street to get to the market nearby. (In Seoul, you usually have to take an escalator down to subway station and then you have to go through station and up to cross a big street.)

As I was about to take escalator down, there was this drunk guy in his mid 40’s reeling on the street right in front of me. I am not a saint (or trying to be one) by any means, but in the past, I have often helped many drunk guys in the past by making sure that they go home. Besides, it is etiquette here in Korea that whenever you see some old drunk guy wandering on the street (pretty common sight at night in Korea), younger guys should step up and help the person get home by calling a cab for the person and giving the driver the direction to his home.

However, yesterday, for whatever the strange reason is, I decided to ignore him. I wasn’t in a hurry at all, but I decided that buying dog food was more important than helping him (which, by the way, would have taken only 3~5 minutes even in my very conservative calculation.)

Then the disaster happened.

A few seconds after getting on the escalator down, I heard a footstep. Apparently, he also decided to take the escalator down. With my back turned on him, I then heard some loud stumbling sound, and I saw him falling flat on his face on the escalator. Unaware of the magnitude of his injury, I barked at him, “Hey, get up! This is not the place to sleep. You should go home!” He wasn’t answering back.

Then, I realized that he was unconscious - without any movement. Soon, there was a massive amount of blood dripping down all over the place, from his nose, from his mouth, and even from his ear. Panicking, I shouted to call for help.

With the help of another person (he didn’t mind getting his jacket stained with the blood. But I think I did.), I got him off the escalator to the ground and called “911.” I completely panicked. It didn’t take a long for me to realize that I completely fucked up in the first place.

He remained unconscious until the emergency medic arrived in 15 minutes (!) With a dozen people around us, I just wanted to get the fuck out and hide from everyone. I felt bad. No, I felt guilty.

Most of all, I am really disappointed with myself.

With all the fucking BS I wrote on my Wharton essays about how "a great leader" I am, how "a willing team player" I have been, and all those other fucking self-moralizing propaganda I put down on my essays, I just, outright, self-contradicted myself in this situation.

I mean, it wasn’t that I wasn’t paying attention to him in the first place or I wasn’t aware of what was happening at the time. The sad part is that I knew clearly what was about to happen and exactly what I was supposed to do in the situation. And the decision I made at the end was simply to ignore the guy and mind my own fucking business.

Fortunately, after a few minutes, he regained his consciousness, talking and moving his hands, and the medic staff safely took him to hospital at the end. But this is not the morale of the story.

I am still upset at myself as I am writing this. What I did yesterday clearly called for some deep introspection on my part to evaluate the way I have been dealing with things in life.

I question whether my supposed “greatness” is actually the result of my own self-moralizing BS I have been brainwashing myself with. Even if I want to find justification for my inaction yesterday, I really can’t. How can you justify yourself when you know you ignored the opportunity to do something?

One fucking ironic thing is that after police came and wrote down the report, he told me, with a deep sense of gratitude, that I was being “a good citizen” by taking “an initiative” to help the guy.

Unfuckingbelievable.

My Wharton Interview

2004-12-06T22:58:00.000+09:00

I had an adcom interview here in Seoul last Friday. Although I am not really agonizing over how I did on the interview, I have many, many regrets over and doubts about some of the things I said and the way I said them.

There were some standard questions that I thought I had prepared for, yet failed to answer in a concise and clear way. There were a couple of moments when the interviewer (very professional, kind, and considerate, by the way) had to ask me again the point of my answers after I gave my full-fledged answers (sigh). Although I did successfully re-organized my answers at the end (to make her say "Ah, Ok, now I got it."), I don't think my communication skill really impressed her on a couple of questions. A couple people who helped me with the mock interviews had already pointed this tendency and told me to take enough time before answering questions, but I simply failed to follow their advice by giving the interviewer lengthy answers on several occasions. In retrospect, I was just too eager and too nervous during the interview. Before the interview, I had prepared for about 8~9 standard interview questions - for that matter, I needed as many in order to give a full description of myself, my motives, and my passion - and I was just too anxious to lead the answer to different directions.

However, at the end, I came out with the feeling that I said what I wanted to say. Looking back, I basically covered the most major points, and in this context, I am satisfied.

There were some unexpected questions to which I answered without a hesitation, and I think I nailed some of the questions with a sense of purpose and passion. Another good thing is that I had prepared thoroughly for "Why Wharton", "Why Now", and "ST and LT career goals" questions, and it clearly showed during the interview. A couple of times, I found my interviewer nodding her head in agreement at the same time she was writing down something on her notebook. On the other hand, I also found my interviewer drawing a straight line on her notebook. (sigh...)

Like many applicants who interviewed with the adcom member, I just didn't get the chance to create one of those very comfortable, informal conversational environments. But I expected it, so I understood the constraints put forth upon me. After all, it was I who made the decision to go with the adcom interview over the alum interview.

When she started closing the interview by telling me to drop her a line or two at the end, I initially got the impression that she was kicking me out early because I was babbling too much. But as soon as I left the building, I checked my watch, and it showed 2:02, 32 minutes past the start of the interview. Yes, she was very professional, indeed very punctual.

In essence, I think I basically gave her either of the following two impressions:

1. very passionate, goal-oriented, with a clear sense of purpose, unique background, unique personality, with strong initiatives.

2. too intense, too competitive, impatient, not a teamwork player, self-centered, poor communication skill.

Well, no more guessing. I will just find out on Dec. 23rd.

When I was given an invitation to interview on the day before the interview notification deadline, I got the impression that I needed to absolutely shine during the interview to help strengthen my borderline application, but I felt I didnt do as well as I should have done.

As a result, I am praying hard at this point, because, honestly speaking, I really don't have a second choice school after Wharton....sigh.

p.s. BC and Aregon23, I am really, really glad that your interviews went great. I have always thought that you guys would do well ever since the first day I read your posts.

"The Butterfly Effect" Movie...

2004-12-02T16:59:00.000+09:00

I watched “The Butterfly Effect” yesterday, and I have to confess that it was a well-timed decision on my part to go out and watch the movie.

The basic plot is that a guy realizes his supernatural power to go back to certain moments in his past and to change the memory. Subsequently, when he comes back to the reality, he is in a predicament in which everything around him has changed from the moment thereafter. The movie has a good plot which makes the perspectives powerful, but I just feel that the movie could have been made better by further developing the characters and the dramas. However, what I am trying to write here is not a movie critique, since most of us have an interview coming up soon. Thus, now back to the interviewJ

“There are moments that put you on a certain path in life.”

This is my favorite quote, and I first heard this on ESPN during the CM break between Little League Baseball tournament games. Showing the clips of now famous Barry Bonds, Will Clark, and other major leaguers playing in the tournament as youths, the clip was meant to send a message of how a simple moment can have monumental effects on our lives. And I believe it. The movie, as silly as this may sound, just validated this long-held perspective of mine.

I consider myself very driven, determined, and ambitious. Lack of drive and motivation has not been the problem at all for me throughout my entire life. What has been the problem is that I have constantly felt a sense of guilt and insecurity even when I am doing well in my life. A case in point: When I got my first professional job after college, I was happy. No doubt about it. I was ecstatic about the pay, prestige, and the opportunities that were presented to me. (I received the compensation package that was comparable to I-Banking analyst position.) However, I constantly questioned myself whether I truly deserved it. After all, I was handpicked, out of more than 120 candidates who applied for the single position, by the group of 5 senior executives who personally interviewed me. The thoughts of “what have I done to deserve this opportunity?” and “Would I really excel in this prestigious working environment” were the constant, recurring themes even when I was working there. Also, I kept wondered whether my nationality played a factor in getting hired there. After all, the previous, departing financial analyst guy whom I was supposed to fill in was a Korean-American who received a rave review from just about everyone who had worked with him there. Thus, I questions, wondered, and asked myself about my qualifications. In this country called the United States, which put particularly high level of emphasis on the “self-esteem” and “self-confident” variables, this might not have been too healthy thought for me to have as this could have turned off many people, yet I just could not abandon these thoughts because these thoughts - albeit insecure and counterproductive - have been the primary underlying force behind my drive, the drive to succeed. These thoughts have been the catalyst to push me further and higher to reach more ambitious goals every time I wanted to be content with status quo. In essence, the “fear” factor, deeply inherent in my personality, was my ultimate motivation. I have always had this lingering fear that just wouldn’t go away. Call me a weirdo if you want (well, I will be the first one to admit as much!), but I have had numerous, recurring dreams in which I constantly drowned in some body of water, falling deep in it with an ironic sense of comforts and assurance. And it is only recent that I have realized the implication of the dream. The dream apparently symbolizes my desire to let go of my burdens, the burdens that have carried me through tough times, yet the same burdens that tortured me throughout. The dream was a revelation to me. It meant my subconscious desire to free myself.

There have been many such moments that pushed me to become who I am at this stage of life, that showed me the path of which I am taking at this point, and led to the formative process of my personality and character that make up who I am right now. And I plan to focus on the most salient moments that led me here. Over the past three years since graduating from my undergraduate, I made two life-altering decisions, beyond just changing my jobs or location. And I plan to focus on these decisions to highlight who and what I am. I can’t think of any other means to define myself. These decisions will epitomize the personal and professional makeup of who I was, who I am and who I will want to become.

You may be inclined to ask, Am I still nervous about the interview tomorrow? You bet. As I am writing this, I am already feeling this “butterfly” creeping inside me, and I don’t envision this little thing going away anytime soon.

Do I still have the lingering fear of “what would happen if I make a mistake” and “whether I truly deserve this opportunity”?

I still do. And I accept that these thoughts are inevitable part of me, if not of human nature.

So how am I going to approach with this nerve-wrecking situation if I am still under stress, still under the air of self-insecurity? I mean, how am I going to deal with this pressure?

Well, really nothing special, except that I don’t want to keep drowning in the water.

I will find ways to swim. I really want to. After all, I want to see just how wide this damn water is….

……Who knows, it could be an ocean.

In less than 48 hours...

2004-12-01T13:49:00.000+09:00

I am gonna have an interview with Wharton adcom.

There have been the two dominant currents of thoughts that have been oscillating this week, as I am approaching this Friday. And I would like to share them with you. (Hope that at least you guys find this entertaining, because I have not been amused at all by this.)

A. (looking at myself in mirror and talking to myself in the mirror)

"Son, this is the moment of truth. This is what you have been waiting for. This will be the most important, most crucial, and the most critical moment of your life. It doesnt get any more important than this. I hope you know the magnitude of seriousness and urgency of the moment you are in. If you dont, I hope that you figure it out by now. Depending on the outcome, this will forever change the course of your life. What you say and how you will say it will impact the decision to be made on Dec. 23rd. Remember what I told you about why Michael Jordan is considered the greatest athlete who has ever played a game - including all sports - in the history? That's right, son. He is considered the greatest because he has the supernatural ability to rise to the occassion to meet the every challenge presented to him throughout his career and to defeat everything, I mean, everything on his way. Well, guess what, son? You will have to approach this interview like how Michael Jordan took his game-winning, championship-clinching, last-second shot to beat the Utah Jazz in NBA finals some years ago. For that matter, actually, it is you who have the ball. Now that the ball is in your hands, I expect you to give the best performance of your life on Friday, Dec. 3rd. 1:30 PM. With the pressure, I expect that you rise to the occassion. Dont just meet the expection. Snatch that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! You have to do it. No, no, you gotta love to do it, because it's in your destiny, its in your hands. Son, now enough for this little pep-talk. Go ahead, make your day. Make the history."

B. (murmuring to myself)

"Hey, man, I dont care about this anymore. I mean, I care. But this will not make or break my life. Whatever happens happens. I have no control over what I can't control. I am just gonna do my best, putting my most sincere and genuine face out there. Most imporantly, I am gonna be myself. No cheezy one-liners. Just approach the interview as if you are talking to your old friend. Everything will be all right. You will do just fine. Just relax and pray, and believe in your destiny."

As you can see, this has not been very healthy week for me, as I have been dealing with these two vastly different identities within myself.

Had a mock interview with a friend

2004-11-27T11:21:00.000+09:00

And he told me that I was acting way too intense.

He threw me a couple of curve balls just to break my rhythm, and I fell for it on every occasion. I babbled like a kid arguing with an older brother. There were just too many "um"s. There were just too many moments of pause and awakard silence.

I think I have good contents for the interview, but the main problem seems that I am putting way too much pressure on myself.

Hmmm, any tips on how to relax?

This is how I wrote my Wharton essays...

2004-11-23T23:10:00.000+09:00

Perhaps R2 applicants might find this post useful (or amusing for that matter).

I am still an applicant, as I have only been invited to interview with Wharton. And, as far as I know, I am still living in the moments of uncertainty and anxiety like many of applicants are. But nonetheless, I wanted to share with you fellow applicants what I learned through the past excruciating four months of writing elusive “personal and compelling” essays for Wharton. So here we go.

1. Career goal

I would say that how you articulate your career goal based on your past professional experience should be the single most important agenda in writing successful essays.

Articulating your short-term goal should take you considerable amount of time as you should definitely think it over carefully. Ideally, you want to provide a name or two of the companies you are targeting immediately upon graduation from MBA. But make sure that you don’t limit yourself to a single company by saying, “I would like to pursue an associate position with Blackstone …” It would be better if you could provide an industry and the name of your preferred company, thus ensuring that the reader of your essay doesn't think that you are interested in working for only one particular company. MBA is not a vocational school; rather it is a medium, an instrument to help you achieve your long-term career goal. So just make sure that you are targeting a certain industry, but show that you are flexible enough to consider a few companies within the industry.

One important thing to keep in mind is that many of us stop here, content with just listing the names of industry and company. You need to articulate your short-term career plan by explaining 1) what you hope to do there, 2) what you would like to learn from the job, and 3) how you will utilize the skills and experiences you will gain torealize your long-term career goal.

As far as your long-term career goal is concerned, there is a little bit of room for ambiguity. It is hard, realistically, to describe what you will be doing in 10, 15 years down the line in a detailed fashion. With this said, you should give a fairly solid picture of what you wish to do in the long term.

You can do this by prefacing your long-term career goal by providing 1) the nature of issues you would likely face in achieving your long-term goal (thus, naturally leading yourself to “why MBA”), 2) the keen understanding of short-term and long-term opportunities in the industry you are targeting (thus, naturally showing your keen managerial outlook and initiative), and 3) how the skills and experiences you will learn in short-term position would help you achieve your long-term goals (thus, showing that you have seriously considered your career in depth).

2. Why MBA

The key to successfully articulating your personal reason for this question lies in the degree of honesty you are willing to share with school's admission committee in your essay. Obviously, you have a tough road ahead to reaching your goal without MBA, and you should be honest in addressing what skills (and/or perspectives) you are lacking here.

In other words, you should not be afraid of sharing your weakness or lack of skills in certain area. I believe that the combination of professional weaknesses (e.g. lack of exposure to finance and/or marketing) and personal weaknesses (e.g. lack of global perspective, time-management) could create a very compelling set of personal reasons for "why MBA" question. The catch here is, again, how far you are willing to be honest in addressing your weakness in your essay (most people assume that essays are a marketing pitch with a aggressive, assertive, and confident tone, but you should also be honest with your weaknesses.)

I must confess that as soon as I submitted my Wharton application last month, I have been basically kicking myself for not being totally genuine with myself and my situation in this context (I was being honest, but not “genuine enough”). I should have mentioned a couple of personal weaknesses to make my essays more compelling, but at the last minute, I decided not to do so for whatever the mood I was in. Perhaps I should use this lesson to better prepare myself for my upcoming Wharton interview.

3. Why Now

There are various ways you can (implicitly) mention that you need MBA at this very juncture. I honestly believe that you don’t necessarily have to state, explicitly, that you want your MBA right now. I am sure there are many worthy candidates who have been successful in answering this question by stating their reason very explicitly, but I feel that bringing up your personal reason for "Why Now" in a very natural, subtle way is the best way to go.

Many, including myself, have used what I define as “the issue-trigger approach” in answering this question. Beside money, fame, and prestige factors, you should search for some sort of “issue” or certain period of time that you have decided to pursue MBA at this time. Try to articulate the nature of such issue (promotion, exposure to organizational structuring, a certain project, etc) and state how this issue has prompted you to decide to go for MBA right now.

A couple years ago when I was watching SportsCenter on ESPN, I saw a very inspirational catch-slogan displayed during break, “There are certain moments that put you on a certain path in your life.”

I am sure you do have your own moments (read: issue) that triggered your decision, and it is up to you to highlight this issue in the context of answering this question.

4. Why XYZ school

First, research, research, and do some more research. Once you have done enough research on your school by going to its website, try to talk to some alumni about their unique experiences at school. When I was preparing for this answer in my Wharton essay, I tried to contact more than four alumni to gain some insights to their experiences. And all of them were willing to lend me some time to talk to me about their experiences (yes, it shows you the kind of school Wharton is).

Ideally, you should have your personal reasons in the following three areas.

1. Academic: Make sure that you go beyond simply listing the areas of your academic focus, the names of classes you want to take, and the names of certain programs/facilities at school. You should articulate why you want to focus on what you want to focus on and how knowledge gained from studying in this area would help you to achieve your short-term and long-term goal. Connecting the values of academic curriculum provided by your school to achieving your career goals is the key here. In my case, I basically stated that what I would learn through ABC class will immensely help me prepare the stiff competition I would face in XYZ situation I anticipate in DEF industry.

2. Community: Again, refrain yourself from listing a bunch of activities, clubs, and/or community service organizations. The best way to sound sincere in illustrating your desire to get involved at your school is to highlight the continuous progression of what you have been doing outside your professional realm. Or you can simply reiterate the areas of your interest/hobby/professional ambition here.

One major point – as much as articulating your passion for joining these activities and highlighting immense benefits are important, you should also note how you would add values to these organizations by sharing your unique personal traits or professional achievements. You would be shocked to learn how many people forget to address how they would add to the community. Most people seem to bypass this “value-adding” point for some strange reason.

3. Personal Reason: This could be anything from your wife’s older sister having graduated from your target school to professors you had a previous contact with teaching currently at school.

Received Wharton Interview Invitation

2004-11-18T16:09:00.000+09:00

Praise the Lord.

Whew!

We all go to B School for a reason...

2004-11-13T14:13:00.000+09:00

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.

You go up to her and say, "I am very rich. Marry me!"

That's Direct Marketing.

------------------

You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl.

One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says, "He's very rich. Marry him."

That's Advertising.

-------------------

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.

You go up to her and get her telephone number.

The next day you call and say, "Hi,I'm very rich. Marry me."

That's Telemarketing.

--------------------

You're at a party and see a gorgeous girl.

You get up and straighten your tie, you walk up to her and pour her a drink. .

You open the door for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her . aride, and then say, "By the way, I'm very rich. Will you marry me?"

That's Public Relations.

---------------------

You're at a party and see a gorgeous girl.

She walks up to you and says, "You are very rich."

That's Brand Recognition.

--------------------

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.

You go up to her and say, "I'm rich. Marry me"

She gives you a nice hard slap on your face.

That's Customer Feedback !!!!!

--------------------

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.

You go up to her and say, "I am very rich. Marry me!"

But you only have a lottery. that's stock option.

--------------------

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.

You go up to her and say, "I am very rich. Marry me!"

But you only have a credit card and debt.

That's accounting fraud.

Here comes Indy!

2004-10-29T10:40:00.000+09:00

Well, well, well.

I had just finished talking with my roomie about the frequency of blockbuster movie series in Hollywood. After raising our voices and debating a little bit, we came to the mutual conclusion that a "true" blockbuster series (e.g. Matrix, Star Wars, Lord Of Rings, Indiana Jones, and to a lesser extent, Terminator) come out once in every five years.

And guess what!

One of my all-time favorite movie series is coming out after more than 10 years of hibernation. Today, I found an article saying that George Lucas and Steve Spielberg just signed a contract with a new script writer to write the fourth Indiana Jones movie!

More than pure entertainment, the movie series has meant so much to me on a very personal level. When I was growing up in Korea, I used to watch a lot of American movies, and Indiana Jones 3 was one of the most captivating movies I have ever seen, even to this date. I still vividy remember waiting in line for more than two hours to watch the film during the spring of 1989 someplace in Seoul, and it turned out to be the last movie I saw in Korea before I came to the States at the age of 13 in early 1990. Thus, the movie, in a way, has symbolized the bridge between my upbringing period in Korea and my formative years in the States, the brige between my youth and my adolescene years, and the bridge between the conservative tradition I had tied to uphold and openminded curiosity I have since then tried to embrace.

Perhaps I could write something about Indy for the celebrity essay of Chicago application, should I become inclined to apply there.

I am so excited at the news that this movie is finally being made after so many years.

These are the real people!

2004-10-16T02:45:00.000+09:00

Since I have so much time on hand, I decided to visit LA Times to see what's going on in my hometown La La Land. Just today, on a Korean newspaper, I read a gang shooting occured in South Central that killed a 14-year old boy who was pleading for this life on his knees before the shooting. I went to see the original article to find more about that, but then instead I found this.

I must confess, when I was younger and immature (well, I am still so to some extent), I used to fancy the idea of living "a large life", you know, going to $500 per plate restaurant, living in a mansion overlooking Malibu Beach, hanging out with high profile people, and, of course, dating a supermodel.

But after reading this artcle, it hit me, "These are the real people! This is the genuine relationship!"

Man, I miss LA. I know what I'm gonna do. The first thing I will do when I get back to LA is to take a 25-mile walk all the way from LA Downtown to Westwood, a home of UCLA. It might take a full day or so, but I am serious about doing this. On the way, I will probably meet someone, chatting about nothing and laughing about everything. And that actually could be the life I might thoroughly enjoy...

Friendships Forged on Rails

Often starting with a smile and a nod, some Metrolink commuters are bonding with fellow riders -- and even throwing parties onboard.

By Christiana Sciaudone

Times Staff Writer

October 11, 2004

The train passengers leaving Union Station jostle about, squeezing by one another with plates stacked high with tamales, taquitos and buffalo wings. Headed toward San Bernardino on a Metrolink train, they hustle in the compressed space, grabbing another slice of pizza or a bit of smoked salmon. They talk of sports and shout over conversations to pass another soda.At the center of the party is Lucy Reinhardt-Ulatowski, doling out eggrolls, homemade broccoli salad and sandwiches, which she spent hours making the night before. When Reinhardt-Ulatowski began commuting by Metrolink in 2001 — a grueling five-hour round-trip commute from Victorville to downtown Los Angeles — she worried it would be painfully monotonous. On her first few trips, she stared out at the passing landscape of foothills, warehouses and housing tracts as her fellow commuters read, typed on their laptops and listened to music."It was kind of scary, all by yourself," she said, "trying to look cool."But over time, she began chatting with the people on her car, conversations that evolved into relationships. Today, the friendships she forged during those long commutes are stronger than those at work or in her suburban subdivision.She and her train friends organize potluck parties aboard the trains, vacation together and socialize off the tracks. And when one member of the extended family was mangled in a bicycle accident last year, Reinhardt-Ulatowski held a fundraiser to help him out.

Reinhardt-Ulatowski is part of what transit experts say is a small but remarkable subculture that has developed inside Southern California's commuter trains. What starts as a smile and a nod unfolds into in-depth discussions of football and families.Metrolink, which operates the region's commuter trains, has at least three rail cars in its network in which groups have organized. The "party trains" are definitely the exception, with most Metrolink riders using their commute for decidedly more singular pursuits, such as reading, paying bills or working on their laptop computers. But train officials and others are intrigued about how these groups form and the lasting bonds of these commuter friendships. "People tend to sit in the same place every day, and as they see each other again and again, they start talking," said Metrolink spokeswoman Sharon Gavin. "It's a way to de-stress about your day before you get home. By the time you get home, you don't really have to complain to your family."The groups formed spontaneously without any help from Metrolink, but "it's something that we encourage," Gavin said. "Get to know your fellow riders. It adds a level of humanness to the commute."

Club cars where commuters socialize have long been a part of the East Coast train culture, but it's something new to Southern California.Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, chairwoman of UCLA's department of urban planning, said the groups "attest to the fact that a mode of transportation like a train is much more of a social mode than a car. When you are in a train, you have to interact with other people."That's something Sheila Fisher and other passengers on the Metrolink between Los Angeles and Orange County discovered.When she first began her daily travels from Los Angeles to Orange County eight years ago, Fisher was still mourning the death of her husband. Sitting alone on the train, she would watch from afar as a boisterous group huddled farther up her car laughed and chatted every afternoon on the ride home. It made her feel even lonelier. One afternoon, the whole group came over. "They said, 'Why don't you come and join us? We'd like to know who you are,' " Fisher recalled. "For me, it was like a reawakening. I met more people than I ever had before."Since then, Fisher, a 61-year-old Eagle Rock resident who works as a collections manager for the Orange County Credit Union, has become one of the group's main party organizers. She played host to 10 people from her train for a weekend getaway to Rosarito Beach, Mexico, and held several parties on the train. But the group is now doing more than socializing. Fisher and others have volunteered together at the Los Angeles Police Museum and for a nonprofit medical clinic in Lancaster."We've helped people write resumes, helped people prepare for interviews, we've mentored people," Fisher said. "If someone is going to be out of a job, we network."

Earlier this year, the party was in full swing on the Metrolink San Bernardino train.Weeks earlier, Reinhardt-Ulatowski solicited food for a potluck celebration, climbing aboard with lists of names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Wearing a gray pinstripe skirt suit and sneakers, with her $200 monthly pass secured at her lapel, Reinhardt-Ulatowski parks her rolling briefcase in a corner of the train car. She moves cautiously among about 30 pairs of knees and bags, and negotiates such items as an Ambrosia-style salad, green beverages and chicken wings.Most cars in the train are relatively quiet, but Reinhardt-Ulatowski's train was bustling. At the end of one car, two games of dominoes were going. Players rotated in and out as the train pulled into stations. Reinhardt-Ulatowski "brings a lot of people together," said Allen Scott of Fontana, as he watched one of the games. That's not how she felt when she began taking the train.Reinhardt-Ulatowski, who worked at Ontario Airport for 10 years as a police official's secretary, was later promoted to a job in downtown Los Angeles.The commute was a big issue, but neither she nor her husband wanted to give up their 1,600-square-foot home in Victorville, which sits on 1 1/3 acres. Wild quail and rabbits visit them regularly."The prices of property are way lower than even Rancho Cucamonga," she said, of another Inland Empire suburb closer to downtown.Her daily travels begin at 5 a.m., when she arrives at a Victorville station and catches a bus to Rancho Cucamonga to the train, which departs about 6:15 a.m. The train pulls into Los Angeles just over an hour later. From there, Reinhardt-Ulatowski jumps on another bus, which delivers her at 7:30 a.m. to 6th and Spring streets, where she works as an executive secretary for the city.Each evening, the 85-mile trek is reversed, and she plops down on her living room couch by 9 p.m.

For a while, her train journeys were lengthy and solitary. Home. Train. Work. Train. Home. Read the newspaper. Twiddle thumbs. Abandon the crossword.Until the scent of chicken reached her empty stomach."These guys would get on every day with chicken, and you could smell it on the whole train," she said. "One day, someone offered me some."Although she declined the offer, it sparked a conversation. She met John Kerby, 32, a Ford dealership manager, and Joe Chavez, 48. They talked football, and Kerby accused Reinhardt-Ulatowski of always defending the underdog team. Conversations evolved to talk of families, work and vacations, and soon the three were planning a trip to Las Vegas. "When you spend an hour a day on the train, you get to know a person," Kerby said at a recent wedding party thrown by Reinhardt-Ulatowski for a bartender at Union Station. "We spend so much time together, more time than I spend with my brother or my father." What started as a few people killing time discussing touchdowns and field goals became a crew of 40 people — a fraction of the roughly 360 people on the San Bernardino train."There are no politics on the train," said Reinhardt-Ulatowski. "No games to play, no one to compete with or impress."

The San Bernardino line group is made up of people of different races, ages and professions. People come and go as jobs and schedules change. But what unites them is the fact that they have long commutes and that they are trying to make them more tolerable.Michael Harvey lives in Ontario and takes the train as part of his commute to Compton. "It's a lot less stress" to take the train, he said, and factoring in the cost of gasoline, "this is so much better…. I love watching traffic go by." Harvey and the gang can sometimes be a little loud, but they said they don't get many complaints from others on the train"We're just having a good time, and most people understand that we're just letting off steam," said Harvey, 40, a manager at the Compton Water Department.

Until last year, the friendships on the train were casual — confined to the potlucks and occasional vacations.Then, one of the commuters, Mike Yanez, was critically injured when a car struck his bicycle. He blacked out for 16 days. Doctors put plates in his cheeks, reconstructed his eyebrows, pulled out his jaw and fixed his nose. The dog groomer also required knee surgery.News of the accident traveled fast on the train. Yanez stood out because he often lugged his bike aboard."The more we found out about him and how badly he'd been hurt," said Reinhardt-Ulatowski, "the more we wanted to do something for him."She started a collection to send in a get-well card. Then she and other riders held a raffle onboard, and with the money raised, they bought him a new bike and helmet.They surprised Yanez with the bike when he returned to the train. "I was touched…. Not everybody does stuff like that," he said.

For the group's Fourth of July party, Reinhardt-Ulatowski decked herself out in a red skirt suit with an American flag shirt and scarf, and red-white-and-blue earrings. Reinhardt-Ulatowski stood in the train waiting for the Rancho Cucamonga stop. "We got through another one," she said. She turned to those riders left on the train — hers is not quite the last stop."You guys, thanks for everything," Reinhardt-Ulatowski said. "Bye, Lucy.""Thanks, Lucy.""We love you, Lucy."Reinhardt-Ulatowski rolled her eyes."You'll see me again," she said. "Tomorrow."

Submitted Wharton Application!

2004-10-15T01:14:00.000+09:00

After hitting "submit" button.

Me: "Ohmygod!ohmygod!what in the earth have I done?!! What if I made a mistake? What If I misspelled the school's name??!!? What if I put a wrong date??! Did I indent right, space right, tab right, enter right??Q?!?@ What in the earth have I done?@#? What did I just do!!@"

Casper (my 6-months old American Cocker Spaniel):

"Woof~Woof~ (Down!!! Boy, Down!!!)

The 7th inning stretch for R1 deadline

2004-10-06T23:31:00.001+09:00

Whew! I am finally done with my essays for Wharton. As previously mentioned, I am applying to only one school in R1 (Wharton, that is). My original plan was to submit at least 2 apps for R1, but unfortunately, I have been suffering from numerous excruciating editing/rewriting/reorganizing tasks that were presented to me, not to mention dealing with a prolonged writer's block. So I will submit only 1 app for R1. I think I wrote a total of 10,000 words thus far just for Wharton apps.

My plan is to get an admit decision from Wharton on 12/23 so that I can put all my time and energy for HBS application in R2. Then again this is the best scenario, and from my personal experience, best senarios havent usually worked out exactly as I hoped for. Blame on my optimism or lack of perspective, but I am really high on my Wharton appls. If accepted, I will have the best Christmas present ever on 12/23. Then, again, if I dont get an admit (waitlist be damned!), I am gonna have a serious talk with God:)

Just recently, I have been dealing with highs and lows of my emotion as I am getting into the final stretch for R1 deadline. I admit, this is the worst time to have such fluctuating tide of emotions. A couple of days ago, I visited Dave's forum, and I spotted a link to a PDF file of Wharton student resumes, and I totally got intimidated by the endless list of "Harvard, Princeton, Columbia" grads with cum laude notations on their resume. (What have you done to me, Dave? What have you done to me!!!)

After a while, I got so tired (more like irritated) of seeing those high profile resumes that I quickly scrolled down to try to find more ordinary profiles where the names of undergraduates were less prestigous by my own subjective standard. But then again, when I finally found such resumes, I saw their grades - they were something like "3.99/4.00". Yes, I did learn something here, you dont have to score 700+ on GMAT to consider for an admission if your GPA is somewhere around 4.0. Where did all those normal people do??? You know, the ones with 3.0 GPA, 650 GMAT, and non-F500 professional WE? Where are they?

Just today, I woke up early in the morning only to find myself seriously doubting about my MBA candidacy. I even asked myself, "who am I trying to fool here? Perhaps I should lower my expectation." Well, I dont know. And I dont care anymore. Honestly, I am at this point where I no longer care about this whole MBA application stuff. I have become more philosophical about this MBA thing, and my attitude has become more like, "If i get in, I get in. If I dont, then I just have to wait another year for a second chance." (but then, there is no guarantee that my candidacy would improve dramatically by next year, given the scope of my current job.)

Back to my Wharton apps preparation, I finally got a rec from my boss, and it seems ok, considering that its her first draft. I still feel uncomfortable about asking her to do another draft, and I guess I just have to find a delicate way of requesting that. Perhaps a small gift would work?

I have sent my essays to my friend for proofreading (thank you, Sarah!) So I guess I will have a couple days of facetime here before I do something else. Perhaps I should go out with my friends and get wasted to alleviate some stress?

Good luck guys, and I really mean it. (yes, you fellas, Dave, Aregon, Swoop, BritChick, PowerYogi, Dr.Martini, Wakechick)

I have been following your blogs and enjoying your posts for some time, and by now, observing your developments over some time, I can honestly say with some authority that each of you guys will get into one of your top choice schools. And I am being dead serious here. The last time I made such a bold claim was when I told the same thing to my friend who was in the middle of applying to dental schools (NYU, Columbia, and Case Western). And guess what? At the end, he got into all of them, despite having average profile.

Oh, one more thing, did you guys know that your Wharton applications will be read by at least 2 readers and you would require an approval from only one of the readers to get invited for an interview? In other words, you only have to convince one reader (have mercy on us!) to say yes in order to get an interview invite! And we all know that once we get to the interview, anything can happen there :)

(I will try to find a link (s2s board) sometime this week. )

Wharton Essay 1 Final Draft....again....for the 4th time

2004-09-29T04:00:00.000+09:00

Since I have M~W off this week (it's Thanksgiving holiday in Korea), I have been refining my Wharton essay #1 once again. I think this is the fourth time I have mentioned in my blog that I am refining the essay's final draft. And I am now sick and tired of making false, pretentious, and premature claim that I am done with the Wharton essays in this blog.

I am now down to 1300 words for the #1 essay, and the thought of cutting out another 200 words for which I have put so many hours of work is driving me nuts. (as you can sense from this post, I am literally pulling my hair over this) The last two days were especially hectic, as I smoked about 3 packs of Marlboro "Red" cigarettes during the period. (yes, i must confess, I am a smoker, a chain-smoker for that matter, at this point.) I think Wharton and Stanford give me, by far, the most latitude as far as illustrating different aspects of my personal being through their essays, and the fact that I am struggling with the "applicans-friendly" Wharton essays bothers the shit out of me at this point. I mean, after all, how the hell am I gonna deal with 400~600 words limit HBS essays if I am having so much trouble with condensing the wharton essays?

I have had 4 different jobs in two distinct industries in two countries in the last five years at varying capacities, and I have to justify all the decisions I made related to this within 2500 words.

I was planning to submit at least two applications in the first round, but I dont think its possible now.

One of my good friends from UCLA days gradutated from Tuck this past summer, and now he's in Korea, starting his job for a VC company on October 4th.

He made very interesting comments on the prospect of job market for MBA graduates nowadays, and his exact words were "you know, banking jobs are everywhere! Most of my classmates who wanted to get into IB got in this year." I guess we are close enough, so I dont think he was promoting his school. If anything, I really think his comments were a good reflection of Tuck and its reputation by recruiters. So for those of you who consider Tuck, this is definetely a good news for you.

One funny thing is that, contrary to the popular belief, grades apparently do matter to recruiters on some occasions. The friend told me that the main reason he got the VC job was none other than his superb grades at Tuck. (he received the Dean's Honor, or something like that, given to students in top 5%, when he graduated.) Then again, this is Korea where academic excellence is highly regarded, perhaps higher than any other country.)

"Fuck Off!"...from Tuck??

2004-09-16T01:42:00.000+09:00

Oh man, when I saw a greeting message from Tuck today via email, I thought I was doomed.

I thought they were directly telling me to "fuck off" (I requested a material from them previously), when they had this title in their email. I guess I glanced the title a bit too quickly.

I am sorry if you didnt find a humor in this. I was apalled, shocked, and petrified....

"Fall Kick Off!

Greetings!

Hello from Tuck! All of us here at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth Admissions Office hope your fall is off to a great start. We are delighted that you have opened a Tuck application account. Please contact us if you have questions about the application at 603-646-3162 or tuck.admissions@dartmouth.edu. In addition, we would like to bring your attention to a few of the ways that you can connect with Tuck this fall:Celebrate diversity at the annual Tuck Diversity Conference Join us November 12-14 for a weekend of discussion, networking, mentoring, and socializing. You'll learn more about Tuck, including our academic program, opportunities for personal and professional development, and what makes our community unique. Students, alumni, faculty, and staff join with visiting executives - and you - at this student-run event. More information and a conference application is available at http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pages/clubs/diversity/.Visit campus and meet our studentsWe urge you to experience the Tuck community for yourself. While in Hanover, you can interview, tour the campus, attend classes, and have lunch with students. Even if you aren't sure about applying to Tuck, we invite you to visit the school (without participating in an evaluative interview). You can register for a campus visit at www.dartmouth.edu/tuck/mba/visit/.Attend an event and network with Tuck alumniFrom Shanghai to Charlotte, Tuck Admissions officers are traveling around the world this fall and would like to meet you. We encourage you to review the event schedule and sign up to attend at www.dartmouth.edu/tuck/mba/events/. Whenever possible, alumni participate in our events as well.We certainly hope to have the opportunity to meet you this fall, and we look forward to reading your application!Warm regards, Tuck Admissions TeamTuck School of Business at Dartmouth100 Tuck HallHanover, NH 03755Office Hours (Eastern Time) Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.Phone: 603-646-3162Email: Tuck.Admissions@Dartmouth.eduWebsite: www.tuck.edu/mba "

not good...

2004-09-02T21:12:00.000+09:00

My mother passed away five years ago, and there are still lingering effects from her death on our family.

Other things in my life are suffering as a result of my single-minded dedication to MBA essays. My father is retired, income-less, widowed, and disappointed. My older brother is suffering from severe depression, officially diagnosed as a serious patient who "really shut out his emotional outlet" by a doctor. My relatives are accusing me of being selfish and cruel, often taking a jab at my character and my integrity.

Man, I wish I could talk to my friends about these issues.

Unfortunately, I can't. My good buddy just broke up with his girl (10-year relationship!). My other good buddy can't go back to the States anymore for making a mistake in VISA application. I am sure they have their own share of agonizing issues.

Whew....I am just venting here. Just venting.

She's a keeper. Wish them the best luck.

2004-08-21T21:22:00.000+09:00

Texas Man, 76, Walks Free From Prison After 40 Years
Fri Aug 20, 4:25 AM ET
LUFKIN, Texas - A 76-year-old man who spent nearly every day of the last four decades in prison walked free after a judge found that deputies extracted his confession to a 1962 robbery by crushing his fingers between cell bars.
After walking out of the Angelina County jail Tuesday with his wife, Robert Carroll Coney said he was not bitter.
"I'm going to try to pick up the pieces," Coney said. "If I was angry, what could I do about it?"
Coney was convicted of robbing a Safeway supermarket in 1962 and sentenced to life in prison. Many times he escaped from facilities in other states ?including South Carolina, Louisiana and Mississippi ?only to be recaptured each time. He was returned to the Texas prison system last year.
Coney said his identity had been confused with a man he had carpooled with through Lufkin on the day of the robbery.
State District Judge David Wilson, who dismissed Coney's charges, investigated and found that the sheriff of Angelina County at the time and his deputies used physical force to extract confessions, often crushing prisoners' fingers between jail cell bars.
When Wilson questioned Coney, the prisoner held up two twisted and bent fingers.
"I remember the sheriff well," Coney said.
He said the jailers, in addition to mangling his hand, threatened his life and scared him into confessing. Wilson's findings stated Coney probably did not see a lawyer until he stood before a judge in the case with then-court-appointed lawyer Gilbert Spring. Spring said he didn't remember Coney's case and told Wilson that courts frequently called attorneys in the 1960s to stand with defendants for no money.
"It really contains everybody's worst fears about what went on during certain darker years in this country," said Huntsville attorney David P. O'Neill, who worked on Coney's case.
Coney said he may consider a civil suit at some point but initially wants to focus on his family.
Holding his wife's hand as he left the jail Tuesday for their Dallas home, Coney said little about the ordeal.
"We're going home," Coney said.

Laser Sharp Career Goals - Essay Must!

2004-08-08T02:40:00.000+09:00

Guys, I can't overstress the importance of having a clear and realistic, yet ambitious career goals in your essay.

I have been actively talking to several MBA admission consultants through their initial cosultation, and they have all been stressing the importance of presenting clear career goals (ST, MT, LT) that logically tie to the previous working experiences.

I even emailed a draft of my Wharton #1, and to my dismay, most consultants cite the vague, unrealistic career goals and my lack of enthusiasm for the school as the significant shortcoming of my essay.

Thus, it seems all inevitable and very likely that I am gonna hit the magic number "10" for the number of drafts before the R1 deadline.

Some of them made a good point that I should devote myself in illustrating why my careers goals make sense, why wharton, why now, etc. in a more extensive manner. Furthermore, the Wharton #1 is not to provide what you did in your professional working experiences, rather the essay should serve as the medium to give brieft overview of what you learned through the experiences.

From strategic point of view, they all stress the same thing. Distinguish myself from the rest of pack, by heavily emphasizing the detailed plan of my career goals, incorporating the unique characteristics of each school.

I am just awed by some of the advice, since it really opened my insights as to certain approaches required to draft essays. How much I know at this points far exceed how much I knew just a couple of days ago.

Many people are still concerned about their GMAT scores, GPAs, and other stats. However, I am slowing realizing the fact that a clear and feasible vision in your essays can picture you as a compelling candidate in a true sense. And I hope that fellow MBA bloggers take this very seriously.

For instance, let's look at this stat from last year applicants in Korea. (I found this from website) The list shows the stats of the applicants who were invited to Wharton last year. (For your information, Wharton interview 50% of the applicants, from which they select 30~35% for the class.)

Disclaimer: Koreans are sterotyped for their passive, less enthusiastic approach to classroom discussion and their preferance to only hanging out with their countrymen. In other words, they must have some compelling academic profiles in order to warrant an interview, since the streotypical behavior patters of Korean students often put them at disadvantage, against fellow Americans.

(GMAT, GPA, TOEFL, # of Years)

660, 3.1, 273, 13
680, 3.1, 250, 10
690, 3.4, 260, 6
700, 3.27, 270, 3
700, 3.6, 267, 5
710, 3.3, 263, 5
710, 3.2, 267, 7
710, 3.5, 280, 5
710, 3.1, 260, 3
720, 3.0, 277, 3
740, 3.1, 277, 4
740, 2.9, 263, 5
760, 3.0, 280, 5

Thus, from this shortlist, we can easily conclude that while GMAT score is somewhat consistent overall with the range of 690~760 for the most part, the wide range of GPAs suggest that Wharton is clearly more focused on people with professional achievements and growth than with cum laude notation on their transcripts. I am really shocked at this finding, given the logical notion that Korean students should have more impressive academic profile to compete against Americans who graduated from US undergraduates. After all, Korean students have not demonstrated that they can communicate with fellow students during classroom discussion. From what I hear, Columbia heavily relies on interview to gauge the applicant's communication skills, and Columbia has stated in the past that they will not admit Korean students without an intensive interview.

Attended Wharton Information Session

2004-07-30T07:34:00.000+09:00

I went to Wharton Club of Korea infor. session a couple of days ago.

In short, the alums were mostly recent graduates, having graduated in the past 2 years. As expected, they are top-notch intellectuals, clearly evident by their respective job positions and the way they carried themselves during the Q&A session. I would like to share a few things you guys might find useful as far as admission questions are concerned.

1. R1 vs. R2

In general, it was the consensus of the whole alum group that there is a marginal difference between R1 and R2. However, one of the more vocal/active alum made an insightful comment that if applicants are ready, they should submit in R1, given the fact that there are LESS applicants in R1, albeit stronger applicants.

2. Why Wharton and Why Now questions.

Almost everyone made a point that articulating these two questions are extremely crucial to standing out in the piles of applications. In other words, the very first essay question is the most important one by far. ( I am sure many of you guys are already aware of this)

3. leadership initiative

Traditionally teamwork emphasized B-school, Wharton has recently made initiatives to strengthen its leadership programs. One of the alum has mentioned that this is a direct response to some "unwarranted" criticism that Wharton lacks some concrete leadership initiatives, compared to other top B-schools.

4. Start with Why MBA question first!

The more knowledgable alum clearly mentioned, in a very strong tone and conviction, that once applicants answered the "Why MBA" question, the rest of essays should "easily fall into the pieces." Obviously, this is easier said than done; however, once you clearly linked the previous work experiences and accumulated skills sets from the working experiences with a set of skills you wish to learn at Wharton, what you have a compelling case of your application.

In general, I really sensed that Wharton is clearly looking for people who want to come to Wharton and have clear goals of what they wish to learn and to do after MBA, rather than "superstars" on paper.

As I am writing this, I am also thinking about re-drafting my first Wharton essay. If you remember, I stated that I was quite comfortable with the earlier drafts of the essay a couple of months ago. Well, I am on my 6th draft at this point:)

I am targeting R1, as I had already jumpstarted the application process. However, I envision I would be doing 10th draft by the time I submit the application. It is a pain. I am not trying to put pressures on myself, but I can't stop thinking about the notion that Wharton essays are by far the "ESSAYS of MY LIFE".

What a dream I had last night!!!!

2004-07-25T14:47:00.000+09:00

It was one of the most compelling dreams I ever had in my whole, entire life!

The dream started with Wharton adcom member calling me to notify me of alumni interview schedule. (apparently, I was too busy, even in my dream, to make it to the States for an adcom interview.) She (it was she, for sure) told me that she located one alumni in South Korea, who is someone in high-ranking position working at "Hyundai Engineering" (how specific can a dream be!!! just amazing).

What is further compelling is that, in my reply to her notification, I voiced a legit concern, by asking her, "Is he a Korean-Korean, or is he a Korean-American? Because if situation arises where I have to speak Korean to the interviewer, it would be a very akward situation for both of us." (Normally, you don't analyze in your dream; here, not only had I analysed the implication of interviewing with a fellow Korean who might be in his 40s or 50s, but also I logically voiced my concerns in a polite, but convincing way!!!)

Furthermore, after having finshied talking to the very nice lady (Who might this be, Alex??? I am awefully curious), I moved to the next scene in which I am officially breaking news to a group of my relatives here in Korea. I was sitting in a round dinner table, and I finally broke the news to everyone.

"Well, I guess I am past the first hurdle; I just got an interview invite from Wharton, which means that now my chances of gaining admission is slightly higher than where I have been previously."
To my surprise, my oldest aunt shouted, "you go, boy! that's money!" (how weird can my dream be??? She is a traditional Korean lady in her 70's, and she perfectly executes a string of American slangs here, very timely I should mention)

Forget the ranking, Harvard vs. Wharton vs. Stanford, "I only have 780 GMAT, 3.8 GPA, with 'great' essays, now do I stand a chance?" debates.

For anyone who is spiritual by his/her standard, please tell me whether this dream is a sign of actual future, or just a sign of a bad omen?

Maybe I should mention this in my optional essay. I have another reason to go to Wharton. After all, I am being driven by the Divine Power to apply to Wharton this year:)

Joke of the Day

2004-07-16T23:39:00.000+09:00

One night, George W. Bush is tossing restlessly in his White House bed. He awakens to see George Washington standing by him. Bush asks him, "George, what's the best thing I can do to help the country?" "Set an honest and honorable example, just as I did," Washington advises, and then fades away.

The next night, Bush is astir again, and sees the ghost of Thomas Jefferson moving through the darkened bedroom. Bush calls out, "Tom, please! What is the best thing I can do to help the country?" "Respect the Constitution, as I did," Jefferson advises, and dims from sight.

The third night sleep is still not in the cards for Bush. He awakens to see the ghost of F. D.R. hovering over his bed. Bush whispers, "Franklin, What is the best thing I can do to help the country?" Help the less fortunate, just as I did," FDR replies and fades into the mists.

Bush isn't sleeping well the fourth night when he sees another figure moving in the shadows. It is the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. Bush pleads, "Abe, what is the best thing I can do right now, to help the country?"

Abe replies, "Go see a play."

HBS Admission Committee Interview Invite Process

2004-07-14T00:44:00.000+09:00

Not sure how much truth is in this remarks, but you guys may find it amusing, if not useful.

"I have spoken with a formed Ad-Com member. This is how it works:

HBS initially screens applicants with only data points and Essay 1 and 2. That's their first cut.

Applications are then read again 2 times in order to determine interview invites.

Candidates who have a powerful backer have their applications "white-tagged" and are given a special read by Brit Dewey."

My apologizes to posters

2004-07-11T13:30:00.000+09:00

I am sorry, but because of South Korean government's regulation that prohibits viewing www.blogpost.com and www.blogger.com, I can't post reply to your comments.

There are some interesting comments to my post that I would like to reply to; however, ever since the beheading incident of a South Korean in Iraq, South Korean government has apparently restricted access to some websites that may air the videotape of the beheading.

I can post a message, but apparently, I can't see my own posts.

So I will try to post a reply through a post - highly inefficient, but I am doing my best not to ignore thoughful comments.

Laura: I thought Tim Wields went to Stanford MBA. Are you sure he went to Wharton?

Brit-Chick: Yes, I agree with you. I think the interview process with HBS will be a dauting one. They will try to find a match through interviewing whether HBS is a good fit for the applicants and vice-versa. I heard that HBS interviews are the most intense and grueling.

For those of you who want some Financial Analysis templates...

2004-07-11T13:27:00.000+09:00

Try this link.

http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/

There are many useful templates you can use without any constraint to copyright issues.

The description is like the following:

1. Corporate finance spreadsheets: These spreadsheets are most useful if you are interested in conventional corporate financial analysis. It includes spreadsheets to analyze a project's cashflows and viability, a company's risk profile, its optimal capital structure and debt type, andwhether it is paying out what it can afford to in dividends.

2. Valuation Inputs Spreadsheets: In this section, you will find spreadsheets that allow you to

a. Estimate the right discount rate to use for your firm, starting with the risk premium in your cost of equity and concluding with the cost of capital for your firm.
b. Convert R&D and operating leases into capitalized assets
c. estimate the right capital expenditures and diagnose the terminal value assumptions to see if they are reasonable.

3. Big-picture valuation spreadsheets: If you are looking for one spreadsheet to help you in valuing a company, I would recommend one of these 'ginzu' spreadsheets. While they require a large number of inputs, they are flexible enough to allow you to value just about any company. You do have to decide whether you want to use a dividend, FCFE or FCFF model spreadsheet. If you have no idea which one will work for you, I would suggest that you try the "right model" spreadsheet first.

4. Focused valuation spreadsheets: If you have a clear choice in terms of models - stable growth dividend discount, 2-stage FCFE etc. - you can download a spreadsheet for the specific model in this section.

5. Valuation of specific types of companies: Valuation is all about exceptions, and these spreadsheets are designed to help value specific types of companies including:

a. Financial Service firms: While dividend discount models tend to be the weapon of choice for many, you will find an excess equity return model here.
b. Troubled firms: You will find an earnings normalizer spreadsheet, a generic valuation model for valuing a firm as a going concern and a spreadsheet that allows you to estimate the probability that a troubled firm will not survive.
c. Private companies: You will find spreadsheets for adjusting discount rates and estimating illiquidity discounts for private companies.
d. Young and high-growth firms: You will find a revenue growth estimator as well as a generic valuation model for high growth firms in this section.

6. Multiples: You can estimate equity as well as firm value multiples, based upon fundamentals.

7. Valuation in Acquisitions: You can value synergy in an acquiisition and analyze a leveraged buyout.

8. Valuation of other assets: In this section, you will find a model for valuing income-generating real estate.

9. Value Enhancement Spreadsheets: In this section, you will find a spreadsheet that reconciles EVA and DCF valuation, a model for estimating CFROI and a DCF version of a value enhancement spreadsheet.

10. Basic option pricing models: In this seciton, you will find Black-Scholes models for valuing short term options, long term options and options that result in dilution of stock (such as warrants). In addition, you will find spreadsheets that convert Black-Scholes inputs into Binomial model inputs and use the binomial model to value options.

11. Real option models in corporate finance: In this section, you will find three basic real option models - the option to delay, the option to expand and the option to abandon. In addition, the value of financial flexibility is considered as an option.

12. Real option models in valuation: In this section, you will find models to value both a patent (and a firm owning a patent) as an option, natural resource firms and equity in deeply troubled firms.

My analysis of Harvard Essays

2004-07-10T00:01:00.002+09:00

Prior to finding out that the new essays for Harvard came out, I had just finished writing Essay #1 based on the last year's essay topic. For those of you who have not been following the recent trend of HBS's first "trademark" essay question (and the most important, naturally), HBS has been, for some time, really focused on learning the different traits of its applicants through the course of actions they took in MAKING A BIG CHANGE for their respective organizations. Last year, HBS focused on "recent leadership experience", but apparently, this year, they are back to the original theme of leadership - "the ability to make impact, to make a change on an organization." Here are my two cents, and I am sure many of you will probably disagree with some of the comments below. And I welcome any of your insights. After all, I believe that the collaborative efforts to "hammer down" HBS essay questions should bring out much-needed insights which we can all benefit from.

1. Describe a significant change that you brought about in an organization and its impact on your development as a leader. (400-word limit)

Analysis: I really believe that HBS adcom chose somewhat too broad topic last year, focusing on "recent leadership." Apparently, the adcoms must have been bombarded with a string of essays that had focused on some minor leadership experiences of qualified candidates. This question doesn't really surprise me because I have been hearing constantly how much HBS is obsessed with selecting people who have made impact (change), or at least, have potential to make substantial impact on an organization in the near future - apparently a leading trait of true leader according to HBS "hidden" criteria.

For your information, I have been hearning from numerous, different sources that the most effective, but not typical, approach to pack in your story in this 400-word limit is, first, set up your unique situation within 100 word limit parameter, and spend the remaining 300 words or so in describing the actions you took and the LESSONS you have learned through your unique situation. Ideally, less generic your lessons are, the better your application will look, obviously. So I think the best way to finish off this essay is to restate your unique philosophy (read: leadership style) in conherent manner, clearly reflecting your core values and motives behind the actions.

Also, I really believe that your should first mention the changes you have made in your setup, instead of leaving the change part at the very end. You should immediately present what changes you have made in your setup section.

2. What are your three most substantial accomplishments, and why do you view them as such? (600-word limit)

Analysis: Same as the last year. I think the ideal combination of "professional achievements" vs. "personal achivements" should be 2:1, well at least for me. I have talked to several people who are HBS alum, and they have told me that they have included at least one compelling, very personal achievement for this essay. It could be anything from your struggle to accept Jesus Christ as your savior, completing a marathon despite your above-average weight, or helping other who were in need that have essentially "set the tone" for your values.

3. Provide a candid assessment of your strengths and weaknesses. (400-word limit)

Analysis: I really like this one. For me, I have so many holes and explanations to do, and I couldn't do so based on the last year's essay questions. Last year, HBS essentially took away many of the opportunities for the applicants to personally market their applications in their own terms. This year, I guess, HBS is willing to become more sensitive to the needs of well-qualified applicants who may have one or two minor gliches in their career progressions or academic issues in their transcripts. I really believe that you must put down a real weakness here in essay 2 that you HOPE TO ADDRESS in business school. "Lack of broad perspectives on managerial issues", "inability to multitask", "desire to learn some cultural diversity", etc.

4. How do you define success? (400-word limit)

Analysis: Bravo! HBS, you really impressed me on this one (not that they would really care). This essay question has to be one way for them to learn more about your philosophy in life. The last year's question, "describe the instances you have questioned your values", was apparently too straight forward, forcing many of the applicants to respond to this introspective-oriented question in equally a straight forward manner. For your information, please check out this link as this article will give you some insights.

http://www.pwcglobal.com/Extweb/NewCoAtWork.nsf/docid/93DD06AA68426C6085256C0F000636FC

- written by a HBS professor: "Four Keys of Enduring Success: How High Achievers Win"

5. What are your career aspirations, and how can an MBA help you to reach them? Why now? (400-word limit)

Analysis: You really need to provide coherent, focused, realistic, and ambitious career plan in both short term and long term. I am hearning some conflicting tips about the manner of describing your short-term goal here. Some say it is ok to describe a couple of jobs in your short term career plan, while others say that you must put down an actual name of a company that you wish to work for in the short term, preferably the one that often comes to HBS during a recruiting season (it shows that you have done some research about the school).

Also, notice that there is no "WHY HBS" in this essay question here, and I don't have any idea on the implication of such obvious omission here. Anyone with an idea here as to why such blatant omission?

6. What do you wish the MBA Admissions Board had asked you? (400-word limit)

Analysis: Typical "fill in the blank" question.

Hmmmmm, I am really curious to know what some of your guys out there think of this year's essay topics? What are the HBS adcoms' motivation for asking such questions? I really would like to hear, so please feel free to share with me:)

Harvard Essay: Here we go!

2004-07-09T15:14:00.000+09:00

1. Describe a significant change that you brought about in an organization and its impact on your development as a leader. (400-word limit)
2. What are your three most substantial accomplishments, and why do you view them as such? (600-word limit)
3. Provide a candid assessment of your strengths and weaknesses. (400-word limit)
4. How do you define success? (400-word limit)
5. What are your career aspirations, and how can an MBA help you to reach them? Why now? (400-word limit)
6. What do you wish the MBA Admissions Board had asked you? (400-word limit)

Round Submission Dates Notification Dates
Round 1 October 13, 2004 January 19, 2005
Round 2 January 5, 2005 March 30, 2005
Round 3 March 9, 2005 May 4, 2005

well, well, well I will be darned. The essays will be quite personal this time around.

Run baby, Run! The Year of Thieves - Class of 2005!

2004-06-18T00:51:00.000+09:00

The Year of the MBA Applicant

With fewer prospects and no pickup in sight, B-schools are competing harder -- and offering more perks -- to fill their classes
Until recently, Amitabh Nayak, 27, was weighing a full ride to Purdue University's B-school, with acceptances from both the Chicago Graduate School of Business and Maryland's Smith School of Business. "When I started the process, I thought that Chicago was a little bit of a stretch," he says. Nayak says he had good essays, but only a 690 Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) score and a 3.1 grade-point average in chemical engineering. "I certainly didn't expect a full-tuition offer from Purdue."

Significant declines in application volume at the top management schools have made the 2003-04 MBA admissions season the year of the applicant. Demand for the degree is lower due to a slow economic recovery, fewer MBA-age workers, and fewer non-U.S. applicants. So schools dipped deeper into their applicant pools to find new MBAs -- and deeper into their coffers to help fund them.

"MORE OFFERS." Plenty of evidence, both anecdotal and statistical, shows that applicants were accepted to more B-schools than in years past. Graham Richmond, CEO of MBA-admissions consultants Clear Admit, says he saw clients get 30% more offers of admission than in the 2003 academic year. "Since we haven't totally changed our methods, and since clients are still applying to the same number of programs [on average], this indicates that the schools must be handing out more offers," he says.

Back in the more competitive years of 2000 and 2001, Richmond says even his best applicants only had a couple of options, "rarely gaining acceptance to more than one of the top three [schools]." In 2004, his clients are weighing offers from the likes of Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, and Columbia. "It's rare to see the top few schools in such direct competition [for the same students]."

Few schools avoided a significant decline in student interest in the 2004 academic year. Heavyweights such as Wharton received 21% fewer applications vs. 2003. Wake Forest University's Babcock Graduate School of Management saw a 29% dip, while the MBA programs at the Tuck School at Dartmouth and UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School received 25% fewer applications. Washington University's Olin School of Business and UCLA Anderson School of Management saw 21% and 15.8% fewer MBA hopefuls, respectively.

HEDGING THEIR BETS. Many admissions directors learned early on that fewer people were taking the GMAT. They hedged their bets of enrolling a good class by accepting more applicants in the early season. At Kenan-Flagler, MBA admissions director Sherry Wallace admitted 50% of her class by the end of February, vs. one-third of the class in 2003, an increase of 100 students.

The 2003-04 season had no clear rules. People who applied to schools with a high yield (the number of admitted students who chose to enroll) had a better chance of being placed on a school's wait-list or offered deferred admission. If yields were lower, late applicants found themselves with offers of admission -- and the financial aid that's often reserved for the early birds. Says Rosemaria Martinelli, Wharton's director of MBA admissions and financial aid: "We knew we had to admit more people this year, because when applications are down, your yield falls."

FINANCIAL EXTRAS. To encourage enrollment, schools opened their checkbooks wider in 2004. Some schools reimbursed admitted applicants for travel expenses to spring admit weekends. Others offered lucrative financial-aid packages to more students.

Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management doubled the $1 million it usually offers MBAs in loans and scholarships. However, Ann Richards, associate director of admissions and director of financial aid at the Johnson School, says, "what we offer and spend are often two wildly different numbers."

New York University's Stern School of Business reintroduced a two-year, full-tuition dean's scholarship, which was limited to a one-year scholarship in the past. "We felt it was something that would help us attract the top students," says Julia Min, assistant dean for MBA admissions. At Kenan-Flagler, 20% of the school's next class of MBAs will receive some sort of fellowship, ranging from $5,000 to full tuition and fees for two years. In 2003, the figure was 13%.

MATCHING OFFERS. Schools also tried different tactics for doling out scholarship money. Figuring that their top applicants -- those most eligible for merit-based scholarships -- would probably choose to enroll elsewhere, Indiana's B-school decided instead to award money to the people most likely to attend the school. "It's the group in the upper-middle [part of the pool] that we may end up getting," says James Holmen, director of admissions and financial aid.

With tuition starting at $65,000 for top schools, applicants are becoming more active in seeking cost relief. Some are asking schools to match offers from other programs. Wharton's Martinelli says she has heard all sorts of requests this year. "I'm being asked, 'what can you do to match that?,'" she says, adding that she refuses to offer anything more.

Ultimately, it's not about the money, but it's a "fit and educational" issue, she says. She warns that students shouldn't feel overly entitled or be overly demanding because it begins to weaken the educational experience for everyone.

TRICKY SITUATIONS. Perhaps some admissions offices are playing the game as well. Some B-schools are rumored to be offering money to applicants who have already declined their acceptance offers. BusinessWeek Online couldn't confirm these rumors, but many schools did say they've heard of such tactics from their own applicants.

"This is not a typical practice," says Linda Baldwin, head of MBA admissions at UCLA's B-School. "Trying to persuade someone to renege on a decision they've made puts the applicant in an awkward situation...with ethical dilemmas. It indicates that [reneging] is O.K." Any such practice sharply counters schools' tough policies that MBAs should never renege on job offers they've accepted from corporate recruiters.

Other schools opted to reduce their class sizes to keep quality high. With applications down 30%, Indiana's B-school eliminated one of its four cohorts of students for the class of 2006.

"BETTER TO STAY." Admissions directors aren't likely to see much of a pickup in the fall. GMAT test-taking is lower than in previous years. From Jan. 1 to Apr. 30, just 70,179 GMATs were taken worldwide, an 8.65% decrease, vs. the same period in 2003. Broken down, the decline is most pronounced outside the U.S., where volume dipped 17.5%.

Signs of an improving economy could also encourage otherwise strong MBA candidates to stick it out in the real world. With a work promotion in hand, Matthew Seim, 28, passed on his admissions offers this year, saying "it's better to stay...and to look at doing an executive MBA program in a few years."

Schools say quality hasn't changed, and that admitted MBAs in 2003-04 have the same caliber of academic, professional, and personal backgrounds as in previous classes. Linda Meehan, head of admissions for Columbia Business School's full-time MBA program, says her selectivity will be a little different from last year, but she's not accepting people she wouldn't normally take. Julia Tyler, director of the MBA program at London Business School, say there's "no way" her office has lowered its standards. "You change your application requirements at your peril, because you will get found out."

Despite his lucrative offer to study for free, Nayak chose Chicago. He'll pay about $73,000 in tuition alone over two years. While money talks, it's clear that it's not all that matters to applicants. But if a top school doesn't offer tuition aid, they might make room for a few more applicants, and that's a trend that many MBA hopefuls would like to see continue.

Stanford perhaps

2004-06-16T01:39:00.000+09:00

It's been a long time since my post. I have been busy for the past two weeks, trying to organize the project here in Pusan as the first time Academic Director. As expected, parents have been very aggressive from the start, as every single one of them virtually expect me to single-handedly carry on the task of guiding their sons and daughters to the promised land of "IVY League". I called one of the mothers whose son was chronically falling in sleep during my class. Trying to be polite, I mentioned that the student is a very good student when he is awake, always eager to participate in the class discussion, which is true. To my surprise, she snapped, "well, don't try to make me feel good about the situation by sweet-talking to me about his goody-goodie stuff!"

Indeed, teaching is hard as you, as a teacher, need to find a fine line between a disciplined teacher and compassionate one. Perhaps I will use this lesson on my essay, after all:)

Now back to Stanford. I am getting more and more inclined to also apply to Stanford. I know it will be a long shot, given that I do not have any stellar academic records or GMAT score. However, I am really getting to like the approaches and philosophies radiated by admcom people through their choices of essay questions. The first main essay, "What matters to you most, and why?", really strikes me as a very introspective question. Maybe I am a little melodramatic, but I am getting a vibe that they actually care about the personal characters of applicants.

I am just about done with my Wharton essay, as I do not expect any radical changes on the essay. I have about 3~4 different themes and explanations in the essay, and the choices of themes will not change since I have thought of this for a long time.

For those of you who are done with GMAT and are waiting for new essays questions from their schools of choice, START EARLY. I am really seeing the values of starting early as I am getting really comfortable with my Wharton No. essay. If someone questions the wisdom of picking the themes in the essay, I would probably resort to vigorously defending the choice I made, as opposed to making changes. This is how much I feel comfortable with my essay.

I believe that the most conventional and most effective steps to start an essay are (1)to outline a list of themes to be used in the essay, (2) find the relevent and HUMBLE stories that reflect the core values of the themes, and (3)draft the first rough draft in some sort of concrete form of any format ASAP just to see whether you like what you see.

The one thing I have had difficulty with is my tendency to get too "philosophical" about some of the stories by circumventing (this's the SAT word of day for you!) the lessons I have learned. I used to believe that presenting lessons in a downright straight, in-your face way was a bit corny, considering that there are more lessons to be learned during the course of a lifetime. Since we are going to business school, we do have to use more direct business writing.

very interesting post on BW

2004-06-07T02:03:00.000+09:00

"I don't mean on the BW forum, that's a given.

I mean are we wasting our lives by going to B-School. Two years in B School followed by most people with IB, MC, Corporate etc. for 40 years, with probably one or two minor career transitions along the way. Isn't it just a bit too, ordinary?

Good salary, decent but smallish apartment in the city (whatever city) until we get married and/or have kids. Then move to the suburbs, drive a BMW, get a golden retriever and play golf on sundays. When we're 80 are we going to regret time spent at the office doing work that was by nearly all accounts trivial and personally unfulfilling? When we look back, what are we going to say our accomplishments were? Raising the market share of Tide detergent from 16% to 18%? Sheperding through 50 IPOs that anyone else on wall street could have done just as well?

As school is getting closer, I'm getting nervous. Where are the viceral experiences going to be that make life worth living? Somehow making sure that a client presentation is finished by the 3pm meeting doesn't quite cut it. Are we going to be the type of people that go on vacation to highly regulated, organized and luxurious wild life safaris and consider it an adventure? God I hope not."

- "Saathi"

Believe it or not, I have thought about this as well. As I am approaching my 30's, I have recently become more accustomed to wondering what my life is for.

When it comes down to it, what have you offered to this humanity? What will you offer to this society you are living in?

On a very serious level, I have been actively thinking about this very question, and only recently I have come to the final conclusion, my own conclusion, that is.

I am doing as much good to this society or this country as anyone could have done in the sense that I am trying to live a full life, trying to mainly reflect the values of still-developing Christian values I cherish so much. "A full life" should not always have to be a day filled with attending $10 million fund raising campaign for the cause of hungry children or a day punctuated by helping people save lives. Rather it could be any of other "normal" days, days filled saying genuine "Hi" to people who would appreciate it, helping an old lady with her luggage with a warm smile, taking time to talk to some of youngsters around us in a casual conversation, and saying a little prayer before every meal and every now or then to honor the One watching over you.

I think the biggest depression and the biggest emptiness in our lives come from our inflated ego - the ego that constantly tells us that we MUST do something "meanigful" to help others, as if carrying out your day and executing your days to the "fullest" degree with sincerity, honesty, integrity, faith, warmth, and hope are not enough. And I think this is where I part company with some of people out there who are still searching for the clues.

While I must do more and squeeze more from myself each day, each new day, it is my fiduciary duty, at the same time, to enjoy what I do and respect what I do, regardless of the level of social impact. This prerequite should be the first step to achieving what I will pursue tomorrow. Without such self-motivating and self-respecting awarenesses, my life can be as futile as someone who's living on street relying on others for daily survival. I know so, because I have been there.

Wharton Essay 1 and Harvard 1

2004-06-04T02:46:00.000+09:00

As expected, I am enjoying writing for Wharton essay 1. I am within the word limit, and I was able to insert 3~4 different themes about me and my professional career. I did have some problem in articulating my visions for my future career.

I am getting many advices from many different sources that when an applicant articulates his/her short-term career goal, it is highly recommended that the applicant writes down the actual name of company he/she wants to work for. In this way, you are further highlighting that you have done actual research on the career industry, school, and the company. I guess it would be even better if the company is among the "top profile" recruiters for the school.

Overall, on my first Wharton Essay 1, I feel good. However, this doesnt mean that the draft will remain unchanged. I am being awfully realistic about this. I know that there will be many, many moments within the next few months that I would be contemplating whether to start fresh anew from the scratch.

And as expected, I am over the word limits (400 words) on my first Havard Essay 1 draft. I am getting more and more convinced that this short word limit was put on by the adcom people so that applicants will be forced to speak only one or two important things about the lessons learned in this essay. In order words, the adcom people seem to use the word limit as a tool of "enforcer" so that each applicant would only discuss about one or two meaningful lessons. In order words, each applicant must choose only one or two things as the most important lessons. Kinda of "pick your poison" stuff.

more on GMAT Verbal

2004-05-29T17:25:00.000+09:00

I know I am not a good person to talk about GMAT Verbal strategies, since 84 Percentile is not something often to be considered "outrageously excellent", but nevertheless I would like to mention a few more things here.

1. Sentence Correction Section

I believe that this section is the easiest to master. Getting a grasp on SC has nothing to do with your IQ, your creativity, your income potential, or your inherent knowledge. Rather, it has everything to do with your sheer determination and focus.

As I have mentioned, carefully EXAMINE (not read) the explanation provided at the end of Official Guide. Try to read through each answer choices, even the wrong ones. Many people may just read through the explanation for the correct answer, but I really oppose that. By reading the remaining "wrong" answer explanations, you might unconsciously develop the "feel" for the actual test. So, in all, you should spent at least 3~5 minutes per question on the Official Guide. Once you are over the 85% threshhold on your practice questions, you are left only with the final "string-knotting" process, in which you can focus on idiom usages and lists.

I emphasize the efficient approach on the SC section on the actual test. You can't re-read SC questions in order to double-check your answer if you want to allocate enough time to finish the Critical Reading section. You must move at the efficient speed on SC section, because you will get a bump or two at the Critical Reading section.

2. Critical Reading Section

In between the finishing of math section and the start of verbal section, I wrote down "1" through "41" and "A" through "E" for answer choices for each question on verbal section on a piece of scratch paper given at the testing site. For that matter, I actually implemented this strategy solely for the Critical Reasoning part. I knew, before the test, I would face situations where I would be successful in eliminating a few answer choices and left with two or three answer choices. You must feel comfortable in finding the right answer from this approach (widely known as "POE": Process of Elimination) AS MUCH AS you feel comfortable in selecting the correct answer from the 5 answer choices. In a nutshell, you have to be in your own comfort zone in dealing with inevitable "Elimination and Guess" processes, because you will face a bunch of questions in which you would be contemplating between "C" and "E".

A. "According to the passage/author" question type

Whenever you see this question, tell yourself, "Stop and stop thinking. I need to FIND, not think." This has been an effective approach for me, since you are only being asked to find the correct answer, not to understand the author's hidden agenda in the passage.

For instance, let me give you this question:

FACT: "John Doe received 90% on his algebra test. The rest of his class all received 100% on the same test."

CONCLUSION: "Thus, we can conclude that John Doe's score of 90% is not a good score, since the score is below the class average."

True or not?

The short answer is false, because the conclusion that the score is "not a good score" has no basis. We do not know the basis of "not a good score". In other words, it might be a good score if all the students in the class got A AND if the criteria is "A" = good. It might be a bad score if all of the students got F, AND if the criteria is "F" = bad score.

In other words, some of us could have answered "true" on the question above, because we have tendency to INFER the basis of such reasoning on the class average, as opposed to other critera not specifically explained above.

As for Paraphrasing, I believe that "numbering" is also another good method in following the author's argument. For instance,

"Company A perceives the advantages of market because the company has cash flow, good employees, enough investments, and favorable market condition."

Paraphrasing: "Com. A: Adv., 4", meaning "company A has 4 advantages."

By numbering factors, criteria, arguments, citations, examples, you are naturally preventing yourself from re-reading the whole paragraph, so that when you see a question, "Which of the follwing is NOT mentioned as the Company A's advantages?", you automatically understand where to look for answer.

I hope this helps. I feel your pain. Studying GMAT is a pain in the arse, but there are some known methods in approaching questions.

Good luck to all of you who are still in the hunt. And please let me know of your progress/results.

Talking about baskeball...quote of the day

2004-05-29T17:02:00.000+09:00

Tonya Harding: "I am Charles Barkley of figure skating!"

Charles Barkley: "When I heard the comment, I was about to sue Tonya Harding for 'defamation of character'. Then, I realized that I had no character."

My beloved Lakers

2004-05-29T16:43:00.000+09:00

As most of you guys probably know, the Lakers are up 3-1 against Timberwolves in the Western Conference Final series, which brings up my favorite Kobe moment....

Some years back when I was still in college, I and my friends were watching a Lakers game in some crowed sports bar. At the time, Kobe was young. He was still inexperiened, helplessly ball-hogging (still to this day), and a constantly crying "me, me, me" type of player (still to this day). In one particular possession, he kept holding on to the ball, weaving through the traffic, ignoring his teammates, doing 360-degree dribbling, dribbling behind his back, and other silly one-on-one street hoops move. As the shot clock was tickng down, all of us were in dismay, shouting, yelling, screaming "Pass the freacking rock!", "You ain't Michael Jordan, give up the ball!", "This is Shaq's team! Not yours!". Then, he did some stupid move to the basket, trying to go up against two 7-footers in the air, cluess about what he was about to do.

Unable to resist the urge, I "rose to the occassion", getting up from my seat and yelling out "Pass the fucking ball, you ball-hogging piece of shit, Michael-wannabe!"

Swish.

He made the unbelievable shot, double-clutching on the way to the basket and 2 points.

Inevitably embarrassed, I softly sat down back to my seat and shouted, "Good shot, Kobe! Great shot! There you go!", clapping my hands in a vote of confidence at the same time.

hmm.. someone actually tried to do this in Berkeley interview

2004-05-29T14:28:00.000+09:00

"One guy I interviewed was definitely quite enamored with himself," says Sullivan. "He sat back and acted like I should do a sell job on him, but was so aggressive I had a hard time getting my questions in." But what came next made his jaw drop, says Sullivan. "His cell phone rang, and he took the call rather than turning it off. I had the strong sense he'd staged the whole thing. After talking for a minute or two, he told the caller he was in the middle of something, then turned back to me, without apologizing, and proceeded with the interview." Far from impressing him, says Sullivan, the candidate came off as a jerk, and not a very bright one at that.

Now, throwing that lazy 70-mph fastball (since it's too obvious) to so-so hitter like University of South Alamaba is one thing. Trying to sneak in that shit to a top hitter in the league like Hass is an invitation for getting "posterized", which he enamoredly became the receipient in this anecdote.

This makes me feel better. Knowing that there are still some people like this guy even at top schools assures me that the "actual" acceptance rate might be higher for some normal people like us.

After seeing Troy..

2004-05-28T14:55:00.000+09:00

I really didn't like the movie. It seems as if they were trying to squeez in 5 hours worth of movie scripts into 2.5 hours. Dramatic moments at times seemed a bit dull.

Which brings up my all-time favorite movies including all genres of the movies.

1. Hoop Dream - sheer drama, true story with only one fitting ending, dedication on the part of producers to follow two boys over the span of 5(?) years.

2. Matrix I - sleeper by nature. I didn't go to the movie theater to watch it. Rather, I calmly waited for the movie to come out in the video. To my plesant surprise, I found the movie very insightful. I could totally see what the director had in mind when he set up the whole situation with "what you see is not what it is" theme.

3. Bridges of Madison County - I am not mushy by nature, but this movie did bring a few teardrops, I confess. Actually, for that matter, this is the first time I ever watched a movie in movie theater all by myself. I just didn't want my friends to see me...crying. Great acting by Eastwood and Strip.

4. Identity - a big fan of John Cusack. Disappointing closure at the end as the kid is the guilty party. Memorable final line by John Cusack, "I see you with oranges". Funny, I saw the movie with my brother, and I was all fired up during the movie for my keen ability to identify the "real killer" in these kind of movies. When the father was seen in the movies, I quickly whispered to my brother, "hey, that's the killer, I know for sure!", perhaps too loudly enough for other people around me to hear. Of course, the father gets killed right after I whispered to my brother, bringing out some cynical giggling from a few people around me. Nevertheless, a good movie with alot of "food for thoughts".

5. Gladiator/Brave Heart - similar movie about heroism in the face of adversaries. All about the manhood. No, I didn't cry. I just thoroughly enjoyed the movies.

Day at the gym

2004-05-28T12:04:00.000+09:00

Today, I was "running" on a treadmill, casually strolling at the speed of 6.0. I was on the treadmill in the back row with 5 other overweight guys, with another 4 skinny guys running on the front row of treadmills. Most of us were just walking at a leisurely pace of something like 6.0~7.0, hardly breaking sweats. After all, summer was still a couple months away, and most of us still invariably girlfriend-less.

Then, all of sudden, this girl, who looks very open-minded at a first glance, walks in with some very intriguing outfits that would make Brittany Spear blush in utter embarrassment and starts stretching right in front of us, vividly guiding us to the each step of her elegant moves.

Understanding the urgent need to emerge out of the pack, suddenly, each of us started to pick up the pace, with some of the guys even running at the speed of 14 or so. I think, on average, we ran at the speed of 11, keeping our postures as straight as possible, as intructed by our unconscious instincts.

Then, after a few minutes of stretching, she decided to go for water, leaving the room with the air of restless anxiety and unshakeable disappointment. And, simutaneously as she was exiting, all of the guys decides to scale down back to the leasurely pace of 6.0. Some of the guys were already seen taking a deep breath or two at very unrregular intervals, and a few others coughing like a jackass. I, of course, a practical man who has always been keenly aware of my conditioning, or lack thereof, firmly pressed "URGENT-STOP" button as soon as she was out of the sight.

No one said anything, but invariably everyone understood. Some smartass kid starts giggling as if he was the only one understanding the trend. But we all knew. We all knew that, even without a single word of exchange, we were a bunch of losers, still living in the imaginary world of glory previously initiated and subsequently perpetuated by our own fantasies, fantasies beyond the manageable compass, yet within the idealistic realm filled with burning desire for that elusive moment.

Today was a good day. Another day of introspection, indeed.

Quote of the Day goes to...

2004-05-28T11:58:00.000+09:00

"I'm amazed by the how GMAT envy is to Indians what penis envy is to Americans."

I remember my days during undergraduate, and a couple of my Indian friends got into a shouting match. And it turns out to be that they were debating the cut off GPA for I Banking position..... 3.4 vs. 3.5.

This has to be the Classic of BWeek messages.

2004-05-28T11:51:00.000+09:00

Another Funny post from BWeek

"I am absolutely sick of idiots who keep on posting messages asking for advice on picking school A over school B, while offering no more information on their backgrounds. Half the time these punks are just trying to boost one particular school, as they probably did not even make it into the other.
When people spend money and time filling out application forms, don't they prioritize which schools they really want? And if not, how hard can it be to decide without having to ask for strangers with all sorts of vested interests to help.

I can understand a Stanford vs Harvard debate for the sake of argument, but I'll go nuts if I see one more Rochester vs Wharton thread or the occasional UCLA vs Stanford bullshit.

So for now let us stick to the following rules:

1. H/W/K/S are the top schools for anything. Even if you want to specialize in Martian Real Estate Finance, one of those four schools would serve you better than any school on Mars.

2. No tier 2 school should EVER be compared to a tier 1 school. Scholarship offers be damned!

3. There is nothing like a "top-tier ivy." If you are willing to tell us that you went to an Ivy league school then you should be damn sure ready to tell us which one it was and let US decide where it ranks.

4. Mensa is not spelled "MENSA." It is not an acronym.

5. Exams are taken, not given.

6. Carter Mayfield is the only person allowed to sign his name. Under no circumstance should YTN, Mark Callaghan or Van Staake signatures be tolerated.

7. No posting should be this long. "

Passing thought...

2004-05-27T20:20:00.000+09:00

Isn't it amazing that, as we are approaching essays, how quickly the value of GMAT score has been diminishing in the broad context of whole application package?

Think about it. Out of 20~25 minutes they will spend in reviewing in your application, the adcom people will spend no more than 10~20 seconds in taking a quick glance at my GMAT score.

Harvard Essay 1 & Wharton Essay 1

2004-05-27T20:05:00.000+09:00

I know it's a tad early to start writing about an essay, but given the potential hazard in the future, I might just well start doing some stuff at this stage.

Havard Essay #1:

Typical Leadership experience question. However, we should keep the word "recent" in mind. It seems like HBS people are more interested in reading some recent leadership experience so that they can effectively evaluate your leadership potential. I think I am gonna talk about the leadership experience I will have in the upcoming months when I will be an Academic Director. Unfortunately, my leadership moment back in 2002 would have been nicer, given that I lead a team of consultants for a "sexy" project of F500 multinational company operating in Korea. I guess I have to talk to some people about this choice of my leadership experience here. 400 word limit seems to imply that the adcom's preferance is to keep all those "gibberish" comments off the essay. Straight "what have you done? why did you do what you did?" thing. It would be highly appropriate for anybody to write 80~100 words to set up the situation with any tangible background information and to spend next 300~320 words to write about what you did and your subsequent reflection and result on the actions. It will be interesting given the word limit. It will be a very dry, very serious essay with the subsequent analyses to be done by HBS adcom on the underlying principles of my actions.

Wharton Essay #1:
Now, I gotta love Wharton adcom. They are actually sensitive enough to allow us to tinker with 1000 words here. Most likely I will talk about what I have learned in this global economy with a variety of job functions (this is critical one for me, since I have to turn all those adverse spotty job changes into the positives by emphasizing the fact that I have had fortunate experiences of having worked at different cultures and different climates over the previous 4 years. Compared to the 400 word limit imposed by HBS, this essay should be easier to write and to be "poetic" to a certain degree. I have to justify my future career plan, my short term plan, why Wharton, why now, why MBA, and my prior experiences in 1000 word limit. Dauting, but not impossible. I am already approaching 600 word limits as I have covered up my previous work experience. (Of course, I envision about at least 5~6 revisions over the course of next few months on this essay.)

Glad to have some room to add some "flavor" here. Thank you Wharton!

More Thoughts on Admission Consultants

2004-05-27T14:53:00.000+09:00

Contrary to my initial expectation, I am getting very useful information from admission consultants. Previously, I mentioned my "blind date" with Sandy Kreisberg, and I shall mention again that it wasn't a plesant experience from my ego's perspective. He basically said that, at first glance, I wasn't pretty enough or sexy enough for him. Getting a cold shoulder from one of the hottest chicks at a local bar is one thing. Getting told that I am not sexy enough by admission consultant is heart-breaking. However, I believe that Sandy will be a good consultant for some of you who are still searching for that elusive answer to "why MBA and why now". He seems like an ideal person for procratisnating, undisciplined, and unorganized applicants who need some good yelling in getting the job done. Overall, he seems to actually have much useful "inside" information.

Since I fall into the category of "look, I am paying you to work for me, not vice-versa!", it is highly unlikely that I will hire Sandy in the near future.

Accepted.com: Linda Abraham

After I saw how much work she's been doing on BusinessWeek website, I decided to call her a few days ago. Prior to calling her, I sent a one-page length of my background information, from my academic profile, work experience, to my extracurriculars and my long term objectives. To my pleasant surprise, she actually took time and talked to me for about 40 minutes without giving me any signs of getting irritated or frustrated with my aggressive interrogations. Obviously, the fact that she seems to recognize my unresistable charm has something to do with this. Eh... back to the original topic.

She provided very useful information about what to do and what not to do in writing essays, even though the information are somewhat basic and self-explanatory. However, she did give me a good tip on what I should write about some of the skills I have learned from teaching. Among some things, she mentioned about "communication skills", which I had never thought about until this moment. So it was a good session, obviously. The impression I got from her throughout the session was that she does actually know alot of stuff and has experience to show for. Unfortunately, she mentioned that she is not working with applicants directly, and that she was more of an editor and a manager who oversees the operation. She said that she will have me assigned to a consultant named "Jennifer Bloom", whom I have not yet spoken to.

Overall, I got a good vibe from her, and I really sensed that she was down-to-earth, sincere, honest, and most importantly a person with intergrity whom I can build personal relationship with beyond conventinal client relationship. The only knock on her is that she doesn't seem to work with clients directly, despite her claim that she does some editing work on essays. Overall, a big thumbs-up. I may consult with Jennifer on my first essay of Harvard ("the recent leadership experience"), but the jury is out on Jennier at this moment. The cost? $700 per essay, with $450 per subsequent essay thereafter.

Clearadmit.com Graham Richmond

I finally got to talk to him live by calling him in France. Previously, I sent him an email with the same profile letter attached. He had not called me back, so I decided to give him a ring. As I expected, he was very personable, professional, and insightful. The major advantage of his service seems to be his prior working experience in actual adcom setting, his MBA experience with Wharton, and his current position as an admission consultant.

I ended up talking to him for more than 50 minutes, 50 minutes of free consultation. Like Linda, he is a good one, confirming some of the things on my application which I had previously confirmed with various people and suggesting various positionings for me to pursue my application essay process. I could sense that he was genuinely interested in getting to know his clients, and he seems to impply the notion that "what makes you unque" part of essay is a very critical element.

Upon finishing talking to him, I already made my mind working with him on my Wharton essay. It will cost me around 4~5 hours worth of his services for my whole Wharton package, including essays, resume, recommendation, and other stuff. His service is $185 per hour if I buy a block of 4 hours, otherwise $200 per hour.

Overall, I have to give Graham a big thumbs-up for his professional attitude and his genuine interest in his clients. He has already sent me a quetionairre to fill out. You gotta love that!

I really believe that each of you should initiate conversation with these people first. They usually allow 30 minutes or so to talk to you without charing you a dime, and I think everyone should take advantage of this "free offer". My take on these two consultants is that you can't go wrong with either as long as you are aware of your own weaknesses and limitations. I mean, after all, they can't help you mitigate sub-600 GMAT score with 55% Q percetile, no matter how much you pay them.

Good luck.

Funny post at BWeek!

2004-05-27T04:22:00.000+09:00

Angry Young Summer Associate
By Tim Shields, MBA 2

Well, summer is over and by all relevant measures it was a smashing
success; after all, in addition to getting to spend 110 hours a week next to Iris, my job provided me with a whole new crop of people towards whom I could direct my rage and bitterness. The 38 members of my Investment Banking Summer Associate class represented a wide range of personality types, from the merely obnoxious to the moderately narcissistic to the overwhelmingly repugnant. What amazed me most of all was how these differences invariably broke down along school lines. I had always been of the impression that all MBA students were more or less the same, allocated in some random fashion
(a.k.a. the admissions process) to the various schools. I was wrong.
I was very wrong. The differences between people from school X versus
school Y are enormous, and I write this column to provide you with a useful glimpse of the person you might have been if Marie's dart had landed just a tad to the right.

Without Further Adieu:

Wharton. These people were frightening. Like caged tigers long
deprived of fresh kill, they descended upon Wall Street seeking to satiate their unquenchable thirst for discounted cash flows, coverage ratios, and, of course, 'the Big Deal.' They were boorish and dull, and interacting with them was like being locked in a room with a Bloomberg machine, except that the Bloomberg screen has two dimensions. Their armor was not impenetrable, however, and I loved tugging at their Achilles' heel. It annoyed them to no end when I referred to them as 'the Penn people.' They also have this
complex about their status in the b-school hierarchy, desperately
trying to convince themselves that everyone buys into Business Week's
assessment of their school. When one of the Wharton people expressed to me his disappointment at the number of fellow summer associates who were not from Stanford, Harvard, or Wharton, thus presumably reflecting poorly on the Bank's recruiting efforts and relative prestige, I concurred, noting that 'at Goldman they hire nearly exclusively from Stanford and HBS, which explains its sterling reputation.' His subsequent wince was one of the highlights of my summer.

Columbia. Sort of Wharton-lite, Columbia MBAs were finance semi-gurus
with a little less attitude. Having successfully climbed over the backs of their classmates in order to obtain one of the precious few slots allocated by Wall Street firms to the hundreds of eager Columbia MBAs, it was always great fun to tell them how by comparison it was so remarkably easy to obtain an investment banking job from Stanford. 'My background? I worked in a food pantry in Appalachia for a couple of years after obtaining my peace studies degree from a junior college in Arkansas. I also failed my finance and
accounting core classes in business school, so I was really surprised
when I had eleven banking offers for the summer. Do you think that would have happened if I had gone to Columbia?' Yeah, I loved doing that. If I was in a truly nasty mood, I would follow up with a discussion hypothesizing on the quality of life differences between Palo Alto and Harlem. As you might guess, I wasn't too popular among the Columbia crowd.

Kellogg. Believe it or not, I actually like the Kellogg people. Not
the sharpest ginsu knives in the set, they were as out of place on Wall Street as you might expect from people who'd spent the prior year intensely debating the merits of Dave Thomas appearing in person in the Wendy's commercials. Still, they were all pretty cool and laid back and into having a good time. I thought they would have fit in quite well here at Stanford; in fact, if you took the average Stanford MBA, subtracted 50 IQ points and added a penchant for sub-zero weather (probably related to the lost IQ points), you would have a Kellogg MBA.

MIT/Sloan. I think I found Waldo. Every stereotype you have ever
heard about MIT is true. These guys were such incredible weenies, brilliantly managing to combine both the brainpower and social grace of an HP19B-II. Every time one of them came anywhere near me I did my best to convey a look which said quite plainly: 'go away - now.' I was generally unsuccessful, as they would not budge until they had finished telling me how they had been working until 5am every day this week on such and such a glamorous and sexy project, and
that they had worked on a project similar to the one I was assigned
to 'when they first started.' Moments before going postal, I could usually get them to leave me alone by making a comment to the effect of 'it must be a bummer constantly having to remind people that the school you go to in Boston is not Harvard.'

Harvard. Speaking of Harvard, I've got to hand it to the HBS people.
Their ability to mask their general incompetence with sheer arrogance
impressed me. Floating through the summer like Cinderella at the ball, they expected you to accept their jargon-laced drivel with the same attitude that Moses and his stone tablets received on Sinai. Universally despised, they were oblivious to the disdain they inspired among their summer classmates. I suspect they would have been indifferent, though, associates being several levels below anyone they considered worthy of their attention.

Others. There were also a few stragglers from other random schools.
To quickly summarize, Darden and Chicago people get a thumbs-up; NYU and Yale a thumbs-down. There were also a few ranch-hands from Canadian schools who I thought should have been raising cattle or growing wheat or doing whatever it is they do in Canada, but probably not investment banking, eh.

Wow, already a dose of reality pill

2004-05-25T13:24:00.000+09:00

I talked with Sandy (http://world.std.com) who is a fairly well-known admission consultant. He really let me know where I stood against my competitors for the upcoming 2005 application, in no uncertain terms. I thought I was registering for a boot camp initially.

He said, "You worked for shitty companies, you got shitty grades, you went to okish school, you barely got over the decent score on GMAT, and say what? You want some corporate restructuring job after HBS MBA? Wake up! You live in a cuckoo land! You have zero chance of getting into HBS, zero!" The lack of blue-chip work experience along with fuzzy career progression with equally puzzling career goal basically puts my application in the bottom rung of the applications, he seems to imply.

I probably don't have to tell you how I felt at the moment. I think the long pause of silence rather spoke for the state of my mind. In all honesty, this hurt me a little bit, especially after I got somethin like "91" on my IQ test (see below for link).

However, after a few minutes of regrouping, I kinda saw through his initial remarks. He was inviting for my strong opinion to speak up. He wanted to see whether my resilency would emerge amid those harsh moments to validate my strong desire to pursue the tough road ahead of me.

He also mentioned that I might have "a shot" for Wharton, given right execution (his buzz words).

Funny thing, right after finishing talking with him, I went to the BusineWeek forum and found the thread where a HBS alum named "PersCoach" shared her insightful knowledge regarding the HBS admission. And this certainly helped as she told that she only had 2.9 GPA (granted, it's Ivy League GPA in a tough engineering major). She really seemed to imply that the unique experience regardless of the scales of such size is what HBS is looking for, and I believed her.

Well, today was a good day. I definely woke up, and now I know that I have to squeez up more juicy insights in order to justify "why MBA, why now" question - perhaps the single most important question of the most important criteria for just about any MBA admission procedures.

IQ Test

2004-05-23T16:04:00.000+09:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/testthenation/iq/

Enjoy the IQ test.

Perspective

2004-05-23T14:43:00.000+09:00

From BusinessWeek,

"Katrina Gill, a 36-year-old certified nursing aide, worked in one of the premiere long-term care facilities near Portland, Ore. From 10:30 p.m. to 7 a.m., she was on duty alone, performing three rounds on the dementia ward, where she took care of up to 28 patients a night for $9.32 an hour. She monitored vitals, turned for bedsores, and changed adult diapers. There were the constant vigils over patients like the one who would sneak into other rooms, mistaking female patients for his deceased wife. Worse was the resident she called "the hitter" who once lunged at her, ripping a muscle in her back and laying her flat for four days.

Last month, Gill quit and took another job for 68 cents an hour more, bringing her salary to $14,400 a year. But like so many health-care workers, she has no health-care benefits from her job. So she and her garage mechanic husband pay $640 monthly for a policy and have racked up $160,000 in medical debts from their youngest son Brandyn's cancer care.

In New York City, Joseph Schiraldi, 41, guards one of the biggest terrorist targets in the world: the Empire State Building. For eight hours a day, he X-rays packages, checks visitors' IDs, and patrols the concourse. But on $7.50 an hour in the priciest city in the U.S., he's a security officer without security -- no pension, no health care, and no paid sick days, typical for a nonunion guard.

Bellingham (Wash.) day-care teacher Mandy Smith can't afford child care for her 6-year-old son, Jordan, on her take-home pay of $60 a day. Neither can commercial cleaner Theresa Fabre on her $8.50 an hour job. So her son, Christian, 9, waits for her after school in a crumbling upper Manhattan library where the kids line up five-deep to use one of two computers. The librarian doubles as a de facto babysitter for 40 or so other kids of the working poor."

God Bless these people. They deserve some benefits of doubt.

Working Hours and Productivity

2004-05-22T13:27:00.000+09:00

I was surfing over the BWeek board, and the topic was "is it too early to go home?" There were a handful of people who were debating whether they should go home around 3 PM on Friday, since the boss has already left.

Man, I was laughing my ass off! This message reminded of the times when I was working as a financial analyst back in LA. In short, Thursday was Friday for us. Come Friday, we would stroll to the work around 9:30~10:00, trying to look busy for about a couple of hours before the lunch time. Of course, we would spend a bulk of these hours checking emails, checking voicemails, IMing friends who are also keenly aware of the day of the week, and surfing the web. Then, we, obviously in bunch, would go to lunch for about 90 minutes. The only reason we didnt stay for more than 2 hours is that we would feel too guilty had we stayed beyond the "2 hour" limit stated by the virtue of "unspoken rule" of our office. So we come back at 1:30ish, and for the next 2 hours, we would call some people (of course, I leave message on their VM, since no one wants to talk on the phone on Friday), get some financial analysis done, which anyone could have done in a span of 15 minutes, talk to boss about the upcoming projects (just to show that you are eagerly looking forward to the next Monday). When the clock shows 3:30ish, we, of course in bunch, head down to Starbuck for a "quick" coffee. What I mean by "quick" coffee, I mean at least a half-hour. After a quick coffee break, we would come back to the office around 4:10ish. And by the time we come back up, the boss is already gone, having left for the weekend. I am like, "so can I go now?", obviously I am only talking to myself at this time, since everyone is already packing their bags and ready to go home.

I would usually surf the web for extra half-hour and would leave for good at around 5ish.

Just shows how wonderful our American corporate culture is.

Friday is not a Friday. It is a day to reflect how much you have worked over the previous four days, a day to contemplate about exciting work projects you will have in the follwing week, a day to plan and schedule productive weekends, a day to enjoy your life, and a day to jerk off in front of your computer monitor since you have nothing better to do.

Holy shit! Wharton's new app came out already!

2004-05-21T16:06:00.000+09:00

Thank you for your interest in applying to Wharton. The application cycle for Admissions in Fall 2004 is now closed. The application deadlines for Fall 2005 are:

Round One (Early Decision) October 14, 2004
Round Two January 6, 2005
Round Three March 17, 2005

All deadlines are 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Essay Questions for the 2005 Application

Instructions The Admissions Committee is interested in getting to know you on both a professional and personal level. We encourage you to be introspective, candid, and succinct. Most importantly, we suggest you be yourself.

First-Time Applicant Essays (this also includes those who applied for Fall 2002 or earlier)

Required: Describe your career progress to date and your future short-term and long-term career goals. How do you expect an MBA from Wharton to help you achieve these goals and why now? (1,000 words)

Required: Describe an impact you've had on an individual, group or organization. How has this experience been valuable to you or others? (500 words)

Required: Please complete two of the following three questions (500 words):
Describe when you were part of a team where the group process and/or intended outcome failed. What did you learn?

Describe a situation where your values, ethics, or morals were challenged. How did you handle the situation?

Describe a personal characteristic or something in your background that will help the Admissions Committee to know you better.

Optional: If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the Committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, significant weaknesses in your application). (250 words)

Reapplicant Essays (if you applied for Fall 2003 or Fall 2004; all other reapplicants are to complete the first-time applicant essays only)

Reapplicants are required to complete two essays, with the option of a third essay that may be used to address extenuating circumstances.

Required: Please describe your career progress to date and your future short-term and long-term career goals. How do you expect an MBA from Wharton to help you achieve these goals and why now? What steps have you taken to improve your candidacy since the last time you applied? (1,000 words)

Required: Please complete one of the following four questions (500 words):
Describe an impact you뭭e had on an individual, group or organization. How has this experience been valuable to you or others?

Describe when you were part of a team where the group process and/or intended outcome failed. What did you learn?

Describe a situation where your values, ethics, or morals were challenged. How did you handle the situation?

Describe a personal characteristic or something in your background that will help the Admissions Committee to know you better.

Optional: If you feel there are extenuating circumstances of which the Committee should be aware, please explain them here (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, significant weaknesses in your application). (250 words)

Additional Joint Wharton MBA/MA - Lauder Applicant Essays (these essays are in addition to the Wharton application essays above and are required)

Describe a cross-cultural experience in your adult life that was challenging to you. How did you meet this challenge and what did you learn from the experience? (1,000 words)

Please explain why you are currently applying to Lauder. How do you expect the Wharton/Lauder joint-degree experience to benefit you on both a professional and personal level? (1,000 words)

The Application
(includes Recommendation, Essay, and Transcript Request forms) The online application will be available in August. Thank you for your patience.

Let the games begin!

Thoughts on MBA essays

2004-05-21T15:05:00.000+09:00

I couldn't resist the temptations of logging in again and posting this message about some of the reflections I just had about MBA essays.

I have been actively browsing through some of the fellow MBA blogs who have succeeded in gaining admission to top MBA programs and who have not. I am trying to find common themes or traits being developed here, but obviously it is hard, almost impossible. The variety of applicants and their previous experiences makes it hard for me to find, say, formula,which is understandable.

However, the one thing I can say is that the successful MBA applicants have shown strong signs of confidence in their jouney to the MBA. True, there were times that they were stressed out, but in overall pictures, I can actually sense that they have been enjoying this ride, as much as the moments have been agonizing for them.

On a side note, these are some of the useful reminders when approaching essays:

1. You have to make a seamless story of a full picture of your goals, your previous achievement, and your current status and positions with your insights on who you are and what you are.

In a nutshell, Previous Achievements => Present Status, Present State of Mind, and Present Responsibilities => Future Goals and Future Career Aspirations. The logical flow from the first to the end has to be smooth, leaving no questions to the admcom people along the way. Obviously, this is easier said than done.

So, let's examine my case for a quick example.

"Real estate consultant, financial analyst => teacher => consulting and entrepreneur"

See what I mean? There is no logical flow here in my case in apparent glance.

And this will be a daunting task for me to pursuade admcom people and more importantly myself to make sure with detailed insights of who you are and what you are and with equally detailed anecdotes that this picture of your long terms diagram does indeed make sense. Many people seem caught up in the fact that they have to touch on several key traits in their essays, such as leadership potential, teamwork traits, initiatives, humanitarian characteristics, etc. However, what is more important at least from my opinion is that you have to develop a clear, concise, and overwhemingly pursuasive diagram of your past, present, and future roadmap so that MBA at this juncture of time does make sense to me and to others who read my essays.

More tips on Verbal Part

2004-05-21T13:36:00.000+09:00

Verbal:

1. Improvement in Sentence Correction should be a matter of time. Given time and effort, everyone should significantly improve score on SC section. Implication? practice, practice, and practice. I can confidently proclaim that I can now get about 90% of the SC problems right, should I have to retake the exam - indeed, a significant improvement, considering the fact that my initial performance on SC yielded only about 50% correct answer. You should "get down and get nasty" with SC by doing each and every problem on the OG, preferably more than twice throughout. Make sure you fully understand the basis behind each explanation.

2. The Reading Comprehension is by far the hardest part to master, yet the easiest part to improve. Paraphrasing is your best friend when you approach the RC section. Knowing what they are saying and actually paraphrasing each paragraph with the diagram drawn to illustrate the clear process of logics are two different things. GMAT RC is not to test your understanding skill, rather it is a test to evaluate your understanding of logical path flows used in the passages (so to speak. Do the following for each passage:

for example:

1st Paragraph: "Beta vs. VCR and their pros and cons"

2nd Paragraph: "Beta's cons and VCR's pros in the market share, stratgies, and marketig alliancements"

3rd Paragraph: "Author's opinion on VCR's emergence in the heavily competed market"

With such a paraphrasing work, you should be able to sharpen your critical reading abilities. I reiterate again the importance of doing paraphrasing for each paragraph; they will pay off at the end.

3. Do not underestimate the difficulty of Critical Reasoning part. I was fucked over by CR part on my second part. There were strings of "inferred" questions on the test; I was just awed by the difficulty of some of these questions. Try LSAT CR questions, and try to read each explanation in detail to prepare for some "unexpected".

My first business trip and some personal tips regarding GMAT

2004-05-21T01:29:00.000+09:00

I went down to Pusan by flight for a seminar with parents. Pusan is supposed to be the second largest city in Korea, second only to Seoul, but from my perspective, it's hardly a city, with a few scattered office buildings here and there, and with about one-tenth of the market size of Seoul.

Anyway, I met with about 8 parents who bombarded me with questions, such as "What is your strategy on teaching TOEFL, SAT, etc, blah, blah,?" I think the dumbest question of the day has to be when someone mentioned "how much do you think my son will improve over the summer?" Geez, I don't know. I may have better luck at answering to "What is the best pickup line?"

Dear parents, there is no formula in getting a high score on a test. Well, there is. You just need to study hard at it. There are some minor strategies you need to keep in mind when you take a test, but to expect such minor strategies to have overwhelming influence on your test score in such a short period of time is absurd and unrealistic.

Talking about tests, I took GMAT 3 times, as previously mentioned. The score on my first test was in line with my expectation, given that I haven't spent too much time studying for the test. I think I spent more time worrying about the psychological impact the score would have on me. And to my dismay, I bombed the second test. I got a meager 610 on my second test, with my verbal percentile showing a miserable 67%. (In all honesty, I even went as far as questioning the rigor of my undergraduate institution after having exhausted all of the options avaliable to me in blaming game.)

However, to my pleasant surprise, I increased my score from the second test by exactly 100 points after a couple of months without studying at all! I think the relaxed state of mind and better focus certainly paid off at the end. The GMAT is more or less about what you know. I think it is more about your determination, your focus level, and some random luck involved in giving you a selection of questions from the pool of questions.

So let me give you a quick run-down on what I have learned in approaching GMAT:

Math.

1. Do not worry about combinatin, permutation stuff. I repeat, do not worry about combination, permutation materials. At most, you will be given two very BASIC questions pertaining to these topics, and as long as you know how to solve "5 People in total, 2 People being selected from this group, how many different scenarios?", you are ok.

2. Try to solve every freaking problems on OG. Understanding the process of solving problems and actually solving the problems using scratch paper are two different things. And I, of course, heavily emphasize the values of doing the latter for an obvious reason. You need to keep your quantitative, more specifically, your familiarity with actual calculating process as sharp as possible.

3. Do not give up too easily even if you are stuck. Contrary to the conventional belief that you need to quickly move to the next question when stuck, I have found many questions that were confusing at first ridiculously easy after carefully examining the concepts in question. Remember, the length of explantion for the math problems in OG is on average less than a paragraph. Implication? Most questions can be solved in quck 1-2 steps method, without doing much calculation.

4. If you have been consistently scoring between 43~46, you should focus more on honing your "soft" skills, rather than trying to focus on gaining "technical" knowledge. The consistent scoring in this range clearly illustrates that you know what you need to know for the test. You only need to sharpen your time management skills, your focus level training, your stamina, you psychological mindset, and your determination.

Verbal...more tomorrow.

Another day of introspection

2004-05-20T03:43:00.000+09:00

man, today was just one of those days. Throughout the day, I was just thinking about MBA, essays, "why MBA", "why Harvard", "why now", "leadership experiences", etc. The whole damn thing wouldnt get off my mind!

I think it is natural for me to act this way, since I have already made up my mind to apply for the next year's class. I was just browsing a blog done by "Tad Holdie", and I must say I am damn impressed by the level of dedication and insights shown by his whole blog.

It is unfortunate that he will no longer share his wisdoms with me, but I also appreciate his decision to have his blog open still.

It's almost 4 AM, and I am still thinking about this whole MBA application stuff. THis is just killing me!