Tonight, I hit submit on the Harvard application. All the essays are in, all the scores are entered, and now it’s just a matter of waiting to hear back.
James has his stuff submitted now, too. We’ve done all we can do for this moment.
I feel good about it.
Harvard application continues apace. I’ve contacted the three people I was hoping would write recommendation letters for me, and all three have agreed. That’s a load off my mind.
The recommendation letters are one of the few parts of this process that aren’t directly under my control. Having them taken care of brings it all into my basket now. I suppose that one of my letter writers could drop the ball, and that would be unfortunate, but all of them are people I trust and respect. I don’t expect any problems, and if something unforeseeable occurs to cause problems, there isn’t one of them who’s ill-equipped to deal with it. I’ve made the best choices I could, and now it’s time to trust them.
Meanwhile, I have my own knitting to see to. Updating my resume to reflect my current job is one task, and finishing up the four essays Harvard asks for is the other. Working on those tonight.
After I’ve put the finishing touches on the writing, the only piece remaining is going to be the GMAT. That needs some preparation. It’s a multiple-choice test (primarily; there are essays), which means it’s susceptible to good test-taking strategies. Beyond that, however, I need to be ready for the math and verbal questions. It’s been a few years since I was taking academic tests, so studying is in order.
Got a message from James a few days ago. It’s time to move on our Harvard applications.
We’ve talked about this for a while. Years, actually. He’s got his Army and West Point experience, and would like to add an MBA on top of it when he’s out of the army permanently. Which makes very good sense. He’s already got a good resume, and the business degree added on ought to put him in a strong position, wherever he goes and whatever he tries to do. Plus, the government will cover grad school for him, under the GI Bill or one of the extensions to it. That’s a pretty serious perk, and one he should take advantage of.
I’m involved because I’ve already got a business degree and experience, plus James and I get along well these days, and we make a good team. We lived together for a while going to college earlier, and that was good times, right up until he was pulled off to Iraq.
James has been batting this idea around for three or four years, now. When he first suggested it to me, I was deeply sceptical of the whole plan. School and I are not naturally agreeable to one another. My first attempt, I went too slowly and ended up bailing out to go work again. Second time through, at UHCL, I was a lot smarter, a lot harder-working, and had a much better plan, so I powered on through in two years. And was happy to have gotten out the other side. Why, then, would I be contemplating going back for more?
James managed to convince me that it would be a good plan. Gave me a book on the subject, for one thing, which was a writer detailing his experiences at Harvard getting his MBA. It generally lead me to believe that Harvard is qualitatively different from the education I’ve had in the past. It’s faster moving, so I won’t get bored. It’s practical and case-study focused, which is much more in line with the classes I enjoyed and have found useful. It has a fixed, short duration; two years, and you’re out. That’s a good timeframe for me. It’s a highly respected program in general, and the professors I’ve known who were Harvard guys were some of the ones who impressed me the most. That’s worth emulating.
Also, it’s in New England, and it would be interesting and fun to spend some time outside Texas. Good to spend some time with James and Leticia. Lots of upsides to this plan.
So, I’m in. We’re putting in our applications now. Trying to make a January 10th deadline. It’s actually January 5th for me, since I’m going to be travelling from the 5th to the 10th. That’s less than a month away, which is a little close, but I’m pretty sharp, so it should be doable. Getting together references is likely to be the trickiest part, in terms of time. If I miss the second round, there’s a third application round in April, but I’d rather be in by January. Waiting until the last minute is not a winning strategy, in general.
All of which means it’s time to dust off the blog and start taking notes again.
Learning and memory are seperate processes. Learning is dependant on memory, however. (more…)
Talking about the last papers we handed in. Also about the Sniffy paper (more…)
Missed the last two classes. Not a good thing. Still, I’m here today. (more…)
Firing up again. A little bit of discussion of the Sniffy project. More next week. (more…)
Had a fairly productive meeting today for the group work. Feel a lot better about that, although I’m not completely sanguine about it. Hopefully, some of our other group members will show up today. (more…)
When I came in to class today, all the desks were pushed to the back of the room. Very odd. It bugged me, so I moved them back. Probably says something about me. Also, I apparently remind the woman who sits behind me of someone she went to highshool with. That was in Deer Park, though, so not me. (more…)
Starting up again today. Should be dealing with operant conditioning now. Not sure if we’ll get test grades back. (more…)
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