Sunday, April 6, 2008

No Vision

So my primary concern (aside from trying to get work on a project that's more real estate related) is that I have no vision. I told my story to a friend and he said the first thing that jumped out at him was that I had a reason to pursue real estate development but no real "vision". I agree. I wrote the following post on the BW forums to the Anonymous Admissions Consultant (gmatgenius) who has yet to reply. I decided to paste my post because I think it articulates my concern pretty well.

I do have a more pressing concern at this point. One friend of mine said that my story for wanting to become a real estate developer lacks the so-called "wow" factor. He said that the reason is because I have no "vision". To me, the attraction of real estate development is not only the challenge and ability to build something tangible, but the opportunity to contribute to a city (even one as great as New York). Helping to shape the landscape/skyline and re-invent what people think of as iconic buildings- those are the things that hold immense appeal to me. Obviously these are my feelings and opinions, not a "vision". Do you think this hurts me? I think that I can convey this well (read: sincerely) in an interview setting but I worry that I'll come off as simply a greedy slum lord wannabe in the essays.

So essentially I like the idea of helping to shape New York City. I want to be able to walk down the street or stare across from Brooklyn and point to something that I helped contribute to. Is this enough? I don't know.

In even more paranoid news, my BW forums username is "TienEtBerkeley". This is because I created the account over a year ago when Berkeley was my top choice (what a foolish thought at the time hehe). Anyway, BW will not allow me to change my username... it's funny cuz there is an option to do so but when you try to change it, BW doesn't actually process the change. Also, I cannot open a new account under the same email address! So I'm stuck with my Berkeley username ... my concern is that some of the Columbia admissions officer (i.e. Christina) will see it and remember me negatively come admissions time. I even had the insane thought to email Christina to explain the situation but I think no information would be preferrable in this situation hehe. I may have to start a new email so I can create a new username. Then I'll just forward all of that new email's messages to my current email.

2 comments:

Soni said...

I think you're worrying about your BW username a bit too much. I don't think Cristina or anybody else at the adcom will know who you are. That would be pure conjecture on their part and they try to keep things as unbiased as possible.
As long as you apply ED they will know CBS is ur first choice. stop sweating ;)

TienyChesney said...

Soni Sir,

I know I'm worrying too much... I'm sure you must've busted a gut after reading that I changed my handle to "TienColumbiaLove" huh? sounds like a hippie name but my brain wasn't helping out much. I'll try to stop sweating, I promise. And!!! you will be happy to know that I have already checked out your blog... I check up on it every so often. Very nice- it's not nearly as neurotic as mine :P The funny thing is that you seem like such a bright, knowledgable guy with real interests on your blog.. but ppl who don't get your sarcasm from the BW forums prob think you're a smart aleck hehe. You should let them know that there are 2 sides of Soni to see!