Monday, July 14, 2008

ScoreTop, Columbia, Chicago, Berkeley

I don't want to be one of those blogs that just links to other articles and has zero original content... BUT I found this interesting. BusinessWeek asked a bunch of b-schools what they would do with ScoreTop cheaters and the answers basically ranged from "suspend/expel the cheaters" to "treat them on a case-by-case basis and let's wait to hear more info from GMAC." Almost none of the schools are being overly lenient which I guess they would never want to do from a PR standpoint. Anyway, the link is below.

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/jul2008/bs20080713_236462.htm

I finally revisited my Columbia "passions" essay... I think it's okay, not great. Just "okay" is not going to cut it though my admissions consultant insists it's the least important of the 4 essays. I may agree but still. I want to knock every part of the application out of the ballpark. I'm aiming to finalize the essay this week before the Columbia app comes out. It will probably be released anywhere from the end of this week to end of next week. Exciting stuff huh?

Also, Chicago released their essays and Soni's blog has some nice commentary on it. Basically it's only 3 questions (nice!) but 1 of them is the dreaded slide presentation... it sounds easy but hard at the same time. I hate my powerpoint skills. Looks like I won't be applying to Chicago as a secondary. I don't want to be with a socially awkward student body anyway, even if Chicago is a cool-ass city. Looks like Yale, NYU, Wharton it may have to be.

In news that none of you probably care about, I'm enjoying summer and life in general but not that much, if you know what I mean. One of my friends suggested it's because I have too much routine. I essentially go to work, go home, go to the gym, then go home every weekday. On weekends, I go to the gym every day and go out once. Boring me. He suggested I visit friends in other cities. San Francisco/Berkeley comes immediately to mind but I feel like I need to stay focused with Columbia apps being out so soon. Maybe after I submit. But what if I love the area so much and then become tempted to apply to Berkeley? Actually, that would be a good thing I guess so nevermind. Silly me.

7 comments:

Mo Zhou said...

WoW... you are finalizing your essays quite early. Jealous. I'm stuck with the theory and practice essay. :( Anything I wrote just crap, hopefully I'll have some brilliant idea soon.

TienyChesney said...

HappyB,

No no no, you got me all wrong. I haven't even started essays #2 and #3! I may brainstorm or rough draft them if I have time but I planned on waiting to see if those essays remained the same first. The only essays that i've written are #1 and #4 since we know those will remain the same. I think my #1 is completely done and hopefully #4 will be done this week. So don't worry- I am in a worse boat than you :)

Anonymous said...

kind of surprised that you'd say chicago is a "secondary" with the likes of nyu and yale on your list.

the "socially awkward" statement is also a tad harsh, and i think outdated for the gsb.

disclaimer: i am NOT attending chicago, but i did attend the admit weekend this past year and was very impressed with the caliber of students - both socially and academically - that were present.

TienyChesney said...

hi Nonveg,

I didn't mean that Chicago is a second-rate program or non-elite by any means. In fact, I think that most would prob argue that Chicago is better than Columbia. All I meant was that for myself personally, Columbia is number 1. I want to go there more than I want to attend even H, S, and W if you can believe that. So I was really just grasping for a term to call the other schools that I would apply to (aka Wharton, Yale, NYU). I didn't mean they were lesser programs in any way, but rather, they were not my first choice. Hope I didn't offend you :) And yes, I know the socially awkward stereotype is heavily debated by some but in my (admittedly very limited) experience, it rings true.

Mo Zhou said...

Tieny,

They said there is only going to be 3 essays!!! check this out http://gmatclub.com/forum/103-t63151&start=100

TienyChesney said...

HappyB,

Oh my goodness!! That's crazy and I don't like it!!! I'm nearly done with my "passions" essay so I guess I've wasted my time with it since it's no longer an essay. I wonder if this guy's info is correct since he said it was from the Assistant Director of Admissions. It's still heresay at this point but he certainly seemed legit in his posting. Darnit, I gotta get my butt in gear for the other topics which I haven't even started now!! Grrr. But thanks for that super super helpful bit of info! I owe you...

Anonymous said...

Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium?
Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!