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October 28, 2005
Dreaming big dreams, Roaming the Big City
It has been way too long since my last entry. I realized that the reason I procrastinate so much in writing for my blog is that I get overwhelmed with how much I want to share that I just don't end up writing at all. I'm going to use Marquis' blog as my example and let ya'll know as much as possible, so that you can use my experiences to guide(and possibly entertain) you on your own journey in applying to Business school.
So! For Fall Break, I went to NYC with two of my best friends, Shadiah and Carla. Shadiah is looking at Law Schools, Carla is looking into a PhD program in Politics or maybe a Masters in Journalism, and I am interested in getting a dual Masters in Business and Public Policy/Administration.
First of all, I LOVED New York City. I was thrilled at being able to get everywhere you needed to go via public transportation. If only LA even pretended to have public transportation half as good as that of New York City... It would be a beautiful thing.
The plan was to visit NYU Stern, Columbia's GSB, and HBS. That just did not happen. After really being honest with myself, I knew that I wasn't enthusiastic about attending Columbia (for a variety of reasons) and that I just wasn't ready to spend a combined ten hours getting to and from Boston to visit Harvard on this trip. That just don't make no sense.
So we focused our energies on visiting NYU and I really enjoyed myself! I looked at both Stern and Wagner, the school of Public Service. I was really concerned when I found out that the director of admissions had never heard of Pomona College (come on now, Pomona College, we need to step up the publicity...), so I told her about our "high rankings" and the excellent caliber of student that attends the school. I hope that in the future NYU will swing by little ole Claremont in their recruiting visits.
A dual degree in Business and Public Policy/Administration is very appealing to me, because it allows me the flexibility and mobility to simultaneously straddle the private and public sector and to bridge them. I plan to dedicate my life to finding innovative ways to improve the world. At this point in my life, the most appealing way to do this is to apply business know-how to public service idealism. I was encouraged when the director of admissions at Wagner told me that I truly sounded like a great candidate for the dual degree program.
This summer, I spent a week at Harvard Kennedy School as a Galbraith Scholar, learning about the various academic opportunities there (PhD in Sociology or Government and Social Policy; and the two-year MPP). I would love to spend three years at Harvard and get an MBA/MPP with HBS and KSG. Stern was definitely very appealing though, due to its amazing locale and great funding opportunities. We'll see what happens. I'm not applying to Stern this year, because the Consortium doesn't allow deferrals and I don't want to be applying just for the heck of it.
I definitely have not even pretended to start studying for the GMAT. I'm scheduled to take the exam on December 29, so I have some time, but I definitely need to just sit down and do it--even for just thirty minutes a day. Lord knows I have enough prep books and software. Now I just need to use it.
So the plan is to live in NYC this summer. I'm applying to this internship program called SEO. It's very competitive and has the aim of preparing college-aged students of color to take top jobs in the business industry. Students can intern in a variety of fields from Investment Banking, Accounting, Global Corporate Leadership, Corporate Law, to Philanthropy. I plan on applying to the Philanthropy program. If accepted (cross your fingers for me!), I would be placed at a big-time foundation and have the job of conducting site visits, doing written and oral presentations, and going to seminars on networking and other issues related to the field. They only take 15 people each year for the Philanthropy program, so I have to really convince them that I am THE person they want.
I know that I am. They won't know what hit them.
There's so much more to say, but I'm going to end it here and pick it up sooner than later. No really, I will.
Posted by kaneisha at October 28, 2005 04:43 AM