Starting at the beginning...

So I should really start with how I made the decision to go to business school, I suppose...

Its been something that I've been thinking about for quite a long time - when you start out in consulting after university, you are basically surrounded by post-MBA consultants from day one. Talk of Harvard, Stanford, Wharton etc. was commonplace. Without making this sound too "essay-ish", you get to see pretty quickly what an MBA can do. Most MBA alums that I worked with could structure the workload well, develop a plan for all our cases, and did a good job of leading teams (although, to be fair, thats probably a lot easier in a consultancy than in a lot of other businesses!). I've therefore definitely seen the benefits of an MBA in action.

Even though I decided that I wanted to specialise rather than continuing my consulting career, I still considered an MBA as a good option for the future. However, it was only when my job situation changed again earlier this year, and forced me to do a lot of evaluating about the future, that I realised it was definitely the right choice. I realised that an MBA would open doors and help me to build the career that I want.

The next step was deciding where I wanted to go...

3 seconds of relief...

It's gone 7pm on Sunday evening (London time!) and I've taken the plunge and set up this blog.

The reason? The waiting is killing me! I've just spent five months with the various aspects of b-school applications seemingly taking over my life. But with 5 of my 6 applications submitted and no word yet from any of them, I need something to stop me going mad!

Here's how I came to the decision to start this blog:

Sunday Jan 3, 9.30pm:
Pressed submit on my UCLA application, the last of three that I was submitting in time for early Jan deadlines. What a palpable sense of relief! Time for a break from reading and re-reading essays, or trying to explain my current job in 200 characters or less!

9.30pm and 3 seconds:
Login to gmail and see if there's any news yet. No such luck. Feelings of relief drain away and the anxiety sets in...

9.40pm:
Discover the 'Business Week Forum' for MBA applicants. Big mistake.

Monday/Tuesday (all day):
Productivity at work falls off a cliff as I begin to obsessively check forums, email and blogs every 30 mins. Uh oh.

Wednesday:
Snow day! Couldnt get to work due to bad weather, so prepared for a long day with even less incentive to steer clear of the forums than usual. Luckily (!), there were some major issues on my current project, so had to spend most of the day actually working.

Thursday/Friday:
Work continues to occupy most of my time (how inconsiderate!), but I've still got b-school on my mind...

Saturday/Sunday:
Spend quite a bit of time on the blogs (glad to see I'm not the only one that is stressing like this). Decide that I cannot go on like this for the next 12 weeks. Resolve to start blog to prevent insanity becoming permanent.

So I'll spend the next few posts discussing various aspects of the b-school process, and the decisions I've been making over the past few months. I'll also keep you updated if I hear anything from the schools...