Back in the game!

First of all a big Thank You to all those who commented on my previous post to wish me. It feels great! Congratulations and All the Best to all those waiting for Round 1 interview invites.

The first thing I did this morning was to check my Wharton application status. Finally it turned to Complete Round-1 with all materials received. Whew! Given my screwed up luck, I was expecting it to turn Complete only at the very last hour on the 26th. Or even worse, I thought I will have to mail the adcom to find out why mine is not "Complete" yet. Yes, I did imagine quite a bit. I'm just being the obsessive me.

I've started work on my Columbia app. I have figured out what to write for each essay. I wish I did not have to craft a completely new essay. The essay about the manager I admire is going to take a lot of time. I'm going on vacation from 3-12 November. I want to submit my Columbia app by 2nd November because a) I will not be permanently connected to the internet from home. b) One of my closest friends is getting married and I want to enjoy her wedding and my vacation. So I'm going to work my ass off this weekend and get the essays ready. 1st November is a public holiday in Bangalore :-), so I will fill in the online app and submit on 1st mostly.

My diwali holidays were good. 5 days away from my apps was very relaxing. Mom's cooking rocks! I met my friends from school after many months. We went shopping together to buy a wedding gift for the one who's getting married. It was awesome fun and a lot like old times!

That's my update at the moment. I better dress and get to work now :D !

The much awaited vacation begins now!

Whew! 3.5 months of sheer toil culminated this morning when I submitted my Stanford application. Stanford's essays were the most beautiful ones in pdf form :-) ! I have submitted all my applications except Columbia. Yippie....

I have some more nice updates too...

• My Kellogg application says "Complete" and they are waiting for me to complete my interview. I got my Kellogg interview invite and I've also spoken to my interviewer. We've fixed a tentative date for the interview.
• My Chicago application is in "Complete" status.
• My Harvard and Stanford apps say "Submitted". I don't think HBS updates it at all, I'm not sure about Stanford.
• My Wharton app says "Received" and I expect it to turn to "Complete- Round 1" soon. So much for submitting early!

I feel both good and bad right now. Good - becauseI made a plan, stuck to it and finished everything on time, in spite of work pressure and illness and other obstacles. Bad - because the gruelling wait starts now. I have no clue what my chances are at these schools. I am not expecting to get in, I'm not expecting to be dinged right away, I'm not expecting an interview invite. My mind is just blank and I prefer it that way. Otherwise I will obsess endlessly and lose a lot of sleep over something I have no control over anymore :-)

The vacation starts now! I'm going home tomorrow night and will be only "occasionally connected" till the 25th of October. After I come back I will be busy for say 10 more days with my Columbia app and Kellogg interview prep. After that, I don't know what I will do with all the time. Of course, I'm on a hiatus from some activities, which I will promptly begin again. I will still have time to spare(I think)! It will be really nice to come back home early some day and laze around and do whatever I please :D.

This calls for some celebratory posts (which I will write in the near future)!

One day weekend...

I absolutely hated it!

Last weekend flew by while I was just running around helping my roomie prepare for her flight to the U S of A. Yesterday was a compensatory working day for the enforced holiday on Wednesday for a statewide strike. I had a very hectic day at office yesterday because my new roomie shifted in last evening and I had to leave at 5. The result? I slept like a log last night, woke up at 11am today with every inch of my body aching and begging me to go right back to bed. I repeat- I hate one day weekends.

I had not bought groceries and essentials for the month. My house was in a complete mess last week, so I postponed all monthly shopping, cleaning and any effort to restore normalcy till my roomie left. 12 hours a day at work throughout the week didn't help the cause either. Today, I spent the whole day stocking up the kitchen and fridge, cleaning my room and sleeping :-(. No TV, no reading, no application work.... My break, which was supposed to end yesterday, got extended by a day.

It's 10.45pm and I just logged on to catch up on all the activity in the blogosphere. But it's very silent here also. Is everyone having a bad weekend like me??? Or are they spending the time constructively on essay and applications :-) ???

This is one hell of a cribbing mail. I guess I deserve to crib once in while too :-). I will be back in action tomorrow, no matter what time I come home from work. Till then- Ciao!

Chicago submitted!

I submitted my Chicago application today! That makes it the 4th application I've submitted in the last 5 days :D

I'm gonna take a 3 day break and start reviewing my Stanford essays on Sunday. I'm just calling it "a break" to feel good. The truth is I have hell a lot of work in office and I think I will be returning home at ungodly hours this week. Moreover Saturday is a working day to compensate for today :-(. Anyway I have the luxury of time. I have already written the essays and foresee changes only in Essay 1. I can easily submit in a week or so.

It's 12.30 am and I'm off to sleep...........

3 Applications done!

Yes! I submitted Kellogg yesterday, Harvard and Wharton today. I was not planning to submit so early, I wanted to submit exactly one week before each deadline. But I was done with everything for these schools. Moreover, things are getting more and more hectic at work. So I wanted to use the long weekend and not have to submit after an endless day at work. I might miss something and repent it forever.

Now that I have lost my fear of the submit button, it feels really good to be well ahead of time. The essays look awesome on pdf! I also got a book to gift one of my recommenders. Tomorrow I have quite a bit of shopping to do. So I will submit Chicago tomorrow (if I have time) or on Wednesday ('coz it's a holiday). After that it's two weeks of rewriting Stanford essays before I hit the button again. I'm waiting for the day when I will come back home from work without a plan of action for the evening/night... For that, I have to wait till end of October when I will submit Columbia :D.

It's 2.30 am and I'm just not sleepy. Why am I so damn nocturnal?!!