Sunday, February 4, 2007

Is it done?

I told myself.... I am not going to start another blogging site. But I did. Here's the proof: well, I am writing it now (duh)

MySpace, MSN Live, Mixi (Japan's equivalent of myspace), and now, the Blogger. I am torn among these sites to share my agonizing pre-MBA journey.

I chose Blogger at the end, mainly because so many other prospective MBAs chose this site to be the ONE that they shared their experiences on. Of course, I would like to read back, sometime in the future, knowing that I have at least some evidence in writing documenting my painful Quest for the MBA impossible.

Why do I call it the MBA impossible? It's not only because I am applying for top schools...not Ivy Leagues now...(thanks Nick for the correction), but also I feel like I am an underdog going for the big one.


The truth & the impossible:
I am a Taiwanese (not Asian American now). I came to the U.S. when I was 14 with my older sister (1 year older). Both of us didn't speak any language- (yes, the typical but real Language barrier). Not having parents by our sides was fun and challenging. We learned English all by ourselves, and fixed that broken toilet ourselves. We were proud of where we were from. I appreciate both the American and the Taiwanese cultures, hence, I don't call myself an Asian American (i mean...who am I? -an American or an Asian). I am still a Taiwanese... just one who lives in the U.S. That's all. (man, this paragraph sounds like a personal background, right there)

Armed with only almost 4 years of experiences as a young entrepreneur, I attempted the impossible of applying for Top Tier business school. As you can see, I don't really have an outstanding GMAT (c'mon, 86% percentage tile is not THAT bad), but my GPA tells you that I am definitely a hard worker, a persistent one too. My age...oh yeah... that too. Did you know the average age for MBAs is 27-28. That's a nice 6 years difference. This, I think, is what I have to overcome the most. How do I convince them that a 21-year-old can do as well as a 27-year-old?

Why MBA now if you are running a successful company? <-- this question I think is what I need to explain to them the most, which helps a bit too, since my goal is always clear. An MBA is going to give me a damning credibitabily when negotiating a contract; it's going to give me the network; it's going to find me another business partner....etc. That's it, I just need an interview.

2 comments:

ipoel said...

hey! we're applying to similar schools! good luck haha you're younger than me!! you def have a lot to explain in your essays then.. would love to hear about your companies!! i need more courage to not work and create my own company.. did u add ur blog to the opencoder thing ? ( check my blog )

Suser said...

good luck on your applications! i am taiwanese too but born in the states. I liked your little paragraph about learning english and fixing toilets :)