I hate Competition! (non-MBA moan)

Outside, the rain fell softly. In Hawaii, this is somewhat common. Except today what it didn't follow was the peak from the sunshine.

Anyways, what brought me to my grumbling today was a thought on Competition.
Competition for MBA Talent:
Sometimes, there are so many qualifying applicants but only limited seats in an MBA program, so some of those unfortunate fellows must take the realistic rejection. It's hard. But what puzzled me was the type of method to further distinguish the already "qualifying applicants" to the final number of admits. I often wonder how did the adcom choose? What were they thinking? What was the criteria they use to make that final decision?

Competition for ONE position:
If you read my previous post, then you would know that I had my Boeing phone interview. And if you are reading this post now, then you will know that I was selected as the Top 4 candidates for the on-site interview. Was I happy? More than you think! I was excited, jumping up and down, making phone calls to my parents.... you name it. You might be thinking now why in the world was I so thrilled? Let's see... the manger reviewed 160 resumes, and then chose 10 applicants for interview (6.25% selection rate); finally, Top 4 were selected to be flown to Washington (down to 2.5% selection rate).

Now, there is just one issue. How many are they selecting out of the 4? Just ONE! -> (0.625%!!!) omg... I needed air. Would I say that those 10 people were of top talents already? Definitely! How about the top 4? No doubt! But to choose one out of the four... the same question flashed back to my mind? What method is Boeing using to finally differentiate these four candidates?
- At the same time, I was saddened by the fact that 6 of those top talents had received the cold rejection email. Knowing this, I felt guilty for celebrating my joyous news. But that's life... sigh! I guess I am more afraid to end up to be one of those after my last interview. Those who say, "Darn, I was so close".

Competition at the Workplace:
I don't understand that after you go through all those interviews to finally land a position at a workplace, some people would still attempt for more competitions at work as if that would be the sole media to acknowledge your existence and intelligence. I understand that in every field, competition often leads to greater innovation and productivity. But it's not healthy. It's intense. What's more important, I believe every position, similar or dissimilar, is equally important and hard. Why does there exist a need to compare each person's responsibility?

Does holding an MBA degree in fact translate someone into a "smarter person" than someone with a Bachelor degree with more years of working experiences? I encountered such issue at my workplace. I used to be the only Business-major programmer in an IT office; then an MBA fellow started working there. Since, there's a constant competition between him and I. What for? My job task was completely different from his. Maybe I naively wanted to pursue an MBA after college, and I failed. But does that grant him the right to belittle my initiation and actions followed? My education background might not be as impressive as his, but man... to deal with an arrogant individual is harder than I thought.

I am proud of my Plan B. But to have anyone contemn my plans, it's just pure disgusting.

I HATE COMPETITION!!

MBA Impossible is indeed impossible (for now @ least)

Ding Ding... no, that is not any welcome doorbell ring from my MBA schools :(

Yes, once more, another rejection. At least UCLA is on time to release their decision. Early in the morning, I got an official rejection email that looks utterly familiar. Just like the other two that had been moved to my Trash folder as soon as I read them.

I am not so discouraged honestly. I knew it was an impossible attempt for me. Now, I am ever so ready to work and gain my real-world experiences. I am quite excited actually! Maybe it's because I read an article the other day that said something like..."recruiters don't view all MBAs the same", and that strike me. If I were actually accepted to any of the program, after kissing goodbye $100K, I wouldn't probably even find a decent job.

Anyways, so much for the loser talk. On a more positive note,

I got my second interview with Boeing! Horray! =)

Instead of spending my weekend grieving at my MBA failures, I have got to prepare for my interview.

It's about time...

Got a phone call early in the morning. Not from any adcom, but from my friend who just got hired by Raytheon! For a college grad, $63K is awesome! Horray for him~Congrats!!!

It just reminded me that I will need to move on with my life, and get ready for my Plan B. As the days are counting down, I realize my dream to attend MBA this year is moving farther from me. I suppose, I should start packing my things to ship to LA, and to look for jobs there.

Status update: No news from any other three schools.

Reflection -->

Spending couple months working on the MBA essays made me find out something about myself. Perhaps, I don't need an MBA to pursue my entrepreneurial passion; it may be the working experiences which will lead me to accomplish what I want to do. And when I accumulate enough working experience, I will have a new profound for MBA journey. What I need to possess to be successful in business is not an impressive degree (as my entrepreneur experience had already proven that age/academic degree does not determine my company's potential), but is my persistence in chasing what I want. As an entrepreneur, I knew everything in the world has risk factor attached to it and I take risks. Applying for an MBA right out of college at 21 was a risk, I took it. I might fail or might not, but whatever it is, at least I tried and definitely No regret!

Well, here is my last attempt to apply for a school in a more specialized degree that I deemed to be more relevant to my future career. It is equally as difficult as applying for MBA, but... as always, I am willing to take the chance. :)

Plan B... anyone?

Yeah, I still managed to find time to write another entry. It only seemed like a good idea to jog down my thoughts that are carried from day to day until I receive the official email.

15 or 20 posts? That is the number of posts I read on MBA waiting experience. Most of them made it somewhere, if not Kellogg, then Stern...or Anderson~ Chicago (1), couple Whartons... man, I am beginning to get really worried!!

So plan B... basically is what I can do if B-school is out of the question. Let's see my options:

• Move to California
  
• Find a job (maybe 40K) ....why, I am a content person, not greedy...
  
• FINALLY, and finally make my third business dream become a reality (wait, what happened to the second one?... oh that, well, it's still going. Like constipation, it's stuck...almost came out, but not quite ==") FU Wear Asia (Est. 2010)
  

Yeah, my Plan B is cool~ but an MBA would be even cooler~