Admit Weekend I - From the 'Other' Side

It's been a whole year since my visit to the GSB as an eager admit, ready to take b-school on with gusto. I was charmed and impressed by the majority of the admits that I met this weekend. They are enthusiastic, bright, and articulate people that I look forward to getting to know next year.

I participated in one of the student life panels during the weekend, and commentary from a seasoned 2nd year resonated with me. Although I can't quote him exactly, he said that going to business school is like getting into a space ship and going into outer space for a couple of years. I didn't realize how true this was until I got here, but occasionally I think about the life that I left behind to come to school. In some ways, having moved across the country, it makes it easier. If I had attended b-school in CA, I wouldn't have had much time to interact with my friends in any case. I haven't spoken to many of them in months, and don't anticipate doing so for a while longer.

Several of the admits that I met were from the suburbs of Illinois, so this is something they'll experience soon enough. The 1st year locals that I know all tell me their friends think they've fallen off the face of the earth. B-school tends to normalize people in some ways, and completely polarize them in other ways.

I have a relatively relaxing week of catching up in classes ahead of me. Relative because there are few events to attend that are non-class related (only 3, its a really slow week). Interview coming up later this week, after which I make the decision on where to go this summer. And I wanted to get a shout out to another couple of GSB bloggers that I recently discovered - Megha and Shmoo. Felicitations, and welcome to my sidebar!