Show me the money!
Ahh....everything happens for a reason. It is destiny. There are better things in store for you in the future, you just can't see them right now....etc etc.
I suddenly find myself in a philosophical mood (although it's hard to be philosophical with that huge grin on my face :) ). The above remarks are to be taken in the context of the rejection from Wharton and the subsequent events. The good folks at Duke have finally seen the light and realized how lucky they are to have me. As soon as they received that scholarship reconsideration request from me, there were high level meetings called, the dean was dragged out of his bed, students started picketing outside the admissions office threatening to go on a hunger strike if MJ was not given some $ and life as we know it came to a standstill in Durham, NC. And what did you expect? The inevitable happened. The scholarship committee decided to cough up some much needed dough for moi!
Ok, so maybe it didn't happen quite that way. But the end result was still pretty sweet. Duke has offered me a scholarship for which I am really grateful.
It all started after that resounding DING from Wharton. I was feeling pretty shitty about that (despite all the rationalization about already being in at a great school). I was feeling really restless and needed to do something..anything. And then I started thinking back to the time when I was about to start grad school at USC. I had just gone with the flow. I wasn't proactive. I had just accepted the status quo and never really attempted to get a scholarship. This was in sharp contrast with my sis who used to sit up all night as she sent out a million emails to different people trying to land a research or teaching assistantship (which she did) before she started school.
I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to learn from my mistakes and at least make an honest attempt to try and get a scholarship. So I sent out an email to adcom at Duke. The email was a combination of how I was God's gift to mankind (merit) and how I would probably have to sleep on the street and survive on ramen noodles for the next 2 years (need) if they didn't give me some money. I got a polite reply within a couple of days about how scholarship considerations were strictly merit based and that I would have to send an official scholarship reconsideration request to the scholarship committee. The way I saw it, at least they didn't start laughing and tell me to take a hike. So I drafted a letter and sent it out the same day.
So I get an email today with a subject line that says: "The Duke MBA - Financial Aid Reconsideration Request". Hmmmm...cryptic. Not looking good. So I open the email and quickly scan through it, looking for that dreaded word "Sorry". Instead I see a numeric value :). Numbers have never looked more beautiful.
I suddenly find myself in a philosophical mood (although it's hard to be philosophical with that huge grin on my face :) ). The above remarks are to be taken in the context of the rejection from Wharton and the subsequent events. The good folks at Duke have finally seen the light and realized how lucky they are to have me. As soon as they received that scholarship reconsideration request from me, there were high level meetings called, the dean was dragged out of his bed, students started picketing outside the admissions office threatening to go on a hunger strike if MJ was not given some $ and life as we know it came to a standstill in Durham, NC. And what did you expect? The inevitable happened. The scholarship committee decided to cough up some much needed dough for moi!
Ok, so maybe it didn't happen quite that way. But the end result was still pretty sweet. Duke has offered me a scholarship for which I am really grateful.
It all started after that resounding DING from Wharton. I was feeling pretty shitty about that (despite all the rationalization about already being in at a great school). I was feeling really restless and needed to do something..anything. And then I started thinking back to the time when I was about to start grad school at USC. I had just gone with the flow. I wasn't proactive. I had just accepted the status quo and never really attempted to get a scholarship. This was in sharp contrast with my sis who used to sit up all night as she sent out a million emails to different people trying to land a research or teaching assistantship (which she did) before she started school.
I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to learn from my mistakes and at least make an honest attempt to try and get a scholarship. So I sent out an email to adcom at Duke. The email was a combination of how I was God's gift to mankind (merit) and how I would probably have to sleep on the street and survive on ramen noodles for the next 2 years (need) if they didn't give me some money. I got a polite reply within a couple of days about how scholarship considerations were strictly merit based and that I would have to send an official scholarship reconsideration request to the scholarship committee. The way I saw it, at least they didn't start laughing and tell me to take a hike. So I drafted a letter and sent it out the same day.
So I get an email today with a subject line that says: "The Duke MBA - Financial Aid Reconsideration Request". Hmmmm...cryptic. Not looking good. So I open the email and quickly scan through it, looking for that dreaded word "Sorry". Instead I see a numeric value :). Numbers have never looked more beautiful.
posted by MJ at Monday, March 27, 2006
4 Comments:
So, its going to be Duke right?
Congrats, the moolah makes the admit even more sweet.
That's awesome, congratulations!
dude, my dumb blog aggregator just showed me this post as new (without a date or anything) -- so i thought you were applying to B-school all over again, and was sooooo confused. what a story, though! congratulations!
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