10 days count down begins today!

November and December of 2010 were some of the most productive months in my life ever. I've managed to raise EUR36K, rent out my condo, wrap up a huge project at work and hire a replacement. On top of this, I somehow found time to apply to a handful of i-banking summer internships in Asia, visit friends and family, re-balance my investments and finish all my holiday shopping done, on time. What is going on? I don't even recognize myself anymore. I used to procrastinate and put off huge tasks that stressed me out to the last possible moment. It didn't affect my performance because I always worked better under pressure anyway. But now this, is this the new me? I wonder how long this trend will last.

After what has been one of the hardest and most stressful years in my life, I, surprisingly, have all these energy. Not nervous energy but positive, can't wait to learn and challenge myself energy. And it's most appropriate because in 10 days, I will leave my comfortable dwelling, my family and friends and return to school at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France. My brain understands this fact but I am not really sure if I can fully process what this change really means. I am sure all of my fellow 11Ders can relate for we all have this vague idea about what we are getting ourselves into but do we, can we, really know what the experience will be like, truly?

With 9 more days to go before 2010 concludes, I want to thank everyone who have grounded me, supported me and campaigned for me. Without you, I will not be brave enough to put my life on hold, take on another $100K in debt, live alone abroad for a year and go back to school. I'm sure I'd make some very good and logical argument why it would be a better choice for me to navigate a career make over on my own. But you know what? In the end, I think I will regret not giving myself a chance to pursue a global MBA.

To all my fellow 11Ders, I will see you next year; to the INSEAD aspirants, good luck on your GMATs, application essays, interviews and the inevitable nail-biting wait. Feel free to reach out and I shall do my best to share with you my experience.

Happy holidays and wish you all a successful 2011!

2nd tuition payment

Done! I am officially EUR31,000 broker than I was yesterday. I guess I can officially call myself an INSEADer. To all my fellow Americans and friends to the north of the border, I've found that the best way to send the funds is via xe.com. I got a much better rate than from HSBC, Wells or Chase.

What to pack for France- part A clothing

-sweaters
-long sleeve shirts
-jeans
-warm socks
-pajamas
-underwear
-work out clothing
-suit
-over the knee boots
-ankle high boots
-stilettos
-jogging shoes
-COSTUMES!! for themed INSEAD parties (does anyone know what are some of the common themes of INSEAD parties? I've heard that there is stoplight party or an all-white party, but what else?)


What else am I forgetting?

Tuition

The 2nd installment of tuition, EUR31,000, is due on Nov. 26. That is a LOT of money. I'm literally cashing out all of my life savings. Like any rationale consumer, I've been calling local banks to find out their exchange rates so that I can decide which bank offers the most competitive rate. To be honest, most of their rates are fairly similar. But one of them, Chase, stands out to me because it offers the most flexibility. You can add a recipient of wire transfer on chase.com. This then allows you to request an online wire transfer from the comfort of your home. HSBC has offered probably the most competitive quote. However, their process is more archaic. If you have not banked with them for more than 3 months, then you must request the wire transfer via fax. And also, HSBC will not provide you with an e-mail confirmation. Instead, you can go to your local branch to get a confirmation in person. Seriously...who does that? HSBC has lost major points in my book.

Interesting...

Oh, I forgot to mention another interesting fact- per mbaconnect.com, INSEAD's internal web forum for current and future students (10D, 11J, 11D, 12J), there are 520 students that have been accepted. It seems like a really high number of accepted students. More over, there are about 295 of them who will begin at Fonty leaving the rest to begin at Spore. This is fascinating because traditionally, Fonty has about 300 students while Spore has about 200. I wonder how this will impact people who are on the waiting list....

One way ticket to CDG

I finally did it! I bought my one way ticket to CDG. I've been putting this task off because I had a hard time figuring out whether it was worth it to buy a round trip ticket to CDG. I know it is much cheaper to buy round trip international tickets than to buy a one way ticket. But in the end, I found a good deal - $650 flying on continental so I hit the purchase button and I will be in Paris on 1/03/11. :0)

ps If you were like me trying to use BA miles to get a one way ticket, forget it! I have no idea why it is so hard to redeem award travel on ba. In addition to the miles that you have to use, you always need to pay a huge out of pocket cost of tax and other fees...I wonder if it's b/c flights tend to get routed through London?

Internship

A few months ago, I thought that I would apply for internship once I start my MBA at INSEAD, maybe towards the end of P1 (period 1 or between Jan and March for the Dec class). Buuuut, no. Earlier this week, I, along with future fellow INSEADers who may be interested in a career in finance, have received an e-mail informing us that applications to i-banking in Asia are due in Nov and early Dec. So it looks like I will be sending off a few applications for summer internship before schools even begin. Crazy right? To help us prepare for our career transformation, INSEAD career services will be hosting a chat for us to ask any questions. Additionally, before school begins, we are encouraged to think deep about our strengths, career aspirations and personal motivations. These questions are not foreign to me. After all, I've successfully answered why MBA, why INSEAD and why now in my application. But now, I must get real and really look deep into myself. It looks like I wouldn't be able to take that much of a break in Nov either. Maybe I will finally have some free time in December for some very needed R&R.