Mid-trip update (WARNING: This post is more boring than usual)

I am finally over the jet lag. It took me a few days but I’m on EST at the moment. Unfortunately I am flying to Seattle tomorrow so it’ll get messed up again. Hopefully it won’t be as difficult when I head back to Tokyo.

Yesterday I went to my third school in a week. It actually wouldn’t have been that bad except yesterday was an all day event. Besides listening to presentations I had to meet and greet dozens of my future classmates. There was a really random situation at lunch. The MC of the day sat down and asked me about my background. It turns out he went to the same undergrad institution as I did. He was a freshman when I was a senior and we had never seen each others faces until yesterday. One girl overheard our conversation and said her brother graduated the same year as me. Her brother was actually some guy I knew very well.

Business schools tend to all have the same marketing plan. They all talk about the world-class education you get but for the most part emphasize the experience working with your fellow classmates at your school. Whether or not they live up to that billing is for the candidate to decide.

When I went to Maryland/Smith’s admitted students day, I got that vibe. It felt like a cult, but in a good way. I had never seen so many people genuinely happy to be affiliated with an institution like that. Whether it was a company, school, or club. They did a great sell job and my interest in the school has certainly spiked. We also saw a professor teach a class. He did an unbelievable job putting the concepts in plain language and got us to work together to solve it.

I am not sure if I got the same feeling at USC. The other candidates I met during the visit did not impress me when I talked to them. Granted it could've been an off day. The student "ambassador" I met, however, was great. The guy was so into USC you would think they make him down a jug of USC kool-aid before he meets prospective students. He is the type of person I want to go to school with.

My visit with Texas was somewhat in between the USC and Maryland visits. The other candidates I met were really smart guys. The current student was also very informative and smart as well. This wasn’t a “welcome day”, it was just a campus visit so I didn’t get the same sell job I got at Maryland. I attended an “Energy Law” class which was interactive, but did have some animated students talking about nuclear power waste. Overall I got a good impression but wish I had the chance to attend one of their admitted students days.

Up next: University of Washington. They have a very small class – around 100 students. The other programs I am applying to have a significantly higher enrollment. The advantages of a small class is that you know everyone. The disadvantage is that you get less opportunity to network. I don’t mind that however, as I don’t really have a problem making those connections outside of school. Hope this will be a good visit.

Eating crabs w/ my boys from growing up. Then the Oscars tonight (sorry I couldn’t think of anything else to write). Should be a chill day.