Wait-listed
I got wait-listed at NYU Stern. The letter said, “We see strengths in your background and experience and would like to further consider your application…” and went on in a manner that left the door open for action on my part. Sit passively by and hope for the best, or launch an extra effort to get their attention and move me onto the Approved pile.
The non-rejection became momentous as I contemplated the outstanding red mark on my application, my GMAT scores:
My poor math performance had really rattled my confidence about getting accepted. To have made the waitlist is almost like having got in – it’s a relative win.
Xianyi had warned me to be completely serious about my approach to the test, and reminded me more than once she thought I was slacking. My study regimen consisted of going to the NY Public Library after work for 2-3 hours, several times per week, for a total of 6 weeks. A conservative estimate is that I put in about 40 hours studying.
When I got my scores, Xianyi didn’t say “I told you so.” She was encouraging. It was Nate who gave me the honest reaction, laughing at the pitiful math section and taunting me, “NYU will never accept you.” Now here I am on the waitlist, so I intend to make another push and really try to get in.
They begin considering the waitlist “in late November”, so I’ve signed up to re-take the test. This time I’ll be concentrating only on math, and my strategy will focus more on practice tests. The first time around, I learned how to do the math – but the test demands that you also solve the problems fast. You have an average of 2 minutes to finish each one. I rushed the last 10 questions in an effort to finish, and still left several unanswered.
I went back to the site and read more about the program details, including the names of classes, the cost of tuition, and the likely amount of time I would need to complete the degree. The investment is formidable. But the payoff is a solid education of all the subjects I have avoided all my life: economics, business. These are things I could be good at. This could be my entry into a world to which I now have no access. I’m not going to give up on it in the middle of the process.
