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Since I wrote about applying to business school here, and getting waitlisted, a lot of folks have inquired as to the follow-up. I took the GMAT again (scores barely increased) and hoped for the best, but around Christmas I gave up hope that I was getting in. Well, classes started today, but just in case I was still delusional, NYU officially denied me late last week.

In what may be the nicest rejection letter on earth, they invited me to reapply in the future, helpfully adding a list of qualities they look for in applicants. Below, that list reproduced, with my personal assessment of my own application against each criterion:

While the Committee saw positive qualities in your application, there were also some areas that could be strengthened. In order to maximize class participation and the overall learning experience, we have found that our successful candidates have the following characteristics:

• A strong record of professional success and leadership, with recommendation letters that support these qualities; [I know that 2 of my 3 recommendations were outstanding; while I can't say I've had much "success", I think my quirky China background was a unique plus]
• Demonstrated potential for academic success, as shown through impressive undergraduate work and standardized test scores; [Here the admissions committee would have been decidedly underwhelmed.]
• Focused and well-defined professional aspirations that match our program offerings; [Ditto. I wish this were not the first time I had seen "focused" and "well-defined" on the list of desirables. I would have been much less vague about future business objectives.]
• Well-written and insightful essays and excellent communication skills; [Zero modesty on this one. I know I drilled those essays.]
• Overall personal and professional maturity and motivation. [No comment.]

There ya have it. I guess it wasn’t meant to be. Truthfully, I’m not disappointed. The more I think about it, the more I think the right decision was made. Thanks to everyone for the encouragement. I’m sure I’ll find something useful to do.

Don’t call it Two Thousand Ten or Two Thousand and Ten. We’re done saying “Two Thousand” now. It’s a relic, appropriate only for history professors or others who want to sound dignified. That’s my two cents. We can still hang out.

Two Thousand Nine was a cool year, I think. A lot of people are down on 2009, with good reason. Lots of lost jobs and houses, for sure. I don’t want to sound insensitive to that, but things are going pretty great for me and I’m happy. I got problems, sure, but I don’t have life-threatening problems. And I’ve got a lot of good people around me to help out, starting with Xianyi, and extending through my family, to my friends all around the world.

What else was cool about Oh-Niner? I saw a bunch of good concerts, which was a goal of mine, so – mission accomplished. Black Keys back in February kicked it off. Phish on the lawn at Merriweather, where I ran straight into my cousin Nick while roaming the grounds and shared a beer with him. Phish again, this time at the Garden, with the incredible light show courtesy of Chris Kudora – WOW.

I was twice at Carnegie Hall, once as a date to the symphony with Xianyi, and once with her, Dave and Tom for Arlo Guthrie. Amazing theatre. My goal for 2010 is seeing more historic NYC venues – Beacon top of the list (sidenote: too bad Cirque de Soleil’s 6-month run will block the Allman Bros from doing their gazillionth show in a row at the Beacon this March).

We did two great weddings this year. One was an entire adventure vacation, and the other was an intimate affair at home, and our first trip to the Cape.

Finally, at year’s end, I managed to launch two sites for family members that I’d been working on with them. Check them out at alexanderbabies.com and suzannekellow.com.

Xianyi is in China right now with her parents, her Xiao Niang, and DouDou. They are probably waking up right about now to have some tang yuarrrrr… don’t forget,

吃八个！

The world of Tiger Woods is falling apart, his reputation is dinged and he may end up paying lots of money to one or more women – but at least one good thing has resulted. This is the end of the Church of Tiger Woods movement.

A mere mortal, after all

Seriously. You didn’t know about www.tigerwoodsisgod.com? The First Church of Tiger Woods, where they rejoice in “the emergence of the ‘true’ messiah”, was recently renamed by its Pastor, “The Damnation of Tiger Woods.” There you can find several long posts directed at Tiger from the Pastor, who founded the church back in 1996 but has now decided to disband it, on account of Tiger’s Transgressions.

… you might think that such a decision might be difficult. In this case, it was not. Unfortunately, Tiger Woods has made it all to easy to realize that he is no longer worthy of any special admiration.

Check it out soon, because the Pastor won’t be renewing the domain. My favorite part is the photo captioned: “Proud Father looks on as Tiger Woods wins the Masters.”