Recommenders? Done!

I finally managed to break the news of my impending applications to B-Schools to my boss and asked him for his recommendations. He was supportive and said that now is better than later as I have enough experience and few other things to worry about (read family). At the same time, he has not let things get weird at work either, which is great.

In other news, I have found a way to do the essays that works for me. At first, I had started out by compiling the essay topics from all the schools that interest me onto a few questions (ten) and then answering them. Turns out that this does not work and it leads to more gaps in the script as the school is not set and hence a good connection to the school's traits cannot be eshtablished. It also hurts my flow of thought when I do not have my target set very accurately.

So now I am writing the essays per school and I found this to be a much better approach. I have noticed that the content of the essays does not change much even though my essay to one school would not sound as good (not that they are any good yet) if read by the adcom of another. Others might have been looking at the essays this way for a while but in my quest for efficiency, I messed up.

Now I need to get my first, good draft done by the end of July (not likely!) or at the latest by the first week of August (say the 8th) so that my recommenders can start their work.

I am considering discussing the examples of events/projects that I am using in my essays with my boss. I have not heard of anyone else doing this. My line of thought is that my boss can give me an additional perspective on my career (last three years of it, atleast) and I can get a read on his evaluation of me. I can also let him know of what to talk about and how specific to get in his recommendations.

The schools have pretty much been decided on as well. The pieces are set!