The average age of MBA students has steadily grown over the years, and everyone knows the older we get, the more stuff we acquire. As you prepare your business school applications, you may want to start thinking about getting skinny.
This post falls into the category of practical advice for MBA applicants—the kind of advice you don’t normally get and the kind that once you know it, it’s usually too late. Trust me. Thinning out your stuff is not only helpful for relocation to your new school home, it’s also a good idea for what comes afterwards.
Business school is a whirlwind.
You spend very little time enjoying the luxuries or creature comforts that your “stuff” provides. During your two years in business school, you will watch very little TV, ride very few mountain bike trails, play very little acoustic guitar. I am not saying to dispose of everything that makes you sane and become a nomad or minimalist, but dragging a bunch of crap you won’t use around the country only encumbers your mental and physical freedom.
When you graduate, you will be starting a whole new life---likely even moving to a place where you have never lived.
You will hopefully find yourself in a more advantageous financial position as well, so it’s probably true that you would be getting rid of old furniture and accoutrements from your prior pedestrian existence anyway. If you are single, you may even pick up a fiancé during b-school, in which case having few possessions will allow you to merge easily into the married lifestyle.
Speaking of married lifestyle, that’s the one situation where you might not be able to thin out your stuff quite as much.
After all, your spouse is half the equation and you will be dragging them into your b-school adventure as well, so they need to be happy. But given the fact that your post MBA lifestyle will be just as different for your spouse as for yourself, you both could benefit from getting thin before you embark upon that full time MBA program.
The good news is, you have a year to make it happen.
Focus first on the admissions process and putting together the best application you can. Once you get your admission offer, you can spend the next ten months figuring out what you really need to bring and what is truly superfluous. You will thank us later.
To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via http://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact