Updates

Only 7 weeks to go…

1. June 16 – Boating in Dallas
2. June 23 – Kansas City
3. June 30 – Likely LA, if not, camping or NYC
4. July 07 – Wyoming
5. July 14 – Dallas for my going away party
6. July 21 – Finish packing & selling my stuff
7. July 28 – Hopefully last day of work/Move to London
8. Aug 04 – Flat hunt/explore London
9. Aug 11 – Flat hunt/explore London
10. Aug 18 – Visit friends in Cambridge
11. Aug 25 – Last weekend before start of school

While moving to the UK/London presents some challenges, I’ve found the schools portal to be an invaluable source of information. Topics addressed by admits and the larger school community range from voltage adapters to short-term accommodations, summer travel ideas to UK student visa application experiences, and scholarship announcements to next year’s sporting opportunities. Student classifieds (eg, sublets, laptops), flatshare profiles, and all things school related also make London Business School’s communication channels very helpful compared to what my other friends have available to them as admits to other business schools.

Regarding my “to do” list, I'm a broken record in that I am still waiting to hear back on my HSBC loan application (originally applied in April, had to reapply in May). Until financing is secured, I can not apply for a student visa, which means that I can not officially set a quit date. I was very disappointed to learn that I was not awarded any of the school scholarships this week. As things stand, I have had to make the gut wrenching decision to cash out my 401k so I can hopefully get a loan approved and afford the next two years.

If a loan does not come through, I have one last hope…while my company has not sponsored anyone for an MBA in 30 years, I recently put together a business case for why I should be sponsored and presented it to my VP. Her reaction was a pleasant surprise in that she took my proposal to my company’s HR VP as well as to my Exec VP. I still have not heard back and have been cautioned that it is an unlikely proposal to be approved, but given that I work for a +$20B company, I hope that they can find me $100k in exchange for a two year work commitment.