Oh the Irony
Can't post anonymously anymore, so now I have to be very vague. (pls fix)
A peculiar thing happened this week. Periodically I get calls from our PR department as I have been sought for media comment on various things in the past based on my position, industry, and line of work. This week I get a call and I'm thinking it's yet another rag of a periodical that will twist what I say yet again (fake news really does this!).
Nope, I have a call from a target school in a neighboring city that wishes to have me in and give a talk on a particular topic I specialize in. All good right?
Kinda.
Thing is, I applied to this particular school for an MBA program some time ago. I traveled to the school, took a tour, and looked the admissions in the eye when I handed over a few items they needed. Admissions saw some of my raw figures (GMAT & GPA) and said, "I think you'll be just fine." We shook hands and I left the campus.
About 3 weeks later, I get a flat out reject to enroll in this school. No waitlist. Just a do not pass go do not collect a target MBA degree. I'm over being petty, but I can't help but wonder if this admission person just wanted to cash my $200 check vs. telling me that I'm a flat out nope. Just an FYI, but a target school may get as many as 10k applications each year. 10k*200 is $2,000,000. Let's not kid ourselves that this is real revenue for a materially small department to earn. Target schools also hoodwink people by flaunting the 500 GMAT with a 3.0 student who has life experience to enrich the total student body in his/her/their personal essay...
Anyways. I'm considering if I should go to said school and give the speech they want me to give. Much like when I've talked to the press, everything is scoured by my organization for compliance and CYA purposes and I think this speech will be no different. I can't help but wonder what I may blurt out if someone dares ask, "Why did you enroll in mid tier MBA program vs. this target MBA program?"
Anyways. Deep thoughts on a Thursday. Funny how life comes full circle sometimes. I'm not that big of a deal. But if I was, I would command an honorary degree for showing up.
Love it, man. Success is the only revenge.
I've had similar feelings- have been snubbed multiple times by a university I was affiliated with. They just don't get it- they're more proud of their students who go on to get their master's in literature at some random school than they are of students who go to and climb at companies people have actually heard of. Part of what drives me is getting to the point where I get the kind of call you referenced.
Go and just tell the students that the school sucks ass and can't identify actual potential.
Go and tell them you can be successful from anywhere.
haha nice
Stop giving academic institutions validation. I wouldn't speak there; I wouldn't recruit there; I wouldn't donate; I wouldn't cheer for their sports team. I wouldn't speak or recruit at, donate to, or offer any material support to any academic institution (with some rare exceptions). These institutions need to die a horrible death. I say this as a person with a master's degree from an elite school in my field.
Super duper based #fuckthemschools
What’s the point of being a success if you can’t exact petty revenge? Feels like a missed opportunity. I would send a snobby reply and tell the school to kick rocks.
But you’re probably doing the right and mature thing.
As a funny coincidence, my dad was recently asked to give the keynote grad speech at a college in his home country that also rejected him. I wrote his speech and only made one snide remark about how ironic it was they asked him to speak ~40 years after not giving him admittance. He refused to include that joke in the final version because pettiness showed weak character and the day was about the graduates and not him and any perceived slights he faced in his youth. He also said holding onto such things was a waste of emotion and a toxic trait.
But I disagree.
Be like me and not my dad. Stick it to that college and tell them you have better things to do than waste your free time with them.
I think it depends on the heart of the comment. If it's truly light-hearted, I don't see a problem with that kind of a joke. If it comes off as bitter, yeah, it would reflect poorly.
You should read the Count of Monte Cristo my friend... It literally centers around leveraging stratospheric success into funding and executing a diabolical epic revenge
An absolute classic.
I recommend to you - Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less.
My favorite revenge story that doesn’t include direct violence.
How to start the speech: walk up to the front row and present a pen to someone and say "sell me this pen."
you all take it too personal, like the person that rejected you is the one inviting you for the speech. It was just work routine for them, 0 attachments. Even Lloyd knows who rejected him at GS, but that women may not even remember his resume submission. That just shows how personal we take things.
moreover, wasn't maybe the refusal of some top schools make you settle for a lesser one that pushed even more your ambition to prove all of themwrong? you could even thank them, sarcastically, for putting you at a disadvantage in recruitment because it had toughten you up and helped you build more resilance than the entire 2 years of B-School may have done.
the truth is that you're burning a bridge, you never know who may be there, whom you may impact, what people from academia may know some other alumni that work in a parallel field that you may need an introduction, etc.
you just like the drama, like everyone is your enemy and you're Corleone. Relax. If you want to do some community service go and do the speech, if not, then politely refuse it.
But I will definietely make a side comment that will imply/indirectly tell that I was rejected by this school. That would be a personal pleasure.
decent advice. SB'd
Just give your OP post as the speech. They should like the "10k*200 is $2,000,000" line, being a business school and all...
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