posted by John Osvald
2:12 PM
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Ok, so I am feeling a bit better than this morning, when I finally started freaking out a little at the prospect of moving across the entire country, away from my family and friends. And not living with my dog anymore, who I love a ridulously large amount. Also, a person who was one of my closest friends stopped talking to me for a unreasonable reason, and the fact that it appears she'll leave it like this has gotten me pretty damned blue. So I was sad. Plus I waited on line 2 hours last night to see a band called the Killers, and then did not get inside the bar. Apparently, they forgot to mention that it was an "industry night". What bunk. Screw the mercury lounge. At least I was on line in front of these three dudes who made me feel like I was sitting in mystery science theatre 2000. And we had some road sodas.
Ok, the other thing that shocked pissed me ff is $930 in mandatory Berkeley fees, just to cover math camp, orientation, and membership in the MBA association which "98% of students join" for $450 a year. Crap! Not sure where that is coming from. I had some green set aside for the aforementioned computer, now it looks like it will have to go to this instead, for the time being.
Place is almost packed. People took a 1/4 full bottle of olive oil today which I put out as a test. My GMAT & B-school books are now outside, untouched. ALong with internet marketing books and the triathletes training bible, they mak eup some of the most unwanted items in Greenpoint.
My moving quote was $1400 for 2 people, with 30 days free storage in CA. Not too bad. I know I said I love the pooch a little too much, but the ex wants to buy her a little mini-suitcase, packed with her toys, that she will put state stickers on as we go cross country. SO I guess it's right that she gets her.
posted by John Osvald
9:34 AM
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Not working is everything I ever hoped it would be. I felt almost a bit jilted by the fact that despite working solely in internet startups for the first couple years of my career, I was never laid off, and never had a period of unemployment. SO now I have it. I got up at eleven today. Got some coffee, screwed around on the computer.
Ok, so if I didn't have to continue on my marathon of packing now until it's dark, it would truly be awesome. So far everything I have put out on the street has been taken quickly. I was walking out to put a little league baseball ba I've had forever on the pile, an a dude walking by took it from me on the spot. I said, "It's a kids bat." He replied, with fair amount of glee "Kids bat? That's a mna's bat son!". He's happy, I am not going to argue. They also took: a fifty year old circular saw, random piece of wood, wine rack, books. I posted my b school books on craigs for FREE and nobody wants them. If anybody reading this does, write me and pay shipping, They'll be yours.
In other news, I've calmed down about my loan prospects. I think the citi thing will work out ok. I think I have decided on a computer. I get a discount at HP, so I think I am going to pick up one of those. Pentium M 1.3, 512 MB, 40 Gig, wireless connectivity, XP Pro, 7 bs, $1300. SOund allright?
Also, I had a fairly easy time finding possible places to live, so I am hoping it won't be that much of a problem. Rent should be about $750 tops.
posted by John Osvald
7:07 AM
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I need it, not giving it. Should I attempt to apply for the Citi Assist loan without a co-signer, to see if I could get approved? Or does getting turned down for a loan affect my credit rating? Anyone?
posted by John Osvald
11:14 AM
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So after talking to some folks and researching mroe on the citi application site, it does seem like I can request to borrow the $35K, and that with a cosigner I will most likely be approved. In theory, I think I could borrow even more than that. So I guess I have some budgeting to do. I am kind of debating if I should find an apartment first, so I can better estimate exactly what I'll need. If I can keep rent to $800, I should be doing allright. It doesn't really seem like enoguh to live on, but I guess I have to remember that my costs are going to go down a bunch. Currently I have $1300 of rent to buy, and gas & tolls is roughly another $200 a month.
So $53K is a big crapload of money to borrow for one year. I really am going to have to focus on borrowing less my second year. I will get a $10K tuition break as a CA resident, but I definitely will need some sort of job. I suppose the internship during the summer is supposed to provide some relief. Honestly, I am a little worried though... I am a disaster with not spending all my money, unless it is automatically taken out of my bank account. I really need to get some control,and quick. Oh, and I have about 2K of credit card debt... wonder if I should pay that off with loan money up front?
My motorcycle plan just turned into a bicycle plan.
posted by John Osvald
11:22 AM
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Kroll Background Screening Group has successfully completed your Berkeley MBA employment verification. The Berkeley admissions team looks forward to seeing you during orientation in August.
Sweet. I now have an official decree stating I'm not a liar. Got to hold onto this for when the ex and I are battling. (just joking, pzy ;)
Allright, so with that aside, I can focus on some loan procurement. I wish there was a Princeton Review course for credit score improvement. Shit - how many folks out there have a FICO score lower than their GMAT? With the aformentioned NY state judgement against me, mine is hanging at 660, on the border of Fair & Poor. So after reading up a bit, it seems that I will require a co-signer. That's not a big deal, as mom or aunt have both offered to sign their possible future financial health over to whoever agrees to give me the green. What does kind of suck however, is that the co-signer option has severely limited my loan provider options. Out of the five possible "most utilized" options provided by Berkeley, only the Citiassist doesn't carry a penalty for bringing a third party into the mix. So they're it. At .25% plus prime and 10 years to pay.
What am I faced with borrowing? This part makes me want to puke. I did receive the maximum federal subsidized and unsubsidized loans, which total $18500 per year together (split 50/50). This is where it gets hazy. So UCB puts my total budget at $53,538. Less my contribution, which the government estimated to be $18,466. So my entire financial need is $35,072. OK. So I already got $18,500 for uncle sam, so does that mean I can only borrow $16,572 from Citibank? If so, I am a bit screwed. As I have no savings. This would mean that the $35,072 I am allowed to borrow wouldn't cover the $36,060 that Tuiton,Fees & Books will cost me. I mean even ramen noodles are .25 each.
Crap.
posted by John Osvald
11:06 AM
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But I can't stop staring at this picture of a baby wombat. It's out of control. It's momma was roadkill, and some dude pulled it out of her pouch.
posted by John Osvald
6:59 AM
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I've been checking out Craigslist for pet friendly, cheap living situations in Berkeley and it looks like finding a place (or room) for under $900 shouldn't present too much difficulty. Remind you, I am used to NY style apartment hunting, whereas finding a decent apartment that doesn't require you throw $2000 to a broker who performs no service is literally a full time job.
A room in an apartment does seem like it could be the cheaper option, although it is not necessarily so (there are plenty of $1000 share situations out there too). So, money aside, I have been thinking a lot lately about what I would prefer - a situation where I live with others, or go back to my single serving style life. If I don't pause to think, I have to say I take living alone hands down. I really like living alone... maybe too much. I'm not the most social creature. Left alone, I can be perfectly happy for a long period of time. Since I moved to NYC, I lived alone, and the only friends I made were from work. So having roommates might keep me a bit more active. But then again, I will be meeting a lot of people through school regardless.
So, I'm not decided yet, but am leaning towards being a hermit again.
posted by John Osvald
6:44 AM
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2 years ago my HR paperwork got somehow fucata'd. I live in NY but work in NJ, and although that information was shared with the payroll department, for some reason NY state & city taxes were not taken out. I didn't realize it until I was putting together my taxes, and realized I had been running an enormous tab with the folks in Albany for most of the year. I had some cash on hand to pay for most of it, but was about $600 short. So I called the taxman, and was put on a payment plan. The first payment wasn't due for almost three months. I figured I'd get a bill in the mail and relegated the issue to the very back of my brain.
With this past year's taxes coming due, I started to wonder what the hell happened to that. I assumed they'd probably keep the debit on record and take it out of this year's return. That's kind of what happened. The money was taken out of my federal return, which I thought was great because I didn't have to do anything. I was happy, until I ran a credit check, and learned that what legally happened was that NY State took me to court and won a judgement against me for the latent tax money. How does that effect one's credit rating? Somewhere between a bitch-slap and a pimp-slap, I'd say.
So that has me thinking the Citi assist loan might be best, as the rest suggested by Haas have some kind of negative % fee associated with less than perfect credit, which I think I now qualify for. Ugh.
posted by John Osvald
5:46 AM
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My ex has spoken with a sense of pride that her Honda civic hatchback was purchased absolutely stock, with absolutely no options at all. Thanks to the persistence of midnight thieves in Greenpoint (Brooklyn), the true purity of that fact has been restored, as in now has its stock radio back in place. It still has no AC.
Soon, it will be time for me to move out to CA. The most rational way to do it would probably be to fly out. That would be logical. Instead, I am taking almost two weeks to drive cross country, in July heat, virtually hugging the southern border, with my ex... and we broke up because we fought all the time. Hell, we almost broke up the last time we drove across country, and that was in the new love phase of the relationship. So I'm not so smart. Maybe I'm straight dumb, as I'm really looking forward to it.
Truth be told what was a a negative relationship for a while has become a very positive friendship, so I don't think we'll be arguing. And we're taking along a friend for the ride, so it wil have real vacation vibe to it. As for the heat, I have no excuse, especially for the poor pitbull. I bought her a special dog bed that is supposed to cool her off, and I may get her one of those sharper image things for her neck. Sure she's spoiled, but for god's sake, the dog was homeless. Cmon people.
Right, so last time we went north, and this time it's south. The final city list is... Brooklyn - Charleston WV- Memphis TN - New Orleans LA - Austin TX - El Paso TX - Flagstaff AZ - Las Vegas NV - San Francisco CA. 4,146 miles.
posted by John Osvald
7:44 AM
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So I am officially ending this as an MBA applicant blog. Now it will be a Haas/my life blog. The end results:
Berkeley R1 - Waitlisted then Admitted
Chicago R2 - Waitlisted, Waitlisted Again, Withdrew
Stanford R2 - Ding, No Interview
Duke R3 - Waitlisted/Withdrawn
UCLA R3 - Ding
My stats:
3.3 GPA, Marketing
James Madison University
5 Yrs Work Experience, Internet Pub, Financial Services
700 GMAT 44V42Q
posted by John Osvald
10:57 AM
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Back from Asia. My perfect plan for beating jetlag has failed miserably. Since the time difference from Japan is exactly the same as the flight time, you end up leaving and arriving at the same exact time. So, I figured if I could stay up until Monday night once I got in and got a normal NY time night's rest, I'd be fine. I managed to make it to 10:30 and slept until about 7:30 am. Generally it felt like a normal morning. However, I passed out from 3:30-7:30 and went to bed at 11. It is now 2 and I can barely stay awake at work.
Work. It's a train wreck here. While I was gone the reorganization is getting closer, and basically everybody I work with is wondering if they'll have a job or not when it's over. In fact, just about the only sure thing around here is that I am leaving. I feel awful for everyone, as it's kind of like I'm in the audience for the whole thing, rather than being a participant.
As soon as I do get my head clear and sleep in order, I have a LOT to do. I need loans obviously. I need movers. I need to get rid of stuff. Argghhh. Time is getting short.
Anyways, I want to take a moment to say sorry to Trip for the final Chicago decision coming in. Seriously, I would like to grab a drink sometime in SF, since I'll be there and all so if you're interested we'll catch up on email. For what it's worth, I bet your only problem was the round in which you applied, and if you still want an MBA next year I bet you'll have little difficulty. ANd good luck to 3app on the last app, and P-Yogi, hope you find yourself in London next year.
I probably won't write about the Asia trip here but if anyone has any interest, my buddy Jackson has already begun to describe it rather eloquently at http://blog.mooci.com. Cut and paste, I don't have the energy or desire to html it at the moment : P.
Oh, and I was re-WL'ed at Chicago. Still waiting for the final Kroll background approval out of Haas just to make sure before I pull it.