The first cut is the deepest

....and then comes the second.

Back when we last left our hero (me), I had successfully submitted two applications to the top MBA programs of my choice: Stanford Graduate School of Business and McCombs School of Business at UT Austin. I was hoping that my next post could be a "Pluckiness, sensibility and smarts triumph for our young heroine" style entry in which I announced the lucky business school that had accepted me into their program.

But sadly it was not meant to be. I received notice from Stanford GSB in mid-December that I was not offered admission. So I wallowed for a little bit, and then left for vacation to California over Christmas. Fast-forward to last week when I received a similar message from McCombs: thanks, but no thanks.

As long as we're talking honestly, I should say that after I received the notice from Stanford, I had my doubts about McCombs. That rejection put me in a tough position -- the first rejection. And when I say first, I don't just mean my first business school rejection. I mean my first rejection that meant something. I am not writing this to elicit sympathy (well maybe a little -- hi, sweetie!), but to share something meaningful to me with my readers. I was accepted to my first choice college, gotten the jobs I wanted and put everything I had into ensuring that I lived up to the confidence that had been placed in me.

And I guess that's the hard part for me to take -- not getting to prove myself. But here we go for more applications. Cross your fingers for me and my pinkie promises that we'll write more as we head toward the home stretch.