• chismis ang jay


• hindi 94.3% ang average ko sa objective exam, essay and interview. hindi ko alam kung saang lupalop niya nakuha ang average na yun.


• according to miss mina, another admin personnel, walang quantitative ratings ang mga essays and the interview


• i checked the website and apparently, to qualify for the entrance scholarship, dapat at least 95% sa objective exam and both "high" ang marks for the essay and the interview


• also, hindi sha 50% scholarship, something like subsidy lang pala ito na ire-refund sa mga scholars


• nonetheless, i feel like i really deserve that


• at dahil dito....

May 24, 2007


Philip E. Juico
Dean
Graduate School of Business
De La Salle Professional Schools, Inc.



Dear Sir:

I am Mark Anthony G. Fontanilla and I have just been accepted to your reputable school’s MBA Program for SY 2007-08. Student ID# 10784748 has been issued to me last night during the course advisement procedure.

Truthfully, I was actually hoping and praying that I could perhaps qualify for your entrance scholarship program. However, it appears that I unfortunately did not make the cut. In line with this, I am requesting your humble office to please reassess my application for the following reasons:
a. I scored 97% in the verbal and quantitative tests;
b. I am exempted in both Business Communication and Business Writing; so I assume that I indeed got a high mark on my essays; and,
c. I got a rating of 1 on work experience in my interview because I’ve only been working for 3 ½ years. This, I feel, is unfair: and of which, I think, I should not have been penalized and placed at a disadvantage.

I am now hoping that you could perhaps reconsider my case. I understand that the entrance scholarship program only refunds a modest yet generous percentage of the entire tuition and fees. Still, this will greatly help me financially since I will be paying my way through the MBA program independently.

Thank you very much, and I am looking forward to your very kind consideration and meritorious response.


Sincerely yours,


Mark Anthony G. Fontanilla
Account Manager
GXS Philippines, Inc.

april 21, 2007
i took the entrance exam for the mba program of la salle. i found the exam relatively easy because i used the princeton gmat reviewer to prepare for this. the verbal sub-test was kinda exhausting though since i went to the exam straight from work; so i was really tired and had no sleep. and since i read really slow (i have this oc tendency to read every word in a sentence and properly pronounce them in my mind – including articles and prepositions!), it was such an eye and brain workout. imagine having to edit three lines of syntactically incorrect phrases per item or having to read around six one-page texts for comprehension and analysis when you’re actually pressed for time! on the other hand, i surprisingly breezed through the quantitative sub-test even if i’m not so confident with my rusty math skills. the essay part, now that i was really confident about. after the exam, i had a good feeling on how my scores will turn out but i wasn’t really sure if i’ll be cut out for the 50% scholarship. an examinee needs to get an average of 95% on the objective exam, essay and interview in order to qualify.

may 2, 2007
the test results are supposedly released ten days after the examination day so i called la salle to inquire. unfortunately, there were no results yet.

may 3, 2007
still, no results. ten days after daw ha!

may 4, 2007
no results. hmmm… maybe it’s ten business days.

may 7, 2007
went to la salle to check. no result pa rin! akala ko bang ten days?!?!? e ten business days na kaya, wala pa rin!

attendant: sir, tatawagan na lang kayo ni jay natividad.
cho: okay….

may 12, 2007
after three weeks, finally jay called me and said that i passed the essay and objective exams, and i’m scheduled for the interview.

may 16, 2007
scheduled interview – i was an hour late. hahaha! it was a so-so interview and i could’ve certainly done a lot better if my thoughts weren’t sabog. plus, my english sucked. hahaha! i swear my uhm’s and ahh’s were irritating, and i didn’t have organization and flow.

after the interview, the professor handed me a copy of their plan of study form. he was explaining the form to me when i saw my grade on the objective exam – 97 percentile. panalo! hence, obviously, there is a big chance that i qualify for the scholarship. in a few days, i will know the final results. and honestly, i was kinda hopeful.

may 21, 2007
cho: hello! may i speak with jay navidad please?
jay: sino po sila?
cho: this is mark fontanilla.
jay: yes, sir. ano po yun?
cho: i just wanted to confirm if i got accepted.
jay: yes, sir. accepted na po kayo sa mba program.
cho: ah, okay. pwede ba makuha yung average ko sa exam?
jay: ay, sorry sir. hindi namin dini-disclose yun eh.
cho: okay. sige, ask ko na lang kung nag-qualify ako for the scholarship.
jay: ay, hindi po sir.
cho: oh, sayang naman. hay! sige, so punta ako jan on the 23rd for the course advisement?
jay: opo, sir. tapos enrollment sa 26.
cho: sige. nga pala, may mga payment schemes ba kayo, tipong installment or monthly?
jay: ay, sir! yung average niyo raw sa exam, 94.3!
cho: huh?!?! ano bay un?!?! 94.3??? hindi ba pwedeng i-consider na yun for the scholarship???
jay: hindi po sir, eh.
cho: 0.7 na lang naman, eh….
jay: sir kasi meron pong 94.6 saka 94.7, hindi rin sila pinayagan.
cho: hay! sayang naman! sige, punta na lang ako jan sa 23.

my god!!! isn’t that frustrating??? he shouldn’t’ve told me my average score anymore. in the first place, they supposedly don’t really release the average scores of the examinees. a simple yes or no would’ve sufficed. i even changed the topic, so why’d he have to bring it all up again? it’s not as if i was pleading or was forcing him to tell me my score. now i can’t get over the fact that i’m only 0.7% shy from the cut-off mark. sayang eh! argh!!! i wish i just got 91 or 88. it would’ve been easier to get over with. sigh!

anyways, it's back to school again!