Latest / Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast / MBA Wire Taps 397—American applying to European MBAs. Family business candidate. Three offers, accept or reapply.

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MBA Wire Taps 397—American applying to European MBAs. Family business candidate. Three offers, accept or reapply. · Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast

• 0:16
  Speaker A: Welcome to the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast. I'm Graham Richmond and this is your Wiretaps for Monday, November 25, 2024. Are you looking for an MBA program where you'll be more than just a number? Vanderbilt Business offers a personalized learning experience to help each stud reach their unique career goals. Whether you're looking to switch careers entirely or accelerate the path you're on, the Vanderbilt MBA program will provide you with the individual support you need to propel your career forward. Vanderbilt is currently waiving their $200 application fee for MBA Wiretaps listeners. To learn more about the Vanderbilt MBA program and to claim your application fee waiver, Visit Business Vanderbilt. Edu ClearAdmit. I'm joined by Alex Brown from Cornwall, England, where I hear, Alex, it's sunny today. How are things going?
• 1:02
  Speaker B: Yeah, very good, Graham. Lovely sunny day. Bit of a wintry sunny day, but yeah, we had a bit of a storm last couple of days, so it's quite nice.
• 1:10
  Speaker A: Yeah. I am bathed in sunshine right now in Portugal, where I am attending the GMAC European Conference. For those who don't know, GMAC is the kind of membership association of business schools, and they do several conferences a year gathering admissions professionals together. And so I'm speaking at this conference, which we talked about a week or two ago on the show, but boy, it's beautiful. I'm about, I don't know, 30 minutes west of Lisbon, so on the ocean. And yeah, they picked a nice spot. It's at the Nova School of Business, which is Portugal's one of Portugal's leading business schools. So should be interesting.
• 1:43
  Speaker B: Very nice.
• 1:44
  Speaker A: So what's the latest on your side? What's happening? What are people talking about on Livewire? And when are round one decisions going to really start coming in droves?
• 1:52
  Speaker B: Well, next week, London Business School releases its round one decisions or its schedule two.
• 1:57
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 1:58
  Speaker B: So that's one of the big schools to do that. We also have a, actually a round two deadline for Michigan State Broad next week. But this last week, there's still a lot of chatter for interview invites, a lot of discussion on whether Stanford is still releasing interview invites, and a lot of concern from folks that applied to Kellogg that haven't yet received interview invites and whether Kellogg has changed its process a little bit this season. We still don't. I don't think we have any clarity on that. But it does seem to be a little bit different this week, this year. I should say. So. Yeah, lots of activity. We're in the throes of the round one sort of getting closer to the sort of what we call decision weeks. But that'll be early, early December. But London Business school is leading the way.
• 2:53
  Speaker A: All right, well, best of luck to anyone waiting word from LBs. And as to Stanford, it's funny, I should have asked. I did a podcast yesterday with Erin Nixon, who's the dean of admissions at Stanford. She just started in July and she was gracious enough to come on the show. So that'll air soon. But I should have asked her if there are any more invites coming because I know that's top of mind right now. But I figured that might be too in the weeds for an interview question. But in any event, yeah, she was terrific and I can't wait for that episode to come. We'll probably have it up on the podcast feed here within the week, I would say. Yeah. Other than that, Alex, I wanted to mention again that we're doing these events in December, 3rd and 4th at noon Eastern. We're going to sit down with admissions directors from several Masters in Management programs including Chicago Booth and Georgetown, Michigan, Duke, etc. So you can sign up at bit ly camim24. So please join us for that if you are an undergrad or currently in grad school and heading right into a master's in management degree. Sounds appealing. This is for you. Otherwise, we did a couple of admissions tips, Alex, and I gotta ask you a question because one of these admissions tips is about round two deadlines. And it's almost really not a tip, it's just that we publish this comprehensive calendar with all the deadlines in one place so that you can sort of pace yourself. And I wanted to ask you how many. We typically cover what I would call global top 50 schools. Right. So how many schools do you think have deadlines between January 3rd and 10th? So a seven day window there early January. How many schools do you think have their deadlines in that window? 2532, can you believe? I mean, it's just crazy. So all this to say if you're applying to business school in round two, look at this admissions post that we put up. Know your deadlines because they come fast and furious and it's really hard to kind of get them all in. So you need to sort of get some of them done well in advance if you're going to get everything in on time. So yeah, have a look at that.
• 5:01
  Speaker B: We know that I'm assuming Sloan isn't one of them.
• 5:05
  Speaker A: I don't think so. I'd have to actually double check that. But they usually Sit outside of the main band. So, yeah, so the other admission sip that we ran is on background checks. As some of our listeners probably know, when you get into a top business school, after you've said you want to come, you have to go through a kind of background check where they will verify things like your undergraduate transcripts. They might talk to your recommenders, verify employment dates with HR and even salary and different things like that. So just be wary of that. Obviously, you never would want to fabricate anything in your applications anyway. But know that you do go through this process. We have a whole tip that explains it. And the other thing I should say is that even if they find something, it's not like they reject you out of hand. You're always given an opportunity to explain why there might be some discrepancy, et cetera. So that's out now, too, Alex.
• 5:57
  Speaker B: Yeah. And it is an important piece of the process. I know when I was at the Wharton School in admissions, we began that process.
• 6:05
  Speaker A: Yeah, that's right. I forgot about that. And not every school does it. And not every school does it for every candidate, even if they are doing it more broadly. Right. So you have to, you know, sometimes they do more sort of spot checking. Right. So. But it's something you need to be aware of. Then the other thing that we've been doing, Alex, is, oh, I wanted to mention we continue to have that promotion going for star contributors. So if you are leaving comments on our site, making posts and people are liking your posts and comments, you earn points as most. I think most of our site users know. But we have this sort of incentive program that we mentioned last week. So that's off to the races. And we already have some starred individuals, people earning their stars and getting gift cards. Right. Amazon gift cards. So that's. Did any. Did we get any more over the past week? I think we did. Right?
• 6:51
  Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. I actually think, and I brought this up in our meeting yesterday or in our, you know, company meeting. I think our community, the conversation on Livewire is really good this season. We've got quite, quite a good sort of level of engagement. And that's why, like, I can come to this show and talk about, you know, the anxiety around Stanford interview invites and Kellogg interview invites and so forth, because we're seeing that conversation directly on Livewire.
• 7:21
  Speaker A: Yeah, super helpful. And I do see a lot of candidates helping each other out with, you know, sharing what info they have. So very useful. The only other thing, Alex, that stands between us and this week's candidates is we Profiled three more groups of students from top business schools on the site as part of our Real Humans series. So, first we talked to students at John Hopkins, Cary, and we met up with what is. Let me just see here. Oh, yeah, this is the one I wanted to share. Bonnie. She's from the uk, although did live in Korea, South Korea for a little bit too. And she went to King's College where she studied pharmacy. And she actually was a pharmacist for a time and then got into digital health and business development. And we asked her, why did you choose Johns Hopkins, Carey? And she said, one thing I've learned about the business world in the US Is the importance of networking. While I was on the west coast building networks and digital health, I realized that I lacked connections in the traditional medical setting on the east coast, so I thought Johns Hopkins would be a great place to start. Also, when discussing the business of health, it can feel lonely as what applies to other industries may not apply to healthcare. The business of health tends to be highly nuanced and regulated. And I wanted to find other students and faculty who would join the conversation. And I believe Johns Hopkins dual degree, she's getting an MPH at an MBA helps me to achieve that goal. So really interesting. Bonnie and I read through all the student profiles in that Real Humans post, and so many of them are interested in healthcare. That seems to be a big strength for Johns Hopkins.
• 8:57
  Speaker B: Yeah, it doesn't surprise me, right? Johns Hopkins is renowned as a university for healthcare or whatever the broader term is. So, yeah, very, very good.
• 9:07
  Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. So we also caught up with students over at smu, Cox, and the student that I wanted to share a comment from, his name is Gavin and he's originally from Kansas City, Missouri, went to Oklahom State, where he studied agricultural business. He also did a master's in international agriculture. And get this, one of his jobs before business school. I think the one he had right before is curator of mammals with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. So just kind of an interesting background. Right. And we asked him, what's one thing you would do again as part of the application process? And Gavin said, one thing I would do is be myself. I tried to let my personality and personal brand lead the direction of my application and essays. Business schools are not looking for generic students. They want MBA candidates who have unique experience and perspectives on the world. I made sure to present myself authentically and not how, I quote, thought an MBA applicant should be during the interview process. So there you have it from Gavin. Now I will say it's probably easy for him to be authentic because he had such an unusual background working with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife alliance and having studied agriculture and things. But I hear what he's saying for sure.
• 10:18
  Speaker B: Yeah, no, absolutely. And yeah, he, they, they would bring really interesting conversation into the classroom.
• 10:25
  Speaker A: Absolutely. Yeah, totally. So the last school that we connected with students from is Columbia Business School in New York City. And we spoke with a gentleman named Caron. I don't, I don't know if I'm pronouncing this right, but it's C A R A U, N. So I'm not really sure how you pronounce it, but he's from the Bronx, New York and went to Princeton, studied sociology and went on to be an NFL player. Okay. He played for a number of teams. He did not play for the Green Bay Packers, I don't think, Alex, I know you always like them, but he paid for a number of teams and you know, so we asked him what do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the class of 26? And he said, my experience of growing up in the Bronx, going to Princeton, playing in the NFL and going to Columbia is quite unique. I'm just one of the many interesting people that are currently at cbs. I'm looking forward to serving my classmates through my commitment to teamwork and my ability to remain calm in the face of adversity. My years in professional athletics have ingrained in me a deep appreciation for teamwork and the ability to support others goals while pursuing my own. I look forward to serving as a source of strength for my classmates, helping them to remain poised and focused in high stakes situations. So that was cool.
• 11:41
  Speaker B: Yeah. I wonder what it, what his post NBA goals. I'd be really interested to learn that. But also I'm a huge admirer of the dedication and commitment it takes to be a professional athlete of any strike. Yeah, so, so yeah, no, absolutely fantastic.
• 12:00
  Speaker A: And I believe his position was like defensive tackle and he bounced around quite a bit. So he, he dealt with a lot of adversity. You know, he had his stints with several teams but you know, he was released, he was resigned. I mean he really had, you know, a fairly lengthy, lengthy career, but not a steady one who's kind of really up and down. So yeah, he's really seen it and I think he brings probably a really interesting voice to have in the classroom. So I think that's about it. Alex, until we, I mean obviously we have, we're always interested in receiving mail. So if you want to Write to us, Please write to infoearadmit.com Use the subject line wiretaps and Alex and I will get back to you. But otherwise, I think we should talk about this week's candidates that you picked out because it's a really great bunch.
• 12:41
  Speaker B: Yeah, let's kick on.
• 12:43
  Speaker A: All right, so this is WireTaps candidate number one. So our first candidate this week is applying to three schools, and those schools are ESADE, IE Business School and ESA. So the three big Spanish MBA programs, and they want to start in the fall of 25. This person's been working in technology, although within a kind of sales role, if I understand correctly. And they're interested post MBA in either tech or maybe kind of pharma. So they mentioned companies like Apple and Facebook and Google, Microsoft, etc. But they also have a handful of those big healthcare players on their list like JJ and Novartis and Pfizer. This person has taken the gmat and they took the new version, obviously, and they got a 525. Their GPA is a 2.79 and they have four years of work experience. They want to stay in Europe after getting an mba, and that's part of the reason why they're looking at European schools. They did note that they're an Asian female located in the US currently. They went to a top 10 undergraduate school where they majored in biomedical engineering. And their work experience has been with companies like Salesforce, Accenture, and Microsoft, all within sales. They've had some big accomplishments they mention and they think they'll have good essays and rec letters. They also had a lot of leadership roles in school clubs during undergrad. And they do mention that they are a really bad test taker and cannot get their score up no matter how many times they take the test, specifically the quant section. So there you have it. Alex, what do you make of this? Because these numbers, 525 on the GMAT and 2.79 undergraduate GPA, are tough to get past.
• 14:26
  Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's going to be the real struggle with this profile. I mean, you know, yes, their undergraduate degree was probably very rigorous, but getting a 279 is not going to allow them to stand out. And getting the 525 on the, on the GMAT certainly doesn't then help them recover from the lower GPA. So that is going to be challenging. I mean, obviously they can take some additional coursework and try to bolster that aspect of their profile. I'm just also a little bit concerned that it's the quant side of the GMAT that they're struggling with. I would have imagined as an engineer by training that that wouldn't have necessarily have been the case. Other than that, I really like the profile. You know, someone that wants to be in Europe, using European MBA programs to make that transition, I think, and to develop a career in Europe, I'm imagining that their work experience even, you know, sometimes we think of sales as perhaps not being particularly rigorous. But I also think, you know, sales can be a little bit of business development. Sales in tech is going to be a lot of B2B sales. So I imagine actually the work experience is pretty good, quite rigorous, probably going to get some good recommendations to support their profile. But I do worry and you know, even in undergrad, you know, they had strong extracurriculars, lots of involvement and engagement. But nevertheless, Graham, I struggle with the academic portion of profile because what folks need to recognize, and most people do, I think is strong work experience does not compensate for academic prowess. Right. So these are separate elements of an overall profile. So one doesn't compensate for the other. So that will make things a bit challenging. Graham.
• 16:38
  Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think when you see a 279, you say, well, you know, okay, biomedical engineering from a top 10 undergrad. So maybe this person went to like Caltech or mit and so you could sort of see your way to it. But as you then point out, when the GMAT comes in low, especially on the quant, it just sort of blows up the whole story. Right. Because it does not consistent. And I recognize this person may just legitimately be a poor test taker, but it doesn't really explain away the 279. So I think you did have some discussion with this candidate and they're taking MBA math or something to show aptitude. And I will say it is possible that of the three schools on their list, that is probably the easiest to get into. I mean, these are all good schools. I don't want to say something negative, but I just would say that it's the easiest to get into. And as an American coming to Spain with a good resume and good work experience, they may just be able to look the other way. It's hard to say. I do think IE has their own admissions test that you can take that's very different from the gmat. So that might be a possible avenue to explore as well. I think ESE and to an extent ESARE are going to have more stringent admissions criteria. So it could be an uphill battle.
• 18:01
  Speaker B: Yeah, I Mean, again, the challenge is they've got to convince the admissions committee that that first quarter or that first term or whatever the process is in Europe, they will thrive in it and not be overly challenged because there's going to be so much that goes on right at the beginning of their MBA experience. So, you know, it's easier for ADCOM to see these numbers and say, you know what, they're probably going to struggle. So how are they going to show, demonstrate to the ADCOM that they won't struggle?
• 18:39
  Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. Well, I do want to wish her luck and hopefully she takes our advice to heart. And I think, you know, again, look into the IE entrance exam. I believe they have their own test that you can take. And I would encourage her. Yeah. To pursue MBA math and come up with an optional essay that somehow explains all of this and makes a compelling case and we'll see where the chips fall. But I want to thank her for sharing her profile. Let's move on and talk about WireTaps. Candidate number two. So this week's second candidate has seven schools on the target list, and they do want to start school next fall. They've got Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Michigan, Minnesota, uva and Yale. And actually, I think I may have misspoken. I think. Are they trying to start? It might be not next fall, but the fall after. Anyway, we'll get into that because you probably know a bit more than I do, but they're currently working in insurance in a family business and they want to get into consulting. And they mentioned Bain, BCG, McKinsey as potential targets. They've taken a sample GMAT exam just to sort of see where they land. And they haven't, you know, officially taken the test yet, but they said they scored a 505 cold with no, you know, no practice or, you know, kind of prep yet. They had a 3.44 undergraduate GPA. They've been working for three years, as I said, in insurance, and they're hoping to land in the Midwest or the Northeast after business school is wrapped up. They have a host of interesting work experience and a lot of extracurriculars and volunteer activities, most of which relate to kind of economics. And, you know, they've kind of done some publishing and, you know, been doing kind of public and private, like, doing some consulting, like economic research and consulting. It's all kind of linked to their what I, you know, kind of their undergraduate experience and a little bit to their work. They do, though, say that they are an Ironman triathlete as well. So definitely doing Some other stuff outside of the office. But, Alex, do you know, are they applying right now or. Because if they haven't taken the test yet, I just occurred to me maybe they're targeting the next year.
• 20:53
  Speaker B: Yeah. Quite honestly, I just looked at the entry and it's. There's not real clarity there.
• 21:00
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 21:01
  Speaker B: So I had actually assumed they're targeting this.
• 21:04
  Speaker A: This season, so maybe round two. Yeah.
• 21:06
  Speaker B: Yeah. But like you say, they've got to really not chop their GMAT prep to make sure that they can come in with an equivalent score that sort of, you know, aligns with what they can do with their best efforts, et cetera, et cetera. So hopefully, they've got the wherewithal to be able to do that and get the GMAT score close to or at the median of the schools that they're targeting.
• 21:37
  Speaker A: Right, right.
• 21:39
  Speaker B: If they're doing it all for next season, that's great. They've got more time in order to do that. I mean, again, I like this profile. Obviously, their GPA is stronger. It's 344. They're working in a family business, which has its advantages, I. E. They could probably get some broader exposure to the business, business development, et cetera, et cetera. The challenge for them will be to get the right recommendations. And that's always a challenge for anyone working in a family business because obviously you can't get recommendations from your family. So seeking out mentors or clients or whatever it might be, they're just going to have to be more creative in terms of how they identify those recommenders and then use the optional essay to explain that choice because, again, unlikely it'll be their direct supervisor and so forth. So that's going to be a little bit of a challenge. But I do like their ec, their extracurriculars, and they combine that with being an Ironman athlete. I mean, Graham, I walked for three miles this morning, and I feel like I'm like, king of the hill. So I'm not quite sure what it means to be an iron man, but yeah.
• 23:01
  Speaker A: Oh, it's like next level. Yeah. I mean, it's. Yeah, it's crazy stuff. So they seem like they're really accomplished and have a lot of interest.
• 23:08
  Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And, you know, I think, you know, their target programs make sense for where they want to be afterwards, et cetera, et cetera. So. So, again, very decent overall profile. They've got to really nail that GMAT score and be smart about their recommended choice.
• 23:31
  Speaker A: Yeah, agreed. And I think, just to underline this, I think sometimes candidates don't realize that you can't use an uncle if you're working in a family business and you just can't. I mean, it's never going to work. The school may not tell you, but they'll kind of just read it with a grain of salt. If it's coming from anyone who's a blood relative, as you say, talk to your company's accountant or legal counsel or customers. Just find someone that knows you via your role in the business and ask if they'll write a letter. And that just goes a long way to showing self awareness and everything. So having that, hopefully this person can identify a couple of people who fit that bill and they're very active outside of work. So there could be somebody in their volunteer work domain that could write one of the letters as well. Beyond that, though, I agree with you. I like this candidate. I don't know when they're. As I said, I got kind of flustered because I wasn't sure are they applying now or next year. But if they are applying in round two, then hopefully they're living and breathing GMAT right now, prepping, taking that test and getting their apps ready. And it'll be a lot of work. But they could do it in round two. But either way, yeah, the score will be important. I do like the range of target schools because they have, you know, they have Minnesota Carlson on the list, but they also have a school like, you know, Tuck. So they have a little bit of a range there between sort of top 10 and top 30. So I think they're going to land somewhere. Just a question of putting the work in. And yeah, again, I love the fact that they're well rounded and have some outside interests and stuff. So should be in good shape.
• 25:05
  Speaker B: Yeah, very good. Best of luck to them.
• 25:07
  Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. All right, let's move on and talk about wiretaps. Candidate number three. So our third candidate this week is going to kick off the season. You picked a decision wire entry. So we're going to talk about this person's dilemma. They are an undecided candidate who's been accepted at some schools. So this person applied to esade, I, E and ese. So the same three Spanish schools that our first wiretaps contestant was thinking about applying to. This person applied to all three and they were admitted to all three. They're going to be starting this fall and they're thinking about consulting or maybe VC after business school. And they mentioned Kearney, Bain, BCG, McKinsey as targets. Their GMAT was a 655. And that's a pretty good score on the Focus edition. That's north of 700 if you're thinking about how it would be on the old test, they had a 3.9 undergraduate GPA. Again, very strong. And this candidate's located in Latin America. And they mention in the notes that they're thinking of joining a top strategy consulting firm in Europe. They say, I'm still on the young side of applicants and I'm considering delaying the program for a year to start in 26 and not 25. I am thinking of applying to other top B schools with a clearer path to consulting in Europe as a foreigner. So, Alex, a lot of things to debate here. I mean, the first would be where would you go if you were admitted to esade Ie nese? But the second is this nuance here where they're like, maybe I'll wait, apply to some other schools that could position even better for consulting jobs in Europe as a foreigner. So do you have any thoughts on that?
• 26:49
  Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think they've got three great schools already in the bag, so it's like bird in the hand, et cetera, for consideration. I think the way to resolve that is if you want to target, let's say, London Business School or insead, as maybe they're the two schools that the candidate's thinking about just a notch ahead of ise, you know, in many people's sort of ratings in terms of European schools, then, yeah, do it for round two. I mean, they've got a lovely academic profile. You know, their GMAT looks decent if they deliver on the work experience side and extracurricular and show growth and impact and so forth. I mean, they've already gone through the process of applying, so it should be an easier task, as it were, to prepare a couple of applications over the next month around two, if they could get their recommenders on board. So why wait a year if they could get that admit for LBs or INSEAD this season? So that's one question that I would throw back at them. The other thing to think about is if they're adamant that it's next year versus this year in terms of starting or delaying a year in terms of starting, the question becomes, are you in a work situation where you can continue to grow and have impact and they're a little bit younger in the cycle. I think they acknowledge that. So maybe that is the case so that they're able to continue to go on that sort of strong upward trajectory, which in turn may make them a stronger candidate next season. Anyway and make them more attractive for LBs and INSEAD as well as the three schools that they would need to reapply to. Schools aren't typically generous about deferring candidates officially.
• 28:59
  Speaker A: Right.
• 29:00
  Speaker B: So they probably are going to need to reapply. So there's risk involved in that strategy. Right. If they don't improve their overall profile and they miss a little bit on LBs and INSEAD, then they're like lost and they've lost a year. The other thing for them to think about is the value of getting the MBA a year sooner to start this transition to strategy consulting. And surely Isaac, for example, is a pathway for them to do that with the programs they already have in the back. So I've rambled on a little bit, Graham, but there's two or three pretty big decisions for them to make to then come up with the right option. My gut sense is the right option is to apply in round two to any of the other target schools that they're interested in and then kick on for this season to do their mba.
• 30:01
  Speaker A: Yeah, I agree with you. I mean, I think that there are several factors. I mean, I think they should absolutely apply in round two to LBs or INSEAD or whatever schools they're thinking of targeting. If they have to deposit at one of the three Spanish schools to kind of lock in a spot, do it, because that would be their backup plan. And I think ESA might be the best positioned school given that they want to do consulting. ESA makes extensive use of the case method in their curriculum. I mean, there are a number of reasons. It also tends to be the highest ranking school among the three. It sounds to me like I would take the offer to ESA look at maybe LBs and INSEAD in round two and not waste another year. I would not wait because as you say, I doubt any of these schools would give them a deferral and so then they have to reapply. So yeah, I think that's the plan. The only thing I want to mention really important here is this person's from Latin America. The Spanish schools tend to have particularly ESA really good networks back in Latin America. So if this person ever does want to go back, that's something to keep in mind. And the other thing, I mean, I don't want to rain on the parade here, but it actually can be quite difficult to join a top strategy consulting firm in Europe if you're Latin American or if you're not from Europe and don't have working rights. So that's something to keep in mind. I mean, I think this person needs to be open and maybe cast a wider net, whether that means more consulting companies or even other field fields. They need to decide what's most important, staying in Europe, which sounds like they're pretty keen to do, or getting that job, because there's a really high chance that the McKinsey or Bain or whoever, top strategy consulting firm is going to want them to go back and work in Latin America where they have the right to work. That's just something to keep in mind and I think that's been particularly underlined in the current economy. I just want to make sure that this person goes in eyes wide open. But I agree with your overall strategy to sort of apply to these extra schools now and just figure it out.
• 32:01
  Speaker B: Very good. Makes a lot of sense.
• 32:03
  Speaker A: Yeah. So I want to thank them for sharing their profile. I will say, look, here is someone who got into the three Spanish schools and they have a 6, 5, 5, 3, 9. And you'll remember that our first candidate this week that we talked about wants to also apply to those three schools and has a 5, 25, 279. So there's a really big gap there. And that's what we were trying to underline with that first candidate. Hopefully that came through. Alex, I know that anyone who's still listening to the show as we get to the end here is dying to know how your 60th birthday celebrations went. So did you have fun? I mean, you're here, you don't sound like overly tired or anything. So they didn't wear you out too much, I guess?
• 32:39
  Speaker B: No, it was absolutely fantastic time. We opened up the pub we had about. Yeah, lots of folks came, lots of local folks from the village, which is absolutely brilliant.
• 32:49
  Speaker A: Oh, that's great.
• 32:50
  Speaker B: And, yeah, I had a very, very sluggish day after.
• 32:55
  Speaker A: I'm sure you did. Did. But I'm so glad that you were able to celebrate and, yeah, it just sounds like it was a lot of fun, so. Excellent. Thanks for sharing that. All right, so we'll gather next week and talk about more candidates. Yes, I'll see you then.
• 33:08
  Speaker B: Very good. Best luck, everyone. Stay safe.