Day 421: falling at the first hurdle? I hope not.

Ah, how difficult it is to dent my enthusiasm and divert me from my goals!

Yet, I have come across my first challenge, it seems.

My goal - a Columbia MBA. I don't care how I do it, but that's what I want. I want to be at Columbia, I want to study hard, I want to be in New York City!

So, fool that I am, I began to start looking at the demographic of successful applicants. How did i not notice this before? The age range of 2010 entrants was 23-37. Ouch! That would put me two years ABOVE the eldest entrant, if I'm successful for January 2012.

Undeterred, I sought advice from what appears to be an excellent MBA advisory website - www.accepted.com. I posted a brief resumé of my age and experience and education goal. The response? Consider an Executive MBA (or EMBA). It's aimed at older applicants with significant work experience.

So off I go, to the link for the Columbia EMBA - Americas and Europe to find out more. I see that working full-time is a pre-requisite, which is not an issue except that... oh wait! If I want to be based in NYC, how on earth do I get a visa to live there, let alone work there?

I like straight answers - and fast. So I called the contact number and spoke to a very pleasant lady and explained my plight. The result? This is going to be tougher than I thought.

First, I have to be in full-time employment. Great. I can work. But can I work in the USA? No, of course not. This isn't personal concern as I have the funding to study without working if need be. But can I get an education visa to allow me to stay in the USA if I am accepted to the EMBA course? Of course not.

Various other options were explained. The fact that I could regularly visit NYC to attend seminars. Or, since I'll be working in China, do likewise in Hong Kong. Great. None of this gets me relocated to NYC - remember, my dream? Study an MBA at Columbia. Not be an occasional visitor. I could do an online course with any university in the world and go to NYC on vacation, were that even a desireable option (which it isn't).

So, day 2 into the master plan... and some significant issues to... well... conquer!