Jess finally made up his mind. She had worked for NanoTech for nearly $6$ years but was planning to leave the corporate world and return to school for a PhD in Organization Studies at UMass. She spent the better part of the last $18$ months making these plans, researching other programs in the Northeast, meeting in person with some members of the faculty at the $3$ programs she was considering, and scouring the websites of these schools for more information. She had her GMAT results, and prepared recommendations and application essays well before the submission deadlines. She was admitted to the UMass program two months ago, but she had not yet notified Karen, her boss, and was waiting for two reasons.