January 25, 2009
Uganda bound!
The projects have been announced, and the teams have taken shape. We submitted our top MAP choices about two weeks ago and the MAP office has been hard at work, matching us to our project assignments. No one knows exactly how the process plays out, but in the end each MBA1 was assigned to a project ranked within their top ten, which is pretty impressive.
I am so excited about my assignment! It involves working with a rural hospital in Uganda to analyze areas for procurement and inventory management improvements. The project interested me because I am really enjoying our operations class this term, wanted to work with a non-profit for MAP, and hoped to gain some international experience. The project kickoff is still off in the distance (although not that far, since there’s only three more weeks left in the Winter A term) but our team of four students will be meeting for the first time tomorrow. We are all from different sections, which is great—as much as I love working with my section, it will be a nice change of pace to work with a completely new group.
Lastly, congratulations are in order to the newly admitted students for the Class of 2011. Hope to see you at Go Blue Rendezvous!
Posted by esl at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)
January 14, 2009
Building excitement
Sorry for the bad pun, but there is a lot of new building excitement and building excitement for our futures this summer. We started Winter A classes last week. Walking into the new building was a surreal experience, or maybe it just seemed that way because I arrived early for my 8am class and felt like I was still on break. The building’s wintergarden area is expansive and airy, and the first time I tried to do my homework there it almost had an upscale hotel feel to it. The orange--I mean terracotta!—color has grown on me, but I can’t quite figure out the interesting carpet selection. It looks like a mix between a world map and an MRI scan, and has certainly been the topic of many conversations!
This week has been extremely busy with group projects and also marked the start of internship interviews for many MBA1s. Despite the mock interviews with companies, advice from the Office of Career Development, and practice with other MBA1s, my nervousness was overwhelming as I sat in the interview waiting room today. Fortunately, my classmates sensed that and started chatting away with me to keep me distracted until it was time for my interview. That’s the great thing about Ross. You can always count on your classmates for support!
Posted by esl at 08:27 PM | Comments (0)
December 22, 2008
December recap
December has been busy! The beginning of the month feels like a long time ago. We were just returning back from the Thanksgiving break, rejuvenated by a few days off, and moving into the homestretch for finals. Some December highlights:
• New building reception: The new business school building is almost ready! Students and guests were invited to a pre-opening reception for a sneak preview. It looks fantastic and I’m so excited to have my classes there next term. Not only is everything state-of-the-art, it’s specifically designed to support action-based learning with several community areas and a number of meeting rooms. It’s hard to believe how large and spacious the building is—I joked with my friends that we would need a bullhorn in order to find each other in the lobby!
• Secret Santa/Hanukkah Harry/Kwanza Kris (etc) party: Our section social chairs did a great job bringing in the holiday cheer by organizing a Secret Santa party. We were randomly assigned section-mates to buy presents for with a maximum of $20, so creativity was encouraged! The break from studying was definitely welcome as well!
• End of Fall B: Initially, I thought I had lucked out when none of my classes had final exams, but I definitely reconsidered after completing all of my final projects. Fall B drew to a close for me at 4am on Saturday when I finished my marketing project—with plenty of time to go before the 8am deadline. :) It’s hard to believe that means we are already 25% done with the MBA program. Even though I am enjoying some rest and relaxation during the holidays, I’m already looking forward to my classes for Winter A: Operations and Managerial Accounting (core courses) and Negotiations and Advertising Evaluation (elective courses).
• MAP: Speaking of Winter A, what about Winter B? The Multidisciplinary Action Projects list was just published a few hours ago. I haven’t ranked my top 10 projects yet, but there’s definitely a wide variety of projects and I’m excited to look through them in more detail.
Happy holidays!
Posted by esl at 07:22 PM | Comments (0)
November 28, 2008
Mock interview madness
Recruiting is starting to take a life of its own! Researching companies, attending corporate presentations/events and writing thank-you notes always takes longer than I anticipate. I feel like I am taking “Recruiting 503� alongside the two Fall B core courses this term (Marketing 503 and Management & Organizations 503) and two elective courses (Strategic Brand Management and Management Presentations.)
Don’t get me wrong—recruiting has been a top priority since we arrived at Ross in September. However, the past few weeks have been a whirlwind as I’ve switched gears from resume refinement to “acing� interviews. Internship interviews don’t formally begin until January, but companies have been on campus conducting mock interviews for the MBA1s. Mock interviews can be tricky: they’re meant to be educational to help students properly prepare, but at the same time, they’re not 100% mock interviews either. I’ve been busy doing mock mock interviews to prepare for the mock interviews to prepare for the real interviews!
So where are all these interviews coming from? The majority of marketing interviews are held during Super Mock Interview day, which is organized by the Ross Marketing Club. I was impressed--15 companies participated (and some companies had more than one interview schedule) which provided ample opportunity for students to practice their interviewing skills. I met with three companies and received really helpful feedback on my behavioral, case and marketing interview responses. I still have a lot of work to go, but practicing now will make the interviews that much easier in January (I hope!)
And of course, there’s so much other stuff happening besides classes and recruiting. I’m definitely trying to make the most out of my time at Ross by experiencing as much as possible: helping to plan Go Blue Rendezvous (Ross’ admitted student weekend), competing in case competitions, and even testing my dubious creative writing skills by working on a skit for Follies (a student show satirizing life at Ross.) If only there were more hours in a day!
Posted by esl at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)
November 01, 2008
From Ann Arbor and back again
I am one of the few Ross MBA students that is from Ann Arbor—that’s right, I was actually born and raised here! However, I am one of many students that have decided to return to the University of Michigan for a second time. There are a lot of Michigan undergraduates who are back for their MBA, and I think that serves as a strong testament to the university and city as a whole.
In college, I pursued a liberal arts education and concentrated in Economics and Organizational Studies. While I loved Ann Arbor (it is my hometown, after all!), I had spent the entirety of my life there and thought it was important to live somewhere very different after graduation. I moved to New York City, worked at JPMorgan Chase, and had a blast living in the Big Apple. Needless to say, it was a quite a transition! I relied a lot on the Michigan network to help me with that--both Michigan and Ross have huge alumni clubs in NYC and cites all over the world. I spent quite a few football Saturdays hanging out at one of several “Michigan friendly� bars with hundreds of other Wolverine fans. The Michigan bond stays with you well after graduation.
I really enjoyed working at JPMorgan Chase, but knew that a long-term career in finance wasn’t for me. When I started thinking about returning for my MBA, Ross was immediately at the top of my list for many reasons. In particular, because I was familiar with the Michigan experience, I knew I would have a great time if I came to Ross.
However, there was one question that I needed to resolve: would a graduate experience at Michigan feel repetitive? The answer is a resounding NO! Sure, the surroundings are familiar—walking down South University to grab a burger at Charlie’s, enjoying the warm weather at Dominick’s—but the similarities end there. And with the new business school building scheduled to open in January, that will be completely different as well. Coming to this realization was important to me, though. If there are any Wolverines who are considering doubling-down on Michigan and would like to hear more, please feel free to send me an e-mail.
Well, it’s the day of the Ross Halloween party hosted by the Marketing Club, so I’m off to put the finishing touches on my costume. Until next time!
Posted by esl at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2008
First down!
No, I’m not talking about football! It’s hard to believe, but our first quarter just ended. During the Fall A term, we covered four core courses (Strategy, Economics, Statistics, and Accounting or Finance) at an incredible speed. It’s amazing how much has happened since the end of August. Were we really just in orientation about eight weeks ago? Some highlights:
M-Trek: What a way to kick off the MBA experience! M-Treks are pre-orientation trips led by second-year students to domestic and international destinations. My trek was to Iceland with seven other MBA1s and four MBA2s. There’s nothing like getting to know your classmates while hiking up and down steep mountains, bunking together in small cabins, and commiserating over blistered feet. (Disclaimer: this was my first multi-day backpacking trip, so everything was challenging for me!) Our trip involved more than just hiking, though. The MBA2s did a fantastic job planning the trip, and included a daylong excursion to the famous Blue Lagoon resort, which is a geothermal spa just outside of Reykjavik. Other highlights included exploring different facets of Icelandic culture (a taste of putrefied shark, anyone?) I could go on and on, but I’ll sum it up quickly—while going on a trek is optional, I would strongly encourage everyone to go!
Football games: Okay, don’t get me started on our team’s win-loss record so far. I know, it is a transition year! Nevertheless, football Saturdays are a cornerstone of the Michigan experience. When the Wolverines are playing at home, expect to find the entire city of Ann Arbor wrapped up in the game--with the stadium’s seating capacity of over 100,000 people, you can understand why! Ross has its own set of game-day traditions with student-run tailgates and corporate-sponsored tailgates, turning a four-hour football game into a full day affair. Go Blue!
Classes: I truly enjoyed my classes this term and wished that they weren’t over so quickly. In economics, Professor Lafontaine ran auctions (with real money!) to illustrate auction dynamics; in finance, Professor Kaul taught us that “finance is love�; in statistics, Professor Ahn somehow incorporated a diagram of East Coast and West Coast rappers while discussing t-tests; and in strategy, Professor Ethiraj really challenged students to think differently. In short, the professors are great here. There’s more to it than that, though. While I remember group projects being a bit of a pain as an undergraduate student, they are an essential foundation of the MBA experience. My classmates are incredibly bright and dynamic, and I’ve learned an enormous amount by working with them on team projects. More importantly, we’re having a good time as well—even when working through finance homework sets at the 11th hour!
Fall A was great. I can’t wait for Fall B!
Posted by esl at 10:58 PM | Comments (0)