Flatpoint MBA

The End

2007-06-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

I packed up my apartment in New Haven and moved to New York. My business school journey has come to an end.

I’ve been thinking a lot these last few days about what to write in my final post for this blog. What can I say about the past two years? I loved most of it, hated some of it . . . and would absolutely do it all over again if given the chance. I made some great friendships here and learned more than I ever thought I would.

If you value community, understand the importance of diversity, and long to make a difference in the world, Yale SOM is the place for you. It challenges you. I am a better person having come here.

Thank you for reading. Goodbye.

Commencement

2007-05-31T10:47:00.000-07:00

On Monday, May 28th, I graduated. It was Yale’s 306th commencement and the School of Management’s 30th. There were two separate ceremonies.

Commencement 1:

Soon-to-be graduates from all schools at Yale met at Cross-Campus to organize themselves for the procession. In rows of two, we marched by school until everyone arrived at Old Campus. In the middle of the quad were the graduates of Yale College, by far the largest contingent, flanked by professional and graduate school degree candidates. Though everyone was situated, the procession continued as the banners from each school were brought to the platform. Everyone from a particular school would cheer as that school’s banner became visible to its graduates. When the procession concluded, the president of the university, Richard Levin, welcomed everyone. This was followed by a prayer and a hymn. Afterwards, the presentation of candidates for degrees began.

At Yale, degrees are awarded en masse by the president of the university, by recommendation of the dean of each school. Until the dean formally presents his or her candidates and the president admits them, a person has not graduated. The president jokingly reminded the College’s degree candidates of this when they wouldn’t stop cheering after the dean presented them. But candidates from the School of Management started cheering even before Dean Podolny presented us. In fact, he hadn’t even reached the platform before we started, chanting “S-O-M! S-O-M!” for what seemed like a long time. The dean, anxious to proceed with the ceremony, used his arm to indicate that he wanted us to calm down, which only made us cheer louder. But both he and President Levin must have enjoyed our enthusiasm, as they continued to watch us, smiling. Finally, we quieted down and the dean presented us. A minute later, at exactly 11:13 a.m., the president formally admitted us. At that point, we officially graduated.

All graduates from all schools at Yale were reminded at the time of admission that this came with certain rights and responsibilities (as opposed to privileges). Candidates from the Law School were offered conditional admission because that school’s academic calendar ends later than the other schools’. And the Doctor of Philosophy presentation and admission were spoken in Latin. After another hymn, the conferral of honorary degrees, and another hymn and prayer, the ceremony ended and we made our way to SOM for our second commencement.

Commencement 2:

At SOM, we first heard from the dean. He was followed by our student-elected speaker, whose speech was the perfect mix of humor and seriousness. The refrain of “I was there, then,” created the most laughs. (This line came from an email that the dean sent to our class last year about the new curriculum. He explained that, while we wouldn’t benefit directly from the changes, we would be able to think to ourselves, “I was there, then.” This was supposed to make us feel special, like we were witness to some historic event. You can see how effective it was. LOL.) After this speech, there was a speaker from the first EMBA class. We then began the process of self-graduation, an SOM tradition, where the person receiving his diploma says the name of the person behind him, who says the name of the person behind him, etc. After the ceremony, we joined our families for lunch, took a few pictures, and said a few goodbyes.

Later that night, I spent some time with some of my nearest and dearest friends from SOM.

The ceremonies were awesome. At the first commencement ceremony, sitting with the other graduates from the university in Old Campus helped me to remember that SOM is very much a part of Yale, which is easy to forget when you only ever really see the same people in the same building everyday. And there was so much joy . . . a big, happy future in the eyes of everyone there. I will never forget the experience. It was easily one of the best of my life. Later, I asked my mom if she could hear the SOMers. She said that, after the College, we were the loudest. Yay! The second ceremony was considerably less formal. It was sweeter, more intimate; a great way to end two years of hard work, to be with your friends and to celebrate their accomplishments. I’m so proud of us!

Congratulations to the Yale SOM Class of 2007!!!

The Big Day

2007-05-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

Well, tomorrow's the big day. We've had a number of activities leading up to commencement. I wasn't able to attend all of them, but I did make it to the class dinner and after-party. A lot of people made toasts at the dinner. One guy from the Gold cohort started his toast by saying, "Will members of the best cohort please stand up?" Of course, people from every cohort - Blue, Green, Silver and Gold - stood because everybody thinks his randomly assigned group is better than anyone else's. Sadly, I am no different. :-)

The family came into town this morning. I plan on giving them a brief tour of New Haven this afternoon. Friends come in tonight and tomorrow morning.

I picked up my cap and gown today. The master's hood looks confusing to me. I may just throw it over my shoulder and be done with it.

Furniture sitting in storage for the last two years is on its way from San Francisco to my new apartment in New York.

Not much else to say right now. I'll let you know how commencement goes.

To everyone who has graduated, or is graduating, this year, congratulations!!!

Advice For Future SOMers

2007-05-21T21:21:00.000-07:00

So, I figured it was time to share some of what I’ve learned . . . through personal experience and observation . . . during my two years here at Yale SOM. You’re not going to find this information in any official publication from the school. I hope current and future SOMers find it helpful.

Note: I reserve the right to add to this list. Readers are encouraged to leave their own pearls of wisdom in the Comments section.

1) Proficient is sufficient. Believe it. Or at least resign yourself to it.

2) You’re rewarded for what you already know, not for what you learn. Of course, learning is its own reward. (But try comforting yourself with that when you work your ass off and still get a Proficient. . . . And, no, I’m not still upset about my grade in Pricing Strategy. I swear.)

3) Contrary to expectation, the elective classes that are most difficult to get into are usually the worst. Ignore the email from the registrar that tells you which courses are traditionally oversubscribed. You’ll be glad you did.

4) Some people come to business school to work. Others are here on vacation. Try to get into study groups with people who came here for the same reason you did. It will save you a lot of grief.

5) Don’t fool around with your classmates. (Unless there’s REAL potential for a relationship. Then, maybe.)

6) Be careful about the reputation you develop. Though I like almost everyone here as a person, there are some people that I would never want to hire after working with them (or not working with them) in a group. And I’m sure those feelings are reciprocated. The point is: Be careful.

7) Don’t take CorpFin2 in the spring semester of your second year. Every distinction-gunning finance nerd from the first year class will be in there with you.

8) Don’t get suckered into serving as editor of the Yearbook . . . or doing any other thankless job.

9) Many of your classmates will behave as though they can trade in their livers at the end of two years. Your liver needs to last your entire life. Take it easy. Don’t try to keep up with the alcoholics in your class. It’s impossible.

10) Don’t cheat. A first year student got a bad grade on his exam and changed some of his answers. He asked the professor for a re-grade. What the student didn’t know was that the professor had made a photocopy of the student’s original exam. Needless to say, the student was expelled. Two people in my own class were expelled last year for lying about the fact they cheated on a homework assignment that was worth less than 2% of their overall grade for the course. Trust me, were the 35 Duke students caught for cheating a few weeks ago enrolled at Yale SOM, all of them would have been expelled. This school has a zero tolerance policy . . . and rightly so.

The Class of 2009

2007-05-21T21:20:00.000-07:00

Some stats on the Class of 2009:

Average GMAT: 713
Acceptance Rate: 13%

The acceptance rate isn’t adjusted for last year’s deferrals and is likely to go up to ~15% after Round 3.

In short, this was a very competitive year and gaining admission was difficult. To those of you who made it, Congrats! To those of you who didn’t, don’t feel too bad. It was tougher than it’s ever been.

SOM Secret Society?

2007-05-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

Rumor has it that a group of students is trying to form a secret society at SOM. My only question is, Why? There seems to be no purpose.

This isn’t Yale College, where there are thousands of undergraduates. There are only 200 of us in each class here. And if membership in this group of 200 doesn’t make you feel special enough, if you insist that you’re better than your classmates, then maybe you should consider continuing your education at a school more worthy of YOU – your genius, your potential for future success, your [insert other highly subjective criteria used to determine elite status here].

Hopefully, this remains a rumor. Hopefully, the people involved will realize that this isn’t a good idea . . . or at least explain why they feel that a secret society is necessary. Who knows? There may be a very good reason for it. I doubt it, but maybe.

The Beginning Of The End

2007-05-08T19:27:00.000-07:00

Well, today was the last day of classes. The instruction portion of my MBA is over. I have two finals this Thursday, a final project, and a paper; but, all will be finished by Monday of next week. Then it's three weeks of coordinating (and executing) my move, meeting with managers at my company, entertaining out-of-town guests, and participating in commencement activities before it's, "Au revoir, New Haven."

The Dean sent a very nice email today to the Class of 2007, far more personal than the letter he wrote for the yearbook. I've included it here. It's quite long. Consider yourself warned. :-)

To the Yale School of Management Class of 2007:

As some of you know, I am in East Asia this week meeting with alumni and friends of the school. However, I wanted to take a few moments out of my travel here to email you as you head into your final projects, papers and exams.

When we see each other next and you have finished your graduation requirements, you will have already begun the transition from Yale SOM student to SOM graduate. I am experiencing this transition with mixed emotions. On the one hand, I am excited to see how you will collectively live out the mission of the school in your lives and careers to come. On the other hand, you have been wonderful partners with me from the day that you arrived. We have been First Years – and Second Years – together. Your feedback, thoughts, and hard work helped to usher in so many of the positive changes this school has seen in the last two years -- from enhancements to the Loan Forgiveness Program and direct funding support for the Internship Fund, to increased resources and funding for the CDO, to enhancements in our IT infrastructure, to new elective offerings – and yes, even the new curriculum, which, I know, you did not have the opportunity to take. But you were there at the creation, and you were instrumental in bringing it to life and in supporting and sustaining it through its first year of existence, as Teaching Assistants, as Mentors, as Second Year Advisors, and as the collective voice of tradition, continuity and community at SOM in your second year. As you make the transition to alumni and interact regularly with those who have not been to SOM but have heard about SOM, you will hopefully have the opportunity to experience what the curriculum change has done to elevate the perception of the school as a true pioneer in MBA education, something from which the entire community benefits.

It is my deepest hope that you all can derive considerable satisfaction both from the contributions you have made and the benefits you have realized that were not part of the fabric of this school on the day that you arrived in 2005.

Above and beyond the resources that we as a community of students, faculty and staff have collectively worked to direct, the Class of 2007 has been the carrier of the SOM culture and commitment. You have demonstrated the values of our community from the time that you embraced students from Tulane in the wake of Katrina to the way in which you helped one another (and even members of the Class of 2008) to prepare for job interviews. Your class implemented the first form of elected student representation in the school's history, and in the process you helped to establish a tradition of voice and partnership with the administration and faculty that had not existed before. Perhaps more than any class in history, the Class of 2007 has actively reached out to work with the SOM Alumni Association, helping to create a bridge between the graduates of the school and the current student body. The amount of alumni involvement in the institution has never been greater, and I am confident that it will only increase over time in many ways as a result of your efforts.

To be sure, there is much that remains to be done, and those of us who are staying here will need to continue with what you have helped to begin, whether it be the diversity task force, the IT advisory committee, or the myriad other student-faculty-administration partnerships that have been initiated since your arrival.

We will certainly see much of one another as Commencement approaches. However, I wanted to take this opportunity to wish you good luck on your final papers and exams, and even more, to thank you personally for the support and enthusiasm you have shown to me, and for everything else that you have done to play a part in the exciting story of Yale SOM as it has unfolded over the past two years.

I hope you will stay close to and engaged with the school, and that you will continue to provide us with feedback and continue to be involved in the many positive changes we still have planned, even though you will certainly have some competing commitments over the next few years. Along with the rest of the faculty and staff of the school, I am looking forward to doing all that I can to ensure that the institution will continue to be a source of ever-increasing pride and enthusiasm for you wherever your path leads you, just as all of you will doubtless be a source of pride and inspiration for us in your new lives as Yale managers.

So, from Tokyo, good luck with finals, and thanks again.

See you soon,

Dean Podolny

To Those Who Feel I Am Responsible . . .

2007-05-06T14:06:00.000-07:00

. . . All I have to say is: Sharon Oster, Donald Trump poster, ILP class. Oh, and JPod.

Thank You, Gloria!

2007-04-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

Apparently, Andrea worked on the student newspaper. Not on the yearbook. I guess I'll have to stop making that joke now. Dammit.

Apartment Found

2007-04-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

I'll be living at 42nd & 10th. Yes, that's only one avenue away from Port Authority and two avenues away from Times Square. So the location is hardly ideal. But I wasn't going to get a 13'x11' bedroom in a two bedroom apartment with parquet floors, stainless steel appliances, central heat and air, Hudson river views, and a normal sized bathroom in a New York City doorman building for a decent price without making some trade-offs. :-) My roommate and I sign the lease on Friday. I'm a little nervous about living with a co-worker (although he is in a completely different division) and I have no idea how I'm going to get the money I need for the deposit and the broker's fee that quickly, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

I only have one more week of classes and one month left in New Haven. That suddenly seems a little scary to me.

More Awards

2007-04-26T15:59:00.000-07:00

Clear Admit published its list of the Top 10 Student Blogs and I won again this year. I even managed to move up three places! (This is probably due to the fact that some major players left the field, but I'm happy to pretend that it's because I improved.)

Even better, out of the hundreds - nay, thousands - of posts written this year by MBA bloggers, I won Best Single Post by a Student for Fanfare. It seems as though everyone found it easy to relate to the embarrassment of a cell phone ringing during class. I imagine that winning Best Single Post is equivalent to winning Record of the Year at the Grammy's. Hmm, now I know how the Dixie Chicks felt. :-)

Thanks to everyone - fellow bloggers, Clear Admit peeps and celebrity judges - who voted for me!

April Foolery, Etc.

2007-04-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

During April Foolery (an SOM tradition that began, I believe, last year), an event is held every night of the month. Students participate in karaoke, bowling, and other activities. So far, I have only managed to make it to a few events, the Pub Crawl and the Internship Fund Auction among them. I had a blast at the Pub Crawl, but I ended up paying for it dearly the next morning ... at 7 a.m. ... on the floor of my bathroom. The Internship Fund Auction had a Pirate theme and was okay. Admittedly, I didn't stay long, so it may have been more fun as the night progressed and people became more intoxicated. I was also a little spoiled by last year's auction, when an entire cohort's existence was on the line. No eyepatch or hook hand or parrot could compete with that kind of drama and excitement.

Welcome Weekend came and went. I got to see very little of the Class of 2009. I heard from someone that they weren't the best looking group of people ... but then, the Class of 2007 is really the most attractive class in the school's history. Just look at the class photos that hang in Food For Thought ... or at the Class of 2008, which, for obvious reasons, doesn't have a class photo yet. Woof! (Sorry folks, but I calls 'em like I sees 'em.) Still, it would have been nice to meet the little buggers. (NOTE TO SELF: DO NOT PUBLISH THIS POST UNTIL AFTER DEPOSITS ARE DUE.)

While I'm not the biggest "joiner," it would have been nice to have done more this month. And I would have had I not been working on the school's Yearbook. As one of the people in charge of this very "high school"-esque publication ... and as one of the oldest people in my class ... I felt very much like Andrea from Beverly Hills 90210. Only without the glasses. And the curly hair. And the female reproductive organs. Still, I'm excited about its publication. I think it looks good. And I'm more than a little surprised by that given how much trust I had to place in others to do their share of the work and to do it well. I walk away from this experience realizing that the desire to micro-manage is very strong within me. Another area of development. Great. Like I don't have enough to fix.

Senioritis has definitely set in and so has the reality of the complications of moving to New York. It looks like I'll need to find a guarantor. But my parents would laugh at me if I asked them to cosign for an apartment. Hell, even I find it ridiculous. I'm in my thirties, for Pete's sake! Okay, back to my mantra: calm blue ocean ... calm blue ocean ...

P.S. I hope the Class of 2009 has a better sense of humor than the Class of 2008, whose members complained to the administration about Dr. Bad. They argued that what he was doing was unethical, which effectively brought an end to his antics. But it was all in good fun. The pranks were so obviously pranks, how could they not be funny in a "pathetic attempt" sort of way? Of course, if you've ever been to a party thrown by the Class of 2008, you'd know that its idea of fun is beer pong, beer pong, and more beer pong. Oh, yes. There are things I'll miss about the Class of 2008, but its beer pong obsession is not one of them.

Graduation And Work

2007-03-06T16:19:00.000-08:00

Details on commencement recently became available. Almost everything happens over Memorial Day weekend. On the agenda: a faculty reception, a class dinner, rehearsal, and a picnic for family and friends. On Monday, May 28th, we participate in two ceremonies. The first is commencement for Yale University. According to the SOM website:

The University ceremony includes graduating students from all schools at Yale with a lot of pomp and circumstance. Graduating students line up by school on Cross Campus with their Deans and faculty to process into Old Campus led by the Yale band, the University President, and honorees. After everyone gets into Old Campus, the ceremony is reasonably brief: undergraduate academic prizes are given out, degrees are conferred on the graduating students en masse, with the marshals for each school going up to the podium to receive symbolic diplomas from the President, and honorary degrees are conferred. These are always interesting and include famous names from the arts, literature, science, business, etc.

The second ceremony takes place at SOM. This is when we receive our diplomas, in Latin no less.

I ordered my cap and gown a few days ago. My mom – a shorter, older, crazier version of me – has already purchased her plane ticket to New Haven and will be spending a week with me. A couple of friends will also be coming to the ceremony and staying a few days. It will be a motley crew, and I should have my hands full entertaining.

On the work front, I got an email from my company yesterday providing me with next steps in the on-boarding process. I just need to give them a start date. It can be any time over the summer, so long as my first day is a Monday. Though everyone is telling me that I need to take a month or two to go on vacation, I think I’ll go straight to work. I don’t see the value of acquiring more debt. I also need to make a decision about moving my belongings from San Francisco. Do I move in with someone who has already lived in the apartment for a while and not worry about furnishing a place, paying a broker, signing a lease, etc., or do I find an apartment with a friend even though I plan on returning to the Bay Area within a couple years? I need to figure this out . . . and soon.

Spring Break Already

2007-03-06T15:50:00.000-08:00

I finished the first quarter of the spring semester today. I had two classes, but missed both of them. The first class was a review of material covered over the term. Given that I went to every class, I didn’t see the value in attending a review session. The other class had a guest speaker. That would have been more interesting, but I decided that I would rather go to the gym instead.

What did I accomplish this quarter? Among other things, I:

completed a business plan with the team from my Entrepreneurial Business Planning class,

performed a DCF valuation on a company the McKinsey way (NOPLAT, blech), and

learned how to run different types of regressions, e.g., using categorical variables.

I also had the opportunity to hear some great guest speakers in my Strategic Leadership across Sectors class, including Sherron Watkins, the Enron “whistleblower.” I particularly enjoyed a conversation I had with her during a break in the class. She seems very cynical about the media and politicians and with good reason. If you ever have a chance to hear her tell her side of the story, I would recommend taking advantage of it.

Next quarter should be good, too. But for the next two-and-a-half weeks, rest and relaxation rule.

Too Funny

2007-02-20T17:43:00.000-08:00

This week’s edition of inSOMnia, a humorous newsletter put together by students at Yale SOM, featured a story about a Korean-style soap opera trailer created by first-year students at the school. The video is on YouTube and can be found here.

The video’s hilarious, but the article in inSOMnia is even funnier. Here’s the bulk of it:

“Several first-year ‘stars’ were shocked to learn that their pilot deal with NBC-Seoul fell through yesterday when a two-minute trailer was discovered on YouTube by a sharp-eyed SOM internet sleuth. . . . Bloggers and critics quickly jumped on the story, posting the video link on several mirror sites and shooting it around faster than Alexey Vayner’s infamous bench press. NBC executives axed the show after seeing the graphic depictions of abuse, lack of dialogue, and complete and utter disregard for narrative coherence and recognizable plot . . . Further damaging the show’s chances, say executives, were instructions to “Turn in Tuesdays,” an apparent suggestion to go to bed early and miss the show. Adding insult to injury, focus groups in Chicago were especially confused as to what time the show was supposed to air, seeing as Central Time is one hour before Eastern Standard Time. Insiders claim the cancellation was caused by pressure from School of Management officials who were understandably dismayed by the depictions of violent, astronaut-like love triangles, empty classrooms, and an entirely Korean student body. . . . But the real shame is that these hard-working students took time to make such a professional trailer on top of the ultra-rigorous workload experienced only by the Class of 2008 (and none before them in the history of SOM). Seriously, they have “so much work,” as they remind anyone listening time and time again, and again, and again, and again, and again.”

My Reclamation Proclamation

2007-01-16T22:27:00.000-08:00

Well, a new year has begun. This will be the year that I graduate from business school and move to New York; this will be the year that I get my life back.

I wouldn’t allow myself to think about my move to Manhattan during the fall semester. It seemed so far away. But last week, I started to look online to see how much rent I could expect to pay for a share in Manhattan. I also began to think about where I would like to live, which neighborhoods would suit me best.

Though my workload will be demanding this semester – especially during the first half – I am resolved to spend more time with friends at Yale and in New York. I even have a date coming up with someone who seems to possess long-term potential.

Having spent the last year and a half devoted to my professional development, I am finally going to give my personal life the attention it deserves.

More Suggestions

2006-12-06T15:16:00.000-08:00

Fellow SOMer Lexington offers more suggestions for first-year electives. Check them out here.

Fanfare

2006-12-05T22:13:00.000-08:00

The other day, I arrive late to class, which the professor notices. To compensate for this, I try to communicate through my posture and facial expression my extreme attention to, and interest in, the material being presenting. In the middle of one of my head nods, which is meant to signal not only my approval but my deep understanding or ability to relate to what the professor is saying, my phone rings.

But it’s not any old ring.

The ringtone is called “Fanfare,” and it sounds like the trumpets used to notify the people of their king’s arrival. (This is somewhat fitting, if you know me at all.) Surprised to hear my phone ring - and more than a little embarrassed - I quickly walk out of the room and down the hallway. Within seconds, however, I notice that the ring is no longer quite as loud. In fact, it seems to be fading. It is then that I realize that I left the phone in my backpack, which is sitting on the floor next to my seat in the classroom. I turn around and run into the room.

My phone is still ringing. LOUDLY.

I stop at my bag, look around at my classmates, quickly apologize, and run out of the room again, trying to grab the phone out of my bag so that I can silence it once and for all.

Of course, I couldn’t return to class that day.

You may be wondering, what’s the point of this story? 1) Backpacks have big pockets that make locating little things like cell phones difficult to do quickly, and 2) Silencing your cell phone before class starts allows you to feign interest much more convincingly. So …

Avoid embarrassment. Be sure to turn off your cell phones before lecture! (This is doubly true for repeat offenders. And there are many.)

Next post: Why I like first-years.

Spring Electives

2006-11-27T09:53:00.001-08:00

Second-years just got information on bidding for spring electives and it appears that first-years get priority for electives taking place on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s between 1 p.m. and 2:20 p.m. This wouldn’t be a problem if THREE OF THE CLASSES I WANTED TO TAKE WEREN’T BEING OFFERED DURING THIS TIME!

Once again, second-years are forced to do more with less.

Maybe first-years shouldn’t be allowed to pick which electives they want to take. Maybe the faculty should produce electives specifically for first-years. I have a few in mind:

Tool Management 585: Fronting
Why bragging about your daddy’s Black Card is tacky.

Tool Management 886: Your Image and Money
Why mentioning in class that you drop $1,000 on dinner makes you look like a tool.

Tool Management 887/Blog Ethics 500: Theft
Why stealing content from someone else’s blog is unethical. (Here that, MBA Gladiator?)

Tool Management 888: Traditions
Why creating lame traditions is . . . well . . . lame. The case of Dr. Good will be examined.

Wanker Studies 554: Exams
Why complaining about three exams (when the class before you had five) makes you a wanker.

Wanker Studies 555: Workload
Why complaining about your light workload makes you a wanker.

Wanker Studies 556/French 100: Friday Classes
Le sob. Le boo-hoo. Why complaining about Friday make-up classes makes you a wanker. In French!

Spring Electives Update

2006-11-27T09:53:00.000-08:00

There was a town-hall meeting last week. I didn't go, but here's what I heard:

Several second-year students expressed their dismay with the school's decision to give first-years priority for electives.
In response, the Dean, Deputy Dean, and Dean of Students met for nine hours afterwards to come up with a solution.
Two days ago, the Dean of Students sent an email to second-years that revealed significant changes to the Spring electives schedule and informed us that first-years would receive priority placement in only four classes, one of which was designed just for first-years and none of which were particularly interesting to second-years.

I also heard that the Deputy Dean remarked after the town hall that he wanted to get a t-shirt made that said, "I love second-years." While I wouldn't necesarily object to this, lol, I believe that the administration did well enough by realizing it had made a mistake in how it approached this issue and by correcting it in a timely manner. I have to give them credit. When we spoke, they listened. (Of course, it would have been better had they taken our interests into consideration all along. . . .)

Fall Semester Update

2006-11-09T13:44:00.000-08:00

In a nutshell, I've been busy. Completely overextended. Spread too thin. But I've grown accustomed to it. And I'm not sure that I would have it any other way.

It's funny. Everyone thinks that once you get a job (I accepted my offer), you just stop caring. But I still want to do well in my studies. After all, I am paying a great deal of money for this education and I still have quite a bit to learn. The core was great for the basics. But the really interesting material doesn't come until your second year, in your electives. Micro-economics seems much more relevant in the context of developing a pricing strategy, for example, than it does as an abstract discipline. As a result, I'm throwing myself into my schoolwork with the usual zeal. And feeling the exhaustion that comes along with it.

I do have a few fun weekends coming up. I'm heading up to Boston to visit some friends at Harvard on the weekend of "The Game." That'll be a drunken good time. Plus, Thanksgiving is right around the corner, which means lots of food and plenty of rest. And, I think I have a date tomorrow night. It's with a "townie." An attractive one at that. "Attractive" as I now define it, anyway. Yes, I've lowered my standards since coming to business school. But everyone does. And if you haven't already, you will, too.

I only have one final this year, on December 15th. All of my other "finals" are group projects that are due prior to this date. So I'm thrilled to be finishing early. Not that it matters much. I plan on staying in New Haven over Christmas. I know, I know. But I can't afford a month-long vacation. I'm trying to be good. Still, if it becomes absolutely unbearable here, a weekend in Florida may be necessary.

Midterm Break

2006-10-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

I'm in San Francisco this week, enjoying the weather and relaxing with friends. It's around 80 degrees here and sunny. Gorgeous!

While second years get this week off, first years are busy studying for finals. But don't feel too sorry for them. Last year, we had five exams - three finals and two midterms - one right after the other for five days straight. The Class of 2008 only has three exams to take, so they're getting off quite easy. Thank the new curriculum for that.

Okay, back to "the beach" in Dolores Park to improve my tan.

Credibility Lost

2006-10-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

Today, BusinessWeek published its biannual ranking of the top business schools in the U.S.

Chicago, the school that only a year ago was the laughingstock of the business school world for refusing to disclose its yield, is the number one school in the country.

Michigan is now better than Stanford.

Duke is better than Columbia.

This reminds me of the U.S. News & World Report ranking over a decade ago that gave "Best College" distinction to Cal Tech. Only the students at Cal Tech seemed to agree with this assessment. The following year, the magazine radically revised its methodology.

I know what BusinessWeek is trying to sell here. But is anyone buying?

What Everyone Is Talking About

2006-10-09T15:02:00.000-07:00

This Yale senior pontificates on success in a video that he included with his application to investment banks in New York. Pathological liar? Comedian? Just plain insane? You decide.

What's New?

2006-10-03T20:30:00.000-07:00

Well, a lot.

Second-year is just as demanding as the first. I'm taking a law class right now, for example, that requires an obscene amount of reading. One great thing about this year, though: no midterms. So while first-years are stressing over exams, I will be on a beach somewhere, soaking in the sun.

About the offer. I haven't signed the letter yet, but I am on the verge. What's stopping me? One, the idea of living in New York. Two, the fact that my offer is the same as everyone else's. (I have four-and-a-half years of experience in this profession and industry. And it doesn't seem to count for anything at this company. Grrr.) And three, the attention I've been getting from recruiters. Although I am not interested in consulting, it would appear that I am a desireable candidate. Go figure! Anyway, if I want the "sweetener," I have a few days left to accept. I'll keep you posted.

There's more, but I'll save it for another post. I'm looking forward to catching up on my blog reading. . . . Right after I finish that chapter on SOX.

Momentum

2006-10-03T20:20:00.000-07:00

Yale SOM is on a roll. Tonight, the Dean gave faculty, staff, and students some good news as well as information about up-coming changes.

First, the good news. In the fiscal year ending June 2006, Yale SOM raised a record-setting $32.9 million, a 286% increase over the previous year’s giving. So far this year, the school has raised more than $67 million. We are a third of the way towards our fundraising goal of $300 million. This money will enable us to construct a new campus and support faculty research, among other things.

The school is receiving a lot of support from the university. SOM is one of Yale University’s top ten priorities. Alumni of the business school and college are excited about recent developments. And their giving reflects that.

Other changes include:

Improvements to the administrative structure of student services.
Efforts to increase minority representation. While the school has done a tremendous job of attracting women, there is concern that we are not diverse enough.
Additional study space. The school is allowing students to use the CDO’s interview rooms and the dining hall for studying and group meetings.
A new Director of Career Development, someone – it would appear – with strong ties to the business community in New York City. We also promoted a long-time relationship manager in the CDO to Deputy Director. When the announcement of her promotion was made tonight, students erupted in applause that lasted several minutes. She was demonstrably touched by our reaction.

The school is definitely redefining itself. It’s the Harvard-ization of Yale SOM! The Dean has done a tremendous job in just a little over a year. I can’t help but wonder: With so many changes, what could possibly be next?

Got The Offer!

2006-09-08T11:04:00.000-07:00

At 10:30 this morning, the Director of my team called me to extend an offer of employment. But it didn't sound like I would be getting an offer when she first began to speak, since she was almost apologetic in tone. "I just wanted to thank you again for your work this summer. I know you worked really hard, but (long pause) everyone really liked you, and (long pause) well . . . I'm happy to extend you an offer of employment and hope that you'll join us next summer." During every long pause, I remained quiet, but in my head I kept thinking, "OMG, here it comes. The bad news." LOL. I talked to a campus recruiter about an hour later and he said, "Yeah, that's how they do it here." I love this company!

So I'm 95% sure that I'll take the offer, which will put me in New York for the next few years. The details on salary, signing bonus, etc., come through on Monday. I can't wait!

Back In The Hay-Hay

2006-09-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

I returned to New Haven last Thursday. After a busy summer in the big city, it’s nice to be back in this quiet little town. The last week here was spent putting things in order and reconnecting with classmates.

Yesterday, the Class of 2007 met at the school for lunch, attended a panel discussion on careers, and ended the day with a reception that included the Class of 2008 and SOM faculty. It was a classy event, and I got to meet a lot of “o-eighters.” I like almost all of them, so far. (A few seem to think that they’re EXTRA-special, but I can’t imagine that lasting very long. The intensity of the first two months should effectively eliminate any delusions of superiority.) Of course, the best part of the night was spending time with my own class, hearing about their experiences over the summer and finding out who got offers and who plans on accepting.

About the offer: I won’t hear about an offer until tomorrow in the late afternoon or Friday morning. It’s so completely out of my control now that I’m not at all anxious about the outcome. But it would be nice to know, one way or the other.

Classes began today. I’m taking three marketing classes, a law class, and a class on negotiation. These are all classes that I wanted to take, though not necessarily this semester. A large number of classes this semester seemed to be offered on Mondays and Wednesdays between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., which meant a lot of overlap. Since two of the classes that I wanted to take were only offered in the fall and during the aforementioned times, spring will be mostly finance courses, which will be a little rough. I guess I could just concentrate in marketing and forget about the additional concentration in finance. I need to think about this.

One thing that I’m definitely going to do: Enjoy this year. This is my last opportunity to live the life of a student. I had better take advantage of it.

New Website

2006-08-15T20:17:00.000-07:00

Yale SOM launched its new website today. I like the new branding. It's clean and distinctive. I also like how easy the site is to navigate. Overall, I think it deserves a DI.

The Red Card

2006-08-15T19:28:00.000-07:00

I really want this. I really, really want this.

. . . And Exhale

2006-08-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

Wow! Has it really been a month since my last post? I promise, I haven’t forgotten this little labor of love, my blog. It’s simply been an intense four weeks, professionally and personally.

Professionally, things started to pick up after my last post. My project took on a life of its own, growing quite large in scope. It took everything I had to rein it in, to make sure that I could finish the part of it that I would need to show managers across the organization at its official unveiling, my presentation. My presentation happened this past Thursday and seemed to go quite well. I had spent weeks preparing the deck. With over 15 iterations, and thirty rehearsals, I still felt nervous going into it. The conference room was so crowded that most attendees had to stand. And the lights seemed very bright to me. Standing in front of everyone, I remember feeling terrified that I would suddenly freeze, with the clicker in my hand, and would have to be nudged into speaking. Fortunately, once I opened my mouth to introduce myself, everything just flowed. I stopped being frightened and felt strangely at-ease. I was so comfortable that I even made a few jokes along the way. It was a very satisfying experience, and the feedback I received was all very positive. Later that day, the VP of my group took the team out for drinks. He told me that the tool I created would be used by the company for many years, and went on to explain how unusual it was for an intern project to have such significance. So yeah, I feel pretty special about that. At this point, I am 95% sure that if I were given an offer, I would take it. The company is amazing, as are the people. Towards the end, I totally bonded with my fellow interns. I’m going to miss them most of all. I still have another two weeks to go, which is great because I need the time to put the finishing touches on the tool I developed, among other things. I do feel fortunate to have had a great experience this summer. Not everyone is so lucky.

Personally, things were more complicated. It seemed like all of my exes re-emerged at once. A flash flood of old relationships. I’m sick of 'em.

Well, I’m about to go to the movies to watch "Little Miss Sunshine." Just to wrap up, if you sent me an email and I haven’t responded, my apologies. I will do my best to reply within the week. Also, we did get our list of electives for the fall. I’m quite pleased with the selection, but some of my classmates are unhappy about the lack of health care electives. (Am I remembering that correctly?) Anyway, curious to see what I get after bidding. I’m not planning on taking any of the more popular classes, so I should do pretty well. Wish me luck. . . . And thanks, KV, for asking. :)

Grumblings

2006-07-13T22:10:00.000-07:00

I've started to hear complaints from second years who are beginning to feel like second-class citizens at SOM. The faculty, some claim, have been less-than-responsive to certain requests. And the fact that we have yet to be given a list of electives for the fall when students at other business schools have already enrolled in classes has contributed to the growing alarm. Me, I'm not worried. Not yet, anyway. But I can see how the school's desire to ensure the successful implementation of a new core curriculum could result in the Class of 2007 receiving little attention. I assume this situation is temporary. I guess we'll see.

My Mid-Summer Review And More

2006-07-10T22:03:00.000-07:00

At my company, employees go through two performance assessments in a year, one in the middle and another at the end. The mid-year review is given so that there are “no surprises” when the final review takes place. The company requires its interns to go through a similar process, but instead of two reviews over twelve months, we have two over twelve weeks. It’s difficult. After a mere six weeks on the job, it’s hard to measure how effectively one has “driven results” and “leveraged relationships.” Still, the assessment is somehow made. During my review, which took place last week, my manager said that he was “very pleased with how things were going.” We went over my accomplishments, discussed my deliverables, and talked about development. The whole thing lasted about an hour. Overall, I walked away feeling very positive; but I didn’t feel any closer to an offer. Other interns had a similar experience. I guess they plan on keeping us in the dark until the very end.

In other news, I just got over a cold that kept me in bed for most of the weekend, not that I would have gone out anyway. The novelty of living in a city again seems to have worn off a bit. All I want to do in my free time now is enjoy the peace and quiet of my tiny sublet. Watch a few Family Guy episodes on DVD. Relax.

I’m due to bid for electives soon, though we have yet to receive a schedule of classes for the fall. It seems that the school is a bit preoccupied at the moment with its new curriculum and the class of 2008. Not that it matters much. I already have a pretty good idea of what I want to take. Some marketing classes, a law class, and maybe a language class. I’m thinking about Chinese, though I suspect that it would be extremely time-consuming and difficult to learn.

Okay, enough writing. Time for bed.

Parties, Porn, A Park, And Projects

2006-06-18T22:08:00.000-07:00

Yes. You read the title correctly. I’ve been busy these last few weeks, going to parties and working through projects for my internship.

First, let’s get the “porn” out of the way. One of the parties I attended was for HBO’s new documentary entitled “Thinking XXX,” a film that focuses on porn stars. It was the strangest event I’ve ever been to. While almost everyone else in the room seemed to know all of the porn stars by name, I had no idea who most of them were. Eventually, I was able to identify them as “all of the short people” in attendance. Seriously, they were three apples high, which makes sense I suppose. They’re people with average-sized appendages attached to small bodies, which makes them look quite impressive on screen. In any case, the party was all very tasteful, with a lot of press in attendance. I even met a gossip columnist who felt compelled to tell me a story about Lindsay Lohan snorting cocaine in a lavatory at a Vogue event. I ended up leaving after about an hour. As I left, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen to these people when they left the party. There, they were truly stars. But in the real world, they were practically prostitutes. I couldn’t imagine living their lives. They just seemed so lost to me.

Prior to this party, I had spent the day with my coworkers at the Six Flags in New Jersey. I had fun, but the day was not without incident. Some of the people on my team insisted that I go on a water ride. I didn’t want to go, but when I saw some people exiting a raft, happy and dry, I reasoned, “Why the hell not?” Well, let me tell you why not. As the raft went swirling around, a mini-tsunami began to form downstream and headed in the direction of the raft. About five seconds before it hit, I knew I was going to get it. And sure enough, the wave reached over my head and drenched me from head to toe. At that point, my phone – which was in my pants pocket – began to vibrate incessantly. I thought, “Someone must be calling me,” but when the ride ended and the phone wouldn’t stop vibrating, I realized that there was a problem. Eventually, both my phone and my iPod recovered from the drenching, but it was not fun having to spend another six hours in the park wearing pants that were soaking wet. Additionally, a friend of mine asked me to stay behind to ride another roller coaster, which I did. Unfortunately, the lunch I had just eaten and the heat from the day had me feeling queasy going into the ride. By the time I got off, all I wanted to do was vomit. But I somehow managed to avoid that fate while being dragged through the park to an area with carnival-like games. It was here that a bug flew into my eye. And it was there that I decided that I had had enough. We promptly left the park for the city.

I’ve gone to numerous other parties, mostly “see and be seen” affairs, which I’m terrible at because I don’t really care to see these people and I could care less if I am seen. Still, they’re good for a laugh. People take themselves VERY seriously at these things. I also went to a house party in the city where the host just talked at me for half-an-hour. That was not enjoyable. I’m often amazed by people who fail to see the distinction between dialogues and monologues.

My project is well underway. I’m drafting a formal test plan and have been assigned an additional project. So work is definitely keeping me busy. But with a full social calendar, it’s been difficult striking a balance between my social and professional lives. It’s exhausting, but fun.

New York City, The Internship, Etc.

2006-05-29T22:35:00.000-07:00

Two Sunday’s ago, I moved into my apartment in the Village. It’s a great neighborhood, but my “starving artist” roommate is a little on the demanding side. For instance, he guilted me into seeing his off-off-Broadway play. I bought two tickets to the show, thinking I could convince a friend to go with me. Turns out nobody wanted to make the trek out to the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn to see it. Go figure. Anyway, while the production was good, the story was a little thin. Overall, I was happy to show my roommate some love, but the entire experience took four hours. Other ways I could have spent that time: a picnic in Central Park with fellow SOMers interning in the city over the summer or a marketing networking BBQ. Oh, well.

The day after I moved to NY, I started my internship, which began with a full day of orientation. This, of course, included an ice-breaker. I imagine that locking oneself in a dark room with venomous snakes would be less frightening - that stabbing the back of your hand with a fork would be less painful! - than having to participate in some hokey HR person’s best attempt at forcing complete strangers to communicate with each other. Over-dramatic, you say? Not even close. I just wish HR would leave people to their own devices when it comes to introductions. By the time orientation officially began that morning, I had already met four other interns in attendance! `

The internship itself is going well. My manager’s wife had their first baby THE DAY BEFORE my internship began (i.e., the day I moved to NY), so he was a little preoccupied with the whole “new dad” thing. I feel for the guy. The last time I saw him (this past Wednesday), he looked so tired. He had only had three hours of sleep the night before. I can’t even imagine what he’s going through right now. And still, I haven’t felt neglected. What a guy! My fellow interns are also a very cool group of people. Well, for the most part. There’s one guy who kind of rubs me the wrong way. So we’ll see how that goes.

In other news, this was Fleet Week in New York. So lots of white. Blinding white. Very annoying. Oh, and, two nights ago at a bar, I lost my belt. Try explaining to the bouncer at the same bar on the following night that you lost your belt there and then asking him to let you in (without having to pay the cover) to see if anyone turned it in. Kind of embarrassing. I guess the next time I go to a bar I should do a better job of keeping track of my clothes, as I almost lost my shirt that night, too. LOL. New York nightlife is out of control.

I also did my laundry for the first time yesterday and the prices upset me. $4.50 to wash one load and $2.00 to dry. That’s just wrong. This city is ridiculously expensive. No one who makes what I make could afford to live here comfortably. There is no way. I would like to own a home and have nice things, and I just don’t see that happening in New York. I guess I don’t need to be thinking that far ahead right now. I’m enjoying myself, and I’m hoping to do a great job on my internship project so that I get an offer of employment, regardless of whether I believe I will accept it. But it’s hard to ignore the cost of living. Harder still to prevent it from influencing the choices you make today.

Sorry for the long post.

The Real Jerry Blank

2006-05-20T22:51:00.000-07:00

So, I’ve updated my blog with a picture of my namesake, Jerri Blank. Isn’t she hot?

It’s come to my attention that almost everyone at SOM knows who I am and so I'm not really writing anonymously after all. That may be, but I am still not going to put my real name on this blog. One, because I don’t want my employer(s) to know that I write this. And two, because if I brought myself to believe that everyone knew who I was, I think I would become a lot more self-conscious. As it is, I already self-censor quite a bit, which makes me sound way more enthusiastic and up-beat (sometimes irritatingly so) than I am in real life. Friends of mine teased me about this recently, but I would rather come off as more positive than negative to the perfect strangers reading this blog . . . and to myself when I read this five years from now.

I suppose I could afford to inject more of “me” into my posts, and will make more of an effort to do so moving forward. Most second-year bloggers seem to suffer from a lack of MBA-related content, so this could be the perfect opportunity to experiment a little.

But just so everyone who knows me knows, I chose “Jerry Blank” for several reasons. Its closeness is just a coincidence. (Seriously, Lendra. Give me a little credit. :-)

Desperately Seeking 'Something To Do'

2006-05-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

I'm so bored. What the hell did I do with my free time before business school? Truth be told, I've never done very well with the whole "vacation at home" thing. After a couple of days, I start feeling anxious. I need something to do! I can't wait until next Monday and my first day of work. :)

In the meantime, I've been mildly entertained by youtube. One of my favorite comedy teams, French & Saunders, does this hilarious spoof on Madonna and Britney's Me Against The Music. Then, there's this clip a friend sent today called Evolution of Dance. Funny stuff.

If anyone has a book to recommend, please tell me about it.

First Year, Finished

2006-05-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

My first year of business school came to an end on Tuesday. What a ride. After a difficult beginning, it feels good to have done so well in the end. I even got a Distinction, but I was definitely a question mark there for a while. It’s funny how business school can completely destroy your confidence, only to build it back up again. Not funny “ha ha ha,” but funny “hmmm.”

Second years are on a cruise and most first years have left New Haven. I’m still here, but only for a few more days. Then it’s off to New York and the (not so) arduous life of an intern. I kind of wish I had studied law now. Friends of mine who are earning their JD’s are making twice as much per week as I am. Of course, when they actually start their real jobs at these firms they’ll be working 80 hour weeks, while I am looking at a comfortable 40 – 50 hour week. But I digress. . . .

It’s a tremendous relief to be heading into my second year. I’m halfway towards my MBA!

Yield Up

2006-05-02T19:11:00.000-07:00

Yield this year is up. That is, more than 180 admits have decided to matriculate. I heard that the Class of 2008 has around 225 students so far. While some attrition is expected, the class will probably still be larger than planned. If true (and I have no reason to believe that it isn't), this is great news for the school!

Just thought I'd share. Okay, back to studying.

Classes End

2006-05-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

Classes ended today. Man, it felt good turning in that last homework assignment!

I submitted final papers for two classes yesterday. All I have left is two finals, and they're three full days apart.

At noon on Tuesday, May 9th, my first year at Yale SOM will end. It's a little bittersweet, and that surprises me. More on this later. Right now, I'm off to study Ops.

To everyone with exams, good luck!

I Got It!

2006-04-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

My #1 choice for a project at the company where I will be doing my internship this summer. I also found a place, in the heart of Greenwich Village!

I'm going to have the best summer ever!!!

Welcome Weekend

2006-04-26T15:36:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, over 120 admits descended upon New Haven for two days of speeches, panels, activities, and parties. I had the pleasure of meeting many of them, including brownoski, and I have to say, they're a stellar bunch. Admissions put together another super class. Most of the admits I spoke to seemed decided on coming to Yale, so I didn't have to try to sell the school. Not that that's hard. I mean, once you meet the people here, you're pretty much sold. That's how it was for me, anyway.

The coolest thing for me was having three classes on campus at the same time. It gave a sense of continuity to the place. It's sometimes difficult to see the big picture - how amazing it is to go to school here, to have this opportunity, to be part of something so great - when you spend so much time studying.

Anyway, I'm happy to have met so many future SOMers and look forward to meeting the rest of them in the fall. To official members of the Class of 2008, welcome to Yale SOM!

I'd Like To Thank The Academy

2006-04-26T15:18:00.000-07:00

Wow. I just found out that I was ranked one of the ten best MBA student bloggers by Clear Admit! Considering the competition, this is quite an honor.

Thank you, everyone, who voted for me. And congratulations to all the other winners!

To view the complete list of winners, click on the icon below.

President Hu Of China To Visit Yale ...

2006-04-17T13:25:00.000-07:00

... on Friday.

I doubt that I'll be able to get a ticket to see him, but his address will be broadcast throughout the university.

More info here.

SOM Star Search

2006-04-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

Last night was SOM Star Search, this year's student talent show. Some of the performances were funny, others serious; but all were truly inspired. My favorites included:

1) The two guys who performed a folk version of Beyonce's "Check Up On It."
2) A professional fiddler who played bluegrass.
3) The MPPMY awards, which featured a category called "Best Productions" - photos of all the babies born to SOM parents over the last year.
4) An impersonation of Deputy Dean Stan Garstka.
5) The dancing segments - belly dancing and a traditional Chinese fan dance.

I had no idea that so many of my classmates were so talented! (Wait. . . . Is baby-making a talent?)

NOTE: There was an after-party, which many people chose to skip because of the pub crawl that took place the night before and the SOM-hosted graduate school mixer the night before that. It was an action-packed weekend at SOM. The talent show was a great way to end it.

Trickle Down Senioritis

2006-04-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

This sucks. I'm just now developing friendships with second years and in three short weeks they'll be gone.

Many of the second years have already "checked out." There's a bit of a trickle down effect happening, as I have recently become VERY uninspired to do work. This lack of motivation is a problem. The solution is to make one last big push to get me through the next three weeks. Easier said than done, I'm afraid.

Fortunately, and unfortunately, I have a new game theory professor. From my previous posts, you're probably aware that I find Econ difficult. Well, this class is like Econ on steroids. Spatial pricing?! Are you kidding me?! Worse, the professor goes way too fast. He's also an expert cold-caller. A few people in today's class made an effort to situate themselves so that it would be difficult for him to spot them. He not only found them but he seemed to call on them more than anyone else. So I have no choice. I'll have to buckle down and do the work. I need to understand it completely so that I don't make a complete ass out of my self in class.

And if my pride doesn't motivate me, nothing will.

The Internship Fund Auction

2006-04-11T18:41:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, the Internship Fund held its annual live auction. Up for bid were a used car, autographed Britney Spears pictures, a Sleazy Bar Tour, and other items donated by students. The theme was Mission: Possible and students in attendance were encouraged to dress as spies.

The entire event was very well done. The food was great and the drinks were plentiful. Classmates walking around with pitchers of beer ensured that everyone’s cup was full throughout the auction. In the beginning, this was great! By the end, it was even great-er!!! Heavily intoxicated, a good number of us ceased to exercise good judgment and started bidding ridiculous amounts of money. I ended up in a bidding war for an item that I didn’t even want! But it was fun, and I was feeling generous. The item ended up going to another bidder for almost four times more than it would have fetched had I not been so determined to purchase it. That’s a few extra dollars in the pocket of a non-profit intern this summer. So in some small way, I feel as though I did my part.

The night ended in a very unexpected way, however, as the event was also framed as a cohort competition. Knowing that the reduction in class size next year would result in the elimination of one of the cohorts, someone had the bright idea to make this event the one that would determine which of the four cohorts – Blue, Gold, Green, or Silver – would not be coming back. At the end of the night, Blue and Gold were battling it out for a single item, a stuffed squirrel of some strange significance to the school. Whichever cohort won the item would be saved from extinction. Things got pretty heated. Ultimately, Blue, which has never won a cohort competition - in fact, it usually places dead last - was declared the winning bidder. All for the low, low price of $4600. Watching the traditionally apathetic first-year Blues come together with the second-year Blues to ensure a Blue victory was an unusual sight, indeed. I never knew Blue pride ran so deep. I guess it does for all cohorts. Curious how a simple color can represent so much.

In sum, the night was a big success for the Internship Fund. And I’m looking forward to next year’s event.

P.S. The fund put together a hilarious video to promote the live auction. I wish it were available online, but alas. . . .

More On The New Core Curriculum

2006-03-28T09:56:00.000-08:00

Located here.

Curriculum Reform

2006-03-22T20:17:00.000-08:00

Tonight, Dean Podolny introduced the new core curriculum. In a word: Wow.

While I am not at liberty to divulge the details (the PR machine will go into motion in just a few months), I can say that the changes are revolutionary. No other school is offering an education like this. The new core curriculum takes a truly interdisciplinary approach to management education.

This article in the Yale Daily News lays out the basics pretty well.

The Class of 2008 will be the first to benefit from the changes. This class will also be smaller than usual, as space in the class is being eliminated to "ensure effective implementation" of the curriculum.

I'm curious to see how people will respond. Personally, I'm a little bit jealous of the Class of 2008. This is what management education should be.

Edits everywhere. LOL.

More Internship News

2006-03-22T19:56:00.000-08:00

I just received a list of projects from the company where I will be doing my summer internship. I have 18 to choose from and 17 interns to compete with. Some of the projects are more quant-heavy than others, but most of them look good. Just one is a real dud. I now have to rank the projects in order of preference. I also have to make a decision about when to start. A quick look at my bank statement tells me that the sooner I start, the better.

The interns that I will be sharing office space with come from the following schools: Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Kellogg, NYU, Stanford, UNC, and Wharton. It will be great to meet people from business schools all over the country. I'm really looking forward to it.

Summer Sublet Trouble Already?

2006-03-19T20:39:00.000-08:00

Tonight, I headed out to NYC to view an apartment. I would have preferred to wait until I had several appointments lined up, but this one sounded too good to be true. $1100, Upper East Side (not too far up, though), own bathroom, penthouse with spectacular views of the city, etc. I thought, "I'll check it out; and, if it's as good as it seems, I'll write a check on the spot."

I get there and the place is GORGEOUS! But before the woman who is subletting her room has finished giving me the tour, she says, "How would you feel about paying $1400? I'm asking because this is a really great place, but it's rent controlled. And the rent may go up." I explain that $1100 is as high as I can go. She then says, "I understand. It's just that it's rent controlled. But it won't go up to $1400 over the summer."

So, is the price increase related to rent-control or not?

Later, during our conversation in the living room, she says, "You're great. The only thing that might be a problem is that I really want $1400 for the apartment. I'm just thinking that it's a great place, and why not try to come out a little ahead on the deal?" Before I could even respond, she changes the subject. Five minutes later, she pushes me out the door.

I'm not surprised. This is clearly the first time she's ever done anything like this. (She's twenty-two years old.) And I'm not sure I really mind. I didn't know for certain that the apartment was rent-controlled before agreeing to see it, but subletting a rent-controlled apartment is illegal and I would hate for this to become an issue half-way through the summer. Besides, her current roommate - and the guy I would be living with over the summer - seems to lack social graces. The thing that upsets me is that I travelled all the way to New York and back to see the place. I wouldn't have done this had I known that she had decided to raise the price! So I wasted both time and money ($10 cab to train station + $28 roundtrip off-peak ticket + $4 subway fare to and from apartment = $42).

Another inquiry about a sublet returned an email that seemed as if the person were barking at me: "When do you need apt- What Date? When will you be in Manhattan to see apt. on West 10th street? How Many people? Is that May thru August? Please reply ASAP ---not enough info...." This place was super expensive, and she sounds a little agressive, so I'll be sending her a TBNT email.

*Sigh* I was hoping that finding a place to live in NY over the summer would be easy. I suspect that it may wind up being even more difficult than landing the internship itself.

Spring Break

2006-03-15T18:55:00.000-08:00

I just spent a few days in New York. I went there to meet with some Yale SOM alums at the company where I will be interning this summer. I love our alumni! They're incredibly helpful and supportive of fellow SOMers. And they're full of personality. One alumna kept me in stitches the whole time we were together.

The company visit only took half a day. I spent the rest of my time in NY hanging out with friends. I also managed to meet up with a classmate of mine. Over brunch, we talked about some of the rumors we'd been hearing about curriculum reform and next year's in-coming class. The Dean is scheduled to speak to students about curriculum reform next week. I'll let you know what I can, then. The stuff I've been hearing about admissions . . . well, I don't know if it's true. And since I'm not connected to the committee in any way, I am unlikely to know anything for certain until the school publishes its numbers in the fall. There could be some very "uplifting" news, though.

Only seven more weeks remaining in my first year of business school. It seems as though things should be winding down, but they're not. LOL. Anyway, should probably try to get some more work done.

Another Forgettable Night

2006-03-06T09:57:00.000-08:00

Crash won. Surprise, surprise.

Once again, the Academy has proven that the Best Picture award is not necessarily given to the Best Picture. Unlike Titanic, however, when the Academy’s decision was based on gross receipts, Crash had nothing going for it except that it was the least controversial "controversial" film up for the award. What can you say about a film that took its premise from a bad Ally McBeal episode and tried to make it interesting by borrowing the structure of Magnolia and the cast of Rent? There’s a great read on the subject of why Crash won here.

Of course, the first twenty minutes of Brokeback Mountain was like a Marlboro print ad come to life, so it may not have been the best choice for the award either.

Wondering why Walk The Line wasn't up for Best Picture. It was great! And Reese Witherspoon certainly deserved her award.

Rachel Weisz, however, did not. Sorry, but she’s a terrible actress. We all saw The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, no?

The arrogant and sadly disillusioned George Clooney also won . . . a huge disappointment.

And that Pimp song? It’s fun, but one for the history books?

The show’s one saving grace was Jon Stewart. I particularly enjoyed his remark that the Academy’s next tribute should pay homage to the montage, a device it uses far too often.

As far as I can tell, the Golden Globes seems to do a better job, not only with the ceremony itself, but of giving credit where it is due.

Finals Done! Internship Offer Received! Spring Break Arrived!

2006-03-03T12:58:00.000-08:00

What a 24 hours!

I took my Leadership final yesterday afternoon. I loved the structure. For every wrong answer you circled, you got a point. If you circled the right answer thinking that it was the wrong answer, you got negative four points. This was great for me because there were five questions for which I did not know the correct answers, but by POE was able to elimate three. So I got three points each for those questions, as opposed to a full four. Better than zero points, eh?

This morning was my Decision Analysis final. A bit of a disaster. Utilities were a nightmare and took up waaaaaaaaaaaay too much time. If I got more than 50 (out of 100), I'd be surprised. I suspect the mean this year will be lower than last year's, so a 50 should put me in proficient range. But, who knows? The guy sitting next to me called it quits twenty minutes into the (three-hour) exam. He just got up and left, having written nothing down. So, yes, the exam was THAT difficult.

After taking the final, I had to do homework that was due just a few hours later for another class . The ringer on my phone was off, so I didn't hear it ring. But a call came through during that time with an offer to work at a company in NYC over the summer! The offer is VERY generous, the company's great, and I'm really excited about it. I've always wanted to live in NYC - not permanently, but for a while. So the prospect of spending a summer there is v.v. cool. The best part, though, is that this takes a lot of pressure off.

On top of all this, Spring Break is here! While I have no definite plans, I think I may rent a car and explore the Northeast. A few days in NYC may also be in the offing. In any case, I still have homework to do and hope to use some of this time to catch up. But I'm not going to punish myself too severly if I choose to waste the majority of my break. :-)

Midterms A-Comin'

2006-02-26T18:27:00.000-08:00

Actually, finals. This quasi-quarter/semester system is still a little strange. Anyway . . .

Decision Analysis and Leadership are at the end of this week. Then it's Spring Break! I'm looking forward to the two weeks, although I have a lot of homework to do.

To everyone with midterms in the weeks to come, Good luck!

The Internship Fund

2006-02-24T20:57:00.000-08:00

I decided to delete my original post and feature this comment instead. It was written by someone called GoldStandard – apparently, a student here at SOM who is in the Gold cohort.

My original post on the Internship Fund detailed events as they were (partly) witnessed and (partly) reported. I like what this person has to say; that is, I much prefer his/her interpretation. Is it true? Well . . . I don’t know. I have now heard so many different accounts of what happened that night that I can honestly say I have no idea. But GoldStandard seems to bring everything together nicely, which leads me to believe that his/her version is probably the most accurate.

GoldStandard: Thank you! But the “crying” line? Not necessary.

"That's just hilarious j.b. You seem to have only half of the story... but I guess you can be wrong and still blog about anything.

The fact of the matter is that Gold actually won in the last seconds because two people - that's right, just two people - wrote very large checks to put Gold over the top. Keep in mind that these checks would not have been as large if it was just a regular donation process - but the spirit of the fund and the competition fostered these actions. You see, competition can be a good thing sometimes. There is no possible way there would have been more money raised, but I doubt you were even there to know that. In the end there was so much money being donated by all cohorts, it was impressive… and this was after the “secret money” was publicly donated.

The half of the story you had somewhat right is that a small group of Gold students pooled their money to gain a strategic edge. The rest of the cohort was not involved so that donations would actually be recognized to keep everyone – in all cohorts – giving.

Regardless of this small pool of funds, Gold was still too far behind. The “secret” money was given well in advance of the deadline and others were well aware of this. In the final seconds, as other cohorts were throwing down money to garner the win – Gold was the cohort that stepped up and knew what it took to win. While other cohorts tried to lowball their final donations to just squeak by, Gold went over and above to guarantee a win - it always does.

Stop crying and do something about it next time."

Marketing Final

2006-02-11T21:12:00.000-08:00

On Friday morning, my classmates and I took the final for our core marketing class. It lasted four hours. Some described it as anti-climactic. Others found it challenging. I thought it was fair.

I think I did well enough, but I no longer attempt to guess how I perform relative to my classmates. I'm always wrong. My new approach is to aim for a perfect grade, thus ensuring that I get a decent one. My old strategy - trying to do better than just 10% of classmates - backfired a bit in the second half of my first semester.

Operations starts on Monday. I'm kind of bummed, as I really enjoyed my marketing class; and I doubt that Operations is going to excite me. But maybe it will. Who knows?

Crime And Punishment

2006-02-11T19:41:00.000-08:00

Two of my classmates were kicked out of school recently for cheating. As I understand it, one guy gave a softcopy of his assignment to a friend, who, prior to submission, made no changes to the document except to replace his friend's name with his own.

I told this story to a relative who asked me why the committee expelled the guy who actually did the work. I can only assume that the guy knew that his friend was going to cheat. But maybe not. In academia, the punishment rarely seems to fit the crime. . . . Remember the HBS 119? Add to this that we go to the Yale School of Management, which takes its emphasis on social and corporate responsibility more seriously than most, and the committee's actions are not that surprising.

All I really want to know is . . .

What were these guys thinking? I mean, it was one assignment out of many, worth an insignificant number of points (3, to be exact). To have spent so much money and devoted so much time to the pursuit of an MBA to throw it all away for ~1% of your grade in a class?!

But that's not even the worst part. The worst part is that the shame and embarrassment they feel over this is likely to haunt them, resurfacing whenever they think of Yale, run into a former classmate, etc.

It's just sad.

P.S. While the school made no formal announcement, it wasted no time in removing them from the online facebook.

Happy Birthday, Blog!

2006-02-05T19:08:00.000-08:00

It's one year old, today.

Number Two, Again

2006-02-02T09:43:00.000-08:00

I just got waitlisted for an internship with another company. The good news is that my interview with this company went really, really badly. It was, aguably, the only interview I bombed. So even at my worst I am still a pretty good interviewer. In some weird way, that's comforting.

So far, I have interviewed with 5 companies. I've been waitlisted at two of them. I have second interviews at two. And I am waiting to hear back from one. Not bad. Plus, as SOM06 points out - and as I try to constantly remind myself - it is only February. Most companies looking to hire interns in my profession usually don't begin recruiting in earnest until March, so I'm even a little ahead of the game.

I am very excited about one of the second-round interviews that I have coming up. I will be flown to this company's headquarters, given a rental car, wined and dined, etc. How cool is that?!

ON HOLD

2006-01-20T17:36:00.000-08:00

I just got WAITLISTED for an internship! ARGH!!!

The internship search is already getting on my nerves, and I've only interviewed with three companies.

The upside is that I'm becoming more comfortable with case interviewing. In fact, I appear to be doing better with case questions than behavioral ones.

I have a second interview with one company and a first interview with another next week.

Hopefully, I'll have at least one offer under my belt within the next two weeks.

Back To School

2006-01-15T22:03:00.000-08:00

Well, tomorrow, it's back to school. Having a month off was wonderful. It helped me to recharge and gave me an opportunity to reflect.

I learned a number of important things during my first semester at business school. 1) Your study group is an excellent resource, but take care not to abuse it. 2) Don't let yourself fall behind. If you bomb a midterm, you're unlikely to do well enough on the final to make up for it. 3) Do not expect perfection. (This was especially difficult for me to learn.) And 4) Make time for you. I felt guilty whenever I did anything that wasn't school-related, which meant that I didn't enjoy myself as much as I should have.

Going home over break was a revelation in itself. Home was no longer "home." And I'm no longer convinced that I need to live there when I graduate. In fact, I think I'd like to live on the East Coast for a while. This feels like home to me now. I never thought I'd say this, but . . . it's kind of nice here. (Not today though. It's super cold.)

I did have a very successful interview at home over break and I have two this week. I just want to get this internship thing all wrapped up so that I don't have to think about it anymore.

And that's pretty much it. I'm looking forward to my classes. A clean slate. I'm more ready for business school now than I was six months ago. I know what to expect, anyway. And I think that's 90% of the battle.

Bliss

2005-12-27T17:16:00.000-08:00

I haven't had internet access in over a week and it has been WONDERFUL!

Great to be home. Had a nice Christmas. All is well.

Will post more later.

Hope everyone had a happy holiday!

Brokeback Mountain

2005-12-17T16:05:00.000-08:00

I took a completely undeserved break from studying for finals by going to see a movie last night. I knew I was going to see "Brokeback Mountain" but had never heard of the movie prior to its being suggested as the evening's viewing entertainment. It wasn't until I got in the car and asked, "Hey, what's this movie about anyway?" that I realized how out-of-touch I've been with the outside world. A movie about gay ranch hands? WHAT?!

People, this movie is brilliant. I knew I couldn't do it justice, so I went online a few minutes ago to search for reviews. One reviewer described the story as "achingly sad." Another, as a "heartbreaking yet oddly universal story of two gay cowboys in love." It's simply the best movie I've seen in a long, long time.

GO SEE IT!

P.S. One article I read had a disturbing quote. "Dick Rolfe of the Dove Foundation, which encourages production of family-friendly films, cautioned: 'If Christians protest too loudly, they can end up making the mistake of calling attention to a movie that otherwise may not do very well at the box office. We have to be very careful not to use our anger strategies to a point where they boomerang on us.'" Anger strategies? Am I the only one who finds this disturbing?

So Close

2005-12-15T13:36:00.000-08:00

I took my Data final today and I'm pretty sure that I'll finish the class just a few points shy of a distinction. Ugh. I really thought I was going to be able to pull it off. Oh, well.

Good Luck!

2005-12-13T11:41:00.000-08:00

With admissions expected to release some decisions over the next week, I thought I'd take a moment to wish fellow bloggers Ty Coon and Tizzerboy good luck!

GOOD LUCK!

The Midterm Awards

2005-12-11T23:51:00.000-08:00

Immediately after midterms this semester, I put this list together. I wrote it and left it as a draft in my folder, forgetting all about it. Tonight, I came across it again. So before the semester is up – and as a timely nod to final exams – I present my own mini Midterm Awards!

The award for Best Answer goes to . . .

The student on the Finance exam whose full answer to the candy tiaras problem was simply, “Are you kidding me?!” (Note: This question took most first-years anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes to solve.)

The award for Most Redundant Request goes to . . .

It’s a tie!

The student in the Monday night Finance review session who interrupted the TA to ask him if he could do an example of the example he was already doing.

The one Finance question that asked us to calculate the NPV of a growing annuity three times and an annuity once.

The award for Most Annoying TA goes to . . .

The TA in the Sunday night Econ review session whose answer to almost every problem was, “Does everyone see that? Good.” Or, loosely translated based on tone, “This is really easy. Do you see how smart I am?”

Actually, this describes almost every TA. So you’re all winners!

The award for Best Clarifying Question goes to . . .

The student who asked the Finance TAs during the exam to clarify how long college lasted, which prompted one of the TAs to walk into every exam room and write on the board, “College = 4 years.”

The award for Most Difficult Exam goes to . . .

Finance! Professor Cohen made this exam several times more difficult than the one that first-years were given last year, even though he assured us that this year’s exam would be easier. Congratulations on your award, Professor! Now all you have to do is make sure that first-years never find out what kind of car you drive. . . . Just kidding! We all know you’re not old enough to drive.

Gossip

2005-12-11T23:23:00.000-08:00

My posts of late have been a little . . . well . . . boring. So I've decided to focus my attention on another part of the student experience here at Yale SOM. Gossip.

Being such a small school, you'd be surprised at how little people actually gossip. This is unfortunate for those of us who wish we had time to lead interesting lives. We need gossip to fill the void, to live vicariously through others. And when we don't get any gossip, we're very disappointed.

Fortunately, dear readers, I have some gossip for you. I heard from someone who heard from someone who is close to the ethics review committee that someone in my class was dismissed from the program for an incident involving the New Haven police department.

WOW, huh?!

The exact nature of the crime was never revealed. And no one has been able to figure out who this student is. It seems as though everyone in my class is accounted for, so the story is probably not true. But that's the beauty of gossip. It doesn't have to be!!! And because a name was never given, nobody got hurt. Everybody wins.

Keep the vague, innocuous, and dubious stories coming, Class of 2007! It's likely all the entertainment we're going to get between now and finals.

Crazy For Cournot!

2005-12-11T23:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, not really. I just liked how that sounded. I'm sure there are people out there who just loooooove talking about oligopolies and profit maximization models. Me, not so much. Although, I did enjoy learning about price discrimination in econ this half of the semester. That's SOMETHING, no?

I've spent the better part of today creating an econ review sheet. Tedious work, but good preparation for taking the practice finals. I haven't got to the part of the course where we talked about asymmetric information. This subject was covered in three of my classes this semester; and if I never hear the words "moral hazard" again, it will be too soon.

Good News

2005-12-08T18:11:00.000-08:00

I landed my first interview today. I'm very excited, in part because it was the first resume I sent out, which bodes well, I hope. I'm also pleased because I got the interview in spite of a cover letter that wasn't particularly great. (I am not a fan of cover letters so it's nice to know that my experience matters more to this company than some anachronism.)

I've only applied for five internships so far, and all within the last week. I won't hear anything from the other companies until early next month.

My mock interview didn't go so well. The interviewer gave me a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10, which is entirely justified. I stunk. To be fair, I had no idea what I would be "interviewing" for when I went in; and I was going off three hours of sleep. But I did get a lot of great advice on how to improve. Now I just need to practice before the REAL interviewing begins.

Some non-internship related good news: I turn in my last assignment for 2005 tomorrow morning. Then, all I have to do is study for - and take! - my exams. My MBA career is nearly 1/4 complete. While I love it here, I miss the real world. You know, the one where you actually have time to do the things that you enjoy. The one where you can pick up the phone and call someone without feeling guilty about all of the studying that you're not doing. The one where you get a paycheck every couple weeks. LOL.

KV - Yes! Let's try to meet up while you're in the Bay Area. I'll send you an email with my contact info.

The Internship Search

2005-12-02T23:53:00.000-08:00

So I finally have a draft of my resume that I'm happy with. It really brings my career to life. What a dramatic difference, writing in terms of accomplishments as opposed to responsibilities. I get excited reading my resume now. Hopefully, recruiters will, too.

I'm getting a little stressed out about the whole internship search. I don't want to work at any of the companies that traditionally come on business school campuses to recruit MBAs. This means I have a lot of work to do on my own. While I anticipated this from the very beginning, it doesn't make it any less daunting.

I have to spend a day going through old emails, digging up the names of recruiters I've met over the course of my career. I also have to get my resume to friends who work in companies that I'm interested in. And I've got to put together a decent cover letter.

I have a mock interview scheduled for this week. I also have an assignment due in every class. And finals are in two weeks. You know, the internship search would be a lot easier if school didn't keep getting in the way. :-)

The Game

2005-11-27T17:30:00.000-08:00

Here is my account of The Game. . . .

Tailgating. A large area surrounding Yale's stadium (which is quite far away from campus, BTW) is reserved for tailgate parties. Harvard students have one section, Yale students another, and graduate/professional/alumni organizations another. At first, I thought it strange that the school would feel the need to separate the various groups. As it turns out, the set-up made a lot of sense. Harvard students were a relatively calm group. A few of their trucks had club music playing and half-naked students dancing around in wigs. But these mini-raves paled in comparison to what was happening in the Yale student section. I can't really explain it - the place was a madhouse; and the images I have could never do it justice. Let's just say that Yale students know how to party. Then, there was the grown-up section, which had a lot of people but was considerably less "energetic" than either student section.

The Game. I don't remember when I've seen such a lousy game of football. Interceptions, fumbles, and sacks. And yet, I never saw a flag on the field! Blatantly illegal maneuvers went unnoticed. It's like my mom was refereeing the game. The half-time shows were crap, with Harvard's band a serious embarrassment. Why do all of the "red" schools have such shitty bands? Think about it: Harvard, Stanford, USC, . . . At least Yale's band made some kind of effort to be entertaining. What's worse, the Yale student section was on the shady side of the stadium, so we were all freezing our a**es off. I suppose we could have just moved to the other side, where more than half the seats were empty! LOL.

The Post-Game Parties. Non-existent. I did walk by one of the residential colleges after the game to hear Britney's "Toxic" blaring from one of the windows and sounds of a party inside; but I think everyone was too liquored-up to be of any use that night. Strange, given the restrictions the Yale administration placed on alcohol consumption at the game this year. ;)

It's clear to me that The Game has almost nothing to do with football. My recommendation to future students is to skip the game entirely and spend your time at the tailgate parties. You'd be amazed at the drunken, bawdy mischief engaged in by this country's future leaders. And you're guaranteed a good time.

P.S. Even though Yale was poised to win when I left in the middle of the third quarter, Yale lost to Harvard. BUT ALL WAS NOT LOST, as my alma mater won its big game that day!

The Harvard-Yale Debate

2005-11-18T23:31:00.000-08:00

So I attended the Harvard-Yale debate tonight. The topic was energy independence and whether government or business should drive the effort.

Surprisingly, both sides argued very poorly. Each team had four debaters; coincidentally, two who were great, and two who were decent. Harvard made more (in terms of quantity) solid points; but, because Harvard was arguing the affirmative, it had the burden of proof. Unfortunately for Harvard, it failed to meet it. Yale won.

In seven hours, I'll be eating bagels and downing bourbon. Then, on to the tailgate parties and the game. I'm already pretty pooped. So we'll see how long I last.

The Efficient Frontier & Other News

2005-11-12T18:38:00.000-08:00

Last week in Finance, we covered the "efficient frontier," how to get a more accurate rate of return for individual stocks, and the CAPM. Our professor is amazing. He doesn't really lecture so much as tell a story. Every now and then, I'll take me eyes off the prof and look around the room to find my classmates on the edge of their seats. We hang on his every word, waiting for the next major revelation, as if at any moment he's going to hand us the keys to the kingdom. I got so excited when he finally taught us how to determine alpha that I needed a cigarette afterword. Yeah, it was that good.

In other news, "Dr. Bad" was at it again this week. Some of us received a letter in our inboxes that singled us out for "displays of inappropriate behavior." The funniest was,

At Thursday's "Happy Hour" a student was inebriated to the point of vomiting in the school building. That same night, corporate recruiters complained to the CDO that drunken students entered a presentation and took food.

Unfortunately, first years now automatically assume that such ridiculous requests/comments/accusations must be the work of Dr. Bad. I can't imagine that anything short of a felony will manage to get our attention at this point. So maybe second-years should stop wasting their time. Hint. Hint.

Next week . . . Thanksgiving break and The Game between Harvard and Yale. Apparently, the drinking starts at 9 a.m. and goes until you pass out. Look for me on TV, as I do plan on stumbling into the stadium at some point. If you see a guy with a "Y" on his face getting belligerent with Harvard fans, then you will probably have seen me! (I find it very easy to fall into the mob mentality. And I turn into a real smart-ass when I get drunk. Trouble, here I come!!!)

On a personal note, I've been listening to ELO non-stop over the last few days. I have no explanation for it, but to say that music in this country has more or less sucked over the last couple years or so and the time has come for a really awesome band to come along. "Dont' bring me doooooooooooown, BRRRRRRRRUCE!"

Quality, Not Quantity

2005-11-02T18:53:00.000-08:00

I'm in a class now where the T.A. has a list of names in front of her. Whenever a student makes a comment, the T.A. places a check mark by that student's name.

At the end of the term, all of those check marks will be added together and we, the students, will receive scores based upon our participation. These scores will be worth 15% of our grade in the class.

Now, from my previous post, it should be clear that I have a problem with the concept of grading individuals on the basis of their participation in class. In part, this is because it allows professors to reward sycophants; but it is also because, wherever there is a class participation grade, there are two to three times as many comments made. Anything over the mean is usually irrelevant. So you can imagine what this particular class is like.

I have a real interest in the material being presented here. I just want more quality discussion. To the professor's credit, he displayed considerably less patience today for students whose ideas were not well-developed. But he'd have a lot less of that if he changed his grading.

Proficient Is Sufficient

2005-10-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

Midterms ended last Friday. The results are in and the news is positive. I need to work doubly hard in two classes if I want to guarantee a strong finish. Otherwise, proficient all around. And, as we say here at SOM, proficient is sufficient.

It's a tremendous relief to be done with midterms/finals. During that week, I got 1 hour of sleep on Sunday and Monday nights; and three hours on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. A little cold at the beginning of week turned into a terrible one by the end of it. With so little sleep and so much caffeine, my body didn't stand a chance in fighting off the illness. I managed to sleep a lot over the weekend though and am now as good as new.

While I would definitely consider this the most intense academic experience of my life, I did okay. I feel calm moving forward with the program and am confident in my ability to succeed here. These midterms were very validating.

P.S. One thing that I had forgotten about the grading at schools is how inconsistent it can be. You can have the exact same answer as someone else, but receive a different number of points. That drives me crazy; especially since it seems to be me with the lower number of points nearly every time. I hope the TAs are a little more generous with me come finals. LOL.

Another thing that bugs me is the "class participation" grade. This is used to justify giving higher marks to teacher's pets, even though other students scored higher on exams and were generally more familiar with the material.

Both of these things happen at all schools. So, it's nothing against Yale. It's just generally not very cool.

One Down, Four To Go

2005-10-17T10:08:00.000-07:00

Finished the Econ midterm about an hour ago. It kicked my a$$, but everybody I talked to afterwards told me that they struggled with it.

I devoted all of my time these last four days to studying for Econ: 20 hours preparing a summary of the course, 6 hours taking practice tests, countless hours spent working random problems from the workbook, 4 hours meeting with my study group, and 2 hours sitting through a review session.

In the end, I think it was worth the extra effort. I'll know for sure next week.

I have to get started on studying for Finance. But I LOVE Finance, so I'm going to enjoy taking tomorrow's midterm. Accounting is on Wednesday - another WOOHOO! Data is Thursday - blech. And Friday is Strategy. An hour after our midterm on Friday, first years go on a school-sponsored drinking binge at a bar that's been rented just for us to celebrate the end of midterms. I'm thinking we'll all need a beer or seven by then.

The Last Two Weeks

2005-10-09T00:39:00.000-07:00

It's been a tough two weeks, people. But I'm proud to say that I've managed to survive them. Here's the lowdown:

Tonight: Just got back from a party. As social chair of a SOM club, I felt it was my duty to interact fully with members of similar clubs from other schools on campus. So I spent my evening drinking and bumming out cigarettes. Will my new-found popularity fade? Of course it will. Right now, however, I'm preoccupied with other things.

Study Groups & Studying: Okay. So I'm in a new study group and I love the people I'm working with. The first group ended disastrously, so much so in fact that it was the talk of the school for at least a week. One girl came up to me and actually said, "I have such good gossip!" When she finished her story, I informed her that the gossip was actually about my study group and that it didn't quite happen exactly the way she heard it. In short, there was a woman in the group who was a little stressed out. Now, to be fair, we all express our stress in dissimilar ways. Her way was to snap at other members of the group. This, unfortunately, made many of us afraid to speak. I have the utmost respect for this woman, and I'm pretty convinced that she'll end up ruling the world someday. But her approach - and I'm sure she's learning a new one - left something to be desired, as it alienated everyone. All in all, she's definitely an anamoly here. Most of us vent our frustrations in other ways. A classmate of mine, for instance, told a story about how she walked home one day crying hysterically. This approach to the stress of ever-mounting volumes of work is how most of us deal with the pain and frustration of feeling unworthy, of doubting our abilities and questioning whether or not we will succeed. So, I encourage anyone who's reading this blog to take heart. Your first year at any good school is about learning how to deal with your insecurities, of coming to grips with the fact that there are plenty of people out there who are smarter than you are. But, when you choose to challenge yourself, you have a choice. Either you give up; or, you turn "I can't do this" into "I have to try to do this." And that's where I've been these last few weeks. I've been questioning my desire to continue this undertaking. Will I be rewarded for all of the hard work I've put in, or will I fail out of business school? I hope it's the former but I'm amazed at how much I've learned in such a short period of time that failing out now would still make the obscene amount of money I've spend in tuition worthwhile. I can actually speak intelligently about such subjects as accounting, finance, statistics, and strategy. These are four of my five courses. The one class I'm having a problem with: Economics.

Economics: Okay, WTF?! I can not wrap my head around this subject. It may have something to with the graphical representation of market forces. It could just be that I find it hard to study this as a science when it seems so much more like a social science to me. In any case, I find it hard to process the information in this class, and I'm feeling very alone in this. Most of my classmates are actually doing well in this subject. Finance is often cited as the class that gives my peers the most difficulty. Of course, I have to be different. Finance is actually EXCITING for me. I love the class, and I find myself in conversations with perfect strangers speaking very passionately about the subject. So why not Econ? I guess we can't all be good at everything, but it would be nice if I could get past elasticity and onto utility analysis and production. I'm feeling as though I've fallen behind; a dangerous place to be with midterms just a week away.

Midterms: The stress of midterms is upon us. I'm not sure if I'll have an opportunity to blog before they hit, so wish me luck. My only is desire at this point is to survive the intensity of the next two weeks. While my classmates are not competitive with each other, we are competitive with ourselves. Wanting to do your best is admirable; but not to the point that you feel as though your entire life hangs in the balance. How will we do? Well, as many second-years have repeatedly observed, we shouldn't be that concerned. On the one hand, I agree. We wouldn't have been admitted if we couldn't handle the work, right? On the other hand, I'm terrified of being one of those three to five students who, every year, are asked to leave. I want to do well. We all do. My one hope is that all of my classmates make it through successfully. I don't know what I would do without their support and encouragement. I love them. I really do.

And that's pretty much it. At some point, I hope to catch up on my blog reading and try to write more consistently. Until that day comes, I hope my blogging buddies are working hard and enjoying life.

Edits: Several. I've got to stop BWD. LOL.

Testing, Testing

2005-09-20T22:34:00.001-07:00

The Career Development Office asked first-years to take a test to determine which career we were best suited for. We got the results back in a personalized report. As it turns out, I "have a high interest in creative production." Not surprising. Several pages later, I read that marketing and/or entrepreneurship were the best career options for me.

A two hour test to tell me what I already knew? At first, I wondered if the test just told people what they wanted to hear . . . until I heard some of my classmates complaining that they were advised to enter the Human Resources profession. A fate worse than death, judging from their laments.

Last week, a new diagnostic tool was launched as the Career Development Office is completely restructuring its approach to the placement process. (Thank you, Dean Podolny!) This tool tells you not what career you are best suited for, but who you are and what motivates you professionally. My results were spot-on and consistent with the previous test. I am, according to this new test, a "Reformer." I look for ways to make myself, people, processes, etc., better. As my original test results explained, my approach to life is: "If it isn't broken, see if you can make it better anyway."

My only quibble about the new test is how it tends to frame things in extremes. For example, I supposedly have "flash[es] of creative brilliance." Yeah, mmmmmm, not so much. In its recommendations on how people should approach me, it advised them to neither stand nor sit too close to me. Or what, praytell? It's true that I don't like it when someone is so close that he/she is practically on top of me, but who does?

It's always interesting reading about yourself. And these tools were useful in that they brought some of my strengths and weaknesses into focus. But there isn't an algorithm in the world who can capture who you really are. Just ask a classmate of mine, whose results from the second test we took literally read, "You leave chaos in your wake." Can we ease up on the hyperbole? She's not exactly Pandora, people. In fact, she's one of the nicest and most sensitive people I've met here.

"Good Times" Update

2005-09-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

Last week, I posted about a prank that some second-years played on first-years.

Well, here is how some of the folks in my class who prepared their slides tried to sell themselves:

Can financially regress any combination of numbers in less than one minute.
CPA, CFA, Series 7 & 63, Mensa, JD/MD, Eagle Scout, Professional Musician.
I'm quite quick with my TI-89 calculator.
My hobbies include calculus - know first 25 digits of pi.
Perfect attendance grades K-12.
Always ready for late-night encounters.

LOL. I don't know about that last one. ;-)

Storms

2005-09-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

It's pouring rain in New Haven, with thunder and lightening. I've never witnessed a storm like this.

We don't get storms of this severity on the West Coast. The thunder here is deafening. It literally claps. And it seems as though your whole building is going to come down everytime it does.

I'm homesick for the wimpy little "rolls" of thunder we would get with storms from the Pacific. I miss the wind and the rain we have in San Francisco. It's nothing compared to this.

So far, the biggest adjustment I've had to make here is to the weather. Hot and humid summers, frequent storms, and ... soon ... freezing cold winters.

About a week-and-a-half ago, we had four days of beautiful weather here. Days in the mid-seventies, nights in the low sixties. No moisture. I remember telling a friend of mine who's originally from Washington D.C. and who now lives in San Francisco about it. Her reply, "Well, that was it. I hope you enjoyed it."

Will somebody from the East Coast please explain to me why anybody chooses to live here?

Now I Understand . . .

2005-09-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

. . . what friends and former colleagues of mine who had earned their MBAs in traditional two year programs were talking about when they said that the first year was tough.

My classmates and I are inundated with work. Three SEM assignments and two Accounting assignments are due this week. At the beginning of next week our first Finance, Econ, and Stats assignments come due - and they're pretty substantial. The reading, review sessions, study group meetings (we've already met twice and will meet two more times before the week is up), and career events have taken up 16 hours of every day since Sunday. And it shows no signs of letting up.

Midterms are in a month; and most of us are already stressing about them.

Time for me to get back to the books. It's pretty clear that if I'm going to survive the first semester, I'll have to start managing my time so that I can account for nearly every single minute of my day. Outlook Calendar has become my best friend.

I can't believe I wanted classes to start so badly. Now I just want December to roll around, and fast.

The Yale Response To Katrina

2005-09-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

A letter from the president of Yale University sent today:

To the University Community:

The catastrophic loss of life caused by Hurricane Katrina and the harrowing physical and emotional ordeal suffered by the storm's survivors have shocked and saddened all of us. Even as we hope for the consolation of those who have lost loved ones, homes, and livelihoods, many in our community are hastening to provide what assistance they can to the survivors of this tragedy.

Here are some of the initial steps the University has taken to provide relief to those displaced by the hurricane:

Yale College will admit approximately twenty-five students whose schools have closed. Tuition will be waived for all students and their credit will transfer back to their institutions. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Law School, the School of Management, and the School of Drama also will accommodate dislocated students under special arrangements. The School of Medicine is accepting Tulane University medical students who need placement in clinical rotations.

We are providing library access and, where possible, office and laboratory space for displaced faculty scholars who have family nearby or research collaborators at Yale.

Yale is assisting the City of New Haven is its efforts to bring 100 dislocated families to the area to begin rebuilding their lives. Faculty members at the School of Medicine and the Department of Psychology have offered to contribute care for the relocated families. We will do what we can to make employment at the University a possibility for some of those who resettle here.

In addition to these institutional initiatives, efforts to raise funds are emerging throughout the University. For example, the Yale School of Music and the Yale College Council have each undertaken to organize benefit concerts this week, and the Chaplain has determined that Battell Chapel will give its Sunday offering once a month throughout the year to Katrina relief.

Individuals in the community are also stepping forward to volunteer, including those offering housing for relocated students and scholars. We will facilitate as best we can these voluntary efforts.

To encourage everyone's participation, I am pleased to announce that contributions up to $100 made by Yale employees and students will be matched by personal contributions from the Officers, Deans, and Fellows of the Corporation. The seven Officers of the University have contributed $xxxxx, and the Deans and Fellows have added sufficient funds to ensure that all student, faculty, and staff contributions will be matched. I urge everyone to join in this expression of community support for the victims of this tragedy. Contributions may be made to one of several designated agencies providing relief. Employees may sign up for a payroll deduction, and students may choose to have their contributions added to their bursary bill. Those who have already given directly will qualify for matching funds by submitting evidence of their contributions. For details, see http://www.yale.edu/katrina.

As the semester goes on, I am confident that the creativity of this community will be directed toward finding as yet unimagined ways to be helpful. In the weeks ahead, www.yale.edu/katrina will provide up-to-date information on individual, institutional and community activities in response to Hurricane Katrina. Those wishing to publicize projects should contact xxxxx.

Yale has long been a community of concern, taking special care of those within its walls. Now is a time to turn outward, to reflect upon our common humanity, and to reach out with compassion. It is a time for generosity of spirit. I thank you for all that you are doing, and all that you will do, to help those in need.

Richard C. Levin

Good Times

2005-09-01T11:38:00.000-07:00

Last night, we received the following email:

To the Class of 2007:

As you are probably aware, one of Yale SOM’s strategic priorities for the year is curriculum reform. Study groups have always been an integral part of the MBA experience, but their haphazard formation has limited the potential benefits that such collaboration could yield. To this end, we are excited to announce the new formal procedure for establishing study groups.

In the same way that second-years receive 500 points to bid on electives, so too will you receive 500 points to bid on members of your prospective study group. The size of each study group will be limited to four individuals. Thus, you may allocate your points across a maximum of three first-year students. In order to help you make an informed decision, students will be required to give a two to three minute presentation about themselves. Presentations will be given to your cohort in your cohort’s classroom from 5:30 – 7:30 tomorrow evening. It is MANDATORY that you attend and present.

Please create two PowerPoint slides that summarize the following:
· Work experience (e.g. industry, function, computer application expertise, etc.)
· Professional values and individual study habits
Please email the slides to your Second-Year Advisor by 5:00 PM tomorrow.

Because this is a new procedure, faculty and Second-Year Advisors will be on hand to facilitate the process. Second-Year Advisors will give instructions on the bidding process at the start of tomorrow’s session.

When: 5:30 – 7:30 PM, Thursday September 1st
Where: Your cohort classroom
Required: Email two PowerPoint slides to your Second-Year Advisor by 5:00 PM

Sincerely,

Stanley Gartska
Deputy Dean
Yale School of Management

Of course, within minutes of receiving this email, we all began calling each other. Irate that the school would even consider making us "bid" on our classmates - and, to a lesser extent, that we were being asked to do so on the evening before the start of a four-day weekend for which many of us had already made plans to leave New Haven - we began to look for ways to express our dissatisfaction. We decided to start by flooding Garstka's inbox with emails. We even contemplated forming a committee of four individuals, one from each cohort, that could approach Garstka about the issue.

Willing to do my part, I typed up an email and sent it. Two seconds later, it bounced back. Strange. I tried to resend it; once again, it came back as undeliverable. Fishy. I then went to the Faculty page and realized that the surname of the Deputy Dean is not, in fact, Gartska, but Garstka. I wondered if his email was set-up incorrectly, so I searched for an email that he had sent a little over a week ago. Sure enough, his name was spelled correctly on the email that came from him. Another thing that was strange about the email, it was sent to each individual in the class; it wasn't sent to the Class of 2007 group. Why? Because whoever wrote the email didn't have permission/access to send to the group alias.

Several of us figured this out at about the same time and assumed it was a hoax. Today, we got the following email:

To Students in the Class of 2007:

The email you received late last night – telling you about a mandatory meeting this (Thursday) evening about study groups, is a HOAX.

There’s a mythical character at SOM, among the second-years, who delights in playing jokes on the first year class. A tip-off is that Stan Garstka’s name was misspelled – as some of you noticed who tried to email him to see if this announcement was real.

So, no meeting tonight. And be aware that Dr. Bad is out there trying to tease the Class of 2007!

Prish

Prish Pierce
Dean of Students
Yale School of Management

So, yes, we were PUNK'D, SOM style.

Unfortunately, some of my classmates went ahead and dutifully prepared their presentations. One SYA got 7 presentations before Prish sent her email - out of a group of 13 students! I believe, however, that she was in the minority among SYAs, many of whom received nothing but voicemail messages from bewildered students.

It was also unfortunate for me, personally, because this took two hours out of my evening, which meant that I had to stay up late to finish studying for today's classes. I woke up at 8 a.m. today and ran to my 8:15 class. I was pretty much out of it until I was able to get my hands on some caffeine during lunch.

Ah, well. It was all in good fun. I'm thinking that 1st years should now make it a priority to pull a prank on the 2nd years. This could be the start of a tradition! It's something to consider, later. Right now, all I want to do is take a nap.

First Day Of Classes

2005-08-31T13:53:00.000-07:00

Well, today was the first day of classes. I had two: Data (aka Statistics) and Economic Analysis. Today's Data lecture was designed to familiarize people with probability. The Econ lecture was part lecture, part class exercise.

The Econ professor took 12 students (myself included) and gave them each one ticket to a baseball game. Each ticket was valued at $55. We were instructed to sell the tickets to the buyers - another group of 12 students. Before we started selling, someone in the group had the idea of setting a maximum and minimum price that all of us sellers agreed to adhere to no matter what. Our max was $400. Our min was $200. What we didn't know was that the buyers were given an amount that they were willing to pay and that they couldn't exceed that amount. Those amounts ranged from $25 to $50, with most buyers at $30. Obviously, when the buyers and sellers got together to begin the negotiations, the gap was quite wide. When a buyer who could only pay $25 for a ticket informed me that he had a max and showed me the slip of paper verifying this, I decided to search for someone who was able to pay more. I found someone with a maximum of $40 and sold my ticket to her. The thing was, sellers were told that they could not get a refund for the tickets, nor would they be able to use them. If we didn't sell our tickets, we would be out $55. Some of the sellers didn't end up selling their tickets as the buyers who were left could only spend $30 or less. I don't understand why some of the sellers decided to lose the entire $55 instead of just $25. It probably had something to do with the fact that this was simply an exercise and not real life. In the real world, we probably would have taken $1 if it was all we could get.

And this, ladies and gents, was our simple introduction to supply and demand. We graphed the demand curve and the supply curve and then plotted the actual results. This enabled us to see the consumer surplus and producer surplus. I really enjoyed this class.

Monday's and Wednesday's are short days for the folks in my cohort: We start at 1 p.m. and end at 4 p.m. with one 20 minute break in-between. Tuesday's and Thursday's are going to be more challenging, with classes beginning at 8:15 and ending at 2:20.

Tomorrow: Finance, Strategic Environment of Management, and Accounting.

Procrastination

2005-08-29T12:57:00.000-07:00

I've already started to procrastinate. My accounting assignment is due on Wednesday, but I just can't bring myself to start doing the work.

Instead, I've decided to confess my admiration for Dolly Parton, who once said, "You'd be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap!" Compare the if you can't make fun of yourself... humility of Dolly Parton to the I will not be mocked arrogance of George Clooney and other annoying celebrities, and you can see why I find her a compelling personality.

I downloaded "Islands In The Stream" the other day and added it to my Shits & Giggles playlist. The song makes me laugh. It probably makes Dolly laugh, too. Dolly rocks.

Orientation Is Over

2005-08-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

The second week of orientation began with us breaking up into large groups and doing a case study together. We spent the weekend between the first and second weeks of orientation prepping – reading the case and answering questions – so that when we met up on Monday we would be able to participate in the professor-led discussion at the beginning of the day. We were then divided up into smaller groups and asked to focus on a particular issue. My team was tasked with answering the Economics questions - demand and competitive advantage. We were given an hour-and-a-half to work on the questions, but my team wanted extra time and decided to work through the lunch hour. My team was comprised entirely of shepherds. And yet, we got along very well. Everybody managed to take on a different leadership role. I served as the group’s secretary, typing our responses. This meant that I also had to keep the group on track, reminding my team mates of how much time we had remaining and calling upon them to synthesize their ideas into answers suitable for presenting. When we were finished, we met up again as a larger group and gave our presentations. It was a great introduction to case studies. Afterwards, we had wine and cheese with faculty in the courtyard.

On Tuesday, we went to the Yale Center for British Art and performed an exercise whereby we were each asked to describe certain aspects of a painting without interpreting what we were seeing. This was nearly impossible. Afterwards, we went to the gym to compete against other cohorts in events ranging from bacci ball to basketball. I believe this was intended to develop cohort pride. A few of my classmates, however, wound up with sprains. And one cohort was a little too competitive, which most of felt was not in spirit with the event or the school. I hope the school reconsiders its approach to this event next year. Afterwards, we went for a picnic at a local beach and had barbecue. It was a very civilized way to end the day.

Wednesday was spent with the CDO, looking at our resumes and going through the ins-and-outs of the recruiting process. We then met our SYAs (second-year advisors) for dinner. After dinner, we met up with some other SYAs and their groups. I met somebody I hadn’t yet and ended up talking to that person for two hours. When I looked at my watch, it was a little past midnight. It was time for me to go home because the next day was going to be a busy one.

Thursday was “SOM in the City” day. We met at the school and loaded up onto buses. We headed to Union Station and took over the last four cars of a train heading to New York City. About two hours later, we were at the Yale Club in Midtown Manhatten. If you’ve never been to the Yale Club, see if the club offers tours. It’s really a stunning space. We had lunch there and heard Ranji Nagaswami speak. She is Vice Chairman and CIO of Alliance Bernstein Investment Management. She’s also an inspiring speaker and someone to emulate. After lunch, we went on our company visits. We then made our way to the New York Stock Exchange for a gala reception on the trading floor. Just being there made for a truly awesome experience.

On Friday night, some second-years decided to have a party on Mansfield street, which is where many SOMers live. They had two kegs and plenty of hard alcohol. They also hired the guy who runs a burrito cart in front of the SOM during lunch hour to bring his cart to their house and serve burritos to guests in the backyard. The theme of the party was eighties/early 90’s and many of my classmates dressed up. “Livin’ On A Prayer” by Bon Jovi was the best song selected for the event. But the best thing about the event was having so many second-years there. I was impressed at how happy they were to see each other and to be back at school. They seemed very confident. Will the class of 2008 make the same observations about me and my classmates next August? I hope so.

Orientation lasted two weeks. This may seem like a long time, but I can honestly say that I have never felt more prepared for anything. Classes start on Wednesday and I already have homework that needs to get done. The professor who led our case-study discussion on Monday described the first year at SOM as “boot camp” because there’s a lot to learn and not a lot of time in which to learn it. These two weeks have exposed us to a lot. It was “Go! Go! Go!” from 8 a.m. to midnight (7 p.m. for the less social among us, of which there were not many) every day. But we all survived, just as we will this year.

What Do We Want?!

2005-08-18T16:49:00.000-07:00

MONEY! (with social consciousness . . .)

What do we want?!

MONEY! (with social consciousness . . .)

This is what our Math Camp instructor had the class shout at the beginning of yesterday's session.

It's very, very Yale. I love it.

Orientation (So Far)

2005-08-17T18:56:00.000-07:00

These past three days have been something of a blur, but I will try to give a coherent account of what's happened along with some of my impressions.

Day 1 started with us meeting in the Hall of Mirrors to pick up our name tags. Our name tags also had our group assignments, which we needed to know for the team-building exercises that we would have later in the day with Outward Bound of NYC. After meeting in the Hall of Mirrors, we went to hear the Dean speak. His speech included examples of accomplished alumni. He spoke about our class. And he encouraged us to think about our values as we moved through our professional lives. He officially welcomed us to SOM, then we all went to meet with the facilitators from Outward Bound. The rest of my day was spent with a group of 12 other people from my cohort. We worked together to solve problems like: building a bridge to cross an imaginary river using 6 boards of varying lengths, fitting everyone on a see-saw that had only one access point, and building a rocket ship that we then had to present to other groups from the same cohort. It was fun and even challenging at times. That night, almost everyone went to a local bar. I ended up coming home at around 1 a.m.

Day 2 began with a laptop configuration session. It took longer than the alloted two hours. Fortunately, I had time to grab lunch before my first day of Math Camp.

Math Camp has been frustrating for me insofar as there are a lot of people in the class who do not need it. Clearly, many of classmates have a firm grasp of Calculus. I haven't taken Calculus in years, so I feel like an idiot every time I see one of the people who don't need Math Camp go up to the board and complete a problem without any difficulty. Truth be told, that's my problem. I find working on math problems in a group setting a little intimidating. I need to get over this . . . and fast.

That night, many of us (although a much smaller number of people than the night before) went to a graduate student bar on campus. Again, I got home at 1 a.m.

Day 3 (Today!) was a little more difficult. The energy required to make it through the first two days resulted in my oversleeping this morning. I missed a mandatory class and will now have to try to go to the Friday session. I did manage to make it to my class on professional communication. Very interesting stuff. Common mistakes made in professional writing and speech. We even had to sing a little bit - an attempt to help us understand the musicality of the English language. Particularly relevant to those of us who speak in monotone.

My impressions so far: Great school, amazing students. The team building exercises presented us with an excellent opportunity to see some of our classmates' strengths and weaknesses. We also got to see how each of us behaved in a group setting. I was impressed overall by our ability to work together. There was one person on my team, however, who made it a point to (unnecessarily) correct other people in the group. I don't think I would want to have him in any study group of which I am a member.

Overall, I'm in a class full of very talented people from an incredible number of backgrounds. I have yet to meet anyone with a profile like mine; and, listening to my classmates, it's become evident to me that no one in my class is very much like any one else in terms of his/her professional experience. In broad strokes, maybe; but certainly not in the details.

One thing does irk me, but it has nothing to do with the school. It's my perception that West Coast people and East Coast people are very different, especially the guys. Most of the men here, while friendly enough, strike me as hyper-masculine. And words like "dude" and "bro" are used far too often. Is it insecurity? Or is it simply a socialization issue? In any case, I find it easier to talk to people from my own coast and international students. East Coast people seem more foreign to me than actual foreigners. Very bizarre.

Two more days of nuts-and-bolts sessions. Then, it's off to New York for the weekend. I have to be back in New Haven on Monday for the second week of orientation, which will be busier and more interesting. Actually, I'm getting somewhat impatient for classes to start. I want to get this show on the road.

The First Day

2005-08-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it home in one piece. I'm really very intoxicated. Needless to say, I met tons of people from a variety of backgrounds and had a great time.

I'm exhausted and hope to write more tomorrow. I have a feeling these next few weeks will be more about developing friendships than anything else.

Tomorrow morning, I pick up my student ID card, my schedule for the first term, and my new computer. Then, it's Math Camp in the afternoon. I met a few people who will be in Math Camp with me. Apparently, a number of people opted to the take the course. It should probably be required given everything that's covered. I will give a more thorough description of the course tomorrow. . . . I hope.

Okay. I'm off to bed. Goodnight.

In 9 Hours . . .

2005-08-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

. . . I'll be joining my classmates for coffee.

In 10 hours, I'll be in an auditorium, listening to the Dean welcome the Class of 2007 to the Yale School of Management.

In 12 hours, I'll be doing team-building exercises.

In 24 hours, I'll be writing about the day . . . or drinking with classmates.

After months of preparation, August 15th - the first day of orientation - is officially just 17 minutes away.

It feels really good.

The Trip

2005-08-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

Warning: This is a very long post.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, July 27th, my friend and I embarked on our cross-country adventure.

Day 1: California & Nevada

Driving along the 80 out of San Francisco, through the Central Valley, and into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada felt familiar. We made it to the Nevada border in about four hours. Shortly after passing Reno, we switched to Highway 50, aka “The Loneliest Road in America.” It lives up to its name. We passed maybe 7 vehicles on the drive through Nevada. We stopped for gas in Eureka – a sad little town with big bug problem. According the grizzled gas station attended, Mormon Crickets were the town’s biggest worry. We were encouraged to kill as many of them as we could because, “They destroy the crops.” My friend and I found this statement odd. As far as we could tell, the town was in the middle of the desert. We continued on through Nevada at night. We opened the sunroof so that we could enjoy the view of the sky. I have never seen so many stars. It was truly breath-taking. After thirty minutes of feeling as though I were in a Volkswagen commercial, an enormous beetle dropped in through the sunroof and landed in the car with a thud. This insect must have been as big as my head. And it looked hungry. When it comes to giant insects, I’m flight (no fight). So what do I do? At 90 mph, I start to open the car door. Obviously, I wasn’t thinking clearly. I don’t know if I intended to jump or if I hoped that opening the car door would create the suction necessary to tear the beetle from its dashboard perch and send it flying into the ether. In any case, my friend (who was driving, thank God), managed to slow down the vehicle and bring it to a complete stop before calmly removing the beetle from the car. I truly admire her bravery. My friend spent the rest of the trip trying to convince me that the beetle was not only much smaller than I remember, but harmless as well. I disagree. It looked like it was big enough to hold a fork and a knife. It wanted to eat us. In any case, we continued on through Nevada and arrived in Ely, a town on the eastern end of Nevada, at around 1 a.m. We found a motel with a vacancy and slept the rest of the night. Total miles traveled: 540.

California mountains and stream.

Nevada desert and mountains.

Day 2: Nevada, Utah, & Colorado

We were back on the road at 9:30 a.m. the following morning. In no time at all, we were in Utah. The western third of the drive was mostly desert – not very inspiring. But the middle third was incredible. Beautiful red mountains and rocks. We decided to swing by Arches National Park, near Moab. It’s very impressive – this nature stuff. Unfortunately, I once again found myself under attack. This time, by mosquitoes. I fought them off as best I could, but a few of the lucky ones managed to bite. We left Arches after about an hour and were in Colorado by dusk. Most of our journey through the western half of Colorado happened at night, so I missed the scenic part of the state. We arrived in Boulder at 11 p.m. and pulled into our friend’s driveway. We left immediately for a nearby restaurant and finished the night with a couple of beers at a bar before returning to our friend’s place to crash. Total miles traveled: 700.

Arches National Park 1.

Arches National Park 2.

Arches National Park 3.

Day 3: Colorado, Kansas, & Missouri

I started off the morning by going to a gym in Boulder called Rally. Very nice facilities. We didn’t leave the city until noon. Boulder was very charming and almost all of the people there were very athletic and tanned. It was like being in L.A., only the people in Boulder had a more natural beauty to them. Driving out of Boulder, through Denver, and into eastern Colorado was depressing. That half of the state was flat and appeared to be reserved for the raising cattle. I’m sure you can imagine the smell. We were very relieved when we crossed the border into Kansas a few hours later.

Kansas was surprising. I was sure it would be flat and dull, with corn and wheat fields for miles and miles. Actually, southern Illinois looked more like the Kansas of my imagination than Kansas did. Kansas is rolling hills and grass. On the side of the highway, I saw an enormous billboard that read, “Stop Abortion. Save a life.” Not surprising for a state that went to Bush in 2004. However, several miles down the same highway I saw another sign with similar colors and lettering that read, “Keep abortion. Save a beating.” It seemed kind of odd to me that this sort of debate would be taken up on billboards along a major interstate highway, but it was refreshing to see that both sides of this issue were being debated at all, especially in the more conservative western half of the state. Eventually, we had to stop for gas, so we pulled into gas station. I walked into the bathroom and straight to the urinal. I guess the guy who was giving himself a paper-towel bath at the sink decided that he didn’t like me very much because on his way out the door, he said, “You have a lot of never coming in here looking like that. I ought to kick your ass.” He then slammed the door behind him. I was the only one in the bathroom, so I assumed he was talking to me. People, I was wearing a pair of Levi’s, a t-shirt, and sneakers. I could have been anyone’s next door neighbor in any state in the country. Was he upset that I didn’t say, “Hi”? Or did the standard-issue plain white tee just really piss him off. I think he was just looking for a fight. We left the gas station and drove to Topeka. Being close to the end of the month, we passed a number of ticket-happy state patrol officers looking to meet their quota. Once in Topeka, we pulled off the highway and into a Denny’s, where everyone was very friendly. After dinner, we drove through Kansas City, which has a beautiful skyline, to Columbia, Missouri, where we pulled in around 1:30 a.m. We found a motel and crashed at 2:00 p.m. Total miles traveled: 750.

The mighty Mississippi.

Day 4: Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, & Pennsylvania

About a hundred miles west of the Missouri River was where the hot, humid weather began. It stayed with us through rest of the trip. We spent Day 4 going through the eastern half of Missouri, southern Illinois, central Indiana, northern Ohio, and eastern Pennsylvania. The Indianapolis skyline wasn’t terribly impressive, but it was nice to see my mom’s home state and to see the exit sign for her home town. I took a picture of it to send to her. In Ohio, we began to encounter a lot of road work. And, near Akron, a lot of drunk drivers. It was a Saturday night. I guess we should have expected it? There was also a lot of road work in Pennsylvania. We wanted to get through as much of it as possible, so we drove until we reached Danville. (I’m kind of sorry that we did. I hear Pennsylvania is beautiful. We traveled through the Appalachians in the wee hours of the morning, which means that we probably missed some great scenery.) We found a motel and went to sleep at 3 a.m. Total miles traveled: 950.

A field in Indiana.

Pennsylvania countryside.

Day 5: Pennsylvania, New York, & Connecticut

We got up at 10 a.m. and went to breakfast. We were on the road by 11:30. We crossed the rest of Pennsylvania, drove just north of New York City, and into Connecticut. Upon reaching Connecticut, we were in desperate need of a restroom, so we kept stopping at food stores and gas stations – mom-and-pop outfits that didn’t have public restrooms. Finally, we spotted a Dunkin’ Donuts and stopped there. It was while standing outside of this establishment that I realized just how terrible the weather was. The humidity in the eastern half of the country smothers you. The short walk from the car to the entrance of the Dunkin’ Donuts was enough to make my clothes stick to me. Once ready, we carried on toward New Haven. We got a little lost on the way to the apartment and wound up in some not-so-safe neighborhoods. We found our way quickly enough and were soon pulling into the driveway adjacent to my new home. The time was 4:30 p.m. Total miles traveled: 250.

A New York farm.

Overall, the trip was a lot of fun. Would I do it again? Probably not. I got to visit states that I would most likely never travel to again (like Kansas and Missouri); but the Plains aren’t very exciting, and there isn’t any way to avoid them on a cross country trip.

Moving was the real hassle. Packing boxes, dealing with movers, fitting all remaining items inside the car – these were frustrating. I, of course, waited until the last minute to pack my belongings. Denial, I suppose. I worked for two full days on three hours of sleep with two friends helping me to make my deadline. It was insane. I had so much stuff, and every time I thought I was finished with a room (especially the kitchen), I would find more items that needed packing.

My advice for anyone planning a similar journey:

Do not wait until the last minute to start packing.
Bring a friend who enjoys driving.
Make sure your friend is unafraid of giant, man-eating bugs.
If heading East during the summer, be mentally prepared for the heat and humidity.
Take lots of pictures.
Enjoy the ride.

The route.

Another Quickie

2005-08-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to let everyone know what's going on.

I arrived in New Haven on Sunday, July 31st, as anticipated. The trip across country was great. My arrival in New Haven wasn't. It turns out that my apartment isn't finished quite yet. I have no toilet, no shower, and no kitchen. The landlord has been really cool about the whole situation and I am currently staying in his guest room. But I have not been able to settle in to my new apartment, which is why I moved here when I did.

As with any move to a new town, finding things has been a little difficult. The student intranet site tells you where to find your bank, where to buy groceries, etc., but it doesn't tell you where the nearest electronics store or gym is.

I've been spending a lot of time in NYC. Tomorrow's my birthday, so I'm heading into the city to celebrate. Then, it's back to New Haven and, hopefully, an apartment that is ready for me to move in to.

I'll write more about my trip, life in New Haven, and the SOM once I get access to the internet on my own computer. (I'm buying a wireless card in NYC tomorrow.)

I wish I had more time to write, but I'm being charged by the minute here. I look forward to catching up on my blog reading in the very near future.

Full Speed Ahead

2005-07-21T16:38:00.000-07:00

These last two weeks have been completely insane. I had to go into the office last weekend (even though my official last day was the Friday before) because I wasn't able to get any work done during my last week. Too many going-away lunches, dinners, and cocktails; not to mention all of the associates that stopped by my desk to bid me farewell. I went into the office on Saturday for four hours and was in the office on Sunday from 12:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. I managed to get everything done; but it damn-near killed me. Of course, the slight hangover didn't help. (KV - The vitamins DID help; the morning after would have been much uglier had I not followed your advice.)

I've spent this last week running around, trying to tie up all of the loose ends. It looks like my immunizations forms will get to school just under the wire. Also, my private loan was approved. It took my bank three weeks to make a decision (something to do with the 4th of July weekend and a backlog of applications); but I got the approval and the promissary note on Monday. I signed it and dropped it in the mail - a tremendous relief.

Even though these last two weeks have been crazy, I've had a lot of fun. Two great lines from drunken conversations I've had with friends and family:

"If I'm not me, then I don't know who is." (My brother's wife said this, though I can't for the life of me remember the context.)
"Don't worry. I haven't forgotten what I don't know." (I said this after being reminded by a friend that I wasn't supposed to know something she had told me about a mutual friend of ours.)

Good times. Good times.

I am relieved that I will soon be on the road to New Haven. Just five more days! I'll post again on or around August 1st.

To everyone who'll be journeying to his/her school during the next four weeks, Bon voyage!

Cute!

2005-07-15T15:27:00.000-07:00

We have two interns on the Marketing team. They're both high school students.

I briefly worked with one of them, Jennifer, on a project. Our interaction lasted a total of 15 minutes.

Today, she gave me a bookmark that she made herself. It's adorable. It has a Chinese figure on the front as well as my name, which she misspelled. On the back, she wrote the following:

BEST WISHES . . . Wishing you the best in every thing you do! >.< It been really great knowing you.~ You've been really fun to be around with.~ I know you're going to be outstanding in school. I'll come and work for you when you become a boss! So don't forget me! Good luck! Take care! And have a safe trip! If you ever need anything here's my email: XXXX. Hope to hear from you in the future, just to see how you're doing. Love always. Jennifer XXXX. Forever dated: 07-15-05

Tell me that's not cute!

Celebrations

2005-07-15T12:56:00.000-07:00

Well, today is my last day of work. It feels strange. It probably won't hit me until Monday morning, when I wake up at 7:30 a.m. only to remember that I have no place to go but back to sleep. I wonder how I'll respond to that. Will I feel liberated? I guess I'll find out!

Of course, the celebrations continue. I went out last night with a colleague for dinner at Asia de Cuba and from there we went to the Redwood Room. Both are in the same hotel. The Redwood Room is a total scene. There was a guy wearing sunglasses, straight girls touching each other provacatively so that the men in the room would give them some attention, and a whole lot of attitude being thrown around. Yeah, it was that ridiculous.

We finally got out of there and went to another bar. I was wearing my Yale t-shirt and some woman asked me if I went there. I told her I was going to go there. The rest of the conversation went like this:

WOMAN: What are you going to study?

ME: I'm getting my MBA.

WOMAN: Well, you're not going to get a practical education at Yale.

ME: That's good because I want a theoretical education. Concepts last longer than practices that may well be out-dated in 5, 10 or 15 years.

WOMAN: Well, it's no Harvard.

ME: Thank God for that. I didn't want to go to Harvard, Wharton, or any other school. Yale was the right choice for me.

WOMAN: So you didn't even apply to Wharton?

ME: No.

-SILENCE-

ME: So where did you get your MBA?

WOMAN: Oh, I don't have one.

I didn't have anything more to say to her at that point. She was clearly an expert on the subject. What could I possibly add to her arsenal of first-hand knowledge of business schools? I had to walk away.

My colleague and I ended up staying out until 2 a.m. Tonight, I'm going out with a friend of mine to celebrate my last day of work. Tomorrow, my little brother and his wife roll into town for a night of revelry. And on Sunday, another friend is coming over and we'll probably hit some bars.

I think I'll need to stock up on the multivitamins, eh, KV?

Breaking Up Is ______ To Do

2005-07-14T12:30:00.000-07:00

Hard. When my relationship of 4.5 years ended two months ago, I responded by allowing myself to feel victimized. I did everything right. My partner did everything wrong - terribly wrong - and I found it frighteningly easy to absolve myself of blame. Fortunately, I had friends who encouraged me to look at the relationship more objectively and to think more seriously about my role in its demise. After a great deal of soul-searching, I was able to determine where it was that I went wrong.

One of my best qualities is also one of my worst: I see the potential in people. You may show me who you are, but I tend to look past that. I look to the person I know you can be. My partner, who I often suspected of half-truths, exaggerations, and outright lies, was fundamentally honest from the very beginning. I need to learn how to weigh what a person is cabable of delivering now against what they can deliver later. Until I learn how to do this, I should probably not become involved in another relationship.

Easy. Over the last month or so, I decided on another break-up, this one with the B-School Forum on businessweek.com. I came to this decision when I looked back on the time I spent applying to business schools and the resources I used when going through the process. The Forum, I realized, was of precious little value. Arguing the existence of the M7, reading posts from people who had axes to grind with particular schools, and feeling anxious about my prospects after reading what admissions consultants had to say to people with similar profiles, I spent countless hours worried by, annoyed with, and disgusted by what I read. I found Wharton's S2S Forum to be of much greater value - and I didn't even apply there!

I will waste no more of my valuable time on businessweek's B-School Forum.

Necessary. I feel as though I've spent the last several months cleaning house - in more ways than those listed above. Someone once said, "No one can make a brand new start, but anyone can start from here and make a brand new end." Here's to new - and happier - endings.

Feeling Official

2005-07-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

I received my first university bill yesterday. More than the offer of admission, the payment of my deposit, and the activation of my email address, getting an account statement in the mail made me feel like a student of Yale University.

In the same envelope came information about Tuition Insurance. I never even knew such a thing existed. For ~$200 per term, you can get 90% of your tuition returned to you if something happens that forces you to withdraw from school. That "something" has to be an emotional/medical condition (up to and including your death, but not your suicide). Drug use, acts of war, rioting, and laziness in general are excluded.

Also in the envelope (and in my Yale inbox) was information about the Yale charge account. Basically, you can use your student ID card to charge up to $1000 per term at the Yale bookstore. Whatever you charge is billed at the beginning of the following month and payment is due by the end of that month. If your payment is late, you are charged a $110 fee regardless of the actual amount of your charges. Ouch! I think I'll pay for things the good old fashioned way, thank you very much.

A Quick Post

2005-07-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

I came into the office to pick up my gym bag and figured that, since I'm here, I might as well give a brief summary of my weekend.

Friday Night: My going-away party with co-workers. (I actually have one more week of work left, but we celebrated early because my manager is going on vacation and won't be around for my official "last day.") Our first stop was Bambuddha Lounge. I got pretty wasted, so I don't remember where we went next. All I know is that we ended up at a club, where a co-worker of mine tried all night to get the attention of a bouncer she had the hots for while I spent (what seemed like) hours pressing myself against a nice, cool concrete wall to keep myself from falling down.

Saturday: Woke up at noon with a ferocious hangover. Went back to sleep. Woke up at 3 p.m. Felt a little bit better. Left the apartment to get a greasy meal, which usually does the trick in these situations. Came home. Went back to sleep until 6 p.m. A friend of mine, who just returned from a wedding in Italy, came over at 8 p.m. She and I watched a movie and crashed at 11:30 p.m.

Today: Woke up at 9:30 a.m. feeling 100%. Had a mellow morning. Read the New York Times.

I'm sure I'll get all the details about Friday night tomorrow morning from my co-workers. Well, whatever details they can remember, anyway. Nights like that always come back in puzzle form - everybody holds a piece (a memory) and when you put all the pieces together you get an idea of what really happened. The few memories I have are good ones. I'm pretty sure I didn't do or say anything embarrassing. But even if I did, who cares? It was my going-away party, dammit! And it was well worth the Saturday I spent in pain.

Danke Schoen

2005-07-08T12:47:00.000-07:00

Today I participated in my last team meeting. It was a lot of fun, as usual. Sometimes, it occurs to me that I work for a major financial services company and that I probably shouldn't enjoy coming into work everyday as much as I do. But I've never met a marketer who hated his job. And I've never met one who didn't know how to have a good time. We're pretty much the same wherever you go. . . . Even in the financial services industry!

At the end of the meeting, my manager played Danke Schoen and dedicated it to me. When that song ended, "ABC" by the Jackson 5 came on unexpectedly and we had a mini dance party. I'll be going out for drinks with my co-workers tonight. I already know that it will turn into a roast, so I plan on getting a nice buzz going before that portion of the evening begins.

Cheers!