This blog post will be more of a diary entry on how busy this week has been, than any particular theme.
Thursday: Quiz, all day classes, Greys Anatomy
Friday: Class, quiz, Afternoon of work, MCA kick off, event with fellow classmates
Saturday: work alllll day on readings, homework, prep for stats project, dinner with friends
Sunday: Work in the morning, Ultimate practice, study at school, grocery shopping & clean apartment
Monday: All day classes, study in the afternoon, brief meeting with group, first ultimate game, dinner and drinks with some of the team, home to do readings before bed
Tuesday: Classes, lunch with fellow class reps, study & project prep, dinner, RAMA kick off meeting, FIT Tutorial, Tipsy Tuesday
Wednesday: morning work, Rotman Ambassador interview, group emails & meetings, case prep session, FIT paper discussion with professor, work on application to international study tour, attend Google speaker session (which was fantastic!), dinner with friends, back at Rotman studying.
I guess there is a theme, life is incredibly busy but on the plus side, there were a few social events thrown in there. I have heard from some of my new second year friends, that we ain't seen nothing yet. So I anticipate seeing the hours of sleep go down, the hours of social time go down and the hours of study/ group work rise significantly.
Another event worth noting, we tied our ultimate game on Monday! Next week going for the win!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Intramural Sports @ Rotman
So we are officially half way through the first quarter. This means we have been in class for 3 weeks, we have 3 weeks of class time left, followed by 1 week of exams/papers.
One thing that the 2nd years told us early in the quarter was to exercise. The more school builds up in terms of time demands and deadlines, the more likely it is to put off going to the gym. I am definitely one of those people who will come up with any excuse not to work out (I am so tired, sick, behind in school, I just straightened my hair... you get the idea). But the reality is, we all need to clear our heads a little, and running around, stretching out the muscles, and working up a sweat is a great way to do that.
This brings me to my main point. The constant balance at MBA school is to develop friendships and your network, and study, study, study. I have always signed up for intramural sports teams at school, work and more recently the Rotman Ultimate team, because its a commitment to exercise once a week AND a great chance to meet people outside of your immediate program.
This morning we had our second Ultimate practice, with a smaller turnout than last week, but fun non the less, and I met second years and a part time student. These are people that it is often difficult to mingle with throughout the regular means because they are exceptional busy. (still working and or recruiting for jobs etc).
But, by simply joining a sports team, you hang out once a week, occasionally go for dinner/drinks after and getting that oh so important little bit of exercise to prevent the MBA version of the Freshman 15.
We have our first game tomorrow night, so I am sure I will be going back to this topic from time to time, keep you posted on whether I still think its a good idea in the first week of November when the season is wrapping up and I am freezing my butt off.
In reference to a previous post on clubs, we also had the kick off meeting for the Management Consulting Club. It was both informative and discouraging, and had one major message. Thanks for signing up & if you don't get the grades that put you in the top 20% of the class then good luck. This is not a hard and fast rule, but a general idea. It is how consulting firms work, they hire MBA's and they generally hire the best of the best, taking advantage of the selection mechanism that MBA school in general provides.
I'll post about that more as the quarter moves on. For now I must go study for Statistics because I have a quiz coming up this week and am watching my calendar book up at a rapid fire rate, so I need to get a jump start.
One thing that the 2nd years told us early in the quarter was to exercise. The more school builds up in terms of time demands and deadlines, the more likely it is to put off going to the gym. I am definitely one of those people who will come up with any excuse not to work out (I am so tired, sick, behind in school, I just straightened my hair... you get the idea). But the reality is, we all need to clear our heads a little, and running around, stretching out the muscles, and working up a sweat is a great way to do that.
This brings me to my main point. The constant balance at MBA school is to develop friendships and your network, and study, study, study. I have always signed up for intramural sports teams at school, work and more recently the Rotman Ultimate team, because its a commitment to exercise once a week AND a great chance to meet people outside of your immediate program.
This morning we had our second Ultimate practice, with a smaller turnout than last week, but fun non the less, and I met second years and a part time student. These are people that it is often difficult to mingle with throughout the regular means because they are exceptional busy. (still working and or recruiting for jobs etc).
But, by simply joining a sports team, you hang out once a week, occasionally go for dinner/drinks after and getting that oh so important little bit of exercise to prevent the MBA version of the Freshman 15.
We have our first game tomorrow night, so I am sure I will be going back to this topic from time to time, keep you posted on whether I still think its a good idea in the first week of November when the season is wrapping up and I am freezing my butt off.
In reference to a previous post on clubs, we also had the kick off meeting for the Management Consulting Club. It was both informative and discouraging, and had one major message. Thanks for signing up & if you don't get the grades that put you in the top 20% of the class then good luck. This is not a hard and fast rule, but a general idea. It is how consulting firms work, they hire MBA's and they generally hire the best of the best, taking advantage of the selection mechanism that MBA school in general provides.
I'll post about that more as the quarter moves on. For now I must go study for Statistics because I have a quiz coming up this week and am watching my calendar book up at a rapid fire rate, so I need to get a jump start.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Information as a Commodity
In my initial post I pledged to keep my blog focused on the Rotman Experience outside of the classroom. I am going to stretch that a little, and propose that tutorials are not included in the class time requirements, are optional for attendance and are run by other students (scholars) and are therefore fair game.
It is now week 3 of our program, which actually means that we are half way through our first term! If you can believe it, we have had 3 of the 5 quizzes that we are responsible for this quarter, and have another one next week. We are knee deep in project planning for stats, and completely confused in terms of paper/presentation expectations everywhere else.
In undergrad, part of earning good grades was recognizing when you needed extra help and attending the available tutorials to gain a deeper understanding of the material. In grad school, everyone got B+ or higher in undergrad, many earning A's and A+ marks, especially in fourth year. So when the work load starts piling up, we look for additional sources of information.
We take five classes a week, and can attend up to five tutorials a week. Students tend to attend a tutorial to find out what is being covered, then depart at varying intervals until the end of the session. In a program where 275 people are trying to accomplish the same thing, with very similar information sources, information becomes a bit of a commodity. If you want to make friends share your notes!
I have attended at least one tutorial for each class and my insights are as follows; you can measure peoples level of comfort/interest in any given class by the rate at which they leave the room. Several sessions start with over 60 people, and end with less than 20 as people get antsy, hungry, bored and otherwise distracted. The MOST frustrating thing is if you are trying to get help, and people are they goofing off and making noise. I admit I am sometimes that person (so I try to get up and leave) to avoid being disruptive.
Word to the wise, attend tutorials early and often so you can determine their level of helpfulness, meet your scholars and make an informed decision later. The last thing you want is to show up day before an exam and go "wow this was helpful, I should have been coming here all along!"
It is now week 3 of our program, which actually means that we are half way through our first term! If you can believe it, we have had 3 of the 5 quizzes that we are responsible for this quarter, and have another one next week. We are knee deep in project planning for stats, and completely confused in terms of paper/presentation expectations everywhere else.
In undergrad, part of earning good grades was recognizing when you needed extra help and attending the available tutorials to gain a deeper understanding of the material. In grad school, everyone got B+ or higher in undergrad, many earning A's and A+ marks, especially in fourth year. So when the work load starts piling up, we look for additional sources of information.
We take five classes a week, and can attend up to five tutorials a week. Students tend to attend a tutorial to find out what is being covered, then depart at varying intervals until the end of the session. In a program where 275 people are trying to accomplish the same thing, with very similar information sources, information becomes a bit of a commodity. If you want to make friends share your notes!
I have attended at least one tutorial for each class and my insights are as follows; you can measure peoples level of comfort/interest in any given class by the rate at which they leave the room. Several sessions start with over 60 people, and end with less than 20 as people get antsy, hungry, bored and otherwise distracted. The MOST frustrating thing is if you are trying to get help, and people are they goofing off and making noise. I admit I am sometimes that person (so I try to get up and leave) to avoid being disruptive.
Word to the wise, attend tutorials early and often so you can determine their level of helpfulness, meet your scholars and make an informed decision later. The last thing you want is to show up day before an exam and go "wow this was helpful, I should have been coming here all along!"
GBC Election Results
The GBC Election results are in. I am happy to share that I have been elected as the Section 4 class rep, and get to work with a wonderful group of people (11 other first years in sports, social and class rep roles) as well as the existing 2nd year executives of the GBC.
A quick note of thanks to everyone for trusting me with this role! I will be sure to provide some more insight in the position (as I am able) as the year progresses.
A quick note of thanks to everyone for trusting me with this role! I will be sure to provide some more insight in the position (as I am able) as the year progresses.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Politics and MBA's
This week we have elections for the representatives to the GBC. To break it down for you, we have 3 reps in each of the four sections, 1 social, 1 sports and 1 academic (class) rep. The different sections had different levels of interest and it turned out I was in the keener section.
I am running for class rep (speeches were yesterday - votes tallied tomorrow & announced the day after - stay tuned) and had 3 other candidates for class rep in my section, 5 people interested in social and another 5 interested in sports rep. In one of the other sections, there were 2 class reps, 3 socials and the sports rep won by default. The other two sections fell somewhere in the middle.
In our class, I have noticed that people aren't really campaigning, its more about "give a quick speech & if after the past 2 to 4 weeks plus 1 minute speech, you don't know me... then toss a coin." I say this because, by default, everyone in our program would make a "good" class/social/sports rep. To do any of these positions, you need to have some social/networking inclination, and some organizational skills. In order to convince two of your former bosses to write you a reference letter, and jump through the hoops of the MBA application process, you need to have organizational skills.
Speeches were yesterday, mine boiled down to "please vote for me!" and I don't think there was a significant difference in the class rep speeches. BUT I will give kudos to the Sports & Social reps who came up with some pretty creative 1 minute summaries of why they would be great. Including some songs turned into speeches, a video from a class mate who was out sick, a creative social math equation, an invitation to a party & a full on sports get up complete with Leafs Jersey.
The second years I have spoken with have said "its a popularity contest" so the speeches may be a mute point. But my advice to incoming students, if you run for a spot - make your speech fun, because even if you don't win, your section has to stay after class to listen to about 30 minutes worth of speeches and you can certainly make some friends by being a little entertaining.
To conclude this post - 2 of my friends from another section, the only 2 candidates for social rep, decided to do their speeches together, and then proposed to decide the "winner" by way of a drinking event. Some students rejected the idea of taking the democracy out of the process, so in the end they defaulted to votes & had the drinking contest for fun. Two guys who will a) go to the bar on a Tuesday when they have a Thursday AND Friday quiz, and b) chug not one, but two (they tied first round), beers to decide on social-ness both deserve major high fives.
For your information - GBC is Graduate Business Council. And my next post will likely be a summary of the three letter acronyms you can expect throughout your Rotman experience.
I am running for class rep (speeches were yesterday - votes tallied tomorrow & announced the day after - stay tuned) and had 3 other candidates for class rep in my section, 5 people interested in social and another 5 interested in sports rep. In one of the other sections, there were 2 class reps, 3 socials and the sports rep won by default. The other two sections fell somewhere in the middle.
In our class, I have noticed that people aren't really campaigning, its more about "give a quick speech & if after the past 2 to 4 weeks plus 1 minute speech, you don't know me... then toss a coin." I say this because, by default, everyone in our program would make a "good" class/social/sports rep. To do any of these positions, you need to have some social/networking inclination, and some organizational skills. In order to convince two of your former bosses to write you a reference letter, and jump through the hoops of the MBA application process, you need to have organizational skills.
Speeches were yesterday, mine boiled down to "please vote for me!" and I don't think there was a significant difference in the class rep speeches. BUT I will give kudos to the Sports & Social reps who came up with some pretty creative 1 minute summaries of why they would be great. Including some songs turned into speeches, a video from a class mate who was out sick, a creative social math equation, an invitation to a party & a full on sports get up complete with Leafs Jersey.
The second years I have spoken with have said "its a popularity contest" so the speeches may be a mute point. But my advice to incoming students, if you run for a spot - make your speech fun, because even if you don't win, your section has to stay after class to listen to about 30 minutes worth of speeches and you can certainly make some friends by being a little entertaining.
To conclude this post - 2 of my friends from another section, the only 2 candidates for social rep, decided to do their speeches together, and then proposed to decide the "winner" by way of a drinking event. Some students rejected the idea of taking the democracy out of the process, so in the end they defaulted to votes & had the drinking contest for fun. Two guys who will a) go to the bar on a Tuesday when they have a Thursday AND Friday quiz, and b) chug not one, but two (they tied first round), beers to decide on social-ness both deserve major high fives.
For your information - GBC is Graduate Business Council. And my next post will likely be a summary of the three letter acronyms you can expect throughout your Rotman experience.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Facebook in Higher Education
A little facebook history to preface today's entry. Originally launched as The Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg created and launched the site while he was a student at Harvard University, so Facebook has been intended for use of University students for social means since its inception.
In my undergraduate days the site was getting started, had gained wide spread popularity and was still a campus only network, where you had to have a email address with a participating university to get logged on. This created a feel of exclusivity on the site. As users built their networks, they were comfortable 'friending' people because it was all in good fun.
These day's facebook is much much more than that. It is not just your friends from school, its your boss, your brother, your mother and the girl who is a waitress at the bar you always go to. This is a mixed blessing. You can easily get in touch with people if you lost a phone number, can't reach them on email, or have simply been out of touch. But it also means that your old boss see's that photo that the waitress tagged you in from Friday night. See where I am going with this?
In Rotman Orientation, we were told about the do's and don'ts of recruiting. One thing they touched on was to pay attention to your facebook. The recruiter you are talking to may be curious enough to see what kind of social life you have before they call you in for an interview, and they may see the aforementioned picture and decide they are looking for someone more 'serious.'
Now that I have outlined the facebook evils, let me touch on the great things about facebook. When I had applied and been offered admission to Rotman, I also searched the facebook world to see if there was a group. The wonderful program services people had set one up that required all members be part of the incoming full time MBA class. This meant that as many as 6 months before the program even started, and I was even living in Toronto, I was trading messages & moving tips with other students from class. In effect, we met online.
Now that we have (almost) all met, and are normalizing into a routine and studying (which means procrastinating) we are having a new facebook world. In planning a few social events these past few weeks, I have shamelessly used facebook as a tool to communicate, and while it is great, there is a fine line between spamming your new friends and including them in events.
The solution is a facebook group for fun - social events for members of the Rotman Community. We can all host events for everyone, if you are looking for someone who wants to go for sushi or plan a ski trip, we can communicate with each other there. By starting this group, and adding on many many admins, we are hoping to have a many to many communication flow.
So far over 150 members of our class have signed up, factoring for people not on facebook, and people not interested in hearing about every social event, we have a pretty great sign up record. Here's to hoping the 'model' works and that it can be passed on from year to year.
In my undergraduate days the site was getting started, had gained wide spread popularity and was still a campus only network, where you had to have a email address with a participating university to get logged on. This created a feel of exclusivity on the site. As users built their networks, they were comfortable 'friending' people because it was all in good fun.
These day's facebook is much much more than that. It is not just your friends from school, its your boss, your brother, your mother and the girl who is a waitress at the bar you always go to. This is a mixed blessing. You can easily get in touch with people if you lost a phone number, can't reach them on email, or have simply been out of touch. But it also means that your old boss see's that photo that the waitress tagged you in from Friday night. See where I am going with this?
In Rotman Orientation, we were told about the do's and don'ts of recruiting. One thing they touched on was to pay attention to your facebook. The recruiter you are talking to may be curious enough to see what kind of social life you have before they call you in for an interview, and they may see the aforementioned picture and decide they are looking for someone more 'serious.'
Now that I have outlined the facebook evils, let me touch on the great things about facebook. When I had applied and been offered admission to Rotman, I also searched the facebook world to see if there was a group. The wonderful program services people had set one up that required all members be part of the incoming full time MBA class. This meant that as many as 6 months before the program even started, and I was even living in Toronto, I was trading messages & moving tips with other students from class. In effect, we met online.
Now that we have (almost) all met, and are normalizing into a routine and studying (which means procrastinating) we are having a new facebook world. In planning a few social events these past few weeks, I have shamelessly used facebook as a tool to communicate, and while it is great, there is a fine line between spamming your new friends and including them in events.
The solution is a facebook group for fun - social events for members of the Rotman Community. We can all host events for everyone, if you are looking for someone who wants to go for sushi or plan a ski trip, we can communicate with each other there. By starting this group, and adding on many many admins, we are hoping to have a many to many communication flow.
So far over 150 members of our class have signed up, factoring for people not on facebook, and people not interested in hearing about every social event, we have a pretty great sign up record. Here's to hoping the 'model' works and that it can be passed on from year to year.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Fast Times @ Rotman High
I am working on this theory (and I may refer back to it from time to time), that MBA school is like High School except we are of legal drinking age and are spending a hell of a lot more money to be here. A great chit lit book that painted this picture is Sarah Mlynowski's* Monkey Business. She writes a fictional story about an entering class of MBA students who are all living in the same on campus residence building and it makes you wonder just how far you have to come to be back in high school.
The first comparison I will make is in terms of the actual environment. All of the classes are in one building, our class of roughly 265 students is segregated into 4 sections, and you stay in the same room all day, while professors come to you. Students are given lockers to store belongings and tend to socialize, eat, study and just hang out at school.
Being in an MBA program means you have a group of people who are very diverse in terms of experience, academic and ethnicity, but have 2 very important things in common.
The first is that they have an interest and have made a commitment to get an MBA. This can mean they have a strong desire to better manage a business and believe that the MBA will give them the tools to do this. Or that they want to increase their ability to generate future cash flows. (ie get paid more money).
The second is that they got into B-School, and at Rotman, more importantly they got into the best school in the country. This means the student body is smart, can demonstrate community involvement and has quality work experience to draw from.
For these reasons students don't exactly break out according to their breakfast club characters (brain, athlete, basket case, princess and criminal) as we might see in the high school setting, but we do break into groups according to career interest. I am told by second year students that as the year goes on, the Management Consulting students all hang out, the Finance students all stick together, the Marketing students team up etc.... We have yet to see this in our class, but the job hunt has yet to begin so we can only wait and see.
As you can see this theory is scattered and will either develop over time or completely disappear. For now, I must sign off to get some readings done.
*Note: (Mlynowski is a fellow McGill Alumni though I have never met her, I do enjoy her novels)
The first comparison I will make is in terms of the actual environment. All of the classes are in one building, our class of roughly 265 students is segregated into 4 sections, and you stay in the same room all day, while professors come to you. Students are given lockers to store belongings and tend to socialize, eat, study and just hang out at school.
Being in an MBA program means you have a group of people who are very diverse in terms of experience, academic and ethnicity, but have 2 very important things in common.
The first is that they have an interest and have made a commitment to get an MBA. This can mean they have a strong desire to better manage a business and believe that the MBA will give them the tools to do this. Or that they want to increase their ability to generate future cash flows. (ie get paid more money).
The second is that they got into B-School, and at Rotman, more importantly they got into the best school in the country. This means the student body is smart, can demonstrate community involvement and has quality work experience to draw from.
For these reasons students don't exactly break out according to their breakfast club characters (brain, athlete, basket case, princess and criminal) as we might see in the high school setting, but we do break into groups according to career interest. I am told by second year students that as the year goes on, the Management Consulting students all hang out, the Finance students all stick together, the Marketing students team up etc.... We have yet to see this in our class, but the job hunt has yet to begin so we can only wait and see.
As you can see this theory is scattered and will either develop over time or completely disappear. For now, I must sign off to get some readings done.
*Note: (Mlynowski is a fellow McGill Alumni though I have never met her, I do enjoy her novels)
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Blast From The Past - Thoughts on Pre Program / Orientation
The pre program is designed to create an even playing field for all incoming students. There is some basic jargon, TLA's and commonly used formula that are introduced as pre-requisites because the content of the core courses assume each new student is in the know.
As I had a commerce background I was debating the value of attending. Turns out the class material was interesting - even if it was review, and a great chance to practice being a student again. Yes I am saying I needed to practice the art of education. It is a big change to go from an office environment to a classroom setting and it takes some serious adjusting.
The other added benefit of pre program is the definitive social aspect. Coming from out of town my Toronto network was very limited. I was planning on relying heavily on school to develop friendships and knew my enjoyment of the MBA program would be largely linked to this assumption. So while I was setting up my new home, getting internet and basic kitchen gadgets, I attended lectures and more importantly - I meet about 50% of my classmates before we even attended orientation.
Since starting proper classes (which are all in the same room with the same people and the professors come to you) there are many of my pre program friends whom I don't see much of anymore. The question some people ask - can you make friends if you don't attend pre-program? is easily answered: YES! Everyone in our class is friendly and willing to introduce themselves (sometimes more than once) and there is plenty of opportunity to mix and mingle.
A big part of that comes at Orienation Camp. If there is one thing in the pre program line up that you must not miss, its camp. This is a 3 day bonding session with about 70 second years and 230 other members of your incoming class.
There is a lot of scheduled activity, 15 different 'networking' events, a wicked costume party, lots of available food and beverage, and lots of shaking hands. But this is a great opportunity to spend time with your new classmates in the most laid-back environment you will see them in all year.
Come fall, the events and club fairs start, and people start dressing in business casual most of the time.... and the reality of the MBA program starts to take hold. (i am still happily naive and will let you know when I start to stress out seriously.)
By the way, TLA's (Three Letter Acronyms) will be very present in the entire MBA experience - and every now and then you will realize you said an entire sentence with half words and half acronyms and wonder what happend.
As I had a commerce background I was debating the value of attending. Turns out the class material was interesting - even if it was review, and a great chance to practice being a student again. Yes I am saying I needed to practice the art of education. It is a big change to go from an office environment to a classroom setting and it takes some serious adjusting.
The other added benefit of pre program is the definitive social aspect. Coming from out of town my Toronto network was very limited. I was planning on relying heavily on school to develop friendships and knew my enjoyment of the MBA program would be largely linked to this assumption. So while I was setting up my new home, getting internet and basic kitchen gadgets, I attended lectures and more importantly - I meet about 50% of my classmates before we even attended orientation.
Since starting proper classes (which are all in the same room with the same people and the professors come to you) there are many of my pre program friends whom I don't see much of anymore. The question some people ask - can you make friends if you don't attend pre-program? is easily answered: YES! Everyone in our class is friendly and willing to introduce themselves (sometimes more than once) and there is plenty of opportunity to mix and mingle.
A big part of that comes at Orienation Camp. If there is one thing in the pre program line up that you must not miss, its camp. This is a 3 day bonding session with about 70 second years and 230 other members of your incoming class.
There is a lot of scheduled activity, 15 different 'networking' events, a wicked costume party, lots of available food and beverage, and lots of shaking hands. But this is a great opportunity to spend time with your new classmates in the most laid-back environment you will see them in all year.
Come fall, the events and club fairs start, and people start dressing in business casual most of the time.... and the reality of the MBA program starts to take hold. (i am still happily naive and will let you know when I start to stress out seriously.)
By the way, TLA's (Three Letter Acronyms) will be very present in the entire MBA experience - and every now and then you will realize you said an entire sentence with half words and half acronyms and wonder what happend.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Student Clubs Fair
Last night we were invited to attend the Student Clubs Fair. My experience with these things is you get a lot of information, everyone wants you to sign up for their club/event/activity and you leave with a little less in your wallet and a little bit more scrap paper.
The Rotman Annual Student Clubs Fair did not digress from this model. The difference I found (and this applies to grad school in general) is that the average person that attends, actually wants to be there. There are very few people who are not committed to the program, and most students who show up for the club fair are genuinely interested in at least one club.
That, of course, is another issue. Almost every Rotman student is interested in either Management Consulting or Finance, or both (with varying levels of commitment). These two clubs are highly prescribed to because the option to get help when recruiting season kicks off is a hot commodity. They offer networking opportunities, help writing your applications as well as prep and feedback for case and technical interviews.
A little info regarding the first year calendar: September is for information gathering and studying for first quarter. January is for recruiting. From what I have learned everything in between is a lead up to Recruiting (disclaimer! specifically for consulting and investment banking jobs - more on that later).
The relationship between recruiting and September's clubs fair is closely tied to FOMA (Fear Of Missing Out). Few students know exactly what they want to do and so they sign up for everything and wait for the dust to settle.
It may not surprise you to learn that I don't know what I want to do, so I have signed up for multiple clubs and will be selectively attending events hosted that catch my fancy. Check back in December to see which I have stuck with and which have fallen by the wayside.
Katie's First Year Clubs:
The Rotman Annual Student Clubs Fair did not digress from this model. The difference I found (and this applies to grad school in general) is that the average person that attends, actually wants to be there. There are very few people who are not committed to the program, and most students who show up for the club fair are genuinely interested in at least one club.
That, of course, is another issue. Almost every Rotman student is interested in either Management Consulting or Finance, or both (with varying levels of commitment). These two clubs are highly prescribed to because the option to get help when recruiting season kicks off is a hot commodity. They offer networking opportunities, help writing your applications as well as prep and feedback for case and technical interviews.
A little info regarding the first year calendar: September is for information gathering and studying for first quarter. January is for recruiting. From what I have learned everything in between is a lead up to Recruiting (disclaimer! specifically for consulting and investment banking jobs - more on that later).
The relationship between recruiting and September's clubs fair is closely tied to FOMA (Fear Of Missing Out). Few students know exactly what they want to do and so they sign up for everything and wait for the dust to settle.
It may not surprise you to learn that I don't know what I want to do, so I have signed up for multiple clubs and will be selectively attending events hosted that catch my fancy. Check back in December to see which I have stuck with and which have fallen by the wayside.
Katie's First Year Clubs:
- rotman finance association
- business design club
- energy and natural resources group
- management consulting association
- women in management association
First Tipsy Tuesday
First year Rotman Students operate on a very busy schedule. We have approximately 20 hours of class a week, spread over four days, with numerous tutorials that are optional but very useful and a whole bunch of extra-curricular activities, clubs and events offered.
By spreading classes over four days, we get Wednesday's off. Don't be fooled, this is designed for group work, catching up on readings and networking. Of course in typical student fashion, a regular night out has been introduced on Tuesday nights, aptly named Tipsy Tuesday.
The first examinable event was the Managerial Economics Quiz. The first real Tipsy Tuesday same day. The turn out at Tipsy Tuesday last night was lots of fun. It was one of the first real opportunties to meet and chat with 2nd Year students, who are a very valuable resource, as they were in our seats exactly one year ago and are able to provide some guidance.
And most importantly, it was a great chance to relax with our classmates. I may have stayed a little too late, making my first Wednesday off less productive, but also met a bunch of people and learned a bit about the various student run clubs. Trying to capture the perfect balance between studying and networking is going to be a big part of the MBA experience.
This afternoon is the student club fair, so I will update on my impressions of that in the near future. Stay tuned.
By spreading classes over four days, we get Wednesday's off. Don't be fooled, this is designed for group work, catching up on readings and networking. Of course in typical student fashion, a regular night out has been introduced on Tuesday nights, aptly named Tipsy Tuesday.
The first examinable event was the Managerial Economics Quiz. The first real Tipsy Tuesday same day. The turn out at Tipsy Tuesday last night was lots of fun. It was one of the first real opportunties to meet and chat with 2nd Year students, who are a very valuable resource, as they were in our seats exactly one year ago and are able to provide some guidance.
And most importantly, it was a great chance to relax with our classmates. I may have stayed a little too late, making my first Wednesday off less productive, but also met a bunch of people and learned a bit about the various student run clubs. Trying to capture the perfect balance between studying and networking is going to be a big part of the MBA experience.
This afternoon is the student club fair, so I will update on my impressions of that in the near future. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Who am I? (In 226 words or less)
In a round about introduction to this blog, I'd like to talk about myself. This is hopefully the first and last blog post that will focus on me.
If the Vancouver Canucks are doing well, they may be mentioned in this blog, otherwise I will aim to stay on the topic of one students MBA Experience outside of the classroom. This will include, but not be limited to, the student clubs, the recruiting, the general program and of course the "social scene."
First and foremost, I pledge to write candidly. I will NOT be writing about gossip. And I will aim to inform the readers (prospective students & fellow classmates) of the many benefits that can come from what is ultimately your network of relationships developed throughout the MBA program.
Finally some vital stats for those who are curious:
name: Katie L Schwitzer
gender: female
age: 24 (for a few more months)
hometown: Vancouver BC
undergraduate degree: Commerce (Marketing/Finance)
alma matter: McGill University
most recent job title: Business Development Coordinator
most recent company: Blast Radius Inc.
some descriptive stats:
reason for getting an MBA: to improve my marketability & develop a lifelong network
reason for writing a blog: to inform the prospective students of some aspects of the Rotman experience that you gain from your peers instead of your professors
reason for calling the blog "our world": a clever play on words for the Rotman website "RWorld"
If the Vancouver Canucks are doing well, they may be mentioned in this blog, otherwise I will aim to stay on the topic of one students MBA Experience outside of the classroom. This will include, but not be limited to, the student clubs, the recruiting, the general program and of course the "social scene."
First and foremost, I pledge to write candidly. I will NOT be writing about gossip. And I will aim to inform the readers (prospective students & fellow classmates) of the many benefits that can come from what is ultimately your network of relationships developed throughout the MBA program.
Finally some vital stats for those who are curious:
name: Katie L Schwitzer
gender: female
age: 24 (for a few more months)
hometown: Vancouver BC
undergraduate degree: Commerce (Marketing/Finance)
alma matter: McGill University
most recent job title: Business Development Coordinator
most recent company: Blast Radius Inc.
some descriptive stats:
reason for getting an MBA: to improve my marketability & develop a lifelong network
reason for writing a blog: to inform the prospective students of some aspects of the Rotman experience that you gain from your peers instead of your professors
reason for calling the blog "our world": a clever play on words for the Rotman website "RWorld"
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