Money makes the world go round...

Friday morning I think I iced my stats quiz. The good news, is that had I studied more, I would not have even looked at the material that was tested on, so it was a curve ball, and I got other stuff done instead. The bad news is, if that is any indicator of the final, I am between a rock and a hard place. Hoping I can encourage some statistically inclined friends to walk me through some of it. And while I am at it, learn something for the economics quiz on Tuesday!

This blog posts in on "Money" because of the kick off of the RFA event on Friday. If you have ever checked out info sessions on starting careers in the Finance industry, you will learn about selective hearing and money. Selective hearing, because it seems like no one actually registers that the speaker just said "you have to work 100 hour work weeks, you don't control your time, and its super competitive to get in." All they hear is the starting salary is money, and the bonus is more money. I won't quote what they said, cause I am not sure it is backed up, but check out the graduating stats on approx earnings, the dollars won't be exactly bang on, but the idea is there.

After the meeting, two funny things happen. Half the attendees start planning how to get those lucrative jobs, lets start a group to practice together, lets read the paper everyday, lets do all this wonderful stuff that we don't really have time for, but now that we have heard the money we will make time for!

The other half are still scratching their heads trying to decide between consulting and finance and the many, many other lucrative careers available to post MBA's.

I fit in the former group. I am 99.99% sure I want a career in Finance, and have signed up for the stock pitch competition and have already been reading the paper every day. I was talking to my friends about getting prepared if we go the finance route. The short story is, prepare, prepare, prepare. Even if you are a finance rock star and know everything there is to know about finance. The interview process is demanding and grueling and doesn't allow for errors.

So as of right now we are in the prepare and study mode of school, which will continue for the next two years!

Stats Quiz & Season Opener don't mix...

So one thing we have learned as MBA students, with a few exceptional situations, is that the MBA program doesn't really care that you have a life outside of school. A couple of students are expecting / observing religious holidays. For example this weeks Yom Kippur meant we had a more than usual number of absence in class. Professors and the program services office are very willing to accommodate reasonable situations that require some adjustments.

But, they are not flexible if you do poorly on a stats quiz because you had to watch the season opener of the Canucks versus Flames and simply could not settle for watching the highlights. Even though there are something like 80 more games to watch this season before post season, and a little exciting event I like to call the winter Olympics hosted in Vancouver (home town hollar!) so there will be plenty of hockey to follow this year, I simply cannot miss the first real game of the season.

Now the stats professor might say that if I am comfortable with the material, then that is perfectly acceptable. But I won't know if I am well and truly comfortable with stats until I never, ever have to take a statistics course ever again.

In my research to decide on Rotman, I spoke with students at other schools I had applied to, including Schulich. The student at Schulich was introduced to me because he was a Commerce undergraduate student from McGill (like me).

His (very sound) reasoning for choosing Schulich over Rotman (!) was that he already had a job, he required the MBA to receive promotions and would not be making a major career change, and had been offered advanced standing at Schulich. A lot of the benefit of Rotmans two year program is the opportunity to get a flavour of all the different disciplines and recruit for summer positions. His candid reason for choosing Schulich "I sure as hell wasn't going to take stats again."

I am thinking about that statement, and if I felt that I was in any course where I wasn't learning anything, I would be much more upset. But for the time being, I am getting something from every single class I attend. Sometimes its more than others, but there hasn't been a 'waste of time' class yes, not something I can say I believed in undergrad.

Today's quote of the day: "Studying for stats is a stable process in what on earth am I talking about?"

This weekend is the CIBC Run for the Cure, followed by my first 'official' networking event of the year - a brunch with the folks at McKinsey. Will be sure to post some thoughts on that & maybe some insight into the Rotman Finance Association club which kicks off tomorrow night.