MBA Cutie & The Ross Experience

Finals in Fall A, Mid-Sem Break, West Coast Forum

2006-10-27T16:30:00.000-07:00

Finals came and went. THANK GOD. I wish they could have gone a little bit sooner. Thankfully, my classes for Fall B don't have finals so stretched out. Finance was a disaster. I know I just didn't do well. I managed to pass the class, but who knows what mistakes I made on that final. Econ wasn't too bad, but I still don't have a grade in that class, so we'll see how that goes. In spite of my lackluster attention skills in Stats, I managed to get out of that class with a "good". The final was incredibly long. A lot of people said they didn't finish. I think because last year's stats final was considered "too easy" the profs tried to ramp it up this year. It was a little too ramped up IMO, but whatever. It's all curved anyway. Strategy was definitely the longest, coming in close to the 6 hour mark. I didn't really know how to study for that one, but I somehow got through it two hours early. Probably because I picked up the case early and started breaking it up into digestable pieces. We dont' get those grades until mid-November.

Because we're on the half-semester (essentially quarter) system, we have this one week off between Fall A and Fall B, called "mid-semester break". There are a variety of options available of what to do during break. I chose to go home to California and visit my family. The weather out there was incredible, and since I was in the bay area already, I could also go to the West Coast Forum, (more details at www.westcoastforum.org). I spent my days at home hanging out with my parents, and then the latter half of the week at the Sofitel in Redwood City, meeting with various recruiters and company representatives in the area to learn more about opportunities for internships in the bay area during the summer.

Now it's time to head back to school and everything else. I plan to attend an event this weekend in Chicago (yes, I know I'm missing the homecoming game) to learn more about opportunites for working with McKinsey in South America. I'm not sure I really want to work there, but it may be very worth it to at least get some more information.

Time Management

2006-09-29T14:03:00.000-07:00

I have never been so busy in my life. There are so many club activities, social activities and academic activities going on, I can't keep it all straight. Finding time to update my blog has become difficult. This past week, my section had their first midterm. I had two, as I am in the Finance class. So we studied like crazy all weekend long (after the bus of course), to be ready for our Tuesday Finance Exam ... which I feel really "iffy" about, and then spent the rest of the week studying for our Econ exam that took place this morning. Rather, I blew off studying until last night, then wished I hadn't. I can't say I think I did all that badly, but I am happy it's over. And I'm happy I didn't dedicate more time to it than I did.

On a career outlook front, I'm planning on heading out to the Marketing Club's visit to Minneapolis next week, which should be fun and interesting. I went to the Piper Jaffray Presentation this week, which was great! I wasn't seriously looking at them, but it looks like they are a great middle market firm with major offices in Minneapolis and California. Plus so many of the consumer / retail deals I'm interested in happen in the middle market, so I think this is a good option for me.

We have a stats quiz this weekend, another finance assignment, and some econ and strat assignments to work on next week.

WE'RE # 1!!!!!!!

2006-09-20T17:18:00.000-07:00

That's right! Ross did it! We are rated at the top of the WSJ's list of MBA Programs. Congratulations, Dean Dolan! And of course, congratulations to all the students and staff, and to all the recruiters who helped make this happen.

The Start of Fall A

2006-09-12T05:42:00.000-07:00

A whole week has passed! And I'm still alive and well. Classes have been interesting, here is a quick low down:

Business Statistics (OMS 502) -- I sort of wish I had bitten the bullet and studied for the waiver exam. Not that the class is bad, because our professor is actually very good and has done a good job of explaining stats to people that have never taken stats before. However, I have taken stats before. I've even taken Econometrics before. I really am bored out of my mind. I could have taught myself all this stuff on my own. The only drastic change I'm noticing in Stats is that now we're doing statistical modeling in Excel as opposed to using Stata that we used at UCLA, about 5 or 6 years ago...

Business Economics (BE 502) -- Speaking of classes I wish I passed out of... Well I majored in the stuff at UCLA, but I just never really "got" it, so I thought it would be good to take this class. Our professor is actually very good, but the thing about economics is that it's immensely hard to teach. It's just really one of those things that has to "dawn" on you one day... and when it does, you "get" it.

Finance (FIN 513) -- Our teacher for this class (Kaul) is AMAZING. I dont' know how much finance I'm learning in class, but I'm learning a whole lot of it by doing homework. The class is non-stop laughs. I can't wait for Monday and Wednesday mornings just so that I can go to this class.

Strategy (STRAT 502) -- I've never taken a Strategy course before, so I guess this is my first real exposure to case analysis. We've been working pretty hard already, analyzing cases in our assigned groups, and in heated class discussions. The professor (Kale) is excellent at guiding the class to have the discussions he wants us to have. I'm always surprised when he puts up the notes at the end of class that he had pre-prepared. They are usually pretty close to what the direction of our class discussion was.

We had MBA Games last Friday! The day was extremely tiring... we participated in many different sports, including softball, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, bocce ball, etc... Section 4 ended up placing first in Volleyball and Softball and second in a bunch of others. We came in tied for third place with Section 5. There were tons of sponsors on site at the field, including J&J, Eli Lilly, Target, and Pepsi-Co. The one complaint I have is that there wasn't enough regular water on site. There is only so much Gatorade and Propel that you can drink!

RLP Days 4, 5, and 6

2006-09-06T18:20:00.000-07:00

We got to have a late start on Tuesday (we, meaning section 4)... with two seminars in the afternoon. One on Ethics and then one on Citizenship. The Citizenship one was interesting, the Professor that spoke to us was Jim Walsh. He also showed us a partially finished documentary regarding the outsourcing phenomena we are currently facing in the U.S. I had mixed feelings about that documentary, but, for the sake of time and I guess, because I just didn't care enough to say more, I chose to not comment too much.

The next day we had a presentation on the state of the world in 2020, and then this awesome corporate diversity presentation. The presentation included many short skits and lots of group interaction. The afternoon was our teambuilding exercises. I had a great team, and it was a good time. By the end of the activities, we were ready to go home and relax.

For our last day of RLP, all the sections split up and headed out to various locations across Michigan for community service projects. Section 4 was assigned to Project HOPE, which is the main sponsor for the community service day at Ross. I spent the day cleaning up an old lot, with some section mates, so that the organization can use it productively in the future. It was a great opportunity to take some time out of our busy lives to think about the less fortunate and give back to the community. I definitely hope this is something that our section will continue to do going foreward.

Orientation Day 3: Management Assessment & Section Meeting

2006-08-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

We had our first section 4 meeting today at 8am. It was the first time we got to see the whole section in one place. Everyone has very diverse backgrounds. We have everything from Investment Bankers to Engineers to Medical Doctors! And from countries all over the world. The section meeting was basically to get a quick introduction to everyone in the class and then get details about the MBA Games, the Shout Off, and other various events that we have coming up. The section elections are a week from today... so we have to be ready to know what we want to run for, if we decide to run.

I spent part of today doing some research regarding the Zell Lurie Institute Wolverine Venture Fund. I guess they take on 8 MBA1's to sit on the advisory board every year. It sounds like fun and I am thinking about applying for it. We'll see how that goes.

The next session was our Management Assessment seminar. It turns out I am in the "blue" group -- or that my management style is more "market" vs. "clan", "adhocracy" or "heirarchy". Surprisingly, other people who filled out my assessment rated me "clan". I'm not really sure what to believe. I think I can be extremely competitive when I want something. Tomorrow my section has our first section-wide happy hour after orientation. Tonight, there is an MBA Bowling activity, but I don't plan to go to that.

I picked up my season tickets for the football games today from the Ticket Office. I also went to Briar Cove Mall and picked up my Football Season Student T-Shirt from the M-Den. The mall is nicer than I expected, but I doubt I'll spend much time there now that I have no incoming funds.

Orientation: Days 1 & 2

2006-08-26T11:12:00.000-07:00

I have been meeting so many people so quickly that it's hard to keep track! I usually find that I can remember where people are from, but not their name. Some how, I don't think people will respond well be being called "Minnesota Guy" or the like.

The first day of Orientation was O.K. It wasn't that exciting. The Dean's welcome was nice, but the break out sessions for the rest of the day just felt a little long, and I wasn't that interested in "feeling sharing" with my group, etc. But, meeting more of the class was a huge plus. Supposedly, this will be one of the last times that we will all be together as a class for a long, long time.

The second day we had a series of speakers from the Human Performance Institute, including Jim Loehr, co-author of THE POWER OF FULL ENGAGEMENT. I really tried my best to stay fully engaged through lectures about spiritual health, nutrition and exercise, but the previous night's festivities were weighing pretty heavily on my eyelids. I bolted out of there the second I could, came home, and took a 2 hour nap. It was much needed! We had to head out again that evening for an MBA 1 get together in downtown AA.

First Week @ Ross

2006-08-23T15:44:00.000-07:00

I've officially been in Ann Arbor for 6 days. My apartment is great! Just half a block from the business school and about 1 block from the all-important Dominicks. The first few days have been a whirlwind of activity, between setting up my apartment, picking up my orientation information materials, and just orienting myself with the school, Ann Arbor and Michigan.

One of the guys in my class organized a "Campus M-Trek". He went here for undergrad, and since so many of us were asking him questions on how to get places and how to go here and there he gave us all a little campus tour that concluded at Leopold's... a nice brewery that distills its own liquor.

Initial Impressions:
* U of M is not AS big as I thought. It is totally walkable. I was thinking it may be like a UC San Diego or UC Davis, where walking to some places is nearly impossible.

* I am so happy I live next to campus. Consider the number of social activities, being close to campus is an absolute godsend. It is hard to find a good place close by, but totally worth the effort and extra rent.

* There are so many things to do, I'm worried I can't keep it all straight. We get a bunch of reminder emails every day to make sure we "fill out a form" or remember to register for something or the other. I created a day planner on Excel to help me get organized, but still not sure that will be enough...

I met Microfinance Girl at a b-school kegger party hosted just a few houses down from me. It turns out she is in my section too! As Arwen is my roomate, I hope to get the scoop on the personality of her section. There seems to be some sort of social activity for us almost every day! I don't know if my liver can take it! I tried a beer bong at the party last night for the first time ever. It's a big more sudden than I would have thought.... everyone got splashed when I pushed the tube out of my mouth.... oh well! I'm finally starting to see a lot of the people I met at GBR and things are starting to come together. It's definitely going to be a fun two years.

Got my class information all sorted out...

Fall A:

FIN 513
BE 502
OMS 502
STRAT 502

Fall B:

MO 503
MKT 504
STRAT 503
LHC 513

My Fall B is still a little tentative. I'm only taking two core courses but figured I could add on two electives. I may drop that down to just one elective.

Section 4!

2006-08-14T00:24:00.000-07:00

Upon my return from India, I have discovered that I've been placed into Section 4. My roommate has already made it out to AA and moved into our apartment. I can't wait to see it too! She's left on an M-Trek. I plan to head out there by August 17th.

Theoretical Schedule

2006-07-07T12:36:00.000-07:00

I've tried to piece together the possible section schedules now that classes and timings are actually posted on the internet.

Top 10 Goofs Interns Make

2006-07-04T16:51:00.000-07:00

I came across this article by business week:
Top 10 Goofs Interns Make

Ok, so if these rules were applied to my job, I'm already a royal screw up!

(1) Entitlement Syndrome - well, I can't say that I've really screwed up this one, but I have worked with plenty of people that did show this as a major problem.

(2) Flip-flopping - I work for a fashion company! You can't tell me no flip flops! What if they are in style? Does it count if I just keep them under my desk for when I'm sitting down?

(3) Unplug - I regularly listen to my IPOD at work. I also blog about work all the time! I don't reveal what company I work for, but I certainly do blog. Hmm...

(4) Wallflower - hey! everyone gets shy now and then. And I like using my lunches as "me" time.

(5) Extracurriculars - I just don't feel like giving up my weekends for company events, but I do make it a point to go to at least half of all invitations that come my way.

(6) Grunt Work - I understand there are adminstrative things, but it's even worse when we have no group admin and we don't have systems that let us get around a lot of the grunt work.

(7) Missing the big picture - OK! Finally something I'm not guilty of!

(8) Failing to ask questions - Sometimes you want to figure it out on your own, though!

(9) Rejecting criticism - Someone once told me, bosses will give you some negative feedback not because they necessarily believe it, but because they have to say something negative to you.

(10) Wasting Time - Um, but what am I supposed to do when my eyes run numbers togethers on my spreadsheets.

As that Office Space dude says, there has to be "space out" time.

WAIVED!

2006-06-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

I just found out that I've been waived out of Financial Accounting and Managerial Accounting! So I get to run with the big guys and take Financial Analysis (FIN 513) my first semester at Ross.

Course Waivers --- When?

2006-06-14T21:44:00.000-07:00

I wonder when Ross will tell us if we successfully passed out of any core courses...

Does an Elite College Really Pay?

2006-05-31T13:40:00.001-07:00

Does an Elite College Really Pay?
by Dan Akst

Harvard or Yale can cost a fortune, but the theory goes that the cost will pay off in future earnings. Many who've studied the numbers disagree.

The economist Alan B. Krueger teaches at Princeton University, but in his view, it's probably not worth the money it takes to send your kid there.

Not in terms of future earnings, anyway. Krueger ignited a minor furor when he and Stacy B. Dale, a researcher at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, concluded in 1998 that elite colleges do not pay off in higher earnings. They only appear to do so, the researchers contended. Krueger and Dale claimed that, in most cases, the higher earnings piled up by graduates of elite schools were attributable to elite individuals, not their college education. In other words, if you're smart enough to get into Princeton, you're smart enough to make a lot of money wherever you go to school.

Whether or not Krueger and Dale's research holds up--and the jury is still out--tuition-paying parents will want to follow the debate closely.

For years, economists have wrestled with the question of whether the hefty cost of an Ivy League or equivalent private college is worth the differential in economic terms. Will attending the elite University of Pennsylvania result in higher future earnings than attending Penn State? And will the higher earnings exceed the higher cost?

The cost of a private college education, already astronomical, is spiraling upward faster than the rate of inflation. (At least in nominal terms. When you adjust costs with financial aid and for inflation, the real costs may be falling. For more, see "The real reasons college costs so much.")
A student entering the University of Pennsylvania and paying list price can expect to spend about $160,000 for an undergraduate degree, including personal expenses and expected tuition increases.

At the same time, these institutions are besieged by more and more applicants. Columbia University's Columbia College, for instance, had fewer than 6,000 applicants in 1991. A decade later, that had more than doubled.

What's a parent to do? Should you hand over your life savings to get your kids through a place such as Harvard, Stanford, or Yale? Is it worth it for students to drive themselves mercilessly just to get into one of these schools?

For some occupations, Harvard doesn't pay

Unfortunately, the answer isn't so clear. If your kid is going to be a social worker or a minister, going to Harvard will probably never pay off financially. And if you live someplace with a truly great state university (the universities of California, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Virginia are good examples), only the very best private colleges are even worth considering as an alternative. Mediocre private schools, on the other hand, are almost never worth the money.

Beyond this there is confusion. Plenty of experts, for instance, think Krueger and Dale are flat-out wrong. "Alan is a former student of mine, and I love him," says Ronald G. Ehrenberg, director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute in Ithaca, New York. Nevertheless, Ehrenberg insists, "on average, there is significant gain in going to a top private school," both in access to better graduate schools and in higher lifelong earnings.

Ehrenberg, along with Dominic J. Brewer and Eric Eide of the Rand Corp., published a study of this issue in 1996 and found that "even after controlling for selection effects, there is strong evidence of significant economic return to attending an elite private institution, and some evidence that this premium has increased over time."

The problem is those "selection effects," meaning the tendency of top schools to admit the best and the brightest, who are most likely to earn big bucks someday anyway. There is no disputing that graduates of top schools make more money than graduates of, say, Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania, which is one reason parents are willing to pay the tab at such pricey institutions as Cal Tech or Wellesley. Harvard economist Caroline Hoxby figures that men who entered a top-tier private college in 1982 will earn $2.9 million over a lifetime, versus $2.4 million for men who went to one of the most selective public institutions and $1.7 million for men from one of the least-selective public institutions. (All of Hoxby's numbers are in 1997 dollars.)

Where you apply is a good predictor of future earnings

But elite colleges attract elite students--students who might have made a lot of money after attending any old college. (As well as a few possibly undeserving sons and daughters of well-heeled alumni.)

To address this, Krueger and Dale looked not just at the earnings of elite-college graduates, but also at the earnings of those accepted at elite colleges who chose to attend a less-selective institution. The researchers found that both groups of students earned about the same. That suggests that the students themselves--not the school--account for the difference. To Krueger and Dale, where you applied (rather than where you matriculated) is the best predictor of future earnings.

One difficulty with much of this work is that you have to wait quite awhile for the students to establish postgraduate earnings patterns. That, in turn, means you have to deal with college costs long ago dwarfed by years of increases that have far outstripped inflation. When I enrolled at Penn in 1974, you could get through four years for perhaps $30,000. Today it takes five times as much. So if you're paying full freight at Penn today, it's much tougher to earn out the staggering capital cost of your elite education--to say nothing of graduate school, which you'll probably need if you're serious about making money.

Dan A. Black, an economist at Syracuse University who has studied such questions, says you will make more by attending an elite college, "but it comes out awfully close to what you'd get in the stock market" if you invested the difference in price between a top college and a lesser state school.

But Hoxby, who specializes in the economics of education, has come up with some different answers. She figures student aptitude accounts for somewhere between two-thirds and three-quarters of the earnings difference; yet even allowing for this, she finds that it pays to go to the most selective college you can. "People who invest in education at a more selective college generally earn back their investment several times over during their careers," Hoxby writes in a study of men who entered college in 1960, 1972, and 1982. She also projected findings based on 1997-98 tuition, with similar results.

"In many cases," she adds, "even students who are offered a 'free ride' by a lower-ranked college would maximize their monetary worth by refusing the aid and attending the higher-ranked college."

What's more, she says, "the returns to attending a more-selective college have been rising over time," and the career-long income differences "swamp the differences in the total costs of attending more- versus less-selective colleges."

The list price vs. what we actually pay

One virtue of Hoxby's work is her focus on what people really pay. Everyone knows the retail price of Penn is out of sight. But not everyone knows that three-quarters of its undergraduates get some kind of financial aid and nearly half get an outright grant (read: discount). At Penn, for example, undergraduate tuition and fees this fall are $39,634. But the university says the average undergraduate gets a discount of 25 percent. And that figure only takes account of scholarships from Penn or governmental sources. If you add in private grants and the value of low-interest loans, the average price would drop even further.

Hoxby understands this, which is why she compared students paying average 1997-98 tuition at a third-rank public college to those paying average tuition at a first-rank private college. Even adjusting for differences in student aptitude, the private school student would be expected to earn back the difference in costs more than 30 times over during the course of a working lifetime, far outstripping any possible investment returns on invested capital.

If that's true, it's no wonder parents are clamoring to throw money at Ivy League schools. The wonder is that the schools themselves don't charge more.

What you should do

Take all this data with a grain of salt and apply common sense. If your kid intends to become a social worker or minister, an Ivy League education will never pay off in financial terms. And if your child wants to study studio art but is admitted to Cal Tech, there's no point paying for Cal Tech. Spend the money on a school with a better art program.
If you live in a state with a premier public institution--a school such as UC Berkeley, the University of Virginia, or the University of Wisconsin--it's hard to justify going elsewhere, unless elsewhere is one of the very best private schools. Even then, in the view of Dan Black, you should pick your state school.

Under no circumstances should you pay for a mediocre private school. These make no sense at all.

If you are made of money, send your kid to the most selective school you possibly can. It can't hurt.

If you are African American and your kid gets into Yale, do whatever you can to send him or her. Krueger and Dale found that black students get a bigger financial bang from a top-tier school. There is also some evidence that the same applies to students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds generally.

Lehman Brothers: Global Diversity Recruiting

2006-05-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I finished reading Monkey Business, by John Rolfe and Peter Troob. A friend of mine recommended it because I kept asking what exactly it is that investment bankers do, and I just felt like no one really ever gave me a straight answer. This book spelled it out in, much needed, explicit detail. In light of this, the job seems like it's not really something that is up my alley, so to speak, however, there is still an element of glamour associated with this job, regardless of how terrible the life of an associate is. Times have changed a little from when this book was published, but I don't know if it is significantly better.

I decided, on the spur of the moment, to go ahead and apply to the Lehman Brother's Global Diversity Recruiting event in June for future women MBAs, and last week received an invitation for me to make my reservations to attend. I think it will be good for me to learn more about this particular firm, and the field as a whole. For all I know, it may be something I would really like. There may be other jobs at Lehman Brothers, not particularly in banking, that may appeal to me too. Plus, it's a chance to see Marina!

Financial Aid

2006-05-24T11:05:00.000-07:00

My financial aid information has been processed by U of M, and I now qualify for a total package of $59,000 to cover tuition, books, and living expenses for my first year. Part of it is my scholarship, but then the rest is split pretty evenly between federal loans and Citi-assist loans. I need to find out if I am required to take out the entire portion of Citi-assist loans at once. I would much rather take what I need and have the rest available to me as an extended line of credit if I choose to use it.

A few quick tips:

- To get the maximum amount of financial aid, make sure that your parents are not saving money in your name... I discovered this after I filed my FAFSA, so I had to re-file with an ammended one.

- The deadline to file the FAFSA for Michigan is March 1st! This is awfully early, and well before Tax Day. The good news is, you can guesstimate using last year's information and then have until July 1st to re-file an ammended FAFSA.

- Any large, liquid reserves/saving you have, you may want to withdraw temporarily and hold in cash in a safety deposit box or at home during the processing of your financial aid, especially if this is money saved for a trip or expenses prior to business school. This money could count against you in the financial aid calculation.

Career Leader

2006-05-22T06:34:00.000-07:00

One of the things that Ross asks us to do before we get to campus is to start working on our resumes. We have to re-write them to show interest in our future career goals. I know I've been interested in Marketing and PR/Communications for a while, but lately, the lure of a loan free life after two years has made me want to look into Banking and Consulting. It's really hard to create a resume that focuses on all three of those areas. Since I had to narrow it down, I decided to go ahead and take the Career Leader test that Ross offers us through the Office of Career Development (OCD). It turns out that I am a perfect fit for PR/ Communications. (I have no negative attributes with regard to that field!) I'm also a good match for Marketing (only one negative attribute). However, I'm a "low" match for both banking and consulting. I'm sort of sad about this, as I think would really like to try consulting, but after spending four years in corporate finance and discovering how ill-suited I am for the profession, I don't want to make that mistake again. I wonder how accurate Career Leader really is.

Course Waivers

2006-05-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

With the course waiver deadline for Ross quickly approaching (all materials must be received by Academic Services by May 31st), I've been frantically trying to put together my paperwork to send in.

For Class of 2009 applicants, keep copies of all your transcripts. You will need them! And if you took any certification exams, request your official score reports well in advance. It turns out that it will take the California State Board of Accountancy 8 weeks to release my CPA exam scores to Ross! Almost every core course at Ross has a pass-out possibility, except for Corporate Strategy, which is required by all participants in the program. I'm hoping to pass out of three of the courses (ACC 502 - Accounting/ Financials, BE 502 - Microeconomics, ACC 522 - Cost / Managerial Accounting), but most likely will only be granted one or two. I would have loved to pass out of Stats, since I took calculus driven Econometrics as an undergrad, but it's been so long, I don't think I really have a shot at the waiver exam, and I don't want to spend the next two months studying.

MBA Cutie & The Ross Experience

2006-05-18T08:58:00.000-07:00

For those of you that have found your way here from my original MBA Cutie Blog, Welcome!

I'm creating this particular blog to address all aspects of my Ross Experience over the next two years. Going forward, all personal / non-MBA related posts will be on my personal blog at www.mbacutie.blogspot.com. But, all specifically Ross and MBA related posts will be here.

I wanted to continue blogging at Ross, and this lets me write about the MBA experience and lets my MBA readers find exactly what they are looking for, without all the extras you find on my personal blog site.

Enjoy!