May 23, 2011

Cohort Cup Champions


Post By:

Ajay Mehta
MBA '11

It took two years to finally hoist the Cohort Cup Trophy and this year Cohort D was able to enjoy victory. As you probably know, as full time students at BU you are split into three cohorts which consist of approximately 50 students. Those 50 students become your close friends and teammates as you navigate your way as a first year MBA. Too add to the friendly competition, competitions and networking events are hosted by the Cohort Cup Committee pitting cohorts against each other in sports, trivia, and other friendly competition.

The year comes to an end with the annual talent show where you get to see entire cohorts perform dances and songs, as well as other members of your class display talent you never knew existed. The show is judged by professors picked by each cohort to add some interesting allegiances into the mix.

Last year…it was a battle to the end with Cohort C and Cohort D taking every other competition and C finally squeezing out enough points to take the lead and win the cup. Needless to say, Cohort D was slightly bitter and with motivated first and second years, D remained in the lead the much of the year. It was a competition that brought us together as classmates. It was a nice distraction and much needed break from the rigors of a full time MBA.

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The end

Post by:
Juan J Estrada
International MBA 2011

The academic year flew by and it has finally come to an end. There is a confusing bitter sweet taste in completing this program. The sweetness of the victory of completing a demanding program in one year and of joining the ranks of people trained to take decisions, manage resources and make things move forward. At the same time the bitterness of moving on from a group of people you have come to appreciate and hold dearly close, an environment of learning and camaraderie and the advantage of being a student in a student in a city of students.

In this entry I will pick what made each of my three semesters in this program bitter and what made it sweet.

Summer:

Bitter: the intensity of the work in China was harsh. Classes six days a week, three to six hours a day, a parallel project running all summer long made it challenging.

Sweet: China is an amazing country, so different in terms of culture, ideology, business practices and ways of interacting- yet so similar in its hunger for growth, for the luxurious comforts and trends coming from the west- totally worth experiencing.

Fall

Bitter: Feeling lost in my job search. As an example, I attended NSHMBA, big job conference in Chicago and the first day was rough, feeling one more of the bunch of job seekers, struggling to differentiate myself and to overcome the limitations from being an international student.

Sweet: life sciences strategy and commercialization courses. It took my best courses in the program this semester. I did a real new technology commercialization feasibility assessment and also climbed the steepest part of the business learning curve both for general business.

Spring

Bitter: The academic load + the job search. The spring is stressful. Graduation is approaching and all you hope for is a job. But you still got your last six courses stinging you the whole time, dragging you away from that one objective.

Sweet: the weather gets warmer and life gets more fun. To make things even busier, it’s in the spring that your social life will be most demanding- and rewarding. You know each other already and you will want to hang out as much as possible before it ends.

Enjoy.


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May 11, 2011

The Ins and Outs of the Summer Internship

Post by:
Anya Thomas
Public and Nonprofit MBA, '12

What kind of internships do BU MBAs get? Where do they work?

You could learn banking in North Carolina, or how to lead 100 people in the telecom industry in Chicago. You could develop a growth plan for high schools in New England, or work for the Mayor’s office in Boston. From Seattle to New York City, from Tanzania to Pasadena, Boston University MBAs are spending the summer honing their skills and building relationships that will help them launch the next phase of their careers.

Finding an internship can be grueling at times. A balancing act where class projects, exams, and papers often seem to outweigh the importance of an informational interview or filling out an application. Even so, students must be diligent to build their network, figure out how to make the most of their summer, and then secure the internship that will move them forward professionally. It is exciting during the Spring semester as classmates get hired. However, it can be stressful for students who are searching for internships in industries that tend to hire late. In the end, whether you get your internship in December or May, the hours devoted to searching and preparing for an internship pay off.

I started my formal internship search in January and I was thrilled to secure my internship in Ghana by mid March. This internship embodies everything I was looking for. In a nutshell I get to apply the business skills I have been learning in class in an overseas setting. I get to work with a team of other graduate students, and if we are successful we will help people get access to clean water. What could be better than that? But there are always challenges: finding housing in a foreign city, realizing that the product you are marketing may be too expensive for the target population, adjusting to a new business culture . . .. Anyway, there is no way to tell whether success or failure is ahead of me, but regardless of the results, the depth of the learning and the relationships I will build will be priceless.

You can never start too early on your internship search. If you have a few spare hours, make a list of companies and functions that you are interested in, and start doing some informational interviews. You will thank yourself later.


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