Racing to the Top

With Module 2 Finals coming to an end, first year (full-time) MBA's are getting ready to take on the Strategy Simulation Challenge aka "StratSim". "StratSim" is a simulation of the automobile industry, where each Cohort is divided into two parallel industries, made up of five firms. Over a series of ten decision periods ("years"), each team will have to integrate the skills and knowledge from their Mod2 Finance, Operations, and Marketing classes in order to build a successful company and beat out the competition. In real terms, you get graded to play video games with three of your friends for a week :) 

Cohort C Celebrating the end of the first semester! (2014)

A Prescription for Better Healthcare

A few weeks ago, a team of MBA students kicked off the third annual Health and Life Sciences Conference at Questrom School of Business to discuss “A Prescription for Better Healthcare”.  This year focused on the provision of high-value services to patients across the continuum of healthcare.   The event sold out with just under 300 attendees and featured 40 speakers throughout the day.

It was a great opportunity for students to gain insight from industry leaders like the President of Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Peter Slavin, and President and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Andrew Dreyfus.  The event was also full of networking opportunities with company sponsors, breakout panels to discuss topics like healthcare quality, and a lightning round featuring early-stage companies to highlight their healthcare innovations.  

The event is completely student driven and a great way for Questrom students to engage in the healthcare community.  We’re excited what is in store for the HLSC in years to come.

#MBAConnect

Over 70 prospective students gathered this past Friday and Saturday for MBA Connect weekend! The Graduate Admissions team welcomed individuals interested in both the full-time and part-time programs, to share more about what makes Questrom such a great community. In order to provide the full picture of life as a Questrom MBA student, a mix of current students, faculty, and alumni joined the various events across the two days, which included:

• Strategy and Innovation mock class and case discussion
• Student life panel with 2nd year MBA students
• Conversation with Dean Ken Freeman
• Lunch with current students, advisors, and faculty
• Career workshop and alumni panel
• Receptions for current and prospective students to mingle and unwind

Highlights from the weekend included Dean Freeman reminding all that the two most important words in business are “thank you;” an unfiltered student panel discussion around academic work, school/life balance, jobs and internships, and club activities; and many different opportunities for visitors to connect with individual students and future classmates. Everyone seemed to have a fun time, and we hope to see you next year!

Networking doesn't have to just about finding a job

Each semester there are a number of events that are meant to bring students together and facilitate networking so you can get to know your classmates. The full-time program has the Cohort Cup, a friendly competition that pits students against each other in a series of fun events.

The Professional Evening MBA (PEMBA) program has their PEMBA Wine and Cheese Series events. These events bring students together to hear from business leaders from diverse sectors.

The Graduate Programs Office plans events that are meant to bring students from all programs together to foster a sense of community across the entire school. Recently they planned a flag football tournament that mixed people from all programs on each of the teams.

Health Sector Management Mixer

This week students from the BU Health Sector Management (HSM) club attended a mixer at the Field House in Central Square.  Also in attendance were students from similar clubs at MIT Sloan School of Management and Harvard Business School.  Everyone had a great time getting to know other business students interested in the healthcare industry and expanding their professional networks with neighbor schools.  

With such a large healthcare community in Boston, it was great to get together with like minded individuals and learn about what they are doing.  There was a lot of excitement around the BU, HBS and Sloan communities about this event.  After last night there is a strong interest in continuing this relationship moving forwards.  We are excited to continue to build a bond between the schools moving forwards for years to come!

Pulling it all together

Case competitions are a great way to take the knowledge that you are gaining in the class room and put it all to the test. They are meant to challenge students to think like executives. Recently at team of 5 Questrom students travelled to Nashville, TN to compete in the National Human Capital Case Competition hosted at Vanderbilt University. At the competition the students used their many skills, including knowledge of business strategy, organizational behavior and finance to solve a complex human capital project. It was also a great excuse to network with employers and students from schools across the country.

Taking midterms during the day, solving mysteries at night

What better way to celebrate the end of the first round of midterms than channeling your inner child and going ghost hunting! This past weekend six Mathematical Finance, MS students decided to throwback to their childhood and celebrate Halloween dressed up as the Scooby Doo squad. And as we all know, no squad is complete without a villain. Thanks Izzy for being the spookiest villain of the night!

The MSMF Perspective

It’s November and just like that we are 2 months into the MSMF program. The program kicked off with an orientation aimed at readying the students for the semester ahead, culminating in an enjoyable duck boat tour of Boston and drinks at the popular Bleacher Bar which gave the new international students a first-hand look at Fenway Park.

Pictured: Boston Duck Tours

Pictured: Bleacher Bar on Fenway Park 

By Week 2, the start of classes and thus the semester was truly underway. The students take 4 classes per semester and each class follows a similar structure of fortnightly homework assignments, a midterm, and a final exam. Assignments have spanned from the deeply theoretical in Stochastic Methods to the vastly practical in C++ and Statistics.

Pictured: MSMF Class in Questrom Atrium

But of course school is not all about academics! Work-life balance is certainly important and the administrative MSMF staff at BU have been second to none in this area. Events ranging from a ping pong tournament, multiple socials at popular social establishments, a flag football tournament, an incredible evening boat cruise on the Spirit of Boston, and Thirsty Thursday’s at Cornwalls are just to name a few with many more to come! The mingling between the various graduate programs at Questrom provides a fantastic platform to make new friends and experience cultures and perspectives from all over the globe. One will never be bored or run out of new and exciting things to experience in a school and city as diverse and energetic as Questrom and Boston.

We now move into the second half of the fall semester, bringing along with it new coursework, those things we all love called finals, and the serenity of snow. Stay tuned and Happy Halloween!

Foliage and Superheroes and Baseball, oh my!

With the first-year Full Timers finishing up their first Module, what better of a time to Escape From the City, become a BUperhero, or hang out with some friends to hit off the first game of the World Series. #BUmbaSSC #QuestromLife 

Escape from the City Fall Hike 

Superhero 5k 

World Series Sports Viewing Party  

Empowering Leaders of Tomorrow

This past Saturday the Women's MBA Association held their 6th Annual Networking Brunch at the Taj Hotel in Boston. 

Student attendees included men and women from the full time and part time MBA program, as well as the MSMS program. Also in attendance were several alumni along with company representatives from PwC, Liberty Mutual, AT&T, Biogen, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Hasbro, Cognizant, Athena Health, and Loomis, Sayles & Company. 

Keynote speaker, Carla DeSantis (PwC) gave insights on how to stand out in a large corporation, how to add value and let you value be seen, how to overcome challenges, along with many other ways to navigate as a future leader.  

Followed by Carla, panelists from PwC, Liberty Mutual, AT&T, and Biogen spoke about work-life balance, being present, prioritization, and more.

Photo Credit: Nitasha Khetarpal, Neha Patel, & Tess Varney.

Questrom Veterans attend MBA Veterans Conference

Veterans make up a large portion of each MBA class, and there are 24 Veterans currently enrolled in an MBA program at BU.  This past weekend, a group of them attended the MBA Veteran's Conference in Nashville, TN.  The conference is only opened up to 300 MBA Veterans each year, and we were privileged enough to send eight Questrom students!  Highlights include:

• Private networking events with companies like Google, Intel, Bank of America, Microsoft and more.
• Veteran transition workshops and behavioral interviewing workshops to aide Veterans in their job search.
• Industry and career expos by Veterans who have transitioned to corporate life.
• On-site job interviews with the companies represented.

More than one Veteran received a job offer from this event - truly a success!

To find out more information about Veterans at Questrom, visit the Veterans Club Website or email connect@bu.edu.

Relate. Inspire. Succeed. Empower. Be Bold.

This weekend, several members of Women's MBA Association flew down to Houston, TX for the NAWMBA Conference. 

The weekend consisted of...
- Several Keynote Speakers such as, Ingrid Vanderveldt, the Founder, Chairman & CEO of Vanderveldt Global Investments, EBW2020 LLC (Empowering a Billion Women by 2020)
- Professional Development Sessions around building your personal brand, empowering other women leaders, managing your energy, and many more
- A Career Fair with a variety of companies to network with (and also plenty of free swag)

.. And of course, a lot of Tex-Mex, shopping in the Galleria, and soaking up the 90 degree sun by the pool.

LAMBAA goes to Chicago #NSHMBA2015

LAMBAA brought 23 MBAs to the 2015 NSHMBA Conference & Career Expo this past weekend. Students were able to network with key recruiters and function leaders from a large variety of industries throughout the day. At night, Diageo hosted the Noche de los Muertos party were many students were able to truly connect and enjoy their assorted beverage brands. 

The Feld Career Center along with the Questrom Student Council was able to provide discount codes and reimbursements to make this amazing event even more affordable. 

Some highlights of companies represented at the Career Expo: Nationwide Insurance, American Airlines, Hershey Company, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Ford Motor Company, and more! 

Until next year NSHMBA... 

#LAMBAA #NSHMBA2015 #Chicago #QuestromLife 

"Keep Climbing: Sustainability at Delta"

Last Wednesday, Net Impact hosted the Delta Airlines General Manager of Environmental Sustainability, Steve Tochilin to speak to MBA's about the company's sustainability initiatives. Both Boston University and Boston College MBA's were in attendance, as well as some undergraduates. Tochilin flew from Atlanta and back in the same day, just to come speak to us.

To see more about the presentation, check out the article on Boston University's Student Newspaper .

PHOTO BY JAKE FRIEDLAND/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

The Marketing Internship

Marketing Club held an internship panel yesterday for 1st years to come learn about a range of opportunities across a variety of industries. Attendees were able to get honest insights into the marketing function, and learn more about the timeline for job searching. 

Panelists included [from Left]: Frank Wood, Marketing Intern - Endocrinology at Genzyme; Nitasha Khetarpal, Strategy & Product Innovation MBA Intern at Adobe; Molly Ryan, Marketing Intern, at Autodesk; Amanda Gonzalez [not pictured] Brand Management and Marketing MBA Intern at Sephora; Micah Gertson, Strategy & Market Research at VCE; Garrett Reeb, Mobile Apps Product Manager at StubHub.

&THEN

'Wouldn't it be cool if there was such a company, that whenever it sells a pair of shoes, it gives a pair to children who are in need' - Blake Mycoskie, Chief Shoe Giver of Toms 

This Monday & Tuesday, Questrom Marketing Students were able to attend the DMA &THEN Conference. "&THEN brings analysts, artists, brand managers, strategists, copywriters, and CEOs together to share ideas and discuss proven ways to get results." [http://dma15.org/]

Blake Mycoskie started off Monday morning telling his story and vision to combine giving with business in order to make a real difference in people's lives around the world. Blake was just one of the many inspirational speakers that hit the main stage this week, along with big names like award-winning musician and entrepreneur, John Legend. #andthen15 #QuestromLife

Photo Credit: Alyssa Moskowitz