Decision Time

Post by:
Anya Thomas
Public and Nonprofit MBA 2012

I know what you’re going through.

Exactly one year ago I was waiting to hear back from the MBA programs I had applied to. I can hardly express the elation I felt when I opened an acceptance letter or received a phone call telling me I was admitted to a program. However, my joy was slightly dampened when I realized that with options came the need to make a significant decision. This decision would not only affect me for the next two years, but also for the rest of my life.

So I know what you’re going through.

The good news is that you’ve done the hard work and you’ve emerged victorious. Just don’t stop there. Before you make the two year commitment, visit BU again, come to Open House, make sure you know the culture that the BU School of Management has to offer.

BU’s Open House was the turning point in my decision making process. As I mingled with students, staff, and faculty I was pleased to see how much they enjoyed relating to each other. This created an energetic and inviting atmosphere. I enjoyed hearing about various students’ ambitious dreams and yet I could see that the students were willing to help one another instead of only competing with each other. Several students connected me to classmates and alumni who could answer my specific questions. I felt like I was already a part of the community before I even signed on the dotted line.

Fortunately this was just a sample of the good times to come. When I returned to Boston last August the welcoming, collaborative, and lively culture that I had experienced during Open House embraced me and confirmed that BU was the perfect choice for my MBA.

So as you’re making your decision, know what you’re looking for, make sure you experience the culture of the universities on your short list, and get your questions answered. It is totally worth the extra effort because when you make the right decision then your only regret will be how quickly two years can pass by because you’re having so much fun!

About the Author:

Anya Thomas is a first-year, full-time MBA student with a concentration in Public and Non-Profit Management. After graduating from the University of Southern California in 2003, she worked with a faith-based non-profit called Christian Challenge. She decided to come to business school to gain core skills and learn best practices that can be transferred to the microfinance and international development sectors.

Winter Break - Finding Clarity

Post by:

Juan J Estrada
International MBA 2011

Winter break commitments are hard to keep. During my break I intended to read a book on case interviews and search for and apply to jobs every day. But then I was at home with my family, with good friends, good food, good 80 degree weather, and a beach for New Year’s Eve. And I just didn’t feel like looking for a job or keeping track of school anymore. I wanted to actually break apart from it all during the break.

By the beginning of January I had some remorse about having bummed out for so long. It didn’t seem like the way to compete, and not competing in this business track of life I chose can be a hazard. But on the other hand, I got to recover a lot of energy and enthusiasm during that time, no longer feeling worn out and instead having a strong desire to take over the new semester.

This made the way I took on my break more than worth it. Mentally disconnecting yourself from a subject allows you to recover from your tiredness from it and take on the challenge in a better way. One usually thinks one can do lots of things at the same time. Vacation and work, take a break and look for a job, do homework and chat online. But then it seems like you never really get to unplug yourself from anything. Everything ends up running constantly. Personally, I try multitasking all the time. It’s harder for me to not do it, even being aware that everything would be easier if I actually didn’t.

So to reinforce the feeling that what happened during the break was actually a positive thing, I came across a good article by a guy from West Point. If you have time you should actually read the entire thing. The author kind of has a military tone, which you may like, or not, but he definitely makes several good points. After referring to a research study by Stanford University on multitasking, the author elaborates:

“Multitasking, in short, is not only not thinking, it impairs your ability to think. Thinking means concentrating on one thing long enough to develop an idea about it. Not learning other people’s ideas, or memorizing a body of information, however much those may sometimes be useful. Developing your own ideas. In short, thinking for yourself. You simply cannot do that in bursts of 20 seconds at a time, constantly interrupted by Facebook messages or Twitter tweets, or fiddling with your iPod, or watching something on YouTube[1].”

Coming back, I all of a sudden happen to know exactly what position I want when I graduate. And what my plan B is. This clarity was not there last semester, and I highly doubt I would have gotten it without having pulled away from school. Thus the importance of time and temporary isolation from work, school, or whatever it may be. So now, back to school, work, and the white, cozy, beautiful Boston weather.

[1] http://www.theamericanscholar.org/solitude-and-leadership/

About the author:

Juan is a first year International MBA student. Before coming to BU he worked coordinating a project on the development of a medical device in Madrid, Spain. Through this European Commission sponsored project, Juan had the opportunity to immerse in a variety of European cultures both in professional/organizational and in social terms. Prior to his experience, Juan had obtained a Biomedical Engineering bachelors at Georgia Tech, in Atlanta. Having grown up in Colombia, Juan enjoys experimenting in the kitchen with tropical ingredients, dancing -specially Latin music- and keeping up with the news and what is going on in the world.

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[1] http://www.theamericanscholar.org/solitude-and-leadership/

My Winter Break: A Trip to Sri Lanka

(A pic of Ajay from his trip - making friends with an elephant!)

Post by:
Ajay Mehta
MBA 2011

As I’m sure you’ve heard from every school you’re applying to, or every MBA graduate you may have spoken to, much of getting an MBA is about networking and meeting your classmates and other professionals. Part of that experience encompasses learning from the extremely diverse group of students that attend SMG from abroad, as well as the opportunities you have to travel with the school and with your peers. I saw this first hand this past winter break as second years seemed to disperse all over the world. From classmates hiking the Inca Trail, skiing in Argentina, or attending the Indian Field Seminar, you could see the how students were utilizing one of the last times in their professional careers that they will have a winter break.

For my winter break, I visited Sri Lanka with one of my classmates staying with his parents and touring around the country, taking in the sites and culture. It was a beautiful country but as we both took in the sites we realized that business school had a tremendous impact on how we viewed the world and ways of life. We noticed industries which we were were interested in, or companies which had headquarters in Colombo where he was interested working. We also found ourselves analyzing the daily way of life and how people prioritized their budgets. In many ways we tried to understand what made their economy move forward and how the kegs of beer we purchased were helping support Sri Lankans.

Business school allowed me to really look at different situations from a angles I might have ignored before. Going through classes and working on teams with people from all over the world helped me strategize and understand why certain aspects of business were more or less important to them. Visiting a country like Sri Lanka reinforced this fact and allowed me to experience a different culture and world with one of my classmates and good friends.

Spring Semester Equals…Snow?

Post by:
Lauren Abrahams
MS-MBA 2011
Public & Nonprofit Management
MBA Council, PNP Club, Net Impact

Spring Semester Equals…Snow?

As I write this, snowflakes the size of golf balls are falling on Boston. 3,012 miles away (but who’s counting?) at home in Los Angeles, my sister is enjoying 81-degree weather. While I’m a bit jealous of her January beach weather, I have to admit that the snow is pretty cool. In fact, I’ve added “lived in a real, live, snow globe” to my list of Boston accomplishments. I’m also proud to announce that I successfully accomplished my first car-digging-out over the weekend. (Sort of…with help…and it wasn’t that snowed in. But us Southern California kids have to start somewhere.)

In other news, school has started! And as of Thursday, I’ll have two classes under my belt thanks to BU’s week-long intensive classes. Last week was five days of Clean Energy Services during which I worked on a project with a solar services start-up looking to take their business overseas. Each team member researched solar energy and incentives in different countries to determine the feasibility of investing there. I chose to look at Kenya and learned a lot—not just about formal solar energy policies, but also about all of the cool guerilla home solar systems that people build off-grid.

This week brings five days of Negotiations, one of the most popular classes here at the School of Management. After three days, I can tell you that while I’ve overcome some of my negotiation fears, I’ll still happily pay someone to do it for me. Definitely not one of my core competencies.

The rest of the semester will bring Financial Statement Analysis (another must-take at BU), Public Policy Analysis, and Modeling in Excel. Of course this is in addition to putting the job search into full-swing, staying involved in various groups at school, and putting in quality time with friends at the local pub before we all fan out across the country—maybe across the world—after graduation in May. If the past three semesters are any indication, it will be over before we know it!

Moving From One City to Another

Post by Elissa Seto
MBA 2012
Public and Non-Profit Management
Cohort Cup, PNP Club

About a year ago this time, I remember receiving my acceptance letter from BU. I was feeling elated, relieved and about fifty other emotions. After being on cloud 9 for a few days, reality set in and decisions had to be made. Though signing away $1000 to reserve my spot in the class of 2012 was tough, one of my older sisters wisely reminded me that $1000 was less than 1% of what I was going to be paying over the next two years, so I had better get over sticker shock now.

However, even though I submitted my deposit, I still was not entirely sold on moving to Boston. New York had become my home after graduating from college and doing Teach For America. I loved my job at an educational video game company. I had a great network of friends and professionals in the city. Additionally, moving to Boston not only required relocating me, but also my partner as well.

What solidified my decision to attend BU was coming up for the Admitted Student Open House. My partner and I came up to Boston together for the weekend where I was able to meet current and admitted students and he was able to explore the city. After a day of talking to students and professors, I realized that going to business school at BU was going to be the best decision for me. Though my current job offered a lot of growth, an MBA from BU would be a much stronger investment in my future.

I was going to miss many things about New York, such as 24-hour subways, Central Park and amazing restaurants. However, I have learned that Boston definitely has plenty to offer as well. The T provides more than enough adequate public transit options. If there is something that is not accessible by the T, I have a Zipcar membership for that. The Boston area has tons of great running and bike paths that offer even more variety than Central Park. Even though my discretionary budget has been dramatically reduced since becoming a full-time student, I have still been able to discover many great culinary gems throughout the city.

Overall, I am happy with living in Boston. However, as a first-year MBA student, I definitely don’t get to see as much of it as I would like!

About the Author:

Elissa Seto is a first-year, full-time MBA student with a concentration in Public and Non-Profit Management. After graduating from Bryn Mawr College in 2005, she did Teach For America in New York. Most recently, she was the Manager of School Engagement for Tabula Digita, the producer of interactive educational video games.

Networking, Networking, Networking

Post by:
Ajay Mehta
MBA 2011

How to network is one of the many tools that you learn and perfect as a MBA. It starts when you get to campus and start practicing your elevator pitch within the first week. The career center helps you reach out to alumni/companies that you are interested in and learn about prospective careers where you have to use your pitch to strike up conversation and get your foot in the door.

Networking can be a complicated procedure in some cases, especially as a second year. You’re getting all these names of people that could possibly put you in your dream job, but you have to balance ‘using’ someone, to not being desperate and straight up asking for a job. It’s a fine line to walk but can be extremely rewarding if you play your cards right. Not only can you meet some good people with interesting backgrounds, but being a student allows you to really ask someone what they think about their career. You can gather honest answers about companies, job titles, and corporate culture which are invaluable when it comes molding your own career.

This is a skill the school helps you build with various seminars and practice with your peers. In some cases, tactics that my classmates were using proved to be extremely helpful for me, or the advice I received from practicing with professors and counselors. As a second year I’m realizing that this is a crucial aspect to finding the job I truly want which is the primary goal of pursuing a MBA. Most jobs are found by using your personal network which at BU, is constantly growing. At times, networking feels like more effort that its worth, but in the end it’s a rewarding experience and something you will continue to do throughout your personal and professional careers.

NSHMBA Event

Post by:
Juan J Estrada
International MBA 2011

The semester has been advancing at a quick pace. All of a sudden we are almost a month away from the end. The long term tiredness starts to kick in, that feeling of fatigue that doesn’t go away completely after a weekend of rest.

Times continue to be exciting, however. I attended the NSHMBA conference in Chicago two weeks ago and it was a great experience. At the beginning I felt like just another bee in a swarm desperate for a job. As the conference evolved though, I came to realize how crucial it was to focus my effort. At the beginning I made the mistake of inquiring at a consulting firm’s booth without really having done thorough research on the company. I have close friends who have been at this firm for a couple of years. I thought I would give it a shot with what I knew from them about the firm, but it was certainly not enough to get me past the inquiry. There were dozens of people in the lines for this and other consulting firms and I had not even trained myself for case interviews. I realized I wasn’t ready for the consulting firms, but I could in any case focus on life sciences and healthcare companies. I had done research on a couple of them and my background in medical devices could really call their attention.

Most of healthcare and life sciences companies had booths only for marketing and finance, interesting fields but not where I could play my best cards. I found a healthcare company that had a line for project management and I decided to go for it. I found out by talking to them that they sponsor international students, something fairly uncommon among the companies attending the conference.

In the project management line I talked to a manager called Erin. She works in projects related to insurances and reimbursements, and since I am interested in technology, she told to come back at a later time so I could meet someone who worked in the field of my interest. I went back a couple hours later and met Matt, a manager of Innovations and Information Technology. He introduced me to one of the VPs of the company, responsible for human resources, who liked my resume and invited me to party with the company that night and to an interview the next morning. That night at the party I met as many employees and managers as I could. My interview the next morning went well, I got the contacts of the people I met in LinkedIn agreed to apply to any position I thought fitted me. I just turned in my application a few days ago and am currently waiting to hear back.

The rest of the conference went well; my attitude changed after that first reward and felt much more confident talking to recruiters. The healthcare company reminded me the differential value I have to offer, what changed the feeling of being one more of the bunch. I realized how much of a difference it makes to target efforts at what best fits you as a candidate and how crucial it is to have a confident attitude. I talked again to the consulting firm and got a clear picture of the recruitment process, sold my skills, and met several recruiters. I ended up leaving the conference with a good taste in my mouth.

About the author:

Juan is a first year International MBA student. Before coming to BU he worked coordinating a project on the development of a medical device in Madrid, Spain. Through this European Commission sponsored project, Juan had the opportunity to inmerse in a variety of European cultures both in professional/organizational and in social terms. Prior to his experience, Juan had obtained a Biomedical Engineering bachelors at Georgia Tech, in Atlanta. Having grown up in Colombia, Juan enjoys experimenting in the kitchen with tropical ingredients, dancing -specially latin music- and keeping up with the news and what is going on in the world.

Reflections: Year 2, going by quickly

Post by:
Lauren Abrahams
MS-MBA 2011
Public & Nonprofit Management
MBA Council, PNP Club, Net Impact

Tomorrow at 7am I will click on the “register” button and sign-up for Spring 2011 classes. It’s hard to believe that these are the last classes I will take at BU. It’s my last chance to take a class that will round out my resume, or to finally sign-up for that class that everyone says you can’t leave BU without taking. I didn’t think it would be this difficult, but how do I choose between a class that seems practical for my career aspirations and one that sounds incredibly intriguing, but is not quite career-related? And then, of course, is the secret (or not so secret) dream of every second-year: to only have class three (or two!) days a week so that we have time to “work” and “search for jobs.”

All of this class planning has made me think about each day, each MBA event, each dinner with friends a bit differently than I had been. All of the sudden I find myself walking down the street thinking “this is the last Nov. 1 that I will spend in Boston” or “this is the last MBA Halloween Party that I will attend.” It feels sort of silly since, until this past week, I’d only lived through one Nov. 1 in Boston and attended one MBA Halloween Party—it’s not like I have a huge history to reflect on. But I think it captures the essence of what the BU MBA program is like.

We all uproot and move to Boston (and even if you already live here, your daily life changes so much I imagine that it’s kind of like uprooting…) and are thrown into a whirlwind of classes, networking, info sessions, and new friends. By the time the second-year rolls around, things become “normal”—you ‘re back in the swing of classroom learning, networking becomes a bit less awkward, you realize that you don’t have to attend every info session, and friends become family. And just as that happens, you start looking ahead to life post-BU degree and you start to feel things tugging at your roots again.

I’ve decided, though, that even with a move back to California, a new place to live and a new job (fingers crossed!) looming ahead of me, I won’t lose sight of what’s right in front of me now: three more East Coast seasons and a lot of time to spend with friends. And these last classes that I’ve spent so much time agonizing over, of course.