An update from Ilanit

Post by:
Ilanit Shtein
Mathematical Finance 2012

I apologize for not writing in so long – the first semester was very intense. Very. It flew by so fast, while I was solving tons of homework problems, preparing for exams, researching companies, and hanging out with my friends. I have a feeling this semester is about to pass by even faster.

Luckily, the winter break was a month and a week long, so I had a chance to rest and gather up some strength for the new semester. After an amazing two weeks home visit in Israel, I was ready to explore South America for the first time in my life. I spent some quality time tanning and going up the Corcovado and Sugar Loaf Mountain (the view was unbelievable) in Rio de Janeiro. Then, in Buenos Aires I enjoyed touring the city by walking all over it. The people were amazingly nice and welcoming, and their Empanadas were even more amazingly delicious… Last but definitely not least, I finished in Santiago, where I visited my best friend from Israel. Obviously that made the whole trip even more exciting!

I arrived a few weeks ago to a frozen Boston. Although that might sound a bit sad, especially considering my recent sunny vacation, I have to admit that the snow is not that bad. First of all, the snow is much less harmful than rain. Second, Boston is really beautiful these days –all covered in white. And third, it’s actually fun to play outside in the snow J

This semester I’m looking forward to learning more practical courses, like Fixed Income Securities and Statistical Methods for Mathematical Finance. The course I am most excited about is the Algorithmic Trading course, taught by Prof. Ahmad Namini, who’s actually a trader and strategist at Fortress Investment Group. His classes are challenging and fascinating, backed by examples from the real world. In the last session of the course we will have a trading competition against each other, employing our own developed strategies. Last year’s competition even caught Wall Street Journal’s attention - http://www.bu.edu/phpbin/news-cms/news/?dept=644&id=56004

Other than that, I’m putting a lot of effort in seeking my dream internship for the upcoming summer. The competition is tough, but I guess “without the bitter, the sweet ain't as sweet”. I hope my hard work in networking, researching and interview preparation will pay off soon.

About the author:
Ilanit is a first year Mathematical Finance student. Prior to studying in BU, she was designing and implementing voicemail applications as a software engineer at Comverse, a leading provider of telecommunication and billing services, in the Tel-Aviv branch. Ilanit holds a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Tel-Aviv University. She likes indoor cycling, experimenting in the kitchen, and traveling around the world.

The beginning of the end…

Post By:
Michelle He
MS.MBA in Health Sector Management
Class of 2011

The beginning of the end…

So it begins here with another busy semester. Besides taking six classes, part-time internship, and juggling between student clubs, I’m also the Teaching Assistant for a core MBA class. It’s my first and probably the last time being a TA. As I recall TAs in all kinds of classes I took in my undergraduate and graduate school, good ones can really make a difference in students’ learning expereince and I certainly hope I can too.

For classes I’m taking this semester, I am fulfilling my MS degree requirements with three Information Systems electives. Two of the three are healthcare related which are very applicable to my post-MBA career field. Negotiations is a must take at BU, and I’m sure that the take-away from this class will be helpful to me both personally and professionally for a long time. For clubs, Health Services Management Association(HSMA) and BioBusinss Organization(BBO) continue to deliver concrete results: a group of students have just returned from the West Coast Trek, where they visited various healthcare organizations ranging from hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and spoke with executives; we are getting busy planning the Spring Alumni Panel event, a platform which we aim to connect current students with alumnus and to encourage conversations on wonderful ideas and inspirations; HSMA is also planning to integrate a charitable event with the club’s mission and the MS Walk will be the first one in action in this Spring.

Yes it all begins here as I started the last semester of my MBA program with a mix of emotions. Knowing where I will be after the graduation is a big relief and starting a new career in just a few months is definitely exciting, but at the same time, I have a hard time picturing the end of my student life. All passed by too fast: the tears, the joy, tough decisions I had to make on jobs, on personal relationships… But when looking back, I know that I’ve become wiser and stronger, and that I understand more of who I am and what I want. To me, this is the best beginning of the end.

About the author:

Michelle He is a second-year full time MBA student with a concentration in Health Sector Management. She is also pursuing an MS degree in Information Systems. Prior to MBA, she worked at CITGO petroleum corporation in Chicago, where she was responsible for managing a variety of projects to ensure successful implementation from inception to completion. Michelle misses the beautiful city of Chicago, but she starts to appreciate the change of seasons in the Northeast and the unique characteristics of Boston architecture. In her spare time, besides shopping Michelle likes watching movies with friends, power walking along Charles river, and exploring different cuisines in Boston.

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.