OwenBloggers: Isaac - MBA '08

um... what was that?

Here goes nothin...

First final coming up in 2 hrs.  Once again, I'm spinning the roulette wheel of grades; if I can go in with a clear mind, I think I can pull an A.  If I get nervous or hung up on one of the questions, I could see a C coming my way.

 

People cram-studying bothers me.  It always seems like they're trying to convince themselves they know what they're talking about.  Look, if it's 2 hrs. before the exam and you've still got the energy to study, you haven't been working hard enough.  I've been putting in marathon days and I'll barely put this one in the dock on fumes.   If I started to review right now I'd only confuse myself.   

The plan now is to pop two Tylenol, slam the last cold sips of my $tarbucks down, and gaze into the deep mindless beauty of the internet for about an hour. 

A question for the readers

 

OwenBloggers want to find out what YOU, our valued reader, would like to get out of this site.  We've added RSS feeds, Google Searching, Polls, and other features, but we want to know if we've left anything out you would find valuable.

We've kicked around the idea of Podcasts, Skype conference calls and/or IM Chat sessions. We just need to know which ones to implement.

If you are interested any of the above, or if you have new ideas for OwenBloggers, just email us at OwenBloggers@gmail.com, or leave a comment in this blog entry.  If even a handful of people are interested, we WILL add these to the site...

We are listening...

With admissions season in full swing, our traffic around the site has started to pick up considerably.   We know hundreds of people read this site each day, but we get very little direct communication from our valued readers. 

We have an email address set up just for readers of this site.  The box is monitored constantly by OwenBloggers staff, and we typically respond within just a few hours.  We're open to anything; questions about life, school, admissions, the economy, whatever... Just drop us a line.

 

Our email address is  Owenbloggers@gmail.com

 

Also, at the bottom of each blog entry is a "comment" section.  We welcome readers to comment on our entries or ask us questions.

The OwenBloggers team is dedicated to de-mystifying the B-school experience, so just email us!  We always respond to your questions or comments.

It's a cold day in...

 Nashville.  25 degrees, actually.  Seeing how it was 72 last week, I would consider that a dramatic shift. 

Finals are bearing down.  You can tell the student body is about to crack; people are irritable and short-tempered and I doubt it has much to do with the biting cold. More likely the make-or-break exams coming at the end of the week.  There also is a growing chasm of discontent between the two student groups; those that have internships and those that don't.   Seems like everywhere I look my friends are pulling in great internships; those of us that haven't locked in our summer plans are getting more and more nervous.

Finals: wow, scary.

Finance is going to eat me alive.

Operations, I just don't know what to study. 

Marketing will be fun (but stressful!)

Accounting I'm not to worried about.  Professor Willis is the kind of professor you come to b-school for. This guy has dedication to his students like I've never seen.  I snapped the shot below from the review session he held last night, Sunday night, 6 PM-- he let us pick the time that fit our schedules best.  He will do anything to make sure his students understand the material.  This guy is a rockstar in my book.  If you don't understand standard costing or transfer pricing, he will work with you one-on-one until you do.  If you're coming to Owen, look forward to taking 311B.

 

Weekly Roundup: What would I change about Owen?

There is both a long and a short answer to this question.   I think there are very few major things I would change about Owen, but there are some that come to mind.  I'll list them below in no particular order...

1.  Admissions Staff.  I think I speak for everyone when I say the experience we receive from the admissions staff is one of the reasons we come to Owen.  These individuals were some of the most likeable, impressive people I met while applying to business school.  However, once you get here, they kinda drop off the face of the earth.  Where did you guys go?

2.  Books.  Ok, I know this is sort of a pet peeve of mine, but it seems like the professors consistently assign at least 3-4 very expensive books per Mod that will do nothing but collect dust.  I'm a very cash-strapped student; blowing $250 per Mod on books I will never use is a complete waste.  Classpacks are great, but when they cost as much or more than actual hard-bound books, something just doesn't add up. 

3.  The climate inside Owen.  I say climate because that's exactly what it is; a climate.  There are seasons; summer, winter, spring and fall--- these seasons change roughly 3-4 times per week.  Yesterday, we were so hot we had to open the door to our study room just to keep from sweating.  Today, my hands are numb it's so cold. I would be willing to bet it's a 30 degree temperature change in 24 hours.  Amazing.  Annoying, but amazing. 

4.  Study Room Reservations.  This is a huge problem.  I cant even begin to tell you how much this bothers me.  We have about 25 study room scattered around Owen; you sign up in the library for one of these rooms in 3-hour blocks. If you show up at 10Am to reserve a room for that day; forget it, they'll all be booked.  But, a discerning Owenite will know how it really works- just show up when you want a room, and you'll find that about 1/4 of them are empty.  Go back to the book, and you'll find that the person that should have one of the rooms is actually signed up for 3 rooms at the same time.  I've mastered the artform of figuring out who these offenders are and finding their name in the book; I go to the room they should have and they're never there.  Supposedly we're automating this process, but I've been hearing that since orientation...