OwenBloggers: Isaac - MBA '08

Question of the Week: What I wish I knew for finals, MOD I

Looking back on MOD I there is a lot of stuff I wish I knew then I know now, especially for test time.

I was talking with an Alumni yesterday and we got on the topic of "passing down tips and pointers" to the incoming class.  He had a great point-  most of the underclassmen you try and "coach' about finals strategy really just turn around and ignore your words of wisdom and end up making the same mistakes you did.  Looking back, I did the same thing when 2nd years tried to give me tips on test taking.

Besides the fact most of you incoming students wont heed this advice, I think it's still cathartic for us 1st year students to share our thoughts on how we'd be better prepared for MOD I finals.

1. It gets easier.  MOD I and MOD II finals are a nightmare.  You'll have at least 3, maybe 5, finals.  For MOD III and MOD IV, I had 3 and 2, respectively. The sheer volume of studying is simply easier to digest later the in the year.
2. It will be very, very, very hard if you want a good grade, very hard if you want an average grade.  You should know now the scores in any given class usually follow a normal distribution; to have an average grade (let's call it a "B") you have to be very prepared; hours and hours of studying, be fully prepared, etc.  To get a good grade (let's call it an A) you have to work more than 3 times as hard.  You have to be over-prepared.  You have to leave the test wishing they would have asked you question X because you were more prepared to answer that question then the question they had on the test. So the good news is, with a reasonable amount of studying you can get a descent grade.  The bad news is, to get a great grade, the amount of work is unreasonable.
3. Grades matter, but then again, they don't.  I've had a slurry of interviews for internships and not ONCE did anyone ask about my GPA.  Then again, for some jobs, like traditional business consulting roles, they probably will ask.  So if you know what you want to do, and you know you want to work for firm X, they might care about your class rank; this means if it's halfway into the semester and you decide then you want to work for firm X, it might be too late.  I'd estimate for about 85% of the jobs and internships, as long as you're getting average grades, you'll be fine.
4. Get a good study group.  Get it early.  I had the best study group the world has ever seen (affectionately known by Sharran as the four wise men).  We each had our strengths; some were rational about setting goals, some of us were constantly pushing the group to work just one more accounting problem... Some knew the finance cold, some knew the best way to frame up the marketing exam (which we ate alive, by the way).  Had I not been in this group, my GPA would be half a point lower than it is right now.  This group will become a part of your life; you'll know their schedules and routines by heart by the end of the first two MOD's.
5. Keep all your notes.  Keep them in order.  Keep them organized.  B-school prof's are pretty good at annotating the entire MOD through their class notes.  It's a tremendous amount of material (my MOD 1 binder is over 4" thick) but if you keep it organized, it's your best friend come test time.
6. Use OneNote or a similar note-taking software.  The Four Horsemen approve OneNote for class outlines and Visio for diagrams/formula sheets.  We had notes for Accounting and Ops that would bring tears to your eyes. Now if we can only get sponsored by Microsoft...
7. B-school exams arent tricky, they're just very very thorough.  Undergrad exams tried to trick you to see if you were paying attention.  B-school exams force you to use what you know to connect the dots and answer the problem.  A typical question, let's say in accounting, will look similar to other cash flow problems you've done, but will require you to "think" about how to structure the answer.  It's not a trick, it just asks you to push back from the table and ask "ok, this is a new way to approach this, but if (X+Y-T/G) =Z, X, T,and Z are given, how would I back-solve to find Z given a logical assumption of G?  That's an oversimplification, but you get the idea.  It's asking you to take what you've been taught and be able to actually work with it to find answers, not just plug in values to formulas.

MIA, AOA's, and other TLA's

Coming into business school I thought I'd experienced a lot, thought I knew a lot, thought i was a pretty capable guy.

Nothing. Nothing prepares you for this.  Business school overtakes your life; it is your life.  You rush from class to studying, group meeting to presentation, and somehow, you don't go insane.  You start to think an Outlook calendar with appointments from 8AM to 10PM with only one double-booking is a "light day".  You ask your friend "is this Monday or Wednesday"... which causes your friend to promptly check his Treo to confirm that yes, it is Monday (ah, but what month?).  I actually got upset with my new version of Outlook because it defaulted my calendar to only the 5 "weekdays" in its main view; come on guys, 5 days isnt enough to do anything... 7 is barely enough. 

Some of you (all two of my loyal readers... hi mom and dad!) might have noticed I haven't written in, oh, two weeks.  TWO WEEKS.  That seems like yesterday. Honest.  It seems like it was only a matter of hours ago.  In two weeks I've given 7 presentations, finished several assignments, read hundreds of pages of textbooks, prepared 4 papers, been in countless meetings, attended the Capitalist ball (think Prom for grownups), had a little fun, slept a little, and managed to find time to, oh, go to CLASS.  I actually traveled to California for a presentation last Thursday, something i penciled into my calendar like most people block off time for a doctor's appointment. I was actually looking forward to the 10 hours of flight time because it gave me time to study.   Back in the "real world" I used to think cramming in a trip to the west coast and 4 important meetings during that same week week made me a "stud"; what a joke.  This last week,I had 3 classes and 2 group meetings the same day i left for California. Efficiency has a totally new meaning for me now. 

I don't tell you accepted applicants this to scare you off; quite the contrary.  Just sit back, relax, and strap in for the ride.  It's going to be hard... sometimes, it's going to take all you've got.  But, in the end, you'll find your abilities far exceed what you had previously thought possible.  Maybe now i've discovered  why most MBA's use TLA's so much; it saves the oh-so-precious time. 

(TLA=Three Letter Acronym)

Questions from an AOA (Accepted Owen Applicant)

I received an email today from an AOA asking a few questions about prepping for next year; I'll answer them for everyone...

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I have some questions about what to do between now and the start of school.

Should we be networking with potential employers, talking with current students, and/or researching industries? What should someone do to get a head start on the interviewing?
I would say the best prep work you can do is to start networking with your current classmates.  Getting to know people early on helps with your transition to your new "home" at Owen. 

I started looking at industries (briefly) before I started the whole admissions process.  I didn't have a "dream company" at the time, so it was just kind of hit and miss--- taking a look at some of the companies that recruited at Owen to see if any would be a fit. 

For example, if you're going into the financial world, you will want to get to know the space; do some research on the top firms in your area of interest (I-banking, research, Private Wealth, etc), just to know who plays in what fields.  You shouldn't become an expert, but just get a feel for the players.  When company X comes on campus for an information session, you'll know if they're someone you would want to work for in the future.  Financial internships are some of the first of the cycle (internship cycle that is, roughly November to April), so if you've got an interest, be prepared to hit the ground running.

Start reading the Journal (www.wsj.com) if you've got an industry of interest.  Health, IT, Marketing are all broken down nicely; just stay up to speed with what's going on.

Bottom line: don't stress industry research too much.  Get a general feel for your area of interest (if you have one). 

Also, what are some tips to keep your significant other involved in the Owen community?

Owen has a group, the Sig-O's (significant others), but we never did anything with them (my wife and I, that is).  The best way to keep your sig-o involved is to get involved yourself.  Find a few married couples to hang out with early in the year.  Also, make sure your sig-o keeps up to date on cocktail parties/mixers early on in Orientation.  There are a few that sig-os are welcome to--- take advantage of them.

Finally, in regards to financing business school, what should we be doing after we have applied for FAFSA? I don't believe FAFSA covers everything, so should we already be applying for additional loans or does that come later?

Money is a touchy subject.  In my own experience, FAFSA and the basic loan package covers everything I need (my wife works here in town, so we have two incomes).  After the loan comes in, you get left with about $9,000 for the semester (don't hold me to this number, this is what I had left over).  I pay a mortgage, expenses, etc, and that's enough money to get by.  I also work a little on the side, but most students don't and money is almost never mentioned as a "problem".  To be honest, you're at Owen so much, well, you don't have a lot of time to SPEND THE MONEY, which is probably a good thing.  I was really, really nervous about cashflows before school... my best answer is as long as you apply for the loans, you'll be ok.  Just don't worry about it.  Everything will be OK.  You wont be rolling in cash, but everything will be OK.