Kutral Ramesh, MBA ’11

Sloaned.

Wow! Where did my month go? Actually, reading through my previous entry, it feels like it’s been ages since core started! Reality check – it’s just been slightly over a month. Guess the best way to fill you guys in will be snippets from various random facts about Sloan.

Sloan time: Well, this is one of the most interesting and useful concepts I have found in Sloan. Can you relate to that feeling when you wake up and realize you have 5 more minutes to snooze? Sloan time pretty much instills that feeling in me! In Sloan, all classes start 5 minutes late and end 5 minutes early than the scheduled time. For instance, the stated time for a typical morning class reads 8:30-10:00 but classes are actually in session only from 8:35-9:55. The idea is to give students enough time to commute/settle between classes (which are mostly next door)! Five minutes may not seem like a big deal, but trust me, when you are rushing through that last calculation in that homework or trying to schedule that meeting with your team or sending that all important email before class, every second matters  

The Core: Ok, people weren’t kidding about ‘surviving’ the core. I for one always thought the core was over rated and hyped. Let’s run a simple calculation – we have 4 core subjects twice a week + 2 courses (Managerial communication/Organizational processes) once a week. So with each class lasting 1hr20mins – that’s a total of ~ 14hrs of classes which translates to just ~ 9% of your big fat week! I know…too many numbers for a blog. Have my ‘Data Models and Decisions’ (read statistics) midterm tomorrow, so figured I’d ‘leverage’ the ‘synergy’! Anyway, so yes, what really happens in the remaining 91% of your time which pretty much leaves you with just ~5hrs sleep a night? Here’s a sneak peek into my calendar –

This is just part of the calendar, couldn’t get a full screen capture. Anyway, so you get the idea. Things fly at you from all directions and the actual problem starts when you want all of those ‘things’. As you can see, many of those slots (especially the yellow ones) overlap – and of course, you can be only in one place at any given time! At most times, Ouch. 

Fridays: We all breathe a sigh of relief on Fridays. No classes. We have sessions scheduled by the CDO (Career Development Office) which basically trains you in all career related etiquette ranging from resumes, cover letters, networking essentials to writing effective thank you emails! 

Collaboration/Culture: This place is weird. Really. Sometimes I feel I am in this la-la land where people are just waiting to help you!! This is where the small class size of MIT actually shines. It feels really tight knit when you walk into Sloan and recognize almost everyone you see. There is this sense of ‘we are in this together’ echoing from all corners and the tension and stress of school only further tightens the bond. The interaction between the 2^nd years and us is just plain fabulous. Seriously, I was blown away by their genuine interest in our career aspirations and willingness to help. There was this one instance when this 2^nd year bumped into me and one of my friends in the lobby. He introduced himself and after initial exchange of pleasantries, advised us on career tracks, dos and don’ts of job hunt, people to contact, things to concentrate/take an easy pill on and the mistakes people generally make – all unsolicited!

I have lots more to share, but I better get back to DMD. Unfortunately Sloan does not allow collaboration in midterms!!

I’ll leave you with a few random clicks of my core team. We were working on this crazy team case dealing with decision trees! Pay attention to the board. Was a fun ride though!

All smiles -

Ready .. Set .. Core!!

The MIT Sloan class of 2011 is finally ready to roll. Our classes start in two days.

I am just back from a Boston Harbor Cruise dance party organized by the Graduate Student Council (GSC) of MIT. The idea is simple - get to know as many folks outside Sloan as possible before classes start, as once they do ..well .. !  

Anyway, so talking about the first semester, it lasts precisely till the 18th of December, and is fondly called the ‘Core’ - apparently the toughest phase of the Sloan MBA program! Core is basically a mandatory set of 5 courses plus an elective (Finance or Marketing) that all incoming students must grind through. Well, at first sight, it doesn’t definitely seem a big deal. As past UG students, we would have for sure been through such scenarios. However, the core is different in that the entire academic society in Sloan worked its better part of summer ‘designing’ our core to the granularity of individual weeks spanning the entire semester! Each week comes loaded with deliverables just about right to push the envelope and steal some precious hours of sleep! This is just the academic spectrum. Of course we have other strong contenders in the form of recruiting events (firms start coming in early Oct), company presentations, club activities and social events! 

One heartwarming advice I always get to hear from both 2nd years and Alumni alike - Striving for an ‘A’ is not worth it for the amount of time spent, be happy with a ‘B’ and do what is really important in a B school - socialize, network and chase your career aspiration! And I completely agree. ‘We’ shall survive the core! 

On the other hand, I guess I wouldn’t do justice to this blog if I don’t write at least a bit about the past two weeks that seem to have disappeared in a flash! We went through what we call the ‘Pre-term’ followed by the Orientation week. Of course social events were spluttered throughout, in fact almost every night :)

Pre-term: A week long program, boot camp of sorts in basic courses targeted at people with no prior business relevant coursework (a.k.a Engineers). We had four courses - Accounting, Statistics, Economics and Finance and people could pick any number of the 4. Being the business dud I am, and thanks to the FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) syndrome, I coughed up $450 for the entire set. Yup that hurt, especially  since pre term always came for free till last year! Recession and financial crunch baby!

On the brighter side, I did get to really learn the mechanics/basics in accounting and eco. All these courses were handled by PhD students from MIT or Harvard. The eco guy, Alberto Cavallo, was drop dead phenomenal! This guy had an ultimate sense of humor and drove concepts right in - all with an example of snicker bars! Heard through grapevine that he is the son of Argentina’s finance minister! Another cool thing about pre term is that you get to meet considerable amount of fellow Sloanies who you otherwise might not once you are split into our respective sections.

Orientation: This was one helluva fun week! The week we Sloanies had all been eagerly waiting for. This is when we were spilt into our respective oceans and assigned our core teams. Ok, for the uninitiated, the sections/cohorts in Sloan go by the name Oceans. There are 6 oceans - Atlantic, Baltic, Caribbean, Indian, Mediterranean and the Pacific. Ya, I know.. but in Sloan land, the Baltics, Cabs and Meds are oceans! The entire 4-day week was packed with activities such as Ocean mixers, cohort and core team bonding sessions, a sample case study, presentations, a 1 day outdoor activity to gauge teamwork/leadership skills and culminated with what is called the Beer game - easily one of the best board games I’ve ever played! The game was conceptualized and invented by Professor John Sterman, a rockstar Sloan faculty. It is basically a supply chain game played in a group of  8 which beautifully illustrates how trivial errors in judgement along the supply chain can tear apart the entire bottom line! The highlight was how Professor Sterman analyzed the performance of our teams and linked the results to far reaching concepts such as basic human psychology! It was definitely Sloan’s practical and realistic approach at its best. 

Ohh ..btw, I am part of the Indian Ocean and our ocean cheer is .. yup you guessed it .. JAI HO! :) :)

Ok, now back to my case study and some ‘CORE’ planning!

Tip time-

1. Be a good graduate student. Never miss an opportunity for free food! It’s been a while since I used my kitchen. MIT is abound with free food. 
2. You don’t have to take all 4 courses in the pre-term. If you feel you are decently comfortable with a subject, save yourself some green.
3. Attend as many social events as possible. It is where real bonding happens!
4. Don’t read too much into the word ‘bonding’ mentioned above.

The first days ..

The course hasn’t started! Hell, even the pre term hasn’t started, but I already find myself ever so completely occupied!

I could feel a sense of excitement wrap me as soon as the Captain announced our descent into Logan. After months of chatter through Sloan groups and Facebook, building up anticipation, I was finally here, just minutes away from a whole new chapter! Though I had visited Sloan as part of the Ambassador program as an applicant, this time it was going to be different. The very sense of actually belonging to the MIT community changed the dynamics and seemed to give me a new high

It’s been just ~5 days in my B school pursuit and I already find myself filled to the brim with informal (some necessary) orientations, events and social gatherings. And remember, all this – without core, without homework, without clubs and without the notorious recruiting events! As a matter of fact, I dread even imagining how my calendar would shape up bringing the above factors into play.  Assigning ‘situational’ priorities, dealing difficult trade offs and inducing effective time management are what will get us through I guess! 

On the activities front, I just got back from a 2-day White mountain hiking trek as part of the E-trek series (other options included rafting and camping). E-treks by the way are organized by the 2^nd yr sloanies for us to get to know each other and rejuvenate before the pre term.  We were a group of ~35 1^st years who braved the 4500ft peak against rain and steep, slippery boulder laden terrain! I did click a few pictures and even shot a mini video, which I’ll try to paste into this blog (still learning the mechanics of this template).

 

So that was a quick peek into my first few days in Sloan. The coming weeks look even more packed and of course even more fun! We have the 5-day pre term starting tomorrow followed by the Orientation week. This is when we 1^st years will be assigned our oceans (cohorts) and our core team! So yup, a lotta goodies to look forward to which I shall (at least try to) keep you folks posted on! 

 

Tip time: In case you decide to opt for MIT graduate residencies, just make sure you ask for a move in date well before your arrival date! Could get messy if your apartment is still under works when you arrive!