MIT Sloan students speak: MBA class of 2012

Life is Intense @ MIT Sloan

I remember when I was a first year student I asked several times the following question to my second year peers "does it keep being so intense?" The answer was always “no way”.

They fooled me!

Well, I do believe that for students that are sponsored or for students that want to go back to the company they interned, school gets lighter – even more for people that want to take the minimum credit amount. But for most of the people that are still trying to figure things out, second year recruiting along with intense classes and trying to have a social life can be tough!

To illustrate this, I decided to share one version of my week’s agenda, believe it, it is true:

- Thu: morning classes + 20hr travel to Brazil

- Fri: from the airport to company A for 3hrs of final interviews + wedding party

 - Sat: party recovery + spending time with family + dinner with friends + recovery sleep

- Sun: homework + flight back to Boston

- Mon: home after 15hr travel + eat and rest + homework and exam study

- Tue: full day of classes + chosen to be the CEO of the class and present in front of peers (including the CEO from the case) my strategy approach + Google’s Eric Schmidt’s presentation + exam

- Wed: morning class + flight to NY + welcome event of company B

- Thu: final interviews for company B + flight to Miami

- Fri: final interviews for company C + flight back to Boston

In a nutshell, 1 week = 13,000 miles traveled + 4 cities + 3 final interviews + 3 homework assignments + 1 exam + 1 time being the CEO…. Yep, this is as good as it gets.

Cheers,

Tiago

 

As I sit here typing this blog post I can't help but think how quickly the year is going. It’s all ready November! When I got back to campus I had a hard time accepting my new role as “2nd year,” and I think I’m still fundamentally in denial. However, I have to say having a job offer and a lot of extracurricular activities has … tempted me to pull back on my school work. However, this semester has proven quite interesting in a number of areas.

I’m taking a Pro-seminar in Financial Management that is project driven. My team and I have been assigned to identify M&A targets for a specific pharmaceutical company. While we met on Saturday to discuss the project I found myself still knowing exactly why I’m going into banking. It should provide for a very interested, real world project.

I was able to get into G-Lab and my team is awesome. We’ll be heading to Singapore in January working with a smart grid water company. They are truly a start-up with only 5 team members. We’re essentially doubling the size of their team. My team is really excited about the project, now we just need to figure out how to wrap our heads around getting started. We’re also really looking forward to the travel. So far we’re thinking Bali, Malaysia, maybe Thailand.

Speaking of travel, about 100 Sloanies took a bus trip down to Foxwoods Casino for a long night of drinking, dancing and gambling. It was an awesome way to blow off some steam and enjoy ourselves. On top of that it was themed “Revenge of the Nerds” so each of us dressed in our nerdiest costumes for a great invasion of the casino and dance floor.

Right after Singapore a large group of us will be heading to Park City, Utah to partake in some awesome skiing adventures. I can’t wait to get on the slopes with my fellow Sloanies.

Now a lot of us also face a conundrum of where to travel over Spring Break. The options are plentiful: Japan, Korea, South America, Israel (although I won’t make a repeat trip), and there’s always the inevitable study tours that will pop up. I have yet to decide but look forward to the process!

This year is flying by but I’m still really enjoying every minute of it. It has been such a blast to help the 2013s navigate the banking gauntlet. They are nearly there and only have about a month left to make the trips to New York for “informational interviews.” In a week I’ll be going to dinner with my 2013 core team. They seem to have done awesome over this semester and I’m so glad I have the privilege of being their pilot.

Good luck in your Round II applications, I wish you all the best!

Flowers in my hair

I went to San Francisco for the first time this weekend and it was AMAZING.  A vacation was very much needed after the whirlwind of the past couple of months.  It's hard to believe that I'm halfway through the fall semester already.

My classes this semester are excellent.  I am taking:

• 15.269 Literature, Ethics & Authority taught by Prof. Leigh Hafrey.  Fantastic. So off the beaten path content-wise from the stereotypical MBA course, but incredibly valuable and enlightening.
• 15.389 Global Entrepreneurship Lab facilitated by Prof. Simon Johnson: My team got our top choice for company matching!  We are going to Peru for 3 weeks in January to work on-site with a company in fair trade/organic food production.  Being that my parents are from Peru, I'm especially excited at the opportunity to visit family. :)  My team will work with the company remotely over the next couple of months on a top priority project until we make the trip down.
• 15.615 Business Law taught by Prof. John Akula.  This class has some great discussion and very applicable/real concepts.  My only 8:30 AM class, by choice.
• 15.768 Management of Services taught by. Prof. Zeynep Ton - She's a superstar.  One of those professors that's so nice and funny with an envious talent for commanding an audience.  She doesn't let you get away with anything and I love it.  Makes for a thorough learning experience.  
• 15.821 Listening to the Customer taught by Prof. Drazen Prelec - Though only a half semester course, puts into practice some really useful techniques on qualitative market research.  My team did a project in this class around physical therapy (one of my teammates is starting a company).  We interviewed people, did some analysis using ZMET and stripped down Vocalyst.  Good stuff and super applicable for Tim's ongoing product development. 
• 15.515 Financial Accounting taught by Prof. John Core - A course everyone has to take as part of the first semester core.  I liked it so much that I'm taking it again as a TA. :)  The funny part is that my section is the Mediterranean Ocean (i.e. Cohort) and coincidentally, I am a 2012 Med! Go Meds!

 

Needless to say, a full schedule.  I think everyone around me feels just as busy, which is kind of comforting.  Thankfully, 15.821, being only a half semester course, ended two weeks ago, leaving me with 4 courses + TA-ing, just as G-Lab ramps up...  I would have gone mad otherwise...  (as would have my significant other as well).

Being a 2nd year and all, school is even more fun than before.  Of course, unsuprisingly, the weeks are flying by and that "you have to get a job...eventually" feeling keeps peaking in. I would love, love, love (note. love) to go back to Adobe and am actively pursuing that still. The challenge is patience and focus.  I see everyone (exaggeration) recruiting, getting hired, etc. and the temptation to recruit alongside them is moderate to strong.  BUT, at the end of the day, I remember that I want Adobe AND I want San Francisco.  It's too early to panic!  And really, there are a TON of people taking the same approach.  Waiting, patiently, for that light that guides to the next chapter.

In the meantime, I have a blast at school, play music and drink beers at the Muddy Charles!  Not too shabby, eh?  I'm not in any rush to finish. :)