Finals are done and I am halfway through so it is time to review my classes again. This semester was the first time where every class I took was a class that I wanted to take. As I have said before, MIT is very open about their curriculum. After the first summer (where we take care of a large chunk of LGO specific classes) and the first Fall where we take the MBA core, you can pretty much take whatever you want. I reviewed these classes earlier in the semester so I will only really add anything new or note any changes of opinions that I have had.
1.155/2.963/3.577/6.938/10.816/16.862/22.82/ESD.72 Engineering Risk-Benefit Analysis – This class is exactly what I expected it to be. The decision analysis part was interesting but I would honestly only recommend it if you are looking for relatively easy engineering credits.
15.281 Advanced Communications – As I noted earlier, I took this class because I needed additional practice speaking in public. Presenting to a hostile audience was a great experience and I would highly recommend the class for that one event.
15.402 Finance II – You should not graduate from Sloan without taking this class. Period. This class covers the financing fundamentals for a business from a practical point of view. You will finally understand how and why companies issue debt versus equity and how a company making a good product and growing can go into bankruptcy. Again, this is a MUST take.
15.521 Management Accounting and Control – Once again, accounting was fun because of the teacher. This is twice in a row I have had a great accounting teacher (see my fall core semester post). To me, this is another must take. In my limited work experience, you spend hours arguing over the internal accounting numbers (which are so often worthless for trying to make a business decision). This class will give you the tools you need to deal with the bean counters.
15.615 Basic Business Law for the Entrepreneur and Manager – This class is good if you have not taken a law class before (some people take a generic law class in undergrad) or if you are an international student. And of course, if you want a class that requires minimal effort, this class will deliver.
15.792 Proseminar – Not much to say here. This is a great part of the LGO program where we get to hear people speak about a variety of topics.
15.871 System Dynamics – This class was a bit disappointing for me. I ended up dropping the second half of this course because I did not feel like the time I was spending was worth the effort. I’m still glad I took the first half of this class because it showed a number of examples of how bad people are at solving problems and recognizing delays in the cause and effects loop.
ESD.941 Tiger Teams – This was a good experience even though my group had a very easy project. Working with a new company and getting to see a different industry (how chocolate is made) was worth the time and effort. I would also say this class helps prepare you for your internship where you have to come into a new environment where you are essentially an outside consultant and complete a project with the help of others. It’s like a mini internship.
Showing posts with label School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label School. Show all posts
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Managerial Accounting
One of the things we keep discussing in Managerial Accounting is how you should think of cost distribution in a company as a tax. For example, when you allocate overhead by headcount (one way of distributing against labor) you give your employees incentive to reduce headcount. This will cause managers to pursue less employees (so hopefully they are very skilled) rather than more employees (who may have less skill but may be cheaper labor). The point of this is NOT to say that it is a bad thing, just to be aware (as a manager) what motivations your subordinates will have when looking at their budget. This really also delves into basic economics and externalities (who gets the gains and who pays for something) as well, but many of our classes overlap. It is better that way. You have to learn something more than once before it sticks.
This got me thinking about food in this country and around the world. In the US, food is often not taxed or taxed less than other items. With the government paying for people’s health care, people are not given incentive to concern themselves with their health, people are not properly weighing out the cost benefit of their health because others bear some of the costs, and thus overeating. Perhaps we should tax food more so that people quit eating so much.
This got me thinking about food in this country and around the world. In the US, food is often not taxed or taxed less than other items. With the government paying for people’s health care, people are not given incentive to concern themselves with their health, people are not properly weighing out the cost benefit of their health because others bear some of the costs, and thus overeating. Perhaps we should tax food more so that people quit eating so much.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Financial Aid in the Summer
My blog got the flu and about 10 posts were lost.
Sorry for the inconvienence. If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it. I would be very appreciative. Thanks
Sorry for the inconvienence. If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it. I would be very appreciative. Thanks
Friday, April 10, 2009
The death of LFM and the birth of LGO
My blog got the flu and about 10 posts were lost.
Sorry for the inconvienence. If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it. I would be very appreciative. Thanks
Sorry for the inconvienence. If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it. I would be very appreciative. Thanks
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Busy, Busy, Busy!
Busy, Busy, Busy! I know that numerous times I have told incoming students that you don’t have to worry about the time or effort level required to graduate at MIT, and most weeks of the year I stand by what I said…but these past two weeks have been hell for me. I will be out of the country for the next two weeks and between preparing to leave, completing my obligations as a member of the international plant trek team tasked with organizing the trip, mid-terms, and all of the normal activities and school work I have…I was actually busy. For the first time in a long time, and my first time in Massachusetts, I had to turn down a chance to play hockey…and with descent players too, not just some C-league intramural team. That one hurt. I HATE turning down free ice time. I’ve had a number of topics that I have wanted to blog about, a number of movies that I have wanted to watch, and a computer game that I have been desperately waiting for the release of (Empire Total War) and I did not have time for any of these things.
I can catch up on some of the blogs as I travel in Europe (downtime while on planes, trains, and automobiles) but I can’t run Empire on my laptop. I can barely run Empire on my home computer and my laptop has no graphic processing capabilities. When I bought the lappy, I did not want to tempt myself with the ability to play computer games in class (turns out at Sloan, you pretty much can’t have your laptop out…but I did not know this at the time).
The game combines overall campaign strategy/country management (think the boardgame Risk) with military strategy 101 (think lines of units, reinforcements, and flanking)
I CANNOT believe that Empire has been out for two weeks and I have not played it more than 6 hours. To quote Vizzini (Wallace Shawn) from Princess Bride, “Inconceivable!”
I can catch up on some of the blogs as I travel in Europe (downtime while on planes, trains, and automobiles) but I can’t run Empire on my laptop. I can barely run Empire on my home computer and my laptop has no graphic processing capabilities. When I bought the lappy, I did not want to tempt myself with the ability to play computer games in class (turns out at Sloan, you pretty much can’t have your laptop out…but I did not know this at the time).
Sunday, February 15, 2009
What classes me take?
I forgot to make a post about what classes I am taking this semester so here is a quick rundown. A cheap excuse is that I just found out on Wednesday that I got into a class (I’ve been working the drop/add process).
1.155/2.963/3.577/6.938/10.816/16.862/22.82/ESD.72 Engineering Risk-Benefit Analysis: Why so many numbers? This class is co-listed for just about every engineering major out there. I definitely selected this class because it was one of the easier engineering classes (low work load). I don’t typically select classes because they are easy but I have two time intensive classes and i needed to balance out the rest of my schedule. This class is really about looking at the risk involved in complex systems (such as nuclear reactors). I get the feeling that it will combine risk assessment, statistics, cost/benefit analysis, etc.
15.281 Advanced Managerial Communication: This class will be extremely good for me, but I will be miserable half of the time. This class is with the same communications teacher that I had in the fall (if you read my fall review you know that I really enjoyed his class) and I expect more of the same. Communication is one of my weaknesses that I know I need to work on, hence I am taking communication classes. In this class we will practice a number of forms of communication that a manager will typically have to use. One of the events that I am looking forward to (or is it dreading?) is presenting to a hostile crowd.
15.402 Finance Theory II: This is one of the time intensive classes that I spoke of. We have class twice a week and in each class you have to turn in a 1-2 page writeup about the case you read and then discuss the case in class. The cases need to be prepared in groups (and they are typically difficult enough that you need a group to make sure nothing falls through the cracks) which adds to the time intensiveness. You can’t B.S. the case in class either (at least with the teacher I have). You have to have read the case and understand the calculations…and even then you’re probably not prepared…because you will be cold called.
15.521 Management Accounting: This class is about how companies work their internal accounting and how that information can be used (or typically misused) to make business decisions. I highly recommend this class for anyone who may work in any way with a manufacturing facility. We spend most of our time talking about the typical mistakes companies make (just like the company I came from) when using their internal accounting system to make business decisions. Good stuff.
15.615 Business Law for the Entrepreneur and Manager: Don’t let the title fool you, this is basically an overview of business law. MIT Sloan has two different versions (same teacher) with one that focuses on finance and one that focuses on entrepreneurs. The classes are almost identical, with a slight focus at the end. This one worked better for my schedule. This is a class that is good to have…solid advice about how and where to get legal advice once we return to the real world. While I planned on taking this class either way, I took it this semester because it is a low workload class (read some cases and show up…the professor does most of the talking).
15.871/15.872 System Dynamics: This class is a great class at MIT. Most people want to take this in the fall with Professor Sterman (he literally wrote the book on System Dynamics, I know…I had to buy it for well over $100) but I could not get it in because of the engineering classes I wanted take this past fall (and as I’ve told you about before, we only get one fall at MIT). So far I like the professor I have so I don’t see what the big deal is and it should be a good class. The class basically looks at complex systems and how people interact with those systems. An easy to understand example (not the best example, but easy to understand) of what this class is about is forest fires. If we take the outlook that we want to put out all forest fires as soon as they start (to reduce/eliminate property damage) what we end up with is a forest that is packed with underbrush. In a natural system, small fires burn out this underbrush. So after immediately putting out fires year after year, the forest (packed with underbrush) eventually catches fire and soon we have a super fire on our hand that causes extreme damage and typically the lives of firefighters. By analyzing the whole system and the effects of all contributing factors we can see that we are better off with a number of smaller and controlled fires.
ESD.941 Tiger Teams: This class is an LFM/SDM class where a group of students go and work on a project for a local company (free for the company, minus travel expenses if they are not local). This class is a great chance to put into practice the skills we are learning here at Sloan. MIT’s motto is Mind and Hand (Mens et Manus for the Latin speaking readers) and this class is a great example of that. My team (me and two other ChemEs) will be working with a local chocolate company. I’ll update my blog when I know more.
Overall I am very happy with my schedule. I wanted Finance II on Monday/Wednesday to balance my classes throughout the week but I was not able to get into that section. Instead I’ve got two classes on M/W and four classes on T/R. The only thing I have on Friday is a recitation session (extra session with a TA where we talk about homework problems). It is pretty nice not having class on Friday. As I’ve said before, MIT loves they vacation.
1.155/2.963/3.577/6.938/10.816/16.862/22.82/ESD.72 Engineering Risk-Benefit Analysis: Why so many numbers? This class is co-listed for just about every engineering major out there. I definitely selected this class because it was one of the easier engineering classes (low work load). I don’t typically select classes because they are easy but I have two time intensive classes and i needed to balance out the rest of my schedule. This class is really about looking at the risk involved in complex systems (such as nuclear reactors). I get the feeling that it will combine risk assessment, statistics, cost/benefit analysis, etc.
15.281 Advanced Managerial Communication: This class will be extremely good for me, but I will be miserable half of the time. This class is with the same communications teacher that I had in the fall (if you read my fall review you know that I really enjoyed his class) and I expect more of the same. Communication is one of my weaknesses that I know I need to work on, hence I am taking communication classes. In this class we will practice a number of forms of communication that a manager will typically have to use. One of the events that I am looking forward to (or is it dreading?) is presenting to a hostile crowd.
15.402 Finance Theory II: This is one of the time intensive classes that I spoke of. We have class twice a week and in each class you have to turn in a 1-2 page writeup about the case you read and then discuss the case in class. The cases need to be prepared in groups (and they are typically difficult enough that you need a group to make sure nothing falls through the cracks) which adds to the time intensiveness. You can’t B.S. the case in class either (at least with the teacher I have). You have to have read the case and understand the calculations…and even then you’re probably not prepared…because you will be cold called.
15.521 Management Accounting: This class is about how companies work their internal accounting and how that information can be used (or typically misused) to make business decisions. I highly recommend this class for anyone who may work in any way with a manufacturing facility. We spend most of our time talking about the typical mistakes companies make (just like the company I came from) when using their internal accounting system to make business decisions. Good stuff.
If you can convince an auditor that there are either 27 or 29 beans (depending on what you would rather have) in this picture you are ready to be an accountant
15.615 Business Law for the Entrepreneur and Manager: Don’t let the title fool you, this is basically an overview of business law. MIT Sloan has two different versions (same teacher) with one that focuses on finance and one that focuses on entrepreneurs. The classes are almost identical, with a slight focus at the end. This one worked better for my schedule. This is a class that is good to have…solid advice about how and where to get legal advice once we return to the real world. While I planned on taking this class either way, I took it this semester because it is a low workload class (read some cases and show up…the professor does most of the talking).
15.792 Proseminar in Manufacturing: This is the same class that we had last semester. Companies come in and we listen to them once a week.
15.871/15.872 System Dynamics: This class is a great class at MIT. Most people want to take this in the fall with Professor Sterman (he literally wrote the book on System Dynamics, I know…I had to buy it for well over $100) but I could not get it in because of the engineering classes I wanted take this past fall (and as I’ve told you about before, we only get one fall at MIT). So far I like the professor I have so I don’t see what the big deal is and it should be a good class. The class basically looks at complex systems and how people interact with those systems. An easy to understand example (not the best example, but easy to understand) of what this class is about is forest fires. If we take the outlook that we want to put out all forest fires as soon as they start (to reduce/eliminate property damage) what we end up with is a forest that is packed with underbrush. In a natural system, small fires burn out this underbrush. So after immediately putting out fires year after year, the forest (packed with underbrush) eventually catches fire and soon we have a super fire on our hand that causes extreme damage and typically the lives of firefighters. By analyzing the whole system and the effects of all contributing factors we can see that we are better off with a number of smaller and controlled fires.
These systems are easy to understand afterwards, but how do we get better at understanding them before they are a problem
ESD.941 Tiger Teams: This class is an LFM/SDM class where a group of students go and work on a project for a local company (free for the company, minus travel expenses if they are not local). This class is a great chance to put into practice the skills we are learning here at Sloan. MIT’s motto is Mind and Hand (Mens et Manus for the Latin speaking readers) and this class is a great example of that. My team (me and two other ChemEs) will be working with a local chocolate company. I’ll update my blog when I know more.
Overall I am very happy with my schedule. I wanted Finance II on Monday/Wednesday to balance my classes throughout the week but I was not able to get into that section. Instead I’ve got two classes on M/W and four classes on T/R. The only thing I have on Friday is a recitation session (extra session with a TA where we talk about homework problems). It is pretty nice not having class on Friday. As I’ve said before, MIT loves they vacation.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Random School Rankings
So a blog that I freqent about Florida Football recently posted a little blurb about where the University of Florida and the SEC ranked on certain school lists posted by the US News website. Don’t get me wrong, I know these lists are just someone’s opinions about the schools (I’m sure they use actual numbers, but depending on how much value you give to certain parameters like tuition costs, ROI, graduation rate, etc. you get a different list of “best” school)…but it is always cool to see your school at the top.
That is the cool thing about the LFM program at MIT. Where did they rank MIT’s business school (Sloan)? 4th behind Harvard, Stanford, and Penn (Wharton). That is pretty good company to be in. How about MIT Engineering? Well obviously it was 1st followed closely by Stanford, UC-Berkley, and Georgia Tech. Again good company. What is LFM? It is two masters degrees from one of the best schools in the country with two of the top rated programs. And did I mention that it’s subsidized? If you have an engineering (or science) bachelors degree and you want an MBA…or you just want two years away from work (which will immensely accelerate your career while you are not working)…why wouldn’t you go to LFM?
I can has rating?
That is the cool thing about the LFM program at MIT. Where did they rank MIT’s business school (Sloan)? 4th behind Harvard, Stanford, and Penn (Wharton). That is pretty good company to be in. How about MIT Engineering? Well obviously it was 1st followed closely by Stanford, UC-Berkley, and Georgia Tech. Again good company. What is LFM? It is two masters degrees from one of the best schools in the country with two of the top rated programs. And did I mention that it’s subsidized? If you have an engineering (or science) bachelors degree and you want an MBA…or you just want two years away from work (which will immensely accelerate your career while you are not working)…why wouldn’t you go to LFM?
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Big Time Snow Time
My blog got the flu and about 10 posts were lost.
Sorry for the inconvienence. If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it. I would be very appreciative. Thanks
Sorry for the inconvienence. If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it. I would be very appreciative. Thanks
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Woo Woo!
Finals are done! Of course, they were actually done on Tuesday but I have been a busy boy since then. Someone threw a monkey wrench into out Domestic Plant Trek (of which I am co-chair) and that has consumed a ton of my time this week. Anywho, school is out until February 2nd. No, that is not a typo. My MIT schedule finished on December 16th and I do not have another class until February 2nd 2009. There are 47.708333 days between when my final exam finished and when my first class begins. All I can say is that MIT love they vacation.
I want to reflect back on my classes this semester but before I begin, I have to discuss grades at the graduate level at MIT. For both my Sloan and Engineering classes it seems that almost everyone gets an A or a B. Some of the Sloan professors said the policy was 40% A's, 50% B's, and 10% C's. This may be a policy but I have never seen it written. From my limited experience, there seems to be similar policy in the engineering college. I already know what you are going to say...grade inflation. Having lived it, I have to pleasantly disagree. When I look back at the workload requirements and the effort that everyone puts in, you can't say that anyone did not work for their grade. Generally speaking, no one skips deliverable assignments...though people tend to not read all assigned readings. And on top of that, everyone seems to be performing at such a high level, it would seem odd to assign someone a C or a D because they were excellent but not exquisite. For the few people who skip assignments or do not attend class, they do give out C's and you must maintain a B average, so you can't take that approach for more than half of your classes. It is not like undergrad where people are just going through the motions of college. Everyone here typically wants to learn the material and has taken out large loans to pay for their education. So, on to the classes:
10.25 Industrial Chemistry and Chemical Process Pathways
This was one of my chemical engineering classes and I must say that it was enjoyable. Half of the time I had no idea what was going on, but the professor was so much fun that it was worth it. In the end, this class was everything I expected out of MIT engineering. The professor was quirky, funny, and brilliant...and the exams were insane (average for the first exam was in the 30s or 40s out of 100). Luckily for me on this one, everyone pretty much gets an A or a B. As far as the actual content goes, it was hard to be very interested in the material because I don't think I will ever be designing an industrial chemical reaction or calculating rate information for reactor design...but I did get an appreciation for the extent of uncertainty that goes into new industrial reactions and the plants required to attempt these reactions. Seems to be a risky endevour that is hard to scale up...sort of a learn as you go mentality...but with million dollar plants.
10.579 Application of Technology in Energy and the Environment
This class was also fun to attend. There were two lecturers for this class with very different personalities. One was outgoing and humorous and the other was very dry. I really liked the material and wish everyone could learn the material that we covered. We took an honest look at different forms of energy/technology (wind, thermal, coal, gas, nuclear, etc.) and analyzed the positives, negatives, challenges of using, etc. of using that technology. I think some people take a very "hippy" view of how we can fix the energy situation and do not admit the major challenges we would face if we actually implemented policies that are being proposed. That does not mean this class did not advocate change...but the professors were very honest and sensible about what effects these changes would encounter and how they could be overcome.
15.010 Economic Analysis for Business Decisions
This was your basic economics course. I took an economics course in undergrad so there was nothing significantly new or mind blowing for me, but all in all a good class. Useful material. The professor was a little disappointing, but he was very young and eager to improve. He requested feedback nearly every week and made an honest effort to implement suggestions.
15.277 Leadership and Personal Effectiveness Coaching
The title is deceiving. This was the lab course for communications class. Overall we tried to put into practice the tools we learned in communications class. Mostly we got to practice presenting on the fly (called impromptus) with other themes (different each week) mixed in. Basically, we would be given a prompt and have to stand up and immediately deliver a speech on that topic. This is a good opportunity to practice your presentation skills and then work on the "theme" of the week. For example, we had to give our group members critical feedback, negotiate with another party, outline a vision, etc. The lab takes place with your 6-7 person core team and a Teaching Assistant (2nd year Sloanie TA). I was extremely lucky with the quality of my group's TA. She picked up on so many subtle things during our discussions and I was very impressed by her intelligence (and I was not surprised to hear that she got a job with Apple). I have heard some horror stories from other people, but my TA offered insightful feedback and I found the lab useful (I think I am in the minority here among other LFMers I talked to, but again it comes down to the TA).
15.280 Communication for Managers
Overall we just reviewed a number of forms of communication and talked about the different aspects of them. I definitely learned some new things...and at other times was incredibly bored. I don't blame them for covering some of the material that bored me though. For some of the foreign people on my core team who had never worked in America before, it was certainly necessary. And I had to fight tooth and nail to keep everyone on my core team from overloading our slides with text. When you are presenting, you are the focus of a presentation...not your slides! The slides should add to what your saying, not contain every word you will say. /Rant. Communication is one my biggest weaknesses (one of the reasons I blog) so I will be taking the second part of this class (Advanced Communications) next semester. That class is with the same communications professor, who is an excellent teacher.
15.311Organization Process
This class was the surprise of the semester for me. I actually enjoyed what I would call "fluff" material. We basically covered all of the people aspects of an organization. It helped that the professor was...eccentric? He was from New York (the state, not the city) and embodied some of the typical stereotypes of a New Yorker. He certainly had a fun time (and he reminded of this constantly) of getting us to hotly debate controversial topics. I definitely have a new outlook on motivation and interacting with people. This class also included a project where our core team selected a company, analyzed a change in their organization using the tools we learned in OP, and then presented to that company our findings and recommendations. The project was moderately enjoyable and I honestly believe that we helped the company that we worked with. We were able to analyze an issue they did not have time to address and offer a good solution. At the same time, we were basically consultants and this project reconfirmed my distaste for consulting. In the end, we delivered a "package" of what the organization can do to fix their problems...and though we gave very specific actions..in the end, we did not DO anything. It was all talk. It is up to someone else to actually do the work. That is why I am in LFM. I want to be that person that DOES something. To me, consulting is dumping and running. No matter how nice of a "package" you deliver, in the end you are still taking a crap.
15.401 Finance 1
What can I say, this was your basic finance class. While it is not required at MIT for the MBA program, it should be. Every MBA should know the material that we covered. As for the class, the lectures were so boring. I probably fell asleep in every single class. It did not help that the professor had a monotone voice and dimmed the lights so we could see the power point slides. When you asked the professor a question or when the class was discussing issues as a group, it was easy to see how brilliant the professor was...but when it came to lectures, he was not the best. Still, a useful class and it was interesting to be in the class during this credit crisis...it led to some very revealing conversations.
15.515 Financial Accounting
Brace yourself. Accounting was the best class I have taken at Sloan and I don't think it will be topped. Really, it all came down to the professor. This guy was so good at lecturing, that he made accounting fun. We gave him a standing ovation on the last class...and he deserved it. He was engaging with all of the students, bluntly told you when you asked a ridiculous question that was beyond the scope of the class and did not waste time on it, and made you laugh in every single class. He was so good at stressing what part of accounting we would actually use when we left Sloan, and made sure to cut out the useless stuff. He would just say, let your accountant worry about the details, all you need to understand as a manager is the implications your decisions have on the business. I'm sorry to say, for you incoming students, that he is going on sabbatical for the next 2 years so the next Sloan class that can have him is the class of 2013.
15.792 Proseminar in Manufacturing
This is an LFM class where companies (not necessarily partner companies) come into present to the LFM group on a range of topics. The people and topics are organized by the current LFM class so ti comes as no surprise that they were all engaging and interesting. Sometimes they were general topics and sometimes they were company overviews with extensive Q&A sessions. Either way, they were always interesting. I would like to take this opportunity to express my disappointment with some of my fellow LFM members. Toward the end of the semester, our attendance was down to about 30-35 out of 48 and this is just insulting to the companies that come to present to us. I believe that we have addressed the issue as a class and I think we will show improvement in the future, but it is disappointing nonetheless.
15.972 Leadership and Ethics
This is another LFM exclusive class. Before class begins you meet with Bill Hanson to discuss leadership and a number of other career devlopment and personal issues. I found this conversation to be extremely useful for finding my direction at Sloan and after Sloan. After that comes the class discussions with Don Davis. The class is led by Don Davis, former 20 year CEO of Stanley Works (they make tools) and I must say the class was a joy to attend. Where else can you get the opportunity to openly talk to someone who has run a large public company about the issues of leading? The experience was invaluable. To be fair, the class started out sort of slow. The first two or three classes Don read us some of his opinions on business (his mantras) and while I appreciate the learnings, they comes off as generalities without actual context. The invaluable part of the class was when Don got into discussing challenges he faced, how he handled them, and his reflections on his decisions. And this was not a one way conversation, we were free to interject, disagree, or probe all of the topics and stories. Like I said, invaluable. Unfortunately Don is getting up there in age (though you would not have guessed that from the way he partied with us after the last class) and will not be able to support the class as much as he used to in the past. A driven and motivated person such as Don can't stay away completely, but at his age there are physical limitations. I hope I can be as active as Don when I reach his age, and the idea of teaching (he basically teaches for free) during retirement is awesome.
All in all, the fall core semester was an enjoyable expereince. It is exicting and sad to think that my fellow LFMers and I are half way done the classwork part of the program.
I want to reflect back on my classes this semester but before I begin, I have to discuss grades at the graduate level at MIT. For both my Sloan and Engineering classes it seems that almost everyone gets an A or a B. Some of the Sloan professors said the policy was 40% A's, 50% B's, and 10% C's. This may be a policy but I have never seen it written. From my limited experience, there seems to be similar policy in the engineering college. I already know what you are going to say...grade inflation. Having lived it, I have to pleasantly disagree. When I look back at the workload requirements and the effort that everyone puts in, you can't say that anyone did not work for their grade. Generally speaking, no one skips deliverable assignments...though people tend to not read all assigned readings. And on top of that, everyone seems to be performing at such a high level, it would seem odd to assign someone a C or a D because they were excellent but not exquisite. For the few people who skip assignments or do not attend class, they do give out C's and you must maintain a B average, so you can't take that approach for more than half of your classes. It is not like undergrad where people are just going through the motions of college. Everyone here typically wants to learn the material and has taken out large loans to pay for their education. So, on to the classes:
10.25 Industrial Chemistry and Chemical Process Pathways
This was one of my chemical engineering classes and I must say that it was enjoyable. Half of the time I had no idea what was going on, but the professor was so much fun that it was worth it. In the end, this class was everything I expected out of MIT engineering. The professor was quirky, funny, and brilliant...and the exams were insane (average for the first exam was in the 30s or 40s out of 100). Luckily for me on this one, everyone pretty much gets an A or a B. As far as the actual content goes, it was hard to be very interested in the material because I don't think I will ever be designing an industrial chemical reaction or calculating rate information for reactor design...but I did get an appreciation for the extent of uncertainty that goes into new industrial reactions and the plants required to attempt these reactions. Seems to be a risky endevour that is hard to scale up...sort of a learn as you go mentality...but with million dollar plants.
10.579 Application of Technology in Energy and the Environment
This class was also fun to attend. There were two lecturers for this class with very different personalities. One was outgoing and humorous and the other was very dry. I really liked the material and wish everyone could learn the material that we covered. We took an honest look at different forms of energy/technology (wind, thermal, coal, gas, nuclear, etc.) and analyzed the positives, negatives, challenges of using, etc. of using that technology. I think some people take a very "hippy" view of how we can fix the energy situation and do not admit the major challenges we would face if we actually implemented policies that are being proposed. That does not mean this class did not advocate change...but the professors were very honest and sensible about what effects these changes would encounter and how they could be overcome.
15.010 Economic Analysis for Business Decisions
This was your basic economics course. I took an economics course in undergrad so there was nothing significantly new or mind blowing for me, but all in all a good class. Useful material. The professor was a little disappointing, but he was very young and eager to improve. He requested feedback nearly every week and made an honest effort to implement suggestions.
15.277 Leadership and Personal Effectiveness Coaching
The title is deceiving. This was the lab course for communications class. Overall we tried to put into practice the tools we learned in communications class. Mostly we got to practice presenting on the fly (called impromptus) with other themes (different each week) mixed in. Basically, we would be given a prompt and have to stand up and immediately deliver a speech on that topic. This is a good opportunity to practice your presentation skills and then work on the "theme" of the week. For example, we had to give our group members critical feedback, negotiate with another party, outline a vision, etc. The lab takes place with your 6-7 person core team and a Teaching Assistant (2nd year Sloanie TA). I was extremely lucky with the quality of my group's TA. She picked up on so many subtle things during our discussions and I was very impressed by her intelligence (and I was not surprised to hear that she got a job with Apple). I have heard some horror stories from other people, but my TA offered insightful feedback and I found the lab useful (I think I am in the minority here among other LFMers I talked to, but again it comes down to the TA).
15.280 Communication for Managers
Overall we just reviewed a number of forms of communication and talked about the different aspects of them. I definitely learned some new things...and at other times was incredibly bored. I don't blame them for covering some of the material that bored me though. For some of the foreign people on my core team who had never worked in America before, it was certainly necessary. And I had to fight tooth and nail to keep everyone on my core team from overloading our slides with text. When you are presenting, you are the focus of a presentation...not your slides! The slides should add to what your saying, not contain every word you will say. /Rant. Communication is one my biggest weaknesses (one of the reasons I blog) so I will be taking the second part of this class (Advanced Communications) next semester. That class is with the same communications professor, who is an excellent teacher.
15.311Organization Process
This class was the surprise of the semester for me. I actually enjoyed what I would call "fluff" material. We basically covered all of the people aspects of an organization. It helped that the professor was...eccentric? He was from New York (the state, not the city) and embodied some of the typical stereotypes of a New Yorker. He certainly had a fun time (and he reminded of this constantly) of getting us to hotly debate controversial topics. I definitely have a new outlook on motivation and interacting with people. This class also included a project where our core team selected a company, analyzed a change in their organization using the tools we learned in OP, and then presented to that company our findings and recommendations. The project was moderately enjoyable and I honestly believe that we helped the company that we worked with. We were able to analyze an issue they did not have time to address and offer a good solution. At the same time, we were basically consultants and this project reconfirmed my distaste for consulting. In the end, we delivered a "package" of what the organization can do to fix their problems...and though we gave very specific actions..in the end, we did not DO anything. It was all talk. It is up to someone else to actually do the work. That is why I am in LFM. I want to be that person that DOES something. To me, consulting is dumping and running. No matter how nice of a "package" you deliver, in the end you are still taking a crap.
15.401 Finance 1
What can I say, this was your basic finance class. While it is not required at MIT for the MBA program, it should be. Every MBA should know the material that we covered. As for the class, the lectures were so boring. I probably fell asleep in every single class. It did not help that the professor had a monotone voice and dimmed the lights so we could see the power point slides. When you asked the professor a question or when the class was discussing issues as a group, it was easy to see how brilliant the professor was...but when it came to lectures, he was not the best. Still, a useful class and it was interesting to be in the class during this credit crisis...it led to some very revealing conversations.
15.515 Financial Accounting
Brace yourself. Accounting was the best class I have taken at Sloan and I don't think it will be topped. Really, it all came down to the professor. This guy was so good at lecturing, that he made accounting fun. We gave him a standing ovation on the last class...and he deserved it. He was engaging with all of the students, bluntly told you when you asked a ridiculous question that was beyond the scope of the class and did not waste time on it, and made you laugh in every single class. He was so good at stressing what part of accounting we would actually use when we left Sloan, and made sure to cut out the useless stuff. He would just say, let your accountant worry about the details, all you need to understand as a manager is the implications your decisions have on the business. I'm sorry to say, for you incoming students, that he is going on sabbatical for the next 2 years so the next Sloan class that can have him is the class of 2013.
15.792 Proseminar in Manufacturing
This is an LFM class where companies (not necessarily partner companies) come into present to the LFM group on a range of topics. The people and topics are organized by the current LFM class so ti comes as no surprise that they were all engaging and interesting. Sometimes they were general topics and sometimes they were company overviews with extensive Q&A sessions. Either way, they were always interesting. I would like to take this opportunity to express my disappointment with some of my fellow LFM members. Toward the end of the semester, our attendance was down to about 30-35 out of 48 and this is just insulting to the companies that come to present to us. I believe that we have addressed the issue as a class and I think we will show improvement in the future, but it is disappointing nonetheless.
15.972 Leadership and Ethics
This is another LFM exclusive class. Before class begins you meet with Bill Hanson to discuss leadership and a number of other career devlopment and personal issues. I found this conversation to be extremely useful for finding my direction at Sloan and after Sloan. After that comes the class discussions with Don Davis. The class is led by Don Davis, former 20 year CEO of Stanley Works (they make tools) and I must say the class was a joy to attend. Where else can you get the opportunity to openly talk to someone who has run a large public company about the issues of leading? The experience was invaluable. To be fair, the class started out sort of slow. The first two or three classes Don read us some of his opinions on business (his mantras) and while I appreciate the learnings, they comes off as generalities without actual context. The invaluable part of the class was when Don got into discussing challenges he faced, how he handled them, and his reflections on his decisions. And this was not a one way conversation, we were free to interject, disagree, or probe all of the topics and stories. Like I said, invaluable. Unfortunately Don is getting up there in age (though you would not have guessed that from the way he partied with us after the last class) and will not be able to support the class as much as he used to in the past. A driven and motivated person such as Don can't stay away completely, but at his age there are physical limitations. I hope I can be as active as Don when I reach his age, and the idea of teaching (he basically teaches for free) during retirement is awesome.
All in all, the fall core semester was an enjoyable expereince. It is exicting and sad to think that my fellow LFMers and I are half way done the classwork part of the program.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Midterms came and went
So...it HAS been a while since I last posted. I can't say I'm really sorry for the long gap...well, I could give you one of those little kid apologies when your parents make you tell your sister you're sorry...but you're not sorry, you just want ice cream. Anywho, the week leading up to midterms was very time consuming for me just because a number of things were culminating all at once (LFM hockey registration and domestic plant trek committee meetings)...and after that my busyness led right into midterm week. So for me, midterms were not that bad. I didn't spend too many hours studying, but I have been keeping up with my economics and financial accounting homework, so for me studying was just a bit of review. Some people went insane on the studying, making intricate cheat sheets with tiny writing (financial accounting allowed 1 sheet of paper, econ was not so nice). All I can say is I hope those people got As...cause I did pretty well and the text on my cheat sheet was readable from 3 feet away. The point is, the tests were not that stressful and there was no homework those weeks, so the workload was not THAT bad. Some of the second years had horror stories for us at the beginning of the semester...but I'm not passing on any horror stories. This continues on with the theme that the workload is as bad as you let it be. You can get your schoolwork done and still have time in the day for yourself...or you can take on 100 extra activities and run from one thing to another. The choice is yours.
So after midterms is SIP. So if there is one thing I have absorbed about MIT it is that they LOVE they days off. MIT takes every imaginable holiday off and once a month we get a day off (anti-suicide day..apparently MIT students are stressed). So in the MIT tradition, after mid-terms the Sloan school takes a whole week off. Sure, they give it a fancy name, Sloan Innovation Period (SIP), and sure they require you too attend seminars during the week...but for most people it is just a sweet week of vacation. I know a number of people went on fun exotic trips but yours truly is pretty lame, so I just sat around the house. I did go on a long a strenuous 20 mile hike the first Saturday of the week. A couple of the rugged outdoorsy-type LFMers put together a hike along the Presidential range in New Hampshire and they made the mistake of inviting everyone in LFM (j/k). I have not been hiking in quite some time, so I took them up on their offer. I wont lie, the damn hike was tough for all of us, but I was in the worst shape so I was the "herbie" of the group. Read "The Goal", you'll understand. The hike begins with an 1,100 meter assent and for those of you other non-hikers out there, that is bloody hard. Checkout the elevation profile and path of the hike in the pictures below.
[caption id="attachment_203" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Elevation Profile"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_204" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Hike Path"]
[/caption]
The terrain was very tough (extremely rocky and tough on the knees even on the way down) and to top that off, it was icy on the summits. In the end, I was in such bad shape that we split up into two groups and so that I could bypass some of the out-and back summits...so i did not walk the entire path from the picture. I've attached some of Amy's pretty pictures from the hike.
[caption id="attachment_211" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="We started at 4:30 AM...very dark"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_212" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Here you can see me trying not to throw up while the rest of the group enjoys the light stroll up 1,100 meters"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_213" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Needless to say, it was pretty up there"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_214" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="More pretty"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_215" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Post lunch...and on the way DOWN...I look less like death"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_216" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="A good example of the tough icy rocks"]
[/caption]
Back to SIP week...I did have to go to my engineering classes, but my Engineering load on its own is a light schedule. Quick Fact: LFMers are not required to attend SIP seminars because we still have our engineering classes going on...nice. With the rest of my week I watched a large assortment of movies including, but not limited to, Braveheart, Patton, A Bridge Too Far, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the live action one), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II (the one with Vanilla Ice), 300, Harry Potter 1 - 5 (I cant wait until July 17 2009) , Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and a few more movies that are escaping my memory right now. What an awesome week. I was not sitting around idly during these movies...I was working on my Halloween costume. My costume has become a bit of a tragedy. More to come on this later, but the point is it HAD potential...until things fell apart.
So after midterms is SIP. So if there is one thing I have absorbed about MIT it is that they LOVE they days off. MIT takes every imaginable holiday off and once a month we get a day off (anti-suicide day..apparently MIT students are stressed). So in the MIT tradition, after mid-terms the Sloan school takes a whole week off. Sure, they give it a fancy name, Sloan Innovation Period (SIP), and sure they require you too attend seminars during the week...but for most people it is just a sweet week of vacation. I know a number of people went on fun exotic trips but yours truly is pretty lame, so I just sat around the house. I did go on a long a strenuous 20 mile hike the first Saturday of the week. A couple of the rugged outdoorsy-type LFMers put together a hike along the Presidential range in New Hampshire and they made the mistake of inviting everyone in LFM (j/k). I have not been hiking in quite some time, so I took them up on their offer. I wont lie, the damn hike was tough for all of us, but I was in the worst shape so I was the "herbie" of the group. Read "The Goal", you'll understand. The hike begins with an 1,100 meter assent and for those of you other non-hikers out there, that is bloody hard. Checkout the elevation profile and path of the hike in the pictures below.
[caption id="attachment_203" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Elevation Profile"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_204" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Hike Path"]
[/caption]The terrain was very tough (extremely rocky and tough on the knees even on the way down) and to top that off, it was icy on the summits. In the end, I was in such bad shape that we split up into two groups and so that I could bypass some of the out-and back summits...so i did not walk the entire path from the picture. I've attached some of Amy's pretty pictures from the hike.
[caption id="attachment_211" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="We started at 4:30 AM...very dark"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_212" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Here you can see me trying not to throw up while the rest of the group enjoys the light stroll up 1,100 meters"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_213" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Needless to say, it was pretty up there"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_214" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="More pretty"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_215" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Post lunch...and on the way DOWN...I look less like death"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_216" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="A good example of the tough icy rocks"]
[/caption]Back to SIP week...I did have to go to my engineering classes, but my Engineering load on its own is a light schedule. Quick Fact: LFMers are not required to attend SIP seminars because we still have our engineering classes going on...nice. With the rest of my week I watched a large assortment of movies including, but not limited to, Braveheart, Patton, A Bridge Too Far, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the live action one), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II (the one with Vanilla Ice), 300, Harry Potter 1 - 5 (I cant wait until July 17 2009) , Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and a few more movies that are escaping my memory right now. What an awesome week. I was not sitting around idly during these movies...I was working on my Halloween costume. My costume has become a bit of a tragedy. More to come on this later, but the point is it HAD potential...until things fell apart.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
The end of the beginning
So Sloan Orientation is over. I've chewed, digested, and passed it. Good but not great. It was like drinking soda after eating ice cream. It is just not as sweet. Compared to the start of summer with the orientation we got in LFM, Sloan orientation was bland. I'm sure the Sloan students think it was fantastic...but they are drinking soda for the first time and we (LFM) are still savoring our ice cream.
Not to imply that the week did not have some good moments. Some of the events (like our first case study or Question and Answer sessions) was bland because we already did it in LFM. The Warren center was fun. The day started early in the morning and for our team it was a bit hectic. One of our team members did not arrive and was not answering his phone. My team includes Chris, Amanda, Jun, Marcelo, and Sushmita and our pilot is Kumar (he took all the pictures). Marcelo could not make it and we were forced to continue on without him. All in all I have a fantastic team. I've heard some horror stories but I think my team has and will continue to gel.
[caption id="attachment_111" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Pacific Penguins (minus one)"]
[/caption]
So we started the day at the Warren center with some mind games.
[caption id="attachment_101" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Touch the numbers"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_103" align="alignnone" width="111" caption="The island game (two blind, two mute, one leader, and the ground is lava...go)"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_102" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="The blind leading the blind"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_104" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Tossing a ball into a cup...had I listened to the instructions I would have known we only needed to get ONE ball in the cup...not all three...I am the weakest link"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_105" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="The ground is lava"]
[/caption]
After lunch we built lake-worthy rafts
[caption id="attachment_106" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Cast away? Can we make it?"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_107" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Tight ropes make for strong boats...I am no longer the weakest link!"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_108" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Cast away? We would make it. First to launch, first to return, and our boat was used by three other teams!"]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_109" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Not all teams were as successful as the Pacific Penguins...don't worry, we lent them our boat."]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_110" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Penguins don't need to swim"]
[/caption]
We finished up the day at a climbing ladder
[caption id="attachment_112" align="alignnone" width="111" caption="Where were you when they built that ladder to heaven (South Park...look it up)?"]
[/caption]
Overall, a good day.
[caption id="attachment_113" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Pacific Penguins - Marcelo + Pilot"]
[/caption]
The final day included the beer game. The LFM group played this game during the summer so I did not attend, but I heard they had as much fun as we did. It is always hilarious in interesting to observe how everyone makes the same mistakes in that game.
The week finished up with a nice mixer and school starts on Tuesday with registration. Should be great!
Not to imply that the week did not have some good moments. Some of the events (like our first case study or Question and Answer sessions) was bland because we already did it in LFM. The Warren center was fun. The day started early in the morning and for our team it was a bit hectic. One of our team members did not arrive and was not answering his phone. My team includes Chris, Amanda, Jun, Marcelo, and Sushmita and our pilot is Kumar (he took all the pictures). Marcelo could not make it and we were forced to continue on without him. All in all I have a fantastic team. I've heard some horror stories but I think my team has and will continue to gel.
[caption id="attachment_111" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Pacific Penguins (minus one)"]
[/caption]So we started the day at the Warren center with some mind games.
[caption id="attachment_101" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Touch the numbers"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_103" align="alignnone" width="111" caption="The island game (two blind, two mute, one leader, and the ground is lava...go)"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_102" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="The blind leading the blind"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_104" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Tossing a ball into a cup...had I listened to the instructions I would have known we only needed to get ONE ball in the cup...not all three...I am the weakest link"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_105" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="The ground is lava"]
[/caption]After lunch we built lake-worthy rafts
[caption id="attachment_106" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Cast away? Can we make it?"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_107" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Tight ropes make for strong boats...I am no longer the weakest link!"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_108" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Cast away? We would make it. First to launch, first to return, and our boat was used by three other teams!"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_109" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Not all teams were as successful as the Pacific Penguins...don't worry, we lent them our boat."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_110" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Penguins don't need to swim"]
[/caption]We finished up the day at a climbing ladder
[caption id="attachment_112" align="alignnone" width="111" caption="Where were you when they built that ladder to heaven (South Park...look it up)?"]
[/caption]Overall, a good day.
[caption id="attachment_113" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Pacific Penguins - Marcelo + Pilot"]
[/caption]The final day included the beer game. The LFM group played this game during the summer so I did not attend, but I heard they had as much fun as we did. It is always hilarious in interesting to observe how everyone makes the same mistakes in that game.
The week finished up with a nice mixer and school starts on Tuesday with registration. Should be great!
Monday, August 25, 2008
School with the rest of the Sloanies
So today marks the start of the Fall semester with orientation. LFM mixing with MBA...interesting to say the least. The whole situation is sort of funny from an LFM point of view because we've been at school for over three months. Some of the luster has worn off and we're just ready to work. These incoming MBAs are just starting their semester and they are all gung-ho and ready to impress. Lets just say I heard a few people listing their GMAT scores. I don't want to give the wrong impression though so I will switch to some of the positive. All in all the group seems strong and very diverse. i could list a whole slew of stats about how diverse and strong we are...but you can look them up if you are interested. The morning started with breakfast and hobnobbing. Followed by some speeches by the President of the school Susan Hockfield, the Dean of Sloan, and other Sloan members. The President was a good speaker and I appreciate her coming out to speak to us. The Dean let us know that her coming out was a big deal. Her talk was good. His was better. She spoke of how well MIT and Sloan are integrated which I found sort of humorous compared to my undergraduate school, Florida.
At Florida it feels like one big school. If you want to change majors and therefore switch "schools" you just do it. Most people don't even know the name of their school. Apparently their business school is called the Warrington College of Business Administration. Who knew? MIT seems like separate islands that tolerate each other because it benefits them. The business school, Sloan, has their own way of doing everything and it is not the same as the way the rest of MIT does things. I can't speak for the other schools at MIT but Sloan just feels like it's own group. When summer ended, the engineering classes had separate course evaluation forms....apparently they can't even share those. That is where LFM comes in. We really seem to be a major link between Sloan and the engineering part of MIT driving to unite the parties as much as is possible. Either way, Susan seems to think we are well integrated...and maybe we are. I have not been here long so I can't compare the current state to how it used to be. I have also not attended another top business school to see what their disconnect was like. Maybe MIT is miles ahead compared to the other elite programs.
Back to orientation. After the speeches we went to meet our oceans. The groups of ~400 students is broken up in to groups of about 50 and we all have ocean names. I am in the Pacific ocean. We played some ice breaking games and learned our ocean cheer. Pacific's cheer is alright, but some of the others are better. Ours has no rhythm. After that we went to lunch and followed by presentations about working in our group and life at MIT. I only fell asleep twice, which is about average. i won an award at the end of summer from the LFM group called "The Sleeping Dude" award. I like to limit myself to five hours of sleep a night so if I am not interested in something I fall asleep. Anywhere. Anytime. I can fall asleep standing up. When that happens, the fall wakes you up.
Next, after some optional sessions that I did not attend, was a clambake. It was cool. Good free food, free beer (even though I don't drink, I appreciate the social lubricant for others), nice night. All in all, a good day. The rest of the week should be nice as well. I'll report in on those later.
At Florida it feels like one big school. If you want to change majors and therefore switch "schools" you just do it. Most people don't even know the name of their school. Apparently their business school is called the Warrington College of Business Administration. Who knew? MIT seems like separate islands that tolerate each other because it benefits them. The business school, Sloan, has their own way of doing everything and it is not the same as the way the rest of MIT does things. I can't speak for the other schools at MIT but Sloan just feels like it's own group. When summer ended, the engineering classes had separate course evaluation forms....apparently they can't even share those. That is where LFM comes in. We really seem to be a major link between Sloan and the engineering part of MIT driving to unite the parties as much as is possible. Either way, Susan seems to think we are well integrated...and maybe we are. I have not been here long so I can't compare the current state to how it used to be. I have also not attended another top business school to see what their disconnect was like. Maybe MIT is miles ahead compared to the other elite programs.
Back to orientation. After the speeches we went to meet our oceans. The groups of ~400 students is broken up in to groups of about 50 and we all have ocean names. I am in the Pacific ocean. We played some ice breaking games and learned our ocean cheer. Pacific's cheer is alright, but some of the others are better. Ours has no rhythm. After that we went to lunch and followed by presentations about working in our group and life at MIT. I only fell asleep twice, which is about average. i won an award at the end of summer from the LFM group called "The Sleeping Dude" award. I like to limit myself to five hours of sleep a night so if I am not interested in something I fall asleep. Anywhere. Anytime. I can fall asleep standing up. When that happens, the fall wakes you up.
Next, after some optional sessions that I did not attend, was a clambake. It was cool. Good free food, free beer (even though I don't drink, I appreciate the social lubricant for others), nice night. All in all, a good day. The rest of the week should be nice as well. I'll report in on those later.
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