The MBA Student Voice

Anderson: U+ME = US

Logarithms? Integrals? These are not words I have frequently (if ever) used in my professional life for the past five years. Last week, Ann wrote about her experience re-learning math, and it's definitely something that most of us go through as MBAs. Even at Brown, we didn’t have those pesky “requirements,” so I managed to escape math-free. In fact, it has been since high school since I have done any calculus at all.

With that in mind, yesterday I took Anderson’s refresher math seminar, which was 8 long hours of math review: Algebra, Calculus, and Statistics. Offered by the school, it was a great way for people like me to get back into the math habit.

And to my surprise, I came out energized. I’d forgotten how fun math could be. In high school, I was actually a huge fan of math, and those feelings all came rushing back. Math is so logical, and using my brain in a way I hadn't used it in a long time felt incredible.

I was also thrilled to do a “trial run” for school. I am in the section that has 8:00am classes (Section E!), so this refresher seminar was a great way to get back into the habit of waking up early and using my brain bright and early.

With only five days left before orientation begins, I am getting pretty antsy. It’s back to school time, and I’m ready to go.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @k8eddie

Kate

It's Never Too Late For Now

If you're a fan of 30 Rock, you probably recognized the title of this post from Season Five, where Pete and Frank decide to resurrect Pete's music career (he had once played with Loverboy) by recording the song "It's Never Too Late For Now." For me, this phrase has been running through my head lately as I prepare to go back to school and dust off the memory banks to re-learn all the math I have forgotten.

This picture makes me thirsty for some of Liz Lemon's funky juice.

If you're reading this blog because you're interested in an MBA program, it should be no surprise that business school requires a baseline of mathematical knowledge, or in b-school terms, quantitative or "quant" skills. In theory, I shouldn't be too intimidated by this. After all, I got a 4.0 in my college Calculus class, and I have been assured that my MBA program will not require anything more advanced than what I learned back then.

The harsh reality, however, is that when I took Calculus, the hot new Johnny Depp film wasn't Pirates of the Caribbean, or even Chocolat--it was What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Before you Google that, rest assured that it was quite a while ago.

Since then, I avoided math by going to law school (perhaps the only grad school program that doesn't require math) and then practicing law, where the only number crunching I did was preparing income tax returns. I did refresh my memory banks last fall while prepping for the GMAT, but just enough to get a respectable test score--not enough to succeed in the quant-heavy classes I'll start in a few weeks.

So if you're a prospective MBA student who is similarly situated, the good news is that you CAN get into a top program on more than quantitative skills alone. The bad news is, you'll have to get up to speed eventually. Fortunately, UCLA Anderson provides several options. I'm currently enrolled in MBA Math as well as Anderson's online MBA Math Workshop. I also purchased GMAC's Essential Prep series, although I find the Khan Academy tutorials in the MBA Math Workshop to be more helpful. I'm also working through the Excel tutorials on Lynda.com (with free access provided by Anderson).

Basically, I have spent the last 3 weeks holed up at home re-learning math (and learning Excel for the first time). It's a challenge, but a manageable one. Plus, I'm in Los Angeles so when I take breaks, it's to do fun stuff like catch a comedy show at Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. 

I went last night and saw performers from two other favorite NBC shows, The Office and Parks and Recreation. (No Amy Poehler, unfortunately, but Jean-Ralphio was a good consolation prize.) Even more exciting, I'm going back in a couple of weeks to see local celebrity/brother Albert Ching perform some improv comedy goodness.

For now, back to the books!

-Ann Ching, '14

Follow me on Twitter: @annibbler

 

 

Class of ‘14 insider summer scoop - PART 6 - "Biggest adjustment"

We're all basically settled in now. We still haven't officially started the school year yet, but Orientation is in a week. Here's what we expect our biggest adjustments to being a student again will be.

The biggest (initial) adjustment... (Source)

Ashley Mallinson: Moving from New York to California, I was somewhat wary of Los Angeles as I had heard many nay-sayers doubting the authenticity of the Angelos, harping on the traffic and hating on the "LA attitude". I was prepared to make a huge adjustment, however as a classmate recently announced, I have already “become one with Los Angles”. I love it after only one week! While it is inherently a pesky process to navigate a new city, settle into a new lifestyle, discover the layout and character of new neighborhoods, learn traffic patterns after years of jumping in NYC taxicabs, find the most fun nightlife and social scenes and, of course, balance beach and study time, it has been an exciting adventure so far and I'm loving every minute of it!

Dwight Asuncion: There are a number of things I’ll have to adjust to, but the biggest adjustment I can see is not having a salary. It’s not just not having a salary; it’s basically having a negative salary since I have to pay tuition, living expenses, etc. I’ve been in a couple stores and I’ve had to refrain from purchasing something or had to purchase the cheaper option to save some money. I have to think twice. I can’t spend with impunity. A couple other adjustments I’ll have to make are dealing with the LA traffic, being in sunny SoCal (won’t complain about that).

Kyle Forrest: I’d say my biggest adjustment is going to be getting back into the swing of studying. We’ve had a couple of pre-orientation assignments to do over the summer, one of which, the accounting case, has helped to a degree, but since my undergraduate experience was on a semester schedule vs. quarters I’ve been told to be prepared for a very high pace of learning.

Chris Varin: I must admit that no salary is definitely on the top of the list although I’ve been living on a bidget for the past year while travelling so I feel I’m somewhat used to that already. I guess I’m going to have to get better at time management. Working in investment banking, my days at the office all looked alike and I was basically there constantly. Now I’m going to have to work in club activities with socializing, classes, recruiting, administrative stuff and a whole lot more. While London was big, the public transport system was excellent so I didn’t need to worry or plan before going out of my bubble, here it's a whole new ball park but I'm enjoying the discovery so far. There are plenty of others adjustments I’ll have to make like wearing sunscreen, playing sports regularly and meeting new and interesting people all the time - it's going to be a hard life!

Ann Ching: For me, going back to grad school means an identity shift. For many years, my response to “What do you do?” has been, “I’m a lawyer.” For better or worse, people automatically associate certain characteristics with lawyers - authority, prestige, frivolous lawsuits - so it’s a convenient label. In the past few weeks, I’ve been adjusting to my new identity as “business school student,” which generates less predictable reactions. I’m pretty excited about student discounts, though! The commute to school will also be a big adjustment. According to a recent report, Honolulu (where I moved from) has worse traffic than Los Angeles, but that hasn’t been my experience so far.

Alejandra Rodriguez: The greatest adjustment for me has been transportation. I have been driving everywhere since 2008 and now I find myself without a car in a city that does not have efficient public transportation. To make matters worse I have no experience using buses and I gave up on trying to learn on my own so I bought an iPhone and use the map application to tell me what busses to take. I am loving the map application, it is the most useful thing ever!  I have also been walking a lot and my legs are not used to it so I feel very tired at the end of the day. If you are planning to go to an MBA, you are not very athletic, and you won’t have a car then consider walking in a park every day to train your body. Additionally I have been getting suntanned from walking in the sun so I recommend putting sunblock on frequently if you want to avoid tanning. Despite all this I adore Los Angeles, it is a beautiful city and walking long distances and riding busses is totally worth it!

-Anderson 14' bloggers

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