It's been essentially five months since I last posted, and yet it feels like that time passed in the blink of an eye. What have I been up to in that time?
1. The Recruiting Grind: There's no way to sugarcoat it- the task of securing a summer internship is no joke. I was lucky enough to find mine very early on in the process, but I definitely had more than my fair share of "what am I doing with my life" moments as I switched back and forth between management consulting, social impact, and human resources recruiting paths. But Anderson supports you the entire way: the Parker Career Management Center really prepares 1st years well for the rigors of the recruiting process. 2nd-years act as your career coaches and interview prep team leaders, and are generally available for advice, informational sessions, and venting. The best aspect of Anderson here is that almost everyone is looking to change at least some aspect of their career, so there is a feeling of mutual commiseration- everyone is in the same boat as you and can completely empathize along the way.
2. A Complete Business School Education: Learning at Anderson is like drinking water from a firehose. There's so many ways to learn- classes, Easton Technology workshops, academic internships, case competitions. Unlike a lot of other MBA programs where students will begin to specialize very early on, I've really come to appreciate the fact that Anderson prepares you to be successful in whichever function- marketing, finance, operations, etc.- the situation demands. In one case competition team, I was in charge of producing the financial valuations and sensitivity analysis for a potential startup, while in another learning team project identifying bottlenecks for an organization's operational process. No one is pigeon-holed as "the marketing guy" or "the finance girl"; this "generalist" curriculum really helped me during my recruiting process, especially during case interviews that required you to quickly synthesize aspects of finance, strategy, and organizational behavior to see the bigger picture.
(Our case competition team after submitting our presentation to the judges)
(the same team nice and happy after placing 2nd in the Deloitte Case Competition)
3. Great Classmates, Even Better Humans: This is by far the best part of Anderson. I love the people I go to school with. It's going to sound cheesy and corny until you actually come and experience it yourself. People work hard, play hard definitely, especially at the 90s party- but more importantly they work together, play together. As someone who has a good deal of experience working to build strong classroom and organizational (school) culture, I know it when I see it: Anderson's people are its competitive edge.
(Anderson 1st-years at the Star Wars premiere following fall final exams)
