Category: Full-time MBA

More than 2 weeks have passed since my last post, and I want to apologize for that. We only have 3 more weeks of classes before the finals, and I have been trying really hard not to fall behind; inevitably (and regrettably) the blog took a back seat. I have so much to tell you though!

First of all, Passport Day! Mike and Ashrae have already written about it, but I can’t not mention it, because as part of the Stern Student Government International Committee, I was actually in charge of organizing the event. The two weeks after spring break and leading up to Passport Day were a little crazy for the committee: trying to help out volunteer country representatives with their responsibilities, and promptly answering their questions; marketing the event to make sure all the MBA students could be a part of it; figuring out the timeline for the performances; deciding on the voting system for the “Best Country” competition; setting up the tent in Gould Plaza… There was a lot going on behind the scenes, and it’s never easy to pull off events such as this one, but it’s really worth it when it all goes smoothly (which it did). We finally had the opportunity to relax during beer blast (it was right after Passport Day), and it was the happiest I’ve felt in a while: we had so many of our friends come and thank us for organizing it, telling us they had a lot of fun, and that was the whole point anyway. That sense of accomplishment and contentment is incomparable. Of course none of it would have been possible without the country representatives who volunteered their time to participate in the event, but they were happier than everyone else, and I was so grateful, relieved, and proud.

Next up: my Stern Consulting Corps project for the National Board of Review. We are almost done with our project; in fact, we just sent off our slides to our mentor today, to get his approval, and we will be having a preliminary presentation with our client on Friday. I’m looking forward to it, and I’m really excited to hear what they think of our analyses and recommendations. Hopefully, they will be impressed, and they will want to implement our plan.

Third: office visits to Fab and Etsy through the Stern Entrepreneurs Exchange Club. The visit to Fab was part of the 2013 EEX Entrepreneurship Summit 2 weeks ago, and the visit to Etsy was a stand-alone visit last Friday. It probably does not make sense to compare the two offices, but I’m lumping them together because they both sort of took my breath away—I was overcome with a sense of longing (and belonging, I guess). Tech start-ups have a very different feel—they are typically unconventional in their layout and decorations (random facts: the first thing you see as you enter the Fab office is a Foosball table; and Etsy gives each employee $100 to purchase from etsy.com to decorate their desks), but more importantly, there is an air of acceptance and welcome that’s really tough to put into words. Like I said, they somehow make me feel like I belong there.

Finally, this weekend was Pre-View Weekend at Stern! I’m not on the Torch Committee, so I was not as involved as I would have liked, but I did get to mingle with the new admits at a bar near school on Saturday, and that was really fun. It was kind of bittersweet actually; it suddenly hit me that my first year at Stern is almost over. Graduation is still more than a year away, and I realize that it’s way too early to start worrying about it, but I truly don’t want this to end. I love being a Sternie.

It’s hard to believe that a year ago I was eagerly preparing for Pre-View Weekend at Stern. Truth be told, I was still mildly undecided when I attended. I was 90% certain I would attend since Stern had been my long time front runner. However, as a naturally indecisive person, I was hesitant to make that commitment. That all changed when I met my potential classmates, professors, and faculty over Stern’s admitted students’ weekend. In fact, I remember it distinctively.

The first night we had a cocktail reception at the NASDAQ where Dean Peter Henry spoke. It was a place most people never see, plus we had great views of Times Square that even a native can appreciate. I remember joking with Dean Henry, a UNC alumnus, about my undergraduate school, Duke, and their basketball rivalry. I knew that any school with such a down-to-earth dean would be a great fit for me. I then continued to mingle with my peers before we continued the evening out. I recall not wanting the fun to stop and I looked forward to seeing my new friends the next day.

Even though I knew that moving from the Upper East Side was unlikely, I attended the off-campus housing panel the next day. It provided great perspective for me and confirmed my desire to stay put in my UES studio. I then moved throughout the day meeting more of my prospective classmates. When I would divulge that I had yet to put in my deposit, I was met with overwhelming encouragement and a nearly instant sense of community. I felt that my peers genuinely wanted me to join them in the fall. As someone who values cohesion and friendliness in an educational setting almost as much as academic rigor, I was delighted by their welcoming nature. These experiences definitely pushed me closer to writing my check.

Finally, when I met second year students and alumni, I realized the breadth of connections and quality of careers that Sternies have. Although Stern had caught my attention largely because of the school’s strength in Luxury and Retail, I wasn’t completely decided. By talking to students about their own paths and hearing from alumni, I realized there wasn’t a wrong choice I could make in attending here.

As I prepare to speak on the Housing Panel, participate in the career path discussions, and join some prospective students during dinner, I can’t help but feel excited. Actually, I’m jealous. I would give anything to be in their shoes and be able to start my journey over again. I hope those of you in attendance enjoy the experience as much as I did!

Hello all, it’s me again. I’ve been speaking with a few prospects and a few admitted students, and one thing that has come up a lot is the cost of coming to school. New York is an expensive city, tuition costs a lot, and giving up two years of salary is a big deal. Since the federal government has done away with subsidized student loans for graduate students, the cost of borrowing has increased as well.

These are all true, and all important, so I want to talk a little about how to think about the financial burden of business school, and some ways to mitigate it.

Business School is an Investment

The main reason that business school is such a popular destination for young professionals is not just because it’s an awesome time (see my previous posts), but because it’s an investment with a high return on investment (ROI). Most students see a notable increase in earnings after having graduated relative to their earnings before their MBA. For the Stern class of 2012, the average base salary was $107,875, with an average signing bonus of $32,054 and average guaranteed bonus of $27,773, bringing the mean total to $167,702. As you may have guessed, the average incoming student is making markedly less than that prior to entering school.

One additional important thing to factor into this is that the return is not just a financial one. There are also major non-financial benefits, like the education received, leadership skills developed, and the network built over your time at business school. These may certainly contribute to the financial gains from your first job, but they also bring with them the ability to work across a broad variety of roles and industries, the skills and education needed to advance your career at an accelerated pace, and a strong support network that can help you change companies, industries, or functions down the line. All of these should be factored into your decision of whether or not to come to business school.

It Can Be Made Cheaper

Once you choose to attend business school, there are a few things you can do to help lessen the financial burden on yourself when you arrive.

Many Sternies choose to reduce their loan burdens by taking positions on campus. These could be roles as Teaching Fellows, Graduate Fellows, or other positions, but the basics are generally the same. You work for either a professor, a department, or an administrative body (e.g., Admissions, the Office of Career Development, etc.) and the pay you get goes directly to reducing your loan burden. These jobs are generally not taxed, since you’re not actually getting paid – the school is simply reducing your tuition by the amount you earn. So that’s nice. I’ve taken a few of these roles – specifically, I am a Graduate Ambassador for Admissions, a Career Coach for the Office of Career Development, and a Teaching Fellow for Professor Damodaran’s Corporate Finance course and for Professor Purdy’s Team Communications course.

Other students get positions at companies during the year through internships. A major benefit to studying at Stern is that our location in the heart of Downtown Manhattan provides amazing opportunities to get work experience during their time here, while still taking classes, participating in clubs, and having social lives at school. Getting an internship during the spring or fall semester can not only provide students with a supplemental source of income – it can also help them build their network and work experience in whatever field they are looking to recruit.

Lastly, almost every Stern student spends their summer working in a ten to twelve week internship. These internships span nearly every industry, every MBA-friendly functional role, and the entire globe. A vast majority of these positions are paid, and for a few social enterprise-focused positions that aren’t paid, the school can help with funding through a program called SIIF (Stern Impact Internship Fund). This fund provides a stipend to students working in social enterprise so that they can work in an area they are passionate about, and also afford to eat for the summer.

I hope this helps to ease some concerns about the financial impact of attending business school. When I thought about all of this, it became clear to me that my MBA would be well worth my investment, and since I’ve been here, all of the evidence has verified that. However, it may not be the right choice for everyone. So before you take that big step of investing two years and many dollars into your education, do what you should do before any big investment – due diligence. Read up on ROIs for MBAs going into your target industry, calculate the NPV of your MBA (don’t worry if you don’t know what that is – you don’t have your MBA yet), and figure out what you really want to get from this experience.

You can also check out what Stern has to say about financial aid by clicking here.

‘Successful entrepreneurship is boring by design’- Professor Glenn Okun, Stern Professor of the year.

Entrepreneurship is a word heard often in the corridors of Business Schools. There are certain things about entrepreneurship that can only be learned through experience. However, there are many important tactics, strategies and disciplines that a prospective entrepreneur can learn in the classroom.

Professor Glenn Okun is a Clinical Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship and teaches courses in entrepreneurship, private equity and venture capital. He has achieved much success by investing in early and later stage financing of private companies in various industries. He was recently awarded with the Stern Professor of the Year, 2013.

I am delighted to be taking his ‘Managing growing companies’ class this semester. I highly recommend this class to anyone who dreams of becoming an entrepreneur. A seasoned practitioner, Professor Okun uses his years of experience to take class discussions far beyond the confines of textbooks. He shares his business strategies and entrepreneurial wisdom with the class and calls them his ‘McNuggets’.

Another highly celebrated professor at Stern is Professor Aswath Damodaran. CNN Money recently rated him amongst the top 10 b-school professors globally. I am taking his Corporate Finance course this semester. Professor Damodaran does justice to all of the hype that surrounds him. I find his passion for the course contagious. He claims that his aim in life is to become the Lady Gaga of finance and wants over a million followers on Twitter. His twitter handle is @AswathDamodaran.

The list of highly accomplished professors at Stern is endless. I will try to talk about a few more in future posts.

Until next time,

Ashrae

Bonjour! One of the things I love most about Stern is how motivated students are to organize activities and pursue their interests. Recently, a handful of my friends and I expressed interest in learning or brushing up on our French. We mentioned this to a classmate from France and he instantly volunteered to start hosting a class on Thursday afternoons. While I was excited by the idea and his offer, I was weary as to how the class would actually shape up. Yesterday, I attended my first one and it was outstanding! We covered everything from pronunciation to grammar to conjugation. Everyone was clearly at different levels, but we enjoyed the company and asking each other questions. One of the aspects I enjoyed most was that this lesson was about chocolate. Our gracious teacher even brought us some from one of Manhattan’s finest Chocolatiers, La Maison du Chocolat. Needless to say, the chocolate didn’t last long around a handful of hungry and tired MBA students, but our conversations did continue.

I appreciated that our classmate looked to make these lessons center around culture.  It was clear that he put thought and effort into our afternoon. For an activity that is not a formal club or class, it’s great how dedicated he was to sharing his knowledge with us, although this is not atypical for Stern students. Next week, we are going to focus on wine as a topic of culture and conversation. I think this is a lesson that can’t go wrong. I will report back on how these classes proceed. Until then, au revoir!

Hello all, it’s been quite a long time. I’m sure you all miss me.

I would like to say that I’ve missed a few weeks of this blog because things have been really crazy, but the sad truth is that things are winding down. There’s still plenty to do, and I’m keeping busy, but at this point I have less than two months before I graduate and reenter the real world, so I’m trying to enjoy the little time I have left here.

So enjoyment. That’s the name of the game. Last Thursday was a big day for school-wide enjoyment, which is very convenient. We had two really big events – Passport Day and the B-School Dropouts concert. Oh yeah, Beer Blast was right between the two.

Passport Day is our annual celebration of cultural diversity at Stern. In other words, it is a day to gorge yourself on foods from all over the world. Every country that is represented by a Stern students gets a table, and students either make or order food that is traditional in that country. I wound up having dumplings from Hong Kong; a Guatemalan chicken dish made by a classmate of mine; an Uzbek lamb-stuffed pastry; various arepas, empanadas and croquettes from Latin American countries; and an embarrassing amount more than that. There were also live performances by students and outside performers, generally with traditional dances from a few countries. This year, I got to see performers from South Korea, India and Bulgaria.

Next up was Beer Blast. We have this just about every Thursday from 6PM until 10PM in the Upper Concourse 100 Graduate Lounge. Of course, nobody calls it the Upper Concourse 100 Graduate Lounge. They call it the Beer Blast room. Every week a different student club hosts Beer Blast, which means they get to set the theme, order food, and pick some delicious beer and wine to serve. This week was particularly easy for food selection, because we had ridiculous amounts of food leftover from Passport Day. Other days, we get three deliveries of food throughout the night, and it’s ranged from pizza to sliders to chicken fingers to pita sandwiches to giant trays of ethnic foods from around the world.

After Beer Blast ends at 10PM, there is always some kind of after party (called Bar Blast), generally hosted by the club that ran Beer Blast. This week, instead of the traditional party, our very own B-School Dropouts, a cover band made up of MBA2s, played around the corner at Sullivan Hall. The band covered modern hits, and plenty of classic rock songs, most notably Sweet Child of Mine, which ended the show. After that, there was (yet another) after party at a nearby bar, Amity Hall. Overall, it was a great night, and yet not atypical for a Thursday at Stern.

One other nice thing about Stern is that we don’t hold classes on Fridays. This is really helpful for people who choose to recruit or intern on Fridays, but it’s also just great if you need a little extra time to recover from Thursday night.

Anyway, that’s all for me this week. Stay tuned for more in the coming weeks.

Yesterday the International Committee at Stern hosted Stern Passport Day, an occasion for Stern students to get together and share their traditional cuisines, costumes and performances with each other.  While sitting in the student lounge I overheard an MBA1 student say, ‘’Passport day has already made my Business School experience worth it”. I could not agree more. The mouth-watering assortment of cuisines, the vibrant costumes and the charged up performances lived up to all the hype. A bunch of South Asians, including me, danced to some Bollywood tunes. The Stern community showed up in large numbers and embraced all the different cultures.

Someone suggested that instead of organizing passport day annually we should try and have it every semester. The Stern administration encourages students to take leadership on matters concerning the Stern community. Last semester, another Sternie felt that Stern needs a ‘Stern Cultures club’.  Four months on and she is in the process of finalizing the board for the club. I am really looking forward to some of the events the club is planning to organize.

I cannot end this post without a mention of my Spring break. I had mentioned in my previous post that I was organizing the India Trek this year. We visited five cities across India. We landed in New Delhi, the capital of India. We went on to visit the magnificent Taj Mahal as well as the forts of Rajasthan. We got to soak some sun on the beaches of Goa. Eight days of non-stop shenanigans ended with an alumni reception at Mumbai. It was hard to come back to reality after the trip. All of us got along so well that we have already had our first get-together in New York. Great memories and good friends for life.

Until next time,

Ashrae

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the Women in the World Summit, which was presented by my former employer, Newsweek Daily Beast. The experience is unlike anything that I can put into words. At the Summit, moderators who include people like Hillary Clinton, Diane Von Furstenberg, Angela Jolie, Barbara Walters, Meryl Streep, and more, help women from countries near and far testify to some of the atrocities they have experienced or witnessed in their lives. Atrocities that I could never imagine – honor killings and beatings, genital mutilation, rape, not being allowed to work or leave the home, being denied education, and the list goes on. A former Stern part-time student/former coworker of mine provided tickets for myself and another classmate. Knowing my interest in women’s issues, he was happy to extend the invitation to the Summit. Much like Stern, this gathering is a transformative experience. It brings perspective to my MBA as I stress over a quiz that is worth 10% of my grade in one course. Moreover, to see a media company create such a forum for women’s issues reminds me that corporate America can participate in meaningful corporate social responsibility (CSR) beyond the purpose of branding or the bottom line.

My friend who accompanied me has a particular interest in CSR, whereas I am simply a person who was inspired by the conference last year and as  a woman, finds these issues fascinating and engaging. As I sat at the conference this year, I found that I was looking at it through a different lens since attending Stern. I thought about the ways that pressure could be placed upon companies to improve not only women’s rights, but also human rights. I considered some of the management techniques we have discussed in my Leadership in Organizations (LiO) course that could be applicable to some of the organizations represented at the Summit. I further considered the role that celebrity played in branding the conference and how it was leveraged for good rather than to simply sell tickets to an event. I considered the way that macroeconomic conditions colored the lives of many of the women presenters and how the decisions made in the US could have far reaching effects that often go unseen globally. These are all things that hardly crossed my mind last year when I was simply awestruck by the conference.

Again, I was thrilled to share this experience with fellow Sternies. In fact, next I might suggest partnering with Stern Women in Business to have a greater presence at the conference. I feel that Women in the World presents a great fusion of EQ and IQ. You can check it out for yourself here.