Orientation

Wow, business school is so much fun! I've been in New Haven for about a week and a half and I absolutely love it here. My class is extremely diverse (not many bankers/consultants) as I've met people from all industries from all over the world. I think it's impressive that there are 22 countries represented in such a small class size (~ 200). The statistic I remember most is that we have 38% women in our class, which is probably one of the highest of any MBA program in the US. I think it's also pretty cool that not many of my peers took the deferral opportunity. Everyone in the class of 2008 is eager to be here and despite the short term benefit of saving $20,000, people realize the long term rewards for earning the MBA one year earlier.

In case you're wondering, I'm a member of the awesome silver cohort. We're probably the most social cohort because I tend to see more silvers at the bars every night. My favorite bar so far is "Bar" because they brew their own beer and on Thursdays, it's only $1! The atmosphere reminds me of Raleigh's in Berkeley and it's always crowded.

Last week's orientation was fun but also exhausting because I met so many people at once. I've gotten better at introducing myself and giving a quick history of my life in less than 30 seconds. Sometimes, I have to study the facebook at night to remember all the names of people I met earlier.

A few highlights from Orientation:
-barbeque at Lighthouse Point, free beer and beautiful sunset
-Taste of New Haven, eating samples of food from all the local restaurants
-Lunch at the Yale Club, NYC
-Company Visit in NYC
-NYSE Reception on the trading floor
-Alumni panels
-Dean describing the new curriculum in detail and feeling the excitement and energy from faculty

I can tell this will be an amazing 2 years, I want to take advantage of every opportunity available. By the way, after buying nearly all my furniture from Ikea, I've become a pro at building anything. If anyone still needs help building that desk or drawer, I'm your man.

Summer Update 5

Where has the summer gone? It's already August and school is about to start in a couple weeks!! I had a really fun July, including trips to San Diego, San Francisco, and Vegas (DO NOT STAY IN VEGAS FOR 5 DAYS EVER). Also, I'm finally getting to know Southern California better. Because I've been up in the bay area since college, I never really spent much time around LA until now. Who knew the sunset strip in Hollywood is such a hot spot to hang out!




As orientation for Yale gets closer, I'm getting more and more excited about bschool. They released the orientation schedule and I'm definitely looking forward to eating lunch at the Yale Club in NYC and stopping by NYSE. I've never been to Wall Street, but I imagine screaming traders and lotsa money flowing through computer screens. As far as pre-arrival check off items, I've finished most of the things I need to do. I stopped by my high school's district office to pick up my immunization records (not that I hate needles, but I don't feel like standing in line to get unncessary shots during orientation). I also stopped by the Post Office last week to get my passport ready (better to do it now for the int'l trip in January). I've read two of the three req'd books (Buffet and Walton biographies) but I'm struggling to finish Gandhi's autobiography. It's an interesting book but really long.

The weirdest pre-arrival check off item was buying a one-way plane ticket. I did a lot of research and in some situations, it's almost cheaper to use half a roundtrip ticket versus just buying a one-way ticket. I don't know how the pricing in the airline industry works, but that doesn't make intuitive sense. It'd be interesting to read a case study on how airlines set their prices.

Lastly, I found out that I'm eligible for the Hope Tax Credit this year! Because I worked only the first half of 2006, and I'm a student in 2006, I'm eligible for $1500 credit. Credit is better than a deduction cuz this is Uncle Sam just giving me $1500!

13 Days till I move to New Haven
20 Days till Orientation