Posted 6:41 PM by Zachary (e-mail)
The Core Curriculum

(NOTE: Michigan re-designed the core curriculum for the 2004-05 academic year)

Before getting to the core curriculum itself, you need to understand the term structure. UMBS has two 14-week terms, the Fall Term, running from September through December, and the Winter Term, running from January through April. Note that, unlike other two-term MBA programs, the second term is not named "Spring", presumably because the Ann Arbor winter does extend until April.

Both of the terms is further divided into two 7-week sections, A and B. Except for some of the core courses which consume both sections and are worth 3.0 credits, most courses only take seven weeks and are worth 1.5 credits.

Unless the student chooses to exempt out of a core course, most of the first year will be spent with their section in the core curriculum. Four courses span the entire Fall Term: Principles of Financial Accounting (ACC501), Applied Microeconomics (BE501), Marketing Management (MKT501), and Principles of Finance (FIN551). In addition, students take Corporate Strategy (CSIB502) in Fall A and The World Economy (CSIB503) in Fall B.

In the Winter Term, students take four core courses during the first seven weeks: Management Accounting (ACC552), Human Behavior and Organization (OB552), Operations Management (OM552), Applied Business Statistics (SMS502). That leaves one slot available for an elective. The second half of the term is spent in a Multi-disciplinary Action Project (MAP), which is Michigan's innovative, hands-on learning course that places students in consulting roles throughout America (and the world). More on this later.

Since I did not major in busines as an undergrad, there are few opportunities for me to waive or place out of core courses. To be honest, most of the core looks interesting, and I welcome the opportunity to explore different areas. I would only choose to waive a course if 1) I did already have experience in that area, 2) it wasn't a prerequisite for other courses I wanted to take, and 3) there were interesting electives available in its stead. The only class that fits the bill is Human Behavior and Organization, which is very similar to the Sloan school's Management Psychology Lab, which I took as an undergrad. I would welcome the chance to take a more advanced capital markets or finance class then, in preparation for my summer internship.

Posted 9:17 PM by Zachary (e-mail)
Admit Pre-Counseling
I took advantage of the UMBS career center's services today, participating in a thirty-minute counseling session that turned out to be very productive. Working off the resume I had built in iMpact (the business school's web system), the career officer pointed out several areas where my resume needed improvement. They ranged from the obvious (adding UMBS to the "Education" section) to the structural (arranging career highlights by function rather than project) to the detailed (cleaning up the list of relevant coursework from my undergraduate days).

I am a firm believer that, in the current economic downturn, the best Wall Street associate positions will go to those who excelled during their summer internships, and the best summer internships will go to those who focused on them from day one. I have the advantage of working for a large investment bank, in which I can, at a minimum, informally speak to many traders to learn about their jobs. I hope to use my remaining few months here to prepare for the job hunt, which will start very shortly after the Michigan classes do.

Posted 7:51 PM by Zachary (e-mail)
Flights to Ann Arbor
From New York, the cheapest airfare option to Ann Arbor seems to be the LaGuardia (LGA) to Detroit (DTW) route via Spirit Airlines. They only run five or six flights a day, but you can't beat the $140 or so round-trip price. My wife and I are heading off to Ann Arbor for apartment/townhouse/house-hunting on June 5th, and have tickets on Northwest (the cheapest carrier offering after-work flights) for about $200 each.

Posted 8:19 PM by Zachary (e-mail)
Career Center
Another of the strengths of the Michigan MBA program is its career center, a strength that is reflected in its #2 ranking in the WSJ corporate recruiter poll. Even during the summer they offer career counseling appointments, both on-campus and by phone, even to new students like myself. One of my top priorities is to land a sales and trading internship next summer, and I will take advantage of all the resources the school has to achieve that goal.

Posted 7:18 PM by Zachary (e-mail)
Why Michigan?
Given my goal of a Wall Street trading career, what drew me to the University of Michigan Business School? Michigan is not known as a finance powerhouse, in the way that Wharton or Columbia are. Choosing an MBA program is naturally a very personal choice, with a mixture of factors coming into play--brand name, school atmosphere, location, alumni network, etc. Here is why I'm very geeked up to be headed to Ann Arbor this fall:

My Top Ten Reasons for Going to Michigan

10. University Resources
The University of Michigan has renowned graduate programs in law, public affairs, engineering, and so many other fields. I look forward to supplementing my business education with coursework in other disciplines that interest me. Few other business schools offer access to such a rich and diverse set of academic resources.

9. College Atmosphere
Whatever else MIT is, a typical college experience it is not. The next two years of business school are a chance for me to live in the small, college town, be part of a small, strong academic community, and go tailgating before huge football weekends. The tight-knit, dynamic, "college town" feel of Ann Arbor plays a big role in this.

8. Escape from New York
I've now worked in New York for four straight years, and plan to come back to Wall Street after graduation. Not being native to the city, I really appreciated the value of a two year window during which I could explore someplace new.

7. MAP Program
As someone who doesn't enjoy studying very much, I've always been drawn to academic programs that incorporate as much real world experience as possible. Michigan's Multidisciplinary Action Projects are a unique and perfect expression of this. First year students spend the second half of the Winter term at company sites, working on projects with a team of fellow students. This is Michigan's "action-based learning" model at work!

6. Recommendation of Colleagues
Several colleagues, with much greater Wall Street experience than my own, recommended Michigan to me. It has a very good reputation on the Street.

5. Tozzi Center
Michigan's new multi-million dollar trading floor places the school at the forefront of the financial technology revolution. Completed just last year, the Tozzi Center will be a great resource for myself, and is a symbol of the Business School's renewed commitment to its finance education.

4. School of Social Work
Michigan's School of Social Work, ranked #1 by US News & World Report, played a huge role in my apply to, and enrolling in, the Business School. That's because my wife (i.e. better half) was admitted to their Master of Social Work (MSW) program, so we'll both be wolverines in the fall (how cool is that!)

3. Overall Academic Strength
More than most programs, Michigan is strong in every facet of the MBA education, from marketing to operations, organization management to finance. At MIT as an undergrad, I was in a very engineering-centric academic environment, and for my graduate education I wanted a broader, more well-rounded experience. For, although I plan to enter finance after graduation, it is the lessons on leadership, management, and strategic thinking that will most benefit me the length of my career.

2. New York Alumni Network
The strength of Michigan's alumni network, both in New York and on Wall Street, was a huge factor for me. Frankly, the strength of its alumni network to me makes up for the fact that UMBS is not the first school that comes to the minds of some Wall Street recruiters. Furthermore, as an admitted student I have been warmly welcomed by the New York alumni club, invited to all their events--from finance networking parties to happy hours to Hamptons beach club weekends.

1. The Students
Down-to-Earth. Smart. Active. Friendly. Sense of humor. These are the phrases that best describe all the students I've met, from my alumni interviewer to the Go Blue Rendezvous weekend. This is exactly the type of people I would like to study with for two years, and be friends with for life.

Posted 10:10 PM by Zachary (e-mail)
Looking into one-way moving truck rentals from here to Ann Arbor, these are the prices I'm getting:

Ryder/Budget: 15ft truck, $937; 24ft truck, $1791
U-Haul: 14ft truck, $1142; 17ft truck, $1183
Penske: 15ft truck, $929; 20ft truck, $1469
Hertz: 15ft truck, 20ft truck, no rates on the web

I'll need to compare that to the cost of hiring a moving company to load and drive our belongings to Michigan (of course, if I do rent a truck myself I'd still need to hire someone here and there to help with loading/unloading of heavy appliances, furniture). I'd be willing to pay $1000 or $1500 more for the moving company (less chance of something breaking, much less strain on myself), but anything above that seems a bit steep.

Posted 7:25 PM by Zachary (e-mail)
A Michigan alum was kind enough to send me this link, to the Ann Arbor property tax data website:
http://www.ci.ann-arbor.mi.us/Finance/data.html

The nice thing about this site is that it provides tons of information about each and every residential property (home?) in the city, including photographs (for certain properties). It'll be a great resource going forward.

Posted 12:28 PM by Zachary (e-mail)
In addition to many nice apartment and townhouse complexes, Ann Arbor seems to have a good house rental market. Some useful websites for home rentals are:
ArborWeb.com - Classified ads
MLive.com - Classified ads
SpalyGroup.com - Real estate agents