Michigan MBA

Posted 8:20 AM by Zachary (e-mail)
Summing up the First Year
...reflections on the past eight months, the coming summer, and next year.

Top 5 Memories of my MBA1 Experience
The best parts of going to school at UMBS:
1. Summer Job Offer - Call me unsentimental, but when all is said and done, I came to Michigan with the goal of getting into Wall Street sales and trading. I spent a huge portion of my first five months pursuing that goal. And in January, I achieved it, accepting an offer.
2. Section 6 - I am a true believer in Michigan's system of grouping MBA1s by sections and having them take all the core classes together. It makes school all the more fun to have 70+ people you know on a first name basis.
3. IMAP in Ireland - By far the defining academic experience of the first year, I can't emphasize enough what a great program the MAP projects are. My team was great, the project was extremely challenging, the trip was awesome.
4. Football games - My personal favorite was the thrashing of Notre Dame.
5. Parties - From the Halloween party to Go Blue Rendezvous to section parties to wine club events.

Top 5 Surprises About UMBS
Positive things that I wasn't expecting:
1. Diversity of Interests - When I was applying to school, I focused solely on finance, finance, finance. It was a pleasant surprise to be surrounded by a broad array of interests, from brand management to strategy consulting to non-profit management to, yes, finance.
2. Student Attitude - Coming to Michigan, you'll find a distinct lack of tightass-edness (less than 5% of the student body, I'd say). Most people take (and give) jokes pretty well, too.
3. Practical Finance - Having spoken to MBA students in other schools (especially the finance focused ones), I've found that (to my liking) the finance professors here seem to be much more focused on real world finance (and thus, less theoretical). That trend will certainly continue through next year's electives, which includes trading, portfolio management, and derivative classes all taught in the Tozzi Center. Speaking of which...
4. Tozzi Rocks - I had high expectations for Michigan's new, multi-million dollar trading room before I came, but it has exceeded all of them. What a unique, and invaluable, resource for students pursuing finance careers. And from what I've heard from students at other schools, it is truly head and shoulders above all other trading rooms.
5. The Winter - In terms of temperature, this winter never got down to the bone-chilling depths that some people hinted at. I can't remember any days when it was painfully cold, which counts as a positive surprise in my book.

Top 5 Downsides of UMBS
I'm fair and balanced; here are some of my least favorite aspects of going to school here:
1. Dining Out - I'm biased, having moved here from the New York area, but the dining out options are very, very limited in Ann Arbor. Except for a handful of nice (but expensive) joints, and outside of American fare, you're out of luck. I know not to expect the quality and selection of Manhattan, but would is one, simple Italian restaurant too much to ask for?
2. Length of Winter - So the temperatures weren't much worse than New York, but it did drag on and on. We got lucky this year in that it didn't really turn cold until December, but that cold stretched all the way until April. If only the school year ran until mid-June (like Chicago GSB), then we'd have 2 months to enjoy Ann Arbor in great weather. Instead, we have less than 2 weeks to do outdoor barbecues and all.
3. Short Winter Break - Maybe my classmates are all clamoring to spend January in Ann Arbor, but somehow I doubt it. Two weeks is pretty stingy for a winter break, in my opinion.
4. The Cafeteria - It's not a big surprise, but the in-school cafeteria leaves much to be desired. I have gotten word that the administration is studying ways to improve it.
5. ? - Sorry, nothing else comes to mind.

Top 5 Goals for Summer in New York
Checklist of what I hope to accomplish by September:
1. Full Time Offer - This is what I've been working towards for over a year. This goal involves, 1. finding the product area that most interests me, 2. finding the desk that I best fit in with, 3. impressing that desk through hard work, attitude, and wit enough to get an offer. I can't wait.
2. Networking - As many cocktail parties as I can get invites to.
3. Bone up on Japanese - I'd really like to take ASIAN 429/430 Business Japanese next year, but there's a placement test at the beginning of the term and I'll need to do some studying to pass it.
4. Begin Golf - I'd like to take a few lessons, at least, so that come the Fall I could go to the UM course and go through the rounds with my classmates.
5. Continue Poker - We [students at UMBS] almost reached critical mass this year in terms of creating a student Poker club. I look forward to continuing over the summer.

Top 5 Things I'm Looking Forward to as an MBA2
I hope next year goes a little something like this:
1. Socializing - Before we scatter to various banks, consultancies, marketing departments around the country and the world, I'd like to spend as much time as possible hanging out with classmates. Life only gets busier and more competitive from here.
2. Enjoying the Courses - Should I accomplish #1, it'll free me up to apply myself in my classes much more than I did over this year. And that's important, with a full plate of finance electives ahead.
3. Helping MBA1s - Especially through my work as an officer of the Finance Club, I'd really like to get as many of next year's MBA1s into their dream jobs as possible.
4. Taking Advantage of U of M - I plan to take a couple courses outside of the business school, in an effort to tap the vast resources the University has to offer. Optional extras: UM performing arts, museums, concerts, etc.
5. Football - No list is complete without it.

Top 5 Pieces of Advice to the Class of 2006
Things you may overlook...but shouldn't:
1. Start Job Hunt Now - It's never too early to start polishing the resume, so take advantage of the pre-admit counseling.
2. Take Some Core - Going through the core courses with your section is a great experience; I'd recommend only exempting out of one or two core courses, at most.
3. Apply to IMAP - Over half the classmates I talk to who are on domestic MAP projects regret having not applied for IMAP.
4. Take a Vacation - Whether an M-Trek or a private vacation, take some time to relax before school.
5. Tap MBA2s - 99% of us are more than happy to help you out, so don't hesitate to ask us anything.

And this retrospective wouldn't be complete without a word of thanks to all the alumni who helped myself, and other MBA1s, over the past year. I ended up doing 30 "informational interviews" last Fall, and all but a handful were either with friendly alumni or arranged through them. I am most grateful.