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HBS 1st year taking questions
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:20 AM Author: marvelous locale Since search is not working I'm just creating a new thread. I'll be taking questions for the next 30 minutes before going to bed.
Classes started last week. It's an unbelievable amount of work. I've been going to campus at 7:30 AM to meet with my study group to go over cases. The case-study method is very interesting, but it can get annoying at times due to the gunning by overzealous students.
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:21 AM Author: puce vengeful house Is there a noticeable difference in either the qualifications or preparedness of the male vs. female students? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000617) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:22 AM Author: marvelous locale Not at all. The women are really impressive. Some of them shame the guys when it comes to work ethic and ambition. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000623) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:25 AM Author: Fragrant Transparent Partner Is there ever a good reason to do a joint degree program with HKS? I'm considering it because I think I'd be a good fit with some of the fellowships they have but I'm skeptical of the value added by the extra year. Did you get into Stanford? If so, why HBS? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000650) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:27 AM Author: marvelous locale if you're really interested in areas like public policy, international development, etc., then a joint degree can make sense. but if you want to just work in a regular business field, HKS is a waste of time.
stanford was my first choice. i was rejected after interview. |
Date: September 9th, 2010 12:24 AM Author: silver nighttime temple gay wizard Why is 10% of HBS still unemployed 3 months after graduation? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000642) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:26 AM Author: marvelous locale i thought that number was for the class of 2009?
the people who don't have jobs several months after graduation usually are holding out for a "dream" gig or have unrealistic standards. |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:26 AM Author: Fragrant Transparent Partner What are the dream gigs? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000669) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:28 AM Author: marvelous locale the coveted buyside gigs at hedge funds, private equity firms, venture capital, etc. Regular banking jobs are looked down upon by most of my classmates. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000685) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:29 AM Author: silver nighttime temple gay wizard Why? Don't regular banking gigs pay $200k+ in total comp? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000699) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:31 AM Author: marvelous locale many of these people did sell-side banking before coming here; a good chunk did both sell-side and buy-side. banking in general is not as interesting, longer hours, and lower compensation. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000715) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:32 AM Author: Fragrant Transparent Partner Are Mckinsey and BCG associate type positions looked down on or is that generally a respected gig after HBS? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000724) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:33 AM Author: marvelous locale oh no. MBB consulting is respected and highly sought after. in a good year, HBS sends about 10% of the graduating class to Mckinsey. harvard business is a mangement oriented school, so strategy consulting is a natural progression.
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:40 AM Author: Fragrant Transparent Partner Why is post grad banking looked down on when consulting is so well respected? Doesn't banking pay more? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000793) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:43 AM Author: marvelous locale banking is seen as glorified excel spreadsheet work, at least at the post-MBA associate level. i honestly haven't met anyone who enjoyed banking. they do it for the money and exit opportunities.
strategy consulting is much more interesting (i did MBB for 2 years after college). |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:45 AM Author: Bearded Geriatric Telephone State what did you do after MBB? What did you peers generally do? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000834) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:48 AM Author: marvelous locale i worked in a strategy group at a major firm (don't want to get too specific, but it was a rather specialized field).
the typical path of my classmates is either MBB consulting or banking for 2 years and then 2 years at buyside, or 2 years doing strategy. but there are plenty of exceptions, like ex-military, guys with advanced degrees like Phd, MD, JD's, one dude who founded his own church after college and grew it to a pretty big congregation, etc. |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 1:20 AM Author: swollen stimulating background story Where did you go ugrad? What type of w/e & background did you have before joining the strategy group? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16001142) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:26 AM Author: puce vengeful house Have you checked out all the color-coded underground tunnels yet? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000658) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:26 AM Author: marvelous locale yes, very neat. the campus is pretty sick, especially the Shad gym. the nicest gym i have ever been to. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000668) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:29 AM Author: puce vengeful house Damn yeah, Shad is awesome. Easily the nicest I've been to as well. The chapel is a pretty cool building too.
What's the downstairs cafe called again? I loved that place. Ridiculously subsidized food. |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:32 AM Author: marvelous locale you go to HBS? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000726) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:34 AM Author: puce vengeful house Nope, was in grad school across the river but had a close friend who I visited a lot on the HBS campus. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000742) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:36 AM Author: marvelous locale cool. yeah, i'm a big fan of harvard square. kind of weird because i got rejected there for undergrad and thought i would never be able to come here. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000763) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:38 AM Author: puce vengeful house Yeah, Harvard Square is nice. Have you gone to 'Noch's yet? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000779) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:42 AM Author: marvelous locale yeah, i've been to noch's once. great subs.
i love fire and ice. asian fusion buffet can't be beat. |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:46 AM Author: puce vengeful house Fire and Ice? I don't think that was there when I went there. There are also some good Thai restaurants. And for some reason I love Boloco. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000844) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:28 AM Author: copper seedy windowlicker philosopher-king describe the work:
what's the load like, how dense are the readings, what's the testing scheme like? |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:30 AM Author: marvelous locale i'm taking 5 classes. the first year curriculum is required, no electives, and no way to opt out of them. the cases are really interesting but cover a lot of material, and you have to read them thoroughly to understand what's going on. and even then, it's not enough, especially for financial reporting and control (fancy term for accounting). class discussions are pretty intense.
grades are 50% discussion, 50% midterm and final. no letter grade, you either get a 1, 2, or 3. the top grade of 1 is reserved for about 10-15% of the class, 2 is for the middle 70-75%, and 3 is for the bottom.
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:33 AM Author: copper seedy windowlicker philosopher-king 50% discussions? wow. how is that structured? does the prof cold call, or do people scramble to participate?
also, describe the cases. what is the nature of the stuff you read? |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:36 AM Author: marvelous locale the prof usually comes in and presents the general concepts and then cold-calls the first student, who usually starts things off. once that student provides his/her opinion, the prof opens up the discussion to the rest of the class. it's interesting because there's all these super smart people who have real life work experience, so when they talk about these cases, it's not coming out of their ass.
the cases are real-life business cases, ranging from big-name companies to small startups. the case deals with a problem or crisis that the company is going through. basically, the goal is to put ourselves in the protagonist's shoes (usually the CEO) and try to figure out what we would do. |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:37 AM Author: copper seedy windowlicker philosopher-king sounds exciting and fun (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000771) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:39 AM Author: marvelous locale lol. for the vast majority of people it would not be fun. but i'm a dork, and i really enjoy being around smart and accomplished people. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16000789) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:52 AM Author: Twisted Institution any stories of classmates being humiliated by a prof?
are you allowed to record your classes? |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 12:54 AM Author: marvelous locale no humiliation yet. it's not as brutal as law school. i did however get pwnd in my finance class by a fellow classmate, who completely dismantled my argument. some people started laughing, and it was embarrassing. later found out the dude was #1 in his class at wharton undergrad and worked at blackstone for 3 years.
no, we can't record classes. |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 1:09 AM Author: pearl filthy shitlib locus hbs grading system is weird....like 15% As, 70-80% Bs, a few dings but with encouragement or am i wrong?? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16001063) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 1:34 AM Author: bossy range patrolman So most are 2 years ibd 2 + 2 years buyside or 2 years mbb/2 years strategy? Any straight from analyst or mbb? Any from non-ib or non-mbb but still business backgrounds like Ge or something? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16001267) |
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Date: September 9th, 2010 2:09 AM Author: puce vengeful house I have a few friends who went straight there after three years (MSFT, Bain, etc.). (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=1418420&forum_id=2,#16001482) |