Entering last quarter of the first year at BC

We have finished 3/4 of the first year of the MBA program. Here are some reviews of the last quarter:

- Operations Management: for some students, this is probably one of the most challenging classes. The MCQ exams have a lot more calculation and formulas compared to other courses. That being said, if you practice enough, you will be fine. I learn good operation concepts and ideas from this class which would be useful for my future career (e.g. Six Sigma quality, process and supply chain design for manufacturing versus for service industry, demand forecasts)

- Global Strategy is a continuation of the Strategic Analysis class we had in the first semester. The course focused more on global perspectives as its name suggests. I have gained more understanding of the benefits and challenges when a company chooses to globalize (e.g. headquarter and subsidiary relationship, geographic, economic, cultural, and administrative distances from one country to another, Michael Porter's Diamond Framework). 

- Corporate Finance: you will learn more about different financing strategies a company can choose from and their pros and cons (agency issue, shareholder and bondholder conflict, venture capital/IPOs and potential dilution for existing shareholders), Adjusted Present Value, options, M&A, FX, etc.  By solving quantitative problems attached with these concepts I could understand the concepts better. 

- Modeling and Decision Analysis: the course introduced some useful systematic methods for managers to make informed decision in their work (linear programming, expected values (with and without perfect/sample information), Monte Carlo simulation, and Multiobjective Decision Analysis).

- And yes, the MPII - Business Consulting project is still going on till the end of the next quarter. I am with a team of smart, open-minded people who came from different backgrounds (IT, sales and marketing, operations, finance) and countries (U.S., Philippines, and Vietnam). We have conducted project planning, primary and secondary research for our project in the first half of the semester. We will be working on the solution with our client in the second half.

Finally, Spring is coming. I could not wait to do more jogging and exercise at the beautiful Chestnut Hill Reservoir near the school.

   

Spring 2012 semester has started

We are now back to school after the winter break. I've decided to concentrate on Corporate Finance for my MBA program. Although I have sat for CFA exams before, the Corporate Finance course at BC provides me with further in-depth knowledge. And as I mentioned before about choosing an MBA program, one of the reasons is that BC is strong in finance. And I'm happy with that decision now.

This semester we will have our Consulting Project and participate in the Diana Weiss Consulting Competition. For a story behind this prestigious competition award, you can check here. My team of five MBA students will be working with a college to develop a career center from scratch. The project will help students find jobs which better match their interests and experiences and develop a long-term successful career. Our client is pleased to work with us and we are excited to deliver meaningful results by the end of the project. The project provides great experiential learning opportunities for us as we can apply the knowledge we have learnt in class (marketing, business planning, teamwork, finance, etc.) in a real world setting in order to produce a practical implementable business plan for the client. 

First semester is over. We are enjoying the winter break and Christmas holiday!

Finally we have finished our 14 weeks of the first semester. It has been, again, a busy but fruitful period for all of us. We had marketing, finance, economics, information technology for management within the last 7 weeks. I particularly like the cases in the IT management class as I had a technology background prior to joining BC. They are great examples of how information technology could help companies improve their bottom lines or build sustainable competitive advantages.

We also had a great time with Accounting Professors Pete Wilson and Carolyn Wilson during the Thanksgiving. We had a party in their house with students from different countries. I really look forward to joining them again next year. It was really fun and enjoyable experience. Below are some photos from the party.

 

Thanksgiving dinner

 

We took a walk together at the wood nearby after the dinner

 

Professor Pete Wilson

 

Professor Carolyn Wilson

Beautiful BC in Autumn

Photos taken using iPhone 3GS 11.12.2011

We've finished the first half of the first semester - Great Learning!!!

The first 7 weeks of the semester have been over. It was a very busy period with  assignments, exams, projects, report writing, and other co-curricular activities. We finished our first batch of exams last week with Accounting, Strategic Analysis, Statistics, and Managing People and Organization. I've really enjoyed the moments in BC and learned great new things so far. 

Two things that impressed me most.

Strong community. Everyone (professors, students, career service managers, and other school staff) works together, to build a strong collaborative learning community. That differentiates BC MBA from many other MBA programs. We have 100 students in the cohort, small enough for us to know more about each other, yet diverse enough to learn from others' experiences (people with background in marketing, project management, investment banking, consulting, IT, operations, accounting, etc.).

Great professors. BC has great professors who are dedicated to bring the best out of the students. It's just 7 weeks, but I've grown a lot. Prob Bob Radin who taught Managing People and Organization (MPO) was a former CEO of an investment company with 2,700 employees. Bob also invited CEOs and other top executives of multibillion or multimillion companies to give talks in our class.  The course has really opened up my mind about teamwork, management, leadership, social network, core values, and so on. We also had much fun with Prof Berger's class - Statistics. Prof Berger graduated from MIT. He made the course much less dry compared to other stats classes I took before. Prof Pete Wilson is the Joseph L. Sweeney chair of Accounting at Boston College. He has taught at other top universities before such as MIT, Harvard, and Stanford. He is one of the most enthusiastic teachers I've ever had. After his course, I feel much more comfortable with companies' financial statements and know to how gain further insight from the numbers. Last but not least, Prof Mc Clellan, who taught Strategic Analysis, is on the board of directors of a few companies. After his class, I like reading more about industries and companies (WallStreet Journal articles, ...) and see how strategies are derived and implemented.

With these, I'm eager to enter the second half of the semester.I'll keep you update of more interesting things ahead :)

Before I forget, here is the link for the accounting class. You can learn great accounting knowledge from here.
http://www.navigatingaccounting.com/
And here are Pete Wilson' life principles: "Live your life to the fullest" - http://www.youtube.com/user/navigatingaccounting?feature=mhum#p/c/0/d_V2_0D0k4g

Boston College - Chestnut Hill campus

It's been a week since I arrived in Boston. I made a tour around BC Chestnut Hill campus a few days ago. It's a beautiful campus with nice buildings. Below are some photos I took along the way.

How did I choose Boston College for my MBA study?

Just a few more weeks before the school starts, I'd like to share with you how I chose Boston College for my MBA study. Hope you find useful information here for your MBA choice.

Boston College came into my radar when I scanned the list of top worldwide MBA programs in the Financial Times. The program was ranked among top 50 in 2010 (1). Another program feature that attracted my attention is the school's location. Boston is a beautiful city with well-known universities, long history and rich Western cultures. Having stayed in Southeast Asia so far, I want to have my MBA study in a new environment to enrich my life experiences. With these, I did further research about Boston College MBA.

BC has a strong finance program reflected in alumni's feedbacks and US MBA rankings sites (2). This is one of my criteria for MBA courses as I want to gain strong financial investment knowledge after my MBA. My other areas of interest are entrepreneurship and sustainability. BC provides specializations that meet these needs: asset management and entrepreneurial management.

Boston College MBA also impressed me with its experiential learning curriculum. During the first year, students participate in the Consulting Project by working with a small or medium sized enterprise (SME), a major multinational corporation, or a government agency to deliver a practical solution for the client's needs. In the second year, students will engage in the Business Plan Project that realizes a business idea and be able to apply the skills and knowledge learned in the classroom. I will come back more on BC's courses and projects when I have my hands on them.


As Boston College MBA met my requirements, I decided to apply for the program. During the interview, Meaghan Carey, a second year MBA student also shared with me one thing she likes about BC MBA is its close-knit, helpful community and alumni network. This further motivated me to become part of this community. 

Finally, I received the university's offer by end of Dec 2010 with a financial aid (you can apply for the financial aid together with the MBA application). I did apply for a few more MBA programs at the same time. However, I chose BC in the end as it provides most of my MBA needs.


To end up, you can find more information about Boston College MBA at http://www.bc.edu/schools/csom/graduate/mba.html.


(1) http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-rankings
(2) http://www.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/mba_specialty_2010.html
BC ranked 5th in finance in BusinessWeek rankings by specialty above. The school also ranked 14^th nationwide in finance by US News & World Report, and 26^th in research by Financial Times in 2010. 

PS: I used the MBA rankings as one indicator of the school's strengths and visibility. You might want to do more research about the program by reading school's website, talking with current students and alumni, or attending MBA talks.