As a Graduate Admissions Assistant, there are several questions that I am frequently asked by prospective students who are interested in Boston University’s MBA programs.Hopefully my answers to those questions will be helpful for those of you who are considering applying and coming to BU.
1)What do you like most about BU’s School of Management?And why did you choose to come here?
My most straightforward answer to this question is --- the people.Before deciding to come to BU, I visited a class, went to an information session, and also to an open house for admitted students. At each of these events when I met current students who were on panels and available to answer my questions, I thought they seemed smart, approachable, down to earth, and ambitious. They had diverse interests and seemed like people I would be excited about being in a classroom environment with. This proved to be true throughout my time here.I would say that I learned just as much from my classmates as I did from professors and I made wonderful friends along the way.
2)What is your relationship with your professors like?
I went to a small liberal arts undergraduate school that prioritized small class sizes, and individual attention from professors so I thought these things would probably not be as big of a priority at a large University like BU.I was wrong.Given that participation is part of your grade in most classes, Professors at SMG really get to know their students by name.All professors have office hours and respond to emails as well.While there are teaching assistants for some classes, they do not teach in the class, professors do.This is all to say that if you want to develop a close relationship with your professors at BU School of Management, you definitely can.
3)How do you like being in Boston?
Boston is a fantastic city to be a student in.I am originally from Minnesota but lived in Boston for 2 years prior to starting Grad School and knew I wanted to stay here.Given the amount of universities in this area, there are so many opportunities for conferences, networking, case competitions, etc. just within a 10 mile radius.Boston may not be as exciting as a bigger city like New York but it still has a lot to offer and I appreciate that it is manageable, beautiful, historic, and very walkable.
4)Is there a career center to help you find an internship and job?
The Feld Career Center is a great resource on Campus.It is located right in the School of Management building and has office hours for both full-time and part-time students throughout the entire year.There are career counselors available to meet with you and some are even specialized in different areas of interest (ie. healthcare, consulting, etc.).As a full-time student you are required to do two things: submit your resume and do a mock interview.The rest is up to you...you can meet with your career counselor to talk about potential career paths, do interview prep, and even talk about salary negotiation.You can attend seminars, career days, and information sessions that they host.They also manage a database of jobs and internship postings available to students and sometimes bring companies to campus for recruiting events and career fairs.
5)Is it okay if my background is not very quantitative or math-based?
MBA students at BU come from all different kinds of backgrounds and it is totally fine if you’re not a math whiz (in fact, I avoided math like the plague when I was an undergrad!).A good amount of MBA students focused on business, finance, or econ during their undergraduate education but many others focused on humanities or the arts.It is my opinion that during the first semester the classes are designed to get everyone on the same page about the basic core areas of business.Many of these are quantitative but they do not involve overly-complex math.Also, I found that my classmates who were strong in quantitative subjects were more than willing to work with me on subjects that were more challenging for me through study groups or tutoring.
6)What would you say the culture of the school is?
In a word – collaborative.Nishant Sharma summarized it well in his blog post herebut I’ll explain it in my own words as well.BU’s academic emphasis on teamwork starts on day 1 of orientation and continues throughout the time you spend here.Most classes bring in some kind of a team project and grades are even shared with your teammates so everyone has a mutual incentive to work together to produce the best product possible.I also found that many students form study groups that meet outside class or work on problem sets together. For the most part I would say that MBA students work very hard on class work but they also balance this out with social activities and fun and that becomes part of the school culture as well.
Meg is a recent graduate of the dual-degree MBA/MPH program in which she studied Global Health Management.Her full-time job is now to look for a job. You may find her running around Boston with a backpack on or challenging people to dance-offs.
The week leading up to graduation was called "Disorientation" for all graduating second years. It involved a week of fun activities fully planned by students. Here's a look at what went down...
Pictured from left to right: Sonal Dhingra (GSC President 2012-2013), Gail Justino-Miller (Director, Graduate Programs Office and GSC Advisor), Carl Palme (GSC President 2011-2012)
I’m not sure how long I can hang on to this “first-year” moniker, but I am going to try to keep it for as long as possible. This first year of business school has flown by and it has been a blast! From the galas to the team meetings, from IP to finals – this year has been challenging and amazing. But seeing the class of 2012 graduate made me realize that it is all going by way too fast.
What made this year so great were not only all these new experiences but also all the new friends I have made here - from all programs, classes and cohorts. As the 1st year representative on council for Cohort C this year, I had the unique opportunity to be the voice of my peers, but also to bring us all together. Often people come to business school and think the secret to success is learning how to calculate NPV or understanding marginal cost. But I’ll tell you the real secret: it’s having friends who are willing to give up their time to teach you how to calculate NPV when you don’t understand or explain marginal cost to you so you can do well on your midterm. This place is about more than building your network; it is about being a part of a community where you gain friends that will last well beyond your time here.
I am glad to have gotten the chance to know the class of 2012, and while I am sad to see them go, I am excited for the new adventures in store for the centennial class of 2013. This coming year will be filled with some old events, like boat cruise (which is on Saturday, September 15, 2012 by the way), Link Day in February and the traditional Thirsty Thursdays, but also new events like the Health Care Case Competition in October and even more great speakers for the Dean’s Speaker Series starting in September. Council will also be focused on increasing events with alumni, collaborations amongst clubs and increased connections, both internal and external, to increase opportunities for our students.
Summer is here now, and while we’re off at our internships right now, we are all also looking forward to returning to SMG in the fall to meet the class of 2014. Welcome to the family - we can’t wait to make some great memories with you. See you all in August and get ready for an amazing time – we hope that it all doesn’t go by too fast!
Business school came and went, and I am glad that I was able to take advantage of everything it had to offer. Particularly, I really enjoyed being part of the Graduate Student Council as a Cohort Representative and then as President. It was a great experience because I was able to give back to the Boston University community and work with really amazing people.
Myself and Erin Gregory (2012 chosen class speaker) on stage at Graduation
As a council we were in charge of helping student organizations with funding for conferences, events, and bringing speakers to school. We also helped students attend Case Competitions as well as organize certain events. Most importantly, we were there as student representatives and as a liaison between the student community and faculty & staff.
When we started as council in the spring of 2011, we set a few goals for ourselves:
Build an even stronger community
Improve internal and external communications
Pilot a student led speaker series
Broaden alumni outreach
I would say that we succeeded at everything. Our community became even stronger than it already was, we used our marketing and analytic skills to improve all methods of communication, we had great speakers attend the school (including Gustavo Valle, the CEO of Dannon), and had fruitful interactions with alumni.
We were successful because of the amazing people that worked on council, as well as the support and excitement we received from the community at large. BU really attracts incredible people and that makes the experience a whole lot better.
Now that I have graduated, I am really pleased with my experience and with having spent time with the classes of 2011, 2012, and 2013. I look forward to seeing what the new council will do as well as meeting the incoming class in the fall.
2012 Graduates celebrating after Commencement
Grad school went by way too fast, but it was worth every minute!
Carl Palme
Graduate Student Council President
2011 – 2012
STAY TUNED FOR ANOTHER POST FROM INCOMING GRADUATE STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT, SONAL DHINGRA...
2011-2012 Grad Assistants, top row (L to R): Shawn, Kira, Carl; bottom row (L to R): Meg, Maya (Recruitment Administrator), Anya
To close out the 2011-2012 academic year, we asked all of the Graduate Assistants who work in Admissions to offer their advice to the incoming class of MBA students. You'll find many common themes in the advice they offer --- take it to heart, it's true!
ANYA: Everyone tells you this, but the next two years are going to fly by. Here's some free advice: learn to take risks, don't be afraid of making mistakes, go to your professors' office hours (they can help you network with BU alumni), and have FUN! By the way, Cohort Cup events are wonderful opportunities to mingle with your entire class and make great memories!
CARL: My advice is to take advantage of everything that BU has to offer. Participate in as many Case Competitions as you can. Get involved with Club Leadership. Go to all the Speaker Series Events. Attend the Social Outings and meet as many people as you can. Accomplishing all of this may seem daunting, but you won't regret it. You will have plenty of time to sleep in the future!
KIRA:
You should definitely enjoy your time during the MBA as best as you can because it is over way too fast. Pick the classes you are interested in and not just the ones that fit into your concentration, it's more about your individual curriculum. And don't forget the MBA is not just about classes, it's also about extra-curricular activities. So join different clubs and be engaged, because you can learn so much from the people around you that you could miss in the classroom. Take advantage of all the great things BU has to offer.
MEG:
Invest in relationships with your fellow classmates, professors, and SMG staff. At the end of two years, those will be what you really cherish and carry with you. Also invest in really figuring out what you want in a career. This is the time to explore what is out there with minimal consequences so that you can get a job you are really passionate about at the end of your time here.
SHAWN:
My advice is to enjoy your time here. Explore areas you have been curious about but never tried. Go see New England and what Boston has to offer. It is a 2 year break from work where you have a chance to totally redirect your life. Enjoy every second and stay in the moment. It goes by too fast.
TAYLOR: My advice is the most important thing you can do is manage your time well. Aside from managing your time, be sure to use your resources which include but are not limited to professors, TAs, and classmates. Good luck.
According to the MSMF class of 2012, the most challenging semester of the program is the second semester. So far they have been proven correct. Although this semester has been challenging, we have all learned a lot and had some fun along the way. In the MSMF Program, the normal course load (four classes) is the same every semester. There is, however, an additional and optional course offered during the second semester, Algorithmic Trading. This course is taught by Ahmad Namini, an alumnus of the program and Head of Analytics and Technology – Asia Credit Desk at Citibank Capital Markets. He was also a professor at the University of Miami (Florida) for 10 years. The class is an excellent opportunity to learn from a practitioner who also has experience as a professor. This balance of practical knowledge and teaching experience allows for an amazing learning environment in both a quantitative and qualitative context.
Math Finance students at Jillians for bowling
We have had interesting projects and assignments in the rest of our courses as well. Our C++ course is the least math finance intensive, mainly covering topics of object oriented programming but with some financial context as well. In our Fixed Income class we have studied in-depth interest rate models, their effect on the price of assets such as bonds, options on bonds, swaps and much more. The final assignment is a project in which students must calibrate a model to given market conditions.
Of course there has been much more going on this semester than just our school work. Throughout the semester, students have been working with the Feld Career Center perfecting their resume, cover letter, and 30-second pitch in an effort to land their desired internship. When we are not preparing for our career, BU offers events from time to time to enjoy relaxing with each other in a non-academic environment. Some events that have been sponsored by the GPO include a pizza snack break at Uno’s (a pizzeria across the street from SMG), an alumni networking event where many alumni from the MSMF program came to talk about their experience both at the program and in the workplace following the program, and a bowling event right near Fenway Park (home of the Boston Red Sox baseball team). These events are usually attended by everyone in the program and offer us some time to talk to each other without stochastic calculus and pending deadlines on our mind.
Playing Pool
This semester has been challenging but has offered the opportunity to learn a great deal. Outside of school we have improved our resumes and knowledge of the industry, focused our career search, and have come together as a program.
Taylor Marge is a first year Math Finance student with a background in engineering. He excels at summarizing articles for co-workers and remembering inconsequential information.
Over winter break 2011, I volunteered in Villa Soleada, Honduras through a student-driven club and international nonprofit organization called Students Helping Honduras (SHH). I first discovered this little treasure while attending the Millennium Campus Conference where I heard SHH’s founder, Shin Fujiyama speak about the impact SHH is having in Honduras. An impact that amounts to almost ten fully constructed schools (990 more on the way), one children’s home, a microfinance business for Honduran women, and an abundance of jobs created in every village SHH serves. Shin’s kind spirit and relentless determination was evident when I heard him speak at the conference, and blindingly evident when I spoke with him about his vision and struggle building SHH during a long bus ride in Honduras. He’s an individual with a mind and heart like a freight train. I took note of his fortuitous appetite for social impact, and hope to achieve this same dedication in my lifetime.
As a student, the insight, hard work, and camaraderie I built were priceless additions to my education. In addition, I went to Honduras to help build a school in a village, and came back more aware of operational challenges that mission-driven organizations face. These “moments of truth” are depicted in the following top four reflections from my volunteer trip in Honduras. If you’re interested in hearing more about the trip, visit my travel blog: http://buildinguphonduras.blogspot.com/
REFLECTIONS 1. Kids have it so good in the U.S. You don't need to travel too far to acknowledge that most children in the U.S. are living in a bubble from the rest of the world in terms of our relatively high standard of living. The Honduran children that I met were thankful for whatever food they were given, and did not fuss about much. Children were running around barefoot in muddy waters and selling beaded bracelets, not for their own piggy bank but to help their family bring food to the table. This is a whole different responsibility that children acquire at a young age in many developing countries.
One extraordinary (although ornery) 12 year-old child I met escaped a gang(which is crazy enough), but then he walked from El Progresso, Honduras almost to the border of Guatemala. That's around 40 miles! He was found by a member of SHH on the street and was brought to the newly built children's home in Villa Soleada. It's survival stories like this that make you question yourself.... and say, "Could I do that?"
2. Job creation is critical to community development.
In Honduras, one of the best aspects of SHH was that it created jobs. For example, SHH created jobs for women to cook and clean laundry for volunteers, for construction workers to guide the building process, for bus drivers to haul volunteers around, etc. In fact, when the founder of the SHH asked the community of Villa Soleada what they needed, he got an overwhelming response, "Jobs!" And their request was answered!
3. Sometimes it's difficult to get people to work for what they want. After reading the background story of how SHH got started in Honduras and how the town of Villa Soleada was first created I discovered that a huge challenge in trying to help communities like this is that the people in the community want a better standard of living but are not always willing to chip in manual labor. Noticing some indolence in Villa Soleada, SHH made it mandatory for all community members to contribute manual labor to the creation of the town. I admired this requirement yet was astounded that it was even necessary to declare.
4. Friends make any time a good time. In Honduras volunteers spent a lot of time commuting on a bus and working at the construction site. As a result, we spent a lot of time out in the sun and getting drenched in the rain. It felt good knowing I was there to help the community, but what really made this a fantastic experience was sharing it with the new friends that I met. (I know. I know. How much more cheesy can she get?) Honestly, I became friends with some quirky and fun people from across the U.S. and Honduras. (*ahem You wonderful people know who you are.) They were so full of life and knowledge that I couldn't help but want to keep talking and joking with them.
In conclusion, no matter what amazing things you do in your life. It's always more amazing when you have friends to share it with. (Alright put your tissues away.)
As a piece of advice to aspiring college and graduate students, this international volunteering experience was an extremely valuable complement to my education. I was able to see first-hand the inside operations of an international nonprofit organization, was immersed in the Honduran culture, and developed friendships that I’ve continue to strengthen.
Students Helping Honduras hosts volunteer trips during winter, spring, and summer breaks. It also hosts longer-term internship opportunities during the summer. For more information, visit http://www.studentshelpinghonduras.org or e-mail me at PBhullar@BU.edu.
Pammi Bhullar is currently an MBA student studying Public and Nonprofit Management. She is gearing up for her internship this summer with Education Pioneers. As an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, Pammi earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. She majored in Marketing, earned aCertificate in West European Studies, and minored in Theatre Arts;while also obtaining her Teaching English as a Foreign Language Certificate. She most recently worked as a Supervisor in the Institutional Division of The Vanguard Group.
With the help of the BU Student Activities Organization and the Public & Nonprofit Management Club, I have been able to attend a number of conferences in the area this semester, most recently the Yale School of Management’s Education Leadership Conference on March 24th, in New Haven, CT. The theme of this year’s Yale ELC was “Vision 2032: Shaping the Future of Education”, and looked to connect perspectives between key stakeholders in education reform.
Regarding conferences, these are a few of my favorite things (in no particular order): networking, swag, panelist perspectives, career exploration, food, and tweeting.
So before I get too far into my story, I’m going to confess: I’m a Twitter n00b, so please excuse me if I am stating the obvious, but it’s official – I LOVE tweeting at conferences. Not just tweeting my own thoughts during a panel, or capturing the gems of others in 140 characters, but mostly by following, nay, STALKING the conference hashtag.
One of the problems with conferences is that there are often multiple panels that you wish you can sit in at one session, but you can’t split yourself into three, and don’t feel like leaving the session that you’re in. Hashtag stalking brings you the quotable thoughts from other panels, and also connects you to people who you may want to follow up with (not to mention the immense gratification when one of your own tweets is retweeted by the conference organizers. Instant conference endorphins!)
Here are some highlights of the sessions I attended:
“How Does Technology Change Outcomes for Students?” – looking at technology in the K-12 classroom beyond the simplistic model of having one laptop in the hands of every child. Alex Hernandez, partner at the Charter School Growth Fund, made the analogy of blended learning technologies to successful schools as being like the first digital camera to photographers. The current state of the tool may not be the perfect solution right now, but without looking to the future, a school could find itself in the same situation as one-time photographic icon, the Eastman Kodak Company.
“Doing Better With Less” – discussing ways to better allocate resources in school districts. Mentioned in this panel was Education Resource Strategies’ “School Budget Hold’Em” activity, an online trade-off game that asks districts to look thoughtfully at the funding decisions that they are faced with.
“From the Classroom to the Neighborhood: Talking about Race in Schools” –confronting a number of race issues that many educators and leaders are struggling with by using difficult and uncomfortable language to talk about where progress needs to be made. Aimée Eubanks Davis, Executive VP of People, Community, and Diversity at Teach for America, emphasized that in order for education reform leadership to “look” like the demographic of the people it is serving in 10 or 20 years, we need to get comfortable and uncomfortable talking about race as a factor in our schools.
Despite only being able to attend 3 sessions, tweets from other users gave me a taste of:
A heavy conversation between districts, charter schools, and Randi Weingarten, president of the largest teacher’s union in the US, the American Federation of Teachers.
Educator and leadership concerns about implementation of Common Core standards for all students.
Teacher feedback about what elements of a teacher dashboard are particularly important to them – key field research for my SI752 Starting New Ventures class project!
Me and PNP students Nancy Rosas, Pammi Bhullar, and Dana Connolly awaiting the start of the Opening Keynote
I did have a “starstruck” moment at Yale ELC. Dr. John B. King, Jr., Commissioner of Education for the State of New York was one of the panelists for the opening keynote for the conference. – “The ‘State’ of Education, Now to 2032”. Having worked for Dr. King as one of the early teachers at Roxbury Preparatory Charter School, it was very surreal to see him onstage – a far cry from the days when I sat in his office in tears, him giving me tissues and classroom advice. That day, along with the commissioners from Tennessee and Rhode Island, he would address difficult questions about accountability and the data-driven state of education, and remain one of my personal heroes in my career.
Dr. John B. King (left panelist), speaking in the Opening Keynote
Conferences are a great way to get re-energized through networking and listening to people who share your passions and not necessarily your viewpoint. It is also a great way to meet companies working in your fields of interest – my fine-tuned resume managed to score me a few interviews with companies working directly with data-driven education practices, a passion which connects the threads of my MBA studies. Most of all, a conference is a perfect way to enhance your Twitter “voice” by promoting the ideas that define you.
Sheri Cheng is a former science teacher and tech director at an urban charter school in Boston with a penchant for 7th grade humor. An MBA student concentrating in Entrepreneurship and Leadership & Organizational Transformation, Sheri expects to finish her coursework in December 2012. Follow her on Twitter @sheriann13.
From Monday, March 26th through Saturday April 1st, six graduate students from Boston University thought about Sri Lanka, Canadian foreign aid, and Tamils, more than they ever had before. Meg Meyer (MBA/MPH’12), Catherine Shih (MBA/MPH’13), Sunil Nair (MD/MBA’13), Daniel Silva (MED’15), Darash Desai (ENG’14), and myself formed a team that represented BU in the annual Global Health Business Case Competition at Emory. And the team’s hard work certainly paid off! We placed second and also won the “Audience Choice Award”. This was the first year that BU sent a team and we are excited that BU will continue the tradition in upcoming years.
Daniel, myself and Sunil hard at work
We even worked through a fire drill that forced us to leave the building
We received the case on Monday March 26th at 7pm and only had four days to prepare for the competition as it was going to be held on the morning of Saturday March 31st. The question was to “Develop a strategy for CanAID (similar to the Canadian International Development Agency or CIDA) to help Sri Lanka deal with health and resettlement issues of the marginalized Tamil population; keeping in mind resistance from the Sinhalese government due to prior accusations of war crimes and persecution." We also had to acknowledge the presence of a great many Tamil refugees currently residing in Canada and who had the potential to influence the funding decisions of CanAID.
After we received the case, we met twice to flesh out the salient issues and choose which ones we were going to address. Coordinating with six people from four different schools in different locations was quite a challenge. For example we could only all meet as a team from 9pm to 11pm. We left for Atlanta on Thursday evening and then worked on the case up until the wee hours of Saturday morning.
We did get a chance to take a break and check out the CDC which is right down the street from Emory
During our final presentation
At the Awards Reception
All my teammates from different disciplines had a lot of different perspectives they brought to the case analysis. In addition, Emory provided use with a mentor from their school who was able to meet with us for an hour and provide feedback on what we had prepared up to that point. This was useful since our mentor helped point out some key issues that we needed to deal with in addressing the current tension between Sri Lanka, Canada, and the international community. It also certainly helped that we had a Canadian (Catherine Shih) on our team!
The presentation skills and case study experience that we gained from the MBA program was priceless in our preparations and really gave us the competitive edge. We did not expect such success in BU’s first appearance at Emory’s Global Health Case Competition. We were really proud of our final product and we look forward to seeing BU in first place next year!
Ivan Busulwa is an MBA/MPH student at Boston University with a concentration in Global Health Management. He graduated from Makerere University in Uganda with a BSc. in Mathematics. Prior to joining BU, Ivan worked in Uganda with USAID funded projects that promoted public-private partnerships between the Ministry of Health, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector.
Business school is a roller coaster ride of highs and lows, successes and failures, new experiences and drudgery, but amidst all of the hard work and excitement, I have experienced a few defining moments that make the wild extremes worth it. On Monday April 2nd I experienced one of those moments.
Around 6:45pm a hush fell over a room of 120 students, alumni, and faculty as they listened to Kristen McCormack speak. Everyone had gathered to honor Kristen McCormack’s 10-year tenure as the Faculty Director of the Public and Nonprofit Management Program (PNP). Gerry Leader described recruiting Kristen 10 years ago because the Boston University faculty desired to revitalize the PNP program. Looking around the room it was clear to see that Kristen had far exceeded their expectations. Kristen used her entrepreneurial spirit, devotion to experiential learning, connections throughout Boston and her love for people to help the PNP program thrive.
While Kristen took a few minutes to thank her mentors, peers, and students, I surveyed the faces in the room. It was so inspiring to see all the faces filled with adoration and respect, and to know that my face and heart reflected that same sentiment. I knew that there was such a high level of loyalty and devotion in the room because Kristen had modeled the way by spending countless hours recruiting, mentoring, challenging, and encouraging us.
Once the formal part of the program ended, guests stayed for another two hours, networking, chatting and enjoying a reunion of like-hearted people. As I left I reflected on Kristen’s strengths. She is definitely a strong and visionary leader, but perhaps her biggest strength is empowering others to dream big, try new things, and to never give up on making a difference.
Anya Thomas is a second year MBA in the Public Nonprofit management program with a concentration in Leadership and Organizational Transformation. She loves traveling, salsa dancing, and networking in Boston.
recent graduate of the dual-degree MBA/MPH program in which she studied Global Health Management. Her full-time job is now to look for a job. You may find her running around Boston with a backpack on or challenging people to dance-offs.
Pammi Bhullar is currently an MBA student studying Public and Nonprofit Management. She is gearing up for her internship this summer with Education Pioneers. As an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, Pammi earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. She majored in Marketing, earned aCertificate in West European Studies, and minored in Theatre Arts;while also obtaining her Teaching English as a Foreign Language Certificate. She most recently worked as a Supervisor in the Institutional Division of The Vanguard Group. 
