At Wharton, It's Downshift to Accelerate

As student years end, depression surrounding last-ever spring breaks and the prospect of real work are offset by the learning process

by Grant Allen

Related Items

• A 'Soft Summer with Gates & Co.
• Trial By Interview
• Learning to Juggle
• Pre-Term and Orientation
• The Application Process
• Who I Am, and Why B-School Is for Me

Grant Allen
U Penn
Class of 2007

Story Tools

• post a comment
• e-mail this story
• print this story
• order a reprint
• digg this
• save to del.icio.us

The transition to second-year status at Wharton brings changes. There's the change from required to elective classes, the more focused job search based on summer learnings (for some, hatings), and, ideally, an offer in hand. And then there's the onset of senioritis. Certainly, the palpable perennial transition from MBA student to alumnus status has begun in earnest, the foul freshman stress of last fall faded, fickle and generally generic job searches and EISs (job info sessions) replaced with weekly socials, and job hunts now conducted with the benefit of a summer experience and an expanded network.

Since I'm partially looking at early-stage private equity, I've been much more directed this year, focusing only on consulting opportunities where I could more quickly become a functional or industry expert (McKinsey scores high here) and tech-focused venture funds, specifically telecom-skewed early-stage funds on the East Coast, where I hope to remain for a few years. The market is good, if not great, and I'm getting nibbles from a lot of other tech-focused and general management companies and programs, too.

Closing out the job situation introduces a duality, though, as I think a lot of others have experienced. Yes, the job market is great, people are getting some amazing gigs (take for instance, the buyout honchos going to Carlyle, T.H. Lee, TPG, et al. who are getting base packages of $400-$500K, this before carry/bonus), but the intensity has not let up.

Getting the Most Out of It

For those undecided on the job front, that energy is obviously applied to the job search; for those already locked up, either from the summer or from fall recruiting, that energy is generally applied to extracting as much out the remaining B-school time as possible, to juicing that two-year, supremely expensive lemon as much as humanly possible.

Even with deep depression surrounding last-ever spring breaks and the prospect of real work and real life looming large, students seem as committed as ever to engaging in the learning process. Of course, this learning often occurs outside the classroom. It may or may not involve impromptu excursions to Atlantic City for a UFC match, to Shafer Rock for wilderness survival, Wilmington for a NASCAR race, India for a Global Immersion Program (GIP), or other more gluttonous destinations to bond, experience, and see other cultures and teams in action.

It is these experiences that truly exercise leadership skills, flex planning and group wrangling muscles, and test dormant OPIM skills in the optimization of post-grad round-the-world plane routes intended to—of course—bring closure to classroom frameworks and finance formulas.

The Cycle of Indulgence

A must is meeting all those great people you haven't had the time to interact with until now. The departure directive: network, network, network! In Buenos Aires? All the better. Maximize your time and have fun today—that 16-hour workday is just around the corner! Go, go, go.

Enter the MBA Poker Championships in Vegas, lose your kitty, write down that great idea for the Wharton Business Plan Competition, set up a few lunches, fly to Miami for p.e. interviews, Acela to New York for a classmate's engagement party, book flights for summer soirees in distant locales. Get back from a sun-indulgent spring break, do a little homework—what's the relationship between NOPAT and ROIC, again?—immediately stop thinking about school, go to Tria for some wine with friends… the cycle continues.

This is hyperbole, for sure, but there is, without question, a sense of do, do, do. Time is short. Hence, there's a huge second-year turnout for the five-day Wharton ski trip to Breckenridge, Colo., in January and a fantastic RV foray to Tuck/Dartmouth up in arctic Hanover, N.H., a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, Wharton lost the coveted Kneissl Cup to Tuck (coming from Duke, I know a serious home-court advantage when I see it), extending a rivalrous four-year back-and-forth, but our first-year prodigy will be in attendance next year with a vengeance!