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FEBRUARY 2001 MBA JOURNAL: FIRST SEMESTER WRAPUP Dana Kyles: The Second Half of First Semester "My classmates and I studied hard core, sometimes more than 10 hours a day. But the thing that stood out most was how students reached out to help each other."
The first major event was midterm exams. For me, much was riding on the midterm because I did not want to spend the remainder of the semester playing catch up. The preparation for each exam was a nerve killer. My classmates and I studied hard core, sometimes more than 10 hours a day. But the thing that stood out most was how students reached out to help each other. CPA students held review sessions for those struggling in accounting. Quant jocks sent study sheets and practice problem solutions to the entire class of 2002. Professors held additional office hours in order to be available to students. The second year students were also very instrumental. They provided answer keys to their old exams to use as study guides. There is a lot of intermingling between first and second year students. Of course, it's easier to bond with MBAs of the same year because we experience the same things at the same time. However, second year students were always available to lend a hand, give advice, or add a little spice to the party. After completion of the case competition, and before taking final exams, I ran for an office of the Finance Guild. There are several opportunities to develop leadership skills at Indiana University and one way is by taking an executive position in a club. I wanted a position that required me to understand the needs of the people I served and lead them to achieve this success for themselves. I chose VP of Professional Development for the Finance Guild as my activity because it has those qualities. During these events, the internship search weighed heavy on my mind. I attended a fair number of presentations and have concluded that most companies with structured finance internship programs are offering the same "excellent opportunity to learn and grow". I aligned a few interviews before interview season (Jan. 22 – April) and secured internships with a consumer goods company and a computer products company. The offer I am considering with the computer products company is exactly what I want. It's in a desirable location at a company amidst a strategic change. The culture is laid back and entrepreneurial. But most importantly, the company values my potential and is willing to place me in the finance position of my choice. The only down side to the offer is it requires early acceptance (1/15/01), which limits my ability to explore other internship opportunities. I am not sure exactly what to do, but I must hurry and decide. Looking back at the entire semester (with 20/20 hindsight, of course) I can say the program met my expectations. My class was the first to experience the new integrated core curriculum and I must say, they pulled it off quite well. There were some issues that needed tweaking but they have already been resolved and changed. One example is of the timing of exams. The school wanted to stay on a midterm/final testing schedule even though our class scheduling is not as pragmatic. There were instances where we took an exam more than four weeks after the course ended. Exams for the coming semester have already been changed to correlate with the end of the course. The quick response time is a result of a curriculum advisory committee (CAC) that reports to the dean of students. CAC members are elected by first year students at the beginning of the semester and meet with the Dean every three weeks to discuss what's going right and what's going wrong. The real-time, student-directed information allows the Dean to make immediate changes if possible and strategic changes when necessary. Next semester, I am looking forward to taking classes that I selected. We have about eight more weeks of the core then, after my spring break in Japan, we take electives. Amongst my electives for the last eight weeks include a course on decision modeling, capital markets, and marketing, along with a course on power, persuasion, influence, and negotiation. I suspect the remainder of the core will be as it was during the first semester. Key faculty and second-year students have communicated however, that there will be fewer deliverables and more weight placed on exams to allow time for internship interviewing.  | | Learn about your online education options |
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