First Year vs. Second Year? The Difference is Night and Day...

by Matt

Welcome back to another great year here at the Boston College Carroll School of Management. My fellow second year classmates and I are coming back from a summer of internships, travel and a break from classes, to get the ball rolling on our final year in this MBA journey. Also, I’d like to welcome all our new first year MBA candidates to Boston College. Good luck and enjoy the ride!

My summer internship was spent in Hartford, CT, with the Hartford Insurance Group. While I was there, I was tasked with scheduling people and resources for 150 projects in their Middle Market and Specialty Commercial division. It was a great experience and gave me a look into an industry that I never had exposure to before. Now that it is done though, I'm very happy to be getting going with my final year of the MBA program.

So what’s the difference between first and second year? There are three things that stand out immediately:

1. This year is comprised almost entirely of electives. During your first year, many of your classes are chosen for you and consist of mainly the core MBA classes (statistics, accounting, marketing, etc.). During this second year, students take classes that relate directly to their specializations and have the chance to take elective courses.
2. The one required course, Management Practice III (MP III), focuses on entrepreneurship and business plan writing, and serves as a capstone for the program. In this program, student groups are paired with an entrepreneur and are tasked with writing a business plan for a product, service or other start up venture. These are then presented in the annual business plan competition at the end of the year.
3. Most of our classes are at night. We share these night classes with Evening MBA students, so it is nice to see some new faces, meet some new people, network, and get a fresh perspective. These students have the additional challenge of maintaining their full time job while pursuing their MBAs at BC, and they always bring a great point of view to the conversation. The shift in scheduling also allows Full-Time MBA students to have internships during the academic year and gain more experience.

Overall I’m excited for this year for a number of reasons. Being able to pick and choose our classes gives flexibility in scheduling and allows us to pursue specific classes we find interesting. In addition, MP III gives us exposure to entrepreneurs looking to break out on their own, and adds perspective for those of us who are also looking to do the same. And finally, like most of us, I’m looking forward to a new job (and paycheck) when my time here is complete.

So welcome back for another great year, I hope you enjoy the rest of my time here!