For Here, All Are One

Crowd outside of St. Ignatius to sign the banners

By Siobhan

For those of you who have had a chance to visit BC’s campus and speak with a current student, you have probably heard that the sense of community you experience as a part of the BC family is a strong aspect of the program. I know I have even mentioned this in previous blogs, but the commitment of the BC community to its own has been overwhelming over the past few weeks.

As many of you know, two second years in the program, as well as a BC alum were injured in the Boston Marathon bombings. I truly believe that in dark times and tragic moments, the true colors of a community are shown. While that sentiment has been true for the greater Boston community as a whole, it’s been unbelievable experiencing it as a member of the BC community.

Banners & Gift Baskets for Liza & Brittany

From banners signed by hundreds of undergraduates for graduate students they will never meet, to the organization of charity softball tournaments by members of the Law and Business Schools, to donations from faculty for a charity raffle the power of the BC community has not been something that is just spoken of, but has been put into action. Within the Carroll School, members of the various programs – MSA, MSF, Part-Time, Full-Time – along with the faculty have joined together to support our classmates. Whether through cards and words of support, donations, or even through supporting other classmates struggling to understand what has taken place, the sense of being a part of something bigger than yourself has been infused throughout the halls of Fulton Hall and all over the campus as a whole. The week after the bombing was a crazy time for First Year MBAs, with our massive final reports for our consulting projects due and my team was even in the process of preparing to make our final presentation to our client. My team recognized that I needed some extra support and rallied around me to make sure that everything we needed to do to prepare for our presentation was taken care of and ultimately, our presentation went off without a hitch.

My post is titled, “For Here, All Are One,” which has been evident in every action I have experienced after April 16th. We have come together as one – not as one class, or one program, or one school within the university – but as one entity representing the spirit and strength of the Boston College community as a whole. While the last few weeks have been challenging, I have never been more confident that my choice in coming to BC was one of the best decisions I have made in my life.

For the Quantitatively Challenged: Owning the Admissions Process & Transitioning into the Program

by Siobhan

Over the past few weeks, I’ve met a number of prospective students who have expressed a common concern: I don’t have a formal business background, how is the transition to the MBA program going to be for me? As someone who majored in Foreign Affairs and worked in the nonprofit sector for 5 years in fundraising and event management, the nervousness around the application and then ultimately the transition to the MBA program is a feeling that I am very familiar with and am happy to share that the transition is in fact nothing to worry about! Whether you majored in art history or politics or French or have spent the last 5 years skiing the Alps, here are a few reasons to not stress about the application or the transition from life pre-MBA to your first year in the program:

• It’s all about how you tell your story. Often referred to as your elevator pitch, or “what you wrote in your essay,” it’s critical to know where you are in your career and professional life and how an MBA will help take you to the next level. When you prepare for your interview, Admissions teams are really looking for you to make the connection between your current career and how you think an MBA can further leverage that experience to take you to the next level in your career.

• Everyone has dealt with a management issue. I've talked to applicants who have stressed about their lack of "management experience." Admissions staff isn't looking for you to have directly managed a team or other employees (obviously if you have, make sure to share that!), but even if you have worked in a "softer skill" role, you've probably had to make strategic decisions that have impacted your organization. Or maybe you've been a part of a team where you've really struggled and had to overcome obstacles? Admissions staff are really looking for you to explain how you've used critical thinking to make decisions that ultimately show them that you have the potential to be a business leader and manager.

• People are looking at your GMAT quant score. Yes, the GMAT. We all hate it. That's a fact. However, if you have a non-business or quantitative background, you already know that you can't retake your college courses all over again. Maybe you even took an Econ class and didn't do well (or 2 like someone I know...yes, that's me)? Point is, the quant section of the GMAT is your time to show Admissions that you can in fact hang with your peers with quantitative backgrounds. Obviously, the verbal section shouldn't be ignored - but if you are worried about how to show your quantitative strenghs, the quant section of the GMAT provides the opportunity.

At this point, many of you might be thinking "Ok Siobhan, so I've already done all of this and have gotten accepted to BC and am still a little nervous about what to expect." That's fine! I felt the same way. If you have already mastered the GMAT and rocked your interview and have bought your BC sweatshirt in preparation for the fall - here are a few things that will hopefully calm your nerves about the fall:

• You will never be in a class where you are the only person who hasn't taken Statistics, Accounting, Finance or any quant class before. At BC, if you majored in a specific subject, you can waive out of that course, so often the "experts" are out of the course keeping the class more at the same level. Every course - from Marketing to Finance - is designed to be an intro level for MBAs. Even at other MBA programs, if you are not a "quant person" there are often seminars before the program starts to get you up to speed. At BC, there are sometimes people in your class who have experience with the subject, but luckily, given our culture of a strong community, these are the people you find to help you when you feel lost!

• Group projects are basically the workplace in the classroom - minus the boss. Group projects are collaborative and at BC, teams are formed of individuals with various backgrounds. You will never find yourself on a team with 4 other people who have been trading derivatives or working at a private equity firm. Plus, your teammmates who really are more comfortable with numbers are typically looking for you (yes, you - the English major) to help them with writing up reports and other less numbers oriented activities.

• Your professors want you to excel. At least at BC, your professors are smiling when you did well on that exam - and are upset when they see that you did not do well, especially when you tried your hardest. I have never seen faculty with such dedication to their students' achievement and they will make time to help you better understand how to create that statement of cash flows or identify the NPV on a potential investment. If you are worried about some of your quant classes, go and talk to your professors early on and stay in touch with them during the semester if you see yourself slipping behind or not understanding content. They really do want to make sure that you walk away from their class understanding how to leverage the skills they are teaching you in the classroom in your future career.

Networking for Success!

by Siobhan

A major benefit of attending business school at a university with a network as large as BC’s is the access to various speakers and events on campus and in the greater Boston area. It’s easy to get caught up in your schoolwork and even the many social activities that a MBA program provides, but a huge part of the reason I returned to business school was to grow my network. The easiest place to start is by developing strong relationships with your classmates, along with faculty and staff at your university, but it’s also important to evaluate what other professional networking opportunities exist in your MBA program. A few unique networking aspects of BC’s program are:

• Classroom Guest Speakers: Over the past 3 quarters, a number of our professors have invited alumni and other relevant guests within their network to speak to our classes. These speakers have ranged from the Vice President of Marketing at Hasbro to the CEO of Boston Duck Tours to the CEO of Naragansett Brewery, to many other individuals who are eager to share their experience on various topics with our classes. Our professors are also happy to make introductions between students and their contacts and it’s always great when you are able to make that personal connection and relate it to a classroom experience.

• Manager’s Studio: A unique aspect of the BC MBA program, Manager’s Studio brings top executives to campus to share their personal and professional experiences with students. This year, I’ve attended three fantastic sessions that have provided me with great perspective on the skills I need to continue to develop during my time at BC in order to be a successful executive. Each session begins with an interview, followed by Q&A, and concludes with a reception that provides us with the opportunity to introduce ourselves and network with the executive.

• CEO Club of Boston: The CEO Club of Boston hosts seven or eight luncheons a year, typically at a location in downtown Boston. Although space is limited, typically there is space for MBA students. This provides an intimate setting to learn about key issues affecting both business and the economy from a leader within their industry.

• Boston College Events & Lecture Series: We are fortunate that Boston College has such an extensive network of centers and forums that are constantly putting on a variety of events and lecture series that are open to the university community as a whole. The Winston Center for Leadership & Ethics frequently offers lunch time lecture series or brown bag lunches with leaders on a specific topic. The speakers are sometimes alumni – but many times are notable leaders from the greater community eager to share their experience with the Boston College community.

• Being in Boston!: Although this may seem obvious, the access to other conferences and lectures put on by other leading universities is priceless. Recently, I attended the Dynamic Women in Business Conference put on by Harvard Business School. Classmates of mine attended the Social Enterprise Conference that HBS hosted as well earlier this year and others attended an Entrepreneurship Conference hosted by Babson. I’ve heard of students attending tech conferences hosted by MIT and there are countless other events that fortunately, due to our location in such a rich academic city, we are able to leverage as frequently as we would like.

Back to Life, Back to Reality

by Siobhan

After returning to the second semester of business school Monday, this first week has felt like a month. Whether it’s the reality that another tough semester has begun or the major contrast to a month of relaxation and laziness, the return to BC’s campus – while for me was definitely needed to get back into a routine – was not necessarily a joyous occasion when on Monday morning we literally got down to business (no pun intended!). Between Boston’s cold weather, the hundreds of pages of reading that now need to be completed, and other projects beginning to pile up, it may be difficult to look ahead to the various academic and social activities that will make our second semester at the Carroll School even better than the first. Here is a preview of the second semester:

• Carroll School of Management Winter Gala: Held every year, this is an event not to be missed! This year’s event will be held downtown at the InterContinental Hotel, overlooking the Fort Point Channel with views of the Boston Harbor and the city of Boston. Open to the entire graduate school, this is a great way to dress up for a night on the town, put on your dancing shoes, and let loose with your classmates – while making connections with some of the other students that the First Year Full-Time MBAs don’t necessarily get to see on a daily basis.

• BC Consulting Project: A unique aspect of the Carroll School, the BC Consulting Project, allows us to apply the skills that we have learned over the course of the first semester. Our class has been split into new teams (20 total) and have been matched with a company, nonprofit, or government agency that has a real-world problem that they need solved. This is not a simulation – but an actual business problem for an actual organization that our team is expected to complete over the course of the semester. While this will be a very challenging and time consuming aspect of this semester, I know it will be an incredibly rewarding experience. The capstone of the project is the Diane Weiss Consulting Competition that takes place in May. All of the teams present their work to a panel of faculty and three teams are selected to move on to the final where they present to a panel of outside judges. I look forward to seeing the hard work of my team, and all of my classmates’ hard work, come to fruition and see the impact we’ve made in these organizations throughout New England.

• BC Business Days: Every spring semester, there are typically at least three events to welcome admitted students to Boston College’s campus. If you are an admitted student, I highly recommend taking the time to come visit BC’s campus and spend a day in Fulton Hall getting to know the program, faculty, staff and current students. For my class, it’s a great way to pay it forward and share our amazing experience at BC to date with the future class of 2015.

• Tuck Winter Carnival: Held every year in Hanover, NH and hosted by Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, this is an amazing way to get out of town for the weekend, while networking with other MBA’s in New England. It’s a weekend complete with skiing, parties, networking, and enjoying some of New England’s best winter scenery!

As you can see, although this semester will be incredibly demanding, there are so many things to look forward to between now and the end of the year. Between the real world application of the business skills I’ve learned over the course of the year so far, plus a host of social activities to keep me sane, I plan to make the most of this semester and know that it will be even better than the last.

Strategizing Your Career Search

by Siobhan

With competing assignments for class, participating in extracurricular activities, and trying to maintain some semblance of a social life, it’s easy to forget the real reason that 99.9% of us return to business school – to get a great job. Fortunately, BC has a phenomenal Career Strategies department that actively engages me and my classmates in preparing – and going through – the internship and job search process. The reputation of BC’s Career Strategies department was definitely a selling point for me when making my decision about b-school. After talking to students at several of the other schools I applied to, BC students had an incredibly high regard for the work that the Career Strategies team puts into its students and the entire internship and job search process.

Now, after being in school for nearly a semester and trying to find as much time to dedicate to the summer internship search, the active engagement and support of the Career Strategies department is even more evident. For those prospective students wondering what career development opportunities BC offers for its MBA students, here are just a few of the highlights:

1 – Crack the Case Workshop: BC students are fortunate to have this program as part of our orientation, along with a follow-up session later in the semester. With so many internship and job interviews containing a case component, Career Strategies recognized how critical it is to prepare students for this aspect of the interview process. Led by a trained instructor, David Ohrvall, this two-day session provided me with the nuts and bolts of “cracking” the case in an interview. With access to online practice cases, I can continue to fine tune my skills as a I prepare for any upcoming interviews.

2 – On-Campus Information Session Hosting: Obviously many b-schools host companies on-campus for info sessions, but Career Strategies asks students to serve as “hosts” for each of these info sessions. I had the opportunity to serve as the student host for a previous company that was on campus, and not only was it a great leadership opportunity for me to work on my public speaking skills, it gave me one-on-one time with the recruiters and other senior leadership present. I contacted them before the session to confirm details, met with them before the session and introduced the company, and followed up with them after the session.

3 – BC Alum Small Information Sessions: The BC Alumni Network is massive and any BC alum in any company, in any part of the world, is always excited and eager to meet and connect with BC students and other BC alum – no matter what school they represent. I had the opportunity to participate in a small group information session, with about 10 other students, and a BC alum in a senior leadership position to hear about her career experience, time at BC, and her current role. This was a great way to network in an intimate setting with not only someone in senior leadership, but someone with a BC connection who is eager to help and answer any questions they can.

4 – Pre-School Career Assessment & Resume Support: Although you will want to cherish your free time over the summer before school starts, Career Strategies does an amazing job of helping you prepare over the summer for the internship process. Over the summer, I completed a Career Assessment, which evaluated my strengths and weaknesses and general areas of career interest. I also submitted my resume for feedback from my Career Advisor, who provided me with some great tips on tweaking my resume – which had been written with a slant towards my nonprofit experience – to make it more business savvy. Within the first few weeks of school, I met with my Career Advisor and reviewed both my resume and my Career Assessment, which helped her really get to know me and tailor her advice towards the path I hope to take with my career.

5 – Interview Prep: When the time comes for an interview or an informational interview, the Career Strategies team is ready to provide as much – or as little – support as you might want. I met with my Career Advisor to discuss how to run an informational interview and what types of questions to ask and just met with her to prepare for an interview. I know that I am even more prepared than I ever could have imagined with just gaining her insight on ways to tackle specific questions and what types of questions to ask my interviewer about the position.

Marriage + Business School = Challenging!

View of the Boston skyline from the Charles River

by Siobhan

Prior to returning to b-school, my husband and I had been living in New Jersey where he had been completing his PhD in Chemistry. We decided that it made the most sense not to have two students in the house, so I would return to school once he had finished his degree. After getting accepted to school and beginning to plan for our role reversal, I figured that we had this whole student thing down pat. I mean, we had already had one of us working full-time and another in school full-time, so how different could it be, right? Well, not quite.

Being married, or in a relationship for that matter, definitely has its pros and cons when you are in b-school. You don’t have to worry about dating, have someone to share the load of household chores and duties with, have someone who is required (whether they want to or not!) to listen to you complain about you day, and always have a great excuse to not go out if you feel like lounging around in your pajamas on a Saturday night! On the flipside, the demands on your time – for school, extracurricular activities, and social outings – can easily make your spouse or significant other feel like they are the third wheel in their own relationship.

While these are all factors that I think all married (or serious relationship types) of my class are facing, I would argue that the small percentage of the female members (all of the wives, girlfriends, fiancées, mothers) of this group are in a unique position compared to our male counterparts. Now, I am not trying to make a statement about women in society and also realize that all relationships are different, but at least in my experience over the last two months, being a “wife” in the traditional sense has been much more challenging then it was when I was working full-time. Things like cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping have become the lowest priorities on the totem pole – but are still things that need to get done – and at least in my house, are things that are not very high on my husband’s totem pole to accomplish!

However, like I said earlier, one of the big pros of being married in b-school is that there is someone there to share the load (even if he is not interested in cleaning the bathroom), so here are a few things that I have found incredibly useful for any wives or girlfriends considering making the return to b-school:

1. Involve your spouse early: Unfortunately, my husband was out of town the first week of b-school for work in Texas, so he missed some of the early social get togethers. Although he missed the first week, he was at the first tailgate and a few other early social activities, which made it much easier for him to be a repeat attendee at other events. This made it much easier, not only to get him excited and jazzed up for future events, but now he knows (for the most part) who people are when we talk about my day or other events that he isn’t able to attend. Quickly involving your spouse in the b-school world makes it very easy for them to feel a part of the experience.

2. Find other married classmates: Don’t get me wrong, most of my married classmates and their spouses in the program love to go out and have a good time, but whether or not we want to accept it, we aren’t in college anymore, so while the occasional dance party is a blast – sometimes the lowkey get together is a better environment to socialize. Plus, even for those of us who like to socialize, yelling over music in a crowded bar is not always the best place to meet people – especially if you are the spouse and don’t know who any of these people are! Finding other classmates who are married or in relationships has been an easy way to forge friendships and provide avenues for my husband to get to know some of the other husbands and wives experiencing b-school from the outside perspective. The BC Couples Club also provides quarterly get togethers for students in relationships to provide an opportunity for the significant others to get to know one another in an environment conducive to socializing.

3. It’s all about the little things: As is the case with everyone, there are little things that drive us nuts. For me, it’s a dirty house or an unemptied dishwasher or piles of mail, but the one thing that I’ve had to do in b-school (and has been a challenge!) is to let go of some of these things. No one will die if the dishwasher has not been emptied, so there’s no sense in making a big deal out of it. It’s been important for me (while I haven’t always been successful at it), to not take my stress or frustration over these little things that I’m not able to tackle out on my husband. Instead, I’ve had to force myself to not focus on these mundane day-to-day tasks and also to communicate with my husband that these are some things where I need his help (also, not one of my strong suits).

4. Figure out early what works for you: Before b-school, I liked to use Sunday as my day to grocery shop and make a nice dinner. I quickly learned that this would no longer be possible! My husband and I decided that he would do the grocery shopping and make dinner on Sundays, ideally something that could last for the week. While this may seem too planned out, it’s been incredibly helpful in reducing my stress for the week. This has also been about making sure I am home for dinner every night and that we eat dinner together. Even though this hour could be spent reading a case or applying for jobs, it’s been important for us to make this daily “us” time just to relax and also helps me prioritize my time accordingly.

5. The Key to Everything is Balance: My husband and I are lucky in the sense that we were living and working in the area for a few months before b-school, so he has his own network of work friends that he can hang out with when I have to spend the weekend doing school work. However, as with most healthy relationships (in my opinion at least), my husband wants me to hang out with him and his friends! It’s been important for us to try to coordinate our increasingly busier social calendar to make sure that we are balancing all of our groups of friends – b-school friends, work friends, and other friends in the area. Obviously, there are some weekends where this is more challenging than others, but it’s been important for us to make sure we are spending as much time TOGETHER with our friends – so that means that we can’t do EVERYTHING.

Decisions, Decisions... Choosing an MBA & Boston College

by Siobhan

Why an MBA? By the time you arrive at b-school, you’ve answered this question hundreds of times. However, by the time you sit down in your first class, the answer you might have given before you took the GMAT, or the answer you gave during your Admissions interview, or the answer you told your uncle over the summer before school started, may be completely different. At least, this was the case for me! For me, the decision to get an MBA can be summed up in one word: change (which is probably why my answer was ever-changing).

Not only had I wanted to change the organizations that I had worked for, but I was ready to experience a change in my role and perhaps even the industry I had worked in over the past 5 years. Most importantly, I was ready to change myself – not in a drastic way – but to change the knowledge and skillset that I hope to bring to my career and to future organizations – whether for-profit or nonprofit – that I will work with down the line. I knew that in order to make these changes, both internally and externally, I needed to go back to school and knew that an MBA would allow me to influence my career and the organizations in which I will work, the most effectively.

But why BC? Deciding to come to Boston College was an easy decision. Obviously, when weighing the various factors that influence your choice of the best b-school for you, there is PLENTY to consider. For me, coming from a more non-traditional background, the two questions that were most important to my decision were:

1) Which program stresses not only gaining the business skills I need to be successful in my career, but focuses on how to be a socially conscious business leader?

You already know the answer to this question, but BC! Unlike many business school programs, BC has a mandatory service requirement for graduation. While any added extracurricular activities tend to make any MBA student a little nervous, having started at BC, I can honestly say that the student body is generally committed to service – and not only committed, but excited to engage with the community. Invest N’ Kids is a program that brings local, at-risk youth to BC for tutoring and mentoring throughout the semester. A number of my classmates immediately jumped at the opportunity to get involved with this opportunity (and by the end of the semester – all of them will have already completed their service requirement!).

I’ve elected to serve in a different capacity, as a Board Fellow with a local nonprofit program, where I hope to fuse my previous experience in the sector, with the new skills that I’ve developed over the first six weeks of business school. I couldn’t be more excited to learn about what nonprofit I will be placed at for the semester and begin the process of supporting my project.

While the service element is a key component of BC’s uniqueness as a b-school, the commitment to producing socially conscious business leaders is integrated throughout our coursework – which was another key element for me. This was something discussed during my interview and again when I visited campus after I was admitted, but I can now say that everything I was told is 100% true. The Carroll School has a set of core values that the faculty and professors stress upon us to follow and uphold. We even had an assignment this quarter to write about our Core Values, forcing all of the First Years to identify what “makes us tick” as ethical individuals both personally and professionally.

2) Which program has the people that are the best for me?

The minute I stepped into the BC Admissions Office, I knew that BC was the right place for me. Greeted by a warm, engaging Admissions team, who were genuinely excited to get to know ME (not a candidate, or an applicant, but ME), I knew that BC was it. This was reinforced by my visit after I was accepted to BC and I had a chance to meet current students, other admitted students, faculty, and professors who stressed one thing: the sense of community. The sense of being a part of such a powerful, committed group of motivated, intelligent, passionate individuals exuded from every member of the BC community that I met with on campus. For me, I needed to be a part of an MBA program that promoted this inclusive network. As soon as I arrived, I knew that I belonged. After being at BC for six weeks, I can say that I made the best decision for me. I have classmates willing to set aside time to help me understand the accounting or statistics homework that I might be struggling with or read the paper that I want to make sure is grammatically correct. The community is here to support its members to ensure the success of the group, versus the success of the individual.

No matter what, any MBA program give you the business toolkit that you need to succeed. However, it’s critical to identify what type of program will allow you to thrive.