Tag Archives: Smith

R.H. Smith Bschool

Visiting Smith

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I’m still a wee bit jet lagged from this weekend so this post might be short and sloppy because my bed is beckoning.

DC

So I took the red eye out of LAX on Thursday and headed for IAD (Dulles). From Dulles, it’s a 50 minute bus ride on Metrobus 5A to DC. I got off at Rosylnn station and bought a one day Metro pass. The DC metro stations are by far the most aesthetically pleasing subway stations I’ve seen. The mood lighting and lack of trash and rats definitely gives the place a good vibe. From Rosylnn, I went one stop to Foggy Bottom where my journey through DC really began.

I didn’t do a whole lot of planning for this trip and because I was counting on Google Maps to help me navigate through the city. The Foggy Bottom station dropped me off right at the entrance of George Washington University Medical School. I walked about half a mile south till, passing the Department of State and the Navy Surgery Center, until I got to the Lincoln Memorial and the Reflecting Pool. The view was impressive. I wish I could wax poetic about how grand and “monumental” the experience was but I’m not that eloquent. Since I was in the area, I also visited the Vietnam, Korean, and WW2 memorials. I then walked down to the Washington Monument and Smithsonian Memorial.

By the time I got to the Smithsonian, my feet and back were begging for relief. I spent about an hour in “The Castle” catching my breath and taking care of business. Tiff suggested Ben’s Chili on U St. It happened to be on my way to UMD so I decided to have lunch there. Think Wienershnitzel but with a lot more soul. Thumbs up.

After chowing down on a Half-Smoke @ Ben’s, I continued on my way to UMD via the Green line. I checked into HI and crashed for about an hour. I used HI’s complimentary shuttle to get dropped off at UMD’s student union (The Stamp)  after my nap. The campus was just as my friend described it: big and diverse. The buildings are all built out of bricks and the student population is a melting pot of cultures. School spirit also runs abound compared to UCI. Almost every student had at least one piece of Terp Swag. There are several sprawling lawns scattered throughout the campus where you’ll find kids playing flag football. The football and baseball stadium are also on campus. On the map it shows that there is even a golf course. I went inside The Stamp to buy a souvenir. Inside, there a bunch of places to eat, a bookstore, a small market, a tech store, post office, basically everything you can think of to keep a small village running. I eventually meandered my way to Van Munching Hall to scout out the place before the event.

For dinner, I met up with an old friend for Pho. Pho in Maryland? Yup. It wasn’t half bad either.

Diversity Workshop

I got to VMH at 8:25 thinking that I was early. Turns out quite a few people were already there and eating breakfast. I was greeted by the recruiting manager, a fellow Anteater, who explained to me the days events and the ice breaker game we were playing. I sat down at a table with two Smith ambassadors that I ended up talking to quite extensively for the rest of the day.

Instead of continuing this as a story, I’ll just enumerate the highlights of the day:

  • A lot of the things that were presented, (ie admissions, curriculum) could have been attained by visiting the Smith website. Being at the event revealed the intangibles that you can’t get from a website such as the helpfulness, passion, warmth, and the sense of community that I felt from the students and staff members.
  • The mock class was taught by Professor who had ten degrees and ten times as many awards. If the professors @ Smith are at least half as entertaining and effective, then I’m all in.
  • The Netcentricity Lab was really cool, especially the Stock Exchange lab. Having designed a demo room myself, I could really appreciate the room and all the A/V stuff they have in the room. Geeked.
  • I won a lot of swag which I didn’t expect. I won an aluminum Smith water bottle for winning the ice breaker competition and a Smith fleece for having traveled the furthest. Everyone was surprised that someone from LA actually flew out to the event. Apparently that’s a big deal. <shrug>
  • The keynote speaker gave us two pieces of advice that I felt was really good: “Just do it”, and “Ask questions”.
  • Actually, one thing new that I did learn that I don’t think is covered really well on the Smith website is the extensive amount of interaction students have with the career services department. The process starts during the summer when OCS assigns “homework” to us that helps them get spun up on what types of internship/jobs we will be looking to attain once school starts. Two thumbs up in this economy. Btw, Smith placed 6th in Best programs in terms of job placement.
  • It’s possible to do two Global Study trips (8-10 day trips abroad to places like India, China, etc to learn). Woohoo!
  • Smith is realistic about its brand and weaknesses. The brand is strong within the DC area and the staff is trying to grow it outside. The school has its weaknesses (unstated) but the school reacts quickly to feedback and adjusts.

I’m sure I’m leaving something off the list but bottom line is that I left Smith feeling really good about the school. There’s still a lot of hardwork ahead but I’m more motivated now than ever. I received some good news this morning when one of my recommenders finished her forms. All I have to do now is spit shine those essays, get the other recommendation form in and prep for the interview (hopefully).

Time to crash!

Off to DC

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I’m off to the Diversity Workshop at Smith this weekend. The event is a day long info session at the school with chances to network with the admissions folks and current students. I feel like a know Smith pretty well already, but I’m looking forward to what other new info might be uncovered at the event. The event starts at 9 and ends at 4:30 so I’m sure there’s going to be lot of ground covered. Hopefully I’ll be able to incorporate some things from this trip into my essays.

If not for this trip, I’d probably be a miserable wreck at work. The excitement of not just visiting Smith, but also site seeing in DC has kept me motivated through the week. I’ve spent way too many hours, and way too much money, prepping for the trip: buying a new suit case (MLC Burrito by Pradagonia), printing my own business cards, buying a new suit. I still need to get my hair did and buy some other junk. After this trip, I have Broad next weekend. I still have to setup my trips for Owen and SC. Exciting.

My essays are finally coming along. I’ve gone through a couple of iterations for my Smith essays and I’m starting to work on the set for Broad. The fire needs to be turned up in the next couple of weeks because I want to get everything submitted by the end of the year. SC is due Dec 1 and Smith Dec 15. I have to also follow up with my recommenders, fill out my apps, and polish up the resume. Yikes, now that I think about it, I’m going to need to build a giant fire.

Overdue Weekend Report

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This weekend was productive. Although I didn’t get much done in terms of tangible products (ie completed essays), I did get a lot of planning done, which to me is half the battle. The process of choosing the right school has gone through several iterations of change. I’ve scrutinized, reshuffled, doubted, and reflected for what has felt like forever on this issue. The conclusion? I final list of schools that I will be applying to.

Without further ado, drumroll please…. the list (in no particular order): Vanderbilt (Owen), Michigan State (Broad), Maryland (Smith), USC (Marshall), Texas (McCombs). Ta Dah!!!

I talked about “fit” in the last blog and I feel like these five schools are the best fit me. What fit meant for me came down to a several things that all five schools possess: small classes, collegial/collaborative environment, general management program, flexibility in course selection, companies that I would work for that hire there, location (most), international/study abroad programs, alumni network, brand, and lastly and possibly the most important, a football team ;) . Some schools are better regarded in certain areas than others, and each school has unique aspects that add to their appeal. Below is brief bio of each school.

Owen

Vanderbilt is located in Nashville Tennessee. If you’re from LA, I’m sure you’re thinking, “Tennessee?!?!”. I don’t blame you because I did that myself. But after looking into the mecca of country music, Nashville would be a great place to go to school because it is not LA. I’ll get into what that means in another post. Owen has a well defined plan for people that are looking to go down the brand/product management career path. The Nashville area is also an “incubator” for entrepreneurs, especially those looking to get into the healthcare industry, something I’d be interested in doing. Overall, the Owen program seems pretty strong in all departments. There are a lot of choices for extra-curricular activities in terms of academic, non-academic, and career-oriented clubs. Plus, it’s a “Southern Ivy”, which just means it’s a good school.

Broad

I chose Broad because I like the color green (school color), its Magic’s alma mater, and the movie 300 is about a bunch of Spartans (school mascot is the Spartan). <roll eyes> For a smaller school, Broad does a really good job of placing their students in jobs after graduation. They’re not as well known in entrepreneurship or technology, though they do have specialized classes in those areas. They are however highly rated for their supply chain management specialization. One thing that I learned at the MBA fair was a learning opportunity called “BrandNew” that teams MBA students with engineering students to research, develop, and market a new product. Sold! I’ve talked to a couple of MSU alums and they have nothing but good things to say about the business school. A friend who went there told me rent is around $300 if you share a room. Thumbs up to East Lansing.

Smith

Smith has a penchant for the use of acronyms in its marketnig material. Coming from the defense industry, I can appreciate that. One of Smith’s acronyms is GET, or “Globalization, Entreprenuership, and Technology”. GET is what Smith believes are the three drivers for transforming business. Coincidentally, those are the three business areas that I want to study. Smith is also home to the Dingman Center which by all accounts, has a really good reputation within the region of being a entrepreneurial incubator. They also have a this place called the Netcentricity Laboratory where students get to do simulations and modeling of things ranging from the stock market to supply chain management. It looks to be awfully similar to some of the demo labs we have at work.

Marshall

After going back and forth this decision for several months, I finally realized that it would be foolish of me not to apply to the part time program at USC. Marshall’s dedication to entrepreneurship, the Trojan network, and the ability to work and go to school at the same time are the main reasons I’m applying to Marshall. Going to Marshall would obviously mean I’d be staying in LA, which also means I can finally start laying some more permanent roots down.

McCombs

I listed the above schools arbitrarily, but I intentionally saved McCombs for last. After the QS MBA Tour, I came home with a tough decision to make. McCombs was one of the first schools I looked into when I first started considering going to bschool. It fell off the radar sometime during the summer when I started looking into Foster. After talking to the admissions folks from both schools at the fair, I realized that I was a long shot at both schools, especially with how my GMAT turned out. I talked to Tiff about what I should do, and she more or less said, “Man up, take it again and try!”  She made a good point and talked to me about her experience of applying to grad school. I realized that I would regret not taking a shot at applying to a reach school so it came down to choosing between Foster and McCombs. I weighed the pros and cons of each school. It was a very tough and even fight, but in the end McCombs came out ahead in terms of brand; I felt like McCombs has a better national brand than Foster. McCombs has everything all the schools above have but stronger (Moot Corp [Entrepreneurial challenge], great city [Austin literally rocks], Colt McCoy[future Heisman]) . As it is with the other schools, getting in will be tough, but @ McCombs, it’s going to be an uphill battle with trolls at the top of the hill tossing rocks down.

I’m glad I finally have this list put together. Now I can really focus on putting together a package for my recommenders and start cranking on those essays. This week is going to be fun!