Premature Nostalgia

Today was my last day of class for 2011. I can't believe that we're (almost) done with the fall semester and that 25% of my b-school experience is over!! The next two weeks I'll be taking exams for my core classes - corporate finance, operations, accounting and marketing. While I'll be really happy to be done with accounting (hopefully forever), I'm excited to take more classes on the subjects that I found more interesting, like operations and even finance.

At Columbia, we use the bidding method to sign up for classes. In theory it makes sense - student bid for courses based on their desire to take them... but in reality, there is crazy point inflation for courses because, as you can imagine, b-school students are super competitive. It then becomes a game of "how many can I win" versus "what am I truly interested in". Bid inflation was rampant this year and rumor is that the administration is thinking of ways to tweak this methodology because there were so many complaints from students. As for me, I was able to get into the finance course with the teacher I wanted (Capital Markets) and at least one healthcare class (Pharma Strategy in Emerging Markets). There's still another healthcare class I'm interested in picking up, so hopefully I'll be able to win it during the next round of bidding, or scoop it up during the "add/drop" period.

Bidding aside, the past few days I've been reflecting on how happy I am to be at business school. Part of it is just the fact that I'm in school now, instead of working (though I do miss having income). But I think the majority of it is that the whole experience is built around your own personal development. I mean, it's a two year break from reality where everyone is trying to help you answer and to become "what do you want be when you grow up". How awesome is that!!

So far, I'm really happy with my experience and I hope that everyone who is interested in getting an MBA decides to go for it! The application process is grueling, but once you've gotten in - the hard part is over and the fun begins! :)

Cheers,
Vi