Elizabeth and I spent last week in Quebec City, Canada as I had a week off of school for Spring Break and the Profs didn't load us up with work this time. We had a great time and really enjoyed the city. Quebec is only about a 9 hour drive from Ithaca and we had great weather for the drives both way. They had feet upon feet of snow there, and got another 8 to 10 inches while we were there. It certainly doesn't slow them down, though. Click the picture at right to see our SmugMug photo album.

--Chris

In other good news, I am happy to report that I have accepted a summer internship as a financial analyst with AVITAS in Chantilly, Virginia. AVITAS is well known in the niche market of commercial aircraft finance and is relied upon by many airlines, banks, and leasing companies to establish the value of commercial aircraft. They also providing consulting services for fleet planning, industry forecasting, valuation modeling as well as aircraft management for banks and leasing companies. AVITAS is a great fit for me and I am really looking forward to working with them this summer. As a bonus my old college roommate, Jon, and a buddy from time in the Army, are both living in the DC area now, so I'll get to catch up with them.

--Chris

I am excited to report that I have been selected to participate in the international exchange program and that I was awarded my first choice: the University of St. Gallen in St. Gallen, Switzerland. I will be spending the last semester of my MBA program, Spring of 2009 (February - May), at St. Gallen. Elizabeth is excited, too, because we decided that she will come with me.

This is going to be great opportunity for me. Although USG isn't well known outside of the German speaking countries, it has a great reputation for banking and finance and appears to be well regarding in management consulting, as well. Four months in Switzerland, I believe, will help me build my German language skills and some credentials that should help me acquire work in Europe some day. Most people that know me know that I have "a thing" for Switzerland, so I'm absolutely ecstatic about the opportunity to live there for 4 months.

--Chris

My first semester at the Johnson School is complete; winter break has begun. It's kind of weired to have a few entire weeks on the calendar with no appointments or meetings scheduled. The past 18 weeks has been very busy, challenging, and fun. August feels both like it was just yesterday, and years ago.

So, what I have done since arriving in Ithaca in August? I've completed "core" classes in Marketing Management, Microeconomics, Accounting, Corporate Finance, Statistics, and Business Strategy. I've been to a retreat to get to know my new classmates (part of orientation back in August), and traveled to New York City to meeting with some prominent consulting companies. I learned how to play rugby (I'm being generous with myself when I say "learned"), practiced numerous consulting case interviews, rewritten my resume, attending numerous corporate recruiting breifings, written several cover letters, and have applied for some select summer internships. I've probably learned over 300 new names and spoken with several alum regarding their current employers. It's certainly been busy. Most 2nd years and alum say that the lest few weeks of the first semester are the toughest and busiest part of the entire 2 years here. I hope that proves to be true.

The teaching here has been truly excellent. Before coming to Cornell, I've taken classes and great schools and at marginal schools, so I was fully aware of how different the two can be. That was no small part of why I chose to get my MBA through a full time program at a top school. The professors here at the Johnson School certainly delivered. Johnson puts its best faculty into the teaching trenches, and not a single class is ever taught by a TA. All professors are very accessible, as well as eager and willing to help. What I especially liked is how well the coordinate with each other. First year MBAs are required to all take the same set of core classes (unless they test out, and CPAs are not allowed to take intro accounting). The professors meet weekly, I believe, and discuss what subjects they are currently covering. This allows, for example, our Finance professor to time his introduction of certain topics with the material we covered in Statistics (calculation of Beta, if you are interested), or to apply som accounting concepts in our marketing course as we determine break even points for new products.

I've also really enjoyed living in Ithaca. The fall was especially nice, although now we have had quite a bit of snow over the past few weeks. It isn't as cold here as Wisconsin, but the weather is generally very similar. Students from LA and Texas are having fun adjusting (sarcasm). Locals like to act as if Ithaca is the coldest place on the planet, but a lot of Cornellians seem to have never lived outside of New York, so their world view isn't quite as broad as they think it is.

So, what don't I like about the Johnson School? I really have few complaints, and they are minor. The biggest disappointment for me has been the overlap in dates of the international treks planned over winter break with the early start of classes for those of us enrolled in certain "Immersion" programs. Classes officially begin on January 21st, but I am taking the Managerial Finance Immersion, which requires me to start classes on January 8th. There is a trek to China immediately after the new year, but it doesn't finish in time to make it back for class. Hopefully a similar trip will be available in my second year. Generally speaking, there is so much going on here that you just simply can't do it all. You have to prioritize and do the best you can.

The Career Management Center here is top notch. It comprises a great staff that is eager and very qualified to help. Unfortunately, they are also very busy and it can be difficult to get on their calendar. But they are worth the wait.

I am not in the Investment Banking program, but I see the biggest downside to Johnson resting on the wannabe bankers' shoulders. Ithaca is close enough to NYC (under 5 hours), that both banks and the school expect students to make frequent trips to the city to network and gain traction on getting an internship. However, 5 hours is a long drive to be making once or twice a week. The school has tried to help with this by arranging busses, but I would still like to see the school do more. We have a classmate in the hospital because he was involved in an accident on the way to the city. Luckily, I hear he'll be back in classes next semester. Again, none of this directly affects me, but I do see what hoops many of my classmates have to jump through. Then again, no one really ever feels sorry for Investment Bankers.

So, now I have a few weeks to relax. Well, mostly. I do have homework assigned over break. As I mentioned, my Managerial Finance Immersion (MFI) begins on Tuesday, January 8th. It begins with a class called "Corporate Financial Policy" and kicks off with a quiz over 3 chapters of our finance book on the first day of class. The entire 1.5 credit hour class is condensed into 6 days of classes. We then get on a bus and visit 5 corporate headquarters over 3 days to discuss real-world financial issues that each has faced and how they addressed them. These visits will frequently include discussion with the CFO. Companies we'll visit include Air Products, Merck, S&P, American Express, and JP Morgan Chase. It should be a great trip.

After the first two weeks, I'll begin the normal class schedule. I'll be taking Consulting Process, Intermediate Accounting, Managing and Leading in Organizations, Operations Management, and Valuation Principles, as well as a Managerial Finance Practicum that includes case studies.

Late January and February is the prime interview season for summer internship positions. I've applied to a few already and have several more that I'm interested in. There are a lot of opportunities here, so it's really hard to say we're I'll end up. Hopefully I'll have something locked up by February. That means I'll be spending a lot of time over my so-called break to study and practice for interviews. Maybe it's a good think that I couldn't make the China trek after all?

I'm having a great time here and am pleased both with my decision to get an MBA and to attend the Johnson School at Cornell. It's a great experience and opens the door to a whole new world of opportunities. It's also a great facilitator for a career change, as long as the career you want to change into appreciates the benefits of an MBA.

Next semester will be even more enjoyable for me as Elizabeth will get out here next week. She is about to finish up her school. The job prospects for nurses looks pretty good here in Ithaca, so hopefully she can get her NCLEX behind her and find a job quickly. We'll both be happy to erase the distance between us.

I know I have some friends that are contemplating an MBA, so please let me know if you have any questions.

--Chris

I've managed to get a tiny bit of hiking in over the past few weeks. Two weeks ago, I went up to Watkin's Glen State Park, and yesterday I went up to Taughannock Falls State Park with my friend Oren. Pictures from both hikes can be found here and here, respectively.

We're anticipating our first snow this week, so I'm glad I got in a few hikes while the Fall colors were at peak.

Also note that I uploaded pictures that Oren took a few weeks ado on his hike around Bebe Lake, which is actually on Cornell's campus and I more or less walk by on my way to class every day.

--Chris

Read more...

For those of you who haven't heard, I allowed myself to be talked into playing rugby here at Cornell. I am certain that I'm the oldest guy, and probably the slowest guy, on the team, but the ruggers are nice enough not to point out the obvious and let me play anyway. A natural, I ain't, but I enjoy it. We played the annual alumni game on Saturday in wet and muddy conditions. The alums had a pretty good showing and thoroughly walloped us rookies (almost none of the 1st years on the team have ever played rugby prior to business school). No notable new injuries for me in the game, although my ribs don't like it when I try to sleep on my right side now. I'm sure that will go away soon enough, just like it did when the left side hurt...

--Chris

Read more...

Today is my last day of work for Beacon Technologies, as well as for American Family Insurance, the client site that I have been working at for nearly five years now. I have been fortunate to work for people who have been supportive of my efforts to go to business school, even though that means leaving them. I have not had to keep secrets. I have not had to lie. This is not by accident. I have continued to work here for this long precisely because that is the type of people that I have been working for/with. I could have made more money elsewhere, but working for people that actually treat you well is both hard to find and carries its own intrinsic value that is hard to put a dollar amount on. I'm sure my blood pressure is much lower because of it.

Having said all that, there is no sorrow in my departure. I have successfully advanced my career here, but the momentum has diminished since last Fall. If I was not going to business school, I would likely being moving on to something else anyway.

So, today, I close one chapter in my life and begin to write the next. I've commented to Elizabeth several times that some day we will look back fondly at our "quiet years in Wisconsin". We have little doubt that the next 5 years will be decidedly more exciting. And demanding.

--Chris

We have put a security deposit down on an apartment at Westview Terrace near Cornell. It's a littler further from campus than I was hoping for, but about $400 a month cheaper than the apartments near Collegetown that we looked at. Since we have a dog, our options are pretty limited and Westview Terrace seems to be a great location for dogs. Also, the bus stop is very close and most of the tenants in Westview Terrace are Johnson Schools students. We'll be moving in at the end of the month.

--Chris

The house is sold! And I mean sold. I closed on it this morning and everything went smoothly. I had accepted an offer on the house within 9 days of putting it on the market and the buyer wanted a quick closing. I had it priced to move, and probably left some money on the table, but Elizabeth and I are thrilled to have this big piece to our transition behind us. We were both pretty worried about having to carry on with mortgage payments after school started.

As pleased as we are to have the deal done, we are also pretty saddened by parting ways with the house that we loved so much. We'll miss it.

--Chris

I just posted my review of Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan up on my website. I have never taken an economics class and wanted a quick survey of the subject before I find myself in Prof. Frank's econ class this summer. The book was a great read; surprisingly great for a book on economics. I heartily recommend this book to just about anyone.

See my full write up here.

I also just finished reading Freakonomics yesterday. I'll be posting a review of it as soon as I can, but I'll tell you now that I don't think it lives up to the hype. Freakonomics is entertaining, I guess, but Naked Economics is a much more worthwhile read.

--Chris

If there is one thing that I wished I had figured out earlier in life, it is that so called "soft skills" are, more often than not, more important than "hard skills" when it comes to your success. I spent quite a bit of time and energy scrutinizing the way in which I interract with others when I left the military; I knew that some of the habits I picked up in the Army were not going to fly in Corporate America. I've been going through the same exercise again as I prepare to leave the world of software development and head to business school. It is obvious to me that my success after school will be every bit as dependant upon my ability to build professional and personal relationships as it will be dependent on my ability to apply new skills that I learn in school.

With that goal in mind, , I read How to Win Friends and Influence People for my second time. I don't know of a book that does a better job of getting you to be more aware of how you relate to people than Dale Carnegie's classic. I have posted a review here. I think everyone can benefit from reading this book and almost any time in their life or career, but it could be especially beneficial for those of us who are heading back to school this summer. Add it to your summer reading list.

--Chris

Something light for the weekend. Click play to watch me peform, then go make your own paloozahead for some cheap entertainment.

With admit in hand and the gears in motion for me to start classes at Cornell in August, Elizabeth and I have had our hands full preparing for all the changes. Mainly, we have started packing up our belongings for the move, sorting through the excess property that we have accumulated in our house over the past four years, and finally got the house presentable to potential buyers. We planted the "For Sale" sign on Saturday afternoon and had our first showing on Monday, with three more scheduled for its first week on the market. That's a good start, but I'll be pretty anxious about it until we close a deal.

I hate doing real estate business mainly because I hate realtors. I'm loathe to enter into a financial agreement where the compensation is not based on performance, and the entire real estate industry is designed to maximize profit for the realtors, not the buyers/sellers. I just always feel like those perpetual smiles you find on any realtor's face belie the fact that they know something that you don't. My current realtor has a pretty good reputation and he has been good to work with so far, but still, he is a realtor...

--Chris

Update from Tuck:

As a quick update, we released the majority of the waitlist this week. We would, however, like to maintain a small waitlist through the summer and would like to know if you would like to be a part of that group.

It would have been nice to have my Tuck status resolved, but I will continue to work the waitlist at least until I sign a lease in Ithaca.

--Chris

CNNMoney/Fortune, have listed the Top 100 MBA Employers. Generally, the list isn't too suprising, except that Google hires more MBAs than McK.

1. Google
2. McKinsey
3. Goldman
4. Bain
5. BCG
6. Apple
7. Microsoft
8. GE
9. Nike
10. B of A

I guess I would have expected to see another Investment Bank on the list before I saw Nike. What do you think?

[Edit: May 4, 2007] I just quickly skimmed the list yesterday and misread it thinking it was a list of companies that hired the most MBAs, when in fact the list is simply the most sought after employers from the MBA's perspective. The title of the article is a bit misleading in that regard.

--Chris