It’s been a heck of a month for me personally here at Tuck and outside of Hanover. Where do I begin? Well first of all I’ve done exactly what I warned you all against in a previous post. I’m over-committed to leadership initiatives here on campus. I won’t even begin to name what I’ve got myself involved with but I even know I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.

In the midst of filling and already overflowing plate of activities, I ended up finding myself in the middle of Fellowship interviews for the Investment Bank I’m working at this summer, which back and forth to New York. Needless to say, while I’ve been extremely exhausted–but I’ve also felt extremely rewarded by being able to start leaving a legacy here at Tuck and helping get the incoming class adjusted to life in Hanover.

New York, New York

About three weeks ago I traveled to New York for a series of interviews for a Fellowship with the company I’ll be joining this summer. Many of you who read my blog know where I’m going to be interning, but for the general public I’ve chosen not to disclose my place of employment… if you’re really that curious send me an e-mail at thesenator2014@gmail.com and I’ll indulge you. Anyways, as always it was an hour and half drive from Hanover to Manchester for a flight to LGA that always gets delayed. This time the delay only last two hours but by the time I got into the city I was exhausted. Never the less I mustered up the energy to meet up with a friend that night.

The next morning I woke up and slowly shimmied around my hotel room in a failed attempt to get ready in a timely manner. By the time I finished dressing I had five minutes for breakfast before I had to hop in a cab to get to my interview. I choked down a fruit cup and muffin and scooted out of the hotel. The weather was dreadful. It was raining sideways and my umbrella decided to press the eject button 20 seconds into my walk down the street to hail a taxi.

I finally arrived at my interviewing destination thinking I’m late and I rushed up to the holding tank on the 10th floor… Seemed like everyone who was interviewing was be late as well… thank goodness. Immediately I went from frazzled to relaxed and caught up with some friends I had met at my sell day in February. I was surprised at how many people were competing for the Fellowship. I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t intimidated. By 9AM we got the stack of back-to-back-to-back interviews kicked off. It felt like second nature after going through the recruiting grinder.

I left the building feeling good, but unsure of myself. In all honesty, at that point I mentally shelved it and said to myself “It’s out of my hands, I gave it my best shot.” And I did. There were so many qualified candidates I felt it would honestly come down to the luck of the draw. I gathered my discombobulated suitcase (and it’s contents) from the floor of my hotel room met with another friend for lunch and screamed to the airport in a cab worried I would miss my flight. My flight got delayed seven hours. The airport bar made a lot of money off of me that afternoon/evening.

The following Tuesday at 11:00am on the dot I got a call from a 212 area code. I was nervous when I picked up the phone. Fifteen seconds in the anxiety balloon was popped… I got the Fellowship! I was ecstatic. What a ways I’ve come from struggling with my decision to come to Tuck, grinding through the recruiting season and now being honored with an Investment Banking Fellowship at a Top Bulge Bracket firm. Some things just can’t be explained in words and this is certainly one of them.

The Other Side of the Coin

After a week of celebration, I got a ring on my phone at 3:00PM the following Monday. My fiance was semi-frantic on the other line talking about how a bomb went off a block and a half away from her and there was total chaos in Boston–she hangs up abruptly. I turned on the news and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I called my fiance back, no answer. Texts were barely creeping through and reports of bombs being found throughout the city had me worried. Just a week ago I was riding high, now all I could think of was something happening to her.

In the midst of all this I had to go to class and deliver a speech for my communications course and as you can imagine, my mind was elsewhere and it showed. When I finished class I reconciled the fragility of the situation. It could have all disappeared so quickly. In the midst of my happiness I was reminded how delicate life is and how the things most important to you (which do not include a fellowship) can be taken away so suddenly. I thank God that my fiance was safe and sound and Boston is starting to heal. She actually came up to Hanover to great away from the craziness of it all and spend the weekend which was reassuring and comforting for both of us.

Into May

I can’t believe my first year is almost over. I’m sad–I don’t want it to end. In the meantime I have a goal of getting in 20 more rounds of golf before I have to hang my sticks up for the summer. New York is a bit daunting for me at this point. I’m feeling so unprepared but I’m also looking forward to learning a ton. In the meantime I’m going enjoy springtime in Hanover. You couldn’t really ask for a more beautiful setting to wrap up your first year in business school. The only thing that would make it better is having Hanover Country Club in my backyard. Oh wait. It is.

It’s that time in the year when a bevy of admissions decisions have been handed out. For better or worse, you’re in or out… or maybe you’re just a “maybe”. If you’ve applied to six or more school this has likely happened to you and you’re trying to figure out if you should play the waiting game or commit to your second or third choice. Well this post is designed for all of you out there who are waitlisted and want to know what to do in order to get off the waitlist soon, or at the very least, position yourself to make an informed choice if you have more options down the road.

Turn that frown Upside Down, Dust Yourself off and take Your Next Steps

1. My first word of advice is that if you’re waitlisted at a school that’s not in your top-tier, gracefully bow out. Maybe this is the Tuckie in me talking, but honestly, you’re potentially taking a higher priority waiting spot from someone who really wants to go to said school and you really don’t have any intention of going there anyways.

2. Prioritize which schools you’ve been waitlisted at by absolute ‘must get into schools’. You should really limit it to one; or maximum two if you haven’t received any admits yet.

3. Once you’ve prioritized your school, prepare a professional letter or formal e-mail expressing your desire to stay on the waitlist and how X school is your number one choice, and why you would be a great member at that school. NOTE: Some schools have strict no contact policies (ehem, Wharton). But others, Tuck included, has a soft no contact policy… meaning what I described above is generally acceptable. (Of course, use common sense and discretion)

4. Ask for an extension to make a decision at your other school(s) that have admitted you. At this stage you may need to sacrifice $2000.00 on a deposit at another program, but at the end of the day that’s nothing compared to going to the school you want to end up at.

5. This is a critical step in the process. Wait until the beginning to middle-of-April to contact admissions. If you remember who you interviewed with (if it’s an admissions officer) pickup the phone and call them. If you don’t remember, then try to find out who would be a good person to talk to in admissions–but it IS IMPORTANT you speak with an admissions officer that can go to bat for you when it comes time for people to come off of the waitlist. Make sure you approach the conversation with the utmost humility and a positive attitude. Loosely follow the script (and advice bullets) below:

• “Hello, my name is The Senator and I’m a recently waitlisted candidate. I just want to say that while I was disappointed that wasn’t initially accepted I view this as an opportunity to show Tuck that I’m entirely committed to joining the community this fall and wanted to know if there is anything else I can do to enhance my candidacy…”
• What the admissions officer will likely say: “Senator, thank you for contacting us. Right now we have everything we need on file and we’ll get back to you as soon as we start making decisions.”
• Advice: This is where you have to gauge whether to press on or back off. My candid advice would be to follow-up with something like this, “Well thank you, Ms. Admissions Associate. If it’s alright with you, can I add a short essay to my file highlighting some additional parts to my candidacy that I may not have conveyed in my interviews or on my essays? There are also some updates I’d like to share that I believe would help you make your decision.” (Only add this last part if there are updates, see below)
• The response here will likely be yes, but make sure if you are going to take this route you have something VERY VALUABLE to add. Have you gotten any other admissions to schools that may be in the ‘Elite’ realm that you can add? Have you received a promotion at work? Did you undertake a new project with great results? Did you receive an award? Did you enroll in a class or retake the GMAT?

6. Think long and hard about why you may have been overlooked for admissions. Were you too cookie cutter? Was your GMAT not up to snuff? Quant skills lacking? Bombed the interview? Whatever it is, you need to somehow address it in your additional submission. Be VERY purposeful and insightful about how you approach this written piece. It may be helpful to reach out to your interviewer if it was a student and ask if they could offer constructive feedback–many schools where the student body is collegial and communal this is an easy ask.

7. Follow-up. After you submit (or not submit) an additional piece to admissions be sure to follow-up with whomever it was you spoke to just once. Not twice, not three times–just once. You don’t want to come off as aggressive and impatient. You must respect the process but you should show that you’re persistent and you really want this. DISCLAIMERS:

• THIS IS NOT A FOOL PROOF METHOD FOR GETTING OFF OF THE WAITLIST. These are just my personal suggestions that have been successful for friends who ended up at schools like Tuck, Darden, Kellogg, Booth, Ross and Yale. I cannot speak to other schools that don’t share the same type of admissions process and institutional culture.
• I do not recommend getting additional letters of reference. Why? What else are these people going to say about you that already hasn’t been said? Not to mention these are such a small part of an admissions decision.
• If you think a low GMAT or GPA are to blame you should consider retaking, especially if you want to be a banker or consultant. You will get asked your GMAT score and undergrad GPA for these professions. Taking additional classes to shore up the latter– it goes a long way towards showing a commitment to improving this area of your profile.
• Talk to current students. You’d be surprised how close the communities are at smaller schools. Many times, although we do not make the decisions, we feel very strongly about our culture and the fabric that holds it together. If someone believes you could be a unique thread in that fabric we’ll make sure someone who is making the decisions know how we feel.
• Finally, don’t freak out and don’t give up. You may have gotten waitlisted but it’s not the end of the world. If you by chance don’t get in, at the level you’re playing at you can’t make a bad choice–business school is what you make of it, the school doesn’t make you.

If you’re waitlisted at Tuck and you want some further advice feel free to e-mail me at: thesenator2014@gmail.com

Good luck Class of 2015!

Tuck is starting to round out the Class of 2015. Seems like I just arrived in Hanover yesterday–ok maybe six months ago. How time flies. Not even two months ago I was deep in the throes of the job hunt and I had just wrapped up my first full-term of classes. Now I’m on the phone two to three times a week talking with accepted (and hopefully future) Tuckies about everything. Sometimes, I can’t resist laughing a bit on the phone because I was asking the same questions this time last year.

On one level it’s kind of saddening–you’ve heard the term “out with the old, in with the new”. On another level, it’s actually really refreshing. Tuck is a school where almost everything is student driven so you get to assume leadership and mentorship capacities early and regularly. It’s also quite amazing how the focus in Fall A and B was academics and recruiting, now it’s shifted almost entirely to getting Tuckies to commit to next year’s class and transitioning of club leadership to T’14s, and oh yeah having a lot of fun.

Cool Stuff in the Pipeline

There’s a lot of cool stuff happening here at Tuck right now. This year our Quality of Life committee (QLC) kicked things into top gear so now we have a living room in Stell Hall, bagels and coffee every Sunday morning, an espresso bar (not part of QLC) and hangout nights almost weekly with cookies and other treats. In addition to QLC, we’re wrapping up the Tuck.500 this week, a three-week fitness competition with teams of six on a ‘race’ to 500 miles. As it stands, my team is limping towards the finish line and a group of serious runners who call themselves ‘The Flat Rack Pack’ has already technically won the competition. Hopefully my team can make it to 500 by the time the week ends!

Something else a lot of us are looking forward to are the upcoming trips over break. There are a handful of learning expeditions led by faculty to South Africa, Japan, China and other international destinations. Tuckies are also organizing leisure trips to places like Sun Valley and Alaska. A few of us (including myself) are opting for warmer options. While I’m not scared of the snow, it’s time to get a bit of sun and warm the bones for a spring filled with a lot of golf before we hit our summer internships. Our nice, long two-week break will be a perfect Segway into a relatively chill Spring term where we’ll wrap up the core and take a few elective courses. I’m honestly trying to enjoy myself as much as possible until June so I’m going to opt for a mix of low impact academic options and few practical courses to help shore up my quant skills.

Prepping for the Summer

This past week I took a trip to New York City for ‘sell day’ with the Investment Bank I’ll be joining this summer. It was a good day and I still have to narrow down my choice for which group I’m going to be placed in… that means for those of you that are in Investment Banking already, that’s the universal signal that I’m not going to Morgan Stanley. The visit to NYC was great; I’m really hopeful for the summer and I maintain had I not chosen to go to school at Tuck, there’s a very good chance that I wouldn’t be going into Investment Banking (a post on why if you’re going into Banking you should come to Tuck will come later).

One thing to note about these sell days, every firm has a unique setup as to how they handle scheduling, meeting bankers and Q & A. I’ve been to 3 or 4 of these events this year and by far this last one I went to was the best. For those of you doing early action programs and informationals make sure to take notes on your experiences. From my experience and interactions with each of these sell days they actually mimic the personality of the bank quite closely–just something to be aware of, because you’ll soon realize how important ‘fit’ will be when you’re making those decisions come this time next year.

Finally, I’ve started to look for places in New York. Initially I was considering the NYU Summer Housing option, but I’ve since received some valuable advice from a T’13 telling me I should really consider finding an apartment with other Tuckies, if not for anything else but guaranteeing I get good sleep. I really thought this would be an overly expensive option as I’m trying to save as much money this summer as possible. What I’ve found though is that there are actually reasonably priced options for a summer sublet with furnishings. Some of the prices on Craigslist look to good to be true (especially for NY) but if I can find something for under $2,000 a month I’ll consider it a win.

For the past few years the African Ancestry Business Association at Tuck (TAABA) has hosted a ski weekend for graduate students across the country in our (relative) backyard of Northern Vermont. This year we’re going to Smuggler’s Notch for a weekend of skiing, fellowship and lots of ‘ratchet’ rap music. If you don’t know what ratchet means check urban dictionary or just YouTube it. We have lots of special activities planned for our colleagues across the grad school landscape. So far we have several schools represented, including Harvard, U.Penn, Cornell, Northwestern, NYU, Yale, Columbia and several others (forgive me if your school isn’t listed).

In addition to the activities this weekend I’m really looking forward to catching up with other friends across the MBA matrix. I’ve got a lot of friends at Cornell, NYU and Michigan specifically that I cannot wait to exchange war stories with about school, recruiting, (their) dating travails and other juicy tidbits. Being at Tuck, and I assume the same is true at Cornell and Yale, you start to get over-bubblized and forget that there is a world outside of your cozy cavern of comfort in the middle-of-nowhere. I actually vividly remember the first time I went down for a recruiting trip to New York in October I was so disoriented. All of the cars, waiting for signals to actually cross the street, tall buildings and people wearing suits all the time. My mind was absolutely blown, that after only a month of living in Hanover all of hustle-and-bustle of big city life I’d grown up with as a kid in Detroit was all of a sudden my arch-enemy. I digress.

Other Good News

So aside from the TAABA ski weekend I’m also geeked about some other great news I received this week. Two other Tuckies and I will be co-Chairing TAABA for 2013-2014! I view it as a great honor and privilege to be furthering the diversity and inclusion mission at Tuck and continuing to foster a sense of identity and ownership over the direction of our school. Additionally, the two other co-Chairs are as enthusiastic about the direction we’re moving towards and the potential impact we’re going to make for future generations to come. So while this weekend is all about fellowship it’s also a mini celebration of big things to come!

On The Note of Diversity

Something myself and a lot of my colleagues, both from underrepresented and non-underrepresented backgrounds have been talking about a lot recently is the concept of “inclusion”. We don’t need to go on about how diversity and inclusion is essential for a well-rounded educational experience–we can all agree on that. But the more challenging part that I’ve been perplexed by is, “How do we actively blend multiple worlds?” It’s a very high-level theoretical question so let me try to explain. In many affinity groups I’ve participated in, where there is a predominant affiliation, the focus has been on preserving cultural identity and educating others about what’s important to us. I think those are great goals and missions, but I have yet to solve something that I believe is more important. What are we doing to bring ALL parties to the table and rally CONSISTENTLY and CONTINUOUSLY towards creating and maintaining action oriented diversity? And how do we do it?

I don’t have the answer and would love commentary. But what I do know is that I’ve had several conversations with friends who don’t look like me on the outside, but feel the same way on the inside. Two weeks ago, in fact, I had a member of my former study group members say to me, “I think diversity in general across all top business schools is a problem–I want to be a part of changing that. But one thing I don’t think we should ever do is import diversity for the sake of diversity. It doesn’t serve anyone well.” I couldn’t agree with him more. It’s a documented fact I’m a supporter of affirmative action–I’ll continue to be until it’s no longer necessary. What I’ve realized however is that while there are many more good things about AA, one major con is that it marginalizes women and minorities to the point were organic ‘inclusion’ becomes more difficult.

My biggest goal as TAABA co-Chair for this year and next is to do more than just have a conversation about breaking down these inclusion barriers. And probably too ambitiously, develop a tangible model of organic inclusion and a shared burden of promoting diversity on a consistent basis here at Tuck and as an example for other institutions to follow. I know it’s been said before–but I’m one of these people who believes in dreaming big and doing everything in your power to fill those dreams.

I welcome your feedback and comments.

And for all of you out there joining Tuck at the TAABA Ski Trip this weekend–Let’s Get It In!

I’ll admit what a lot of us in business school are thinking through our first few weeks of classes, “Why am I forgoing salary and paying to get steamrolled?” I’ve generally been a decent student; working hard and working smart to get the job done. But Tuck was a completely different animal. Now you might think to yourself, “This should’ve been easier for this guy with an undergraduate degree in business.” You’re partially correct–for some of my classmates just learning HOW to study was a challenge. But I return to my previous point and assert that the level of intellectual rigor and depth of detail you’re about to encounter is something new to almost anyone.

Academics at Tuck are important. It’s widely known that it has one of the most rigorous core curricula of any top business school, hence one of the reasons there is a non-grade disclosure policy. Tuck is also lauded for having one of the strongest teaching faculties of any program in the world. I’d argue that Darden and Yale are the only other two schools in the Top Tier with the caliber of teaching professionals Tuck is bestowed with. While scholarship is something we care about here it’s really important to keep things in perspective. You’re not going to know everything–I don’t care how high your GMAT was or if you were summa cum laude at Georgetown before business school–the core is designed to expose your strengths and weaknesses across the board.

Zoning Out on Life

With all of this said, the biggest mistake I’ve seen myself and my classmates make is to dig in too deep. Don’t get me wrong, if you aren’t a detail oriented person b-school will definitely help with that (remember to read the footnotes and exhibits in your cases), but there’s a limit to everything. I remember prepping a case ‘The Body Shop’ for my Analysis for General Managers class with Professor Argenti. As my boys would say, I went “hard body” on the case in anticipation of getting cold called the next morning. The next day rolls around and we get through an hour and a half of class and I didn’t even get a word in. I was frustrated–all that work for nothing. Determined to get my participation points up for the class I didn’t even so much as comment and thought I’d wasted my time prepping the case.

You’re probably thinking to yourself, “What’s he rambling on about? Get to the point.” Turns out, the night before as I was feverishly prepping the case I forgot it was my mother’s birthday. For the past two weeks I had completely zoned out of real life and buried my head in books, forgetting to do something as simple as calling my Mom on a milestone birthday. I’ll spare you the angry texts I got from family members but that was just one in a few events that made me wake up to realizing while I wanted to excel in coursework you can’t let it get in the way of operating like a normal human.

The Inflection Point

Balance is the key to a successful first year. You’re inevitably going to have to make some trade-offs. Looking back, the desire to ‘master’ a case blinded me from being a good son, which is clearly much more important than school. If you’re about to take on graduate school period, I’d argue you’ll be surrounded by motivated performers–the key is not allowing the mentality of overkill in the classroom to overcome your sanity.

A few posts back I spoke a bit about recognizing “What’s important?”, this is obviously an extension of that but I want to take it just a step further. Take a quick breather and think about why you’re where you are on your MBA journey… at the end of the day you are paying for the network, rather the future network. In five years you won’t even remember what cases you did in class, but you will remember that conversation over a beer with Katherine you had about navigating a grueling recruiting process. Maybe you’ll be looking to switch careers and you look through your alumni directory and see that Katherine is working at a Tech Start-up you really want to join. You’ll pick up the phone and call her, she’ll tell you the company she is working for is looking for someone like you… three months later you’re hired.

This may seem far-fetched, but it happens a lot more than you think. Why? Because you took the time to take a step back, put down your books for a moment, be a normal person and have a beer with Katherine. And what you’re going to realize is more times than not these types of interactions with recruiters (save for the recruiting process stinks convo) is what might land you the job…

When you come to this realization you’ve reached an inflection point–the point where business school begins.

How do I evaluate my Brand?

Before I start on this I just want to say I am NOT an authority on personal brand management so from this point forward will essentially be my unqualified opinion.

1. What are others saying about you?
2. What do you want to project to key stakeholders? (Friends, Faculty, Companies)
3. Have you set the tone and is it consistent?
4. Are you making an effort?

What are others saying?

This is the single most important factor in establishing a credible and memorable brand. In one of our leadership classes at Tuck we were told that in many respects, self-assessments have little value, for obvious reasons. What really matters is what your peers and coworkers say about you. At a small school like Tuck, it’s difficult to be anonymous and personal interactions are amplified. But I think the key to making sure that others are saying ‘nice’ things about you is establishing a strong base of initial interactions. My advice to getting solid footing is to keep it real. Almost all of the people you will go to school with have a low BS threshold and can sniff out fakers as if it was a sixth sense. Make it a point to be upfront, honest and authentic and remember to keep your ear to the ground to make sure your name isn’t getting looped into anything with potential adverse future (emphasis future) consequences.

What do you want to project?

Ever hear the expression “Actions speak louder than words”? Thought so. I’ve seen, rather heard fellow classmates at Tuck say, “This is the type of person I am.” “Really? Because for the past three weeks you’ve been acting the complete opposite.” Let me give you an example. A colleague of mine who was also recruiting for investment banking talked all the time about how he/she was a team player and that all the banks would instantly recognize it by looking at their resume. Turns out said person was projecting the exact opposite by crowding people out in the infamous networking crop circle, asking too many questions and always being first in line when cocktails were served. Interviews were a rude awakening for this person, to say the least. Thankfully this individual started to ‘get it’ towards the very end of interviews ended up with an offer for the summer. I recount this story to say, be self-aware at all times. Your ‘results’ will either validate or invalidate what you’re personal brand is projecting and if it’s in sync with what you think it is.

Have you set a consistent tone?

Nothing is worse than waking up to a Princess on Monday and then a Godzilla on Tuesday. Choose one or the other. Look, everyone has an off day–that’s completely understandable especially given the stress level academics and finding a job can bring, but actively managing your brand means putting on a smile when you just don’t feel like it. This is especially dangerous for friendships in business school. You don’t have a lot of time to waste and you want to spend your precious time with people who are consistently themselves. If you go from being the guy who’s this soft cuddly teddy bear, to the overly aggressive heavy-handed boozer you’re going to lose friends quickly and worse be perceived as being insincere. Recall my point above about authenticity.

Are you making an effort?

Effectively, your MBA is the last big step towards the rest of a hopefully fulfilling professional life. It’s painful to be around classmates and faculty who just don’t care. And it’s not just about effort in the classroom, more generally it’s effort in crafting one’s identity. Tuck is a school that’s impossible to be anonymous (as stated previously). I know 99% of my classmates by first name and every one of them has a unique identity and brand. Occasionally you’ll bump into someone who either lacks the ability to sell themselves and their personal brand but more than likely they just don’t give two hoots for whatever reason. Here’s the thing folks–you’ve spent $200K on your education, and this is the last opportunity to define yourself in a failure free environment. Whatever you do, give 100% of yourself, 90% of the time. Establish a distinguishable authentic personal brand, sell it and your two years at business school will be rewarded.

Now for all of you applying to Tuck and other top business schools I don’t want you to be scared by what you’ll never be prepared for in your first several classes. Most business schools do it on purpose. It’s merely a test of organization, commitment and multi-tasking. The point of Fall A at Tuck isn’t to break you. Not at all. Rather prepare you for just about any avalanche of work you could possibly encounter in the real world.

The nice thing about the pile of bricks that will come down on you is that when it’s over, you’re well equipped to handle recruiting and extra-curricular commitments without much drama–which KEEP IN MIND is the most important reason why you decided to go to business school in the first place. So what else are some key takeaways from my first month at Tuck?

1. Your situation is not unique. Everyone is slammed and over committed–figure out your throttle capacity early so you don’t over rev your engine.
2. Find an outlet. Mine was golf. It’s essential to hold onto something, if it’s working out, reading or taking walks, remember to keep one tradition alive.
3. Get to know your professors. At a school like Tuck it’s pretty easy to interact with your teachers since we’re so close, but if you go to a school without residential life built-in make sure you develop those ties with educators.
4. Don’t forget to enjoy it. This should be priority numero uno. As I’ve stated, getting a job is why you came to B-school but making sure you’re having fun while doing it is going to help develop the likability factor that will get you the summer internship.

My last thought about Fall A at Tuck (and I assume it’s synonymous at other B-schools) is to keep things in perspective. Getting an average grade on an exam means nothing in the grand scheme of things. Ask yourself this question: What’s more important? A 95% on your Stats final or an 80%, but gaining 10 lifelong friends instead.

Just keep that in mind when you hit your first semester in school and your classmates ask you to come and hangout but you can’t because you want those 3 extra points studying up on Beta coefficients–What’s really important?

August – Did some early IB recruiting over the summer and ended up getting to a final round interview with Barclays. This was all going on while wrapping a client project and road-tripping from Minnesota to New Hampshire with my in-laws to be and my family, which incidentally was the first time they met. I was über stressed and well, I didn’t get the offer. Not going to lie, I was dejected.

September – School starts and I had to get over my disappointment quickly. Fall A at Tuck is like a Tequila Shot (credit to Professor Joe Hall) “It’s quick, it’s painful… but you’ll be bouncing off the walls when it’s over.” So true. For all you future Tuckies out there get ready. Recruiting also started and every major bulge bracket bank was on campus early and often.

October – Recruiting kicks into high gear, trips to New York, dinners with bankers and focusing on classes. One of the nice things about Tuck is that there is a grade non-disclosure policy, however you need to do well in your classes. By the way, even though I haven’t mentioned it yet, I’m also having a heck of a lot of fun with my classmates and friends.

November – Job applications due, Fall B midterms on deck and Diversity Conference at Tuck. DivCo is arguably one of the best weekends at Tuck and this year was not an exception. If you’re a prospective it’s a must come to event. My fellow Tuckies continue to rock in all aspects–they validate all the reasons I chose to come here.

December – Finals and closed lists come out. Morgan Stanley, Barclays and Goldman Sachs close list me and J.P. Morgan offers me an ‘alternate spot’ which is essentially a semi-closed list. For those of you that are unfamiliar with ‘closed lists’ and recruiting, be sure to Google it. Essentially it’s your first goal coming into the recruiting season.

January – I bid points on J.P. Morgan and BofA Merrill Lynch and prep for interviews and now have five in total. The rest of campus is also making preparations for consulting, general management, etc. We’re just wrapping up investment banking interviews this week and I’ve accepted an offer for the summer!!!

So, after that frantic run-through I have some personal thoughts to share about my first few months at school.

1. I love Tuck. I’m so glad I came here. There’s no collection of people I’d rather be around. I had opportunities to go to Kellogg, Cornell and Wharton–they’re amazing schools but if you’re struggling with your decision like I did, choose fit.
2. I didn’t necessarily see myself as an investment banker–especially given my background and long-term philanthropic goals, but it’s such an intriguing job and was a challenge that I wanted to tackle head on.
3. At the end of the day we all come to school with some baggage but it’s almost all forgotten when you start this chapter of your life. Don’t let anyone tell you can’t do something, start something or be somebody. I’ve learned a ton about myself in these four short months at Tuck–and I’m grateful.
4. Friends forever; much more about this later, but this is my biggest takeaway. I love these people and they’re going to be my friends for life. We do just about everything together as one big team and it couldn’t feel more right.

In the next few weeks I’ll dig deeper on stories and learning lessons and hopefully not neglect my blog so much.

Stay warm folks!

We were warmly accepted at a dinner reception with students and Morgan Stanley reps, both junior and senior bankers and traders. What I immediately noticed were the schools represented — it was the who’s who of Top MBA Programs. Harvard, Stanford, Kellogg, Wharton, Booth, Darden, NYU, Columbia, Yale, Tuck, Fuqua, UNC. I immediately got the impression that Morgan Stanley was pretty targeted in its selection of the 60 – 70 that are invited. Btw, we were told they received well over 200 applications for the program and applications are heavily screened–for those that will apply for next year.

The welcome dinner was fantastic, not only was the food top-notch, the bankers were legitimately engaging, employees seemed warm and they did a wonderful job of making sure we felt comfortable around other students vying for the same jobs. The Tuck contingent was paired primarily with Wharton for the two days. Booth had pretty strong representation and I’d say they composed about 20% of those selected to participate.

The following day, Morgan Stanley had a nicely prepared series of panels touching on different units within the bank, a networking luncheon, visits to “the pool”, a case breakdown of the GM IPO and a cocktail hour afterward. I’ll spare the individual details of each panel, but you can always e-mail me at thesenator2014@gmail.com if you want more. So here’s what I learned and have continued to reflect on the past few weeks…

I was worried (for nothing)

That my non-pedigree professional credentials would be a steep uphill climb for me to even get in front of top-notch firms. Hasn’t been the case at all, in many ways I think it’s helped me more than hurt me–but I digress. What’s actually made a huge difference is the fact that I’m attending one of the best business schools in the entire world. (According the Economist it’s actually number 1). I don’t say that flippantly or boastfully, in fact, I say it with great deference for the reputation that’s been paved for people like myself to have access to companies like Morgan Stanley before I even step foot in Hanover.

Mind you, being selected for Morgan Stanley is not the only accomplishment of my pre-MBA summer, I’ve had and continue to have doors opened at other firms. Not gonna lie, I’m kind of thinking in my head, “What did I do to deserve this?” That in mind, my experience is not like everyone’s pre-MBA trek. In fact I’d say it’s not normal to start recruiting so early, but I heard something last week at Early Insights from a Tuckie that spoke volumes to me.

I asked him the question, “I know Investment Banking is highly competitive, how many people who actually interview at Tuck actually get jobs at Bulge Bracket firms?” His response, “Probably about 85%. If you want a job in Investment Banking you’ll get it, as long as you put the work in.” I was shocked, he followed, “And if you want to work at Morgan Stanley I’d say you have about a 70% chance.” Wow. Now I’m not sure how accurate his math was but his responses were very telling.

The door has been opened.

Something I heard throughout the decision-making process, given the schools I was choosing between was, “It’s a good problem to have.” “You can’t go wrong with any of those schools.” At the time I was a bit skeptical, but the rhetoric is coming to fruition. The common denominator between all, yes all, of the Elite MBA programs is that they prepare you. Most of them are very rigorous in your first year, all of them have sterling reputations and each of them has a special relationship with recruiting at each of these firms.

A tidbit that I actually got from a Boothie Banker at MS said it all (Paraphrasing slightly), “Look, you’ve already been branded as the best of the best, it’s up to you to take the opportunity if you want it. By next January you’ll have more offers from some of the biggest names on the Street than you thought was possible… just remember you passed the first and biggest test by getting into an Elite MBA program. If you ask me, that’s the real value of what you’re about to do.”

When I surveyed the room one last time and saw that I was sharing a glass of wine with Yalies, Sternies and everyone in between, I began to internalize what “you can’t go wrong at any of these schools” really meant. You’ve made a commitment to a promising future that many before you have paved. You’re expected to work hard, play hard and lay the path for those that come after you. Being part of an ‘elite’ group doesn’t mean white glove service and your nose projected skyward, it simply means the bar was raised higher at the beginning–and you jumped over it.

Last week, a mysterious meeting appeared on my calendar that my supervisor had set named “review/meeting”. It struck me as a bit odd since I’ll be leaving my post in a matter of days, but after my initial confusion I knew what it would be all about: The Final Dig. If you’re a consistent reader of my blog you’re well-informed of the challenges I’ve had at work over the past year with my supervisor. I’ve boiled it down to essentially denial on his part that I’m leaving and he didn’t adequately prepare for my exit. In any case, the meeting…

Rant Machine

After getting over a few housekeeping issues, the rant began. My supervisor complained that he had written me a stellar recommendation for school and if I would have read what he wrote I would have thanked him a million times over, but now, he was disappointed in me. When I asked him why, he couldn’t produce a coherent answer. What was supposed to be a performance review turned into him pouring every last dose of haterade on me he could produce. Mind you, I’ve never had issues with a boss. I’ve always gotten along with coworkers and have never once in my life been cited for under performance. Somehow, my (soon-to-be) former supervisor found it necessary to criticize my work in the face of what everyone would consider uncanny success given the non-existent resources I was given to start with.

Flame after flame of nonsense that he tossed at me I responded with, “That’s fine.” I promised myself I would take the high road and walk away without falling into the trap he wanted me to. With each, “That’s fine.” I could see him growing more and more frustrated–it was probably the first time in his career he knew inside he would bear complete responsibility for what was about to happen. The program, that myself and my team had built and he got patted on the back for, got merit raises for and helped him gain the credibility to raise funds for other parts of our office than in all likelihood was going to die, as a result of his own intransigence.

My team paved the road piece by piece and practically laid it on a silver platter for the next in line, but sadly that one e-mail he penned to our program partner perpetrated and unreversable spiral that even I could not curtail in time for my departure.

The sad thing about it

At the end of the day, my trajectory after this job will likely not be impeded. But I can’t help but feel sad that all the kids our department could help will never have the opportunity because hubris and stubbornness got in the way. When I took my job it was because I was honestly passionate about changing the life course of under served teenagers–and I still want to continue the work. But what became so painfully apparent is that after my first year on the job, I came to realize the powers-at-be were more interested in how many times their names ended up in news articles rather than the lives that were affected. I felt used, and I felt like the kids were unknowingly being taken advantage of.

The other remorse that I feel is one that’s even more personal. My supervisor is a man of color. No doubt he’s faced adversity and challenge in his life just because of his skin pigmentation. I respect his struggle as a fellow African-American male. What I think is a shame is that he clearly recognizes another black male trying to make a difference, improve his life and pave the way for others behind him, yet instead of being a leader, my supervisor decided to unload the clip on another who shares a similar struggle.

So now I reflect on the hour-long bullet dodging session I endured today and I’m not sure if I have regrets that I didn’t say anything. Maybe it’s a sign that it was time to move on, or maybe just recognition of the fact that anything I could possibly say wouldn’t make a difference. But maybe, just maybe, but keeping to my internal promise of taking the high road I made one man think about putting down his gun so he can begin to patch up his own self-inflicted wounds and consider what’s really important–losing the battle in order to win the war.