Author Archives: Morgan Brown

MBA Crewnshaw Cup 2012: First Years vs Second Years

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Friday’s MBA Crenshaw Cup provided plenty of excitement for the 8-player teams from each of the first and second year classes. The weather even played along as well; it was reminiscent of a Ryder Cup – the inspiration for the event – hosted in wet and windy Northern Scotland.

The 27-hole tournament took place at Wolfdancer Golf Club at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort about 35 minutes outside of Austin amid highs in the mid-50s and a constant drizzle punctuated by a few downpours. Nonetheless, the 16 golfers and two non-playing captains braved the conditions and many commented that the day was one of the highlights of their MBA experience thus far.

Second Year MBA Crenshaw Cuppers enjoy the pre-tournament dinner at Eddie V's

The tournament weekend actually began on Thursday night with the MBA Crenshaw Cup dinner at Eddie V’s Prime Seafood on 5th street. Both teams gathered at the venerable steakhouse and fine dining establishment to celebrate, strategize, and do a little good-natured smacktalking. The second years’ wives and girlfriends even got together for their own dinner to show support for the team.

The first tee times were Friday morning at 9am, right around the time that the first major downpour soaked the course and forced the golfers to don their raingear and cover up their team uniforms. Each team had the MBA Crenshaw Cup logo embroidered on golf shirts (white for the First Years and blue for the Second Years). Some of the Second Years plastered corporate logos all over their shirts in what could have been considered a tongue-in-cheek commentary on both the proliferation of sponsorships in golf and our own future careers in corporate America.

The first 18 holes featured 8 matches, all of which were match play featuring 2-player teams of First Years versus Second Years. Each match was worth one point, as in the real Ryder Cup, and the point could be “halved” if it ended up tied after 9 holes. The front nine was a 2-man scramble, and although First Year Ben Beyer provided the day’s ultimate highlight – a hole-in-one on the par 3 sixth hole -  the Second Years jumped out to an early 2 ½ – 1 ½ point lead on the backs of two wins from the first four matches. Play continued with the same pairings for the second set of 4 matches on the back nine and the Second Years again won two of the matches, doubling their lead to 5-3.

Lunch in the clubhouse followed, and players attempted to warm up and wring out their clothes before heading back out for the Singles matches. Although the Second Years held the halfway lead, the First Years were determined to fight back and won two of the first three Singles matches.

The Second Year Ryder Cup team

The Second Years celebrate their MBA Crenshaw Cup victory

Unfortunately for the ’13s though, the Second Years did well to win three matches outright, and once Brad McMurray held a 1-hole lead going into #9 – meaning the best his opponent could do was tie – the Second Years had accumulated enough points to win the Cup.

Revelry ensued and spilled over to a local watering hole, where the players celebrated the day and attempted to finally dry off for good.

 

Top 10 Reasons to get your MBA at Texas

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I’m going to countdown my top ten reasons why you should get your MBA at McCombs. Note these are my top 10 reasons, not the administration’s. I’m also not necessarily a representative sample of the student body. I did ask about 50 current students what their top 3 reasons are, and used that to inform some of my recommendations.

Without further adieu, here goes:

# 10: You get to be a Longhorn.
When you look at anyone’s list of the top mascots in college sports (Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports, ESPN, etc) Bevo (the real Texas longhorn that attends football games and other university events) is always in the top 10. But Bevo himself is just the tip of the iceberg – the Longhorn brand is so universally recognizable and unique that in the college football hall of fame, every school but one has letters representing their school’s logo. Texas has the longhorn logo, as that’s all that’s needed to identify the university.

The power of the brand is evident – Texas is the #1 school in terms of raking in licensing royalties, according to Collegiate Licensing Company. The new Longhorn TV Network should only increase it.

The fact that the shape of a longhorn’s head naturally lends itself to the greatest hand signal in sports doesn’t hurt. Nor does the accompanying phrase of “hook’em horns” either. The burnt orange color is unique as well – classier than traditional oranges, it is said to have been picked by Darrell Royal to match the color of a football in order to confuse opponents.

Especially if you went to a school with a color for a mascot (like I did), coming to Texas is like hitting the jackpot. You’ve got an endless supply of awesome swag to wear around, people on the street to flash the hook’em to, and a brand to be proud of.

#9: Electivity

MBA students pose with traditionally dressed Indians on a McCombs global study trip in 2010.

You may have heard the first semester at UT is a bit of a punch in the face with a lot coming at you all at once. It’s true – we took 9 courses in the first semester, and even though we spent only 7 weeks doing basic accounting and finance, our professors crammed in a full course’s material in the short time frame. This meant an all-out blitz and many long days trying to synthesize what was coming at us.

But it also meant that after the first semester, we were mostly done with our required courses. And that means more electives over the next 3 semesters. Required courses are good – employers expect newly minted MBAs to have certain skills, after all – but it also means you have less time to take the classes you really want to take.

Overall, what I found most refreshing about my liberal arts undergraduate experience was the opportunity to take classes I was interested in, rather than having to take a prescribed list of courses that were necessary to get a certain degree. It’s been nice to know that I can continue that experience in business school.

#8:  Leadership Opportunities per capita
With over 40 clubs and organizations but just 260 students in your class, there’s an outsized opportunity to take on leadership opportunities at McCombs.

Think about it this way – every business school is going to have a consulting club, a marketing club, and a finance club. But every club can only have one president and a few other officers; this is a huge benefit in McCombs’ favor.

Our clubs at McCombs range from the industry/professional clubs like the aforementioned to affinity clubs like Latin American and Hispanic MBA to purely networking clubs like the MBA Golf Club. Students have the opportunities to join as many clubs as they like, but most find it difficult to take on leadership in more than two clubs.

For a listing of the organizations on campus as well as more details about each of them, see http://new.mccombs.utexas.edu/MBA/Full-Time/Student-Life/Student-Organizations.aspx.

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The Benefits of Grade Disclosure

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McCombs discloses grades – this means you are free to put your GPA on your resume, and recruiters can demand to know your GPA. When I first starting looking into schools, I thought grade non-disclosure was better; after all, there was a certain utopian feel to the concept that everyone was there to learn. Several top MBA programs (Stanford, Haas, Booth, Ross, Wharton) do not disclose grades, and I thought that it was a bummer that Texas did. 

But I’ve changed my tune. I think grade disclosure is good for three primary reasons:
1. You’ll learn from studying for tests more
2. You’ll get more out of your prepared classmates
3. For banking or consulting internships, hard workers can distinguish themselves

1. You’ll learn from studying for tests more
What may sound obvious to some of you is that grades actually do help you to learn. In my leadership class the other day, we talked about how studies have shown that cramming for tests actually enhances retention of the material. So since caring about your grades means you’ll study for the tests, you’re going to retain more of the knowledge after school.

2. You’ll get more out of your prepared classmates
Since your classmates care about grades, they’ll be prepared for class as well, meaning you’ll get the most out of their contributions, anecdotes, and thought-provoking comments.

3. For banking or consulting internships, hard workers can distinguish themselves
If you’re interested in working in marketing, grades may not be as important in the interview process. In fact, you probably won’t have to even tell a recruiter your GPA. But for students that do want to work for banks, consulting firms, or other companies that do care about grades, they have the opportunity to stand out.

After talking to a few friends at grade non-disclosure schools, I now understand why business school isn’t as much a giant happy hour as I thought it would be. Nothing wrong with that – from time to time – but I am happy to have a balance of social and enrichment activities. Partially because of grade disclosure, I’ve been able to get that at McCombs.

Opportunities for Texas MBAs: Clubs & Orgs per capita

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With over 40 clubs and organizations but just 260 students in your class, there’s an outsized opportunity to take on leadership opportunities at McCombs.

Think about it this way – every business school is going to have a consulting club, a marketing club, and a finance club. But every club can only have one president and a few other officers; this is a huge benefit in McCombs’ favor.

Although club leadership is not likely to sway a recruiter’s opinion of you, having the chance to take leadership in an interest area can be a huge help for career switchers. Additionally, officers often have the opportunity to build professional networks through setting up club events, speaker series, and conferences.

Our clubs at McCombs range from the industry/professional clubs like the aforementioned to affinity clubs like the Latin American and Hispanic Graduate Business Association to purely “networking” clubs like the MBA Golf Club. Students have the opportunities to join as many clubs as they like, but most find it difficult to take on leadership in more than two clubs.

For a listing of the organizations on campus as well as more details about each of them, see http://new.mccombs.utexas.edu/MBA/Full-Time/Student-Life/Student-Organizations.aspx

Electivity: More Electives and More Flexibility

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You may have heard the first semester at UT is a bit of a punch in the face with a lot coming at you all at once. It’s true – we took 9 courses in the first semester, and even though we spent only 7 weeks doing basic accounting and finance, our professors crammed in a full course’s material in the short time frame. This meant an all-out blitz and many long days trying to synthesize what was coming at us.

But it also meant that after the first semester, we were mostly done with our required courses. And that means more electives over the next 3 semesters.

At some other top business schools, for example, you take the required curriculum the entire first year. Required courses are good – employers expect newly minted MBAs to have certain skills, after all – but it also means you have less time to take the classes you really want to take.

MBA students pose with traditionally dressed
Indians on a McCombs global study trip in 2010

Texas further differentiates itself by not requiring you to declare a major. So, after the first semester, you can really take just about any classes you want to take. There are some requirements – a second semester Strategy course, a “flex-core” optional class (pick from a few options), and a “global study” requirement – but there’s flexibility built in to those in terms of timing and subject matter.

Overall, what I found most refreshing about my liberal arts undergraduate experience was the opportunity to take classes I was interested in, rather than having to take a prescribed list of courses that were necessary to get a certain degree. It’s been nice to know that I can continue that experience in business school.

What it Means to be a Longhorn

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Bevo’s always a top-10 mascot

When you look at anyone’s list of the top mascots in college sports (Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports, ESPN, etc) Bevo (the real Texas longhorn that attends football games and other university events) is always in the top 10. But Bevo himself is just the tip of the iceberg – the Longhorn brand is so universally recognizable and unique that in the college football hall of fame, every school but one has letters representing their school’s logo. Texas has the Longhorn logo, as that’s all that’s needed to identify the university.

The power of the brand is evident – Texas is the #1 school in terms of raking in licensing royalties, according to Collegiate Licensing Company. The new Longhorn TV Network should only increase it. You want to study marketing? Read the Texas Monthly article from November about Texas AD DeLoss Dodds (you have to be a subscriber to read it, but I’m sure you can google around and find a copy); you’ll appreciate what a genius the Texas Athletic Department has been in handling its brand.

The fact that the shape of the longhorns’ head naturally lends itself to the greatest hand signal in sports doesn’t hurt. Nor does the accompanying “go!” phrase of “hook’em horns” either. The burnt orange color is unique as well – classier than traditional oranges, it is said to have been picked by Darrell Royal to match the color of a football in order to confuse opponents.

Especially if you went to a school with a color for a mascot (like I did), coming to Texas is like hitting the jackpot. You’ve got an endless supply of awesome swag to wear around, people on the street to flash the hook’em to, and a brand to be proud of.