Tag Archives: challenge

ULI/Gerald D. Hines Urban Design Competition

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Hello, readers! As promised in my last post, I am here to tell you about my excellent adventure with the Hines ULI Real Estate Competition!

This November, my beloved Mentor/Peer Advisor/Graduate Real Estate Society President talked me into participating in this competition, even though I was 100% confident I would be unable to succeed since I had never actually built a real estate model before. I then realized that this would be an amazing opportunity to prepare for a summer internship in real estate, and it absolutely was.

Let me back up and explain this competition. UT had 9 teams participating, with one MBA student per team. There are around 200 teams competing in this competition nationwide. Our task was to take a case study based on a potential piece of property, come up with a design consisting of anything from office, commercial, multi family, retail, etc. etc., and make sure that it will be financially profitable by building a Pro Forma model and pricing out each property on the potential campus.

School started on January 17th. As did the competition. It continued throughout the first two weeks of school as I was put on a team with other graduate students in the school of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning. We received our case on the first day, and this year, the site happened to be in Houston! For me this was great, since I have lived in Houston my whole life and know the area like the back of my hand. Although I was not the designer, I was able to give them tips on what might and might not work in that area.

Hines ULI Competition

Hines ULI Competition

And so we began to plan. The days were long, the design was ever changing, and the task at hand was beyond challenging. As I mentioned earlier, it was totally worth it.

We did not have our final design until the last 3 or so days. This means I really couldn’t do much of the financial modeling until crunch time. Let me tell you, crunch time was intense. Luckily the 9 MBAs participating were all helping each other based on our past professional experiences and combining our research. I learned more during this process than I could have ever imagined. I now feel so much more confident going into a summer internship than I did before participating in this.

Now, the question people always ask me when I talk about this competition…… Did we win???

Unfortunately, I don’t know yet! The judgement process is a long one, and there are 200 teams participating, so I am not exactly holding my breath. I am just glad I was able to participate in such an experience and would highly suggest it to any first year real estate students next year who really need exposure to the financial side of the business!

Sidenote – If you have emailed me with questions about the Real Estate program here at McCombs (or with any other questions for that matter) and I haven’t gotten back with you, please email me again! I try my best to keep up, but as you now know, my first few weeks of school were pretty swamped and I might have lost track of a few of you!

McCombs hosts the National Real Estate Challenge

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Last week, McCombs had the pleasure of hosting 16 teams from the top MBA programs in the country to compete in the National Real Estate Challenge sponsored by companies like Morgan Stanley, The Blackstone Group, Hines, Prudential Real Estate Investors, JLL, Cerberus Capital Management, HFF, Clarion, Weingarten, RREEF, Kimco, The Lionstone Group, Archstone, Archon, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, and GE Asset Management.

The National Real Estate Challenge is a great opportunity for students in the real estate concentration to compete on a difficult case and gain experience in handling these types of issues that will inevitably arise in their careers. Brian Thomas, a second-year McCombs MBA student who competed this year said “Quality case writing is crucial. A quality case with many dimensions allows students to stretch the boundaries of their knowledge, skills, and abilities. This year’s case was written by JP Morgan and had all the elements of a well-written real estate finance case.”  Within the context of an incredibly volatile real estate market, this case was centered on finding a viable deal structure and aligning interest for a portfolio of assets.

Brian Thomas, Jason Levine, and Allen Logue from the McCombs challenge team

Brian Thomas, Jason Levine, and Allen Logue from the McCombs challenge team

The teams received the case on the previous Thursday and had until Sunday evening to turn in their presentations. As you can imagine, this requires around-the-clock work during that short period of time. The teams submitted their presentations by 5pm on Sunday and then traveled to Austin on Wednesday for the competition.

On Thursday, each of the teams presented to a panel of judges and four teams were chosen to move on to the finals. These teams then presented their case to all of the judges and a winner was selected. This year’s grand prize went to the University of North Carolina, but every team presented an impressive solution to the case and the competition was tight. All teams benefit from this experience, especially given the opportunity to network with the judges from so many prestigous companies and with the teams from all of the other schools. “It’s a rare opportunity to bring together nearly 100 of the top real estate MBA students from the top 16 real estate MBA programs. In doing so, students get to learn from the perspectives/experience of their peers and learn more about the offerings at other programs” said Thomas.

One of the many perks of McCombs is the Real Estate Finance and Investment Center (REFIC) that we have available to us. REFIC is the first research center at a leading university to specialize in the intersection of real estate and finance. Without REFIC, events like this would not be possible. Brian Thomas says“Having the organization, resources, and infrastructure in place to pull off an event of this magnitude is not an easy task. The organizers do a great job making this event possible and contributing to its longstanding reputation.” As students, we are very appreciative of the real estate resources provided to us here at McCombs.

If you have any questions regarding the National Real Estate Challenge or would like to be put in contact with one of the students who competed on this year’s team, please contact me at your convenience.

Week in Review

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Schedules

I get asked by a lot of prospective students about an average day or week at McCombs.  Here are some examples of things going on this past week for me:

-My classes

  • Strategy Management (Core)
  • Performance Management and Control (Flex-Core)
  • Art of Negotiations (Elective)
  • Global Management – South America (Global Trek)(Elective)
  • Marketing Fellows Practicum (Elective)

-After school

  • GBC meeting (Graduate Business Council)
  • Interview prep
  • Company Research
  • MAC tours (McCombs Admissions Committee)

-Other things going on

  • National Case Competition
  • UT Men’s Basketball
  • MBA winter soccer tournament by MBA Soccer Club
  • Ski trip to Park City organized by GBAT (Graduate Business Adventure Team)

As you can tell, there is a lot going on, but it’s fun and exciting.  This is just a small sample of the things going on.  If you like to stay busy, have fun and chill with some great people, this is the place for you!

-Morgan

-The picture above was taken today…after a nasty cold front it’s finally getting warm…73 degree high today and forecasted to stay like this the next few weeks!  Amped!

Women at McCombs (and other October fun)

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One of the best aspects of business school is that no two weeks are ever the same. The constant balancing of classwork, recruiting, student organizations, community events, and social events ensures that each week is uniquely unpredictable. Last week was no exception.

Each year the McCombs School of Business hosts a Women’s Forum. The Forum is a two day event that brings women from all over the world to Austin so they can network with alumni, meet current students, attend McCombs classes, and get admissions questions answered. Last year I was only able to attend a networking event due to a conflict with the Deloitte Consulting Challenge, but this year I was able to serve as a mentor to five fantastic women who are interested in McCombs. I also spoke on a panel where we discussed “Life After an MBA”. I’ll admit I felt a little bit funny talking about what I am going to be doing next year. Although I signed my Microsoft offer a few weeks ago, the thought of leaving McCombs feels very surreal. I think last week was the first time I allowed myself to realize that I am more than halfway finished with my MBA. SCARY!

In addition to spending Thursday and Friday with some awesome prospective students, I was also able to attend the 10th Annual McCombs Women in Business Leadership Conference, an incredible event planned by two of my 2011 MBA classmates Emily and Nicole. The event took place all day Friday and included incredible business leaders from every industry. It was a fantastic way to spend some quality time with women in the program, and take a day outside of the classroom to network and learn. It was a fantastic day.

In addition to spending quality time with women, last week was also Halloween and a home football game, which means it was a Halloween tailgate. Each season, the Graduate Business Council plans MBA tailgates before every home football game. It is a fantastic time for MBAs to spend time together outside of class, and it provides an opportunity for first and second years to interact during the fall semester. I’ve been lucky enough to be part of the tailgate planning committee this football season, and am having a blast working with other folks on the GBC to ensure that the 2010 football season is something to remember. This is particularly important because Texas isn’t exactly playing like a Big 12 powerhouse this season.  This week we decided to get in the Halloween spirit and encouraged people to wear costumes. It was definitely a weekend to remember.

The Challenge, The Case and The Cook

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Reliant Study Center - this is where we spend time between classes doing reading, homework or as in my case, meditating on the immediate future

I am writing this post from the Reliant Study Center where I have been camping for the past four hours trying to calm myself before a great wave of awesomeness overwhelms me. Does that mean anything? Am I getting delirious already? Should I chicken out? No, no and definitely not! I am participating in the Deloitte Case Challenge where more than thirty teams of five students will google their brains all night in search for the best solution to a business problem that will be given to us an hour from now. We have twelve hours to do the job – 7pm to 7am. And about sleeping? As a classmate once bravely declared on her Facebook page, “Sleep is for wimps.”

Every year, Deloitte organizes a consulting challenge at McCombs where students solve a LIVE case and present the same to high level company executives. This leads to potential internship/employment opportunities with the company and there is prize money to be won. More importantly, for many others it is a great way to find out whether management consulting as a career is a fit for them. I am quite sure that when the exhaustion wears out, many of my classmates will declare that they have fallen in love with consulting.

I am nervous because this is the first full-blown case challenge that I am competing in. But McCombs has helped me to prepare for this. Believe it or not, after successfully completing my first quarter, I now understand how to interpret balance sheets, cash flows, know what real interest rates mean, and can do a CAPM. My team is a mix of my classmates from the MBA course and a BBA student who will get exposure to real life cases. It’s a symbiotic relationship. My classmates and I have never done Finance in the real world, but our friend from BBA is concentrating in Finance. While we can handle the strategy, marketing and operations, he will help us with the financial projections! We have also requested the services of a MBA+ Communication coach who will visit our team at midnight and at 4am in the morning, to help us fine tune our presentation.

This is why I love McCombs.

There is comfort in knowing that unlike mathematics, there is no such thing as the correct answer to a business problem. The winning team will have the most innovative strategy, the most compelling reasons for deploying the solution and will present it in the most persuasive manner. In the end, it is confidence in your answer that matters.

Then there is the fun side to it. We are planning on how to keep awake tonight. Caffeine will definitely be of great help.  We are also ordering pizza and still debating on where to get it from. Tomorrow morning, when we make our presentation, we must be dressed in business formals and must try not to fall asleep in front of judges.  I know there will be a lot of arguments and heated discussions between us as we work through the night. But I also know that at some point, we will reach a consensus and then our team’s synergy will help us to tide over.

Touché

Globally Challenged

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When I was applying to business school one of the most frequently referenced phenomena were “overnight case competitions”. Essentially students form groups of 4-5, receive a case at 7pm, work the case through the night, and then present a perfectly coherent presentation in front of faculty, recruiters, and other people who ask searing questions. All of this is done on little to no sleep, and is completely voluntary. This year 98 first years formed 24 teams and chose to sacrifice a night of sleep in an attempt to win the Global Challenge. I think this high level of participation says something about the class of 2011… I’ll let you determine what that something may be.

While I cannot speak to how each team managed their evening, I can tell you how my team, the Trade Winds, survived the night and the presentation the following morning.

I feel that it is important to acknowledge that no one on my 4 person team drank a single cup of coffee from 7pm Thursday night to 4pm Friday afternoon. I knew going into the event that Jaryn and I were not coffee drinkers, but I still find it astounding that none of us caved in, particularly once we rounded the 4am mark. Since my team was operating in a caffeine-free environment, we had to come up with creative ways to keep our energy levels up throughout the night. This led to ten minute spurts of group yoga (it seemed like a solid idea circa 3am) and constant eating. In one night my team put away two 24 inch pizzas from East Side Pies, some garlic knots, bags of grapes, trail mix, sour patch kids, and enough bite-sized chocolate candy to make most people sick. Looking back I can say with certainty that this was a terrible idea, but it worked.

Chicken, Jalapeno, Pineapple, and Habanero Pizza

Chicken, Jalapeno, Pineapple, and Habanero Pizza

The final countdown to our presentation was pretty nerve wracking. We’d been up for 27 hours straight. We were tired and giggly, and I had enough nervous energy to power the entire AT&T Conference Center. It was not a pretty sight.  Eric and I determined our group was in need of a last minute spontaneous dance party use up some of our excess adrenaline. Pete pulled up “Lisztomania” on his iPhone and the three of us danced in the hallway outside of the presentation room for a solid five minutes. It was the perfect culmination of ridiculousness to round out our night of number crunching, power point making, yoga, gluttony, and general absurdity.

Team Trade Winds

Team Trade Winds

I slept for 13 hours Friday night, yet still found myself in a Global Challenge fog days later. Despite the sleep deprivation I can say the challenge was well worth it. It was a fantastic way to get to know some of my classmates better and learn more about the intricacies and politics behind international business decisions.