“This program is going to be intense”
This was the common feedback I kept hearing from everyone. During the first week of our semester, all the students associated with the program – new and graduating – were invited to a happy hour networking session at El Mercado, a nearby restaurant. The outcome was truly unique. To quote Professor Hasler, “It was one of the only places in the nation at the moment with more than a hundred analytics professionals under one roof”. Even amidst the lively gathering, the thoughts kept lingering in my mind – How intense is the program? Will I have time to study, prepare myself for a job and have time left to pursue my hobbies? Will I get to sleep during the coming year?
If you are a prospective student, you might be wondering the same. Through this post I want to share a typical day as a business analytics student at Mccombs. The experiences will be different for every student, of course. The semesters are packed with classes, assignments, guest speakers, industry sessions and recruiting events. I strongly believe being constantly engaged with the learning environment is a part of what makes my journey at Mccombs quite exhilarating and worthwhile.
September 4th 2014 – Thursday
6.00 am – 6.30 am: Wake up, shower, breakfast, dress.
6.30 am – 7.00 am: Talk to a prospective student from India. The applications for next year’s admissions were about to go live soon and as expected, the interest in the program was growing exponentially. A good place to start your research is the program website and the FAQ page
7.00 am – 9.00 am: Complete required readings for class. They are typically posted on Canvas (the online learning management system) the night before. Tuesdays and Thursdays are slightly more hectic due to the electives. I opted for Accounting/Finance and Marketing Analytics 1. More information on the curriculum here.
9.00 am – 9.30 am: Walk to class. I live in West Campus – the residential area closest to campus. UT has a pretty efficient shuttle system, which I generally use. On this day however, I walked. Takes about 15 minutes. Got to stay fit!
9.30 am – 10.45 am: Database Class. Professor Konana was quite impressed with most of us showing up in business professional attire. “I feel under-dressed”, he quipped. Yes, business professional is mandatory for every class. The previous sentence is false. The previous sentence is true. The real reason being we were slated to attend the Executive Council Reception later that evening. More on this later.
11.00 am – 12.30 pm: Lunch at O’s café on the 3rd floor of Mccombs. Check email (and Facebook). Finish the write-up for the case we were going to study in the accounting class. We discussed a different case every class and the write-ups were due before each class.
12.30 am – 1.45 pm: Accounting Class. Professor Laux discussed about opportunity costs. I ruminate how life in this program is a lesson in opportunity costs – you choose your battles, and hope things go well. Talks about the mid-term jolt me back to reality. I realize I need to get the reference book from PCL (Perry Castaneda Library, which is right across the street from Mccombs)
2.00 pm – 3.30 pm: My time before the marketing class is generally spent in the Reliant Productivity Center. We book a team room and go through the case as a group. We skimmed through the case (do not tell our professor!) and spent a considerable time researching the companies we were about to meet right after class.
3.30 pm – 4.45 pm: Marketing Class. This was my favorite class of the semester. Professor Sonnier always kept the lectures impactful and pulls out great insights. The in-class discussions were a valuable learning experience.
5.00 pm – 7.00 pm: Executive Council Reception. Our program has several corporate partners, who work closely with the faculty and staff to ensure the curriculum is in tune with the industry’s needs. The attendees for this event were a mix of analytics executives, professionals, and recruiters. Most of these companies were also interviewing students from our class the next day. It was a great opportunity to expand our networks and learn more about the analytics needs and projects of across various domains, and hopefully get shortlisted for a few interviews as well!
7.00 pm – 8.00 pm: Deloitte S&O Info Session. Unlike the previous session, which was specific to our program, this event was open to all UT students. This was another useful opportunity to meet stalwarts from the consulting industry and learn more about the upcoming opportunities.
8.30 pm – 9.00 pm: Dinner at Thai, How Are You?, one of the many restaurants on the Drag. Food, sweet food.
9.00 pm – 9.15 pm: Walk home. Still burning them calories.
9.15pm – 10.30 pm: Plan schedules for the team meetings next week. Check mails (and the social media universe). Mails from Candice about getting shortlisted for interviews are always revitalizing. Spend some time preparing for the interviews. The career course has helped us a lot in this regard – from getting our resume ready, providing tips for the cover letter, polishing our pitch, etc. The mock interviews at the start of the semester also proved quite beneficial.
10.30 pm – 11.15 pm: The interviews start early tomorrow, at around 8 am and go on till 3 pm. My first interview is at 8.30 am. I get the interview attire ready for the next day. I go for a short run. Shower, then drop off to sleep like a log. Can’t wait for the next day!