Why Is Selecting Courses So Hard?!?

At Darden, you can take anywhere from as few classes to as many as you want per quarter as long as you end second year with 60 credit hours completed. The average number of courses per quarter at Darden is five. You take five every quarter of the first year and assuming you don't have a GBE, J-week, M-week or DBP (Darden Business Project), you will most likely continue taking five courses per quarter throughout second year.

So what happens when you turn everything upside down and decide to study abroad for Q3? Well, now I have to choose TWO classes where I normally had five. Additionally, I need to ensure that these classes will transfer to Darden, replacing the minimum of four classes that I must take to ensure not only graduation, but also a manageable fourth quarter. Further, these classes need to be taught in English. I'd say my Swedish is horrible, yet it's worse, I don't know any! And there's one more aspect I almost forgot. SSE's study periods are different than Darden's, which means I need to be allowed to sit for the exam in Sweden a week prior to my Swedish classmates. Now if that wasn't a nightmare waiting to happen?!?

It's interesting as I browse the course descriptions, finding some description in English where the classes are taught in Swedish, I continue to wonder if this is all going to work out. One class in particular had me super excited, until I realized the exam is a week after the date I MUST return to C'ville. At this point, it's in the professors hands, so we'll see.

Job Searching...

I feel like I've been recruiting for the last 1.5 years straight. While I realize that is a stretch of the imagination as I did have a 3 month internship in there, it's all weighing down on me right now. I just completed a second round NPV analysis that at best, I'd give myself a C. I know it's harsh, except when I hit submit on the email returning the case I almost wanted to tell the guy to withdraw my name from the candidate pool. Can you tell I'm running thin?

I've spent the last couple weekends traveling for second rounds and have another weekend of traveling ahead of me. I'm grateful to even have made second rounds, yet, given that I haven't heard back from any of them, I'm not sure where my benchmark is. Am I doing well? Do I need coaching? Will I end up with a job prior to Christmas?

In some ways, it doesn't matter when I end up with a job. In many others, I feel overwhelmed with classes, recruiting and life. One of my close friends had her baby this past weekend, likely the soonest I'll see him is April. These days, I feel the need to blow off some steam and occasionally I do, though when I return, the work is still sitting there.

For instance, I had dinner with my boyfriend, a classmate and his wife last night. We sat around the table for 2 hours after a yummy homecooked turkey dinner - swapping stories, sipping on wine and enjoying exactly what second year is about, a little TLC with people who may only be around for the next 7 months. Of course, when we finished dinner I still had 100 pages of my reading seminar book to complete. It's the never-ending list of things to do.

Time Flies

Grades and exams are slowly rolling into our inboxes from last quarter. Yet today, I just finished my first "real" midterm exam at Darden - take home, 4 contiguous hours - who would have thought that you could give a midterm with 6-8 weeks per quarter? I'm in absolute aww as time seems to travel in super speed. Every week is booked to the max and trying to find open time is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Last Friday I was in Chicago for my first second round interview. Afterwards, I flew to SF to celebrate Halloween with my old soccer team and see my friend's new baby. I spent Sunday returning East and thankfully, United switched me from my original connecting flight to a direct flight. Props to them, I didn't even have to ask and ended up landed 4 hours earlier than expected!! I'm traveling again this weekend and the next. I fear Thanksgiving will be here before I know it, which also signals the end of the quarter and finals, again.

As for study abroad, I am officially enrolled at SSE (Stockholm School of Economics) for quarter 3! I just can't seem to wrap my head around going to India for 3 weeks in December to return home on New Year's, back to school for a one-week course and then I move to Sweden during the coldest time of the year for 7-8 weeks. It's insane.

I'm trying to enjoy my time and the moments, but lately, I feel like everything is just beyond my grasp. Before I know it, I'm going to wake up at graduation.

Oh Blackberry, You're MUCH Better Now

Ever seen the facebook status message: "Blackberry Storm or iPhone?" It's a constant battle trying to decipher which phone is better. Not to mention, if you're locked into Verizon (or some service other than AT&T), should you think of switching? For the most part, there are many aspects of the iPhone that are "better", though many work environments utilize the Blackberry instead.

Last December, I got my very first Blackberry as I was about to head up to Week on Wall Street. Prior to my travels, I was informed that having a Blackberry helped facilitate communication in New York. Indeed, it was likely any smartphone helped. As a loyal Verizon customer, I didn't want to go through the hassle of switching providers and the Storm had just arrived, so why not be an early adopter on the technology wagon.

Since then, I've found that having a smartphone keeps my inbox clean. Additionally, I love having internet access overseas, no matter how crappy the browser is. Google Maps is heaven sent in new cities (especially when you're walking) and now, I get be a full fledged Facebook addict without having to open my laptop.

Parts of the phone were always incredible and other parts, namely the OS, left me wanting. However, I want no longer. This past week Blackberry pushed out an upgrade to their OS. In some ways, it reminds me of the iPhone, however, I still have problems using the iPhone. It's faster, sleeker, pops up and back smoothly, and even bounces a little when you get to the edge of a list. I'm completely fascinated by the new OS and almost feel like I got a new phone during the last week. While the argument between which phone is better may never truly be won, I must say, Blackberry did well with the latest upgrade! Two thumbs up.

(Note: Still an Apple lover.)

The Ding

It's inevitable that in interview season, everyone receives the illicit ding. If you're one of the fortunate ones to never experience this, I congratulate you.

There is not great way to get the ding, though I do feel some ways are easier than others. Email is just about as informal as it gets. The pro is that you don't have the awkward silence as you try to figure out what to say once someone has said they're uninterested. That leads me to the phone call, often the recruiter or someone from the corporate office who has no connection calls you to say you will not move on to Round 2. How are you supposed to respond? I simply say "thank you and enjoy your day/night/afternoon" though I'm not sure if there's a more appropriate response.

The voicemail is less painful than the actual phone call, fact is however, this person was trying to talk with you and the chance of them catching you may be as great as the chance that they don't. The voicemail to return a phone call typically means good news, unless of course you were me this morning, returning a phone call only to hear thanks, but no thanks.

Finally, I had another interesting experience this evening. I received the typical email this afternoon, only to get a phone call this evening with feedback. While I appreciate the feedback, it made the email ding feel worse than the typical recruiter phone call. I know it is meant to be helpful, except the feedback was regarding my quantitative skills and my knowledge of the industry. Fine, I did not articulate my industry knowledge well, but my analytic skills are part of my profile that I feel is strongest. I suppose we'll say last Thursday was simply a bad interview day.

While this post is mostly about the negatives of the interview process, I have heard some positives along the way as well, so don't think it's all dull-drums over here.

Expedition206

Check it out: http://www.expedition206.com/Default.aspx

Surprises at Darden

I love the case method, which is ironic because I told my mom when I was first exploring business schools that I wasn't interested in 100% case. During one of my interviews this past week, I was asked, what surprised you most about Darden? In fine case method fashion, I paused, smiled and started talking. I wasn't quite sure where I was going and ended up somewhere fantastic. A Darden grad was sitting on the opposite side of the interview table from me and I proceeded to tell him that I was most surprised about how much I learn from my classmates. I then mentioned how this aspect of the case method would easily transition into the workplace as I'd be joining the company as a newbie who would have a lot to learn from other people (not to mention a lot to bring to the table as well).

I was a bit amused with myself. Darden is often touted for having some of the best faculty and while I do agree with that statement as our faculty spends more time focused on students than research, it is my classmates who have exceeded my expectations. I recall sitting in the sea of Section D wondering how I got in next to all these incredible people. At some point, reality takes over and you realize you were admitted on your own merits just as much as they were on theirs.