MBA Student Life

I live in an on campus apartment and really love it. You can't beat the convenience of it taking only 30 seconds to get to class in the morning. And trust me, its getting colder every day and I am even more glad that I am living on campus! And I personally like having a kitchen of my own since I like to cook quite often.

That said, if you are looking for an apartment with charm and character, off campus in Cambridge or Allston are a better bet, since the on campus ones are quite run of the mill...

Cheers,
Puja

beatthegmat wrote:Seed question for Katharine, Puja, and Zack:

What have you enjoyed most about your first year?

Hi Friends,

I've enjoyed so much, there is so much to do here it is nuts!! And that's great... if you like healthcare or cleantech, or innovation or entrepreneurship, there is always something going on on-campus to be a part of... except for Friday nights, which people just tend to relax and enjoy with friends.

But, honestly, the thing that I think I've enjoyed most this year has got to be all the great people you meet... I know it sounds silly, but it's really the people you have in your section that you essentially live with during your first year that make the experience amazing and bring the learning to life.

dmateer25 wrote:Hi Katharine, Puja, & Zack!

It's great to have you all answering questions on the forum.

I have a few questions.

What has surprised you the most thus far at HBS?
How is the internship hunt going? Is it better than you expected? Did you start preparing yourself for interviews as soon as you arrived on campus?

Great questions, I'll try to take them one at a time:
What has surprised you the most thus far at HBS?
I think the great people you meet... I don't consider myself a very "A-type" personality and I was really worried that my classes would be full of hyper-competitive bankers and cut-throat consultants, but seriously, everyone is so nice. The section really comes together like a family, and we work together to make sure everyone has the opportunity to participate in class discussions and learn. Sure we're all a bit competitive now and again, like when we were doing the "factory simulation" and we were all making crazy widgets to see who could make the most defect-free widgets, but it was all in good fun.

Internship hunt?
HBS actually does something really very valuable and smart to help ease you into recruiting your first year. First, they have a policy to keep recruiters AWAY FROM CAMPUS for the first two months. I've heard at some schools, as soon as you arrive you feel the heat from the recruiters, but HBS really wants you to spend some quality time figuring out what you want to do with your life and provides fantastic career coaches to help you along your way.

At the beginning of November, recruiting kicks off and the companies start coming on campus, and you all start to do the dance to see where you fit and who is interested in what you have to offer. But, no, we didn't have to start prepping right on day 1.

So, yeah, it is much better than I expected, especially considering the state of the economy... and we are really very grateful for all the hard work the Career Services office puts in to help us get ready and to bring the opportunities to campus.

shadowsjc wrote:Hey guys,

What is your current dorming situation like? Are you living in the dorms? In one of the "apartments"? Or somewhere off campus? How did the dorming situation get settled? (when did you receive a lottery #, or when were you informed of your room selections?)

If given a choice, which do you recommend? (dorms or other)?

Sorry for the multiple questions but I felt they were all related... thanks!

Great questions, here's my take as a family guy with a wonderfully supportive wife and a fun 3-year-old son. LIVE ON CAMPUS!!! Whatever you do, especially if you have a family live on campus!! It is SOOO convenient and there are great people around all the time to hang out with and study with.

HBS has a great community for families and kids, so that was a big factor in our deciding to live on campus. I'm crazy busy, but I know my wife and son are nearly as busy with the Crimson Kids activities and the Partner Club events. Plus, since I live so close (unfortunately not tunnel close like Katharine) I can still manage to run home for lunch between classes and see my family or to change into my suit for a company presentation, rather than being dressed up all day.

Sure it costs more, it isn't a ton of space... but I figure it's just part of the experience.

I think the choice to go with the Dorm vs. the Apartments is a personal preference and could go either way. As far as process, once you are admitted, you can apply to the housing lottery, then you are given a Selection Window. There are two lists of apartments to choose from, the "Currently Available" which are units ready for immediate move-in and then the "Selection Window" units. They roll from Lottery 1, to Lottery 2, to Lottery 3... etc. to Lottery x. The housing is open to all Harvard affiliates, not just HBS students, and preference is given to families with children (meaning they are likely to get a selection window in round 1). NOTE: If you apply for admittance for the round 3 deadline in March, you will automatically get the final Housing lottery window, because the lottery assignments are given out at the end of april, and Round 3 decisions don't happen until May.

A more practical question -- how do you find financing an HBS education? What is HBS financial aid like? How do you make money while there (or do people live off savings)? Obviously, once you graduate you'll have a great start, but do you feel that if you need it, HBS offers adequate financial aid?

Most students finance through a combination of savings and student loans. Student loans are not too hard to come by. I wouldn't count on holding down a job outside of class! If you're resourceful, you can probably find some scholarships if you get started early enough.

dmateer25 wrote:Hi Katharine, Puja, & Zack!

It's great to have you all answering questions on the forum.

I have a few questions.

What has surprised you the most thus far at HBS?
How is the internship hunt going? Is it better than you expected? Did you start preparing yourself for interviews as soon as you arrived on campus?

What has surprised you the most thus far at HBS?

I'd heard rumors that business school in general wasn't very academically intense. My inner school nerd was worried that I'd be the only one studying while everyone else was "networking" over beer pong. I won't say people don't have a lot of fun, but most people actually do care quite a bit about learning the material and making intelligent contributions to class discussions.

How is the internship hunt going? Is it better than you expected? Did you start preparing yourself for interviews as soon as you arrived on campus?

I'm doing a networked job search, and I have found other students and alums very responsive and helpful when I reach out with questions. That said, I don't expect to have an internship lined up until March or so. As for interview preparation, I think it never hurts to start thinking about what you want to do and how you'd get someone to hire you to do it. However, there is no formal recruiting until November.

Thanks for all the great discussions. Where does one go to look for scholarships online and early?

gkumar wrote:Thanks for all the great discussions. Where does one go to look for scholarships online and early?

Great question! If you find out, let me know!!

On the topic of financing, it isn't easy. But so far, I haven't had any trouble getting the loan money that we have needed. As many people point out, going to business school for most people is not a sound financial decision. You give up salary, you take on massive amounts of debt, and when you get out, you are not guaranteed to make more than you did before (though hopefully you will).

It is really a personal decision that you make for a variety of reasons... not a get rich quick scheme!

hey Zack/puja/ Katherine,
What is that one class and one professor that you would not like to miss?

zzackrison wrote:

gkumar wrote:Thanks for all the great discussions. Where does one go to look for scholarships online and early?

Great question! If you find out, let me know!!

On the topic of financing, it isn't easy. But so far, I haven't had any trouble getting the loan money that we have needed. As many people point out, going to business school for most people is not a sound financial decision. You give up salary, you take on massive amounts of debt, and when you get out, you are not guaranteed to make more than you did before (though hopefully you will).

It is really a personal decision that you make for a variety of reasons... not a get rich quick scheme!

On the topic of financing an MBA. Most people use student loans however there are some scholarship programs out there most people overlook. For example anyone who is of Hispanic descent can apply for the National Society of Hispanic MBAs scholarships awarded to many people pursuing MBAs. The 2010 application just opened. There is also the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. Those are two organizations who I am affiliated with that helped me graduate with an MBA debt free. Many minority students have these same options. Just thought I would share.

I have some questions aswell:

This is mostly towards international students: "How do people match up?" Do they mainly gang up with their "study group", or are people of different backgrounds clustering together? I.e. Internations with internationals, US east with US east, etc.

Also, how is the recruiting towards international students? I've heard bad rumours about them being looked at as "second tier" (mainly talking about top recruiters, like M/B/B for consulting, BB banks for IB).

You obviously get really close with the people in your study group... and your section... but what about the other 820 students? To me it seems like you'd be really close with the 80 or so, but not so much with the rest. Is this true?

Hello, I am interested in learning more about Harvard. I have several questions:

1) What attracted you to Harvard first over other top-tier schools?
2) Does Harvard have any industry mentoring program to get real world exposure to various careers within your academic specializations?
3) What strategy and financial consulting initiatives exist where you can get hands-on experience?
4) What's your favorite class so far and why?
5) For those interested in a career in finance or even Wall Street, how do you deal with recruiting at a distance from Chicago or New York, the typical major financial hubs?
6) When is the best time to visit campus? Is the summer time before Round 1 applications a good time?

Thanks in advance!

fibbonnaci wrote:hey Zack/puja/ Katherine,
What is that one class and one professor that you would not like to miss?

So the second year has started and things are going well. I really like the system at Harvard where in your first year you take the required curriculum and in the second year you have a ton of choices to pick great classes.

I am hoping I can get into Professor Clayton Christensen's Building and Sustaining Successful Enterprises course. It has consistently received the highest reviews by students. Friends of mine who took the class last year feel very much like it fundamentally improved their ability to analyze situations and come to better conclusions.