Second Week..

We got into full swing in week-2 and it was pretty exciting.
We went through the cases, prepared for classes till midnight and woke up at 6:45 AM to make it for the classes. Some times I came after the classes and slept on the floor while using my laptop. Then I realized that it is having its toll on me. Till Then I was really pulling myself hard to not to sleep in day time.

We are getting the updates from Graduate Career Services (GCS) on what to do and what to prepare. As part of it, I went to Vault site and downloaded "The Art of Schmoozing". I felt that it is a good book after I skimmed through a couple of chapters. I have put a couple of points into practice and realized how easy it is to deal with people. People wait for you to talk with them (Boys as well as Girls). So, you need to take intitaive and start the conversation. In the last two days, whenever I got into bus, I made it a point to start conversation with anyone who sits beside me and did that successfully. So I made three new friends in just two days.

Coming to the assignments part of it, we got into assignments mode and submitted one team assignment yesterday. We worked on it for 3.5 hours though we expected it to be complete earlier. But, It was fun working in a team to attain the common goal. Also, Our Data Analysis Professor told that we will have a mid term in a couple of weeks ahead. So, I have to look into that. Finance and Accounting professors are going to conduct a quiz (you have to do problems on paper) next week. I need to prepare for those problems too. Operations professor asked us to read "The Goal" novel. I read that a couple of years ago and remember that it is about theory of constraints. I have to read that or skim that again.

I Met the Students Admission Council (SAC) for an interview. I have applied for a position in SAC as it interested me a lot. It involves interaction with prospective students when they come for campus visit or interview for admission. I will definitely feel good if I can get a chance to do those things.

I went to meet the Director of Consulting Academy and it went well. I was able to successfully put forth my case for consulting. We have to wait for the result.

As usual we cooked chicken over the last weekend and it lasted for 5 days. We have to cook the things again tomorrow.

Today we had an evaluation session with Kelley Alumni. The program is called "Kelley Idol". You have to put forth your brand positioning about yourself to the alumni and they will rate you on various parameters. It was really a great Idea to get feedback.

Also, today we have had an LDI Assessment. In that they put you through a set of roles. I acted as Vice President of Marketing for a firm and have to do 4 exercises in that role.
1. Discuss with the Board of Directors on an issue.
2. Meet Exec Vice president and convince him on an idea.
3. Meet a Director, who is not getting his team along and got a poor quarterly review.
4. Address a media meeting and answer their poking questions.

The best thing with this whole thing is they record each and every second of all this and give you a copy of that along with a feedback. So, you can just see yourself and know the mistakes in your expressions and also the style.

Kelley gives a lot of personal attention. The GCS director will remember your name and address you with that every time you see him/her. They are trying very hard to get you where you want to go. I am really amazed at their efforts. I can only tell one thing. If you want to be in a school where you DON'T want to feel that you are lost, Kelley is the best. I have not seen other schools. So, I will not comment on them.

From Now on, I will try to post my experience week-wise. We have got a total of 16 weeks in the first semester and we were through with 2 weeks already.