Wharton Pre-Term

On Sunday, August 12^th Wharton Pre-Term began.  Usually when I say that I get 2 questions, 1 – how can school start on a Sunday? And 2 – What is pre-term?  So let me debrief.

First thing, I’m realizing that once you sign up for bschool, anywhere, you basically sign your life away.  It’s not that they will take away alllll my weekends…but theres A LOT to do in SUCH little time.  On the first day on Pre-term, a Sunday, we just spent it meeting people in our Cluster* and then off to a reception…and by reception that means food and alcohol..which was really fun.  It was great meeting allll these new people from all over the world….I keep learning all these random new fun facts…like how weapons (outside of authorities) are NOT allowed in Singapore…or how I can get free dinner (and of course recruiting advice) from my peers at Wharton returning back to their consulting gigs. 

Breakfast on the plaza at Huntsman Hall

MBA Convocation...can you see me? I'm near the front :-P

The last few days have been a whirlwind.  You really can get caught up in FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).  These last few days have been filled with a Calc Class (everyone at Wharton has a to take a math exam..something I'm just finding out),  Cluster meetings for orientation information (like how to register for class), Community Building (planning for the Cluster Olympics) and I’m personally taking an “Intro to Accounting Class”…with a professor that is so hilarious.  He actually has made accounting interesting...I’m still shocked.  Overall it’s been really fun…and busy (in a good way) and even at this moment I’m sitting here FOMO’ing about what I’m missing out on as I write this blog.  Finally, this upcoming weekend there is a leadership retreat (yes…we have mandatory events on a Saturday and Sunday)….so we can meet our learning team*.  This is ALSO a surprise (that is all anyone knows…I don't even know where we are going)..and that's pretty much all I can say about that.  After that…my obligations will be Mon-Fri until Pre-term is over…and then once class REALLY starts..Mon-Thurs…did I ever mention that Wharton doesn’t have class on Fridays? :-D

*Cluster - Wharton is basically 840 students...so there are 4 clusters of ~210 students.  And then within Clusters you are split into Cohorts of about ~60-70 students.

*Learning Team - group you work with with through Core Classes

-Motown

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It was all good four weeks ago.....

I can't believe I've been in school for 4 weeks now.   Since I just finished my last midterm I'll give yall a quick update. I know your thinking midterms already... yes, our mods run for about 7 weeks so this week was test/quiz time! There is so much that has happened I'm not sure where to begin so here are few highlights.  I'll also try to get better at writing more posts after I get through the first round of classes.

• When I was applying to school everyone would talk about how busy their first year was well busy is an understatement! I'm not sure what you would call it but I'm loving every minute of it.
• I find myself applying the things I learned in class to every day life. For example, had to stop myself from performing a test hypothesis(stats) on a guy who was smoking every 20 minutes. Another classmate of mine mentioned how she cannot watch a presentation without critiquing it.... life of an MBA student  lol.
• Marc P. Cosentino, author of case in point came on campus to provide case interviewing prep.  I'm still on the fence about pursuing human capital consulting but the case prep will definitely be useful for a lot of other things.
• This week companies have started their information session on campus so on top of study and student clubs I've been trying to get my life in order for recruiting season. ( HR-MBA  students start the recruiting process a little early). 

Well back to work I go.....

-Ms.HR

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Transitioning to Philly...and then Wharton

As of the time I'm writing this...I’ve been in Philly for about 2 weeks now….learning the lay of the land and getting my apt ready for me to probably never be as organized as I am than right now.  

Anyhow, Philly has been great.  Most Wharton MBA students live in/near Rittenhouse Square or at least in Center City.  Philly is a foodie’s paradise (I’ve already had some awesome food) and everything is basically in walking distance…including Wharton.  Also, the public transportation system is great too.  I have several diff buses I can take on my same block or even when it gets cold…I can take a subway/trolley. My mother also traveled here with me to help me move in.  So we had the chance..and a little bit of time...to visit landmarks (like liberty bell) and had some world famous cheesesteaks.

Image of Rittenhouse Square
Source

Anyhow, before school began I had the opportunity to attend a retreat for minority Wharton Students.  I was taken back by the commitment that Alums had for this event.  So many alums (both recent and dated) came back to give us advice…traveling from far away. Also, current 2^nd years and even administration gave us the lowdown on Wharton and brought us up to speed on life in Philly.  I found out where I could get my hair done, go to church and find a delicious, cheap bite to eat.  The best thing, was meeting my future classmates.  We really got to know each other well and ended the weekend in a challenging leadership activity (that's all I can say…its all a surprise for future classes).

Anyways…once that was over…I had a week in Philly to hang out with classmates already in town.  The best part of that was celebrating my birthday.  My (future) classmates were so awesome supporting the celebration and EVEN getting Brown Betty Cupcakes (in addition to libations…) Anyways, I’m really excited to start school and really get into life about Philly! Hope anyone else moving (or even starting the application process) is having a great transition too!

-Motown

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