Sneak peak into the future

When you are deep inside this bubble called  investment banking recruiting it's difficult to plan ahead for the upcoming semester. Nevertheless, we still had to bid for courses we wish to take in the 2nd semester, and more importantly decide the destination for spring break!

Bidding for courses is a new phenomenon for me and it does become difficult to come to terms with it at times (especially when you lose!) . Even though there is great diversity in backgrounds and interests among the class of 2012, there are still many courses that fall into the trap of a supply/demand equation. For instance, Professor Greenwald's course on Value Investing is legendary around here. When you stick a rumor (or fact maybe) that he is taking a sabbatical after next semester... you get the idea. Many of my friends who bid >3000 points (which is ~25% of your total available bid points) still ended up empty handed as the course cleared over 5000 points! Initially I thought about bidding for the course (and most likely not win) but then I decided against it. I wanted to focus on taking courses that might help me perform better during my summer internship in an investment bank (if I'm fortunate to get one, touch wood!).  I got lucky and got all that I bid for- Capital Markets & Investments by Professor Tetlock, Financial Statements Analysis & Valuation by Professor Katz and Consumer Technology by David Pogue (New York Times Technology columnist). There are a few more courses we had to bid for and those bidding results are due in a few days.

Moving on to more fun things, I had to decide whether to participate in the lottery for Chazen study tours. Chazen study tour is basically a week long trip to experience the business and culture of a new country. Some of the main attractions about these trips are the opportunities we get to interact with senior managements of the top/most exciting companies in that area and also meet with  the senior political leaders of that country. The main attraction is of course the cultural exposure you get to experience and share with your friends from CBS! For the spring, we were offered trips to Italy, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Mexico. Most of them had a selection process that included a lottery or an application. (When you decide to attend an MBA program, get ready to accept  this as a fact of life- there is more demand than supply for all things worthy, except beer during happy hour!) All that said, I was in two minds about applying for the trip. On one hand, I had missed out on the awesome CBS World Tour and I was excited about traveling with friends from CBS. But then, for good or bad, Chazen didn't allow significant others to accompany us on the tour.  I was looking forward to spending time with my wife without stressing about internships and academics etc. Finally, my wife and I decided that it will be a good experience for me to take part in the Chazen trip :-) So I applied and was lucky enough to win the lottery for the Israel trip (my first choice!). Yay! The itinerary is exceptional- check it out here

So it's going to be a great start to a new year! Now before I start thinking too much about spring break, there is still final exams, cover letters, resumes, interviews and all that jazz standing between me and 2011. So for now, back to reality.