Open House: The Details
Overall, it was an awesome, busy, fun and exciting 2 days on campus, the weather ruining things a little bit on day 1. We were greeted with a welcome kit for breakfast, followed by a brief welcome message by Dean Hubbard and Linda Meehan.
The rest of the Open House was really meant to give us a flavor for life at CBS: the cluster system, academics, career services, clubs, social events, corporate sponsored events, happy hour and late night partying (which I had no energy left to participate in).
Day 1: After breakfast, we were divided into clusters of about 40-50 people each. The first event was an informal "get to know your cluster" thing with some team games, quizes etc. During this session, we were handed a 12-13 page case document, which we were asked to go through sometime during the day before the 4pm Management Class. This was followed by lunch with current students and an elective class on "Strategic Intuition" by Prof. William Duggan. Topics discussed were Intuition, Strategy, Innovation with some examples like Napolean, Picasso, Edison, Apple, Google etc. Quite interesting!
Next was the Management Case class conducted by Prof. Ralph Biggadike. I think about 95% of the class started reading the case in the lecture hall but it was truly amazing to see how quickly people as a group were able to dissect and analyze a situation and offer a diverse range of viewpoints. A very engaging session this one. At 5 we headed to the International House for a panel on Entrepreneurship, very very impressive. 5 or 6 recent CBS alums talked about the companies they have started, all ideas born and refined while at CBS with help from the Lang Center and how successful they have become in such a short period of time. This to me was the highlight event at Open House. The evening was wrapped up by a Deutsche Bank sponsored cocktail party, followed by more drinking at Uris Deli Happy Hour, which I attended till 10:30pm before calling it a night.
Day 2: I was one of very few people at the 9am breakfast and understandably so since several people were partying till 3am the previous night at the Latin American Business Association (LABA) dance party. I wouldnt exactly put myself as a novice when it comes to drinking and socializing but this needed a different level of energy reserves. After a non-stop day from 9am to 11pm (which included 2 rounds of drinking), I give out kudos to those who had the heart to go drink some more and party till 3am. Thankfully, there were some people like me who started showing up for breakfast around 9:30am.
Breakfast was followed by two 1-hour sessions on academics and career services. Then we had a grand lunch with faculty, where Linda talked a little bit about the merits of the incoming class (some real rockstars there). We then had 2 interactive sessions with current students and an alum, Club Fair - a glimpse of all the student led clubs at CBS and then the Bloomingdales cocktail reception on the top floor of Bloomingdales. Getting there involved a quick subway ride whcih was managed by current students. Mike Gould (CEO and CBS alum), spoke about his perspectives on the MBA, Columbia and New York (this was most important to him and it was clear how much he loves and values the city). Open House officially wrapped up here and we left with gift bags and goodies (courtesy Bloomindales). Unofficially, there was more socializing, drinking and partying but I figured I'd have plenty of opportunity for that the next 2 years.
My one key take away from these 2 days was the sheer strength and reach of the CBS community, the amazing people already there and the ones that I will be with this Fall. I cant wait to get started.
The rest of the Open House was really meant to give us a flavor for life at CBS: the cluster system, academics, career services, clubs, social events, corporate sponsored events, happy hour and late night partying (which I had no energy left to participate in).
Day 1: After breakfast, we were divided into clusters of about 40-50 people each. The first event was an informal "get to know your cluster" thing with some team games, quizes etc. During this session, we were handed a 12-13 page case document, which we were asked to go through sometime during the day before the 4pm Management Class. This was followed by lunch with current students and an elective class on "Strategic Intuition" by Prof. William Duggan. Topics discussed were Intuition, Strategy, Innovation with some examples like Napolean, Picasso, Edison, Apple, Google etc. Quite interesting!
Next was the Management Case class conducted by Prof. Ralph Biggadike. I think about 95% of the class started reading the case in the lecture hall but it was truly amazing to see how quickly people as a group were able to dissect and analyze a situation and offer a diverse range of viewpoints. A very engaging session this one. At 5 we headed to the International House for a panel on Entrepreneurship, very very impressive. 5 or 6 recent CBS alums talked about the companies they have started, all ideas born and refined while at CBS with help from the Lang Center and how successful they have become in such a short period of time. This to me was the highlight event at Open House. The evening was wrapped up by a Deutsche Bank sponsored cocktail party, followed by more drinking at Uris Deli Happy Hour, which I attended till 10:30pm before calling it a night.
Day 2: I was one of very few people at the 9am breakfast and understandably so since several people were partying till 3am the previous night at the Latin American Business Association (LABA) dance party. I wouldnt exactly put myself as a novice when it comes to drinking and socializing but this needed a different level of energy reserves. After a non-stop day from 9am to 11pm (which included 2 rounds of drinking), I give out kudos to those who had the heart to go drink some more and party till 3am. Thankfully, there were some people like me who started showing up for breakfast around 9:30am.
Breakfast was followed by two 1-hour sessions on academics and career services. Then we had a grand lunch with faculty, where Linda talked a little bit about the merits of the incoming class (some real rockstars there). We then had 2 interactive sessions with current students and an alum, Club Fair - a glimpse of all the student led clubs at CBS and then the Bloomingdales cocktail reception on the top floor of Bloomingdales. Getting there involved a quick subway ride whcih was managed by current students. Mike Gould (CEO and CBS alum), spoke about his perspectives on the MBA, Columbia and New York (this was most important to him and it was clear how much he loves and values the city). Open House officially wrapped up here and we left with gift bags and goodies (courtesy Bloomindales). Unofficially, there was more socializing, drinking and partying but I figured I'd have plenty of opportunity for that the next 2 years.
My one key take away from these 2 days was the sheer strength and reach of the CBS community, the amazing people already there and the ones that I will be with this Fall. I cant wait to get started.
posted by MBA Pundit at
1:33 PM
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