Admitted to Kellogg Class of 2011 Thread

Whichever one would help you the most in internship recruiting would be the one I would go for.

Depends on your background too...

I had no exposure to Marketing, so I wanted to take it in the first quarter to see what I thought.

I'd argue that for most internship interviews, you'll get more from marketing than you will of finance (unless, obviously, you are going for a finance type internship, in which case I'd recommend turbo). But that's also based on your background and how close your role will be to finance.

Also take into consideration what types of electives you want to take in the Winter/Spring quarters. Marketing and Finance core are pre-reqs for all the subsequent electives. So if you want to take Ad Strat in the winter or Fin D in the spring or something like that - your fall elective decision will play a direct roll in potential courses you can take later (I took very few finance courses this year because I only took Fin I in the winter - that'll change this year, but it was a very conscious decision - you don't want to fall into that unconsciously).

I'm a slacker. I did the math one - it took about 2-3 hours, while I was watching TV. I haven't done the others yet....

Hmm, having something to complain about. +1 Turbo!

I've talked to 2 different "engineer turned bankers" (my current Plan A) at Kellogg. One took Fin 1 and said it was the right choice for him. He recommended the same to me since I have no finance background and there is a lot going on during the fall quarter - i.e. Turbo would take up a lot of time. The other guy took Turbo and regretted it. He said an 'A' in Fin 1 is better than a 'B' in Turbo, which is what he thinks most non-finance types make in Turbo. He also agreed with the point about a lot going on in the fall. Anyway, I did Fin 1. Hopefully I can waive DECS 433 to get that extra elective.

Good point.

Here's my current thinking:

Given the fact I don't have a finance background:
-I want to understand finance well
-I want to get a good grade to prove I can do it

Supporting this thought is that I still somewhat regret taking Honors calculus in university. I felt like I never really got it, and the AB grade irked me when I saw how relatively easy the regular calculus course was.

On the other hand:
-I'd like the extra elective, especially since I'm MMM and have less electives to begin with
-if I can buckle down and get an A in Turbo, that'd be that much more impressive (and me being the typical b-school applicant, I think I can do it

Again I go back to those calculus classes. I pointed to that exact same calculus class in my b-school application to show I could hack MMM despite my nontraditional background. After all, how many polisci majors took Honors calc? Turbo Finance on my transcript could be a similar tool with recruiters.

The main additional factor is that I'm very worried about the time aspect for business school in general, and especially the first semester given my wife will be acclimating to America (she's international). In the end this may be the determining factor, but I'm still very much up in the air. I think my heart is saying turbo, my head Fin 1.

Can my wife get a WildCARD? The below webpage says that only spouses of faculty/staff are eligible.

https://www.univsvcs.northwestern.edu/WildCard/other.html

Thanks!

Obviously I'm just going on what I've heard from students/alumni. But both of the guys I talked to said that recruiters (IB anyway) will ask what your grade was in Finance...not "did you take Turbo?" However, I agree that an A in Turbo would be something you could bring up if you were able to earn that.

I'm taking the plunge with Turbo first quarter. I've never taken a finance class in my life and have only into accounting. This morning, I talked to a MMM who just graduated. He was in the same boat in that he did not have any finance in undergrad but decided to take it first quarter. He made several comments that made sense. First was echos what has already been said, being MMM, you have less electives to start out with so getting one back by taking turbo is good. Did mention that the class is very fast paced, especially since a lot of previous banker types tend to take turbo first quarter. He said that the class was a ball buster, but definately doable. Also recommended perhaps taking an online intro finance class prior to the fall. Another comment was that for someone without any previous finance experience who has some interest in finance in the future, it definately helps for intership recruiting to have finance I and II completed prior to interviews after christmas.

My personal thought is that while it may make for more work during the first quarter, someone who has a strong quant back ground and is willing to work a little bit harder (perhaps give up a little on the extra curriculars) should be able to figure out turbo. This is either my two cents or me trying to convince myself that I made the right decision

Unfortunately they can't anymore...several years ago they could but due to budgeting they no longer can. That said they are more than welcome at all Kellogg events, clubs, and classes (with prof's permission). Some profs really enjoy having JVs attend, I know Kramer only allows JV's to audit his class, students have to use the 1200+ points to get to attend his class.

Wildcard doesnt do much other than get you in the gym, on the shuttle bus, and discounts. The only thing I use my card for is cheap movie tickets and for pizzas at whole foods.

I am an engineer and took Fin 1 and Fin 2 but not turbo...I think it was the right decision for me. I am not planning on taking lots of fin stuff but what I do take I really want to understand since what I am taking is going to be the foundation I need. Surprisingly Fin 2 is much more qualitative than quant based, it is more applying the knowledge of Fin 1 adding a little and understanding the impacts different things have.

There's a new academic calendar on the website. It's detailed and goes through 2015!

I was thinking about waiving fin 1 and taking fin 2 instead of taking turbo. It's probably less work and I can still have fin 1 and fin 2 completed before recruiting.

I'm just wondering why more people aren't planning on doing something similar? Is there any drawback to it and should I just take turbo instead of waiving fin 1?

I think most of use debating aren't in a position to waive Fin1...

A lot of people I know who could have waived Fin1 that took Turbo...if you are more than a few years out of school even if you work in finance its not a bad thing to brush up on the basics.

Plenty of people waive Fin I and go straight to Fin II - I know a ton of people who did last. You can join me in Fin II at 10am haha. I need some group members (not a ton of 2nd years in that class). I have deemed this year Finance and Fun.

I think you meant Fun and Finance, but that's an easy mistake.