rhyme
You knew I was going to have to comment
Of course, haha. It's interesting that if GSB has all these things I'm looking for in a school, it's definitely not portraying it well through everyone I've talked to other than you, rhyme.
rhyme
Ironically, this is actually the number one complaint I hear from my friends at Kellogg as well - working in groups isn't all its cracked up to be.
So, what I'm trying to say is, GSB's approach of "sometimes mandatory sometimes not" is actually something I've come to consider a pro rather than a con.
I understand what you're saying and I can see the cons of working in groups. Personally, I came from an engineering background where we (at my schools) did almost everything in groups of 2-4. homeworks, labs, projects, etc... You always need to coordinate meeting times, and since the homework takes 15-20 hours PER CLASS (I'm not exaggerating here), if you're taking three technical classes on average per semester/quarter, you're seeing your teammates A LOT and working pretty much every weeknight and most of a Saturday or Sunday on homework.
That's probably why I'm ok with coordinating with people, even free-loading people, as long as they pick up my slack in some other classes (which is what I heard they do at Haas and Stanford) so everyone has time to participate in all the craziness at b-school.
rhyme
You know I have to tackle this one too. Yes, its true that people live all over but, somewhat ironically, I think it actually gives us a really stronger community. The reason is that people come to campus and they stay on campus - all day.
Very true, but that is the same with Stanford and Berkeley, where people stay on campus pretty much all day, but afterwards, since everyone lives nearby, they continue to do the social stuff at the local town/someone's house, which is a couple blocks away. It's probably also a function of class size, as both Stanford and Berkeley are small enough that the 2nd years I talk to seem to know everyone in their class, whereas the 2nd years I've talked to at both Kellogg and GSB know both a smaller percentage and number of people in their classes.
rhyme
meant by commuter school feel - it kind of is a commuter school (though probably 40% live in Hyde Park and 40% in downtown) - but if you meant it as a "people come in and go" kind of thing... it really really isn't like that at all.
I guess everyone's experience is different. Two of the 2nd years I talk to made the same commuter school comment independently (not with the exact same words, of course).
rhyme
things I've come to like too (not sure how common this is elsewhere) is that I meet and work with (even in my study group) a lot of 2nd years. You aren't lockstep with first years and so my network is much larger.
That is pretty awesome! I'm glad to hear of the interactions between 1st and 2nd years. That is similar to what I've witnessed at UCLA, Berkeley, Stanford, and Kellogg.
Again, I'm not trying to "bash" GSB in any way with my observations, but merely trying to establish my own "fit" criteria and figure out whether I would feel at home at the GSB as compared to the other 4 schools I'm applying to.
This visit definitely gave me a better feel about GSB than before, but I'm not sure if it's enough yet. I do appreciate your (rhyme) being there and helping reveal things that I could not have observed or experienced in my short visit or discussions with students!
I have no doubt GSB is a great school for most people (especially the GM/IB/MC "mainstream" career folks), and its academic strength and brand name is superb. But for someone with more "pickier" tastes like me, I need to spend more time thinking about my decisions to apply before I do so.
05 Nov 2007, 23:00
or get nailed !!! 
