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Current Student Blogs

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j2insead
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Schools: INSEAD Jan '16 (M$)
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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   18 Jul 2015, 02:34
FROM j2insead: Accepted! Fonty! 16D!
The wait has finally ended.

I received the call this morning from my AO and I really cannot describe how I felt.

Happy? Ecstatic? Excited? YES!!!

I have been admitted to INSEAD and that is all that matters at the moment.

Would think about funding tomorrow, but for now I am celebrating with the “shakiti bobo” dance steps.

Enjoy the video by one of Nigeria’s best rappers…

.
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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   18 Jul 2015, 02:34
FROM j2insead: Checklist!!!
Heck! I thought the application process was daunting. Now that the excitement has mellowed a bit, it’s time to start ticking the boxes on my B-School Checklist. Things seem to be moving so fast and time has become even more valuable. A few things I need to do:

  • Pay my first tuition deposit…Still working on that
  • Start an early search for housing- Already losing sleep over this (Villa OR studio, close to campus OR farther away)
  • Complete an external scholarship application- Finally received a hard-copy of my offer letter so I can get this done ASAP
  • Complete my Prodigy Loan Application- Once I make my first tuition deposit
  • Gather my visa application documents- Whew! Not again…done this many times within the past year
  • Prepare to meet the language requirement- Need to shoot an email to my admissions officer. Some clarity needed here
  • Secure cheap flight options- Still deciding how to do this. One way tickets are wayyyyyyyyyyy too expensive. Plan to start in FBL and end in SGP.
  • Prepare my exit plan from work- Hehehe…tough conversations need to happen. My boss is still oblivious of my MBA plans. Would need to talk about it soon-in a couple of months.
  • Decide on getting a car- Depends on (2) above. I would really love to stay at Tavers and experience the social life at INSEAD to the full.
  • Review my finances again and make necessary adjustments to savings and lifestyle- Might need to save a few more bucks for INSEAD travels. At this point, I am game for a trip to anywhere on planet earth.
  • Plan, Review, Execute, Review, Execute….
Well, this is another phase in the journey and I cannot wait to be over it. The 16D Admits group on https://gmatclub.com/chat has been agog with activities and I have engaged with some really amazing folks. INSEAD is truly the business school for the world.

Time to get off work. Counting down to my final day here and boy, it feels sooooo good! Enjoy the video below by James Brown. I FEEL GOOD!!!
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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   18 Jul 2015, 03:01
FROM mybjourney: Acing the Argument Analysis
I have been approached a number of times recently with GMAT aspirants asking for the best strategy to score well in the AWA section. I admit I did not invest much time in this section during my GMAT preparation, which in itself was pretty hurried with. I would read few sample argument essays to get a gist of how the essays should be structured, but that was it. But towards the end of my preparation, it started to worry me that I had ignored the section completely. Was I getting too overconfident? I do not know. I wanted to focus on my weak areas more, but felt it was pertinent to read from the experience of previous test takers as to what a strong argument looks like.

Research on net on sample AWA led me to this post on GMATClub. A test taker had shared his strategy a few years back, which has now been popularly known as ‘chineseburned method’, after this username! I found it extremely resourceful and practiced a couple of times during the week before the test. I would also get my write-up reviewed by my friends who had taken the GMAT earlier.

Below is a brilliant infographic of the same, for easy reference. Take a print out and stick it on your desk for quick recap when you are taking a break from your prep!



Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with the template / chineseburned, nor have been asked by anyone to endorse the same. I found it extremely helpful during my preparation and want to share with others.
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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   18 Jul 2015, 03:01
FROM mybjourney: 100 days
That is exactly the number of days before the orientation for MBA class of 2016 begins at Oxford. Hell yeah! It’s all been happening so fast I’m sure these 100 days are also going to fly past in a jiffy. Before I know I’ll be walking through the gates of the hallowed institution with a dazed look and nervous footsteps, towards what shall be my abode for the next year and a brand for the rest of my life. Where I’ll step in with the fire to learn and from where I’ll walk out empowered to take on the bigger challenges. Sounds like kindergarten all over again, ain’t it? 

Melodrama aside, my plan for the next 100 days is to practically do nothing, and yet, there’s quite a lot to do still. I’ve moved back to my hometown, all my 4 years of stuff from Bangalore packed in boxes and stashed aside. Soon after I arrived, we drove to Kashmir, to our ancestral place and farmhouse. In the coming weeks I’ll be going through the mails and newsletters from SBS and also get started on documents needed for visa application. In the meantime, I also need to submit Financial Declaration to the school, only after which will they send across the CAS. CAS is needed to apply for student visa, I shall be writing in detail about visa application soon. 

Every single person I’ve interacted with lately has been telling me about how I’m never getting this free time ever again in life and how I should make the most of it – by basically relaxing. Speaking with current and former students I gather that there is not much to fret over the course work, which will be manageable in the campus and that I need not worry about that before the term begins. However the school has put up a list of recommended readings and a couple of mandatory pre-arrival formalities to be completed, which I shall need to go through. Top on the list is working on my CV and researching on what a good cover letter looks like. School’s career centre is also conducting a series of Webinars over the coming weeks to give an introduction into various career options and job application advice. I am looking forward to these sessions since currently I’m in a dilemma about my career progression ( I want to stay in the industry but that’s that ). 

But more than everything else, I am looking forward to spending my time with family and catching up on novels and movies, after so long. I think this is going to be my longest time spent at home since 2007 when I moved to my undergrad hostel. 

So here I am, sitting over this view from my patio, soaking in the lull before the storm!


 
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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   20 Jul 2015, 08:01
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Internship in California
Marta Szczerba makes the use of the app store in Palo Alto

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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   21 Jul 2015, 11:02
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: How to evaluate your MBA professors
Timo Marquez argues class content is the most vital part of your investment

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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   22 Jul 2015, 02:01
FROM mybjourney: Accommodation, Tickets: Check
My lovely brother booked the flight tickets for this jobless broke girl. God bless elder siblings!

I’ll be landing to Heathrow in early September with my parents and we shall spend a couple of weeks at my brother’s place, before I head off for Oxford on September 20th (oritentation starts on 21st). The entire family will be together after over a year and we are quite excited. If my brother’s work schedule permits him some days off, we will make a short trip too. Cannot wait!

Signed my accommodation contract and sent it across to the college accommodation today. Rewley Abbey Court, with a distance of just about 200 mts from Saïd is going to be my abode for the next one year.



One upside of getting admitted early on in the admissions cycle is that you have ample options to choose from to secure college and accommodation. With GTC ( Green Templeton College ) being my first choice and a safe one for MBA students, there were enough on-site and off-campus accommodation options available. I wanted to stay as close to the school as possible, so that its easier to reach the school quickly in case I am running late. A long sleepy walk / ride to the school in sub zero temperatures during school is the last thing I want to worry about. And with the few extra minutes that I would save, I can always make use in grabbing some soon-to-be-a-rare-luxury sleep. ;)

The downside being that this is off the college premises, again limiting interaction with non-MBA scholars. Also that I didn’t have option for an ensuite room in shared flats at RAC. Having lived in an undergraduate hostel with 20 girls in my corridor with only a handful of washrooms to share with, I am prepared to live with anything!

I’ll be sharing a 2 BHK flat with a batchmate from India. We both are in touch over messages and she seems really nice. We both are excited and have been discussing on what all we will need to buy once we are there, mainly kitchen and utility items. The accommodation includes cooker and refrigerator, but would need to set up rest of the kitchen. The accommodation license has an elaborate instruction list on what is allowed and what is not in the flat. I will go through it in detail soon, specially for the electric and electronic items. Regardless, a couple of  will be pertinent to carry.

For those interested, there is a video of the 2BHK RAC flat on YouTube by Nick, the accommodation manager. This was immensely helpful for me before putting forth my application for accommodation with my preferred choice.

So with arrangements for accommodation and travel made, I need to get started on my Visa application asap!
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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   22 Jul 2015, 05:01
FROM Ambitiousbusinessguy: The business schools winning the student talent wars

Originally posted on Fortune:

(Poets&Quants) — Every year, the world’s top business schools engage in an all-out talent war for the best MBA applicants on the market. To coax the most desirable prospects to their campuses, they’ve employed alumni to serve as ambassadors, touted their programs and faculty, and used millions of dollars in scholarship money.

So, who’s winning the MBA student talent wars? A new survey of MBA admission consultants by Poets&Quants finds some very familiar business schools at the top, with some real surprises sprinkled throughout the list. Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business ekes out a slight win over Harvard Business School, while the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School is solidly third.

Perhaps more surprising is that admission consultants believe that two non-U.S. business schools, INSEAD and London Business School, are among the top 10 in the world for landing the best candidates in the MBA applicant pool. In…

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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   23 Jul 2015, 03:01
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Live Q&A: MBA admissions part three


In the third part of our live series with guest expert Chioma Isiadinso, co-founder of consultancy Expartus and former admissions officer at Harvard Business School, we continue answering questions submitted by students interested in applying to business school.

Join in on Thursday, 23rd July 2015, between 2pm and 3pm BST. To submit questions, email ask@ft.com or use the right-hand side of this post.

Other posts in the series:

Part one

Part two

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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   23 Jul 2015, 19:01
FROM Ambitiousbusinessguy: The MBA Job Market in US – On-campus recruiting is up

Originally posted on Job Market Monitor:

74% of respondents experienced increased on-campus recruiting this year compared to the same time last year; 11% experienced a decrease.



The strongest increase in recruiting activity was seen in the Consulting industry.



MBA CSEA surveys our school members twice per year to gauge the status of MBA recruiting at their schools compared to the previous year. The results are a glimpse into the current status of the MBA employment market and can be used for comparision and reports to interested stakeholders.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at MBACSEA.

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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   26 Jul 2015, 14:01
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Summer delights
Philippa Rock makes the most of her free time in Alaska and the US

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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   27 Jul 2015, 00:02
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Meet the class of 2016
Incoming students share their experience so far

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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   27 Jul 2015, 06:02
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Coming to grits
The 2015 Pan American Games and more than 6,000 athletes have come to Toronto. With them they have brought a great positive vibe and it made me think of my own former time as a competitive hockey player.
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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   27 Jul 2015, 07:02
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Live Q&A: MBA admissions part four
Interested in applying for an MBA? In the fourth and final part of our live Q&A series with guest expert Chioma Isiadinso, co-founder of consultancy Expartus and former admissions officer at Harvard Business School, she will answer questions from prospective students interested in applying for an MBA.

Take part in the Q&A this Thursday, 30th July, from 2 to 3pm, BST. Send your questions on the right-hand side of this post or email ask@ft.com.

Please view other posts in this series: part one; part two; and part three.

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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   28 Jul 2015, 08:02
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: The internship
Piyush Jain talks about his internship at Epson, the electronics company

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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   01 Aug 2015, 01:01
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FROM mybjourney: Tier 4 Student Visa (from India)
Back to hometown after a short trip to New Delhi for my visa appointment. Whoever tells you that the toughest part gets over once you get an admit is SO wrong! Either that or he never needed to apply for visa.

The application is a bit of a task in itself. For UK Visa application in India, unlike visa app for USA, on the day of your appointment you submit at the application centre what you feel is your best prepared application and then can only wait for weeks in dreaded anticipation before you hear from embassy about their decision. Almost like an encore of your B school application!

For the benefit for first timers, I’m outlining the process to be followed to apply for Tier 4 Student (General) Visa (Make sure to diligently go through the detailed guidelines laid out here on GOV.UK  and here on Oxford’s site)

  • You will need to register at Visa4UK with your e-mail address. The application can be filled in multiple sessions until submission, post which you will not be allowed to make changes to your application. Make sure to keep saving from time to time, else you’ll have to fill in the details all over again, which can get quite frustrating.
  • The application itself would not take more than 30 minutes if you have all documents handy. You’ll need to fill in your personal details as per your passport (including that of your parents), travel history from past 10 years, education details, and declaration of maintenance funds.
  • Fill in CAS (Confirmation of Acceptance Acceptance for Studies) details provided by the University. Note that the CAS document should not be issued before 3 months prior to the start of your course. Also, the CAS has a unique number that can be used only once. In an unlikely event that your visa application gets rejected, you will need to request for a fresh CAS number to reapply. The document also specifies details on sponsor university’s license, course of study, documents used to assess your qualification as well as fees due towards the course. You will need all these details to fill in the application accurately.
  • Provide information on source of funds – loan letter, personal savings, funds from parents etc. This includes any remaining tuition fees and living costs (minimum 820 GBP per month for Oxford).
  • Select Biometric Resident Permit (BRP) collection centre. Once your visa is issued, you are given a 30 day vignette (from your travel date) that you need to show to collect your resident permit. Oxford has made provision to collect the BRP from the campus during orientation week, but since I am flying in earlier and BRP needs to be collected within 10 days of flying I would need to go to the post office to do the same. 
  • Submit application and book appointment slot. This will be followed with payments to be made towards Immigration Health Surcharge IHS (225 GBP) and Visa processing fees. IHS payment varies depending on length and type of visa, and can be calculated using this link.
Documents to carry along  for Visa appointment :

  • Passport
  • Latest photograph according to UK visa guidelines 
  • University admission letter 
  • CAS mail from the university 
  • Proof of funds 
  • IHS reference number 
  • Tuberculosis test report 
  • Previous degree (based on which CAS was issued) 
It’s a smooth process, gets over in about an hour. Make sure to not carry any eatables in your bag (yours truly did and had to grudgingly offer them to the security). You’re allotted a token number and while you wait for your turn you need to fill a couple of forms with your personal details and list of documents being submitted.

If you want your documents to be sent back to your home in lieu of personal pick up, you can request for courier after paying certain amount (flatly refused for my state, why VFS why???)

Once your token number is called out, you move to the allotted counter and submit your documents. The staff will go through the bundle and ask you a couple of questions to confirm your identity. Make sure you submit all documents in original to be on the safer side (recently heard of a friend whose visa got rejected because she submitted a notarised copy of her degree certificate?!!).

You are then proceeded for the biometric test and a short video interview. My interview was warm and friendly. The interviewer asked me a few questions about my background and reason behind pursuing MBA and choosing Oxford as my preferred place of study. I assume the interview is done to ascertain your identity and that you are fit to study in the UK with regards to your command over English and study plans.

Barring a tiny moment of panic where the staff pointed out to me that I should’ve carried a No Objection Letter from my parents since I was showing funds from a joint account, the process was extremely smooth for me. It had not occurred to me – and I had read the guidelines multiple times – that I would need an authorisation from my parents if I was a joint holder. The staff was quite helpful though and suggested that I manage to get the letter after my video interview in half an hour’s time. The following 30 minutes were the biggest adventure for me during my uneventful unemployed pre-MBA life. Sprinting around the market on call with parents who were at our farmhouse in a remote countryside, with both parties searching for a nearby internet cafe and finally managing to make it back just in time before they shut the doors – it was quite an experience!

I have subscribed to SMS alerts on the status of my visa application. Last checked my phone for the 87th time, there’s been no update apart from “Your visa application xxxxxxx was forwarded to UKVI”.  The next one better be “Your visa is issued, please come over to collect your passport and we are more than happy to enclose a ticket to Platform 9 3/4 for you!”


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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   02 Aug 2015, 09:01
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FROM uwengdori - Current Student: 10 Things I wish I Knew Before Starting MBA
We signed up for MBA for many reasons and no matter what our goals are, we obviously want to spend great two years (or three) during MBA (it is a lot of investment after all!).

After one year of MBA, I’ve experienced success, but also numerous failures. Certainly, I said to myself many times that I would be more diligent and successful than undergrad days, but things didn’t work out smoothly all the time whether it’s because of me or many external factors.

While I do not regret…(ok I do regret a bit here and there)…mostly how I made choices in my 1st year MBA, below are top 10 things which I wish I knew before starting my 1st year that would have made my life perhaps easier or me a better person. The list is intended for prospective MBAs of any schools (especially if you’re coming from gmatclub.com), but some could be Rotman MBA-specific, which I indicated separately.

It’s totally a personal opinion of course and some might disagree, but oh well.

I WISH…

1. I spent more time travelling and meeting friends and families.

A lot of homework. group work. case competitions. drinking. networking. resume building. Sometimes I’m not even sure how my 1st year passed by. Preparing for MBA studies is important, but do make sure you spend some quality time with your buddies and families.

Suggestion: Visit a different country. Get drunk (you will be anyway, but like more relaxed I guess). Go to a cottage with a family. You will have less time to do these especially if you will be moving to a new place for MBA.

2. I practiced how to use an Excel, especially pivot tables, and creating charts.

I never knew how important to be able to play around with data efficiently. Regardless of your educational or professional background, knowing basic excel will help you a lot with homework and most especially for hunting internships.

Suggestion: Take a basic excel course online, or borrow excel books from libraries. Learn how to create basic pivot tables and be familiarized with manipulating data. There are prep courses on excel too by school too.

3. I knew that I’m not the best.

I was #1 in my highschool calculus class, but as soon as I started undergrad engineering, I was in bottom 10 of the class (uh…would be a lie if I did study a lot). The point is, wherever new places you go, there are people better than you, or I should say people who are more knowledgeable and wiser in certain areas. World is wide and there are always people who come from different experiences which you can’t comprehend or understand.

Suggestion: Share what you’re best at, and learn what you’re missing.  Most importantly, don’t try to become that person. Be who you are and let geniuses pass. You are not that genius and you can be a genius of your own.

4. Do not undermine your classmates’ opinions because your major/professional experience is more related to a certain task.

Related to #3. Besides various technical and soft skills, what I am learning the most, is humility. Just because I come from IT industries does not 100% mean my ideas are accurate in that area and in fact, I was surprised to see that often my classmates and buddies are a lot more thoughtful, and knowledgeable in my areas and brought great insights during group work and competitions. As Chinese president Xi Jinping said, you have to really become a blank, whitepaper to be able to see things from a new perspective and appreciate others’ opinions.

Suggestion: Don’t kill your classmates/teams’ ideas just because you think it might seem outdated or ‘out of context to the situation’. Try to see if there are ways to incorporate them into the situation and if not, sincerely appreciate and see a workaround, not just pretending to listen while your eyes are onto something else.

5. I had found my own ways to relieve stress sooner.

First term MBA (Fall 2014) was extremely tough for me that I completely neglected exercising and mostly lived off poutines (Canadian) and hot dogs every night. As a result, I quickly gained back at least 8-10kg by December. Eventually, I started hitting a gym again in January, but I wish I realized sooner and continued to do so since starting MBA and then I would’ve been in a top shape right now.

6. I joined a lot of clubs (Rotman MBA-specific possibly).

Of course, club signup fees aren’t cheap and your time should be spent on things that you’re only interested in. However, you don’t get that club’s specific info sessions/workshops/interviews if you are not in the clubs. In fact, I sometimes heard about a certain event or workshops from my classmates, but I wasn’t a part of that club, so I signed up for it and it was worth it for sure.

Suggestion: If you have a doubt during clubs fair going ‘hmmm should I sign up for this…?’, just do it anyway. More information is better in my personal opinion.

7. I started looking for off-campus internship opportunities starting September.

While MBA does have career centres to help support with your internship opportunities, most likely you will be one of hundreds of students fighting for that one position and in the end, you might even be out of hands to play and applying to positions that you might not be interested in. That is of course not to say I don’t like my current internship as I am where I want to be fortunately, but I could’ve been way more efficient with my time allocation and don’t go to every single job session which some of them I just felt peer pressured because others are going.

Suggestion: Start researching for off-campus opportunities right away. Try to go to event sessions and see when that company’s internship season starts and if they do hire interns. School is there to help, but won’t spoonfeed you

8. I took basic statistics course from MOOC or pre-program

I assure you, statistics will play a role in various aspects of your MBA.

Suggestion: Take basic stats course from the internet or pre-program.

9. I took some global programs/language learnings in consideration.

MBA is a great place to consider global opportunities and you will soon find out that Canada or North America is not the only region you can work in. There are also so many international students that you can also start doing language exchanges even. Of course when things become easy, who cares about language exchanges and stuff, I know. However, use all the possible chances to learn something new when they are there for you.

Suggestion: Consider how your MBA can also give you a different aspect/opportunity with your life in terms of your location.

10. I attended more events in Toronto, both Rotman and outside Rotman.

Honestly, there is so much to do to visit everything all the time and you just want to go to bed. However, looking back my 1st year, which one would’ve given me a more long term memorable experience, going to a cultural event/festivals in Toronto downtown, or studying until 3-4am to solve that one more question which might be on the exam, or not.

Of course I’m not discouraging perfection and effort of studying. It’s just that after 9 years of undergrad electrical engineering + 6 years of work, I’m hitting 30 in less than 2 years and I start to think more often how I will best have fun and make that time meaningful. If what you are doing right now might be the last thing in your life (owkay now I’m getting too serious, bear with me for a sentence or two lol),  you might want to think if that is indeed a valuable way to spend your time: with books or with friends/families. There is no right answer. I’ll leave this to you.

Suggestion: yep open ended answer :)

I’m happy to answer any questions.

-Josh
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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   04 Aug 2015, 11:01
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: P2P: purpose to perseverance
Life in a start-up provides autonomous ways of working, discovers Monica Dee

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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   05 Aug 2015, 06:02
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: Choosing second-year courses
Marta Szczerba describes the joys of choosing second-year electives at Harvard

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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink] Current Student Blogs   06 Aug 2015, 06:02
FROM Financial Times MBA Blog: My 10 random business questions
Brenden Sheehan finds answers to questions such as how did Starbucks become so popular?

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Re: Current Student Blogs [#permalink]
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