Financial Management Review, Ending and Grade

Here is my, honest review of the summer “semester” as it relates to the Evening MBA program at Georgia Tech. Firstly, let me say, for the program to be completed in the very feasible and allotted time frame of three years, students taking two classes at a time MUST take classes during three summers. With that simple fact stated, the summer term was a shortened and very abbreviated version of the courses we signed up for. Because of the shortened classes, I felt like we missed out on some material.

The Finance Class was an interesting situation. The summer class should have been a full 11 weeks, but because it was on a Monday, we missed two class periods because of holidays. So what is normally 45 hours of material (as described in the previous post) is in actuality taught in a very generous 27 hours. I say generous, because we were let out of class early more often than not. We could have easily reached 30 or so hours and covered another topic, the classes are a lot of money and I have very little interest in getting out of class early.

Our understanding of the material of the class was based on our performance on two exams and three projects. The three projects were group assignments that were directly related to the material we were covering at the time they were due, which was awesome. However the spacing of the projects was questionable. The first project was due pretty early on in the class and was very quantitative in nature like the teaching style of the first two thirds of the class. However the second project had very subjective material and expectations that weren’t properly explained; the third project was due when we turned in the second project. Because of the logistics of the due dates we were unable to follow the subjective shift of the course as we would be expected to do in a normal Fall and Spring semester, with at least a week of time between receiving the grades and the next project being due.

Professor Clarke did a great job of bringing the material to real world applications. Though I can’t help but feel that we missed out on material because of the abbreviated term of the summer. I ended up with a “B” in the class, which was what I had hoped for. The Group projects brought my average down quite a bit. Overall I would give Financial Management a “B”. I don’t believe we had enough time in the summer to learn the material properly enough to apply all the concepts to our real life jobs.

Economics Review, Ending and Grades

Here is my, honest review of the summer “semester” as it relates to the Evening MBA program at Georgia Tech. Firstly, let me say, for the program to be completed in the very feasible and allotted time frame of three years, students taking two classes at a time MUST take classes during three summers. With that simple fact stated, the summer term was a shortened and very abbreviated version of the courses we signed up for. Because of the shortened classes, I felt like we missed out on some material.

The Economics class was divided into two classes of five weeks each; one Micro and the other Macro Economics. Five weeks: let me just say that five weeks is about 17 hours of material learned. The normal semester is 15 sessions or 45 hours of material. Now, Economics has been split into two courses for the entirety of the program, so half the normal time, or 22.5 hours would be expected to learn the same material as would be expected during the normal Fall and Spring Semesters.

I love Economics, the principles and Game Theory is exciting and very informative. The course felt rushed and with only one grade, the final exam, it was difficult to gauge my grasp of the material as we progressed. The professor was great. Professor Higgins was the kind of guy you would want to grab a scotch with, light up a stogie and chat about life and all of its infinite mysteries. Because he was so darn personable and easy going some of the people in the class (just one person) always found a way to ask pointless questions that derailed the train of knowledge. I know you have to answer student’s questions, but this isn’t a one on one learning environment. The rest of the class just zoned out when the kid talked, which made the focus and attention of an evening MBA very difficult, and at times frustrating. With that said, I don’t know how Professor Higgins could have altered that one person’s behavior, even though I feel the class’ frustration was evident.

Teaching, and learning, economics involves a lot of graphs and complicated equations and movements. The sheer nature of the subject makes Power Point presentations extremely difficult to follow. Professor Higgins understood this difficulty. He even came to one class two hours early to re-teach complicated topics to those of us who wanted to learn it. In this smaller group environment, he used the white boards and made “live” changes to graphs. When he taught in this fashion, the material clicked extremely quickly.

The course grades were assigned based on only one grade for each class. Because of the difficulty of the material and the short time frame, the professor gave us the opportunity to take the test in groups of two, to ease the burden. Boy, am I glad he did, because my partner had a much better grasp and understanding of the material than I did, he was able to help supplement the material taught in class. I ended up with an “A” in the Micro Economics class and a “B” in the Macro Economics class. Overall, I was quite pleased with my grasp of the material and the amount I learned in a short period of time.

Based on the limitations of the timeframe of a summer Evening MBA course, I give Professor Higgins a solid B+. Though, his willingness to extend the reach of his material to those of us who really wanted to learn it was just fantastic, the time frame limitations really hurt the class. Overall the Courses, both Macro and Micro got a “B” from me.

The Job Hunting Process

As everyone knows, I was laid off in February, due to the Economy, from a very small financial company. I spent essentially four and half months in limbo. I knew that I wanted to marry my girlfriend, so I proposed even without a future plan for getting a job. I will say that not knowing what was going to happen in the next weeks was a very scary thought.

I was enrolled in school that started in January, but without a job I didn’t know the benefit of being in an Evening MBA program for Professionals. My fiancé was extremely supportive as I looked for jobs that were a good fit for me to apply. In my time unemployed I applied to over 120 different jobs, I know this because I put each one, along with the description of the duties in my iPhone calendar, and I counted them. This means that I applied to 30 jobs per month… really, one job I was qualified for per day. I didn’t stretch on my abilities and I didn’t reach for positions I wasn’t qualified for.

Applying for jobs every day, and only hearing rejections is really damaging to a person’s self esteem. To the point that I talked to my fiancé about the possibility of switching to the full time MBA program if September came and I didn’t have an offer for employment.

Eventually, I branched away from my history in Hospitality and Finance and opened myself to the world of non profits, as I have always been interested in them. I did this in such a way that I would be applying for positions that fit my history and skill set. One of the first jobs I applied for in Non Profit was the one I eventually was offered. The process just took a while, as expected in this economy.

I am happy to report that after three weeks in this new position, I feel like I am building a career each day I am here, and not just working a job.

Data Analysis Review, Ending and Grades

The second course I took during my first semester was Data Analysis (an Excel based Analysis and Basic Statistic course). This course was fundamentally awesome. I have no background using Excel as a tool, so every bit of material was really quite useful.

I would say the book for the course “Data Analysis & Decision Making 3e” was definitely worth purchasing, all of the material covered in the course is covered in depth in the book. The book also came with a disc with additional free add-in material that helps with real world application and shows the reader the usefulness of Excel as a business tool.

With all of that said… The book was a better resource than the lecture. The professor, Robert Burgess, is articulate and detail oriented. Unfortunately, this type of material can only be covered in a certain way. So, at times the lectures, dragged a bit, although they were easy to follow. The professor did a great job of using off topic material to keep the class fun, which is very much appreciated from the student’s point of view.

There were three tests in the class, all of which gave a really good overview of the application of the material. This is a technical university, and because of that, I am happy this course was added to the core requirements.

The largest percentage grade in the class came from a group presentation using all of the material learned in the course. The interesting thing about the organization of the groups, is that the professor had us each take an online survey to find information on our personal backgrounds. He then put our groups together in a way that created the most “chaos”. My background was in Hotel Sales, my group mates ranged from Marine Biology to Engineering to Finance. The group worked very well together, as unlike undergraduate studies, everyone was enrolled in the MBA program for the same reasons: to learn.

I will add one more item to commend the professor, he gave a group project that was extremely open ended, which kept the class interested and was a great end of course presentation / case study on how randomly thrown together groups could interpret the exact same set of directions differently. The presentations and group project was really a lot of fun. Doing the group project was at times frustrating and difficult to see past the insanity of the open ended project. Once you could catch a glimps to the professors end game everything became much more clear. On the final day of class when all the groups presented, everything that wasn't cleared up prior to that point, instantly clicked.

Ultimately, I walked out of the class with an “A”. I feel that is the perfect representation of my knowledge on Excel after completing the class. I would also give the overall class a “B+”. The professor did a great job of making the material interesting to the students, but as the class applied to lecture, it was hard to handle at times. I have a hard time believing that any of the other core courses will be able to take such drab material and apply them in such creative ways; thank you to Professor Burgess for a well thought out and interesting class.

Accounting Review, Ending and Grades

Let me tell you a little about this last seven months. I started school at Georgia Tech, I took two classes in my first semester. I believe that Accounting is extremely important, this class was a combination of Financial Accounting (first half of the semester) and Managerial Accounting (the second half of the semester).

***Firstly, the book was an absolute waste of time; the professor just went off of her own notes… Don’t buy the book; it is of no value to the course.

The Financial Accounting information as taught was awesome. The material taught me the ability to look at a company’s financial statements as a means to find “red flags” that would indicate trouble in the future. Since I was laid off in February and actively looking for employment, I focused on applying my knowledge to find a large successful company that I wanted to work for. So, for me, the application of the material was almost immediate and extremely useful.

The Managerial Accounting portion was a little easier to apply. Since the class was focused on how to react and record transactions from an inside the corporation view point, the material wass a little more intuitive, falling in line with my personal background.

The material for both courses was covered in traditional lecture, small group projects (2 people), and exams.

Ultimately, I ended up with a “B” in the class. It wasn’t the grade I wanted, but with the personal distraction of being laid off mid semester, the week the second exam was due, really distracted me from performing my best. I learned a large amount of information and believe that all of the material is applicable (almost immediately) when transferred to the business world.

On a more financial based grade scale, I would say that I would give the course and instructor, Debbie Turner, a solid grade of “A”. Sometimes in education, I would say that although my grade was not, ultimately what I wanted from the class, I left with the belief that my knowledge taken from the class is more on par with an “A”. In all reality, it was what I learned and can apply that is directly related to how I feel about the course. I would say that I am very happy with my first MBA class at Georgia Tech.

Everybody Loves Murphree

I spent four months trying to prioritize my needs for my new job including what industry I wanted to join. I had experience in Hospitality (Restaurants and Hotels) and Finance (TPA Firms), but ultimately the one common denominator is my passion for Sales. The principles of sales supersedes the industry. With this revelation in mind I could peruse any industry of my choice.

So, I spent about five or six hours per day looking for a career in non-profit. What did I do with the other two or three hours a day?

Everybody Loves Raymond.

I have now officially seen every single episode of this show in syndication. I know the plots of each show now based on the opening scene. I enjoy Robert, Ray, Marie, Frank, they are like my little TV family. I watched shows like According to Jim, Yes Dear, King of Queens, and Friends.

I know every sitcom joke from the 1990's. I can recite entire scenes from each of the shows, ultimately a horrible truth to admit. I watched shows when the lovable lead male lost his job and the entire episode was about his lackluster attitude or his schemes to get reemployed. I took those episodes to heart as they always seemed to hit a little too close to home.

I have developed a new attitude about people searching for work. In the past I felt like they were laid off because of their lack of effort, but the reality is that it may not have been through any fault of their own. I don't find people unemployed to be humerus anymore.

I would have spent more time with Murphree, but the reality is that he literally sleeps all day. While I would love to wake him up to play with me, it would be a bad choice because I really, deep down, thought I would return to employment sooner rather than later. His sleepy attitude will serve him well when he is guarding the house all by himself.

A Proposal

In February I was faced with a challenge. I was let go from my job February 24 and I had a choice to continue with my plans to ask my girlfriend to marry me (as I already had the ring) or to postpone the inevitable until I got a job.

Instead of accepting the role of victim of my own circumstances I decided to continue with the proposal as I already planned. This is a big leap of faith as not only was I just let go, I had to have faith that she would want to marry a man that was bringing nothing monetary to the table.

I convinced her to go on a walk with me to Piedmont Park, and it was there that I dropped to a knee and told her she made me the happiest man in the world and I asked her through my own tears of emotion to marry me. She said yes.

I am uncertain if the following four months were the best times of our lives or the absolute worst; we struggled financially and emotionally at times. But I know that if we could get through this period with the same love we had for each other when it started then we can get through any challenge that will be presented to us. I am the luckiest man in the world as my fiance and I have faced a challenge and persevered.

Begining of a New Era

It has been a while since my last post. I believe that I can justify this period of inactivity due to the fact that this blog is about balancing a professional life a personal life and the Evening MBA without losing my mind.

In February I was the victim of the economy. There was a time when I thought people who work hard everyday were not the people who are cut when the money gets tight in a company. Turns out I was actually incorrect in that original thought. Economic choices that executives make are fueled by the bottom line. I took a very negative view of the world of business based on this experience. Since I was not employed I viewed the world from that perspective, the perspective of sending resumes into cyberspace and not hearing anything except auto rejections.

The only thing I knew for a fact was I have worked for a very large international corporation and a rudy-poo little mom and pop shop. If ever I had the chance to begin working for a large corporation I would jump at the opportunity due to the innate problems with the politics of small companies.

Over the next couple days I will explain what I did during my unemployment.

Utility and the Lottery

This passage is taken almost exactly from the professor's lecture.

Logically, it makes no sense at all to play the lottery. You spend $1
to buy a ticket, and the chance of winning is so low it really is a
waste if money. But the downside (wasting a dollar) is defined and
relatively negligible.

So why do we play if the logical choice, based on statistics us that
we are wasting money? Because the choice to buy a lottery ticket is
made with our hearts, not our heads. Although the downside of the
lottery is defined as, at most, losing $1, the upside has unlimited
potential (what ever the total jackpot is for the date of the drawing).

So, the utility of playing the lottery, better thought of as "risk and
reward" is very small risk ($1), and very high reward.

But what if we changed the game? What if we had everyone write thier
name, address and phone number on the back of every ticket. We played
the lottery like normal and everyone with the winning numbers split
the prize (just like the current system). THEN we put all the other
tickets into a huge roll cage and drew one ticket.

The night after the lottery winner was chosen, whoevers name was
written on the back, the government hunted down and put in front of a
firing squad to be killed, in network TV.

Do you think that would change peoples view of the $1 lottery ticket
purchase?not the upside is the jackpot an the downside is the loss of
$1 AND the small chance your name will be drawn and you will be killed.

I bet the risk and reward would be viewed very differently by those
who chose to play the lottery. This defines Utility.

First Project Eyeopening Results

I see no reason to lie about my first project. It wasn’t pretty…

I described the project here and I came into the room with some decent confidence about my income statement and my journal entries. I left the room feeling pretty good about the journal entries and the T-Accounts. Here is the big problem, my Income Statement had the correct net income amount... not really a problem unless... (as in my case) I was all over the place to get to that number, just random coincidence, I guess.

Anyway, we went over the entire project in class, which took a while with so many people petitioning the professor to justify the way they labeled their accounts. When she specifically mentioned that the account names weren’t really that important as long as they were consistent from transaction to transaction. Though she was adamant that Inventory was not Supplies, as Inventory was directly involved in the creation of the final product, so I feel like that is important to remember.

All in all, it was an eye opening project, slapping me in the face with how much more information I need to learn before the first test next week. I don’t feel great about it at all. Thankfully we went over the project in class and got a chance to make changes prior to turning it in, pretty much ensuring a very good grade.

Sometimes doing a project, like this, and going over it in class to correct it definitely helps in learning and retention.

Financial Accounting First Project

So, this weekend was the first real test for me when it comes to the evening MBA program really grabbing at my time.

The first project is due today in Financial Accounting.  It is a Harvard Case Study, called the Chemalite, Inc Company.  We read a company description of the significant operating events that happened over the course of a year.

We are to do the Accrual Accounting journal entries for each transaction. Then do a "T-Account" for the Cash based transactions.  Finally, based on the information we have, we are to make an Income Statement and a Balance Sheet for the first year start-up company, Chemalite, Inc..

All in all, not incredibly difficult, just time consuming.  I feel I have a pretty good grasp on the dual journal entry concept, the T-Account creation, and the formation of an Income Statement.  I admittedly struggled with the creation of the Balance Sheet.  We will go over the project in class and then  turn it in.  It accounts for 15% of the final grade in Financial Accounting.  Lindsay was very supportive as I spent a solid hour and a half to two hours completing the Statement and T-Account portion of the project, as accurately as I could.  It too me an additional hour making the journal entries, I was pleased with the completion of the project and my beautiful girlfriends patience.

I will follow up tomorrow on how close to accurate my project turned out.

Normal Distributions are Distributed Normally

Normal Distributions are Distributed Normally

If you have enough people or samples in any set of data, when measuring a variable it will always take on the characteristics of a Normal Distribution. What does that mean? Think Bell Curve.

I know everyone hates that thing, but it really does serve a purpose. Let's talk about test scores:

In a class of 60 students there is an average for the test score (out of a max of 100%) of say 75%. And there is a Standard Deviation of 8%. So if you look at a bell curve, 68% of the class would score between 83% (75% + 8%) and 67% (75% - 8%). This range of 67% to 83% is the distance from one standard deviation less than the average to one standard deviation greater than the average.

Most of the class average 68% will lie in the above range.

Two standard deviations away from the mean is...

59% to 92%: which means that 95% of the class scores between these two scores. Which makes a lot of sense if the teacher gave a fair test.

However it is unlikely very many people will score above 99% or bellow 51% on the test (3 standard deviations). In fact only about 2% of the class will get a score out side of the three standard deviation range.

So, what does this mean? Look at your GMAT scores for business school. Each time a test is administered, there is a sample of scores. So, on the day I took my GMAT I got a 610. There I no way to know what that means relative to everyone that has ever taken the GMAT, because there are differences and abnormalities from test year / month to the next test year / month.

How do schools help decipher your score? They use the percentiles. Every single time the percentile is understood to mean the same thing. How many people scored less than you did on the test? Based on YOUR sample. I scored 610. What does that mean? I was in the 92 percentile. So 92% of the people taking the test, around the same time as I did, scored less than I did.

This number 92% actually mean something. Some people say... I got a 610 too, but that is irrelevant. If they scored in the 70% percentile they technically did worse, because more people did better than they did.

Why Craps Will Always Beat You

Statistically, it is impossible to obtain the expected average rolling one die .

Probability of rolling a “1” is 1 x 1/6
Probability of rolling a “2” is 2 x 1/6
Probability of rolling a “3” is 3 x 1/6…

If you multiply the probabilities of rolling all six sides together and add the results the expected average is 3.5(an impossible number to roll).

BUT… if you roll two dice the expected average is “7”, statistically you will roll a “7” more than any other number… why is this important?

Las Vegas has perfected this Statistical truth in a very popular casino game. Craps.

Rules of Craps – Copied and Pasted from Wikipedia:

“First, the shooter makes a "come-out roll" (First roll) with the intention of establishing a point. If the shooter's come-out roll is a 2, 3 or 12, it is called "craps" (the shooter is said to "crap out"), and the round ends with players losing their pass line bets.

“A come-out roll of 7 or 11 is called a "natural," resulting in a win for pass line bets.

“Either way, the come-out roll continues for the same shooter until a point is established. If the point numbers 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 are rolled on the come-out, this number becomes the "point" and the come-out roll is now over. The dealers will move an "On" button to the point number which identifies the point number to all players at the table. The shooter now continues rolling for either the point number or a seven. If the shooter is successful in rolling the point number, the result is a win for the pass line. If the shooter rolls a seven (called a "seven-out"), the pass line loses. A seven-out ends the round with the dice being passed clockwise to the next player who wishes to become the new shooter.”


Dice Roll Possible Dice Combination
Roll a 2 : 1-1
Roll a 3 : 1-2, 2-1
Roll a 4 : 1-3, 2-2, 3-1
Roll a 5 : 1-4, 2-3, 3-2, 4-1
Roll a 6 : 1-5, 2-4, 3-3, 4-2, 5-1
Roll a 7 : 1-6, 2-5, 3-4, 4-3, 5-2, 6-1
Roll a 8 : 2-6, 3-5, 4-4, 5-3, 6-2
Roll a 9 : 3-6, 4-5, 5-4, 6-3
Roll a 10: 4-6, 5-5, 6-4
Roll a 11: 5-6, 6-5
Roll a 12: 6-6

Rolling a 2, 3, or 12 to “crap out” is very unlikely, where as rolling a “natural” ( 7 or 11) is much more likely.

If you roll a point: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10 on the “come-out roll” then you are much much more likely to roll a 7 than one of those point numbers again.

So the Casino has the probability of winning on its side with this game. As our professor says, “no matter how many times the cute cocktail waitress blows on the dice or how many times you beg for new shoes, you can’t beat the statistical truth of the game.”

Interesting that this highly “unwinnable” game is one of the most popular in casinos.

“Las Vegas’ goal is to take all of your money while making you think you had a great time while they did it”.

MGT 6120 Day One

Yesterday was the first day of school in quite a while. Due to snagging the parking decal over lunch I was able to park and walk right into the building. I would be lying if I said that it wasn’t a very exciting time for me.

Dr. Turner was very open about her intentions for the class and about her experiences teaching Evening MBA students. We went over the syllabus for the class including the break down of the assignments. Ultimately, my thoughts currently reflect my original beliefs when I enrolled. It will be a big time commitment to do this MBA, but I believe it is very doable with the right attitude and lack of procrastination.

First day, we went over basic “undergraduate type” accounting; debits (DR) on the left and credits (CR) on the right. We talked about how not all assets are good assets (sometimes accounts receivable aren’t paid in full). Assets are listed on the balance sheet at the price paid for them, so they aren’t always an accurate sampling of current value. We went through the basic accounting formula:

Assets = Liabilities + Stockholders Equity:

We reviewed T-Charts to record the journal entries. Keeping in mind Debits on the left. Debits and Credits have different functions depending on which side of the equation they fall on.

Assets increase with DR and decrease with CR; so when you pay cash to compensate an employee salary there is two transactions for every journal entry., you Credit your cash and Debit Salary Expense.

Liabilities and Stockholders Equity increase with Credits. Two things are affected every journal entry, just have to figure out which two things.

This was basic day one material. We will not meet next week due to MLK Day, so there is three chapters of reading in the next two weeks.

Avatar at Phipps Plaza AMC

Lindsay and I went to see Avatar this Sunday. We looked at the show times and decided upon the 3:30 movie, since there was only 3:30 and 7ish. We had just enough time to leave our place, go to the gym, the mall, get food, and walked into the movie right as the show was starting. Everything was perfect.

We made it through 2 hours and fifteen minutes of the movie when someone passed out and they stopped the move, only to NEVER start it again. AMC gave us the shaft, we got through 2/3 of the movie (which I wasn't entertained) and never saw what happened at the end. They gave us free passes to see the movie again at a later time.

In this day and age, it is very hard to find the time to go to a three hour movie and transportation and get there early to get a seat. Needless to say I am pretty upset. I don't want to go to an AMC ever again. Very frustrating.

Lindsay and I rushed and never got to see the end, next weekend now we have to take our tickets and see the movie again, or more than likely, we will go to a better movie.

Dear James Cameron, I BEG YOU, please make a movie less than three hours long... this is a pattern, Titanic, Avatar, and the Terminator movies...

Treacherous Weather in Atlanta

Thursday of last week, I took my lunch break to go and get my Georgia Tech Identification Card. I drove the 15 minutes over to the campus and parked in a meter spot. Went inside filled out the little form and got my picture taken. Really it only took about 10 minutes total for the entire process.

It was pretty easy all around.

The other half of the experience, transportation wasn't quite as easy. Due to inclimate weather in Atlanta, most of the state was shut down because of ice on the roads...

The state of Georgia closed it's school systems on the Friday, and according to the website they were going to open on Friday at noon. So, I braved the bad weather and went to work with the plan that I would be able to take my lunch and drive there to get my parking decal. I got there and they decided to close the entire day, so really I drove in treacherous conditions but to no avail as the parking place was not opened.

So, I am hoping today I have time to get my decal at lunch before my class starts today at six o'clock.

BuzzCard: $0.00
Evening and Weekend Parking Pass: $185.00

Project 2: A Painted Desk for School

So, to keep the trend from this previous post about painting furniture to bring it into a modern era, so to speak, I have another project to show.

I found this older Pier One Imports desk and chair on the side of the road. It was in pretty rough shape with lots of dings and dents and no hardware to be found. I knew immediately that it was a perfect chance to have the desk I need for school. Similar to the previous furniture painting adventure, I had to first decide on a color. I wanted something bright and I saw a piece of furniture at a little store near where I live that has an entertainment center in a mustard yellow that I really like.

With the help of Home Depot, I chose a new piece of hardware and a nice yellow color that Lindsay spotted in a flash. After a nice bout of sanding and priming, I was able to paint the furniture a beautiful mustard yellow and it only took three coats (instead of the five required by the previous rolling bar).

A finished final desk to do my studies

I am glad that I decided to go with the yellow, I really love earth tones and this yellow ads a splash of much needed color to my living room.

Spring 2010 Admissions Standards

At Orientation one of the first things the speaker went over was the class profile for the incoming class. The admissions standards for previous terms I posted about here. I discussed my qualifications for MBA admissions here.

This is the 2nd Semester of the 3rd year the Evening Program has been in existence. When I went to the Information Session Paula told us that ideally there would maximize at 90 students for this Semester. Interestingly, there are only 56 incoming students. I would like to contribute this slightly lower number to the program being a little more selective. Honestly, I am excited about a more intimate class, as I have heard bad things about other programs that are much larger.

The breakdown for the Spring 2010 class is as follows:

56 Total Incoming Students (there is now 295 students in the Evening program)

Demographics

26% Women
22% Minorities
7% International

Background

41% Engineering
34% Business and Economics
16% Social Science and Humanities
8% Math and Physics

Education and Test Score Average

GMAT: 622
GPA: 3.3
Work Experience: 5+
Age: 30

So, there you go, the 2010 Spring Semester incoming class demographics.

Live Orientation Tweetcast

While attending orientation yesterday I decided on the fly to do an Orientation Tweetcast live from Georgia Tech. Enjoy:

Got a nice little wind breaker material GT messenger style bag, a binder, a name tag and a name text to start the day.about 21 hours ago from Echofon

Swag http://twitpic.com/wxltsabout 21 hours ago from Echofon

Mandatory "prison style" head shot with name tent so everyone knows who we areabout 21 hours ago from Echofon

Interesting mix of students. About 10 over 40 yo, about 20 females, the rest male, varying age range. About 80 students here at the start.about 20 hours ago from Echofon

Peter Severa, Assistant Director of Graduate Programs, welcomes us to the program. Picture book, grad students... Ect....about 20 hours ago from Echofon

Quick overview of everyone in the department... Including some nice photos on the PowerPoint.about 20 hours ago from Echofon

Steve Salibu, dean, very charismaticabout 20 hours ago from Echofon

SS is a Business Ethicist. Good talk about character.about 20 hours ago from Echofon

SS on procrastination: "doing work is less painful than not doing the work"about 20 hours ago from Echofon

SS is "a lazy person trapped in a type A personality" bad comboabout 20 hours ago from Echofon

Registration information for a while...about 20 hours ago from Echofon

I should have eaten lunch... Wow, dragging.about 19 hours ago from Echofon

Thanks iPhone, I registered for class during orientation.about 19 hours ago from Echofon

Food! Lunch break!about 19 hours ago from Echofon

Only thing I see to walk to is arby's a jr. chx sandwich for me, I'll report back in an hour, it is unapproved fast foodabout 19 hours ago from Echofon

Jody Becker, Career Services, talking about opportunity as we advance in our career.about 18 hours ago from Echofon

Thanks Twitter for advancing my social networking, I met @Emmett_mc in person todayabout 18 hours ago from Echofon

Companies who made most offers to recent MBA grads: AT&T, Delta, BoA, and US Airways. Stat: 80% full time MBA grads got offers in 90 daysabout 18 hours ago from Echofon

@danfiru thanks, thought it is something that could be entertaing for meabout 18 hours ago from Echofon in reply to danfiru

Next up: CIBER & International Practicum associate director, Jim Hoadley.about 18 hours ago from Echofon

CIBER connects MBA students with another international student overseas, 4 telecommuting, spring semster trip to said country. ie Japanabout 18 hours ago from Echofon

Evening MBA faculty panel about expectations in the classroom.about 18 hours ago from Echofon

Evening professors: Clarke, Turner, Subramanian and Bond. All brought interesting perspectives on teaching MBA evening students.about 17 hours ago from Echofon

Another break, good timing, unapproved fastfood always a dealbreakerabout 17 hours ago from Echofon

Student Body for evening students speaks, Graduate Evening Management Students (GEMS) explains its rollabout 17 hours ago from Echofon

A student panel discussion. Some real over achievers! Cool mix: IBM, Home Depot, a guy who started his own business with another student.about 17 hours ago from Echofon

Yeah, I asked a question, shoot me! "How many hours outside of class on average do you spend preparing for each class?" Estimate 6-8! Doableabout 16 hours ago from Echofon

Key from current students in evening program, Network Network Network!about 16 hours ago from Echofon

Interesting, a current student is a DJ for an ATL rapper, he is here bc he invented a new type of turntable and wants to take it to market.about 16 hours ago from Echofon

Shameless plug for half.com and amazon.com for a source to buy books cheaper than barnes & noble ga tech book storeabout 16 hours ago from Echofon

Wrapping up orientation, need to get parking permit and buzzcard by the end of the weekabout 16 hours ago from Echofon

Had a cocktail met some awesome people, now off to see @murphface have dinner with @lindsaycmorganabout 15 hours ago from Echofon


That is it, a quick and dirty tweetable version of the Evening MBA Orienation, brought to you January 6, 2009, live from the classroom.