Adv Seminar in Accounting Ending, Review and Grade

I took this class in the Summer of 2011, this is an Accounting Elective.

This class was my third to date with Debby Turner, after Financial and Managerial Accounting and International Accounting. I have a great idea of what to expect from her courses. Let me say that this wasn’t a typical accounting class, there weren’t debits and credits or really any sort of basic math. Finally in the MBA program we talked about some of the recent (past couple decades) of “accounting failures”. We analyzed if these were indeed accounting failures or if they were actually ethical dilemmas and legal issues. Hint: They weren’t accounting failures. The format was pretty simple, there were only about 20 students in the class so Class Participation was expected and represented a portion of the final grade. There were weekly assignments that needed to be turned in for a grade and a final exam that tied the course together. All that was really required was to read in advanced and answer the questions assigned as homework, and participate in the class.

We spent about four weeks on Enron and what exactly happened and how they failed; really interesting stuff honestly. We analyzed the legal ramifications of mark to market accounting and what exactly happened at Enron leading up to the resignation of Jeff Skilling and the eventual “death” of Ken Lay. We read and discussed WorldCom and HealthSouth, exactly what happened to each company. We hit on the causes and legal ramifications of the failures in congress.

We learned more about Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank acts and exactly what they mean to companies around the United States. There was so much information in this course that really bridged the gap for those of us who don’t really know all the details of these frauds and company failures. I highly recommend this class, whether you are accounting or finance savvy or not. I learned quite a bit about the world of accounting, and little about how to detect the possible frauds just by looking at the financials. I give the class information and format as well as the professor a solid “A”. I got an “A”.

International Accounting Grade, Ending and Review

This is an elective for an Accounting Concentration, I took this class in Spring 2011.

I decided that I would do my best to focus all of my electives in Accounting, so upon completion of the program I could of satisfied the legal credit requirement to sit for the CPA exams. If I make every elective Accounting I would be pretty close to satisfying the requirements legally from an education point of view. I believe I would have 27 of the 30 required just by making that designation. So accounting electives would have to be the only electives I would take, if hearing about accounting classes bores you, I am sorry, I will do my best to entertain.

International accounting is great because it is a specifically designed Independent study, it is an accounting elective, and it satisfies the International elective criteria that is required in the program. Talk about knocking out three birds with one stone. I sat down with Debby Turner and got the information and approval to register for the class – a policy of all independent studies. We rented text books from Debby and she gave us a list of multiple questions that corresponded to each chapter, the answers to the questions, and the rules for a small paper that was to be written prior to completion.

I woke up on Saturdays read the chapter and answered the questions, without looking at the book or the answers, graded myself and if I got 90% or greater I moved on. If I didn’t, I would look at the questions I answered incorrectly and revisited the topics. I would retry the exam, there was some sure fire human error and bias in the process though, since I already saw the answers, it helped me learn. I repeated the efforts until I scored over 90% and then moved to the next chapter the following week.

I learned a lot through the process about the international side of accounting, the different rules, the most likely future of accounting, the way things are done in other countries and how they change their accounting to trade on different stock exchanges, and the tax related rules from working and producing products or owning land overseas. Ultimately, I was able to put together what I believe was an articulate paper that answered some of the questions I had when I started the course.

I have stated before that I like to know what I don’t know about a topic, this independent study allowed me to learn everything that I could in the time allotted. I very much like Debby Turners approach to accounting and the learning process matches mine almost perfectly. I recommend this class to anyone and everyone that has any interest in Accounting and needs their International elective satisfied still. The material was perfectly presented so I give Debby an “A” , and the material an “A” as well. I got an “A”.

Organizational Behavior Review, Ending and Grade

I took this course in the Fall of 2010:

Let me start by saying that the professor, Nate Bennett, was one of the most personable and interesting professors I have had in the program. Nate’s style was very fitting for the class material. He rolled in made a joke, related the material to current events then sat down in a chair in front of 70 people and just opened discussion. I will say that my view of the class may be different from others because I do well in environments where there is open dialog.

All that one needed to do was read the material assigned take some notes and be prepared to speak on the topics during class. Since the material was not analytical in nature I could easily pick up on the point of the articles and discuss the important points relating to the inherent nature of humans. The topics ranged widely. We read an article and discussed in class how hospitals in New Orleans reacted to the influx of patients and the loss of power during Katrina. We analyzed how the hospital handled the patients and what wards in the hospital got the most resources, whether that was ethical, and who should be liable for deaths. As a class we talked about how people behave in different situations, we looked at the psychological impact of workers being watched by their supervisors. We watched a movie, Lord of the Flies, and analyzed how children responded when they were faced with determining a leader, and were surprised by how long the children were separated from adult authority figures and how they chose their leaders in such a desperate environment.

I loved the class and the professor. Honestly, up to this point in the program I have had a real disconnect to my specific knowledge of some of the specific disciplines of business. Accounting is accounting, and finance is finance, and economics is economics, however Organizational Behavior is the process of dealing with people. People are irrational, we make decisions with our own biases and much of the time we form opinions immediately and justify those opinions as the base point for our arguments going forward. Professor Bennett was a wonderful facilitator, playing devil’s advocate as needed and helping knock home some difficult topics. I took this course in the Fall of 2010 and wouldn’t take it in the summer (courses too short) as the material really suited my style. Again, others who prefer an analytical perspective with concrete answers to questions could be uncomfortable in the class at times and those who are reluctant to offer their opinions may be drowned out of the discussions.

There was no project, either personal or group, there were a couple tests and class participation was key and graded as such. When 70 people need to speak to get participation credit there are too many hands and much shallow discussions where students need to say something even if it isn't vital to the conversation at hand. Regardless of this small downfall I give this couse MGT 6100 and the professor a solid "A". I loved the material and the format of the class, I will say that I got a lot out of the format of the class and Professor Bennett's discussions, I got a "B".

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.

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”.

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.

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.

Financial Aid Experience

I have been trying to get everything in line with work for the start of the new semester for school. I thought I would supply a little background on the financial aid side of the equation. I filled out the FAFSA form as required. Talk about feeling a smidge nostalgic, reminded me of the undergraduate experience.

A huge worry of mine was being able to afford school at this point in my life. Lucky A) I am a Georgia resident. B) I have so many other bills to pay.

If you would have asked me five years ago if I thought I would ever be a Georgia resident I would most likely laughed at you. Not exactly where I thought my life would be. But I am damn happy to be here now.

Georgia Tech is a lender school like the University of Florida. So, the process of receiving financial assistance is very similar to my previous experience. I got the “award letter” from the institute and it will cover my costs plus buying that computer I alluded to before.

So, I definitely have at least one worry off my back.

As the date of the orientation, Jan 6, approaches, I grow more and more excited about the choice to attend Georgia Tech for my MBA.

Immunizations

I looked through my immunization records and realized that I never got the Hep B third shot. Oh well, at lease I don’t have to get the entire series again. I also went and got a TB skin test. Obviously, since I am not in a high risk environment I tested negative. That was easy. I spent $20 on the TB test and $67 on the third shot in the series at a local Minute Clinic in the Virginia Highlands of Atlanta.

Now, at least there will be no immunization hold on my record when the time comes. Now I just have to head to campus at some time and turn it in.

Acceptance Paperwork

Upon my acceptance, I was sent a link from the Admissions Department at Tech providing me information on the steps to accepting the offer. It was all around pretty easy. There was a survey for what they called their most “exceptional applicants”, and a follow up link for submitting the $500 fee for orientation and the one time lifetime membership fee to GEMS (Graduate Evening Management Students).

I received the Health Packet as part of the link with the required immunizations (more on that later) and a time line through the start of class.

I also called and asked how I would get a Ga Tech MBA t-shirt to wear around. They told me they would mail me one, but they only have XL and no L. They let me come pick it up instead. Now I have a very large MBA shirt to wear around.

I know the days are getting closer, and with each one that passes, I am more excited about starting this step in my life.

Quick and Dirty Version of How I Met LM

My Version:

I decided to work out in the morning in the Fall of 2008 because I wanted to spend as much time with my puppy, Murphree, as possible (but ultimately more on him later).

I don’t think anyone is at his or her best during a morning workout. But while working out for a week and a half or so, one lady in the gym always caught my eye. She was in there about as much as I was, which at the time was six or seven days a week. One day while she was on the leg press machine we made eye contact and a smile (and my infatuation was born).

I always have a hard time asking someone out, it is uncomfortable, no easy way to finish the conversation or walk away when the convo is over. Anyway, I just walked up to her while she was on the elliptical and introduced myself to her. Another week of “good mornings” passed and I mustered the courage to ask her out. We went to Two Urban Licks (more on that later) and had the best first date I have ever been on. Ever since that date I have wanted to be around her as much as she could stand being around me.

You know you are with the right person when they support and surprise you all the time. So, the reason for the quick introduction is… When I called her and told her I got into Tech she was more thrilled for me that I was for myself. She sneaked out of work and bought me my first piece of Georgia Tech garb, a t-shirt. My favorite new shirt!

If only I would have known on that first date that that this is the woman of my dreams, I would have popped some champagne when I got home.

Thank You for the Interview Georgia Tech

It was a pleasure to speak with you yesterday about the Evening MBA program. The curriculum and educational environment seem to be an excellent match for my skills and interests. The flexible evening approach to the MBA offered by Georgia Technical Institute we discussed only confirmed my desire to be a contributing addition to the program. I am confident combining my detail oriented task management style and the flexible Evening MBA will result in a perfect match.

In addition to my enthusiasm, I will bring to the program strong work experience, assertiveness, and the ability to encourage others while participating in peer groups and course discussions.

I appreciate the time you took to interview me. I am extremely interested in contributing to this stellar program and look forward to hearing from you regarding the decision.

Sincerely,

@onetallsean

Affordability

Affordability

The idea of the MBA is the anticipation that completion of the program will result in a pay increase likely justifying the education over the five years post graduation. Though it is hard to look over the short term financial set back.

Tuition
The cost of attending a graduate program is important in the decision. Both school options are State Schools which is a real cost benefit. I have been living in Atlanta for 18 months currently and when school starts it will be 21 months. I have broken down the cost of tuition for each school.

Georgia Tech:
Tuition: $727 per semester hour Fees: $718 per semester Georgia Tech's program is 54 credit hours (Tution expense = $39,258) and nine semesters as discussed in this post on Curriculum. That brings the total for Fee's across all nine semesters ($6,462) and tuition to a total of $45,720. If you add the costs of books, notes, and additional materials estimated at a cost of about $250 per class (18); additional costs would be about $4,500. My total cost of education at Georgia Tech would be roughly: $50,220.

Georgia State University
Tuition: $40,000 total all inclusive cost Georgia State's cost of tuition is $6667.00 per semester for six semesters. The cost of books and materials is included in tuition. The total cost of attending Georgia State will be roughly: $40,000 That is if I complete the entire program in only two years. The remainder would be added expense.

Computer
The computer cost is a wash, I plan on buying a new computer (more on that later) prior to beginning regardless. Total: $1,500.00

Transportation
I work every day in Buckhead (North Atlanta). I would have to drive up to the perimeter each day of courses at the Peachtree-Dunwoody campus of Georgia State. Georgia Tech's campus is in Mid Town, which just so happens to be on my way home.

Curriculum Comparison

Time Per Week in Classes

Georgia State meets every Tuesday and every other Thursday from 5:30 PM to 9:45 PM during the spring and fall semesters, and both Tuesday and Thursday during the summer.

Georgia Tech meets three hours a week for every class you are enrolled. I would estimate I would be taking six credit hours a week.

The main difference is Georgia State’s lockstep program demands three courses per semester in Fall and Spring (only two in the summer), which is a bit more rigorous than Tech’s more flexible approach.

Core Courses Comparison:

Georgia State University
3 Hours Managing in the Global Economy
3 Hours Strategic Business Communications
3 Hours Financial Statement Analysis
3 Hours Legal Environment: Ethics & Corporate Governance
3 Hours Competing on Analytics & Organizational Knowledge
3 Hours Managerial Control and Costing Systems
3 Hours Corporate Finance
3 Hours Marketing Management
3 Hours Operations Management
3 Hours Organizational Behavior
3 Hours Negotiations
3 Hours Global Competitive Strategy
36 Hours Total

Georgia Tech Curriculum
3 Hours Analytical Tools for Decision Support
1 Hours Business Communications
1 Hours Business Ethics
1.5 Hours Financial Accounting
3 Hours Financial Management
2 Hours Information Technology Management
1 Hours Integrative Management Experience
3 Hours Leadership and Organizational Behavior
2 Hours Legal Environment of Business
1.5 Hours Macroeconomic Environment of Business
1.5 Hours Managerial Accounting
1.5 Hours Managerial Economics
3 Hours Marketing Management
3 Hours Operations Management
2 Hours Strategic Management
30 Hours Total

Electives

While neither of the programs offers a “concentration”, both give students the opportunity to take the electives they choose.

State’s classes at the satellite locations, vote for the next semester electives, majority wins. If your preferred elective is not offered at your primary location you have the option of taking the classes at a different location. This helps you gear the degree toward your interests.

Georgia Tech is a part time program, all the courses offered in the day are offered at night as well. If it doesn’t fit in your schedule, the option is available to take a couple classes at different times, i.e. during the day, to meet your needs.

GSU offers 12 hours of electives of the total 48 hours of courses. Tech offers 24 hours of electives (three must be an International Business Elective) of the total 54 hours of courses.

Review

State’s program is essentially a 3:3:2 program (9 hours: 9 hours: 6 hours) and Tech is 2:2:2 (6 hours: 6 hours: 6 hours). Doing the basic math of 24 credits a year for State and 18 credits a year for Tech. State would finish in two years and Tech in three years.

Although based on the interview I had, it seems most finish the Professional MBA in seven or eight semesters. At the information session for Tech, because of flexibility in scheduling (take three classes in a semester occasionally if needed or desired), most students finish right at the three-year mark.

So Tech’s program is a little longer than State. State’s Professional MBA is ranked #7 for part time programs. Tech’s overall MBA is ranked #29 and #7 in innovative curriculum. State has an excellent regional network and reputation. Tech on the other hand is well known worldwide.

Accepted to Georgia Tech

Accepted to Georgia Tech:

I am very pleased to report that I have been accepted to Georgia Technical Institute’s Evening MBA program for the Spring Semester of 2010. I am beyond excited. This entire process has very much reminded me of undergraduate admissions.

Finally, I have a choice between two very reputable MBA programs. I get to choose my destiny. There is something very rewarding about only applying to two programs and getting into both.

Curious about the length of time between application submission and notification of admission?

I submitted my application electronically on September 13, 2009. Tech received my GMAT scores on September 17, 2009. I was invited to an interview on October 5, 2009. I was notified of my acceptance on October 6, 2009. The entire process for Georgia Tech took 19 days (six of which were weekend days). Tech, just like GSU, is very efficient in the application process. It is possible I would have been notified earlier of the decision, if my work schedule had accommodated an early time slot for my interview. Alas, it didn’t, but it is still very nice to know, I now have a choice for my MBA institution.

Now, I have a decision to make. I have to look at curriculum and affordability to choose the program that is the best fit for me.

Whom Did I Select For My Letters of Recommendation?

Whom Did I Select For My Letters of Recommendation? I am four years removed from undergraduate coursework. I find it to be very difficult to find solid recommendations for applications. I didn't want to use a current coworker for a couple reasons. 1. We are a pretty small firm. I really like my job, my boss, and my coworkers. I do not want to leave the business. Worrying others about my choice to pursue an MBA doesn't seem like a wise choice. Again, since I do not want to leave my job 2. It is my personal time used to get an advance degree, I am earning for myself. 3. I like my job. I don't want added pressure during an already stressful time. This is the place I intend to work for the next 3 – 5 years. I worked for Hilton Hotels Corporation for two and a half years after college, that time was only interrupted by a five-month stint with a LongHorn Restaurant in Ocala, Florida. The work history story goes like this:

I was hired by the Director of Sales, and worked two years with him in Gainesville, Florida. Mass Mutual of Omaha owned the physical building in Gainesville and the Management Contract for employees was with Hilton Hotel Corporation (HHC). The General Manager did such a great job; the owners were able to sell the building and assets for a very large profit only seven years after it was built. Mass Mutual sold to the highest bidder, a company called Benchmark Hospitality. Benchmark is an Asset Holding and Management Company. The Hilton Management contract was not a condition of the sale and was no longer required.* HHC wanted to retain some of its top performing employees; they offered jobs to the Director of Sales, the General Manager, the Revenue Manager, and two Catering Managers. I was left behind, as there were no additional vacancies in the Sales Team at the new property in Atlanta.

I gave my resignation notice to the cancerous coworker who was promoted from within the Sales Team in Gainesville, and took a job with LongHorn (ironically an Atlanta based restaurant in Ocala, Florida). Rare Hospitality (LongHorn Steakhouse and Capital Grill) was ironically going through a similar sale agreement and would soon after become a part of a much larger Orlando based Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden).
When a position opened in Atlanta my former Director called and offered me the job. I left the Restaurant and started again at Hilton, with time bridged from my previous stint of employment. Recommendation #1:

The General Manager of the new property was unfortunately let go prior to my my career change to the Financial Industry (a testament to poor planning by HHC). She liked my work and was willing to write me a Letter of Recommendation. She rehired me without reservation as a testament to my work ethic. I thought she would be the perfect choice.
As an aside: The General Manager is very busy in her current roll at another property. It took some time for her to complete the letter. I noticed I was offered admissions to Georgia State prior to her submitting my Recommendation. I found this fact strange. It can be interpreted that the LOR's are really not too valuable to the selection of candidates for this program.

Recommendation #2:

The Revenue Manager is a good friend and someone I worked very closely with at both properties to produce the most amount of profit for the Hotels. She was willing to write a glowing review for me personally and professionally. State only required two letters. The above two were chosen for both programs. Recommendation #3:

For the additional recommendation required for Tech, I choose the head of the Sales Team at the Atlanta property. Since I took the next step in my career, he and I have become close friends. I know that I could trust him to help.
Notice, I choose all professional references. Taking business courses at the University of Florida is no easy task. All the core courses are offered once per day for 2500 students to attend, if they can't make it they can watch it during a TV replay later that day or via the Internet. There isn't much opportunity to really get to know the professors in such a way they could write glowing recommendations.
* Hotel Management: Hilton Hotels Corporation, based out of Beverly Hills, Ca, is both a Management Company and an Asset Company. They sold most of the Hotels they owned in order to gain enough liquid assets to purchase Hilton International (yes, Hilton International was a separate company from Hilton Domestic). As a condition of the sale of the properties they owned, they required the Management contract to remain with HHC. At the time of my employment at Hilton Atlanta Airport, Hilton owned only 17 properties. Every property Hilton owns is managed by HHC.

If you bought a hotel building today, you would have a couple different options. 1. You could pay to have HHC manage your property. In doing so, you are asking Hilton Management to make your property function the way Conrad Hilton intended. 2. You could try and manage the property yourself. With this option, you pay Hilton Hotels Corp to have the right to call your property a Hilton. All Hilton Franchises are required to have certain characteristics to keep the flag, you must have these core competencies in place. 3. You could pay another, third party, to manage the property. They also have to adhere to the policies of Hilton to keep the flag, but usually they are cheaper than having Hilton Hotels Corp Manage the property.

These third party companies, like Benchmark, are usually Asset holding companies, and similar to Hilton owning the building and using its own Management teams, the third Party company could purchase the building as it is sold and institute it's own management team. If you work for a third party management company, although you work at a Hilton, you are not a Hilton Employee. You are a Benchmark employee. When the management contract is sold, in theory so is your career.

Phew... the quick and dirty hotel story.

Interview with Georgia Technical Institute

Interview with Georgia Technical Institute

I was awarded an interview with Georgia Tech. Same as with Georgia State, we scheduled the entire thing over email and I interviewed with the director of the program.

My scheduled interview time was 6:00 PM. I was able to escape work early and arrived at 5:30 PM, much to my surprise the interviewer was able to talk to me only five minutes later. I think I was the last interview of the day, so I really got the impression she was pleased to start early.

I wore the same suit, tie, and shirt I had worn to the interview with Georgia State. Although, I have seven suits I wear regularly, I really feel like it is my most impressive outfit.

She started by asking me about my history, I could really tell she had done her homework on me. She saw in my current employment descriptions I do some actuarial analysis. Since Tech is one of the more national recognized colleges for Actuarial Sciences we talked about my roll for a little.

Next, I was extremely surprised. She told me she was very impressed with my essays. I had written essays that “captivated her from the beginning to the end”. This came as a complete shock since I don’t think I was ever complemented on my ability to write in any English course neither in high school nor college.

She asked me to describe my personality. She asked me about my job, why I wanted an MBA, and what I saw myself doing after I graduated with my new degree. I responded by talking about my view of Pension Actuaries and the Governments policy changes in retirement, tying that into my reason for pursuing an MBA.

We had some pretty nice dialog and she told me I would hear something back in the next couple days. All in all, I left this interview with the same feeling I had when I left the Georgia State interview.

Only time will tell.

Essay Thought Process

Essay Thought Process

I applied to Georgia State University’s Professional MBA and Georgia Tech’s Evening MBA as discussed in a previous post. I applied for these programs, because I wanted to start right away. Both have a similar deadline October 1 and October 2 respectfully, both start in the spring, and I can use essentially the same essays for both.

Now, don’t scoff at the last reason, I think it is perhaps the most important. It is very hard to have a life, write essays, and work full time. I used my commute to jot notes, and got to work early to put to the notes to work in drafts of the essays. Probably took me a solid week to write esach and another to edit them for use. Is this the “perfect path” to writing essays? Of course not, preferably, I would have three months of preparation and four versions of the essays with different approaches and directions. Instead, I will tell you my thought process.

Georgia Tech Essay Question One Creative Writing:
If you could host a dinner party and invite any four people, either living or dead, whom would you invite and what would the five of you discuss together? There is no right answer concerning dinner guests; rather, we want you to be creative and thoughtful in your response.

My beautiful girlfriend (LM) is a huge music nut. She has really introduced me to music. My car radio is always on 680TheFan, a local sports talk radio channel here in Atlanta. She suggested John Lennon, a very good fit as my first guest. I went to my good friends Steve and Sam’s condo, to watch the Florida State Miami game and Steve suggested Arnold Schwarzenegger (which I now know how to spell) because of my love for weightlifting and fitness. Arnold doubled as a Conservative to counter Lennon’s "Liberalness". And from there I got Muhammad Ali (my poetic athlete) and Sam and LM collaborated on J.K. Rowling, a modern day writer.

Once I had my four guests, I was able to come up with topics and how each would react… Took me a few days…

Due to my duffus move of incorrectly reading the word limit of 4000 as 400, I was able to write an inadvertently brief, albeit content packed essay.

Georgia Tech Essay Question Two Traditional Question:
Describe how your experience, both professional and personal, has led you to the decision to pursue an MBA at Georgia Tech. How does this decision relate to your future career goals?

A very traditional essay topic, I decided to go in a different direction; putting myself into the future.

Georgia Tech Optional Essay:
(Optional) The admissions Committee believes that the required essays address issues that are important in learning about you and in understanding your candidacy for the MBA program. However, you may provide us with any information pertinent to your admission that has not been covered in the rest of the application. Feel free to discuss any unique aspects of your candidacy or any perceived weakness.

Aha, as discussed in a previous post my GPA in undergrad was average at best. Here is the time when I would try and describe my life, my interests, and my inadequate GPA, all in my self-created 400-word limit.

Once the essays were written, I knew I could apply to the two schools on the top of my list, since Georgia States only essay required was the same as Georgia Tech’s essay about expectations and also had an optional essay. Copy and Paste! Be sure to change Georgia Tech to Georgia State… And presto! Two applications finished.

That’s it for now. With rolling admissions, I should be able to postpone any more applications until I hear back from my first two school options.