I want to take a moment from the regularly scheduled program to note that finally justice has been served! Tim Hortons has awarded the disputed SUV to the 10 year old girl!
To bring the non-Canadians up to speed: Tim Hortons (affectionately known as Tim's) is a chain of coffee/donut shops that Canadians religiously attend with more frequency and devout fervor than their church. Unlike America's unhealthy obsession with pastries, in Canada coffee/donut shops are all about our unhealthy obsession with coffee (be careful America the chain and its addictive coffee are expanding into the U.S.). Tim's has an annual pagan ritual for its worshippers: "Roll Up the Rim to Win". Contrary to your first impression that it is some type of sex rite, "Roll Up the Rim to Win" is a contest where coffee drinkers can unroll the rim of their paper coffee cup and they can win anything from a free donut to an SUV.
You now have the context. Let me give you the situation. One of Tim's faithful finished his sacrament of drinking the coffee of Tim, but performed the heretical act of throwing away the coffee cup without rolling up the rim! The faithful follower was punished when a 10 year old girl (well-versed in the in the religious rites of Tim) picked the discarded cup from the garbage in order to roll up the rim. The girl had trouble rolling up the rim, so she asked her 12 year old friend to help her. The friend rolled up the rim to discover that the cup was a SUV winner!
It only goes downhill from here. In a concerted effort to demonstrate that we, Canadians, love litigation as much as Americans, the 12 year old's parents decided that they were entitled to the vehicle as it was their child who did the physical unrolling. At this point I should mention that there are unconfirmed reports that Tim's puts something in their coffee that make the Canadian population go stupid. The 12 year old's parents showed their resolve by taking the action to court. To take this religious nightmare one step further, the original Tim's faithful who consumed the product came forward, anonymously through his lawyer (for fear of being publicly stoned for not completing the rim rolling ritual), claiming that the cup and thus the SUV was rightfully his!
Tim's has finally ended the 10 year old's nightmare by officially awarding the SUV to her parents who will surely sell it or use equivalent proceeds to fortify the young girl's college fund. Now, the other parties can sue Tim's for their poor fortune. Sure, try to sue a god.
Read the ARTICLE.
Friday, April 21, 2006
Friday, April 14, 2006
California, Here I Come!
Well, it is official. I am going to UC Irvine's Paul Merage School of Business to complete my MBA. Located in the heart of the O.C., I am eager to see how my life of wearing no-name clothes and driving economical vehicles will mesh in the world where you are only as good as the label on your clothes. Of course I joke, but this will be a definite culture shift and I hope I can find my place there.
As I mentioned earlier, I feel that UCI has a plan to become a top 20 (or top 15) business school. They have a way to go, but I love the big picture and in my brief interactions with Merage I can see the plan moving ahead:
1. Bring in new dean to develop and execute plan;
2. Focus on a niche to specialize in that will be in demand (such as Information Technology);
3. Secure a large endowment in return for naming rights;
4. Use that endowment to upgrade facilities and attract top faculty and students;
5. Aggressively create ties with the corporate community;
6. Put in place an aggressive, applicant responsive recruitment team;
and there are others I am sure. I love the plan and I love the way they are executing it. I think it goes back to my childhood and watching the A-Team. I can hear Hannibal saying, "I love it when a plan comes together." The sentiment has shaped me.
As I mentioned elsewhere, within a week after interviewing me, UCI had accepted me and offered me one of their premier scholarships (this is their normal turnaround speed). I am not sure about other schools, but the way this scholarship is constructed impressed me. The offer included (copied from their email):
"As a Merage Fellow, you will be provided with the following support:
1) A $45,000 scholarship ($22,500 in each of your two years),
2) Top priority for a research or teaching assistantship in the second year;
3) An executive mentor from a leading company in the Orange County community;
4) The opportunity to meet monthly with the Dean and other Merage Fellowship recipients to discuss the strategy for the Merage School and to review your own career objectives; and
5)Guaranteed housing in an on-campus apartment"
The dollars are equal to resident tuition each year. Regular meetings with the Dean is a nice touch and shows that he wants to be in tune with the feelings of the student body (when I visited UCI, I confirmed that these meetings were occurring and had resulted in changes at Merage). The guaranteed housing is also a nice perk because at UCI the on-campus family apartments are up to 33% less expensive than similar apartments off-campus (saving my family up to $500 per month).
This is an exciting, yet scary time, for me and Lindsey. This is a good time in our lives for a change. The scholarship and 2nd year T.A. position means that I will come out my MBA with an acceptable amount of debt (none if Lindsey works or if I can generate some side revenue). Lindsey got her wish to live near the beach in a sun-filled region. Yet, California and the O.C. is a strange land to us. They have an actor as governor, seem completely focused on illegal immigration, don't have universal health care, and like high-end shopping (maybe we won't come out of this debt-free). No matter how worrying it seems, we are committed to crafting a new chapter in our life together and this will make for an eventful story.
The remainder of this blog will be dedicated to our experiences in moving to Irvine, California, living in Irvine, and going to business school. I hope everyone found this information informative. If you have questions leave a comment and I will respond.
In the meantime, I would love to hear from other Merage students and recruits. Leave comments.
Cheers.
As I mentioned earlier, I feel that UCI has a plan to become a top 20 (or top 15) business school. They have a way to go, but I love the big picture and in my brief interactions with Merage I can see the plan moving ahead:
1. Bring in new dean to develop and execute plan;
2. Focus on a niche to specialize in that will be in demand (such as Information Technology);
3. Secure a large endowment in return for naming rights;
4. Use that endowment to upgrade facilities and attract top faculty and students;
5. Aggressively create ties with the corporate community;
6. Put in place an aggressive, applicant responsive recruitment team;
and there are others I am sure. I love the plan and I love the way they are executing it. I think it goes back to my childhood and watching the A-Team. I can hear Hannibal saying, "I love it when a plan comes together." The sentiment has shaped me.
As I mentioned elsewhere, within a week after interviewing me, UCI had accepted me and offered me one of their premier scholarships (this is their normal turnaround speed). I am not sure about other schools, but the way this scholarship is constructed impressed me. The offer included (copied from their email):
"As a Merage Fellow, you will be provided with the following support:
1) A $45,000 scholarship ($22,500 in each of your two years),
2) Top priority for a research or teaching assistantship in the second year;
3) An executive mentor from a leading company in the Orange County community;
4) The opportunity to meet monthly with the Dean and other Merage Fellowship recipients to discuss the strategy for the Merage School and to review your own career objectives; and
5)Guaranteed housing in an on-campus apartment"
The dollars are equal to resident tuition each year. Regular meetings with the Dean is a nice touch and shows that he wants to be in tune with the feelings of the student body (when I visited UCI, I confirmed that these meetings were occurring and had resulted in changes at Merage). The guaranteed housing is also a nice perk because at UCI the on-campus family apartments are up to 33% less expensive than similar apartments off-campus (saving my family up to $500 per month).
This is an exciting, yet scary time, for me and Lindsey. This is a good time in our lives for a change. The scholarship and 2nd year T.A. position means that I will come out my MBA with an acceptable amount of debt (none if Lindsey works or if I can generate some side revenue). Lindsey got her wish to live near the beach in a sun-filled region. Yet, California and the O.C. is a strange land to us. They have an actor as governor, seem completely focused on illegal immigration, don't have universal health care, and like high-end shopping (maybe we won't come out of this debt-free). No matter how worrying it seems, we are committed to crafting a new chapter in our life together and this will make for an eventful story.
The remainder of this blog will be dedicated to our experiences in moving to Irvine, California, living in Irvine, and going to business school. I hope everyone found this information informative. If you have questions leave a comment and I will respond.
In the meantime, I would love to hear from other Merage students and recruits. Leave comments.
Cheers.
The Also-Rans Strike Back
Well, it is time for me to eat humble pie. All this time when I was (gently) critiquing UW and UC Davis, they were able to have the last laugh by dinging me. You can all laugh now.
I am slightly confused by this result. When I look at my credentials (GMAT: 730, Tough Undergrad 3.3+ [with all maths 3.7+], completed law school, started own law practice that worked with tech companies, 5 years of work experience, particpated on board of directions for a non-profit) I fit well within their class profiles. The fact that my decision to pursue business school this year was a bit last minute likely had an effect on my reference letters, but I can't believe they were that bad. It likely came down to the interview.
That makes me even more confused when at UC Davis I asked my thermometer question, "What challenges do you foresee me having at UC Davis" (I use this to gauge the interviewers perception of my candidacy), the interviewer responded "Nothing, from what I can see you have everything to excel here!" (this is paraphrased from memory). When I hear that kind of response I am feeling good about where I stand. The UW interviewer responded that she felt the only challenge I may have is learning to work with a team given most of my experience as a lawyer is to take the lead in a problem.
So, I felt pretty good at the time. So, what happened? I am wondering if my early acceptance to UC Irvine and the accompanying scholarship offer made me, subconsciously, a bit presumptuous that I would be accepted at UC Davis and UW and this attitude came out in the interview. It wouldn't be the first time that my head has gotten a little to big for my britches.
Second, I believe I really messed up in asking about the possibility of early acceptance responses. The interviewers inevitably began digging into why and asked further questions to elicit the extent of my scholarship offer. One of my weaknesses is sometimes being too honest. Now, I wish I would have kept quiet about the scholarship at both interviews.
Oh well, live and learn. It is not a huge deal, because if you hadn't noticed I was already well on the path to choosing UCI. Nonetheless, I would have been nice to at least have the option of selection UW and living in Seattle.
The experience is done and I thought I would give some lessons that I learned during this process.
APPLICATION LESSONS:
1. Really evaluate why MBA is good for you right now. Decide what you want to get from an MBA and use that criteria to select schools where to apply.
2. Proof read your essays three times, then give them to at least to other people to proof read. It is amazing what errors you will miss.
3. If you can, ask the admissions department questions (by phone if possible). It will show interest and help build a relationship.
4. Give your references ample to time to craft a letter. Give them detailed examples of your experiences, have someone proof read the letters. I only gave my references about 1.5 months and this was not enough.
5. Try not to overanalyze! You will go insane.
I am slightly confused by this result. When I look at my credentials (GMAT: 730, Tough Undergrad 3.3+ [with all maths 3.7+], completed law school, started own law practice that worked with tech companies, 5 years of work experience, particpated on board of directions for a non-profit) I fit well within their class profiles. The fact that my decision to pursue business school this year was a bit last minute likely had an effect on my reference letters, but I can't believe they were that bad. It likely came down to the interview.
That makes me even more confused when at UC Davis I asked my thermometer question, "What challenges do you foresee me having at UC Davis" (I use this to gauge the interviewers perception of my candidacy), the interviewer responded "Nothing, from what I can see you have everything to excel here!" (this is paraphrased from memory). When I hear that kind of response I am feeling good about where I stand. The UW interviewer responded that she felt the only challenge I may have is learning to work with a team given most of my experience as a lawyer is to take the lead in a problem.
So, I felt pretty good at the time. So, what happened? I am wondering if my early acceptance to UC Irvine and the accompanying scholarship offer made me, subconsciously, a bit presumptuous that I would be accepted at UC Davis and UW and this attitude came out in the interview. It wouldn't be the first time that my head has gotten a little to big for my britches.
Second, I believe I really messed up in asking about the possibility of early acceptance responses. The interviewers inevitably began digging into why and asked further questions to elicit the extent of my scholarship offer. One of my weaknesses is sometimes being too honest. Now, I wish I would have kept quiet about the scholarship at both interviews.
Oh well, live and learn. It is not a huge deal, because if you hadn't noticed I was already well on the path to choosing UCI. Nonetheless, I would have been nice to at least have the option of selection UW and living in Seattle.
The experience is done and I thought I would give some lessons that I learned during this process.
APPLICATION LESSONS:
1. Really evaluate why MBA is good for you right now. Decide what you want to get from an MBA and use that criteria to select schools where to apply.
2. Proof read your essays three times, then give them to at least to other people to proof read. It is amazing what errors you will miss.
3. If you can, ask the admissions department questions (by phone if possible). It will show interest and help build a relationship.
4. Give your references ample to time to craft a letter. Give them detailed examples of your experiences, have someone proof read the letters. I only gave my references about 1.5 months and this was not enough.
5. Try not to overanalyze! You will go insane.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Memo to Admission Staff: Small School is not a Differentiator!
As my MBA program search winds down, I want to bring to the attention of MBA admission staffs everywhere that a small school is not what makes a program special! On my trip it came up more than once and I am sure many other schools spin it (Hell, Stanford with 350+ students calls itself a small school!). It is a practice that needs to stop.
When an applicant asks "what sets your program apart?" the small school response doesn't cut it. I recognize that a small school may allow the whole admin staff and student body to know you by your first name. That's a warm, fuzzy feeling in the cockle of my heart, but doesn't tell me why your students, or your faculty, or your program shines against all competitors.
Frankly, it can be argued that a small school means that it can hire less faculty, offer a lesser variety of high quality courses. It has less resources to build and maintain cutting edge facilities.
When my software company sells software, we do not use as our flagship reason to use us is that we are smaller and more attentive than our competitors because it will not sell. Now, I am not saying we don't use the line, but it is number four on our list.
Therefore, MBA Admissions offices everywhere I suggest you take my advice when I say there are better reasons why your program is unique than size. Spend some time and create a marketing strategy and sell us!
I'd love to hear other applicants thoughts on this point.
Cheers.
When an applicant asks "what sets your program apart?" the small school response doesn't cut it. I recognize that a small school may allow the whole admin staff and student body to know you by your first name. That's a warm, fuzzy feeling in the cockle of my heart, but doesn't tell me why your students, or your faculty, or your program shines against all competitors.
Frankly, it can be argued that a small school means that it can hire less faculty, offer a lesser variety of high quality courses. It has less resources to build and maintain cutting edge facilities.
When my software company sells software, we do not use as our flagship reason to use us is that we are smaller and more attentive than our competitors because it will not sell. Now, I am not saying we don't use the line, but it is number four on our list.
Therefore, MBA Admissions offices everywhere I suggest you take my advice when I say there are better reasons why your program is unique than size. Spend some time and create a marketing strategy and sell us!
I'd love to hear other applicants thoughts on this point.
Cheers.
A Note About UC Davis
My recent posts have primarily discussed UC Irvine and UW (with a brief commentary on Stanford). ldalrymp commented that I may have overlooked UC Davis. I thought I may address Davis.
UC Davis is a program that is better than its reputation (which isn't bad). I think they just need to do a better PR job. They should really sell the assets of their school. There is a tonne of research coming out of this school, they do a good job integrating MBAs with other disciples, and they have a strong program in entrepreneurship and technology. Davis is a great community. If quiet, small university town life is what you crave, Davis has it.
While close to Silicon Valley, it feels a bit removed from the hustle and bustle. I understand that the Careers office does a great job linking to this community, but a student is more of an outsider trying to break in, as opposed to contributing member of a hot technology community. That is my drawback. I want to be located in the heart of an booming technology area.
That being said, Silicon Valley is expanding out towards Sacramento for many reasons. By the time of my graduation, it could be a booming tech area??? But, I am not sure.
Second point, is that it is about two hours from the ocean. Coming from a central province and being the sentimental guy I am, the ocean is a draw. Nonetheless, I could very easily go to UC Davis and be very happy.
Hope that was a good plug ldalrymp.
UC Davis is a program that is better than its reputation (which isn't bad). I think they just need to do a better PR job. They should really sell the assets of their school. There is a tonne of research coming out of this school, they do a good job integrating MBAs with other disciples, and they have a strong program in entrepreneurship and technology. Davis is a great community. If quiet, small university town life is what you crave, Davis has it.
While close to Silicon Valley, it feels a bit removed from the hustle and bustle. I understand that the Careers office does a great job linking to this community, but a student is more of an outsider trying to break in, as opposed to contributing member of a hot technology community. That is my drawback. I want to be located in the heart of an booming technology area.
That being said, Silicon Valley is expanding out towards Sacramento for many reasons. By the time of my graduation, it could be a booming tech area??? But, I am not sure.
Second point, is that it is about two hours from the ocean. Coming from a central province and being the sentimental guy I am, the ocean is a draw. Nonetheless, I could very easily go to UC Davis and be very happy.
Hope that was a good plug ldalrymp.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
A Quick Thought About Stanford
I realized in my midst of my two massive posts today, I glossed over my ding from Stanford. I would like a few more thoughts.
One, I am disappointed that I am not going to Stanford (I am not going to pretend otherwise). Stanford is the heart of ecomm. It spawned the likes of Google and other amazing internet businesses. To be in that creative vortex would be very exciting. Also, the student are highly intelligent. That being said, they get 4000 applicants and accept less that 400 per year.
Those numbers dictate that processes and procedures that will not get to know at least 50% of the applicants. They are really trying to fill class profile slots. My guess is that they have extensive experience and data about what makes their ideal class make-up. If an applicant doesn't fit in that slot - they don't have time to learn more. If an applicant fits a slot but the initial ranking has them 7 best when they only interview top 5, then their reject isn't really an indication of a poor candidate, but of a candidate that they cannot make the time for.
So, in summation, it would have been an honour to be accepted to such a program, but I do not take as a reflection that I am lesser than the other candidates. I just did not fit the profile of a tough process.
One, I am disappointed that I am not going to Stanford (I am not going to pretend otherwise). Stanford is the heart of ecomm. It spawned the likes of Google and other amazing internet businesses. To be in that creative vortex would be very exciting. Also, the student are highly intelligent. That being said, they get 4000 applicants and accept less that 400 per year.
Those numbers dictate that processes and procedures that will not get to know at least 50% of the applicants. They are really trying to fill class profile slots. My guess is that they have extensive experience and data about what makes their ideal class make-up. If an applicant doesn't fit in that slot - they don't have time to learn more. If an applicant fits a slot but the initial ranking has them 7 best when they only interview top 5, then their reject isn't really an indication of a poor candidate, but of a candidate that they cannot make the time for.
So, in summation, it would have been an honour to be accepted to such a program, but I do not take as a reflection that I am lesser than the other candidates. I just did not fit the profile of a tough process.
Make Up Your Mind Already!
By now you have read my road trip story contained in February and March's tales. If not, stop reading and check them out. Then come back and resume reading. I recognize my blog may violate a cardinal blog rule and not follow a chronological order. Through the inevitable circumstances of life this blog has subscribed the the Quentin Tarrantino or the comic book origin issue school of writing.
My initial rankings after reading the brochure-ware. Stanford was number one. My visit reinforced this, where every student I met was impressive. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into the door to wow them with my bullshit. Washington was number two. It was strong in technology and entrepreneurialism. And a good gap after UW was UC Irvine and Davis, tied for third. Irvine lacked the entrepreneurial focus and Davis was a bit removed from Silicon Valley.
My first hint that UCI was a bit different was the fact that they contacted my one week after I filed my application to schedule an interview. I filed my application with UW two weeks before UCI, but here they are contacting me. I phoned UCI to ask if I should wait for my trip to interview in person or conduct a phone interview as soon as possible. The friendly receptionist told me that it was better to interview as soon as possible and that a phone interview is considered normal. She also told me to contact her directly and she would ensure that I had a great visit. All in all a pleasant first introduction into the school.
I scheduled the phone interview and it occurred two weeks after I filed my application. My interviewer was very friendly, asked the standard questions, and then we simply talked about life in the OC and new music. It was a very enjoyable call, but, as this was my first interview, I had no idea where I stood. Even more so, she took away three action items of questions that she would answer for me. The next day was an email from her telling me that I would be a great addition to any school and detailed answers to my questions. Whenever I had a follow up question, she would respond the next day with a detailed answer. An admissions department dedicated to make the admissions process as easy as possible; I began to mistakenly think this was the norm for all business schools.
It gets better - one week after the interview, UCI responded by accepting me and offering a scholarship. The problem is that they are too efficient. They have evaluated and responded to my application while the other schools have yet to look at it. Well, you may say that the other schools have more applicants. Not so, according to the recently released US News Business School rankings. According to US news, in the previous application year UW received 564 full time applications, UCI received 600 full time applications, and UC Davis recieved 273 full time applications. Added to that I believe UW has a bigger Admissions staff than UCI. Other schools take note, UCI understands customer service.
UCI admissions customer service ties into one of the points of this post that UCI is shooting up the rankings. As I noted earlier, UCI was a distant third after UW. This year they moved up 11 spots to a tie for 38 (while UW droped 10 to 29). They are now slightly above UW in my rankings. Why is that? There appears to be an overall school vision to be a top U.S. business school. UCI's new dean appears to be driving this goal. Last year they scored a major endowment for the school in return for naming rights. They are one of the leading US business schools in integrating information technology into the classroom and into the curriculum. The Wall Street Journal recently ranked UCI #4 for Information Technology MBA programs. UCI's aggressive vision is a message that the organization clearly is on board with. The admissions department is customer service focused and the careers office makes great ties with corporate recruiters. My gut tells me this program has high aspirations. And who doesn't like someone that swings for the fences?
Now, compare UCI's approach to UW's. Their admissions office took almost two full months to ask me to interview (and that was after I requested for them to speed up the process to match with my scheduled trip). Nearly every request takes at minimum a few days to respond (if at all) and their responses are always curt. They make me feel like I am a pain in the ass, not a valued recruit. At my interview, they were over ten minutes late and when the interviewer came out to meet me, she turned away from me to do another task. Maybe I am overcritical, but working with small businesses, customer services wins. She should have immediately went to me, appologized, then asked for me to wait a minute so she could complete that task before the interview. Their response will not be made until April 5 (a month after the interview) and they will not be able to let me know about scholarships until three weeks after that! There is a big difference here.
This ties into my impression that there is no overall aggressive vision for UW. It appears that they are satisfied being the best business school in northwest United States. Their facilities are very dilapidated. I know they are trying to raise money to build a new building, but they are still far off what is needed. The admissions office is not recruit-focused. I am not making a commentary on the faculty or students - all students I met at UW were impressive, I just think there is a lack of clear leadership at UW.
Now, these impressions were the start of my investigation and prompted me to think the ranking would be closer than I first thought. Then, I addressed the entrepreneurial focus by examining the class descriptions of all offered classes. While UW has some interesting courses like Software Entrepreneurialism and Marketing for Entrepreneurs, UCI had more classes that I was interested in. In fact it could be argued that a focus on entrepreneurialism is overrated, because my experience tells me that entrepreneurism is a state of mind and a hunger to make things happen. Can this really be taught? I can take all of UCI's cutting edge IT classes and other classes that fully use available technology and adapt it to new venture.
So school vision and cutting edge technology is moving UCI ahead of UW. What are the drawbacks? Well, Seattle is a beautiful city that oozes the creativity and academics that excite me. Orange County... meh. Orange county housing prices are 50% higher than Seattle. Also, I estimate that Orange County has a 30% cost premium over Seattle. That means any income I make in Orange County will immediately face a 30% reduction due to housing, taxes, and other costs of living in Orange County, California versus the same amount earned in Seattle. When you consider that average starting salaries are similar for UCI and UW, this means a lot to a young family.
On the other hand is a 30% premium worth living in a "Carribean Resort"-like area? No doubt the weather is much better in the OC. My wife loves the sun. I am slowly going crazy. If you read this whole spiel, I think you can see my predicament.
Well, UW gives its acceptances on April 5th (They generally mail it, but I had to beg that they email it to me) and UCI needs an answer by April 15th. My decision should be made by next Friday. Feel free to post any thoughts or suggestions. Reading other peoples ideas will stop my mind from running around in circles. Till next week...
My initial rankings after reading the brochure-ware. Stanford was number one. My visit reinforced this, where every student I met was impressive. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into the door to wow them with my bullshit. Washington was number two. It was strong in technology and entrepreneurialism. And a good gap after UW was UC Irvine and Davis, tied for third. Irvine lacked the entrepreneurial focus and Davis was a bit removed from Silicon Valley.
My first hint that UCI was a bit different was the fact that they contacted my one week after I filed my application to schedule an interview. I filed my application with UW two weeks before UCI, but here they are contacting me. I phoned UCI to ask if I should wait for my trip to interview in person or conduct a phone interview as soon as possible. The friendly receptionist told me that it was better to interview as soon as possible and that a phone interview is considered normal. She also told me to contact her directly and she would ensure that I had a great visit. All in all a pleasant first introduction into the school.
I scheduled the phone interview and it occurred two weeks after I filed my application. My interviewer was very friendly, asked the standard questions, and then we simply talked about life in the OC and new music. It was a very enjoyable call, but, as this was my first interview, I had no idea where I stood. Even more so, she took away three action items of questions that she would answer for me. The next day was an email from her telling me that I would be a great addition to any school and detailed answers to my questions. Whenever I had a follow up question, she would respond the next day with a detailed answer. An admissions department dedicated to make the admissions process as easy as possible; I began to mistakenly think this was the norm for all business schools.
It gets better - one week after the interview, UCI responded by accepting me and offering a scholarship. The problem is that they are too efficient. They have evaluated and responded to my application while the other schools have yet to look at it. Well, you may say that the other schools have more applicants. Not so, according to the recently released US News Business School rankings. According to US news, in the previous application year UW received 564 full time applications, UCI received 600 full time applications, and UC Davis recieved 273 full time applications. Added to that I believe UW has a bigger Admissions staff than UCI. Other schools take note, UCI understands customer service.
UCI admissions customer service ties into one of the points of this post that UCI is shooting up the rankings. As I noted earlier, UCI was a distant third after UW. This year they moved up 11 spots to a tie for 38 (while UW droped 10 to 29). They are now slightly above UW in my rankings. Why is that? There appears to be an overall school vision to be a top U.S. business school. UCI's new dean appears to be driving this goal. Last year they scored a major endowment for the school in return for naming rights. They are one of the leading US business schools in integrating information technology into the classroom and into the curriculum. The Wall Street Journal recently ranked UCI #4 for Information Technology MBA programs. UCI's aggressive vision is a message that the organization clearly is on board with. The admissions department is customer service focused and the careers office makes great ties with corporate recruiters. My gut tells me this program has high aspirations. And who doesn't like someone that swings for the fences?
Now, compare UCI's approach to UW's. Their admissions office took almost two full months to ask me to interview (and that was after I requested for them to speed up the process to match with my scheduled trip). Nearly every request takes at minimum a few days to respond (if at all) and their responses are always curt. They make me feel like I am a pain in the ass, not a valued recruit. At my interview, they were over ten minutes late and when the interviewer came out to meet me, she turned away from me to do another task. Maybe I am overcritical, but working with small businesses, customer services wins. She should have immediately went to me, appologized, then asked for me to wait a minute so she could complete that task before the interview. Their response will not be made until April 5 (a month after the interview) and they will not be able to let me know about scholarships until three weeks after that! There is a big difference here.
This ties into my impression that there is no overall aggressive vision for UW. It appears that they are satisfied being the best business school in northwest United States. Their facilities are very dilapidated. I know they are trying to raise money to build a new building, but they are still far off what is needed. The admissions office is not recruit-focused. I am not making a commentary on the faculty or students - all students I met at UW were impressive, I just think there is a lack of clear leadership at UW.
Now, these impressions were the start of my investigation and prompted me to think the ranking would be closer than I first thought. Then, I addressed the entrepreneurial focus by examining the class descriptions of all offered classes. While UW has some interesting courses like Software Entrepreneurialism and Marketing for Entrepreneurs, UCI had more classes that I was interested in. In fact it could be argued that a focus on entrepreneurialism is overrated, because my experience tells me that entrepreneurism is a state of mind and a hunger to make things happen. Can this really be taught? I can take all of UCI's cutting edge IT classes and other classes that fully use available technology and adapt it to new venture.
So school vision and cutting edge technology is moving UCI ahead of UW. What are the drawbacks? Well, Seattle is a beautiful city that oozes the creativity and academics that excite me. Orange County... meh. Orange county housing prices are 50% higher than Seattle. Also, I estimate that Orange County has a 30% cost premium over Seattle. That means any income I make in Orange County will immediately face a 30% reduction due to housing, taxes, and other costs of living in Orange County, California versus the same amount earned in Seattle. When you consider that average starting salaries are similar for UCI and UW, this means a lot to a young family.
On the other hand is a 30% premium worth living in a "Carribean Resort"-like area? No doubt the weather is much better in the OC. My wife loves the sun. I am slowly going crazy. If you read this whole spiel, I think you can see my predicament.
Well, UW gives its acceptances on April 5th (They generally mail it, but I had to beg that they email it to me) and UCI needs an answer by April 15th. My decision should be made by next Friday. Feel free to post any thoughts or suggestions. Reading other peoples ideas will stop my mind from running around in circles. Till next week...
Backtrack: Why I Decided to Apply to MBA
Decision Day is nearing and Lindsey and I have been agonizing over where to spend the next two (and possibly the next five years of our life). I had hoped that after the trip a clear second candite would crystalize (Obviously, Stanford would be the first). Interestingly, before my trip University of Washington was the clear number 2 by a good margin, but my gradual investigation of UC Irvine has been surprising enough to create a two horse race (more on that below). First, I should give some background about myself and my decision to pursue my MBA.
My wife, Lindsey, and I live in London, Ontario, Canada. I have lived here since 1993 when I attended the University of Western Ontario to complete an Honors B.A. in Economics. I enjoyed school so much that I stayed to complete my law degree. It didn't take long for me to realize that I did not belong in law firm environment, so when I was called to the Bar I started my own practice.
My practice was focused in my area of passion: Technology. I offered my services as a part-time "in-house" counsel for new or young technology companies. When I first met technology entrepreneurs I knew I found a place where I belonged. For the next three years, I met and helped numerous entrepreneurs and learned about their technology. During this time I was able to dive into my clients businesses. Due to my interests and my clients needs, I quickly found myself providing services beyond the traditional lawyer. While I advised on the corporate structure, conducted negotiations, and drafted agreements, I also began to draft business plans, marketing plans and help in their business development.
Unfortunately, I did not foresee that by giving extensive amounts of service to a few clients created a potentially unstable revenue stream should one client suffer financial difficulties. To combat this I required an extensive client pool. That led to my next problem: The London technology community is young and relatively small. This forced me to rethink my strategy. I realized that I would have to relocate to an area with more opportunity if I wanted to progress in my career.
My career goal is to a lead young technology company to a eight figure revenue stream. I like the challenges a young company faces such as trying to gain acceptance of their product and then managing the growth. After three years of practicing law for young companies, I felt that I need more business experience before I would be ready to lead a company (I know some of you will say you just got to do it, but I like to be prepared). I rallied by offering my services to one or two larger companies at a time. They were more stable. Up to recently, I focused my search efforts to London, but felt the uneasy call that I would have to move to Toronto (Canada's center of the universe). Over the past year and a half I have been able to work with a couple of different, but sucessful, technology companies in the London area. Again, I still provide legal services, but now I contribute even more to the business side. All have been great learning experiences, but I still hear the call for more opportunity.
Traditionally, any young professional from London would leave and move to Toronto. My wife and I aren't the biggest fans of Toronto. It's a good city, but it is not for us. Additionally, I began to dream of being located in the heart of a massive technology area such as the west coast of the United States. I want to be in an environment where technology companies are found on every corner. Scores of programers and engineers spawning new ideas that need someone to help commercialize them. Therefore, in a moment of clarity, I thought why not establish yourself in one of these areas.
I always wanted to complete a MBA. It offered the opportunity to get the formal number training that I wished I had when helping my clients. Even better, by completing my MBA in an technology hub, I could establish myself in that community. I could work in the area for a few years, until the right opportunity came along. My mind starting running with the idea. This crazy plan could work!
"Wait!" you're screaming, "What about your poor wife?" Well, we are hitting the age where we see our friends less and less. We both recognize that at some point soon, we will have to move to an area that offers more opportunity. We are young and a move to the west coast offers an amazing adventure. If we don't like it, we can return home in two years. And the opportunity for improved, more temperate weather should not be discounted. So long story short, she's on board.
Immediately, I decided to sign up for a GMAT test the next week. I told myself, "If you don't do good on the GMAT, then you don't deserve to go to business school." So no, I do not subscribe to the uber-preparation GMAT school. The GMAT gods told me I was ready for business school with a 730 overall (If you think that was good, you should hear my 94th percentile on my LSAT while still drunk - another story - I am not bragging, it is actually a sad commentary on my life).
Now, on to the search. My big MBA school requirements were 1) the school is reputable (ie, generally top 50 rated); 2) the school has a technology and/or entrepreneurial focus; 3) it is a two year program (so that I can take advantage of intern opportunities); 4) it is located in or has solid ties to a technology hub 5) it is not in a massive metropolitan area like L.A. or New York (we aren't big city people); and 6) it is not in an area of high humidity or harsh winters (hey, if you're going to go all this way - why not go all the way?).
The big players that I initially identified were University of Washington, Stanford, University of Davis and UC Berkley (Haas). The fact that my MBA pursuit was a spur of the moment decision, Haas was immediately dropped from the list due to application dates for international students. An amazing entrepreneur who has started or worked with companies in California and Washington state mentioned that I should examine schools in southern California. I mentioned my dislike of large urban areas, but he assured me the Orange County area is spread out and full of technology companies. That lead me to UC Irvine.
That is a good background. The next post (probably later today) will address my decision predicaments.
My wife, Lindsey, and I live in London, Ontario, Canada. I have lived here since 1993 when I attended the University of Western Ontario to complete an Honors B.A. in Economics. I enjoyed school so much that I stayed to complete my law degree. It didn't take long for me to realize that I did not belong in law firm environment, so when I was called to the Bar I started my own practice.
My practice was focused in my area of passion: Technology. I offered my services as a part-time "in-house" counsel for new or young technology companies. When I first met technology entrepreneurs I knew I found a place where I belonged. For the next three years, I met and helped numerous entrepreneurs and learned about their technology. During this time I was able to dive into my clients businesses. Due to my interests and my clients needs, I quickly found myself providing services beyond the traditional lawyer. While I advised on the corporate structure, conducted negotiations, and drafted agreements, I also began to draft business plans, marketing plans and help in their business development.
Unfortunately, I did not foresee that by giving extensive amounts of service to a few clients created a potentially unstable revenue stream should one client suffer financial difficulties. To combat this I required an extensive client pool. That led to my next problem: The London technology community is young and relatively small. This forced me to rethink my strategy. I realized that I would have to relocate to an area with more opportunity if I wanted to progress in my career.
My career goal is to a lead young technology company to a eight figure revenue stream. I like the challenges a young company faces such as trying to gain acceptance of their product and then managing the growth. After three years of practicing law for young companies, I felt that I need more business experience before I would be ready to lead a company (I know some of you will say you just got to do it, but I like to be prepared). I rallied by offering my services to one or two larger companies at a time. They were more stable. Up to recently, I focused my search efforts to London, but felt the uneasy call that I would have to move to Toronto (Canada's center of the universe). Over the past year and a half I have been able to work with a couple of different, but sucessful, technology companies in the London area. Again, I still provide legal services, but now I contribute even more to the business side. All have been great learning experiences, but I still hear the call for more opportunity.
Traditionally, any young professional from London would leave and move to Toronto. My wife and I aren't the biggest fans of Toronto. It's a good city, but it is not for us. Additionally, I began to dream of being located in the heart of a massive technology area such as the west coast of the United States. I want to be in an environment where technology companies are found on every corner. Scores of programers and engineers spawning new ideas that need someone to help commercialize them. Therefore, in a moment of clarity, I thought why not establish yourself in one of these areas.
I always wanted to complete a MBA. It offered the opportunity to get the formal number training that I wished I had when helping my clients. Even better, by completing my MBA in an technology hub, I could establish myself in that community. I could work in the area for a few years, until the right opportunity came along. My mind starting running with the idea. This crazy plan could work!
"Wait!" you're screaming, "What about your poor wife?" Well, we are hitting the age where we see our friends less and less. We both recognize that at some point soon, we will have to move to an area that offers more opportunity. We are young and a move to the west coast offers an amazing adventure. If we don't like it, we can return home in two years. And the opportunity for improved, more temperate weather should not be discounted. So long story short, she's on board.
Immediately, I decided to sign up for a GMAT test the next week. I told myself, "If you don't do good on the GMAT, then you don't deserve to go to business school." So no, I do not subscribe to the uber-preparation GMAT school. The GMAT gods told me I was ready for business school with a 730 overall (If you think that was good, you should hear my 94th percentile on my LSAT while still drunk - another story - I am not bragging, it is actually a sad commentary on my life).
Now, on to the search. My big MBA school requirements were 1) the school is reputable (ie, generally top 50 rated); 2) the school has a technology and/or entrepreneurial focus; 3) it is a two year program (so that I can take advantage of intern opportunities); 4) it is located in or has solid ties to a technology hub 5) it is not in a massive metropolitan area like L.A. or New York (we aren't big city people); and 6) it is not in an area of high humidity or harsh winters (hey, if you're going to go all this way - why not go all the way?).
The big players that I initially identified were University of Washington, Stanford, University of Davis and UC Berkley (Haas). The fact that my MBA pursuit was a spur of the moment decision, Haas was immediately dropped from the list due to application dates for international students. An amazing entrepreneur who has started or worked with companies in California and Washington state mentioned that I should examine schools in southern California. I mentioned my dislike of large urban areas, but he assured me the Orange County area is spread out and full of technology companies. That lead me to UC Irvine.
That is a good background. The next post (probably later today) will address my decision predicaments.
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