An "Admittedly" Sunny Weekend

Wow that sun's got some power! I am back in Canada recuperating from UCI's Admit Weekend. In my visits to all my Application Schools, I repeatedly heard that admit weekends were important to establish relationships with the incoming class. They were right. I met a lot of the North American students and I had a really great time. Kudos to the UCI staff and current students for putting on an entertaining show.

Admit Weekend started with registration, a small surprise lunch (unfortunately I had just ate) and the opportunity to do the first round of networking. If I had to guess there were approximately 50 admit attendees. Next came, the dean's speech. Dean Policano confirmed the strategy that I talked about in earlier posts. Some highlights included the recruiting of Kerry Vandell to lead the real estate program and David Hirshleifer from Ohio State to be the first Merage Chair in Business Growth. If there was a point from the Dean's speech, it was that UCI has some financial clout and they are using it in chair positions to recruit top faculty and scholarships to recruit top students. The Dean also clarified areas of his strategy that I had yet to discern including his goal of making The Merage School of Business strong in four key areas of real estate, health care, entrepreneurship and innovation, and wealth/investment management.

Afterwards, was a lengthy ice breaker session where we got to learn a little about the incoming classes personalities. Then we were treated to two abbreviated class sessions to give the admits a feel of what to expect. I had already taken a 2nd year MBA class in law school, so I knew what to expect, but I think the interactive nature surprised some of the students.

After classes, we then moved to a reception and dinner with students, alumni, faculty and staff. While the food was nothing to write home about, the conversation was very enjoyable. Not much substantive was said at the event, but the opportunity to interact with such diverse people was a treat.

After the dinner was the unofficial visit to Vegas; a club in Costa Mesa. About 10-15 Admits joined about 15-20 current students at the club that played house on one dance floor and rap on the other (this was confusing when it appeared that quite a few of the patrons had an outrageous punk look). Both DJs were adept at spinning a good mix. Most everyone got on the dance floor at least once. My ride, Dan, and I were the among the last group to depart at 1:30am. I think I got to bed at around 2:30.

Breakfast was served at 8:30 the next day. Amazingly, I was up and in the lobby by 8:05am. I needed to try to rope another ride because I was not confident that Dan would make it (I was proved right when Dan showed up at around 10:30). The morning was dedicated to learning about the services available to UCI students. The highlight for myself was UCI's laptop program. In place since 1987, it is the longest continuously running laptop program in the U.S. The laptops are an integral component of the MBA program where students use the most cutting edge software in the majority of their courses (OK, maybe not accounting). The computer department approves and secures deals for only 3 laptops for its students to buy to allow the tech support team to optimally configure and service the computer. This focus makes the integration of some of these software programs go much smoother than in other programs. The laptops will allow you to use the Catalyst intranet site that connects students to all components of the program. UC Berkley recently opted to use the Catalyst system. I love technology, and UCI has got it.

After lunch was the introductory ropes course designed to teach us teamwork and trust. Our group divided into three groups. There were a number of puzzles presented
to the groups. The puzzles really forced us to listen to our team mates and work together. They were tough and fun, but I think the main purpose of the event was to give us a sneak peak of what our entire entering class will be doing during orientation week only 20 feet higher (see picture - yes future classmates, that's where we are going!).

By the end of the ropes course I was exhausted and thoroughly sun burnt (Note to self - significantly increase your home expense budget for a lot of sunscreen). We tried to remedy the exhaustion by going to the Steelhead Brewery for some tasty microbrew. Then, we proceeded to go to the Lucky Strike for some neon bowling. This event really showed how well everyone had bonded over the weekend as everyone looked very comfortable with one another. It got pretty exciting when you combined the deadly (but entertaining) combination of alcohol, blindfolds, and bowling balls. Luckily no one was hurt, and we had a lot of fun.

By the end of bowling, I was pretty exhausted. I went back to the hotel and crashed. Returning home, I was not able to get home until after 3am, so I decided to take Monday off and sleep. I think, now, I am rested and ready to rejoin the real world.

I have recapped the events and my thoughts, but the real substance of this weekend are the new classmates that I met. They were all very unique and interesting. I am hesitant to name them because once I start I will want to talk about each one (As you can see this post is long enough). Lets just say I remember all those who I met and look forward to expanding that relationship in September. That and I am sure many of them will make appearances in this blog over the next two years.