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...
Saturday, April 01, 2006
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.
Monday, March 06, 2006
The West Coast Road Trip Awards
We thought it would be appropriate to recognize the best and worst of our trip. We hope you enjoy.
Best City Visited - Seattle - Despite being a large Metropolis, Seattle keeps a small community feel. Its beautiful scenery, interesting architecture, and cultural attraction make Seattle an intellectually stimulating environment.
Most Considerate Drivers - Oregon - Like dogs beaten into submission, Oregon drivers seem to drive under 110 km and quickly move to the right lane whenever a faster driver approaches.
Most Inconsiderate Drivers - California - There appears to be a big subset of California drivers that believe the world revolves around them and they drive like they are the only car on the road.
Best Microbrew - Pike's Pub, Seattle - OK, we only sampled microbrews at two locations, but Pike's Pub's Scottish Kilt-lifter microbrew had a great, robust flavour. To be honest, BJ's brewery (our other location) also had top notch beer. Who would have thought that Americans can make great beer.
Most Scenic State - Colorado (honourable mention to Montana) - Colorado has canyons, mountains, tunnels for incredibly dramatic scenery. Montana just makes you want to be a cowboy.
Best State - California - A state with the population of Canada in 1/20th the land area, California has diverse scenery and people.
Worst State - South Dakota - As we all know, you're dead to me!
Most Interesting Location Name - Crazy Lady Creek, Wyoming
Most Unusual Use of a Casino - Montana - You know there is a problem when you have a Laundromat Casino!
Best Car Sleeper - Lindsey - Actually car or hotel, Lindsey found a way to continuously sleep.
Most Unusual Trailer Park - After seeing a trailer park in the O.C., I truly believe that trailer parks are ingrained in the white man's culture. How a trailer park exists on land that costs over a million dollars an acre is beyond me.
Best City Visited - Seattle - Despite being a large Metropolis, Seattle keeps a small community feel. Its beautiful scenery, interesting architecture, and cultural attraction make Seattle an intellectually stimulating environment.
Most Considerate Drivers - Oregon - Like dogs beaten into submission, Oregon drivers seem to drive under 110 km and quickly move to the right lane whenever a faster driver approaches.
Most Inconsiderate Drivers - California - There appears to be a big subset of California drivers that believe the world revolves around them and they drive like they are the only car on the road.
Best Microbrew - Pike's Pub, Seattle - OK, we only sampled microbrews at two locations, but Pike's Pub's Scottish Kilt-lifter microbrew had a great, robust flavour. To be honest, BJ's brewery (our other location) also had top notch beer. Who would have thought that Americans can make great beer.
Most Scenic State - Colorado (honourable mention to Montana) - Colorado has canyons, mountains, tunnels for incredibly dramatic scenery. Montana just makes you want to be a cowboy.
Best State - California - A state with the population of Canada in 1/20th the land area, California has diverse scenery and people.
Worst State - South Dakota - As we all know, you're dead to me!
Most Interesting Location Name - Crazy Lady Creek, Wyoming
Most Unusual Use of a Casino - Montana - You know there is a problem when you have a Laundromat Casino!
Best Car Sleeper - Lindsey - Actually car or hotel, Lindsey found a way to continuously sleep.
Most Unusual Trailer Park - After seeing a trailer park in the O.C., I truly believe that trailer parks are ingrained in the white man's culture. How a trailer park exists on land that costs over a million dollars an acre is beyond me.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Arrived Alive!
Yesterday, we decided to do an all-nighter (2nd of the trip). The lack of scenery and the fact that otherwise we would not arrive in London until past 10 pm inspired us to take this drastic course of action. We arrived safe and sound in London by 12 pm.
The trip out of Colorado was the most scenic. The mountains were quite amazing. Around Vail there was the most blatant speed trap I've ever seen where speed limits on the mountain descents were 
about 10 miles/hour less than elsewhere in the state. The cops were in force trapping all the tourists. Thankfully, our little car could barely keep up in the mountains, so the speed trap did not pose a big threat for us.
Once you exit the mountains and hit Denver, the scenery turns boring real fast. You simply point the car in the desired direction and hit cruise control. The rest is history.
Now for the stats:
No. of Days: 11
Total Kilometres: 11, 055
Number of States Driven Through: 17
No. of Cop Encounters: 1
No. of School Visits: 4
Tune in tomorrow where I will give out the Trip Awards.
The trip out of Colorado was the most scenic. The mountains were quite amazing. Around Vail there was the most blatant speed trap I've ever seen where speed limits on the mountain descents were 
about 10 miles/hour less than elsewhere in the state. The cops were in force trapping all the tourists. Thankfully, our little car could barely keep up in the mountains, so the speed trap did not pose a big threat for us.
Once you exit the mountains and hit Denver, the scenery turns boring real fast. You simply point the car in the desired direction and hit cruise control. The rest is history.Now for the stats:
No. of Days: 11
Total Kilometres: 11, 055
Number of States Driven Through: 17
No. of Cop Encounters: 1
No. of School Visits: 4
Tune in tomorrow where I will give out the Trip Awards.
Friday, March 03, 2006
The Long Road Home - Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado
Our tour of MBA programs has come to an end and we began our journey home. Traffic was heavy out of California, but was very sparse once we were in Utah. Not much to say about the journey. The scenery is beautiful (see pictures) and we took Lindsey down the Las Vegas Strip. She seemed a bit disappointed saying that the appearance fell short of the hype. Anyways, we got two more full days of driving then we can relax at work.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Trailer Parks in the O.C.
Today, we got to see Orange County in the daylight. It has the feel of a mashed up series of suburbs. The weather is so constantly and ridiculously perfect that the locals get nervous when a little rain comes down and 5 degrees Celsius means its time to go inside and turn the heat on. So, to summarize, Orange County is an idyllic suburbia provided you don't mind a million plus people living on top of one 
another.While I visited UCI, Lindsey and my
dad took a ride up the coast to Santa Monica (a pretty impressive distance). I think Lindsey likes the area as the thoughts of the nearby beaches and apartments with a beach feel are everywhere. After they picked me up, we went down to Newport Beach. It is very picturesque and rich. We went out to see the beach near one of the piers. The beach stretches a great distance in both directions. Ultimately, Newport is a beach town that has been almost overdeveloped.
Interestingly enough, my image of the OC is tarnished. There are trailer parks in the OC! Knowing the OC, I bet there are BMWs in the driveways of these trailers. When I see these parks, I can't help but think about a Trailer Park Boys special were Julian, Bubbles, and Ricky go to visit there fourth cousin on their Mother's Sister's Uncle's side. We could call it Trailer Park OC.
On to UCI. UCI has been gaining national recognition over the past few years with its progressive curriculum utilizing the newest technology. They also benefit from the fact that the Orange County region is growing at a rapid pace. Everyone wants to live in paradise. Of all the schools except Stanford (which is a different type of beast), UCI is the program that appears to be most run like a business bent on delivering a high level of customer service to its applicants and students. When I visit them, I get the impression that they are on the right track.My visit was hosted by two students named Pong and Tiffany. Pong is an accountant from the Philippines and Tiffany and her husband own a moving and storage company. Both were great hosts and were obviously talented individuals. Tiffany had quite a vibrant presence and we exchanged frequent jokes. After my visit, Lindsey and I returned to UCI for their "happy hour" for free beer and a second opportunity to meet the students. Overall, UCI has good student body.
Well, the visits are over and Lindsey and I will have some deep thinking to do. No location came out as an obvious winner. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses. The decision will likely come down to the wire. Maybe I will only get accepted at one school and make my decision easy.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
UC Davis - Little Pink Houses for You and Me
Today was a little more relaxed. I did not have to be to UC Davis until 11am, so we did a tour of Davis, CA. Given that Davis has a population of about 50,000 and most of that is university students, the tour was quick. The best description of Davis is "Quiet and wholesome". I expected to see John Cougar Mellancamp pop out and start singing "Pink Houses". It seems that i
nnocent and uncorrupted.
The UC Davis business school has a lot of things going for it that the rest of the world does not know about. Most MBA ratings rate the Davis MBA as a top 50 program (given there are 50 states I think this is a good thing). I was informed that they were they received the 2nd most research funding after MIT). The current trend is for technology companies to leave silicon valley for the cheaper land and better quality of employee life out towards Sacramento (as an added bonus is that they are off the fault line). They are just starting to combine the MBA program with the great research of the university. Davis just had a VC firm with $100 million in capital set up in the town.
Good things are happening for the UC Davis MBA, but the world doesn't know enough about it. While their career department appears to be doing a stellar job luring major companies to the campus to recruit the MBAs, I feel the admission office is not selling the program strong enough. I must give the admissions team credit for delivering great customer service. Every interaction I have had with them was professional and very positive. I think they should broadcast that people admitted to UC Davis are lucky and will be greatly challenged. During my interview, while the questions were done effectively, I got the impression that I was a top notch prospect. Sure I was flattered, but this also implies that I am as good as it gets (scary thought) and the student body only goes down from here. I think with all that UC Davis has going for it, it should sell the program early in the admissions process to generate interest from more high caliber prospects.I am not saying I am not interested in Davis. I feel that there is a lot of potential of which I could take advantage. The draw back is the feeling that my fellow classmates (and alumni) are not of high caliber. I should note here that my student escort was an excellent individual with whom I would be grateful to go to school. Unfortunately, I got the impression (possibly self imagined) that he may be as good as it gets.
Bottom line I will need to think more on UC Davis, given the other opportunities. Now, off to the OC. We left Davis at 2pm and made it to Irvine by 8:30. Unfortunately, we hit L.A. at night, so we could not see any sights. Irvine has a pretty full day planned for me, so we will see how it goes. I already have some misgivings about the traffic and how I may not have the temperament for it. Till tomorrow.
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