Non-Traditional Electives

For first-year students, the spring semester is the first opportunity to add elective classes to our schedule. We have six classes left in the core – three (Operations, Employee, Macroeconomics) to be taken in Spring 1 and three (Integrated Leadership Perspective, Innovator, State & Society) to be taken in Spring 2. That means that we can choose up to eight credits of electives this spring. One of the great things about Yale SOM is that, even as a first-year student, there are many options beyond the traditional business school electives (though they are all offered). This Spring, I decided to fill out my schedule with some less traditional options and thought it would be interesting to share what those were. Though these courses are less traditional, they are just as readily available as the electives linked to above. Elective 1 - "Internet Privacy" at the Yale Law School Yale SOM students are permitted to take classes at any other school at Yale University. This spring, I am going to be taking a class at the Yale Law School called “Internet Privacy.” From behavioral targeting to social networking, online technology is evolving on a daily basis, however, the law has not always been able to keep up. As someone who worked for five years in the advertising world and aspires to be a brand manager, this is an excellent opportunity to learn about one of the most important topics in marketing right now. Elective 2 - Independent Study with the Yale Center for Customer Insights For those not familiar with YCCI, it is a research institute that is part of the School of Management and "aims to provide fresh and forward-looking insights into customer behavior through the application of a unique multidisciplinary and collaborative approach." My project objective is to assist a Fortune 500 company in better understanding “media multi-tasking” and based on these insights, to provide a point-of-view on implications to more effectively communicate with consumers. I will be working with five other students to complete this project and will earn four credits while doing so. I will also have the opportunity to meet with three of the top marketing professors at Yale SOM each week while also communicating and presenting directly to our client. As I am sure many of my peers are, I am excited to start the new semester and very much looking forward to these unique learning opportunities.