A Day in the Life at Yale SOM: A Dynamic Monday

What I love about business school is the sheer breadth of things it’s possible to do every day, from class to working with your learning team, company presentations, club activities, and lots of fun social events. Each day and each week are very different, but this is what a recent Monday in October looked for me this fall semester. 

7:30 a.m.: The day starts with breakfast spent scrolling through the month’s event calendar to sign up for ones I am interested in. I’m looking forward to speaking with Professor Heidi Brooks during the Lunch with a Professor series.

9 to 10 a.m.: I meet my learning team to practice our presentation for the Power and Politics class. Our project was to examine the power dynamic between Yale University and the town of New Haven. This class is one of things that makes SOM stand out—it is a conversation starter for the various ways in which we use our own power in our life, and it equips us with tools to be effective change-makers in the future.

10:10 to 11:30 a.m.: I head to my statistics class, where we are examining multivariate regressions on real life datasets. This class is interesting because the professor draws on experiences from his diverse projects to illustrate what he’s teaching.

11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.: Lunchtime corporate presentation. This is an opportunity to get an overview of what the organization is doing, ask questions, and meet with some of the people who work there. There are plenty of employers on campus right now, from consulting firms to technology companies, investment banks, and consumer goods companies. This is a great way to explore multiple pathways before final applications in November.

1 to 2:20 p.m.: Our last Power and Politics class is here. Today, each team delivers its final presentation, and it’s fascinating to hear some of the innovative ideas my cohort has come up with. I’m taking notes on how we can action some of these ideas over the next two years.

3 to 3:30 p.m.: Coffee chat with a recruiter from the company that delivered a presentation at lunch. This is a good way to understand the company’s culture a bit better and get answers to specific questions, or even just advice. I enjoy meeting SOM alums and hearing about how they have used their experience at SOM in their current roles.

3:30 to 4:30 p.m.: Work furiously on statistics homework that’s due tomorrow.

4:30 to 6 p.m.: Meet the clients. The Social Impact Consulting Club at SOM sources projects from local nonprofits and matches them with teams of student consultants who will work with them over the next few months. This evening, the organizations are making short presentations about their projects, followed by some time for the students to meet with the organization leaders. I am very excited about the kind of projects and organizations we will be working with. There is a wide variety stretching from human capital strategy to data measurement and financial planning engagements.

7 to 8:30 p.m.: Head to Voices, an event that offers a space where every week a few students can share a personal story or anecdote that is meaningful to them. These are intense sessions where we learn a lot about our fellow classmates and contribute to a supportive and tight-knit community. I love these sessions because they help us go beyond the surface details of what somebody is recruiting for, or what they studied in college.

9 to 10 p.m.: Dance practice. With Diwali coming up, the South Asian Club is organizing some fun dance performances for Closing Bell, the weekly happy hour at SOM. I’m off to practice the opening sequence that I’m slotted for. This fulfills my “do something that scares you” quota for the week. 

10 to 11 p.m.: Phew, it’s been a long day! Time for dinner, reading the case for tomorrow’s class, and then off to bed.