What's Yale SOM really like?
Before coming to Yale, I had some idea of what to expect. Life transitions are always tough and I often do some research to prepare. In my discussions prior to SOM, I heard about many great things - the student class, faculty, curriculum, career services, and (VERY SOON) the facilities. However, being here has shown me those many great things and I have been blown away by the incredible knowledge, support, and camaraderie at Yale.
Two days ago
Yale's integrated curriculum is often cited and conceptually easy to appreciate but the true power comes to life in the classrooms and learning. Two days ago, we were discussing the Royal Bank of Canada and its opportunities for implementing CRM in my Customer class. At the head of the room stood three promiment professors.
Professor Jake Thomas (Finance), visiting Professor Amanda Sharkey (Organizational Behavior), and Professor K. Sudhir (Marketing) collaborated to share their various perspectives, creating a holistic understanding of the case and a multi-faceted analytical approach. Implementing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) isn't just about rolling out fancy technology. There's the ultimate CRM goal of profitability, there's the CRM utilization for marketing, and there's the piece that makes it all happen - people (organizational behavior).
Throughout class, I was impressed by the power of the integrated curriculum. I believe this approach more strongly prepares me for the complexity of real business challenges. Seldom will business success be determined by functional silos. As we finished up, I thought to myself... "this is a strong interdisciplinary education."
Yesterday
One major piece of any MBA program is the career services. Yale's career programs have been incredible in their support and capability. As a business undergrad with a few years of corporate experiences, I had thought.. "let's see what you got" and Yale has delivered.
Yesterday, I traveled with several classmates (20-30) as part of an organized office visit to a global management consulting firm. We were welcomed and received a private presentation from two partners. This wasn't a boring overview or webinar streamed to every school (sometimes even with another school's name in the presentation). This was a personal insider's sneak peak at their values, practices, clients, operations, future growth plans, everything. This type of trust and relationship was incredible. But it only got better. For nearly an hour, we had several consultants provide a lively Q&A panel. The insider's view just got personal.
On the way back to New Haven, I reflected with many of my classmates on the level of engagement and interest from the firm. Incredible. This is a strong career services program.
Today
The Game. Just... google it. This is a strong social life.
Tomorrow
Thanksgiving break begins. An early morning Amtrak ride to Newark, a flight out to my past, a week to see old friends and family. I already hear the questions...
"What's it like being at Yale?"
"How are the people?"
"How are your classes?"
"What do you love most?"
and of course... "What's her name?"
And I already want to come back. #yalesom