My Duke Weekend For Women Experience

For some reason never posted this: Actual date: 11/6/11

Just returned from the Duke - Weekend for Women program and it was such a wonderful experience. Our schedule was a jam packed one for two days and three nights. The students, adcom and faculty had done an amazing job in managing the entire event. I definitely recommend all females to apply for it. Below are the highlights (in my opinion) though, it is difficult to capture the essence of the experience in words.

Welcome Dinner: well... the food was great.

Dean's Welcome: I will never forget the 30 min speech by the Dean Bill Boulding. He seemed like a very authentic person and it was so easy to relate to him. He talked about a time when his mother was studying and thus she would not be home when he returned home but the wonderful part was that when he looked back today, all he remembered were the times he spent with her. (again this is just the crux) He made me believe that my career is important and the sacrifices I make today will be understood by my near and dear ones and I should not feel guilty about not being able to do more for my family as long as I do my best.
Class Session 1 by Prof. Mary Fances: Now, here I saw such an engaging woman who was not only well aware of the subject but was also open to different mindsets and approaches. We were provided a hypothetical case study having version A (cancer cure) and version B (video game): both being sold for high prices and were asked to give our views on what we think of the price, company and government involvement. I will not go in details but the 1.5 hrs just flew by and I wanted more.
Class Session 2 by Prof. Debu Purohit: I had attended his class of Marketing and Innovation during my class visit so I already knew how engaging his classes are or can be. Still, he definitely surpassed my expectations. We discussed a study of Intel and the marketing techniques used by it. We could just discuss one of four questions but it was just amazing. I am out of words. It felt as if there is a treasure of knowledge out there and I just found the key.
Perceptions about Female Leadership by Ashleigh Rosette: Another power packed and mind blowing lecture for me as I have been dealing with the issue throughout my career. 

Networking with MBAA clubs: There was just too much to talk about and though you can get every information from the Fuqua website the personal touch is missing unless you attend this event.
Career Discussions with Alumnae and Students: Another wonderful opportunity to talk to people working in the field you are interested in and get first hand insight even before you are a part of the MBA group.
Closing Dinner with a speech from Former CEO of Wendy-Kerrii Anderson:  The takeaway from her spirited speech would be : "Why ride a bus when you can drive it."

So, to summarize:
Food was great, students were great, faculty was great, alums were great, guest speakers were great. Thus the entire experience resulted in 3 sleepless nights, but totally worth it.

Since I have joined the Ross School of Business - University of Michigan, in retrospect I should have attended their weekend for women too. The women who did attend have great things to say about it.

The Forte Foundation Event

For those unfamiliar with the Forte Foundation here is a brief background:
The Forte Foundation was formed in 2001 for women in business and has ties with many MBA institutes. It consists of women who have completed their MBAs, women who are pursuing and MBA and even MBA students.

I attended an event on 27th Sept 2011, a Tuesday. I drove 2.5hrs for a 3hr event just to increase my networking and have a feel of what it offers. I must say it was totally worth going. There were no surprises for me but the entire experience was exhilarating. It started with 1hr of open session with adcoms of various schools. I was starving so I wasted a good 20 mins in stuffing up only to realize later that the 40 mins were so not enough to cover all the schools I wanted to talk to. I managed to get in touch with just 4 out of, I guess, 20 schools. If you go please carry a snack bar.

Next we had alumnus from 3 different schools speak about their experiences and the hour allocated just flew by. I learnt that many females are going towards non-profit sector these days. I guess it does offer a great work-life balance for women but then I think that the female CEOs are doing good for society too, in their own way. For me volunteer work is a side activity not a job.

Well, the final hour was to talk about the MBA application process through and through. We had representatives from Harvard, Stern, Kellogg and Emory. They touched on topics such as GMAT/GPA, application essays, resumes, and recommendations. All useful, but again no surprises there.

At the end all I can say is that the event is definitely a go go event. If any of you get an opportunity to attend make sure you do. Moreover, it is free if you preregister online so nothing to lose. I have turned into a premium member of the foundation and hope to gain from it initially and maybe expand it in the future. Most schools also offer Forte Fellowships to admitted students. I know Harvard doesn't offer any monetary fellowships as it considers all its students excellent candidates capable of minting money from thin air. Another pointer: Fuqua offers a fee reduction if you attended the event and a waiver in case you are a member.

PS: I did forget to pick up the free pens they were offering. Make sure you get some, they might come in handy during campus visits.

bfn

Networking - only pain or some gain

I have heard everybody say that its all about 'networking' but I am still trying to understand how do I network efficiently? I assume its not just having small talk and exchanging business cards. Well, it is a learning process and I am trying my best though not sure if I am doing the right things.

For this very reason I went for the campus visit of Duke on 23rd Sept, 2011. I will post about it in detail in my later blogs. I drove 6hrs from Harrisburg all the way to Durham and am not sure of what I gained. I guess time will decide. I did meet a few wonderful people and I plan on staying in touch with them but again time will tell. Oh and I finally submitted my Duke application for the Early filing round, fingers crossed.

Today, I am going to attend a Forte Foundation Event Washington DC, lets see how that goes. It is a 2.5 hr drive for me and it has been raining since morning. At a time I even gave up on the event but I have finally pulled myself together and have decided to go for it. It is my first event so I have no idea what to expect. I will be leaving in another 20 mins. Will write about it soon.

PS: The parking at the hotel is 30$. Can't they provide prospective students free parking, we are already cutting a lot on expenses to save for school tuition. Wishful thinking !!