Go Blue Rendezvous

Past week was the welcome week at Ross, Ann Arbor. My husband and I attended this fabulous event spread over three hectic days. Although it is really hard to capture the whole experience in words, I will still try to give you a feel for how GBR went.

We arrived really late Wednesday night and checked into our hotels. Because of the time change, we had hard time getting up in the morning of Thursday but I was really excited about GBR. I had already sent in my acceptance so I wanted to use this opportunity to meet my class mates and really get a sense of what was in store for me in August. I have to admit that I was also unconsciously looking for a reaffirmation for my commitment to Ross and a sense of belongingness to the school. I wanted to ensure that I had made the right decision by accepting my call. At the end of the week, not only had I made many new friends but also felt really confident that I was in safe hands. Let me share with my readers how the various activities went:

Thursday : Day 1 started off with set of customizable events to "co-create" your experience at GBR. This included registration, pre-career consulting sessions, financial aid sessions, and meeting with various clubs. I had already signed up for a pre-career consulting session with a MBA2 student who would be joining McKinsey in April. I wanted to get an idea about how to start my career switch into consulting. It was really reassuring to know first hand from another career switcher that it was really not hard. All I had to do was just join the consulting club and participate in all the activities that the club hosts. That should not be hard!

Rest of the day was spent networking with some of my class mates and current students. The highlight of the day was the dean's welcome address. Dean Dolan is an absolutely convincing speaker. He highlighted how things are on the upswing at Michigan with some great faculty and a new building coming up. He stressed on the whole action based approach that is unique to Michigan and how MAP was the best thing that could ever happen to you. The other key note speaker was Ross alumnae Mary Haben, VP @ Kraft Foods. She theorized that there are three types of people: One who just dream all day, another set who just work hard all day without giving much thought to where they are going and what they want to do, and the third set of people who take some time to think about what they want to achieve and then strive to achieve it in the day. She tied the last set of people to Michigan's principle of "leading in thought and action". She also said that Ross people are respected in the industry for their intelligence and humbleness. Rest of the day was spent with my student host at a cookout party and then at the Casino night event. Casino night was fun but I was really drained so I had to call it a day.

Friday: Day 2 began at 8:30AM with a miniature version of MAP (multi-disciplinary action program). This event was my favorite part of the whole trip because this really gave me a feel for MBA life. We were divided into teams with people I had not met and were assigned a problem to solve. This was a terrific team activity and kind of an eye opener for me. My team had a couple of marketing people, a consultant, a sustenance person, a talent agent and myself an engineer. There was overwhelming amount of information and limited time to solve the problem. And it gave us a true flavor of team based action oriented learning. The second highlight of the day was the class room experience. I took two classes: finance and corporate strategy. I was impressed by the caliber and the teaching style of the finance professor. In the strategy class, we discussed a case about Ryan airlines (similar business plan like South West Airlines). Both the classes were really fun. At night we went to a club and met all the "clubs" at Ross. This was an excellent opportunity to explore Ann Arbor and also to network more with the admits, current students and the alumni. Drunk and exhausted I don't remember when I came back to the hotel but it was really late :)

Saturday: Saturday was a easy day with a presentation from the career development office on how they help students at each and every step. What really impressed me a lot was the fact that at all these events, there were always some current student or alumni present to share their stories and collaborate the facts being presented. Students spoke about their experiences at MAP, about the job search process and about the support that comes from the huge alumni base. There was a whole alumni panel discussion later to show support for Ross admits. Michigan has the largest living alumni base and I think the most loyal too. School spirit seems to be really strong in every one and there was connection that I could feel. The cherry on the toping was the fun closing ceremony. Friar's from the Michigan Glee club made a small presentation on life in Ann Arbor, a current student wrote a song especially for this occasion and at the end every one got up on their feet and sang "Hail to the Victors!". This was the moment of a life time.

In all, I was really impressed by caliber of my future classmates, current students and the faculty. I was also impressed by how the students and the faculty worked hard to ensure that the admit students can really get a feel for life @ Ross. Oh not to mention, the BEST food I have ever had at any catered event. There was food at every event and the receptions had everything from best liquor, to yummy sushi, to fountains of chocolate and sangria from the best place in Ann Arbor. Hail to the organizers!Hail! Hail!