One question that I consistently asked MBA students
when I was applying was about a typical week. What’s it like? Of all the people I asked, no one could
give me an answer that really meant much. How many days a week do you
have class? What do you do the rest of your time? How much sleep do
you get? Do you go out during the week? How much time do you spend
at Owen? All of these questions seemed so straightforward, but in
reality, that's definitely not the case.
So what is the typical week like at Owen? Let
me compare and contrast two recent weeks to give you an idea of why there is
really no good answer.
Two weeks ago, my week consisted of two classes on
Monday and Wednesday and two on Tuesday and Thursday. I had little to no
work to do so in my spare time I slept, watched pointless television and
partied like an undergrad on a random Tuesday. And looked for more
internships. Aside from the ever-present stress over jobs, it was likely
one of the most relaxing weeks I've had at Owen.
After a weekend of doing minimal work, staying out
too late and spending Sunday immersed in the Super Bowl, Monday rolled around
and I realized that it was going to be the week from hell. And it was.
For everyone! Here's a quick glimpse of this week (for first year's) at
Owen.
Monday
9:30 a.m. Roll out of bed. Look at
syllabi for each class and panic. Realize there are projects and exams in
every single class due this week. Wonder how I could have possibly eaten
an entire bag of Doritos while watching the Super Bowl. Wish I would have done more to prepare
for the week.
11:20 a.m. Accounting. Alternate
between paying attention during the exam review and emailing to classmates
about The Real Housewives of Orange County and which character we hate
the most. Receive email with good news that I have an interview on
Thursday. Feel excited and then panic, realizing that means more things
to do this week.
2:00 p.m. Survey Design. Turn in
assignment, which was definitely “off the mark”. Stress out over
finding time to complete group project that is due on Friday (which we haven't
started).
Tuesday
9:40 a.m. Strategy. Watch management
team presentations in preparation for my team's analyst presentation on
Thursday. Try to estimate amount of time it will take to put together.
Give up.
11:30 a.m. Study more for Accounting.
Still not quite sure what activity-based costing is all about.
1:00 p.m. Attend interview prep session.
Realize how ill prepared I am and start making “to do” list.
2:00 p.m. Study more accounting.
Have compulsive urge to leave Owen and never return. Instead go to
Starbucks and accidentally spill coffee on myself.
3:40 p.m. Consumer Analysis. Review
case write-up and discuss with professor our group's idea for final project.
Didn't really have any ideas, so conversation cut short.
5:15 p.m. Meet with Strategy group in a
library room, which always feels like a jail cell with a flat screen. At
least we have a fan.
6:30 p.m. Still meeting with Strategy
group and making decent headway on our presentation. Did you know that
Nissan's hybrids are made with Toyota's systems?
7:45 p.m. Space out while the financial
wizards in the group build models.
8:15 p.m. Should we order pizza?
9:00 p.m. Decide to call it quits.
Email our first draft to Dean Lehman. Pray that he says we are on
the right track.
9:30 p.m. Study more accounting.
Wednesday
9:00 a.m. Meet
with Survey group to analyze data for our project due Friday. Use wrong data and overload our
computers, which freeze up. Try to
cram for Accounting exam.
11:20 a.m.
Accounting. Suffer through
exam. Hope that everyone else did
just as bad.
2:00 p.m. Survey
Design. Does our project have to be 10-12 pages?
3:30 p.m. Do
research on company I am interviewing with on Thursday.
5:15 p.m. Meet
with Strategy group in classroom to finalize and practice our
presentation.
6:00 p.m. This is
going to take much longer than I thought.
7:00 p.m. Lose
focus and can’t stop laughing at the Rick Astley pie chart.
8:00 p.m.
Run-through presentation and call it a night.
8:30 p.m. Go to
Target and Wal-Mart to prepare for my interview on Thursday (it’s an apparel
company). Spend $45 on things I
don’t need.
9:30 p.m. Home
Internet (thanks, AT&T) is not working. Drive to hotel down the street and use their Wi-Fi in the
parking lot.
10:00 p.m. Prepare
for interview. Write my section
for the Survey Design group paper.
Thursday
8:30 a.m. Practice
my part of the Strategy presentation.
Put on suit.
9:40 a.m. Strategy. Give presentation.
11:20 a.m.
Prepare for interview.
12:00 p.m. Have
interview. Feel positive about the
opportunity. Wonder how everyone
else did.
3:40 p.m.
Consumer Analysis. Try to keep my eyes open. The lack of sleep is really catching up.
5:30 p.m. Go to the Predators game, not as a
fan, but as an intern. Run around
for a few hours doing whatever needs to be done.
10:30 p.m. Finally get home, throw suit on the
floor (it needs to be dry cleaned anyway) and pass out.
As you can see, this week was incredibly busy,
full of a wide variety of tasks that are equally important and
time-consuming. By the time Friday
rolled around I was wiped out! It’s
a good thing Friday are free of classes.
Except, of course, not this week!
At 8:30 a.m. I attended a “special session” for Strategy, reviewing our
next assignment, the Capstone Simulation.
Just as I started to decompress and relax, I realized that next week
might just be as busy as this week.
It never ends!
Read the full article: Just Your Average Week