Sloan Stories

Bittersweet Goodbyes

2008-09-04T23:56:00.003-04:00

Goodbyes are never easy. Especially not when you're doing it over multiple days. And now, on my last night in Cambridge, MA, I'm sitting here reflecting on it all. Definitively sad, but not remorseful of the decision I've made.

After a lot of thought, reflection, and discussions, I've decided to take a leave of absence from MIT Sloan. Making this decision definitely ranks up there in terms of difficult decisions I've had to make. While it was a tough dilemma, I was fortunate that the two paths I had to choose from were both excellent options.

I feel blessed to have had the chance these past few days to spend time with friends new and old. To have gotten a glimpse of what life as a second year Sloanie would've been like. And especially to be reminded of how amazing a group of people my classmates are.

What I'll miss most are the 25-50 pick-up basketball games I would've played at the Z-center, the dozen or more c-functions, mingling in e51's lobby, burgers at Miracle of Science, nights at the BHP, and random meals and outings. What I'll miss most are the people.

Year 1: Done!

2008-05-19T14:48:00.015-04:00

It's amazing how different life can feel depending on your environment, objectives, and circumstances. I just wrapped up my first year of business school. Nine very fulfilling months that went by in a flash.

It's been such a whirlwind that I couldn't remember my initial impressions and expectations. (Fortunately, I can just go back and read old blog entires.) I'm happy to say that—though it took me a while—i have figured out where i want to concentrate my energy in the year i have remaining.

Before i reflect on my second semester, there are a couple recent events i want to mention:

Sloan Follies
The annual Sloan Follies (held last Thursday) was a ton of fun. I was really surprised and impressed at the quality of the production the organizers put on, and also the many talents of my classmates. Some videos should be up on YouTube now or shortly (will hopefully come back and insert links later).

Entrepreneurship & Innovation Year-End Reception
I'm really happy that Abhinav, Sandy and I got to plan a year-end reception and send off for the inaugural E&I class. It was a bit last-minute and stressful, but well worth it. While listening to some of the graduating students speak about their own startups that they're working on after school, i suddenly realized a big reason i'm happy to be at Sloan and a part of E&I. Many of my classmates plan to go out and change the world—whether in clean energy, social entrepreneurship, helping developing nations, or in tech entrepreneurship—all of which is really quite inspiring. Some are going for it right away with their own startups, but i'm sure many others will eventually have large impacts on people's lives.

Sloan Olympics
The Sloan Olympics were a lot of fun and a great chance to re-bond with my fellow Pacificans. Dan Morash, Steve Rullison, Lauren Hunt, and i won the medley relay (despite having me on the team). There were also a lot of fun field events to watch and participate in. The BBQ afterward wasn't bad either.

AdMIT Weekend (Round 2)
I didn't get to help out with the Round 1 AdMIT weekend so was happy i got a chance to lend a hand the second time round. It was bizarre to think how i was in the shoes of the admits just a year ago. I really enjoyed seeing the energy and enthusiasm, and especially enjoyed observing people who arrived uncertain about which school to choose, leaving convinced and committed to attending Sloan. The awesome Southeast Asian C-Function and Net Impact house party featuring the Rolling Sloans probably didn't hurt.

Onward to a brief semester recap and reflection:

Classes
I realize i never touched on the classes i took this semester. They were:

15.012 - Macro and International Economics (H1)
15.025 - Game Theory
15.351 - Managing Innovation & Entrepreneurship
15.390 - New Enterprises
15.847 - Consumer Behavior (H2)
15.900 - Strategic Management

My favorite class of the semester was by far Game Theory. Prof. McAdams was an excellent teacher and was fully committed in his delivery and presentation (leading on occasion to him being slightly melodramatic, which was still appreciated).

Macro/Int'l Econ was useful for gaining a better understanding of monetary and fiscal policy, as well as efforts in international aid to developing countries and the many challenges involved there.

Prof. Frederick was extremely enthusiastic while teaching Consumer Behavior, and it was interesting learning more about the irrationality of consumers and how some of the simplest variations can affect the way people perceive things.

My other three classes—Managing I&E, New Enterprises, and Strategic Management—gave me practice in analyzing industries and companies (with emphasis on my interest in tech), both big and small, and gave me a solid foundation to approach strategic decision making.

Sloanies
I'm happy that in the past four months, i've gotten to know many of my classmates better. A sizable chunk of my class will be in the Bay Area this summer, so i look forward to some summer Sloanie fun. And i look forward to our 2nd year together, though it's sad that the 2nd years (class of '08) are graduating and we won't be seeing them around regularly.

Now i just need to wrap up some loose ends and pack/move before i jet off to Cali and start my summer internship at FriendFeed!

Facebook chat first impression

2008-04-06T11:22:00.000-04:00

I had heard about Facebook launching a chat feature but didn't realize it was coming out already. While I've barely begun to use it, I thought I'd note down a few impressions.

The design is decently clean and having pop-up Notifications seems like a great idea (though I haven't seen it in action yet). FB copied Google Talk's simple and no-maintenance buddy list. (Though I was just thinking last night how I want more influence over the order of my contacts on Gtalk—at least a way to label people with a priority tag to sort on).

Right now I don't appreciate FB chat's omnipresence. It feels like a mini-Windows Taskbar, which compresses my already limited screen real-estate on my 12" X61. It'd be nice if I could minimize it without signing-off or popping-out the chat window. Even while minimized, I feel like it sticks out too much. It'd be nice to have it in a fixed place that doesn't interrupt the flow of the page while offline.

By nature, chatting is far more intrusive than emails or wall posts (expectations of immediate vs delayed response times), and I'd like to have control over which of my FB contacts can IM me. This could be a big issue considering the small marginal benefits of having access to certain people you might not already have on your other IM programs compared to the downsides. An invisibility or block feature would solve this.

I also wonder how this will play out with my classmates. It could be greatly beneficial since I still don't have the emails/screennames/phone #s of all the classmates I talk to regularly.

Perhaps there would also be the unintended benefit of having someone monitor how much time you spend on FB—"Stop wasting time on Facebook and send me your part of the assignment!"

Brett Favre—riding off into the sunset

2008-03-07T04:07:00.000-05:00

I just finished watching Brett Favre's Retirement Press Conference at Packers.com. Before watching it I was quite depressed and hadn't made peace with the fact that Brett announced his retirement, but after watching I was able to find some level of closure.

Brett mentioned a few times how he doesn't like speaking in front of people and isn't a very vocal person. In spite of this, he was very well-spoken and has the rare ability to combine eloquence with his casual and down-to-earth attitude. There are so many things he said in the press conference that I'd love to quote, so many stories about the tragedies Brett's faced and the strength he's shown in persevering despite them I'd love to share. But I will share just one thing I respect so much about him and that's his character. I am in complete admiration of his honesty, humility and ability to accept and handle the circumstances of life. In so many ways and to so many people, he has been a real life hero—someone who's made the world around him a better place. So while I'm sad that I'll never have the chance to watch him play live, won't be able to have him on my Madden '09 team, and that he won't be leading the Packers to a Superbowl win next year, he seems to have thought this through more thoroughly than any of us possibly could. And he's decided that this is the right path for him—so how can anyone argue?

The video is long (66:46), but for a Packers fan, every moment was golden. And as the video drew to a close I found myself feeling the same feelings of sadness, and for the same reason. Knowing that the opportunity to watch the energy and genuineness of Brett Favre was coming to an end.

Events around February 28, 2008

2008-02-29T19:17:00.000-05:00

So i found out yesterday that i share a birthday with Paul Krugman. The slight relevance beyond birth date is that I've been hearing about him a bit in my macro econ class, he obtained his PhD at MIT and used to teach here, and my buddy Chris has shared some of his columns with me from time to time at NYTimes.com.

A nice birthday treat was getting to hear Clay Christensen speak. He's an HBS professor, and author of The Innovator's Dilemma, which I read just last year (and loved). In particular, he had a very interesting segment talking about a way to look at products. For the product, what job is it that I'm hiring it to do? That can help drive your decisions and get to the root of what consumers really are looking for.

On Wednesday I went to a session where I got to hear Tim Westergren speak. Tim is the founder of Pandora and is currently its Chief Strategy Officer. He had a great story to tell about his experiences (and big challenges) and what led him to make Pandora. I just signed up at Pandora and it's come a long way and looks and feels completely different than the early version I tried back in 2005.

Being tired from lots of traveling and readjusting to school, as well as having been fighting off a cold for the past week, I didn't really want to do anything for my b-day. But a couple good friends caught wind of this and so I ended up going out to a low-key dinner and then drinks afterward. It was about all the energy I had since I woke up this morning feeling a bit more sick. Alas, I had a good time, and hopefully I can be fully recovered by the end of the weekend. Many thanks to all who found their way out last night to spend time with me on my b-day, and to those (all over the world) who remembered and offered warm b-day wishes! :D

On being the FriendFeed intern

2008-02-26T05:20:00.000-05:00

I'm not one to be very star-struck by celebrities, but when I first started interning at FriendFeed I definitely felt in awe of the people I was around. For a bit of context, back when Google Search first came out, I was certainly impressed—search that really works! But it wasn't until I started using Gmail in 2004 that I really became a fan of Google. It was the most innovative piece of consumer software that I had ever encountered. The release of Google Maps in '05 reinforced my love for Google products.

And there I was, as a FriendFeed intern, sitting amongst the people that made these products happen:

Paul Buchheit created Gmail, Sanjeev Singh joined him in developing it, and Kevin Fox designed the UI. Ana Yang did marketing for Gmail (which I later realized was the reason speaking with her seemed so familiar, as I had read all the Gmail marketing material thoroughly...).

Bret Taylor and Jim Norris launched Google Maps, where Bret was the product manager (and also did development work), and Jim a software engineer.

Needless to say, it was very inspiring to work with such a high-caliber team. I learned so much simply from observing and discussing approaches to product improvements and features with the team. With my interests in product management and user experience, I was particularly thankful to have a chance to learn from Bret and Kevin.

I naturally expected the team to be comprised of very smart individuals, but was pleasantly surprised to find that they were also incredibly well-rounded and fun individuals. On top of it all, they were very down-to-earth and friendly. It felt like being a part of a second family.

I missed them so much that a week after returning to school I flew back to California and joined them in Lake Tahoe for the first annual FriendFeed ski trip.

As impressive as what they've done in a few short months may be, I'm sure the best is yet to come. And, they're officially launching! So go check out FriendFeed before all the good user nicknames are taken. ;)

How I spent the rest of my winter vacation

2008-02-16T21:38:00.000-05:00

Having been very busy with an unimaginably wide-range of things the past few weeks, I haven't yet written about how I spent a large chunk of my first real winter break in four years (taking vacation days while working isn't really a "winter break").

One of the great things about being a student at MIT is IAP (Independent Activities Period) during January, which"has provided members of the MIT community with a unique opportunity to organize, sponsor and participate in a wide variety of activities, including how-to sessions, forums, athletic endeavors, lecture series, films, tours, recitals and contests." Alternatively, it offers students an opportunity to take an extended winter break to travel, prepare and interview for summer internships, or partake in a month-long intern/externship.

With my interest in either starting or joining a high tech startup in the near future, I thought IAP would be a great time to spend a few weeks and get experience working at a startup. In thinking about what kind of startup to choose, I followed my belief that the most important thing about a startup is a great team (yes there are successful entrepreneurial efforts from great product ideas or just great luck, but if I had to place bets, I'd go with a great team).

I asked my good friend Jini for any recommendations she may have for startups with great teams and she responded by telling me about a startup whose four co-founders are the ex-Googlers who were responsible for creating Gmail and Google Maps—which are, in my opinion, hands down the most innovative and useful products to have been home-grown at Google, aside from Search. Jini made an introduction for me to one of the co-founders, Paul. Paul was employee #23 at Google and was responsible for Gmail, Google's famous "Don't be evil" motto, and the first AdSense prototype. Fortunately he and the rest of the co-founders agreed to let me in their doors, and in my next post I'll talk about the extremely good fortune I had of interning at a young startup called FriendFeed.

Aside from the internship, I also was in Vegas for a weekend with classmates, flew on five consecutive weekends, with the past four weekends being trips between Boston and San Francisco (both ways the past two weekends, so six coast-to-coast flights in total) for interviews. The last of which is this Monday (and finally a non-redeye from SF to Boston!). All in all, this has resulted in me being quite confused as to which coast and time-zone I'm on.

Unreal

2008-02-16T05:03:00.000-05:00

Originally posted at http://everybodylovesklaus.blogspot.com/2008/02/unreal.html:

Dear Klaus,

Part of me understood the tragic news I heard this week. But most of me refused to acknowledge it. How could this be real? My memories of you are still so sharp and vivid in my mind. Your infectious smile and laugh, your boundless energy and enthusiasm for life, and your genuine care and concern for friends. I can still hear your voice so clearly.

I am so very sorry I was not able to make it to your memorial service today, as I am out in California. It only reinforces the pain I feel on other missed opportunities for hanging out with you. We still haven't had the chance to get together, for you to show me things on the guitar, and for me to show you things in WingTsun.

I was looking through old emails we exchanged and a passage you wrote stood out:
"the enlightment was like a flash, I was training with Paul and suddenly I was not in my body, for a split second, dejavus like, understanding a lot more just intuitively. Hard to say in words actually."

I feel an out of body experience as well, about this reality which I do not want to accept. It likewise is hard to describe in words, and I am very incapable of understanding it intuitively. But even after leaving us, you have helped me with the first WingTsun principal of moving forward. I imagine what you would do in this situation--you would certainly do your best to raise the spirits of those around you while cherishing the memories of what has been lost. So with bittersweet emotions, I allow myself to be swayed by the thoughts of your positive energy and charming voice, urging me to accept what has passed and that things will be okay. I will do my best to oblige, dear friend, but I cannot make a promise of it.

"Dan-Man"

Goodbye dear friend

2008-02-13T20:20:00.000-05:00

Missed chances
Missed moments
Missed times for
us to share

Too soon for
you to go
taking away
your bright smile

All of our
memories of
You will live
on

So until
we meet again
take care dear
Klaus

http://everybodylovesklaus.blogspot.com/

A visit down memory lane

2008-02-01T04:14:00.000-05:00

This morning (1/31) i stopped by Saratoga High School for the first time in over 8 years. (Not counting my sister's graduation 4.5 years ago and a few times playing basketball/tennis when classes weren't in session.) I went to drop in on the SHS meeting for Key Club—which was started there 10 years ago. I had been meaning to visit a KC meeting for a while now, but during college i was only home during school breaks, when there were no meetings. After college, i moved off to the east coast. Now, finally, because of MIT's IAP (Independent Activities Period) which delays the second semester until February 5, i was able to be home this week and finally stop by a meeting.

It was great to see that the club is still doing well after all these years. After the meeting, i spoke with two seniors who are both KC officers. One was the club president and the other the division LTG. It was interesting that despite nearly a decade's separation, the common bond of KC leadership helped us connect easily. They asked some questions about how the club got started and what things were like back then, and also showed me a box (that i recognized) of the club's belongings. A pleasant surprise was a scrap book i had forgotten about from the club's very first year. It was a surreal feeling flipping through the pages of the scrap book and having memories slowly piece themselves together.

Revisiting memories of my Key Club days also reminded me that it was actually KC that first exposed me to organizational leadership. Furthermore, quite relevant to my life now—it was what first inspired me to plan to get an MBA "someday."

A crazy (good) start to 2008

2008-01-07T23:15:00.000-05:00

One week into 2008 already! 1/52nd of the way through!

It started off on New Years Day when I checked into the Stanford Park Hotel to start the MIT Sloan Entrepreneurship & Innovation Program's Silicon Valley Study Tour. For four days we had the chance to visit and speak with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in the Bay Area. It was a great experience hearing real stories and perspectives on high tech startups, even despite the ridiculously un-California-like weather we endured.

Following that, 40 of us ventured into San Francisco, where Freddy had arranged for us to party on the Mexican Party Bus. Our bus, Lola (see right) took us around a few choice bars in SF. It was nice to dress down and just chill with my fellow E&I'ers.

The next morn, 17 of us journeyed further north up to Napa Valley for some wine tasting, courtesy of Jared and his friend Justin's planning. We visited three wineries and enjoyed some clear skies. The ride back was not surprising, with nearly everyone in deep sleep after a tiring but enjoyable week.

First semester reflection

2007-12-07T14:17:00.000-05:00

Wow. i can't believe the Core is coming to a close. the semester has truly flown by. With both the last day of classes and my first final next week, i thought i'd take a moment to reflect.

Classes
i wasn't totally sold on the virtues of taking nearly all of my first semester classes with my ocean (cohort), but as i sat through the last day of class for some of my courses, one benefit became very clear: the bonding that occurs when you struggle through something with others. Having done my undergrad at UC Berkeley with 300+ student classrooms, the intimacy of my ~60 person Sloan classes has made the experience that much more meaningful to me. i actually found myself saddened by the fact that courses were ending and i'd no longer be learning regularly from some amazing professors.

Sloanies
My classmates as a group are the most unassuming, down-to-earth, and amazing people i've met. their humility sometimes causes me to forget how accomplished and talented they are. they definitely have challenged me to do better, but also helped me along the way. i'm thankful that i had great people on both my core and marketing teams, as well as the other friends that have helped me keep my sanity throughout the semester. i look forward to next semester when we're told things should slow down a bit, and i get a chance to get to know and bond further with other Sloanies.

Opportunities
i've heard countless CEO's and heads of businesses speak on their experiences and challenging leadership issues. i've had the chance to chat with startup founders and VC's (venture capitalists) on various entrepreneurial topics. In the first week of January, i'll be touring Silicon Valley with the E&I (Entrepreneurship & Innovation) Progam, visiting a variety of VC's and startups. On the side of pure fun, i went to two Red Sox playoff games at Fenway, including ALCS game 7, and a Celtics game with 20+ other classmates in a luxury box.

Personal growth
There's a stereotype that b-school is a two-year vacation filled with socializing and drinking. While there's definitely plenty of opportunity to connect with people, it's far from a vacation. i don't think i've ever been busier in my life. With that, i've surprised myself with how much i've been able to grow, especially in time-management and prioritization. Given the vast number of things constantly happen, i was forced to constantly pick between two or more things i really wanted to do. i've learned to make that choice quicker and move on.

Anyway, this post has taken a bit longer than i expected. i should get going on my Econ studying before heading to the Celtics game tonight. :)

Thanksgiving

2007-11-27T20:59:00.000-05:00

Before too much time passes, i want to capture some of my thoughts and memories from the just-passed Thanksgiving weekend.

Above all, it was great to spend time with my parents and sister. With all of us spread out all over the place and spending less and less time together, it is such a blessing to be able to all be together, even for a few days.

I hadn't ever thought much in particular about Thanksgiving. At least not until last week when Professor Freund mentioned how Thanksgiving is the one holiday that is unique to the U.S., and how it's a good time to be at home (as opposed to vacationing in some far-off land).

Aside from family, I was thankful for having had the chance to:

watch a Packers game with my dad
see good friends (Mar, Mike, Tyler, Henru)
get perspective and remember how fortunate I am to be a part of the MIT Sloan community (and the many challenges it provides)

While the weekend was relaxing and helped me re-center myself, just two days back at school has effectively kiboshed that, so back to HW i go!

Bball and Cristal

2007-11-16T23:06:00.000-05:00

Just got back from an AWESOME evening watching the Celtics barely beating the Heat from a suite with 20+ classmates. Many thanks to Jimmy for making it happen! Yet another highlight for my first semester at Sloan. Our group was a bit of an anomaly since most of our classmates went to the Sloan Fall Ball. Although I had wanted to go to the Fall Ball, I'm definitely happy i went to the game instead.

i also got to taste Cristal for the first time... i like. :) i can't say that it's all that different from other champagne i've had, but hey--it's Cristal.

As for the game, it was great to see Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen leading the way for the Celts. Was also great to get to watch D-wade (my favorite player in the NBA) play live, and especially to see him play well after coming off of an injury. (Full disclosure: I was cheering quite a bit for Wade and Pierce since they're both on my fantasy team...)

Photos to come.

Lobster -- awesome!

2007-11-12T10:42:00.001-05:00

Got to stuff myself and make my poor heart work hard last night scarfing down a 1.5 lb lobster. :D Props to Vince and Kevin for the great idea... definitely have to do it again. It was nice to eat lobster again, after having lobster three times my first few weeks up in Boston. We had quite a little feast with garlic bread, sparkling cider, and applie pie à la mode. The Bourne Identity was on TV so we caught that before calling it a night. Good times. (Pics to come.)

jetBlue's "Reward" Program

2007-10-28T14:39:00.000-04:00

"TrueBlue is our way of showing gratitude for your flying with jetBlue. With TrueBlue you'll not only be building a relationship with JetBlue, but you'll also enjoy faster and easier booking, advance notice of special promotions and fare sales, and the ability to choose the information you want from JetBlue. And, of course, you'll be able to earn free flights."

I'm not only a part of TrueBlue, but I also pay for the AmericanExpress jetBlue card. I signed up for that because it prevented my reward points from expiring. What I didn't realize at the time is that as soon as I hit 100 TrueBlue points, they issued me a TrueBlue pass that expires a year from that date. While annoyed, I didn't think it was that big of a deal until recently when I have been unsuccessful in booking award travel because seats aren't available on flights that fit my schedule.

And now my "reward" flight is expiring.

While on the phone with TrueBlue Customer "Service", the lady (who was a supervisor) explained that their award booking is much better than other airlines and that it's just difficult to book around holidays. My skepticism was confirmed when I checked with her on the availability of traveling for every weekend in the month of April between Boston and San Jose, San Francisco, AND Oakland airports. No luck.

I finally gave in and booked a weekend in March with the likelihood of having to pay $45 to try to rebook it for a later date (though I sincerely doubt I'll find a weekend that works). I should mention that, in addition to this award flight, I have another one that expires in May. Also, despite being 70% of the way to a third award flight and having already paid the annual fee which expires in 10 months, I'm retiring my jetBlue credit card. I feel a bit pathetic for being suckered into it for so long.

Lastly, I went on the web site to provide my feedback and when clicking on "Share concerns", the page I got returned was a runtime error (in both IE and Firefox):

Server Error in '/help/contactus' Application.

This experience has indeed made me feel very truly blue.

Customer "Service"

2007-10-26T18:19:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure if it's because I'm immersed in business school, but recently I've been shocked (and ridiculously frustrated) at the lack of customer service all over the place. Two examples:

1. In the past few days I discovered that United Airlines has a computer booking system that is flawed and creates a frustrating user experience, along with a totally lackluster Customer "Service" group. This started when a reward flight was booked for me under my dad's Premier Executive account for Thanksgiving, and the seats chosen for me were 9D and 16C. Immediately upon booking the flight, the seats assigned to me were 14D and 27E.

After spending about 2 hours being told to call different departments, calling between three different phone numbers (Premier Reservations, Mileage Plus Customer Service, and Customer Relations) and speaking with 4 different representatives, I finally spoke with a supervisor who told me the reason was because the seat is in an exit row and only 1K and Premier Executives can book those seats prior to getting to the airport. Complaint 1--the miles were booked using my dad's 50,000 miles, so let the person who's flying book that seat OR don't let the user choose that seat at all OR notify them that they aren't allowed to choose the seat and ask them to choose another one before going through with booking the flight. Complaint 2--no one I spoke with seemed to have the slightest care about my problem and the first lady even tried to transfer me at every opportunity she had. Apparently United doesn't feel compelled to actually provide "service" or to try to keep a healthy relation with its customers (maybe they would if I was a 1K or Premier Executive members, not a lowly Premier member--I'll find out when I try calling under my dad's account) And in case it's not clear, it's more the principal of the matter rather than the crappy middle back seat on a redeye flight that they assigned to me.

2. I bought a ThinkPad three years ago, which included a three-year warranty, which is expiring. I've received two e-mails (from the same guy) pretty much trying to scare me into buying an extended warranty. His "word of caution" on how it can cost up to $80 an hour to fix problems was very amiable indeed.

Older posts

2007-10-26T03:00:00.000-04:00

B-school related postings from my other blog:

"Only" Week 3 (September 19, 2007)
Beginning my b-school adventure (August 28, 2007)
I think I'll go to Boston (August 12, 2007)

adMIT weekend

2007-04-24T03:58:00.000-04:00

welcome to my b-school blog! having just gotten back from the Round 2 adMIT weekend, it's a perfect time for me to start blogging about my b-school experience.

i hitched a ride with Barath, another R2 adMIT last Thursday. we'd known each other for all of 5 days at that point, having met at a NY/NJ adMITs event the previous Saturday. it was pretty indicative of how adMIT weekend was and, i'm sure, how the whole Sloan experience will be. during adMIT weekend, i met so many current students and admitted ones that were amazing, friendly, and easy to connect with people.

on Thursdsay night there was a student-organized c-function (consumption-function) at Tavern in the Square in Central Square. it got packed pretty quickly, but it was tough to tell who was a student, a fellow admit, or just a random person in the wrong section. i mostly talked to current students, and got some good insights into life as a Sloanie. one of the impressions was that there are definitely the Sloanies that party hard. myself not being the biggest partyer, opted to call it a night around 11:30 and head back to my friend's apartment.

the next morning started bright and early. according to the schedule, registration and coffee was 8 - 8:45 AM. i showed up around 8:30 thinking most people would be gunning for the 8:45 time (the welcome message was at 9 AM). i was surprised to see a ton of people already there. after walking through the door, i was promptly greeted and given an MIT Sloan School of Management t-shirt, messenger bag, pen, as well as a name-tag, and welcome folder.

i proceded to get a bagel, some fruit, and orange juice, and started to meet tons of new people. i won't delve too deeply into other details so not to spoil the experience for future adMITs, but the three main points that they highlighted that are valuable to know if you're considering MIT Sloan were:

The MIT and Sloan brands open doors. Many people cited how surprised at the degree of help they got by just saying they were MIT/Sloan students. Obviously MIT is a well-recognized school, but people were still surprised at the extent to which it opened doors.
Sloan's integration with the rest of the MIT campus and departments. Sloan students have open access to a wealth of MIT's other resources, and cooperation between departments is encouraged. A big one for those, like me, interested in entrepreneurship and tech innovation is the freedom to work with those in MIT's engineering and computer science departments.
The people. Even the faculty and administration recommended to us from the first welcome message to get to know the other admits around us, since, with a high yield from those that attend adMIT weekend, it was very likely the people we met would be our classmates for the two years ahead. The existing first and second year students exemplified the things that we were told; students that pursued innovative solutions and to make significant impacts on the MIT community and world at large.

the experience made me super psyched to dive in and become an active member of this community and to get to know my fellow Sloanies better. i'm sure the two years will be hectic and busy, but will also be one of my most memorable life experiences, and fly by all too quickly.