T minus 35 days...

Five weeks. Two assignments. One presentation. One take-home exam. Four final exams.

This is it, the final countdown. In a little over a month, I'll be off on my round-the-world adventure of self-discovery, world-class education, and potential career advancement.

Now, supposedly, I'm meant to get my New York accommodation offer today (New York time). Here's hoping for that luxury apartment overlooking central park at a bargain price of $500. (In reality, I expect to be in a share apartment without a view, located somewhere around 110th St, and with a price tag closer to $800*).

Some other good news - I've been short-listed for a nice fat scholarship which could potentially cover my remaining tuition expenses at MBS. I have an interview scheduled for next Tuesday, at which I plan to impress the sponsoring organising with my career achievements and ambitions in the areas of leadership, communication, and raw analytical talent. ;-) Although it won't make any difference to my present cash-flow crunch, the scholarship would make a significant difference to my financial well-being post-MBA.

(* For those unfamiliar with the US apartment rental system, rents are usually quoted in US dollars per month. A one-bedroom apartment in New York usually costs US$1000 - $1500 per month, but Columbia provides subsidised accomodation to graduate students.)

Don't trust the textbook

When most people get 90% for an exam, they're usually pretty satisfied - mass celebration, beers all round, that sort of thing.

When I received a mark of 90% for my 'Valuations & Financial Analysis' exam last week, I was disappointed. VFA is the one subject this term that I personally think is dead easy - a bunch of mathematical formulae which can be applied to various financial decision making situations. Having finished the mid-term exam twenty minutes early, I was pretty certain that I'd aced this one.

Alas, when it was returned with a mark of 36 out of 40, I couldn't understand my professor's reasoning for taking away those four marks. After a half hour discussion with my professor this morning, I'm still not happy (despite the fact that he's now bumped my marked up to 37). The problem centres around the fact that I answered one of the questions in the exam using an approach from our official textbook that my professor happens to have an issue with. Thus, despite the fact that my application of that approach is perfect, he's refusing to give me full marks because it's not the way he would have answered the question.

The moral of the story - question your professors in class, but when it comes to exams, put your own ideals aside, as do it their way.

Update (18.07.2002): My VFA professor approached me after class today and told me he'd had a change of heart. New score: 38 out of 40 (95%), which was my original target mark for the exam ;-)

What's the point of a decaf coffee?

In an effort to ensure a full night's sleep before my 9:00am Strategy class this morning, I decided to finish off a dinner out last night with a slice of cheesecake (yum!) and a decaf coffee. This was a first for me - it tasted the same, but didn't make me *feel* any better.

I didn't end up getting my full night's sleep, as I ended up on the phone for a couple of hours when I got home. As a result, I was in a rush this morning, and didn't have the time to buy a coffee before class. Let me tell you - I was really struggling. I didn't have the energy or the enthusiasm to contribute to the discussion (the case in question was The Body Shop, which is actually a really interesting values/PR/branding case), and instead sat in class continually looking up to the clock, waiting for 10:30 to come along so I could get my first coffee.

I tell you - I think I must be addicted.

T minus 40 days and counting...

Wow! What an intense couple of weeks. Business School is insane at the moment. There is soooo much work to do, that I barely have time for anything else.

Syndicate assignments for Strategy and Law, presentations for Law and Project Management, VFA and EPP exams, career planning seminars, presentation skills sessions, the list goes on. It's all a case of how high can you jump. In this past week, I've had three 14hr+ days at uni (including a Saturday), and I've spent over 70 hours in total on b-school work. It's all paying off though - I'm getting decent grades, and I'm learning soooo much. My super-intensive Project Management class is a real challenge, but the professor is incredible. He'll cold call at random, and if the answer you provide isn't satisfactory he'll press you for a better one. Awesome!

Not much more progress on my New York move. I'm still waiting for my accommodation offer from the Columbia Uni Apartment Housing group. Hopefully, I'll know the details of where I'll be living by next weekend. Forty days to go.

Where is Adrian?

Please excuse my absence in the past week.

B-school and my personal life have taken a higher priority over the past few days.

I'll be back this weekend. I promise.

Weblog project for this week

I'd like to find a neat little search tool to use on my blog. Here's the basic user experience that I'm after: a) user types in simple search term in a search box located in the left hand column, b) results list of individual posts display in main section sorted by date (each line contains first line of post and the date/time stamp), c) user selects the individual post they want to read.

Am I asking too much? Does anyone have any ideas?

New York resources: nycwireless.net

A New Yorker on my MBA course here in Melbourne was telling me about coffee shops in Manhattan that offered free wireless Internet access (Build it and they will come). nycwireless.net is an initiative to provide free wireless access to the public, which is fantastic news for me since I'll need a wireless card on my laptop to access the network at Columbia.

"NYCwireless provides free wireless Internet service using wireless technology to mobile users in public spaces throughout the New York City metropolitan area. These public spaces include parks, coffee shops, and building lobbies. NYCwireless intends to work with public and other nonprofit organizations to bring broadband wireless Internet to under-served communities"

Faux pas

I can't believe I used the <u></u> tag in that last post. Underlining is supposed to be strictly reserved for linking (evening if one doesn't usually use underlines on their links). Deepest apologies to all the web designers/developers out there. I won't do it again.

Y2K problems @ Columbia

I rang up the Columbia Housing Service this morning to check up on my application, and received an automated response after logging in with my applicant ID: "Your housing application has been approved by your school. We are currently in the process of allocating you accommodation based on the preferences you indicated in your application. If you have not received an allocation by July ... fifth ... nineteen ... two, please contact us directly."

CBS have a wireless network, but they can't even fix a simple Y2K issue in their IVR system. Oh dear. You know what - I bet they don't even know about the problem. I'll be a good netizen and let them know ;-)

Proof that I.T. people can be popular: Peter ended up winning Big Brother

Hmmm ... why am I trying to defend my former industry? ...