This week is finals week an interesting time at Chicago GSB when the amount of email falls by at least 75%. Even with Grade Non-Disclosure most people seem to take finals relatively seriously. From my conversations with people it appears there is a strong tension between our individual drive/achievement/excellence with the reality that no one will really know the performance. In some ways GND does reduce the amount of pressure and stress - in reality there would only be a quarter completed before internships and three quarters completed before full-time recruiting so not having GND would put immense pressure on the first quarter's finals. In other ways, GND doesn't allow people to give specific metrics to recruiters until 2nd years - Dean's List, etc.
Another upside is that GND enables us to see who among our fellow classmates take finals seriously *especially* when they don't have to. It's a simple litmus test for personal/internal motivation vs external motivation and perhaps even ethics.
Are litmus strips originally blue and then turn red/greenish? I can't remember that part. :)
Oh, and my finals are now over. Corp Fin yesterday at 11:30 AM and Investments at 6:30 PM. And I don't know about others, but I tend to remember the little mistakes I made - I'll never forget those...and perhaps it's the best way to learn.
Posted by Jeremy Showalter at March 16, 2005 12:41 PM
So you don't get ANY grades at all during your first year?
What ways do they provide feedback? Letting you come back for year 2?
Posted by: KC at March 17, 2005 09:49 AMI wasn't very clear. We *do* get grades, which actually matter at Chicago because we have a grade ceiling of 3.25. Most MBA programs are imfamous for there 'everyone gets an A' policy as long as you pay tuition. We definitely get grades and we get Dean's List, which again matters given the ceiling. But we're not allowed to disclose how good or bad we are...i.e. Grade Non-Disclosure.
During 2nd year recruiting we can disclose how many quarters we made Dean's List - which is basically revealing rank since Dean's List is top 10-15% of class - and if it's consecutive...you can do the math. ;)
Posted by: Jeremy at March 17, 2005 10:29 AMAre the finance classes challenging?
Posted by: Arunz at March 22, 2005 01:51 AM
So if you're not on Dean's List, there's nothing concrete to distinguish between the person who was 1 spot away from Dean's List and the guy who is dead last?
Arunz,
I don't think the finance classes are particularly difficult - challenging yes! But just about everyone will be able to do very well. Generally it's difficult when/if you don't prepare as well as one should for quizes or finals.
But I should qualify that by saying most of the basic finance stuff in the MBA program is manageable. You're more than welcome to take Ph.D level courses with Fama and others who will more than adequately reduce your intellectual pride! :)
Posted by: Jeremy at March 22, 2005 12:49 PMKeith,
You are correct. If you miss a grade in a class by one or two points and miss Dean's list (very possible given that I know a number of people last quarter who got a B by 1 or 2 points on the final) then you're no different than the guy with C and Bs. Although there is some mechanism that if your GPA falls too low...but I'm not sure the details.
Posted by: Jeremy at March 22, 2005 12:51 PM