Reflections from Term 1

I am bored and I don't have any class for the next two days. My first attempt at attending 4 classes in a row was quite successful. I slept for about 10 minutes during the last class. Couldn't resist that. I suddenly realized that I hadn't written much about the professors and the courses I had done. Given the fact that I would definitely forget all of this when I walk out of this place, I might as well write something. And yeah, this would definitely help the class of 2008 in some way.

Financial Accounting in Decision Making - Mark Finn was our professor. If you are lucky, then you'll get him. Otherwise you will definitely regret doing this course with another professor. Section C was perhaps the most lucky section in the whole batch. In some course or the other, all other sections got one not-so-excellent prof, but we just got the best always. Finn would take you by surprise. You wouldn't realize that he is going so fast and very soon you'd be calculating deferred taxes, which even the CAs wouldn't have done in detail.

Managerial Economics or rather microeconomics taught by Amit Bubna and Rakesh Vohra. I wouldn't be surprised if you mistook Amit to be an MBA student. He'll just be like the guys you'll meet on campus. But yes, he'll expect you to understand a lot of stuff on your own. You'll realize some things after the mid-term and perhaps you'll start cursing and swearing. Rakesh was the best Term 1 Prof I would say. His lecture on game theory was amazing. He used same two OHP sheets for all the 5 classes. Again, his exam would drive you nuts. But then, economics is always like that. If anybody could understand it easily, then there wouldn't be any worry about competition and pricing.

Marketing Management or Marketing 101 as they popularly call it in the US was taught by Asim Ansari and Jagmohan Raju. I heard from a few people that Ansari wouldn't be here this term. Anyway, you wouldn't miss him much. He makes some good jokes on the students. And the first half of marketing isn't anything that you really wouldn't know. Raju is an excellent Prof. But he has high expectations from the students. He expects us to know KOTLER in and out. That's outrageous. Whenever he asks a question in class, he will put up a photo of a student and ask him/her to answer. And that's how you earn class participation. He will make you feel embarrassed about your decision to do an MBA. I frankly think that he should not be invited to teach the MBA students, but I don't think that ISB has an alternative. So, he'll be around to trouble you guys in Term 1 and 2. Unless you perform extremely well in marketing, you'll regret his presence for sure.

Statistical Methods for Decision Making taught by Bob Stine and Richard Waterman. Both profs are just amazing. They'll bring an extra dimension for statistics. Bob is is this highly energetic prof in class. He is extremely animated and his comments will keep you totally interested in the class. Waterman, with his awesome British accent would just throw some new stat tests into you. You probably wouldn't understand a word of it during the class. But you better read the stuff. Our exam was a multiple choice paper. So you either get it or you don't.

Happy reading and I'll be back with Term 2 in a day or two.

PS: Term 1 and 2 are the terms you have to study really really hard, especially at the ISB. So be prepared.