MBA Quant Experience

I received the following response from a first year who started the Columbia accelerated program in January:

1. Does your program suggest brushing up calculus skills before starting the first year?

Yes.

2. Does your program provide any calculus pre-term teaching?  If yes, is it done on campus?

A little bit about derivatives was introduced at the pre-course math session.

3. Have you used calculus in your MBA studies?  If yes, in what classes?

Yes, in Microeconomics.

4. If yes to some of the above, would you recommend that prospective students interested in your program brush up on calculus before starting or just refresh their memories on the fly during their coursework?  If you suggest advance prep, would you give it low, medium, or high priority relative to other pre-MBA preparation needs (e.g., spreadsheets, accounting, finance basics).

I think the calculus content is not as challenging as spreadsheets. You'd better get more versed in spreadsheet before coming to the campus.