MBA Quant Experience

Adapting material first posted here over a year ago, I've written a fairly light piece intended to help prospective MBAs decide how much quantitative preparation they need given their background and temperament.  The substance is adapted from the 8 MBA Quant Themes posts I wrote when I started this blog.  The opening is adapted from an impromptu dramatic performance one morning at Tuck's math camp in August (you had to be there!).

“To prepare or not to prepare, that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous quant courses or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by preparing surmount them.”

Thus I (tongue in cheek) imagine a pacing Hamlet, top MBA acceptance letter in hand. Despite their various unique brand positions and program structures, top MBA programs all must teach the quantitative basics of finance, accounting, economics, and statistics.

Drawn from years of MBA quantitative skills teaching, the following themes will help incoming MBA students determine their preparation needs...

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Following August quantitative skills courses for incoming students at Cornell (Johnson) and Dartmouth (Tuck), a fall term second year course at Tuck, and winter term (they call it Spring 1 optimistically) second year course at Duke (Fuqua), I have now popped free to extend and refine the MBA Math online course. 

My major priority over the next few months for improving the course is to enrich the spreadsheet modeling coverage, with some extra lessons combined with additional support material in existing lessons.  Students having limited professional experience with Excel are at a great disadvantage in the time-compressed first-year curriculum. 

I recently finished teaching my second-year decision consulting practice course Professional Decision Modeling to 46 Fuqua second-year students.  They were fantastic--smart, hard working, diverse, likeable, motivated.  I'll add brave because they took an unknown course taught by an unknown visiting professor.  Commuting to campus each week (just like consulting), I stayed at the Thomas Center, which is next to the main Fuqua buildings and has accomodations and classrooms for executive education courses and the Durham residential component of the various executive MBA programs.

I stretched and reformatted the course from the version I teach at Tuck to fit Fuqua's term structure.  The experience was energizing, forcing me to rethink priorities and try new things.  Interacting with a large group of decision science faculty colleagues was also very stimulating although limited time on campus and the demands of teaching constrained my ability to make the most of the opportunity.

A course like this is far from the present concerns of prospective MBAs considering the MBA Math quant skills course in preparation for the first year core curriculum.  Yet the experience of seeing these talented second-year students integrate the technical work (there was plenty of it) with the qualitative and interpersonal aspects of a real consulting case is what motivates my work with students on the more basic quant skills foundation covered by the MBA Math course.

I hadn't been on Duke's campus for about 12 years since I was a guest speaker in a decision science course.  The Fox Student Center is a great addition to the day-to-day experience.  Building projects abound on campus, including a major project to add Fuqua classroom space.  The central campus quad is absolutely beautiful; it's hard to imagine it's only 80 or so years old.  I enjoyed exploring Durham and Chapel Hill, with highlights including some bbq of course, open mic night at the James Joyce pub, dinner at Pop's, two trips to Tyler's Taproom, and a nighttime stroll through UNC's campus.

Pamplin College of Business recommends MBA Math for admitted students who need quantitative skills preparation.

McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin purchased MBA Math subscriptions for the second year for all incoming Full-Time, Houston, Dallas, and Evening students.

Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis purchased MBA Math subscriptions for all incoming students for the second year.

Leeds School of Business recommends MBA Math for admitted students who need quantitative skills preparation.

Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University purchased MBA Math subscriptions for the second year for all incoming one year and two year program students.

Mendoza School of Business at the University of Notre Dame purchased MBA Math subscriptions for all incoming one year and two year program students.