Rags' and Eric's Wake-Up Call
A Theory that the 2nd Years Were Slow to Become Involved Themselves
Steve Tuohy, '08
Issue date: 2/8/07 Section: GSB Life
Rags and Eric, thank you for the wake-up call. I am sure you have been overwhelmed with responses to your brutal attack on the first year class. Well, at least I know a few people who thought about writing a response. But man, we are busy. In fact, I would have gotten involved this morning if it weren't so damn cold out.
The combined articles offer three theories to explain our collective disengagement:
1. 1st Years suck. Admissions and 2nd Year DSAC members blew it.
2. 2nd Years make it look too easy. They failed to communicate how rewarding their hard work has been and 1st Years gain the impression that the school runs on its own.
3. 2nd Years scared us. All else equal, the 2nd Years that are involved appear more miserable than disengaged 2nd Years…at least based on the few times we have seen 2nd Years on campus.
So, are Eric and Rags launching a disguised attack on their own 2nd Year class? Each explanation places blame squarely on their shoulders. What a bunch of sneaky traitors.
Let's break down the argument - LEAD Applications and GBC slates were down. As I understand it, GBC slates dropped a whopping 50% from two last year to one this year. As for LEAD applications, they told us around 120 applied last year. So as I understood it, this was a 40-hour a week job that cuts into other community involvement, jeopardizes your sanity and social life, and oh yeah, you pay for it in the form of 2 classes. And I get to write seven essays over winter break for a 33% chance of acceptance? OK, my LEAD facils conceded the scare tactics were used to weed out the weak. Mission accomplished. I still think the incoming slates and facils look more than up for the job (and yes, I'm biased). And if we really are a relatively career obsessed bunch, than we should expect applications for IBG, MCG, and the school's other biggest groups to be way up this year.
So let me propose a 4th theory - and that is that this stuff happens every year. The GSB actually does change us and connect us to our community, but by the time we are checking out as 2nd Years, we have forgotten how lame we were when we arrived. I remember how impressed I was with the class of 2006 at last year's Admit Weekend. However, few were present as many were starting to check out. The class of 2007 appeared to have potential, but they still seemed to be trying to prove something to themselves. As for my potential classmates, they seemed about as aimless and confused as I was. Hey, maybe this MBA thing is good for something after all.
So yes, 1st Years, let's step it up a notch and prove that the 2nd Years haven't totally destroyed the GSB community. What questions are there?
The combined articles offer three theories to explain our collective disengagement:
1. 1st Years suck. Admissions and 2nd Year DSAC members blew it.
2. 2nd Years make it look too easy. They failed to communicate how rewarding their hard work has been and 1st Years gain the impression that the school runs on its own.
3. 2nd Years scared us. All else equal, the 2nd Years that are involved appear more miserable than disengaged 2nd Years…at least based on the few times we have seen 2nd Years on campus.
So, are Eric and Rags launching a disguised attack on their own 2nd Year class? Each explanation places blame squarely on their shoulders. What a bunch of sneaky traitors.
Let's break down the argument - LEAD Applications and GBC slates were down. As I understand it, GBC slates dropped a whopping 50% from two last year to one this year. As for LEAD applications, they told us around 120 applied last year. So as I understood it, this was a 40-hour a week job that cuts into other community involvement, jeopardizes your sanity and social life, and oh yeah, you pay for it in the form of 2 classes. And I get to write seven essays over winter break for a 33% chance of acceptance? OK, my LEAD facils conceded the scare tactics were used to weed out the weak. Mission accomplished. I still think the incoming slates and facils look more than up for the job (and yes, I'm biased). And if we really are a relatively career obsessed bunch, than we should expect applications for IBG, MCG, and the school's other biggest groups to be way up this year.
So let me propose a 4th theory - and that is that this stuff happens every year. The GSB actually does change us and connect us to our community, but by the time we are checking out as 2nd Years, we have forgotten how lame we were when we arrived. I remember how impressed I was with the class of 2006 at last year's Admit Weekend. However, few were present as many were starting to check out. The class of 2007 appeared to have potential, but they still seemed to be trying to prove something to themselves. As for my potential classmates, they seemed about as aimless and confused as I was. Hey, maybe this MBA thing is good for something after all.
So yes, 1st Years, let's step it up a notch and prove that the 2nd Years haven't totally destroyed the GSB community. What questions are there?
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