Stern Professors Share Secrets for Success in the Core Curriculum

Professor William Greene 

Statistics and Data Analysis

What are three actions that are critical to success in your MBA 1 core course?

1. Listen to the class presentation

2. Think about ideas, don't memorize formulas, don't think of the class as an explanation of how to solve the problems.

3. See number 1.

What should a student do if he or she starts to fall behind?

1. See the professor.

2. See number 1.

What are attributes that you usually see in "star" students?

They ask questions in class that extend the current topic of discussion or show deeper understanding.

How do you feel that your course prepares students to reenter the workforce?

They need quantitative skills and a quantitative understanding of how their world works, no matter what they do.

Professor Lawrence White

Firms & Markets

What are three actions that are critical to success in your MBA 1 core course?

1. Attend class (and pay attention)

2. Stay on top of the material

3. Do the homeworks

What should a student do if he or she starts to fall behind?

Catch up!  And get help from fellow block members, study group members, etc.

What are attributes that you usually see in "star" students?

They stay on top of the material.

 What are the common mistakes that students make when tackling the core curriculum?

They let too much pile up, and they fall behind.

How do you feel that your course prepares students to reenter the workforce?

They will have a better understanding of the market environment in which they will be operating, and they will be better at strategic thinking.

Professor Joel Steckel

Marketing

 What are three actions that are critical to success in your MBA 1 core course?

1. Being a good classroom citizen.

2. Retaining an open mind.

3. Being deliberative in one's analysis.

What should a student do if he or she starts to fall behind?

Not panic.  Not try to make it up all at once.  Learning is still the goal, not staying even.

What are attributes that you usually see in "star" students?

1. An ability to separate the forests from the trees (i.e. see the big picture)

2. A disciplined logical mind

3. Curiosity

 What are the common mistakes that students make when tackling the core curriculum?

1. Not being flexible enough to accommodate alternative views.

2. Jumping to conclusions.

3.Underestimating the importance of process relative to outcome (i.e. answers) in management decision-making.

How do you feel that your course prepares students to reenter the workforce?

My course is designed to instill discipline in logic in problem solving.  Many of the jobs our students will have in five years have not been invented yet. Problem solving and logical discipline are much more important in that regard than any factual information we can supply.

Professor John Asker

Firms & Markets

What are three actions that are critical to success in your MBA 1 core course?

Firms and Markets is about getting used to organizing your thoughts about how markets work, using frameworks from economics. Thinking about how these frameworks can be used to understand patterns that we observe in the real world is key. The three things that help in this regard are: a) Spending a little time getting used to manipulating these frameworks, b) thinking about the markets that we observe in reality in terms of how they react to shocks and their institutional structure, and c) discussing how a) relates to b) (and vice versa) with anyone who will listen.

What should a student do if he or she starts to fall behind?

Contact me or a TA.

What are attributes that you usually see in "star" students?

Strong students tend to be organized, tend to do a little study every day, and tend to be innately curious. Curiosity is probably the most important attribute.

What are the common mistakes that students make when tackling the core curriculum?

By far the most common mistake is letting things slide academically when the recruiting storm hits.

How do you feel that your course prepares students to reenter the workforce?

Firms and Markets helps you develop frameworks with which to organize your thinking about how markets, firms and government interact. Particularly when faced with novel environments, this helps bring order to what might seem otherwise chaotic situations.

Professor Roman Weil

Accounting

What are three actions that are critical to success in your MBA 1 core course?

Success in my course requires:  1.  Do your homework—all the problems--timely;  2. Do all your homework as assigned; 3. Don't get behind on your homework problems.

What should a student do if he or she starts to fall behind?

Catch up.  If you find yourself more than a week behind, drop the course.  You can't skip any of the work, which builds cumulatively.