GMAT?
FRM?
Work Hard/Play Hard?
I’m going to take a programming class on R from Coursea, probably try to dig into VBA too, and make some progress on large projects at work. Not sure what else to do, I looked at the FRM site a bit, I’m not sure how much of a value-add that’ll be but if I can get by both parts with less than 250 hours of studying, I might try it. I don’t think B-School is really a viable option due to 1) my undergrad transcripts and 2) the cost/time of full time programs.
What’s next for you guys?
Studying With
These, in no order of proirity.
No more 3 letter traps (called designations) for me. The only 3 letters that matter are MBA or Phd. Learnt it the hard way.
1) Maybe flying lessons.
2) Keep working on piano lessons. Year #8. I should be WAY better than I am.
3) Get better at Spanish.
1) Find a job; I just moved to Singapore from the US
2) I need to get way better at using Excel
3) Took up Mandarin this week
4) Work out more
1) Going to get back into shape. I used to fight at the national level in olympic taekwondo and I’d like to get back to at least 50% of where I was back then. Going to play more pick-up soccer.
2.) Going to spend more time with my wife and daughter
3.) Going to focus on networking and gaining real-world knowledge
3) I would love to work outside the US in Latin America or Spain. (I know the environment sucks, but the life experience and memories would be invaluable)
4.) Would like to improve skills in VBA and maybe learn C++
Wow, I’m surprised by the “get back in shape comments”. I actually got in better shape during the three years of the program. It was my only outlet. I must have gained close to ten pounds in muscle mass, and dropped my 1 mile time to below 7 minutes.
I guess the get back in shape comments are all relative. I ran a mile in 5:45 the other day. The CFA killed my health cuz i got on average 4.5-5 hours of sleep per night and I am sure my cortisol level was through the roof. My blood pressure was in the hyper tension range and my BMI was pushing over 25. I still worked out but it was not regular and the intensity was not what it used to be. I went to the doc yesterday and my blood pressure is down in the healthy range and BMI is back down below 25 sincing finishing the CFA. Stress is a killer. I’d like to start taking the Wall Street drug of choice: Testosterone =)
I guess what I’m trying to say is I don’t get the “stressed out” aspect to what you are saying. I never found the program to be stressful. It’s burdensome surely but I never felt like it was detracting from my health in any way.
Yeah, i guess it depends on your personality and other factors. I’m married with a 2 year old daughter and another on the way which really added to the stress of failure not being a choice. I’m also kind of a stressed out person to begin with, really type A when it comes to some things. I wish I had done the program starting at age 25 instead of 29.
I am thinking of doing some other sort of job. Current job is quite lucrative, but I don’t feel like I’m contributing much to society. Wife has a solid law firm job offer and I’m sitting on a pile of cash, so risk tolerance is pretty high at the moment.
“I’m a CPA! I got money b***h!”
Studying :(
- Academy of Finance - in progress!!!
Ohai, that sounds like a good idea. I really don’t want to get caught up in the rut of life working a 9 to 5, only to get fat, pay my taxes, then die. You should take advantage while you can. I just finished reading some Hemingway books……I need that sort of life.
For me, I really don’t want to get caught up in the rut working 7am-11pm
I need to save every penny then retire asap.
Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and greatest weakness.
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You must be the square root of two cause i feel irrational around you
http://alphahive.wordpress.com/
Studying With
Busy with work, study, I love traveling and photography but that has to pause now. New office will be right above the gym I’m member with so hopefully I make an effort to go. Must learn VBA, macro and SQL by myself. Right now I’m struggling to get up for work… (3rd day after 9 month unemployment)
I’m surprised by the number of comments on learning VBA. I taught that to myself a few years back, but I NEVER use it. I tend to use Matlab/Octave or R much more often.
SQL is a good skill to learn. I’ve just been picking it up for a project at work.
1) 5:45 is still a good time, better than I can do, 2) I’d pay more attention to body fat than BMI
I guess it depends on what you do. I use VBA a lot, since it’s useful in customizing Excel worksheets. Even when there is a more advanced software engine running models in the background, it’s helpful to be able to push the output to Excel, where you can play with the data easily.
“I’m a CPA! I got money b***h!”
got no money for matlab…have seen some documentation for it some time ago…what a dream compared to the R docs…def a plus for commercial products. VBA is great in combination with excel…although you can transfer data between excel and R easily too
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You must be the square root of two cause i feel irrational around you
http://alphahive.wordpress.com/
Octave’s free and very similar to Matlab. The optimization stuff in Octave is pretty bad compared to Matlab’s, but everything else is pretty comparable.
still need to prepare my final acc exam and level 3 cfa :(
Studying With
Done with all levels of CFA and FRM.And I am in good shape too…:)).
Though i have already done MBA , I so want to get into 1 year PGP program at ISB hyderabad
Will go for GMAT after sometime….yo!!!
Whatever you resist, will persist
How do you have an MBA but not taken the GMAT?
Indian B-schools don’t require a GMAT (I guess only ISB Hyderabad requires it), there’s this insanely difficult extrance exam called CAT in which you would have to be in the top percentile (talking 99.46%ile) to make it to any of the IIM’s. Very competitive. Other than CAT there are school specific extrance exams, which are equally difficult to get into. All of this + GD & PI to make it anywhere in India.
just moved to shanghai for a new job, trying to get my mandarin above intermediate level
w/ mba and cfa under the belt, done w/ studying. will try to network my way back into a pe job ideally in asia
planning to travel more, starting w/ a trip to thailand this weekend
Studying With
I’m thinking about ACCA - like accounting very much. Notwithstanding i have got 5 diplomas, i cannot stop learning right now - my mind requires exercising.
Dang, I made it to the front page!
+1 on the working out… I exercised a few times a week while studying because it really helped clear my mind and the tension/stress that comes along with exam day approaching. I just work out at my apt’s gym… maybe I’ll consider joining a “real” gym.
Also, drinking more during the week and just being able to enjoy going home from work are big ones that shouldn’t be overlooked.
I think it’s a bit creepy how certain threads get “promoted” to front page status with some random picture…
“I’m a CPA! I got money b***h!”
that’s so the front page looks nicer and not all text. i wonder who’s in charge of finding the pics. I rather enjoyed the ‘will model for food’ dolphin
Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and greatest weakness.
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