Tuesday, March 01, 2005
I had my first 3rd quarter final today in BPUB or as I like to call it "Law and how to get around it by distracting those pesky activists." (And people wonder why so many MBAs get involved in ethical scandals - but I digress...)
BPUB has been one of the more challenging classes this quarter. Not because the material is difficult to grasp. It's because the profs raised the bar a bit. This group of professors is NOTORIOUS for brutal cold calls and the exams were closed book. Now closed book exams are just not done at Wharton.
I have mixed feelings about the approach. I HATE memorizing stuff (and frankly with the invention of the printing press and all I fail to see the point - hello! that's what books are for...) Higher expectations can lead to better performance from students - I definitely expended more effort once I realized our Prof's expectations were higher. But if the bar is perceived to be too high, people give up. And with DIP occurring this quarter and people stressed about the job search it was easy to give up. I just don't know if raising the bar achieved the desired results.
So that final is down and I only have one more to go on Thursday evening. I've been lucky this year because my hardest exams are always saved for last. I have OPIM on Thursday. I'm glad I have 2 days to study for that one. Me and OPIM don't get along very well...
BPUB has been one of the more challenging classes this quarter. Not because the material is difficult to grasp. It's because the profs raised the bar a bit. This group of professors is NOTORIOUS for brutal cold calls and the exams were closed book. Now closed book exams are just not done at Wharton.
I have mixed feelings about the approach. I HATE memorizing stuff (and frankly with the invention of the printing press and all I fail to see the point - hello! that's what books are for...) Higher expectations can lead to better performance from students - I definitely expended more effort once I realized our Prof's expectations were higher. But if the bar is perceived to be too high, people give up. And with DIP occurring this quarter and people stressed about the job search it was easy to give up. I just don't know if raising the bar achieved the desired results.
So that final is down and I only have one more to go on Thursday evening. I've been lucky this year because my hardest exams are always saved for last. I have OPIM on Thursday. I'm glad I have 2 days to study for that one. Me and OPIM don't get along very well...
