A Day In The Life Of A Stanford First Year MBA

In contrast, Puzhong Yao balances his studies with his family. A married father of two boys, Yao grew up in Shijiazhuang, China and previously served as a Fixed Income Trader at Goldman Sachs in London. His days generally start at 7:00 a.m. with breakfast and The Wall Street Journal. An hour later, he takes classes like Big Data, The History of Financial Crises, Microeconomics, and Corporate Finance. Outside of class, Yao serves on the Student Association Senate and acts as a tour guide for new admits looking at student housing.

However, Yao’s spare time is devoted to this family. On Monday afternoons, he watches his youngest son play before picking up his older one from preschool. Since his wife also takes classes at Stanford, Yao sometimes cooks the meals and puts his sons to bed. Despite these responsibilities, Yao still makes time to socialize on campus. One day, he and his former section have lunch with Stanford Dean Garth Saloner. Another night, Yao takes part in TALK, a Stanford tradition where students stand before their peers in the MBA lounge and share their personal journeys.

And it’s these moments that Yao will treasure, describing his best memories of Stanford as the times when he was “chatting with inspiring classmates who share similar life-goals…and offer eye an opening perspective.”

While the students profiled maintained a routine, most had added their own wrinkles. Some started their mornings by running three miles, playing squash, answering emails, or reviewing cases. Over lunch, they volunteered with charitable events or picked the brain of second years on internships and overseas junkets. And few missed the chance to hear speakers like Condoleezza Rice or Eric Schmidt during “BBLs” (Brown bag lunches). As you’d expect, most afternoons were consumed by classes, clubs, study groups, and projects. Still, that didn’t deter some students from getting out for pedicures or beach volleyball.

And those wild-and-crazy nights and weekends you hear about? Not surprisingly, the profiled students spent that time like most of us: skyping with loved ones, finishing laundry, attending group project meetings, and studying. Many went out with classmates for dinner. Others, like Helena Velloso, met with her WIM (Women in Management) peers to share their experiences. When students like Vartika Bansal were staying up until 2 a.m., it was usually to prepare for tomorrow’s classes.

So what does a “typical” day for a first year at Stanford look like? Jennifer Jun, who aspires to work in private equity in the consumer retail sector, shared how her Thursdays shape up:

8:15: Woke up and ate a granola bar.

8:30: Met with her Career Life and Vision (CLV) group, which consists of 6-7 classmates and a facilitator from the Career Management Group. During this session, the CLV group discussed summer internships and the role of mentors.

9:45: Grabbed a cup of coffee.

10:00: Attended her Negotiation and Conflict Management class, which included a review of the previous class negotiation and how it related to theory previously discussed.

 

12:00: Participated in a small group lunch with Margaret Hayes, the assistant dean of the MBA program.

1:00: Met with a classmate for a more in-depth discussion on an upcoming WIM meeting.

1:30: Sat down with her PLC coach to talk about what’s coming up in her academic and professional lives.

3:15: Completed her Economics of Organization and Electronic Business courses, which covered the sub-prime mortgage crisis and American Express’ social media strategy respectively.

6:45: Ate leftovers and caught up on emails.

8:00: Spent time talking to her boyfriend and a college friend.