Word on the LGO street is that the first two semesters (summer, fall) of the program are the most difficult. My opinion won’t count until I’ve actually made it through all the semesters so I’ll reserve judgment for now. I’ve been a pretty crappy blogger for the past few months but in an attempt to redeem myself here’s an overview of what fall has been like for me:
Classes
MBA Core – All LGOs take these classes with Sloan students to give us the foundation for the rest of our MBA degree. Core includes Economics, Accounting, Communication for Managers, and Organizational Processes. This is a great introduction to a broad range of topics. As my Economics professor put it “We’re going to cover three courses of material in the next six lectures so come to class on time.”
Sloan Electives – As the name implies, this is the elective part of my MBA coursework. After the MBA core you can take just about anything else you want in the business school to fulfill your degree requirements. I haven’t counted them but I believe there are over 150 electives to choose from. I’m taking Finance Theory this fall as my only business elective, but my next two semesters will be all electives for MBA classes.
Engineering – I’m taking two engineering classes this semester which will leave me with only two more to take to complete my requirements. Logistic Systems is a class that covers a number of topics that were briefly discussed in the summer Operations Management course but in much more detail. Integrating the Lean Enterprise covers examples of companies that have reshaped themselves in order to transition to a lean organization and a methodology to apply the concepts to other firms.
Other – A fun thing about MIT is when you reach the credit limit (and you will) in a single semester you can audit classes as long as the class isn’t at capacity. This means you attend lectures and in some cases do coursework but don’t receive a grade. I am auditing two speaking series: Professional Seminar which is a series of industry leaders, generally from partner companies, who come to campus to speak to the LGO class and Leadership and Ethics taught by two long time supporters of LGO who were in executive roles before retirement.
The last few weeks of the semester are pretty full with major team projects due in most classes and preparation for finals. On the bright side, winter break at MIT is incredibly long. My last exam is December 16th and I don’t start spring classes until February 2nd! With that much time off I might remember how to play video games.
