IESE Ranked 3rd in Europe

IESE was recently ranked 3rd best MBA in Europe by employers, according to TopMBA:

http://www.topmba.com/research/global_200_business_schools/top_business_schools_2009/

"Welcome IESE 2011" - A video made by the Class of 2010

Check out this amazing video created by the Class of 2010 to sum up their first year, and to welcome us to school:

The MBA Oath

Have you heard about this Harvard Business School Alumni initiative?

http://mbaoath.org/

Basically it's an oath to be signed by MBAs, like the one Medical Doctors sign. I think that it's a nice idea in a certain way, but might acknowledge the current trend that says "MBAs are responsible for the current crisis" - which is of course plain dumb.

IESE MBA Admitted Weekend for the Class of 2011

Last weekend about 30% of our class went to Barcelona to attend the Admitted Weekend. IESE had organized this amazing two-days event as a way to help us know each other and the school better.

Some future classmates arrived as early as Wednesday to the city, and were lucky enough to watch Barcelona beat Manchester on the Champions League Finals, the city apparently went wild after the game, and I wish I could have been there and be a part of that historical night..

The actual Admitted Weekend started on Friday afternoon with a coffee at the school’s cafeteria followed by a welcome session with Eric Weber,  Associate Dean of IESE.

We then went to the Terrace in the northern campus (which has an AMAZING view of the city) and enjoyed a nice cocktail and dinner, with the participation of some students of the Class of 2010.

By 10pm the official part of Friday was over, and we started the “unofficial” part. First we went to grab some food somewhere in the city (I don’t really recall where it was, the Spaniards of our class took us there) we had great Pizzas and laughs. Then someone mentioned a party at Motke’s place, Motke being someone from the Class of 2010. We went to his flat (which was awesome, about 250m2 and a huge balcony) and saw that some 2010ers and 2011ers were already enjoying the party. By the peak of the evening we were about 70 at that party. There was a live DJ session and beer-pong, as well as nice chat and we got to know each other a little bit better.

I grabbed a cab and got some sleep at about 3am, but some people stayed even longer.

The following day started early with a breakfast and a nice presentation regarding MBA logistics (Global Loan, IT services etc.) then we had a great presentation of the student counsel and of the different social activities that we’ll be having throughout the year. I don’t really know when we’ll have the time to sleep but I guess that you just get used to studying until 4:30, doing 3 cases, attending presentations or cocktails, doing some sport activities and then going out. It seems that IESE students sleep about 3 hours a night…

Next up was a big lecture where we joined IESE MBA Alumni and learned about the Financial tools behind the Global Crisis. The lecture was fascinating in my opinion, although I’ve heard some classmates saying that it wasn’t the best idea for a lecture on Saturday morning (they were the ones who stayed at Motke’s party until sunrise I guess).

After the lecture our class went up to the terrace again, this time for Paella lunch (yes please!). We got a nice tan and got to talk even more with each other. Conversations became a bit more interesting than the basic “Where are you from?” “When are you moving to Barcelona” etc. We actually started getting to know each other, here and there people burst out laughing and the general atmosphere was great.

At about 2:45pm two tourist buses arrived on campus. These were these open buses with two decks and a guide. We had the COMPLETE city tour, saw all the interesting parts and got a nice tan (it seems that sun is always high up in the sky in Barcelona).

After the tour some of us went to have early drinks, most of us went back to the hotels to get some rest and get ready for the evening, where things got serious…

The Bar of the Week (BoW) committee organized an awesome evening for us. First we went to a bar up on the Tibidabo mountain,  events are a bit blurry for me from there on. I believe that we went to a night club where we had a special area only for IESE students. Drinks were a bit expensive (or at least I believe so, as the next morning I woke up with 45 cents, and a chewing gum, in my pockets) but we had so much fun. I think that some classmates went to the beach to watch the sun rise, but I was sleeping in my bed by that time J

 

That’s just my angle of the Admitted Weekend, there must be at least 20 more events that happened during those crazy 72 hours… Anyway I had so much fun! I am eager to start the MBA already and meet up with the rest of the class, who couldn’t make it to the AW.

Confirmed : precourses for the Class of 2011 are cancelled

I just received an email from Javier Munuz,  Director of Admissions, confirming that the precourses for this year are cancelled. Although some classmates are concerned about missing out important subjects, Mr. Munoz made it clear that all precourse material has been integrated in our classes.

Until our promotion, IESE has offered optional precourses before the official start of the program; Students were able to freshen up their Accounting and Statistics skills, or learn them from scratch if they came from a non-technical background.

This year, IESE has decided to avoid having students come at different times to start their MBA, by beginning the year with Business Spanish followed by the Orientation Week. 

Moving to Barcelona? Watch out!

So I'm starting to look for a flat in Barcelona, as we move there this summer. I look in various websites and send emails inquiring about properties.
Some of the answers are ok. However, most of them are a new (?) kind of fraud, whose purpose is to steal your "security deposit" money and disappear.

I managed to identify some recurring details that can be found in the fraud emails:
1. Very bad English, looks like an automatic translator gone mad
2. He speaks about him moving with his family to West-Africa
3. He asks for weird details about you and your family (do you party a lot, do you drink alcohol..)
4. He talks about god (!)
5. He says that money doesn't count
6. The rent price is very low

if you see these details in an email, watch out!


One of the emails I got:

Hello,
It is my pleasure that you are interested in my house.Thanks for your email and it is my gladness hearing from you.Thanks for the email and also Yes, I am Mr.John Movic. I owned the house and also it is situated at Address: 162 Provenca, Barcelona 08036, Spain.
Actually I resided in the house with my family such as my wife and my only daughter before and presently we had packed due to my transfer from my working place and now situated in the (West Africa) and presently my house is still available for rent for(600Euro per week) including the utilities like hydro,washer and security. Moreso Now, i went for a Work Transfer .Pleases i want you to note that,i am a kind and honest man and also i spent alot on my property that i want to give you for rent,so i will solicit for your absolute maintenance of this house and want you to treat it as your own, money is not the main problem but want you to keep it tidy all the time so that i will be glad to see it neat when i come for a check up, i do that once in a while.I also want you to let me have trust in you as i always stand on my word. And the below is the final question that you must answer to qualify for this the rent of my house? Moreso,Hope you have a nice working day and your lovely family,Infact i will like to meet all of you when coming to visit you soonest.A deposit of (500Euro ) must be made for the security deposit.It is also understood that if this application is accepted the security deposit shall be refunded to the applicant.Upon acceptance, this deposit shall be retained as the security deposit.. When so approved and accepted, I agree to execute a lease for ___________ months before possession is given and to pay the balance of the security deposit (500Euro)prior to the move in date. If you are not approved or accepted by me, the deposit will be refunded, the application hereby waiving any claim for damages by reason of non-acceptance which i may reject. This inquiry includes information as to my character, general reputation, personal characteristics and mode of living.Bellow is the tenant rent application form:


Address: 162 Provenca, Barcelona 08036, Spain

Also,Pls answer these questions below:


======= RENT APPLICATION FORM=======

(1)Your Full Name_____________________

(2)Present Addre(where you reside now &Phone#__________

(3)How old are you __________________________

___

(4)Are you married _______________________

(5)How many people will be livingintheflat_______________
(6)Do you have a pet_______________________

(7)Do you have a car ________________________________

(8)Occupation_________________________________

(9)How long are you willing to stay______________________

(10) 1 or 2 month deposit needed___________________

Looking forward to hear from you with all this details so that i can have it in my file incase of issuing the receipt in your name and contacting you.Await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how to get the documents and the keys to you,please we are giving you all this based on trust and again i want you to stick to your words,We are putting everything into Gods hand,so please do not let us down in this property of ours and God bless you more as you do this,you can call me #(+2348035465664).
Regards.
Mr.John Movic.