Interview with a Current Kellogg Part-time MBA Student

Accepted.com is continuing a blog series featuring interviews with current MBA students, offering readers a behind-the-scenes look at selected MBA programs. We hope to offer you a candid picture of student life, and what you should consider as you prepare your MBA application. Interview with current part-time Kellogg student (evening program) with an engineering background, currently working at a tech company. What is your goal for getting the MBA? In the next five years or so, I plan to advance within my company with an increasing focus on international business. Longer-term, I’m looking to start my own consultancy with a technology-integration and international focus. So far, my classes at Kellogg have been mostly core courses: accounting, decision sciences, leadership and organization, and management and strategy. We can take electives, but they require pre-requisites—either a waiver for classes taken as undergrads or the core courses themselves. How well has Kellogg met your expectations in these areas? Academic/curriculum—So far I’ve taken two quantitative classes and two qualitative courses. For the quant classes I’ve been very satisfied with what I’ve learned. For Decision-Making Under Uncertainty, I had Scott McKeon, who is the best prof I’ve ever had in my life (including my previous Master’s degree). As an engineer, I’m very comfortable applying quant analysis, but he helped me understand how to apply decision-making tools in a much broader range of circumstances in the real world. We used gambling-based examples and everyone really enjoyed it and learned a lot. For the qualitative classes, I’ve been less satisfied. I knew many of the principles they were teaching already. Material on very basic concepts stretched out over multiple lectures. But the focus on data to back up key ideas was strong. One issue is that new profs teach core courses, so sometimes they’re a bit green. Students—One of the reasons I chose Kellogg was its very friendly atmosphere—before I applied I sat in on classes and really enjoyed what I observed. My classmates are competitive, but very friendly. I made lots of friends from the start. We even founded an International Business club; the inspiration grew out of a conversation we had after a team project. Students run everything here. The professors are very approachable and willing to help out. My study group experience has been good overall—typically, we got our work done and then went out for a drink. It’s a great way to get to know my classmates. Unfortunately, on one of my teams I had a couple people who were close to the program’s end, so they weren’t as committed to the process as the rest of us were. There are lots of engineers here and people with finance backgrounds. There’s a fair amount of cultural diversity—Indians and Asians are very well-represented groups, as at other programs. Extracurricular/outside of class activities—We helped start the International Business club and that has been great. I’m also in the Asian Business Club and the Entrepreneur Venture Capital clubs. These are clubs for part-time students, though we do joint activities with full-time-student clubs, as well. Overall, part-time students are pretty committed to the business-related clubs, less so for the non-professional clubs (e.g., culture-based), due to other commitments (e.g. work). What about the Chicago location?   How did that affect your experience? Everyone works in the area, so it’s less of a factor. I live in the suburbs and come in for classes. After 9PM, when our classes end, it’s pretty dead in the campus area, but we can go out in Chicago in general. What have been the trade-offs associated with Kellogg/b-school in general? It’s a lot of work—I estimate I’m spending 15 hours a week on the program. So one tradeoff has been that I spend less time with my old friends, given my focus on Kellogg contacts/friends. I’m single, so it hasn’t had a big impact on my family life. What did you find out the school offers that you couldnt find out from the website or an information session? One thing I’ve enjoyed has been Kellogg’s sphere of influence, especially internationally. For example, I went to the Indian Business Conference and got to see how many alumni are doing really great things in India—they were very approachable and very helpful. There were also executives from major companies doing business in India—Google India’s managing director is a Kellogg alumni. What kind of leadership training or mentoring do you receive at Kellogg? Part-timers go through mandatory leadership seminars carried out over two days. I haven’t been to mine yet, but my understanding is that there are a lot of group activities including team-building, negotiation exercises, and community service. How much help has career services been to you?   How much of the job search have you had to do on your own? I’m not looking to change jobs, so I haven’t done much with career services. A couple of my friends transferred to the full-time program (a very difficult transition) and are using the career services there. If you’re getting tuition reimbursement, you have to get authorization to use career services. Best thing about Kellogg? The pool of professors is really impressive. But beyond their credentials, they are extremely approachable. As are the alumni, no matter how â€Å"important† they are in their companies. I went to a private university in California for my Master’s degree, and didn’t experience nearly this level of accessibility for the faculty and alumni. The biggest challenge about Kellogg? On the administration side, there’s room for improvement. There can be more automation of certain things—for example, the Manager’s Ball Auction should have been more organized. Also, the part-time program’s library could have a stronger collection. But these are minor issues. Words of advice for current applicants? Think about how your personality fits with the program. I have a friend who thinks he may have made a mistake by choosing Kellogg over University of Chicago (Booth). It’s because he’s very competitive and focused on finance, and hasn’t really enjoyed all the teamwork. He wants to learn more on his own, not so much in the context of a group. Kellogg’s focus on people and teamwork is great, but it may not be for everyone.

Organ Donations Donate to Save a Life - 582 Words

With the evolution of time variety of advanced and useful medical procedures to save lives have been discovered, one of which being organ donations. Now days patients suffering from serious and life threatening conditions have the option of getting their organs replaced; a second chance at life. It should be mandatory that all people, once they have died be organ and tissue donors because after death they no longer need or use their organs. Secondly, by simply donating you could save numerous lives and lastly, there are critical organ shortages within Canada which could be resolved if there were more donors available First of all, everyone should be an organ donor because once you have died there is no need for your organs therefore rather than wasting useful organs they could be used to save another’s life. Statistics show that a single tissue donation can improve lives of 40 people and an organ can save 8. Donating your organs gives others an opportunity for a new life. In addition, after death, they would not be affected in any way with their organs gone and their families wouldn’t have an issue regarding this either because there is no cost. Once a person has deceased, hospitals notify the Organ Procurement Organizations and or Tissue/ Eye banks of death. The organs or tissues then get tested to determine whether the body will accept the organs or not. This step ensures considerably lower risks of the receiving patient’s body rejecting the organ or tissue. DonatingShow MoreRelatedOrgan Donation Essay1194 Words   |  5 PagesOrgan Donation Today in the United States there are thousands of people currently waiting for some type of transplant. If one were to ask a group of people if they have friends or family who have either had a transplant or are waiting for one, one would find that most people know at least one person who has had a transplant or is waiting for one. Transplantation is a great advance in modern medicine. The need for organ donors is much larger than the number of people who sign up to donateRead MoreOrgan Donation Of The United States937 Words   |  4 Pagesan organ transplant. There are waiting lists for adults and children needing an organ. It may be difficult for some people to decide what would be right, if donation is the correct answer. Some people are not well informed on organ donations. Family members might not want for their loved ones to donate their organs. Why should we donate? If we are born with our own body parts why would we want to destitute them? These questions are a mat ter of debate, some people want to donate their organs to helpRead MorePersuasive Speech On Organ Donation1150 Words   |  5 Pagesshortage of donated organs.† (Brazier) Due to the shortage of organs, this causes many people to go to extreme measures to save a loved one. Maybe even to the point of doing something illegal. The more we help promote and contribute to organ donation, the more lives we can save. There is a new name added to the list every 10 minutes while around 20 people die a day waiting for an organ. Organ donation is the process of surgically removing an organ or tissue from one person (the organ donor) and placingRead MoreThe Pros and Cons of Organ Donation Essay1031 Words   |  5 Pagessurgeries, and three other life-saving surgeries. He has been Life Flighted ten times, flat-lined six times, and has spent more than three-fourths of his life in hospital beds at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Embree) He has been denied a heart transplant three times, because his body wouldn’t be able to handle it. Along with Tayt there are about 121,605 other people who have been struggling for so long and are waiting for an organ transplant from an organ donor. 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Organ donation from a living person in Judaism is allow only if the donor life is not in danger, and also it is mandatory for the community to save a human life if they have choice to do. EvenRead MoreOrgan Donation And Its Effects On The Donor Essay1694 Words   |  7 Pagesmortal donation also takes away any chance of effects on the donor. Since the donor is deceased, there is no worry of the effects because of two reasons: they are no longer living and they have no use for their viable organs anymore. With the several pros and con s of postmortal donation, comes the different aspects of inter vivos donation. When organs are taken from living donors and are transplanted there are also several pros and cons present. One disadvantage in live organ donation is the effectRead MorePersuasive Speech : Organ Donation1076 Words   |  5 PagesSpeech Assignment #2: Organ Donation Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience to become registered organ donors. Thesis: Today I want to persuade my audience to become registered organ donors. Introduction I. To start, by a show of hands, only if you feel comfortable, how many of you are registered organ donors? II. According to organdonor.gov, â€Å"an average of 22 people die each day waiting for transplants that can t take place because of the shortage of donated organs.† a. Furthermore, everyRead MoreOrgan Donation1163 Words   |  5 Pagessaved a life. But by becoming an organ donor, you can be able to say â€Å"I will save a life.† Organ donation is a selfless way to give back to others, and to be able to make a huge difference by giving another person a second chance at life. Unfortunately, the number of patients waiting for organs far exceeds the number of people who have registered to become organ donors. Patients are forced to wait months, even years for a match, and far too many die before they are provided with a suitable organ. ThereRead MoreThe Problem Of Organ Donation1338 Words   |  6 PagesPeople are finding themselves dying with the decrease of organ donates. Randy Creech finds himself in need of new heart but has been place on long waiting list. Randy has been waiting for months just waiting to found a match but like many others they find themselves dying before getting their match. There been talk between doctors on should them be compensation for organ donates but what would the price be. Should Randy be able to go buy heart from a different country or black market to keep himself

Dead Poets Society Transcendentalism Analysis - 1168 Words

Dead poet’s society was filmed through the eyes of transcendentalism using Emerson’s philosophy, as seen in walden. The film deals with a group of young men who attend a very strict boarding school and the english teacher who gives them a new perspective on everything, the damaging effects of conformity, beautiful sense of nature, and emphasis of simplicity and individuality are shown in many elements throughout Dead Poet’s Society and are ultimately highlighted by emerson and thoreau’s philosophies, making the overall concept of transcendentalism understood. _________ One of the main characters of the film Neil Perry, an overachieving, good natured young man who is unwillingly committed to the academic career of a doctor due to his very†¦show more content†¦The boys had a different idea: they refer to the school as â€Å"Hellton† and the four pillars as travesty, horror, decadence, and excrement. Neil Perry was not the only one to face challenges at â€Å"Hellton.† the majority of the boys did. The students at Welton Academy were under immense pressure that was placed upon them by their parents, the staff, and/or both. After attending a few of Mr. Keating’s classes, the boys began to show their true colors. Neil Perry became the leader and enforced all of Mr. Keating’s teachings, Todd Anderson was able to break out of his shell, Knox Overstreet unveiled his hopeless romantic persona, and Charlie Dalton was fearless in exploring poetry. Emerson once said, â€Å"We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of the divine idea which each of us represented† (Self - Reliance). Here, Emerson is portraying the fear and dawdle the boys showed when asked to dispatched their dutiful ways and do things they actually enjoy. One of the many principles of Transcendentalism is the pledge to â€Å"make your own way† and the boys eventually grow ill of alwa ys knuckling under, so they shed their skin in order for their true selves to emerge. Although transcendentalism is primarily viewed as straying from tradition, the element of nature and the simplicity that comes along with it are also very salient. Emerson believed that natureShow MoreRelatedLessons On Nonconformity In Peter Weirs Dead Poets Society907 Words   |  4 Pagesintellectuals? This is the challenge that Mr. Keating in faces as he begins his first year teaching at an all-boys prep school. In Dead Poets Society directed by Peter Weir, Mr. Keating helps many of his students, including Todd Anderson and Neil Perry, break free from their conventional morals and begin to take their lives into their own hands. This philosophy, called Transcendentalism, establishes the individual as the most intellectual. 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As a whole, it promotes self-reliance as an ideal, even a virtue, and contrasts it with various modes of dependence or conformity. Self-Reliance Paragraphs 1-17. The Importance of Self-Reliance. 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The Cinema: Language or Language System? 31 Some Points in the Semiotics of the Cinema, 92 Problems of Denotation in the Fiction Film, 108 III Syntagmatic Analysis of the Image Track Chapter 6. Outline of the Autonomous Segments in Jacques Rozier s film Adieu Philippine, 149 Chapter 7. Syntagmatic Study of Jacques Rozier s Film Adieu Philippine, 177 vii viii CONTENTS IV The Modern Cinema: Some Theoretical

Income Tax Assessment Act Taxation Treatment

Question: Describe about the Income Tax Assessment Act for Taxation Treatment . Answer: 1. Issue There are three payments that Hilary is getting on account of engaging in writing her ownr story. The details of the payments are given below. $ 10,000 payment is contributed by The Daily Terror as a compensation for transfer of interest and copyright of Hilarys personal life story. $ 5,000 payment is contributed by Mitchell Library as a compensation for the manuscript. $ 2,000 payment is contributed by Mitchell Library as a compensation for the photographs clicked by Hilary on her expeditions. In view of the above, the taxation treatment of these payments that Hilary obtains needs to be ascertained. Rule The segregation of payments into revenue and capital is a key requirement for computation of tax liability. The revenue receipts are levied income tax and contribute to ordinary income of the taxpayer. The capital receipts are non-assessable and may attract liability in the form of capital gains tax but it would be levied only on capital gains made. In the given case also, a key issue is to classify the payments by identification of their nature (Barkoczy, 2014). A relevant case worth discussion in this regard is the Brent vs Federal Commissioner of Taxation(1971) 125 CLR case. The core issue in this case was regarding the classification of the payment derived from a newspaper company for sharing information by the appellant about her personal life with husband. The court held the receipts as capital and hence there was no taxation burden (CCH, 2011). The central reasoning by the court is explained below. The newspaper approached the appellant as her husband was part of a much famed robbery and thereby people would like to know more about the personal life of the individual involved. Hence, the main asset which formed the premises of the contract was not the appellants narration but her information about her personal relation. Other acts were incidental and did not add much value (Sadiq et. al., 2014). The transfer of copyright about this information essentially involved transfer of capital asset from the appellant to the newspaper (Deutsch et, al., 2015). Application The reasoning of the court would now be applied to the given case involving Hilary. The pivotal arguments are summarised below. The offer given to Hilary was not extended due to interest in her writing skills but because of the information she processed about her personal life which was the real asset that the newspaper wanted access to through the book. The writing activity does not lead to creation of any valuable asset as it was always present in the form of her personal life details and book is a sharing medium. Similarly, the income derived from photography and manuscript should be seen in the light of Hilarys fame which is the key factor that provides these value or else these have no intrinsic value. Conclusion Based on above arguments, it is evident that sale of book rights, manuscript and photographs are all essentially capital asset transfer and hence the derived payments would be of capital nature and therefore non-assessable. (b) The fact that Hilary is now driven by self-satisfaction as the motivating factor does not alter the tax recognition of these payments. This is because the act of writing is not pivotal in this case and therefore the intent with which she indulges in this activity is also not significant. Either ways, at the end, through sale there would be transfer of capital asset only resulting in capital receipts. 2. Issue The son obtains housing loan from mother without any documentation and collateral. He intends to return it after five years but in actuality returns after two years, While the total amount borrowed was $ 40,000, the amount returned was $ 44,000. The incremental payment was made as interest though the mother had denied any expectation regarding the same at the beginning only. The issue is to discuss the contribution of this lending transaction on the assessable income of the parent. Rule While ordinary income is taxed as per ITAA 1997, however gifts do not attract any taxation burden. But for labelling any payment as gifts, the ATO has prescribed some conditions that need to be satisfied which are mentioned below (ATO, nd). With the transfer of gift, the ownership must be changed in favour of the party acting as the transferee. The voluntary nature of the transfer being made in paramount. The expectations from the transferor to extract any gains in return of the gift must not be present. The core intent driving the transfer should be benefaction between transferor and transferee. Payments received as interest would contribute to ordinary income (Section 6-5), in case it is derived from business activity such as money lending business or from any investment which makes interest payment to the investor (Barkoczy, 2014). It is noteworthy that interest received may be in cumulative form for recognition as ordinary income and need not be necessarily regular in nature (Coleman, 2011). Application The given facts about the manner in which transaction was enacted i.e. without adequate documentation and collateral indicate towards the transaction being a casual one, Further, the explicit communication by mother with regards to not wanting any interest payments on the extended loan also establish that it was not a business transaction. The mother at the end of two years receives a cheque of $ 44,000. While there is no dispute with regards to capital nature of $ 40,000 which were initially lent, the recognition of $ 4,000 given as interest need discussion. This amount will be considered as it satisfies all conditions listed by ATO. Since son has given the cheque to mother which has been drawn in her favour, hence ownership has changed The mother did not want any interest payment but still the son makes it. For the payment of $ 4,000 the son has no present or future expectation for favours. The amount has been given to the lender as a token of appreciation and gratitude. Conclusion The given transaction would not have any impact on the assessable income of the parent. 3. Part a) For all assets acquired before September 20, 1985, the liability on account of any capital gains realised on asset liquidation would be zero. As per the given case facts, Scott purchased land before the cut-off date and therefore land would be CG T exempt asset. However, the house was constructed later only in 1986, therefore CGT would be applicable only on capital gains made by the house. Due to the differential treatment, it is considered that the given property contains two assets namely land and house (Sadiq et. al., 2014). Land When the house was being constructed, the market value of land was 90,000 while the expense on construction of house was $ 60,000 Thus, total value of the property in 1986 = 90000 + 60000 = $ 150,000 Lands share in total property valuation = (90000/150000)*100 = 60% Thus, 60% of the propertys market price in the current market would be on account of land and free from any CGT liability. Hence, CGT exempt portion of proceeds due to land = 60% of 800000 = $ 480,000 House Current market value of the house = (40/100)*800,000 = $ 320,000 Component of property which would be subject to CGT = 0.4*800000 = $ 320,000 There are two methods for computation of taxable capital gains which are implemented below. Discount method Contribution of house to capital gains = Sales proceeds Cost of construction = 320000 60000 = $ 240,000 Rebate in capital gains on property sale = 50% of 240000 = $ 120,000 Net taxable capital gains = 240000 120000 = $ 120,000 Indexation Method The CPI figures for 1986 and 1999 are 43.2 and 68.72 respectively. Hence, the adjustment index = (68.72/43.2) = 1.79 Adjusted cost for house construction = 1,79* 60000 = $ 95,400 Net taxable capital gains = 320000 95400 = $ 224,600 Since the discount method leads to lesser capital gains being subject to CGT, thus it would be chosen and therefore taxable capital gains are $ 120,000 from the liquidation of property. Part b) Scott sells the property to her daughter but the selling price accepted (i.e. $ 200,000) is a significant discount to the market price (i.e. $ 800,000). For computation of CGT liability, Section 116-30(2 would be deployed. This section advocates that the capital gains should be derived on the larger cost between the prevailing market price and the actual sales proceeds (Austlii, nd). Based on the given data, this works out as $ 800,000 and hence no change would be made. The answer would remain the same. Part c) Due to change of ownership, the method for CGT calculation would need to be changed to indexation method as companies cannot avail discount method (Coleman, 2011). Hence, the taxable capital gains would get altered to $ 224,600.as per indexation method. References ATO nd, Gifts and Donations, Australian Taxation Office, Available online from https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Income-and-deductions/Deductions-you-can-claim/Gifts-and-donations/ (Accessed on August 25, 2016) Austlii nd, INCOME TAX ASSESSMENT ACT 1997 - SECT 116.30, Austlii Website, Available online from https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/itaa1997240/s116.30.html (Accessed on August 24, 2016) Barkoczy,S 2014, Foundation of Taxation Law 2014,6th eds., CCH Publications, North Ryde CCH 2011, Australian Master Tax Guide 2011, 49th eds., Wolters Kluwer , Sydney Coleman, C 2011, Australian Tax Analysis, 4th eds., Thomson Reuters (Professional) Australia, Sydney Deutsch, R, Freizer, M, Fullerton, I, Hanley, P, Snape, T 2015, Australian tax handbook 8th eds., Thomson Reuters, Pymont Sadiq, K, Coleman, C, Hanegbi, R, Jogarajan, S, Krever, R, Obst, W, and Ting, A 2014 ,Principles of Taxation Law 2014, 7th eds., Thomson Reuters, Pymont