Experiential Learning
Wall Street Executive Fellowship Program
In each entering class, a limited number of MBA students with exceptional academic and professional accomplishments are selected for this program. Each Fellow receives a full-tuition scholarship and is paired with a mentor who has achieved significant professional success in the financial community, either in New York or Boston. Recipients and their mentors meet at intervals to discuss topics of mutual professional interest as well as the Fellow’s career goals. Fellows often receive additional guidance and mentoring through facilitated meetings with other leading executives and decision makers.
Center for Investment Research and Management (CIRM)
The Center for Investment Research and Management provides an exceptional opportunity for a select group of students to acquire investment management experience. Presented as a three-course sequence of electives, the program examines the disparate functions of successful financial services firms. Students gain deep industry knowledge through a reality-based curriculum that merges theoretical learning with hands-on workshops in a productively competitive environment. For qualifying students, the program culminates in “live money” portfolio management.
Second-Year Consultants
An elite corps of ten second-year students is selected each year to assist the faculty director of the first-year MBA Consulting Project. Students apply for this elective course and are chosen on the basis of their academic performance as well as recommendations from faculty and their peers. Each Second-Year Consultant serves as an advisor and coach for two MBA Consulting Project teams and participates in a series of leadership seminars taught by the faculty director. This elective allows outstanding students to add a further dimension to their team management and leadership skills, as well as to gain insights into the management of professional services. It is a demanding but highly rewarding experience, which provides excellent preparation for both consulting careers and senior management positions.
Fully 35-"40%" of Carroll School students leverage the opportunity to gain additional practical experience by either continuing to work with their summer internship employer or by arranging a new internship, to gain exposure in a different firm or function, for example. Students may also simply choose to pursue part-time employment, either paid or without compensation, in their areas of interest.
Curriculum in Entrepreneurship, Product Analysis, and Launch (CEPAL)
The school’s innovative Curriculum in Entrepreneurship, Product Analysis, and Launch (CEPAL) is a sequence of courses that cultivate and channel interest in new product development.
Commercializing an idea requires an understanding of where the innovation will bring value, to whom, and in what form. Students enrolled in the CEPAL New Product Identification/Creation course investigate the viability of new concepts or technologies and identify potential market opportunities. Based on in-depth research, students develop a core idea by defining product characteristics, form, price point, and target application—all the steps preliminary to writing a business plan. The best potential product offerings created in this elective course may be presented to second-year MBA students at the annual Venture Idea Open House which precedes the First-Year Business Plan Project.
High-potential venture ideas, taken successfully through the business plan stage, form the core of a subsequent CEPAL elective. In the New Product Development course, students move to the next level and fully articulate an organizational structure, identify funding resources, and, if appropriate, create a prototype.
Graduate TechTrek West
Graduate TechTrek West is a 3 credit field-study course to Silicon Valley & Seattle. Coursework and visits will be managerial rather than 'techie' focused. Students on prior visits met with venture capitalists (founding partners), CEOs (including one of BusinessWeek's 25 'managers of the year'), entrepreneurs, and the co-developer of the iPod, among other high-ranking executives. Firms visited include Amazon, Apple, Cisco, eBay, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Intel, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sun, Starbucks, Wells Fargo, and Yahoo, among others. Travel is scheduled for the first two weeks of January. Pre-trip coursework includes four meetings (two extended weekend sessions, plus two one-hour weekday sessions) during the fall semester prior to travel. Learn first-hand from industry leaders and make valuable contacts. Enrollment is limited. Information and application materials are available at http://www.bc.edu/techtrek.
