Advice to prospective MBA students: Be prepared for lots of acronyms. This from Fuqua School of Business first-year MBA student Trevor McKinnon in a recent post to the school’s Daytime MBA Student Blog. “Apparently, MBA students are so busy that we don’t have time to speak in complete sentences and rely on acronyms and abbreviations to save us precious seconds in conversation,” he writes. One such acronym at Fuqua is WIC, which stands for Week-in-Cities.
WIC are mini trips organized by various student clubs to cities across the country during school breaks. Each Week-in-Cities trip is focused on a particular industry and includes scheduled visits for participating students at several companies and firms that might have internships or full-time job opportunities.
McKinnon took part in a consulting-focused WIC trip to Dallas during Fuqua’s fall break. His was organized by two first-year students, who helped set up lodging, transportation and company visits. Twenty-one students took part, which meant that this WIC group was on the smaller side, McKinnon notes.
As part of the Dallas Consulting WIC trip, Fuqua students visited PricewaterhouseCoopers, McKinsey, Bain, BCG and Accenture, with presentations, tours and networking opportunities at each firm. But the WIC itinerary left time for sightseeing as well – strolling around Dallas’ Arts District, trying out a local BBQ place, visiting the George W. Presidential Library and Museum.
McKinnon writes that it was well worth figuring out what WIC stands for and actually going on a trip. “For one, it gave me the chance to visit the offices of various firms that I’m recruiting for and get a better sense for what makes each one unique. Actually being in their buildings and talking with their employees helped me better understand their values and culture, and identify the firms that best align with my personal and career objectives,” he writes.
Networking opportunities with employees at the various consulting firms was also a big bonus, he adds. “We were able to network with and talk to far more people than we can during on-campus presentations. Since our group was small, we were able to get a lot more face-time with the people that we will (hopefully) be working closely with this summer and beyond.”
WIC trips also provide Fuqua students with a great chance to get to know their fellow first-year students better, McKinnon notes. “Although we’re all hoping to land internships with these companies, being together and becoming better friends has helped us band together and help each other during the recruiting process. Since the trip, we’ve already discussed our thoughts on the companies, shared ideas to prepare for interviews and we’re doing all we can to collectively succeed.”
