I wrote the following in reply to an prospective Huntsman student, and felt this would benefit any prospective candidates as a personal opinion of an insider. Feel free to email me or to spread this to your friends. It was written in a rush so I might have failed to cover many aspects.

Great to hear from someone applying. I am a rising sophomore who worked for 3 years before entering Huntsman in the army and an economics consultancy. Just my personal perspective on the program:

The Good

Personal attention from academic advisor that you will not get in any other Ivy League (i.e. Inge)
If you like pragmatic stuff, Wharton is your place.
A close-knitted community that makes a large university seem a much smaller place

The Bad
[Some] Huntsman kids think they are all it
Wharton is all about banking and consulting (could be good or bad depending on you)

Why I chose Penn

I did LBW wayyyyyy back and lived in Bryn Mawr during that time. We bussed through North Philly everyday (it’s bad) and I wanted to return to make a difference to the community.

Bottom-line

what you make out of the Penn education depends on you, although it can be hard to escape the I must do Finance route.

Reply to someone not into i-banking:

I have the same interests as you both in terms of focus on practical issues, while also seeking a liberal arts education. Williams College was originally my top choice until Inge convinced me otherwise. In terms of courses, you can definitely get what you want out of it. Even the Wharton School has courses in Geopolitics, Business ethics, and the philosophy of markets (if Rawls and Nozick is your stuff). The key is to look at courses outside of what all your other classmates are choosing, although the finance courses at Wharton are also excellent and are worth looking at. Penn also offers the full range of liberal arts courses.

Personally, as someone older than the other freshmen, my undergrad experience is very different so I might not be able to provide the best advice. You might also want to get opinions on these from other students as everyone has a different perspective. You have a lot of parties (if that’s your thing) and the full range of extracurricular to participate in. I think in general, Wharton students (and Penn in general) are less intellectually-oriented (but still smart) in their pursuits and conversation. They are still fun people to be with, and I like working with them on projects because they are goal-oriented people. There are some stereotypically “Wharton” people (think over-competitive and lacking in empathy) who are a minority, but most people you meet are just normal hardworking students still exploring life. And ultimately, a big university will always afford you space to find people who share your interests.

As for competition, I never felt it to be particularly intense. Then again, I heard it’s toughest in sophomore year so maybe I won’t know yet. Personally, I think the core classes are not that hard (if you put in consistent work), and most people are willing to help you out even if it’s graded on a curve. I personally think its silly how much attention people put on the curve, since the courses aren’t particularly tough.

Lastly, just as general advice regardless of where you end up going to, I would recommend taking a gap year to explore your interests and the world. It helps a lot in determining what you really want out of school and life, who you are, and helps you stay on track once you matriculate in pursuing your goals.

Good luck and hope this helps.

(Xian, China) Looks so much like Seoul.

I arrived in Xian and was taken for a ride by my taxi driver. It cost me 40 yuan to get from the train station to my hotel, which I realized later was only three bus stops away. The hotel was a steal at 150 a night in a nice room in the center of the city. Immediately upon arriving, I fell in love with Xian. It had remnants of ancient city walls which reminded me of the gates (Dongdaemun and Namdaemun) at Seoul. It had a bustling night market with plenty of snacks, lots of my favorite milk tea, and the familiarity of big brand names that you will find in any modern city. Plus it lacked the pollution of Beijing. A big plus.

(Xian, China) I miss snacking at night markets!

During the day, I went to visit the Tomb of Qin Shihuang. I took a public bus and the bus operator cleverly snuck in a stop before the tomb. Most unsuspecting tourists get off here to see a “performance” that had little to do with Qin Shihuang, at a site with zero historical value. Thankfully I had learned to be skeptical and questioning from my travels in China, and promptly ignored this stop. I got off at the Tomb and after much wandering in the insane heat, I found the entrance and explored the Terracota Army. Frankly speaking, it was an unspectacular sight except for its value as a historical site. There was not much more to see beyond the photos of the terracotta army you see anywhere else.

(Terracota Tombs, China) Bunch of clay sculptures.

My most interesting experience in Xian was when I came across a neon sign screaming “火凤凰.” There was stairs leading to a basement and I guessed there was a concert from the loud music emerging from underneath. Someone sold tickets at the entrance, and an older crowd seemed the norm (think 40s). I was curious and bought a ticket. It turned out to be really old-fashioned Chinese-style nightclub from the 80s. There was a long stage at the center, and sofas were placed all around the sides. The middle-aged crowd each had a lady companions, many of whom probably provided by the place considering the number of ladies who approached me and tried to drag me off for a chat on one of those sofas. Of course nothing comes free and these chats required tips.

(Xian, China) Package found in my hotel room reads: “it can enhance energy and sexuality of male. It can prevent any infectious disease, having no side-effect, no dependent.” Looks like the Chinese have invented a wonder pill. No wonder AIDS is a growing problem.

The performances were weird. There was a lady singing followed by an open floor for dancing. The dancing involved couples simply hugging each other tightly and moving infinitesimally slowly on the dance floor. After that intermission, the next performance was a martial melody with the male singer doing kungfu while singing: he twirled in the air and flipped around on the dance floor, and ended by drinking from two beer bottles at the same time. Then there was another break for dancing followed by a lucky draw (prizes were some white goods). The night ended with a semi-strip/ pole dance show. It was a surreal experience, but the atmosphere was authentically Chinese. It reminded me of scenes from 1930s Shanghai with its gangsters lounging with courtesans at such seedy venues. It was also my shadiest experience in China, different from the concert I had in mind when I went in. It ended at 1 am and I went out to grab more snacks before heading back to the hotel to catch some sleep before my flight the next day.

(Tiananmen Square, Beijing) Marching on…

I remember meeting with a Korean schoolmate who was working in Beijing during the summer. Before she arrived in China, she planned to do Chinese studies and complete an exchange program in China. When I met with her just before she left Beijing, she never wanted to return to China. It is the small things that made life in China so difficult for her and the many people who actually try to live here: I mean actually using the public transport, and living as a local, not hanging out every night with one’s expatriate friends trying to pick up Chinese girls at Sanlitun (I have schoolmates who live the latter life and have nothing against it, except that I don’t consider it a cultural immersion).

The small things include how people push you out of the way forcefully, on the streets or on the bus, without asking you to move aside before that, or apologizing for doing so. Not only do they do that, they glare at you for being in their way. Many of my friends living here also have gripes with Chinese ethics. Taxi-drivers switch your bills with fake notes and return it to you, claiming that your money is not good. The person shining my shoe grinds off the bottom of my shoe, and comes back telling me I need to resole it. My housing agent forgets to tell me about the plethora of hidden bills that I need to pay to get my electricity, internet, and water. They think its right to cheat foreigners because foreigners have money. Then again, they cheat the locals too. After a while, you cannot tell who is cheating you and who is not, and this makes it seem as if the country is full of cheats even though it is just a few bad people that exists. Wearisome paranoia is tiresome.

In this environment, it is easy to feel culturally “superior”. This parallels the days of the British Empire when they believe they were superior to the backward cultures they encountered, which justified their colonization as an opportunity to civilize these cultures. While there are legitimate concerns about such cheats, it is the wrong response to feel and behave as a “superior” colonial master. I know many friends who feel “superior” because of such incidents, and look down on the entire country. However, the Chinese, like anyone, are products of their environment and I believe that many countries at this stage of their development had experienced the same problems (e.g. the American robber barons). Part of the problem stems from the rapid development of the country, creating vast income inequality and a lack of moral development to match the pace. Seeing rich people all around them makes many Chinese believe that they are justified in using any means to get ahead. I believe the right response is a lot of patience, and faith in that such moral vacuum will change with the country’s development.

Then again, I don’t believe I will want to live here for the long-term. It’s just not the right place to settle down in. The need for eternal vigilance will wear me down.

(Turfan, Xinjiang) Ooooh look at me. I am such a non-conformist. I work in finance! Yeah right. - inspired by Leveraged Sellout.

I was talking to a friend working at Goldman Sachs in New York City and she absolutely hates her internship (S&T). This made me think more carefully about the entry-level job which I will take up to pursue my long-term interests in development. I am cautious about drawing conclusions from just a single source. My friend at Goldman Sachs Hong Kong loves his job. Then again, he is an IBDesi who dreamt of investment banking since he was in high school.

Intermediate End Game:

I hope to contribute to development in the future, most probably through the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation which makes investments in development-oriented projects. Another option is to join the World Economic Forum at a later stage, or some other INGO. I believe that I should aim to exit the private sector in about 10 years or so.

What I ruled out for entry-level job

Academia – I like research but at this point of time, I can’t see myself dedicating my life to it.
Non-profits or Development Agencies – Training opportunities at entry-level tends to be less rigorous. Quality of colleagues varies widely with some amazing people and some real duds.

Possible Routes to IFC

1. IBD – PE – IFC or IBD – Bschool – PE - IFC
2. Consulting – Bschool – IBD/PE – IFC
3. Consulting - IBD - PE - IFC
4. Bschool (maybe with a short IBD or Consulting stint before) – IBD – PE – IFC
5. PE – IFC*

Other issues: Location, company and division.

IBD: Investment Banking Division
PE: Private Equity
IFC: World Bank International Finance Corporation
Bschool: Business School

*Looks most favorable considering my long-term goal of IFC, but this is the least likely possibility.

I could also apply for business school straight from undergraduate, although if I do so, I would still prefer to work for a year or two (or until I feel that I am not learning much on my job) before heading to business school.

So it appears that the choice would be between banking and consultancy as a first job. I hope to do a banking internship next summer and a consulting one the following summer, to figure out which job will be more engaging and intellectually stimulating. Ultimately, I believe my options will be constrained by what offers I receive, which departments have better people, and what short-term opportunities they offer for developing me. In the meantime, other exciting opportunities outside of these fields could also pop up.

In the meantime, I have summarized some feedback from friends on the two options. In general, my friends seem evenly spread out between the two sectors. As their opinions are biased, this might not be truly reflective:

IBD Analyst Position –

Remunerates better in short term. Development of technical skills in finance provides more expertise at the field. More physically demanding due to longer hours.

Analysts are treated badly in a highly hierarchal environment as they are relatively disposable at that level. Most people concur that starting as an associate provides much better opportunities for development. Sharp learning curve followed by intellectually less-engaging routine work for most of the rest of the stint. Narrow skill sets (both good and bad) and largely a stamina game. Excel monkey and painful dues-paying.

Consulting Associate Position –

More interesting people (could be because it attracts people with varied interests looking to stay in the field for just 2 years) in aggregate and greater likelihood of meeting people with similar interests in development. Finishing school developing broader skill sets and exposure to different fields. Time outside of work to think about development. Opportunities to jump into IBD associate level and avoid the painful (and not necessarily value-added) analyst stint might just make it worth it. Possible stand-in for Bschool?

Remuneration is much lower (although differentials at entry level is not extreme). Not much depth in any field and lack of training in technical expertise. Longer route to goal. How much better are people treated at this level? Is work really much more intellectually stimulating? Powerpoint monkey and still lots of dues paying.

Anything to add to this discussion?

(Beijing, China) Looking to the future.

I was at Di An Men Dong Da Jie queuing to buy green bean cakes when I saw a little girl scrapping food off the ground and eating it. I wondered where her parents where. All I could do was give her a cake and walk away. I felt sad and angry that this was all I could do for her. I wondered if I could do more.

There were so many other kids like her around Beijing, victims of the mass immigration into the city and the lack of public services for them due to their hukou status. As I walked back home, I began thinking about a possible way to serve these kids. If I am able to find the right mix of a good model, sustainability, and long-term need, I will go ahead and try to implement it.

The Solution: Having a daycare center for kids of kindergarten age whose parents cannot afford any other service (target bottom 5 percent of urban dwellers?). Center will provide basic healthcare and education, food, and hygiene training to give kids a better opportunity to survive in an urban environment.

I have drawn up a model and will bounce it off friends to see if it is worth implementing.

Cheap shoes are a false economy - Tony Blair.

Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair revealed Friday that he had worn the same pair of shoes to his weekly question-and-answer session in parliament since he became the country’s leader. The shoes in question — an 18-year-old pair of hand-made leather Brogues that have only been re-soled once — were made by Church’s in Northampton, central England.

“I know it’s ridiculous, but I’ve worn them for every PMQs (Prime Minister’s Questions) … I’ve actually had them for 18 years,” Blair told The Times in an interview, adding that “cheap shoes are a false economy.” - The wise words of outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair

I have been very sensitive to the comfort afforded by my shoes ever since my feet injury in the army. I am also a shoe lover - very conscious of the sartorial grace possessed by the creatures that sit on my feet. I believe in shoes that last a lifetime, and abhor the fallen nature of shoes: they have become disposable goods to be bought yearly, treated badly, and thrown out quickly. Such a waste!

In line with this thinking, I have saved for a few years to buy a pair of Church’s shoes. This purchase is in line with my short-term and long-term needs. In the long-term, I plan to build up a collection of shoes with longevity that can see me through work and leisure. In the short-term, I expect to be interviewing on campus next year for a summer job (that actually pays the school fees), and will need respectable shoes. To ensure I get my value’s worth, I will buy a second (i.e. shoes with slight imperfections) Consul (traditional black leather oxfords) that is versatile enough to take me through all situations.

In the longer term, I will slowly trade in my current shoe-collection for more Church’s. I intend to buy another Church’s in three years, depending on my financial situation, and perhaps more frequently after that once I start working. If well-taken care of, Church’s will save me money for footwear as I do not need to spend so much replacing my shoes every two years or so.

(Dunhuang, China) My newfound friend cries out in the heat…

I was initially apprehensive about getting on the train to Dunhuang as I was still recovering from the flu I picked up at the edge of the world – Kashgar. Expecting a dirty cramped space in my hard sleeper apartment, I actually found a relatively clean and comfortable place that I have come to think of as my moving home. The thought of only eating instant noodles for the next 15 hours excited me…really!

Dunhuang is a small town at the edge of a desert. Its significance rests on it being one of the frontier towns facing travelers embarking on the long arduous journey on the Silk Road. Travelers would pray here to seek protection on the long journey, which gave rise to the famed Thousand Buddha Caves. These caves dotted the wall of the mountains, and contained paintings and carvings of Buddha, and ancient sutras (many stolen by German, French and Japanese archaeologist or destroyed by the locals) of immense historical and cultural value. The travelers carved and painted in these caves as a way of seeking blessings in preparation for their journeys.

(Dunhuang, China) Graves in the Desert…

An interesting aspect of these caves was that many of the Buddhist paintings on the wall incorporated Taoist folklore and legends. Buddhism was persecuted during the Tang dynasty, and fell out of favor with the masses. To make it more appealing and palatable in that milieu, monks decided to incorporate elements of the leading religion of that time: Taoism. It is an interesting fusion, and a good sign of the marketing efforts of religion.

(Dunhuang, China) My newfound friends I met on the train…

After exploring the caves, I went to visit the desert with my two friends from the north whom I met in the train. The desert had been transformed into a semi-theme park, and we saddled our camels to explore the mountains of sand and climb the rolling dunes. I decided to roll down a sand dune - something I always wanted to do in life - and got sand into every nook and cranny of my clothes and body. Everyone else being smarter, they did not follow me.

(Dunhuang, China) Cowboy hats and camels…hmmm…

Come evening, I decided to explore the night market. Dunhuang, being a tourist town, had a nice open-air area for customers to sit by fountains and eat. A waitress would stand beside every table, and recommend food and drinks from the wide array of stores in the plaza, taking a surcharge as her dues.

(Xian, China) No bargaining for food though. Social expectations drive behaviors too.

Trolling the night market, I thought about why bargaining does not happen as frequently in the US as it does in China. Bargaining can be thought of as a means to price discriminate, as customers are made to pay at their reserve price. Ideally, businesses would like to capture all the surplus from this price discrimination, but cannot do so in larger businesses for a few reasons:

1. Marginal benefits of haggling outweigh costs in terms of customer dissatisfaction and time and energy wasted.
2. It fails to build long-term customer relations, instead focusing on short-term gains.
3. There is an information failure: if the sales person is not the proprietor, there might be difficulties monitoring the sales price.

These reasons also explain why for bigger one-off transactions such as M&A, where owners are involved in the exchange, negotiation over price takes place. It is not one-off, owners reap the benefits, and the marginal benefits are large.

(Urumqi, China) Understanding how business can make the world a better place…

I have more or less finalized the academic areas I wish to explore next semester. I will take the following classes:

CHIN 411 – Readings in Modern Chinese Literature
I want to explore a side of the language which I have less exposure too, although this course might be far above my ability to handle.

STAT 431 – Statistical Inference
FNCE 100 – Corporate Finance
ACCT 101 – Principles of Accounting
WHS 299 – Wharton Research Scholars Research Seminar
I hope I am ready for this as all my fellow researchers will be seniors.

URBS 078 (Honors) - Urban-University Relationships
MKTG 101 (Honors) – Introduction to Marketing
MGMT 208 – Globalization and International Political Economy
LGST 210 – Corporate Responsibility and Ethics
I have not registered for this course yet as I am waiting for an opening in Prof. Laufer’s class. He recommended that I sign up for it as business ethics are an area I am interested in, and overlaps with my research. The debate-based approach of the class will also help train my presentation skills, something that I have a life-long commitment to work on.

Key Development Area for fall 2007 – Interviewing

I have a feeling that once again, I am taking on too many classes, which I have to juggle against the equally demanding schedule of my extracurricular and social life. As usual, I would schedule a few classes, then have new classes crop up in my schedule at the last moment as I cannot resist their interesting topics. Maybe I am subconsciously following Prof. Whitney’s advice on learning a little of everything, but not too well.

Its all about signaling…

Over the weekend, I went to Shanghai to meet my schoolmate Weihan. It was great fun hanging out with him and other friends who were in Shanghai. On the first night, Weihan dragged me to a really fancy club called Attica which overlooked the Bund. This club was filled largely by rich upper-class expatriates and their young pretty Chinese girlfriends. I felt terribly out of place, if not for the company of my equally plebian friends Minjung, Amy, and Gina. Being the broke development economist I was, I decided to occupy myself by observing the economic habits of the crowd.

Signaling is a major part of clubbing lifestyle. From the clothes people wear, to their hairstyles and choice of alcohol, people are playing the signaling game to attact the opposite (or same) sex. An important part of club life (particularly for guys) is about conveying spending power, all the better to attract the interest of girls (or guys). Hence, I found it really interesting how this club had a minimum charge for each table differentiated according to location. By having this system, people will know who the big spenders are simply by observing where they are seated. Another interesting signal occurs whenever someone orders a bottle of expensive Moet Chandon: it comes in an ice bucket topped with a sparkler. In the dark atmosphere of a club, the sparkler immediately grabs everyone’s attention. This leads their eyes to the big spender, giving him better bang for his buck (no pun intended).

Signaling wealth is a key component to attraction in a club because the loud noise limits the competitive advantage of people with great social skills. It restricts competition to looks and money (properly signaled). More limited but still possible is popularity competition. For example, if you hangout with celebrities, people assume you must be popular.

In real estate, if you get a deal with mortgage, don’t go for it. Avoid anything where you need to borrow personal loans for the down payment. For people who work from home, this is even more important. There have been many unintentional homes for sale due to ignorance.

Never Forget…

“Tan, 20, was given eight strokes of the cane in prison instead of the five he was sentenced to, after a court clerk wrongly recorded the sentence on a document.”

Recent reports from Singapore talked about how a person was caned 8 times instead of the 5 handed down by the court because of a clerical mistake. Caning in Singapore is not a slap on the back, it tears out flesh, the victims often collapse from the excruciating pain, and is meant to instill through terror the “proper” behavior. Besides the obvious question of why caning still exists, the incident reminded me of a conscript army.

Madam Ho claimed her son had put his thumb print on the documents because the same officers he had complained to were there during the caning. ‘He was worried if he raised the matter again with them, he’d be punished further. He also thought that if they wanted to check, they would have done so two weeks earlier.’

This reminded me of several incidents in the army. When you are placed under people with so much authority over your life, you are unable to question them about your rights. Even if they exist, the army does not inform you of them and you dare not question as the army will threaten to punish you “informally” if you do so. And even if you get past that stage and ask, you are likely to run into a wall of unsympathetic bureaucracy.

I remembered someone was sent to the army mental care ward for schizophrenia when he was in the army after he quarreled with an army officer over the mishandling of his promotion – he was not supposed to be promoted but it happened, resulting in the extension of his conscription phase. His officer had him sent to the mental ward claiming that he was emotionally unstable. The mental ward in the army is an unpleasant place, filled with conscript medics who had long become insensitive to the needs of their patients – they push them around, shout at them, and constantly monitor their patients’ behavior to ferret out people they can report as faking mental illnesses. The doctor who runs the ward is worst – he is just trying to get promoted as fast as possible by “curing” as many patients as he can. This involves making their time in the ward so unpleasant that any patient will claim to be well.

My friend did not want to be in the ward. It was unpleasant: you were fed medications and was not told what they were for, you do not see the doctor the day you were admitted to plead your case, and had to wait for three days. When you finally see the doctor, he assumes you are lying and screams at you for your unfaithfulness to the country. He told the medics he was fine. He wanted to avoid the medications, as they made him unconcious for large parts of the day, and too drowsy to focus during his concious periods. After he saw the doctor, the doctor told him that they wanted to keep him in the ward indefinitely to observe him. He did not know when he would get out, and that was the worst part of it all. They placed him on a “suicide watch” – 24 hour survelliance by the staff with hourly records of his actions. He was not allowed to use any electronics, and could hardly stay focused enough to read anything in his drug-medicated drowsiness.

After a few days, that friend gathered the strength to ask what his rights were. Could he be kept here without getting a secondary medical opinion? Could they feed him all these drugs without his permission or without him knowing what these drugs were? Could he be moved to a non-army mental ward? Of course he could but no one told him when he first came in. The medics just said sign all the documents or you will be punished. When he asked for a second opinion, the doctor got mad and told him that he will make sure my friend would be sent to military prison. My friend backed down. He still had 6 months in the army left and did not want any trouble. He agreed to sign anything they gave him, including admissions that he had a bad attitude. He signed a letter semi-dictated by the doctor saying the he was guilty of all he did, and that he deserved to be punished.

The similiarity with the caning incident is that rights are useless when you know the entire system is stacked against you. The fears of further punishment that can be inflicted informally by the authorities make you unwilling to push for your rights. My friend has left his country for good now, unwilling to relive those terrible memories he suffered. I am glad for him.

“Madam Ho said that before she engaged a lawyer, she had actually written to the Prisons Department and Admiralty West Prison, where her son was caned, to ask for $150,000 compensation. She met a lawyer from the Attorney-General’s Chambers on 4 Jun, but they offered a lower amount, which she did not accept.”

In the past, I would be inclined to dismiss this people as unsympathetic collaborators. However, the army is a reminder of how a bureaucracy can desensitize even the best of people to the suffering of others. It does this by:

1. telling you that you are mentally stronger than those who complained
2. allowing you to hide behind impersonal rules and regulation
3. making you believe that there is nothing you can do to change a system for the better

I remember another friend in the military’s central manpower unit. He was a nice person and a smart kid who went to a top college. He told me that all the conscripts in his unit would cheer when a soldier committed suicide as they would have a day off because the senior officials have to attend the funeral. I told him he was cruel and he shrugged nonchalantly. He said that he had to work until midnight everyday and the day off was important. To him, these people had simply become digits. He said he was not responsible for these people’s death. He said it was “the system that did it.”

He was not the system…no one ever is.

*Note: For legal purposes, this article is fiction. It does not refer to any army in particular. The author does not take responsibility for the veracity of this article. The system wrote it.