Academic Preparation
Quantitative Skills
Quantitative Skills: Online MBAMath Course
All incoming Johnson School students who have paid their enrollment deposit are being provided access to an online course, MBA Math.
The Johnson School is providing this course as a tool to ensure each student has an adequate foundation in each major subject of the core curriculum (Finance, Economics, Statistics and Accounting), as well as some basic features of Excel.
For students with a moderate need to improve your quantitative skills, due to prior academic or professional experience with this material, MBA Math course should serve as a good refresher and will provide a preview of what you will see in the core curriculum.
For students with limited or no prior exposure to the material at MBA Math, we expect that you will find this course rigorous. But don't worry, not only will you see this material again in the core courses, but you also have the opportunity to reinforce your studies with MBA Math in our "Live" Pre-Orientation Course (described in more detail below).
For all students, this course presents an excellent opportunity to get a jump on the core material so that it will look familiar in the fall.
We recommend that you complete all the sections of MBA Math with the exception of "Marginal Analysis II" under "Economics"; this section is optional as the Johnson school faculty do not use calculus in the MBA curriculum.
Students using MBA Math typically begin each topic with a pre-quiz to establish a starting point. Based on your pre-quiz performance, you can then use the narrated lectures, text tutorials, and drill exercises to improve your understanding and proficiency until you are ready to take the post-quiz. We recommend that you work in a topic until you can achieve 90% in the topic, either through your pre-quiz or post-quiz performance.
Johnson School administration and faculty will be periodically reviewing student progress and performance in this course to ensure that all our incoming students are adequately prepared for our fast-paced and rigorous core curriculum.
To access MBA Math:
The Johnson School has paid for your subscription so do not register again as an individual. To enter the course, click the Existing User Sign In link at the top right of the home page. Then sign in with the user name and password as follows:
Username: your full email address (this will be the email that was "on file" with the Johnson School at the time you paid your deposit)
Password: the password for MBA Math will be provided to deposited students via Dean Dove's welcome letter (hard copy in the mail) and in subsequent Sage News email newsletters.
Quantitative Skills: "Live" Pre-Orientation Course
Our Quantitative Skills for the Core Pre-Orientation course will take place at the Johnson School in Ithaca, NY on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, August 6–8, 2008. (MBA Orientation begins on Monday, August 11, 2008.) Quantitative Skills for the Core will provide an in-depth and comprehensive preview of key quantitative concepts and terminology used in the Core courses. Registration is required for the course and there is a fee of $400 to enroll.
Regarding registration and attendance: We will invite selected students who we believe will most benefit from this in-depth and in-person session to register for this course. If you have not received information about this course and feel that you need to attend, please contact Jenny Ruhanen in the Admissions Office directly to discuss your situation and receive registration information.
Regarding this course and use of MBAMath: The online MBA Math course and the live on-campus Quantitative Skills course have overlapping coverage but represent different, and for many students, complementary learning opportunities. The online course has broader coverage than the three-day live format allows. Yet the live course contains some topics used in Cornell's fall term, such as conditional probability and decision trees, that are not currently included in the online course.
We encourage you to examine the online course to survey the material covered and to consider these comments to determine how best to plan your approach to academic preparation for the core curriculum. The online course allows you to start your quantitative preparation earlier, allowing more time for new material to sink in, and to selectively focus on the topics in which you need help. The live course takes place in a traditional classroom setting with an instructor, second-year teaching assistants, and student peers working through the material together.
We believe that all students can benefit from reviewing the online course prior to their arrival in Ithaca and that some students, particularly those with little to no experience with this material, should prepare by using both the online and live courses.
Leadership Training
During Orientation you will participate in NBA 570 - Foundations in Leadership. This unique course will start you on your path to strengthening your leadership skills by introducing you to key leadership concepts, including effective leadership of teams, developing and strengthening professional networks, and critical thinking/strategic problem solving. The course, which will include the Johnson Outdoor Experience (J.O.E.), will provide experiential opportunities for you to lead in a peer team context and assisting you in the development of a personal Leadership Plan that you will execute over the course of your MBA program.
In order for you to participate fully in the leadership training at J.O.E., you will need to complete by Friday, August 1 - the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which will be completed online. Information on how to complete all the assessment is provided in the Foundations in Leadership Assessment information and detailed instructions.
Core Courses: Readings, Textbooks & Exemptions
NCC 500 - Financial Accounting
Completion of advance work (to be completed before arriving at Cornell) using the accounting section of MBA Math is required for students without a recent accounting background. The pace of the core course will be very difficult for those students who have not completed this preparation. For those who may prefer to work with a text, the first six chapters of the book Essentials of Accounting , 9th edition, by Anthony and Breitner covers equivalent material. The book is available for purchase on amazon.com and at most other bookstores.
NCC 502 - Microeconomics for Management
For the course in microeconomics, all the required material is in the course packet that you will be able to purchase upon your arrival. You may also want to purchase the optional text Microeconomics, 6th edition, by Pindyck and Rubinfeld, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0130084611. The 7th Edition will be available by Fall 2008. Note that in past years most students have decided not to purchase the optional text.
NCC 506 - Managerial Finance
Students should read chapter 4 in Corporate Finance by Ross Westerfield and Jaffe, ISBN 9780073337180, 8th edition. There are many questions at the end of the chapter and students are encouraged to work on answering the questions.
Textbooks
Listing of required and optional textbooks
Exemptions
You may review the exemption policies for each core course and access some sample exemption exams (exams will be given during Orientation in August) on the Core Course Requirements page.
Other Recommended Reading
All students should be reading The Wall Street Journal and other business publications such as the Financial Times , Fortune and Business Week .
Additionally, as students consider various career paths it may be helpful to begin researching and reading function and industry specific publications such as The Deal for mergers and acquisitions news or Advertising Age.
Computer Skills
Although most of our students enter the MBA program already proficient in the use of Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint (all are used heavily here), several have asked for the ability to brush up on computer skills, and some have not used these products before. Skillsoft, a web-based training is available to deposited Johnson School students.
Students should note that there will be an Excel skills assessment assigned during Orientation which will be used to refer students who need more training to a weekend Excel course in the first few weeks of the semester.
