It’s been said that coming to HBS is like drinking from a fire hose; it’s an intense and transformative couple of years. For the Class of 2015 – out in the “real world” for a few months now – we wondered what perspective these months out of school have granted them. What do they wish they’d done differently? What do they wish they’d known? What advice do they have for prospective students and new students?
Greg Sequin, a West Point graduate and finance officer, got interested in tech while at HBS. He did a product management internship between RC and EC year, and is now working as a product manager at Goodreads in San Francisco. Here’s what Greg wishes he’d known about HBS.
What do you wish you’d known about RC year in advance?
FOMO is real. Embrace your section experience and make it as meaningful as possible. One of the things I look most forward to after HBS is catching up with my section mates, and the better you get to know them during RC year, the easier it is to keep those bonds strong.
What do you wish you’d known before entering EC year?
You're going to graduate. Take a class (or two or three) that scares you - one where you don't have expertise and it puts you outside your comfort zone. I went to the first day of Strategic Marketing in Creative Industries and felt completely out of place there, knowing nothing about entertainment, media, or sports. I stuck it out, and it became one of my favorite classes because I learned so much in such a short amount of time.
What do you wish you’d known about the social life HBS?
It gets infinitely harder to schedule time and do things with friends as life pulls you in different directions after HBS. Make the most of your time with people and take time to have fun.
What do you wish you’d known about your summer internship?
HBS might get your resume looked at or get you that first interview, but then it's up to you to execute. Nothing is going to be handed to you. :D
If you could go back and do your two years over again, is there anything you would have done differently?
I wish I'd taken more advantage of our professors. They make themselves available as resources, but I didn't ever seek advice or ask to meet my professors outside of class. I wish I had.
What did you find out about yourself at HBS?
This could be easily be a book. I found out that I'm special - HBS chose me to be a part of the Class of 2015. I found out that I'm not special - each and every single one of my peers was exceptionally talented in many ways and I wondered if I might be an admissions mistake. I found out that I had a community of peers in my classmates but that we were at the same time very different from one another. I could go on and on.
What surprised you the most about HBS?
How quickly it all ended. I never realized two years could pass by so quickly.