Exams could’ve gone better, but this time there seemed to be more people with similar sentiments. Overall I am sure I’ll do better than in P1. Heard from another classmate-blogger that our seniors’ average grade for Finance (a really, really tough paper) was 17%! One finance-savvy classmate told me we should pray for the standard deviation to also be 17, so even if you get 0 you will be only 1 standard deviation away, and pass. Which sounds pretty ridiculous but that’s how the Z-curve works.
Also in P1 I didn’t get any negatives (a negative score means you’ve failed and definitely need to resit), though I may have to resit something anyway to pull up the average. If so, it will likely be the paper(s) I took while suffering from food poisoning…
I actually like our Finance professors and wish it didn’t always have to end this way, especially as I learnt so much from this class. Prior to INSEAD my knowledge of Finance was zero (not counting knowing how to manage my bank accounts, buy and sell shares, fund my projects).
Since then, my finance knowledge has moved up to, say, 50% or 60% and for the sciency/engineering types who grasp quantitative concepts faster, say it’s 70% or more. However compare that to classmates who have worked in Finance all/most of their lives, have a Masters or other qualification in Finance and gets full marks the P1 Finance quiz. There’s a bunch of them asking questions so advanced that the professors say it’s beyond the syllabus. Let’s say that at INSEAD, their knowledge moved up from 90% to 95%. Obviously on an absolute scale there’s no contest, and on a comparative scale I’m pummeled to death. However thanks to the smarties, we also get a bigger standard deviation which will hopefully save my ass.
The last exam, Process and Operations, had twists in the questions, some easier, one definitely the hardest, and I kicked myself for not spotting some things but oh well, it’s over. I hope the soft subjects will help me. I told God, “If there’s only one subject I can do well in, let it be Marketing”. However the paper required a lot more calculations than we expected! Doing well at Strategy would be nice too, as I plan to move into a strategic role. I will be focusing on these areas (as well as Organisational Behaviour) because I have a genuine interest and my career path will continue in that direction. Whatever you do, as you move up in life, you will have to start managing and leading people, groups, organisations. Had an interesting conversation over the weekend with my former HR boss about it and maybe I will chat more with her in future on this topic.
Still, I wish I could ‘get’ quant concepts faster like my classmates with engineering, finance and science backgrounds. Those of us with more artsy backgrounds rely a lot on more savvy classmates to explain things to us, and I’m grateful for the Finance help, particularly to “Professor” RB, and to MEK for clarifying things shortly before the exam. What gets me however is that the standard at INSEAD is high, it is not easy to get in, and I’m in a company of very talented, brilliant people.
Overall for the subjects, I feel I grasped the key concepts enough that they will linger in my memory, and I can apply them to my future work and that will be important in the long run. However in the short run, I must get through to the next round!!!
That’s all I have left to say about the exams. Onward to P3!
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