Joyce Meng

I’m a student blogger on the official MFE blog, so from time to time, I’m going to cross-post a modified, “unofficial” version of my entry on my personal blog. The school has an approval system, so my posts don’t go immediately up on the site. Makes sense, as every business school would like to control the content affecting its image. In totality, I’m very satisfied with the program so the two posts don’t deviate substantially, and 100% of the content I write for the offical blog is truthful, but this entry will of course contain some of my more whimsical personal commentary.
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Sixth week already? Time at Oxford seems to just speed up each day – with our packed course schedule, we’ve all gotten into the familiar routine of waking up bright and early and returning home after dark. In six weeks, we’ve covered so much ground. Sometimes it’s a bit overwhelming in retrospect (imagine telling your friend, “We covered the entirety of arbitrage pricing and the calculation of state prices…in two hours”)

Alas, it is the nature of the Oxford term – eight weeks of intense coursework, and then a long break to allow the full digestion and appreciation of the material. As a returning student, I’ve discovered the importance of just keeping up with the general picture during term, taking advantage of all the exciting seminars and events on campus, and refraining from feeling anxious over not being able to do all the reading and detailed work. Albeit it took me some time to figure this key piece of advice last year, it’s done my sanity and well-being a lot of good.

I’ll try and break down some of the ground we covered by class.

Corporate Finance: In just six weeks, we’ve learned the CAPM, capital budgeting, Miller & Modliani principles (with and without taxes), optimal capital structure considerations, corporate valuation and delevering, and most recently, real options theory. Professor Noe is both my academic and college supervisor, and I really like him a lot because he’s friendly, helpful, and very willing to take the time to answer questions and clarify concerns.

Asset Pricing: Alas, asset pricing – this class is both simultaneously my favorite and my most frustrating by far. The problem sets (ungraded) often cause me great anxiety as I struggle to apply the concepts of lectures to solve calculations. Basically, I walk away from lectures thinking I understand everything, but then start on the problem sets and then blank out (especially Week 4 on the Lucas Model). Sometimes, it’s really hard for me to follow the flow of the lectures, and there isn’t a particularly good reference book to clarify. Regardless, though, I have a feeling that this course will probably be the one that I remember the most when I leave Oxford. Just like how I struggled my way through MGMT 100 (for different reasons) at Wharton, I know that the triumph of surmounting a challenge leaves an indelible impression. Of course, this assumes that I will figure everything out in asset pricing by the end of the year…

Economics: Last year, I did the MSc in Economics for Development program at Oxford, so I had a chance to delve deeper into the economics models and theories relevant to small, open economies. Prior to last year’s program, however, I really had no intuition for economics and had to start from scratch. So I’m in this weird state where I know a lot of more advanced concepts (endogenous growth theory, human capital theories, debt sustainability models, overlapping generation models, signaling and discrimination models, New Keynesian Open Economic Model, 1-2-3 model, exchange rate regimes, among many other models and concepts), but am missing out some basics for beginner, large-economy models taught in undergraduate courses. Professor Javorcik is perhaps one of the most popular teachers among our class – as we concluded our macroeconomics module today, I heard many wistful sighs. She’s incredibly clear at explaining models, and never fails to go step-by-step to provide the intuition. Compared to some of our other courses, the lectures are much less quantitative, but frankly, it’s a very welcome break.

Financial Econometrics: We concluded the theoretical foundations of financial econometrics with Professor Large, and we’ve just started on the more empirical/applied section with Professor Sheppard. Econometrics…is hard. I really liked my econometrics course from last year, as we really didn’t focus on theory all too much, but rather, did a lot of practical application and experimentation with STATA. As the majority of us will be practitioners of finance anyway, the proofs and theories probably won’t be as relevant than the interpretation and the ability to question and validate model output and conclusions. We’re using Matlab instead of STATA – the former is particularly powerful with matrices. As a math minor in college, I did linear algebra, but sometimes, it’s hard to translate all the data manipulation into matrix operations (sigh). My dearest little sister, from what I hear, is a Matlab wizard so I do feel like I have an additional resource to tap into (Grace, beware! I may be calling on you soon!). I suppose Matlab is better for time series data and STATA for panel data  – well, I guess it never hurts to have an extra program in one’s toolkit, and of course, programming concepts translate almost everywhere.

Life Outside of Class:  The one unique aspect of being at the Said Business School is the focus on social entrepreneurship and leveraging business concepts to make a positive social impact. I honestly believe that compared to all the business schools in the world, Said is perhaps one of the most progressive on this front! For me, the strength of the social entrepreneurship research and focus was one of the main draws of the program, and I am continually astounded by the different events, seminars, and networks available for aspiring or current social entrepreneurs. Yeah, there will always be a core of people who are here just to get into i-banking and management consulting, but I do think that compared to many other business schools, there’s a greater percentage of people who are involved in non-profit and government work. Makes for a more interesting and engaged class. Given that I’m heavily involved in social entrepreneurship, I’ve tried very hard to take advantage of all the resources and networking opportunities available, though to be honest, with how exhausted I am after class, it’s not always possible.

Frankly, I’m probably putting in an additional 3-6 hours a day on YouthBank and Givology on top of all my schoolwork, which in light of the MFE workload, is probably not too sustainable. But I know that next year, I’ll be working full-time, so I want to use this time to get my organizations as far as they can go. I agree with my mother – I should take this time to truly develop my interests and take advantage of all the free time I have as a student. Certainly, I won’t neglect my academics, but I want to make sure that I really stretch myself as a person too. I’ve been a student for so long, but I’ll be like my dad – learning never stops, and certainly does not end with the classroom!

I’m still playing on the Oxford women’s ice hockey team, and I do enjoy it, especially the games, but I sometimes wonder if it’s a best use of my time and effort, especially in light of the very late practices and the time cost of just getting to practice, changing, and going back home. This year, the team is going to a chalet in Switzerland for a very special skip trip/ice hockey tournament, so I know that this season should be more special than any other year, but when I’m walking back home at 2:00 AM with a heavy bag that is nearly breaking my back, I doubt my sanity.

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