Oct 14
Some more Fordham tilt
So today I had my first midterm of B school in the class Math Models for Business. Thus far the class has been pretty much a review of the simplest concepts from 6-12th grade math. I probably should have gotten waived but it slipped through the cracks so here I am in this required class. Now the homework problems were mostly algebra and I never needed a calculator to solve them. With that in mind I did not bring a calculator to the midterm. When I arrived everyone was sitting with their calculators out so I asked the prof if it was necessary and he said yes. Not having time to run home to get it, I figured my iphone calculator would probably suffice. It is very basic with pretty much just the 4 main functions. It does not have the capability of doing roots or powers.
The test was simple and the questions were pretty much straight out of various chapters from the homework. There were a couple times I did need to use powers though. However, if i needed to do 1.34 to the 3rd, it was simply a matter of multiplying 1.34 times 1.34 times 1.34 so the problem could be easily solved. Then I got to the compount interest questions where the professor inexplicably used big numbers when smaller numbers would have easily suffiiced. So the question asked something like, what is 3000 dollars at %8.75 compounded quarterly for 16 years. The answer is 3000(1+.0875/4)^64. After I did the rest of the questions and prepared to turn my test in I asked the professor if that would be an acceptable form since he knew my calculator dilemma. He barely mumbled a respons, “well the questions requres you get the dollar amount”. I respectfully nodded and went back to my chair to do it out manually. I did 1.0875/4 times itself and hit the = button whcih gives me what that number ^2 is, i then hit the = 62 more times to get that number to the 64th. I repeated the process 3 times to assure i did it correctly.
CAN HE POSSIBLY BE SERIOUS? Does ANYONE doubt that by the time we go to business school we can enter numbers into a calculator? I’m fairly certain that in every math class I have been in from 7th grade on, the teacher would find such an answer perfectly acceptable. If this is really how we are to be judged I think I am better off doing pretty much anything else. If I lose points on that problem for faulty computing, I may be so steamed I’ll have to quit.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
I would tilt so hard if the formula wasn’t enough given the calculator problem. But you’re def a DC for not having it when it seems like everyone else got the message. Maybe the lesson here is to learn to be prepared, not to get the math answer.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
yea, getting so steamed and quitting b school- thatll show them! it might be retarded for the real world, but you will probably score some points with your idiot railbirds. good call. however, i do agree its insane to not accept that format.
October 15th, 2008 at 10:33 am
the iphone has a scientific calculator. all you have to do is turn it horizontally.
October 15th, 2008 at 10:36 am
WOW IT DOES, THAT TILTS ME SO BAD, so I’m dumb too, that doesn’t change the fact that the policy is dumb
October 15th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Who needs a calculator - just use your head.
October 15th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
bad beat that you didnt turn the iphone horizontal by accident during the test.
suckout that the prof was okay with you using a cell phone with internet capability. didja think of plugging in the compound interest problem in a google search?
October 15th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
from google: 3 000 * ((1 + (.0875 / 4))^64) = 11 983.3657
October 15th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
I think you fail something for not realizing that your phone has a scientific mode or that you can google equations.
October 16th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
You better not quit!!!
October 16th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Next time remember your calculator………….
October 16th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
And you wonder why you couldn’t get into Wharton or Harvard. lol.
Seriously though, I agree that it is slightly moronic but business school is about living in the real world and if in 3 years time your boss asks you to solve something he doesn’t really want you to just deliver a formula. He just wants the number. For the next two years your professors are your bosses.
As an employer, I know all too well that there is a big difference between intelligence and common sense. I have several employees with very big brains but their inability to live in the real world and be pragmatic makes them difficult to promote. There are some who are not as bright but understand how to get things done and communicate with their co-workers who will go far, despite not being as smart. That’s how business works.