 You will project, right? Hello everyone, and thank you for joining our webinar today. Today we will be going over the MRT Supply Chain Management Program and cover admissions and tips for applying. My name is Robert Cummings. I'm the academic administrator for the program. And I will turn it over to Dr. Maria Hizouz-Sainz to introduce herself and get us started. Hello, everybody. It's a pleasure for us to be here with you, then just to introduce more about the beauties of our MIT Supply Chain Management Master's Program. Yeah, we are going to present the main content of the program. And maybe we can have some sessions, some time just for Q&A. So we can clarify your particular questions, right? So thank you very much, Robert. So you want me to start? Yeah, so I think here's the agenda that we will have. Maria will kick us off by just introducing what Supply Chain Management is. We'll go over some professional outcomes of the program and overview the application process. And then at the end, we will join the students, our current student ambassadors for Q&A. And so with that. Yeah, what is supply chain management? So then I am sure that then if you are here, you know quite well what does this mean. But there are several evidences very unfortunately that supply chain is on all the focused attention of many companies, I mean, governors, I mean, even citizens all over the world. So supply chain implies that then we can have our products on time at the right price, at the right quality, at the right quantity. So then here we have some recent news about why supply chain and how supply chain is impacting the auto industry, in the retail industry, food industry, problems with infrastructure, also some tensions and some disruption that are happening are putting the supply chain and their main focus of our attention. So here in our program, then we want to train and educate you in order to try to solve all these issues. There are all these evidences of work and jobs are creating a big peak in the mind in the jobs, in the job search. And then we will come back to that point later. And as we understand, supply chain is from the angle of our applied research, applied research that we are doing. So these are different evidences of our labs in the CTL MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics. So we have labs in digital supply chain transformation. By the way, I am the head of this research lab. But also we are doing research with our colleagues on humanitarian supply chain, sustainability, logistics of sustainable supply chains, then several books that are also impacting executives all over the world in terms of how supply chain is working with COVID and COVID has also creating different supply chain strategies, also in terms of sustainability, resilience, all these books from Professor Josie Sheffi. So again, we understand supply chain, especially the latest development supply chain, thanks to the close applied research we are doing with different companies all over the world. Excellent. So yeah. And all of this work in the field of supply chain of course leads to our outcomes and our professional development, which we pride ourselves with our program here at MIT. So some of the key elements that we'll be delivering to students is our very high touch professional development curriculum, which includes resume and cover letter building, outreach to our on-campus recruiters and virtual recruiters as the pandemic has allowed us to shift and have a lot of opportunities with companies both in person and online. We also want you to develop your own strengths and really see those through and help you, help to coach you in the interview process and the job search strategy so that you can find a career that closely aligns with your goals and outlooks. You'll have access to MIT's full career advising and professional development curriculum. So that is customized both by our program here at SCM but also with the wider MIT network. So we have students who connect from Sloan. We have opportunities from the Sloan School of Management, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. So there's a lot of overlap with the different areas here at MIT. And then of course finally the actual job postings that we will have with recruiters on that SCM brings in but also recruiters that reach out to us. And with that, we really have very strong employment outcomes that Maria wants to just highlight some of the key figures here. Yeah, these figures are from last year but then we are collecting right now the current figures. So our students, current student, current class, they are starting August 21. So after these six months, then we have increased the packages job, I mean the salaries in 20%. So there were strong evidences that supply chain is a career that is growing in terms of demand, in terms of attention and also in terms of the portfolio of different opportunities you may have. Just another figure that is not here but is for the current class, 70%, more than 70% of the current class has already obtained an offer, right? So after six months of classes even not being graduated yet. So there are several evidences and these are the jobs that have been, positions that have been offered from senior supply chain analysts, we pay a lot of attention to analytics content but also in terms of leadership, right? Here are the some companies that have been recruiting. So then every single week we are having infosessions from these companies from Apple, Google, Amazon, Wayfair, they have offered several positions to our students but also from consultancy companies like Alice Partners Boston Consulting Group, Retailers Home Depot, right? Or even in the health industry, Johnson and Johnson Close Partner, right? So these are the positions you can see here on your left. So a huge variety of, from a main consultant but analyst but also supply chain director, BP in certain consultancy companies with very high salaries and very nice interesting packages, yeah. So in terms of the rankings, we are very proud that then we have obtained a recognition from several rankings. The one that we love is the very well recognized QS ranking that as a second year in a row, they have recognized our program as the best program worldwide in supply chain. And this is because we are putting a lot of effort on what the industry is needing right now in terms of talent, in terms of skills, in terms also the combination of operations with analytics technology and also strategy in leadership positions. So this is one of our strengths and yeah, the rankings are recognized by that there. Excellent. So that gives you just a little bit of insight into the program, our position here and the career outlook. And now to take a little bit of a deeper dive into the program itself and what students can expect. First, what we will do is just highlight our two program offerings. So many of you who are on this call or watching afterwards will be either applying to the residential program or the blended program. These are two different offerings that deliver the same degree in different styles. So for the residential program, it's the more traditional 10 month on-campus experience designed for early career supply chain professionals looking to get specialized training and hone their skills so that they can proceed in their careers as mass supply chain professionals. It offers custom career development and support. A lot of recruiting goes into our fall term. So students really hit the ground running. Some even preparing as early as July in terms of the consulting field and things like that. This also provides OPT and STEM work authorization for international students. So there's a great benefit to the program there. For the blended program, this is positioned as an alternative pathway. For a master's degree in supply chain management, it combines our MicroMasters program in supply chain management. This program is done online at your own pace, includes five courses and a comprehensive final exam to assess your supply chain abilities and really culminates it as the first half of the program with us here at MIT. It's geared towards non-traditional students who might be further along in their professional careers who are not able to take off as much time to join us here on campus. So the program is only five months in person, but it does still have a lot of pre-work requirements that you would be working on through the fall concurrently with the residential program. You would just be doing that remote with your partner and on your own independent schedule. So one of the important differences that we want to highlight here is depending on your motivation, right? If you are coming from a different country than US, right? And then you want to work here in the US, then we definitely will recommend your residential program, right? Due to all these eligible OPT option that you have that you don't have in the blended program due to the duration of the program, right? But it depends on different motivations, right? If you want to continue with your career and have the, I mean, online education and being with us here for a short period but very impactful period of time, then the blended is your choice, right? So these are the pros and cons of the both cohorts. Yeah, in terms of what we are looking for, what is the value, our value proposition, right? So if we have to summarize the program, what we, why we are here, this is our value proposition just to develop world-class global leaders in supply chain management with an innovative MIT educational model, right? So world-class global, why? Because then we are creating every single class, every single month we are innovating in incorporating cutting-edge knowledge into our classes and towards professional learnings, our cases. The second point on the right, leaders, we want you to inspire others along your career, maybe right now, maybe your history, your job experience but also potentially in the future. So we are gonna train and educate you to do this leadership inspiration job. Of course, supply chain management, thinking globally, holistically and analytically, we are putting a lot of effort on these three elements. We are innovative and you, I mean, then the graduates, we are expected to create this curiosity just to promote this creativity. This innovation-driven supply chain, value-driven supply chain, just going beyond the standards. This is a culture of MIT that we transfer during the months that you will be here with us. And of MIT, this is also part of the culture of MIT that mindset menus, right? So then we want to integrate our minds, right? Together with our experiential approach to putting hands-on experience of what we are doing. So we are very practical, very experiential oriented in all these projects, courses, assignments, cases, et cetera. Exactly. So with all of that in mind, now we can jump to what students can expect in terms of the day-to-day life of the program and full timeline of our two offerings. So first here we have the residential program. This begins in August with our orientation. As we mentioned before, there's a lot of recruiting prep. Our program is also very research-focused. So students will begin their capstone project with projects done in partnership with our CTL Supply Chain Exchange Network or our researchers here at MIT. There's a very analytical focus as well to make sure that students have that solid base going into their career here at MIT. Through the fall and through the fall term, you would jump into the normal routine of classes, presentations from key speakers, career advice and career development. And as I mentioned before, furthering your research project and also presenting your project to your cohort here at MIT and through our global scale network. So in January, we have our colleagues from across the world join us here at MIT for our IAP Global Scale Connect Conference. This intensive three-week period brings talent from all over the world to present their research thus far. We have centers in several countries from Spain, China, Luxembourg, and then new centers are always in development as well. So we have them come to campus and everybody engages in workshop and speaker sessions throughout that intensive period. Then we jump back to the spring term where we would have students complete their classes and requirements. We also go on an experiential study trip where we get to see supply chain in action. So that may include visits to companies, warehouses, distribution centers, just to really see the hands-on experience of supply chain. This all culminates with our research-fest presentations where students present their final projects and the innovations they've delivered to their companies and to the research fields as a whole. And then finally, this of course culminates with your graduation from MIT here in front of the MIT Dome and Killian course at the end of May. We would love to see you there, right? In that picture, this is a special day for all of you, for all of us. After all these journey, intensive, but also very rewarding, yeah. Exactly. And now we also have our blended master's program as we mentioned before. So this one, this program takes a little bit of a different style. First, as we mentioned, you would complete your online micro-masters and supply chain management. This is done independently at your own pace given the classes that are available, usually anywhere from 15 months to 18 months as a standard track in terms of completing. There's two final exam date options in November and May, usually given on the year. And that would allow you to apply to the program here. So that would require the full admission cycle. One additional component to the application for blended students is to develop a robust capstone proposal so that we can evaluate along the way and we'll get to those steps in a few more slides. The blended program does still require some dedicated pre-work in the August to December period. So while the residential students are here fully on campus, doing classes, blended students will be developing their projects remotely, meeting with team members and advisors and the capstone companies to refine their work and make sure that they are able to hit the ground running once they're here in January. We have webinar series to help with writing and data management and analytical material. Python is a very important component as well. So we'll deliver online sessions and modules so that students can keep up and make sure that they are well positioned for the intense five month period here starting in January. Once you do join in January, we have our one week orientation program where you finally get to meet all of your cohort and have great team building experience, communications and supply chain. Most importantly, review your projects with your residential counterparts to make sure that everybody is in a good setting to begin the Scale Connect January term. From that point on, the blended program fully integrates with the residential program and you are one cohort in our minds. Everybody will complete the same activities in January. The spring term, again, everybody completes the prescribed curriculum. There's more customization offers for blended students to select different classes and supply chain in the Sloan School of Management or anywhere throughout MIT. And then finally, this will culminate in the exact same degree from MIT in May. So both cohorts receive a master of applied science from us and there is of course one small option for a master's of engineering depending on students' research interests but the majority of students will pursue that master of applied science and graduate in May. And now in terms of the curriculum, this is just a snapshot of the residential curriculum. The blended is also very similar just with the fall term removed. So we really pride ourselves on having a very analytical focus to the program. So in the fall term, students will do analytical methods starting right off in orientation. Logistic systems is one of our core classes covering supply chain management and logistics. Database and data analysis will be the beginning part of a series which we continue to develop for Python programming and then data science and machine learning in the spring. Along the way, we are very focused on providing writing skills for supply chain management. So making sure that students are well positioned to deliver a robust capstone or thesis in the spring term. So developing those writing skills both in the fall and the spring. During our January period with the network of the scale global network coming to MIT, we have our core class leading global teams where you get to lead your own teams with the cohort here and the scale network. So it's a really important bonding and team management style program which we're always excited to deliver. Along the way students have some customization in terms of electives. So we have analysis electives, finance electives, supply chain and management electives. So there's a lot of customizability. For residential students in particular there's also options to add on MIT Sloan certificates. So certificates for example in sustainability, healthcare are some of the most popular highlights for them as well. And here's just a snapshot of some of the electives and classes that are directly offered by the supply chain management program and our lecturers here that we've had over the years. These are some highlights, freight transportation, humanitarian logistics, sustainability is always a popular and Dr. Maria Hazou signs own class digital supply chain transformation. So these classes and offerings really offer a deep dive into each specific field which offers a lot more exposure to the elements that go into each industry and supply chain. Maria, I don't know if you have any other comments. Yeah, I would like to highlight that then the beauty of having all these portfolio electives that you can combine also with some electives from other school at MIT, like a school of engineering or the College of Computing. So it means that then you can really customize your motivations, how you can, I mean, educate and equip yourself about supply chain management. Some students prefer to be very analytics optimization oriented with models, machine learning approaches. So then they will select those courses that are strong in that particular segment. Let's say, for example, last mile delivery, right? Sorry, urban last mile logistics, I mean, or then there are different tracks on machine learning, right, in which you can be more, I mean, focus more on the math orientation together, of course, with the application of supply chain management. Or you can be more, for example, it's particularly that say, let's go more with leadership, leadership under ambiguity, right? Or for example, then just to understand the strategic approach of supply chain management or maybe the supply chain finance in order to be able to communicate with your finance department, right? So again, there are different ways of approaching your motivation and interest. Nobody has the same motivation. We recognize that and we want to customize, right? Your journey and your particular interest. But for example, sometimes then with your capstone that you're working with your sponsor company, then you are expected to do a network design for, I don't know, Johnson and Johnson, for example, in whatever kind of second tier delivery. So then you will customize also your education in your Alexis just to follow that. Yeah, an important element as Robert mentioned is the capstone, right? The capstone for us is an experiential learning approach that is taking during nine months from the beginning to the end, both residential and blended. The blended students will start again in August, the same than the residential, but the blended will work online. Right? We'll work remotely during the fall term. But same kind of profile. We have a sponsor companies, let's say, I mean, Johnson and Johnson is motivated to run a new inventory model for new kind of category of product with innovative material learning approaches. Right? So then the Johnson and Johnson define the scope, we help defining the scope. And then we allocate one or two researchers as advisors for allowing the students to follow and to contribute to the company, right? So this is one example about last mile delivery project in which the students were combining different models, combining the drone delivery together with track delivery with where are the beauties of each of the modes. So the students develop not only the model but also the first prototype, right? Of algorithm that will generate this kind of allocation depending on the cases, right? Not always the algorithm of the model is expected. There are other kind of deliverables that also you can focus your attention on your contribution, right? So we have a huge variety of topics and your students, we also, you will have the opportunity to select your preferred capstone. And of course we have an algorithm to make this matching, right? Between the interest of the students and the capstone offers, right? So in order to make sure that then you are satisfied with your allocation during these nine months experiential learning project. Exactly. So now he might be thinking, where do I begin? And of course that starts with our application process which we'll cover here. In terms of the application requirements we have two separate applications both for the residential or the blended program. There are some specific elements to each. So depending of course on your background and if you're completed the MicroMasters online courses as well that will determine whether you're eligible for one or both programs. For the residential program we do require the GRE or GMAT. But one of our most preferred methods of evaluation is actually the SC0X Supply Chain Analytics course that we offer through the MicroMasters and through edX. So you can take that as a substitution for the GMAT or GRE. You will also have a written statement of objectives so it's a more traditional application. For the blended program we require a completion of the MicroMasters as we mentioned. And then you would also develop a research project proposal. This is important so that we can assess both your ability to synthesize data and research and put it into a cohesive two-page proposal. But also it could be used as the basis of your actual project here at MIT. So if you are able to secure a project with a company or a previous employer it goes a long way and we greatly value those because it creates new partnerships that we will like to develop here at MIT. And your motivation on those projects is definitely notable when you are developing them. Both of our programs for non-native English speakers will require the IELTS or TOEFL. We have a few waiver exceptions as well. We do require a online video statement. So this is just a two-minute introduction of yourself to the admissions committee. Our resume or CV with at least two years of work experience, two letters of recommendations and then your transcript. So these are sort of the key elements. And one thing we would like to say is what should you focus on and what does the admissions committee really take interest in? So first and foremost the video statement it's only two minutes long and it has some of these specific questions why you want to be admitted, what you would contribute to the program and any additional information. So it's really a snapshot of why you want to join MIT. And it's something that we greatly appreciate you taking the time to make. It doesn't have to be overproduced, just something that you're doing just like we are on Zoom. Definitely try to avoid reading that script if you wanna see your natural presence and just talk to us as if you were talking to us live. Another important component of the application is your work experience. Because we are a professional program we wanna see that you are bringing work experience to the cohort so that you're able to contribute to ideas and case competitions and discussions with other students with real world experience. So we are looking for that minimum of two years work experience. Ideal areas for work experience would be three to seven years depending on the program, the residential program leans towards a more early career professionals. The blended tend to have a little bit more work experience up to eight years or more. And make sure that your resume is clearly laid out so that we can see this information clearly displayed for the admissions committee. When you are applying, we also have dedicated fellowship and funding opportunities. So that includes our own SCM departmental fellowship, our Scaleless Scholars Fellowship. For the blended program, we have specific lifelong learner awards. And then we have additional fellowship opportunities as well such as our awesome fellowship for advancing women in supply chain and our blended achievement award for those students who are taking the MicroMasters and have a high achieving marks on the edX and MicroMasters program. So if I can jump here with all these figures about fellowship and tuition, always my recommendation to some potential candidates, I mean, think about the tuition if you are putting this amount in your finance thinking about the future. So you are gonna invest the tuition in our program but then you have the potential to work on all these companies in a supply chain job, then growing in your positions sort of your career, accelerate your career, right? And with very also very, I mean, high level salaries, right? So then you will be able to recover the money in less than a year, right? So then don't think only about the tuition itself. Think about what you can gain out of getting this degree in your CV, right? So then think about the return investment, right? I think it's important also consideration. Yeah, I think one of the most important things to consider on the return of investment is just the shorter duration of our program compared to your MBA. So the time that you are out of work is much shorter so that there's a much greater opportunity to recoup and join the workforce quicker. And we are gonna help you to find a good job that match your interests and your potential strengths and your current strengths, I would say. Oops. So with all that in mind, just application reminders for this current round, our final deadline for the residential program is March 28th, and for the blended program it's all the way June 20th, matching with the next CFX exam. For those watching this recording, our rounds will be similar each year with rounds starting in November, around somewhere around January and then a spring term round for residential program applicants. So this can be referenced in the future as well. Next, for our second half of the webinar, I would like to bring in our SCM student ambassadors to help us explain just the MIT experience and their perspectives as well as answering questions that students might have. So first, leading into that, why choose MIT? Marie, I think you're always best at describing this slide. Yeah, oh, yeah, oh, I love this slide, right? Because then, I mean, sometimes when we ask these questions, when we are, for example, interviewing for a job or we are interviewing some of our candidates, then, okay, oh, because MIT, no, MIT has much more than the brand, much more than the brand. And actually the brand is like the peak of the iceberg, right? Is all the resources that we are having here, is the culture of challenging ideas and challenging also yourself. Is the culture of creating a very valuable networking that will be with you along all your life, right? Also is the way of developing yourself in front of the cutting-edge development in the area of supply chain in terms of analytics, in terms of the companies. Is a way of also have a lot of mirrors with your peers in your class that we have a class of an average supply chain management experience of four years, right? A little bit lower residence, a little bit higher in the landed, right? In terms of supply chain experience, which means a lot of mirrors that could, I mean, help you to reflect about your own supply chain experience itself. So then MIT does all this, right? But also there is a very important global impact. And this, if you go to your right in this slide, if I have to select some kind of highlight about MIT facts, is that one, right? So MIT global impact in terms of the value that the alumni has created is can be considered the 10th largest GDP of the world, right? In the world. So if you think this is very relevant. So then the goal is just to equip you to lead supply chains that will have a great impact all over the world. So then with this, I would like to summarize and to thanks also our Ambassador, they are super busy, right? Actually, they are finishing right now today, eight to three terms. So the first part of the spring term. So thank you very much for being with us. Really, really appreciate it. Exactly. So now that we have like the big overview of MIT, it's important to think of the human connections that you'll be making here on campus as a student. So with that, we bring in our ambassadors to describe sort of the student life angle here at MIT and why they chose the programs that we have here. So with us today, we have Leah and Elise. So I will turn it over first maybe to Leah to go ahead and introduce yourself and then Elise and we can dive right in. Yeah, sure. Thank you. Hi, everyone. My name is Leah. I was born and raised in China and 80 years ago, I came to the US for my undergrad. I did my undergrad at Indiana University, I was a student majoring in supply chain management and information systems. After that, I moved to Memphis, Tennessee. I joined a company called Cummins, which is a power solution company. At the year I spent four years, and before I came to MIT, I was a senior supply planning analyst at Cummins. And I'm very excited to be here. I share my experience at MIT. Thank you, Leah. Hi, good morning, everyone. My name is Elise Rodriguez. I am a part of the blended cohort class of 2022. I was born and raised in New Hampshire just about 45 minutes north of Boston. I attended Lehigh University, where I studied supply chain management and marketing. And then post undergrad, I accepted a position at Pratt & Whitney in international jet engine manufacture in a rotational program. And then after the rotational program, I served as a materials analyst for one of our biggest international military customers. And just to echo what Leah said, I'm really, really excited to be here with you all today and share a little bit about the student experience in this program. Thank you, Elise. Yeah. Awesome, I'll go next. So hi, everyone. My name is Liam. I'm a little bit of background about me. I grew up in Austin, Texas. I went to the University of Texas and majored in supply chain there in business school. Worked at Boeing for a couple of summers in supply chain roles while I was there. And then transitioned to Accenture after graduation where I had been working in supply chain consulting roles at other Boston office for about five years before joining the residential class at MIT. So yeah, I'm really looking forward to seeing what questions you have and happy to be here as well. Thanks. Excellent, thank you all. So yeah, with that, I don't see any broad questions just yet. So I'll go ahead and pick us off with some questions that I owe still are helpful for incoming applicants. So one of the first and most obvious ones is why did you choose to join MIT and apply when you did? Okay, maybe I'll start and then we can pass it along. But yeah, I think one of the reasons I applied and this parallels back to my comments about being in consulting for five years is I feel like in consulting, you're always sort of pitching or supposedly very knowledgeable about all the leading technologies out there and sort of the forefront of what clients are interested in and things like supply chain transformation, analytical skills are very highly valued. But in my experience, I was like building a lot of soft skills and presentation skills and working on sort of like leadership and things like that. But I hadn't had a chance to really kind of build technical skills. And as I mentioned, my undergrad was a business degree. So I wanted to kind of refresh that and obviously there's no better place for that than MIT. So that was one of the big drivers for me was getting kind of a step up on my technical skills and being able to come back to consulting with kind of a leg up in that sense. So that was a really dreamy to it and I'm happy so far that it's worked out fairly well. Thanks, Flint. So for me, obviously there are so many reasons why you should say MIT. Just want to highlight a couple of important here. The first one is actually I took a micromaster before I applied the program and I really enjoy my micromaster every course or the exams. I like the teaching styles. I want to experience it in person. That's one very important reason. And the second is my manager. I have two managers, both of them in graduate fund this program and I have a couple of colleagues that also graduate fund this program. I enjoy working with them and I want to be someone like them. So I can. Let me to highlight something from Leah, right? So it's a good example that if you have the micromaster certificate, you can apply it to both programs, residential and blended. Of course the tangible follow is different, right? But if you are interested in OPT, even if you have the micromaster and working in the US, then you should go to the residential, right? Sorry, Elis, that I interrupted you. No, no, no, that's a really important note. So I first learned of this program actually when I was in my undergrad. My university was one of the universities that received the Supply Chain Excellence Award. And so I had been corresponding with a professor while I was in my undergrad and that piqued my interest in this program. So I've known for quite a few years that I wanted to pursue this opportunity. But aside from that, I have never really had the chance to do much research. And so that was really a drawing point for me was getting that experience to apply what we're learning in class to a real world context in a very meaningful way. And there's so many options for research too. So it's driven by your interest and that was something that was really compelling. That's great. And I feel like we have our first question from the audience, which actually speaks to many of the things that all of you have discussed. And you are great representatives of the types of jobs and experience we've looked for in applicants. Maybe Maria, do you have any other thoughts on specific job recommendations that students might have prior to joining the program or what we're looking for on the admissions committee? Yeah, there are no specific lists of jobs, of positions that then you accept. We accept in the program. We love diversity in class, right? Because every single student can bring their own experience that could be different than others. And out of this diversity, collective learning happens, right? We love that diversity and also different cultures. This is also a part in order to tap on the global picture of our value proposition. We love to have different cultures because supply chains typically are global, right? Better example than today, right? Just to highlight how global is the supply chain in the world, right? So again, it's not a particular job position. It's not a particular country that we prefer over the other. Of course, I mean, analytics is well appreciated but then also leadership roles are well appreciated. Then also, but the retail consultancy manufacturing roles are also very well appreciated, right? So then when we review the applications, it's a holistic review, right? It's not that there is a threshold in A, B, or C. Absolutely not. We, of course, we love, we love, we expect to have supply chain experience into the class at minimums two years, right? And this is also something quite because we want to make this collective learning to happen, so bring your supply chain experience is important for us and for the class. And I think that leads to a great follow-up question that we have also in the chat. And maybe this one can be posed to the students on what skills that you learned prior to the program were most helpful as you go through the master's program now or is there anything that maybe you missed and do you have to catch up with or elements that you wish you would have known in terms of the preparation for classes here? I can start if you want to know. And I think one thing that maybe speaks to the, one thing you can just brush up on before you come to the program. I think there's a, you know, the required Python course if you are admitted. I think a lot of the classwork or coursework here has kind of some different avenues that you can go. So if you're very well versed in Python, you may be able to take more advanced classes than if you're not that versed in Python. So it's kind of up to you, but if you do want to do a little bit more studying and kind of brush up on your Python skills, I think that's one area where you can have a kind of different experience. You can take some more advanced classes and potentially have a better experience from that. Yeah, one typical question is, why do I need to learn Python if I am gonna lead a team of supply chain, right? So from our point of view, then if your motivation is pure leadership, of course, you are not expected to be an expert in coding, but then this kind of learning about speaking the language that is coming and then is, I mean, all over the world, all over the agile teams that are now in supply chain. So understanding these language, at least the main core roots, this will help you to interact and communicate and to deploy your leadership with the language of data, right? This is why we want to emphasize Python. But again, as Alia mentioned, you can select different avenues. You are not expected to develop as a master coder here and in the program. If you don't want that, you will not follow that thing. I just want to add, sorry, you know, go ahead, go ahead. Yeah. Sorry, Lea, it seems like it's a common thread. Everyone starts talking at the same time. I'll just say quickly that it had been quite some time since I last took in analytics or staff class before I took SC0X. And so one of the best pieces of advice that I received from a mentor as I was working through or thinking about the initial run of SC0X was to brush up on some of the foundations, just going to using online resources or if you wanted to take a more formal class before you took SC0X. If you've been out of practice using those skills for many, many years, I would think that that would be incredibly helpful just so that as you progress through SC0X it's a little bit more fluid and you don't have to do so much going back and reviewing and then going to the content. It's just a smoother process through all of it if you have reviewed some of the material that you know would be in that course. Yeah, I so agree. I was going to say that before academic, if you want to prepare a micro-master, it's definitely want to go. But I also want to encourage you to not just think about a study and academic, but also you want to looking for a job here. If you want to like switch from industry to consulting, that's something you want to prepare beforehand. So you can in a full semester, you can have more opportunities to interview with a consulting firm because case, like my background was industry. It took me a while to get a case ready. So think about that. What kind of career change you want to make and have the skills prepared accordingly? Yeah, let me just say, I think that's a really great point. And so I think less about like specific pieces of classwork that you need to get prepared for because then a class will start in a place where you can be successful if you put in the time. But what Leah said about knowing exactly what you want to get out of the program, I think it's crucial to think about obviously before and hopefully you're thinking about that when you apply. But you want to really have a set path of what do you want to accomplish and whether that is, yes, switching to consulting or improving a certain set of skills to make sure that's clear before you come in so you can target your path and choose your classes accordingly. Exactly. And that actually perfectly transitions into one of my loaded questions of what has actually been your favorite class so far? I know Liam and Leah, you have a little bit more experience since you were here in the fall as well, but at least maybe you've already had a favorite H3 class. So any thoughts or comments on the classes thus far? I'll take this. So my favorite class is actually continuing to some degree in the coming weeks. It was humanitarian logistics and then the second half will be project-based using the concepts and applications that we learned in the first half and working with partner organizations to solve some sort of logistics problem that they're experiencing in local communities. And that's been my favorite class because it's just a realm of supply chain that I had not really given much thought to, but it's amazing what translates from class work into the real world and what experience we can bring for those who have humanitarian backgrounds, but maybe are not well-versed in supply chain knowledge. How do you explain to them the importance of inventory policies or demand forecasting or any of those principles? And that has been a really rewarding challenge, finding a way to communicate that in language that everyone will understand, but that without a doubt has been my favorite class so far that I've taken. Okay, I'll jump in next. I think maybe right now I have like a love hate with my favorite class, but I think it's our machine learning class just because it feels like a nice sort of progression of learning a lot last semester that has sort of prepared me to be able to take this class. And I think you can see it's kind of a two-part class where you have sort of the theory on one side and like the practical application for supply chain on the other side. And so it's interesting to see like the logic and math behind it and then go right into how does this actually apply in a supply chain setting using some of those skills that had I taken this first semester probably would have been a lot harder for me to get through. So it's a nice sort of way to like use skills but also see how the math applies to reality and then put it in place and practice. So we have an actual project where we work with and outside in this case, it's a charity and use machine learning and use Python and use all these things to actually help them in our case with some like future predictions for some time series. But I think that class is, yeah, it kind of brings everything together and it's a challenge at the same time. So that's been my favorite as of this semester. As a mirror, Liam, if I can also contribute to what you are mentioning just for the audience. So this is another way yet then the students can customize and enjoy it, right? If the students want to challenge themselves with mature learning concept, then for example, the course that Liam decided to do is more advanced in terms of calculus algebra, right? And then is with the College of Computing and also we have, I mean, back to back the supply chain applications in every single content with a project, right? But if there are students that they don't want to challenge too much on that math oriented path, then we have another track that is more on the principles of material learning with supply chain applications as well, right? So this is a good example. Yeah, I'm jumping from my theory class as system dynamic, I took a last semester. So this is one course that you require you to include inordinate amount of time on the week and over the weekend to do the project homework. But it's definitely very painful to process but it teach me a new way thinking to understand the whole picture more systematically. Help me to understand, okay, how can we predict the side effect you weren't able to see if you don't use a tool? That's something I love it. Yeah, I recommend it's gonna be painful but it's gonna be very useful. Yeah. And something interesting is that then at MIT we provide a lot of flexibility to change your path. So if you go to the first circle, I mean took first classes of a course and then you decide, oh, I thought it was this angle or this student told me that but then I, it's not my take, right? And then you can decide to go to another and then to customize on the way your journey. Yeah. Yeah, that's one of the blessings and curses of MIT structure is that there's actually no true cap on the number of classes you can take. So as our program, we have to make concerted efforts to advise on how many classes and credits that students should take. And that transitions to one topic that we also have here on the Q&A. So while managing your time with your classes, students are obviously also managing their capstone project. So first two directly answer how the capstone process works for blended and residential students. Once you are admitted in July, we do our onboarding process. So for blended students, they will further develop and refine their proposals that they submitted with the application for residential students. Work goes behind the scenes. So our program is working with company sponsors and our CTL researchers to narrow down the projects that we'll have available. Then everybody will bid on projects in September. We match students with other students in their cohort for the most part. So blended students will be matched with other blended students to work on those projects. And then residential students work on projects here with their residential counterparts in pairs of two for the most part. And then you really hit the ground running at the end of September and we'll start developing your project scope meeting with your advisor and capstone partners and basically proceed throughout the program all the way until May when you would deliver that final presentation and all the accompanying documents. I don't know if any of our ambassadors here want to share sort of their capstone experience thus far and what stage you might be at in terms of your research. Hopefully getting ready for that first draft to do in just a few weeks. So I actually just came from a capstone meeting with my advisor. So it's fresh in my mind. I am working on behalf of actually one of the CTL labs. So I'm working on behalf of the MIT LISP lab, a little, I guess, advertisement for that lab which seeks to alleviate poverty in Latin America. So that's been my focus of research. It's very humanitarian focus. So it ties into my favorite course and I think that it all connects really well. I actually am working with a residential student. So navigating that has been quite interesting. For the most part it pairs of residential students and pairs of blended students but we are the one anomaly and that was really fun in the fall semester but it's been so great to finally be able to work in person with one another. The whole process though has been wonderful and seeing it come to an end where we're getting to the point where the analysis is done, it's just drawing conclusions from the data and generating insights. Has actually proved to be one of the most interesting parts of the whole process and I'm excited to share our research in May with everyone. Yeah, I can comment on ours too. I forget exactly what the original question was but that's something about capstone experience. So yeah, I'll just go a little bit in background about mine and then where we're at. So our capstone is paired with a medical device manufacturer and we're looking at ways that we can help them with their component inventory supply chain to basically improve service level of their suppliers and then in turn allow for more smoother finished goods production of the med device manufacturer essentially. So we've been looking at modeling methods to see how we can basically incorporate all these different variables that they have with their suppliers. We've surveyed their suppliers and interviewed their suppliers on how we can better work with them in the med device manufacturer and at this point we've gathered a lot of data and done some initial analysis but we still have some work to do on what the final kind of insights are gonna look like because we have a whole kind of host of data and directions that we can still go and with the modeling and with our clustering analysis that we've been doing recently but we're still waiting for that sort of final result in the next couple of weeks here. So hopefully that comes to fruition shortly though. Jovo, you want me to share my experience or should we answer some questions so I feel like because I only have three minutes left. Yeah, no problem. I'll jump to the next question that we have here just in terms of full-time enrollment in the program. So I think as our ambassadors here have demonstrated there is a lot of components going on in the program. So because of that, we do not approve or authorize of working while doing the program and you're executive to enroll full-time at MIT. And actually all of MIT's programs are full-time enrollment. There is very little part-time options available just because of the rigorous curriculum and components that go into it. So yeah, we wouldn't advise that for any of our students. If I can add also to the capstone thing, right? So around more than two-thirds of our capstone project are proposed from a company we are working with, right? So then our part of our supply chain exchange partners, we have been working with them for decades with some of them. So for example, P&G, I mean, MERSC, CH Robinson. So then from logistic service providers, freight forwarders, retailers, manufacturers in the different industries. We don't work with consultancies from obvious companies, right? For obvious companies. So then obvious reasons, sorry, because then of course they will be a huge conflict of interest. So then typically our projects are applied research and typically also that the driven capstone project during these nine months. But then in most of the cases, we propose a topic and the company. Excellent. So as we near the end here, what I would like to do is just turn it over to the ambassadors. If you have one final thought or takeaway that you would share with the students or something that you wish you would have known prior to joining the program, maybe a piece of advice you would have given yourself a year ago while you were thinking about applying. I'll keep it really short. I would say, yeah, just definitely go for it. It's absolutely worth it. It's been an amazing experience. It's been extremely fun. You get to meet an amazing group of people and you get to learn a ton and it's an amazing place. So if you have any doubts, just I would say apply. And see what happens. Just add quickly, Liam. Come and apply. It doesn't hurt anything. And if you have any questions on the application materials, how would you do the video? Come reach out to us. We are more than happy to help you. Yeah, and I'll close by echoing what Liam and Leah had said a little bit earlier. It's really give some thought to what you want your career after the program to look like. And once you're admitted, craft your school course schedule around that to best position you for life after graduation. That is something that I had, I wish I had given a little bit more thought. I think I would have explored some other course offerings, but hindsight's 2020. So that would be my advice to you guys is really think about what you want your career progressions look like and cater your coursework to map that or to help you accelerate that path. Excellent. And I'll leave with our final slide here on why to choose the SCM program, all of which are components that the ambassadors here have mentioned. But one of our key figures here is the short duration of the program, just one year or technically 10 months for the residential program and only five months for the blended. So that really does have a great value in being able to just leave the workforce for a few months. Again, comparable salary outcomes add to top MBA programs compared year even at MIT Sloan and others in the same field and area. The work experience opportunities and particularly for residential students, OPT and STEM opportunities allow international students greater exposure to the US workforce and position themselves into those highly in-demand fields here. The cohort experience, so one thing that's great is the small nature of the program. We have just 40 students in each of the blended and residential class. So I think all of our ambassadors here can echo that they've made 80 lifelong friends in the program and that helps to build your network. And we still continue to be in touch with all of our alumni from recent years to build those connections as well. And then one final thing now we'd like to throw in just from the experiential learning aspect is our study treks. Next week on Monday, we will start our first study trek in two years or three years. So it's a great experience to see supply chain in action that we are, that we fill as a integral part of the program as well. So with that, Maria if you have any parting words as well. No, yeah. We strongly recommend you to think about your future career come to us, challenge yourself. I mean, equip yourself with supply chain experience and the cutting edge topics. And then we will glad to have you with us. So we're looking forward to reviewing your application. Thank you. Thank you also to the ambassadors. Thank you very much for your time that we know that you are busy. Excellent. Thank you so much and everybody have a great day. Bye. Great weekend as well. Bye-bye.