What was your favorite elective, and why?

Here at Foster, we have a variety of elective classes that we can take, but there’s not enough time for them all! However, there are some elective classes that everyone seems to love. Several members of the Full-Time Class of 2015 gave us the inside scoop on their favorites:

Olivia Wang, Class of 2015:

There are lots of great classes that I’ve taken. I learned the most from Stearn’s Advertising and Promotions class, and took two finance electives with Koski that I very much enjoyed. But my absolute favorite class would have to be Mark Forehand’s Brand Management class. He used visuals and vivid examples to turn boring academic terms into something extremely memorable. He also gave assignments as live cases where students would gain hands-on experience through recent cases and in front of reputable guest judges. Moreover we were able to hear from great guest speakers in class…did I also mention that Mark is hilarious? Tips for students who want to get into his class: bid as many of your points as possible, or you can always take it in the evening. It was a lot of fun for me to take the class with evening students and get to know them! 3.5 hours fly by very quickly, and I got pretty emotional after the last presentation.

Harshad Deo, Class of 2015:

I have a couple of favorite electives – Koski’s classes (both Problems in Corporate Finance and Problems in Capital Investment Planning), and Mark Forehand’s Brand Management class. While students like to focus on one particular subject, I took a variety of different electives. One of the reasons why I chose Foster was to have a holistic business experience rather than specialize in one business function.

Koski has a very structured approach to her classes. She explains her subject in such a way that it is very easy for a non-finance person to grasp. With numerous awards in her kit, it is easy to see why she remains one of the favorite professors.

Forehand’s Brand Management class is brilliant because of his easy humor. Not everyone in the class will be a brand manager, but his teaching style and project assignments expand on the marketing fundamentals and makes the subject relatable to the students.

Nick Amland, Class of 2015:

My favorite elective was actually called “Competing in the Global Economy,” taught by Kathryn Dewenter. The class focused on how companies interact in the global context and how policies at the global, regional, and country level shape how those companies can compete and interact with each other. It was a purely case-based class, a format I have really come to respect when it is taught in the right way. She did a terrific job at engaging the class and forcing discussion from each member. Exhaustive preparation from everyone was strictly enforced through cold calling. As a result, this was the healthiest and most successful discussion-oriented class I have ever taken.

For more information on the electives that we can take, click here.