Gabelli Business Core: Integrated Project

Consulting Cup Trophy

As a senior in the Gabelli School of Business, I am finishing up with my core and major classes this year. One of the key components of students in the business school is the integrated core curriculum. During sophomore through senior years, students are required to take a one-credit class called Integrated Project. This class is especially integrated into all the core business classes during sophomore year as a competition. Students use the knowledge gained throughout their classes to compete in the "Consulting Cup." Students are assigned groups and a company to research, analyze, and present a solution to a current issue the company is facing. Everyone is competing with each other for a cash prize and title of champions.

Consulting Cup winners my sophomore year, 2013

The junior year Integrated Project focuses a lot on financial modeling and also allows students to perfect their excel skills. While there isn't a full competition at the end, it also involves a final group project based on completing a full financial analysis and discounted cash flow of a company.

Simulation program

 Currently I am enrolled in the Senior Year IP. This class focuses on simulation learning. It is a great final class because it applies a lot of concepts we have learned over the past four years into real-life scenarios. Some concepts we have focused on are risk, return on investment, and marketing strategies. The simulations also allow students to make educated decisions that managements of companies have to make every day.

Sample prize!

Each week, we are given a case to read before class and then once we arrive there is a special program we login to in order to start our simulation. We have to input different financial decisions based off of industry and background information generated from the case and program. We see our results for each financial period in real time, as well as how the competitors are doing. Our professor also makes it a fun and friendly competition by giving away prizes to the top four students who generate the most revenue in each simulation!