Kurt Johnson

I’m all of two races into the game but am up for some head to head competition. My friend code is 5155 3492 7916.

Photos from the weekend in Grand Rapids are here.

Millbrook, New York.  More photos from Ryan & Colleen's wedding last weekend are here. 

It's official: I've accepted a full time offer at the same firm I spent last summer with.  We are planning to be back in Dallas starting in late July / early August 2007.

Although I haven’t been posting much lately, things here have been going well. My summer internship ends tomorrow after a very productive 10 weeks; although I’m deliberately not going to talk about who I was working for, I saw some incredible things and worked with top notch people. There is a reasonable chance I will go back to the company for full time work although we’ll of course take time in the fall to consider what our best option is.

I also found out last week that I passed CFA L3 and no longer have to block out a Saturday in June to sweat out the exam in a test center.  At this point I feel like I’ve done plenty of finance coursework and will probably skew my curriculum next year to more non-quantitative material.

Next week Susanne and I are taking a quick trip before classes start to do some sightseeing in Buenos Aires and my sister in Rosario (Argentina). I’ll be back in Philadelphia starting September 6.

Results for the CFA Exam came out today; I passed Level II. Any potential employers reading this are encouraged to interpret this as a signal that I am highly trained, motivated, and likely to succeed in the industry I just dogged in the last post.

Personally this presents a conundrum - do I forego Wharton opportunities for 8 weekends next spring to study for the final level (3) ? Most likely I’ll go halfway - choose to do mostly Wharton stuff but take the test anyway for the slim chance I can pass with minimal prep.

I am surprised by the high L2 pass rate (56%)…I expected something in the mid 30s based on how I felt after the test and the tone of actions from the CFA Institute in the last 12 months.

I’m back in Connecticut after a week’s vacation in Banff. There are a bunch of photos to post (as well as photos from Daniel & Tamara’s wedding) but I’m not going to be able to do anything with them until I’m back in Dallas next weeekend or the weekend after - the laptop I have with me is a work machine without any of the applications I need.

I’m down to my last two weeks at the office. July 1-19 I plan to be in Dallas relaxing and packing things up for the move. Somewhere between July 19-27 we’ll move to Philadelphia and have a few days to unpack before school starts August 2. Susanne is going to stick around Dallas for a couple weeks longer to finish up at her old job but we are hoping to be fully relocated by August 15. Because the consensus view seems to be that the first semester at Wharton is insanely overprogrammed, I expect to more or less drop out of contact from August 2 until sometime in December.

I mailed my deposit check to Wharton yesterday. Susanne is busy looking for a new job in the Philadelphia area and I’m trying to get organized for the move, transition out of the workforce, and impending poverty. It’s going to be fun to be a local couple again; the last few years have involved nearly constant travel for my job.

Right now the plan is to leave Dallas for Philadelphia around July 20. I’m starting pre-term around August 2; Susanne may be fully moved up by then or possibly stick around in Dallas for another few weeks to finish up work if her new job hasn’t started yet.

Let us know if you think you’ll be in the area any time in the next couple of years.

246 days on the road last year for work (including some weekend days spent at the client location).

And no, I didn’t calculate this just for grins - I have to know it for my standard meal allowance (it’s tax time!).

Obviously I’m very excited about the news.

I’ll offer more commentary in a few weeks after the Columbia process wraps up. And, although hopefully this is repetitive, thank you to everyone who has advised and supported me through the applications gauntlet.