The Ogden Trust

Ross Cowley, an Ogden Undergraduate Science Scholar at Warwick University studying Physics, took  an eight week summer course at Harvard University in Summer 2007. Harvard is widely recognised as being the best university in the world and both Sir Peter Ogden, founder and chairman of The Ogden Trust, and Cameron Ogden, his son and trustee of The Ogden Trust, studied there. Ross took a course in "Financial modelling, Capital Acquisition and Investment Banking", but a great variety of choices are offered at Harvard and other leading American universities. Ross felt his experiences were very worthwhile and that they were very important in helping him to secure a job at Credit Suisse, which begins after Ross has completed his final year of studies.
The Ogden Trust hopes it can support many more students to study at Harvard or other similar institutions in the future and hopes to have details of scholarships available on our scholars website (www.ogdentrust.net) from the spring. Until then information on courses at Harvard can be found at http://www.summer.harvard.edu/ and Ross Cowley's report can be read below.

"In the summer of 2007 I had the chance to study at Harvard University. I had seen posters around campus advertising a summer program at Cornell University, and decided to do some research into the courses they
offered. I intended to study finance-based topics, but Cornell offered none which I thought would be very useful (they do offer hundreds of other courses though, so their program is definitely worth researching if you are interested). As a result I searched the sites of other prominent US universities, and found that many offered summer sessions. I also researched the courses they offered, and found that Harvard offered two courses (Financial Modelling, and Capital Acquisition and the Investment Banking Process) which I thought would be both interesting and useful to me, because of the type of career I wish to pursue. I applied for the program in April (as soon as the website began processing applications) and began the programme in the last week of June. I had been planning to study in the US for well over a year, so this was an ideal way to fulfil this ambition. Harvard is consistently ranked as the best university on Earth, and its close proximity to other world-class institutions (such as MIT and Tufts) creates an educationally stimulating environment throughout the whole of the surrounding area, which I felt privileged to be a part of.

My ambition to work in the financial sector led me to pursue courses in Financial Modelling, Capital Acquisition and the Investment Banking Process. As a Physics undergraduate my finance knowledge was quite limited and I saw my time at Harvard as the ideal chance to gain some financial experience to bolster my resume. This proved to be a wise decision as 2 months after I returned to the UK I was offered a full-time position in the Equities division of Credit Suisse, which I have accepted and will be starting in the summer of 2008. I feel that the knowledge I gained whilst at Harvard was priceless in helping me secure this offer, and more importantly I feel the skills that I learned will be valuable when I start in this position.

For my courses I was in classes of approximately 40. To my surprise there were very few fellow undergraduates on these courses, with the class being predominantly populated by MBA students and experienced professionals.  Although quite daunting, I found that this highly intellectual class make-up facilitated my learning in ways I had never experienced before. My classmates were eager to help me when I had difficulties, and as the course progressed I was able to return that help in the more mathematical/quantitative topics. The other undergraduates on my course were predominantly British, and came from finance and economics backgrounds. One was from LSE, one from Imperial and another from Warwick, like myself (although I didn’t know this person prior to the trip). As far as I know they also found out about the program through their own research, following from a desire to study in America, similar to my own.

Although Cambridge is quite a sleepy New England town, Boston is not. This makes it impossible to be bored in the breaks between studying. By American standards Boston is just about as historic as things can get. It is home to the USS constitution and Bunker Hill – the setting for the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill (Although the British won this conflict it was considered to be a Pyrrhic victory). It also possesses a thriving Italian district in North Boston, a Chinatown and the working-class Irish-Catholic neighbourhood of South Boston (featured at length in the film “The Departed”). Close to South Boston is Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox - who recently won the World Series and provided me with several nights of action, excitement and entertainment.

Massachusetts is home to more than just Boston. In my spare time I was able to explore Concord, Lexington, Salem and several other less famous locations. Concord and Lexington are amazing places to go if you’re British. At Lexington the Colonial troops first fired on the King’s soldiers, giving it a real connection with the British Empire.

 

             

House in Concord flying the colonial flag                   Concord Main Street

 

Many of the houses in Concord still fly the colonial flag (Union Jack and Stripes), whilst the graves of two British soldiers killed in the battle lie at the edge of the battlefield. Salem, on the other hand, is famous for its witch trials. Salem is one of the weirdest and eeriest places I have ever visited, but it is worth going to just for the experience. The town is full of witchcraft shops, and people dressed in 17th century attire. It is also home to the House of the Seven Gables – the house which inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel of the same name. In some respects it is like being in Alabama, where people aren’t familiar with outsiders, and don’t wish to be.

I hope this provides a taster of what Harvard is about. Although the studying is quite intense, there is plenty of opportunity to explore and investigate its New England surrounding. If you’re interested check out this link: http://www.summer.harvard.edu/. It should provide any information that you need. Enrolment for the session usually starts sometime in April, with the programme beginning in the last week of June and ending in mid-August. The application system is all online and very straightforward. To finance my trips I used savings I had collected in my childhood. It isn’t cheap, costing around £2500 for the 8 weeks. This includes accommodation, food, tuition, health insurance, full use of Harvard’s sports and leisure facilities, library etc, but not flights (which cost a few hundred on top). You also get free use of Harvard’s shuttle facilities and late night pick-up service, which is a great help if you get lost anywhere. When I look at what I learned and the things I got to see and do, I feel it was money well spent. I truly believe the things that I learned were valuable in helping me to secure my job offer, and the places that I visited and people I met will be in my memory forever. It has also confirmed to me that I would like to go back – maybe to do an MBA or maybe to work at the Credit Suisse office in Boston. The only annoying thing is all the mundane paperwork you have to fill in for a visa, but this is a minor inconvenience.

There are similar schemes run by many of the prestigious US universities. I know for a fact that Yale, Cornell, Princeton and Columbia all run summer programs. I’m not sure if Harvard offers any scholarships for the program, but I know that Cornell do, and I think a few of the other American universities do as well. Try researching the various alumni groups of these universities which often fund a student’s trip each summer."