How It Started
There was a week long trip to Italy. Orientation was fun (and also tiring). One of my favorite memories from orientation was the overnight trip I spent being eaten alive by Wisconsin mosquitoes in the name of leadership development.
I do hope the offspring of those mosquitoes are voting for Biden because we need every vote in Wisconsin.
My first year was normal right up until the end of winter quarter. I made friends at school! I’m glad. I have met some truly great people who will be running the world one day. I have also met some truly great people who will be running the world one day and potentially testifying before congress. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Are you even a top MBA program if none of your alumni have ever been summoned to a congressional hearing?
I didn’t fail any classes my first year. I might actually be good at this whole business course thing. Imagine if I had realized this in college? I could have skipped all the stress of Organic Chemistry or the horrors of Mammalian Physiology…I literally just had a traumatic flashback to studying for that final. I could have been taking Finance or something.
How It’s Going
A long time ago, in fall 2019 while I was a first year MBA student, a wise second year student told me to never forget the two main reasons for going to business school. To get a great job and make friends.
If I focus on only those two criteria then I would say the (Zoom) MBA experience has been positive and I am happy with my experience.
If I were to move beyond that initial response, I’d say my positive feelings are based on the fact that I had a relatively normal first year–up to a point.
Zoom can be a lot. It is sometimes an effort to stay focused in class when I could be easily distracted by something on my computer or my husband or my dog. One pro to the many cons of remote classes is that my husband is now generally aware of my schedule this quarter. That is something that would never have happened in my first year.
On the internship front, a remote internship is stressful in a way that is different from normal internship stress. Of course you’re trying to convince the company to hire you full-time and you only have 12 weeks to do it but, now you have to do all this remotely over a webcam. But, more on my post-MBA career plan at a later time.
To stay focused at home, it has helped that I set up an actual work-station with a full-sized desk and real office chair instead of working from the couch or the bed or the dining table. (That’s a freebie lesson from one of my management classes about changing work environments/situations to increase productivity).
The networking/social aspect of school has taken a hit. Of course. That doesn’t mean smaller and socially distanced gatherings (in well ventilated areas) aren’t happening in accordance with city guidelines. Some students at my school have small in-person classes this quarter so they’ve actually been able to visit our building and be real MBA students. I’m just not one of those students based on my classes this quarter.
Some bonding is still happening between the first years who didn’t get a chance to start school the normal way. If you had to live, learn, and recruit for internships during a global pandemic and economic downturn with a group of people then you’d bond with those people too. This is a unique experience that (hopefully) no other MBA class will have.
My Advice To Anyone Considering B-School Today
For anyone eyeing the MBA Class of 2023 (applying now to start Fall 2021) I think you should do it. You will probably have a relatively normal MBA experience.
Maybe?
At least by your second year, right?
Fauci willing.
Worst case, your first year is weird but your second year is the most normal and that’s still a lot of time left to get a lot out of the MBA experience. I say apply and at least give yourself the option.
Consider that the US economy is giving off 2008/2009 vibes with high unemployment. This might be a good time to take a break and “shelter” in an MBA program for a couple of years. Of course, lots of people now have this same idea so I expect it will be even more competitive to get into the top MBA programs.
Now if you were to ask me whether (Zoom) business school is worth it with full-price tuition and absolutely zero scholarships…my response would be that it depends on the person.
In Conclusion
I still think the (Zoom) MBA is worth it from a learning and growth perspective if you go to the right school and have the right expectations. I also think it’s worth it from a personal network perspective (refer to aforementioned new friends).
Is it harder over Zoom? Yes. But, still worth it.
This is just my two cents of course.
See my earlier update on business school for more on my first year.
