Schulich remained my number one choice for about a year. None the less, during that time I kept an open mind and kept digging into information about other schools. Majority of other interesting programs that I could afford took place outside United States and were accelerated one year programs. With that in mind, I decided to visit an MBA fair in Toronto, September '06.
For me, the value proposition of an MBA program consists of the following components, weighted differently, depending on ones priorities. First and the most important one is the knowledge made available to students and the approach used to relay that knowledge; academics is still the core value of each program. Then there are softer components, such as networking opportunities with your classmates and potential employers. There's also a brand name that each school loans to its alumni, quality of career services, practical experience opportunities, and finally, social activities.
My initial belief was that the traditional two year MBA at one of the top Canadian universities is the way to go. Those are generally at least a third cheaper than a comparable US based MBA. The cost of living is cheaper around here too. I also thought that the two year format ensures that you will have ample networking opportunities and enough time to successfully transition back from work to school environment. Moreover, the traditional program would not have to cut any corners. It's the way the MBA has been delivered in North America for quite a number of years, so why change a good thing?
Being ambitious as I am, I decided why not pay another visit to Schulich the same day as I was going to the MBA fare. Sit in couple of classes to see what it's all about down there. Again I was pretty impressed with the response from Schulich staff, however after the process got handed-off to a student ambassador it became much less apparent that my Schulich visit is going to be a well organized experience. At the end of the day they did arrange for me to watch two classes, first year Economics and a second year Brand Management class. I was warned before the class, by couple of students that the Economics class is one of the less interesting classes with hardly any class participation. I decided to keep that comment in mind when I sat in class. The class was indeed really dry with professor mumbling something about his red shirt and unsuccessfully trying to make both a joke and an economics example out of it. Students seemed extremely disengaged and disinterested, some surfing Facebook website and instant messaging each other. After the class I tried to analyze my experience. One comment that popped back in my mind was the answer I received a month before that: One year MBA vs. two year? on yahoo answers. I was told that two year MBA is good if you want to have some down time and play some golf, at the time I ignored the comment, however now that I could put it in the actual context it seemed so much more relevant. During the break between classes I was invited for lunch with the Dean of International MBA at Schulich, who tried to recruit me for his program. The International MBA adds a requirement to learn a foreign language and a mandatory work term in the summer. The program has only 35 people which might further minimize networking opportunities. I have to say that the Brand management class was much more energizing and interactive.
Later that day, at the MBA fair I talked to number of European business schools and decided that the trip to see some of them might be worth my time in the near future. In the mean time I could not stop thinking about the Economics class at Schulich.
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