Today was the first day of Ivey Preparatory Knowledge Program (PKP). The MBA is finally starting to feel real.
I flew into London, Ontario around noon yesterday (April 29, 2007). Despite its small size London has its own airport, which is very convenient. My first surprise came as I boarded the direct Winnipeg - London flight to discover the plane surprisingly full. After getting into London and taking couple of minutes to unload my stuff at the Bed and Breakfast, I ventured out for the rest of the day exploring the neighborhood. So far, I’m left with a very favorable impression of London. The city definitely has a university town feel to it. Considering that there are 350,000 permanent residents in London and 60,000 seasonal students the city feels much larger than it is just by the shear number of young people that you see around the city. At least that’s my first impression. Starting in the summer MBA Cohort we get the unfortunate part of seeing the tale part of the student body (to my disappointment that also includes the better looking part of the student body) migrate back to the places of their permanent residency outside London, at least until September.
OK, now a little bit about the Ivey PKP program: it is designed to ease students back into the study routine while reinforcing the foundation of skills necessary to hit the ground running when the actual program starts. The PKP program consists of three modules, first four days are Quantitative Skills, the next two days we will live and breathe Economics, and the last three days focus on Accounting Skills. The classes run from 8am to 5pm with couple of breaks in-between. The 8 hours of classes a day will definitely take some getting used to. My second surprise came when a saw the number of people that are attending the PKP, according to the rough count there was 52 of us out of the class of 69. As the result, one of the bonuses of the PKP program is a chance to meet and work with majority of your classmates before the start of actual classes.
The material taught today consisted of a morning session which started to build on the fundamentals of statistics. For me that was a much appreciated refresher. The afternoon session dealt with modeling a case problem using MS Excel. We’ve learned number of Excel tricks that will most definitely come handy in couple of weeks when we will start analyzing actual cases.
With that in mind I’m off to doing my homework for tomorrow,
Till next time,
George
Monday, April 30, 2007
“MBA as a life for school, or school of life”
So here I am, sitting at yet another Starbucks in yet another city. But somehow this feels different… oh yes, I landed in London, Ontario this morning, the Preparatory Knowledge Program starts tomorrow, and the actual MBA program begins in two short weeks.
Let me start by explaining the meaning behind the opening statement. How does an MBA differ from any another graduate degree? MBA is designed to arm its graduates with a knowledge toolkit that will help the transition into the middle management positions. What its not, is another research based graduate degree. At its best, it’s a much more practical degree than anything else out there.
The majority of potential students look at an MBA as a program that will give them the skills necessary to contribute to their future success by helping to accelerate the career while contributing to their personal development. When researching programs I looked for a slightly different angle: a program that would provide me with a learning environment I would be totally immersed in, and hence become an accelerated school of life.
Why an MBA journal?
Before writing this journal I did a quick search of MBA students’ insights. Reading those insights, I came across a large number of amazing stories of accomplishment and luck. Unfortunately, there is a fine line between the motivational pull of high accomplishment and mildly discouraging push of overachievement. I will be absolutely honest, one of the main reasons for writing this journal is to share the fact that you don’t have to have a stellar past in order to get into a prestigous MBA program. For a lot of students the MBA becomes a life changing experience by helping them to realize their full potential.
I don’t think I would be doing anybody a favor if I used this journal to self-advertise. I’m writing this journal with the following goal in mind: share my MBA and pre-MBA experience to help future students with difficult decisions associated with committing to pursue an MBA. My hope is that this journal will at least partially alleviate anxiety associated with the whole MBA process.
Who am I?
I’m a strong believer in the fact that people are at least partially products of their past and it plays an important role in shaping our values and thinking.
With that in mind let me tell you a little bit about my own past. I was born and raised in Moscow, Russia. One of the most vivid memories of my younger years was tanks on the streets of Moscow in early 90’s during the days of “Putch” and enormous lineups of the “Prestroika” era. It was a period of a fundamental transformation for Russia from a Planning Communist economy to an Entrepreneurial Economy driven by opportunities. I remember starting my first business in Moscow in my early teens and seeing it grow rapidly in a short couple of months. I carry that experience with me as a fundamental lesson about taking advantage of an opportunity at a right time and right place.
I moved to Canada with my father in late 90’s. I earned my undergraduate degree from one of the provincial universities. In my undergraduate degree I majored in Computer Engineering and also took Business as a minor. One of the most valuable lessons that I took away from my undergraduate days was the fact that I get excited by challenges and I do my best learning through personal interaction.
Why MBA?
I view an MBA as a truly life changing experience. Like many of my colleagues, the primary goal of pursuing an MBA is the career enhancing aspect. And as the result I hope to gain a job in consulting. However, it would be too narrow to look at an MBA as only a career tool. MBA, much like a Swiss Army knife is so much more than it appears. And if you look at it as only a knife you would be missing out on the number of other significant aspects. For example, there are very few other opportunities out there to become a part of such a diverse network of business professionals. I’ve heard again and again how powerful those MBA alumni networks can be in both personal and professional respects. Moreover, the enormous challenge of an MBA that you put yourself through really helps one to discover new things about themselves. You also get to build a close relationship with your classmates that are all going to be in senior management positions in the next 10 years.
My path to an MBA started during the third year of my undergraduate degree. I started to realize that focusing on technology rendered a relatively narrow view of the word. Moreover, even though I did get good grades in technical courses they didn’t challenge or excite me. Through extensive research I realized that the MBA would be an extremely important tool to add to ensure future career success. The more I researched the MBA programs the more I became excited about it. With MBA I also found a direct relevance to my short and long-term career and personal goals.
Why Ivey?
I want to narrow down why I picked the Richard Ivey School of Business, based out of London, Ontario as the school of choice for my MBA program. It was quite an involved process, as you might have seen from my blogs on Business Week, so here I will give a condensed version of the journey that lead me to Ivey.
I started my search by identifying the main variables between different MBA programs and relating those back to why I decided to take an MBA in the first place. The frustrating part of the program search process spans from the fact that it’s a two way selection process, which is meant to ensure the closest fit between students and the MBA program. In retrospect, it not that different from a dating game, with students having to court the programs they are interested in and the programs trying to get the best students for their classes. As in any dating there’s lots of disappointment, anxiety and rejection, adjustment of expectations, and finally excitement of moving through the process and being accepted by the school of your choice.
After compiling the list of factors that I was looking for from an MBA program I tried to apply it to the group of selected MBA programs to try to narrow it down to a manageable size. I’ve started with a group of 20 schools and was able to narrow it down to five schools through extensive research. I followed with in-person visits to get a feeling for each school’s culture and to get an appreciation of value of a particular school.
The factors that attracted me to Ivey were that it definitely was one of the top business schools in the world. It is also only second to HBS in the number of cases produced. Another major factor that appealed to me about Ivey was program’s steady placement track record for the field of Management Consulting that I found immensely appealing. Moreover, students and alumni were giving the school their highest praise. The one year format is also a really attractive option, minimizing opportunity cost my saving a year of lost salaries and time away from work, while maximizing the use of living expenses.
What do I want YOU to take away from this journal?
I would like for this journal to become part of your MBA research toolkit. In particular, if you are considering top international schools outside US. I also know, based on my own experience, that GMAT+MBA Admissions can be experiences full of anxiety. I want you to feel at least a little bit less stressed out about the whole process. Each one of us is and individual with our own unique strengths and weaknesses and there is a program out there for each one of us that is a perfect “fit” for our background and goals.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions,
George
Let me start by explaining the meaning behind the opening statement. How does an MBA differ from any another graduate degree? MBA is designed to arm its graduates with a knowledge toolkit that will help the transition into the middle management positions. What its not, is another research based graduate degree. At its best, it’s a much more practical degree than anything else out there.
The majority of potential students look at an MBA as a program that will give them the skills necessary to contribute to their future success by helping to accelerate the career while contributing to their personal development. When researching programs I looked for a slightly different angle: a program that would provide me with a learning environment I would be totally immersed in, and hence become an accelerated school of life.
Why an MBA journal?
Before writing this journal I did a quick search of MBA students’ insights. Reading those insights, I came across a large number of amazing stories of accomplishment and luck. Unfortunately, there is a fine line between the motivational pull of high accomplishment and mildly discouraging push of overachievement. I will be absolutely honest, one of the main reasons for writing this journal is to share the fact that you don’t have to have a stellar past in order to get into a prestigous MBA program. For a lot of students the MBA becomes a life changing experience by helping them to realize their full potential.
I don’t think I would be doing anybody a favor if I used this journal to self-advertise. I’m writing this journal with the following goal in mind: share my MBA and pre-MBA experience to help future students with difficult decisions associated with committing to pursue an MBA. My hope is that this journal will at least partially alleviate anxiety associated with the whole MBA process.
Who am I?
I’m a strong believer in the fact that people are at least partially products of their past and it plays an important role in shaping our values and thinking.
With that in mind let me tell you a little bit about my own past. I was born and raised in Moscow, Russia. One of the most vivid memories of my younger years was tanks on the streets of Moscow in early 90’s during the days of “Putch” and enormous lineups of the “Prestroika” era. It was a period of a fundamental transformation for Russia from a Planning Communist economy to an Entrepreneurial Economy driven by opportunities. I remember starting my first business in Moscow in my early teens and seeing it grow rapidly in a short couple of months. I carry that experience with me as a fundamental lesson about taking advantage of an opportunity at a right time and right place.
I moved to Canada with my father in late 90’s. I earned my undergraduate degree from one of the provincial universities. In my undergraduate degree I majored in Computer Engineering and also took Business as a minor. One of the most valuable lessons that I took away from my undergraduate days was the fact that I get excited by challenges and I do my best learning through personal interaction.
Why MBA?
I view an MBA as a truly life changing experience. Like many of my colleagues, the primary goal of pursuing an MBA is the career enhancing aspect. And as the result I hope to gain a job in consulting. However, it would be too narrow to look at an MBA as only a career tool. MBA, much like a Swiss Army knife is so much more than it appears. And if you look at it as only a knife you would be missing out on the number of other significant aspects. For example, there are very few other opportunities out there to become a part of such a diverse network of business professionals. I’ve heard again and again how powerful those MBA alumni networks can be in both personal and professional respects. Moreover, the enormous challenge of an MBA that you put yourself through really helps one to discover new things about themselves. You also get to build a close relationship with your classmates that are all going to be in senior management positions in the next 10 years.
My path to an MBA started during the third year of my undergraduate degree. I started to realize that focusing on technology rendered a relatively narrow view of the word. Moreover, even though I did get good grades in technical courses they didn’t challenge or excite me. Through extensive research I realized that the MBA would be an extremely important tool to add to ensure future career success. The more I researched the MBA programs the more I became excited about it. With MBA I also found a direct relevance to my short and long-term career and personal goals.
Why Ivey?
I want to narrow down why I picked the Richard Ivey School of Business, based out of London, Ontario as the school of choice for my MBA program. It was quite an involved process, as you might have seen from my blogs on Business Week, so here I will give a condensed version of the journey that lead me to Ivey.
I started my search by identifying the main variables between different MBA programs and relating those back to why I decided to take an MBA in the first place. The frustrating part of the program search process spans from the fact that it’s a two way selection process, which is meant to ensure the closest fit between students and the MBA program. In retrospect, it not that different from a dating game, with students having to court the programs they are interested in and the programs trying to get the best students for their classes. As in any dating there’s lots of disappointment, anxiety and rejection, adjustment of expectations, and finally excitement of moving through the process and being accepted by the school of your choice.
After compiling the list of factors that I was looking for from an MBA program I tried to apply it to the group of selected MBA programs to try to narrow it down to a manageable size. I’ve started with a group of 20 schools and was able to narrow it down to five schools through extensive research. I followed with in-person visits to get a feeling for each school’s culture and to get an appreciation of value of a particular school.
The factors that attracted me to Ivey were that it definitely was one of the top business schools in the world. It is also only second to HBS in the number of cases produced. Another major factor that appealed to me about Ivey was program’s steady placement track record for the field of Management Consulting that I found immensely appealing. Moreover, students and alumni were giving the school their highest praise. The one year format is also a really attractive option, minimizing opportunity cost my saving a year of lost salaries and time away from work, while maximizing the use of living expenses.
What do I want YOU to take away from this journal?
I would like for this journal to become part of your MBA research toolkit. In particular, if you are considering top international schools outside US. I also know, based on my own experience, that GMAT+MBA Admissions can be experiences full of anxiety. I want you to feel at least a little bit less stressed out about the whole process. Each one of us is and individual with our own unique strengths and weaknesses and there is a program out there for each one of us that is a perfect “fit” for our background and goals.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions,
George
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Why Ivey?
by: Khalil (Kevin) J. Mouchantaf - MBA2008
When I first started researching schools, the Richard Ivey School of Business was not even on my list. However, after investigating MBA schools thoroughly, the Ivey MBA quickly rose to the top of the list.
I am a Canadian of Lebanese origin in my early 30’s. I am currently a practicing physician in Boston, US. However, over the course of my career I had become drawn to management. In addition, I was drawn to an international career. At this point in my life, an MBA makes the most sense in terms of helping me switch careers and aim for the international career. While my background is slightly different from most prospective MBA students, my aspirations were similar, I wanted to change one or all of the following: function, industry and country.
I researched and visited countless top MBA programs in the US, Canada and Europe. It was hard work to sift through the endless marketing campaigns which schools use. No wonder many students just decide to apply to a program based on reputation or rankings. I concluded that when comparing Canadian MBA programs to the ones in US, the ones in Canada have very solid and competitive curriculums but lack their counterpart’s full blown marketing machines. The latter was probably the reason why I had not heard of Ivey during my initial MBA research.
After visiting a number of US programs, I was disappointed with the low percentage of International students (around 30%), and the relatively sparse discussion of non-US businesses. I was also disappointed with the schools’ limited ability to place graduates globally, despite their powerful brands. Lastly, in today’s busy world the two year program is starting to became a less attractive option.
As a result, I started looking into European programs. Over the last couple of years, those programs have come a long way with their global reach. However, I found their respective curriculums uneven (in terms of balancing out the soft and hard skills) and placement outcomes inconsistent (each school has a reputation for focusing on one type of industry but not all three out of finance, consulting, and industry)
So what is so special about the Ivey MBA (in no particular order)?
1) Ivey’s revamped Cross-Enterprise Leadership curriculum putting increased emphases on both the soft and hard skills. The program uses the case method as a starting point, looking at each business as a complex matrix enterprise. Not to mention, that more than 35% of the cases are international. A lot of those cases are written by Ivey faculty, the second largest producer of cases after Harvard. Concerns about the case method not being best suited for teaching finance and accounting turned out to be not well founded, since a number of the Professors who teach using the case method are well published finance writers.
2) Ivey’s brilliant professors. During my class visit to Ivey, I had the chance to hear the new program director, Tony Frost. I was blown away by his assertion that the mission of the Ivey MBA is to “change our lives.” I also attended the finance case led by Professor Jim Hatch, an equally accomplished finance professor with significant experience in entrepreneurial and biotechnology finance.
3) Ivey’s admission’s office was by far the most personable and professional I had encountered. Unlike a certain top UK program, where I encountered dispassionate approach towards potential students, Ivey staff treated me respectfully. My first encounter with the admissions office was through sending my resume in order to get feedback about potential fit for the Ivey MBA. Following that, I had multiple phone conversations in order to learn more about the program. I was interviewed by a relationship manager from the career office which helped me jumpstart the process of thinking about a post MBA career. I also had a face to face interview with a member of the admissions’ committee. Everyone displayed utmost professionalism.
4) Ivey’s career placement office has come a long way in helping students locate their dream jobs, surpassing their Canadian peers. I hope they continue to do that and attract recruiters from more countries. Ivey boasts more than a 92% placement rate, with graduates entering very competitive fields, including I-banking and management consulting.
5) Ivey’s participants come from diverse backgrounds, are articulate, well accomplished, independent thinkers, self starters, and are future global leaders.
I can go on and on about my positive experience even before setting foot on campus. The above reasons sum up my decision to attend Ivey. If you were to ask me about the one negative so far, I would have to say, the school’s limited brand name, at least where I currently live in the Northeastern part of the United States. I hope this blog that George started will at least play a small role in getting the word out about our “hidden gem.”
Khalil (Kevin) J. Mouchantaf
Ivey MBA- Fall 2007 cohort
When I first started researching schools, the Richard Ivey School of Business was not even on my list. However, after investigating MBA schools thoroughly, the Ivey MBA quickly rose to the top of the list.
I am a Canadian of Lebanese origin in my early 30’s. I am currently a practicing physician in Boston, US. However, over the course of my career I had become drawn to management. In addition, I was drawn to an international career. At this point in my life, an MBA makes the most sense in terms of helping me switch careers and aim for the international career. While my background is slightly different from most prospective MBA students, my aspirations were similar, I wanted to change one or all of the following: function, industry and country.
I researched and visited countless top MBA programs in the US, Canada and Europe. It was hard work to sift through the endless marketing campaigns which schools use. No wonder many students just decide to apply to a program based on reputation or rankings. I concluded that when comparing Canadian MBA programs to the ones in US, the ones in Canada have very solid and competitive curriculums but lack their counterpart’s full blown marketing machines. The latter was probably the reason why I had not heard of Ivey during my initial MBA research.
After visiting a number of US programs, I was disappointed with the low percentage of International students (around 30%), and the relatively sparse discussion of non-US businesses. I was also disappointed with the schools’ limited ability to place graduates globally, despite their powerful brands. Lastly, in today’s busy world the two year program is starting to became a less attractive option.
As a result, I started looking into European programs. Over the last couple of years, those programs have come a long way with their global reach. However, I found their respective curriculums uneven (in terms of balancing out the soft and hard skills) and placement outcomes inconsistent (each school has a reputation for focusing on one type of industry but not all three out of finance, consulting, and industry)
So what is so special about the Ivey MBA (in no particular order)?
1) Ivey’s revamped Cross-Enterprise Leadership curriculum putting increased emphases on both the soft and hard skills. The program uses the case method as a starting point, looking at each business as a complex matrix enterprise. Not to mention, that more than 35% of the cases are international. A lot of those cases are written by Ivey faculty, the second largest producer of cases after Harvard. Concerns about the case method not being best suited for teaching finance and accounting turned out to be not well founded, since a number of the Professors who teach using the case method are well published finance writers.
2) Ivey’s brilliant professors. During my class visit to Ivey, I had the chance to hear the new program director, Tony Frost. I was blown away by his assertion that the mission of the Ivey MBA is to “change our lives.” I also attended the finance case led by Professor Jim Hatch, an equally accomplished finance professor with significant experience in entrepreneurial and biotechnology finance.
3) Ivey’s admission’s office was by far the most personable and professional I had encountered. Unlike a certain top UK program, where I encountered dispassionate approach towards potential students, Ivey staff treated me respectfully. My first encounter with the admissions office was through sending my resume in order to get feedback about potential fit for the Ivey MBA. Following that, I had multiple phone conversations in order to learn more about the program. I was interviewed by a relationship manager from the career office which helped me jumpstart the process of thinking about a post MBA career. I also had a face to face interview with a member of the admissions’ committee. Everyone displayed utmost professionalism.
4) Ivey’s career placement office has come a long way in helping students locate their dream jobs, surpassing their Canadian peers. I hope they continue to do that and attract recruiters from more countries. Ivey boasts more than a 92% placement rate, with graduates entering very competitive fields, including I-banking and management consulting.
5) Ivey’s participants come from diverse backgrounds, are articulate, well accomplished, independent thinkers, self starters, and are future global leaders.
I can go on and on about my positive experience even before setting foot on campus. The above reasons sum up my decision to attend Ivey. If you were to ask me about the one negative so far, I would have to say, the school’s limited brand name, at least where I currently live in the Northeastern part of the United States. I hope this blog that George started will at least play a small role in getting the word out about our “hidden gem.”
Khalil (Kevin) J. Mouchantaf
Ivey MBA- Fall 2007 cohort
Monday, April 23, 2007
Globe and Mail - MBA articles
Here's a link to the "Lessons Learned" article by Richard Bloom, published in Globe and Mail on Friday, April 20, 2007. The article talks about the Schulich MBA program and tries to identify couple of the most important "focus points" for students in an MBA program:
- Choose teammates carefully
- Don't forget party time
- Find a mentor
- Never stop networking
- Don't be afraid to fail
- Take risks
---------------------------------------------------------
Another interesting G&M article: Report on MBA schools by Marjo Johne. This article identifies number of possible specializations for students pursuing an MBA in Canada.
- Choose teammates carefully
- Don't forget party time
- Find a mentor
- Never stop networking
- Don't be afraid to fail
- Take risks
---------------------------------------------------------
Another interesting G&M article: Report on MBA schools by Marjo Johne. This article identifies number of possible specializations for students pursuing an MBA in Canada.
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