“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