From One Class To Another: The Best Advice
There’s no one way to choose a business school. Some applicants craft intricate formulas that quantify every variable. Others shop around for the best package. And a lucky few ‘just know’ when a school is right after their campus visits. Alison Mehlsak didn’t draw on a complex point systems or faint gut feelings to choose the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business for her MBA. Instead, she relied on the “Holy Trinity.”
Alison Mehlsak, University of Virginia (Darden)
No, we’re not talking about the religious entity. Mehlsak’s trusty trio involved the three criteria most critical to her decision. “In my case, it was: 1) Educational Experience, 2) Location, and 3) Job Prospects,” she explains. “Within your three, typically any single school or job can deliver fully on two of them, and you’ll need to make compromises on the third. Being honest with yourself…is critical to giving yourself both boundaries and flexibility.”
In fact, Mehlsak has applied this rule of three to simplify her internship and employment decisions too. “Being Jewish, I never thought I’d believe in any kind of Holy Trinity,” Mehlsak cracks, “but this one has worked wonders for me.”
CLARITY OF PURPOSE EASES TRANSITION – AND APPEALS TO EMPLOYERS
The “Holy Trinity” is just one of the best pieces of advice from Poets&Quants’ Best and Brightest MBAs of 2016. As part of our survey of this year’s top second years, Poets&Quants asked nominees to share the best advice they would give to a prospective MBA student.
When it comes to choosing a business school, Austin Ayres, a Deloitte consultant from Southern Methodist University, urges students to reflect deeply on why they want to earn an MBA. “Far too often,” Ayres shares, “I find that students lean on an advanced degree when they are unsure of where to go next in their career. While I’m not saying this is bad, I have found that my most successful classmates had a clear goal when they came to business school. They knew that they had certain experiences and strengths and needed to enhance them with the skills learned in an MBA program to further their career.”
SMU’s Austin Ayres
In Ayres’ case, that meant adding the business vernacular and strategy components to his strengths in leadership and communication – skills he had honed as a Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy. Over his time in Cox’s MBA program, he learned that his clarity and focus appealed to employers too. “Employers love to see pathways of purpose,” Ayres adds. “Why did you go somewhere and what did you learn? That creates an extremely strong statement that lets interviewers know you are serious about your career and the decisions you make along the way.”
COME IN WITH A PLAN ON WHERE TO INVEST YOUR TIME AND ENERGY
Once candidates commit to business school, several grads urged their successors to plan ahead. Amid the torrent of core coursework, social events, recruiter visits, and club activities, it can be easy for first years to get lost observes Yale SOM’s Sarah Esty. And she would know: Esty earned a dual degree program with Yale Law School – the top-ranked legal program in the country. In an environment where “you’d need two or three MBAs to do it all,” Esty says, planning ahead is key to getting the most out of business school.
“If you’re not sure what you want to do later or what skills or experiences you want to take away from the program, it can feel overwhelming to have to choose what doors to close, but having a plan for what you want to do allows you to confidently pick and choose how to invest your time so you’re not running between so many different things – you never get to enjoy any of them.”
Echoing Esty’s sentiments is the University of Minnesota’s Sara Moret, a Bain recruit who helped nearly 40% of her first and second year classmates with their job hunt. She views the summer as the time for incoming students to cross off those simple tasks that can be distracting (if not daunting) come fall. “Take the summer before business school to pause: What gives you energy? What are you passionate about? What are your greatest strengths? Then, start networking with low-risk contacts who will be honest with you about the industry. If you want to go into marketing, talk to a friend who has done marketing before. Just find a safe space to answer some of your early questions so you can come to campus ready to dive in.”
Northwestern University’s Tim Bossidy
DEFINE WHAT SUCCESS MEANS TO YOU
When it comes to diving in, the best and brightest have learned success is a matter of strategically mixing depth and breadth. Tim Bossidy, a Kellogg grad ticketed to Goldman Sachs, encourages the next class to meet every classmate in one way or another. “There will probably be a group you go out with more and travel with more,” he concedes, “but getting into here or any business school is an opportunity to meet an absurd amount of dynamic, smart, driven people with an amazing array of backgrounds. Every additional friend I have made here has made my experience more interesting and more valuable.”
Ask anyone: the universal consensus is students should get involved once they hit campus. However, Texas A&M’s Tyler Lorenz, whose star burned brightest deep in the heart of Mays Business School, cautions that students should focus on efforts that make a tangible difference. “Personally, I spread myself across the Finance club and our Governing Board of Advisors. I would pick only one or two groups and truly drive impact in those areas.”
Do you build a network that’s wide or deep? Do you take on responsibility in many areas – or focus on being great in just a few areas? These are just a few of the paradoxical push-pulls that every first year faces. Not only are they responsible for their success, but they have to define what success really means to them. And it’s not the same for everyone, adds Jen Fischer, a Haas grad who launched the school’s Berkeley Leadership Lab. “People who you know, respect, and love may have influenced you rightly or wrongly to subscribe to some pre-conceived notion of success” Fischer declares. “They will want what they think is best for you, but no one knows that better than you.”
B-SCHOOL REQUIRES OPENNESS — AND FEARLESSNESS
IE Business School’s Michelle Beretti
If there is one piece of advice that unites the 2016 class, it would be this: Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone. In doing so, MBA students can better facilitate self-awareness and growth, says IE Business School’s Michelle Beretti, who was chosen by her dean to address the next incoming class. “Come with an open mind, and be prepared to have many of your preconceived beliefs challenged. I am not saying that everyone will come out on the other side a totally different person, everyone is at different stages of their lives, but you will have a much better understanding of who you are, or better yet, who you are becoming.”
Doing that, of course, requires students to live in the moment. Or, more accurately, it demands that students seize the moment implores Duke University’s Jessica Davlin, who worked at the FBI and the White House before joining Team Fuqua. “I’ve found that embracing these two years and being open to whatever comes your way can really make for a transformational experience. Don’t be afraid to take risks – school is a safe environment to challenge yourself.”
And this “carpe diem” mantra doesn’t just apply to what students do in business school, but where they attend school in the first place. “Don’t just stay in your home country,” counters INSEAD’s Tan Wenyou, who has already authored three business books. “Go out and explore markets out of your comfort zone and build up your ability to adapt to different markets across the world. The beauty of the INSEAD program is that the students and their experiences are so diverse that you can practically learn something new within any classroom.”
“BE YOURSELF. BE INTENTIONAL. TRUST THE PROCESS”
NYU’s Ronica Reddick
Beyond that, this year’s best and brightest voiced a series of nuggets that suggested the deep, rich and sometimes painful nature of learning. NYU’s Ronica Reddick, a stage and television actress before business school, urged future students to “assume the best intentions from others.” Haas’ Sarah Tait, architect of this year’s Week Zero, was equally pragmatic. “Reflect often, make decisions deliberately, and schedule as many coffee chats with students, faculty, staff, and alumni as you can handle.” And the sage advice of Duke’s Libby McFarlane’s would make a perfect bumper sticker: “Be yourself. Be intentional. Trust the process.”
Come August, the Class of 2018 will begin descending upon campuses worldwide. They will be among strangers all wondering if they truly belong (and whether they’ll survive Finance I). In those times, they can look at the example of the 2016 class, who entered as gifted and green and left as polished and perceptive. For that, you can thank the foundation of business school: Community.
“Don’t be intimidated,” assuages Carnegie Mellon’s Samantha Grant. “There’s a whole team of professors, faculty, and students who want to see you succeed.”
DON’T MISS: THE BEST ADVICE GRADUATING MBAS HAVE FOR NEW B-SCHOOL APPLICANTS
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