The Most Important Aspect of Your MBA Education

Every single student decides to go to business school for a different reason.  Some go for a career change, some go to advance in their respective careers…some go for a stellar marketing program, and some go for a world-renowned finance faculty.  When I started school at Vanderbilt last year around this time, I had my reasons as well.  Regardless of whether or not they were the right reasons for me to pick Vandy; they were MY reasons.

International MBAs Flock to U.S. Schools

(June 2008) – The MBA Tour reports that rising currency values in Europe, China, and India coupled with a low U.S. dollar is creating wide-spread interest in American MBA programs.

Both the euro and the Chinese Yuan have appreciated vs. the U.S. dollar over the past 3 years; the euro by 30% and the Yuan by 17%.

MBA2 already?

And so my first year of business school is over. I can’t believe how fast it has gone by. Overall, this was a tremendous experience, filled with ups and downs. In the end, I concluded what I knew all along: I (along with my friends) made the right decision to attend b-school right after undergrad. I felt like a sponge during the entire school year, just soaking up as much information as possible. Eventually I was able to secure my “dream” summer internship in a bulge-bracket bank, within its investment management division.

Important Questions

While we enjoy our “Spring Break” at Vanderbilt, it has been great to take some time off from school, do a little bit of traveling, and actually reading a book for my own pleasure (rather than for a class). During this time, I kept receiving a number of e-mails from many current & prospective b-school students. In particular, Lauren from Duke University brought up a few important points which I wanted to address in this post. So, here it goes:

YoungMBA.net Nationally Recognized

A great article about young MBA students has been published in The Chronicle of Higher Education on Jan 25, 2008. YoungMBA.net has been featured extensively in the article. Make sure to check it out here!

MBA Internship Search

It is arguably the single most important element of one’s MBA education…that highly coveted summer internship. It is now mid-January, and the MBA internship hunt is in full force. It is indeed true: a hunt. Thousands of intelligent, determined, and highly-ambitious MBAs all over the world are hunting down for the “perfect” summer internship. The stakes are very high, since landing the right summer internship is crucial in terms of future employment for an MBA student. Why? It is simply a matter of economics: supply and demand.

Another testimonial from a Harvard/MIT applicant

Since we are in the middle of the application season for b-schools, many applicants are doing more and more research about different schools to find additional information to better prepare themselves for their upcoming interviews. We have been getting numerous e-mails from current college students either asking us questions or just giving us feedback about YoungMBA. I am happy to share with you a recent e-mail I have received from a current b-school applicant:

Young MBA experience at b-school

We have recently received a question from one of our readers. Here is what she wrote: “Do you feel that your “older” ( or more experienced) classmates treat your opinions & thoughts any differently than those of more experienced students?”

My initial response to this question would be a big NO. I have yet to feel that my classmates at business school are treating my opinions differently because I have no full-time work experience. However, as a young MBA student, this depends mostly on you.

Young MBAs or Old…It’s Finals time!

‘Tis the Season…for finals! Whether you are a young MBA student or a rather older one, you absolutely dread this time of the year. You just can’t wait to be done! Most b-schools are having their finals either this week or the next; and Vanderbilt is no exception.

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Now, why did I list all of these countries? It’s simple; this is only a small list of countries where YoungMBA.net has received visitors from in its short existence.