Best Places To Study Business Abroad

10 Surprising Things About Business School

 

“I need to get into a top school to land a good job.”

“I’ll figure things out once I start classes.”

“I’ll take it easy before classes start. Why burn out early?”

Sound like good advice? Don’t tell that to Kevin Boyer, Vice President of Greenmont Capital Partners. A 2012 MBA from the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business, Boyer once asked these same questions. With business school now behind him, he can look back and muse, ‘Maybe that wasn’t so important after all.’

In a recent interview with Kellen McKillop on the After College Blog, Boyer indeed shared his insights on what’s important and what first years should expect. Here are some highlights from his interview:

Why Waiting to Go to B-School is Best:

“People who come straight to business school from undergrad are often thought of as ‘kids’ by classmates. The students I knew with little or no professional experience were generally unhelpful when it came to group work. Consequently, before too long, those kids stuck to themselves for group projects, while the rest of the people in class mixed about.”

On Having a Plan Before Starting Business School:

“How smart of a ‘business decision’ is it to go $100k in debt before you have a job or even really know what you want to do?”

Getting Into a Top Program:

“If you want to go to a top program, you’ve got to learn how the game is played, and then play it damn well.”

2-Year vs. 1-Year Program:

“Sure, many would-be students appreciate the reduced program timeframe as well as the (perceived) greater odds of employment immediately following their program. However, this is a short-term solution to a lifelong problem. All business areas are ultimately connected. An MBA is still the best way to ensure a well-rounded education that will allow you to progress to any level within a company while also letting the student gain specialized skills and knowledge through second year electives, extracurricular activities, and summer internships/part-time employment.”

Preparing for Business School:

“Read through case studies and textbooks you know you’ll have to use in class. Get familiar with extracurricular groups you would consider participating in. Subscribe to the Wall Street Journal. Read it every day.”

Getting the Most From a Program:

“You might benefit from the school’s reputation and contacts, and the university has an obligation to teach you relevant information and educate you as the program mandates, but ultimately, it is you, the student, that will determine how worthwhile your grad school experience is. Like anything else, you get out of it what you put into it.”

Coping with Not Getting Selected by Your First Choice:

“If you’re going to your second, third, or fourth choice of school, either get over it and get super excited to be in your current program, or pull out of the program and work to get into the program(s) you really want next year/semester. Don’t half-ass it…“If I had gone to another school this could have ended up as investment banking or perhaps some kind of financial consulting. Fortunately, my school was focused on entrepreneurship. I realized that this was actually my core area, what I liked best about business, and felt great doing. Combining that with finance translated to venture capital, which is where I work now.”

To read the full interview, click on the link below.

DON’T MISS: ADVICE TO FIRST YEARS FROM THE CLASS OF 2013

Source: After College Blog