Class Of 2015: The Toughest Part Of The MBA Experience

“For me, the hardest part of business school has been learning to say “no.” With only two years and so many opportunities, it is easy to volunteer for all kinds of activities—and, more often than not, I did. It made for some late nights in the library, but I was fortunate to have an executive coach who taught me some valuable time management skills and tips for delegating work to others.” – Gina Bruno / Vanderbilt University, Owen Graduate School of Management 

“The hardest part of business school was saying no to things! There were so many opportunities to get involved in the community and I learnt along the way that it was better to focus my attentions on a few positions and make long-lasting, contributions with impact.” – Anne-Marie Kruk / London Business School 

“The hardest part of business school was declining opportunities and events that piqued my interest. There were so many interesting professional, academic, and social events available at Stern, and I wish I could have taken advantage of them all.” – Jennifer Meacham / New York University, Stern School of Business

“Learning to say “no.”  And by learning, I mean that I am in the process of learning. There are so many tempting opportunities and dynamic people at business school that it’s really hard not to over-commit. Let’s call over-committing one of my proudest failures.” – Jennifer Dare / University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business

Setting Priorities

“Before you go to business school, I recommend doing some self-reflection to determine what you want to get out of business school. Is it meeting a lot of friends? Is it sharpening your skills? Is it landing a specific job? Is it starting a business?  You’re going to have a lot of opportunities to do all of those things, but, you can’t be successful at all of them at once. Understanding your top priorities can help you quickly decide where to invest your time and make the most of your two years.” -Katlin Smith / University of Chicago, Booth School of Business

“The sheer volume of activities, workshops, talks, commitments, projects, class and events – all of which are interesting – which must be balanced and prioritized if you want to get anything done. There’s so much going on all the time that if you don’t have a specific focus you will quickly get lost in all the roles you’ve volunteered for.” – Bruno Valle / Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management

“Prioritizing my time and managing my energy. There were never enough hours in a day and at times it felt like I was constantly running after all the interesting options and activities the MBA life presented. Only once I took a step back and reflected on what I really wanted to get out of the experience, did the prioritization get easier.” – Elena Rittstieg / INSEAD

“Finding the right balance between the countless opportunities (academics, career, professional, social and sports clubs, socializing, partying…). The IESE MBA is very intense, especially in the first two terms. At some point in time, I was reprioritizing my activities and setting some limits to be able to still achieve my goals of the MBA. I consider this a very valuable exercise for the future.” – Victoria Teworte / IESE Business School

“Deciding what not to do during my time here. There are so many incredible opportunities to take unique classes, get involved in clubs, internships, startups, travel… The hardest part is deciding what not to pursue.” – Elena Mendez Escobar / MIT, Sloan School of Management

Finding Balance

“The hardest part of business school is balancing the classroom with the out-of-classroom experiences. Being a one-year program, students are packed tight with courses, and it can be challenging to keep up with coursework, while pursuing other projects, like starting a company. Fortunately, it made us even more ambitious, because we knew we had less time to achieve more. While important, academics are just a small part of the b-school experience – it is the hackathons, trips and travels, and challenging discussions with classmates from which we learn the most.” – Miwa Takaki / Cornell University, Johnson Graduate School of Management

Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

“The hardest part of business school for me was being a total novice at some things. At Tuck, I took courses in the core curriculum like marketing and operations that were far out of my previous knowledge base. I leaned on my study group members and peers to get up the curve quickly and needed to put aside reticence at asking basic questions.” – Michaela LeBlanc / Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College

Accepting Failure

“Failing in order to succeed and getting to know yourself through failure. You’re not going to be great at everything, and at first you may feel like you’re not good at anything. But if you put one foot in front of the other—you’re moving forward.” – Naomi Johnson / Emory University, Goizueta Business School

Making Tradeoffs

“Having too many opportunities to take advantage of. Business school taught me tradeoffs in a very concrete way. For example, when I found out I was pregnant, I had to resign from two leadership positions in Fisher organizations. I love to be active and involved in the Fisher and Columbus community, but also hold myself to a high academic standard. Deciding where to focus my energy and attention was the hardest part of business school.” -Katherine Beaulieu / Ohio State Ohio State, Fisher College of Business