From North Carolina To Russia, Would-Be MBAs Descend On CEIBS

Erdenebyamba Erdenebileg, Mongolia

CEIBS boot camp participant Erdenebyamba Erdenebileg (R), with fellow boot camper Geena Maharaj

CEIBS boot camp participant Erdenebyamba Erdenebileg (R), with fellow boot camper Geena Maharaj at CEIBS

Erdenebyamba Erdenebileg of Mongolia works as a financial analyst for a beverage company in Ulan Bator and although unsure of her career plan, she knew she wanted to work abroad. To do that in a satisfying job, she would need education beyond her bachelor’s degree in financial management from the Mongolia University of Science and Technology. So she put herself on an alert list for scholarships at schools in developing countries, and received notice of the CEIBS boot camp.

“I had never thought about China before,” Erdenebileg says. “I was thinking Australia and the U.K. After I came here I’m interested in China – I think there is great opportunity in China.”

MUCH TO LEARN ABOUT FINANCE

Erdenebileg, 27, is looking for a deep immersion in finance, to prepare for possible work in a finance-oriented consulting company or a financial firm. “I have a lot of things to learn,” she says.

She plans to first obtain a master’s degree in finance, then an MBA, possibly from CEIBS, she says. However, if she receives admission and scholarship offers from CEIBS (30% to 50% of students receive scholarships) she would go straight to the MBA, she says.

“I’m very happy about the reputation of CEIBS – I think it would give me a lot of opportunity,” she says. “If I study at CEIBS I think I want to work in China for a couple of years, then go back to Mongolia.”

Steven Eng, Nevada

Steven Eng at a restaurant on a boot camp night out in Shanghai     - Ethan Baron photo

Steven Eng at a restaurant during a boot camp night out at a seafood restaurant in Shanghai         – Ethan Baron photo

An entrepreneur three times over at the age of 26, Steven Eng came from Las Vegas to Shanghai to see what CEIBS might offer as an entry point into the Chinese market, and into China itself. A Chinese American who received a Gilman Scholarship to study Chinese language and literature in Chengdu, China in 2009 and 2010, he’s fluent in Cantonese and speaks “good enough” Mandarin. In 2012, he spent five months teaching English in Chengdu. “I’ve always been trying to work my way back here,” says Eng, who has a BS in entrepreneurship and finance from the University of Nevada-Reno, and studied entrepreneurship at Draper University in Silicon Valley.

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