The Biggest Surprises Awaiting You At Business School

MBA STEREOTYPE: BACKSTABBERS. MBA REALITY: BACK-SLAPPERS

Time isn’t the only variable driving change at business school. Another: the countless opportunities available to students. Classes may introduce students to new ideas, but clubs, projects, and activities expose them to new ways to apply what they learn. Not to mention that B-schools are traditionally a popular haunt for name executives and thought leaders. As a result of this access, students can often find themselves in conversations — and even dinners — with their heroes. “We have heard from leaders such as Les Wexner (chairman and CEO, L Brands), Craig Banner (president, U.S. Morning Foods at Kellogg Company) and George Barrett (CEO, Cardinal Health), just to name a few,” writes Ohio State’s Sarah Sublett, who’s ticketed to Procter & Gamble after graduation. “We’ve been given the opportunity to visit local breweries, major manufacturing plants and even spend time with Warren Buffett. As MBA students, I never imagined we would have access to such wonderful resources and business leaders. I was shocked by how willing business executives were to lend their time or a helping hand.”

In the end, though, it’s your classmates who can make or break an MBA experience. For many, their peers filled many roles: teacher, cheerleader, confidante, and helping hand, just to name a few. In their differences, classmates found their strengths. In their shared experience, they found their voice. Together, they widened and enriched the discussion, says Babson College’s Bryanne Leeming, whose JumpStart venture teaches children how to code. “I was surprised by how many different academic backgrounds my classmates came from. On day one, I sat next to a lawyer and an artist on either side with two engineers in front of me and a teacher behind me. The experiences my classmates bring from their previous careers drive the discussions forward. Business can learn important lessons from other industries and occupations.”

While class diversity may have deepened the learning, it was selflessness that made learning possible. Just ask the University of Texas’ Stephen de Man. A former teacher himself, de Man was amazed — and grateful — to find how much his classmates would go out of their way to help him. “I’ll never forget studying for my first accounting exam. Our study group mates were joined by students I hadn’t even met yet, sitting down to walk me through concepts and practice problems. Everywhere I turned, there was support and someone willing to make sure I could be successful. Coming from the nonprofit sector, this was the opposite of the cutthroat competitive atmosphere I envisioned in a business environment.”

BIGGEST SURPRISE OF ALL: HOW FAST IT ALL GOES BY

Forget frothing corporate climbers and decked-out Gordon Gekko wannabes. For the University of Washington’s Becky See, the Class of 2016 had higher ambitions than making a quick buck before ducking out to drink piña coladas in the Antilles. “I thought the focus would be about financial gains and maximizing profit,” See admits. “I was really surprised to see so many of my classmates who want to do good for the community, by the humility of everyone, by the compassion exhibited. There was far more focus on the importance of people beyond themselves than I expected at a business school.”

Now that the Best & Brightest MBAs have graduated and begun streaming back into the workforce, they have encountered a final surprise — one that takes time to truly appreciate: Just how fast business school goes by. “It literally feels like I just started my MBA,” Brigham Young University’s Kirk Steele laments, “and yet the two years are (already) done.”

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