2018 Best Online MBAs: Nidhi Modh, USC (Marshall)

Nidhi Modh

University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business

Empathetic, Energetic, Organized, Analytical, Goal driven. I believe in “Happiness is not the goal but just a starting point.”

Age: 34

Hometown: Born in quaint city of Jabalpur, India. Now, I live in Santa Clara, California

Fun fact about yourself: I love being on stage and in front of camera. I have learned various dance forms like Lindy hop, contemporary, and Bollywood.

Undergraduate School and Degree:

Bachelor in Technology, SNDT University, Mumbai, India

Master in Science, Viterbi School of Engineering, USC.

Where are you currently working?

Dell Technologies, Principal Software Engineer

Eatoji Inc. Co-founder

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Founding Eatoji Inc., where I am bringing together my passion for food, tech and health. I believe that we should be conducting businesses responsibly keeping environment, health and future generations in mind. Being born in Indian household, I know the difference in home-style and restaurant-style food. I am committed to bringing home-style food to more and more people without compromising on profitability.

Why did you choose this school’s online MBA program? Being an alumnus, coming back to USC was a no brainer. However, I did have questions and concerns on how the content would be delivered and how the cohort would interact. The best way to get unbiased answers was talking to previous students. I did exactly that. I learnt that the content is asynchronously delivered and can be watched multiple times (if needed) at our convenience and classes are for revisiting the concepts and group discussions. I was told that the Residential week would be a perfect opportunity to know the cohort really well. And further interactions organically because of methodically designed group projects and Weekly discussions board. The more I knew how the program is designed, the easier it became for me to decide to come to Marshall for OMBA program.

What was your favorite part of being in an online MBA program? The asynchronous delivery mechanism has to be at the top of my list. There were many subjects in which I did not have enough elementary knowledge coming from engineering background.  For example, accounting and finance were two of them. Carefully designed video lectures with very high production quality took us through difficult concepts with ease. These pre-recorded video lectures are rich, dense and help explain the concepts extremely well. The asynchronous delivery mechanism gave me the liberty to prepare the topics to my satisfaction at my own pace.

What was the most surprising thing about an online learning environment? I never thought before starting the OMBA degree that I would become such a proponent of an online degree. Surprisingly, I never missed traditional classrooms.

How did your online experience compare with your in-the-classroom experience as an undergraduate student? I had a lot more interactions with my classmates in undergrad, partly because I lived with them. Given where I am today, a co-founder, a new mother and a full-time job, I cannot even imagine going to traditional classrooms. Traditional classrooms do not give the flexibility I needed to be able to fulfill the many hats I was willing to juggle.

What is your best piece of advice to an applicant for thriving in an online MBA program? There are many suggestions I have, and I am going to list what I think are the most important.

  • Having a good family support system is a MUST.
  • These 20 months will require you to manage your time scrupulously.
  • Don’t leave assignments for the last moment. Starting on assignments early will give you time to then think about how would you apply these in your current job.

How has your online education helped you in your current job? I am better equipped to ask right questions. Surprisingly, that is a skill many leaders lack. Also, there are many frameworks which have proven to be important tools in my arsenal in making better decisions.

If you had to do it all over again, would you? Why? In a blink, I would do it all over again because this has been extremely enriching experience.

What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? I would love for myself to be an executive in a Fortune 500 company making significant contribution in strategy and vision.

DON’T MISS: THE COMPLETE 2018 LIST OF THE BEST & BRIGHTEST ONLINE MBAS or OUR DEBUT 2018 RANKING OF THE BEST ONLINE MBA PROGRAMS IN THE U.S.

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