15 Biggest Surprises For First-Year MBAs

7) The Biggest Takeaway Is Confidence: “A former boss and mentor of mine once told me that the biggest thing he learned from business school was the confidence to feel like he belongs in any room. I didn’t understand this at the time, but I kept it in the back of my mind as I found my way to and through Kellogg. Now nearing the end of my MBA, I’m surprised to discover that I feel the same way. It’s not a single class or club or internship that magically teaches this but rather a by-product of the whole, cumulative experience. There’s so much personal and professional growth jam-packed into two years, and it has given me the confidence to feel like I could
find a way to work with anyone, to ask questions until I understand, and to trust myself.”
Danielle Mam, Northwestern University (Kellogg)

“The structured unstructured. As I wind down my two-year MBA journey, I recently thought to myself, “Now what do I do?”. What do I do with the blur of information that I have consumed so ferociously? The answer came to me as I was having a discussion with a younger UGA Professional MBA student, and he asked me what he should do with all the information he just learned. My response was that it is like having a new toolkit. When you show up to your new position, you won’t be sure what tools you will need to get the job done. However, you will now have an entire arsenal of resources and tools in your toolkit to dive in and define, analyze, and improve every challenge you encounter. How amazing is that?!”
Kayla Snipes Vickers, University of Georgia (Terry)

8) MBAs Aren’t Who You Expect Them To Be: “The thing that surprised me most about business school is how unique everyone’s path was to arrive here. We have musicians, teachers, consultants, and engineers, and that’s just in our cohort! While this was the biggest surprise, I also found this to be a substantial strength of our program. Everyone has their own story and if you take the time to listen, you can learn so much.  Understanding different and multiple ways of problem solving ultimately makes us, collectively, more empathetic and thoughtful as future business leaders.”
Daylin Russo, University of Maryland (Smith)

“As an introvert, I knew that business school was going to be a stretch experience for me. I won’t lie – business school is a place that privileges the more extroverted types. However, looking at the personality scores of students at Wharton, the average person is an ambivert. I have connected with so many people like me at Wharton who are more processors, who take a longer time to collect their thoughts, and who prefer deeper connections and conversations. Wharton also taught me that there is so much value that introverts can bring to teams. I have witnessed several moments at Wharton where introverts have been able to get teams to pause and reflect, to look at something from a different perspective, and to pull other voices into the conversation.”
Andrea Madu, Wharton School

“The breadth of worlds I was instantly exposed to and worked with was the aspect that surprised me most about business school. I came from a very small background of only knowing about hospitals and healthcare. I thought business was just one world in-and-of-itself. I figured that throughout school, I would be simply be grouped with those students who had my same interest. Yet, I was completely wrong and suddenly found myself in a room with previous military diplomats, flavor testers, international clothing manufacturer managers and other titles I didn’t even know existed. I was not grouped with like-minded interests and instead teamed up with people who had years of experience behind them in a vast array of functions from marketing, supply chain, finance, and others. We consistently rotated and changed teams allowing me to work alongside people from all over the world including Vietnam, Taiwan, India, and Ghana for various projects and classes. Though surprising me at first, I ended up getting to meet, work with, and know incredible people from all aspects of the world and got to observe and work with the thought processes that are rested in vast array of functions. So, the breadth of worlds I was instantly exposed to in b-school and worked with is what shocked me the most but also meant the most to me in the end.”
Anna St. Clair Chopp, Ohio State (Fisher)

9) Students Learn More Outside The Classroom: “It was how much of my development occurred outside of the classroom. My friendships, involvement in campus clubs, and mentor relationships have been as integral to my growth as my academic skills. I could easily dedicate my waking hours to the constant stream of class assignments, tests, recruiting, and professional networking that accompanies an MBA, but I’m glad I also took time to enjoy the journey with my peers. My fondest memories include beach happy hours, hosting social mixers on business school terrace, and a team-building ropes course with my cohort. When I moved to Irvine a couple years ago, in the midst of a pandemic, I didn’t know a single person in Southern California. This June, I’ll be graduating with my best friends, photo albums full of good memories, and a community that will support me personally and professionally for years to come.”
Sophia Fischer, UC Irvine (Merage)

10) They’re Serious About Sustainability: “One aspect that really stood out to me was that the approach towards sustainability is very rigorous. I was surprised by the emphasis and wealth of courses in this field such as on topics of clean energy and sustainable finance. Coming into business school expecting to focus on accounting and management, I was pleasantly met with courses, professors, and classmates interested in non-traditional aspects of business such as sustainability.”
Peter Zhang, University of Toronto (Rotman)

11) Everyone Suffers Imposter Syndrome: “I entered my MBA program having just completed another master’s degree, one that was much more focused on research and writing. Besides a brief year-long stint at a small business, I really didn’t know much about the business world. There were many times I wondered if I was biting off more than I could chew, or if I was out of my element. As I began to voice my fears and uncertainties, I discovered that all of my classmates felt similar things – from the Harvard undergrad to the PhD in Materials Science to those with more “traditional” business background. We all have our share of doubts, that ever-present fear that whispers “not good enough.” However, it’s in the moments of vulnerability and transparency where we are reminded that we are stronger together. The collaborative nature of the MBA curriculum reminds us that we each have a meaningful place here, one filled with value and opportunity to continue to improve businesses, our relationships, and the world itself.”
Joshua O’Dowd, Georgia Tech (Scheller)

12) Professors Really Care About Students: “I think this is what makes Darden such a special place. I went bowling with Max Biggs (Data Analysis Professor), made gumbo and tasted bourbon with Paul Matherne (Healthcare Professor), cooked crawfish with Jeanne Liedtka (Design Thinking Professor), and ate insanely hot wings with Sean Martin (Leadership Professor) and Elena Loutskina (Finance Professor).”
Grant Guess, University of Virginia (Darden)

13) You Make A Lot of Friendships: “The most interesting aspect about Haslam College of Business is how close you get with not only your cohort, but also the faculty and staff. I came in with the mindset that I am entering this program with the intention of solely achieving a degree and a career, but I ended up with a 100+ person support system who became my biggest cheerleaders and sometimes therapists. The bond developed during my program was something unlike any other experience I’ve had because you’re relating with people during the most unpredictable, scariest, and exciting times of their lives.”
NaNeeishia Barnes, University of Tennessee (Haslam)

14) You’ll Be Awe Of The Resources Available To You: “The Career Management Center really set us up for success with personality assessments, strength finders, speakers, interview prep, info sessions, and skill building opportunities. There is a whole team of folks who want to support you and will find a way to help you learn skills and present yourself as best as possible. I regret not using the campus library until the last semester, because that also had a ton of resources that would otherwise cost thousands of dollars to access.”
Katie Steed, Texas A&M (Mays)

15) Time Goes By Fast: “Even though I had already gone through graduate school once before, I was surprised by the pace of business school. The amount of material was pretty daunting. Just when I didn’t think I’d be able to handle it all, I hit a groove with the help of fellow classmates. The amount of work and responsibilities really forces you to prioritize wisely, but leaning on classmates and helping them when in need was the only way to survive, I found.”
Hensley Sejour, Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)

“It was how quickly it moves and how much you have to learn to prioritize. I hate saying no to things, but I’ve learned that it’s so much better to choose to do only a few things that inspire you and give you energy. Devote yourself wholly to them rather than half-commit to a bunch of different things and have no idea where all of your time went! I definitely did not expect to be this busy all the time.”
Jordan Dominguez, MIT (Sloan)

“I came to business school expecting a transformational experience, but I was not expecting how fast and challenging the transformation would be. Business school has incredibly high highs and incredibly low lows. The days are long and the years are short. Stay present and enjoy every second you can!
London Swift, UC Berkeley (Haas)

 

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