The Favorite Courses Of MBAs

Remember that one class? That unforgettable class. It probably stretched and humbled you, made you uncomfortable – and better. Late nights fueled by Red Bull. Endless retracing during office hours. Leaving class with more questions than answers. In the end, you came way seeing the world differently. Suddenly, you followed the Wall Street Journal jargon and recognized the deep connections between disparate industries and issues. Maybe you found a purpose to pursue – or the confidence to do something you sidestepped. Chances are, your grade didn’t reflect your growth.

After all, professors dole out A’s for mastery and B’s for toughness. Guess which students often turn their lessons into legacies?

BEST COURSES FROM BYU TO YALE…FROM STUDENTS THEMSELVES

The people. The content. The moment. Most of all – the questions! For Jennifer Walker-Crawford, a ’24 graduate of the Wharton School, it was the questions she remembered most from Legal Studies & Business Ethics. Here, Walker-Crawford encountered scenarios where there wasn’t a clear-or-wrong – just better-or-worse. These discussions forced her to ask the most profound question of all: What would I do?

“In this class, you don’t just get to choose a side,” she tells P&Q. “You have to justify why, explain your values, and then defend them. There is no doubt in my professional career I am going to be challenged with some really difficult scenarios…These difficult conversations and scenarios have encouraged me to very clearly define what I value, what I will promote, and how far I am willing to go to pursue ‘success’. I think everyone should push themselves to think about the challenges they will face as future leaders.”

The best courses are memorable for different reasons. For some, the exercises and epigrams made the frameworks clear – so much so that graduates don’t need Google to jolt their memory. Chances are, they can even explain the concepts to their Boomer boss! Alas, there is only so much time in business school. That means students need to find the courses with the biggest return. That’s why P&Q asked this year’s Best & Brightest MBAs and MBAs to Watch to share the courses that resonated the most as students. From innovative angles to enduring lessons, here are the courses that still guide the Class of 2024 today.

“Operations with Dan Snow really helped me to think about the business as a whole. He would bring in aspects from human capital management to finance to supply chain to operations to marketing. He would work it all together to help you understand truly how to operate a business. He did more than just teach you functional operations; he really taught you how to be an operator in business.”
Melissa King, Brigham Young University (Marriott)

“Uncover The Origins Of Firm Competitive Advantage by Professor Vivian Guo. This China Module offered a unique, hands-on approach that set it apart. The company visits, Q&A sessions with executives, and lively classroom discussions allowed us to dissect the competitive strategies of six diverse Chinese companies. Seeing firsthand how these companies grapple with real-world challenges and build lasting advantages in a dynamic market was an eye-opening experience. The course not only highlighted the importance of tailoring strategy to specific contexts, but also underscored the crucial need for constant adaptation. One quote that really stuck with me came from the CEO of Broad Home: “It is important for strategies to be closely linked to your organizational capabilities.” This resonated because it emphasized the practicality of strategy, ensuring your ambitions align with your company’s strengths. This course was a refreshing change from the usual in-class case study discussions, and I truly enjoyed the active learning environment.”
Adebelle Xifan Zhang, CEIBS

“I found the Module classes, which were designed to explore cities, regions or countries from specific business angles, to be the most interesting and practical.

I participated in the Shanghai Module, which took us to visit six companies in Shanghai from various industries including hospitality, real estate, food manufacturing, and machinery and equipment. The focus of the module was to understand how European companies tackle the fast-paced technological innovation in China and how they strategize to localize and internationalize to stay competitive outside their home market. The Module classes were well-structured, incorporating real-time visits to companies and conversations with their leaders alongside the lectures.

This approach helped to eliminate the controversies surrounding MBA education about its timeliness. It also most directly demonstrated how to look at real-world problems through academic frameworks and break them down into solutions by the frontier business leaders.”
Shuhua Mou, CEIBS

“My favorite class at Booth was Business, Politics, and Ethics. Many MBA courses focus on finding the optimal solution to business problems. On the other hand, Professor Barry encourages students to understand the underlying reason for why people make decisions. For example, we learned that some people have Kantian ways of thinking, which emphasize universal moral principles, while others hold utilitarian mindsets which focus on the consequences of actions.”
Ben Ferris, University of Chicago (Booth)

“My favorite course during my MBA was Bridging the American Divides for its comprehensive approach to understanding and addressing societal challenges. Led by Professors Todd Jick and Bruce Usher, the course resonates because of the safe space that is created for discussing complex and divisive topics within the United States. Also, the course provided an unconventional experiential learning opportunity by allowing students to visit Youngstown, Ohio, where they could delve into the city’s history, current situation, and future. What made this course truly memorable was its emphasis on listening to understand over listening to respond, encouraging productive discourse and collaboration among students as they explored solutions to bridge societal divides as business leaders.”
Jeff S. McClellan, Columbia Business School

“I took my favorite course — Drew Pascarella’s Investment Banking Immersion — in the spring of my first year in preparation for my summer internship. In each class, Drew creates a boardroom setting where students role-play as investment bankers advising corporate management or a financial sponsor. Drew cross-examines the presenting students, testing and strengthening our ability to communicate succinct advice about complex topics. Combining our presentation skills with the technical skillset developed in core classes like Financial Accounting and Critical and Strategic Thinking provides learning opportunities far more impactful than those found in a textbook or lecture hall. Moreover, he cares about getting to know his students, hosting a small-group dinner every Monday night after class.”
Frank Hager, Cornell University (Johnson)

“The single best course I’ve taken is the Early Stage Venture Capital Workshop Practicum run by Professor Jim Feuille. Although it’s branded as a ‘mini course’, it’s probably the Tuck class that makes students work the most. The first half of the class consists of a deep dive into venture capital, covering everything from the investor landscape and portfolio strategy to how to value a startup and recommend deal terms. In the second half of the class, you put those hard and soft skills to the test: interviewing founders, conducting due diligence, and writing investment memos which then get interrogated by real partners from VC firms. Jim is brilliant and absolutely indefatigable. As well as coordinating these intense and parallel workloads, he gives holistic feedback on everything from your understanding of a sector to the assumptions in an Excel model, and even your effectiveness at building rapport. This course not only accelerated my content knowledge, but also gave me good friends, and a professional skillset which will be the most the most additive after I graduate.”
Ben Marshall, Dartmouth College (Tuck)

“The New Ventures: Develop course taught by Professor Jamie Jones and Professor Max Stern is one of the best hands-on courses a student founder can take at Duke. We spent two terms developing and testing assumptions that are critical to business success by conducting customer discovery and working on our ventures with a team of students across the university. The course allowed me to work on my venture while at school, but also helped me connect with the best talent across Duke. One of my teammates even accompanied me to India to support me with my venture over the summer.”
Arya Diwase, Duke University (Fuqua)

“My favorite MBA class, Innovation Strategy, stands out due to both the exceptional professor, Renee Dye, and the captivating course content. Innovation Strategy offers a gateway to the cutting edge of company operations, exploring dynamic topics such as design thinking, which fosters creative problem-solving approaches. The curriculum also delved into disruptive forces such as electric automobiles, innovation and design strategy at companies like Samsung, and the intricate landscape of patents and patent trolling.

Moreover, we explored the intriguing realm of venture capital, dissecting investment strategies and the transformative impact they wield on emerging technologies. We delved into Futuring exercises, envisioning scenarios two decades ahead and crafting strategic decisions based on those forward-looking perspectives. As our midterm, my team and I envisioned the future of housing in 2040 and created a mock NYTimes “The Daily” podcast from it. With the podcast, we were able to envision a strategy for a variety of players: the government, individuals, banks, construction companies, suppliers, and more. I enjoyed combining data and a creative approach to creating the podcast!”
Sai Konkala, Emory University (Goizueta)

“My favorite course was Strategy because it was the class in which I worked on my best project. Playing the role of consultants, my team and I put together a pitch deck to recommend that the Home Depot create a Home Resiliency Suite product line to respond to the rising threat of hurricanes. Complete with a set of financial projections and a fully scripted advertisement, the project was reflective of all that I had learned throughout my MBA experience.”
Thomas Hutton, Fordham University (Gabelli)

“My favorite course as an MBA course was Leadership Communication, a core course taught by Professor Evelyn Williams and facilitated in a small group setting by Kendall Veasaw, my study team’s second-year MBA coach. The course allowed me to work closely with my study team to improve my professional communication skills through weekly speeches and enacting business cases that simulated different professional scenarios. The course gave me practical tips to give my peers constructive feedback. As someone who usually feels comfortable speaking off the cuff in professional settings, the course gave me the much-needed structure and improved my ability to tell compelling stories.

Throughout the course, my study team and coach provided tangible feedback that would increase my influence and improve my executive presence during complex business situations. The course culminated with the Executive Challenge, a team role-play “case competition” that simulates a day in the life of a senior leader and is judged by Georgetown alumni. The simulations tested us in influence, motivation, and relationship-building skills, and they were a great way to apply what we learned in our course before our summer internships. Since it was also our final exam, it felt great to win the preliminary round, even if I didn’t end the course with an A.”
Nishant Makhijani, Georgetown University (McDonough)

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