[转帖]为什么选择Chicago GSB

Congratulations to admitted students of the Class of 2008. You should feel proud about getting admitted to an esteemed institution like The Chicago GSB. Some of you are deciding between GSB and other schools. Some of you are still wondering if you should even do an MBA or just continue working. And some more of you are thinking if a part time program might be the right compromise. Well, you have my sympathies. All these are valid concerns and this is an important decision in your professional life. I will try to give you my unbiased pitch for GSB.

Just about 2 years ago, I was in your shoes and unfortunately I had to address all the above concerns. I had 10 years of working experience in technology product development and was doing well. I was earning a high salary and even the best paying post-MBA job paid at least 20% lower. I wasn't one of the conventional career changers either.

I loved technology and approached MBA as a means to change my job function. I wanted to be in a role that was more broad-based and influential. I had no interest in Wall Street careers. My wife and I were expecting our first child by Fall of 2004. We had to pack and move from sunny Bay area to cold Chicago. So, believe me, I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing by joining Chicago GSB.

Right off the bat, you need to make sure that you are doing this for the long haul. Don't focus only on short term returns or what incremental benefits you can gain in the first few years.

I ignored all the short term pains including salary levels, the problem with changing cities and the responsibility of handling the first kid without a paycheck. Of course, having an understanding and supporting wife definitely helped the decision making process.

Someone told me that a true MBA experience depends on three factors: 1) The relationship / networking aspect, both with fellow students and alums, 2) The job search / recruiting aspect and 3) The classroom experience and the learning itself. Let us tackle all three aspects and see why GSB could be a good fit for you.

Fellow Students / Alumni:

Let me not beat around the bush and come to the point. There is a stereotype that GSB students are more competitive than collaborative. After spending nearly two years here in the program, I can assure you this stereotype is more a myth than a reality. However, having worked exclusively in team environments, this was a concern to me before I joined GSB. I visited twice to get a feel for the student body at GSB. I was pleasantly overwhelmed both times with hordes of students striking up conversations with me and offering to help. When I went back home and sent them thank you emails, instead of the diplomatic "Hey thanks for coming. Good luck in the future" email, I got detailed answers to my questions, advice about writing essays, and in some cases, I got introduced to more students who could answer my questions. In fact, one of those students, Byron Crawford, '05, became one of my closest friends and mentors.

You will find students across a wide spectrum here in GSB but almost everyone is down to earth and truly willing to help. Some warned that the first recruiting season is when people show their true colors; that's when the pressure of recruiting gets better of the façade that people might wear. Well, how untrue that turned out to be. I was recruiting for consulting and while the economy was improving the number of people that got offers for consulting internships was still low; and I was one of the lucky ones with an offer from BCG. Through the entire process, I didn't feel any tension nor did I experience any unfriendly behavior; only mutual help and collaboration.

The other neat part about GSB is the relationship between first years and second years. The flexibility in taking classes means that you see first and second years taking classes together, almost from the first quarter. While we have many formal settings for first years and second years to mingle (student groups, career advisors, Career Essentials program …) I will contend that informal setting like classroom experience enables more fluent conversations between second years and first years. I was amazed at the responsiveness of the second years when I was a first year, from their help in finalizing the Resume to mock interviews to advice before going to second round interviews. One of the second years gave mock interviews for 8 straight hours for three straight days during Christmas break; and she was a mother of a 5 year old daughter. Talk about commitment to help. There are so many such stories that never get told outside of GSB but every student here has loads of them. GSB network (or the lack thereof) is cited as an area of concern. Let us get some facts right. We have a lot of alums in a variety of industries and functions. With the part time brethren, we have an even wider network. For example, Venture Capital is supposed to be an industry that is very exclusive. Even in venture capital, our alumni presence in the top VC's is nothing to scoff about - from Austin Venture Partners to Oak to Sevin Rosen funds, our alums are in majority of the top VC's. People who have unreasonable expectations about the network continue to feed the myth. A school network will be somewhere in between your close family relative and a stranger that you strike up a conversation on a flight. The family relative is going to do everything in his/her power to help you out. In the stranger's case, it better be a perfect fit for him/her to help. You will see people that are close to the 'family relative' type and some that are close to the 'stranger in the airplane' type. I have contacted alums for variety of reasons including student group support, VC trek, recruiting, information about career paths … I have seen more alums that fit the 'family relative' mold than the 'stranger' mold. Alumni relations continue to be school's primary focus and things can only get better.

Recruiting / Job Search:

Okay, this one is a slam dunk. All the top consulting firms, banks and Investment Management firms come to campus. Recruiters know of the academic rigor of our school. Even firms that don't come to campus, actively work with our Career Services department to hire our students. Flexibility of the curriculum means as a career switcher you can load up on specific classes to address your weakness before internship interviews.

Our Career Services department needs a special mention here. With changing economy, I was looking for a career services staff that is agile and understands the changing situation to help the students better. Boy, do we have an agile staff. Late last November, I was hurriedly putting together a VC trek to visit VC's in Silicon Valley during the second week of December. We were able to sign 10 top-tier VC's for the trip. This was a student group effort and we never expected Career Services to help; nor did we involve them in planning and logistics. Two weeks before the trek, Assistant Director, Suzanne Schoeneweiss, found out about the trek and immediately reached out to me if she can help and if someone can come along the trek so as to consolidate the relationships with these VC's. Within a week, Jessica Henry, Assistant Director for VC/PE recruiting, signed up for the trip, made travel arrangements and came fully prepared for the trip. The staff's approachability and willingness to adapt are something that I have never seen elsewhere.

Academics and Classroom Experience

Last, but not the least (well, may be the least;: ) important aspect of your MBA is what you learn and the class room experience. By now, you already know about the awesome faculty, our school's focus on teaching fundamentals, and our reputation in finance, economics and accounting. Just don't forget the awesome faculty and courses in marketing, entrepreneurship and strategy. Here are four professors that are worth the price of admission:

1. Pete Rossi - Applied Regression Analysis:

Dana Carvey meets Tom Brokaw; that is Prof. Rossi for you. One of the second years summed him up in one sentence - "He loves regression too much; sometimes for his own good and health". His sense of humor (often self deprecating) combined with buttoned down, old school get-up, makes for an interesting teaching style. Notable are his rib-cracking zings at other business schools. One of the mid term questions went like this: "A Wharton student comes and says "blah blah blah" What is wrong with his statement and how would you correct it". I didn't know if I should start laughing or think hard about the problem. Clips from Clint Eastwood's westerns and Hindi movie, Sholay are used in the class to corroborate statistical concepts. Midst of all these, he drilled us with the fundamentals of regression and the robustness and deficiencies of different theoretical constructs. In fact, I used so much of his class during my summer at BCG that I owe it to Prof. Rossi for my offer at the end of the summer.

2. Marc Knez - Technology Strategy:

If you have any interest in technology, you should take a class from Prof. Knez.

He combines competitive strategy, organizational design and scenario analysis to tackle and answer complex high tech issues in a mind boggling way. Having spent many years in high tech, I didn't expect to learn much from his class and how wrong I was. His structured and decision theory approach helps you understand why things happen in high tech industry in the way it happens.

3. Tobias Moskowitz - Investments

Prof. Moskowitz woke up my latent interest in Finance and Investments. He is only few years older than I am and he is already a tenured professor. He likes his home town, West Lafayette too much but we will forgive him for that. He is the future of the Finance department at GSB. His method of teaching every new concept in three ways - theoretical, graphical and application oriented - makes even the ardent finance haters to like the subject. His down to earth demeanor and approachability make him one of the student favorites.

4. Austan Goolsbee - Economics and Policy in the Telecom, Media and Technology Industries

Rumor has it that he was a stand-up comic during college. I don't know if it is true or just an urban legend, but he is definitely the funniest Prof. at GSB (He edges Prof. Rossi by a whisker). He makes so much fun of your class participation in the name of counter arguments, you wouldn't know if you should laugh or continue to make your point. If you want to know why Christian Gospel is becoming popular or why Austin became a high-tech town when others failed or if it really makes sense to split-up Microsoft, you should definitely be in his class.

There are so many other great Professors and classes at GSB that I feel that I can take at least 3 more quarters of classes after graduation.

Having spent two years, how do I feel about these three aspects? I have made friends with people from classes of '05, '06 and '07 that I will probably carry for life. I have a job from my top choice industry. I have learnt so much in the class room that I feel fully prepared to re-enter the work force. On the personal front, we had our son and so, all in all, my GSB experience has been eventful, to say the least.

So, is everything hunky dory? Well no. Chicago GSB is definitely not for everyone. Chicago GSB expects you to take charge and make decisions. Of course the school and the student body support you but you still have the onus on yourself. Some people are not comfortable with that. They want a portion of the MBA experience figured out by the school. Ask yourself if you are ready to take charge. If you think you are, Chicago GSB can be the greatest place to transform yourself and to get what you want.

Good luck with your decisions.