Anthony: I reached out to my fellow classmates for their experiences of getting in touch with their inner MBA, the choices they made and their feelings toward it.
The MBA is all about collaboration. At IMD, I have heard that 40% of our mark is based on the ability to take other people’s opinions and feedback.
Stefano Agosta, a future classmate, gave me the following analysis:
“I decided to pursue an MBA last year. Italian engineer, 7 years’ experience with an international organisation in Geneva, I felt like switching to a managerial position in the Swiss industry.
First things first, I started preparing for the GMAT. Once sentence correction and percentiles had become just a (bad) memory, I focused on the school choice. Scanning rankings and reading blogs, aiming at a top-tier school with a 1-year program starting in January, I selected four schools and applied to two.
Because of its strong network in Switzerland – where I’d like to settle in the long term, the limited class size of 90, the 1:2 faculty-to-MBA ratio, and the well-known leadership stream, my first choice was obviously IMD.
The second was another extraordinary b-school. I had a chance to meet and talk to many alumni of both schools, and although they all were brilliant, I felt a stronger affinity with the IMD crowd, because they sounded enthusiastic yet reasonable. Another reason for choosing IMD was the care with which the school selects applicants in person, to understand their personality and best tailor the class. After all, they don’t claim to be a boutique business school for nothing.
However, surprisingly, when time came to pick a school, I chose the other one. Seduced by its fame and biased by the opinion of popular rankings, I felt less sure of my own analysis and dreamed of being part of the fancy experience they advertise well.
I e-mailed IMD to decline their offer and soon after I got a call from my admission officer. She didn’t try to talk me out of it, but was rather interested in understanding my choice. It was a pleasant chat; I could feel her warmth through the phone, along with the care that the school invests in each student when addressing their specific needs and preferences with all available means. It sounded like they were looking for people, not numbers. I just smiled, hung up the phone and accepted the IMD offer. The program start is four weeks away and I couldn’t be more excited to begin!”
Another of my future classmates sent me the following exerpt which I really appreciated:
“When I was evaluating different business schools, I chose IMD because I knew they cared. Everyone from the dean to an intern knew my name and my story. They demonstrated, even before I accepted the offer, that the team and peer group would help me transform. The rest, making my dreams a reality, will follow. I am excited to begin the journey.”
The above two experiences from my fellow IMD candidates in many ways matches my experiences and shows the turmoil of emotions that run around one’s head when making a decision such as this. All I would like to reiterate and add is the amazing attention to detail IMD showed with each and everyone of us! They treated us like candidates and part of their flock even before we had accepted offers or made it onto their hallowed acceptance lists.
Thank you IMD for making even the acceptance and admissions process invigorating and special.
