Two sleeps to go ....

So the time has finally arrived. Two more sleeps before I head off to Madrid and undertake an opportunity of a lifetime !!

I have been on a bit of a sabbatical from work so I have had plenty of time to prepare for my departure. I have had a 3 month holiday, probably the longest holiday I will have for a very, very long time, sure am glad I gave myself such a long break before the MBA. I think I am going to need all the reserves of energy that I have accumulated....

The visa application process was quite tedious but thankfully all that has been sorted. For those of you looking to do your MBA in foreign countries, do remember to allocate plenty of time to the visa application procedure.

Well, my Spanish is not really where I thought it would be at this point. I am still only capable of holding some very very basic conversations. So getting around and getting things done in Madrid should be a nice challenge :). I've also heard that it is snowing in Madrid........You see in Australia one very rarely sees snow outside the ski resorts so the whole concept of snow in your backyard is a bit of novelty for me.

I think the whole experience would be tremendous and I cant wait to get stuck into the adrenalin charged, action packed, sleep deprived, eye-opening, life-changing, ego-building, ego-destroying, friendship forming & opportunity grasping MBA @ IE !!!

Adios.

Why I joined IE

A prospective MBA student asked me about IE recently, and I gave them a bit of a spiel on why I joined IE, etc. Since I have crystallized my thoughts on the matter, I might as well blog about it:

Hi XXX,

Well I am not officially part of the school as yet but I will be starting my MBA in April this year. I will be heading over to Madrid in a couple of weeks to attend the Spanish classes and pre-courses provided by the school.

In regards to the school, I think it would probably be best if I explained my reasons for choosing IE. I have a financial services technology background from Australia, and I've worked closely with a few blue chip companies. Post the MBA I am endeavoring to transition into Management Consulting, hopefully at a top 4 firm.

I decided to choose Europe for an MBA because I thought the perspective provided by the American schools was quite inwardly focused and the European MBAs provided more of a global experience. Also, I thought the return on investment was much better, as the cost, monetary and opportunity cost, was much lower.

In terms of consulting schools in Europe, I thought the best schools to consider were LBS, INSEAD and IE. I thought my 4 years experience was a bit short for IMD so I didnt apply there. I applied in a pretty tough application cycle (09) and I got waitlisted at LBS and INSEAD so I chose IE. I did consider HEC Paris but I decided against it because I thought the school was too French and did not quite have the diversity and the international flavour of IE. I also thought about Oxford / Cambridge but they are better known for fields outside of business, so I didnt apply there either.

In regards to job prospects, the Spanish economy is in a pretty poor state. However, I think the rest of Europe will be on a pretty steady road to recovery this year. I also believe that my best shot at a consulting career is in London, so it is likely I will be there after my MBA. IE has a very strong record of placing students in top consulting firms. When comparing with European schools IE is probably only second to INSEAD in this department.

Of course IE is also very strong in the Entrepreneurial and Corporate Social Responsibility fields.

Anyway, I hope my spiel above was helpful. I would be glad to help by recalling my experience in the INSEAD/LBS/IE interviews.

All the best with your MBA search.