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Alumni Stories

You Can Do It, You Should Do It, And You Will Do It!

June 12, 2012

in Alumni Stories,Guest Post,GWU School of Business,MBA experience

Written by Davide Sonzogni, GWSB MBA graduate 2012.

It was almost 3 years ago when my dear friend Anna said: “You can do it, you should do it, and you will do it!”

In fact, before submitting my MBA application I was not sure if going back to school in my late thirties was a good idea. I was not sure if it was worth the time and the financial efforts required to study at grad school and work at the same time.

Well, I did it!

It is like yesterday when I decided to start the application process and I can’t believe that three weeks ago I attended the “monumental” GW Commencement on the National Mall.

I applied to GW because I liked the school’s atmosphere, and the excellent international department.

I also think that there is something really transcendent that linked GW and me. Don’t get me wrong, I am not superstitious, but there is an amazing series of coincidences that I would like to share with you.

April 30 is my birthday, George Washington took office on April 30, I received the admission letter on April 30 – because I mentioned those two facts during my interview -, I have completed my last paper on April 30 (submitted on May 2, though), and I faced the Washington Monument during Commencement while past years students faced the Capitol.

I chose the Accelerated program because it fit perfectly with my needs: a cohort format for one and half years with classes on Saturdays and one weekday evening followed by one and half semesters of electives, real world group projects, and professional students as classmates were the magic formula.

Although it was hard to keep up with the fast pace and I had to give up most of my social life, I found the learning experience energizing and motivating.

I tried to take advantage of every opportunity to grow: group projects, presentations, simulations, and even a short term study abroad trip in China.

The entrepreneurship class was one of my favorites because the professor stimulated our creativity and questioned many of our assumptions. It was a wakeup call and a source of inspiration. The international management and the international business strategy classes gave me a broad view of the evolving global situation. The excellent public policy course professor opened my eyes on many areas that I didn’t know about. The Global Corporate Responsibility class gave me the tools to view opportunities for balancing profit and sustainability. Finally, the icing on the cake was the negotiation class which was worth every penny of tuition because the professor was engaging, and the syllabus was the perfect mix of theory, group and individual experiences, and class activities.

Two years went fast and it is unreal! I have so much free time and, instead of wasting it as I did sometime in the past, now I feel so motivated to fill it with meaningful things. The words of our Commencement speaker, Brian Williams: “please take us somewhere. Please keep us moving. Push us, lift us up. Make us better”, that closed a humorous and inspirational speech, opened a new chapter of my life. It’s time to do something and to make a difference.

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Part-Time MBA in 16 Months – 5 Lessons Learned

February 9, 2012

in Alumni Stories,Guest Post,GWU School of Business,MBA experience

Written by Angela Wolf, GWSB MBA alumna 2010. This is Part 2 of the post. Continued from Get the Most from Part-time MBA in 16 Months.

Now down to what’s important… what did I get out of the program. One of the biggest lessons from the program is that and MBA doesn’t necessarily teach you what to think, it teaches you HOW to think. I loved most of my classes (except Finance, wow), but what I really learned from the courses was how to take a problem, analyze it quickly and comprehensively, and create a creative and effective plan to solve it.I was sick of “cases” by the time I finished, but I can appreciate now how all the case studies improved my problem-solving skills. I use those skills and lessons every day.

I was also surrounded by very intelligent and ambitious people who knew what was going on in the world (esp in politics, a benefit of going to school two blocks from the White House). Many of them made incredibly insightful comments and asked excellent questions in class, which pushed me to better understand how the cases we were studying fit into the real world of politics, business, and the craziness that is real life. I still remember some of those questions and try to apply them to problems I face at work and in life these days.

One of the other things I loved about GW especially was the diversity of the student body. Not only were there people from many other countries, but I was able to interact with people with jobs I never thought I’d encounter at business school. Many people worked on the hill or for government agencies; there were also military veterans, tv producers, physicians, and of course a slew of consultants.

I loved hearing peoples’ stories and learning about their backgrounds. And one thing we all had in common– the bond that kept us emphetic towards one another throughout each class and each group project– was that we all wanted to be there so badly that we dragged ourselves to evening classes after long, hard days at work. We knew there were several more hours of thinking and studying ahead, but we were determined to be there and get our business degree even while holding a full-time job. That’s what I loved about my part-time MBAers. They had so much weight on their shoulders by going to work and school at the same time, but they were dead set on making it happen.

I could write much more about my experience as a part-time GW MBA student, but instead I’ll wrap up with a few suggestions for anyone considering a part-time MBA program at GW or at any school for that matter.

1. Know your priorities. Is it program reputation, scholarships, flexibility, international travel opportunities, social opportunities? Pick the top one or two, and as you research programs, make sure your application choices support those priorities.

2. Set clear expectations before beginning. Yes, you’ll have to sacrifice a lot of your social life, and you’ll want to set that expectation with significant others, friends and family as well. Yes, you’ll have late nights with little sleep and have to go to work in the morning. Be sure you understand WHY you want an MBA before you begin, and keep that in mind during the rough times.

3. Take time to enjoy yourself. At orientation, a few of the alumni told us they actually had to schedule social time into their week. I thought they were crazy. Couldn’t they grab dinner on a Friday night and not feel bad about it? In fact, depending on your work situation and your courseload, you will probably have to put social time on your calendar. It’s not as easy to get out and have fun as one might think, especially when you have three papers, two tests, and a group project due next week. But it’s critical that you DO put it on your calendar or else you’ll burn out after a while, and that’s no good for you, your groupmates, or the ROI you want to receive on your investment.

4. Take advantage of the study abroad programs and the other ways to spice up the program. I loved how easy GW made the study abroad process. I never thought I’d go to Dubai, but I was able not only to go but to offer marketing advice to some billion dollar corporations during an international marketing residency. Such a cool experience. Don’t let your program end without trying at least one cool experience you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to try if you weren’t getting your MBA.

5. Finally, be proactive in making connections with your MBA peers. Networking is such a huge part of the MBA process and a major piece of the ROI you’ll receive.  Even as a sales rep, I don’t love networking; I’m not gonna lie. But I did make a commitment to myself to reach out and meet new people while I was there and not get too isolated in my studies. By doing so, I met some of the coolest, smartest, and most diverse people I’ve ever met or ever thought I’d meet. I went to Saudi Arabia with one a year ago, and I’m going to Columbia next month with another (both locals of those countries).

MBA was a cool experience that taught me a lot and certainly gave me the boost on my resume that helped me move to the next level in my career (Marketing & Business Development Manager), but the relationships I made throughout the program are what made the program far exceed my expectations. The ROI was absolutely worth the investment, and I’d do it over (the same way) in a heartbeat.

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Get the Most from Part-time MBA in 16 Months

February 7, 2012

in Alumni Stories,Guest Post,GWU School of Business,MBA experience

Written by Angela Wolf, GWSB MBA alumna 2010

I had the pleasure of taking several GW MBA classes with Vitali throughout 2009 and 2010. And I was happy to see him in a lounge in the MBA building between classes one day in December 2010, completely out of the blue. I hadn’t seen him for a while, and he asked how things are going and how much longer I had before graduating.

Graduation was top of mind at the time because I had a week left and only a couple more finals standing in my way. When I told him about my week countdown, he was very surprised, I could tell. Then I explained how I did it. If you’re wondering, yes, I am the girl he spoke to in the December 2010 post “Part-time MBA – Turbocharged!”  The following is the story of how I chose GW’s part-time MBA program and how (and why) I did it in 16 months.

I’d known for about 5 years before starting at GW that I wanted to get my MBA. In fact, I took the GMAT 3 years before applying. It was always one of those things I wanted to do but never pushed myself to actually start the application process.

The year I decided to apply was possibly the worst year I could have chosen- the year after the economic collapse when there were ten times as many unemployed candidates applying for MBAs. Back then it was very frustrating, but looking back I know it all happened the way it did for a reason.

I had been living in DC for almost 4 years, and I was more than ready to move. I was burnt out at work and not happy in the dating department (if you know DC, you know that’s not uncommon for a single 20-something female). All I wanted to do was quit my job, move to a different city, and get a full-time MBA at the top-tier school. But things didn’t line up the way I’d always planned, and I’m actually happy they didn’t.

At the time my sister was already a year into her part-time term at Kellogg, and half of her classmates had lost their jobs. I realized I should hold on to mine as long as possible. So, part-time programs became my focus, and I knew I had to make it quick if I was going to do it with a job I wasn’t happy with and a city I wanted to leave.

Given my situation, I had two choices, George Washington and Georgetown. The reason I chose GW over G-town was two-fold. For starters, Georgetown didn’t give merit scholarships to part-timers. 1 point for GW. Georgetown also had a rigid 3-year program with very little flexibility, whereas GW had options for taking international residencies worth 9 credits, online courses, doubling up on courseloads if you wanted, etc. My goal was to finish in 2 years (all I thought I could handle at my job), and Georgetown couldn’t offer that. Point 2 for GW, and that’s the game.

Now don’t get me wrong, I had several good friends and a roommate who went to Georgetown and loved it. It’s a great program; it just didn’t fit my biggest need: flexibility. I had also heard some great things about the professors at GW, which turned out to be true in most cases. In the end, I may not have gotten the very best school name on my diploma (although I am very proud to have gone to GW), but I am 100% happy with the education I received and the opportunities afforded to me throughout my time at GW.

I started the program expecting to maintain a rigid focus to study as much as possible and finish quickly. I didn’t expect to have much of a social life, but I was happy to find some very cool classmates that enjoyed forming study groups and going out after class. In the end, while I had to sacrifice a lot of my social life, I still had a great time with GW and non-GW friends, which is a balance I learned is critical to maintain if you want to keep your sanity throughout the program.

I also had a really good advisor who helped me figure out what courses I needed to take to finish in 24 months. And if you’re wondering, one of reasons I was able to finish in such a short time was the job I had at the time.

At the time, I sold medical equipment to physicians, hospitals, and long-term care facilities. Although I drove throughout a five-state radius throughout the day, I took time to read chapters and complete assignments between calls. I soon learned how to organize my days to be efficient in selling and offer at least an hour or two for studying. I also worked from home sometimes on Fridays, which really gave me a lot of flexibility. Looking back, if I would have had the office job I have today (where I am tied to a desk 10-18 hours a day and don’t even have time to go to lunch), I would never have been able to finish in two years.

One of the things I knew I wanted to do while at GW was to take advantage of at least one of the really cool international residencies that I’d heard about during my pre-application research.

Just two months into my time at GW, I applied for an international marketing residency in Dubai during the two weeks between the fall and spring ”semesters.” Because I was a marketing undergrad and had worked in marketing off and on during the 6 years since college, I was able to test out of the marketing pre-req’s for the international marketing residency. That meant I could earn 6 credits between the first and second semesters at GW, and by the end of spring 2010, I was more than halfway done with my course load.

I took a TON of classes in the summer, and I mean a ton. I think it was something like 12 or 15 credits. I was constantly stressed, but I did manage to get out a couple times a week. I also took a Chile/Argentina international residency in the fall of 2010, which helped accelerate my program faster than I’d expected and allowed me to graduate in December 2010 after only 16 months. That’s how I did it.

Speed is certainly not the most important goal of an MBA program, but it was one of my priorities given the situation I was in. Did I sacrifice any of my MBA experience by cutting it short? Yes, I probably did. But, I still managed to meet a lot of incredible people who helped me really enjoy DC during my last year and half, and I still keep in touch with most of them today even though I now live in Chicago.

Continued:-Part-time MBA in 16 Months – 5 Lessons Learned.

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My George Washington MBA Experience

January 25, 2012

in Alumni Stories,Guest Post,GWU School of Business,MBA experience

Written by Brian Fitzgerald, VP of Digital Strategy at O’Rourke Hospitality

In late 2007, early 2008 I started to prepare to go back to school and get my MBA in the Washington DC area. I researched the various schools, weighed my pros and cons and took the GMAT. When all was said and done I was deciding between the part-time program at Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and The George Washington University School of Business. I ultimately chose George Washington partly because, at the time, it was less credit hours (and therefore less expensive) but more importantly I felt that it was more flexible and less rigid than the cohort approach at Maryland. In September of 2008 I began my journey.

When I started at GWU I was working for a small Internet marketing agency in Chevy Chase, MD. The two owners of the company both had their MBAs and so I had some assumptions about the value they might place on an individual that also had an MBA, but prior to my beginning there was never any discussion or direct evidence that it would lead to more responsibilities, salary, etc. In February of 2010, about 18 months into the MBA program, I got a promotion at work to take on additional responsibilities. I’d like to say this promotion was related to my MBA studies, but it wasn’t, it was because I proactively asked for the additional responsibilities, hounded the owners about it and they somewhat begrudgingly gave it to me. Yes, it was a strange situation but I was happy to have more responsibilities.

Right around this same time our small company had been acquired by a much larger, publically traded company. Soon the two owners were out and a new President from the parent company was in charge of the day-to-day operations. For about a year I had the opportunity to work closely with the new President and he was very open to hearing about my work experiences and MBA studies. I could tell that he liked that I was taking the initiative to go to school part-time and I could tell that he saw value in an MBA.

After that first year with the new President he promoted me to be part of the 6 member executive team, taking on a larger department of people and responsible for helping creating the strategy for the company. This promotion happened right around May of 2011, right when I was finishing my MBA program. I have since left that company in DC and moved back to my hometown of Boston where I’m working for a small marketing agency called O’Rourke Hospitality Marketing. My job is working directly with the two owners to grow a new business unit from the ground up.

All in all I completed my part-time MBA in under three years, secured a 3.7 GPA, all while working 50+ hours a week. As I look back on it those were actually some pretty miserable years. I say that partially joking, but partially serious. I was very stressed, relatively unhealthy and didn’t have time for many of the things I would typically enjoy. However, I’m glad that I did it and think that I proved a lot to myself in the process.

For what it’s worth, because I know sometimes people ask about the ROI of investing in an MBA, between when I started the MBA in September of 2008 and now (January 2012) my base salary has increased 58%. I really couldn’t say if that is average or above/below average, but I’m very happy with it.

Going into my decision to get my MBA I never really had expectations for the short-term, it was always more of a long-term strategy for later on in my career. I knew that it was something that I would probably need later to progress but something that I needed to do before my wife and I started to have a family. However, in retrospect I think it did help me get promoted at my job in DC and I think it positioned me very well for the job and responsibilities that I have now.

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GWSB MBA Alumni Stories

January 24, 2012

This post is just a brief introduction to the article I am preparing for publishing tomorrow. I am planning to have stories from the GWSB MBA alumni published on this site. Basically, I am interested to hear from them about: why they decided to pursue MBA in the first place, why part-time, why GWSB their [...]

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