MBA Applicant Anxiety

Laying in bed at noon like any respectable MBA student on yet another wonderful break, I have wasted my morning surfing the internet. During my odyssey, I stumbled back on the anxiety and overly emotionally charged business week forums that I obsessively read through (until the second I accepted an offer) while getting paid to “work”…and then I got board so decided to publish a post before getting my day really started with a frozen pizza.

My obsessions prior to starting an MBA at London Business School (LBS), and my reflections 1/3 of the way through:

Which school gives me the best chance to join a top Management Consulting (MC) firm (i.e. LBS vs Columbia, LBS vs INSEAD, etc.)?

• A complete waste of my time. I worked, on the client side, with Bain, BCG, etc. and thought MC would be a great place for me. However, I knew very little about other career paths so ended up only applying to one consulting firm for my internship, and that was only as a backup.

• Individual credentials, aptitudes, and luck, rather than specific schools, assuming they are at least part of the company’s core recruiting programme (MBAGCF), make the difference.

How am I going to fund a two year MBA in London, especially without the ability to get a US loan?

• Very important, but also very manageable. HSBC’s arrangement with school came to the rescue, as it has for everyone that I know that applied for the loan. Many classmates also make instalment tuition payments to manage cash flow.

• Internship salaries can be very high and many people work part-time in their second year to bridge gaps (or even eliminate all debt as one of my flatmates has) given the reduced coursework.

What is going to happen to my immigration situation after I graduate?

• Not worried about this at all given the UK Highly Skilled Management Program (HSMP) and because most large UK employers will sponsor you (very different that US).
• Worst case, my UK student visa is valid until well after I graduate so I can look towards Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, etc. where employers are clamouring for talent

The things I didn’t explicitly consider that are very relevant:

Having time to reflect and getting exposure to different career paths, especially ones such as being an entrepreneur, are invaluable and should very be much part of the total investment decision.

• My epiphany was that investment banking (IB) is extremely varied so a summer internship is the ideal way to check perceived fit, and if nothing else, to avoid having the regret.

International classmates really open your eyes and can be the best part of going back to school. Many have worked in the “best” organisations in the world and several help run multi-billion dollar family empires.

• This means they have connections, and more importantly, homes all over the world that you gain access to…

My health may fail me before this is all said and done.

• Once you’re used to the pound and managing time, there is no stopping the endless stream of social gatherings, ridiculous getaways, or nightly “networking” sessions