I recently had an opportunity to sit down over coffee and discuss MIT Sloan with a staff member in the eMBA program. It was very helpful and insightful, a lot more so than I expected it to be. It truly made me realize the value of one-on-one interviews with people who are “in the know” for each school I consider.
Below is a excerpt.
Full interview is here.1. Me – Tell me about your role at Sloan.Sloan Staff (SS) - I help coordinate many of the functions of the eMBA program, including recruiting, program management, student support, and everything else in between. The eMBA at Sloan is relatively new and because of that I get the opportunity to help shape the program as well as get involved in many different things.
2. Me – Do you get to work much with the Full Time MBA’s at Sloan?SS - Not as much as I would like to but yes, we sometimes share classes and aspects of the eMBA are designed based on the Full Time program. MIT has an open door policy, meaning that students can access most parts of the school without restrictions. So not only do I see MBA’s (we share the same building) but also students studying other topics at MIT. Also, many of the faculty teach both Full Time and eMBA classes and I work with them often.
3. Me – Speaking of classes, I am interested in Data Analytics and Big Data. I have seen some classes tailored specifically for eMBAs around this topic, for example “Big Data: Making Complex Things Simpler”. What opportunities do Full Time students have to explore this topic more?SS - I believe that particular class was a short term training course rather than part of the normal curriculum. While these classes are not offered to Full Time students as part of the curriculum, most of them are condensed versions of classes in the Full Time program.
MIT is known for being a quantitative school and we definitely focus on teaching our students data driven decision making. This is not only part of the culture that we promote, but many of our core curriculum classes focus on this topic. One example comes to...
4. Me – What are Oceans at MIT? SS - When you are enrolled, you are put in an Ocean. Your Ocean is the group of students you will have classes with and generally spend most of your time with. People end up forming very close friendships and networks with others in the same Ocean.
However, this does not mean you are secluded to your Ocean. You certainly will meet others in the MBA program in your electives and through your involvement on campus.
5. Me – Are there any clubs or opportunities for involvement that you are very familiar with or would recommend?SS - I am quite familiar with the Marketing Club because a TA I work with is very involved with the group. It is also a very popular club, along with Finance Club. Both clubs host plenty of excellent events and allow students to network and learn from others in their areas of interest. But there is a club for pretty much every C-Function on campus.
We also have the Entrepreneurial Center...