{"id":27851,"date":"2015-03-15T05:04:07","date_gmt":"2015-03-15T12:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=27851"},"modified":"2015-03-15T05:04:07","modified_gmt":"2015-03-15T12:04:07","slug":"a-window-into-life-at-harvard-business-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/a-window-into-life-at-harvard-business-school\/","title":{"rendered":"A Window into Life at Harvard Business School"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Click<\/a>This interview is the latest in an Accepted.com blog series featuring\u00a0<\/em>interviews with current MBA students<\/em><\/a>, offering readers a behind-the-scenes look at\u00a0<\/em>top MBA programs<\/em><\/a>. And now for a follow up interview with Tim Massey, who is about to complete his first year at <\/em>Harvard Business School<\/em><\/a>. (We first met Tim last year \u2013 you can read our first interview with him <\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Accepted: Since we last spoke you applied to and got accepted to HBS. Congrats! How has your first year been so far? It b-school as you expected it to be? Any surprises?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tim: <\/strong>The first year has been an incredible ride. I\u2019ve really enjoyed pretty much every aspect of it so far and I haven\u2019t regretted my decision to study in the US for a second. The students here are an incredible bunch of people, and it\u2019s really evident that the professors love teaching here. We\u2019re fortunate enough to meet many of the protagonists of our cases or leading business leaders who come to visit our campus. The worldwide draw of HBS<\/a> really enhances the experience. Without particularly seeking these opportunities out I\u2019ve been able to listen to Peter Thiel (founder of Paypal and hugely successful investor), and Alan Mullaly (former CEO of Ford and Boeing).<\/p>\n

HBS also is far more friendly and collaborative than I expected. It has a reputation for being a tough dog-eat-dog place, and that\u2019s not really been my experience at all. Yes, it\u2019s competitive but certainly not at any cost.<\/p>\n

My biggest surprise is quite how busy I\u2019ve been (despite HBS\u2019 reputation) \u2013 it\u2019s very different from my undergraduate studies and I\u2019ve barely had a minute to myself from when I started right up until the Christmas break at the end of the first semester.<\/p>\n

Accepted: Which MBA programs did you end up applying to? Was HBS your first choice?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tim: <\/strong>I described HBS originally as my joint first choice. As an engineer, I was also keen on MIT<\/a>, but MIT made it an easy decision for me! I had a few other applications that I withdrew from early as I knew where I was going to be, and HBS is pretty much one of the first decisions you get in Round 1.<\/p>\n

Accepted: If you could change anything about the program, what would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tim: <\/strong>My least favorite aspect of the whole MBA experience has undoubtedly been recruiting season. In contrast to many other parts of the experience, which tend to focus on self-growth and really achieving something meaningful, this seems very much stuck in the past.<\/p>\n

I am sure this is borne out of necessity to compete with other schools and maintain league placing high up the recruitment league tables that applicants look at. But depth of support is really variable between traditional MBA industries (finance\/consulting) and other more creative directions. It is very much at odds with the rest of the course and HBS\u2019s mission to \u2018educate leaders who make a difference in the world.\u2019<\/p>\n

I have a strong suspicion this is not unique to HBS and I think the competitive stats-based ranking system for admissions to the top business school really influences behavior here. Any school that deviates from promoting the top highly paid starting salaries and internships will suffer from a disadvantage in these metrics, and this promotes a \u2018groupthink\u2019 approach.<\/p>\n

Accepted: Are you involved in any clubs on campus? How central to student life is club involvement?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tim: <\/strong>There is a pretty huge array of clubs on campus to join, HBS definitely benefits from its size in this respect with members forming based on range of different interests. The majority are based around either professional\/career interests (e.g. VCPE club (venture capital\/private equity), Tech club), geographical locations (e.g. Euro club\/LatAm club) or sports, with some special interests thrown in.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m been involved in helping to organize several of these, which is a bit of a throwback to my undergrad days when I was also heavily involved in the student body.<\/p>\n

The main difference is a slightly more \u2018professional\u2019 edge than undergraduate clubs, with most designed to help navigate and network amongst the diverse student body, and attract specific career opportunities to campus.<\/p>\n

Accepted: Can you tell us about \u00a0your experience with HBS' FIELD program?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tim: <\/strong>So far, I\u2019ve travelled to Chengdu in China on FIELD 2, working with a social enterprise focused on promoting recycling electronics (I wrote about this in a little more detail on my blog here<\/a>). It was a great project and really allowed me to get a unique perspective on awareness of environmental issues in China. As a whole experience, it really challenged some perspectives I had before I went.<\/p>\n

At the moment I\u2019m in the thick of FIELD 3, in the early stages of starting my own business with a group of other students. I\u2019ll be sure to write more about it as we make progress!<\/p>\n

Accepted: Have you been keeping up your blogging? Can you direct us to one or two posts that will further help us get up to date with your b-school adventure?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tim: <\/strong>In addition to my post about FIELD above, I wrote down some of my perspectives on the first semester here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m trying to keep up the blogging, but the strain on my time commitments makes it a bit more difficult to find time than it used to be! I try to write once a month or so \u2013 I\u2019m in an incredibly fortunate position to write about what\u2019s it like on the inside \u2013 I try to answer the questions I had as an applicant, and if anyone has any suggestions of things they\u2019d like to know more detail about, I\u2019m happy to take requests!<\/p>\n

For one-on-one <\/em><\/strong>guidance on your b-school applications, please see our <\/em>MBA Application Packages<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 To read more about Tim\u2019s b-school journey, please check out his blog, The Adventures of a MBA Student<\/em><\/a>. Thank you Tim for sharing your story with us!\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Check<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Accepted:<\/a>
\nRelated Resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Best MBA Programs: A Guide to Selecting the Right One
\n<\/a>\u2022\u00a0What Does Harvard Business School Want?<\/em><\/a>, a video
\n\u2022\u00a0Life as an HBS MBA Student<\/a><\/p>\n

Accepted.com<\/a>'s\u00a0<\/i>experienced admissions consultants<\/a>\u00a0can help you create the most impressive application possible with\u00a0<\/i>comprehensive packages<\/a>,<\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/b>or provide targeted assistance from\u00a0<\/i>picking perfect programs<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0<\/i>designing a dazzling resume<\/a>,\u00a0<\/i>constructing engaging essays<\/a>, or\u00a0<\/i>preparing for intense interview<\/a>s<\/a>\u2026and more!\u00a0<\/i>Accepted.com<\/a>\u00a0has guided thousands of applicants to acceptances at top programs since 1994 \u2013 we know what works and what doesn't, so\u00a0<\/i>contact us<\/a>\u00a0to get started now!<\/i><\/div>\n
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\u200bAccepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best<\/i><\/i>\u200b<\/a><\/p>\n
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This article originally appeared on the\u00a0Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog<\/a><\/i>, the\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

\u200bofficial blog of\u00a0Accepted.com.<\/a><\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This interview is the latest in an Accepted.com blog series featuring\u00a0interviews with current MBA students, offering readers a behind-the-scenes look at\u00a0top MBA programs. And now for a follow up interview…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,3,939,775],"tags":[122,100,49,1895,39,12],"class_list":["post-27851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-b-school-life","category-accepted","category-admission-consultants","tag-b-school-clubs","tag-harvard","tag-harvard-hbs","tag-interviews","tag-mba-admissions","tag-the-mba-application-process","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27851"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27852,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27851\/revisions\/27852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}