
CLASS OF 2002 GRADUATE COMMENTS
Babson was a great experience for me. It was small enough where you got to know all your classmates and professors. Additionally, being close to Boston (20 minutes) it offers tremendous access to all a large city has to offer. A Babson MBA is worth every penny. -- Finance
Going to this business school was one of the best decisions of my life. The faculty and administration were very interested in my learning and development. The small size makes it very easy to develop great friendship and networking opportunities with peers and faculty. -- Finance
If people are interested in a very well rounded, entrepreneurial education, Babson is a great place. If they are focused only on getting into a big name consulting, investment banking, or other company, Babson is not the place for them. -- Finance
First year was boot camp. Second year provided a wealth of experiences and learnings that corresponded to my interests. You can get whatever you want from this program. In the end, I have great business foundations plus project skills (teambuilding, communication, leadership) that I didn't have previously. I feel like I can do anything. -- Consulting
Babson is a unique program; it isn't for the typical person looking for an MBA. The core focus on entrepreneurship runs through just about everything. That's great for people like myself who were looking for a unique experience, but is not the best match for people looking to go into investment banking, etc. -- Marketing
[Do you feel you could have learned as much from a distance-learning MBA program?] The teamwork is just as important a learning experience as the classroom. Being on campus, around fellow students, and in the academic atmosphere is much like being in the Marketing Field and working on Madison Ave, you are more likely to know the trends, and inside scoop on opportunities that arise. I constantly learned from the other students and professors, and therefore I believe my degree is much different than that of a student who completes their MBA via the Internet. -- Marketing
[Do you feel you could have learned as much from a distance-learning MBA program?] The classroom experience would be lost in addition to the interaction with other students and valuable team projects. "No Man is an Island" really comes into a play. If you plan to work alone in a purely theoretical-based career (research?) I could see this work. For the 99.9% of us that this wouldn't appeal to -- get thee to a classroom. -- Marketing
Babson is a great, small school with a lot to offer. As with anything in life, your experience will be what you make it. Babson's size is a double-edged sword: you WILL get personalized attention from professors who not only know your name, but also your dog's name, where you went for undergrad, where you worked before, where you live now, and what you were doing last night when you weren't running your models. Because of the size and the intensive teamwork, you WILL be able to form a great network for your future. If you ask for something, the admin or the professors will bend over backwards to get it for you. Professors open their own Rolodexes to get students interviews and internships, the administration attends social and club events and talks to the students to find out what they need to do to make the program better. But because it is small, there are a limited number of electives in the second year, and the good ones fill up fast. We do not attract as many recruiters as the bigger schools, so you have to work a little harder to get interviews. I have had a great experience here. I was a career-changer with very little business background, and Babson has been just what I needed to learn the basics and then some. Babson is great for non-traditional B-school students, career changers, and entrepreneurs. -- Entrepreneurship
The first year of the program is very integrated and intense. This program shows the interactions of the different disciplines and covers a wide variety of material in a short amount of time. Students are expected to commit themselves to the program and in return the program prepares them for the business world. -- Information Technology
The full-time curriculum workload is extremely demanding, exceeding 80 hours per week, and I would not recommend it to people with children. The night program seems much more manageable. -- Anonymous
The first year module system was very powerful and the people that study and teach at Babson are open to new ideas. These two facets allowed our class to bond together quickly. -- Entrepreneurship
The Babson MBA program is very focused on entrepreneurship, so it really depends on the every person's interests. Colleagues who may want marketing or even other career paths should reconsider Babson, as it is predominantly an entrepreneurship B-school. -- Marketing
If they are interested in the Entrepreneurship concentration, then Babson is the only place to be. I believe that no other school can match it. Their integrated curriculum in the first year is the key to opening their students to possible career paths and giving everyone the same broad background (including ethics) on which to base business decisions. -- Entrepreneurship
[Do you feel you could have learned as much from a distance-learning MBA program?] Babson's professors strive to create an engaging, thought-provoking classroom atmosphere. The quality of the dialog is consistently high, and your classmates always have a lot to share. When executed properly, the case method is a wonderful thing, one that cannot be experienced remotely. Besides, making friends (real ones, not virtual ones) is a vital part of business school. -- Consulting
By the time I left Babson, I was committed to starting my own investment management firm. I was able to leverage my experiences at Babson to gain employment at a small privately owned company. I am using my current, post-MBA job to gain experience at a small firm with the idea of opening my own company within 7-10 years. I would never have thought I was capable of running my own shop, much less seeing the opportunity to do so. My MBA experience was all I could have hoped it would be. -- Anonymous
Babson exceeded my expectations. The Entrepreneurial staff is world class. The resources available to the would-be entrepreneur are second to none. Without Babson, I would not have been able to take the leap. -- Entrepreneurship
[Do you feel you could have learned as much from a distance-learning MBA program?] People, people, people. That is what the MBA is for. You learn from the material given by the school, but also by discussing the problem with your peers and learning how they tackle the problem. Their different backgrounds are an invaluable experience in an MBA program. -- Anonymous

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