B-School Review
Barry Zhang: Wrapping Up
"The strength of Kellogg's MBA program is that it's the most engaging, team-oriented environment I've been in since college"
Since my last entry, I finally pinned down a job in Houston working for a venture-capital group investing in the energy industry. I'm really excited about the opportunity because it fits my strong interest in principal investing and allows me to relocate to a city where we have family. There are still a handful of folks pursuing their ideal opportunities, but typically, they're still looking because they want to. Believe me, no one leaves Kellogg without a job. It's a matter of which job you'll be happy with.
Having my full-time position lined up is an interesting feeling. My immediate thought is that I can now join my classmates in the revelry before graduation. The social aspect never disappears at Kellogg, but I personally was working extra hard on recruiting since graduation was approaching. Now I have that same feeling as during senior year of high school or college, when the top priority is having fun with classmates before everyone scatters in a thousand directions.
In high school, classmates dispersed to different parts of the Northeast, and in college, the destinations were all over the U.S. One of the qualities that makes Kellogg so great is that students are from all over the world. Soon, many will be returning home to far-off places such as London, Shanghai, and Nairobi, and they'll be joined by American students working abroad. No matter what country I travel to from now on, I can pretty much be assured that there will be a Kellogg classmate I can grab drinks with.
QUALITY TIME. It's hard to imagine that soon I won't see many of the friends I've spent so much of the past two years with. This varies, of course, by where you land after school. Places like Chicago, New York, and San Francisco are teaming with Kellogg alumni. I'm not sure how Houston stacks up in this regard, so I'm making every effort to spend quality time with classmates this quarter.
Overall, my final quarter at Kellogg has been the most fun. I have to admit, coming in I had some misconceptions about business school. Many people told me that B-school would be an extended vacation, but I'll be the first to refute that notion. There are plenty of students who, at some point in their two years, feel unsure either of the career they're pursuing or whether they can really nail the interview.
BE PREPARED. Magnifying this stress is the pressure to keep up with class work, team meetings, corporate receptions—well, you get the idea. Sometime during second year is typically when most people figure out how to balance these competing commitments for your time and energy. Since getting an MBA is only a two-year program, you can imagine how much of the experience is spent climbing the learning curve.
Here are a few thoughts on how to hit the ground running in B-school. First, try to understand what you want to do professionally before you come to school. My five years of work experience helped me focus my interests. Some classmates were still exploring various fields—fields sometimes as disparate as consulting and hedge funds. They didn't get much time to find their way because as soon as October arrives in the first year, corporate presentations start.
Before you know it, students around you are zipping between networking events and interviews at 100 miles per hour. If you're especially competitive, which you can bet many top MBA students are, it's too easy to get caught up in the hunt for that prestigious or selective job. Both adjectives are defined by what your classmates are pursuing, which isn't the most effective way to determine your career path.
ACHIEVING BALANCE. If you're in a relationship entering business school, then my second tip is for you. Inform your partner of your personal expectations up front, and communicate with each other throughout the MBA program. My wife is at Northwestern Law while I'm in Kellogg. So in the last two years, we've gotten married, chosen our future professions, decided on what city we're moving to after graduation, and obtained full-time jobs meeting those criteria.
You can imagine how difficult each of these steps is on an individual basis. Having to resolve all of them in two years placed an incredible amount of strain on me. And that affected my spirit with classmates, which further strained my relationship. Luckily, my wife has the largest heart of anyone I know, so we got through the trying times together.
An environment as rich as Kellogg's forces you to decide how to balance school with your personal life. Kellogg offers unrivaled resources to pursue your dream job while providing activities to fill up any social calendar. Pulling myself away from Kellogg was unnatural, since I made such a big investment in my MBA, but the only way to find balance was to set guidelines for myself on how much time to spend at school. Only then could I devote as much energy to my relationship as I did before school.
WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS… It's ironic that in my final entry on Kellogg, I'm advising you on how to pull away from it. I say that only because the strength of Kellogg's MBA program is that it's the most engaging, team-oriented environment I've been in since college.
The friends I've made at Kellogg will endure long past graduation because they've provided a fun, supportive environment while I solidified my career goals. I'm going to do my best to keep in touch with everyone. The first reunion for the group I went to Morocco with is slated for next year in Las Vegas. I hope they're ready for us!
Good luck as you consider business schools and I hope you find the right one for you. Thanks for letting me be part of your decision-making process.
MBA Insider
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