A Dramatic Change of Plan

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I had never met a happy young lawyer in 10 years of living in New York, so law school wasn't an option. That left business school, which made a lot of sense. I already knew the content side of entertainment and media, but I was in the dark about the mechanisms of decision-making employed by the "bean counters" who used my content. It also seemed apparent that those bean counters had little idea how to profit from the content in today's rapidly changing landscape. If I went to business school, I could learn the foundations of business, bone up on the current revolution in media, and then use my existing knowledge to chart a course through the maelstrom. I targeted four schools in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles: Columbia (Columbia Full-Time MBA School Profile), NYU (Stern Full-Time MBA School Profile), Northwestern (Kellogg Full-Time MBA School Profile), and UCLA.

I came to this conclusion in July of 2008 and immediately began studying for the GMAT. I decided to forgo taking a course and simply bought all the books I could get my hands on. My exam date was Dec. 6, 2008. I took the preceding Thursday and Friday off from work so I could relax and remain stress-free before the big day. I certainly was not expecting to be laid off on Dec. 4, but I suppose that's the way life can work. Twenty-five percent of my division was let go that day; a further 10% are no longer with the company. It seems I was prescient about the radio business. (An aside to GMAT takers out there: If you think preparing for and taking the exam are stressful—which undoubtedly they are—try taking the GMAT two days after being laid off from an anachronistic job that seemingly left you with no chance for movement elsewhere; that's pressure.)

Apparently, much like a successful Major League shortstop, I thrived under the pressure. This young man, who once dreamed of competing on the diamond at Shea Stadium and writing scripts to entertain the masses, is about to trek across the country and embark upon a journey he thought he'd never make even two years ago: matriculating at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. I only hope I can flesh out the business principles that weren't covered in my history courses so I can take my professional experiences and become a player in the new world of media.

Jonathan Stern is enrolled in the full-time MBA program at the University of California at Los Angeles' Anderson School of Business with an expected graduation of 2011. Earning his undergraduate degree in U.S. history at Columbia University in 2003, Stern was laid off from his journalism job at MTV Radio in December 2008 while he was already in the process of applying to graduate business school.

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