Monthly Archives: June 2011

The MBA Checklist

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Whether you are starting your MBA this September or next September, there are always some things you can do to prepare yourself for the MBA program. It is a multi-faceted preparation. You need to be ready both mentally and physically. Many employers already value the fact that you quit your job and go back to school to advance your career. It is a challenging process and beside the great quality of education you are receiving, you are enhancing your life experience. Not everyone is a good fit for an MBA and you are already one step ahead of the crowd; make the most of this great experience!

Some things to brush up on your study skills:

   

  • You can start with technical skills, especially your Excel skills. Every business education entails numbers and analytics. The good news is that if you know how to use Excel, you will be fine.  Apart from Excel, exploring MS Word and PowerPoint further will also be handy.
  • Start following the media. What is going on around you? Are you up-to-date? Keep an eye on the recent economic and political happenings in the World. You can gather some good tips to share with your classmates during class discussions.
  • Have some time to read a couple of books before the program? If the answer is yes, that’s great! You can start reading some good business books on leadership and management in general.
  • Make sure you complete the Rotman Pre-Program Assessment!

Some things to prepare yourself physically:

  • If you plan on working throughout the summer, probably it is a good idea to take a short vacation right before the start of the program. You will be embarking on a challenging journey and you might want to create some free time to relax before joining academia!
  • You can make yourself familiar with the physical environment in Toronto, Canada. The location of the school and what is available in the proximity will help you experience a smooth transition. One of my previous posts on location might be a good starting point J
  • Do your best to attend the Rotman Orientation camp before classes start. It is a great venue to get acquainted with your future classmates and some of the Rotman staff and faculty.

This is a brief checklist of some things we think you can do to prepare for your MBA education. Every individual has a different learning style and different expectations from the program. Figuring out what you really want to get out of this program will be very beneficial while you are in the program. It will not only put things in context for you, but also keep you focused all times.

 

References-who you should choose and why Rotman prefers electronic submission

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References – Who you should choose and why it is important to submit them electronically @ Rotman

References are an important part of your MBA application. We would like to learn more about your professional accomplishments and gauge your leadership potential. You might be thinking “How can you trust a stranger when it comes to my work?” While references do play a crucial role in your application decision, always keep in mind that it is one of the requirements, not the requirement. Your MBA application has six components and all of them are rated equally.

Your referees-At the Rotman School we do not require academic references. Since this is a business school application, we would like to learn about your business potential. We gauge your academic abilities through your GMAT or GRE scores and your final year GPA. We are seeking individuals with strong career aspirations, individuals who are high achievers and who would like to contribute to the growth of the community they live in, as well as individuals who can work well with people from all walks of life. Don’t forget the Rotman MBA is heavily based on diverse teams! Thus, we believe professional references provide better insight on these qualities we are looking for.

Who should you choose as a referee?

We would like to see one direct supervisor to be your referee. Since the person has worked with you directly, s/he would have the best insight on your professional skills. However, for those who may not wish to share his/her business application with the supervisor, you can choose another more senior colleague to comment on your work. One tip: I’d say don’t fall for titles. The CEO or the Senior Vice-president might know you but if that person cannot comment on specifics of your work, his/her reference will not be a good one.

We would like to hear about some examples of your work, so feel free to let your referees know to refrain from generic comments.

If you are self-employed, you can choose a client, a supplier or a vendor that you work with closely. For those who work in their family business, while family members have great things to say about you, they don’t make the best references as we need objective comments!

If you would like to include an academic reference, you can do so if you worked with this person while you were at school. As aforementioned, the questions are directly related to your professional performance so a professor who taught you a course will not be able to provide good answers for most of the questions. It would be to your advantage to choose someone you have worked with before.

Traditional reference letter vs Rotman’s electronic questionnaire

Many business schools accept references in the traditional letter format. While these letters do provide valuable insight into the application, at Rotman we do not find them to be a consistent tool. Every referee takes the liberty to discuss a different quality. To be fair to all of our applicants, we created an online questionnaire. We have eight open-ended questions and one matrix. It takes around 30 minutes to complete the questionnaire. We believe this is a fair method as all applicants are rated based on the same criteria. Unfortunately I cannot discuss the exact questions we have on the form but I think you get the gist of it! J

When completing your application, you will be asked to provide the email contact information of the two referees and once you submit their contact details, the system will send them the questionnaire instantly. You do not have to complete the entire online application or pay the application fee upfront for this. Once the referees have completed the form, they will send it back to us and you will notified by email that your referees has completed their references. Simple and easy!

Another tip from an admissions person: It is preferable to see a work email address as opposed to a personal one. Sometimes our emails end up in the junk mail or spam due to firewalls, but I’d say still first try a work email account.

 

Case Studies vs Integrative Thinking

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The Rotman School’s curriculum is based on a thought process called [Integrative Thinking]. We are trying to teach our students how to think like business leaders as we believe setting the trends is more valuable than following the trends. This is the creative, innovative part of the curriculum. We look at past models and rather than adopting them as a whole without questioning, we use the parts that will work for our unique business problem and create better solutions for the unresolved parts.

The Rotman School’s curriculum is focused on the future, not on the past. We use the past to learn from mistakes, to hone analytical skills and then shift our focus to the present and see how we can create a better solution. This brings up many questions because despite the conventional use of case studies in business schools, only 35% of our curriculum is based on case studies. We do not define ourselves as a “case study school” because it conflicts with our [Integrative Thinking] model.

Why don’t we use case studies extensively?

We think case studies are good exercises, certainly a good practice to hone analytical skills but we do not believe that one can find answers to current issues by using past models. It is good practice to learn from past but business is evolving on a daily basis. What was popular yesterday might be well on its way to being outdated today. If we do offer something different from the competition, we will always be following others. For the Rotman School, creating a sustainable business and challenging the status quo and ourselves many times are keys to becoming creative and innovative.

Roger Martin stated in his interviews many times, “’Prove it‘ is the absolute enemy of innovation.” If you want to experiment with things, you will need to take risks and maintain an open mind to challenge and be challenged. Throughout the program, we ask our students to constantly challenge themselves. [Integrative Thinking] is especially important at this point as it provides our students with the tools to look at a business problem from different perspectives and create an optimum solution.

In case you would like to learn more…

Roger Martin and Hilary Austen (author of “Artistry Unleashed”) are discussing case studies and Integrative Thinking among other things in this BBC podcast. There are many other great interviews on Integrative Thinking and Business Design on Rotman TV.