Top MBA Connect

The ESMT MBA program is a one year MBA program starting in January and ending in December. The last three months of the program were special because in those months we had an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills developed throughout the year to the real life projects and challenges. The highlights of those months were the development of a business plan, conducting a consulting project and writing a Master’s thesis.

Looking for new scholarship opportunities? TopMBA Connect's parent company QS is continuing its scholarship program, offering $1.2 million in scholarship money for 2013 in order to further their mission of providing information and access to business schools and MBA programs. Two new scholarships have been added this year: one for MIP and one for EDHEC. Read on for more information on the scholarships QS is offering this year and how to apply.

ESMT's MBA program is rich with all kinds of different activities that aim to foster learning and enhance experience. IFS (International Field Seminar) is one of the important and unique experiences I had during my MBA program at ESMT. Just a week ago I came back from California, where I and my classmates spent 10 days visiting 11 different companies in the heart of Silicon Valley and San Francisco. One may wonder what IFS is and what is so special about it.

If you ask me “Should I do an MBA?”, I will reply with a question “Are you ready to stretch yourself?”.

Meet EMILY. She’s a young red-head who loves the beach and makes a living lifeguarding. Unfortunately, she is not actually human, which takes her off the market for most guys out there. But, she is capable of moving at more than 28 mph in hurricane conditions and contains Navy-derived technology capable of recognizing a flailing swimmer and moving towards them without human controls. That makes her pretty cool in my book.

Maryke Luijendijk-Steenkamp is the Director of Marketing & Admissions at Rotterdam School of Management - Erasmus University in the Netherlands. She has several years of experience working with MBA applicants. In this interview, Luijendijk-Steenkamp discusses MBA trends she has observed recently such as an increased interest in sustainability amongst MBA applicants as well as a rise in the number of female MBA applicants.

I was/am a U.S. Army Officer and about to be a graduate of the Executive MBA program at London Business School (I am currently in transition out of the active duty Army, but will continue to serve in the reserves in Europe). My new role is as COO of a start-up called Carbon Voyage. Carbon Voyage, itself founded by an Australian/UK veteran, is all about making the transportation industry more efficient by providing a platform to meet extra supply capacity. This the story of how my experience as a military MBA has helped me land a job at a growing startup, including with lessons I learned that can help future military MBAs.

Here is a list of scholarships for some of the distance learning programs listed in the 2012 QS Distance Online MBA Rankings. Not all business schools offer scholarships for online MBA programs, so be sure to ask admissions officers about whether a scholarship can be used toward the MBA program you’re applying for.

Continuing the theme about what MBA students do, I would like to say that besides case studies and business simulations, we engage also in other activities which help to develop our knowledge and skills. Here are some examples:

Many people wonder what MBA students do. As an MBA student at ESMT, I will try to answer this question. More generally, I can say that we - MBAs:

• gain and develop our knowledge and skills
• network
• prepare for future challenges after graduation
• and, of course, also have fun.

How do we do all these things? Let me explain in more detail.