Looking back, it all began innocently enough. I would say that the pace of the program in September was quite nice, actually. But as the semester rolled into October and then November, the pace built and built, so that by the time I returned to school after Thanksgiving break, I had to admit to myself that I was in the middle of the most intense learning experience I had ever been in.

So what happened? Well, if I had to point to one thing, it’s that in grad school, professors not only assign a higher volume of work than what you’d find in undergrad, but the assignments are more complex.

Example #1. In Organizational Behavior, my team had to design and test a hypothesis about people and work. That may sound simple enough, but it presented my teammates and I with a lot of challenges we hadn’t faced before. We had to come up with a testable hypothesis, then we had to design a survey, and then we had to figure out how to get people to fill out the surveys. And after we had done that, we still needed to run the data through statistical analysis!

Example #2. In Organizational Decision Making and Design, my team had to begin a 2-phase partnership with an actual non-profit organization in RI. Throughout the semester, we performed an analysis of the organization’s business environment. We actually had to conduct interviews with people throughout the organization’s community and deliver a report to the organization at the end of the semester. What’s more, the report became the basis for the second phase of the partnership—basically a business plan for a revenue generating activity. Right now, my team is in the middle of this second phase. I’ll have more to say about this later.

Example #3. In Business Law, I had to write a paper discussing all the legal issues in a case that Prof. Dunn gave us. The case was 12 pages long, but it managed to encapsulate about 600 pages of the material covered in the text book. I think the average length of the paper, for my class, was about 40 pages.

OK, maybe I’ve cast the semester in a bit of a dark light, so let me redirect things.

First, I’ve never learned so much so fast. Yes, the professors hold my class to a high standard, and the pace is intense, but the upside is that a lot of learning goes on. And the simple fact is that you can get used to almost anything. I think that my class has become acclimated to producing high quality work at a high volume, which will be an advantage when we return to the working world.

Second, there’s been a nice feeling of camaraderie that’s emerged in my class. We’re only 16 people, and because of this, we’ve really got a friendly, cooperative, and lively learning community going on. The intensity of the program has brought us all together. Most other full time MBA programs have class sizes of 40 or more, and I wonder if those classes are able to develop the same esprit de corps that we’ve got. So, I’ll end this post by saying that my first semester at URI was great. There were some great moments, and there were some really hard ones, too. But on the whole, it wasn’t that bad. Especially compared to the Spring Semester!!! But more on that later….

HELLO

Hello to all you interested in URI’s One Year MBA program! My name is John, I’m a member of the 2008 MBA class, and I’ll be writing about my experiences in the program this year. As I write this, I’ve had just about two weeks of exposure to the program, so there is much, much more for me yet to discover. But, then again, quite a lot has happened since the program started.

Like most people who decide to go to business school, my first day of class was preceded by months of preparation. It’s not easy preparation, either, as I’m sure you’re all aware. Writing essays, studying for the GMAT, gathering recommendations, and balancing your normal life on top of it all can, at times, be a real grind. Take it from me, though, it’s worth it. Is an MBA a silver bullet? No. Will it automatically qualify you for a big office, nice car and seven figures? No. It will, however, make you competitive at a higher level. And so here is a motivational-speakerism for you—before any B-school has an opportunity to reject or accept your application, you need to actually apply. That’s the first round. Lots of people say that they’d like to go back to school, but few actually go. So don’t give up, and visit this site often to find out how the URI MBA program and I are getting along!

ABOUT ME, WHY AN MBA, AND WHY URI?

I graduated from Rhode Island College with a BA in History, but before that I spent two years at Boston University studying music. Up until two weeks ago, when I began the MBA program, I worked for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, doing administrative stuff. About two years ago, I realized that without any graduate degree, my career path would remain pretty narrow. I’d really only be competitive within the nonprofit classical music field. And at about the same time I realized that I wasn’t happy with that career path—I wanted to do more, or at least have that option.

So, I decided to get an MBA. The MBA curriculum is intense, but broad. It teaches a pragmatic, creative and analytical way of problem solving. And MBAs are in demand in just about every field.

I sent applications to a number of programs, and I included URI in my list for several reasons. First, small class sizes are built into the program. The cap on enrollment for any year is 25 students. Second, the program lasts one full calendar year, as opposed to the two plus years offered in other programs. This compression does make things pretty intense (as I’ve been warned!), but the benefit is that you spend only one year away from work. Finally, the program is accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. AACSB accreditation is not a rubber stamp, and not all MBA programs have it. I should also add that URI’s College of Business Administration has some of the newest and most high-tech facilities on campus.

When I received my acceptance letter last spring from URI (actually, it was an email), I was pleased, and a little relieved. I accepted their offer almost right away. I’m glad I did!

ORIENTATION AND FIRST CLASSES

Before any of my classes began, my classmates and I attended a week-long orientation. We all arrived a week before the official start of the semester, so the campus was quiet, and we had plenty of time to get to know each other. There are 17 of us. Seven of us are international students—one Kuwaiti, six German. Some of us are fresh from undergrad degrees, and some of us have extensive work experience. We have a variety of educational backgrounds, from accounting to marketing and engineering to music. And, I’m pretty sure, we’re all becoming fast friends.

Now, let me give credit where credit is due. Luck has probably played some role in building our esprit de corps—it usually does—but the team building exercises, the ropes course, and our case presentations (more on that later) probably contributed more. As we presented impromptu one-minute speeches to our class, helped each other over walls, and explained to an ersatz corporate board why a certain sexist sales manager needed to be fired (more on that later), we learned about our strengths and weaknesses and the value of smooth teamwork. So, here’s my take-home from that week—I have a lot to work on, but thankfully, I don’t have to go it alone.

OK, so about that case study. On the first day of orientation, each of us was introduced to our team. This was a big moment, since a key part of the program is that teams stay the same throughout the whole program. I’ll go on the record here and say that I like everyone on my team very much. We all have something to contribute. The culmination of our orientation week was a round of case presentations by each team. We had about three days to diagnose a business problem, formulate an action plan, construct a presentation, and sell our findings to a capable board comprised of Prof. Laura Beauvais (our Organizational Decision Making guru), Prof. Judith Swift (our very excellent communication and presentation coach), and Lisa Lancelotta (Coordinator of MBA programs and solver of all problems). How did my team do? Well, it wasn’t a homerun! Probably not a base hit, either. But I can say that it was a rich learning experience, probably one of the richer I’ve had in a while.

Since then I’ve had a week of classes, and the quality of the professors has been great. Each one has dived right into the course material, which is a nice change from dry recitations of course syllabi that I remember from undergrad. But as nice as it is to get right down to business, I know that I’ll soon be pretty busy. At least two team projects are on the horizon, along with problem sets to figure out, papers to write, and articles and chapters to read. Oh, and of course there is the Wall Street Journal, which every good B school student must read daily.

So, that’s the latest news. I’ve got to run to class now, but I’ll be writing again soon to give you all an update.