Harvard Business School (HBS)’s two-year full time residential MBA offers students an unmatched experience much more than mere academic classroom activities. The learning takes both inside and outside of the classroom.
Relating her experience as a student in HBS Blog MBA Voices, Lauren Gianino says after her first semester, she realized that “learning takes place in nearly every aspect of life at HBS.”
The Section Experience
The section experience provides a daily way to connect and learn from classmates – not only in class but also between classes and at section events, she says.
Section is the business school’s way of making the “campus feel smaller”. Each class is divided into 10 sections (A-J) of 90 plus people in the first year. An algorithm is used to ensure that each section has a diverse cross-section of people from different countries, backgrounds, and interests.
Thus, the first year (core curriculum) classes are held with these 90 people in the same classroom. Thus, instead of dealing with 900 plus new names and faces, you get to start with 90.
This facility also ensures that each group has people who are willing to share knowledge on topics they are passionate about, constantly expanding the other members’ learning in new areas.
FIELD Study
Through courses like FIELD you learn skills for working productively on team projects, time management, feedback and coaching, and creating a community among diverse people, Gianino says.
Field Immersion Experiences for Leadership Development (FIELD) is a year-long, two-part course—gives first-year students meaningful and numerous opportunities to act like leaders, translating their ideas into practice.
Second year, they have to working on an independent project to learn in a different, self-motivated way.
Forced out of your comfort zone
Gianino says you will be forced out of your comfort zone daily. Each day in class, students are expected to take a position on a variety of choices presented in case studies.
You have to defend that position while being open to critically listening to opposing views. This is the best test of public speaking and debate skills, and it’s something that you will continue to refine each day.
“In the first year we spent a lot of time giving and receiving feedback, even videotaping and watching ourselves in action. While extremely uncomfortable, those sessions provided a safe space for me to step outside of my comfort zone and practice something new,” she says.
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Within the limited time available, it’s important to define individual priorities and goals. It is easier to manage if you have created a list of priorities and reasons for being at business school before you start. For each decision or trade-off that you make, this list helps you correctly allocate your time.
You also realise that not everyone in the class has a finance background. Once such students get together as a study group, they would be able to learn quantitative material together.
While those with finance experience were willing to help, “I discovered that I had different experience and knowledge that they were lacking. The environment is such where everyone has a specific background that they can share with others, and I share my operations knowledge with those who lacked it,” she says.
Making the choice to come to business school is difficult for many because it feels like a “time-out” from advancing careers. However, the two years are a chance to take a quick detour to explore areas and interests that you may never get the chance to otherwise, she says.
