Meeting MBS alumni

When I received the acceptance letter from MBS I felt part of the community right away. I was given access to the internal web site called MBSNet and also I was given contact information of alumni working in Chile. At the time I hadn't decided whether I was going to MBS or not, so I contacted one of the alumni listed in the email to find out more about the school and his experience as a student. The result was a surprise to me.

He is working for Jhonson&Jhonson in Chile and he was away in a business trip, so he said he would contact me as soon as he returned, and so he did. That was the first surprise, because you would think that he would be so busy that I was going to need a lot of effort to meet with him, but instead he contacted me back and we schedule to meet for lunch the week after that.

We had lunch and we talked about his experience at MBS. He was very honest telling me all the good stuff and bad stuff that happened to him, but in the end the balance was positive. That was the second surprise, because I didn't feel he was trying to convince me to go to MBS, I felt he was being honest telling me his experience and I liked that. It was interesting to hear how hard it is to work in groups with people from different countries and how rewarding is to finish the International Business Project being congratulated by your client.

After a month I was invited to have dinner with the Chilean alumni by the Admission Director, who was in town interviewing applicants. By this time I had already accepted my place at MBS, so the conversation was way more detailed regarding topics such as where to live, the time dedication to the MBA for the first 6 months (12 hours a day, 7 days a week), how to get tickets to watch some football games and the career development they have had since finishing the MBA.

Thanks to these meetings I got to know more deeply about the MBS experience, and I liked it!!. They made me feel like part of their tribe and it felt good. I believe it's really valuable when b-schools open to their new students before we even arrive, now they can make sure that I feel like a member of the MBS community.