Monday, July 24, 2006

Finalizing The School List - aim high, shoot high

After browsing through almost 10 school websites, reading numerous blog entries and forum discussions, I have finally come up with the school list. I don't know if I'm aiming too high, but these are the schools that I do really feel like spending my next 2 yrs and will be proud to call it alma mater in the future.

When I first start picking schools, or first start to think about applying for MBA, I was aiming at Finance. It's nothing surprising that so many engineers and IT consultants are switching to Finance service coz that's where the big bucks are. But as I further dig into the field and start to understand what exactly those bankers do, I ask myself if I do want to be someone among them. And it's not surprising again that the answer is I don't. I have been born with the rebellious personality that I don't like to follow others. Hence working in a big organization where I can't make up my own decision should never work with me. And honestly I've had enough of that in my current job, so no more, thanx!

So I went on and search other fields in MBA, and I got the answer: Entrepreneurship! Yes, I've always had this Entrepreneurship spirit which I might have inherited from my parents. It's been years that I have been on and off my family business, and I have always wanted to start a business of my own. Suddenly everything matches together, my goal, my interest, and my focus.

Besides the above thoughts, my other consideration includes Location (major city), Curriculum (flexible or customizable) and Career (short-term goal in Consulting firms). So here comes the final list of schools:

Stanford R1
MIT Sloan R1
NYU Stern R1
UCLA Anderson R2
Rotman R2 (for my Canadian citizenship, but maybe I'll give that up)

Anyway, aim high, shoot high. I am taking risks, as all the entrepreneurs do.

4 comments:

atypical HBS said...

Why di you consider NYU over Columbia?

Katrina said...

Well, although I said I would aim high, I don't wanna put all of my eggs in one basket... I need some schools that I have a reasonable chance to get in. Actually I have been struggling over Columbia and MIT, but finally I choose MIT because of my tech background and MIT's Entrepreneurship & Innovation Program.

Anonymous said...

Do you have a particular business or venture in mind ?

Katrina said...

well, I do have some idea for business, but I don't actually have a plan... And I don't necessarily have to take over family business or start business right after MBA, so I got plenty freedom to choose what I want to do. I think that's good, coz I don't want to start a business b/c I need to start a business, rather I will look around and grab a chance when it flys by. ^_^