Why The Cornell One Year MBA Fits My Goals

The question “which business school fits me?” was one I wrestled with for two years. I was leaving the military at 33 years old (the average age at top business schools is ~28) and I didn’t want to walk into a corporate job.

I decided that a one-year program was for me since I didn’t want to waste more time in academia at my age. I could connect with the business school network within that year and leverage those connections to start a business. However, as I started looking, it wasn’t incredibly easy to find a program in the U.S.

In Europe, a one-year MBA is the default. I was previously stationed in Europe and speak fluent German, so I figured doing an MBA in Europe wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities. I started analyzing rankings of international business schools and narrowed my search to countries I would be interested living in and could speak the language.

Although all business schools use English as their language of instruction, it is always good to be able to leave the school and hold a conversation. I looked at IMD in Switzerland and Cambridge in England. After reaching out to a fellow veteran at IMD, who I was introduced to by a classmate of mine, he provided insight as to how the application/interview process occurs and how intense the academic program is. I didn’t have any contacts at Cambridge, but I had visited there earlier and was impressed by the campus and prestige of the name. However, I was later persuaded by a friend who was attending IE Business School in Spain, to look at domestic American universities again.

In Europe, a one-year MBA is the default. I was previously stationed in Europe and speak fluent German, so I figured doing an MBA in Europe wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities…But the difficulty of an American attending a school in Europe is similar to a foreigner going to school in America; visa issues. If you are looking to work for a company, companies that recruit at the universities are primarily looking for candidates without work visa issues

Essentially, the difficulty of an American attending a school in Europe is similar to a foreigner going to school in America; visa issues. If you are looking to work for a company, companies that recruit at the universities are primarily looking for candidates without work visa issues. That ultimately isolates foreigners who generally return to their home countries with a degree from outside of their country. Not so bad for people from say Africa or India, returning with a well-known American MBA, but not so good for an American returning with an international MBA from a university that likely only 5% of your colleagues are familiar with.

I started reviewing lists of one-year MBA programs in the U.S., excluding online degree programs due to my preference for a classroom environment and interaction with other people. Internet distractions always get in the way of online classes for me. Looking at the normal business school rankings from sources such as the Princeton Review and the U.S. News & World Report, I wanted to see if any of the top 20 schools had one-year programs. It turns out that Kellogg at Northwestern University and Johnson at Cornell have one-year options.

In the process of applying to Johnson’s One-year MBA in Ithaca program, I started to hear from multiple veterans about a new program called the Johnson Cornell Tech MBA. Johnson currently has two one-year programs: one based in Ithaca, NY, and one primarily based in the heart of NYC.

Since I was living in West Point, NY, at the time, I was able to make several trips to NYC. Each time I spoke with Manhattanites about my considerations of attending business school with Cornell Tech they would get excited and knew a great deal about the program. Apparently the former Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg spoke highly of Cornell Tech and its pending move to Roosevelt Island and made a lot of publicity about it.

Bloomberg wanted to enhance the tech ecosystem in NYC and compete with Silicon Valley, so he also donated $100 million to further the development of the new campus, after Cornell had beat out several top universities for the bid. There was no doubt I wanted to be a part of this momentous change in NYC. My decision was made… the Johnson Cornell Tech MBA is the program for me.

I chose Johnson because I want to be challenged as an entrepreneur. Johnson has an expansive network which can support me in my transition into a new venture. The Johnson Cornell Tech program was attractive to me because it is groundbreaking. Bringing together MBA and STEM students is an awesome concept and I’m sure it will lead to amazing ventures.

Ian Folau is a Class of 2016 MBA student at Cornell where he is pursuing the Cornell Tech MBA – a One Year Full Time MBA focused on Technology. Before his MBA Ian worked with the United States Army. (Article courtesy Cornell Blog)