Laos Books

My MBA experience began in mid-July 2009, about one and a half months before the fall semester. I took part in ‘Summer Start,’ a six-week programme developed by Stern to allow a smaller group of incoming first-year students to get an early start on the MBA curriculum. While some students can opt to apply to be a part of this programme, most are invited to interview by Stern MBA Admissions during the application process.

Stern describes its selection for Summer Start as: ‘individuals with strong interpersonal skills, leadership potential and who can benefit from early exposure to the academic programme.’

I discovered that our class was a very good sample selection of what our total MBA class would look like. From bankers and consultants, to buyers and brand managers, to former soldiers and marines, gathered from across the globe, my Summer Start classmates represented a rich variety of professional experiences.

We definitely had the ‘strong interpersonal skills’ and this was further proven by the fact that a significant number of the leadership roles at Stern (whether in student-led associations, or the student government, or graduate fellow positions) were held by the Summer Start class.

I did not know about the programme before I was invited to interview and I was concerned by the thought of having to go through summer school during the time I had mentally reserved for travelling before the start of my MBA.

Most of my classmates had similar reactions, but I can confidently say that we all benefitted from Summer Start and were thrilled to have gone through the programme. Not only did it allow us to ease our way back into academic life classes, studying and tests, but we were able to form a strong group of friends, find our way around campus, meet administrators, figure out the IT system, etc, in a much more relaxed and intimate setting.

Of course, this made it much easier when the semester began; we had one less class to take during our first semester, already had friends in every ‘block’ (each MBA class is broken up into six blocks of 60-70 students), and, for the most part, were less stressed than the other incoming full-time MBAs.

The Summer Start curriculum consists of statistics (one of our core requirements that allows us to have one less class than others during the fall semester), as well as two half-credit electives: collaboration, conflict and negotiation and management communication. I particularly enjoyed the electives, and think they were relevant to the rest of my coursework and recruiting experience; collaboration, conflict and negotiation prepares students for business relations/discussions, and management communication lays the groundwork for how to make/give presentations, correspond and interact with counterparts.

The course content and workload were well balanced, and our professors are all members of the Stern faculty. Our class schedule offered more than enough time for us to enjoy afternoons in the NYC summer heat and get to know each other during picnics, happy hours, dinners, concerts, bbq’s, etc. Additionally, Stern organised several activities, guest speakers and social events that made the programme all the more worthwhile.

Throughout our two years at Stern, the summer starters maintained a strong bond and most of my closest friends from the MBA were all part of the programme as well. I would highly recommend Summer Start to any applicant and would encourage you to get in touch with current/former participants for more information and with any questions, including me!