At Washington University’s Olin Business School, one missing piece was the Global Immersion – a requirement that made Olin the MBA Program of the Year in 2020. Started in 2019, the Global Immersion turns the traditional academic structure upside down. Here, the overseas trip – often a 2nd year elective– kicks off the summer core for everyone. At Olin, MBAs travel from Washington DC to Barcelona to Shanghai. Together 24-7, they take classes, conduct site visits, and complete consulting projects for clients. In their spare time, Olin MBAs bond by exploring local sites and delicacies. Best of all, students don’t pay any extra costs for flights, food, or lodging.
THE GLOBAL IMMERSION RETURNS
Bryanna Brown, a first-year MBA and former recruiter for Teach for America, frames the Global Immersion as “Around the world in 39 days.” It is an experience, she says, that no other business school offers – one that gives students immediate first-hand experience in making decisions within a global context. Her classmate, Christopher Jefferies, was equally bullish on the immersion.
A PLACE WHERE YOU’RE ALWAYS “SEEN”
And this only amplifies one of Olin’s greatest strengths. 2020 grad Rebecca Matey describes the MBA program as a place where you are “seen.” By that, she means it is a small program where students enjoy the space to get to know peers and faculty. This ability to know “everyone by name and story” is one reason why Nataly Garzon joined the Class of 2022. “With a class size of about 100 students, there is truly a cohort sense among each class. Professors genuinely want to engage with MBA candidates, and small class sizes allow for livelier intellectual conversations among peers.”
Looking for a first-year who gets results?
Check out Felipe J. Cuartas. A WashU undergrad, he saved his company 480,000 hours annually by automating a manual global sales funnel. In contrast, Minjy Koo became her company’s youngest-ever product manager – and proceeded to boost her category’s sales by 52%. That said, Ryan Rash never expected to spend nearly five years at Nordstrom. He started out as a temp just looking to earn a few extra bucks over the holidays. Soon enough, he became a department manager with a penchant for boosting year-over-year sales no matter what conditions he faced.
“I grew to love the emphasis on customer service at Nordstrom, and this fueled my push for three promotions in four years.” Read more here.