I’ve been on the road in Latin America for almost two weeks doing a combination of QS World MBA Fairs and First Class on the Road (FCOTR) events for Ivey and I have to say I am extremely impressed with the prospective students down here. So far I’ve attended Fairs in Mexico City, Caracas, Bogota and Lima, and Professor Tony Frost and I have conducted FCOTR events in Lima and Bogota. While I’ve been on a plane almost every other day to hop from country to country, it is well worth it because the prospective students I’m meeting are great.
The other great thing about the Fair tour is the people I’ve met from MBA Programs around the world. Now you’d think that because we’re all competition we might stick to ourselves and not share ideas and practices, but the opposite is actually true – I have made great connections and friendships with staff from Wharton, Insead, IESE, McGill, HEC Montreal, Duke, . . . the list goes on! One thing all recruiters and admissions staff I have met agree on is that MBA applicants should shop around and do their research on programs in order to make sure that they apply to those that are the right fit for them. Each of us have something that is a little different, and it’s really important to know what those differences are, and make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into, so to speak. The Fairs are great for this because they allow prospective MBA students to talk with a lot of different schools in a short period of time.
Now, I’m on the road for about one more week to do our last FCOTR: Latin America Edition and one more Fair. Prof. Frost and I will be heading to Caracas, Venezuela today in order to host a session tomorrow night at the Pestana Caracas Hotel, so if you happen to be reading this and are in Caracas, please register for the event and come and check us out! After Caracas, I’ll be heading to Sao Paulo, Brazil for an MBA Fair on Sept. 15th (and Tony will be heading back to Lima to explore Machu Picchu – I’m just a tad jealous, but I know I shouldn’t complain!).
And one final plug, if you’re in the Toronto area this weekend and thinking about applying to Ivey’s MBA Program, Niki Healey and other members of our team will be at the QS MBA Fair in Toronto at the Convention Centre on Sunday, September 14th from 2:00pm-6:00pm.
¡hasta luego!