What I learned about MIT Sloan MBA program

by Marcos Ortiz, Marcos Ortiz Valmaseda

First, a letter directly from MIT Sloan MBA Admissions office

When my mom said to me that a package from MIT arrived to our home, I was excited to read its content. First, a great summany in form of a letter signed by Pamela Spencer, Associative Director of MBA Admissions at MIT Sloan; explaining some key points to find in the brochure.

Then, I began to read the brochure and I was in shock: MIT Sloan MBA program is synonym of collaboration, learning everyday, and innovation.

If you have seen my post about the creation of a VC firm focused green technology investments, you are in the same track like me, and I think that MIT Sloan MBA program is perfect for me to accomplish this very hard goal.

Why? It’s an easy question: at MIT, you can interact with some of the brilliant minds of the world on clean/green technologies, and besides, you can build a strong foundation on business management too, so, this is simply perfect for my idea.

Staff

This is one of the key points why so many people choose this program: the excellence of its faculty. If I had to describe the quality of the staff with one word, I would say to you: WOW !!!

From Arnold Barnett (George Eastman Professor of Management Science) to Andrew Lo (Director, Laboratory for Financial Engineering), Time magazine’s “100 Most Influencial People in the World”; from Wanda Orlikowski (Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Information technologies and Organization Studies) to John Sterman (Jay W. Forrester Professor of Management and Director of MIT System Dynamics Group); from Edward B. Roberts (David Sarnoff Professor of Management of Technology), Founder and Chair, Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship to Brian Halligan (one of my personal heroes), Senior Lecturer who teaches 15S.16 Entrepreneurial Product Development and Marketing, author of two great books: “Marketing Lessons From the Grateful Dead” and “Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs” and HubSpot’s CEO, another company founded under the entrepreneurial world at MIT, focused on a product to take advantage of the key points of Inbound Marketing. So, without any fear to make a mistake, if you enter in this program, you will work with respected leaders on their respectives fields; there is not doubt.

Key differentiator: Action Learning Program

But, there is more, and this is the Action Learning Program, where you have the chance to solve real-world problems or hard business challenges around the world. One of the Action Labs is the Global Health Delivery Lab, which Anjali Sastry, Senior Lecturer, System Dynamics describe it in the following way:


 “Global Health Delivery lab is for students interested in innovations that deliver healthcare to those who need it most. With dozens of students from across MIT and small staff team, we are investigating how frontline healthcare enteprises and in the low-income communities they serve can benefit from field-tested approaches borrowed from business management and systems science. We’ve gone beyond the classroom to dozens of sites in sub-Saharan Africa, India, Haiti, and elsewhere. With our collaborators, we take action to solve practical problems, and we document what we learn.”

So, you can visit the official site of the program and see all Action labs.

Another key differentiator: Independent Activities Period (IAP)

MIT Sloan MBA program is so flexible that you can take classes from MIT Media Lab, the Center for Real State, the Department of Architecture, and more.

Options? More than 700 classes. Like they say: 

 “The sole common denominator is the joy of learning something just for the thrill of it”
 You can learn more about IAP on its official site: http://web.mit.edu/iap.

Program Structure

First, you have the Core semester to build a strategic foundation in any area of business: with several courses like Data, Models and Decisions, Financial Accounting,Communication for Leaders, etc.

Then, you can elect one of the three academics tracks:

  • Enterprise Management Track
  • Entrepreneurship & Innovation Track
  • Finance Track

My favorite is the second: Entepreneurship & Innovation track, because, I love to create new things from its conception to its delivery, so, it would be nice to take a deep breath of the entrepreneurial spirit at MIT.

There is a great statistic that shocked me: If the 25,800 companies founded by MIT alumni formed an independent nation, combined revenues would make the 11th-largest economy in the world In this huge creation of companies, the MIT $100K have played an important role. This is the oldest and most influencial business plan contest in the world.

Location: the beautiful Boston

Boston | a-data-driven-guy.com

MIT is located in Cambridge, just minutes from Boston, of the most beautiful cities of United States. The combination of a beach from the Atlantic Ocean, great and beautiful parks, the sport fire that is in the vains of the city (home of the Red Sox and of the Boston Celtics), and the amazing Charles River, put this city like a top place to live and learn.

To conclude

So, my friend, if you want to make a huge social impact in the world, you should consider MIT Sloan MBA program, believe me, after you will say to me: “Thanks”. Right now, I don’t have the required resources, but I will work very hard to be part of this program in 2014 or 2015, so, MIT, here I go.

Happy Learning !!!
 Marcos Luis Ortíz Valmaseda
 about.me/marcosortiz
 @marcosluis2186