Why I’m Glad I Chose Yale SOM
Members of the Master of Advanced Management Class of 2019 on making the choice to follow their MBAs with a year at Yale.
The transformative experience of my one-of-kind academic, creative, personal, and professional journey at Yale began well before I arrived in New Haven. After completing an MBA at IE Business School in Madrid, I kept thinking of my accomplishments and noticed an inconsistency in my personal narrative that I had ignored for far too long: my education and professional experiences seemed like two parallel lines in a plane that did not meet. When deliberating whether to attend SOM—SWOT and cost-benefit analysis included—I realized that this year could help me to find an intersection where those lines finally met. At Yale, I could explore where my background as a diplomat and consultant converge with my instruction in the sciences of politics and business. I could engage in research in a myriad of topics with support from prodigious faculty, superb staff, and brilliant colleagues from around the globe while taking courses at SOM and all throughout the university. Upon learning about Yale SOM’s mission, to educate leaders for business and society, I made up my mind.
—Ernesto Mendez Chiari
Global Network School: IE Business school
Home Country: Panama
I chose the MAM program to make the most of my second year in my two-year MBA program. And it turns out to be the best decision I have ever made. Yale SOM surpassed my expectation in learning: I can design 90% of my curriculum with electives that attract me. In addition to learning from world-class professors, the MAM program lets me learn from my classmates, who are from more than 40 different nationalities with very different perspectives and cultures. Also, I get to interact with and learn from top scientists, Nobel laureates, and CEOs of well-known firms. Recently my dream came true when I met my favorite author, Bill George, who was invited as a guest speaker to my Corporate Governance class.
—Toan Do
global network school: Hitotsubashi University Business School, School of International Corporate Strategy
home country: vietnam
Having worked at a boutique consulting firm in the U.S. for a number of years after my undergraduate studies, I was ready to take my career to the next level and decided to move to France to pursue my MBA at HEC Paris. Knowing that HEC Paris was part of the Global Network for Advanced Management and would potentially give me the opportunity to attend Yale for the Master of Advanced Management program was a big factor in my decision to attend HEC Paris. Having completed the first quarter of the MAM program, I am more than convinced that I made the right decision.
The MAM program comprises students from across the globe, and the diversity of thought that I’ve been exposed to through my classmates has been inspiring and enlightening. I’ve already made what I believe will be lifelong friends and have gotten to taste cuisines and experience traditions from around the world. My academic experience has been outstanding, and I really appreciate the flexibility that the MAM program allows for me to cater my coursework to my interests and career aspirations. I’ve taken a class on leadership in literature, one on the global financial crisis with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and another on expert negotiation to name a few. Next semester I look forward to taking a class in the law school as well as a French literature class.
—Nicole Pense
global network school: hec paris
home country: United States
I had two specific objectives to join the MAM program: to acquire knowledge in specific areas and to gain a global perspective. Prior to SOM, I worked in consulting, and clients increasingly looked for transformative solutions, like digital transformation, pricing strategy, and new partnerships are possible solutions. The MAM program offered specific courses around each of these topics, like digital strategy, negotiation, and pricing strategy. While these subjects offered the necessary knowledge and tools, the program’s diversity in terms of students made the learning unique, enabling me to understand the nuances of the application in a true global setting.
—Akshay Prasad