Foster classes

We’re officially second-years!

Flashback to June 2015: We had just finished final exams and final projects for Spring Quarter…which meant that we were done with the first year of our MBA program. We were officially second years! A couple of students from the Class of 2016 were asked to talk about what the first year of our MBA program was like, and if we had any advice for the Class of 2017.

Today we have a superb guest blogger: Anika Gupta (Class of 2016)! Anika had the opportunity to spend the summer at TripIt as a Senior Product Marketing Manager intern. Anika is already an accomplished marketing maven, but this was her first experience in a tech startup. Read more about her experience below!

This Summer 2015, I had the amazing opportunity to intern as a Senior Product Marketing Manager at TripIt by Concur an SAP company, in their Channel Sales team. My main objectives of this internship were to understand how to maximize the B2B sales channel for growth in user acquisition, get a better understanding of the company structure and culture post acquisition by SAP and make the most of my first summer in San Francisco.

This was my first full-time stint working in the US and to be honest, I had no idea what to expect. Coming from a career in high stress agency and corporate work, I was completely thrown off by the tech start-up scene in San Francisco. I had never known what it was to work in an employee-driven market, where companies really understand that their people are the key to their success, and therefore, take REALLY good care of them!

If you enjoy shopping for things (clothes, food, tech, you name it) as much as I do, it’s easy to see how landing an internship at renowned retailer Nordstrom over the summer can make you giddy with anticipation. Known for its best-in-class customer service and a generous return policy, Nordstrom embodies a culture of collaboration and diversity. So when I received an offer for the MBA Internship in Finance this summer, I jumped at the chance, despite some hesitation around returning to a Finance role. That decision to keep an open mind and take on challenging opportunities led to one of my best summers in recent memory. Ever, perhaps.

We have a great guest post today! Brennen Ricks (Class of 2015) wrote a 4-part series on his blog, 1personsexperience.blogspot.com, to answer the question: “Was the MBA worth it?” We’re featuring one of his articles here on the Costs vs Benefit of the full time MBA. Read his answers below, and be sure to check out more from Brennen on his blog!

Was an MBA worth it financially? What about all those costs you have to make up?

Tomorrow is the deadline for my very last payment in the MBA program: my graduation robe & hat. It makes me think about the total cost of doing this.