MBA at London Business School: Student Interview

TopMBA.com talks to Norbert Modla, an MBA student at London Business School, about why he chose to do an MBA and how he decided where to study. 

1. Why did you decide to attend your Business School?

I was at a point in my career that I have been working for six years after university. I felt that I have enough real life experience to be really able to know what I want to study and build up world class knowledge in. I also needed some time of for myself to reshape the way I think about business and companies and reflect on what I am doing. I think one tends to become too short-sighted and thinks the environment he/ she lives in is the way the world is. So I wanted to experience what else is cutting edge out there in the business world.      

2. What research did you undertake in selecting your school?

I think this has (at least for me) 3 stages
- MBA or something else?
- what type of MBA (full time, part time, one year two year, what league of schools (top or less well known) etc)
- Which schools?

I think this research is a crucial part of the whole process. First You have to make your life decisions for yourself. If MBA is the way for you. Once I decided talking to people who have done it helped a lot. Also the schools are quite helpful to send information to you and there is extensive amount of info on the internet. For example I decided that I want to do a full time program but only wanted to do it if I get in one of the top 10 schools in the world but I don't necessarily want to move to the US. You should plan a good 4 to 6 month for this phase before you can actually apply.     

3. Did you consider an executive MBA? If so why did (or did you not) decide to take an Executive MBA?

No I looked at it but I saw that it's not what I want. I wanted time out and live a different life and do things I can't do if I am working. EMBA is best if you want to learn specific things and build up certain knowledge, but don't expect to get the same experience if you do something next to work as if you devote your full life to it. Not to say that EMBA are not good. They serve different purpose (and these are the decisions you have to make for yourself)      

4. What are the benefits of studying outside your home country?

Once I decided to only consider the top 10 schools the issue of location was pretty much fixed. London Business School's location is quite unique in the sense that it is in one of the global business capitals of the world. So I can get daily access to people, companies, guest speakers and resources that I couldn't even think about otherwise. Also there are about 60 nationalities in my class of 300 so I really feel part of a global environment. And I also think simply living abroad for a couple of years is a great learning in itself.      

5. How are you financing your studies?

At London Business Schools you are automatically eligible for a loan if you are accepted for the program for the full tuition and also if you want for living expenses. I am building on this opportunity, but of course it requires me to build on my own savings too.      

6. Did you apply for any scholarships? Which ones? Were you successful?

My experience shows that there are very limited number of scholarshipsavailable for MBAs. I see that in some countries there are scholarships available for students from those countries. unfortunately this was not the case with Hungary so I am not have any scholarships.     

7. What are your career objectives after your MBA? What were you doing before your MBA?

Before my MBA I was working as a consultant in organisational and change management, managing a small (20people) company in Budapest.

What I will be doing after I graduate. The MBA did change my ideas about myself and the business world, so I am reconsidering which way I want to go. I am at the moment in the middle of this decision making process. But at one point in my life I would probably like to start up my company.