Check out this interesting new blog chronicaling the experience of some “young MBAs” - students who made the jump directly from undergrad to business school. Here is a little taste to whet your appetite:

MBA: “Young” can do it

There is this myth among potential MBAs that you have to have solid work experience before you can apply to top b-schools. And here is my response: False!

Every year, the average age at top MBA programs all around the world are decreasing; and there is a reason behind it. More and more top business schools are considering exceptional young applicants right out of college. So, before you throw out the idea of getting your MBA right out of college, please take a moment and read what we have to say.

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Today’s WSJ has an interesting piece on how MBA programs are adapting to deal with the “Millenial Generation” - a generational term loosely identified with those of us young enough to have essentially grown up with the Internet at our disposal.

Millenial’s have somehow become stigmatized by our sense of entitlement, career expectations, chronic ADD, mutli-tasking abilities, sense of social justice, and our incredible interconnectedness.

An interesting association that I’ve stumbled upon numerous times relates to the obtrusive involvement of parents in our lives. Today’s WSJ piece is no exception:

WSJ: As hovering “helicopter parents” become more active in the admission process, how should schools deal with them?

Ms. Atkinson: The schools have been quite surprised because they weren’t accustomed to seeing parents at admission events at the graduate level. We were all wondering why the parents couldn’t simply advise from the sidelines. But we have come to understand that parents are there because they are investors who hold their children’s schools accountable for a proper return on time and money. Clearly, parents are trusted advisers to the millennial generation, and their presence and influence can’t be wished away. We can either reach out in a calculated way to provide them with good information or let them find the information on their own, which may or may not be accurate.

While not completely out of left field, I find this comment startling - graduate level candidates bringing their parents to admissions events?? A word of advice to parents - DO NOT GO TO THESE EVENTS WITH YOUR CHILDREN! It is great to be involved in your child’s life, but going to a graduate level recruiting event conveys the wrong message. Graduate level students are adults who are expected to be capable of making independent adult decisions. Prospective students who walk into events holding their parents hand (so to speak) present a poor impression of their independence and decision making capacities.

Please don’t misread this advice - it is great to be involved and offer invaluable advice and guidance, just please give your child enough space to become an adult.

Oh yeah, try to avoid tagging along for job interviews as well!

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There are many good reasons to attend a top business school. One reason that announced itself on day one and continues to amaze me is the access to top business professionals across the globe.

At Columbia, we have hosted countless Fortune 500 CEOs, CFOs, EVPs, marketing directors, strategy coordinators, board members, etc. We’ve had hedge-fund managers, private equity partners, venture capitalists, real estate moguls, and of course, an endless supply of investment bankers and consultants.

As an example of the incredible access to top management, I had the opportunity to hear from the CEOs of two of the largest investment banks in the world (both of whom still have their jobs!) within a one week period earlier this semester.

While I wouldn’t suggest using a lecture event with the Chairman and CEO of JP Morgan or Citigroup as an opportunity to plug for a summer internship, attending these events is extremely rewarding. The opportunity to hear first hand about life on the front lines from the ultimate movers and shakers in global business is truly unique and incredible. It offers an unparalleled learning experience – one that I will not forget anytime soon.

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A friend of mine sent me this very interesting email chain conversation he had with some of his buddies regarding the issues they are grappling with as they decide whether or not to attend business school. I imagine this discussion is very relevant to lots of bschooler readers. (Please note we have removed all of the participant names and instead use WWWWW, XXXXX, YYYYY, and ZZZZZ to represent the four people involved in this chain).

For additional reading on this topic, check out these other relevant bschooler postings:
The MBA, is it really worth it ; How worthwhile is an MBA

The Email Chain:

On 10/4/07, XXXXX <XXXXX@yahoo.com > wrote:

so whats up with us taking a class?

On 10/4/07, YYYYY <YYYYY@yahoo.com > wrote:

I am game. But I was actually talking to WWWWW about it, because he wants to take it with us - maybe we should wait until Jan or so, because with all the holidays (TG, x-mas, etc) coming up I don’t want to miss any classes….

Your thoughts?

On 10/4/07, XXXXX < XXXXX@yahoo.com > wrote:

works fine for me. love all these articles, i was getting mentally prepared to do the mba thing now am totally unsure again. uggh. might as well take the test though

On 10/4/07, YYYYY < YYYYY@gmail.com> wrote:

Yea that’s how i feel. But notice how are the articles are all $ centric… if your only goal is to make a ton of $ then MBA may not be right thing…But hopefully if you get into a good school then education and networking should mean something, right?

On 10/4/07, ZZZZZ <ZZZZZ@yahoo.com > wrote:

YYYYY, while I agree a lot of these are $ centric, I am not 100% convinced that an MBA is the only route even for networking. It’s just food for thought… it will certainly be one of the best times of your life. I’m in the same position as you guys, don’t get me wrong… might as well try, but might also try to get a gig that will lead me to the gig i’d have out of school as well. Food for thought… everyone has differing opinions. You can always take a work sabbatical as well… I have to think it through just like ya’ll

On 10/4/07, WWWWW <WWWWW@wwww.com> wrote:

You need to figure that getting an MBA and not getting paid at work probably costs almost half a million dollars depending on your job.

It’s a touch choice to leave that much money on the table for a degree that might not help you that much. I know that people I work with are tending to skip it.

If you are good and the market is good – you get promoted…and once you are promoted its almost pointless to go for the MBA

On 10/4/07, YYYYY < YYYYY@gmail.com> wrote:

Don’t disagree with you… However, I think for those like myself who are not 100% convinced that a career in high finance is what I ultimately want, an MBA can give you the opportunity to step back, try out different things, get different people’s perspectives, and then make a calculated decision about where you want to end up.

I think if you want to stay in finance then the CFA is probably the way to go. Unless, like me again, you’d rather drink beer on the weekend then study your ass off for 3 years!

What’s key is that some of these articles assume that everyone wants to stay put on their current career track - what they fail to mention is that most people don’t have a fuckin clue about what makes them tick… That’s where the real value of going back to school is in my opinion - because we all work too hard to do any real thinking about career goals and all that shit.

On 10/4/07, ZZZZZ <ZZZZZ@yahoo.com > wrote:

WWWWW, speaking of which, I owe you a resume… coming soon.

YYYYY - good point. We aren’t educated enough about what each career entails. What happens is you start a job and then you’re like, this isn’t what I wanted. If they held seminars and we can really see what it’s like (which b-school provides) that is very valuable in the long-term. However, you can probably find this out even without b-school (network and eat out with people), and also meet people without the degree.

Also, once in b-school, what I hear is that you have a few weeks to make a decision about where you want to intern, and then you ultimately receive that full time offer the next year. I doubt you’d have a clue within a few weeks what you want to do…

On 10/4/07, XXXXX <XXXXX@yahoo.com > wrote:

mmmmm beer. do you need an mba to become gm of the yankees? thats the only thing i know id like to do.

On 10/4/07, WWWWW <WWWWW@yahoo.com > wrote:

I’m going to try and convince my company to buy them when Steinbrenner sells…

I’ll see what I can do for you

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Courtesy of one of our fearless CBS peer advisors, Dan from Israel:

The first 8 weeks of school are the most overwhelming. By now you have probably felt the stress, anxiety, and ups-and-downs that make an integral part of the curriculum.

As always, your peer advisors are here to give some advice. Since everyone has a different personality there is no one magic formula to deal with this situation. However, most of us found it useful to adhere to the following 10 simple rules. Here they come.

1. Prioritize

You have probably heard this before, but we can’t emphasize enough the importance of prioritizing. If you haven’t done so already, make a list of what’s most important to you in school and stick to it. Is recruiting your highest priority? Or is it the learning experience, the social life, or spending time with your significant other?

2. Compromise

Once your priorities are set comes the hardest part – compromising. Stop being Mr. or Ms. Perfect and fight that urge of doing everything perfectly right. Put your best effort into your highest priority, and scale back the rest. If you don’t learn to compromise, you will find it hard to get anything accomplished. Also, make sure you communicate your priorities with your learning team.

3. Don’t Procrastinate

As hard as it gets, try to stay on top of your priorities. Don’t leave unread emails in your inbox. Make it a habit to check the school’s calendar at least twice a week and add relevant events to your Outlook calendar. Send those thank-you notes on time. Make it a priority to get organized.

4. Take One Step at a Time

Relax – the amount of work is the same independent of whether you stress out or not. When you’re feeling overwhelmed, it helps to take a step back, list everything you have to do on a piece of paper and take things one step at a time. Don’t try to eat all the pie at once – make sure you slice it first to stay focused. In retrospect, we’ve all found out that everything is easier than it seems.

5. Take Some Time Off

Columbia Business School can be a pressure cooker. This is a stressful city to live in, and that stress is magnified here, a place that attracts successful people who are determined to succeed even more.

So here comes our most important tip: Deal with stress as it arises. Make time to go to the gym regularly – it will make you feel much better, both physically and mentally. Even if you think you’re too busy, make sure you take some time off during the weekends – take a trip, go to a museum, leave the Upper West Side and do something fun. Don’t let stress accumulate, otherwise you may find yourself losing focus and burning out.

6. Recall What Brought You Here

On a bad day, it’s easy to lose your self confidence and forget what you have achieved so far. Let us remind you. You are in one of the world’s most prestigious universities. You are in one of the world’s top business schools. You are in a globally-oriented institution that will open doors for you wherever you go from now till the day you retire. Think about how many people would dream to be in your shoes, and remember how hard you worked to get accepted. Remember what brought you here in the first place.

7. Remember: We’re All in the Same Boat

It looks like everyone is on top of everything, right? It’s only you who doesn’t understand something in class / feels lost and out of focus / has no idea what type of job you want / gets clumsy talking to recruiters / had a really bad informational. Relax – EVERYONE is in the same boat.

8. Talk to Someone

When you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t keep it inside. Vent to a clustermate, an old friend, or someone you trust. It works like magic.

9. Ask For Help If You Need It

Too many people are hesitant to ask for help. Don’t be one of them. If you’re falling behind in class, attend a review session, go to the professor’s office hour or take a tutor. Also, don’t hesitate to reach out to the office of Student Academic Affairs – they are working for you.

10. Remember: You Cannot Screw Up

Funny but true – no matter how many P’s you get, no matter how many job interviews you screw up, things will turn out fine for you. Save this email on your computer and you’ll see for yourself: These are the best two years of your life. You have our word!

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The first time I saw my parents after starting business school my mom almost cried. I’d lost about 10 pounds (some people eat more under stress, I just forget to eat, period) and my skin had the death-like pallor that results from consuming nothing but caffeine and Power Bars for weeks on end. In a previous life went to the grocery store and ate balanced, home cooked meals. In business school, eating anything that took more than 10 minutes to locate, chew and swallow seemed like a waste of time. Before business school I ran and practiced yoga four times a week. During my MBA the only exercise I got was lugging ten pounds of books around on my back. Before business school I got the recommended 7 hours of sleep. My roommate in business school asked me if I actually lived there because my bed never looked slept in.

Between the stress of classes and the breakneck pace of social life, business school is not a healthy lifestyle. People gain weight, lose weight, get sick, and even have the occasional nervous breakdown. You push yourself to the limit, trying to squeeze out one more hour of homework, or one more drink before last call. Although bschool feels like the 50-yard dash, it’s more like a slow climb to the top of Mount Everest. You have to take care of yourself.

First off, don’t skimp on the sleep. There will be nights when you’re up until 4 am finishing a project or living it up at a great party, but don’t make it the norm. Nothing productive happens after 2 am, anyway, so either your work will suffer or your reputation will as you end up dancing on the bar with the busboy.

Recognize that my first piece of advice is totally unrealistic. Then since you’re not getting enough sleep, as least fuel your body in other ways. Pizza, for example is not a food group. Most MBAs understand that green is the color of money, but it should also be the color of your food from time to time.

Get some exercise. At my bschool there was a flag football tournament each fall with other area schools. And each year at least three people would show up in casts or on crutches the next day. Are MBAs really that aggressive or clumsy? Maybe. My hunch is just that they’re hopelessly out of shape. If you don’t exercise for your health, then do it for your career. Attractive people earn more than their coworkers. And if you’re shooting for the top, you’re wise to hit the treadmill along the way–most CEOs exercise.

Manage your stress. It’s a myth that anyone works better under pressure. In fact, studies show that people are least creative when they’re fighting the clock. Stress impairs your decision-making abilities, and the quality of you work. And no one wants to hang out with a nut case. Most business school students are Type A personalities, so stressing out is what we do best. What helped me the most when I got worked up about something was the “Will this matter in…” question. I found that most things I was stressed out about weren’t going to matter in 6 months, or 1 month, or even 1 week. When I realized this I calmed down about them. Perspective is important. People are important, too. You have lots of them around you, all going through the same stressful experiences. Vent to each other. Reassure each other. Then regain focus together. Above all, if you feel like you have so much stress you can’t handle it on your own, talk to a professional. Most universities have student health centers with people who can help you learn to manage.

Business school flies by. You could tell yourself that you’ll return to your healthy, balanced lifestyle when it’s over, or you could start building healthy habits now, as practice for the real, post-bschool world. Just think how ahead of the game you’ll be.

More survival tips at The Naked MBA.

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