Milena (AMBA) - Why I chose the Ivey MBA

The following is an computer-generated summary of the video transcript.

Hi, everyone. My name is Milena, and I wanted to share with you a little bit about my Ivey MBA journey. There are three specific highlights I'll share. The first is the case method of learning. Ivey Business school is known for teaching through problem-solving on actual business challenges faced by real leaders across a large variety of industries. And through my experience, I can confirm that in each of my classes, whether it be finance, marketing strategy, operations, managing people or analytics and all of the coursework and all of the class discussions, they are all driven by cases. In each course, we complete several cases where will analyze a real business challenge, make decisions based on the information given in the case, and then defend those decisions in very lively class discussions. The case topics range from Best Buy facing e-commerce challenges, to the Gap, using Data Analytics to drive sales to Google, shifting its corporate culture. What I enjoy most about the case method is the way that it refines my decision-making process. It challenges me to think about a variety of perspectives in advance in order to better defend my position when we get to class discussions. It refines my ability to make concise recommendations that are backed by thorough analysis. The second highlight I wanted to share is the learning team approach. As soon as I started in the program, we were put into learning teams of five or six individuals. And every term we get assigned a new learning team, and the learning teams are really designed to work together in between classes, in order to prepare for the case discussions and to do team assignments together. I have really enjoyed the learning team because it provides us with an ability to test out ideas, get feedback and really stretch each other's points of view. Every person on the team brings a unique perspective from their own lived experiences and everyone provides a very safe and comfortable atmosphere for one another to test their leadership styles, to test their different decision making approaches, to test different ideas. It's truly a special experience and because of that, the bonds that are formed through the learning team are something that I cherish very deeply. Not only do we help each other learn, but we truly became friends through the process and, hopefully, friends for years and years to come. The third highlight I wanted to share is the broader cohort. The classmates, my classmates. My classmates all come from interesting backgrounds, and because of that, our class discussions are so lively. Everyone shares very fascinating professional and personal experiences, and that really enriches the case discussions and stretches one another's points of view. The class atmosphere is very warm and supportive. It creates a safe space to test ideas and challenge the status quo and stretch one another's thinking. The cohort I get to learn with and from is truly an incredible group of people that I'm very delighted that I get to call my friends. So to summarize, the three highlights that have really enriched my Ivey MBA experience are the fascinating case discussions, the close learning team bonds, and the incredibly talented classmates.