Business School can be quite the overload, even for the most productive and focused students. Madeline Dubner, (Darden, ’17) experienced this first hand during her first year in Charlottesville. She took some time to talk to us about the many priorities she had to balance and what she’s looking forward to in her summer internship and the rest of her time at Darden.
MBASchooled: What’s the most important lesson you learned from your first year of business school?
Madeline: As a business school student, it’s really important to keep a balance in your life. There are so many things demanding your attention, and it would be impossible to do everything, so you have to prioritize what’s important to you. This is true anywhere in life, but the first year of an MBA program really exemplifies this. One big balancing act is between academics and recruiting. This is something I learned this year that I didn’t expect. At times, recruiting will take priority over school work, and that’s ok. Thankfully, your classmates are all going through the same thing, and we all helped each other catch up on any missed classes. It’s also important to make time to relax and have fun, otherwise you’ll be miserable. For me, it’s all about balance and identifying your priorities.
MBASchooled: What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome?
Madeline: Recruiting was a tough time for many students, including myself. It was a challenge to make it through with sanity intact, but we all survived. So much of the Fall was focused on networking, interview prep, and mock interviews, and during the winter I was busy interviewing for internship positions. It could be a bit overwhelming, especially when faced with a rejection. However, I ended up accepting an internship with an amazing company, and I couldn’t be happier. It helped to remind myself that it was important for me to like the company, not just that they like me, and in the end I found a great fit. It was certainly a challenge, but one that ended quite positively.
MBASchooled: What was the most memorable or exciting experience from your first year at school Darden?
Madeline: Darden is divided up into 5 sections, A-E. As a member of Section A, I took all of the 15 core courses with the other 68 students in my section, competed against the other sections in the Darden Cup (Darden’s athletic competition– which we won!), and participated in numerous Section A social events. From my first year at Darden, I can honestly say that being a part of Section A has been one of my most memorable experiences. The other students in my section have become some of my closest friends, and many of my best memories from the past year include my section mates. Although we will not take classes together as a section in our second year, we will always be part of Section A, and I am so excited to have these people by my side as we navigate second year.
MBASchooled: If you had to do it over again, what would you do differently?
Madeline: If I were to repeat the first year, I would try to feel less intimidated at the start of the program. The experience can be overwhelming, and especially at an academically rigorous school like Darden, it is easy to feel unprepared at the start. I came from a non-traditional business background, and during my first week at Darden there were many times I felt as if I had made a huge mistake, and was never meant to be in business school. But, the secret is that almost everyone feels that way at the beginning. You will catch on a lot quicker than you think, and it’s important to remember that everyone is in the same boat. Looking back, I wish I could have been less nervous when I started Darden, but I suppose hindsight is 20/20!
MBASchooled: What are you most looking forward to out of this summer?
Madeline: This summer, I will be working in Minneapolis at a medical device company. I’m excited to meet the other interns and explore the city – it’s supposed to be beautiful in the summer! I’m also looking forward to putting my business school learnings to use in my internship. It will be interesting to apply the ideas and concepts that I have learned in class to a real world business. The Darden case method is great, as it presents ideas and learnings in the form of a real example, and I am excited to take this one step further during my internship.
MBASchooled: What’s something you are looking forward to during your second year of business school?
Madeline: Next year I am looking forward to taking courses in a wide variety of subject areas, including Finance, Marketing, Strategy, Operations, and others. Although I was introduced to all of these subjects during the required core courses (3 out of the 4 quarters in the first year), the electives in the second year allow students to pursue the subjects they find most interesting. I intentionally registered for courses in many different subject areas because I want to be exposed to all of these ideas and leave Darden as a well rounded business person. Darden does offer concentrations, but they seem to create strict requirements in terms of class schedules, and I would rather have freedom in pursuing whatever topics interest me. Particularly, I do not have a Finance background, so I’m excited to take several Finance courses to learn more about that subject.
This sounds like a thoughtful and well rounded student whose comments should be helpful to prospective students at Darden OR to any young person contemplating business school education.