Everyone's at Fuquavisoin... I'm in the library...Yeah, poor me! For the first time all semester I figured out where they keep the books. Still, it's sad to know that I'm missing all the usual fun back at school, and I'm very excited to be going home soon. For those interested or considering going abroad to LSE, here are some reflections (perhaps a grumpier rendition given the library situation).
I never went abroad in college, and this was a mistake. Since b-school is college part II, I wanted to go abroad if I could. I chose London because it's a great city where I had a lot of fond memories of times with my family, and because I love the funny accents. I also chose London because of the London School of Economics - one of the finest institutions of economics and finance in the world, and easily the best school for this stuff in the UK if not all of Europe. It was a good decision, and I'm happy I did this and got it out of my system. Amazing opportunity.
There were just two problems with this perfect opportunity - 1. London in Winter BITES. 2. LSE is NOT a business school and actually has been kind of a let-down. London in winter would have been worth it if LSE had been great, but it wasn't, so when the sun doesn't shine, it really ticks me off. Better use of money is just backpacking around Europe in the summer like normal people. This is because LSE is very much (and I'm sorry to the Crimson friends out there) like Harvard undergrad - some kids are great, sure, but the majority are really kind of weird and horribly pompous and self-conscious... come on admit it, Justin, it's so true.
Undergrads all over are annoying to me because I'm an old grump, but at LSE, that's all they've got. The majority of the master's students are straight from undergrad, and are indistinguishable. You see the difference everywhere in the immaturity of the class discussions and the self-absorbed day to day they live - no one smiles back, no one holds the elevator or doors, and there's a girl in one of my classes with black nail polish, ripped jeans, dyed hair and so much eye makeup there are days I wonder if she's punching herself. Contrast this with London Business School - same city, same stuff, but adults. You walk in and it feels like a b-school in how people are dressed, the conversations they're having, and the way they treat each other. Not quite Fuqua, but at least I got a smile and an invitation to free beer night from someone I stopped for directions.
Suppose you can get past the annoyance of being surrounded by arrogant young'in. Then you have to get used to the coursework which is also, just like undergrad. If you were an econ or poli sci major with a hankering to taste what PhD life would be like, then this is the program for you. Academic lectures, zero interaction, zero real-life case work, zero real life applicability (unless you're going to work as a functionary analyst for some ministry in Germany or something) and tons of literature to read. And by literature, I mean academic studies in books you've never heard of on topics like, "The Varieties of Capitalism approach applied to the French economy post-German reunification." Poke my eyes out with a crumpet.
It's all very interesting, but I came here to understand Europe better - the culture, the business world, what people my age were thinking in this global recession, etc. And, I haven't gotten it at LSE. What I have learned has mostly been done through reading the FT and the Economist and paying attention to the news in a different lens, which I could have done at home. I did pick up a thing or two from classes, but it's a stretch, honestly. My biggest regret is that the students here have not been interested in making friends and the environment is not really conducive to it. My European friends are actually other students from US schools also studying in London, which is cool, but I was hoping for more.
Here are the lessons learned:
Duke rules. Classes at Fuqua are excellent, even when they suck, they are better than what they've got at the London Business School, the London School of Economics, and even at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - this is my random sampling and makes me an expert. Fuqua's facilities, culture, students and student life are also incredible, and don't you forget it. So keep in mind that when you go abroad, all that goes away.
Got the travel bug? Great. But keep in mind, after a month, one does tire of throwing money around, and traveling is really better on vacation, in the warm sun, with friends and a drink in a coconut.
Need a break from Fuqua? Best reason to go abroad. It clears your head, helps you remember what you're all about and gives you time to reflect and think again. Plus, it makes you miss Duke like hell and remember all the reasons you love it, and how absolutely 100% correct you were to do your MBA there. Perspective - that's what international living is all about.
Fuqua needs a relationship with LBS as well as LSE. Of the many US students I've met at both schools, the LBS kids are proportionately happier with their classes in at least they can take comparable courses to what they wanted at home, and their environment is truly a business school one. Plus, the school has weekly beer night, and everyone is over the age of 22 - makes a big difference. While LSE may be a fancier name, and may claim to have superior coursework, it's just not what someone in an MBA program cares about. Even the finance classes are off in the sense that derivatives and valuation are taught not in the expectation that one will USE the methods, but that one will STUDY and evaluate the methods. It makes no sense because the kids at LSE want to be analysts and traders too... it's just their way. To remedy this, the Exchange office at Fuqua has agreed to step it up on the LBS front and I'm going to help as best I can while I'm here. Check out the sign we made at the LBS Exchange Recruiting Fair last week in the photo! We were next to the Wharton table where a couple of tools in suits were talking big about how excellent they were... we decided to bring out the big blue guns.
US Business School is different from anything else. The American brand of the MBA really is one of a kind, and I've come to the conclusion that international rankings are complete crap. The truth of it is, smart people are everywhere and they succeed no matter where they go. If schools abroad want to claim they have a hand in this for their graduates then wonderful, but there is absolutely no way that any of the schools abroad ranked higher than US top 10 schools on the international rankings can compare in the US MBA experience. We just do it better - I'm not a relativist on this.
GO DUKE!
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