Transitioning to the official blog

It's finally here! Today all 90 of us who make up the class of 2014 came together at the IMD campus for our orientation session. There was a great sense of excitement - you could tell every one of the MBAs had been eagerly waiting for this day to arrive. The day was mostly focused on introductions and some logistics, and we also had a great welcome message from the program director, Ralf Boscheck. Partners were invited too, so even Ashley and Little Marshmallow were able to stop by and join me for lunch!

After a briefing from Suzy, the IMD blog organizer, I have now officially been placed on duty as an IMD blogger! I will try to keep this blog going during the program, although most of my entries now will just be direct links to the official IMD blog. I may add a few posts here and there with personal tidbits which may not quite be in scope at the official blog.

With that said, here's a link to my first entry, where I am boldly trying to predict what my 3 favorite and 3 least favorite things about the IMD experience will be. We'll see how it turns out!

The ultimate lesson in leadership

This year I am sure IMD will have plenty of lessons in leadership. There will be a lot of reading, discussion, self-reflection and constructive criticism on how I can become the best leader I can be. I am excited and grateful for this opportunity.

However, I know the biggest lessons and challenges I will encounter elsewhere. They will come from this incredibly powerful little being, still incapable of walking or talking - but already full of wisdom and wonder.

Welcome to the world, Little Marshmallow. I will be here to protect you, support you, and guide you. I know I will learn as much from you as you will from me. I promise you I will work my hardest to make the world you grow up in is a safe, happy and wondrous place.

Mrs. Marshmallow now has a blog!

Wanted to share the exciting news that Ashley, a.k.a. Mrs. Marshmallow, has decided to start up a blog of her own! She had been talking about starting a blog since well before I started mine - so it's nice to see her ideas coming to fruition!

Among other things, she will be sharing her thoughts on life as an expat in Lausanne, an IMD partner and a new mom. She already has a great post about how complicated (and expensive!) dealing with trash can be in Lausanne. Here's the link to her blog, be sure to leave her lots of comments!

One oui quest (http://oneouiquest.blogspot.com)

Pics from a sunny weekend in Lausanne

This past weekend we were fortunate to have some beautiful weather in Lausanne (which has since been replaced with a lot of rain!). So on Sunday Ashley and I went out for a walk down by the IMD campus and the lakefront in Ouchy. Thought I would share some of our pictures:

Soon I will be walking down Chemin de Bellerive every day

Marshmallow featured on Accepted.com

Something very cool happened recently - Accepted.com, a wonderful resource for MBA applicants, reached out to me and asked me a few questions about my decision to come to IMD and my experience during the MBA application process. I was more than happy to answer, and the article was posted this weekend. Check out the entry in their blog:

Aiming for IMD? An Admitted Student Shares His Story and Advice

I was thrilled when Accepted.com approached me, hopefully it will prove to be helpful for future applicants and others who are interested in applying to IMD or an European MBA!

I've been invited to be an official IMD blogger!

This week IMD announced their selection for the blogging team for the class of 2014... and I am excited to be one of them! Here is the announcement from Suzy, the blog coordinator at IMD.

I will join a team including a couple of very interesting and insightful folks: Ashley, who will also be IMD's video blogger and has already posted a fantastic introductory entry, and Andras, who has been keeping an excellent wine-themed blog that I am a big fan of: Wines and Treks. I look forward to finally meeting and working together soon!

When I was applying to IMD I remember reading the IMD blogs quite diligently, looking for a clearer picture of life as an IMD student. Then I started this blog, looking to share a bit about my experience and hoping to help others who are also interested in pursuing their MBA at IMD. It feels great that IMD is willing give me this opportunity and endorse my insights!

The official IMD 2014 blog goes live when the program starts, on January 9th. Here's the link. Until then I plan to continue posting about my Swiss MBA adventure here.

Tips and tidbits - what we've learned so far

Ashley and I have been in Lausanne for less than one month - so we are by no means experts - but during this time we've had to figure out a lot of different things, and I thought it might be useful to share some of what we learned during our initial efforts to settle in. Hopefully it will help paint a picture of what's been keeping us busy, and maybe help others who may be coming to Lausanne!

• Get the 1/2 off rail card

  This is a very nice deal that we didn't know existed before got here. For an up-front fee of CHF 175 you can purchase a pass which saves you 50% on every rail trip you take (it also gives you some savings on the buses/metro, but not always 1/2 off). The price seems a bit steep at first, but it pays for itself ridiculously quickly (for us, with our weekend trips, it's already made it worthwhile!).

• Get the Migros cumulus card

  I'm a sucker for discounts, coupons and finding the lowest price. Some may call it cheapness, I call it being resourceful! I found out that Migros, one of the main grocery store chains, has a membership discount card. It's free and it just takes filling out a form. The harder part for me was to ask about the existence of such form in French! The benefit is that you get CHF 5 for every 500 points accumulated (at the rate of CHF 1 per point I believe, with some items that may have special multipliers). And you also get some nice coupons on the mail. Even if the discounts are small, I figure it never hurts! I also understand the Coop, the other major grocery chain, has a similar card. I am looking into signing up for that one as well.

Weekend getaways

Knowing how busy things will be next year - with the combination of IMD kicking my butt, and Little Marshmallow keeping us up every night - Ashley and I decided to take advantage of our relatively slower schedule, and treat ourselves to a couple of weekend getaways.

At this point, we've taken care of most of the basic arrival requirements: We've submitted all the paperwork to register with the Canton, we've opened our bank account, we've gotten our phone lines, and have figured out the doctor/hospital situation for whenever Little Marshmallow decides to join us. There are still a few things for us to do, but the biggest ones - namely the nursery - will require us to be in our permanent apartment, which we won't move into until later this week.

So we said to ourselves - let's go travel!

Lausanne: first impressions

Ashley and I have been in Lausanne for about 10 days now, so I thought it would be interesting to write down some of our first impressions as we start to make it our new home. Of course, there are a few things that will take some figuring out and some getting used to. But overall we are very happy to be here, and have had a nice experience so far!

Here are some things we've noticed:

• Everything is closed on Sundays (and apparently it will be worse come Christmas!)

  When we made our travel plans, we never considered how complicated it would be for us to arrive on a Sunday. As it turns out, *everything* is closed here on Sundays. Grocery store, pharmacy, everything. We had to buzz the security guard at a deserted IMD to pick up the key to our apartment. We didn't have any bed linens, and there was nowhere that we could go to buy any, not even in Geneva! Thankfully we happened to know someone in Lausanne who graciously agreed to lend us pillows and a comforter. Lifesaver!

• When in doubt, go to the Gare

  If you made the same mistake we did, and found yourself with no food on a Sunday, head over to the Gare (the main train station). There are a couple stores that are open, where you can find some food and basic necessities to get you to Monday morning.

Hello, Lausanne!

After many weeks of hard work, preparation and anticipation... we have arrived in Lausanne!

Ashley and I are both very excited to be here! We've been greeted by beautiful (but chilly!) weather and gorgeous mountain views. We have spent the first few days getting used to the new time zone, tying up some loose ends from the move, settling in and getting to know our new home!

Goodbye, DC!

The time has come to say goodbye to DC, the place I've called home for the last 8 years... I will always have great memories from this great city!

I will miss you, DC! I hope to come back soon!

Things have been pretty crazy

With the move to Lausanne now less than three weeks away, things have been hectic over here for Ashley and I. We've been running around like crazy people making sure we are taking care of everything we can for the move, and we've also been trying to enjoy spending time with our friends and family.

At home Ashley and I are in full-on packing mode. We've been bubble-wrapping, sorting and boxing everything up, so the house is a huge mess. In a matter of days we'll be loading a truck with all the belongings that we want to keep, but can't bring to Lausanne. Then we have a long drive South to take everything down to my mother-in-law's basement, since she graciously agreed to hold onto our stuff for us. It's a complicated operation, since we don't want to forget something up here that we'll then have to throw away, but we don't want to bring something with us that we will later need!

IMD in the rankings - The Economist 2013

A couple weeks ago The Economist posted the results of their 2013 MBA rankings. IMD came in at a solid 13th place. Compared to last year's ranking, IMD's results didn't change a whole lot, but it did drop three places from last year's 10th spot.

A few months back I took an in-depth look at IMD's strenghts and weaknesses in the Economist's 2012 ranking. I thought it would be interesting to do a side-by-side comparison and see how IMD's rankings changed from 2012 to 2013.

Overall, IMD's value proposition continues to be strong, with high levels of student satisfaction and some of the best post-MBA placement/salaries out there. However, two things jumped at me from the results. First, IMD seems to still be feeling the effect of the less-than-ideal employment picture in Europe. The changes weren't too drastic, but there were decreases in the mean salary, the percentage salary increase, and the percentage of students with jobs three months after graduation. Also, IMD seems to have gotten more competitive. The average GMAT score has gone up by 10 points, the number of applicants per full-time place went up to 5 from 4 (a 25% increase!) and the student diversity scores have increased dramatically.

See below for the side-by-side results for each category:

Let the coursework begin

The MBA program doesn't officially start for another three months for the class of 2014, but our first assignments have already started pouring in! As of right now, I already have six or seven different things to work on, including tests, deadlines and everything! And at the rate of a new assignment popping up every few days, it won't surprise me if I get some more even before the end of the week! The first assignment came from Prof. Benoit Leleux to try and get us in the right frame of mind for his Entrepreneurship class. It's pretty straightforward - he asked us to read The Monk and the Riddle, by Randy Komisar, and write out some bullets and "learning points" as we read it. By all accounts it's a captivating and inspirational book about the life lessons of a Silicon Valley entrepreneur. I've purchased the book, but have to admit I haven't started reading it yet. I guess the old reading list will just have to be put in the back burner for now.

The pile is only going to keep growing!

The partner perspective

IMD is one the schools with the highest percentage of students who bring their partners. It's clear from reading blogs from previous years that the partners are an integral part of the IMD community. Not only do they play a crucial role in supporting their significant others throughout the MBA program, they also gain a lot of friends and positive life experiences during their time in Lausanne.

Needless to say, I am very happy that Ashley will be coming with me! More than ever, she will be my constant. She'll be taking care of the baby, working remotely, and pretty much keeping the boat afloat while I'm trapped in the dungeons at IMD. Considering how big a part she'll playing in getting me through the year, I thought it would be cool to ask her directly for some insights from her experience getting ready for our year at IMD so far.

So thank you Ashley for sharing your perspective, for everything you've done to help me so far, and for everything you will do next year to support me! You're the best! :)

• What are you looking forward to the most about your experience as an IMD partner next year? What are you looking forward to the least?

Ashley: There are so many things I am looking forward to next year as an IMD partner! Getting to know the other IMD partners and their families is definitely at the top of the list. It will be a truly unique experience to be able to befriend so many people of such diverse backgrounds all at once. I am also excited to try life as an expat, especially in a French-speaking country. I’m hoping I can manage to pick up French again.

Hands down, I am least looking forward to missing my Marshmallow! I’m told that I shouldn’t expect to see him too much, which will be hard, especially once Little Marshmallow arrives.

A tip of the cap to IMD's support services

Much obliged!

I wanted to acknowledge the phenomenal job that IMD's support service team has been doing to help out with our preparation for the move to Lausanne. The weeks are going by faster and faster, and Ashley and I have been working our tails off to make sure we check all the necessary boxes before our departure date gets here. Throughout the process, IMD's support team has been so helpful, resourceful and responsive, and it's made our life tremendously easier.

I've always liked how the IMD "family" is so tight-knitted, and how the whole experience is so personalized. I am happy that Ashley and I are already experiencing this, even before we arrive!

Here are some of the ways IMD's support team has helped us the most:

The IMD Scholarships

Yesterday was the deadline for the submission of essays for the IMD MBA scholarships. Needless to say, I've been busy the last several days polishing up my essays and getting them ready to send in. The whole process was reminiscent of the days back in January, when I was cranking away on my IMD application form. Good times!

IMD's scholarships are awesome. Excluding the merit scholarships, which are awarded at the time of admission, there are 11 others on offer. In a class of 90 students, this means that over 12% of the class will get a scholarship. And the award amounts aren't too shabby either: the lowest one is for CHF 20,000, and the highest is for USD 50,000!

So there was plenty of motivation to get those essays in tip top shape!

MBA fair - the other side of the booth

Last week I attended the QS MBA Fair here in DC. I had been to a couple of these events before, back when I was still doing my research on different MBA programs out there. This time, however, was a little different. IMD invited me to help man their booth and answer questions from prospective applicants, since I have just gone through the admissions process myself. Exciting!

In my opinion, the MBA tour is a must for anyone interested in business school.

It was a lot of fun to be on the other side of the booth. Once again, I was amazed by the diversity of candidates that IMD attracts. Even in a location-specific event like this one, people who stopped by were from several different countries, had worked or lived all over the world, and had an impressive variety of backgrounds and work experience. I got to chat with a lot of interesting people, who I truly hope will consider IMD for their MBAs.

Not long after the fair began, I was surprised by an invitation from a Wharton alum to join a Q&A session as a panelist. A panelist! I haven't even started by MBA yet!

Insights from an IMD Alum

I recently reached out to Howie Chan - a fellow blogger, and class of 2009 IMD graduate. I asked him if he would mind being featured here on my blog, and he agreed to answer a few of my questions about his time at IMD. I am very happy to pass along some of his wisdom below!

A big thank you to Howie for taking the time to help those of us whose MBA journeys are still just beginning. You can (and should!) read more about Howie's IMD experience in his blog, aptly named Howie after IMD.

Here's what he had to say:

• What did you enjoy the MOST about the IMD experience? What did you enjoy the LEAST?

Howie: The most enjoyable thing about the IMD experience is working with a group of really smart people and building a camaraderie that will last throughout your lifetime. This enjoyment will continue to grow in the program and also after leaving IMD. The least enjoyable bit is the shear amount of time put into the program. You will live, sleep and breathe IMD. There will be conflicts and there will be very heated and uncomfortable moments. It's something that I did not enjoy during the experience, but learned to relish it as no valuable bonds and learning are developed during the good times. It's the hard times that counts.

Notes from the Q&A on Financing the IMD MBA

This morning I listened in on the IMD live chat about how to finance the MBA. It was a useful session - there were some good insights on strategies that students can use to make sure they will be able to pay for the program costs and live comfortably in Lausanne.

In addition to Janet Shaner, IMD's MBA Program Delivery Director, the session included the participation of two students as well: Stefan and Shweta. They shared a little bit about how they went about financing their MBA, and and answered questions from the audience.

Below are some of the themes and key advice I took away from the session: