When I was exploring MBAs two years ago, most of the forums I came across focused on program rankings, company recruitment, and the social scene. While these three components make up the cornerstone of the MBA experience across universities, there are many other attributes – both common and idiosyncratic – that add depth to the program. Perhaps the strongest auxiliary attribute that the WI School of Business has is the engagement of its alumni.
Whether it’s the depth of the network or highlighting graduates doing big things à la alumni-to-watch articles, every school takes pride in its alumni. Similarly, just about every institution will tout the interconnectedness and approachability of its graduates. Speaking candidly from my undergraduate experience, the administration’s perception of its alumni’s willingness to engage and the reality did not always align when I was on the search for roles.
This could not be further from the case for the WSB and the RMI specialization, in particular. The engagement of the alums was exemplified nearly day one of school, where on our third day of orientation we had five alumni return to engage in a roundtable conversation with us current students. What makes this even more special are the alumni who traveled a distance (over two hours) for an event that only lasted a few hours. Time is valuable and in short supply in the post-MBA professional world. To have these Badgers set time aside, share their insights, and extend a line of communication to us in person was a signal that the school wasn’t just claiming to have an engaged network.
Beyond in-person events (like last November’s Advisory Board Meeting), every alum – and I mean that literally – that I’ve reached out to has gotten back to me. Whether it was my alumna mentor (the wise & humble Melissa Leuck) or RMI graduates from up to 20 years ago, the sentiment has been the same: excited and happy to help someone in their former shoes. However, the biggest thing that I believe separates Business Badger alumni from other programs is how genuinely happy they are to connect. I think every school expects its graduates to be engaged members of a broader community, but this expectation does not permeate equally. That does not seem to be the case here at the WSB, where the school pride runs deep (just look around at all the different generations of Badgers on a Football Saturday) across the community.
My MBA has been an incredible learning experience, with a not insignificant number of these lessons coming from my conversations with the alumni community. My impending graduation comes with some bittersweet feelings, but one thing I look forward to is being able to give back as a member of the Business Badger Alumni Community.
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