Tulane University Freeman School BLOG

Number 9: Bschool should only be a year and a half.

I basically had nothing to do this past spring semester…class wise. I was incredibly busy with the job search and my internship, as were my classmates. But I’m kind of confused as to why bschool is two full years when I accumulated enough credits to graduate in less time than that, especially considering the cost of around 3 grand a class.

Perhaps the curriculum should be opened up so I can take more elective classes my first year and spread the required classes out over a longer period of time. For example, my first semester here I wanted to take currency trading. The professor was ok with me joining the class, but the school prevented me from adding the class, ostensibly because the workload would have been too much. Hogwash! As soon as we were done with the first semester Tulane allowed me to take 17 credit hours…exactly the same amount I wanted to take beforehand. By this time I was so busy taking other classes which were only offered during that one semester that I didn’t have the time to retake the class. I finally took currency trading the fall semester of my second year, but it was an audited class, because while I wanted the knowledge I didn’t need the credits to graduate. As a result, I wasn’t as motivated or focused in the class because there was no pressure, and I probably didn’t learn as much as I could have if I’d been allowed to take it my first semester.

The second year of bschool has a vastly different meter to it than the first year. My classmates spent more time focusing on jobs than on class work, as all grades are curved within a pretty small range in the first place. My motivation shifted more towards finding a job than pursuing knowledge for the sake of knowledge, something I didn’t like but had to accept because of the impending finality of my bschool career.

I’m not sure if the answer is to shorten the MBA program. The London Business School has a highly regarded 1 yr program. Perhaps US schools should reexamine their curriculum to best suit students’ needs over the course of two years: a more flexible course offering the first year might enable students to move at their own pace and (if needed) continue to have a full schedule right up until graduation (which would also represent more revenue for the school – HINT HINT!) Or if they desire, students can take the traditional route, finish in a year and a half and start their career that much sooner, or spend that time working exclusively with the career management center rather than feeling obligated to take one or two token classes just because they see the rest of their class doing it.

Bottom line: the second year was a lot less stressful class wise, but more stressful job wise…a process that I definitely could have smoothed out if I could have done everything all over again. Yeah, in my next life!

Have a great weekend! –Joel Yarmon, joel@tulanemba.org

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