Executive MBA Program Blog

The Night Before Saunders...

As one of the older students in this cohort I wasn’t sure what to expect from the orientation experience. What I knew is that the overall program is rigorous, time-consuming, and may contain a moment (or 15 months) of stress! So why not have a big dinner, maybe a beer or 2, and watch TV until at least midnight? Strangely, I didn’t sleep well the night before orientation. I swear, excitement (not anxiety!!) was the cause. I haven’t been in an on-campus college class setting in many years, but I knew that the EMBA experience was meant to be life-changing for me. And I may have had a bit of anxiety after all, too.

Day 1

Wednesday morning… bright and early. You could sense the nervousness of everyone walking in as we went to meet our cohort. With so many different backgrounds and stories, I had a good feeling I was in the right place at the right time. The day flew by! We enjoyed nice conversation at breakfast before morning intros, overviews and computer setup. The highlight of the morning for me was finding out who my teammates would be - our personalities meshed well together and felt like we started to click right away.

We finished the day off with an excellent team-building activity where the cohort was divided into two groups. The groups went through a series of escape room challenges, and team members had different roles throughout. What a great job by the EMBA staff of putting it together. It was challenging AND fun. And although our team did not win the activity, we had a lot of fun getting to know more about each other. (We’re sure the other team cheated though… there’s no way they could beat us again!!)

I entered the three-day orientation on campus with a little trepidation. You could sense the nerves in the air, even through our masks, although we were familiar with the "new normal" by now. It was the anticipation of a life-changing journey that set this moment apart. The faculty and staff made us instantly at ease, as we had been in touch frequently already and were comfortable with them by the first day. The entire process was extremely organized and special, down to every detail. The EMBA team excelled at communicating the necessary information, and they navigated the new rules with such grace that we barely noticed things may have been different pre-pandemic. And let's not forget one of the best parts of the experience: RIT EMBA swag galore!

Before the experience began, I remember hearing how common it was to develop an instant bond with your cohort and team, but I was skeptical this could happen in three days. By the end, I was proven wrong. Given how rigorous and packed our schedule was, I was especially surprised to realize I had personal conversations with almost each and everyone of my 18 peers. After one particular session, my team discovered how well our strengths and weaknesses paired up. Amidst much self-exploration, we all managed to develop an instant comfort with each other. My favorite picture is when half of us were outside with masks after winning a team building challenge. Someone joked about how we were still smiling underneath, and when the picture came out you can see we had started to laugh. 

Not Your Average International Trip

The Executive MBA international experience is more than an international trip. Traveling with all three cohorts, you are immersed in the culture of a new city, where traditions and general business practices may seem unusual or even exotic. That is one of the exact reasons we select the locations we do — to create a transformative experience for our EMBA students. In addition to company visits, tours, and presentations from senior management, your team will serve as a consultant to an international organization, applying your knowledge and expertise to a specific client project. This trip is like none you have experienced before. 

One of the most frequent questions we receive from Executive MBA (EMBA) prospects has to do with the required capstone project, a five-to-six-month client consulting project that teams complete in the final two semesters of the program.  The interest in the capstone lies mostly in its novelty.  While most EMBA students have strong functional expertise in one or two areas, few have had the opportunity to own and manage a major and messy project with multiple deliverables. 

The Choice:  Teams get to choose from among a wide variety of projects, recent examples of which include identifying the three best cities for a company expansion, analyzing the viability of a proposed market diversification initiative, an opportunity assessment for a specific technology, and a market entry recommendation for a foreign firm planning expansion into the U.S.  

When I initially heard the details for my three day EMBA orientation experience, I was more than a little skeptical. It was hard to imagine what could possibly fill three full (and I mean full) days that couldn’t be done in much less time. Not to mention, it’s difficult to think about disconnecting from your routine, taking time off of work, and being away from your family mid-week. By the end of the first day I knew I couldn’t have been more wrong.

There was truly not a moment of the orientation experience that wasn’t completely necessary and beneficial in countless ways. On a practical level, getting all of our accounts set up and ready to go helped us to be prepared for the weeks to come with the materials we will need and the ability to use the technology we are being given. We were able to experience our first class, led by a phenomenal instructor who managed to hold our attention for hours at a time and challenged us to think and discuss in ways I suspect most of us hadn’t had the opportunity to do in a long time. I think we could all have happily spent another three days just finishing some of the engaging conversations we started during this session.

Gaining admissions to the Online Executive MBA Program at RIT, and attending the 3 day orientation experience was one of the most rewarding things I’ve done. I knew that I was going into a jam-packed, back to back experience for 2.5 days. What transpired in those two full 14 hour days and one short 8 hour day was completely unexpected.

Though it was a high intensity experience, all of the information was precisely delivered and more than palatable, despite the robust content. There was a combination of what to expect in the program and how to properly prepare for what’s coming. In addition, we had team building activities, courses, and homework. We went over an explanation of available resources, technology setup, and enjoyed group dinners in the evenings. All of the activities were engaging and presented in an entertaining way.