MBA Class of 2018 (Dubai/Shanghai)

Experience during the program

Did my MBA at Hult Dubai (Class of 2018), and completed my electives at the Shanghai campus. Amazing, world-class faculty and a fantastic set of classmates collectively made my world a whole lot larger, and also made the hardship of going through it all worth it.

As I mentioned before, the faculty are amazing people who have done everything they could to make sure I understood the material, even with the fast pace of the course. If Hult has done anything right, they've certainly hired the right people to teach courses here. I'm certain you will feel the same way. Below I added some pros and cons to give an overview of what to generally expect. Please take this with a grain of salt though, as Hult is clearly a dynamic school and things change from year to year.

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The pros essentially revolve around the people and places you get to go and see and learn from -- the experience alone has been worth every penny plus some to me. Hult is very much specialized in business, and this brings along its own merit. If I had to put my thumb on it, I would say their core curriculum seems to place further emphasis on entrepreneurship, leadership, and marketing. In these areas, the faculty are particularly strong.

The other particularly strong point would be the student body that I had the highest privilege of working with at Hult. Many of my classmates brought with them many years in their industry along with a wealth of leadership experience, not to mention their subject-matter expertise. This made our entire course become just as much a collaborative relationship between students and faculty as it was a learning experience. A lot of the things I learned while I was there I absorbed from my classmates just as much as the professors.

Shoutouts to the following people for being as outstanding as they have been this entire time: the Dubai campus career counselor (Jennifur Minturn) who has been nothing short of inspiring. She's been an awesome help even after my time in Dubai ended. Dr. Amanda Nimon-Peters is a faculty member whose brief time as one of my professors easily left a killer first impression during the program and continues to serve as an inspiration. Dr. Luis Escamilla, who was the Campus Dean of Dubai campus at the time, always had his door open to all comers and took the time out of his busy schedule to help in any way he could that was asked of him.

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Here are the chief cons: The campuses and the facilities at Dubai and Shanghai are quite humble with Hult's presence still being a recent thing in both cities, as far as established universities go. Accommodation is very much an independent issue and there isn't much the staff were able to do to help. Campus facilities themselves (particularly the study rooms) are intermittently in short supply during peak times. All class groups (MS/MBA/EMBA) share the same facilities, with some having differing class/homework demands and formats with needs that occasionally clashed directly with one another. (Word on the street is that they're still actively working on doing something about the issue.)

Their financial aid and student services departments are small in Dubai and particularly in Shanghai. While the staff themselves are nothing short of amazing people, a lot of the nitty-gritty sometimes has to happen in their offices in London and Boston, which might end up slowing down things for some people. However, they have made the process for obtaining visas to get from place to place as simple and straightforward as it gets, so this is at least one less thing to worry about.

Career services is similarly limited in scope. While they do hold corporate recruiting events from time to time, these events are on a campus area that is limited in size and thus can become quite crowded. Come prepared beforehand; it gets competitive. (As with before, the faculty have acknowledged this and it is likely that there will be significant improvements next year to the "come-one-come-all" format.)

About professors, classes and curriculum

I would like to specifically give a shoutout to the staff and faculty below. These are just a few of the people that I've had the honor of working with at Hult.

Dr. Amanda Nimon-Peters: for her amazing help in my efforts to hone in on a course of direction post-MBA. She carries a wealth of knowledge and experience and it'd almost be a sin not to have a good conversation (about anything) with her if you have the chance.

Dr. Luis Guillermo Escamilla: for his tireless help in getting me through some of the rougher patches of my program, and in helping me steady my aim as I look past my experience at Hult and towards my intended path.

Jennifer Minturn: for her tireless work at the counselor's office. She's probably the unsung hero of the story and more than deserves a mention. She's always helping someone out and has proven invaluable in getting me back on track whenever I have doubts about something.

About job placement process

I have but two words for people who wish to apply at Hult: "be prepared." It's a deceptively smooth process getting in, but getting accepted is half the battle. Whatever the campus you pick, there isn't going to be much that will be handed to you on a silver platter. Additionally, you'll find that there's little time (if any) for internships before the summer starts because of the accelerated nature of the program.

From my own observations, victory favors the bold; so do the staff AND the recruiters. Given all I've posted above, I'm not sure if anything else needs to be said on that regard.

Overall BSchool experience (4.0)
Schools contribution (4.0)
Classmates rating (5.0)

Strengths of the program:

Curriculum, Classes, Professors
Student body, diversity
Culture & Student Support

Best fit at this program:

Consulting
Marketing
Entrepreneurship

Can be improved:

Career opportunities provided by school
Facilities