MBA + MS Design Innovation (MMM Program)at the McCORMICK SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING and KELLOGG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Why did you choose MMM?

I chose MMM for 2 reasons: the content and the community.

At Dartmouth, I majored in Classical Literature and Languages and spent my spare time taking courses in as many different departments as possible. This taught me "how to think" by combining structured thinking with a variety of problem-solving approaches. After, I spent 6 years in consulting learning "what to think", specifically quantitative analysis and storytelling skills that can serve me in a variety of roles. As I looked at MBA programs, I wanted to get another "how to think" degree. MMM was the perfect fit: the Design Innovation degree would give me the user-centered design thinking and more technical lenses that I both did not have previously and thought would springboard my post-Kellogg career.

As I looked into the MMM program more, what really stood out was the tight-knit community. Almost every Kellogg alum I talked to either was a MMM who loved the program or a 2Y who wished they had done MMM. The 70-person cohort within the 700-person class felt like the ideal community structure, where I could have a "home base" of a smaller community from which I could explore the larger Kellogg world.

What is life like as a MMM student?

Excitingly chaotic! I find myself challenged and stretched by the Kellogg experience and my fellow MMMs. There are a tremendous amount of opportunities and obligations across academics, interesting speakers, and club get-togethers - it's just a matter of prioritizing on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

A typical week at Kellogg will usually include attending classes, lunch and learns or club meetings at the Global Hub, working at the MMM lounge, pickup basketball with other students, dinner plans with my partner and our friends, and a Chicago adventure or 2.

What have you loved about your MMM experience? 

MMM summer was an incredible highlight. Without the pressures of recruiting or extracurriculars, the 70 MMMs set out to take advantage of the Chicago summer: volleyball on the Evanston beach, long bike rides through the northern suburbs, excursions to Cubs games downtown, and full-group get-togethers on rooftops and patios that felt both large and intimate at the same time. The MBA-meets-summer camp experience is both unique among MBA programs and one of the best parts of being in MMM.

As summer has turned to winter, my appreciation for my classmates has only deepened. Our cohort has a different flavor than the larger Kellogg community: there are more tinkerers and builders, and a wider variety of intellectual backgrounds and perspectives to learn from. This variety really shines in our MMM-only classes: each time I am put in a new group for the group project, and each time I walk away having made new friends and having learned new ways to approach and solve problems.