Top 10 reasons to get your MBA at McCombs: #9 - Roll your own MBA

You may have heard the first semester at UT is a bit of a punch in the face with a lot coming at you all at once. It’s true – we took 9 courses in the first semester, and even though we spent only 7 weeks doing basic accounting and finance, our professors crammed in a full course’s material in the short time frame. This meant an all-out blitz and many long days trying to synthesize what was coming at us.

But it also meant that after the first semester, we were mostly done with our required courses. And that means more electives over the next 3 semesters.

At Harvard and Wharton, for example, you take the required curriculum the entire first year. Required courses are good – employers expect newly minted MBAs to have certain skills, after all - but it also means you have less time to take the classes you really want to take.

MBA students pose with traditionally dressed Indians on a
McCombs global study trip in 2010

Texas further differentiates itself by not requiring you to declare a major. So, after the first semester, you can really take just about any classes you want to take. There are some requirements – a second semester Strategy course, a “flex-core” optional class (pick from a few options), and a “global study” requirement – but there’s flexibility built in to those in terms of timing and subject matter.

Overall, what I found most refreshing about my liberal arts undergraduate experience was the opportunity to take classes I was interested in, rather than having to take a prescribed list of courses that were necessary to get a certain degree. It’s been nice to know that I can continue that experience in business school.