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David Busch, MBA 2015

As I sit in my snowy midwestern hometown at the end of the year, I reflect on all my personal events from the previous year. Practicing this transcendent activity, as most of the world does at this time, I think of my search for the perfect MBA program. The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) currently lists 676 institutions that are accredited business schools. 559 offer general Master of Business degrees while 449 offer specialized Masters Degrees in business related fields. So, how do you pick one?

Stumble down the street and you’ll be sure to find a Brown Mackie College or University of Phoenix. Possibly, you could just post the latest Businessweek college rankings on the wall and throw a dart. In the words of a great philosopher, “Education is paramount in development.” All education that is. So, does it even matter if you actually take the time out to pick a particular school?

One of my favorite spokesmen of all time, Yogi Berra, puts a good spin on the topic of searching. “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” These words of wisdom represent the search for the right MBA program very well. If you don’t take the search seriously, your perception of the school you find yourself enrolled in may not align with reality. Like Yogi Berra said, you might wind up someplace else.

“Why the University of Colorado?” – This is a question I found myself confronted with on a weekly if not daily basis after I had enrolled. Growing up in Indiana (home of two top 25 programs according to Bloomberg Businessweek rankings), graduating in Civil Engineering from Purdue University (a top engineering school and in the top 50 MBA programs), and working in Chicago (home of two top 5 MBA programs), I had to ask myself that question as well.

Over a year ago, I had many reasons why I thought the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado was among the top candidates in my list of MBA programs. However, I didn’t have an actual student or alumni contact from the school that I could rely on to get a deeper insight to what the program was actually all about. I didn’t know the daily life of the student. I had no idea what kind of work load I was taking on or culture I was going to be exposing myself to.

This morning, with my dog on my lap and the Christmas tree lighting the room, I have a full semester under my belt. Luckily, I had taken my search very seriously and could not be more delighted with my experiences. I still wish I would have had a beacon guiding me to a well-rounded understanding of the University. With this thought in mind, I hope to open the door for everyone else following my steps in search of new opportunities. My ��������Ƶ blog postings will be dedicated to enlightening all who are faced with or asking the question of “Why the University of Colorado?”

I thought about discussing all the wonderful reasons in brevity in this post, however, the list is quite extensive. Future highlights will include information on the program itself, spotlights on community members (faculty, professors, students, active civic leaders), trip recaps for the outdoors, breweries, & events, career and internship possibilities, national and international competitions and conventions we get involved in, and many more exciting attributes that contribute to the fulfilling life of the Leeds MBA candidate. Until then, stay warm and have fun. Journey forth knowing that you may soon get to where you are going.