May
Why I chose to go to Columbia Business School’s J Term?
Name: Barry Jonas
Pre-MBA experience: BS from Cornell University and was a management consultant prior to business school.
Business School: Columbia Business School, Class of 2003
MBA Program: Accelerated Program – also known as Columbia J Term
After deciding on Columbia Business School for a number of reasons, I chose the J-Term program because the accelerated 16 month length did not sacrifice the quality of the academic or social experience, while it allowed me to interact with students who had similar entrepreneurial interests/backgrounds.
Essentially the J-Term starts one term later than the regular class and makes up for it via summer coursework while Fall term MBA students are pursuing internships. When I started the program, I was very focused on developing a family business, but was looking for the MBA education and network to help accomplish specific goals. As such a summer internship was unnecessary for me. A large contingent of fellow J-Termers had similar goals and they proved to be invaluable sounding boards.
Once at Columbia Business School, I was able to explore entrepreneurial paths as well as more traditional corporate paths. I ultimately realized I was not ready to run my own business directly after graduation. When I realized I wanted to find a traditional job after Columbia Business School, as opposed to start my own business, I did two externships/part time internships during the school year. However, I wound up finding a job in an unrelated field via on-campus recruiting. Columbia Business School and the J-term program were flexible enough that I was able to find a traditional yet exciting job in the gaming and hospitality industry after graduation, while laying the groundwork for future entrepreneurial opportunities.
My second job out of Columbia Business School was found via an introduction from a former classmate at Columbia Business School. Currently I am in New York, consulting for a restaurant software start-up and helping them raise capital.
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