This past weekend I had the wonderful privilege to attend the Orientation Program (OP) for the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management (link).  The Consortium is an organization supported by top business schools and various corporate sponsors that provides merit-based, full-tuition fellowships to minority candidates who show demonstrated support of the Consortium’s stated mission:

To enhance diversity in business education and leadership by helping to reduce the serious underrepresentation of African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans in both our member schools’ enrollments and the ranks of management.

I was selected to take part in this organization based on a combination of my Mexican ancestry and my past leadership involvement in organizations that promote and encourage the role of Hispanics in business, education, and society.  In order to be selected for membership in the Consortium one must also accept enrollment in one of fifteen top full-time MBA programs.

There is really only one way to describe the OP weekend: extremely intense.  From my arrival Thursday evening till departure on Monday afternoon, I was involved in programmed events.  Although we were privileged to take part in luncheons, dinners, mixers, and other social events throughout the weekend, there was rarely a time when we weren’t required to have on our “game face”.  Accordingly, I was able to meet lots of new people and I was given the unique opportunity to get to know MBA students who would be attending universities other than my own (the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia).  I think that making friends with and building a network of other MBA students from other schools is something that my future Darden classmates will not really have the chance to do.  There is definitely value in meeting other students and spending quality personal time with them.  I know that most of those I met would be more than willing to assist me with whatever I might need, as I would for them.  It will also be interesting to compare experiences as we transition through business school and back out into the corporate world.

One of the great advantages that Consortium students have is access to corporate recruiters long before other students (and obviously even before we set foot on campus).  Throughout the weekend we were able to get to know recruiters and other corporate representatives at planned social functions and other networking events.  These social events culminated in a Sunday afternoon career fair where we were able to visit each of the company booths and meet those people we hadn’t yet run into.  Monday morning also brought the prospects of interviews with recruiters and even the possibility of internship offers for next summer.  Accordingly, each of us took seriously the opportunity to develop relationships and learn about each of the companies and specific roles and opportunities we might be interested in pursuing within those organizations.

Probably the highlight of the OP experience though, was developing relationships with my future classmates.  It was fun to meet such an awesome group of diverse men and women from different places and varying industries.  I believe that having this weekend to get to know each other will truly prove to be an advantage come August when classes begin.  Along with my future classmates, a few members of the excellent Darden staff, faculty, and some great second-year students were also present to answer our questions and prepare us both for life at B-School, and to take advantage of the unique opportunities that OP presents.  At the end of the day, I am extremely happy that I chose to attend Darden in the fall.  I truly can’t say enough about the caliber of my fellow Consortium students from both a personal and professional standpoint.  In addition, the staff was extremely helpful and willing to bend over backwards to lend a hand with any request, as were those second-year students who gave their time to mentor us.  After this weekend, I am even more excited to begin my studies in the fall.