Can you tell us more about yourself?
I am Andrey and I am the Corporate Finance Director at Evraz Group SA. I graduated with a Masters in Economics from the Lomonosov Moscow State University and moved to Luxembourg when I joined Evraz. I am a member of the EMBA Class of 2019 at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
What prompted you to apply for an MBA?
Right after my Masters, I got a key position at Evraz Group which required me to move to Europe. Through the years I came to the realization that even though I had a degree from one of the most prestigious Universities in Russia, it seemed pretty theoretical. I felt that I needed a type of education that would put me in line with the Western approach and standards of education. An MBA from The University of Chicago Booth made sense as being the University of economists, it has a very strong reputation in economics and finance. It would also fulfill the three criteria that I had put to myself: quality education, western education and a degree that would be more practical based rather than the very theoretical education I received in Russia.
What did you find the most difficult in the application process?
My work with Evraz entails a lot of traveling between Russia and Luxembourg. As such, the most difficult part of the admission process turned out to be finding the time to prepare for studies in the midst of work. Moreover, being based in Luxembourg, I did not have easy access to test prep centers and everything had to be handled remotely. Fortunately, I received the support of the MBA Center who helped me throughout the process and gave me a coach to guide me through the entire admission process.
What is life like at Chicago Booth?
Chicago Booth was the first University to create the Executive MBA Program in 1943. Of course, the design of the courses might have changed over the years. However, the values of excellence and empowering bold thinkers still remains the same. The classes are rigorous and inspire innovative thinking amongst its participants. The faculty is highly distinguished across the globe and the degree remains one of the most prestigious ones in the world today.
What would be your advice to someone applying for an MBA program?
Initially, I wanted to do a full-time MBA. However, I found that my position at EVRAZ would give me the additional support of the company to go for an EMBA. Hence I changed my opinion and decided to go for the executive program. So the first bit of advice I would like to give all applicants is to study your environment before choosing your program. There are many things that you need to consider, such as, whether you would want a US degree or a European degree, full-time course or part-time course, etc. a part-time course would be more apt for people in their 30s while a full-time course would be more practical for younger students fresh out of college. In my case, I probably took my decision too fast. Thankfully, I met Dr. Hubert Silly and after an intense discussion about my options, I came to the conclusion that an EMBA from Chicago Booth would be the best for me as I would get a quality education, a US degree and a very hands-on method of learning at the University. I would also get financial assistance from my company which was an added bonus.
I would credit Dr. Hubert Silly with my success as his advice was always in line with what I really needed and I would like to recommend that people talk to him to figure out their best choices in the search for the best program.