Reflecting on my experiences so far

Baljit Chander reflects on his first year as a Distance Learning MBA (London) participant and discusses what has worked for him and what is still to come.

After 15 years of deliberation as to when I should apply for an MBA I finally took the plunge. That was October 2017 and after approaching Warwick Business School (WBS), I went along to an open day. Working as a full time General Practitioner and looking after a family is quite a task in itself but then to delve into an MBA too! 

I soon discovered that the only mode of learning that would work for me would be the distance learning version and since WBS came in at Number 1 in the Financial Times rankings, there was no other business school to consider. Although I do think it’s important to look around and work out what’s going to be best school for your personal circumstances. 

Beginning the course

I finally started my MBA in June 2018 and went straight into the Operations Management and the Leadership modules. It was fun to get to know my virtual group members, which had a real international exposure and another fellow doctor in the group. It was hard work arranging meetings at weekends or during the evenings but we got through it and I have forged some really good friendships throughout the process.

By the end of August 2018 I participated in ‘Warwick Week One’ at The Shard in London. A real highlight for me was being at such a fantastic, world renowned location as a student. The Week finally gave me the opportunity to meet my fellow group members in person, having worked with them for two months on a virtual platform. It was an intense learning experience but well worth it with the weekday often ending with beers in a pub at Borough Market!

While at ‘Warwick Week Two’ at the end of March 2019 the quality of the lecturers was superb, with a real international flavour and everyone in the group got stuck into real life and real time business dilemmas.

Reflecting on the journey so far

I have been on the programme for eleven months now and it’s been a real tough journey. Constant lectures using the WBS digital platform, my.wbs, backed up with live lectures and textbooks means that the workload is very demanding, and I would say that the most important prerequisite prior to embarking upon this mammoth challenge is to gain ‘buy in’ from your family. 

The Distance Learning MBA has lived up to be a real challenge and at the same time exciting and immensely rewarding. The networking potential has been really positive with so many smart and culturally diverse students on the course. It’s quite a humbling experience to be associated with such a cohort of individuals. 

I am looking forward to completing my first year, choosing my Electives and planning my second year dissertation. The course has really lived up to its reputation and if you want to learn and be challenged in a safe nurturing environment with the best academics and the brightest students then the WBS MBA is the course for you. Stay tuned…

Find out more about the Distance Learning MBA.