A Message to Garcia
Classroom Experience
The spotlight's on you.
“Classroom” sounds like a harmless enough word. Sparks images of chairs and desks and chalkboards.
But not at Acton. In our entrepreneurship courses, the “classroom” is a beast you must learn to tame—or die trying to. Your peers will be some of the smartest, most steadfast, most fiercely determined people you’ll ever meet. Your entrepreneur-teachers will ask you questions no one’s ever dared ask you. And once you graduate, you’ll leave transformed.
You will learn by doing something you hate—failing. But you will win by not making the same mistakes in the real world.
Here’s what you can expect (everything else you can only barely imagine):
Individual Preparation
Acton entrepreneurship classes are focused on cases, each of which requires hours of individual concentration and preparation beforehand. Plan on devoting between five and eight hours of study to analyzing each case in depth. Anything less and you’ll be eaten alive.
Study Groups
Study Groups are like prototypes for class. You’ll arrive at Study Group each morning fully prepared to stand in the shoes of the case’s entrepreneur. Your group will choose a peer to open the case, and for over an hour you’ll describe and defend your positions with them. If you haven’t prepared, it’ll show.
Classes
Our entrepreneurial classes begin with a “cold call,” a challenging question the teacher poses to one student to open the case. What comes next is eighty furious minutes of analysis, argument, and fervent persuasion. Since 50 percent of your grade depends on class participation, your contribution is critical.
Your Typical Weekly Workload
Acton delivers more than a traditional MBA program in less than half the time. Be prepared to work between 80 and 100 hours a week.