Why Ross?

Searching out the business school that best fits with your personal goals and interest areas is not an easy task. Should you strictly go by the rankings you'll miss valuable insight that can make or break an experience. I spent countless hours investigating many schools from many angles. For me it boiled down to the shared ambitions, personalities, intellectual power, and pure stamina of the people I would call on for the rest of my career. I found like minds and simlar values at Ross. For me, success is far more than improving shareholder value. In fact, that is the least noble of all goals. Instead I sought a group of people driven to shift the tide. I do believe in the noble cause of business and that society and industry may be changed by the actions or inactions of business. It is balancing a multiple bottom line that includes value to society, the environment, shareholders, and industry. Governments and NGOs may also shift the tide--I'm most comfortable in business, it just seems to have broader focus and faster momentum. The Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan has provided me with a rich experience to both challenge and support such grand notions. I'm wealthier already. Why should Ross be the best school for anyone else? Well, it's not. For some, such goals come further down the list. For others, a piece of that puzzle needs a different balance. The opportunities to create real and lasting change for real organizations is rare. The numerous opportunities to lead and be led in a multitude of topic areas is rare. The genuine challenge of exceptional classroom diversity of thought is rare. The culmination of a humble, yet intellectual and highly ambitious network of colleagues I will call on for the rest of my career is literally unmatched. Go blue.