Student Stories

Mayank Dubey

Marketing and communications professional looking to learn about sustainable business practices

"The course has completely changed me today. I feel like a new person, with a new thought process, driven by purpose, committed to doing the right thing."

Daily, I use the accounting principles succinctly enumerated by Professor Narayanan. I especially use what I learned in the volunteer work that I do as a board member for two nonprofit organizations.

Enrique Garcia-Rivera

Enrique is pursuing a PhD in Chemical Biology and working to find cures for diseases like cancer. He plans to use CORe as a way to bridge the gap between his work in the lab and the funding and entrepreneurial support he will need to bring those discoveries to the public.

So much of the business world is about working with others to accomplish a common goal; knowing that your peers were rating your participation and reading your contributions was truly compelling.

Monica Higgins

Public relations Account Director who took Management Essentials to augment her management knowledge with a practical, case-based approach.

Being able to break down real-life scenarios, and look at the management processes within each - what worked and what didn't - provided a unique method of learning, and incomparable to other course offerings available.

Kali Pfaff

Healthcare business operations professional and current MBA student

While I originally enrolled in CORe to determine if I wanted to pursue an MBA, I ended up using the knowledge I gained from CORe to interview for and land my current job.

Allie O'Hanley

Founder and Director of Rxhibition, a new nonprofit organization that curates, designs, and installs art exhibitions in chemotherapy treatment areas

I expected CORe to be much more of an overview. I never was expecting the depth that it truly delivered. I received a strong foundation to be confident enough to build my own startup.

Dr. Patricia Hewston

Dr. Patricia Hewston is a post-doctoral fellow at the GERAS Centre for Aging Research in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University. Her research aims to optimize care pathways and develop tailored interventions for older adults with complex care needs.

"Leadership Principles has helped shape my unique leadership style. One of the most influential lessons for my leadership development was the HBS four-step process for delivering effective feedback and coaching—a process that I now apply on a daily basis."

Julian Tan

Recently completed my PhD and starting work at The Boston Consulting Group in London

As a classically trained scientist with limited business experience, I believe CORe is a fantastic way to invest in myself and help bridge the gap between being the scientist I am right now and the consultant I need to be in September.

Jackie Lender

Jackie is a student at Harvard University studying Government and Slavic Studies. She explains how CORe helped her develop an interdisciplinary skill set and build upon her liberal arts education to become a more effective leader.

Ryan Dumlao

Electrical Engineer in Pharmaceuticals, pursuing an MBA in the fall of 2016

I had never experienced such an immersive platform online, and could argue that it was more effective at building and solidifying knowledge than some of the in-class courses I took in college.

Megan Valanidas

A designer who took CORe to understand the language of business.

It is really helpful as I apply for jobs to be able to demonstrate that I have the capability to consider economic constraints or opportunities.

Sam Gant

Pursuing a career in International Development

I think CORe may be the extra push I need to connect with jobs that really interest me.

Dave Nelson

Head of Sales at WegoWise

I feel like I have an unfair advantage now knowing what I've learned from this course. It has given me confidence and clarity in my decisions, and I can already see the material impact of applying this model and mindset to our business and our culture.

Manoj Purohit

Product Manager at Thermax Limited, an energy and environmental solution provider

[Economics for Managers] has unveiled powerful tools to me which are very useful in my current role.

CORe goes well beyond the basics, but it isn't overwhelming. The classes are structured in a way that each lesson builds on the lessons before to reinforce everything you've learned. CORe also provides you with real world examples that illustrate the concepts. It's one of the most impressively organized programs I've ever been a part of.

I interviewed for my current role the day before the CORe final exam and talked with my now-manager about how much I learned about accounting, reading financial statements, and data analytics, and how I could apply that to my current role. My job is project-based, and I'm currently leading the operational functions of a system-wide IT implementation, a project that affects the daily work of a few thousand employees. Knowing how to read financial statements or look at data sets and understand them has helped me make major decisions on future state reporting.

As an entrepreneur, mentor and educator, I can safely say that Harvard Business School Online has shown me the future of education. It is worth every penny and is definitely something I'd recommend to anyone looking to enrich their business education.

Jason Bender

President at Lomont Molding, LLC

I decided to sign up for Leading with Finance because I not only wanted a refresher on the principles of finance, but also wanted to take a more proactive and deeper approach to my companies financial positioning.

Danielle Dutervil Mubarak

A lawyer in NYC using her CORe knowledge to better serve her clients.

What really impressed me were my classmates - people from all over the world and from all backgrounds that were invested in helping each other.

Nisha Patel

Pursuing a Master of International Marketing at Hult International School of Business

I hope to gain confidence in conveying the fundamentals of business and a solid understanding of the application of theory to the real world in any industry.

Danilo Salazar

Entrepreneur researching education and solar energy technology in Ecuador

Now I see how to take control of the financial part of my business and also how I can apply strategy when I enter into a new market.

I could not be a bigger proponent for online learning following my CORe experience. The ability to pause, rewind, and repeat what your instructor has to say was very helpful in learning business concepts. The course increased my confidence in the world of business and helped me formalize my career path.

Jenna Pollack

Dance professional armed with business knowledge to complement her career as a performance artist.

The notion that economic stability is mutually exclusive from creativity, from non-profits at large, is something I have recently committed myself to debunking. I took CORe to arm myself with the tools and language of business for this reason, to move my art forward responsibly.

The course shifted my worldview: what the most pressing problems are, who comes up with solutions, and how we get there. Professor Henderson pushed hard for us to think deeply about systemic change when it's easy to be satisfied with small wins. Though the course is focused on the private sector, in my public sector job, I often reference the learnings when considering how best to work with businesses so we can leave the world better than we received it.

CORe gave me a new lens through which I could look at the world. I applied what I learned right away at work and continue to apply it now in business school.

Natacha

Natacha explains how CORe is helping her advance her career in finance.

Professor Wheeler's course gave me a new and profound perspective on negotiation. Whether I am trying to convince my daughter to go to bed on time, discussing a contract with a manufacturer, or organizing large scale military exercises with thousands of troops and dozens of aircraft - deftly employing the right negotiation technique can be the difference in success or failure.

…fun, exciting, and powerful. I believe I learned a lot through this course that I couldn't have gotten elsewhere with my liberal arts education.

Ozgur Taskaya

User Acquisition Manager at Adcash

We live in an ever changing world and in order to keep up and become successful, continuous education is a must-do.

Michael Colletti

Working for a cutting-edge SaaS startup in Boston, MA

My goals also include applying the knowledge learned in this program to my professional life, really soaking it in, and learning from the experiences and perspectives of my peers in the course.

I was worried that the courses would move too quickly for me to master each concept, but the instructors, the materials, real-world case studies and the class interaction allowed me to truly understand the fundamentals of each…

Sophie Pan

Senior Analyst at a media group

CORe will challenge you to stretch yourself. But if you put in the hours and the hard work, it will prove to be an extraordinarily rewarding experience.

Anthony Alvarez

Aerospace Engineering Student at the University of Florida

"During my conversation with a Boeing recruiter (my dream company), he was curious about my experience with HBS Online. He asked, ‘What was the most impactful thing you learned from Economics for Managers?’ Sparing details, I responded with the concept of WTP [willingness to pay] and how important it is to understand how to price a product. He loved my response, and I was fortunate to receive an interview, which led to an offer. Understanding E4M [Economics for Managers] helped me diversify myself as a STEM student in a conference full of technical perspectives.”

Pablo Stuardo

IT consultant using CORe to help further his career

Additionally, the program allowed me to acquire a more holistic view of the services we provide, and it is helping me develop new ideas to innovate and generate different sources of revenue.

CORe was much more than a tripod of rigorous courses. The sense of community that developed from all the various social platforms that were unique to Harvard Business School Online that provided me the platform to interact with other students from all over the world in various industries were instrumental in my application and understanding of the concepts.

Economics for Managers was immensely valuable. Hearing from founders and seeing the power of network effects through various case studies helped me see market opportunities through an entirely different lens. I was able to talk about powerful tools, like conjoint analysis and A/B testing, in interviews. And the market knowledge I acquired helped me refine and expertly craft research reports at my firm. Professor Anand's engaging style prompted me to continue my education in economic strategy.

Jacqueline Ryan

Integrated Marketing Manager at YumEarth

Weekly, I negotiate strategic partnerships for my company, and Negotiation Mastery has given me additional skills that I have put into practice and have resulted in much more successful agreements.

Emer Moloney

Emer Moloney, Research Associate at the Harvard Business School European Research Center

I now feel that I have a broad overview of finance and can approach topics with a strong, integrated framework instead of approaching them in isolation.

Farsh Askari

Community Manager and Disruptive Strategy Participant

​Learning about disruption theories has proven not only applicable within a business context, but broadly as a predictive prescription toward challenges in life as a whole.

This was a class where you could contribute your opinion and hear from two participants who were on opposite sides of the debate, as well as the globe.

Megan Lacy

Engineer and varsity athlete working towards her master's in Athletic Leadership

I was considering taking economics and accounting classes on the side while completing my master’s degree. However, I realized that through Harvard Business School Online I could get the same experiences I could get in a classroom over time all in only a few months.

CORe is something completely different from any online course. It captures the key components of a live classroom and makes it possible for classmates to interact and help one another.

Paige Peterson

Sales Manager, Western US at Coravin, Inc.

I have already applied so much of what I have learned. My strategy and message for my team and how we communicate with our customers has begun to shift.

Rarely does a day go by where I don't see a business leader or company wrestling with the same issues that we discussed in class on the front-page of the Wall Street Journal. These issues are more relevant than ever and top of mind for many of the companies I work for as a consultant. They continue to inform my own personal worldview of capitalism, and my own role in shaping society as a future business leader.

I thought I knew the subject relatively well and it would be a refresher. I was in for a surprise. After the first module, I realized that I did many things wrong. The most chilling thought was about missed opportunities. The course is giving me a good structure to understand organizational behavior.

Fernando Garces

The Negotiation Mastery course has taught me that everyone has their own motivations. Even though we may all be working towards the same goal, there are different priorities depending on who you talk to.

Christopher Munro

Operations Analyst who took CORe to further a career in business

CORe proved to be so rewarding. I went in with the mindset of something to set my resume apart from others and came out with a broad and detailed understanding of the fundamentals of business.

Richard Pitts

Medical professional looking to learn about sustainable business practices

"As always, the case studies are eye-opening. The content is superb, and the presentation of the case is superb as well."