I finished CORe in June 2018, and can confidently say: The program was worth every minute.
My goal is to earn an MBA and J.D., but I knew I needed to fill in my knowledge gaps first. I had run my own video production company for three years—while simultaneously working through two bachelor’s degrees and interning 20 hours a week—before transitioning into property management.
After more than a decade in the field, however, I want to pivot my career into finance and, eventually, start my own business in artificial intelligence and media. I thought CORe could help.
I explored fundamental business concepts and, voluntarily, tax and business law through CORe. I wanted to not only learn and share through the peer help model, but test myself in a more rigorous way.
Before applying to CORe, I had also discovered Harvard University's commitment to the Honor Code—a value I embraced as an Honor Council board member at my high school. I felt reassured knowing Harvard placed attention on honesty and academic integrity.
I got heavily involved in the social aspects of Harvard Business School Online, frequently participating in Peer Help, which allows students to ask and answer questions within the course platform. There is no better reinforcement for me than teaching the material I am learning and building on those ideas with others. It also enabled me to network with my peers and make new contacts and friends.
After completing CORe, I continued to build my network by joining Community as a Team Member for the Washington, D.C. Chapter. The Community features more than 20 Chapters around the world, which host events that are free and open to everyone—not just past participants of HBS Online. It’s a network of people who want to help each other and includes professionals at different stages of their career.
In an effort to start making my own career dream a reality, I attended a graduate school information session in late July. While there, I inquired about CORe's role in Harvard Business School's admissions process.
Harvard Business School offers CORe to incoming students to help them prepare for the MBA classroom experience, and Admissions encourages candidates to take CORe if they are underprepared for the graduate degree’s quantitative topics, such as financial accounting.
The quantitative edge of CORe is where I found myself most alive. While I excelled in research methods, statistics, and experimental design, that only comprised five courses between my two bachelor’s degrees in psychology and communication media. CORe's quantitative features were crucial in furthering my finance career goals and could enhance my business school application. When I choose to enroll in an MBA program, I’m confident CORe will have been a good primer.
The impact of my experience with CORe and Community has made me want to further myself both professionally and intellectually. My plan now is to do just that.
