Student Stories

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.

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.

[With Business Analytics], I discovered a new-found love of data analytics. I was fascinated to learn about ways we can use data to systematically seek an answer to a specific business question or predict the outcome of a scenario given past behavior. This new interest has motivated me to pursue a career in data science (a field that combines statistics, analytics, and business knowledge), which I have begun to work toward since I finished [the course].

Atanas Atanasov

Strategy Execution Participant

What I found most valuable were the methods and tools, which were useful and practical. I’ve already applied some of my learning at my job.

I believe that CORe helped prove to prospective employers, as well as myself, that I understand the fundamentals of business.

Peggy Dau

Founder & Managing Partner at MAD Perspectives LLC

I am paying more attention to how my clients perceive the value of my services. I find myself rephrasing their statements to confirm their true needs.

Felix Alaita

Business Strategy Participant

I believe anyone looking to better understand business strategy would gain a lot from this course.

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.

The way Business Analytics blended numbers with the impact on business forecasting and improvement of business processes was simply amazing. The real-life cases from different spheres made the learning more insightful. The subject further helped affirm the power of data/numbers in analyzing and forecasting about a particular business initiative.

I am applying concepts from the Business Analytics course in my current venture. From designing surveys to hypothesis testing, every aspect of data collection and analysis informs our customer validation process.

Harvard Business School Online is one of the best things I've ever been a part of. Proud to be an alumni of two HBS Online programs, and looking forward to more. HBS really got it right with this.

The content and approach to Finance offered by Professor Desai is a unique, engaging and powerful way to not only look at numbers, but more importantly, understand the story they tell.

Leslie Pico

A small business owner and tech entrepreneur from Arizona

Participating in the student discussions was empowering. It ignited a drive within me to learn and absorb as much as I could.

Lindsay Stanley

Non-profit fundraiser applying CORe to her career and using it as inspiration to pursue an MBA

Reflecting on my experience, I would say my favorite part was realizing that even though I studied the arts and have picked a career where I work for cultural institutions, I am just as capable as every other person of understanding and applying the subjects taught in CORe.

Juliana Casale

Juliana Casale is the Head of Marketing at Crazy Egg, a SaaS company that builds website optimization tools.

I'm now more mindful of how my colleagues are experiencing me, and less averse to having difficult conversations.

Özgür Burak Akkol

Human Resources Director

We leverage HBS Online’s programs to reach employees and executives across our global organization. Participants develop a practical understanding of critical topics like strategic thinking, innovation, management, finance, and negotiations – all rooted in a social learning environment. This approach has made them more effective and engaged members of our organization, and eager to learn more.

Tyler Sonsalla

PhD candidate studying molecular sciences and nanotechnology and interested in learning about utilizing sustainability within a business model

I enjoyed hearing from top executives of large firms and their sustainable initiatives. Additionally, speaking with individuals that lived in different countries was very enlightening. Lastly, I enjoyed the ability to complete at my own pace because I liked to step away and think about each question.

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.

Paul Accornero

Paul Accornero, International Commercial Director (MD) Asia Pacific & Americas

I use what I learned on a daily basis. Even though I'm not in a finance role and operating in a general management position, I need to make decisions utilizing the principles we learned on a daily basis. The course empowered me to do that with confidence.

Jennifer Moret

A financial analyst working in the trust industry in Switzerland

The course has given me the confidence to know that my suggestions have a solid business basis.

Thanks to Business Analytics, I learned to apply statistical analysis to real world problems. For instance, I am currently doing a research project using regression analysis to see if we can predict emergency department demand on any given day - important for staffing and resource allocation.

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.

J. Holden Gibbons

Meet Holden, a CORe‬ participant who took the program to help with the transition from military to civilian life.

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.

Karun Chatpattararoj

Data and Finance specialist using CORe to garner additional sales and revenue in his career

Unarguably, there are many courses offered on the internet. However, HBX CORe stands out due to its seemingly interactive experience similar to that of the in-person business schools.

Willemijn van Woerkom

Studying cognitive neuroscience in Amsterdam

I enjoyed CORe so much that I'm thinking about entering an MBA program, previously something I wouldn’t have even considered.

Riya Dashoriya

Engineering Manager at Quizlet

Don't lose hope. These courses helped change my career trajectory, and I hope they do wonders in your life as well. In the end, it'll be all worth it.

Learning about concepts through real-life cases was my favorite part of the program. The cases really helped transform abstract concepts into observable situations one could learn from.

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.

Sam Campbell

College student and manager of The Bitter Student

We are at a time in history where we need leaders now more than ever. Someone who has CORe on his or her resume is a leader, in my mind.

I would be very surprised if the concepts that we talked about in the course are not core to our strategic planning process this year… I expect that we will have a lot more conversation about the course going forward.

Economics for Managers gave me a new lens to look at the business world using common economics concepts, such as demand-supply curves, elasticity, equilibrium, markets, and pricing.

Conor Blute

Currently teaching English in Vilnius, Lithuania

The subjects taught in CORe are brand new for me. This first week has been a real challenge. Yet, that is part of the fun.

…the CORe program will help me transition from being a liberal arts student with a humanities major to being a successful consultant…

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.

Aravind Sivashankara

One of the most insightful components of this course was the detailed case studies on other companies that had similar challenges... The diverse perspectives that I got from my peers, which the learning platform enables, were very similar to those I get with my work environment.

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.

A few weeks into the course, accounting terminology came alive as I realized why accounting is the language of business. I can now talk confidently with clients and understand the business aspect of their problems.

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.

Sheneka Balogun

Meet Sheneka, a CORe participant who took the program in order to advance her career and to begin an Ed.D. in Entrepreneurial Leadership.

Maggie Oh

An animator with dreams of starting her own company

I feel that I am no longer wary of entering into business conversations; my confidence has gone way up with regards to accounting, economics, and analytics.

This is now my fourth HBS online course that I have taken. I love the format that lets me learn asynchronously when I have time in my busy schedule. The HBS courses do a wonderful job encouraging interaction with peer learners which amplifies the learning. The HBS courses foster this peer engagement much more effectively than I have found in other online courses that I have taken.

Jingning Ao

Jingning Ao, Space Tourism researcher and PhD student at Middle Tennessee State University

After summarizing what I learned from this program, I introduced finance in a 90-minute class to junior and senior college students in order to show them different ways of doing business plans in the leisure and sport domains.

This was by far the most interactive course I have ever taken. I loved that the modules and field work put me in real-life situations, and the meetings with my professor and classmates tied it all together. It was a privilege to be part of it.

Elizabeth Malkin

Working at a tech startup.

I spent much of my college career fervently annotating novels and loved every minute of it but knew that my focus post college was going to be business.

Shalini Agarwal

Professor of Radiodiagnosis at the Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences

I loved the mixture of academic teaching, case-based review, interaction with peers who had their own experiences to recount, and application in my place of work. To me, it was a complete package.

Eoghan Martin

Computer engineering student in Ireland seeking to develop a tech startup

I loved the regular use of visuals and videos to fully build up the user's understanding of a new concept.

Bethany Larsen

An aspiring MBA student planning for a career in social entrepreneurship

Those skills are all very useful, but I think my biggest takeaway from CORe is a new perspective on complex business challenges. This lens has given me a more balanced perspective on sensitive topics that will make me a more informed citizen and wiser leader.

Alvina Chan

Sustainable Investing Participant

The course is a comprehensive introduction filled with dynamic case studies that I found fascinating.