{"id":41882,"date":"2026-02-12T09:42:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T14:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/?p=41882"},"modified":"2026-02-12T10:33:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:33:09","slug":"the-mbamission-podcast-why-mid-career-pros-choose-these-business-school-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/the-mbamission-podcast-why-mid-career-pros-choose-these-business-school-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"The mbaMission Podcast: Why Mid-career Pros Choose These Business School Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"video-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Why Mid-career Pros Choose These Business Schools | Ep 85\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WfTh3WxV7vQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Accomplished professionals who want to advance their career but feel they have outgrown the traditional two-year MBA\u2014and are unsure whether an EMBA would be the right fit\u2014actually have a range of alternatives they might not be aware of. In this episode of <i>The mbaMission Podcast<\/i>, hosts Harold Simansky and Jeremy Shinewald are joined by mbaMission Managing Director Debbie Choy to discuss why mid-career leaders are increasingly drawn to immersive, one-year options such as the MSx program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) and the MIT Sloan Fellows MBA program. Harold, Jeremy, and Debbie explore who these programs are designed for, how they differ from EMBA and traditional MBA programs, and why they can serve as a transformative pause point for seasoned professionals ready to rethink their leadership, career trajectory, and long-term impact.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>New episodes of <i>The mbaMission Podcast <\/i>are released every Tuesday on all major streaming platforms (including <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-mbamission-podcast\/id1748825410\">Apple Podcasts <\/a>and <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2pIdwgRMxCCSi0m8T0y1tS?si=0e8bfac1c7b4460d\">Spotify)<\/a>, with full video episodes available on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@mbaMission\">mbaMission\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a> (you can access this episode specifically <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rebnXpkzQPA\">here<\/a>). Sign up for a free consultation with a member of mbaMission\u2019s admissions team at <a href=\"http:\/\/mbamission.com\/consult\">mbaMission.com\/consult.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-mbamission-podcast\/id1748825410\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/apple-podcasts-button.jpg\" alt=\" width=\"291\" height=\"97\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2pIdwgRMxCCSi0m8T0y1tS?si=1b71f24f60114405&amp;nd=1&amp;dlsi=cb426e3a3ca549fc\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/spotify-button.jpg\" width=\"287\" height=\"96\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n\n<p><b>Harold Simansky:<\/b> I\u2019m joined by mbaMission Managing Director Debbie, who has helped countless senior professionals navigate their next big move through these programs. Together, we\u2019ll explore how each school helps experienced leaders sharpen their purpose, expand their global reach, and redefine what\u2019s next in their careers. These are not traditional two-year MBAs. They\u2019re immersive, one-year experiences that blend academic rigor with personal reflection, designed to help seasoned professionals sharpen their leadership vision, expand global perspective, and reimagine what\u2019s next. Whether you\u2019re an engineer stepping into general management, a founder seeking renewal, or a senior leader preparing for your next act, this conversation unpacks how each program approaches this pivotal moment and what kind of leader thrives in each.<\/p>\n<p><b>Jeremy Shinewald: <\/b>So great to be here. Obviously, my co-host\u2014or actually I\u2019m <i>your<\/i> co-host\u2014Harold Simansky. I\u2019m Jeremy Shinewald. We\u2019re here in beautiful San Francisco, and you can see it out the back. And when you\u2019re in San Francisco, you have to have a Stanford GSB grad on the podcast: Debbie Choy, mbaMission Managing Director. What is this, like your 14th year or something? Thirteenth year? We\u2019re going to go with 13th year [with mbaMission]. There you go.<\/p>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy: <\/b>Yeah.<\/p>\n<p><b>Jeremy Shinewald: <\/b>Thanks so much for joining us. And we came here to ensure that we had West Coast representation on our podcast.<\/p>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy:<\/b> Yes, that\u2019s very important.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 ez-toc-wrap-left counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/the-mbamission-podcast-why-mid-career-pros-choose-these-business-school-programs\/#inside_the_stanford_msx_program\" >Inside the Stanford MSX Program<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/the-mbamission-podcast-why-mid-career-pros-choose-these-business-school-programs\/#the_mit_sloan_fellows_experience\" >The MIT Sloan Fellows Experience<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/the-mbamission-podcast-why-mid-career-pros-choose-these-business-school-programs\/#who_these_programs_are_best_for\" >Who These Programs Are Best For<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/the-mbamission-podcast-why-mid-career-pros-choose-these-business-school-programs\/#comparing_msx_and_mit_sloan_programs\" >Comparing MSx and MIT Sloan Programs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/the-mbamission-podcast-why-mid-career-pros-choose-these-business-school-programs\/#diverse_applicant_profiles_and_success_stories\" >Diverse Applicant Profiles and Success Stories<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/the-mbamission-podcast-why-mid-career-pros-choose-these-business-school-programs\/#navigating_the_application_process\" >Navigating the Application Process<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"inside_the_stanford_msx_program\"><\/span>Inside the Stanford MSX Program<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>Jeremy Shinewald:<\/b> So where do we begin? I guess we\u2019re here to talk about\u00a0 mid-career options for people. I think the one that applicants are most familiar with is probably the MSx program. [<i>gestures toward Debbie<\/i>] I know you\u2019ve had a lot of success with the MSx program over the years.<\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky: <\/b>And an MIT graduate! [<i>indicates self<\/i>] MIT Sloan Fellows, which we can debate as this podcast goes on.<\/p>\n<p><b>Jeremy Shinewald:<\/b> Can we say these two are vying for supremacy, for lack of a better word? For appropriate brand supremacy in this space? We have a guest, so we\u2019re going to talk about the MSx program first. So, yeah, tell us a little bit about your experience with it, about the type of applicants that apply to it. One thing I think we should talk about is maybe the type of applicants who <i>don\u2019t<\/i> apply to it who <i>should<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy: <\/b>Yeah, I love the Stanford MSx program. I think it\u2019s one of the most overlooked programs, especially for my mid-career clients. They [the MSx program] are looking for a minimum of eight years of full-time work experience, and I think MIT Sloan Fellows is looking for ten years.<\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky:<\/b> That\u2019s right, a little a little bit longer. That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Meet mbaMission Managing Director, Debbie Choy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uM55aNEgYlU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy: <\/b>Yeah, so a slight difference there. But the average tenure at Stanford MSx is actually 13 years. And I have a lot of clients who, they\u2019re pretty tenured, they\u2019re managing teams, managing projects, and they\u2019re asking me, they sort of feel like they\u00a0 have missed the boat on the two-year program. And they\u2019re looking at the MSx program, they\u2019re asking me, \u201cIs this a fit for me?\u201d You know, what is this program about? And I love when they ask me that question because I go, \u201cLet me tell you about this program.\u201d It\u2019s a much smaller program, so it\u2019s 80 to 90 people. It is really tailored for mid-career professionals, meaning that it\u2019s one year instead of two years. It\u2019s still a full-time, immersive program. It\u2019s accelerated. That means that you are streamlining the core classes. Half of your classes are core, and then the other half you get to take electives, which to my mind is really the exciting part of your MBA experience because you get to really curate and take the classes that are relevant to your career goals. So I think the MSx program is a fantastic program. I would recommend it for anyone who has at least eight years of full-time work experience.<\/p>\n<p><b>Jeremy Shinewald:<\/b> I just want to accentuate one or two things about the programs to make sure they\u2019re abundantly clear to our many viewers. One is\u2014you said this, but just to just to put an exclamation point on it\u2014it\u2019s a full-time program. It\u2019s a one-year, full-time program. So it\u2019s for mid-career professionals, but it\u2019s not like an EMBA, where you\u2019re going to spend two days on the weekend and then spend a week, I don\u2019t know, in the middle of December or something like that. This is a full-time commitment for you. The other piece, of course, [is that] it\u2019s taught through the GSB, but it\u2019s not an MBA. You\u2019re getting a master\u2019s degree, but you\u2019re not getting an MBA, which is important. I think\u00a0 considering you\u2019re a mid-career professional, that\u2019s okay. You\u2019re probably not there for, I don\u2019t know, for the three letters on your resume. You\u2019re there for the education, and the education is a management education.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"the_mit_sloan_fellows_experience\"><\/span>The MIT Sloan Fellows Experience<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky: <\/b>Debbie, I <i>also<\/i> really love the Stanford MSx program. And I really love the MIT LGO [Leaders for Global Operations] program. And let me tell you why. An EMBA, what it basically does, it accelerates your career. It really keeps you on a trajectory and basically gives you the skills, particularly the leadership skills, to sort of keep you going and to really move forward. I think these programs are a little bit different in the sense of they give you the jump. It\u2019s almost like they\u2019re a springboard, where you take a pause, you sort of almost answer some very existential questions. It\u2019s an immersive program. And we don\u2019t just mean for yourself, we mean frequently for your family. At this point, it\u2019s later in your life, and you\u2019re really ready to say, \u201cOkay, I am ready to bounce forward to get going to really upskill in every single way,\u201d including sort of your thinking about your future, thinking about your family\u2019s future, where you want to be. Honestly, I tell folks, [with an] EMBA, you\u2019re going to be on a wonderful trajectory, very clear. [With the] MIT LGO, it may be a little bit less clear where you\u2019re going, but you are going to the moon. I think that that\u2019s really it. And like you, I love it. Not for everybody. Long conversations about the commitment it takes. I think at the same point, though, I also talk to a lot of people who\u2019ve never heard of it, and I say, \u201cThis is perfect for you.\u201d And to be honest with you, it\u2019s probably perfect for a lot of people that just don\u2019t know about it.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"who_these_programs_are_best_for\"><\/span>Who These Programs Are Best For<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy:<\/b> Yeah, yeah. And I think for people who are able to uproot their family and move to Stanford or Boston for a year, I think that\u2019s phenomenal. That really gives you that space and that time to\u2014like you said, Harold\u2014think about where you want to pivot to next. I think for folks who are very rooted in where they are and they\u2019re not close to these two places, the EMBA or even the part-time program might be a better option, [people] who maybe don\u2019t want to leave their job for a full year. There is an opportunity cost, and that\u2019s why they\u2019ve really tailored it to one year and compressed that experience.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/guides\/insiders-guides\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"quot;size-medium src=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/free-guides-button-small-300x300.png\" alt=\"mbaMission width=\"300\" height=\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Jeremy Shinewald:<\/b> It\u2019s interesting you mentioned that, about kind of the value of moving your family for a year. Like I think of\u2014admittedly, for me\u2014the relatively small number of people I\u2019ve helped get into this program, they were all international, and they all brought their families with. One individual from Saudi Arabia, I remember because he was applying during COVID, and he was like, \u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019m even going to be able to leave the country [or] get into the country.\u201d He ended up getting in, and he and his family just had an awesome experience. And I feel like there\u2019s a really strong international component to this program, and it\u2019s like people are making a spiritual life commitment to it, not just an educational commitment to it.<\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky:<\/b> Yeah, I will have a number of folks just over the years who may have chosen MSx versus LGO for the simple reason you get to [go to] Stanford. Despite being from Boston, I\u2019ve got to admit it, there\u2019s something about Palo Alto. You get there, they help you get housing right on campus, they have a daycare for you right there, which for most of these people is amazing. At this point, you know what? You\u2019re suddenly living in a small town, you\u2019re really happy just sort of every day, the pressure is off, and the pressure is in some ways almost self-imposed. You\u2019re like, you\u2019re a kid in a candy store. What can I do here? And I think truly, it is sort of that memory a family has. And I sort of hate to keep on talking about the impact on a family, but that really is a big part of it.<\/p>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy:<\/b> It is. Absolutely. I had a Chinese client that I remember who happened, her family was already based in the Bay Area, so it was actually a great fit for her. And she was like, \u201cI\u2019m happy to move to Palo Alto for a year.\u201d I think they were living outside of Palo Alto at that time. But her background was looking to accelerate her career in tech. She worked for a Chinese tech company based in the US. But she looked at the MSx as a way to pivot. So I think it\u2019s a great opportunity for folks who are looking to\u00a0 leave their current employer, looking to either accelerate their career in their industry or to move to a different employer. I think it\u2019s a great opportunity.<\/p>\n<p><b>Jeremy Shinewald:<\/b> One of the things that I also notice when applicants are looking at the MSx is [that] it\u2019s sort of because it straddles both worlds, kind of. You occasionally get people who are looking at full-time programs and the MSx, and sometimes you get people who are looking at EMBA programs and the MSx. But one kind of nice perk of the MSx, if you\u2019re really only looking for EMBA programs, is that you can take the executive assessment, which is very similar to the GMAT, but it was designed for executive education, and the schools aren\u2019t as focused on sky-high scores. Really, they\u2019re looking at like a minimum threshold. And I believe the MSx\u2019s average is about a 158, which is\u2014from what I\u2019m told\u2014not like painstaking, got-to-dedicate-your-life to achieve that. It\u2019s not <i>easy<\/i>, but it\u2019s not like trying to get a\u2014 , I\u2019m still thinking in old GMAT terms\u2014like a 760 on the old GMAT or something like that.<\/p>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy:<\/b> Right. Yeah. I think the executive assessment looks at more your work experience, your business skills, as opposed to pure, like, are you able to do calculus or stats?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ontrack.mbamission.com\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ontrack-review-2.png\" width=\"327\" height=\"327\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky:<\/b> Right. Yeah, absolutely. I think what\u2019s also nice about these programs\u2014EMBA certainly, but MSx or MIT LGO even more so\u2014is you take your resume, you call them up, you show them your resume, you then start having some conversations, and they are very clear in terms of whether you are or are not a candidate, because these are very impressive people who go to these programs. They have already been very, very successful.<\/p>\n<p>Just to circle back to one point that I also found really interesting about MSx, and it\u2019s sort of if you dig into the numbers, it actually takes people a little bit of time to find jobs. It\u2019s sort of funny, meaning, if, I don\u2019t know, out of business school, you\u2019re talking about three months, some of these people take six months. And that\u2019s a reflection of the fact they\u2019re going in there being very thoughtful, [have] already been very, very successful, and they really start thinking to themselves, \u201cOkay, I\u2019m planning my career for the next 20 years. What do I really want to do? What is really going to get me excited?\u201d And that I think really speaks to who goes there more than somebody who\u2019s like on this treadmill, who\u2019s like, \u201cOkay, I got to keep on going, keep on going, keep on going.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy:<\/b> And that\u2019s one thing that is reflected in the MSx application, because they have an extra question that asks you about your career goals. Because you have such a short time on campus, they really want you to be thoughtful about what you want to gain coming into the school and what exactly do you want to do after the school. Yeah, so you do have access to career resources at the career center at Stanford. So, same resources there, but you don\u2019t have the same recruiting opportunities there. Because if you\u2019re looking at a mid-career transition, very few employers are going to hire armies of folks. So you do have to do your own networking; you do have to do your own job search.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"comparing_msx_and_mit_sloan_programs\"><\/span>Comparing MSx and MIT Sloan Programs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>Jeremy Shinewald: <\/b>So let\u2019s talk about some other similarities between the MBA program and the MSx program.<\/p>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy: <\/b>The most important selling point, I think, is that you have the same professors, same teaching methods. You have access to the same electives, both at the GSB and also at other Stanford schools. You have the same access to student clubs. You are living side by side alongside the MBA students. So, beautiful residences and everything. So, yeah, a lot of these similarities\u2014you\u2019re essentially getting the same experience. There <i>are<\/i> some differences, like what I highlighted.<\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky:<\/b> Again, sort of coming back to almost the structure of the program in a very physical way, you\u2019re at the point of a career also where you are very open to meeting other people. You\u2019re very open to it, and you find it interesting, I think, almost in a way that younger folks do. And again, I\u2019m a sort of middle-aged guy, so I\u2019m looking at it maybe a little judgmentally, but the reality is you\u2019re at a point of your life where you just start even being more curious. So at a place like Stanford, again, a place like MIT, it\u2019s like, honestly, it\u2019s a candy store. And I keep on coming back to that analogy. You start going across campus, you start doing other things, you start talking to folks in the medical school and the environment school, the public policy school, and you\u2019re just excited about everything. And candidly, the workload just isn\u2019t the same. It simply isn\u2019t. And part of it is, it\u2019s <i>you<\/i>, part of it is actually expectations. So that really gives you the opportunity to just play around [with] it or meet somebody on the playground. And it gets just very, very exciting.<\/p>\n<p><b>Jeremy Shinewald:<\/b> So let\u2019s talk about some of the differences, sort of compare and contrast. I mean, you don\u2019t have to explicitly, but let\u2019s talk about the offerings at MIT Sloan. It\u2019s great. I\u2019ve got the GSB and I\u2019ve got Sloan on either side. [<i>gestures to Debbie and Harold<\/i>] Maybe I should just\u00a0 bow out and walk out of the room here. So, Harold, talk about the one-year options, the mid-career options, at MIT Sloan.<\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky: <\/b>Yeah, sure. A little bit older, generally speaking, a little bit more international. At the same point, then, folks who are really looking to pivot in one way or another. And what I mean by that is they could frequently be tech people, and it sort of cuts both ways, because they\u2019ve been probably been in tech for a little while, and they themselves see tech world changing. They go to MIT, and suddenly they start like, \u201cOkay, I\u2019m starting to understand the ins and outs of tech in a way that I didn\u2019t before.\u201d Or at that point, also the pharma, the health tech industry, is getting just really, really exciting. So maybe they were entrepreneurs, but something a little bit more tech focused. And now, again, the biotech capital of the world is Kendall Square at MIT. So they have that opportunity as well. And again, it\u2019s just, I can\u2019t stress this enough, the integration that they\u2019re seeing across campus, whether at Stanford, whether at MIT, with the two-year program. I think that that\u2019s just what drives things.<\/p>\n<p>Listen, I\u2019ll also say one other thing. An application to a two-year MBA program is very aspirational. It talks about sort of what you want to do, sort of big stories about the future. By the time you get to Sloan Fellows or MSx, and we talk about a few similar programs, you\u2019ve done it. I mean, honestly, you\u2019ve done it.<\/p>\n<p><b>Jeremy Shinewald: <\/b>You have to be a very strong professional to be in the program. Yeah. So you\u2019ve kind of arrived.<\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky: <\/b>Exactly. At that point, you\u2019ve arrived, and everybody else around you has arrived, and they sort of really struggle with very specific issues that they\u2019ve actually solved here. Again, no hand waving. They get there, and they are with other very successful people. And that is really just, like I said, rocket fuel for their future.<\/p>\n<p><b>Jeremy Shinewald:<\/b> Question for both of you guys. How often is geography destiny? Like, how often do you have people who apply to both of these programs? Because they\u2014this sounds like a negative connotation, but I mean this flatly\u2014they uproot your life if you\u2019re not [already] in one of those two cities. So, how often when you have an MSx applicant is that person applying to MIT Sloan, or vice versa?<\/p>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy:<\/b> That\u2019s a good question. I actually, when I have clients who meet the criteria of both programs, I tell them, please apply to both.<\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky:<\/b> I do myself.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/guides\/insiders-guides\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/free-guides-button-small.png\" width=\"381\" height=\"381\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy: <\/b>Yeah. You are maximizing your chances. And\u2014especially for my international clients\u2014moving to Boston is about the same as moving to Palo Alto in terms of distance. For clients that are already rooted in one city, like Boston, I would say, aim for Sloan Fellows first. But it\u2019s not a bad idea to live in Palo Alto for a year. But I do see that a lot of my clients who are interested in biotech, who have that healthcare, want to be close to that MIT engineering school, for instance, they do choose MIT. And then folks who are more entrepreneurial, who are more interested in the big tech, want to be close to Silicon Valley, they do choose Stanford. So that\u2019s kind of, if they get into both programs, I see them kind of split up that way. What do you think, Harold?<\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky: <\/b>No, listen, I think that\u2019s right. I think there\u2019s a subtle difference here in the sense of honestly, you can get to MIT, you can get to Cambridge, you can put down some roots in a very, I would say, almost natural, financially secure way. If you get to Palo Alto\u2014and God bless Palo Alto, one of the greatest places in the world to live\u2014you\u2019re living sort of this dream on the Stanford campus. Amazing. There\u2019s nothing about it that\u2019s not amazing. At that point, you say, \u201cLet\u2019s stay here.\u201d And at that point, not so easy to do. And because your child is going to move schools, for example. You\u2019re going to move. I mean, Debbie, many people can\u2019t afford Palo Alto, so where are they going? They\u2019re going not <i>one<\/i> degree away from them, [but] two or three degrees away from them. And the reality is, I think, a little bit more disruption to your life, but in a good way, too.<\/p>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy:<\/b> Yeah. Well, if they get jobs within tech, the salary <i>will<\/i> enable them to stay.<\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky:<\/b> No, no, that\u2019s true.<\/p>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy:<\/b> But that\u2019s a good question.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"diverse_applicant_profiles_and_success_stories\"><\/span>Diverse Applicant Profiles and Success Stories<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky:<\/b> So I think that\u2019s a consideration. And again, to come back to this, I don\u2019t want to keep on sharpening this edge here. It is a big decision that frequently goes beyond your own considerations. It simply does\u2014a different stage of your life. If I think to myself, who goes where, again, I think it\u2019s somebody who is a little bit more mature in their career, or just a little bit, I\u2019ll say, more mature in their career, who is going to MIT, and for all\u2014I would say\u2014more industry-focused reasons. For somebody who\u2019s going out to Stanford, I think it\u2019s almost a change in viewpoint. I think it\u2019s almost a change, again, this existential question of \u201cOkay, I\u2019m ready to become a superhero,\u201d as Stanford itself describes it. Folks who are going to spend a little bit more time thinking about \u201cOkay, where in this world do I really want to play?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>Jeremy Shinewald:<\/b> Tell us about an applicant or two of yours that went to the MSx or to the MIT Sloan program, just to make it real for someone who\u2019s listening.<\/p>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy:<\/b> Sure. I\u2019ve got one of my favorite clients, really interesting guy, entrepreneur, zero entrepreneur from South America, and bootstrapped a few companies and sold companies as well. And he got to a point in his career where he said, \u201cLook, my business is in good hands.\u201d And then his current business co-founders, taking care of it. He\u2019s thinking, \u201cI want to take the next step in my career and start building multinational companies.\u201d And so he applied to both Stanford MSx as well as Sloan Fellows, and he got into both. And he ultimately, not because of my persuasion or anything, he ultimately chose Stanford because of that entrepreneurial ecosystem where he could meet his next co-founder, where he could meet investors, and really build that next large company. So I\u2019m excited to hear what he comes up with next.<\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky: <\/b>Yeah. No, of course. I have a guy who is similar in a couple different ways. He\u2019s a guy, very successful, complete up from the bootstraps, incredibly poor family. But things had never, I would say, coalesced around any specific piece of the world. He was an entrepreneur in real estate, he was an entrepreneur in the world of green, he was an entrepreneur in sort of this very interesting finance piece, very successful. But at the end of the day, he was like, \u201cOkay, I\u2019ve tried many different things. I can be successful. I can be an entrepreneur. That\u2019s not the thing. I really now have to really start narrowing down what exactly\u2014<i>where<\/i> I want to be.\u201d Maybe that\u2019s a better way of putting it. In which industry do I really want to focus? He\u2019d fallen in love with green. So at that point, could have gone either way, admittedly, but for him, sustainability, again, he was going to take all of his powers, go into the world of sustainability. So Stanford made more sense; got into MIT LGO. It was a little bit of a question.<\/p>\n<p>And the real reality for him is\u2014listen, Stanford, when it comes to sustainability, huge in all sorts of different ways. And I think this is what makes MSx so nice. Stanford is doing sustainability in all sorts of different ways. It\u2019s doing it from an engineering perspective, it\u2019s doing it from a public policy perspective, it\u2019s certainly doing it from a business perspective. So he\u2019s like, \u201cI want to really push into that field again, across many different dimensions.\u201d Also, I mean, again, you have to say it. I\u2019ve said it a thousand times, but I\u2019ll share it again because it\u2019s a cute story, in the sense of he had a 2-year-old, his wife was pregnant, he looked at what\u2019s happening in Cambridge, he gets to Stanford, townhouse next to the daycare. And it\u2019s like, again, you just can\u2019t beat it. I mean, for him, it was a wonderful story. And also, listen, some people need the credential. He sort of bounced around colleges. He needed the credential.<\/p>\n<p><b>Jeremy Shinewald: <\/b>We\u2019re talking about a lot of <i>he<\/i> in this conversation here. And that\u2019s fine. And I do think these programs skew more male than traditional MBA programs. I should have some stats to back that up. That is, I believe, accurate, but please do check the class profiles on that one. But tell us about a woman who you\u2019ve helped get into MSx or MIT Sloan.<\/p>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy:<\/b> Yeah, fantastic candidate. She was a project manager in a tech firm, and\u00a0 she was managing projects and really doing well in her career, but really aspired to be a business leader, to be an executive of a tech company in the future. So she needed that business credential. And the MSx program was the perfect fit for her. I think she also had a very creative background. She came from kind of a creative education. And so Stanford, the way that it thinks about business leadership, but also incorporating interdisciplinary aspects like design and everything, that was a perfect fit for her. So\u00a0 yeah, she also had a young child, 2-year-old, which for a mother going through the MSx program\u2014I mean, that was not easy. So kudos to her. And that one year was fantastic, a great fit.<\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky:<\/b> I have an MIT LGO, got into both programs. She ended up at MIT. I think a really interesting story, as well as sort of a classic story for this program. She was a CIO, chief investment officer, at a number of finance companies. Brilliant woman. She had been a masterful CIO. She had proven herself over and over again. Two things were happening from her perspective. First was just from her personal perspective, investments, she was starting to sort of burn out on the notion. She really wanted to conquer finance problems that are a little bit more impact focused. So, in particular, issues around the underbanked populations in some of these very poor countries. So she wanted to really explore that, as well as this notion here: She was always the number two, to be honest with you, CIO. And she just wanted, it was time for her to say, \u201cI\u2019m ready to be CEO.\u201d She was ready to be a CEO. That\u2019s the bottom line. So she took <i>no<\/i> finance classes at MIT Sloan. I used to have lunch with her. Amazing woman, took no finance classes. It was about leadership, it was about thinking around finance in a much different way. I mean, really a home run. Goes back to India, and again, things start really accelerating fast for her.<\/p>\n<p><b>Jeremy Shinewald:<\/b> So we\u2019ve dug in pretty deeply on the on the MIT Sloan program and on the Stanford MSx program. What other options are there?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ontrack.mbamission.com\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/onTrack-Button.png\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky: <\/b>Sure. There\u2019s also the London Business School Sloan Fellows program. There\u2019s a reason why they\u2019re both called Sloan, which if someone wants to spend 30 minutes on the phone with me doing a free consult, I will tell you who Alfred Sloan is, why he has a number of programs named after him. But again, let\u2019s put that aside. There\u2019s also the USC [University of Southern California] IBEAR Program. USC is a wonderful school, truly a unique program, very internationally focused. And that\u2019s a program that many people haven\u2019t heard of, but for the right person, it\u2019s actually a fantastic program.<\/p>\n<p><b>Jeremy Shinewald: <\/b>Just to accentuate that, the Sloan program in London, very similar to the MIT Sloan program in Cambridge.<\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky:<\/b> That\u2019s right. A little bit older, a little bit of an older student, obviously different, pulling from a different geography, but for all intents and purposes, very, very similar program.<\/p>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy:<\/b> The IBEAR program, I think, is really fantastic for folks who are rooted in Southern California. Yeah. And with an eye on international, an international career, especially as it relates to Asia and across the Pacific. So I think that\u2019s also a great program that a lot of people don\u2019t often talk about.<\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky: <\/b>That\u2019s right. And what I find interesting about that program, there happens to be a lot of doctors in it. I\u2019m not quite sure what the straight line is. Maybe it\u2019s just the fact that Southern California, big medical community. I guess you could say that anywhere, but I always found that interesting. I also found the fact that people are really, really internationally focused in terms of looking outward, in terms of the US outward, as opposed to some of the other programs are more, they\u2019re bringing the world into their program. Listen, I think really one of the considerations is always EMBA versus a full-year, again, mid-career program. And we also have to be quite honest, it is a huge financial consideration to go to a one-year mid-career program. To my mind, I think practically everyone pays for it themselves, right? It\u2019s a big check.<\/p>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy:<\/b> Yeah. So here\u2019s what I tell my clients: An EMBA is your company\u2019s investment in you.<\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky:<\/b> Yes.<\/p>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy:<\/b> A MSx or MIT Sloan Fellows is your investment in your career.<\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky: <\/b>That\u2019s great. I\u2019m going to steal that.<\/p>\n<p><b>Jeremy Shinewald: <\/b>That\u2019s fantastic. I\u2019m going to use that for sure. Put that on our internal Slack.<\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky: <\/b>Yeah, yeah. That\u2019s great.<\/p>\n<p><b>Jeremy Shinewald: <\/b>It\u2019s almost like there\u2019s probably a continuum. It\u2019s like, okay, you\u2019re a mid-career and you\u2019re looking at EMBA programs, but if you want something different that\u2019s full-time, these programs work. And it\u2019s almost like the version of that for earlier career people\u2014like if you\u2019re just trying to have a more abbreviated experience but still get the education\u2014is there are one-year programs at the MBA level that are offered by different schools. And the European programs tend to skew a little bit older, INSEAD, IMD in particular. A lot of people haven\u2019t heard of IMD, but it almost functions as an EMBA, as like a full-time, one-year EMBA program, and it does skew older. It\u2019s not quite the MSx or the Sloan program, but it\u2019s sort of maybe one shift earlier in your career if you\u2019re looking for a one-year program.<\/p>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy:<\/b> Kellogg has an accelerated one-year program as well. It does require you to have certain business background. And I think the age is a little bit younger. So I think for somebody who\u2019s wondering which of these programs are the right fit for me, think about the geography. Where do you want to root your career long term? Think about the median age of the incoming class and how you\u2019re going to be able to contribute as well as hold your hand to the candle in the classroom. Right? So I think those are two.<\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky: <\/b>Right. A quick commercial here. As usual. We just did a podcast on EMBA programs with our colleague Julie-Anne, and we\u2019ll give you a lot more specific information about EMBA programs, which is a very big consideration. One thing I will say\u2014and I\u2019m not quite sure I should put it this way\u2014an EMBA program can be a slog, to be perfectly honest with you. You\u2019re balancing not just your work, your family life as well. You\u2019re traveling, you\u2019re doing your schoolwork, and it\u2019s hard. As opposed to MIT Sloan, MIT LGO, IBEAR, whatever it is, it\u2019s a wonderful, life-changing experience. Everyone\u2019s sort of, it\u2019s a happy place, to be perfectly honest with you, which sometimes more important, honestly, sometimes more important, sometimes less important, just where you are in your career. In this particular case, I think it\u2019s really important, by all means, [spend] 30 minutes with us. And I think one of the reasons is there\u2019s a nuance to deciding between an EMBA and a sort of mid-career one-year program, MIT Sloan or Sloan Fellows or MSx. There is nuance there. Most people are thinking about realistically an EMBA or one of these one-year programs. And there\u2019s so much that goes into that decision. Let us help you start thinking about it in maybe a way you never thought about it before.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"navigating_the_application_process\"><\/span>Navigating the Application Process<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy: <\/b>Yeah. And also putting together the applications. What the different schools are looking for, it\u2019s nuanced, and you can\u2019t just cut and paste.<\/p>\n<p><b>Jeremy Shinewald: <\/b>And I would say one other thing. If you\u2019re a mid-career, you probably haven\u2019t done a lot of written or verbal self-exploration for a long time. And so the execution piece of this can be quite challenging for some. So certainly take us up on that for that free half-hour consultation, and know that we\u2019ve got a very experienced team here who, whether it\u2019s MIT Sloan or Stanford MSx or both, because you\u2019ve both helped them on many. We\u2019ve got experienced professionals who can walk you through this and make your life a lot more efficient. Because, as you said, a lot of people are mid-career, they\u2019ve got careers, they\u2019ve got families. They want to make their lives a little easier. Thank you so much for being here. [<i>to Harold<\/i>] I always say thank you for hosting, for allowing me on your show. [<i>to Debbie<\/i>] Thank you for being here in your town.<\/p>\n<p><b>Debbie Choy: <\/b>Please come more often!<\/p>\n<p><b>Harold Simansky: <\/b>Thanks for being here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Accomplished professionals who want to advance their career but feel they have outgrown the traditional two-year MBA\u2014and are unsure whether an EMBA would be the right fit\u2014actually have a range of alternatives they might not be aware of. In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast, hosts Harold Simansky and Jeremy Shinewald are joined by mbaMission &hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/the-mbamission-podcast-why-mid-career-pros-choose-these-business-school-programs\/\">Read&nbsp;More&nbsp;&nbsp;<i class=\"fal fa-sm fa-angle-right\"><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":41885,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,643,28,29,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mit-sloan","category-mbamission-podcast","category-northwestern-kellogg","category-stanford","category-chicago-booth"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why Mid-career Pros Choose These Business School Programs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"mbaMission admissions consultants explore Stanford MSx, MIT Sloan Fellows, and other immersive one-year business school programs beyond the traditional MBA.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/the-mbamission-podcast-why-mid-career-pros-choose-these-business-school-programs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Mid-career Pros Choose These Business School Programs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"mbaMission admissions consultants explore Stanford MSx, MIT Sloan Fellows, and other immersive one-year business school programs beyond the traditional MBA.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/the-mbamission-podcast-why-mid-career-pros-choose-these-business-school-programs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-12T14:42:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-12T15:33:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Podcast-Episode-85-Thumbnail-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Debbie Choy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Debbie Choy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Mid-career Pros Choose These Business School Programs","description":"mbaMission admissions consultants explore Stanford MSx, MIT Sloan Fellows, and other immersive one-year business school programs beyond the traditional MBA.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/the-mbamission-podcast-why-mid-career-pros-choose-these-business-school-programs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Mid-career Pros Choose These Business School Programs","og_description":"mbaMission admissions consultants explore Stanford MSx, MIT Sloan Fellows, and other immersive one-year business school programs beyond the traditional MBA.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.mbamission.com\/blog\/the-mbamission-podcast-why-mid-career-pros-choose-these-business-school-programs\/","og_site_name":"mbaMission - 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