Quantic School of Business and Technology

Discussion in 'Business and MBA degrees' started by Dustin, Jan 6, 2021.

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  1. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    Quantic, formerly Smart.ly was discussed briefly in this thread: https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?threads/new-deac-schools.56858/

    I thought I would start a new thread here in case anyone has any questions. I was just accepted into the free Quantic MBA.

    Here's some information I wrote on Quora about Quantic:

    Quantic Application Process

    First, you select whether you want the MBA or EMBA. The MBA is designed for recent graduates, the EMBA for those with more work experience. You provide some personal information (name, address, date of birth etc.) and your education history.

    They accept unofficial transcripts during the application and then require official ones after you’re accepted. There’s also a spot for other education, so you can list previous degrees/diplomas earned or professional development.

    There’s a section to include your Work History and Other Experience (volunteerism, etc.) There’s a Personal Summary including a “fun fact”, the opportunity to provide peer references, and Department of Education demographics.

    You have to upload a resume and can provide links to a blog, LinkedIn, or other social networks.

    You need to provide some basic information on what are you looking to get out of your program and what your interests are. This is more for the alumni networking part of the site.

    Finally, you have to answer some standard MBA essay questions around what makes you want to pursue an MBA and how you plan to use the skills you’ve gained.

    Quantic Interview

    I was invited to an interview about a week after my application was submitted. It was pretty straight-forward. Again, why Quantic, why an MBA, what do you think about the business foundation courses you’ve been provided so far? That type of thing. It was about 15 minutes long and very pleasant.

    Business Foundations

    Quantic provides access to their active learning platform for you to complete a Business Foundations course. This will help you learn more about how Quantic works and begin your foundational learning. It takes about 8 hours to do the Business Foundations content and it will be one of the modules in the MBA or EMBA if you’re accepted.

    After The Interview

    Once the interview is over, all that’s left to do is wait! They do 4 intakes a year (I think), and applications usually close a month before decisions are offered. Good luck! My application decision will be made in January.

    And some additional info:

    After Being Accepted:

    I woke up at 6:30am (Central Time, they're in Eastern) to a notification on my phone that I had an admission decision. When I went into the app it said "You're in! You've been accepted into the Quantic MBA." I had to complete my student profile (adding more info about my career ambitions for recruiters using the Smart.ly Talent Portal.) I also had to sign an enrollment agreement (which included "Tuition $0.00" in it) and submit official transcripts.

    I also have to verify my identity using a cell phone that has a camera in it, which I'll be doing shortly. Classes start January 18, 2020.
     
  2. Mac Juli

    Mac Juli Well-Known Member

    RAAH!!! I HATE YOU!!!

    :)

    Er, sorry, what I really wanted to say: Congratulations!!!
     
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  3. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    Thank you!

    I don't know what goes into their black box for admissions decisions. I thought you might need a lot of followers on social media but my Twitter has just 150 followers (and I don't use it.) My Quora profile has 680 followers (fairly low by that platform's standards) and my LinkedIn profile has about 320 connections, but it's very filled out (lots of certificates, courses, awards, etc.) Originally I thought only people with less than 5 years of work experience were eligible, but then I saw others with 6-10 years getting into the MBA. I'm right at the 5 year mark if you consider only full time jobs and not internships.
     
  4. Mac Juli

    Mac Juli Well-Known Member

    In the meantine, I figured what was the reason why my application was doomed to fail. You absolutely positively need a bachelor's degree, which I do not have. I had no problems to get into an MBA programme in the EU ("maturity route"), but obviously, well, this will not do it here. I have 20 years of experience in my industry, have more than 1600 connections on the local equivalent of linkedin. But of course, that did not outweigh the lack of the bachelor's degree, which is a deal-breaker.

    But again, congratulations!! And thanks for posting all the information above to all the other participants here - I think you did it very well!!
     
  5. chrisjm18

    chrisjm18 Well-Known Member

    Congrats! You're the first person I know of who got admitted!! Glad to see a success story on D.I.
     
  6. JoshD

    JoshD Well-Known Member

    Congratulations! The Quantic MBA has intrigued me for various reasons. I already have an MBA but I would enjoy updates and your continued thoughts on the program as you work through it. Congrats again!
     
  7. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    Wow, Dustin, congratulations :)
     
  8. JoshD

    JoshD Well-Known Member

    I’ll also add that it has intrigued me due to the high caliber students it attracts. A simple LinkedIn search of the Quantic MBA and you see students who did undergraduate and/or graduate programs at Harvard, Columbia, UPenn, Yale, MIT, Princeton, Duke, etc. Then you look at their employers and you see companies like McKinsey and Co., Accenture, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Google, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), etc.

    You’ll be in an impressive cohort, Dustin. No doubt about it. Network, network and network some more.
     
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  9. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    I have a bachelor's degree and I still will likely not get admitted
    The lady from admissions said that '' I should keep in mind that a degree from an upper class institute '' will be more likely to get someone in.
    Then she added : '' you should be prepared that admissions is only 6% on average ''.
    So they likely will turn my application down.
    She said it subtly to prepare me for it probably.
    But I'm okay with that.

    I'm going to apply for Turku's master of business administration tomorrow (admissions open) and expect to be let in there :-D

    But indeed super impressive and super nice that Dustin got in :)
    The Quantic MBA is valued as any other MBA from what I could find on the internet.
    There was one Harvard graduate who hated the MBA for personal reasons though : he applied and was rejected.

    Edit : I should clarify that I provided them with the equivalence procedure that determined that my MBA is an advanced bachelor, so maybe they did not like that or they found the Groupon listings
     
    Last edited: Jan 6, 2021
  10. innen_oda

    innen_oda Active Member

    I would suggest, with zero proof whatsoever, that Quantic is looking for people who will represent them well, and provide backing for improved status in the future.
    For some applicants, that might mean being an Ivy League grad, or having high status or good network connections completes that criteria - but that can also mean candidates who can communicate well and will be likely to reflect positively on Quantic during and after graduation (regardless of present quals). You write cleanly and clearly, and can elucidate processes well. Being able to construct a narrative about a university acceptance procedure, AND make that writing interesting and approachable, is a talent.

    I don't know your Quora profile, but I'll bet a quick skim of your comments/posts would indicate writing of a similar nature to what we see here.

    It's probably not only what applicants have done, but what they can do in the future.

    Alternatively, this supposition is completely wrong, and it's actually just a random draw of names on torn bits of paper from a plastic bin, masquerading as selectivity. Who knows.
     
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  11. TEKMAN

    TEKMAN Semper Fi!

    Congrats on your MBA acceptance with $0 tuition.
     
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  12. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    Classes begin Monday. I'm in a class of about 250 students. With an admission acceptance rate of 7%, that would make the size of this applicant pool of around 3600 people. Quantic expected to receive 100,000 admissions in 2020 among all of their programs. (https://poetsandquants.com/2020/05/18/the-disruptors-quantic-the-free-mba/) In that article, from May 2020, they had a student population of about 5000, of which I imagine a bigger chunk are EMBA students.

    Because I've got a lot on my plate I'm now chunking my day into 30 minute increments to keep track of the time I spent. It will be interesting at the end of the year.
     
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  13. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    Nice, congratulations :)
    I just started the business foundations courses from Wharton to receive the specialization certificate :)

    Hope you will enjoy your time with Quantic. Are the lessons live or is it self paced like the pre assessment was?
    Again, congratulations, Dustin.
    Hope you will continue posting on this board ^^
     
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  14. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    Thank you! I'll definitely keep updating. The lessons are self-paced but the MBA has several projects and 2 exams, all of which have deadlines. Projects can be done alone or in groups of up to 5:
    Accounting Project - Feb 28
    Midterm Exam - May 31
    Marketing Project - Aug 22)
    Corporate Finance - Sep 26)
    Strategy Case Study individual - Nov 21)
    Final Exam - Dec 26
    Graduation Anticipated: January 12, 2022

    There is a structure to follow, so you can keep pace. Excluding the Business Foundations content, there are 419 lessons spread across 50 modules that make up the 10 courses in the MBA.
     
  15. JoshD

    JoshD Well-Known Member

    I would strongly suggest you do the projects as a group. It makes for great networking opportunities and allows you to build relationships with your cohort that may be beneficial in the future. I have group projects (sometimes 2+ per course) in every single class of mine at Duke. I used to hate group work but now I love it (probably because people actually care at Duke). Lol
     
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  16. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    Agreed! Especially with a totally-online MBA like this, I need to build those connections. This Quantic cohort is incredible. I'm humbled to be in the same class as numerous doctors, Presidents and Vice Presidents of companies, MBB and Big4 consultants, and others. I'm going to try to soak up their knowledge and not embarrass myself.
     
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  17. pueblopicasso

    pueblopicasso Member

    I'm in Quantic EMBA, April 2022. Full scholarship. See you in the platform!
     
  18. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    I didn't know they gave out full scholarships for the EMBA! You don't have to go into detail, but how would you broadly describe your income relative to others in your community? I'm assuming they're need-based scholarships, but I almost thought people were only ever offered $3000 or $5000 scholarships based on other people describing the process.
     
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  19. pueblopicasso

    pueblopicasso Member

    I don’t think income is the variable to being accepted. Never in my 15 minute interview or in the form filling did income become a requested info.

    I did however fully commit to engaging with the 6 modules required to be completed beforehand, which they afterall did state in their prerequisite that it plays a part in their selection., I absolutely enjoyed the pre-enrolment modules and made me wanted to be in the EMBA even more. Another possibility is that I have a PhD, from a World Top 20. And I come from an executive background qualified in tech, legal, agile leadership and management. So I feel they weigh in candidates who would be able to weather the rigours of the EMBA because it will absolutely not be a walk in the park and 100% commitment is expected.

    like you I am anxious of the expectations set in excelling in the course because of the cohort demographic. I have executive background yes, but being shoulder to shoulder with more experienced VPs, CEOs and Ivy League alumni is a learning experience that I will enjoy throughout.
     
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  20. TeacherBelgium

    TeacherBelgium Well-Known Member

    The PhD did it probably.
    A PhD stays impressive :)
     

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