Chat with Prateek, an IE Master in Management student

Hi Prateek, thank you for taking the time to share some insights about your IE experience. Please tell us a little bit about yourself before we get started!
Well, my name is Prateek Rathore. I am from India and I am 24 years old. Currently, I am finishing the second core period of the Master in Management Program here at IE. I am a computer science engineer and did my undergraduate studies at IIT Delhi, considered one of the best engineering colleges in India. Before coming to IE, I also worked at the Royal Bank of Scotland for over a year. I like to travel; have travelled across 16 countries in Europe and a lot in India as well, and I’ve also choreographed dance teams at various national-level competitions.

Thanks Prateek! And now a question that might be interesting to prospective students; why did you choose IE as your center of excellence?
First of all, it is not a secret that IE is one of the best schools in the world that offers a master program in international management. Besides, I am a firm believer that in management studies, one learns more from one’s classmates than from the professors, and given that diversity is one of IE’s core values, it made my decision to apply to IE fairly easy. In addition, as I am very interested in technology, IE is one of the only schools to my knowledge that offers a specialization in Digital Business which I am about to start in a few days. And last but not least, I applied to IE because of the Venture Lab and the overall entrepreneurial spirit it instills in the students here.

Perfect! Prateek, but what about your actual IE experience? Now that you have completed two of the three core periods, what are the things that stand out during this time?
The one thing that immediately comes to my mind has to do with how classes are being taught here at IE. The case methodology really makes the classes more interesting and interactive while giving one a great variety of practical as well as theoretical knowledge about different sectors in the market. Another thing that stands out is the competition between classmates. Everybody and when I say everybody I mean everybody, is competitive at IE. However, it is a healthy competition because people really grow together, learn from each other and many times help each other with problems. One more reason to do so may be the high workload here, as you simply cannot complete all the tasks by yourself. And this brings me to my next point. Over the last two periods, I really learned how to manage my time and prioritize the things that I had to do. IE offers you many extracurricular activities, such as speeches, workshops, weekly meetings etc.; thus, you really have to learn how to manage your time well if you want to grab as much as you can on the way. And, I think I don’t have to tell you about the Madrid night life; it’s amazing. But I guess the most important thing is truly the diversity in class, on campus and even in Madrid. You can get so many different view points on a topic that you feel like you grow with every class discussion while your global network keeps increasing day in and day out.