Romanian MBAs at Iowa - Four Stories

This year, the Henry B. Tippie School of Management MBA program includes more Romanian students than ever before. The students are part of both the first and second year class, and we thought it might be interesting to find out more about this small community of students and how they found their way to Iowa.

Why Iowa? While "interviewing" my compatriots, I realized that we did not know each other from back home, but some of our spouses did. This explains to some extent what lies behind our decision to come here, besides a professional degree.

Valeria Chifan (MBA06) explains: "The main reasons for choosing the University of Iowa were professional. My husband is also a student here, and before leaving Romania we tried to find a university that is suitable for both of our professional interests. We came down to a list of three universities that best suited our goals. The advice of a former professor influenced our decision very much. He described Iowa City as an 'oasis,' a quiet place in the middle of America, the perfect place for study. He was right!" George Nicolaescu's (MBA05) motives were similar to Valeria's: "My wife was here, and the MBA payout ratio was good." Meanwhile, Radu Miclaus (MBA06) relates that he chose Iowa because his wife was going to study here. As for me, I share their reasons: I badly wanted a good MBA program in a friendly environment, close to my husband.

Regarding the very first impression we got about Iowa City: Valeria said that her first impression that the University is the "heart" of Iowa City has not changed since she came here in October 2003. She added "Here, in the middle of corn fields, it is the University that makes this city alive." Radu visited Iowa City four years ago and found it to be the "typical college town: academics and bars," the same type of city as Columbia, Missouri, where he did his undergraduate work. George comments, "large surfaces with green grass, deer, squirrels, and PBB looked good." I remember that I made quite a strange remark on the way to Iowa from O'Hare airport: "Here, even the sky is bigger!" Maybe it was the jetlag speaking instead of me.

		Iowa and Romania: A Comparison The Merry Cemetery

Speaking about the similarities and differences between our cultures: Valeria openly admits: "To be honest, I cannot answer this question. Even though I have been here for more than one year, I have spent all my time in Iowa City. I believe that American culture is very vast and diverse and I cannot "judge" it based on my perception of Iowa City. I need more time to understand it before I make judgments about it." On the other hand, Radu finds very few similarities, but he notes that "...Americans eat and sleep also." George is somewhat bothered by the culinary differences—"food is less tasty here"—and amazed at Americans' religiosity. He concludes that the main similarity between our cultures is that Americans are as friendly as Romanians, which is important given that Romanians are renowned for their hospitality.

As well, in defining the main differences and similarities between the Romanian and American educational systems, we all agreed that the educational system in the U.S. is more intense and application-oriented when compared to that in Romania. This derives from the teaching methods used: class discussions, use of the case method, and lots of homework and group working—as opposed to pure lecturing and individual preparation in Romania. Moreover, in Romania, there are no elective courses and no credit hours system; rather, the classes are mandatory (with only a few optional courses), but each class has the same weight. As Valeria points out, though there is no evidence that one system is better than the other, "The American system prepares people to become very good specialists while the Romanian system provides us with a broader background."

The adaptation process was smooth for all of us, in part because we were willing to adjust to the new values and in part, because the faculty and staff, the classroom atmosphere, and even the Iowa community were welcoming. Still, "adapting to all the egos in an MBA program can be tricky sometimes", as Radu has properly noticed.

Finally, I gathered distinct "after graduation plans" ranging from "I will hang around here in the Midwest, though I would prefer the Colorado mountains" (George), to "I would like to work for a multinational company and deal with over-the-border financing issues, in an European-like environment, maybe Canada" (Radu), to "The challenge is to find my niche in the American "marketing market", to prove that cultural diversity could be a plus in this area as well, and. I will see from there" (Monica).