Georgetown McDonough’s Flex MBA Online Students Find Community & More

Shriya Khonde, Georgetown McDonough Flex MBA Online Candidate, Class of 2026

Hometown: Edison, NJ
Undergraduate Institution and Major: NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Class of 2020 – Business and Technology Management
Pre-MBA Work Experience: UBS Financial Services – Rotational Program in Wealth Management (2 years); Program Manager – UBS Consolidated Advisory Program (present)

Clear Admit: Why did you choose an online MBA versus in person program and what factors figured most prominently into your decision?
Shriya Khonde: I chose the online program for greater flexibility. I’m based in D.C., but my work is in New York. So, I’m constantly traveling between the two. Having that online MBA medium, having  some asynchronous material and synchronous material really appealed to me. My work hours are a little bit blurry. I wanted to be able to dedicate time to class, and the asynchronous portion of the program really helps me do that, where I can make sure that I get all my work done over the weekend. Another factor–I honestly didn’t want to deal with traffic!

I also value the access to D.C. Being in the Northern Virginia area, I liked that the online program gave me the option to do the classes online, but then also having the opportunity to go on campus. I’m currently the Potomac cohort representative and this gives me the opportunity to fill that role and take class online.

CA: What is your initial impression of the Georgetown, McDonough online Flex MBA program?
SK: I love it.

Considering that this is the inaugural cohort, the program office and the advisors are extremely organized. Coming into this online program, before I really knew what it was about, I was under the impression that our asynchronous portions or video lectures were going to be a camera setup into an in-person Zoom class–but that’s actually not what it is. They’ve spent a lot of time creating these video lectures. The asynchronous material is extremely, extremely detailed, and has a very clear cut structure. The video production team who creates the video lectures, they’re very high quality; I’m constantly impressed by them. The professors are also extremely accessible and the program office is very receptive to feedback.

Overall, it’s just been a really good experience. I knew this from before I even applied to the program, because I did the Georgetown Preview Day, which is comprised of information sessions about the program. As soon as I went to one of them or expressed interest in the program, even prior to applying, there was constant feedback. I had students who are currently in the program reach out to me as a prospective student and say, ‘Hey, if you want to learn more, I’m happy to talk to you.’ The program office called me directly at one point to ask me about my experience.  I felt like there was a very customized approach to my journey at Georgetown, which I really appreciated. I never felt like I was an afterthought or just another number.

CA: Given the plethora of online MBA programs, why specifically did you choose one that was cohort based and primarily synchronous? Are there additional factors that led you to choose Georgia count University?
SK: My undergrad was not cohort-based and so it was kind of a free-for-all, making your own groups. In the Flex MBA program, I liked that I had the opportunity to work with every single person in my cohort in some capacity. Moreover, in the FLEX program, everyone has some work experience. They really take their time to craft the study teams based on people’s strengths and weaknesses. For example, I took a digital marketing class earlier this semester, and our group was created so that there was one person who had no digital marketing experience whatsoever, one person who does digital marketing as their day-to-day job, and then some of us who have some experience. And so there’s a lot to learn just from your other group members, whether it’s discussion based, working in groups, leadership, all of those larger concepts that you really do want to take out of the MBA program. Even though we’re an online program, I’d like to think that our cohort is pretty tight knit.

Additional factors that led me to choose Georgetown, I would say the one is being D.C.-based. Because I live here now, I wanted to build out a network in D.C. It’s given me access to so many different companies, so many different people, so many different resources. The second factor was the global business experience that we all have to do in our last year, which is a one week global experience. You work with a company and do a consulting project with them over the semester, and then the last week of your semester, you get to go to that country and meet with the company and present your project to senior stakeholders. That is a big value that I’m looking forward to.

CA: What is the format of the classes in the Flex Online MBA program? What has been your favorite favorite class so far and why?
SK: For the format of the Flex Online courses, there’s an asynchronous portion and a synchronous portion. The synchronous portion is every Monday and Wednesday from 8pm to 9:30pm EST, which is to allow flexibility for those who are on the West Coast as well. And then the asynchronous portion is the video lectures, the readings, and the cases–all of which you get to do on your own time, on a week-to-week basis. What Georgetown has done a really great job in all of my classes, consistently, is having weekly checkpoints on the material that you’ve learned that week, whether it’s a quiz, whether it’s a homework assignment. That’s been really helpful to make sure that when the final rolls around, or the midterm rolls around, we’ve already been tested on that material.

My favorite class so far has definitely been ‘Leading Teams in Performance and Impact’ or LTPAI, which is one of your first courses in your first semester at Georgetown. And it is learning communication skills, it is learning leadership skills, it’s learning how to further create impact in your course. These are skills I’ve been able to directly apply to my role at UBS. It was very discussion based and we got to talk about AI in the workplace, we got to talk about larger topics that you didn’t don’t necessarily think to discuss in a classroom space. But it was really interesting to just learn more from all these very accomplished speakers and leaders and professors. I feel like I got to learn a lot about my cohort peers, as well.

CA: How do you build community in an online environment?
SK: Everyone has an invested interest in building community, which I think is helpful. Everyone’s engaged, everyone wants to be there, everyone’s talking. We have our group chat as well. I think the foundation for community with the Georgetown online program was our residency. Back in August, we had a three-week course to get us back into studying and taking tests and doing projects, etc. The last week of that three-week course, was a one-week long residency at Georgetown and we all got to stay on campus. That was so helpful at the beginning of the program, to get to talk to one another, to get to see one another, to work on your projects in-person. We built friendships and larger bonds. We also had the in-person classroom experience with professors. The experience really helped set the stage for what the rest of the semester was going to look like.

CA: What are you most excited about in the next few years?
SK: I’ve already touched on this a little bit, but I am more excited about the Global Business Experience, just because we get to go abroad. I’m also excited about the next two years of classes, which are much more elective-based than our first year of core classes. You get to determine what path you want to take for the rest of your experience at Georgetown. The social aspect of it, too! I am D.C.-based, and there is a lot of crossover with the Flex MBA Online students and the Flex MBA in-person students. With events constantly happening on campus, I’m looking forward to spending some more time on campus if I can, outside of classroom time to just get to know more people. I really like that they integrate the Flex cohorts. Having some Flex in-person students in the online courses, and some online students who can take courses in-person as well gives you exactly what the program’s called, which is flexibility.

CA: What is one thing you would absolutely do again, as part of your application process, to the Flex Online MBA program?
SK: Before the Preview Day, the information sessions were extremely valuable to me. Preview day was a half-day event where you could talk with alumni, professors, and student ambassadors. They also did a mock MBA class that truly inspired me to apply. I was back in that setting, I was excited to learn, I was eager to listen to what the professor had to say. For me, Preview Day solidified that I did want to apply and I wanted to apply to Georgetown. I think they have some online Preview Days for those who can’t come to Georgetown to do it. Post-Preview Day, alumni and current students reached out to me. Those conversations illuminated what the program is like. There were some people that I met at Preview Day who also had not applied similar to myself, and now they’re in my cohort, or they’re in the flex in person program. So it’s really cool to go and talk to them and see them and continue whatever friendship we had created when we were first at Georgetown, prior to even applying.

CA: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
SK: The Georgetown Flex MBA Online gives you exactly what it says it gives you: flexibility and community. Because it’s so new, there’s still a lot of change and evolution that’s happening in the program. And the program office and the advisors are very receptive to feedback. I have two more years to go in the program, and I’m just super excited to be getting my MBA at Georgetown.