Some of the MBA students in the Class of 2019 at Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill
When ‘career changer’ comes to mind, most picture history majors inspecting balance sheets or engineers tapping into their softer side. It’s hard to imagine leaving investment management for teaching. Then again, Christine Hu isn’t like most MBA candidates.
The child of immigrants, Hu grew up speaking a mishmash of four languages in her blue collar home. It wasn’t always easy, especially when the financial crisis hit home as a high school senior. Her parent lost half of their savings – and anguished over what the future held. This event sparked Hu’s curiosity, inspiring her to study financial markets at Harvard and become a successful analyst. Eventually, she found a new calling after volunteering to tutor low income students. She had a knack for it. Even more, she found teaching to be the true extension of her purpose. “I had a unique opportunity to transform the financial trajectory of our nation’s poorest through teaching,” she writes.
CLASS RANGES FROM GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSPON TO EMMY WINNER
In 2015, Hu took a unique step. While many were leaving Teach For America to enter business, she left Pacific Investment Management Company to become a corps member. And she never looked back. After her two year commitment, she was nominated to be her district’s “Inspirational Leader” and was chosen to deliver remarks at Teach for America’s year-end celebration. In the process, she discovered how relevant her business background would be to her teaching passion. “After my first year of teaching, I recognized the amount of processes that could be improved through the incorporation of business principles.” This epiphany led her to the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School – and its mission, Hu says, of graduating “leaders invested in making a positive impact in the world through business.”
Kenan-Flagler MAC Students. Courtesy photo
Hu wasn’t the lone member of Kenan-Flagler’s Class of 2019 to make a major transition. After majoring in social anthropology at Harvard, Kathryn Hennigan became a marketing and partnerships manager at Houzz. Patrick Gomez Menzies collected a history degree at Harvard…before moving into biological sciences as a consultant and researcher. Patrick Kurunwune transitioned from eluding defenders as a Blue Devil running back to becoming a pharmacy student with their most hated rival. Jen Stutsman parlayed her summa cum laude credentials at Penn into gigs as a deputy press secretary for Obama for America 2008 and press secretary and speechwriter at the U.S. Department of Energy for three years after that. What did she do then? She headed off to Africa to become managing director of Maisha Meds, a global health supply chain startup. When Hu wasn’t buried in economics data, she was unraveling the meanings behind ancient folklore and mythology.
Impressed? Colleen Parra comes to Chapel Hill by way of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Her passions? “I’m an adrenaline junkie – sky diving, zip lining, bungee jumping. You name it.” Counting the days to the re-opening of the International Spy Museum in DC? Be sure to thank Alyssa Sheinbaum; she designed the building façade. Looking for excitement? Hennigan was part of a Peruvian archaeological dig that was featured in National Geographic. Not to be outdone, Stutsman has already visited all seven continents.
Then again, Mariana Thomas is more like the rest of us. “I know way too much about what is happening in Elmo’s life on Sesame Street thanks to my 2-year old daughter,” she jokes. Maybe Thomas could report on Elmo. A TV news reporter, she won an Emmy in 2013 – and was nominated for a second last year. Gomez Menzies also nabbed an award of his own. He received a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study, which is given to scholars based on their scientific leadership and potential.
APPLICATIONS SLIP AS GMATs AVERAGE RISES
It was a down year for applications in Chapel Hill. During the 2016-2017 cycle, the numbers slipped from 2,237 applications to 2,151. In turn, the acceptance rate dipped slightly to 37% as the school reeled in a 302 member class. Despite this setback, average GMAT rose a point to 701, just a point below in-state rival Duke Fuqua.
Demographically, the class’ percentage of women held steady at 30%, with the percentage of underrepresented minority students and international students skidding by two points and one point respectively. Financial services professionals again comprised the largest bloc of incoming first years at 21%. Technology and health care took up another quarter of the class. Manufacturing, consulting, and arts and government each represented a 7% share of the class.
The Class of 2019 can certainly look forward to a pretty bright future, after graduation. Among the 2015 and 2016 classes some of the bigger consumers of Kenan-Flagler talent have included Amazon, McKinsey, Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Bain, and JP Morgan. Last year, graduates averaged $129,797 in starting pay. Over the past five years, Kenan-Flagler MBA alums have seen their pay surge $66,200 to $157,000 according to Forbes.
Sridhar Balasubramanian, senior associate dean at Kenan-Flagler
SCHOOL LOOKING TO ‘FLIP THE CLASSROOM’ MORE
That’s not the only positive happening at the school, says Sridhar Balasubramanian, the Senior Associate Dean for MBA Programs. For one, the school has placed its five American-based MBA programs (Full-time, Evening, Weekend, Global OneMBA and online MBA@UNC) under one leadership team. While the programs will each retain their unique character, they will also better share their resources. As a result, students will enjoy more classes, as well as tap into a larger pool of students, staff, and professional development opportunities.
While the program remains a leader in graduate management, marketing, and accounting programming, Balasubramanian adds that future students can expect technology to be better deployed to free up classroom time. “With our top-ranked online MBA@UNC program, we have led in implementing technology-intensive learning that is perfectly aligned with the natural learning styles of the millennial generation,” he explains. “Building on these competencies, we are now introducing technology-intensive learning across our different MBA formats. This often involves “flipping the classroom” where the conceptual material is covered online ahead of the class, and the in-class discussion is then focused on learning to apply the theories, frameworks and toolkits in managerially relevant contexts. We will be able to accelerate, expand and enrich learning using this approach.”’’
It doesn’t stop there, he adds. “We are also moving rapidly to introduce other technology-infused learning platforms too. For example, we expect to launch our first virtual-reality learning simulation within the next few months.”
Go to page 2 to see in-depth profiles of incoming Kenan-Flagler MBA students.
Kenan-Flagler at night.
REAL ESTATE AND HEALTHCARE AMONG KENAN-FLAGLER’S CALLING CARDS
If you ask the Class of 2019 what led them to Tobacco Road, you’re bound to hear about Kenan-Flagler’s world class concentrations. One that comes to mind is real estate. Led by the legendary David Hartzell, the curriculum is a mind-blowing mix of cases, legal briefs, hands-on deal-making, and global excursions, where students travel to destinations like Dubai and Panama. For Sheinbaum, who plans to continue working in real estate and construction after earning her MBA, Kenan-Flagler’s real estate program is the perfect path to take her skills to the next level.
“The Leonard W. Wood Center for Real Estate Studies allows UNC Kenan-Flagler to stand out from other top business schools,” she notes. “The opportunities that the program provides to students, from the Real Estate Fund and the Real Estate Conference, to various real estate Global Immersion Electives are unparalleled.”
Kenan-Flagler’s healthcare concentration has also gained worldwide renown. The expansive curriculum covers areas like healthcare design and delivery, marketing, regulation, and analytics. The program also features job shadowing, offsite treks, career development, case competitions, and the school’s largest student-led conference. Even more, it boasts an array of partnerships with the UNC School of medicine. For Stutsman, who is still weighing whether to move into healthcare consulting, logistics, or product development, these offerings will enable her to test out each of these paths…and more.
“UNC Kenan-Flagler and UNC’s School of Public Health have worked together to create a strong dual-degree program that is greater than the sum of its parts,” she explains. “The synergy between the schools was the key factor that led me to select UNC Kenan-Flagler for my MBA.
There is incredible innovation occurring right now at the intersection of business and health care. Given its focus both on technical business skills and students’ leadership qualities, I believe an MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler will allow me well to be a leader and innovation in the sector for many years to come.”
Deloitte visits a Kenan-Flagler MAC class. Courtesy photo
JUST 25 MINUTES FROM THE VAUNTED RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK
The healthcare concentration also played a key role in bringing Gomez Menzies to campus. “My goal coming to business school is to expand my skill set in order to provide greater value and have a greater impact in health care,” he shares. “The school is working on the cutting-edge of business curriculum in health care and encouraging greater interaction between UNC’s different elite professional schools including the business school, medical school and pharmacy school. In addition, this situates UNC Kenan-Flagler as a core school for recruitment for many top health care and pharmaceutical companies.”
These strengths are only amplified by Kenan-Flagler’s location in the research triangle, one of the best educated regions of the country. Here, over 50% of the talent pool holds bachelor’s degrees, not counting the 8,500 students who graduate from the University of North Carolina, Duke, and North Carolina State each year. The area is also celebrated for its deep roots in the aerospace, biotech, and information technology industries.
In fact, Research Triangle Park – the nation’s largest research and development center – is just a 25- minute drive from Kenan-Flagler. It is home to over 50,000 employees and 250 companies with marquee names including IBM, GlaxoSmithKline, Biogen, Cisco, and RTI International. With areas like virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and gamification receiving increasing investment in the park, Tar Heels will find some of the most cutting edge technologies and practices right in their own backyard.
A LEADERSHIP LABORATORY
In this environment, success demands more than scientific, engineering, and programming prowess. It also requires leadership. If there is one word associated with the Kenan-Flagler MBA program, it would be leadership. It starts with the school’s acclaimed STAR (Student Teams Achieving Results) program. Think of it as practice-makes-perfect, a constant feedback culture that is reminiscent of the top consulting firms. Make no mistake: STAR can go toe-to-toe with any business school leadership or corporate development program.
Call it a tough-love effort. The school trusts students enough to develop their own customized curriculum and leadership plan to address their shortcomings. However, there is a coach for every 10 students, meaning MBA candidates are receiving constant feedback during simulations and one-on-one coaching. In other words, they are held accountable for elevating their communication and motivational skills. While teamwork is stressed across the board, the STAR program has a clear goal: Fashioning students who aren’t afraid to lead from the front – leaders who don’t shy from conflict and know how to bring people together.
MBA students participating in Kenan-Flagler’s Business Cares initiative
You’ll find one of those students in Thomas. “Any top school will give you a world-class and rigorous education,” she concedes. “However, I wanted to be a part of a program with a smaller class size where there’s a huge emphasis on leadership skills and easier access to professors. Tar Heels also excel at being collaborative and supporting one another, so it’s a great environment to learn and to push yourself out of your comfort zone.”
COME FOR THE COUSEWORK, STAY FOR THE CULTURE
This sense of support is a cultural feature that students pass down from class-to-class. “One thing students see right away when they get to campus is that sense of community,” says Meena Dorr, executive director of MBA admissions at Kenan-Flagler Business School in a 2017 interview with Poets&Quants. “The staff from the dean to the faculty are really invested in the students. They want to see them succeed, so much so that the faculty invite them to their homes for some of their core classes. There is a sense of surrounding them and making sure they are successful.”
That means stepping outside themselves, taking risks, and building real relationships. Looking ahead, class members like Parra plan to do just that: build a “positive, collaborative community” and have a “positive impact on someone else’s experience” in her words. For that to happen, she notes, it means “being present” at all times.
“The goal is to cultivate who I want to be professionally and maybe discover new passions in life,” Parra says.
To read profiles of incoming Kenan-Flagler MBA students — along with their advice on tackling the GMAT, applications, and interviews — click on the links below.
DON’T MISS: MEET UNC KENAN-FLAGLER’S MBA CLASS OF 2018 OR THE PIONEERING MBAs OF THE CLASS OF 2019
| Student | Hometown | Alma Mater | Employer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick Gomez Menzies | Brooklyn, NY | Harvard University | University of California-San Diego |
| Kathryn Hennigan | Mooresville, NC | Harvard College | Houzz |
| Christine Hu | Union City, CA | Harvard University | Teach For America |
| Patrick Kurunwune | Austin, TX | Duke University | UNC Memorial Hospital |
| Colleen Parra | Queens, NY | Baruch College | Goldman Sachs |
| Alyssa Sheinbaum | Marietta, GA | Georgia Tech University | Clark Construction |
| Jen Stutsman | Boulder, CO | University of Pennsylvania | Maisha Meds |
| Mariana Thomas | Abuja, Nigeria | George Mason University | KFSN-TV |
Patrick Gomez Menzies
University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School
Describe yourself in 15 words or less: Gregarious scholar-athlete, thinker and problem-solver looking to make an impact in life sciences and health care
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Fun Fact About Yourself: Proud of two mottos:
SUB UMBRA FLOREO (Under the shade, I flourish) from my Belizean dual-citizenship
VIL GOD I ZAL (With God’s will, I shall) from my Scottish Clan, Menzies
Undergraduate School and Major:
Harvard University, A.B. History and Science
City University of New York, York College, B.S. Biotechnology
University of California-San Diego, M.S. Biomedical Sciences
Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:
University of California-San Diego – Graduate Researcher
1798 Consultants Inc – Business Analyst Intern
Novoron Biosciences – Lead Project Consultant
LabKey Corporation – Science Marketing Intern
Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest accomplishment was receiving the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Gilliam Fellowship for Advanced Study. The fellowship identifies scholars who will assume leadership positions in science from diverse backgrounds and have a commitment to the advancement of diversity and inclusion in science. Selection is based on academic excellence, scientific potential, and efforts to advance diversity and inclusion. Throughout my career, I have had a passion for diversity and equity and believe it can be one of the greatest drivers of innovation and success. I have used my participation in the program to expand my professional network and support the growth of others through mentorship and collaboration.
Looking back on your experience, what one piece of advice would you give to future business school applicants? All business schools are not equivalent. Really do your due diligence. Understanding each school’s priorities, strengths, and outcomes will help you in multiple ways. First, you will be able to make a more informed decision on selecting target school and deciding where to apply. Second, this information is pivotal to writing a good, tailored essay and delivering a strong, thoughtful interview. Just as you are looking for the right school, schools are looking for the right students who contribute to their brand and fit their culture. Finally, if you have the privilege of choosing between admissions offers, you can make the decision of where you want to be for two years and be able to explain that decision to friends and employers throughout your career.
What was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? UNC Kenan-Flagler’s focus on health care was the key factor for my decision. My goal coming to business school is to expand my skillset in order to provide greater value and have a greater impact in health care. The school is working on the cutting-edge of business curriculum in health care and encouraging greater interaction between UNC’s different elite professional schools including the business school, medical school and pharmacy school. In addition, this situates UNC Kenan-Flagler as a core school for recruitment for many top health care and pharmaceutical companies. I look forward to making connections across the health sciences and finding the right company to intern with.
What would success look like to you after your first year of business school? Success for me means being able to get involved in student-run initiatives and learn to analyze the culture of different companies and firms. I believe there is so much to be learned from the diverse and accomplished peers who are attracted to UNC Kenan-Flagler. Success for me would be supporting the growth of that learning community by giving my time and effort for the success of others around me. In addition, I am excited about taking the time in business school to explore career options and the diversity of firms and functions available to MBA students. Part of my success would be choosing the right fit for my summer internship.
Kathryn Hennigan
University of North Carolina, Kenan Flagler Business School
Describe yourself in 15 words or less: Urban hiking enthusiast by way of Boston and San Francisco, currently back in North Carolina.
Hometown: Mooresville, North Carolina
Fun Fact About Yourself: In college, I participated in a Peruvian archaeological dig featured in National Geographic.
Undergraduate School and Major: Harvard College, Social Anthropology
Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:
Public Consulting Group, Business Analyst
Houzz, Industry Marketing Manager
Houzz, Partnerships Manager
Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Moving across the country to San Francisco without any job prospects and making the transition from consulting to marketing at a tech company is my biggest accomplishment so far. With a little bit of faith and determination, I landed at Houzz and worked on the industry marketing team there for the past three years. Being able to experience life in Silicon Valley and working at a start-up during a tremendous growth phase were invaluable experiences for me and taught me countless skills and lessons that will inform the rest of my career endeavors.
Looking back on your experience, what one piece of advice would you give to future business school applicants? For me, a huge part of applying for business school was trusting the process and being myself. Each school that you apply to will have different essay topics, and I found those to be a great way to express myself authentically and determine fit with different programs. Your responses to the essay prompts will click with some schools and won’t click with others, but knowing that you represented yourself honestly will help guide your process and match you to the best school for you.
What was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? A key factor that led me to UNC Kenan-Flagler was the top-notch MBA real estate program. I was also very impressed with the collaborative nature and sense of community that I felt from everyone I encountered from the School throughout my application process. I used to think that business school would be very cutthroat and competitive (not my ideal learning environment), but at UNC Kenan-Flagler I found exactly the opposite. It’s a place that is a true community, where everyone is supportive and invested in each other’s successes. That aspect of a school was very important to me and one of the main reasons that drew me to UNC Kenan-Flagler.
What would success look like to you after your first year of business school? To me, a successful first year of business school would include forming high quality, meaningful relationships with all of my classmates; having a solid foundation in the core curriculum as well as starting to explore real estate classes; and securing a real estate development internship in a major city on the east coast.
Christine Hu
University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School
Describe yourself in 15 words or less: Intellectual curiosity for business transformations. Inspired by my parents’ immigrant spirit to succeed.
Hometown: Union City, CA
Fun Fact About Yourself: Growing up, I communicated with my parents using four different languages (English, Mandarin, Taiwanese and Cantonese), often using English and the three dialects over the course of a “regular” five-minute conversation.
Undergraduate School and Major:
- Harvard – Economics, Secondary in Folklore and Mythology
- East Carolina University – Professional Educator’s License
Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:
- Pacific Investment Management Company, LLC (PIMCO), Analyst (2013 – 2015)
- Teach for America, Corps Member (2015 – 2017)
- Duke University, Associate in Research (2016 – 2017)
Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest accomplishment thus far has been “making the leap” from financial analyst to public school teacher for the purpose of serving my country.
During the financial crisis, I was a senior in high school when I witnessed my parents lose half of their life and retirement savings in the stock market crash. As blue-collar workers with little more than high-school educations, my parents were left wondering what to do next. I felt a sense of responsibility to understand the situation for myself and for my family’s financial well-being.
In college, I took every course I could to figure out how the economy functioned. Naturally, a degree in economics led me to my first job as a financial analyst, a role in which I learned about the inner workings of financial markets. The purpose for my learning was two-fold: I wanted to know what factors led to the financial crisis and think of ways to make the system better.
I shared my findings at monthly workshops for local, low-income youth, representing the PIMCO Foundation as a volunteer financial literacy instructor. During my second year at PIMCO, when the three-person team I directed was voted best teaching team by the students, I knew I had a unique opportunity to transform the financial trajectory of our nation’s poorest through teaching.
As a Teach for America corps member, I applied the skills I learned in business to: secure outside sponsorships for two fully funded educational field trips; create shared Excel templates to modernize the process of tracking and analyzing student achievement; and apply research-based interventions. At the end of my two-year corps commitment, I was really proud to have been nominated by my colleagues at school for the district’s inspirational leader award as well as selected by the Teach for America staff to give remarks on behalf of the 2015 corps at the year-end celebration.
Looking back on your experience, what one piece of advice would you give to future business school applicants? I confirmed my interest in attending business school after my first year of teaching, when I recognized the amount of processes that could be improved through the incorporation of business principles. If my goal was to enroll the following fall, that left just six months to get all of my application materials together in time for second round deadlines at my target schools. Therefore, my GMAT advice may be particularly relevant for those with the objective of completing the application process within a year, especially while working.
First, although many schools these days accept both the GMAT and GRE, if you are a career switcher and believe you can do well on the GMAT, take the GMAT. Some industries (such as investment banking or consulting) look at GMAT scores, so if you are interested in these areas, you are going to have to take the GMAT anyway. Another reason to take the GMAT is to show admissions committees that you are serious about business school in particular, and have the ability to handle the quantitative rigor in the classroom.
Secondly, study content in several different formats so you have the ability to answer GMAT-type questions in any context, not just in the way one publisher writes the question. My process started with the GMAT Prep by Kaplan because the book is broken down into subject areas (arithmetic, algebra, geometry, sentence correction, reading comprehension, etc.). I buckled down and read GMAT Prep by Kaplan like a college student absorbing information from a textbook. I then added a second layer to my studying, which was completing practice questions from The Official Guide for GMAT Review published by GMAC. The companion website for the book comes with practice questions online, which allows you to simulate testing conditions since the GMAT is computer-based. Finally, I used GMAT Flashcards by Magoosh in the App Store to round out my study plan. This app is a spaced repetition flashcard program, which was very useful because I could rate my knowledge of a question (“mastered,” “reviewing,” or “this content is new to me”) and then see the questions again at a frequency that would eventually help me master all of the questions.
Third, be resourceful about your time and find creative ways to study! While traveling, GMAT Flashcards proved to be incredibly valuable because all I needed was my phone to review questions mid-flight or when waiting in line. At home is where I could focus on building my stamina; I would block off hours at a time to complete a practice test from the GMAC website, mimicking test day as closely as possible (timing of breaks, no outside distractions, etc.).
After two months of preparation, including sitting for the test twice, I achieved my target score. When I took the GMAT, you could only take the exam once every 31 calendar days, so my final piece of advice would be to plan ahead and build in time to possibly re-test before the application deadline.
What was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? As someone who is very intellectually curious and values diversity of thought, I knew UNC Kenan-Flagler was for me when I realized I could continue being that person both in choosing my academic plan of study as well as in interactions with classmates. At UNC Kenan-Flagler, students have six dedicated career and four enrichment concentrations to choose from, or a student can design their own course of general management study. Additionally, students who want to hold leadership positions in multiple clubs are highly supported by their classmates because there is a strong culture of paying it forward and paying it backward as success breeds success.
The UNC Kenan-Flagler factor – the mission to graduate leaders invested in making a positive impact in the world through business – is important to me because involvement and development have been common themes throughout my career. For instance, while at PIMCO, I was an active volunteer with the PIMCO Foundation, helping to achieve our company’s strategic goals through philanthropic efforts. While serving in the Teach for America corps, during school breaks, I conducted academic research (gathering and analyzing information, formulating and testing hypotheses) to develop solutions to improve the financial well-being of low-income households. These themes will continue in business school through my work as a Dean’s Fellow, Forté Fellow and Consortium Member and I am looking forward to whatever comes next!
What would success look like to you after your first year of business school? Managing my multiple priorities well! On a day-to-day level, that means fitting in time to run outdoors no matter where I am working in the world. Running is one of my favorite ways to process my thoughts from the day, a time to listen to new podcasts, and my secret to staying high energy! A longer term goal is to continue spreading the mission of The Consortium and Forté Fellowship programs. I am where I am today, in part, because of these programs and I also want to help make organizations more successful through diversity and inclusion efforts.
Patrick Kurunwune
University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School
Describe yourself in 15 words or less: I love spicy food so I’m hotter than a hot pocket filled with hot sauce.
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Fun Fact About Yourself: I played football at Duke University.
Undergraduate School and Major:
- Duke University: Biological Anthropology & Anatomy; Psychology
- UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy: PharmD
Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:
- UNC Memorial Hospital: Pharmacy Administration Finance Consultant
- State Farm: Property & Casualty Senior Manager
Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest accomplishment so far was getting into business school. I always knew I wanted to go to pharmacy school, but I only applied to UNC because I knew they offered a prestigious dual-degree program. I have never been more excited in my professional career the day I received my acceptance letter from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Looking back on your experience, what one piece of advice would you give to future business school applicants? The individuals who wrote my letters of recommendations really knew me and could speak to my character. I would advise you to take the time to ask individuals who have observed your work ethic and know the unique characteristics you can bring to the table.
What was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? I knew I wanted to pursue the dual-degree program that UNC offered (MBA/PharmD) because there was no other school in the country that has a top tier pharmacy school and business school. More specifically, UNC Kenan-Flagler has a strong reputation for collaboration and helping others. I noticed this as early as my first recruiting event I attended (Inside the MBA) where I observed how Stephanie Williams, senior associate director of admissions, was so intrigued in helping me with the MBA process even though she had just met me! The culture is contagious as many of the faculty I have interacted with have the same passion for wanting to support you.
What would success look like to you after your first year of business school? Success for me would mean I am working in the healthcare sector. Within this domain, I want to focus on health outcomes that are aligned with patient preference. I want to assure that the most efficacious drugs are provided with the simplest ease of use to the necessary patient populations. My interest for this type of work sparked 11 years ago when my mother was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. This gave me a first-hand look at the struggles that many patients face with medication access and costs. This is what motivated me to pursue an industry that would allow me to affect patient populations on a macro scale.
Colleen Parra
University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School
Describe yourself in 15 words or less: A passionate, humble woman with an insatiable intellectual curiosity, kind heart and strong-willed spirit
Hometown: Queens, NY
Fun Fact About Yourself: I’m an adrenaline junkie – sky diving, zip lining, bungee jumping. You name it.
Undergraduate School and Major: Baruch College, Zicklin School of Business, B.B.A in Finance
Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:
Goldman Sachs, Investment Management Division, PWM Associate
Morgan Stanley, Wealth Management, Senior Associate
Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Our team had been really focused on signing on a target client – one we had been in discussions for some time. The excitement around winning the business came with very challenging situations which we worked to complete successfully. Arriving at a consensus view was only possible through collaboration and proved particularly useful for our client making investment decisions with a long-term horizon. It was extremely important for me to understand the client’s investment style and apply it to the customized allocation plan. The rewarding part came from being able to implement the strategy and carry out the best execution possible for the client knowing I drove the process.
Looking back on your experience, what one piece of advice would you give to future business school applicants? The best piece of advice is to start early. The business school application process is meant to be an exploratory phase preparing you for a transformational (best!) chapter of your life and not meant to be rushed. Reflect on what is most important to you and what schools align best. My list of requirements ran the gamut, including the alumni network, class size, school location and strength in the programs offered. Speak to the admissions officers, attend the information sessions and connect with current students and alumni.
I also can’t stress enough to be yourself. Just imagine you are an admissions officer reading thousands of essays for applicants with similar credentials. It’s vital to being able to construct personal and genuine answers to the essay questions and demonstrate conviction during the interview process. This process helped me grow tremendously and gain introspection on how to differentiate myself. This also applies to choosing your recommenders. Use folks who can speak best on your work ethic, strengths and weaknesses, and career goals.
Lastly, don’t freak about the GMAT! Take the time you need to prepare for the exam as it’s meant to measure your ability to stay focused and think quickly. Set a schedule that works for you to accurately track your study progress and try to reduce distractions.
What was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? The collaborative culture at UNC Kenan-Flagler, as well as its world-class leadership development program. Everyone that I connected with throughout the admissions process was so enthusiastic about the school and extremely welcoming. My decision came down to UNC Kenan-Flagler and another program, but it became very clear to me that every individual here was extremely invested in my success for the long haul. Specifically, my Consortium family has truly been paramount to my professional development and robust preparation for business school.
What would success look like to you after your first year of business school? Success would be developing a positive, collaborative community with my classmates during the recruiting process. Ultimately, that will drive us far after graduation and only improve the value of my MBA, if I have a positive impact on someone else’s experience. Also, making as much of my time as a student as possible and not just “being present.” The goal is to cultivate who I want to be professionally and maybe discover new passions in life.
Alyssa Sheinbaum
University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School
Describe yourself in 15 words or less: Soccer player, documentary enthusiast, and world traveler passionate about the built environment.
Hometown: Marietta, Georgia
Fun Fact About Yourself: I was in a Hungarian reality TV show, but no, I do not know how to speak Hungarian.
Undergraduate School and Major: Georgia Tech – Civil Engineering
Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation: Office Engineer, Project Engineer, and Project Manager at Clark Construction. Most recently, I was on site building the new International Spy Museum in downtown Washington, D.C.
Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: The highlight of my career thus far was as a Project Manager working with the International Spy Museum project team to negotiate and procure the building façade under budget, and ultimately see it through the beginning of construction. I was brought on board in early 2015 to begin working with the project’s world-class architects and engineers to help budget, plan and procure the façade scope of the new museum.
After developing numerous financial updates, attending several meetings, and working with specialists from across the globe, we were able to contract the façade subcontractors under budget and within the project schedule. It was truly amazing to watch the project progress from schematic sketches to design and construction for over two years before leaving to pursue my MBA.
Looking back on your experience, what one piece of advice would you give to future business school applicants? Give yourself plenty of time! Applications take a lot more time to complete than you would expect, and you can only apply once you have all prerequisites in order. I would advise all potential applicants to assume you will take the GMAT/GRE more than one time and potentially up to three times (like me!). It might sound crazy, but start planning out your exam and application schedule at least one year in advance to allow a little extra time for additional tests if needed.
Also, I highly recommend you reach out to professors and faculty of all schools you are applying to, especially if you do not have access to current or former students. This will help you get a feel for the academics and programs offered as well as help answer any questions about the program. Contact information for professors and faculty members are easy to find online and, in my experience, they are always willing to answer any questions you have.
What was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? I plan to continue my career in the real estate and construction industry after graduation so the Leonard W. Wood Center for Real Estate Studies allowed UNC Kenan-Flagler to stand out from other top business schools. The opportunities that the program provides to students, from the Real Estate Fund and the Real Estate Conference, to various real estate Global Immersion Electives are unparalleled. Additionally, the fondness with which every student I met talked about the program, the incredible UNC campus atmosphere, and the passion of the faculty that I experienced firsthand when I visited the campus, made UNC Kenan-Flagler my number one choice for business school.
It didn’t hurt that our admitted students weekend occurred the same week that the UNC men’s basketball team won the 2017 NCAA championship!
What would success look like to you after your first year of business school? Since I do not have a business background, success to me would mean having a thorough understanding of the core principles of business, finance and accounting as well as a fundamental understanding of basic real estate principles and concepts that I could apply toward my full-time summer internship in the real estate industry.
Jen Stutsman
University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School
Describe yourself in 15 words or less: A former political staffer turned global health manager; still a strategist and communicator
Hometown: Boulder, CO
Fun Fact About Yourself: I’ve traveled to all seven continents.
Undergraduate School and Major:
University of Pennsylvania, B.A. in Communications and Political Science
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, M.S.P.H. in Health Policy and Management
Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:
Obama for America 2008 – National Advance Staff, Deputy Press Secretary
U.S. Department of Energy – Press Secretary
C3 Energy – Marketing Manager
MASS Design Group – Operations and Business Development Fellow
Maisha Meds – Managing Director
Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Prior to returning to graduate school, I had the opportunity to lead Maisha Meds, a technology startup in Kenya focused on improving health care quality in private pharmacies. In two years, we grew a small pilot project into a successful market player by revising our business model, launching a new and better product, rebranding the company, and raising significant investor funding. By the time I left, my staff in Kenya had developed into a strong, locally-led team, giving me confidence I could return to the U.S. for school and the company would continue to grow and succeed.
Looking back on your experience, what one piece of advice would you give to future business school applicants? Business school applications require you to deeply understand how getting your MBA fits into your larger professional trajectory. Because my career path has been non-linear, I often found it difficult to connect my prior experiences with a vision for what would follow business school. During that process, I found two resources were invaluable: former mentors and individuals working where I wanted to be – in global health program management. Giving myself the time and space to explore those connections and better define my future goals enabled me to write strong, compelling essays for my MBA applications.
What was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? UNC Kenan-Flagler and UNC’s School of Public Health have worked together to create a strong dual-degree program that is greater than the sum of its parts. The synergy between the schools was the key factor that led me to select UNC Kenan-Flagler for my MBA.
There is incredible innovation occurring right now at the intersection of business and health care. Given its focus both on technical business skills and students’ leadership qualities, I believe an MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler will allow me well to be a leader and innovation in the sector for many years to come.
What would success look like to you after your first year of business school? Through business school, I hope to identify which functional area is the best fit with my long-term career goals and professional style. After one year of business school, would be working with a company where I have the opportunity to further develop those functional capabilities – whether in consulting, supply chain management, or pharmaceutical development – while seeing opportunities for growth within the organization.
Mariana Thomas
University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School
Describe yourself in 15 words or less: Driven by my desire to see what I am capable of
Hometown: Abuja, Nigeria
Fun Fact About Yourself: I know way too much about what is happening in Elmo’s life on Sesame Street thanks to my 2-year old daughter!
Undergraduate School and Major: George Mason University, Government and International Politics.
Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:
KFSN-TV (Disney Owned and Operated), TV News Reporter
KOLO-TV (ABC Affiliated), TV News Reporter
KPIX-TV (CBS Owned and Operated), News Writer
News 14 Carolina (Time Warner Owned), Video Journalist/Producer
WRAL-TV, Documentary Researcher
Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I am an Emmy Award winner. I won the award for my on-air reporting of a breaking news event that impacted people in Central California.
Looking back on your experience, what one piece of advice would you give to future business school applicants? Ask tough questions. Reach out to current students and alumni to find out as much as possible about various schools. Their input can give you a more realistic perspective about whether a certain program is the right fit for you.
What was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? Any top school will give you a world-class and rigorous education. However, I wanted to be a part of a program with a smaller class size where there’s a huge emphasis on leadership skills and easier access to professors. Tar Heels also excel at being collaborative and supporting one another, so it’s a great environment to learn and to push yourself out of your comfort zone.
What would success look like to you after your first year of business school? I would love to master what we learn in the classroom in a way that I can easily apply those concepts to my summer internship and career moving forward.
Related Stories In Our Meet The Class of 2019 Series:
The Pioneering MBAs In The Class of 2019
Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business
Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business
Vanderbilt University’s Owen School of Management
University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business
Notre Dame University Mendoza College of Business
UC-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business
New York University Stern School of Business
University of Texas-Austin McCombs School of Business
University of Michigan Ross School of Business
Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business
MIT Sloan School of Management
University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business
Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management
UCLA Anderson School of Management
Emory University’s Goizueta Business School
Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business
Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business
University of Washington’s Foster School of Business
University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management
University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flager Business School
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