Meet the Carnegie Mellon Tepper MBA Class Of 2020 - Poets&Quants

Business is business.

That’s how some business schools operate. Sure, they host shared incubators and clubs – even offer dual degrees. Beyond the boilerplate lip service to “cross-curricular” or “multidisciplinary” education, business is often relegated to the academic fringes, never central to the mission.

That norm is flipped at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. Here, the business school is not just the center of campus, but the spoke that connects fields as disparate as engineering, humanities, computer science, and public policy. It is a place where graduate students and undergrads come together to exchange ideas and collaborate – where the creative spirit sparks an idea; scientific rigor tests its possibilities; engineering prowess brings a blueprint to life; and business savvy takes a finished work to the masses.

BRINGING INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION TO LIFE

This multidisciplinary, cross-campus model reflects an ideal that is often discussed but rarely realized in academia. Hardly a new way of thinking, the Tepper model harkens back to the enlightenment spirit, where science, art, and philosophy found a common ground – one that ushered in greater health, freedom, and industry. Now, the school is mobilizing these same holistic energies to address the most complex issues in business…and beyond.

“The solutions to the most important and pressing problems of business and society are not going to be found within the silo of a single discipline,” explains Robert Dammon, Dean of the Tepper School, in a 2018 interview with P&Q. “They really require interdisciplinary collaboration and thinking beyond just one discipline. That means outside the walls of the business school as well, bringing in engineering and computer science, and even the arts and humanities, to help solve these major societal challenges.”

A Tepper Classroom

Tepper has always been a little different, perhaps because it was always a step ahead. The program’s big picture view is naturally attractive to students like William Liu, a U.S. Marine who studied aerospace and mechanical engineering as an undergrad. Now, this Queens native has joined the Class of 2020 at Tepper, viewing interdisciplinary collaboration and Pittsburgh’s robust tech market as a means to bring people together.

“It’s awesome that Tepper aims to harness the school’s potential by bringing students of all backgrounds together under one roof,” he says. “I think that’s a novel concept that says a lot about the direction the school is heading.”

A TRADITION OF EMBRACING TECH

Technically, this has long been Tepper’s path. Based in a university regaled as a global leader in robotics, cybersecurity, machine learning and AI, Tepper has never shied away from the technical side of business – with a data-driven mindset that has strongly woven economics, and behavioral sciences into the curriculum from the beginning. The business school was among the first to house an IBM mainframe, which faculty used to build complex business models – ones that laid the groundwork for artificial intelligence and earned one faculty member a Nobel Prize.

Among faculty, this openness to new disciplines explains why the department isn’t broken into concentrations – or ‘siloed’ if you will. Instead, faculty are often recruited based on their “broader view of how all of this might fit together,” in the words of Michael Trick, senior associate dean of faculty and research, in a 2017 interview with P&Q. This ability, coupled with actionable research and teaching excellence, is what sets the Tepper experience apart for many.

“The approach that underlies our program is a really deep and thorough understanding of analytics and the role that data places in decision-making; the role that modern data issues are having in every field together with some really creative approaches to leadership like how you take what you know from the data to change organizations,” Trick adds. “The faculty buys into the importance of both halves of this. It gets reflected in the classroom. There is a unity happening. Our faculty is very interdisciplinary. All of us know what other people are doing and have a respect for that”

LEVERAGING THE LARGER UNIVERSITY

Not surprisingly, business students are encouraged to take classes across campus, so they can engage with like-minded faculty and classmates. In the process, many are exposed to cutting edge research and ventures – the kind they can leverage to gain experience and earn jobs. In researching business schools, Seoweon Yoo sought out programs that could deliver hard analytical skills – the kind that she didn’t have the time to absorb on the job. For her, Tepper offered her the chance to gain these skills – all while pursuing her passion for computer science.

Tepper students collaborating on a project

“I am also interested in programming and building automation tools for operations,” she explains. “The option to attend courses from different departments other than the business school was a big attraction point for Carnegie Mellon, since their computer science school is one of the best.”

While “cross-disciplinary” is the first word many attach to the Tepper MBA program, “diverse” may be the best description for the Class of 2020. Take Pierce B. Frauenheim, a Carnegie Mellon alum who became a military fighter pilot…and then some.

“Outside of operational requirements, I was qualified as an airshow demonstration pilot showcasing the unique capabilities of one of the most technologically advanced aircraft ever built” he explains. “I was also hand selected by my Commanding Officer to lead a contingent of four aircraft that directly supported President Obama during a scheduled visit to Los Angeles.”

“IS THIS PERSON BETTER OFF FOR HAVING KNOWN ME?”

Traditionally, Carnegie Mellon University has been associated with hard science and computer science. However, it has one of the world’s premier arts and theater programs, with alums ranging from Andy Warhol to Zachary Quinto (aka Spock) – artists who found their voice after being alienated by the norms. Add Brian Porter to that list. Unable to fit in as a middle schooler – and inspired by Ozzy Osbourne – Porter picked up the guitar to express himself. This talent also enabled him to better connect with people like himself.

“Over the years, music allowed me to open up and give others a portion of what it had given to me,” he notes. “My freshman dorm peers would regularly schedule free lessons to learn songs to play at parties or to impress a special someone in their PSYC 101 class. One friend communicated that an original song of mine, “Still Turning,” had helped him cope with his brother’s cancer diagnosis. These instances ingrained in me the importance of making a positive impact and guide my decisions to this day.”

The class also brings a spirit of service to the Pittsburgh campus. Look no further than military veterans like William Henderson, a West Point grad whose baptism of fire came in Afghanistan when he replaced a platoon leader who died in combat. “I had to figure out how to lead 25 young men who had just lost their leader,” he shares. “This had an immense impact on my perspective and taught me a lot about leadership and teambuilding. To this day, I carry those lessons with me and appreciate the importance of teamwork, loyalty, and camaraderie more than ever.”

Student dance party

William Liu adopted those same lessons from his posts as a U.S. Marines officer, with his most recent role being Company Commander for a Wounded Warrior Battalion. For Liu, leadership involved asking himself some harrowing questions – and living up to the responsibilities that came with the answers.

“I have vivid memories of the day I reported for duty and stood in front of my Marines for the first time,” he recalls. “I looked out at my division and came to realize that I had a solemn responsibility to each one of the men and women that stood before me. For every Marine in my charge, I began asking myself: Is this person better off for having known me? If not, then what could I do to further his or her professional development? How can I help him or her grow personally? What resources are at my disposal that might benefit individual in question?”

15 MINUTES OF FAME…THANKS TO THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

It is also a class of entrepreneurs. Case in point: Paul W. Shumate II. In middle school, he was already managing two side hustles: walking dogs and mowing lawns. Sure enough, they had morphed into a pet care company and a landscaping business – with an employee payroll, no less – by the time he’d graduated from high school. By the same token, David Baars is a one man interdisciplinary force, majoring in economics before moving to Teach For America. His next stop? He worked as a product marketer for a fledgling startup – where he nearly doubled average revenue per account in one year…and had quadrupled the size of the business before he left for business school.

Then there’s Ever Isaac Hernandez. The son of once-undocumented immigrants from El Salvador, Hernandez has spent the past dozen years at Chevron, where he was most recently responsible for installing 3-megawatt subsea pump stations in the Gulf of Mexico – stations that reached a depth of 7,000 feet to the ocean floor. Not bad for a man whose career started out in a soul-sucking job as a Target cashier!

Outside their career track, the Class of 2020 is equally remarkable. Brian Porter once appeared in a Red Hot Chili Peppers music video and endured the trappings of fame soon enough. “For a brief moment in time I was constantly stopped by strangers who recognized my face from the video,” he jokes.

Check out page 3 for 12 in-depth profiles of Class of 2020 members

Vast curving terraces on each of the five floors provide lots of space for informal gatherings

GENDER BENDER: WINNING BOY’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP…AS A GIRL

Impressed? How about this story from Annie Henderson. “Due to a torn ACL, I missed the girl’s tennis season so I requested to compete on the boy’s tennis team during my junior year of high school. I became the first girl to win the Boy’s Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic League (WPIAL) Championship.”

That’s not the only athletic feat for the Class of 2020. How about this for sheer endurance: Anna Situ has completed the Walt Disney World Dopey Challenge, where runners “competed in the 5K, 10K, half marathon, and full marathon on back-to-back days.” Not to be outdone, David Baars has raised over $10,000 for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Los Angeles LGBT Center…by biking from San Francisco to Los Angeles…for three yeas running.

Just picture this image from Paul Shumate: “I go to Burning Man every year and bring a fire breathing adult tricycle with a 32 foot LED flagpole.”

‘INTELLIGENTLY-APPROACHABLE VISIONARIES’

What does the Class of 2020 think about each other? Spencer Baker, who created a movie ticket analysis that has been commercialized and grossed $6 million dollars to date, coined the term “intelligently-approachable” to describe his classmates.

Team project

“We all come from different background and are very skilled in our respective fields. Although my classmates are great at what they know, they still seem very down-to-earth. This makes it easy to strike up a conversation with anyone about anything.”

Thus far, Paul Shumate has found his classmates to be “enthusiastic, innovative, and academically rigorous.” He attributes this to the program’s class size, along with the program’s penchant for data and leadership attracting a “certain type of person.”

“I’ve met many engineers, inventors, and natural-born leaders at Tepper,” Shumate adds. “What surprised me most is the wealth of entrepreneurs coming to school with not just ideas, but actual, viable products and business plans already in place with the intention of leveraging both Tepper and the surrounding Carnegie Mellon community to launch or grow their businesses.”

Brian Porter pays his classmates the highest compliment. His word? Visionaries. “My future peers have diverse backgrounds and skillsets. Yet, they all recognize the need to question the status quo and use previous and current business conditions to extrapolate what the future of business will entail. I believe this kind of mindset will empower my peers to think big and proactively create their own opportunities based on long-term goals rather than make decisions on a reactive basis.”

INCREASES IN FEMALE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

By the numbers, the Class of 2020 closely resembles its predecessor. Despite receiving 177 fewer applications – a trend that applied to nearly every Top 20 American MBA program – Tepper increased its class size to 236 students. That represented a 15 student increase over the previous year. Average GMAT score also dipped a point to 690, while average undergraduate GPA jumped a tenth of a point to 3.4 with the incoming class.

Demographically, the first- and second-year classes were quite similar. The percentage of female students climbed a point to 28%, with the percentage of international students making similar strides to 34%. Overall, the class hails from 32 countries, including Australia, Colombia, Germany, Iran, Pakistan, Thailand, and Zimbabwe. Among Americans, the class features heavy representation from all regions, led by the Mid-Atlantic (28%), Northeast (23%), West Coast (16%), Midwest (14%), Southwest (13%), and South (6%). American minorities accounted for 27% of the 2020 class, with underrepresented minorities making up 12%.

Overseas excursion

Academically, Tepper leans towards the STEM side. 39% of the class holds undergraduate degrees in engineering, with another 6% (math and physical science) and 5% (information systems and computer science) falling under that same heading. The remaining 50% of the class studied in more liberal arts disciplines, led by business (27%), economics (12%) and humanities and social sciences (10%). The number that sticks out? The percentage of engineering majors has risen by 11% over the past two years.

“WE ARE ALL (PROUDLY) NERDY ABOUT SOMETHING”

That doesn’t mean the Tepper MBA is an engineer-focused program. Just ask Emily Gennaula, a 2018 P&Q Best & Brightest MBA who joined McKinsey after graduation. “While we do love analytics and benefit from many students who have heavy-quantitative backgrounds,” she says, “we are much more than that. My classmates come from many different professions, ranging from music to finance to non-profit, which gives Tepper a diverse and well-rounded community. That said, we are all (proudly) nerdy about something.”

Like most business schools, the largest bloc of students worked in financial services. That number is 22% with the Class of 2020, followed closely by technology and new media at 19%. Consulting and manufacturing each take up 10% of the seats, with government (8%), energy and clean teach (5%), consumer goods and retail (5%), and healthcare (4%) rounding out the rest of the class.

Ironically, many of these numbers are reversed when it comes to employment. In Tepper’s employment report for the Class of 2018, the highest percentage of graduates – 32% – entered the tech field. A large share, no doubt, but also an 11% drop over the previous class. Consulting firm snapped up 23% of the class, offering the highest base pay to boot at $135,921. Financial services, for its part, attracted just 11% of the class, a point lower than biotech and healthcare.

The Class of 2018 also enjoyed a 92% placement rate, a testament to the school’s career services center, which ranked 7h and 11th in the world respectively in the student and alumni surveys conducted by The Economist and The Financial Times in 2018. Those weren’t only high marks garnered by the program this year, with the program ranking 8th by Bloomberg Businessweek and 12th by the Wall Street Journal. In addition, Tepper’s information systems and production and operations programs each finished 2nd overall in U.S. News & World Report’s surveys of business school administrators and faculty.

TEPPER QUAD IS THE EPICENTER OF CAMPUS

Kathryn Barraclough

However, the opening of the Tepper Quadrangle was unquestionably the school’s biggest highlight in 2018. The $201 million dollar mix of glass, steel and recycled plastic towers five stories and covers 304,000 square feet. Defined by wide open spaces and natural light, the Quadrangle – the largest building on campus – features 24 classrooms and a 600 seat auditorium, not to mention upscale dining and fitness digs. More important, it acts as a catalyst for the school’s multidisciplinary ethos, says Kathryn Barraclough, head of Tepper’s MBA program.

“We now have all graduate and undergraduate business programs under one roof, along with the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship. The Tepper Quad will integrate the business school more closely with the rest of the Carnegie Mellon campus, becoming a vibrant hub for innovation that will train students to become business leaders who solve complex problems and add value to business and society.”

Without question, the Tepper Quad is a game-changer, particularly for the Class of 2020. For one, 40% of the space is devoted to non-business students, a nod to proximity producing partnerships. For another, the quad is located smack dab in the center of campus; it is literally at the cross-roads of Carnegie Mellon. It is a place that naturally forges connection…and compels commitment.

“Having these open spaces where people organically bump into one another, whether it’s on the landings, in the classrooms, or in the cafeteria, creates more conversations,” says Savin Yeltekin, senior associate dean at Tepper, in an interview with P&Q. “Those conversations about research ideas and classroom teaching can continue effortlessly here. They don’t have to break up because we don’t have quite the right arrangement for people to feel comfortable.”

Check out the next page for 12 in-depth profiles of Class of 2020 members

Tepper MBA students

CURRICULUM IS FAR MORE THAN NUMBER CRUNCHING

Another way the school is bringing the Carnegie Mellon community is through its inaugural thought leadership conference, INTERSECT@CMU: The Future of Business, Technology and Society, which was held in September to great fanfare. “We gathered senior business and technology leaders to discuss technology’s impact on our lives,” says Kathryn Barraclough. “This year focused on AI, Blockchain and “Smart Cities, Smart Homes, Smart Cars.” Carnegie Mellon and the Tepper School of Business are well-positioned to shape the conversation and be key players at the intersection of technology, business and society.”

Being situated at this intersection is exactly where the Class of 2020 wants to be. Ever Isaac Hernandez, for one, lauds the school’s spirit and values, which he boils down to “hard work, passion, vision, leadership, impact on society, collaboration, innovation, education, research, creativity, and entrepreneurship.” Those core values also resonated deeply to Spencer Baker.

We both believe that when individuals and businesses correctly utilize technology, good analytics, and insight they become their best version.”

That doesn’t mean the Tepper MBA is strictly for quants. Instead, the program emphasizes a way of solving problems that starts with rigorous analysis over first impressions and data over impulse. “It’s not about number crunching,” argues Savin Yeltekin. “It’s not about who can add up a lot of data or produce a lot of tables. It’s about the scientific way of thinking. We want to be able to draw conclusions from that analysis and then use those conclusions for thinking about what are the prescriptive policies, whether you are a decision-maker in a business, whether you go into a think tank or you go into the policy arena.”

STUDENTS EXPOSED TO CUTTING EDGE RESEARCH AND REAL WORLD DATA ANALYSIS

Faculty offices in the Tepper Quad

The difference, however, can be summed up by a statement made by Barraclough at a Tepper Welcome Weekend event: ““While others talk about the importance of analytics in business, we are the school that actually teaches you those skills.” Such promises appealed to students like Annie Henderson, who plans to transition from the military to technology.

“Tepper’s emphasis on a quantitative approach and data-supported decision-making was very important to me. I spent a decade learning soft skills such as leadership and teambuilding in the Army and at West Point, but lacked the quantitative expertise of my peers whom have worked in the private sector.”

This data-centric methodology offers another benefit, adds Michael Trick. The faculty are world-class researchers. As a matter of pride, they ften bring their research to the classroom and their client projects to student teams. “It is rare that the content in many of our classrooms is coming out of textbooks,” he observes. “Our students all spend time on these mini projects. Every project has come up in the last eight months. Everything is new; all the data is new and all the techniques and approaches are new. It is completely different than the same course last year or before that.”

PITT IS A HIT

Considering Tepper’s Pittsburgh roots, it is natural for entrepreneurship to be a thriving part of the MBA ecosystem. After all, Pittsburgh startups generated $687 million dollars in investments in 2017, not bad for a city once written off as a dying blue collar steel town. The city also boasts a high concentration of higher education institutions and tech talent – plus the country’s sixth largest accelerator (AlphaLab).

Even more, two Pittsburgh-based self-driving car firms – Aurora Innovation and Argo AI – ranked among the Top 20 in Linkedin’s Top Startups list released in September.

“I would argue, right now, Carnegie Mellon and Pittsburgh have the number one robotics and autonomous vehicles and AI startup ecosystem in the world, says David Mawhinney, executive director of Tepper’s Swartz Center.

The newly-opened Swartz Center is Tepper’s big bet on entrepreneurship. Covering 15,000 square feet in the Tepper Quad, it includes ten startup garages for students to develop high tech ventures. However, it is the potential inherent to bringing disparate disciplines together that excites Mawhinney the most about the Swartz Center.

The exterior of the Tepper Quad

“When we bring people together, they exchange ideas, they brainstorm, and they come up with newer and better solutions,” he says. “So the Swartz Center is a community where lots of people from different backgrounds can come together to share ideas. It’s a workspace where you can talk to a peer company, you can talk to a mentor, you can talk to an entrepreneur in residence to help get beyond a challenge.”

A TOP-FLIGHT LEADERSHIP TRAINING PROGRAM

Beyond the Swartz Center, the Graduate Entrepreneurship Club, known on campus as GEC, also offers intensive support, networking, and programming to startup-minded students. “This club is open to members of all CMU graduate students and encourages individuals to think outside-the-box, combine disparate skillsets, and collaborate on putting novel ideas into action,” explains Brian Porter. “The creative energy and optimism of the members in this club is almost palpable. I am looking forward to both benefiting and contributing to this fruitful ecosystem where production cycles can be fast-forwarded through productive feedback and rapid iteration.”

Entrepreneurship isn’t the school’s only hidden gem. Barraclough touts Accelerate, Tepper’s Leadership Institute, which she ranks among the best training programs for MBAs. “Our Accelerate Leadership Center does not take a cookie-cutter approach,” she points out. “We provide an assessment, one-to-one coaching and a personal leadership roadmap. MBA students work one-on-one with full-time leadership coaches on development areas, personalized for them, and attend a series of workshops specifically designed to build the skills employers are looking for. This makes for a powerful combination of strategic analytics and business leadership that sets Tepper graduates apart from the rest.”

The program’s sense of community also earned rave reviews from the incoming class, including Seoweon Yoo. “A relatively small class size was important for me, since I wanted to be part of a tight-knit community of classmates that would support each other rather than compete for limited opportunities,” she writes. “The staff-to-student ratio was also important, especially as an international student that may have more administrative assistance needed in the recruitment process.”

FUTURE VENTURES RANGE FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY TO CODING

Tepper students gathered outside class.

Where does the Class of 2020 see themselves in the future? Five years from now, Brian Porter hopes to apply the data collection and analytical techniques he learned to help people operate at “peak efficiency” physically. For Pierce Frauenheim, the goal is to use lessons from AI to better train the next generation of tech talent.

“I believe that there will be a shortfall in the developer community and that we must commit to more advanced technology training early on for our rising workforce. I plan on founding a code school that will focus on producing the best possible junior developers to enter the technology space.”

As an officer in Afghanistan, William Henderson witnessed how bringing energy to impoverished communities truly improved their lives. He would like to scale that to a renewable energy startup.

“I would love the opportunity to work for a company that is on the cutting edge of new technology,” he says. “The energy industry provides a multitude of its own unique challenges and considerations. I would be thrilled to pursue my passion while being able to provide a benefit to those in need.”

What led these professionals to enter business schools? Which programs did they also consider? What strategies did they use to choose their MBA program? What was the major event that defined them? Find the answers to these questions and many more in the in-depth profiles of these incoming MBA candidates.

Student	Hometown	Alma Mater	Employer
David Baars	Seattle, WA	University of Puget Sound	PipelineDeals
Spencer Baker	Greentown, IN	Indiana University	Conversant Media
Pierce B. Frauenheim	Pittsburgh, PA	Carnegie Mellon University	U.S. Marine Corps
Annie Henderson	Sewickley, PA	U.S. Military Academy	U.S. Army
William Henderson	Syracuse, NY	U.S. Military Academy	U.S. Army
Ever Isaac Hernandez	Boston, MA	University of Massachusetts Amherst	Chevron
William Liu	Queens, NY	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	U.S. Marine Corps
Andres Michel Jr.	Houston, TX	University of Houston	Chevron
Brian Porter	Los Angeles, CA	University of Southern California	Sense360
Paul W. Shumate II	Fairfax, VA	University of Virginia	Microcoaching
Anna Situ	Oakland, CA	University of California, Berkeley	Mathematica Policy Research
Seoweon Yoo	Seoul, South Korea	Korea University	Twinword

David Baars

Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business

“Bridge-builder, bike maker, problem-solver, former teacher turned tech-loving nerd.”

Hometown: Seattle, WA (most recently)

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’ve ridden my bicycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles for the past three years as a part of AIDS/LifeCycle, a fundraiser for the SF AIDS Foundation and LA LGBT Center. In that time, I’ve fundraised over $10,000 for the foundations.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Puget Sound, Bachelor of Art in Economics

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: PipelineDeals, Product Marketing Director

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Startups offer an excellent opportunity to learn quickly and make an impact. When a business is growing fast, it can sometimes feel like fires are burning everywhere. I developed a reputation in my company as a quick learner willing to step into the breach and help out. As a result, I built deep relationships around the business and was promoted to become the company’s first product marketer.

As a product marketer for PipelineDeals, I led the go-to-market strategy for new products and features, managed pricing strategy, and helped educate co-workers and customers on the product. As a result of my leadership, I was able to drive changes to the product and business that increased the average revenue per account (ARPA) by 93% in my first year as a product marketer. Additionally, I’m particularly proud of the fact that I was able to earn a placement for PipelineDeals software on Gartner’s prestigious Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation. We were the only software company with no venture funding on the list.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Collaborative. My classmates at Tepper immediately began to collaborate and assist one another as soon as we met. For example, before the start of school, the class created a Slack workspace and WhatsApp thread to help one another coordinate the move to Pittsburgh, find housing and roommates, and navigate the start of the MBA program. Everyone that I’ve met has been smart, friendly, and eager to help one another.

I also met several classmates at a Reaching Out MBA (ROMBA) tech trek in San Francisco over the summer. It was incredible to how quickly we were able to connect and support one another. Tepper is known for having a close-knit community, and I’m incredibly proud to be a part of it.

Aside from your classmates, 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 was attracted to how Tepper combined quantitative rigor and leadership. I plan to continue to work in the technology industry, and I know that having a robust analytical skill set will be critical to my success. Tepper will help me enhance my data analytics skills and give me the tools I need to succeed as a leader in tech. Moreover, as a student at Carnegie Mellon, I have the opportunity to collaborate with students outside the business school and learn from world-class engineers and computer scientists. I can’t think of a better environment to learn and grow.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I’m excited to participate in the Business & Technology and Marketing clubs. I spoke with many Tepper students and alums who were active in these clubs while I was applying to the school. I can’t wait to be engaged in these clubs. The Business & Technology club leads several recruiting treks that I plan to attend as well. Finally, I plan to be active in Out&Allied, a club for LGBT business students and their allies.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I began my career working for a non-profit. As a teacher through Teach For America, I’ve been helping to grow a bootstrapped software startup for the past five years. In my role as a marketer at a startup, I’ve worked in a variety of positions, managed cross-functional teams, and more than quadrupled the size of the business. I’m pursuing a MBA to build upon my foundation in sales and marketing, strengthen my analytical and leadership skills, and round-out my business knowledge in areas like operations and finance. I want to use my MBA to become a product marketer at a major tech company.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? My former manager, the company’s CRO and an MBA graduate, helped me make the decision to pursue an MBA. He showed me how an MBA would broaden my perspective on business, accelerate my career, and prepare me to take senior leadership roles. Additionally, he helped me map out my career goals and understand my career path. This process of articulating my career aspirations with my mentor convinced me that an MBA was worth the investment.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Haas School of Business at California-Berkeley, Kellogg School at Northwestern University, Graduate School of Business at Stanford

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I knew that I wanted to go to a school that had a strong reputation for analytics, had great relationships in the tech industry, and a well-regarded career office. Additionally, I knew that I wanted to go to a school with a diverse student population. Finally, I prioritized schools whose values aligned with my own values. I used online business publications like Poets&Quants to do some initial research, and I also reached out to people in my network to speak with alumni from different MBA programs.

The two most valuable things I did to research schools were: (1) speak with current students and (2) visit and attend classes on campus. I found my conversations with current students to be clarifying, and it helped me understand which programs would be a good fit for me career-wise and culturally. Moreover, speaking with students helped me understand how I could contribute at the school. Throughout my process researching business schools, I was struck by how thoughtful and generous the Tepper students were. It was clear to me from the start that Tepper was a close-knit community. Visiting the campus and sitting in on a class cemented my decision to go to Carnegie Mellon. If you have the opportunity to visit schools, I’d recommend it.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? The defining moment of my life was when I taught math at an alternative high school in Denver through Teach For America (TFA). Growing up in Colorado, I was fortunate to have a supportive family, fantastic teachers, and the opportunity to pursue my passions. In contrast, many of my students faced significant structural challenges and discrimination in their lives. Teaching gave me first-hand knowledge of the systemic barriers and policies driving educational inequality in Colorado. It also provided me with strong relationships with students from different ethnic, socioeconomic, and religious backgrounds.

My experience as a teacher has shaped my life in several keys ways. First, I’ve continued to work with and mentor students from disadvantaged backgrounds. As a leader at my former startup, I led my coworkers to volunteer with Washington DECA (a high school business club) and I also volunteered with a local LGBT-youth charity. In addition to volunteerism, my experience as a teacher has made me more aware of implicit bias and what’s necessary to build a more equitable workplace. It’s not enough to simply state that diversity is a value – it takes work to build a diverse and inclusive community where everyone has an opportunity to succeed.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? I plan to work in a product marketing or project management role at a major tech company. I think that software and technology can have an enormously positive impact on the world, and I’m inspired to work at a major tech company with a global impact.

Where do you see yourself in five years? I want to combine the experience I gain working for a larger tech company, my entrepreneurial experience, and my interest in education, to help grow an education technology company.

Spencer Baker

Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business

“Curious nerd who is not afraid be my true, quirky, self.”

Hometown: Greentown, Indiana

Fun Fact About Yourself: Although I am not that fast, distance running is my go-to retreat. No matter if it is the best or worst day, a good run will always put me in a great mood. In the same light of what some may consider ‘self-torture’, I have a long-term goal of completing an IRONMAN in the future.

Undergraduate School and Major: Kelley School of Business, Indiana University – Dual major in Marketing and Management

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Conversant Media – Senior Technical Data Analyst

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: While I was working within my digital ad-tech role, I developed a new analysis to measure the impact online advertising has on theater ticket sales. This included online and offline sales for Hollywood movies across multiple theater groups and other ticket selling companies.

My specialty was focused on understanding the client’s other advertising partners and measuring the overlapping and individual performances. This project led to a now productized solution and several other custom offerings for the media entertainment industry. In 18 months, this product produced over $6MM in revenue.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? The largest quality I find all my classmates to have is everyone is intelligently-approachable. We all come from different background and are very skilled in our respective fields. Although my classmates are great at what they know, they still seem very down-to-earth. This makes it easy to strike up a conversation with anyone about anything.

Aside from your classmates, 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? At a large picture, I chose Tepper because we align at our cores. We both believe that when individuals and businesses correctly utilize technology, good analytics, and insight they become their best version. This belief in turn attracts the industries and roles that I am interested in long-term. Together with the types of students Tepper admits, I knew it was the right choice for me.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? The one club that I am most excited to work with is Reaching Out MBA (ROMBA). This organization works with 60+ universities to assist and connect LGBTQ individuals at the MBA level. They offer career fairs, programming, recruiting treks, and scholarships. The opportunity to meet and work with other peers who are brilliant and courageous enough to be themselves gives me goose-bumps.

(Helpful hint: if you identify as LGBTQ and considering an MBA, be this be sure to check out ROMBA before you apply to any program.)

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I have always had an interest in using technology and data to achieve goals. This applies to helping other people achieve their goals utilizing technology. I am a firm believer that when tech and data are used properly, they can also improve everyone’s quality of life. Striving for this ideal state, I think driving business strategy correctly is the most impactful.

I became interested in MBA programs when I realized how these programs could help me become a stronger leader in the future. An MBA will assist me in polishing my soft skills. It also will help in further developing my understanding of the interaction between business functions. Ultimately, with my MBA experience, I can become more impactful in helping others use technology to improve their lives.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? When I was sketching out my possible career paths, I quickly realized than an MBA would help greatly in securing (and excelling) in the larger roles I was interested in. Although I recognized that I could get to these levels without an advanced degree, I knew an MBA could jumpstart my effectiveness in my career.

When I did the ROI of a full-time program financially, I thought it made the most sense to attend in my late twenties. This also applied when considering the length of the program.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Tepper, Kellogg, Booth, and Columbia

How did you determine your fit at various schools? Personally, it was more about my own self-discovery. It was what I wanted to do after school and how the right MBA program would help me get there. Finding a school that supported a heavy tech industry focus was important. The program structure and how I believed I would fit into the school culture played roles in identifying schools.

My process of identifying schools started with Google searches, checking out career websites, and reading top-recommended programs for industries. Then I reached out to current students via ROMBA and scheduled formal visits to the schools that aligned well. Afterwards, I eliminated options when I did not feel a connection to the people, program, or campus. After being accepted, it boiled down to the culture and how each program could assist in my personal career goals.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? Every major defining moment that shapes who I am centers on having the courage to be myself. In the last few years, this has applied in my professional and personal life.

My first role after college was in a marketing rotational program. Although the program and company was a great fit, the marketing function was less so. It took several conversations with others and a lot of self-reflection to admit that I was more interested in IT than marketing.

My professional defining moment was when I decided to speak with the program director about how my current career path was not for me. I was hesitant going into it, knowing that my newfound insight could quickly fall on deaf ears. I am happy to report though, that my previous company and director and pivot into tech after I re-interviewing for the program.

The other major defining moment in my life was when I was honest with my family about my sexuality. I was 22 and about to move 600 miles away to start my first full-time role. I took seven days to travel to six different family members’ homes and came out to each of them that week. To this day, I still joke about it being my big-gay-tour.

My rationale behind this process was threefold. First and foremost, I wanted my family to know that this is who was I was. Although I was dropping a bomb and moving to a new state, I wanted my relationships to be fully honest and real. Secondly, I wanted to show respect to my grandparents, sisters, aunts/uncles, and specifically my parents by telling them myself. This was major news about me that they should not hear through the grapevine. Finally, I wanted my family to be all right with me first. My thought being that if I were to meet someone, my family could more easily be open to meeting them.

Whether it is in a professional or personal frame, stepping up to live my truth is always my greatest defining moment. I still can find it difficult in the first moment to be me; however, I am never uneasy after the fact.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? Post-graduation, I am interested in pursuing a role in product design, launch, or management within the tech sector.

Where do you see yourself in five years? In five years, I see myself developing and driving business strategies that continuously use data, analytics, and AI to improve the end clients’ experience with a product or service.

Pierce B. Frauenheim

Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business

“U.S. Marine Veteran, proud millennial, travel addict, avid pilot.”

Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’ve traveled to 42 countries. Bali, Indonesia is my favorite spot. Go visit!

Undergraduate School and Major: Carnegie Mellon ’07, B.S. Information Systems

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Captain, MV-22 Osprey Pilot, United States Marine Corps

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I am very proud that I became a respected instructor and mentor for my fellow military pilots. Outside of operational requirements, I was qualified as an airshow demonstration pilot showcasing the unique capabilities of one of the most technologically advanced aircraft ever built. I was also hand selected by my Commanding Officer to lead a contingent of four aircraft that directly supported President Obama during a scheduled visit to Los Angeles, CA.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? The breadth of experience of the incoming class is astounding. I am eager to learn from my classmates’ professional and personal experiences. Everyone brings something different to the table and I truly believe experiencing these different backgrounds and perspectives is a key advantage of completing a full-time MBA program.

Aside from your classmates, 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 technology industry in Pittsburgh is growing at an exponential rate. The resources and exposure that the new Tepper Quad will provide will be unmatched in the field. Small class sizes coupled with focused career coaching and entrepreneurial opportunities through the Swartz Center are what attracted me to the Tepper full-time program.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I recently completed an immersive coding boot camp in iOS/Swift. I look forward to starting a code club and teaching my classmates the basics of mobile development. In this day and age, all business leaders should know some code!

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I debated going right into the workforce to gain some experience, but an MBA was always in the back of my mind. I reached out to Veterans who have completed MBA programs. From this guidance, I began to see the value of attending a full-time program. The leadership and management experience I have from my military service is rare amongst my peers. This experience, coupled with the business training I will receive, will set me up for success across many industries in the business world.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? I researched for years to decide. I have an excellent benefit from the post 9/11 GI Bill. Completing this program serves as an immense opportunity to mature as a cross-departmental business leader and I plan on capitalizing on the resources and training that the Tepper School will provide.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? UNC Chapel Hill (Online)

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I prioritized two things I believed would help me gain the best experience from a full-time program: small class sizes and a strong technology leadership/management track. I read school and MBA websites, supplemented with speaking to current students and graduates of programs of interest. The campus visit was a valuable tool. After speaking face to face with admissions counselors and sitting in on a class, you truly gain a sense if you are the right fit for the program.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? I’ve traced my ancestral history back four generations to Northwest Germany. I’ve been able to visit the lands where my ancestors lived prior to immigrating to America. One ancestor, Edward Frauenheim, was a force in Pittsburgh during the late 1800s. He co-founded the Pittsburgh Brewing Company (later Iron City Beer) and was a major philanthropist and believed in giving back to the community. To me, it’s very humbling to know your roots and where you come from. I look up to my ancestors’ achievements and it motivates me every day to get out there and start solving problems and giving back to the community.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? I’m very interested in technology education. With upcoming advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning, the world we live in is about to change rapidly. I believe that there will be a shortfall in the developer community and that we must commit to more advanced technology training early on for our rising workforce. I plan on founding a code school that will focus on producing the best possible junior developers to enter the technology space.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Creating and growing multiple ventures that solve problems and create jobs. In addition to technology education, I am particularly interested in the sharing economy and optimizing our cities. Today, we summon strangers with our smartphones to catch a ride. With upcoming advancements in technology, I believe we are just scratching the surface of how powerful the sharing economy can be. Hopefully I will still find the time to continue traveling the world and scratching items off of my bucket list. I’ll be back Bali, don’t worry!

Annie Henderson

Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business

“Dedicated mother and wife. Army Veteran and former Division I Athlete.”

Hometown: Sewickley, PA

Fun Fact About Yourself: Due to a torn ACL, I missed the girl’s tennis season so I requested to compete on the boy’s tennis team during my junior year of high school. I became the first girl to win the Boy’s Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic League (WPIAL) Championship.

Undergraduate School and Major: United States Military Academy, American Legal Studies

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: United States Army, Chief Human Resources Officer

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: While stationed in South Korea, I had the privilege of working alongside the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. I led a team of 15 U.S. and South Korean soldiers. We successfully managed and staffed the only permanently forward-stationed, combined division in the U.S. Army, which consisted of 12,000 U.S. and South Korean Soldiers.  It was an incredible learning experience to work so closely with the Republic of Korea Armed Forces and very humbling to manage such a large population of U.S. and South Korean Soldiers.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Extremely Helpful. During the application process to Tepper, I reached out to current students for advice and questions regarding business school. I expected a fifteen-minute phone call or less with each student. Surprisingly, all four students I spoke with spent over an hour on the phone with me. They answered all of my questions and discussed, at length, their reasons for choosing Tepper. I can honestly say my phone calls with the MBA students at Tepper and their willingness to help, sold me on the school.

Aside from your classmates, 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 close-knit community. I interviewed at Tepper and immediately felt a sense of community with the faculty and students. Tepper’s small class size (about 220) will allow me to form genuine relationships and get to know my classmates on a personal level.  Graduating from West Point, I realized the impact a small class, with peers dedicated to one another, can have on your success. I look forward to participating in a similar experience at Tepper.  

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I am most excited about the Tepper Women in Business (TWIB) club. TWIB empowers women to grow as confident leaders in the business community. Having previously worked in the Army, which is 75% men, I can appreciate the TWIB Club, the close bonds I will form with other women like myself, and the benefits of learning from successful businesswomen in the private sector.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I knew I needed an MBA to prepare me for the private sector and ensure a smooth transition from the military. Tepper’s rigorous curriculum, dedicated professors and intimate class size will strengthen my strategic thinking and analytic skills, tools necessary to succeed in the business community.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? I was nervous about my transition from the Army to the private sector. Once I learned of Tepper’s Accelerate Leadership Center, I knew the investment in business school was well worth it. The Accelerate Leadership Center provides personalized, one-on-one leadership development and coaching from renowned professors. I have heard remarkable stories about the extensive leadership transformations students experience from the leadership coaches. Additionally, the new Tepper Quad, an innovative hub located in the center of Carnegie Mellon’s campus, was icing on the cake.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? McCombs, Kenan-Flagler 

How did you determine your fit at various schools? The school’s emphasis in analytics and quantitative analysis.

What tools did you use to evaluate schools? Professors, core curriculum and class size.

How did you research culture?I spoke with MBA students from each school I applied to and visited the campuses.

How did you know it fit your career goals? Tepper has a strong reputation in marketing which is what I hope to do after graduation.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are?  Becoming a mother. It truly is life-changing. My daughter motivates me every day and keeps me grounded.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? Brand management for a top marketing firm such as Johnson and Johnson.

Where do you see yourself in five years? More kids, working as a marketing director for a company I am passionate about, and keeping up with my Tepper alums.

William Henderson

Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business

“Olivia’s dad, Annie’s husband. Has-been athlete who still hangs on through coaching local students.”

Hometown: Syracuse, NY

Fun Fact About Yourself: I enjoy building things and helped my father and grandfather build my childhood home.

Undergraduate School and Major: United States Military Academy – International and Comparative Law

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: US Army – Fire Support Officer

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: In my most recent job in the Army, my boss left our organization much earlier than anticipated and I was chosen to replace him for the last six months. As a field artillery officer in a rotary wing aviation organization, I began the job out of my comfort zone. However, in the six months I was in charge, I led the planning, resourcing and execution of several major training exercises. Furthermore, I organized and tracked multiple cross-country aircraft transfers to satisfy a DOD requirement to upgrade our aircraft fleet. Lastly, I played an integral role in standing up Fort Carson’s first Grey Eagle drone company, which proved to be logistically and tactically arduous. All these professional challenges happened to coincide with the birth of my daughter, Olivia, making me even more proud to have succeeded.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Generous- All the students I’ve met so far are incredibly welcoming and helpful. They’ve given up countless hours of their time to help make my transition back to school easier.

Aside from your classmates, 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? Tepper’s emphasis on a quantitative approach and data-supported decision making was very important to me. I spent a decade learning soft skills such as leadership and teambuilding in the Army and at West Point but lacked the quantitative expertise of my peers whom have worked in the private sector.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I would have to say the Energy Club. I’ve been interested in renewable energy since I saw the impact that providing energy had on impoverished communities in Afghanistan. I’m excited to have the opportunity to meet others that share the same interests and couple that interest with Carnegie Mellon’s cutting-edge technology research.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? After deciding to transition from the military to the private sector I knew that I needed the business and technical knowledge only a world class MBA program could provide to be successful.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? Coming from the Army (with no experience in the private sector), I knew I needed an MBA to be successful in the business community. Therefore, the investment was well worth it. The GI Bill was a bonus too.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? McCombs and Kenan-Flagler

How did you determine your fit at various schools? There were two primary factors I looked at to determine my fit at the business schools where I applied. First, I knew that I needed a program that emphasized data analytics and the quantitative skills necessary to succeed after business school. Working in the military since I graduated college, I knew I was behind most of my peers in the quantitative and business knowledge and the ability to catch up fast was vital. The second factor I used to determine fit was culture. I have always believed that working with people you trust, who have shared interests and goals makes a significant difference in my career satisfaction. I found that to be true at West Point and during my time in the Army. Similar to West Point, Tepper’s small class size and intimate, tight knit community hit home for me. During my visit at Tepper, I immediately felt welcomed and believed that I had much in common with the student body and faculty.

I spent a substantial amount of time researching the schools that I wanted to apply to in hopes of better understanding the school’s strengths and weaknesses, the culture, and the student body. In the end, I felt that visiting each school was very important. You can learn a lot about a school on their website or by researching their employment statistics. However, showing up on campus and seeing the school first-hand always seemed to provide me with clarity.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? I deployed to Afghanistan shortly after graduating West Point. I was tasked to replace a Platoon Leader who had died in an explosion while patrolling the Khakrez District. Abruptly, I had to figure out how to lead 25 young men who had just lost their leader, in combat. This had an immense impact on my perspective and taught me a lot about leadership and teambuilding. To this day, I carry those lessons with me and appreciate the importance of teamwork, loyalty, and comradery more than ever.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? Ideally, I would like to work in operations in the renewable energy industry. I would love the opportunity to work for a company that is on the cutting edge of new technology. Being challenged to create or implement new technology that would improve life for others would give me great satisfaction. The energy industry provides a multitude of its own unique challenges and considerations. I would be thrilled to pursue my passion while being able to provide a benefit to those in need.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Working hard for a company I love. Hopefully with a few additions to the wonderful family I have now.

Ever Isaac Hernandez

Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business

“Mission driven, passionate, and determined to achieve full potential helping others do the same.”

Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts

Fun Fact About Yourself: Having come from humble beginnings in El Salvador and being the son of once-undocumented immigrants, I feel very accomplished and proud to have earned the means to see the world in my twenties. I have lived in 5 countries (El Salvador, United States, Spain, Kazakhstan, and Norway) and have travelled to over a dozen others covering 5 continents before I was 30 years old, including a couple around-the-world trips.

Undergraduate School and Major: I attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, majored in Civil Engineering, and completed a minor in engineering management.

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: I worked at Chevron for 12 years out of college and interned for three summers before graduating and joining full time. My last job title was Subsea Pump & Equipment Engineer.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My most notable achievement in my career has been delivering multiple 3-megawatt subsea pump stations for Chevron and installing them on the ocean floor 7,000 feet below the surface. I lived in Norway for two and a half years overseeing design and construction of this equipment. I also had the opportunity to lead the successful offshore installation of the same subsea pump systems in the Gulf of Mexico. These were the first subsea pump systems Chevron has deployed on any of its oil fields, and they were the first in the industry of that complexity. Other exciting accomplishments have included leading the execution of an offshore geotechnical and geophysical survey for a subsea development off the coast of Angola and working on the commissioning and start-up of a sour oil and gas processing plant in Kazakhstan.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? I had the opportunity to spend quality time with Consortium Fellows as we prepared for career forums and interviews during a 5-day Orientation Program in June. The quality that best defines my MBA classmates I’ve met so far would have to be a genuine desire to help each other out, and an accompanying maturity and self-confidence that allows for vulnerability in asking for and leveraging help. This was evident as we practiced our elevator pitches and interviews, as well as in participating in team exercises at workshops throughout the conference.

Aside from your classmates, 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 key factor that led me to choose Carnegie Mellon University and the Tepper School of Business was my connection with the spirit and values on which the university and school were founded upon and on which they operate today: hard work, passion, vision, leadership, impact on society, collaboration, innovation, education, research, creativity, and entrepreneurship. Being a tenacious student and worker myself, the university’s motto of “My heart is in the work” really resonated with me. In addition, Andrew Carnegie’s and David A. Tepper’s trajectories of humble beginnings, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy are ones I relate and aspire to and thought I would find more people like that among my classmates and alumni.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I am excited to join the Entrepreneurship Club, Graduate Finance Club, Asset Management Club, and become involved with Scottie Ventures as I aspire to learn all I can on due diligence and financing for venture capital, private equity, and corporate mergers & acquisitions.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I felt ready for leadership during challenging times in the oil and gas industry, and so I decided to take the leap into entrepreneurship and business development, as well as into exploring opportunities in other industries such as clean technology, renewable energy, and healthcare. I am pursuing an MBA to gain an objective certification of my capabilities and potential in business, and to gain access to powerful networks.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? I was part of the 2017 cohort of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Emerging Leaders Institute, which aims to equip and empower the civic and business leaders of tomorrow. During this program, I was exposed to and learned from local Latino CEOs of thriving business. After hearing their stories that resonated with my background, I was inspired to pursue a C-Suite level position in a Fortune 1000 company. I determined that access to powerful alumni networks, the relationships I would build, and the skills that I would gain from attending a top-tier MBA program, such as Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business, would be invaluable in maximizing my chances of achieving the newly set career objective. Lastly, my ability to become a business executive role model to young Americans who, like I did, come from low socioeconomic backgrounds is priceless.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? I applied to Rice University Jones School of Business, Texas A&M University Mays School of Business, Boston University Questrom School of Business, University of Virginia Darden School of Business, Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business, and Harvard Business School.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I first researched schools based on their academic reputation and involvement with diversity and inclusion initiatives, and then based on location. I also attended MBA fairs to engage with admission staff of various programs of interest to get a sense of fit. I then visited the campuses of the schools where I would be applying to be sure the location and environment was right for me, and to engage with admissions staff, faculty, and students for a final assessment of fit prior to submitting applications.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? I have had a few defining moments in my life. The first one was when my parents left me in El Salvador with my grandparents at the age of 3 in pursuit of a better future for my brothers and I. The trauma and pain from losing the people who I relied upon for protection and care since conception taught me to be guarded and independent from a very young age. While being guarded and independent served me well growing up in El Salvador, Chelsea, and even in completing college. I have had to unlearn these defenses in my professional and leadership endeavors where trusting colleagues has been paramount.

The next defining moment was when I came to America at the age of 12. In the two years leading up to the move and ever since being informed our residency application was progressing well, I went from being a C student to an A student in middle school, driven by the excitement of a new beginning reunited with my parents and my American born siblings.

The third and final significant defining moment was during my senior year in high school when I was working as a cashier at a Target store. I didn’t have plans to attend college up until I had an epiphany as I repositioned merchandize on shelves one evening and thought about what I would do after high school. I realized then that if I was going to be spending 8 hours a day doing something to earn a living, the task needed to be more intellectually stimulating then the job on hand, the one I had before it, or any job I had seen my immediate and extended family members take on. I also thought about my mother and her journey across the US border hidden under the seats of a car having just left behind her 4 young children in pursuit of a better future for them. I concluded at that moment that finishing high school and getting a job was not enough in doing my part. The next day, I walked into my guidance counselor’s office to ask many questions about the application process, school selection, and financing aspects. I knew my parents could not afford to pay for college and I wanted to be armed with information and solutions before I broke the news that I would be pursuing college. This was new territory for everyone in my family as I was the first one to attempt such an endeavor. I was 16 at the time.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? I am working two paths for my professional occupation after I complete the MBA program at Carnegie Mellon University. One path involves taking a position in Corporate Strategy, Mergers & Acquisitions, and/or leading into General Management with a company that values employees with an entrepreneurial mindset, who thrive in uncertainty, and who are unafraid to disrupt the status quo. The other path involves continuing to grow my own business, HNDZ Global, LLC, a business development company dedicated to people, business, and technology development for a sustainable future, helping people achieve their full potential.

Where do you see yourself in five years? In five years, I see myself leading teams as they do amazing things for humanity and the world while turning performance leading profits.

William Liu

Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business

“Works hard, plays hard. Focused, driven, and passionate collide with easy going and happy-go-lucky.”

Hometown: Queens, NY

Fun Fact About Yourself: I caught an adorable baby hammerhead shark while night-fishing off a pier in Hawaii. I named it ‘Jab’, after a character from the 90’s cartoon, Street Sharks, before releasing it back into the bay.

Undergraduate School and Major: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute – Dual B.S. in Aerospace Engineering / Mechanical Engineering

Most Recent Employer and Job Title:

Company Commander, Wounded Warrior Battalion-East, U.S. Marine Corps

Maintenance Material Control Officer, Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367, U.S. Marine Corps

Division Officer, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 24, U.S. Marine Corps

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Assisting the wounded, ill, and injured Marines and families of the Wounded Warrior Battalion was my most memorable accomplishment to date. I can’t pinpoint a singular instance that distinguishes one accomplishment from the rest, but I’d like to think my team and I made a huge difference in the lives of these wounded warriors. These men and women stopped at nothing to ensure the safety of our nation, often at the expense of their own physical and mental health. They deserve the best possible treatment and resources for all the sacrifices they’ve made, and I feel honored to have been a positive force in their recovery.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? That’s a tough question. There are so many incredible and distinct characteristics that define my classmates. If I had to pick one, I would say it’s their immense intellectual curiosity. Specifically, I think that most of us share this innate need to understand how things work. It’s just not enough to have a great product or tool; we must know what makes it tick. Not surprisingly, most of my classmates come from STEM backgrounds. I think that this curiosity will lend itself well to the analytical focus of the coursework at Tepper.

Aside from your classmates, 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? Tepper is spearheading an effort to create a unique learning environment to promote interdisciplinary collaboration within the CMU campus. Pittsburgh’s vibrant tech market continues to flourish; due, in part, to the innovations of CMU graduates. It’s awesome that Tepper aims to harness the school’s potential by bringing students of all backgrounds together under one roof. I think that’s a novel concept that says a lot about the direction the school is heading.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I’m going to have to say the Culinary Club. As a self-proclaimed foodie, nothing gets me more excited than trying out new recipes, foods, or restaurants. I believe that food is a universal language that has the power to bridge cultural divides and I can’t wait to speak the language with my future classmates!

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I am pursuing an MBA because I want to refine my managerial skills and effectively translate my experiences in the military into skills that are relevant in corporate America. Moreover, I felt that there was a skill gap that prevented me from breaking into an industry and occupation that I was genuinely interested in. I believe that obtaining an MBA will bridge this apparent gap, create the opportunities I seek, develop my understanding of business principles, and broaden my professional network.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? There’s no question that there is a positive return on investment for obtaining an MBA. The credentials will certainly place me in positions with higher compensation and growth potential. However, I think the true value of the MBA lies in the non-tangibles; the experience, network, and education. You can’t put a price tag on the relationships built or the edification gained from an MBA program.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Duke-Fuqua, UVA-Darden, Cornell-Johnson, Georgetown-McDonough 

How did you determine your fit at various schools?

• Feeder into Tech: I’m interested in pursuing a career in technology or manufacturing. Naturally, I needed to consider a school that placed a high percentage of candidates in those fields. By examining the schools’ employment reports, I was able to narrow down my search to a handful of programs that would maximize my chances of landing a job in my preferred industry.
• Small Class Size: I’d like to know my entire class intimately. I also want to have more exposure to the faculty and have an opportunity to know them outside the classroom. For these reasons, it was important to me to study in a relatively small program.
• Location: I did not want to attend business school in a major metropolis (Think LA, NYC, Boston, etc). I was looking for a school located in a smaller city or on the outskirts of a major city. At the same time, I wanted to make sure that there would be employment opportunities available for my partner. Fortunately for us, Pittsburgh turned out to be the perfect destination.

When initially considering business schools, I used online resources such as P&Q, GMAT Club, and business school admissions websites. I found these resources to be incredibly insightful, since all the questions and issues I had were already addressed at some point, either in an article, blog, or forum. When I found a match, I began emailing current students to start a dialogue. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of support I received from these students. Their insight and enthusiasm became major selling points to me during the application process.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? I have vivid memories of the day I reported for duty and stood in front of my Marines for the first time. I looked out at my division and came to realize that I had a solemn responsibility to each one of the men and women that stood before me. For every Marine in my charge, I began asking myself: Is this person better off for having known me? If not, then what could I do to further his or her professional development? How can I help him or her grow personally? What resources are at my disposal that might benefit individual in question?

The vested interests I took in my personnel fostered trust and long-lasting relationships. The best managers I’ve ever met were servant leaders who placed the needs of their people before their own. It’s a quality I admire greatly and strive to adequately represent in my leadership style and personality.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? I’d like to work in the technology sector or in aerospace manufacturing. I love that the service these industries offer have the propensity to connect people from across the globe.

Where do you see yourself in five years? I hope to find myself amongst colleagues with whom I feel a sense of belonging. Ideally, I would be working in a company that shares a vision and work culture that I can relate to. Being in a position that can affect change on a large scale. Most importantly, to have already made a positive impact in people’s lives.

Andres Michel Jr.

Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business

“Grit, underdog, self-driven, persistent, humble, generous, helpful.”

Hometown: Houston, TX

Fun Fact About Yourself: I started my own landscaping business my sophomore year in high school to pay for a portion of my undergraduate studies.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Houston (Electrical Engineering)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title:

Electrical Power System Engineer-Chevron North America

Project Engineering Instrumentation and Electrical Engineer- Chevron North America

Asset Development Instrumentation and Electrical Engineer- Chevron North America

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest accomplishment in my career so far has been realizing my wife’s dream of starting and managing our own confectionary art business called Very Cherry Cakes.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Humble because he has served in the military for 10 years and has been away from his family for extensive period to protect our freedom.

Aside from your classmates, 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? With my engineering background, I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of different improvement projects. As an engineer my task was always to implement technologies that would help gather data to predict future failures in equipment or predict future outcomes. After successfully bringing the data back to the office from the field the biggest issue was understanding what the data was representing. While I was researching different schools, I wanted an MBA program that applied data analytics to business decisions. Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business really stood out to me on how the curriculum they have developed is main core in data analytics. I believe that data analytics is the future of any industry.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I look forward in participating in clubs that are highly involved with the local community helping others better themselves.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? During my undergraduate studies, I was operating my own landscaping business and felt the need to increase my business administration knowledge. I decided to pursue a minor in business administration and I was able to quickly apply the knowledge I learned in the classroom to my business and was able to expand my business by improving efficiencies. This experience early in my career made me decide that after working in the industry for four years and attaining my professional engineering license that I was going to purse an MBA. I am currently at that point in my career and look forward to the future as an MBA student at Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? Running the numbers on the cost of attaining an MBA from a top business school can scare anyone away. I decided to take a different approach on deciding if an MBA was worth the investment. My strategy was self-reflection and asking myself what really drives me to push myself to my best performance. My results were leading people to success and managing a business. An MBA to me made sense in the aspect that it was going to help me improve in my leadership skills and business administration skills.

What other MBA programs did you apply to?

UVA Darden School of Business

Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University

Michigan Ross

How did you determine your fit at various schools? When I was looking how I fit at various schools, I made sure I visited the campus with my wife before applying to the school. I made sure to attend a class visit and student-held webinars to have a better understanding if my wife and I were going to a fit to the school. Another important school attribute was an outstanding career center. Being a career switcher, I knew that I was going to need all the help I could get to make a successful career switch.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? My parents immigrated to the United States from Mexico in search of a better future for me and my two sisters. They left their family behind to give their children a better education and future. I have to say that this has been my defining moment in my life that has shaped who I am. Without my parents sacrifice, I would not have the opportunities that I have now.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? After I graduate, I plan to continue paying it forward by helping kids in need to continue higher education. Growing up in an underserved community, I have always seen the need of mentors in my community to come back and help develop future leaders.

Where do you see yourself in five years? In five years I see myself growing in my professional career but at the same time managing my own scholarship foundation helping underserved children attain their full potential.

Brian Porter

Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business

“Inquisitive individual striving to uncover physical patterns that are unseen but for combing through data.”

Hometown: Los Angeles, California

Fun Fact About Yourself: I appear in a Red Hot Chili Peppers music video that aired in the US and internationally. For a brief moment in time I was constantly stopped by strangers who recognized my face from the video.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Southern California — Music Industries

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Sense360 (startup) — Data Analysis and Product Development

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest accomplishment thus far has been the creation of an app that helps people optimize their lives for maximum wellness. The process of building the app in addition to its impact have been truly meaningful.

A childhood friend and I built an early version as a side project that works by sending text messages to individuals asking them one simple question, “Are you happy?” Users respond back, “yes” or “no” and over time they can see, on a map, where they report to be happy and, conversely, where they do not. We don’t have tons of users, but many of the early adopters have reported that the service has allowed them to be more present in their daily lives.

Encouraged by the positive impact of the early product, I decided to take two months between work and the beginning of school to build out a more feature-rich mobile version of the app and convinced a group from ArrDude.com — a professional development group for young individuals striving to become technical experts in areas of software engineering — to help. These young intellectuals have historically struggled within the traditional educational model, but flourish in case-centric environments where their brilliance shines through.

During the two months, we worked tirelessly in a windowless research facility wrestling with the nuances of backend architecture, cloud hosting systems, and the latest Javascript syntax. I was humbled and amazed as I watched these young professionals grow from inexperienced developers, having never built an app for production, to entry-level full stack engineers who had created a fully functional mobile app. I also saw growth in myself as I relayed best practices that I had learned in my professional career and honed my own development chops.

Directing the project and aiding in the professional growth of these young professionals has been one of the most rewarding times of my professional career. Together, we have worked to build an app that helps people live happier and more productive lives while fulfilling that mission for ourselves in the process of building it.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Visionaries. My future peers have diverse backgrounds and skillsets. Yet, they all recognize the need to question the status quo and use previous and current business conditions to extrapolate what the future of business will entail. I believe this kind of mindset will empower my peers to think big and proactively create their own opportunities based on long-term goals rather than make decisions on a reactive basis.

Aside from your classmates, 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 chose Tepper because I want to be among like-minded individuals who are interested in building a better future through cross-disciplinary collaboration. Carnegie Mellon houses thought leaders in most major fields and CMU makes a significant effort to connect them as reflected in their decision to place all seven colleges under a single roof via the Tepper Quad.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? GEC (Graduate Entrepreneurship Club)! This club is open to members of all CMU graduate students and encourages individuals to think outside the box, combine disparate skillsets, and collaborate on putting novel ideas into action. The creative energy and optimism of the members in this club is almost palpable. I am looking forward to both benefiting and contributing to this fruitful ecosystem where production cycles can be fast-forwarded through productive feedback and rapid iteration.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I have had the honor of working with extremely skilled and intelligent people throughout my career, especially at my previous company, Sense360. I noticed that a large majority of individuals there had graduate degrees and employed skills that enabled them to contribute to the company in ways that I could not. For example, I watched the CEO as he navigated the turbulent waters of the startup world, creating a positive work culture, obtaining series A funding, and deciphering market needs. If I honestly reflected on my capabilities, I realized that I needed to expand my professional toolkit if I wanted perform at the same level.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? My goal to build a sustainable company drove my decision to seek an MBA. The statistics suggest that I will fail before I succeed in attaining my goal. They also suggest that I will need excellent mentorship and a supportive network. A good MBA program delivers solutions for all these dilemmas in that it provides a safe environment in which to fail, offers mentors that have already succeeded in markets that I wish to participate in, and consists of peers that share a similar desire to succeed but who have a vast variety of skills and backgrounds.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Yale SOM, UC Berkeley Haas, University of Indiana Kelley, Vanderbilt Owen

How did you determine your fit at various schools? My main priority was that the MBA program have a tangible path to various technology companies. I researched this by looking at partnerships between educational institutions and the companies that I could see myself working at. I also looked at faculty skillsets and confirmed that they had experience in the areas that I wanted to focus on. Finally, I looked at employment percentages by industry to ensure that MBA programs of interest had a consistent flow of alumni going into areas and companies where I wanted to go.

On a related topic, I needed my MBA program to have a healthy number of startups formed by alumni. I looked at online publications for this information and ranked schools by how many startups had been founded from the program as well as how much external funding they had received. I also looked at resources like Crunchbase to view the types of companies coming out of each school and gave higher marks to schools who had spawned companies that I viewed as innovative.

Another priority was collaboration between disciplines. I measured the number of companies formed by alumni of the school that had founders from different disciplines. For example, I noticed that there were quite a few partnerships from the Tepper and Heinz school for Carnegie Mellon. I did not put a comprehensive list together but viewed this more on an anecdotal basis. I took other measurements of collaboration by questioning the current student base. If the current student body reported collaborating with other schools/disciplines I would note that as a plus in that schools favor.

Another important priority was student sentiment. I needed a student culture that valued collaboration and connection — a culture that bought into the rising tide analogy. This was easier to grasp than I first expected it might be. I would initiate conversations with current students and if they referred me to other students in the program with similar interests to mine then I assumed the school had a culture that I would do well in.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? Upon entering middle school, I struggled immensely to fit in with my new peers. Over the year, I became more-and-more convinced that something was wrong with me so I withdrew until I was isolated from nearly everyone, opting to spend lunches alone with a book rather than at a table with my classmates.

The next year, a lifeline was throne to me in the shape of a Black Sabbath album and I instantly felt both connected and empowered. It felt like Ozzy was singing about my personal experience and, for the first time in over a year, I didn’t feel alone in my struggle. Now realizing that others might also be dealing with this same sort of issue, I committed to helping myself and others through the same medium that had given me hope – I would learn to play guitar.

I dedicated myself to the craft, playing every moment I could. While other kids went to the mall or played video games, I practiced. Over the years, music allowed me to open up and give others a portion of what it had given to me. My freshman dorm peers would regularly schedule free lessons to learn songs to play at parties or to impress a special someone in their PSYC 101 class. One friend communicated that an original song of mine, “Still Turning,” had helped him cope with his brother’s cancer diagnosis. These instances ingrained in me the importance of making a positive impact and guide my decisions to this day.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? Post-MBA, I plan to continue my work in the life-hack arena by establishing a central data set for understanding wellness and using analytical methods to decipher the data and help people to live happier and more productive lives.

Where do you see yourself in five years? In five years, I see myself utilizing new data and analytical techniques to unlock the potential of the human mind and body. I am a big fan of operating at peak efficiency and want to use data and technology to push the boundaries of what we think humanly possible.

Paul W. Shumate II

Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business

“I’m a serial entrepreneur who loves people, the outdoors, and solving complex problems with simplicity and automation.”

Hometown: Fairfax, VA

Fun Fact About Yourself: I go to Burning Man every year and bring a fire breathing adult tricycle with a 32 foot LED flagpole.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Virginia – Triple major in Systems Engineering, Economics, and Computer Science

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Microcoaching, Head of Business Development

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far:  My first thoughts were about starting companies and securing VC funding for one of our startups. However, the accomplishment I’m most proud of was finding a sustainable solution to an increase in surplus textiles for a shirt company I was running as we expanded into new markets. Traditionally we’d donate our misprint shirts and that was the end of it. Then I learned about the crippling effects donated second-hand clothing has on the economies in which these textiles are dumped. Local manufacturers can’t compete with the well-intended donations and are forced to shut down, eliminating jobs and entire local industries. Faced with this moral dilemma, I reached out to my network and eventually found two small communities to directly send our misprint shirts. One was a Quechua orphanage where they turned the shirts back into raw materials and taught the kids to sew without disrupting any local industries. I learned how much indirect impact I could have, both good and bad, when being a leader in a company and this has helped me shape a more holistic approach to business.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Enthusiastic, innovative, and academically rigorous. I think Tepper’s smaller class size combined with its focus on leadership and its track record of innovation in data and analytics draws a certain type of person. I’ve met many engineers, inventors, and natural-born leaders at Tepper. What surprised me most is the wealth of entrepreneurs coming to school with not just ideas, but actual, viable products and business plans already in place with the intention of leveraging both Tepper and the surrounding Carnegie Mellon community to launch or grow their businesses.

Aside from your classmates, 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? It was Tepper’s focus on data and analytics combined with Carnegie Mellon’s track record of being a leader in AI, machine learning, and engineering. I believe the future of business will be driven by big data and technology and I wanted a school that stays on the forefront of innovation. Tepper aligns well with my engineering and entrepreneurial background and I believe it will be the best place for me to build upon my current abilities, enabling me to add real value in the world through creative innovation and strong quantitative and analytical skills.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Case competitions and the Tepper Consulting Club. I get excited tackling new projects and coming up with creative solutions and I look forward to honing my skills in taking broad problems and breaking them down into logical and manageable pieces to create an action plan to affect change in a business.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career?   I’ve spent a lot of time running small businesses and startups and I wanted to expand my work to larger companies having a more global reach.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment?  I looked at the next steps I wanted to take in my career and for the most part an MBA was a streamlined process to my next set of goals. In the big scheme of things, it seems like a minimal expense if it yields a career I am excited about and fulfilled by.

What other MBA programs did you apply to?MIT Sloan, UT McCombs, UC Berkeley Haas, WashU Olin

How did you determine your fit at various schools? First and foremost, I spent time figuring out what I wanted to do and secondarily, in what regions I wanted to work. Then, I pored through various guides on the top 20 schools, read tons of Poets & Quants articles, and visited each school’s website. I met with alumni and visited about a dozen schools, met with current students, and went on tours. After that, I read through a few years of employment reports from each school and noted trends in areas of interest. Finally, it came down to attending a bunch of admit weekends and seeing where I made the most connections. In the end, it’s my classmates and our synergies that will make the next two years matter the most and Tepper is where I found my home.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? After my second job way back in middle school, minimum wage kept increasing at a similar pace as my hourly raises. I was tired of making the bare minimum while also doing something I didn’t love. I decided to venture out on my own and take my side gigs – walking dogs and mowing lawns – to the next level. By the time I graduated high school, I had a pet care company and a landscaping business employing a few friends and had saved up enough money to pay for my undergrad at UVA. I realized early on that I could change the world around me for better and create my own way in life if I wasn’t satisfied with the status quo. This mentality has empowered me to try new things, take risks, and succeed at many aspects of my life.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? Management consulting in digital strategy or PM work in the tech industry.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Managing or selling digital strategy services to large international companies or running my own small consulting firm focusing on government contracts in developing countries.

Anna Situ

Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business

“A creative and upbeat team player and an eternal dog lover.”

Hometown: Oakland, CA

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’ve completed 7 marathons and over 10 half marathons, including the Walt Disney World Dopey Challenge in which runners compete in the 5K, 10K, half marathon, and full marathon on back-to-back days.

Undergraduate School and Major: BA in Public Health and Legal Studies, University of California, Berkeley.

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Mathematica Policy Research, Survey Analyst

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I ran a data collection center and managed a group of 30 interviewers for a project for the Department of Education. My previous experience and education did not prepare me for that role, but I was able to rise to the occasion with my creativity and with help from my colleagues. In the end, I was formally recognized for my role in running the center and was awarded a certificate of recognition.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? I attended the Forte conference with many of the women Tepper students and they were all amazing! Passion is a word that comes to mind when describing them. They are all not only passionate about what they want to pursue, but also equally passionate about helping other classmates.

Aside from your classmates, 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 applied as a dual-degree MBA/public policy candidate, so I had to consider the characteristics of the public policy programs in each of the schools. It was important for me that the public policy program had a quantitative and analytical focus. However, what drew me to Tepper was the culture. My interactions with current students, perspective students, and staff were all positive and felt genuine.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Recruiting!

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I recognized the limitations of having a bachelor’s degree. If I want to truly create an impact with my work and have direct results, I need to purse a master’s degree.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? An MBA is a degree I can apply to multiple sectors. Life is uncertain and an MBA will prepare me for whatever challenge comes my way or if I change my mind about what I want to do multiple times.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Michigan and UNC Chapel Hill (both had dual degree MBA/MPP options)

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I prioritized the percent of students who went into the industries and functions that I’m pursuing. Tools I used included employment data released by the schools and school profiles on Poets & Quants. For determining cultural fit, I reached out to MBA ambassadors who had similar career interests from each school via email, phone, and in-person coffee chats. Interviewing on campus was also very valuable for determining fit. I had the chance to see how students interacted with each other and the larger communities that the schools were part of.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? My mother unexpectedly passed away during my final semester of college and that had a profound impact on me. At first, I fell into depression and struggled with my courses. I seriously considered taking off a semester and postponing graduating. But I learned an important lesson: the world will move on with or without me and I could either participate or stand by and watch. From then on, I knew that I always have a choice to do something to change an outcome. I chose to finish that semester and graduated.

What do you plan to do after you graduate?  My goal is to work in a consulting role to help organizations that create social impact.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Doing something that will improve the quality of life for others and owning my second dog.

Seoweon Yoo

Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business

“International English Literature student trying to break into America’s tech scene.”

Hometown: Seoul, South Korea

Fun Fact About Yourself: I spoke at a Python conference in front of 150+ people as a non-programmer and also have a relatively active Github account.

I worked and lived in 3 different countries in three very different climates so far – Helsinki, Seoul, and Miami – and am willing and excited to discover more countries and cities in the future.

Undergraduate School and Major: Korea University, English Literature & Business Administration

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Twinword (Korean tech startup), Business Technology Manager (This was a temporary job for 3 months to experience a tech startup). Before that I worked as a consultant at Reddal (a Helsinki-based professional services firm) for close to 4 years.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I spearheaded the development of multiple tools for a global shipbuilding firm based in Miami for cross-continent team collaboration and vendor management, increasing team efficiency by 25 – 40%.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Genuine and always ready to help! I imagined an MBA environment to be cut-throat and competitive, but was surprised to find that current and incoming students are all ready to just roll their sleeves up and help each other out.

Aside from your classmates, 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? Its focus on data and analytics. During Tepper’s Welcome Weekend event, Kathryn Barraclough, Head of MBA Program, said “While others talk about the importance of analytics in business, we are the school that actually teaches you those skills.” Coming from an English Literature background, I wanted to pursue a program that would approach business with an emphasis on data and analytics.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? The Tepper Women in Business club. So far, I’ve been very impressed by the level of discourse about women in business from Tepper as well as from the Forte Foundation. I’m looking forward to learning and getting to know inspiring women role models through TWiB (Tepper Women in Business) and also bring the international perspective to the discussion. In the future, I hope I could bring what I learn back to my home country and contribute to advancing women’s position in business in South Korea. Nothing would make me happier than growing to become an inspiration and mentor for fellow Korean women pursuing a career through my MBA experience.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? Learning how technology and advanced analytics can improve business processes dramatically, I wanted to advance my quantitative skills to the next level to be able to create that change for businesses. Pursuing an MBA at a quantitatively focused school like Carnegie Mellon was the natural next step for where I wanted my career to go.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? The average salary per year for a Tepper graduate is $119,402. The time to make up the tuition I invest is not long, and for me, the experience of flying halfway across the world to experience new things, make new friends, and explore more opportunities is more than worth it. I consider it taking a leap forward to advance to the next level in my career.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? I only applied to two schools – Carnegie Mellon Tepper School and MIT Sloan. An analytics-focused curriculum was primarily what I was looking for.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? My criteria for selecting schools was a curriculum focused on hard business analytics skills, and a relatively small class size. As for the curriculum, I wanted to throw myself in the deep end and learn the quantitative skills I didn’t have a chance to learn during university, or on the job. In addition, I wanted to dip my toes in computer science since I am also interested in programming and building automation tools for operations. The option to attend courses from different departments other than the business school was a big attraction point for Carnegie Mellon, since their computer science school is one of the best.

A relatively small class size was also important for me, since I wanted to be part of a tight-knit community of classmates that would support each other rather than compete for limited opportunities. The staff-to-student ratio was also important, especially as an international student that may have more administrative assistance needed in the recruitment process.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? During my undergrad years, I was part of a university club helping people in need by creating a social enterprise business model. My team’s project was to help small-scale farmers reach end-customers directly so that they could reach a sustainable profit level. Being inexperienced in execution of the business, we weren’t able to create a successful social enterprise, but it was a defining moment for me because I realized I wanted to ultimately help people with the power of business. Successful businesses have the power to move mountains, and if the decision-makers have the right intentions, they could do a lot of good in the process.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? I wish to get a job at a tech company in an operations role. Current dream job is Amazon’s Senior Program Manager.

Where do you see yourself in five years? I see myself at the same company I get into right after graduation, possibly leading expansion efforts of that business to South Korea or another Asian region.

 

 

 

 

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