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Meet the Class of 2026

Author: Lindsay Loyd is the Executive Director for MBA Admissions at NYU Stern. She leads the recruiting and admissions efforts for Stern’s Full-time MBA Programs, including the two-year Full-time MBA, and focused one-year MBAs: the Andre Koo Technology & Entrepreneurship MBA and Luxury & Retail MBA. She joined NYU Stern in 2023 after a 20-year career in financial services, serving in roles of progressive responsibility in analytics, marketing and strategy at Capital One and American Express. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Washington State University, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Outside of work, you can find Lindsay snowboarding with her family, baking a sweet treat, or reading a book.

Lindsay Loyd Headshot

Late summer and early fall in NYC are my absolute favorite times of the year. The weather is fantastic, and the vibes are high with back-to-school excitement. This is particularly true for MBA1s who are returning to school after time in the workforce. For the Admissions team, LAUNCH (NYU Stern’s MBA orientation) is our first chance to see 352 motivated individuals come together from all walks of life as one community, and embark upon their journey as Sternies.

Natural History Museum
Class of 2026 Sternies celebrating the start of LAUNCH at the Natural History Museum

This week, we published the class profile for the Class of 2026, which provides a statistical overview of the MBA1s. But as my team learned while reading applications and conducting interviews, each member of the class is so much more than a resume.

This class brings their knowledge from every conceivable sector of business and society: tech, finance, non-profit management, consulting, entrepreneurship, education, and the military, to name a few. But the richness of their experience goes so far beyond their resumes. We have former Division I college athletes. Accomplished marathoners, climbers, and cyclists. Content creators who’ve had videos and articles go viral. Rocket scientists, Ironman triathlon finishers, scuba divers, and volunteer coaches for the Special Olympics. Our incoming students are dedicated lifelong learners. Many have engaged in impressive pursuits, such as studying on Duolingo for over 1,000 consecutive days, earning purple belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and accumulating over 10,000 minutes of meditation practice since the pandemic began. We have representation from 50 countries and more than 70 languages.

They are passionate and intelligent. They are talented and ambitious. They are curious and embrace change. They are committed to improving themselves and the world around them. 

They are Sternies.

So, the Class of 2026 has arrived, and just like that, the Admissions team switches gears and begins recruiting the Class of 2027.  Our application is open and our first deadline is quickly approaching. For those of you who have already applied, thank you! Interview invitations will be sent out before you know it.

For those of you who are still considering us, take a look at the class profile and also connect with the students behind the numbers to see if NYU Stern is a place where you can see yourself grow. You can connect with our Graduate Ambassadors here. 

We can’t wait to meet you!

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DBi Mexico City

*Taylor Kessock is currently enrolled in the Langone MBA program at NYU Stern, and this blog post is a special contribution.*

Author: Taylor Kessock is a current Langone MBA student at NYU Stern, set to graduate in May 2025. While pursuing her MBA, Taylor works as a Vice President at Aon where she assists clients with risk transfer decisions including traditional insurance, health & benefits and bespoke products. Taylor has a focus on Private Equity firms and their portfolio companies. Post-MBA, Taylor aims to delve deeper into the intersection of enterprise risk management and evolving risks for companies such as talent, climate change, digital transformation and AI-driven solutions. At Stern, Taylor is involved in various organizations, such as Stern Women in Business and the Private Equity & Venture Capital Club.

Taylor Kessock Headshot

As a Langone student, there are rare chances to truly dive into the MBA experience. Between the demands of a job that is far from a typical 9-5 and personal commitments, I found myself struggling to carve-out more time to network with my Stern peers. The opportunity to participate in a DBi seemed like a great way to experience the full-time atmosphere while only taking a short break (a week) from my job.  The DBi Program gave me the chance to set aside my work and embrace the courses, my classmates, and a fabulous city. Mexico City appealed to me because I knew it was a thriving city that I had yet to cross off my bucket list.  Throughout our experience, we focused on a few key areas of Mexico’s economy: entrepreneurship, hospitality, and healthcare 

Partnership with IPADE

NYU partners with one of the top business schools of Mexico called IPADE. IPADE is ranked #1 for EMBA programs in Mexico and we could tell by the caliber of the professors we connected with and the guest speakers they brought in. The professors helped us understand the history of Mexico and how that plays into the current business environment, which is key given Mexico’s proximity to the US, its growing population, and the opportunities and challenges the country faces. These professors are keenly attuned with business leaders in Mexico and brought several of them in to speak with us, many of whom received their MBA from IPADE. 

IPADE Certificate
IPADE Certificate of Completion

IPADE has a case study teaching philosophy and has written its own case studies that focus on businesses in the region. How the IPADE staff approached the cases made me recognize my own bias in comprehending the stories. I realized I was approaching the cases by focusing on the American way of reviewing a business to be “successful”, based on profitability or financial decisions, while ignoring the entrepreneurial drive and community benefit behind a firm. According to the professors, IPADE students read over 900 case studies during their time in the program. We made our dent in a few of these case studies, including one on El Fogoncito, a local restaurant chain that has been successful in developing and supporting its talent in a tough labor market. After our lesson, the owner brought in his famous El Gringo Tacos for the class to share!

El Gringo Tacos
El Fogoncito staff preparing El Gringo Tacos for the class

We spent most of the week at the IPADE campus, which should not be overlooked! The IPADE campus is beautiful and fostered a great environment for learning and conversation. IPADE serves meals and coffee on campus, creating a strong sense of community with the students.  IPADE brought in several speakers to campus, such as the co-founders of Elery, a male-centric health clinic, and Jose Manual Arana, a successful CEO. These speakers all attended IPADE in some fashion and consider it their home away from home! 

Company Visits

In addition to the speakers on campus, we went to the Modelo Factory & KidZania. 

Modelo: Our visit to the Modelo factory taught us about US antitrust laws by learning about the agreement AB-InBev has in which they own and distribute Modelo products around the world. Instead, Modelo licenses out the formulas to Constellation Brands for selling the product into the U.S. markets. It was intriguing to observe that such a huge operation could take place within the city limits of Mexico City. Perhaps it is our bias coming from New York City, but in our experience, large manufacturing and production facilities – such as Groupo Modelo – typically exist outside of major cities.

KidZania:  KidZania was truly a unique place and an impressive business. Throughout the tour, as well as the presentation and Q&A, it was clear that KidZania was successful due to its  extreme level of focus on their customers (children). However, KidZania does not just focus on entertaining kids alone but sticks to the company’s mission to ensure the kids walk away from their experience with valuable lessons. It was fascinating to hear how KidZania thinks intentionally about the partners they work with, the architecture of their worlds, and the activities the kids go through to ensure the experience feels authentic – all while delivering on the promise and value of KidZania.  One of my most memorable moments from the visits was when I asked about how they dealt with local politics and stood up for what they believe is right when necessary, as evidenced by ensuring that females can drive cars in KidZania UAE. I was truly inspired by the CEO’s drive and passion for the company’s mission. 

Building Connections Outside the Classroom

In addition to a rich curriculum, Mexico City was a great place to experience culture, history & food! Throughout the week, our group organized various activities such as Lucha Libre, taco tours, and exploring the historical city. Mexico City is truly a great place to experience culture, not to mention the delicious food scene that rivals New York City’s. NYU organized a tour of the pyramids, an alumni networking at a historical club, and dinners so we could get to know each other! The tour of the pyramids was a must-do in the area, and we had a guide that explained their history, significance to the country and future preservation for the historical site. Throughout my time at NYU, I am always impressed by the community and my fellow classmates. The DBi experience truly enhanced my relationship and gave me amazing friendships that continued beyond Mexico City!

Pyrarmids in Teotihuacán
DBI Mexico city Co-hort at the Pyrarmids in Teotihuacán
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My DBi New Zealand Experience

Author: Sarah Qin is an MBA Candidate at the Stern School of Business in NYU, specializing in Technology Product Management, Brand Management, and Strategy. Prior to Stern, Sarah worked in corporate finance at GE and consulting at Deloitte. Sarah interned at and will be returning to Estée Lauder as a Finance & Strategy Manager after graduating in May 2024. Sarah enjoyed being co-president of Stern Technology Association (STA) this past year and strengthening the tech community across the full-time, part-time, and focused MBAs.

Throughout my life, I always viewed New Zealand as this beautiful utopia, a place far away from me, somewhere I could easily visit on Pinterest but not so much in real life. When I discovered that Stern had a DBi program there, it stopped me in my tracks! The opportunity to spend two weeks there with my classmates, exploring its incredible scenery while learning about how business is done in that country, was too good to pass up! As someone who absolutely loves the summertime and dreads cold temperatures, it was a no-brainer for me to escape the cold New York winter for a few weeks and enjoy summer in New Zealand instead. I also happen to be a huge tennis fan, and the Australian Open and all its warm-up tournaments (including the Auckland Open) conveniently coincided with my DBi. Watching those matches live on TV in the same time zone and attending some matches in-person both during and after the DBi was another dream come true!

Despite Auckland being 16 hours ahead of NYC, I didn’t experience jet lag because I was that ecstatic to be in this paradise! The locals were so friendly, the scenery was breathtaking, and the Sauvignon Blanc was as crisp and refreshing as it gets! Moreover, the black sand beaches glistened in the sunlight, and there were abundant sheep in the lush rolling hills of the countryside. I also got to visit the Shire in person as well, and even though I have not watched any of the Lord of the Rings movies, I was blown away by the set design and felt like I was on an architectural digest tour for Hobbits. Waiheke Island, just a short ferry ride away from Auckland, was heavenly with its turquoise waters and endless supply of the finest quality wine. Everywhere I looked, there was a postcard view, and I had to pinch myself many times to remind myself that everything was real life and not simply a daydream or figment of my imagination.

Hobbiton
Loved being a hobbit for the day at Hobbiton – I fit right in!

In addition to sightseeing with my friends, I also loved going to class and learning about the different industries in New Zealand. I realized that while New Zealand is ahead of the curve in many ways, there are also areas where it strives to improve, as no country is perfect. I learned that kiwis (nickname for New Zealanders) do not embrace risk and failure as freely as Americans do, and a big reason for this is because New Zealand is geographically much smaller than the States, resulting in fewer opportunities to fail. While an aspiring entrepreneur in the US can drive up and down Silicon Valley in California or even fly to New York City or Austin to present their business ideas to accelerators and venture capitalists, people in New Zealand primarily have Auckland as their one shot for success since much of the island is dedicated to tourism and farming. 

Despite New Zealand’s substantial efforts in sustainability, the methane emitted by its sheep and cows has caused an environmental strain that is difficult to offset. Additionally, the construction industry is essential to the country but difficult to execute because of New Zealand’s predominantly rugged terrain. Similarly, the public transportation system is subpar, and people prefer to use their cars. As a result, there is little incentive for the government to invest in improving its public transport system. While New Zealand may resemble America on the surface, it is quite different in many aspects and has its own issues to address. 

Nevertheless, it was refreshing to learn about how New Zealand actively acknowledges its shortcomings and makes significant strides to increasing investments in technology, dismantling Tall Poppy Syndrome, advocating for mental health, integrating its Māori and Pasifika populations into the community, and supporting entrepreneurs. One highlight of this DBi program was visiting an incubator called the Pacific Business Hub and learning about its support for start-ups and new businesses for the Pasifika community. It was inspiring to hear from successful entrepreneurs in New Zealand about how they beat the odds and have only become more passionate about their businesses over time. It is clear that New Zealand is so much more than a vacation spot for adventurous tourists or Australia’s “little sibling.” With its growing number of direct flights to different countries and efficient shipping routes for key exports like dairy products and wine, New Zealand has potential to add even greater value and become more connected with the rest of the world.

Auckland Open
Auckland Open with fellow Sternies and tennis fans Bianca Dy and Misato Aiso

I’m so grateful for the adventures and educational takeaways I had from this trip, but ultimately, the top reason I loved my New Zealand DBi was the people! Despite completing three semesters at Stern, there are still hundreds of full-time MBAs, part-time MBAs, and focused MBAs who I have not met yet! During my time in New Zealand, existing friendships deepened, and acquaintances became friends who were also ideal people to karaoke with on a boat! As someone who typically travels solo or with a few friends, I realized how fun group travel can be, especially when Stern plans a significant part of the itinerary. Going to New Zealand as part of a two-week intensive study abroad program rather than simply visiting the country as a tourist allowed me to learn about intricacies of each industry rather than purely sightsee the main attractions. Consequently, I gained a more holistic understanding of how New Zealand operates and have developed a greater appreciation for everything the country has to offer. All I can say is that going on a DBi during MBA is a must, especially in New Zealand, and you will get FOMO (fear of missing out) not JOMO (joy of missing out) if you don’t go! So what are you waiting for? Book that flight today.

Pohutu Geyser
Pohutu Geyser (largest in the Southern Hemisphere!) in Rotorua
Ferry Ride to Waiheke
Scenic ferry ride from downtown Auckland to Waiheke Island
Pacific Business Hub
Company visit to Pacific Business Hub, a vibrant incubator for start-ups
Maypole
Completed the Maypole with Olivia Cannarozzi and Sarah Sprole at the Shire
Waiheke Vineyards
Froliking in the Waiheke vineyards in the middle of wine tastings
Downtown Auckland
Serene view of the downtown Auckland skyline from the Viaduct Harbour
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My DBi Experience in South Africa

Author: Hyeji Kim is a full-time MBA student at NYU Stern, graduating in May 2024. Prior to coming to business school, she worked at Accenture working on tech implementation projects for public sector clients. After school, she’ll move to Seoul, South Korea to pursue a career in strategy consulting at the Samsung Global Strategy Group. During her time at Stern, Hyeji served as the co-president of the Asian Business Society and the co-director of a Christian business conference for MBA students called Believers in Business.

Hyeji Kim

“Whoa, I want to do that!” was the reaction I had as I tapped through the Instagram stories of MBA2s who were on their DBi’s in January 2023. I, as an MBA1, was busy preparing for interviews, hoping and praying that internship recruiting would soon be over. I looked at all of the locations that were popping up: Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, and South Africa. ‘Any one of these would be fascinating destinations,’ I thought to myself and resolved to be on a winter DBi myself the following year. 

That is what I did! I spent two weeks on a DBi to Cape Town, South Africa, and every moment was extremely worth it. To be quite honest, I originally saw the DBi as an opportunity to travel to someplace cool with a bunch of friends from business school. But it turned out to be so much more. 

The Beauty of Cape Town

Our hotel and school building were located by the V&A Waterfront, a vibrant food and shopping district alongside the harbors of the Alfred and Victoria basins. On most days after school, many of us would visit the area to take walks, go eat, or simply sit and take in the beauty of the water and landscape. The water was so blue and sparkly; the backdrop of Table Mountain against the buildings, the ships, and the bustling of the district never got old. The sun shone for almost more than 12 hours a day, and save for some windy moments, the weather was consistently warm and welcoming. 

Besides the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town and the surrounding areas had so much to offer. Table Mountain and Lion’s Head offered good hiking experiences for those interested in the challenge (although many of us – aka me – chose to use the cable car that allowed for easier access). A few minute car ride would bring us to beautiful beaches for us to watch sunsets and enjoy each other’s company. Yes, many of us fell sick with the “Cape Town Tummy,” but the restaurant scene in Cape Town offered many interesting venues and dishes.

View of Table Mountain
On our first day of classes, we took a bus up to a hill that gave us a beautiful view of Table Mountain as well as the shoreline.

Deep Dive into Cape Town and South Africa

My favorite part, however, was how much we got to learn about this country that embodied such a painful past and continues to grapple with complexities around socioeconomic differences and race. We heard from phenomenal speakers – individuals we would not have had access to had it not been for this program – on the importance of entrepreneurship and its potential to lift up those living in poverty. We learned about energy and food security and how it impacts various parts of the city and country that was going through chronic “load shedding” to conserve electricity. We learned about the categorization of race and how one may or may not identify with the designations that they had to fall into.

Outside of the classroom learnings, we got to meet with locals and talk to them about how all these seemingly academic topics of entrepreneurship as well as energy and food security truly impacted their lives. We took a couple field trips to “townships,” areas slightly outside of the city center that are traditionally inhabited by individuals that would be considered of lower socioeconomic class. Some equate “townships” with “slums,” and the general tourist advice one gets when coming to Cape Town is to not visit these townships. Yet here we were in these townships (safely guided by locals) conversing with people in their homes. All of them were so interested in talking to us, sharing their views on how their lives could be improved, and how they hope that their grandchildren might live a better life. All were nuances, questions, and thoughts I would never have had if I had come to Cape Town simply as a tourist, and I was grateful for a chance to wrestle with them.

A picture with one of the locals
A picture with one of the locals (in the middle with the striped top; our local guide is in the pink dress) in the township that we spoke to. She ran a small business out of her personal kitchen baking bread and cooking chicken.

My Fellow Sternies

The group of Sternies that got into the South Africa DBi were a great group of people. I knew my fellow full-time students that were on the trip with me were great and fun to be around, but I was thankful for the opportunity to have met so many Langone students as well. Having actively stayed away from evening classes my first three semesters, my interactions with Langone students until that point were short and sweet, limited to the small interactions I had with them in student clubs. Yet here was a group of students I had not yet met, all of them so open and welcoming and eager to make new connections. It opened my eyes to the breadth and quality of the student body that Stern had to offer. Whether one was in the full-time, part-time, or focused programs, we were all on a similar journey to figure out the next steps in our careers and lives.

NYU Stern group photo

From weekend excursions to the wineries in Stellenbosch, to hiking the most southwest point of Africa at the Cape of Good Hope, to seeing tiny penguins at Boulders Beach, DBi South Africa gave me the best of what Stern has to offer: community and friendships with smart, engaging, and down-to-earth people paired with in-depth learnings that expanded my worldview of how we are simultaneously so different yet the same across countries and cultures. It’s always so exciting and rewarding to be able to challenge oneself personally, relationally, and academically, and DBi South Africa fulfilled all that and more.

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A Memorable Sternie Experience in New Zealand

Author: Sarah Sprole is an MBA Candidate at the Stern School of Business in NYU, specializing in Strategy, Technology Product Management and Leadership & Change Management. Prior to Stern, Sarah worked in finance for five years in New York. Sarah interned at and will be returning to Adobe as a Strategy & Operations Manager after graduating in May 2024. Sarah is proud to have been a career mentor, the VP of Mentorship for Stern Technology Association, a SVP for Stern Student Government, and a VP with Stern Management & Strategy.

When deciding on MBA programs, Stern’s DBi (Doing Business in) program was a key differentiator in my choice to attend Stern. I didn’t have the opportunity to study abroad in my undergrad, so having the ability to explore and learn in a new country was an important factor in my decision. Stern’s DBi programs give MBA students the ability to take a class for credit in another country and I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to New Zealand for a DBi in January. It’s not a secret that I’m a bit of a homebody – I generally love my routine, but going on this DBi pushed me to try new things and leave my comfort zone for a few weeks and I’m so glad I had this opportunity! Over the course of the two week program, I learned a lot about the business challenges and opportunities in NZ, got to experience new things, deepened my friendships with my classmates and met Sternies in other programs. 

Learning about Business Challenges in NZ

We spent the first few days immersed in a classroom setting, learning about the unique opportunities and challenges of conducting business in New Zealand. My favorite lecture was on the Maori culture and customs and how they have permeated throughout the norms of the businesses in New Zealand. One of our lectures focused on the challenges in the housing market in Auckland and New Zealand. We also spent a lot of class time discussing and debating the pros and cons of the risk aversion culture generally observed by kiwis. After some time in the classroom, the program took us to three different companies to learn about their operations on-site. We had the opportunity to go to the Port of Auckland, a pharmaceutical company and a business incubator with deep Pacific-Islander cultural connections. I never thought I’d learn so much about shipping containers and the logistics of operating a Port, but it was fascinating.  After getting decked out with protective equipment, we also got to learn about the production processes at pharmaceutical companies.

The view from our wine tour and tasting on the Island of Waiheke.

Once-in-a-lifetime Experiences in NZ

In New Zealand, Stern and the partner university planned some incredible experiences for us. My favorite was our day on the island of Waiheke. We started the day by taking the ferry over to Waiheke Island. Once we arrived, we went wine tasting at two incredible vineyards and ended the day by watching the sunset over dinner on top of a mountain on the island. New Zealand is known for its Sauvignon Blanc, but we got to taste several other types of wine too. Outside of the scheduled program, I experienced some of what the north island has to offer with a few of my classmates. We went to Hobbiton, which was an incredibly beautiful and unique experience, got to see some glowworms in a cave, and saw the geysers at Rotorua. Although I never read or watched Lord of the Rings, my time in the countryside in New Zealand, seeing sheep, and witnessing the passion of the fans, was a very cool experience. Beyond that, seeing TWO kiwi birds was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me!

Sarah Sprole, Sarah Qin and Danit Fleishman at the Pohutu Geyser in Rotorua, New Zealand.

Deeping my Friendships Outside the Classroom

Throughout my time at Stern, I have built life-long friendships with people in my class. Seeing my peers every day, going to Stern Social together, grabbing coffee between classes and catching up in the grad lounge had already strengthened my friendships with my MBA peers. However, through this DBi, my connection with my friends grew even stronger. We explored new places, bonded over our love of skincare and supported each other through the good and sometimes hard times in the program. Two of my classmates (you know who you are) saw my disheveled self after flying for 20 hours from NYC to Auckland and fortunately, they still wanted to be my friends. Nothing bonds you more than some lovely time in the airport. My roommate in Auckland and I also deepened our friendship over some after-class sauvignon blanc and heart-to-hearts before shutting off the lights. We supported each other throughout recruiting and challenging coursework back in New York, but our relationship is forever stronger because of our time in New Zealand together. Stern is known for its community and my community has only grown as a result of my time in NZ.

A group photo of many of the students on the DBi in New Zealand overlooking the Auckland harbor.

Meeting with Sternies in Other Programs

One of my favorite parts of my experience in NZ was meeting Sternies in the Langone Part-time program. While we all go to the same school, Langone MBAs often take courses at night or on the weekends and I hadn’t met many of them throughout my coursework at Stern. On the DBi, I worked closely with several Part-time MBAs on our project, but more importantly, built friendships with them outside of the classroom. While grabbing some yummy pizza after class, chatting at the bar on the weekend and exploring the harbor together in Auckland, I built genuine and deep friendships with a few Part-time MBAs who I never would have met without this program. We’ve even maintained our relationships back in NYC!

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Being a parent while pursuing an MBA

Author: Rachael is passionate about the ability of business to make meaningful, positive change. Before Stern, she was a Producer working at the intersection of the public sector and the entertainment industries. She interned at and will be returning to McKinsey Transformations as a consulting generalist. While at Stern, she’s proud to have been a career mentor, TF for Team Communications, and VP with Stern Women in Business, Management Consulting Association, and Social Impact and Sustainability Association. She’s also the parent to an awesome toddler and a passionate Brooklynite.

Rachael Nisenkier

Deciding to pivot

During the fall of 2021, I got on the phone with a Stern alum (shout out to Jessie!) as I prepped for an interview with the MBA program. I didn’t know when I picked up the phone, but that was the start of a new plan for my life, and a wild ride for me and my family. 

Being a parent and a Sternie

When people find out that I birthed and take care of a tiny human, they tend to ask “how do you do it?” And I mostly demur and say “it’s easy” or “lots of help.” Both of which are true. My kid is great. My husband has a flexible job. We have the money and the familial support to fill in the gaps that need filling.  It’s also often really hard. I skip happy hours, avoid night classes, and frequently have to miss fun events. But it’s been deeply fulfilling and more interesting than I dared to hope. I feel like being a parent and a Sternie has really grounded me in what is most important and made me a mastermind when it comes to prioritizing. It’s also helped me form really deep bonds with other parents at the school – including a Sternies with Little Sternies What’s App Group that basically got me through my first year. 

Not being a typical student

I know my business school experience is not everyone’s, but honestly, I’m not sure ANYONE’S experience is “typical.” Stern has shown me over and over again that my fellow students come from a diverse and fascinating set of backgrounds, with their own complicated stories and circumstances. That said, I know a lot of us aren’t at a point of going directly from watching your chaos-loving kid try to eat your cat straight into a fancy dinner with a top consulting firm. For prospective students thinking of taking this journey, definitely get ready to have to quickly remove peanut butter stains from your favorite coffee chat outfit. 

When I came to Stern, I was so scared about not being a typical student, not being able to keep up with the typical students, of losing out on opportunities because my Millennial self needed to go home and sleep rather than go to Stern Social. And there’s definitely been trade offs – thanks to my economics classes I understand the idea of opportunity costs, and pursuing an MBA at any time in life (but certainly once you already have a family) requires trading off time with friends and family, missing trips we want to take, and occasionally sitting at home to finally finish homework rather than exploring the city. But the biggest surprise about being here at Stern was finding a community of humans who were so supportive, smart, and willing to meet me where I was – even if that  was on day two of a stomach flu while trying to prepare for consulting interviews. My classmates shared their notes with me, helped explain complicated concepts, and generally held space and time for my unique life circumstances every day of the year. In the second year of my MBA, I was able to give some of that back, and build a new community of parents supporting each other through this program. 

Top Three Pieces of Advice for Prospective Students

  1. Create space for being a human – whether that’s coffee with an old friend or a run through Prospect Park. 
  2. Listen to your needs – attending Stern (especially during recruiting) can be like drinking from a firehose. If your body needs a break from networking and happy hours, listen!
  3. Go outside – it can be so tempting to hole up in the 2nd floor study rooms and crank out work and thank you emails, but we’re in this glorious city and you should experience it.
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Becoming a Sternie Couple

Author: Paloma Giuliani is an MBA Candidate at the Stern School of Business in NYU, planning to specialize in Innovation and Strategy. Prior to Stern, she worked mostly in the Tech industry, in various customer services roles, such as Reporting, Quality Assurance and Learning & Development. Most recently, she has spent 2 years in the innovations team in Uber Eats, focused on identifying new revenues streams by piloting new products in LATAM. Paloma holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Insper. In her spare time, she likes to cook and get adventurous around beauty and wellness products.

The Long Journey of Becoming a Sternie Couple 

I’ve always joked that I was an “MBA baby,” destined to walk the path laid down by my father as soon as I decided to study Business. His stories of transformative experiences and brilliant professors during his MBA followed me since I was a kid. Despite being early in the game, I told Lucas, my husband, when we just started dating in 2017, that it was something I might pursue in the future. 

Our MBA application journey

In 2020, this conversation smoothly came back as I wanted to pursue an MBA before having kids. Being very honest, I wasn’t as excited as I noticed no one around me had an MBA, giving me the sense that the industry I wanted to follow didn’t value such investment. On the other hand, Lucas started talking with MBA graduates at his workplace and was more and more convinced of how this experience would bring great challenges, learnings, and an advantage for him in his career. As I watched him grow more passionate about the MBA, I decided to switch to a strategic team, to be closer to the leadership, who I was surprised to find out that most were MBA alumni. Hearing about their experiences, and seeing the sparkle in their eyes convinced me that the MBA must be something I do.

Our preparation journeys started in the second half of 2021, and they were very different for us. Lucas nailed the GMAT in 2 months, whereas I took almost 1 year before feeling confident about my score. Of course, this year was very eventful: we got married, my family went through several challenges, my department went through one lay-off round and one reorg, and I got promoted. Our plan was for Lucas to apply in the first round in 2022, and only to schools in cities that had more than one program, maximizing the chances of us living together, since our marriage was a priority. I would apply for the following round for the schools in the cities he was accepted to.

Choosing the school for us

In December 2022, he was accepted by two schools, one being NYU Stern. So in January I applied to four schools, but of course, with a clear priority for which school I wanted the most, since Lucas had an outstanding experience in the interviews.

NYU Stern had a bunch of factors that played very well in its favor. First, its application process was like no other. It felt like Stern’s essays and interviews were designed to not merely evaluate, but to truly understand the essence of who we were as individuals. The interviewer having already read the essays before the interview, made the conversation have a much bigger depth to foster a genuine connection with the future candidates. 

Second, beyond academics, NYU Stern resonated with me through its core values of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), and collaboration. These principles mirrored my personal convictions and experiences, which diversity and inclusion form the cornerstone of innovation and leadership.

Third, choosing NYU Stern also meant choosing New York City—a metropolis teeming with opportunities, culture, and an endless array of activities. From Broadway shows to corporate workshops, the city offers an unparalleled backdrop to our MBA journey, enhancing our experience beyond the confines of a traditional campus. The absence of a traditional, isolated campus is hardly felt. The vibrant student life, fueled by active WhatsApp groups, students’ clubs and a community eager to connect and explore, means there’s always something happening, always someone to meet, and always a new corner of New York City to discover together.

Choosing NYU Stern was a decision that went beyond academics; as soon as I also got the acceptance letter from Stern, we both knew we were going to live in NYC, and it felt like it was something we had been destined for. Being in such an eventful, but also full of diverse talent, felt like the right place for us to be. For Lucas and me to learn, to find a new community within Stern, and to open many doors for our future careers. 

Being a Sternie Couple!

Both of us being Sternies at the same time felt a little unreal at the start. I remember like it was yesterday when we finally got our NYU Student ID and how it just started sinking in that we were going to embark on this journey together. 

Of course, Stern has put us in different blocks (what we call each class) for the first semester, and this was the best decision, because we got to meet way more people as we introduced each other to our friends! 

And as we approach the second semester, our paths are going to be very different. I’m focusing more on Marketing and Entrepreneurship, and Lucas on Strategy and Data Analytics. But the most interesting thing is that every now and then, we get to share some highlights of our classes and reflect on some of the classes’ insights.

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Meet the Class of 2025

Executive Director, Lindsay LoydLindsay Loyd is the Executive Director for MBA Admissions at NYU Stern. She joined NYU Stern in January 2023 after a 20-year career in financial services.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.  Lindsay lives in northern New Jersey with her husband, two daughters, and her rescue dog, Oreo.  In her spare time, you can find her snowboarding with her family, baking a sweet treat, or reading a new novel.

The start of the school year is a period of anticipation and joy for students of all ages. A new year means new possibilities. This is especially true for MBA1s who are returning to school and embarking on a new journey.

For the Admissions team, LAUNCH – NYU Stern’s orientation – is our first chance to see 327 motivated individuals who chose to become our newest Sternies come together as one community. 

We are thrilled to share a little more about the Class of 2025 through the class profile, but the numbers don’t tell the whole story. 

MBA1s bring their knowledge from every conceivable sector of business and society, yet they are so much more than their resumes. We have pilots. Climbers who have summited Mount Kilimanjaro. Former professional musicians and national team athletes. Content creators who’ve had videos and articles go viral. Singers, dancers, bakers, golfers, linguists, and world traveling DJs. 

These folks are passionate in the pursuit of their interests. They amaze us with their range of industry knowledge, their commitment to their academics, their seemingly endless talent, and most importantly, the Sternie spirit that brought them together.

The Admissions team is now in the process of recruiting the next crop of Sternies. For those of you who have already applied, thank you! Interview invitations will be starting before you know it.

For those of you who are still considering us, take a look at the class profile, but also connect with the students behind the numbers and see if NYU Stern is a place where you can see yourself grow. You can connect with our Graduate Ambassadors here. 

We can’t wait to meet you!

 

LAUNCH 2023 Ellis Island Welcome Dinner

Students celebrating the start of the MBA program at the Ellis Island Welcome Dinner during LAUNCH

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The Fertitta Veterans Program

Benjamin Davies is a current Full-time MBA student, specializing in Investment Banking and Strategy. Prior to Stern, Ben was a Captain in the US Army. Post-MBA, he hopes to pivot into an Investment Banking role. At Stern, he is a Consortium Fellow, Fertitta Scholarship recipient, and is active within the Military Veterans Club.

The Decision to Pivot

When I graduated from West Point in 2016, I had one objective I wanted to accomplish during my time in the military. I wanted to deploy to a combat zone as a junior leader to gain experience leading Soldiers in a challenging environment. I was fortunate enough to accomplish this goal twice over and faced the option of getting out of the Army in 2021. When presented with this decision, I realized that I was ready for a new challenge and needed new goals to align with my passions.

I took several months to self-reflect and understand what I wanted from the next chapter in my life. I wanted to continue solving complex problems based on comprehensive research and learning new skills in a short period of time. I decided that investment banking would allow me to continue working in this fast-paced environment that required teamwork to succeed. In order to make this pivot, I realized I needed to grow my business acumen and professional network to be able to secure a job at a leading financial institution. In order to pivot from the Army to corporate America and investment banking, business school was the obvious answer.

Why NYU and Why Fertitta?

NYU Stern immediately stood out amongst other business schools due to its location in the heart of the banking capital of the world and its veteran initiative – the Fertitta program. After speaking to veterans who were current Stern students, I quickly realized that they lived the values of IQ + EQ. Every student and faculty member I interacted with spoke about the incredible people they were surrounded by. It was inspiring to find a school where I could grow my network and learn from some of the best professors in the world.

From the outside looking in, I thought the Fertitta program was too good to be true. NYU Stern truly stood out in the way that it supported its veterans in such meaningful ways. The program deliberately bridged the gaps that most veterans inherently have when transitioning to corporate America. The Fertitta program allows veterans to take Financial Accounting and Statistics – requisite 3.0-credit core classes— over the summer, which reduces the course load during the fall, and ultimately enables us to focus more on recruiting and securing a summer internship. During the summer semester, the veteran cohort also had the opportunity to participate in company treks to tour offices and meet Stern veteran graduates who were working in top-level companies. The final piece of the Fertitta program is the financial aspect which greatly assists the change in lifestyle that all full-time students undertake. Looking back on the experience, I was also able to build incredible bonds with my veteran cohort from an early stage and give me a close circle of friends that I can always rely on.

Education Benefits

At 29 years old, I had not been in an academic classroom in over seven years. I was nervous and apprehensive about contributing to a classroom filled with brilliant classmates who had recently graduated from top-tier institutions. Being able to attend the summer semester surrounded by other veterans made the transition from the military to the classroom much more manageable. Both of my summer professors presented challenging material in ways we could digest and establish academic proficiency. Because of my summer classroom experience, I now have a much stronger foundational knowledge of accounting principles, which will pay dividends during fall recruiting.

Company Treks

The most beneficial part of the summer semester was the opportunity to participate in company treks to firms like McKinsey, Morgan Stanley, Mastercard, and Pfizer. Our cohort was able to network with other veterans at these companies and gain a firsthand look at their day-to-day operations. We were able to ask candid questions to veterans—many of whom were Stern alumni—and had been in our shoes several years ago. I found the experience incredibly beneficial, and I now have a roadmap for success for the upcoming semester and a much deeper understanding of what type of job I will be recruiting for.

Looking Back on the Experience

As I look back upon my summer semester, the moments that stand out occurred because I was surrounded by fellow veterans whom I am now lucky enough to call friends. When I left the military, I was saddened by the realization that I might never find the same closeness and trust with the people around me. When I nervously arrived for my first day of class at Stern, that thought was immediately erased. Through the Fertitta program, I found 29 remarkable veterans who will be some of my closest friends during my time here and beyond.

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Mastering the Art of the Coffee Chat

Isabelle is a recent MBA graduate, specializing in Global Business, Strategy and Product Management. Prior to Stern, Isabelle was a consultant at Accenture specializing in the life science industry. Post-MBA, she is about to start working for Samsung Electronics as a Global Consultant . At Stern, she was involved in the leadership of Asian Business Society, Student government, Stern Technology association, European Business association and as a member of the Latin American Business Association, Stern Women in business  and the admissions office as a Graduate assistant. 

I came into Stern knowing I wanted to work directly with a product in an innovative field, but like many people who join as first years, I was also looking to learn and explore. While I was secretly hoping someone would be able to tell me my dream job, real life is not that simple – it never really is! But Stern gave me every opportunity to explore. 

Even before you start school, you begin hearing about the importance of recruiting. You receive the Ignite prep and begin chugging away. A lot of information is thrown your way but you keep hearing the same two words: Coffee chats. 

As someone allergic to caffeine, I was less than enthused by the idea of chatting with someone over coffee. My nerves continued to grow as I pictured a potentially  awkward conversation with an industry leader, while I sat there with a cup full of coffee, easing my nerves by pretending to sip every so often to have something to do with my hands. Beyond the awkwardness, coffee chats or informational interviews invoked an image of small talk and desperation. To say the least, these “chats” were not something I was looking forward to.

Now however, I now easily have a coffee chat a day, even after the end of formal recruiting. This change is completely thanks to Stern and the students I recruited with. Almost every alum, student, professor, or professional I reached out to has replied eagerly to share advice, experiences and sometimes (when I was really lucky), even an interview or job opportunity. In an effort to ease your nerves, I thought I would share my learnings about coffee chats!

Rarely any coffee 

This may be silly to say or obvious to some, but coffee chats often don’t involve any coffee. Today,  many coffee chats today are virtual, and if they aren’t, you are always welcome to get another beverage!

Networking is not a dirty word

Often people feel like networking is superfluous because it conveys that you want something (in this case, a job), but that’s not all networking is. Yes, when you set up a coffee chat, you should be the best version of yourself so that the person on the other side will help you, but the aim of the conversation should be to learn about the person you are talking to- whether that is about the company they work for, their interests, or what they did before. In the end, you should aim for the conversation to be as fruitful for them as it was for you. It is a give and take. My best coffee chats were those in which I was able to share my experience with the industry professionals to help them with their own questions or problems. 

As an example, when I was networking with a large bank, I met someone who had the exact position I was interested in. We spoke about the job and the company, but even more so we spoke about what we liked to do, I talked about my community and non profit interests, and they asked me to help them find a way to give back. This person became more than just someone who helped me get an interview, they became someone who I still connect with for advice. 

Coffee chats are not always just a one time thing

The goal of a coffee chat should not just be a one-time conversation to learn about the company, it should be about you growing your network. If you are able to form a more lasting relationship with that person, it makes a big difference – not only in recruiting, but in many areas of your life. 

Remember, industry professionals are just people 

We all often walk into coffee chats nervous and lost. “What do I tell this stranger about myself?” But often, the other person is feeling exactly the same way. They may have just come out of a long meeting or were just concentrating on a task at work. In the end, they have given up their time because they want to be of help, so make sure you come in with questions that will help you most.  

I have been and still am on both sides of the coffee chat, and what always goes through my mind is the airport test. Throughout this conversation with this person, have they given me a sense that I would like to spend 5-10 hours with them in an airport if we were to get caught in delays? So remember that the person is human, have empathy, and build a human connection.

Coffee chats are not always conducted one on one 

Sometimes, coffee chats during recruiting include multiple people with one industry professional. When this happens, make sure that you stand out in some way. Have a list of questions you want to ask and do your research on the person. Always ask for their contact information and follow up to see if you can get a solo chat. 

Lastly, Stern is always there to support us 

Every office at Stern comes together to make sure that you are prepared for recruiting. Stern Career services constantly provides you the opportunity for you to make connections, bringing in hundreds of companies to speak with students. The professional clubs like Stern Tech Association and Management Consulting Association lead knowledge transfer sessions and study groups to prepare you. Other students and professors give up their time to practice with you and give you advice. So take advantage of it!

Key Takeaways

Keeping these things in mind really helped me reform how I looked at coffee chats. Now, everyone is going to have different advice for coffee chats – a former Sternie wrote her advice in 2021 –  but mastering the coffee chat is really about understanding yourself and how to present that to the person standing in front of you. These are some tips that helped me feel comfortable  while growing my network. 

1.  Always ask for the coffee chat host’s contact information 

Make sure to get their information before the end of the coffee chat and send a thank you note afterward. Often, it is good to ask near the beginning or middle of a group coffee chat, but if you are alone, leave it for the last question. 

2. Be genuinely curious

People like to talk about what they are doing – so ask them about it! Make sure to do your research and prepare questions ahead of time. While the conversation can go in any direction, preparation will help you stand out and make the most of the conversation.

3. Look at each coffee chat as a first step

You will rarely only speak to one person at a company. So use each coffee chat as a chance to research for your next one. Ask questions like “what is the biggest challenge your team is facing” or “where do you see the company going in the next year” or “what is the most exciting thing your company is doing?” This way, you hear real-world problems companies face today and will be ready for your next chat and, eventually, interview! 

4. Not all coffee chats are evaluative, but you should prepare as if they are 

Always research before a coffee chat and show your commitment. You never know how the conversation will impact your future career.

5. Be direct 

When you ask for time, be direct in what you hope to speak about so that the person knows exactly why they are meeting with you. You don’t want to use their time asking questions you could have learned on the website!

6. If you have the choice, choose a place in which you are comfortable 

Many coffee chats are done virtually now, so make sure you pick a place that you feel most comfortable. If the person gives you the option of an in person chat, take that option because it often leads to better connections. Choose to meet in a place you like that is quiet and also not too expensive, often they will pay out of their own pocket for you. 

7. Never leave a conversation without having at least one other person to reach out to

You can not build your network unless you ask for more contacts. I like to ask every person I talk to for 2 other people who I should contact based on the interests I have expressed during our conversation. 

8. Be you

As someone who has been on both sides of the coffee chat, it is so easy to see when someone is not being genuine. Remember the airport test-  I want to be able to tell if I would like to spend time with you. The more I want to spend time with you, the more helpful I can be. 

Just be yourself. I promise you, the other person will appreciate it.

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Sweet Dreams Are Made at Stern

Sheron is a recent Stern grad from the two-year full-time program in the class of 2023. She was previously an engineer in the oil and gas industry and will be transitioning to consulting post-MBA. On campus she was involved in many clubs including ESA (Entrepreneurship and Start-up Association), AHBBS (Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students), MCA (Management Consulting Association), STA (Stern Tech Association), SWIB (Stern Women in Business), PEVC (Private Equity and Venture Capital Club), and Cellar.

If you are looking to live out your Eurythmics dreams to “travel the world and the seven seas,” you’ve found the right place. Stern offers so many different international opportunities to travel through school-sponsored programs or just casually with classmates.

DBi programs—which stand for Doing Business in—are 1.5 or 3 credit courses that take you to places such as Morocco, Australia, Argentina, Germany, South Africa, New Zealand, and others over a week or two. There you’ll learn about business in the local economy through classes at a partner university, company treks, and cultural excursions. Stern Signature Projects feature international consulting engagements that can take you to Israel, Guyana, and other countries to support business development for different organizations.

There are also longer-term study abroad programs at partner schools all across the world. I studied at London Business School for an equivalent semester, and I would not have traded that experience for the world.

Stern’s student body is incredibly diverse, and so is London Business School’s. The European location of LBS attracts a different type of diversity, which made the classroom discussions vibrant with multiple perspectives. It was very interesting to compare the viewpoints of Stern and LBS students to grow in my thinking about different business approaches and issues. Similar to Stern, the professors at LBS all had office hours and were more than happy to chat about topics on my mind from class. Whether you choose to study abroad or spend the full two years at Stern, be sure to connect with the professors. They are all super cool. Many have written best-selling books, host podcasts or TV shows, and are celebs in the business world.

The student clubs at Stern are all very accessible, and I had the same experience at LBS. Like at Stern, most of the club events were open to all members of the MBA student community and are free or only require a nominal fee to join. Stern clubs host visits to museums, company offices, theater shows, outdoor hiking trails, and favorite foodie spots. I got to experience these types of cultural and professional adventures with new LBS friends as well. From seeing Wicked in London’s West End to learning the art of Japanese Shibori to experiencing a traditional Sunday roast, LBS’s clubs provided a similar opportunity to build community and friendship while abroad. 

Through networking events hosted by the student clubs at LBS, I also met many students from Oxford and Cambridge’s MBA programs. I went to see my new friends at their campuses for a tour and class visit. I even attended the Oxford vs. Cambridge polo match, which was my first polo experience and one of the highlights of my exchange semester.

Business school is an incredibly transformative experience academically, professionally, socially, and personally. Spending extended time abroad was definitely a time of growth in every way. If you have any thoughts about a full exchange semester, then go for it! You’ll be amazed at what you learn, who you’ll meet, and what you’ll experience.

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A Day in the Life of a Sternie

Brittany Fidalgo is a recent MBA graduate, specializing in Strategy and Global Business. Prior to Stern, Brittany led HR at small and mid-size businesses. Post-MBA, she is going into Consulting at PWC. At Stern, she was involved in AHBBS, SWIB, and Adventures club.

A day in the life of an MBA student can vary depending on what time in the program you find them. In my last semester of school, I had most early mornings free, which allowed me to start my day with breakfast- typically granola, kiefer and berries. I would often go for a quick run along the East River before getting ready to head to school.

 At school, I would stop in to the cafe, Matto, to pick up my favorite chai latte and catch up with friends. Matto is amazing because every drink is under 3 dollars- an absolute deal in New York City! I would then head to the 4th floor reading room to do focused work for my classes.

Club meetings and events often happen during lunch time. Some days I may have a board meeting for AHBBS, or attend another club event. SWIB, for example, hosted a great Stern Speaks event where fellow Sternies volunteered to present personal stories with us over lunch.

After this, it is time to meet with one of my group project teams and attend my classes. A course I took this semester, Marketing Planning and Strategy, focused on group work with a final deliverable of a business strategy proposal. After meeting with my project team, I head to my weekly seminar class, Developing Managerial Skills with Professor Dolly Chugh. This was one of my favorite classes at Stern, and I highly recommend everyone taking the course!

After class, I meet up with a classmate for dinner at a nearby restaurant in the West Village before heading to our 6pm weekly seminar class, Digital Innovation and Crowdsourcing with Professor Natalia Levina. She always had the best Ukrainian snacks for us! After a full day at Stern, I jump on the subway and head home to Brooklyn. 

The days are long and busy in business school, but the years fly by quick! By being thoughtful and intentional about your time, you will be able to make the most of the academics, extracurriculars, social life, and the incredible opportunities in NYC!

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My Experience in the NYU Impact Investing Fund

Isabella Felipa Schumann is a recent graduate who specialized in Corporate Finance and Strategy. Prior to Stern, Isabella spent three years in development at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, followed by two years as an investigative consultant at K2 Integrity. During her time at Stern, Isabella was a summer associate at Partner’s Group, a private equity firm, and during the academic year, she served as an MBA associate at Connectivity Venture Funds, a venture capital firm based in New York. Additionally, Isabella participated in a variety of experiential opportunities offered at Stern, and was AVP of Sponsorship of Stern’s PEVC Club. Isabella now works at Global Atlantic Partners as VP of Strategy and Business Development in NYC.

When I started my MBA journey in 2021, I was interested in exploring opportunities in the investment space, but as someone with a non-traditional background, I was unsure where to start. I knew that NYU Stern would provide me with endless opportunities to explore investing, develop relevant skills to succeed in the space, and take career risks that I may not have taken otherwise. One of the defining experiences of my time at NYU Stern that allowed me to do all three things was the NYU Impact Investing Fund (“NIIF”). 

Why NIIF

I have always had a passion for social impact which has manifested itself through community service work, pro-bono consulting with a focus on social enterprises and female-founded startups, and working in nonprofit organizations earlier in my career. NIIF was the perfect way for me to explore the intersection of a personal passion of mine and my professional ambitions. Additionally, I had the incredible opportunity to work with peers from Stern, NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and NYU Law School. Being part of a group of dedicated and ambitious individuals from different backgrounds was a huge part of what made NIIF such a great experience. 

Getting Involved

NIIF is the only MBA student-run venture organization in the country, which means that NIIF invests real money into real startups that we as participating students are sourcing, completing investment diligence on, and pitching to the investment committee. The program is structured as a one-year course through Stern and participation starts with an application the Spring before the Fall semester start date. Once you begin with NIIF, you are split into teams representing six different verticals – financial inclusion, environment, healthcare, aging, education, and food systems. I was a member of the education deal team along with five other peers. 

Phase I: Investment Thesis

We began our semester by developing an investment thesis highlighting the areas of education that we would like to invest in and other non-negotiables for NIIF, including a founding team representative of the community the company serves, and demonstrated impact in lockstep with revenue. From here, our team tapped into our networks to identify impact-driven early-stage startups that were actively raising a new round of fundraising. Once potential targets were identified, the team interviewed the founders and identified the companies that were most aligned with the team’s understanding of impact and the expectations of NIIF’s investment committee. 

Phase II: Due Diligence

The second stage of the process is defined by a funneling process where each deal team presents their chosen company to the other teams and to the investment committee. From there, two deal teams are chosen to continue with the NIIF investment process while the other teams are split between competing in the MBA Impact Investing Network & Training (“MIINT”) and managing previous investments made by NIIF. As a member of a deal team chosen to move forward in the NIIF process, this third phase was followed by a longer due diligence process where my team and I spent the coming months working with the NYU Law School clinic and the founder of our target company on the complex due diligence process. This included legal, financial, impact, and competitor diligence and identifying relevant investment risks in each of these areas. This was where we were challenged the most as a team, and pushed outside of our comfort zones to understand and evaluate different areas of the business. 

Phase III: Presentations

Finally, our team was one of two that pitched a target company to the NIIF Investment Committee in an in-person meeting with the three committee members and the support of our peers. The presentation featured information on our company, deep dives into the diligence that we completed, an emphasis on the demonstrated impact of the company, and a complete risk analysis with insights on how to minimize risks. By the end of the week, we were notified of the investment committee’s decision on which of the two deal teams had received NIIF’s investment. 

The entire process closely resembled the various investment processes that I have seen in both the private equity and venture capital spaces. I was able to see many parallels between my work at NIIF and what I have seen in various internship opportunities across investment firms. I can confidently say that my NIIF experience will not only be a highlight of my time at Stern, but will also be instrumental in my career development. 

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Embracing a New Adventure: My Journey to Intern at Microsoft in Seattle

Daniela Rios is a current Full-time MBA student, specializing in Marketing, Tech Product Management, and Strategy. Prior to Stern, Daniela worked at an advertising agency in HR. Post-MBA, she plans to pivot into marketing at a Tech company. At Stern, she is involved in the Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students, Stern Technology Association, Student Government, and Stern Women in Business.

 As I sit here, packing my bags and preparing to embark on an exciting journey, I can hardly contain my excitement. In just a few short days, I’ll be heading to the vibrant city of Seattle, ready to dive into a thrilling three-month internship at Microsoft. Today, I want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible experiences and support I received at Stern that led me to this remarkable opportunity. Get ready to join me on an adventure filled with growth, perseverance, and the unwavering assistance that Stern provided along the way.

 From HR to Marketing: A Bold Transition

When I entered business school, I set out to make a daring shift from HR into the dynamic world of marketing. I’ll be honest, it felt like stepping into the unknown, and doubts crept in about the relevance of my HR skills. But Stern had a pleasant surprise in store for me. I soon realized that the insights gained from conducting exit interviews to enhance employee retention could seamlessly translate into understanding customers’ needs and preferences. Who knew my HR expertise had marketing potential?

The Consortium, Early Recruiting, and Microsoft

Stern’s affiliation with the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management proved to be a game-changer in my journey. Through this exclusive network, I had the privilege of participating in early recruiting opportunities and was able to attend the Consortium’s signature event: Orientation Program. This opportunity led me straight to Microsoft’s door where I was connected to a marketing hiring manager. The excitement that surged through me when I received the internship offer months later was indescribable. It was validation of the hard work, dedication, and passion I had poured into my studies and career.

 Navigating with the Careers Team

Now, let me share the secret ingredient that boosted my confidence and guided me throughout the internship pursuit: Stern’s Careers Team. This incredible team provided me with a treasure trove of resources, including interview workshops, resume feedback, and even mock interview sessions. With their support and guidance, I walked into each interview room prepared, polished, and ready to showcase my skills. It was like having a personal squad of career champions by my side, every step of the way. Shoutout to Genevieve and Fatim for being the best!

 Alumni Talks: A Game-Changing Experience

When it came time to choose between Microsoft and another company, I found myself at a crossroads. In those moments of uncertainty, Stern’s alumni network became my guiding light. I reached out to Stern alumni working at both organizations, seeking their invaluable insights. Their firsthand experiences, knowledge of the work culture, growth opportunities, and overall fit within the companies proved instrumental in making an informed decision.

 Ignite Program: Igniting the Flames of Success

Before embarking on my official journey at Stern, I was able to immerse myself in the Ignite Program. This pre-MBA summer initiative equipped me with a powerful arsenal of professional skills. Through engaging workshops and personalized guidance from incoming MBA 2s and career coaches, I honed my ability to craft compelling pitches and tackle behavioral interviews with ease. This transformative experience ignited a fire within me, fueling my confidence and positioning me for success in the early recruiting events that awaited me.

 The Stern Squad: Friends, Encouragement, and Camaraderie

Last but certainly not least, I can’t help but express my deep appreciation for the incredible friends and the tight-knit community I found at Stern. The unwavering support, encouragement, and camaraderie transformed my experience. Whether it was lending a listening ear during challenging moments or cheering for every milestone achieved, the Stern community became my pillar of strength. The collaborative nature of Stern fostered an environment where we could freely exchange ideas, seek advice, and grow together as a united front.

 Conclusion

As I prepare to embark on this exciting new adventure with Microsoft, I am filled with a sense of gratitude and excitement. Stern has played an integral role in shaping my path, providing me with resources, connections and the support I needed to reach this milestone. It is a testament to the transformative power of education and the incredible opportunities that await those who are willing to chase their dreams. I am ready to make the most of this internship opportunity and contribute to the innovative and dynamic world of marketing at Microsoft!

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Updates to the 2024 Application from our Executive Director

Lindsay Loyd is the Executive Director for MBA Admissions at NYU Stern. She joined NYU Stern in January 2023 after a 20-year career in financial services.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Hi, I’m Lindsay Loyd, and I’m excited to announce some key information for the upcoming admissions cycle, and also take this opportunity to introduce myself.

I joined Stern in January 2023 as the Executive Director of MBA Admissions after a 20+ year career in financial services. I’m thrilled to be a champion for the Stern Full Time MBA programs and lead the admissions team as we meet future Sternies each year. I was energized to become part of this community after working with several Stern alumni during my tenure at American Express. This will be my first full admissions cycle, and I’m delighted to share some updates as we gear up for the application launch.

Important Things to Know for the 2023-2024 Cycle

While our applications for the next cycle are not yet open, we’ve announced some key information you should know as you are preparing your candidacy. This spring, we took a comprehensive look at our application process and worked to find ways to make applying easier for prospective students.

New Deadlines

For the upcoming cycle, we’ve expanded our deadlines to give you greater flexibility so that you can apply when it makes sense for you. It’s important to note that our process is a bit different than the more structured “rounds” used by other programs. Our admissions committee reviews applications on an ongoing basis. We don’t wait for a deadline to pass to begin reviewing applications, and most applicants will receive an initial decision notification (e.g., invitation to interview, waitlist offer, or denial of admission) within 8 weeks of applying.

More Standardized Test Optionality

We continue to be test agnostic and accept a wide range of tests. There are no minimum score requirements to apply and we do not have a preference for which test you take. I want to highlight four key points to keep in mind on tests:

  • A standardized test score is required for the Full-Time program and the Fashion & Luxury Focused 1-Year program. 
  • The Andre Koo Tech Focused 1-Year program will be test optional this cycle.
  • We offer a separate test waiver application for anyone who is unable to prepare for or take a standardized test, but can demonstrate academic readiness through prior academic and/or work experience. 
  • Your test options include the GMAT (both current and Focus Edition), GRE (both current and new), EA, MCAT, LSAT, and DAT.  

One EQ Endorsement

To further streamline the application process, we’ve also reduced the number of EQ endorsements required from 2 to 1. This EQ endorsement should come from your current supervisor. You have the option of submitting additional EQ endorsements, but I encourage you to be judicious and consider whether additional endorsement(s) add significant value and/or a different perspective to your candidacy. A tip on EQ endorsements – start thinking about who you want to write in support of your application and set up a meeting with this person. Do this early so your endorser has time to prepare. 

Continued Commitment to a Holistic Review Process

What hasn’t changed for this cycle is our interest in getting to know you through the application. We have a chance to learn about you academically, professionally, and personally during this holistic review process. Our essay questions remain largely unchanged from last year, so you can start thinking through those now. We find that your answers to these essay questions provide incredible depth and insight into your experiences, goals, and motivations. We look forward to meeting the whole ‘you.’

Why Now is a Great Time to Get an MBA

It’s been almost 20 years (!) since I was in your shoes: studying for the GMAT, researching MBA programs, lining up endorsements from current and former supervisors, and starting to write application essays. It feels like not nearly that long ago, yet I appreciate the big picture view that time span affords. No matter when you decide to apply, the Stern MBA will have value long after graduation.

Investment in Yourself 

Pursuing an MBA full-time is a big investment of time and money, and I firmly believe it’s one of the smartest long-term investments you can make in yourself. I’ve seen first-hand how it can significantly change the trajectory of your career, help you weather economic storms, and create career optionality, not just in the short-term, but throughout the course of your life. This is still true today. Take a look at our employment report to see the ROI of the Stern MBA. 

Versatility for Your Entire Career Journey 

My MBA experience allowed me to try an industry and functional career switch with my summer internship. It then helped facilitate a move back to the financial services industry, but at a higher level, in a new geography, at my dream company, and in my preferred functional area. It set me on a course to grow laterally and rise up the ranks at that company.  And when it was time to make a midlife pivot for a “second act” career, my MBA experience and network helped me navigate my way to Stern to lead the Full-Time MBA Admissions team.

At Stern, you’ll take core business classes that will help you build foundational skills that are broadly applicable across various industries and functions. You’ll also be able to customize your MBA experience with over 200 electives and seemingly endless opportunities for experiential learning. You’ll be part of the vibrant NYU community in the heart of NYC. You’ll be just a short subway ride from many prospective employers, a wide array of industry resources, and a vast network of Stern alumni ready to pay it forward. As a Stern alumnus, you’ll continue to have access to the support of the Careers team and have the ability to audit classes, so you can stay at the top of your game as your interests and the job market evolve.

Meet Your Future Forevers

I also made some great friends during my MBA, and in fact, met my best-friend-now-husband while setting up a fantasy football league for our b-school classmates. During your MBA experience at Stern, you will create friendships and a professional network that will be with you long after you graduate. I cannot promise that you will find your life-partner, but your MBA experience will last a lifetime. 

My husband and I during business school!

If this all sounds good to you, I hope you’ll consider applying to Stern. If you feel you are ready, don’t wait. If you aren’t sure, know that we’ll be here to help you along the way.

Be the First to Know When the Application Goes Live

Sign up here to receive more information about Stern direct to your email inbox, including notification of when our applications for the 2023-2024 cycle are live.

We also offer many virtual and in person opportunities to learn more about Stern. Join us in person on campus for a information session and tour, or at one of our many stops around the world this summer. We also offer virtual “Ask A Sternie” coffee chats with current students, virtual information sessions.

Best wishes as you begin the first steps of your MBA journey!

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My Experience in Leadership Fellows

Anna Gallagher is a current Full-time MBA student, specializing in Strategy, Management, and Leadership & Change Management. Prior to Stern, Anna worked in various HR roles at The Boeing Company. Post-MBA, she will join the Amazon Web Services HR Leadership Development Program. At Stern, she is on the boards of Stern Women in Business and Student Government. Anna is a Leadership Fellow, Board Fellow, and Forté Fellow. She is also a Stern Graduate Ambassador. Anna loves Broadway musicals and has seen 10+ shows as a Sternie.

This year, I was fortunate to participate in NYU Stern’s Leadership Fellows Program, an incredible opportunity for MBA students. The purpose of the Makhoul Family Leadership Fellows Program is for students to accelerate their growth and position themselves as leaders within their organizations after Stern. The program includes monthly classes and one-on-one mentorship. 

I loved that the Leadership Fellows program is highly experiential. For example, in several classes we role played workplace scenarios with the help of professional actors. Scenarios included a board of directors discussing a contentious issue with a CEO, a manager coaching a rockstar employee who refuses to work with the team, and an employee advocating for a promotion while being dismissed by management.

In another class session, we focused on understanding the experiences that have shaped us as people and as leaders. We first identified major events, achievements, and moments over our life. We then plotted these events across time and used a vertical axis to indicate the level of positive or negative impact each event had on us. In class we shared our “lifelines.” It was an incredibly moving session as my peers vulnerably shared their greatest heartbreaks and proudest moments. I got to know my classmates so much better and this exercise deepened the trust and respect we had for each other. I encourage you to do the “lifeline” exercise, too. I suspect it will be helpful as you prepare your MBA application and consider your post-MBA goals!

As a Leadership Fellow, you are assigned a mentor to meet with monthly. My mentor was a rockstar Stern alum and professional leadership coach. In our monthly sessions we discussed my career goals, values, and how I can apply class learnings to my daily life. In one of my favorite meetings, we role played a difficult conversation I needed to have and practiced taking the other party’s perspective. 

My Leadership Fellows section (one of many) was deliberately capped at 12 students. The small class size supported vulnerable conversations and gave me ample opportunity to participate in class exercises. Despite the small class size, my section was incredibly diverse including students from the full-time, part-time, and Tech MBA programs. 

If you are looking to gain self awareness, practice leadership skills in a safe setting, connect deeply with other Sternies, and receive regular one-on-one mentorship, then I encourage you to apply for the Stern Leadership Fellows program!

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The Value of EQ

Matthew Moll is a Director of MBA Admissions on the digital marketing team. Outside of Admissions, Matthew and his partner are usually trying to convince their rescue dog Lentil to make new friends.

IQ + EQ is one of the core values that defines the NYU Stern community experience. Sternies join the MBA to hone their knowledge and IQ. Similarly, Sternies are committed to looking honestly at their EQ – their emotional quotient or emotional intelligence. How do we improve as leaders? When do we step back and support? What can we do to address challenges differently? These are only a few of the questions our students consider as part of their MBA journey.  

Much like how there isn’t one ‘type’ of candidate who is admitted to the program,  there is not a single set of EQ traits we see thrive at NYU Stern. What is common is that students who challenge themselves and self-reflect are able to benefit from and contribute to the NYU Stern ecosystem. 

Let’s explore the value of EQ and how EQ is part of our admissions process.

The value of EQ

Building community – EQ is foundational to our evaluation process during our assessment of candidates. The many ways candidates express EQ become part of what makes each class its own special unit. If the community is a tree, EQ is like nutrient rich topsoil that provides the needed fuel for a sapling to flourish. EQ is part of what drives and sustains a strong community. The students, faculty, and administrators are all invested in the people around them which is crucial to building community.

Employers see the value of EQ – Our focus on EQ is not only to level-up the student experience and foster people-first and team oriented values. We regularly hear from employers that they emphasize EQ during the hiring process and NYU Stern students have the tools needed to excel in the modern, evolving workplace. The numbers support this. We continue to see record compensation and employment by Sternies.

Sternies pay it forward – The ROI of the Stern MBA goes beyond your first pivot into your new career, in part because the need for EQ does not end at graduation. The collaborative student experience is woven into the Sternie DNA, which then translates into a ‘pay it forward’ mentality for both students and alums.  

Where you have a chance to express your EQ during the application process

Below are some of the places where you can highlight your EQ as a candidate.

Pick 6 Essay – Each essay gives you the space to showcase your EQ, but the Pick Six is the most obvious. We can literally see your personality outside of your academic and professional achievements. This is a blank canvas for you to show the Admissions Committee some of the ways you will interact with your peers. Read our blog post for more on the Pick 6.

EQ Endorsements – This is our first opportunity to learn more about you from another source. Recommendations are like a quasi-omniscient narrator’s voiceover that gives us insight into the storyline of your career; how you performed under pressure, showed up for your teammates, or navigated the everyday challenges of professional life. 

 We encourage you to reflect on how you express EQ by reviewing the IQ+EQ specific question (below). 

IQ+EQ is a core value of NYU Stern, and we seek exceptional individuals who possess both intellectual and interpersonal strengths. Emotional intelligence (EQ) skills such as self-awareness, empathy, communication and self-management are at the core of our community of leaders. Please provide one specific and compelling example to demonstrate the applicant’s emotional intelligence.

You can review all the questions we ask endorsers on our website. Get tips on the EQ Endorsements on our blog.

Interview – This is how we see your EQ in action! If you are invited to interview with us you will meet with someone who has reviewed your entire application. We want to have a conversation and get a sense for how you will spend your time on campus as a Sternie. Take a look at our interview tips.

EQ for you

These are some of the ways EQ is part of the application and where you can highlight your EQ to our team. However, the process of applying is also an opportunity for you to think deeply about how you will engage at NYU and be a lifelong learner of both IQ and EQ.

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Applying to Stern with a Nontraditional Background

Gisselle Lankenau is an Assistant Director on the MBA Admissions team at NYU Stern. She joined the team last March, previously working with NYU Stern’s Leadership Accelerator. Hailing originally from Miami, Gisselle enjoys museums, cooking, and coffee shops.

Prospective students typically pursue an MBA to advance within their current industry or to make a career change. Applicants looking to make a career pivot often ask about resources at Stern that facilitate this transition and how they can showcase their current experience, particularly if they are coming from a non-traditional background. 

What is a non-traditional background? Typically, a non-traditional MBA student is someone who has experience other than the standard business to MBA career route, although many of our students do not come from a ‘traditional’ business background. Our students come from a variety of backgrounds, from technology to education to military experience. We view the wide range of backgrounds of our students as an asset, with each individual bringing their own unique perspective to the classroom and enhancing the overall Stern community.

At Stern, there are a number of ways to get involved, contribute, and gain hands-on experience. For those coming from a non-business background, Stern offers several options for career support. 

  • Office of Career Development: One of the best resources for career support is the Office of Career Development. During the summer before the MBA program begins, our Careers team offers the IGNITE program, which consists of resume reviews, mock interviews, networking workshops and industry panels to put you in the best position to meet with recruiters from day one of the program. Career coaches will work with you to align career goals, set up a game plan to tackle the recruiting process, and they will continue to provide support throughout your time at Stern and when you are an alum. 
  • Lean on your peers: Your classmates will be joining the MBA program from a variety of industries. They will become your network and will support you during the recruiting process. Your peers might have worked at a company or industry that you are interested in, so you can lean on their expertise and connections. At Stern, your peers want to see you succeed.
  • Experiential learning: Through Stern Solutions courses, you will be able to learn about your industry of interest, immerse yourself in an environment where you can tackle a real business issue, and reflect on the experience. These experiential learning opportunities allow you to gain real world experience, build your skill set and more broadly provide the space to be curious. You will be able to test out different roles, leadership styles, and to feel free to fail and learn from your mistakes and triumphs through reflection. 
  • Student Clubs: Professional clubs play a vital role in preparing students for the recruiting process and their next career step. At Stern, collaboration is key with MBA 2 students mentoring MBA 1s and guiding them through the recruiting cycle, providing interview prep, working through skills together and organizing events on campus and off-site at companies. So whether you are interested in pivoting to consulting, marketing, finance or technology, our student clubs are ready to help guide you through the process and share their insights.

The Stern community is committed to supporting your future success with several options to build on your current experience, regardless of your professional background. Prospective students often ask us how they can speak to their unique experience in the application and highlight their experience through their resume.

When crafting your resume, put your best foot forward and lean into your experience. As you are looking to make a career change, it is important to take a step back and access your transferable skills while identifying any potential gaps you may need to fill. In your resume, highlight your strengths and quantify your impact in previous roles. If there are potential knowledge gaps, look into resources to leverage at Stern to fill those gaps and highlight these in your essays. The MBA is an opportunity to grow and develop your skill set regardless of previous experience; highlighting these interests in your application indicates you’ve gone the extra step to look into how Stern will help you achieve your future goals. 

Ultimately, the biggest piece of advice for candidates with a non-traditional background is to spend some time reflecting on your career so far. What energizes you at work, what strengths are you bringing to the table, what are areas for growth and what changes would you like to see moving forward? Answering these questions will not only help you craft your story during the application process, but will help guide your overall career transition and help to hold yourself accountable. At Stern there are numerous resources available to support your career change. Plan ahead, determine your strategy, and take advantage of every opportunity. 

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Moving Beyond ‘Fit’

Caroline Murphy is an Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Stern. Caroline has worked at Stern for four years and recently completed the Langone Part-time MBA program. Outside of work, Caroline loves watching Texas Longhorn football and playing with her nieces and nephews.

Often, candidates ask our team what would make them the right “fit” for Stern. They are trying to learn what the typical Stern student looks like in terms of career background, passions, or post-MBA goals. But the answer is, there is no “typical Stern student,” and applicants should focus instead on what makes them unique. Rather than thinking about how you can ‘fit’ at Stern, reframe your process to think about if the qualities of NYU Stern’s programs align with you and your goals.

The Ideal Candidate

If you’ve sat in one of our mock application sessions, you have seen a small snippet of how the admissions process works. At Stern, we look at each applicant individually and holistically. There is no specific quality that each student must possess, rather, we want to see how an applicant’s entire story comes together to show who they are individually. There is no one-size fits all when it comes to our student body – each of our students has a different background and their own story to tell. We value all work experiences and paths that have led people to apply for an MBA.

When you are crafting your application, I encourage you to reflect on what makes you you and how that will help you develop into a strong business leader. Are you inclusive in your leadership? Are you able to bring out the best in difficult colleagues with your light hearted humor? Are you efficient and willing to go the extra mile? Are you reserved and thoughtful about your choices? All of these are individual strengths that contribute to who you are and can be leveraged in business school and beyond. It’s up to you to determine how you’ll convey these strengths in your application.

Communicating Your Authentic Self

The Stern application provides many opportunities for you to share your story and showcase your unique qualities and interests. For instance, the “activities and achievements” section on the application communicates how you spend your time and what you choose to be involved in. The “Change” and Pick Six essays  give you the freedom to be creative and share personal experiences or show what makes you tick. All of this helps us understand your story and get to know you better. Through our conversation in the interview stage, we’ll get to see this person come to life as we learn more about what you shared in your application. We want to get to know you as an individual,  rather than assessing  how you might be similar to current Stern students. 

Finding Your Fit at Stern

Rather than focusing on how you fit, focus on how Stern fits for you. There are a lot of ways to determine if the culture at Stern aligns with what you’re looking for in a network and to see if our programs align with your goals. The first step is to attend events – we have a range of events from virtual to in-person, admissions focused to student-led. Events can highlight specific areas of interest (like club office hours) and help you identify what recruiting paths are available, as well as help you get to know students and what they love most about Stern. On that note, you can also chat candidly with current students through coffee chats or by emailing mbaga@stern.nyu.edu to set up a time to chat. They can help you with any concerns that you have and tell you about their experience. Lastly, explore our website! There is a ton of information on our site about the curriculum, post-MBA outcomes, school news, and more. Becoming familiar with the program will help you to envision yourself at Stern and recognize if it’s the right program for you. Don’t be shy in communicating the aspects of Stern that you’re most excited about on your application or in your interview – this helps us learn more about you and why you’re excited to go on this journey at Stern.

As you apply, I hope you’ll remember that the only type of candidate we want to see at Stern is an authentic one. Lean into what makes you YOU and it will shine through in your application. We can’t wait to meet you!

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How Stern’s Community Embraces New Students

Gustavo Valverde Rezende is an MBA2, originally from Brazil. He has a Bachelor’s in business administration from Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora and a Master’s in finance from IBMEC. Before joining Stern, Gustavo worked in management consulting, public management, and corporate finance before joining Eureca, a purpose-driven startup, as Chief Financial Officer.  His latest job was as Strategy & Finance Leader at Grupo Anga, Eureca’s parent company, overlooking a portfolio of six purpose-driven companies. This summer, Gustavo worked as an Investment Banking Summer Associate at Credit Suisse in New York.

Moving to NYC

Moving to NYC can be intimidating, especially if you are coming from a small town, like myself. Looking from my childhood home, the city looked chaotic and hostile. I heard about how hard it would be to make friends and was scared I would never feel at home there. 

Fast-forward two years, and I am in love with NYC. I have very good friends, call the city my home, and can’t think of living anywhere else. How did this happen?

The first challenge I overcame was moving to the city. Before setting foot in NYC, I made a few friends at Stern through admitted student events and reaching out to student clubs (like the Latin American Business Association). They have advised me on good neighborhoods to live, the timing and procedures for renting a place, where and how to furnish my house, and even on budgeting. Some of these friends are neighbors and make a great support network.

Making Connections & Friends

The second challenge was making the city my home. I needed basic stuff, like a bank account, and other not-so-trivial things, like a good group of friends. Here’s where Stern’s community was huge. Even before being in NYC, I had spoken to so many people in the program that I felt I didn’t start from zero. So many nice people had reached out to me, introduced me to their friends, and replied to my blind approaches that I felt welcome.

When I got to the city, my new friends were amazing at introducing me to new people and making sure I felt a part of their social circles. My classmates also put together a lot of social outings, which helped make very close friendships. Nowadays, I have a bunch of friends both in the program and in the city – a social life that is more intense than I had back home.

That is when I realized one of the main benefits of living in the most global city in the world: you find anything you may need or want. Do you want to play golf? Or cricket? Maybe soccer? The city’s got you. If you are not into sports, Stern student clubs will help you find wine lovers, culture buffs, or k-popers. Feeling home-sick? Enjoy regional clubs and benefit from the city’s many regional social networks. In my case, I eat feijoada, have açaí, catch every single Cruzeiro game, and speak as much Portuguese as I want with a ton of Brazilian friends I made in the city.

Preparing for Recruiting & Making a Career Change

Finally, to make New York really feel like home, I needed a job. That is one of the most stressful parts of the MBA, but Stern had  me covered. Professional and regional clubs will help you build a professional network, get the coffee chats and interviews you need, and find your internship. In my case, the friends I mentioned above mock-interviewed me and gave me candid feedback – even a few tough ones to hear – ultimately enabling me to get my dream job at Credit Suisse Investment Banking Division, in the M&A team. I can’t stress enough how important fellow Sternies were for my career transition. 

I know first hand it can be intimidating and tough to move to NYC. But with a little help from my friends, I built everything I needed to call NYC my home. It is still crazy to realize how much this place feels like home. And yet, here I am, sitting in my childhood town and feeling homesick. I can’t wait to be back in the city.

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Communicating your Work Experience

Matt Bird is a Coordinator on the MBA Admissions team. He joined the team last April after graduating from the NYU Steinhardt Higher Education and Student Affairs Masters program. He enjoys baking, coffee, and helping students. 

 

 

Hi! My name is Matt Bird and I am a member of the Admissions Committee at NYU Stern MBA Admissions. I previously worked in college career centers for years as a resume reviewer, which makes me very passionate about helping people sell their work experience effectively. Your resume is an opportunity to brag about yourself. What amazing internship did you land? What innovative project did you collaborate on? How many deals did you close? Your resume should be a highlight sheet of your professional story. As application readers, we rely on the Resume and Work Experience sections to describe who you are as a working professional. This post should give you some ideas on making the most of your work experience on your MBA application.

Keep it Snappy.

Many times we see sprawling 2-3 page resumes that contain a laundry list of all job responsibilities. Oftentimes people find it hard to narrow down their role to 3-5 bullets. And we get it. Everything we do is important to us. But a resume is not the place for your autobiography. It is a document to communicate your best of the best. Instead of including 10 bullets on your role, pick 2-3 experiences where you made the most impact. Save the memoir for when you’re a successful business leader. 

It is smart to have multiple versions of your resume in order to mix and match experiences tailored to the opportunity. Your resume for Deloitte’s summer internship program may look very different from your resume for a Brand Manager role with L’Oreal. It may even be helpful to have a catch-all resume from which you pick the best experiences to include on the final version. It is important to have the most relevant experiences prominently highlighted. My rule of thumb is if you see yourself talking about an experience in the interview, then include it on the page.

Formatting, formatting, formatting.

In addition to narrowing down your bullet points, formatting can be a very effective way to keep your resume brief. Below are a few tricks to trim the empty space on your page:

  • Reduce your margins.
  • Identify lines taken up by one word. Simplify the language to get that bullet to one line.
  • Play around with format. See if a two column approach eliminates or creates space.
  • Job Title, Name of Organization, Date can be one line.
  • Slightly reduce your font size. A good range is 10-12 point font. 
  • Reduce space between section breaks. Just ensure the page doesn’t look too cramped.

Specificity is key.

It is difficult to imagine a person’s impact when reading:  “Responsible for day-to-day operations of the company.”

Numbers are helpful here. How many team members did you work with? What was your budget? What did this project result in? Quantitative bullet points paint a clear picture of your role and impact. 

It is a bit vague to read a Skills section with words like: Teamwork, Communication, or Management. Anyone can list these as skills. Only you have your specific experiences to showcase them. 

Tell your story.

It may be intimidating to compare resumes with your peers. No matter how much experience we have, insecurities may creep in. Regardless of your job titles, your resume is an opportunity to show your trajectory. Your case becomes much more compelling when you clearly demonstrate your professional journey. Don’t get bogged down in worries about not having the perfect portfolio. Instead, highlight your experiences in their best light. 

Many applicants worry they will be out of the running if they have less than the average years of work experience. NYU Stern does not have a minimum work experience requirement to apply to the MBA program. We evaluate and accept applicants from many stages of their career. Your Resume and Work Experience section is an opportunity to show the Admissions Committee not only who you are as a working professional, but also who you want to become.

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Experiential Learning @ Stern: Endless Possibilities

Jeet Khilnani is an MBA2, specializing in strategy and leadership & change management. Prior to Stern, Jeet worked at Nomura in a corporate finance role, and Deloitte in an audit role. This summer, Jeet interned at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as a Summer Consultant and will be continuing to work at the firm post graduation in New York City. Additionally, Jeet is the Co-President of Outclass (Stern’s LGBTQ+ organization), and a VP of Stern Student Government, Management Consulting Association, Graduate Finance Association, and South Asian Business Association at Stern.

One of the biggest drivers of the MBA experience at Stern is the countless opportunities to learn by doing. Stern’s incredible location unlocks access to almost anything you want to do – PE/VC, Startups, Healthcare, Consulting, Finance, Impact Investing and the list just goes on. Stern’s “Change Studio” umbrella is so wide and deep, I think most students would not even be able to list all the different opportunities available!

This was a key component of my decision to attend Stern. I was uprooting my life from India and moving thousands of miles away to a whole new world in the US. I wanted to familiarize myself with the culture and see the different facets of the business world before I started my full time job, both as a way to prepare for it and to ease the learning curve a little bit. Through my time so far, I’ve experienced three different experiential learning opportunities – Communication for Consultants, Operations Consulting – An Experiential Approach & Endless Frontier Labs. Each course came with an opportunity to learn something new about business, about an industry I had no clue about, and in the process, about myself.

  • Communication for Consultants: I decided to take this course in Spring 2022 right after I decided to pivot into consulting for my summer internship. I had no idea how consulting works, and I was coming from a near-shore role just before Stern. I instantly found myself attracted to a non-profit in the film and media space, and luckily, was matched to work with them. The challenge was mind-blowing – the non-profit had started a social impact film festival in virtual format during the pandemic, and now wanted to bring it to in-person format post-COVID. 

In addition to this, the goal was to identify and overcome challenges in communication from the clients – they sometimes confuse symptoms with the problem, and there’s a lot of reading between the lines involved. I thoroughly enjoyed working on this project, eventually culminating into a final presentation with the client being present in the room with us, and appreciating the recommendations. We’re all so excited that the festival will be in-person (with a virtual option) in 2023 in Boston, MA!

  • Operations Consulting – An Experiential Approach: After Communication for Consultants, I was craving more. And then came the opportunity to enroll in Operations Consulting during Fall 2022, and admittedly I understand nothing about operations. This course involves weekly visits to a new company and witness their operations during class time, followed by debrief and discussion thereafter. I was able to experience so many different industries in such a short span of time and I couldn’t be happier about it – a brewery, a global FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods), a sugar refinery, a port terminal, and a global cosmetics company. Learning how different (and how similar) their operations are, identifying problems and areas for improvement, and witnessing the different levels of adoption of technology has been so enriching!

While visiting all these plants, we also had to pick a business and do an independent project advising them improvements in their own operations – and we’re currently working with a grocery-delivery company to identify improvements for inventory management. It takes work, yes, but the learning and benefits are far greater and are setting me up for my career at BCG!

  • Endless Frontier Labs: EFL is Stern’s signature startup accelerator, providing mentorship opportunities to startups around the world. This year, EFL received 1100+ applications from startups, and selected 75 startups for the year-long program through a process of rigorous interviews and application screenings (so it’s highly selective!). The first step was to interview companies and fill out our evaluations. Post that, MBA students are matched with selected startups following a double-blind matching process, and I was matched with a groundbreaking startup in the EV charging space. Again, I found myself feeling a bit anxious since I knew nothing about the space. But the founder and team was gracious enough to coach me, and so far, I’ve been designing a go-to-market strategy for them. Next semester, we plan to raise the seed funding for this company and if all goes well, I will be able to take pride in being a small part of this incredible company’s growth trajectory.

I’ve learnt so much already – about the EV space, the charging space, how it all works, and the economics behind it. This is an invaluable experience that I will take with me wherever I go, and also a great way to test out the craziness of the startup world that always intimidated me. I really like it – and I can survive it (which I didn’t know before!)

As you can probably tell, this is only a small fraction of the endless possibilities that Stern offers you through its experiential learning opportunities. To me, this is what an MBA looks like in today’s ever-changing business world, where you learn in class and apply the learnings to a real-world project with implications that define the success of your clients, and you.

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Acing your NYU Stern Interview

Adam Smith is a Director of MBA Admissions. Adam has worked on our Operations team for over 9 years and is a graduate of the Langone Part-time MBA. Outside of work, you are most likely to find him playing or watching tennis!

 

We get questions about interviews at every stage of the candidate life cycle. Whether you are still deciding where to apply or if you are putting the final touches on your Pick 6, this post should give you the knowledge you need and some insider tips on how to set yourself up for success.

The basics

Let’s start with logistics.

How and when: Interviews are by invitation only. If you are invited, you will hear by the notification date that aligns with when you submit your completed application.

Who: Members of the Admissions Committee meet with candidates during Stern interviews.

Where: Currently we are conducting interviews virtually via Zoom.

For more: Details

AdCom Tips

Review what you submitted before your interview

NYU interviews are not ‘blind,’ which means your interviewer will have fully reviewed your application. Take time to reread your essays, check in on your goals, etc. You want to be prepared to talk about anything you included in your application, like the ballroom dance classes on your resume as well as your recent promotion. This way you are not only ready to meet with someone from Stern, but also to remind yourself why you were excited to attend NYU!

Have a conversation

This is an opportunity to share more about you. We want to get to know you! If there is anything that you feel you were not able to highlight in your application, bring it up. This is your chance to dig deeper. We want this to be a conversation and a chance for you to get to know us better as well.

This is your time

Don’t be shy about asking questions. We know you have them! We want to make sure you have as much information as you need when making your final decision. The interview is one piece of our holistic review process, but we know you are also considering the next step in your journey. We want you to feel informed about all things Stern.

Finally

Interviews are a good thing! This means you advanced to the next step of the process. While we will meet with more candidates than we can admit, we are excited about each of these interactions. We are committed to creating an environment where you can do your best and leave knowing a little more about Sternie life.

This was mentioned earlier, but it is worth saying one last time. We want to get to know you! Really!

We can’t wait to hear from you.

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Your Stern Interview: Tips from a Student

Chris Cognetta is an MBA2, specializing in Tech Product Management, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Brand Management. Prior to Stern, Chris worked at Charles Schwab. This summer, Chris interned at FTI Consulting as a Technology Consultant and will be returning next year. Additionally, Chris is involved in SGov, Stern Technology Association, Gaming and eSports Management Society, Stern Follies, SpeechMasters, and European Business Society.

I remember the moment I found out I was going to interview for the Full-Time MBA program at Stern. I was in the middle of a work meeting and received an email explaining I was invited to an interview. The anxiety immediately settled in, followed by questions such as “I haven’t interviewed in years, how well will I do?” and “Is my story good enough?”

I enlisted the help of my father (who had no idea what he was getting into) and gave him a list of typical MBA interview questions to ask me over repeated video calls. He would later tell me how much he hated hearing me repeat the same answer to him over and over again. But I needed the practice. When I answered a question that felt stiff or didn’t easily roll off the tongue, we went back to the drawing board to rework my answers. I found that the more honest I was about my experiences, the easier it was for me to answer the questions.

The actual day of the interview finally rolled around. I spent most of the day before rearranging my bedroom to optimize the natural lighting from my window and clear any distractions from my background. I practiced breathing exercises until I logged into the Zoom meeting and awaited my interview with nervous anticipation.

My interview began. We started off with a friendly conversation before she made a funny reference to my Pick 6 application (I had included an image of Spider-Man). These actions immediately put me at ease, so much so that during some of the questions, I included funny details about my work that my father recommended I leave out of my answers. It was an easy and pleasant conversation, one that I didn’t realize ultimately ended sooner than I had thought. My first MBA interview was done, and it wasn’t the nightmare I had anticipated.

Through my experience, there are a couple of learnings that I think, you, as a prospective student can use to ultimately make your NYU Stern interview successful:

1. Be your authentic self

Probably the most important item on this list because Stern is aiming to build a diverse student body. The Admissions Committee can’t achieve this if everyone is trying to act like a stereotypical business student. Show the interviewer your true personality, tell authentic stories, and let them get to know the real you. It’s a lot easier to remember stories that actually happened and to share the excitement or learnings from those experiences.

2. Practice, practice, practice

Enlist a family member, friend, or colleague to conduct a mock interview with you so that they can hear your answers. Even if they don’t provide feedback, practicing answering the questions will allow you to spend less time thinking about the words, and to have your stories sound more coherent.

3. Review your application

The Admissions Committee member who interviews you will have just read your application, and they will ask you questions on what you wrote. It’s a smart idea to review your application so you can speak to the major points you mentioned in your application.

4. Feel confident going into the interview

Finally, remember to show up confident in yourself and your abilities to the interview. Not everyone makes it to the interview stage of the application, so you should feel confident about yourself for making it this far. Show the Admissions Committee why you would be a good NYU Stern MBA Candidate and feel assured about your answers.

Best of luck to you on your interviews!

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Admissions Tips for the EQ Endorsements

Erica Hartsfield is a Senior Associate Director of MBA Admissions and has worked at NYU Stern for over 5 years on both the events marketing and digital marketing teams. Outside of work, Erica is an avid Chicago sports fan (go Bears!), puzzle enthusiast, history buff, and MPA candidate at NYU Wagner.

“Who should I ask to write my letters of recommendation?” is a question we get often from prospective students. On one hand, the answer seems pretty straightforward: ask a current or previous supervisor. In practice, the answer is a bit more complex. Letters of Recommendation (LORs), or EQ Endorsements as we call them at Stern, are one of the few external inputs that candidates include in their application. But why do we ask for them? And who should you actually ask to write a recommendation?

The Purpose of Letters of Recommendation

The LOR is a data point in a holistic application review process and adds an external perspective to your application. The content and structure of LORs may vary by program, but ultimately, a good LOR should do two things:
  • Support your candidacy. 
  • Bring to life the story in your application through the viewpoint of someone who knows you well.

NYU Stern’s EQ Endorsements

At Stern, our letters of recommendation are called EQ Endorsements. Our EQ Endorsements are similar to a common LOR, but we ask your endorser to provide a specific example of your EQ, or emotional intelligence. Our community values EQ, and this is an opportunity to hear how candidates embody this core pillar of our community through the experience of their endorser.  

Picking Endorsers

You should be selective when deciding who to ask for an EQ Endorsement. At Stern, we encourage at least one professional EQ Endorsement from a current or recent manager. The second endorsement is up to you ( you should avoid anyone who may be biased like family members or significant others). Most importantly, select endorsers who know you and can speak to your contributions and strengths. We can usually tell if you haven’t worked closely with an endorser, so you won’t get extra points for including a letter from an executive just because of their title.

Managing the “Ask”

Once you’ve identified who you want to ask, think about how you’ll manage this process. Here are some tips for ‘managing the ask’:

  • Reach out early. Make a list of people you want to reach out to for EQ Endorsements, and ensure you give them enough time to write a good endorsement. 
  • Don’t tell your recommender what to write about you. Remember, endorsements should be external insight that supports your application. Instead, have a conversation with your endorser to remind them of your accomplishments and share context about why you want to pursue your MBA.
  • Follow up. Stay in touch with your endorsers and follow up as needed. People often miss application deadlines because they are missing an EQ endorsement. 
  • Send a thank you note! It seems obvious, but it’s an important step. Your endorsers have taken time to advocate for you in this journey, so remember to thank them for their support. 

Ultimately, EQ endorsements build on the story you’re telling in your application. If your voice in your application says “this is who I am and this is what I’ve done”, your endorsements should say “that’s true, and here’s how”. 

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Tips from a Stern Reapplicant

Jade Burger MacNee is in her first year of the Full-Time MBA program, specializing in Marketing and Media & Entertainment. Prior to Stern, Jade worked in the Fashion and Beauty Industry in companies such as Estée Lauder, Tory Burch and PVH. She is originally from Brazil, where she started her career working as a producer for multiple international fashion magazines including Vogue US, GQ, W and V Magazine.

How does one find their own path in life? What is yours? These were the questions that time and time again I asked myself, especially when I was working on my two applications for NYU’s MBA program. 

Yes, you read it right. I applied to the Stern MBA program twice. My first attempt to embark on the MBA journey was cut short after being waitlisted and ultimately declined admission. But everything changed in 2022 when I received a phone call that shook my life upside down and secured me a place in the class of 2024. 

As I soul searched between my first and second applications, I started discovering in me an unexpected sense of resiliency and confidence. In the fall of 2021, I found myself once again dreading each and every piece of information required for NYU’s application. I wanted to put my best foot forward and was scared of missing the point. However, I took a deep breath and decided to face my fears. I wanted to show how I evolved and why I am constantly motivated by change. 

The first time I applied, I had explained why I wanted to pivot careers and learn how to be a marketer. In my second application, I was able to say that I conquered my goal. I had worked hard throughout the year to make the pivot on my own, and was excited to show Stern the thought I’d put into my time between applications. It takes courage to act and determination to change, and I showed Stern that I was committed to finding new paths in my life. If you ever find yourself in this position, think of action items you can work on between applications. Even if you don’t fully get there, you will already be on the right track. And don’t forget to highlight your short-term achievements in your new essays.

Another area that I was able to improve was the Pick 6. My first one was good, but the second one was real. Don’t be afraid to show blurry photos. The most important thing I wanted to  demonstrate through the photos is my everyday life. I did not realize at first how powerful being real can be. So, after putting it together, I discovered that I am really passionate about all the small things in my life such as cooking with family or reuniting with friends at a wedding. This was certainly a shift from the photos I had before, which I felt focused too heavily on my work and professional life.

My application process felt like a roller coaster, full of ups and downs. However, it made me think of all my successes and failures through a different lens. NYU Stern taught me to be proud of all my achievements even before the first week of class. I am happy to say that everything I expected from the NYU community was correct. Stern is definitely a place where competition gives way to camaraderie. The EQ is real here at NYU – trust me.

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Conquering the Pick Six

Nedjee is an Admissions Coordinator at NYU’s Stern School of Business, and has been with Stern since 2021. Outside of her role of planning admissions events, she enjoys watching basketball (Miami Heat) as well as spending quality time with her family. 

We often get questions from applicants about the Pick 6 essay and how to best use visuals to describe yourself and your experiences. This post should give you the knowledge you need and some insider tips on how this photo essay can help you deliver your story using a series of images.

The basics

Let’s start with logistics. The Pick Six Essay prompts you to introduce yourself to the Admissions Committee and to your future classmates using six images and corresponding captions. Your essay should contain all of the following elements:

  •   A brief introduction or overview of your “Pick Six” (no more than 3 sentences).
  •   Six images that help illustrate who you are.
  •   A one-sentence caption for each of the six images that helps explain why they were selected and are significant to you.

AdCom Tips 

Relay a multifaceted, confident story.

Get an idea of what photos you would like to include and why. From your first image to the very last image, you’re creating a visually dynamic story. It’s important to understand what the message behind each photo is so you can capture the narrative in your brief caption. 

The “why” means more than the “what”

This essay really gives you the opportunity to show us who you are outside of the other components of the application, so use this space to share aspects about you that we may not see otherwise on your application. This is a great way for us to learn more about what gets you out of bed in the morning, what motivates you, and what experiences have impacted you. This can be a series of connected images, or six totally unrelated images, it’s completely up to you! So whether it is a photo of your dog, favorite vacation spots, or historic landmarks, share things that are meaningful to you so we can learn more about you.

Ask for outside advice.

Share your pick six with someone who you trust and who knows you well. Show them your images and the written description of your overall story, and be open to their honest feedback. If you don’t quite have an idea of what images to include, get advice from the people who know you best, and see how their insight aligns with the message you want to convey. This is your chance to be creative however you see fit, so take advantage of it. Ultimately, you make the final selection on the images that tell your story.

Write brief captions.

Your six images should include brief captions to help describe your visual narrative. The caption should help give the Admissions Committee context about the significance of your images. Remember to keep your captions succinct.

Finally

We know the Pick 6 essay can be a little nerve-wracking to complete but it should be fun to put together! We love reviewing this essay because it helps bring the application, and the applicant to life. So, it is worth saying again – have fun putting this essay together! We can’t wait to get to know the real you!

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Jumping into the Next Stage of Your Career at Stern

Catherine is a Senior Associate Director at NYU’s Stern School of Business, and has been with Stern since 2016. Outside of recruiting the next class of Sternies, she enjoys watching football (NY Giants & Boston College) as well as working her way through her extensive list of NYC restaurants to try.

What do you want to be when you graduate business school? No matter what you are interested in, Stern has the tools to help you succeed in your career.

Historically, Stern was known as the school to go to if you wanted to become an investment banker. Nowadays, you’ll find students interested in all sorts of industries – technology, healthcare, consulting, luxury and retail … the list goes on. To dive deeper, students are able to to specialize in specific subject areas. These specializations help students become experts in the business topics of their choice. 

Aside from offering a diverse and flexible curriculum, Stern has a top-notch Office of Career Development (OCD). OCD’s main focus is to prepare students for internship and full-time employment recruitment. It all starts with IGNITE, which is a job preparation program that all Full-time MBA students complete in their first semester. Students will revise their resumes, participate in interview prep, and attend workshops to identify which industries or career paths pique their interest. Stern’s professional clubs are also a great resource to help students prepare for recruitment. MBA2s act as mentors for the MBA1s, and impart their wisdom after having gone through the recruitment process just one year before.


OCD and the professional clubs are an especially great resource for students who are not coming from a “business” background. In fact, many students pursue an MBA to make a serious career pivot, so don’t fear – you’re not the only one! Our MBA program and its career-focused resources are designed to give you the skills you need to make that career pivot. 

Once students have completed the IGNITE program, they’re ready to recruit! Stern has many companies that participate in on-campus recruiting, meaning they come to Stern to recruit our students directly. Our location in the heart of NYC makes this process even easier since companies and students don’t have to travel far to meet each other. Students are able to recruit for a variety  of industries, given NYC’s status as a hub for global business. Students also find it easy to connect with Stern alumni at companies of interest by simply hopping on the subway to meet a former Sternie for a coffee chat in a matter of minutes. For students who are interested in pursuing roles at smaller companies, or in more niche industries, OCD will help you to make the connections, find applications, and land the perfect role.

We’ve talked about career support, but where do Sternies end up? Take a look at our employment report! Each year, OCD publishes a summary of where the graduating class has accepted jobs, broken down by industry and function. The report also includes information on compensation. For example, the median salary for the Class of 2022 was $170,000. This report is a helpful tool to demonstrate the ROI of Stern’s Full-time MBA program, and highlights career possibilities for Sternies. 

Career support doesn’t stop once a Sternie graduates! Alumni have lifelong access to the Career Center for Working Professionals (CCWP). CCWP provides professional development support and coaches to help you with any career changes. Graduates also join the Stern alumni network, which is 100,000+ alumni strong. 

I hope I’ve provided more insight on how Stern can help shape your future career. The impact of a Stern MBA is something you will feel long after you’ve graduated! 

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NYU Stern: From the Eyes of An International Student

Ria Jambusaria is an MBA2, specializing in finance and sustainable business and innovation. Prior to Stern, Ria worked at EY in their financial statement audit service line. This summer, Ria interned at Credit Suisse as an Investment Banking Summer Associate and will be continuing to work in investment banking post graduation. Additionally, Ria is a Managing Editor of the Stern Oppy and a Co-Portfolio Manager for the ESG Fund of the Michael Price Student Investment Fund.

As I write this, I am suddenly reminded that it is already halfway through my second fall semester at Stern. Where has all that time gone? It seems like just yesterday I walked out of JFK Airport on my own for the first time, wondering what New York City held for me.

Why Stern

There are many reasons why I picked Stern, but the location was the first of those reasons. I was considering pursuing a career in finance, and what better place to do that than in what is arguably the financial capital of the world, with Wall Street just a few subway stops away (something that came in very handy during recruiting)! New York is also the best place to be if I decide to pursue a different industry because nearly every large company in the world has a significant presence in the Big Apple. I also chose Stern because of the strength of the alumni community. I wanted to give myself the best opportunity to build a network in a country that I have never lived or worked in, and therefore, the best opportunity to find the right job after Stern. 

Community at Stern

The community at Stern is very strong and that was apparent when I was considering my options for business school. I reached out to several people at Stern during this time –  current students, alumni, people that I had known at work who came to Stern – and everyone was so remarkably helpful and willing to make time for me and answer any questions I had! 

This sentiment was only reinforced when I finally did make it to Stern. Whether it is recruiting, academics or even just life, I know I can rely on the people I have met here at NYU to be there for me. This is especially true during recruiting – we leaned on each other for support and advice, and  even for some light venting! It is also a testament to the strength of the community that several MBA2s take time out of their winter break to help us prepare for interviews by doing endless mock interviews and sharing their experiences to get us over the line.

Embracing Diversity

One of the ways in which Stern builds community is through the many events that are held throughout the semester, especially those that celebrate the culture of the hundreds of international students at Stern (nearly half our class is made up of international students!). This past spring, we had Passport Day, which has been hands down one of my favorite events at Stern (and not just because there was food involved!). Passport Day is a celebration of the cultural diversity in our class. Passport Day featured biryani and samosas from India and Pakistan, empanadas from Colombia, and crêpes from France among many, MANY other delicacies from more than 25 countries. The event also included fabulous dance, song and comedic performances, and was attended by over 450 people, making it one of the biggest Stern events of the semester. It was amazing to see my classmates learn about each other’s cultures and this was one of those times when I truly appreciated the breadth of diversity of our class.  

How Stern Helps you Move

Moving to a new country can be a daunting task, and it is important to do the research beforehand – the student visa process, entry requirements, accommodation etc. The Office of Global Services here at NYU has several resources that can help you start your research. They are also quick to answer any questions you might have about any of the above. When we got to New York, Stern had programming specifically for international students to help us understand the intricacies of the work authorizations and visa processes that will become important after the MBA, as well as things we should keep in mind while living in New York and the United States. A few months into my time in New York, I got a call saying there was a legal notice in my name from Border Control and I’m sure if it hadn’t been for Stern’s orientation, I might have panicked, not realizing it was a scam!

What can I say about New York itself that hasn’t already been said by poets and writers and singers far better than I? It is all they say it is and more. I have cherished every minute I have spent in the Big Apple and never have I felt like an outsider. Culture, art, music, film, Broadway, cuisine and millions of people – they all make New York a truly global city. 

A little more than a year ago, I had never lived away from home. But I have felt comfortable in this incredible city thanks to Stern and all of the wonderful friends I have made here!

 

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Club Leadership at Stern

Chris Cognetta is an MBA2, specializing in Tech Product Management, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Brand Management. Prior to Stern, Chris worked at Charles Schwab. This summer, Chris interned at FTI Consulting and is currently re-recruiting for technology. Additionally, Chris is involved in SGov, Stern Technology Association, Gaming and eSports Management Society, Stern Follies, SpeechMasters, and European Business Society.

The September at the start of your MBA is an eventful time. Between the delightful chaos of meeting all the amazing people in your class and setting up appointments with the Office of Career Development, there’s this major series of events going on: club kickoffs and applications for leadership positions. Every club at Stern is going to host their first meeting, introducing you to the club before expressing the extra positions that you can apply for.

I personally was caught off guard by how many clubs there were and how many positions were available. As an MBA1, you typically get involved as an Assistant Vice President (AVP), where you work directly with the existing club Vice Presidents on their specific verticals, such as Finance or Communications. 

There’s lots of benefits to being an AVP in your first year:

  1. It’s a great networking opportunity
    Being an AVP puts you in direct contact with an MBA2 and you will work with that person(s) on a consistent basis. Working so often with each other allows a connection to form and gives you a great relationship with a future Stern Alumnus.
  2. You gain training and experience for the role if you choose to fill it as a VP next year (or Club President)
    My MBA1 year I served as an AVP of Finance for Stern Follies (a comedy organization that puts on shows and distributes funny memes about the MBA experience throughout the academic year). Being able to train under the existing VP and Presidents, I was able to understand how they do their job and it gave me confidence to fill the role of VP as an MBA2. I’ve now selected my AVP for this year in hopes he can fill the same role once I graduate!
  3. It shows leadership experience and is a resume boost
    A subtle, yet effective way to demonstrate your passion while recruiting is to have your club leadership positions on your resume. This highlights your interests and shows that you have solid leadership experience. For example, my friends who wanted to pivot into technology capitalized on their Stern Tech Association leadership positions to demonstrate their interest and skill in the technology space. 
  4. You help plan memorable MBA events!
    For me personally, there’s no greater feeling than when you spend hours and weeks planning an event that your classmates really enjoy. Being able to plan events like STA Tech Talks or the Stern Follies production were amazing feelings – they were so well received, provided benefit for my class, and introduced me to so many new people. Having my name out in the community helped me to build friendships and connections with people I didn’t know before.

As with most things in business school,  the Club Leadership process can be challenging and break you out of your comfort zone – trying to become an AVP can feel just as intimidating as a job interview. Some clubs will have you submit your resume, you are scheduled for an interview, and then you have to await the decision. It can hurt to get rejected from a position you were excited about. And in all honesty, that’s what happened to me. Almost every club leadership position I had applied for I was rejected my first year. I only served on one club board my MBA1 year. But that didn’t stop me and shouldn’t stop you either. I attended events, showed my passion, and come spring semester, I applied to fill vacant VP positions within various clubs, getting most of the positions I applied for (see the full list in my bio up top)!

It’s important to not get discouraged because there are always opportunities to get involved in club leadership positions: you can join in your MBA2 year, you can form your own club, or you can make friends with Club Leadership and offer to help in some capacity (such as running Study Groups for people who are recruiting).

Overall, being a leader in a club is an incredibly rewarding experience at Stern. In my case, it was an opportunity to meet new people and feel connected to the Stern community. Throughout your two years, you can choose how involved you want to be at Stern, but in my opinion, participating in the clubs is part of what has made my experience at Stern so special!

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The Stern Community: The Only Thing I Wish Would Never “Change”

Jeet Khilnani is an MBA2, specializing in strategy and leadership & change management. Prior to Stern, Jeet worked at Nomura in a corporate finance role, and Deloitte in an audit role. This summer, Jeet interned at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as a Summer Consultant and will be continuing to work at the firm post graduation, in New York City. Additionally, Jeet is the Co-President of Outclass (Stern’s LGBTQ+ organization), and a VP of Stern Student Government, Management Consulting Association, Graduate Finance Association, and South Asian Business Association at Stern.

From the time I committed to attending Stern, the one thing that I kept wondering about (rather, worrying about) was the community at Stern. Being an international student who has never lived in the US before, I had heard a lot – that New York City is the big, bad concrete jungle, that people would do anything to get to their goals, and there really isn’t much of a community at a big city school like Stern. I’m sure quite a few of you reading this would’ve also heard / believe the same about Stern / NYC.

Diversity of the Class

As a result of these thoughts, I came into the city with a lot of questions about who my classmates were going to be, what it was going to be like working with them, how competition will bring out the best and worst in us, and more. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. Within a few days of being at Stern, I saw my classmates were every bit as incredible as they seemed in the first Zoom meeting we had. Nobody was just ‘playing’ nice, but they were genuinely incredible human beings. I think it’s because we all, no matter where we come from, left stable jobs and took on some risk to go to business school and take the plunge towards a new career. We all came in with some amount of anxiety, some amount of imposter syndrome and some amount of being awestruck that we’re in New York City. The outcome of all that is a large, diverse community of kind, inclusive, intelligent people who would travel significant lengths to help you succeed.

Building Relationships

My first few friends were ones who I’d met at Zoom over a virtual admitted students happy hour, where week after week we had new icebreakers and fun games. It felt surreal to be meeting people again in the Fall of 2021, after a rather rough year and a half spent largely in confinement and solitude thanks to COVID. But the connection was instant – we were all so happy to meet each other (finally!) and begin this incredible journey of two years, one that would for all practical purposes transform our lives.

We also were put into study groups of 5-6 people by the school to work on our “Group Pick Six”, an assignment due before LAUNCH. It was a great way to meet my study group, break the ice with them and work on an interesting assignment together. I think getting six pictures from six individuals can be an interesting way to set up group dynamics – Does each one get to pick one? How do we deal with overlaps? What do we want to say as a team? We had a lot of fun in one hour and found out six common attributes we all shared, for example, we all love adventure!

Our LAUNCH Group’s Pick 6

As school began, we had LAUNCH- which was simply one whole week of awesome. One of my life’s most treasured moments was the dinner at Ellis Island, sitting on a table with seven other students I’d never met before, looking at the Manhattan skyline and not being able to believe that all this was real. We all shared that same emotion I guess, and I walked away with one “core memory” (Inside Out reference) and seven new friends. As school progressed, I met more and more people and my friends list kept growing.

Friendships Strengthened through Ups & Downs

Of course, it’s never all just fun and games. That never results in the strongest community in my opinion. And soon enough, our test stood in front of us – recruiting. We all got busy, running from one corporate event to another, one coffee chat after another and a social gathering seemed like the last thing on anyone’s mind. Yet, you could feel the power of the Stern community because despite not having met for days/weeks on end, I felt supported. If I missed an event, my friends would share their notes with me. If there was an assignment due and I was busy, someone else in my project team did the heavy lifting for me, if I was sick (and I did get COVID in week 1 of classes), someone dropped off food at my doorstep. 

As Fall progressed, things got even more intense. The weather got colder, but our community grew warmer. Through the holidays, the rejections, the interview prep and the interview season, we stood by each other – sharing resources, questions, case practice, advice and sometimes just holding your hand or giving you a hug. I clearly remember the night before a big final round interview, I was freaking out – I sent a text to a dear friend (also recruiting) and they immediately called me back. We spoke for twenty minutes, they made sure I was calm and wouldn’t do anything to hurt my chances the next day. Right after my interview, I got a call again to check if everything was okay. To me, that gesture alone defines the community at Stern.

Today, I feel like an integral part of the Stern community, and Sternies are an indispensable part of my life. I don’t know what I would do without them, and I couldn’t be more grateful for each and every one of them.

Yes, we’re in New York. Yes, it’s competitive (duh!). Yes, it’s intense. But, we are Stern. We get through it, together. Always have, always will.

 

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Reflections on My Recruiting Journey: How Stern Can Help You Land Your Dream Internship

Ria Jambusaria is an MBA2, specializing in finance and sustainable business and innovation. Prior to Stern, Ria worked at EY in their financial statement audit service line. This summer, Ria interned at Credit Suisse as an Investment Banking Summer Associate and will be continuing to work in investment banking post graduation. Additionally, Ria is a Managing Editor of the Stern Oppy and a Co-Portfolio Manager for the ESG Fund of the Michael Price Student Investment Fund.

 

Whenever I told someone I was planning on recruiting for investment banking, I would be greeted with a look that clearly said, well, you’re in for a roller coaster of a first semester!

And so it was! The recruiting process for banking is no easy task, but the Graduate Finance Association (GFA), the Office of Career Development (OCD) at Stern, and the great Stern alumni network certainly made it less intense and I could not be more grateful. Speaking with my friends who recruited in consulting, technology, or entertainment and media, I know they have also benefited from the professional clubs here at Stern as well as the expertise of OCD.

How it Works

For banking, the recruiting is quite structured – a result of Stern’s proximity to Wall Street and its great relationship with all the major bulge bracket and boutique banks. Even as an international student, I had the opportunity to recruit with a large number of banks. With Wall Street and Midtown, only a few subway stops away, I was able to visit their offices and meet the teams which allowed me to get an outsider’s view of their culture.

Recruiting involves A LOT of networking and this is made easier by Stern’s connection with the banks. Stern alumni from these banks come to campus for corporate presentations which allow students the opportunity to meet directly with senior bankers. If this sounds nerve-wracking, keep in mind that the GFA helps out first-year students with best practices so that we can be prepared when presenting ourselves to representatives from these banks. The GFA works tirelessly with these companies to bring them to Stern for corporate presentations and “Host a Deal” events where current employees talk about how some of their major deals came to be. 

OCD Resources

The OCD also has several resources that help with recruiting, and they hit the ground running before the first semester even starts. OCD begins with resume reviews and helps students figure out the best path for them. In the first semester, OCD has regularly scheduled programming aimed at helping students with their thirty and sixty-second pitches, networking, and interview skills. OCD also holds office hours regularly and students can set up appointments with its marvelous career coaches to discuss anything from resumes, interviews, offers, or even to have mock coffee chats and mock interviews. I found the appointments with career coaches to be especially helpful for practicing my coffee chat skills. As an introvert, I found the idea of networking quite daunting, so the opportunity to practice those skills in a low-stakes environment was great!

Coffee chats are the best way of getting to know the alumni and the senior bankers and I had somewhere between sixty and eighty coffee chats throughout the fall semester! It may seem like a lot, but I found the networking and the one-on-one chats were essential to help me understand how I would fit into a particular bank and whether they could offer me what I wanted. It also helped me build connections at banks and showcase myself as a candidate for them, which can be crucial when applying for internships.

Banks also have group networking events in the second half of the fall semester, which was another opportunity to meet senior bankers I had not spoken with before, and learn about their experiences in the industry, which were invaluable when I was deciding on where I should do my internship. I have found the Stern alumni to be open and communicative, always willing to share their stories.

Interview Prep

GFA and OCD are amazing with interview prep as well. It is a testament to the strength of the community here at Stern that several MBA2s take time out of their winter break to help us by doing endless prep, and sharing their experiences and resources to get us ready for both the behavioral and technical portions of the interview. I can safely say that without the help and encouragement of my seniors as well as the career coaches in the OCD, my interviews would not have gone half as well as they did!

Community Support

Apart from the internal resources that Stern offers as well as the massive help we get from MBA2s, something that was instrumental in my recruiting journey was the peer network at Stern. Just talking to people who are recruiting in the same industry or who have had experience working with companies you might want to work for can provide vital information you might need on your recruiting journey.

Overall, the Stern community made what could have been a daunting recruiting process into a memorable experience that was vital to my professional as well as personal growth.

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Academics at Stern

Gustavo Valverde Rezende is an MBA2, originally from Brazil. He has a Bachelor’s in business administration from Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora and a Master’s in finance from IBMEC. Before joining Stern, Gustavo worked in management consulting, public management, and corporate finance before joining Eureca, a purpose-driven startup, as Chief Financial Officer.  His latest job was as Strategy & Finance Leader at Grupo Anga, Eureca’s parent company, overlooking a portfolio of six purpose-driven companies. This summer, Gustavo worked as an Investment Banking Summer Associate at Credit Suisse in New York.

 

Before coming to NYC, I never cared too much about academics. After a few weeks in my first year at Stern, I realized it would be a mistake not to care. As I studied Statistics, Accounting, Foundations of Finance, Strategy, and Firms & Markets, – all courses I had taken before – I felt like I was exploring a whole new world. Now, in my second to last semester, I already miss the academic experience at Stern.

What made me change my mind so drastically and quickly?

1. Stern classes are relevant to me

As they will be to you. Note I didn’t write that they are important for a business professional –  I chose my words carefully. After a few years of work experience, I have a pretty strong sense of things I like to do and, more importantly, areas where I need to improve. Stern has over 200 elective classes that allow me to tailor my professional experience to what I like and need.

Even with core classes, like the ones I mentioned before, I had the option to opt out based on my previous experience – but chose to take them anyway because I believed that would strengthen my fundamentals, as they did. I also took classes such as Modeling Financial Statements, which aligns with what I want to do in the future, and Management Communications, which is something I’m sure I need to improve upon. These are two of my favorite classes – but I’ll get back to them.

To help me avoid a choice paradox, Stern offers 27 specializations that cluster all these electives together. I’m not required to choose any particular specialization, but they are very helpful for my own academic planning. They are also nice signals to send to recruiters or the market about topics you care about enough to specialize in. So I can pick up to three specializations, or none. Whatever works best for me. I chose to specialize in Corporate Finance, General Management, and Banking because these align with my short and long-term career goals.

2. Stern professors care about what you take from their classes

I like to think that my teachers are as diverse as my classmates. Each of them has their own teaching methods, backgrounds, and styles. Some are researchers, some are practitioners. But I like to think they all have one thing in common: they give you tough love. 

Believe me, they can be tough! In Modeling Financial Statements, Professor Dan Gode gave us over 100 assignments in one semester. In Management Communication, Professor Burns held an in-class exercise where she played the part of an obnoxious CEO that made me wanna quit (her company, not her class!).

Professors at Stern do this because they believe that’s the best way for you to take something from their class. And they have the freedom to do so. I would have never gotten through my internship without the practice runs Professor Gode gave me last Spring. It was hard, but I left that class much better prepared for life. Professor Burns took me out of my comfort zone to teach me how to handle difficult people in power positions. She did not need to do this, but she did. And it was invaluable.

3. Stern academics don’t end in the classroom

At Stern, I can learn in several different ways. I can travel abroad for an exchange program in Europe, LATAM, Asia, and many other places. I can spend a week learning about business in South Africa or Argentina. I’m gaining real-world experience through my involvement in  a student-led fund seeking to invest in impactful startups. I could also gain experience on  a non-profit Board, deliver a consulting engagement, or engage with an early-stage tech startup in NYC.

This allows me to really learn from my peers and form my own experience. I learn as I do, or do as I learn, just like it should be.

The bad news is that I won’t be able to do everything I wanted. Two years may sound like a lot, but most of the time it feels like it’s not enough. There’s just not enough time to take classes with all Professors I’d like to learn from, nor to take all the experiential offerings I’d like to live. Prioritizing is an arduous and constant struggle. FOMO is real at Stern. Even in academics, believe it or not.

And I’m glad it is. Because this variety of options is what makes my Stern experience unique. It’s what makes NYU Stern a good fit for me. And hopefully, for you. 

 

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Getting to Know Stern

Jessica joined the MBA Admissions team in 2015 and is currently responsible for LGBTQ and Women’s recruiting, marketing, events and customer service for the Full-time MBA programs. Prior to joining Stern, Jessica worked in graduate admissions at Columbia University’s Teachers College and in Hofstra University’s Office of Undergraduate Admission and has read 1000s of applications! Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her family & friends, exploring new places and is looking forward to getting back on the road recruiting future Sternies!

As you explore MBA programs, you should consider a few questions. Where do you want to spend 1-2 years of your life? What culture and community do you thrive in? Do you want to stay connected with this community 5 -10 years down the road as you make your next career move or encounter life changes? 

At Stern, IQ+EQ is a hallmark trait – we bring together students and community members who are intellectually strong, professionally accomplished, but also those who are collaborative, empathetic leaders and teammates. This is what I love about Stern – being part of an impressive community that is still down to earth. Culture is incredibly important, but there are other aspects of the Stern experience that make it special. For example, location. Being in the heart of New York City is such a huge part of Stern. We are located in a diverse and vibrant community, and our location gives students access to top notch firms, recruiters, in-semester internships, faculty, speakers & more! Academics is an important consideration as well. Stern’s full-time program is very flexible, allowing students to customize their curriculum and take advantage of our extensive menu of electives courses, including classes at other NYU graduate schools! I can go on and on about Stern, but I’ll summarize it by saying – do your research and get to know the schools you’re applying to. I hope Stern is on your list!

Getting to know Stern

There are many ways to connect with Stern! First, I’d recommend clicking through our website to learn more about our program offerings. I would also suggest checking out our  Meet With Us page to explore more ways to connect with members of the community. I’m sure you want to connect with the admissions committee, but you should also find time to speak with current students. Our students are an invaluable resource in the discovery process (and there are many ways to do it!).

We offer a number of events to help you get to know Stern, including information sessions, “Ask a Sternie” chats with current students and clubs, and mock application workshops with our admissions committee. Events are added regularly – so continue to check our events calendar  to stay up to date! If you’re interested in a Focused MBA program, be sure to check out the “Meet With Us” pages for the Tech MBA and Fashion & Luxury MBA as well.

Prioritizing events 

We offer a variety of ongoing virtual events – it is a great way to connect with us! It is not a requirement to attend events, but rather an opportunity for you to learn more about Stern. For applicants at the beginning of the MBA search, it may be helpful to join an information session. As applicants move along, mock application workshops are a unique way to gain insider tips on crafting an application. We also offer smaller coffee chats and club events that allow for direct interaction with current students where applicants can ask personalized questions. Again, it is not a requirement to attend events, but an important resource that applicants can and should take advantage of!

Additionally, stay in touch after you’ve attended an event! If contact information is shared, please feel free to follow up and stay connected.

Other ways to get to know Stern

Events aren’t the only way to build your familiarity with our MBA programs. If you’re looking to learn more about Stern on the go, you can tune into our student podcast, “Stern Chats”. The ‘chats’ are a fun listen that share excellent insight into life at Stern. The podcast highlights the stories (not just resumes) of key members of the community. You can also read our community blogs and follow our LinkedIn pages to get insight from students and the admissions team:

Unable to attend an event? Watch recordings of past events at a time that’s convenient for you.   

Highlight what you know in your application

You can share your knowledge of Stern in your application. You can include Stern contacts you’ve connected with along the way, or specific clubs or centers you want to get involved in. These specifics are often included in applicant essays, but may also come up in other areas of your application. Additionally, an interview is a great way to showcase knowledge about Stern. I have conducted many successful interviews in which interviewees shared compelling examples of how they connected with Stern and how they want to get involved. Our interviews are not blind, so we’re able to take the conversation to the next level and dig into your interest in Stern and how you plan to contribute to the community.

Have fun during this exploration process! Don’t be shy about reaching out and connecting with us. We love talking about Stern and connecting with prospective students!

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Reflections on My Summer Internship at McKinsey

Jane Kennedy is an MBA2, specializing in strategy, entrepreneurship, and data analytics. Prior to Stern, Jane worked at REFORM Alliance, a criminal justice reform non-profit. This summer, Jane interned at McKinsey in Washington, DC and will be returning there after graduation.  Additionally, Jane is involved in the Management Consulting Association, SGOV, and the NYU Catholic Graduate community.

The leaves are changing, the sun is shining, and I’m back at Stern to kick off my second year! It’s wild to think about how much has happened since last fall. I remember so vividly being on campus for LAUNCH Orientation, sitting nervously in the first Management Consulting Association (MCA) bootcamp session, and attending as many events as possible to meet new friends. Now, it’s the MBA1’s turn to experience the flurry of excitement, anxiety, and activity that is the first semester of business school – and I’m thrilled for them.

 It was in that first semester that so much of my internship process happened. Coming into Stern, I was set on pivoting into consulting after a couple of years in tech and a couple of years at a criminal justice reform nonprofit. I knew that the road ahead of me was going to be challenging – learning to case is not for the faint of heart! Still, I saw how dedicated the MBA2s were to our success, and their encouragement and coaching carried me through the fall and through recruiting season, all the way to receiving my dream internship offer: a summer at McKinsey’s DC office!

I had lived in DC before school, and so I knew what to expect when it came to living in the District. But a summer of consulting? I had no idea what it was all about.

During our first week, we traveled to a training where we got to meet other interns from a few offices. It was a crash course in all things McKinsey. I learned about their problem-solving method, worked with a small group to “crack” some fascinating cases, and spent time with managers at the firm, soaking up all their wisdom and advice. Then, it was back to DC where I would meet my team and get to work.

Consulting is a nebulous field, and no two days are the “same,” however, I saw that there was a pattern to the work we did. At the top of the week, we would jump into working on a specific question or area of the overall problem to solve. I would do research, conduct interviews, build analyses, and lay out the findings on pages (what McKinsey calls slides). We had frequent meetings with our clients, where we would share our progress and receive continued guidance as we worked towards our final deliverables. The work was fascinating and engaging. My brain was “on” all day, and there were many days that left me stunned by how much output we had created in just 8 hours.

 I loved my summer at McKinsey, and (because I’m a consultant now!) I’ll break it down into three reasons why. 

First, my team was deeply invested in my development. 

They spent copious amounts of time helping me figure out what I was doing, offering feedback and coaching on my work, and giving me opportunities to shine in front of partners and clients. My team was hands down the best part of the experience. 

Second, I was able to do “real work.” 

Many times, interns are relegated to the back row and given “play work,” but that was not the case for me this summer. I was able to lead my own workstream and offer solutions and suggestions that helped the team shape our approach.

Third, I had tons of exposure to experts and firm leaders. 

Not a week went by that I didn’t present some aspect of my work to a partner or senior partner. I was encouraged to build relationships with not only our project’s leadership, but with partners across the firm. This “flat structure” allowed me to see so much more of the firm and it helped me feel even more excited to accept McKinsey’s full time offer and return as an Associate after graduation!  

I’m so happy to be back on campus and in the classroom this year, and I’m especially excited to help the MBA1s as they embark on their own internship journeys. I hope that every Sternie can find a role this summer that challenges them to be their best and leaves them more confident and encouraged than when they started out. We’re all in it together!

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Standardized Tests

Sita Goetschius is an Associate Director of admissions at NYU Stern School of Business and an MPA student studying non-profit leadership and policy at the NYU Wagner School of Public Service. Outside of work and school, she loves to explore NYC’s many parks and finding the best cacio e pepe in town.

If you’re considering applying to business school but are worried about taking a standardized test, you’re not alone. You may be overwhelmed at the thought of taking a standardized test after years out of school, or wondering how to study and prepare. 

A lot of applicants are understandably nervous about taking a standardized test. That’s totally normal! While tests can be intimidating, I’d like to share some insight on how we on the Admissions Committee review test scores and hopefully help break down this part of the process.

How do we review tests and what tests can you submit?

Standardized tests are one way for us to assess your readiness for a rigorous academic program, particularly for the quantitative focused parts of the MBA. We assess test scores in the context of your entire application and the strengths you show in other portions of the application. Keep in mind, test scores are only one way we get to know you. 

NYU Stern’s Two-year Full-time and Focused MBA programs accept the GMAT, GRE, Executive Assessment Test (EA), MCAT, LSAT, and DAT. We have no preference for test types and encourage applicants to take a practice exam to see which test they feel most comfortable with and which aligns better with their skillset. Remember that Stern reviews your overall highest test score.

We also have test waiver options for our MBA programs.

To be considered for a test waiver, submit a test waiver request form by November 1. We ask for portions of the application to review your academic readiness to evaluate whether or not including a standardized test score would enhance our understanding of your readiness for our program. You’ll also be required to submit a brief summary of your academic readiness for the MBA program. 

Once you submit these documents, they will be included in your application record, which means you don’t need to re-submit them with your application. Learn more about our test waiver option on our website. 

NYU grads – you’re in luck! If you graduated with an undergraduate degree from NYU with a 3.20 or higher cumulative GPA, you can waive the testing requirement through our NYU + MBA program.

We’re often asked if the test waiver puts applicants at a disadvantage for scholarship consideration, and I’m here to tell you it does not! Applicants who are granted a test waiver will still be considered for merit-based scholarships.

Did you know that 61% of people who retake the GMAT improve their score after retaking it? 

Test taking itself is a skill. Standardized tests are unlike a lot of situations in your life, and it’s completely normal not to get the score you want immediately. Think of the first time you take the exam as a “dry run”, and consider retaking it again. Some of those first-time jitters may recede, plus you’ll be more familiar with the environment and test proctoring procedures. You can always submit updated scores after applying for us to review. 

If you want to make significant improvements in a particular area, consider test prep options. Having someone to cheer you on and structure a study plan can help take some of the stress of managing test prep off of you, and allow you to focus on memorizing those obscure vocabulary words.

Another option is to look into switching tests. Start by taking a few different practice tests and see how you do on them. You may find that the way the questions are asked or the format aligns better with your skillset. That’s what recent alumna Mara Walsh did, and you can read more about her experience on our blog.

Remember that the test scores reported in our class profile are averaged across the range of admitted student test scores. Many people fall above and below the average, as you can see in the 80% range of scores. Each applicant brings different strengths to their application and the test score is just one piece of the application.

Finally, remember to take your time to prepare, and sit for the exam when you’re ready. Everyone’s test prep process is different. If it’s been a while since you’ve studied for an exam, think back to what helped you focus in college. For me, that meant finding a favorite corner in the Brooklyn Public Library, lots of snacks, and using a Pomodoro timer to stay on track with built in breaks. 

When I took the GRE for my master’s program at NYU Wagner, I pushed back my original test date by three months, and I’m so glad I did. I was working full time and needed a little extra time to drill in on some concepts. Now, I’m about to enter my final year of my master’s program and am looking forward to graduation at Yankee Stadium in May!

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My Experience with Standardized Tests*

Mara Walsh is a recent graduate who specialized in Marketing and Leadership & Change Management. Prior to Stern, Mara spent four years working in merchandising at Abercrombie & Fitch, followed by two years in digital marketing at Wayfair. In addition to serving as a Graduate Ambassador, Mara served as a VP of Alumni Relations for Stern’s Management Consulting Association (MCA), VP of Admissions for the Graduate Marketing Association (GMA), and a Block Leader. Mara originally hails from Wilmington, DE and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame. Mara now works at Deloitte as a Senior Consultant in its NYC office. 

It’s no secret that the MBA admissions process can be a stressful one. For myself and many others, most of that stress was brought on by standardized testing. I have struggled with standardized tests for most of my life and don’t exactly feel qualified to advise applicants on how to approach them, but I hope that sharing my experiences with the GMAT and GRE will be helpful to those about to embark on the same process. 

When I made the decision to apply to business school in late summer 2019, I chose to study for the GMAT on my own, rather than hire a tutor or pay for a prep course. I purchased a GMAT prep book, studied for about 2 months, and ultimately took the test for the first time in October 2019. Though my practice test results weren’t far off from the score I was aiming for, my performance on the test was much lower than what I thought would be acceptable for top tier business schools. I knew going into the exam that I would struggle with the data sufficiency portion of the quant section, and the anticipatory stress and pressure of taking the exam made matters worse. 

I was determined to improve my score, and subsequently took the exam twice more in November and December. Despite having more studying under my belt and trying new tactics to control my test-taking anxiety, I saw very little movement in my scores. I didn’t think there was much else I could do to improve my GMAT, so I submitted my application to Stern that January. 

In March 2020, amid the beginning of the COVID pandemic, I learned that I had been waitlisted at Stern. I graduated from college with honors and I had several  promotions at reputable companies on my resume, so it didn’t take much reflection for me to realize I needed to improve my standardized test scores to give myself a chance of being admitted into Stern and other business schools. 

I initially assumed that MBA programs had a strong preference for the GMAT over other standardized tests; however, I noticed on MBA message boards that the GRE was a potential option for those who may struggle with the quant portions. From my experience, the GRE’s quant questions are similar in terms of subject matter, but much more straightforward. As soon as I was waitlisted, I wrote to Stern reiterating my commitment to staying on the waitlist and indicated that I intended to take the GRE to improve my overall score. 

I spent a lot of my free time in the early days of lockdown studying for the GRE. Like with the GMAT, I studied from a prep book and took practice exams online. I ultimately took the test twice (from home on my laptop, of course), improving my score the second time. I knew that my application was strong overall, and I wanted to use my commitment to improving my score as an opportunity to prove to the admissions committee that I was going to work hard as a student.  I was admitted to Stern from the waitlist that summer. 

Looking back, I’m proud of the resilience that went into improving my standardized test  scores. That said, I would not recommend taking any (or more than one) standardized test five times! Instead, as you begin the process of considering an MBA, take some time to read up on which exam is best suited to your skillset. If the math section of the SAT wasn’t your thing, consider giving the GRE a try. If you take the GMAT and think you have a reasonable chance of improving your score with more studying or personal tutoring, go for it! But if after one retake you see little movement in your score, I’d recommend giving another test a try (in addition to the GMAT and GRE, Stern also accepts the Executive Assessment Test (EA), MCAT, LSAT, and DAT). 

Finally, if you find yourself on the waitlist like I did, take some time to reflect on what might make your application stronger. Stern places a tremendous amount of value on EQ, so demonstrating your self awareness with respect to your strengths and areas of opportunity can go a long way in the admissions process. 

*Please note we accept the GMAT, Executive Assessment, GRE, LSAT, the MCAT, DAT, and we consider standardized test waiver requests. Visit our website for more on our standardized tests policies.

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Reflections on Graduation

Mara Walsh is an MBA2 specializing in Marketing and Leadership & Change Management. Prior to Stern, Mara spent four years working in merchandising at Abercrombie & Fitch, followed by two years in digital marketing at Wayfair. In addition to serving as a Graduate Ambassador, Mara served as a VP of Alumni Relations for Stern’s Management Consulting Association (MCA), VP of Admissions for the Graduate Marketing Association (GMA), and a Block Leader. Mara originally hails from Wilmington, DE and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame. Following graduation, Mara plans to join Deloitte as a Senior Consultant in its NYC office. 

It’s hard to believe that as I type this post, I am just two short weeks away from graduating with my MBA from Stern. As I look back at my time here, I am overcome with gratitude for the people I’ve met and the things I’ve experienced. Before my time at Stern is done, I wanted to share some advice on how to make the most of your experience here. 

  • Join (a) professional club(s): I can’t say enough about how much professional clubs like MCA and GMA helped with the process of finding an internship last year. MCA’s “bootcamp” and study groups taught me and my classmates everything there is to know about case interviews, something I had no exposure to before Stern! GMA does an incredible job preparing students for behavioral interviews during “Mock Madness,” a week-long pre-interview bootcamp in mid-January. We have a special culture of paying it forward here at Stern, meaning that MBA2s really step up to help MBA1s achieve success in the internship recruiting process. I think professional clubs also offer a great opportunity to connect with classmates- I personally met some of my best friends from Stern during the fall of my first semester as I prepared for interviews. 
  • Take courses that challenge you: One of the great things about business school is that many MBA programs (including Stern) have grade non-disclosure policies, meaning that employers cannot know a student’s GPA until a full-time offer has been extended. Though it is important to stay on top of your schoolwork and maintain a certain GPA to be in good standing at Stern, the grade non-disclosure policy gives students the opportunity to take risks academically. For me, that meant challenging myself by taking quant and data analytics courses that aren’t necessarily in my wheelhouse, such as Data Driven Decision Making, Decision Models & Analytics, and Corporate Finance. Though these courses were difficult at times, I feel more prepared for my post-graduate career thanks to the skills I learned from them. 
  • Participate in experiential learning opportunities: I would recommend that any incoming student take at least one experiential learning course during their time at Stern; they are incredible opportunities to learn from senior executives and business leaders and explore NYC and other parts of the world. During the spring of my first year at Stern, I took the Branding & Innovation Consulting Lab course with Fran Gormley, an adjunct professor of Marketing. The course was an amazing opportunity to take on a brand strategy project for a real client, National Geographic, and meet with senior executives from the company on a weekly basis. I learned so much from Professor Gormley about branding and interacting with clients that I will take into my career as a consultant. 
  • Get to know your classmates! Of every suggestion on this list, this might be the most important. A big reason many people get an MBA is to build their network, and my Stern experience has certainly done that. More importantly though, I’ve built so many amazing friendships with my Stern classmates and made memories that will last a lifetime. From studying for finals and preparing for interviews to exploring NYC and traveling the world, most of the highlights of my Stern experience have involved spending time with and getting to know my classmates. Getting an MBA can be a lot of work, but don’t forget to prioritize relationship building during your time here. 
  • Take advantage of what NYC has to offer: Getting an MBA in the heart of NYC is academically, professionally, and socially rewarding. Take advantage of the resources at your disposal by attending guest lectures and club conferences, taking experiential learning courses that get you out into the city, and learning from professors at the top of their fields. In the midst of all that, don’t forget to have fun! Take a break from homework and interview prep and use your free time to go to a museum, attend a free taping of a late night talk show, stroll through Central Park, or see a Broadway musical. Many clubs will subsidize tickets to fun events and shows in the city, which makes it easier to enjoy NYC on a full-time student budget. 

Best of luck to any incoming or prospective students reading this! Applying to business school can be an intimidating and stressful process; it certainly was for me, but I couldn’t be happier that I chose to take the plunge and get my MBA here at Stern. 

 

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Now That You’ve Applied

Arthur is an MBA2 specializing in Strategy and Entertainment, Media and Technology. In addition to serving as a Graduate Ambassador, he is also a VP of Academics and Case Competitions for the Entertainment, Media and Sports Association (EMSA) and a Teaching Fellow for Pr. Matthew Lee’s core course, Strategy. Born in Dayton, OH, he has lived in New York City for the past 6 years and loves living in the city. He graduated with a BA from Boston College in 2013 and spent the majority of his pre-MBA career in client services roles at GLG. He will be joining ZS Associates full time after graduation after serving as a summer intern at the firm.

Now that application deadlines for the next cycle are past due, I thought I’d share my reflections about what to do now if you’ve submitted your application and are making your final decision. These are not just from my own perspective, but based on questions that I have received from prospective students in the midst of decision-making.  

  • I’ve applied to Stern and have not yet heard back – what can I do to help my candidacy? 

Honestly – not a lot! Admissions will review your application in due time, so give yourself a chance to relax and have confidence in the work you put into it. The best use of time until you receive an update from admissions could be to continue your research into Stern. What sorts of classes or programs might you want to take advantage of? If there is something you can’t find out on the school’s website, consider taking a look at club websites (professional, affinity or social) and reaching out to the VPs of Admissions of clubs to get a student’s perspective on membership. 

  • I’ve been waitlisted – what do I do now? 

This one is close to my heart – I was waitlisted after applying in Round 1 and was eventually granted admission. First, although it might sound difficult, give yourself some credit – being waitlisted is not bad news! 

My best advice plays into an idea on which Stern places a lot of emphasis – EQ (Emotional Intelligence). One part of having a high EQ is self-awareness. So if you’re on the waitlist, be self-aware about what you can improve on your application, and focus on what you can control. Things like your past experiences or undergrad GPA are set in stone – those things cannot change. Even your professional experience, while ongoing, can only change so much in the course of a couple of weeks or months. Some things you could consider – retaking a standardized test (if you think you can achieve a higher score), enrolling in an online course (MBAMath, Coursera, etc.), or participating in volunteer opportunities (through work or on your own). Don’t try to improve simply for the sake of improvement though – make decisions as an authentic extension of the story you told in your application. 

Finally, be sure to keep the admissions team updated. If there is something new worth sharing (maybe a new test score or an exciting new promotion at work), be sure to share these in the waitlist portal so that they are included in your application’s next review. 

  • I’ve been given an interview – how should I prepare?

Two things to keep in mind: 1) whereas other schools may leverage current students or alumni to conduct interviews, all Stern interviews are conducted by a member of the admissions team and 2) they are NOT blind – interviewers will have reviewed your resume and application in full ahead of time. 

This is a good thing! This means you get to speak with a trained professional and someone who is passionate about making Stern the best place it can be. To echo prior points of advice, be confident in your story and bring your authentic self to the interview. You were given an interview for a reason, and that is the person they want to speak to. 

A couple themes that may come up: your previous experience (personal or professional), why you want to pursue an MBA, why Stern, why New York City, EQ and what class/programs you are excited about at Stern. Also, (and this goes for an interview you participate in): if it is on your resume, be prepared to speak to it. 

  • I’ve been admitted to Stern in addition to other great schools – how do I decide? 

I hesitate to even give advice to this one because it is so intensely personal. Where you decide to go is an undoubtedly big decision, but remember it is unique to you.

Stern is wonderful for a variety of reasons – if you didn’t think that, then you probably wouldn’t have applied. But while it was the right choice for me, the same may not apply to you for a wide variety of reasons. Again, give yourself credit for the achievement (not everyone gets into multiple top business schools) and make the decision that is best for you, your family, and your future. 

  • I have been rejected from Stern – what now? 

Rejection stinks– as someone who has experienced constant rejection through the business school journey (from other schools as well a list of potential employers), I empathize. 

There is also a process for re-applying to the Full-Time, 2-year program. Regardless, the first thing I’d say echoes my advice for the waitlist – leverage your EQ and be self-aware regarding what can be improved about your candidacy. Then, put together a plan on if and how those things can be improved upon by the time you plan to re-apply. 

Finally, take some time to reflect on whether or not the Full-Time program is the right path for you. There is more than one way to crack an egg – the Part-time, Executive MBA, and One-Year Full-Time programs are all amazing options to consider moving forward, depending on your goals. Researching those programs’ websites, attending admissions events, and speaking to students in those programs are the best ways to learn more about them. 

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These are but a few of the questions that have been coming my way – always know, if you need a question answered about these or other questions, that the admissions team and Graduate Ambassadors are here to help! Godspeed!

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Common Questions About NYU Stern, Answered by a Student

Brandon Quinn is an MBA2 specializing in Strategy and Business Analytics. Prior to Stern, Brandon worked in financial regulation where he examined some of the largest US-based brokerage firms. At Stern, Brandon serves as a Graduate Ambassador, Career Fellow, VP of Admissions for the Management Consulting Association (MCA) and VP of Marketing for the Business Analytics Club (BAC). Upon graduation, he will be pursuing a role as a Consultant at EY-Parthenon. 

Why did you choose Stern over other MBA programs?

I knew I wanted to stay in the NYC area long-term, so the location of Stern played a huge role in my decision to attend. Additionally, I found NYU Stern’s focus on IQ+EQ in the application process really rings true in the culture at the school. Speaking with current students when I applied, I really got the sense that Stern would offer the perfect collaborative environment for me to reach my full potential. 

 

What surprised you the most about Stern?

I think the strong sense of community in the large city is something that surprised me most about Stern. Given NYC is such a big city, I assumed going into Stern that many of my peers would have networks of friends in the city already. While many of my classmates and professors do have networks already built in New York, the community at Stern is exceptional. This summer I will be attending many of my Stern classmates’ weddings–I think this just shows how strong the relationships are that you will build at an MBA program like Stern. 


Is it a challenge to get the classes that you want, and which specializations should I choose for my career?

NYU does a great job of making sure that everyone gets the classes they want to take. There is a lottery system where you fill out your ideal schedule and then you add up to 2 backup classes for each class in your ideal schedule. I have always gotten my ideal schedule each semester at Stern. Overall, I would say it’s not much of a challenge at all to take the classes that you want to take. 

Stern has many specializations, but the specializations are not mandatory. I ended up taking the classes that interested me most rather than the classes that fit into a certain specialization. I would encourage incoming students to do the same and to not worry about which specialization might look best for their future employer. 


What career related support did you get from the school throughout the program?

I got a tremendous amount of support from two primary resources on campus: the Office of Career Development and the Management Consulting Association. The Office of Career Development provided career coaches that helped me develop a recruiting strategy and revised my resume and cover letters. The Office of Career Development also facilitates a lot of the coffee chats with alumni and facilitates the on-campus interviews. The Management Consulting Association (MCA) provided support to make sure I was ready for interview days. The case interview is a very important part of the consulting recruiting process, so MCA brings in external parties to teach students how to tackle the case interview. There are also study groups led by MBA2s who were successful in the interview process the prior year. Other professional clubs on campus are structured similarly, but focus on the specific type of interviews that are unique to that professional club (i.e. Graduate Finance Association with technical finance interviews). 

 

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How NYU Stern Helped Me Transition out of the Military

Grant Ward is an MBA2 specializing in Finance and Business Analytics. Prior to Stern, Grant spent eight years as a Black Hawk helicopter pilot in the United States Army. During that time, he lived and worked all over the US and Europe, including a three year tour to Germany. He recruited for Management Consulting and plans to join Boston Consulting Group in their Summit, NJ office this coming summer. Grant is a Graduate Ambassador for the Admissions Department as well as an active participant in the Military Veterans Club and Stern Golf Club.

Transitioning from the military into a new career is not an easy task. For those of us that have spent any amount of time in uniform, it can sometimes seem like a different world. After completing my term of service in the Army, I wanted to move back to the NYC metro area to be closer to family and pursue a career that would provide meaningful work and an opportunity to grow professionally. Admittedly, I didn’t know exactly what that would look like, but with the help of the Fertitta Veterans Program and an incredible supportive group of Stern Alumni, I couldn’t be happier about my future at BCG. 

Leading up to my time at school, I spoke to many alumni and veterans who had graduated from NYU and those interactions played heavily into my decision to attend Stern’s MBA program. As a community, this enthusiastic group provided unvarnished feedback on the student experience, as well their post-MBA careers. They answered every question I had about different industries and functional areas and introduced me to several opportunities for transitioning veterans. Before I arrived on campus, I spent hours on the phone with a number of individuals committed to my success and, through that informal research, determined I wanted to pursue a role as a management consultant.

Beginning my MBA as part of the Fertitta Veterans Program has been such an important factor in my success. This program offers unique advantages financially, academically, and professionally. While not all program participants are offered a scholarship, those that do are often able to complete a two year-full time MBA with little to no out of pocket expense. That, coupled with VA benefits, makes pursuing an MBA and forgoing two years of professional work experience an easy choice by removing the number one obstacle associated with living in one of the world’s most expensive cities. Completing two core courses in the summer prior to school was also a huge help going into my fall semester. Many military veterans do not have undergraduate experience in business and taking Accounting and Statistics with a small and supportive cohort of other veterans was a great way to learn two topics that are critical to the remainder of the program as well as your follow-up career. Finally, a number of company treks and corporate presentations offered on Fridays throughout the summer term were a great way to learn about many of the firms that recruit at Stern and network with some of the veterans and alumni there before the fall recruiting cycle.

Completing my summer term as part of the Fertitta Veterans Program is only the beginning of the adventure. It wasn’t until I arrived on campus that I realized the full array of support and guidance available to MBA students trying to pivot into an entirely new career. The Office of Career Development, as well as the student-led professional clubs, were pivotal to informing me of internship opportunities, fostering connections at companies I was interested in, and preparing me for both applications and interviews. The Management Consulting Association was my “one stop shop” throughout application and interview prep and helped me succeed in finding my dream job. I began this process knowing very little about what a consultant actually does and how the biggest consulting firms recruit each year’s class of MBA hires. That lack of initial knowledge did not prevent me from leveraging the resources available to earn an exciting summer internship opportunity with BCG. I enjoyed my internship immensely and plan to start full-time with them this coming July. While I certainly put in the hours, the student and alumni community were the most important component of my success.

My key message for any veteran considering an MBA at NYU Stern is that this community understands what you’re going through and we have the knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm to help you achieve your goals. Nowhere else did I interact with such a hands-on group of students, faculty, and alumni. In every encounter, I received open and honest feedback and throughout my student experience, I have been immersed in an abundance of professional and academic opportunities for growth.

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Summer Internship Series: EY-Parthenon

Brandon Quinn is an MBA2 specializing in Strategy and Business Analytics. Prior to Stern, Brandon worked in financial regulation where he examined some of the largest US brokerage firms. At Stern, Brandon serves as a Graduate Ambassador, Career Fellow, VP of Admissions for the Management Consulting Association (MCA) and VP of Marketing for the Business Analytics Club (BAC). 

Consulting recruiting is a time consuming process that begins as soon as you step on campus to start the MBA program – or in a pandemic, as soon as you log into Zoom for that first class. Students attend various corporate presentations, coffee chats, and case workshops to learn about the different firms and to prepare for the case interviews. We put in all this effort to land a coveted consulting internship, which will hopefully turn into a full-time post-graduation offer. 

I spent my summer at EY-Parthenon in their strategy summer consultant program. I was assigned to the New York office, but the internship was almost entirely virtual. There were a few days I decided to go into the office to see where I would be working, to meet some colleagues face-to-face, and to attend some in-person happy hour events. 

The first week of the program was comprised of various training sessions to help us get accustomed to the firm, learn about the different types of projects, and build our consulting toolkit. After the first week of training, all the interns (including me) were eager to find out which consulting project we would be working on to start the summer. I was assigned to a working capital engagement at a large cosmetic company. Coming from a finance background, the cosmetics industry was a bit foreign to me, but this is what excites me about consulting. Consultants solve some of the most complex problems at some of the largest corporations and work across various industries that might initially seem foreign to them. 

A typical day as an intern on a project consisted of a daily check-in call with the team where we laid out all our objectives for that day. After this call, we split into our workstreams to accomplish the goals for the day; I spent time assessing and prioritizing new markets for expanding one of the client’s programs globally. There was also a daily call with the client where we would present recommendations and make sure everyone was aligned. 

In addition to the real-world project assignment, interns were put into case teams where we worked on two mock projects with EYP practitioners as coaches. This was a great experience to get a flavor of the different types of projects offered at EYP—this also aided in building comradery among us interns and helped us feel more engaged and connected in the virtual environment. The work was challenging and EYP offered an abundance of support through functional training, mentorship, coaches, and sector spotlights. Overall, this was an incredible experience and made the time-consuming recruiting process well worth it!

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Summer Internship Series: Morgan Stanley

Kushal Mehta is a current MBA2 at NYU Stern. Prior to Stern, he spent 6 years in the Bay Area where he worked at Deloitte in the Audit practice and at Uber in an accounting function. This summer, Kushal interned within Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking Division as part of their Technology group based in New York City. He holds a Bachelors of Commerce from the University of Toronto.

How intense is Investment Banking? How competitive is recruiting for IB? What do bankers do exactly? After completing my summer internship at Morgan Stanley, I hope I can shed some light onto the questions above –  questions that were on top of my mind as an applicant to NYU Stern, and as a MBA1 during recruiting.

Let’s start with recruiting. Make no bones about it – recruiting for IB is not easy. But, with the right attitude and preparation, you will set yourself up for success. There are 2 key factors to keep in mind: 

  • First, stay organized. IB recruiting is networking heavy, and there will be countless interactions you have with each bank during the process. From managing your calendar, to taking notes post-coffee chats, to sending thank you e-mails – find a method that helps you stay organized through this process.
  • Second, do not overlook coffee chats. Many coffee chats (especially early on) may seem casual and non-judgmental, but every interaction with the bank is an opportunity for them to assess whether you are a right fit for them and vice versa. Doing well in these coffee chats is critical to landing interview invites and job offers! 

I spent my summer within Morgan Stanley’s Technology group based in New York. Under “normal” circumstances (pre-COVID), MS operates a Generalist Pool model, where all Summer Associates rotate through 2 or 3 different groups of their choice over the course of 10 weeks. Since our internship was mostly virtual, we were placed directly into our top-choice group. Our 10 weeks had 4.5 weeks of training and 5.5 weeks of “on-desk” time (i.e. real work). 

When we “hit the desk” in July, each of the interns within the Tech East group was placed on 3 live deals. The best part about this was that every task that I worked on delivered immediate value for my team and the client. There was no business development work or “summer projects.”

Overall, I worked on 1 buy-side process, 1 sell-side process and 2 equity financing deals. It was fascinating to see the different ways in which investment banks deliver value for their clients. For example, we worked with the founders of an 8-year-old startup to help translate their vision into an enticing and attractive pitch for potential investors. In contrast, we also worked with a large public company and its C-Suite team, which comprised of seasoned executives with 20+ years of experience. Getting to work with founders and veteran executives as a junior banker is an experience that is unparalleled and was one of the highlights of my internship. 

If you have your eyes set on recruiting for IB, go all in. With the right effort and dedication, nothing is out of reach. Feel free to send me a note out if there are any questions, always happy to help – kushal.mehta@stern.nyu.edu!

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Summer Internship Series: Amazon

Gordon Fan is an MBA2 specializing in marketing and brand management. Prior to Stern, he worked in Cartier’s 5th Ave Mansion Client Experience Team and Retail Innovation Lab, and also served in the Taiwan Military Coast Guard as an event/graphic designer. At Stern, he serves as the Co-President of Luxury Retail Club and President of NYU Buddhism Club. He holds a BFA in Stage Design from NYU Tisch. He loves painting Buddhas and making dance reels!

This summer, I had the opportunity to choose a hybrid-in person option for my Amazon Retail Leadership Development Program Internship! My role was Vendor Manager in the Kitchen Retail Team (Hot Beverages). My summer project was to manage and improve sales, profitability, and customer experience for four high-priced coffee machine vendors: De’Longhi, Jura, Technivorm Moccamaster, and Bunn. I was also responsible for onboarding a new luxury espresso brand, providing a recommended strategy and roadmap to attract luxury kitchen brands, and updating the vendor-facing pitch deck for new potential brands.

A typical day would be filled with weekly check-in meetings with my vendors. In meetings, we would discuss areas of improvement. The main goal for all my vendors was trying to secure ample inventory for Q4 and holiday shopping season. This was challenging, as port congestion issues and COVID-19 outbreaks delayed shipping for products. We had to find the right balance between our forecasted amounts, how much our fulfillment centers can take and how much allocation vendors can give to us. There were a lot of back and forth negotiations.

I would also recommend marketing options that can help brands have more discoverability and visibility on the storefront webpage. Some things to look at weekly were the number of products that were out of stock, gross merchandise sales, NetPPM, bottom line profit margins, and vendor’s confirmation rates. With a vast number of teams in Amazon, you have to know the right people to ask and also depend on internal wikis, pitch decks, and info docs. Finding a strategy also required a lot of information gathering – similar solutions that I would come up with for my strategy might have been started or in the process of being implemented. So it was eye-opening to interview a lot of people from different groups and understand the experiments and research they did to implement new products. My strategy was a combination of creating a separate UX subpage between regular and high-priced kitchen products, adding a pre-sale live chat function for users and refining internal materials for vendor outreach.

At Amazon, we were not required to go to the office, and you could tell very fast that Amazon relies on working virtually. As long as you have your laptop and a double screen, you are all set. Everything is communicated by email, Slack, and Chime (Amazon internal Zoom tool). During the summer, I would frequent the office twice a week either to socialize with other interns and colleagues, enjoy a walk at the Spheres (Amazon Greenhouse Planetarium), or do some painting at the Expressions Lab (art classroom open to all employees to destress).

As a New Yorker, moving from NYC to Seattle for 3 months was quite an experience. Although work was stressful and busy mostly, I was grateful to experience the nature that Seattle has to offer, meet other Sternies at Amazon, and meet other MBA interns! It was fantastic to get to know other interns from other MBA schools, learn about their school’s cultures and the things they’re working on in their team at Amazon. The highlight of my internship was making new friendships and visiting the Olympic and Mount Rainier National Park. I’m glad I made the trip for an amazing Seattle summer!

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Summer Internship Series: ZS Associates

Arthur Heitz is an MBA2 specializing in Strategy and Entertainment, Media and Technology. In addition to serving as a Graduate Ambassador, he is also a VP of Academics and Case Competitions for the Entertainment, Media and Sports Association (EMSA) and a Teaching Fellow for Pr. Matthew Lee’s core Strategy. Arthur was born in Dayton, OH and graduated with a BA from Boston College in 2013. He spent the majority of his career pre-MBA in client services roles at GLG. 

Most choose to pursue their MBA to progress in their career, but getting into business school can feel like a job all in of itself. You study for the GMAT, research schools, speak to alumni, attend presentations, update your resume, write essays and interview all in the hope you end up at a school that’s right for you. Then, what feels like immediately, you get to school and you reenact that process ALL OVER AGAIN: you recruit. You choose your industry(s) of interest, research firms, network, update your resume (even more), and interview all while taking in your class work. All told, upon eventually receiving an offer, it occurred to me I had spent nearly two whole years of my life preparing to become a consultant. I had spent so much time working to get the job, though, that I spent precious little time thinking about the job itself. And with the approach of my internship, it was time, I realized with a mixture of exhilaration and anxiety, to actually consult. Eager, excited and with undeniable nerves, I approached the first week of my internship this summer with a question I dared not ask out loud: So what does a consultant actually do?

Turns out, they do a lot of things. First and foremost, they do what their clients ask. Consulting is ultimately a service business so interacting with and advising clients is required. These are professionals, mind you, whom if they are not former consultants themselves have built a life in their industry or company. This makes learning as much as possible about your clients and their projects essential, both to instill confidence and reassure your client that they are in capable hands. You obviously cannot become an expert overnight, but consultants have a pithy phrase that describes the bar to which you must strive: “know enough to be dangerous.” Furthermore, it turns out those hours (read: days) ((read: weeks)) you spent practicing case studies for consulting interviews actually come in handy. Consulting is also about assessing situations in the moment and problem-solving on the fly. That could mean practicing effective time management, working in Excel or Powerpoint, or figuring out the story being told by a set of data. It could even mean navigating the mine-filled landscape of scheduling a meeting among stakeholders who have a total of zero common availability in a given week. Some problems take days to solve, others may take just minutes. Each day is invariably different in consulting, which can be exhilarating or harrowing, depending on the day.

Reading this, you may think I have reached a place of comfort in the role. More comfortable than when I started, certainly, but I still have a long way to go. Luckily, I work for an organization that understands my plight and is dedicated to supporting me. I was fortunate and humbled to receive an offer to intern at ZS Associates, a firm that works across industries but specializes in consulting for healthcare clients. Despite this focus, they work on as wide a breadth of project types as you would expect to encounter at other leading firms. They understand you are an intern, so try not to push you directly into the deep end. You’re brought onboard for a reason, though, and are given the opportunity to contribute directly to live project work. To help, ZS provides you with resources in the form of trainings, coaches and peer-buddies to help you wade slowly but surely into the oceanic waters of consulting. I’m learning that becoming a great consultant does not happen overnight, so am constantly reminding myself that improvement can come but one day at a time.

Consulting is, on one hand, a natural progression of everything I’ve learned during my career and at school. But on the other, it can be really, really hard. You could say something similar about business school, by the way. Ultimately, like getting into school or recruiting, I see it as another obstacle to overcome, another problem to solve. With some help, determination, and maybe a little bit of luck, I may just yet learn enough to be dangerous.

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How Sternies Helped Me Prepare for Virtual Recruiting

Rizwana Iqbal is a current MBA2 at Stern. Prior to Stern, she was woring with the Government of India to develop the national healthcare innovation commercialization ecosystem. She is a technology enthusiast by profession and singer by heart. Bookworm, fitness freak, self-confessed foodie (and cook!). An explorer and incurable dreamer!

 

 

In my previous blog post, I had written about securing my summer internship through SternWorks. I knew I would have to recruit for a full-time job in the summer, through the pandemic. A lot of companies had stopped recruiting and many outright refused to hire international students. So, I knew I would have to bring my A-game for every coffee chat and interview. There was no place for the second best. However, most of the networking for consulting opportunities actually happens when applying for an internship. I did not know that. So, I was stumped. I had to re-energize my skeleton network and reach out to a few people with whom I had connected quite well during the internship process last fall. I knew this was not going to be enough. I had to hustle. I reconnected, expressed my interests, but most importantly, I did not pressure myself to impress anyone.

To keep my sanity while dealing with the stress of recruiting during the pandemic and being an older candidate, I promised myself that every day I just would keep one foot in front of the other, (ie, network, apply and give my best when called for interviews) but be detached from results. I chose to believe that the job where I would be happy would find me in due time. So, in the meantime, I just had to keep my head down and do what I needed to do, without worrying about the outcome.

Then, one fine day, I got an interview invite for a team, a role and an office that was my top priority. Sternies rallied behind me. Five of my fellow Sternies would take 2-3 hours out of their schedules per week for 4-5 weeks continuously to coach me, so I could succeed. They prepped and prepared me while constantly reminding me that I had a strong personality and should bring forth my humorous side. They gave me the confidence that when I interviewed with the firm, I was not afraid of showing my true self and it also allowed me to be confident. Consequently, when I received the final offer from the firm, I realized that my success was not the mere culmination of my efforts, but so much more. There is no alternative to hard work, but hard work alone is not enough for achieving your goals. Having the right people around you, who support you and to bring out your best self, is critical to one achieving his/her goals. Recruiting through the pandemic made me feel eternally grateful for being a part of the Stern community.

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Launching the Stern Venture Thesis

Sam Greene is an MBA2 specializing in finance, business analytics and strategy.  At Stern, he serves as a VP of Mentorship with the Private Equity & Venture Capital Club and VP of Communications with the Entrepreneurship & Start-Up Association in addition to other leadership roles on campus. Sam graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2015 with a Bachelor’s in Molecular and Cell Biology.

In my previous blog post, I wrote about failing to secure a summer internship in the fall recruiting process in the first-year of the MBA. I was devastated, but judging a process by an outcome destroys meaning in the process itself.  Failing to secure an internship pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to learn a valuable lesson: while Stern provides structure and access to opportunities, our own individual successes are our own personal responsibilities. 

One of the single most important skills I practiced throughout the MBA is how to network effectively. I think the old adage that you never get what you do not ask for rings particularly true for me. It was only through networking and asking for help that I won the opportunity that made the rest of my internship experience possible. Hustle matters, it is alive and well, and go-getters who spend time learning about others’ careers are better positioned to keep growing in their own careers. It’s this desire to continuously learn and keep growing that informs my goals as a Vice President (VP) on the board of the Private Equity and Venture Capital (PEVC).

In my role as a VP I manage the day-to-day execution of the venture capital recruiting track at NYU Stern. In only its second year, the VC recruiting track seeks to prepare students for careers in venture capital.  In years past, the person in my role was tasked with running a mentorship program that pairs MBA students with VC alumni to help and students network there way into internships. In theory, the program should have helped drive performance in recruiting statistics but in practice, this did not happen. Very few, if any students, converted their mentor-mentee relationships into summer internships in venture capital. If we are measuring the program’s success by the number of students that participated in the program and subsequently interned in venture capital the following summer, the program was a failure. But at least it failed fast and the experience taught us how to build something better!

In the spring, while transitioning into the VP role, I hopped on calls to distill feedback from the ten VCs and the ten students that participated in the mentorship program. I learned something very interesting. Almost all the VCs and students independently identified the same problem with the program: there was not a clear ‘ask’ for either the mentors or the mentees. VC mentors, while excited to help, were not clear on the purpose of the program. MBA students, while eager to learn, did not know where to start in their recruiting process. In a way, the relationship was a non-starter; there was no value-creating deliverable driving the process forward. In order to build a successful VC career track we needed to be clear on the mission and purpose of the program: to best prepare students to recruit, interview and secure Venture Capital internships.

I went back to the drawing board after my summer internship and started chatting with classmates to understand the DNA of the VC recruiting process better. I learned that one of the drivers for a successful recruiting process is delivering a well-researched investment thesis to funds. Chain, my classmate and a first-year MBA, coincidentally, had developed a program to help him and some classmates recruit for VC the previous fall. His program paired four MBA students with four VCs to develop investment theses over the course of an academic year. In the end, two students secured internships in VC, one already signed for an internship in Investment Banking and the other recruited for start-ups. A 50% success rate among the students participating in the program.

In partnership with Chain, we launched the Stern Venture Thesis program four months ago. Stern Venture Thesis was a synthesis of the legacy mentorship program inherited by PEVC and the thesis program that Chain created from 0 to 1. Chain’s thesis program succeeds in defining a clear ‘ask,’ an investment thesis produced in April at the end of the first-year of the MBA program. The mentorship program brings size and scope, with over a hundred alumni in the network and over fifty actively engaging with the club. I spent the end of the summer and beginning of the fall growing the supply by marketing the program to the alumni in the mentorship network. Our marketing effort yielded fourteen interested VCs by the time applications for the program launched in early October. On the demand side, word-of-mouth and digital marketing on CampusGroups drove over 50 students to attend our kick-off event in October. From the 50 students who attended, 17 applied to the program and 7 were selected to participate based on their interviews and interest in recruiting for venture capital. As of now, the MBAs are paired with thesis advisors at leading funds including Greylock, Company and 500startups based on mutual interests in topics. Our topics this year range from IoT, cybersecurity and developer tools to e-commerce enabled gen-z market-places.

I’m super excited to continue networking with alumni to grow my own network but even more excited about deepening Stern’s connection with its alumni through mutually-beneficial programs that give ownership to students and value to VCs

Looking forward, me and my team will be building out a website to host the final deliverables and clearly lay out a timeline for the program in 2021 – 2022. Aleksija and Alec are transitioning from their roles as AVPs to VPs and beginning to make introductions to alumni in the network. In an effort to strengthen our partnership with the undergraduate program, we are having conversations with the Stern Venture Society, essentially the undergraduate equivalent of the PEVC club, to plan a venture capital competition in the spring and provide more educational programming to both clubs. Lastly, in partnership with ESA, we are planning some VC panels in February to bring back alumni to Stern and partner with affinity clubs such as JSA, AHBBS and SWIB. Exciting things are happening at Stern in VC and I’m excited to be helping shape the future of the club and Stern presence in the venture capital community.

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How the Leadership Fellows Program Helped Me Grow

Ketriel Mendy is an MBA2 at NYU Stern, specializing in Finance and Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Prior to Stern, he worked as a Senior Business Analyst at Chewy.com. In Addition, he served in the United States Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer across the Pacific. As a first-generation immigrant, Ketriel is President of the Stern in Africa club. In the summer of 2020, Ketriel worked in the Product Strategy and Merchandising group at Allbirds. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Tulane University. 

The first time that I heard that I should do Leadership Fellows was in a conversation with MBA2 who was my teaching fellow as talked through an issue with my peers. She told me that Leadership Fellows was the sort of opportunity that I “might be into”. She was absolutely right. Leadership Fellows has been the forum I was looking for in terms of how to dig in deep with people in terms of how to cultivate ourselves as individuals, members of society, and ultimately, leaders. I can say without reservation that this is the most consequential thing that I believe that I’m doing in my second year. 

Over the course of 2020, uncertainty, ambiguity, and leadership are weighing on us daily as we navigate a global pandemic, social turmoil, shifting economic and political fortunes, and a myriad of personal challenges. Leadership Fellows has helped my formulate my values into a plan of attack and a means to have impact beyond the balance sheet.

This is especially meaningful for me because you’re not doing it alone. My cohort, Tribeca, is filled with another dozen humans that this process is just as important to. What’s been fascinating for me is reflecting on my own journey and contrasting that with others and seeing the universal themes that appear. We all have worries. We all have concerns about our impact in the future of the world. Even in the domains where we are judged as excellent by others, we still have our own doubts. Being able to speak openly and candidly about the things that we are unsure about allows you to examine yourself an entirely new light. In this year where we cannot responsibly see the world as we might in a traditional times, focusing on personal development has provided a rich vein of inquiry to mine. 

When I was making my decisions about what I wanted to be exposed to in order to evolve as a leader, I couldn’t have designed a better programming in a lab. Together with my cohort, I’m excited about the journey of development through the next of the year and what we’ll be able to learn about ourselves and each other.  I can’t wait to get to work.

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My Experience in the Leadership Fellows Program

Emily Glaser is an MBA2 at NYU Stern. Prior to Stern, she spent four years at Restaurant Brands International in communications and marketing for the Burger King brand. At Stern, Emily serves on Student Government and the Graduate Marketing Association. She loves dogs, musical theater, and hiking.

 

 

 

One of the things that drew me to Stern for my MBA was the school’s focus on EQ + IQ. Stern looks to not only educate intellectually exceptional students, but to also challenge your thinking and develop you personally. Stern is looking to produce leaders who are not only smart, but able to adapt to and understand change. I loved the idea of a school that focused on the whole person and their impact on others, rather than solely their achievements on paper.

A great example of this focus is the Leadership Fellows program. Leadership Fellows is a selective yearlong mentorship program, which aims to develop both personal and professional skills through reflection and storytelling activities, one-on-one coaching sessions, and small-cohort roundtable discussions. We meet as a group monthly to go over our most recent reflections and share our life stories – we share experiences of loss, hardship, achievement and growth. We share where we want to go and who we want to be in the future, as well as how we plan to get there. Through the Leadership Fellows program, we work to improve our self-awareness and active listening skills, and to develop actionable plans for achieving our personal goals. It’s an extremely vulnerable but enriching environment where we can both challenge and encourage each other constantly.

One of the best aspects of the program is the small cohorts we’re assigned to for the duration of the year – each is comprised of individuals from highly diverse personal and professional backgrounds, so we benefit from the wisdom of others with vastly different experiences from our own. My cohort of 12 students consists of a former teacher, a future lawyer, a first-generation college student, several international students, a part-time Langone student, marketers, consultants, and of course others. Because we’re all so different, we’re able to ask each other questions and offer perspectives we may not have otherwise considered. We develop deep relationships and foster incredible trust through our activities, an ultimately learn and grow together. 

Another key benefit of the Leadership Fellows program is our monthly meetings with current and former changemakers across many different industries; we have intimate access to business leaders who have seen it all and can now tell us about what they’ve learned along the way. This fall, we’ve had the pleasure to meet with the interim CEO of Patagonia as well as the former CEO of Chase Card Services, both of whom led their organizations through times of immense change and needed to inspire others to achieve big goals. Our speakers talk to us about risks they’ve taken, decisions they’ve had to make, and how they’ve dealt with both successes and failures throughout their careers. No question is off the table when we meet with these amazing individuals. 

Through these deep conversations and ongoing discussions of goals and growth my cohort has become not just a random group of students, but a family of leaders who can call on each other throughout our careers as we continue to learn and grow. Participating in Leadership Fellows has given me the ability to share my past, illustrate my future, and develop the leadership tools and skills to make it a reality.

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Course Spotlight: Tech Innovation Strategy

Michael Graf is an MBA2 who spent his summer internship at Facebook. Prior to Stern, he worked at J.P. Morgan Chase as a Reputation Risk Associate. He serves as Co-President of OutClass, an Orientation Leader, a Leadership Fellow, and a Graduate Ambassador. Michael is working towards specializations in Strategy and Leadership & Change Management. He enjoys crossword puzzles, snowboarding, and reading historical fiction.

This fall, I finally had the opportunity to take one of my favorite classes at Stern, Technology Innovation Strategy. I had been looking forward to learning from Professor Melissa Schilling since I made the bold decision to pursue my post-MBA career in Big Tech. As a career switcher from the financial services industry, I wanted to add new skills to my toolkit to better understand and contribute to the fast-paced changes in the tech sector. I was specifically interested in Professor Schilling’s lectures after I heard her speak on NPR about lessons we can learn from the world’s most famous innovators, from Elon Musk to Albert Einstein and Marie Curie. 

Technology Innovation Strategy is a half-semester class that flies by in six short weeks, so I knew I had to make the most of each three-hour session. Our first class focused on sources of innovation, where we explored some of the serial innovators that Professor Schilling spoke about on NPR. I was excited and surprised to learn that while we aren’t all born with genius, we can make use of certain techniques and management practices to cultivate innovation. Teams that can lower the price of failure when brainstorming ideas and providing autonomy to independent contributors – and even a dose of caffeine – can facilitate creativity and allow us to engage in unstructured thinking. I was inspired to make some small changes in my routine, like setting aside a half hour before tackling a group project to go for a walk to set the stage for associative thinking, and jotted down the big takeaways to carry with me when I return to work full time. 

A later class on technology platforms and dominant designs helped me think critically about decisions made by Facebook’s Gaming team, who I had the opportunity to work with during my summer internship. I learned that certain industries – especially in the technology space, like video games – benefit from a dominant design, a standard that defines the majority of the products in the marketplace. Dominant designs exist because they exhibit increasing returns to adoption, meaning the more a technology is adopted, the more valuable it becomes. In the video game industry, the more users who adopt a certain system, like Nintendo or Xbox, the more likely it is the other users will also adopt that platform. I began to understand why the team spent so much time trying to attract the best and most popular streamers to the platform and investing time in designing tools to incentivize streaming on Facebook, rather than a competitor. The value of Facebook Gaming to users increases with the number of streamers and ultimately the number of other viewers as well. Facebook’s Gaming team thoughtfully went to great lengths to advertise, through headline placement on its website, when a new high-profile streamer had agreed to use the platform. This way, users perceived growth in others adopting the platform, which actually led to increases in adoption.

Not only do I now feel well equipped to understand the strategies behind technology development, but I also feel confident in my ability to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of tech collaboration, deployment and innovation when I return to Facebook as a full-time employee. Professor Schilling’s class equipped me with an academic framework for thoughtfully dissecting the short- and long-term consequences of choosing innovation projects, working quickly or methodically towards a new technology with a partner organization, and even how best to license or trademark advancements. These skills have set me up for success for a career in Big Tech and I can’t wait to put them to use!

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What It’s Like to Experience Virtual Recruitment for Consulting

Lanesha Williams is an MBA2 specializing in digital strategy and marketing. Prior to Stern, she worked within Accenture’s federal practice as a technology consulting analyst, helping different government agencies implement and maintain technology systems. At Stern, she serves as the VP of Treks for the Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students. Lanesha graduated from Howard University in 2015 with a B.B.A. in Supply Chain Management.

2020 has been quite an interesting year to be a business school student.  During the spring semester of my first year, things began to take a turn.  We moved to online classes, social events were canceled, and some companies decided to scale back their internship programs.  I was fortunate to have a full internship experience this summer.  Although my experience was completely virtual, I was able to be placed on a retail project at a digital consulting firm.  I thoroughly enjoyed my summer but decided I wanted to explore other job opportunities that were available.  I knew that the recruiting process would be different in the age of COVID-19, but I was willing to adjust and cast my net to see what I could catch.  

As most people interested in consulting are aware, case interviews are a pivotal part of the recruiting process.  Before the pandemic, we had the opportunity to practice casing in person with our classmates.  We had teams and groups that would practice drills together and participate in mock interviews.  The pandemic didn’t stop the collaborative recruiting environment that Stern fosters.  My classmates and I organized virtual meetups where we could practice casing and run through math problems.  Through the Management Consulting Association, I also received exclusive access and discounts to prep websites.  I was even able to take a Consulting Interview Readiness Assessment, which highlighted my strengths and weaknesses when walking through case interviews.  My classmates and MCA club members extended themselves to ensure that I was prepared for the interview season that was quickly approaching.

The second-year recruiting process is much more expedited when compared to the first-year student process.  Companies were not able to come on campus to host events, but they did host multiple information sessions via Zoom.  Stern alumni were also happy to talk to me about their experiences at various companies I was interested in applying to.  This isn’t behavior that was unique to the pandemic; Sternies are always willing to connect if you reach out to them with questions. 

Once I was done attending virtual info sessions, I applied to the companies that were on my shortlist.  Within a few days, employees from each company reached out to me to set up individual calls to chat about the company as well as help me prep for interviews.  These representatives walked me through how their company would be conducting interviews and made sure I was comfortable with the new set up.  They also answered any outstanding questions I had.  These pre-interview touchpoints really made me feel comfortable and confident going in to interview day.

On interview day, I got up and prepared myself as I would for any other interview, minus putting on real pants.  I did some meditation, put on a dress shirt and blazer, set up my ring light, and reviewed my notes one final time.  Each company I interviewed for included some form of online analysis before moving to one-on-one interviews.  Since I had passed those, I was able to move on to the zoom interview rounds.  The interviews were a lot less stressful than I had anticipated.  Interviewers were forgiving of technical glitches.  Some even fielded distractions from kids or pets.  I did have to talk through my cases a bit more since my interviewer couldn’t see my paperwork, but I had no problem doing so.  I ended the day feeling confident and reassured about the entire process.

Recruiting remotely isn’t ideal, but it’s the world we live in right now.  Both Stern and corporations have done a tremendous job adapting to the changing times.  I’m thankful that I was able to go through the process successful and appreciative of all of the resources I had along the way.

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Club Activities and Involvement During COVID-19

Asad Farooqi is an MBA2 and spent the summer as a Product Manager at Amazon and will be returning there full-time after graduation. He serves as Co-President of the South Asian Business Association at Stern (SABAS), and holds leadership positions in the Arts, Culture, Cuisine (ACC) and CannaBusiness clubs. He is specializing in Strategy and Product Management.

 

It would be an understatement to say that this fall semester has followed any traditional or expected path. As the new class of MBAs started rolling it, we realized early on that even with a hybrid approach to school-life, we would be making a lot of adjustments not just to how we approached classes and group work, but also in terms of maintaining a bustling roster of club events. Student-run clubs are one of the most rewarding and engaging aspects of the Stern community and preserving their inherent awesomeness and ability to bring people together through shared interests was top-of-mind as the semester began. Being personally involved with a few of the boards (including the South Asian Business Association, CannaBusiness, Arts, Culture, and Cuisine Club), I got a firsthand view into the planning process during this tumultuous time.

There were a couple of significant challenges that popped up as planning continued. The first was our inability to host in-person events given that the city and university guidelines led to limited options. The second factor was the inevitable Zoom-fatigue that has been all-too-common as the semester progressed, which makes participation and engagement less likely. Our respective boards, in conjecture with Student Government and the Office of Student Affairs, formulated several experimental social and professional club-organized events. Some examples of the type of events that we’ve never had before at Stern include virtual speed networking, online cocktail and food preparation courses, and even a digitally-hosted Stern Speaks (where a handful of amazing MBA students share their life stories). As the situation in NYC started getting better in terms of COVID-19, the school administration eased up on certain restrictions that allowed us to plan socially-distant, in-person events to try to bring back a semblance of normalcy to our city routines. That led to hiking trips upstate, food treks in the city, and the occasional picnic in the park. All with masks and ample precautions.

Given the unorthodox start to the semester, especially for the incoming class, the entire administration and second-year class wanted to ensure that the students in the city, and attending classes virtually from all across the world, could still partake in all of the rich business school experiences. While we are all dearly missing out international trips and large gatherings, the spirit of NYU Stern and its sense of community has been strong throughout the past few months. As we wind down the first fully online semester at Stern, our ability to persevere and maintain a bustling social events calendar has been very rewarding. We hope that the next few months allow us to expand on these activities, but the essence of our experiences is still being captured, albeit in a very different fashion.

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Maintaining a Strong Community in a Virtual Setting

Kathleen Dillon is an MBA2 at Stern. Prior to business school, she spent six years as an officer in the Coast Guard and two years working for the New York Mets. At Stern, she serves on the board of the Military Veterans Club and the Management Consulting Association. Her academic specializations are Global Business and Business Analytics.

 

 

As I entered my first year at Stern last fall, I knew that business school would be filled with unique experiences and unexpected surprises.  But one thing I definitely did not anticipate was encountering a pandemic during my time in school.

            As the cases of COVID-19 increased in New York City last spring, Stern made the decision in mid-March to move all of our classes online for the remainder of the semester. During spring break, I was also scheduled to take part in Stern’s Doing Business In program in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Unfortunately, the trip was cancelled. Definitely a disappointing turn of events but I certainly understood why Stern had to take these actions.

            Toward the end of the summer, my classmates and I were notified that classes would be conducted in a hybrid environment. Essentially, this meant that some of our classes would be completely in person, some completely online, and others a mix of both. I’m honestly not the best online learner so I’m grateful that Stern was able to allow for some classes to be conducted in person. Out of the five classes I’m taking this fall, two are in person and three are remote. Being inside the business school building for my in-person classes feel very safe as Stern has taken multiple precautions to ensure the safety of the NYU community including biweekly COVID-19 testing of students and faculty as well as mask wearing and social distancing procedures.

            Outside the classroom, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with how much I’ve been able to continue building relationships with my classmates! I’ve met with friends in parks and outdoor spaces throughout New York. A few weeks ago, one of our classmates was participating in an endurance run in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. A few of us got together to cheer him on and we even ran a lap of the park with him. Many restaurants and bars in New York have also created outdoor dining spaces and I’ve enjoyed getting to take advantage of outdoor dining before it gets too cold.

            When we began LAUNCH last fall, this certainly wasn’t the business school experience that my classmates and I envisioned for ourselves. And yet I can’t help but be left with a feeling of deep gratitude. So many people’s lives have been completely upended by COVID-19. I’m incredibly grateful that my family and I have remained in good health and that I’ve had the opportunity to continue my education at Stern even if the day-to-day looks a little different than I thought it would when I entered business school last fall.

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Summer Internship Series: Stifel

Sam is an MBA2 specializing in finance, business analytics and strategy.  At Stern, he serves as a VP of Mentorship with the Private Equity & Venture Capital Club and VP of Communications with the Entrepreneurship & Start-Up Association in addition to other leadership roles on campus. Sam graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2015 with a Bachelor’s in Molecular and Cell Biology.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds lights into Sternies’ internships. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

I recruited in the fall with a class of nearly a hundred Stern students for Investment Banking. Unlike most of my classmates, I did not secure my internship offer in the second week of January. After on-campus interviews and final round interviews had finished, I was without an offer and faced with the difficult task of recruiting in the Spring recruiting cycle. Instead of perceiving my process as failed and broken, I stayed positive, doubled down on my interview preparation, invested time in networking and moved forward. In the subsequent weeks, I went through a series of first round and Super Day interviews and in the second week of February was relieved to receive an internship offer at Stifel. 

I started my internship in June and was fortunate to be placed with the group with which I had the most interactions during the recruiting process, the Global Technology Group. The Global Technology Group at Stifel had recently acquired a boutique middle-market technology, Mooreland Partners, that specialized in middle-market technology M&A deals. As a result, the Global Technology Group grew to over 100 investment bankers around the world and significantly enhanced its senior experience across sub-verticals. I sat  (virtually) in New York City, the global headquarters, and worked with colleagues in San Francisco, London, China, Japan, Germany, Brasil and Israel among many other nations. Over the course of the summer, my staffers exposed me to each of the four verticals in the Global Technology Group: Software, Electronics & Industrial Technologies, Tech-Enabled Services and Internet & Digital Media while maximizing my interactions with as many bankers in the group as possible.

One of the amazing parts of my internship was working with over thirty investment bankers in New York City from all levels: first year Analysts through seasoned Managing Directors. I gained exposure to senior leadership across the firm in Consumer Retail, Healthcare, Gaming and Technology through programmed virtual, yet intimate, fireside chats. In these small group settings, the other Summer Associates and I gleaned valuable insights into how many of the senior bankers built their careers – some of them had transitioned from MBAs into Investment Banking themselves. It was a nice way to learn more about the future of the career path and how the responsibilities will increase at each level in Investment Banking.

Overall, I got to see two live sell-side processes, a buy-side process, an endless number of pitches and multiple cross-collaborations between different coverage groups across through firm. It was interesting to observe different stages of the deal process through different deals. For example, one deal showed me how a deal is initiated through an exclusive advisory agreement and management call with the C-suite team while another deal exposed me to a more advanced staged of a deal after a confidential information memorandum (CIM) had been completed and the deal team was going to market. In all, the experience helped me see how deals progress through managing day-to-day transaction execution.  In addition to working on live deals, I worked on client facing marketing material that the group uses to garner interest from investors, sponsors and strategics. I had the opportunity to dig into some interesting sub-verticals in the group including Cyber Security and Enterprise Software to update the materials with the latest market research and competitive analyses. It was an incredibly stimulating and educational experience that showed me the role of Investment Bankers in advising companies on strategic and financial decisions.

While my process was atypical compared with many of my peers and classmates, it taught me a few valuable lessons that I will take with me into the future of my career. For one, struggling to secure an offer instilled in me the importance of perseverance in approaching adversity. It is important to stay positive when working toward a goal and to control what is in one’s control: attitude, preparation and execution. The experience also inculcated in me a deep appreciation for the power of the Stern community and brand. I owe a lifetime of thanks to the alumni, office of career development, MBA2s and my MBA1 peers who provided moral support and constructive feedback throughout the process. I’m thankful to the Stern network, in particular Serena Lu, an ex-Stifel investment banker and Stern graduate who helped me navigate the recruiting process on-campus for Stifel. Lastly, I’m grateful for my friends and family who made the hard work, late nights, early mornings and everything in between worth the challenge and effort.

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Summer Internship Series: Kalypso

Lanesha is an MBA2 specializing in digital strategy and marketing.  Prior to Stern, she worked within Accenture’s federal practice as a technology consulting analyst, helping different government agencies implement and maintain technology systems.  At Stern, she serves as the VP of Treks for the Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students. Lanesha graduated from Howard University in 2015 with a B.B.A. in Supply Chain Management.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds lights into Sternies’ internships. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

This summer I’m interning at Kalypso, a boutique consulting firm that specializes in digital projects.  I had a unique recruiting experience; I recruited at the Consortium conference last summer and received a couple of offers before starting school.  Prior to signing for my internship, I made it crystal clear what type of work I did and did not want to do.  Pre-Stern I worked for Accenture in their federal practice as a software implementation analyst.  My roles were very tech-heavy and I was intent on trying something different for my internship.  I expressed to the recruiter that I wanted to work on a strategy focused project within the retail sector and they delivered exactly what I asked for.

My client for the summer is a 60-billion-dollar department store and we are helping them launch their digital product creation program.  Instead of having physical clothing samples that are shipped around the world, everything will be created digitally.  It’s actually pretty cool to see a designer’s sketch of a hoodie turned into a 3D creation that looks realistic.

The hardest part of my summer has been to integrate with teams that I haven’t met in person.  My team is close knit and they have built strong relationships with our clients.  It took me a little bit of time to figure out how to best communicate with my team and what unspoken standards existed for deliverables.  I looked at these obstacles as a learning opportunity.  I pushed myself out of my comfort zone to speak up when I was confused, set up virtual one-on-ones to ask questions, and attend zoom happy hours to network with my colleagues.

I’ve been given several different parts of our project to own and have had considerable face to face time with our clients.  I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the amount of trust my team has in me to execute different tasks – I feel like a full-time employee on our team.  I’ve also been able to be involved in different internal initiatives such as the launch of a new Employee Resource Group and the creation of a recruiting strategy for diverse candidates.

Working remotely was not the vision I had for my summer, but I consider myself blessed to have still had a full 12-week internship experience.  Since I am at home all day long, I’ve had to develop new routines to keep myself focused such as having a dedicated workout schedule, an organized workspace, and a planned-out to-do list for the day.  Although I was looking forward to traveling this summer and racking up the loyalty points, working virtually gives me a glimpse into potential post-COVID changes in the consulting industry.  I think the future consultant lifestyle will still include a significant amount of travel, but there will definitely be more opportunities to work virtually.

I am excited to get back to Stern this fall and hear about the experiences my classmates have had at other consulting firms.  This summer is not what we were expecting, but I know my fellow Sternies have done their best to make lemonade out of lemons.  This summer has given me more perspective as to what I want to do post-MBA and I plan to spend my last year at Stern taking advantage of every opportunity that comes my way.

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Summer Internship Series: Acumen

Rizwana Iqbal is a rising MBA2. Prior to Stern, she was working with the Government of India to develop the national healthcare innovation commercialization ecosystem. She is a technology enthusiast by profession and singer by heart. Bookworm, fitness freak, self-confessed foodie (and cook!). An explorer and an incurable dreamer!

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds lights into Sternies’ internships. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

Despite the impact of coronavirus, I got the opportunity to pursue my summer internship in the company I had my heart set on – Acumen, a global nonprofit that is changing the way the world tackles poverty by investing in sustainable businesses, leaders, and ideas. Given my background in technology and finance, I felt like impact investing was the best articulation of my skills, a platform which would enable me to create impact, while harnessing my strengths. Thanks to SternWorks and Yassin Choye from Acumen, I secured my internship with the Office of the Chief Investment Officer at Acumen. This global team supports Acumen’s portfolio across regions. Acumen focuses heavily on post-investment support for portfolio companies, which the company calls “accompaniment.” As part of my summer internship, I focused on how to refine Acumen’s value proposition for accompaniment across Africa, India, Latin America, and the United States.

While I have always enjoyed solving business problems, two classes at Stern really helped me perform well during my internship. Prof Marcinao’s strategy class taught me to think through problems in small steps and build towards an eventual solution. Her “high weight high variance” strategy is the mantra of my life. The implementation of my summer project needed behavioral change within the organization. This is where Prof Joe Magee’s leadership lectures helped me. I spent the ten weeks trying to understand the employees and the problems they faced and, hence, was able to eventually suggest a solution that could have the requisite results with minimal input, while shifting the organization towards a more data-driven culture. The skills of listening, negotiating and securing buy-in for new ideas, all of which we had touched upon in lectures, helped me turn my summer into a successful one.

The Acumen team that I worked with over summer provided me with an incomparable experience. The internship delivered on all the promises that I expected from an organization like Acumen. Acumen has strong, powerful women in most of the leadership positions and the culture is one of empathy, a place where you can bring your true self and your truth to work. My mentor ensured that although I was working remotely, I felt like I was an important part of the team. He introduced me to my team, the global teams and the leadership. Every Friday, we would have water-cooler meetings, where we would answer questions from a chat pack, discuss Jacqueline Novogratz’s book “Manifesto for  a Moral Revolution” and talk about current issues. These meetings allowed me to know the team and allowed them to understand me. We all shared our life stories and it created a beautiful bond of trust within the team. My direct manager was brilliant. She was confident and secure in her work. She allowed me to be creative, helped me when I needed guidance, and always made me feel heard.

While I am sad that the summer is over, I am also grateful that even amidst the challenges posed by coronavirus and remote working, my team made the effort to ensure that I always felt included and got the most out of my experience.

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Summer Internship Series: Facebook

Michael Graf is a rising MBA2. Prior to Stern, he worked at J.P. Morgan Chase as a Reputation Risk Associate. This fall, he will be serve as the Co-President of OutClass, an Orientation Leader, a Leadership Fellow, and a Graduate Ambassador. Michael is working towards specializations in Strategy and Leadership & Change Management, and enjoys crossword puzzles, snowboarding, and reading historical fiction. 

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds lights into Sternies’ internships. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

Today is my last day as an Integrity Program Manager at Facebook. While you might expect that I would be focused only on off-boarding and saying goodbyes, I am actually spending my last few hours in this role working closely with a data scientist to implement my summer project into our team’s product review process. 

My three months at Facebook have been rewarding because of the responsibilities my manager and team have entrusted me with. I was tasked with defining what Integrity ‘success’ looks like for product launches: essentially, asking how Facebook can measure the likelihood that a new product will allow for problematic content like spam, fake accounts, or abuse. More importantly, I was asked to define the effectiveness of our Integrity teams at reducing or mitigating the prevalence and effect of bad content. 

I was initially overwhelmed by the ambiguity of my project and the challenge of tackling something so huge while navigating a new industry and company. Facebook defines success as having impact, and without a background in tech, I wondered how I could present and execute innovative solutions in a few short weeks. I spent my first week furiously googling engineering and coding jargon to simply understand my coworkers. I also questioned my ability to design a solution that would be applicable to the variety of spaces that Facebook works in. How could I create a process that worked for Groups, Dating, Fundraisers, and Gaming? Facebook is a vast platform and risk presents itself in so many different ways.

While these dynamics were obstacles, I came to view them more as opportunities. The wide scope of my project gave me a foot in the door with integrity teams across Facebook. I met with and learned the pain points of teams tasked with protecting the user’s experience with ads, News Feed, and Stories, among many others. I turned these diverse relationships into a working group to receive weekly feedback on my idea for a comprehensive risk assessment for teams across the company. Additionally, I leveraged my background in risk management to recommend additional use cases for the risk assessment, including identifying integrity gaps, surfacing high risk product launches, and tracking risk reduction. This framing helped my project land with leadership and connected my work to our team level efficiency goal for the year.

I also drew from my coursework at Stern to drive home my initiative and the quality of my work product. I recall hearing Professor Pettit’s voice in my head during a team-wide meeting my first week, “Don’t wait to lead,” as I built up the confidence to share my opinion on the value of risk quantification. I knew from his class, Leadership in Organizations, that leadership can be achieved at any level. By highlighting the value of risk quantification in comparison to the team’s status quo (even in my first week!), I built credibility and inspired my teammates to believe in the value of my project. I am grateful to Stern for equipping me with a toolkit to approach a challenging project in a new industry with confidence.

With the incredible support of my team and engagement from cross-functional partners, I designed a quantifiable risk assessment for all new end-user products on Facebook. My team of seventeen committed to adopting my plan, and I had the opportunity to pitch my solution to integrity teams across Instagram, Oculus, and Messenger. 

The combination of my coursework at Stern, my background in risk management, and my willingness to assert my ideas and ask for feedback enabled me to execute my ambitious project plan. I am thankful to my colleagues for giving me runway to explore a huge challenge for the company and believing in my ability to make an impact.

 

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Summer Internship Series: Boston Consulting Group

Emily Glaser is a rising MBA2. Prior to Stern, she spent four years at Restaurant Brands International in communications and marketing for the Burger King brand. At Stern, Emily serves on Student Government and the Graduate Marketing Association. She loves dogs, musical theater, and hiking.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds lights into Sternies’ internships. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

This summer, I’m interning at BCG as a Summer Consultant. And that is a sentence I never expected for myself.

When I came to Stern, I was intending to recruit for brand management at a traditional CPG company. My background was in marketing at a fast food chain, and I was interested in continuing to grow my skillset as a marketer. But throughout the fall semester at Stern, I learned about the mysterious world of consulting and found work that truly interested me. I decided to challenge myself and took a leap of faith into a completely new career path!

But what do consultants do? What do YOU do, Emily? Great questions, Mom.

At the base level, consultants find opportunities for improvement at companies across the world and build them a path forward. We help when clients are too close to an issue to see things clearly or too busy driving the bus to fix the exhaust and carburetor at the same time. We’re problem solvers, guiding our clients hand-in-hand toward success.

And as for me specifically, this summer I’m staffed on an end-to-end transformation for a global personal care company. We want to help them listen to their customers better, interpret their needs, and efficiently deliver products that will improve their lives.

My portion of the case has been to analyze and improve the process they use to launch new products across their vast portfolio. I was incredibly nervous to come in as a new summer consultant and be given a topic to own from the first week – how should I know how they should launch personal care products? I only know about burgers and chicken nuggets! But the team has been incredibly helpful in guiding me through my research and analysis, and in only 5 weeks (so far) I’ve already learned an incredible amount. I’ve learned how to frame a high-level ambiguous problem and break it up into digestible questions that can be tackled individually. I’ve developed insights that spurred meaningful discussions with the client about strategic change. And I’ve learned the humility to always ask questions when you feel unsure.

The advice I’d give to MBA1s or those applying for business school is to always be open to learning. You may come to Stern knowing exactly what you want to be, but that can be upended in a moment. And that’s a good thing. There may end up being several different career paths to help you achieve your goals. You may even find new paths and opportunities that excite you! Being open to new paths led me to BCG, which has been one of my greatest learning experiences thus far. I’ll be returning full-time after graduation, and my goal throughout my career here is to always be open to listening and learning.

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Summer Internship Series: Amazon

Asad Farooqi is a rising MBA2 and is interning over the summer as a Product Manager at Amazon. He serves as Co-President of the South Asian Business Association at Stern (SABAS), and holds leadership positions in the Arts, Culture, Cuisine (ACC) and CannaBusiness clubs. He is specializing in Strategy and Product Management and hopes to continue working in tech after Stern.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds lights into Sternies’ internships. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

After a busy but extremely fun and memorable first year at Stern, this was supposed to be the dream summer in Seattle. Instead, I am writing to you from my apartment in NY, out of which I have been rolling out of bed and onto my desk to ‘dive deep’ at Amazon over the last five weeks. Even with a remote start to the internship experience, this has been one of the most educational and fascinating work experiences I have had to date. After slowly adjusting to a completely new way of work vis-à-vis COVID-19, it has been interesting to spend most of the day having unfettered focus for my assigned projects. It gives me a lot of time to really reflect and apply all the little nuggets of wisdom that I have gathered from Stern and my previous work experiences and leverage them in the work I do on a daily basis.

As a PM working with the Amazon Renewed team (refurbished items), it is my responsibility to evaluate performance metrics that measure the quality of products, and determine composite metrics that can capture a wider extent of the customer experience. This involves getting into the details of what constitutes an ideal customer experience and working backwards to determine how much of that experience can be quantified and captured to uncover ways to drive improvements in quality. Working through such a project requires interacting with multiple stakeholders across Amazon, as well as learning how to leverage data analytic tools and business processes to answer questions more effectively.

My experience at Stern has given me a more robust understanding of fundamental business concepts like statistics and strategy and has also taught me to become a better leader and take ownership of my work. The project scope was the only thing communicated to me at the beginning of the internship, along with a note that “we’re looking forward to your leadership over the summer.” Having taken some invaluable courses over the last two semesters, I felt fully prepared to work through the uncertainty and uncover interesting insights along the way. Some days are long, and some are longer. I did not realize how quickly day turns to night when you’re sitting in your room and working away, but that is also a testament to the engaging nature of the work itself. There is always that ‘a-ha!’ moment during the week, when you’ve figured out a particularly challenging roadblock, and that usually serves as motivation to keep on thinking about the work for the rest of the day.

There is still time left in the summer for a bit of rest and relaxation before the semester begins again. With NY having gone through the worst of the crisis (fingers crossed), we are all looking forward to being able to convene in-person soon. The sense of community has not diminished during all this time. All of us are constantly in touch, sharing our summer experiences and joking around as much as we can since we are all excited about returning to campus in any capacity in the Fall. We hope to see you all here soon, and please do feel free to reach out with any questions that you might have about Amazon, recruitment, Stern, NY, or anything about business school in general.

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Summer Internship Series: Apple

 Najma Yakob is a rising MBA2 and is an Operations Product Development Intern at Apple. Najma serves as the Co-President of Stern Women in Business and as an Orientation Leader and Career Mentor. She is specializing in Business Analytics, Strategy, and Sustainable Business and Innovation.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds lights into Sternies’ internships. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

I’m halfway into my virtual summer internship with Apple and I can confidently say that I did not expect to be here a year ago. I’m on the Operations Product Development team and my focus for the summer is on scaling Apple’s current efforts to transition its manufacturing supply chain to 100% renewable energy.

Prior to Stern, I worked at a small tech company focused on renewable energy, and then in consulting helping electric utilities buy and sell renewable energy. I knew early on that I wanted to go back to the tech industry because I loved the culture and I enjoyed working on dynamic teams with flat reporting structures. As a result, I was lucky to secure a role that capitalized on my prior experience as most tech companies prefer to recruit individuals who can quickly contribute to their role.

The most surprising thing about my internship so far, the virtual part notwithstanding, is how much I do feel like I’m part of the team. I’d never worked with MBA interns before so I wasn’t sure whether I would own a few transactional tasks but for the most part be relegated to the background. To my pleasant surprise, I’ve been given direct ownership of some high visibility initiatives the team is working on and although this has raised the stakes for me, it’s also been gratifying to feel like I’m working on something that actually matters. I’ve been lucky to be placed in a small and somewhat specialized team which has allowed them to give me support and attention that would not be possible in a larger team. All in all, I’m really enjoying my experience and am looking forward to what the next few weeks will bring.

Regarding the virtual experience, it’s definitely easy to get caught up in what could have been and the unrealized dreams I had of a summer in the Bay Area getting to know my fellow interns and experiencing the west coast. Doing the internship from the comfort of my Brooklyn apartment has been both easier and harder than I initially anticipated. On the one hand, I’ve been more readily able to channel the confidence and experience I’ve gained in just my first year in the MBA. Certain tasks that I would have been unsure about prior to Stern feel easier and more achievable. On the other hand, it’s been more work than I would have expected to put myself out there in order to make connections and get things done. Where I would have more easily met people in passing in the hallways or during social events, it’s been a valuable learning experience to proactively invest time and effort into remotely meeting new people.

For those unsure about what next summer or even what the next year will look like, I can confidently say that I’ve developed a deeper ability to be patient and take each day as it comes this year. As a planner, it’s been frustrating and sometimes heartbreaking to let go of the big ideas I had for my time in business school. However, I’ve also learned to be grateful for the fantastic experiences I’ve had and the great connections I’ve been able to make with my classmates and my co-workers. I highly recommend keeping an open mind and being as flexible as possible. I often reflect on the fact that a career is a journey and each moment, whether positive or negative, is building towards a bigger picture that we can’t yet see. Believe in yourself and hold on to the idea that everything will work out as it should!

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Summer Internship Series: Gratitude Railroad

Kathleen Dillon is a rising MBA2 at Stern. Prior to business school, she spent six years as an officer in the Coast Guard and two years working for the New York Mets. At Stern, she serves on the board of the Military Veterans Club and  the Management Consulting Association. Her academic specializations are Global Business and Business Analytics.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds lights into Sternies’ internships. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

I’m really enjoying my internship experience so far although it was a bit of a roller coaster to get here. Back in mid-March, I accepted a strategy-focused internship offer with the Philadelphia Flyers. Unfortunately, after the NHL season was suspended due to COVID-19, the Flyers had to cancel their internship program. All that to say that as Stern’s school year came to a close, I was still looking for an internship.

In response to the devastating impacts of COVID-19 throughout the country, Stern created a summer internship program called “SternWorks”. The program was created to give students the opportunity to take on projects with companies, non-profit organizations, and government agencies negatively impacted by the coronavirus. Through SternWorks, I was accepted into a 10-week internship program with Gratitude Railroad, a venture capital and impact investing firm.

Gratitude Railroad’s venture capital arm focuses on investing in startups that are tackling some of society’s most difficult issues. I’ve had the opportunity to do due diligence for potential investments in companies focused on food waste reduction, clean energy, and childhood education. Not only has interacting with these entrepreneurs been incredibly inspiring, but it has also been deeply informative. I was in the military prior to Stern and have very little business experience, so having the opportunity to be exposed to so many different markets and industries has been a huge opportunity for me.

In addition to assisting Gratitude Railroad’s investment team, I’ve also been working with the organization’s Head of Strategic Initiatives on various strategy-focused projects including website revamping, community outreach, and multiple internal process improvements. Despite my internship being virtual, I’ve become close to the others on my team and have had a fantastic experience so far. And it’s only half over!

Please feel free to reach out to me anytime — my email is kathleen.dillon@nyu.edu. I’m happy to answer any questions you have about life at Stern!

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Inclusivity at Stern: An LGBTQ Perspective

Gage Kaefring is a current MBA2 and will be joining PwC Strategy& in their Healthcare Strategy and Operations practice upon graduation from the full-time, two-year program. At Stern, Gage serves as the co-president of OutClass, the LGBTQ student group on campus, and as the VP of Marketing for Stern Chats, the Stern podcast. He is specializing in Leadership, Strategy, and Analytics.

 

When I was applying to business schools nearly two years ago, I knew it was going to be nearly impossible not to be out in my application. I had served on the board of an LGBTQ advocacy group in Minneapolis for several years and at the time was one of the lead volunteer coordinators for an LGBTQ youth center in Seattle. I was also the head of my office’s LGBTQ Employee Resource Group and you really just had to take a cursory look at my Instagram to see a plethora of rainbow flags. Going back into the closet simply wasn’t an option.

It was because of this position that I thoroughly evaluated the prevalence of the LGBTQ student communities for each of my potential schools. Of all the schools I applied to, Stern’s was easily the most engaged. They called me before my on-campus interview and I was able to meet with a current student immediately after the interview concluded to get her perspective. The then-presidents of the organization fielded my questions and made it clear that they would be thrilled should I gain acceptance. 

Through a stroke of incredible fortune I did manage to gain admittance to Stern and the notion of a tight-knit, queer family turned out to be far more than I had ever hoped. In business school, recruiting starts early. Like, really early, almost as soon as you set foot on campus. For the LGBTQ students it starts even earlier. The national Reaching Out MBA (ROMBA) organization hosts a conference before most on-campus recruiting starts and queer students are tossed immediately overboard into the sea of corporate presentations, networking, and even interviews before their peers. Luckily, the second year MBAs (MBA 2s) at Stern are right beside you, treading water and helping you stay afloat. Their enthusiasm for your success is at the same time endearing and empowering. You feel like you have a genuine cheerleader, or, to beat this metaphor to death, a lifeguard.

This past year, it was my turn to shepherd the MBA 1s through their ROMBA experience. Having been thrown in just last year I knew how exciting, energizing and overwhelming the conference is. More than 30 schools are represented and nearly 100 companies, each bringing their best, most accomplished, most well-dressed queer representatives to network and hear lectures on different industries. This past year the conference took place in Atlanta and I approached my role as the facilitator MBA 1s with an enthusiasm that, looking back on it, probably unnerved them just a bit. Each year Stern turns out one of the largest contingents to this conference and this year was no different. A cadre of MBA2s helped our younger classmates network, get into the right events and, most importantly, truly enjoy the conference. Obviously in Atlanta, this last piece means visiting the Coca-Cola Museum (it was also Atlanta Pride, so I was sporting my best rainbow bandana).

While OutClass may be a powerful example of the communities Stern is capable of building, it is only one piece of the broader community. On the LGBTQ front I have seen some incredible support from my classmates, both straight and otherwise. Everyone on campus gives you license to truly be yourself and not fear any judgement. They celebrate your identities with you and are genuinely interested. There’s no better example of the ally community showing up for OutClass than our end-of-year party. Appropriately named School is Out and So Are We, it is the final celebration of the school year and an absolutely joyous occasion for the entire Stern community to come together. It also helps that there is a wildly entertaining student drag show midway through the evening.

The level of commitment that Stern students show to their community has been easily the best feature of business school for me and I am so grateful to be surrounded by such caring people, gay, straight, and otherwise.

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Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone in Business School

Sami Abdisubhan is an MBA2 who spent his summer internship at Anheuser-Busch. Sami serves as VP of Marketing & Operations for Stern in Africa (SiA), VP of Training for Stern FC, and Co-President of the Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students (AHBBS). He is specializing in Marketing and Business Analytics.

 

 

One of the values of earning an MBA is exploration. Whether it’s exploring a new industry, function, city, or experience, there lies opportunity in an unusually supported manner when at business school. A subset of this value proposition is something NYU Stern’s Dean, Dean Raghu Sundaram, said to us on our first day of LAUNCH, Stern’s orientation: business school is the best time in your careers to fail. Despite the irony that I’m paraphrasing, this was a moment that I’ve cherished from orientation. There is no safer environment to professionally experiment than business school. The stakes will not be lower! This line from our Dean helped me get through an experiential learning class I took in my first year called Consulting Lab: Branding and Innovation.

Coming into Stern, I wanted to pivot my career into consumer marketing with a focus on brand management. While brand management is effectively a general management function, there is a responsibility to own how a brand is portrayed and understood and that has always been my interest and passion in marketing. When available, I jumped at the opportunity to register for Consulting Lab, knowing it was an experiential learning class; experiential learning, as it sounds, is a format of learning obtained through real-life projects and business challenges. I saw this class as a way to train myself before my summer internship, brand management at Anheuser-Busch, in that fail-safe environment that Dean Sundaram mentioned.

When I started the class, I was very excited to hear from the client about the challenge they brought to us. There was a thrill to it: a large financial services firm was coming to us, graduate students, to support a project with which they genuinely needed help! A slight problem arose: I didn’t understand the challenge. The prompt was clear to me and I understood the need for the project from the client’s side – I just didn’t know where to start. For the most part, my project team was in the same boat and as the solutions-oriented people we are, our minds immediately went to products/changes the client could implement to fix the problem. However, we were quickly reminded that we didn’t understand the problem fundamentally and hadn’t gone through the right analysis to get there.

This start was not what I had hoped. Not just because of the slight project-related hiccup, but also because this is my aspired career. I’ve planned for this since I started writing business school essays. Was I wrong? Will my summer internship be a nightmare? These thoughts and questions had me considering dropping the class as some others – not on my team – had done. However, one of my goals before starting at Stern was to create a different experience than my undergraduate experience. In college, I wasn’t really involved in extracurriculars and didn’t challenge myself, both of which I regretted. The 20-year-old me would’ve dropped this class after the second session for no other reason than to avoid difficulty. Not this time. Again, harkening back to the idea of a failing to learn, I made sure to embrace being out of the comfort zone.

This does have a happy ending: in one of our group project meetings, as my team members were brainstorming, all of it clicked. I literally let out a big “Ohhhhhhhhh. I got it. ” From then on, we went to do very well in the class, presented a viable solution to the client’s executives and, after impressing, earned a good mark overall. Coincidentally, my summer project at Anheuser-Busch was incredibly creative in nature, focusing on advertising. My experience doing branding-related work in Consulting Lab was by far the most influential to my success over the summer and converting my internship into a full-time offer of all the classes I had taken first year. For that, I’m thankful I was able to reflect in the moment to think back to my MBA goals prior to starting and we were reminded during orientation that there is no other time to try and fail and to not run away from failure than business school.

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My Path to Business School: Reflections from an MBA1

 Lee Axelrod is an MBA1 who will be interning in brand management at Bazooka Candy Brands this summer. Lee serves as the co-president of Stern Cellar and the VP of Knowledge Management for the Gradate Marketing Association. She is specializing in Marketing and Strategy. 

 

 

 

As my first year at Stern is coming to a close, it feels like a good time to reflect on my experience and how I got here. During my initial weeks on campus, I would often pause in astonishment as I realized that I was actually in an MBA program. Until a few years ago, it had never occurred to me that I could go to business school, so occasionally I would be amazed that I’m really here. However, as the weeks passed and I got more accustomed to my new lifestyle, I acclimated to the experience of being an MBA student and started taking for granted all of the incredible opportunities that I have at Stern. So now I want to take a step back and focus on why I’m here and how grateful I am that I ended up in business school.

Growing up, I was always passionate about reading and art, so it’s not surprising that I chose to major in English and Studio Art in college. I went to Stanford for undergrad and while I valued the opportunity to take classes in a variety of disciplines, I mostly stuck to the arts and humanities during my time there. I became so enthralled with literature that I even decided to apply for a master’s program in English at Stanford, which I completed in one year after finishing my bachelor’s degree. At the time, I was considering getting a Ph.D and going into academia, so pursuing a master’s seemed like a good way to determine if a Ph.D would actually be the right fit for me. I quickly realized that academia was not where I belonged. While I still loved reading, analyzing texts, and writing papers, I hated sitting alone in my apartment all day. I craved human interaction and I really wanted to be part of something bigger than myself. After I finished my degree, I eagerly left academia and sought real-world employment.

When I left school, I was determined to work in an industry that I was passionate about. After searching for a while, I finally landed a job at a small publishing company in San Francisco as a sales and marketing assistant. The publishing world seemed like a great fit for me: it was full of smart, intellectual people who also loved books. I learned a lot in my first role and wanted to broaden my publishing experience, so after a year I moved to Wiley, a large academic publishing company. I started in their San Francisco office as a Sales Support Coordinator, working with our textbook sales reps. 

While I was at Wiley, I discovered that I enjoyed corporate life a lot more than I expected. I performed well in my first job, and within a year I was promoted to manage the team as a Sales Support Supervisor. I moved from the San Francisco office to the Hoboken, New Jersey headquarters for the position. Becoming a manager introduced many new challenges, but I loved being able to make important decisions and lead my team on key projects. In my first year as a manager, it occurred to me that I might appreciate having more senior roles in the future, and that one way to advance my career would be to get an MBA.

Although MBAs are common in many industries, they are quite rare in publishing. I only knew one or two colleagues who had gone to business school, so I had very few role models to look up to when considering this new career path. However, I did have several friends from Stanford who had since gone to business school, so I reached out to them to ask about their experience. I was concerned that an MBA program wouldn’t be a good fit for me; after all, I had avoided taking math and econ classes in college and I knew nothing about finance or accounting. I also didn’t know many people who had worked in banking or consulting and I felt that I might not fit in well with hundreds of students who had a vastly different professional experience from mine. I also thought that business students would be competitive, aggressive, elitist, or just bro-y. 

However, my Stanford friends assured me that their business school classmates did not fit the stereotype that I had envisioned. In fact, they told me that MBA students were a lot like Stanford students: smart, ambitious, and eager to work hard and play hard. Above all, they emphasized that MBA students weren’t elitist—they were just regular people hoping to advance their careers. And they said that business school wasn’t as competitive as I was imagining, and that business students did look out for each other and support one another. 

After thinking over all of this for a year or so, I finally decided to take the GMAT and apply to business school. I was still pretty hesitant about whether this plan would work out. For one thing, I wasn’t sure if I would get into any business schools—maybe they wouldn’t think I was a good fit. Once I started applying to business schools, I felt better about my prospects, but several early visits to MBA programs left me questioning my choice again as I wondered about the student community. Some schools still felt too competitive for me, and while I was eager to advance my career, I questioned whether I would make any friends in the process. However, the community at Stern felt different than my other on-campus visits—students seemed really supportive of each other, and I met other students from non-traditional backgrounds who were thriving. So when I got accepted to Stern and later decided to attend, I still had a few doubts but overall was fairly confident in my choice. 

I can now say that business school has been even better than I expected in all possible ways. First, the career opportunities and recruiting process have hugely exceeded my expectations. Stern provides so much support throughout the process, both from the Office of Career Development and from the professional clubs. I feel completely guided in my recruiting journey, rather than left to fend for myself. Second, the core classes in my first semester were more interesting and relevant than I’d anticipated, and I didn’t struggle with the quantitative courses as I had feared I would. The professors and TAs are really helpful, but beyond that, my fellow classmates are unbelievably supportive. When working on a group project or just a homework assignment, they have always helped me if I didn’t understand something—which happened less often than I thought it would.

Lastly and most importantly, the community at Stern is truly amazing. My classmates aren’t competitive—they’re really collaborative, both in the classroom and in the recruiting process. Best of all, I have met many incredible people at Stern and have made real friendships here. I never thought that I would connect deeply to so many people in a business school, but I do feel that I have meaningful relationships with many Stern classmates. There are a lot of other people here from non-traditional backgrounds, but even those coming from finance or consulting are friendly, caring, and fun to hang out with. Contrary to my expectations, they aren’t aggressive or elitist—they’re just regular people trying to advance their career and learn about business, like I am. Ultimately, I’ve realized that we all have a lot in common and we’re all working together to achieve our goals, which is what makes the Stern community so incredible. 

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Club Spotlight: AHBBS

Mahssa Mostajabi is an MBA2, who spent her summer internship on the US Consumer Digital team at Citi. Mahssa serves as the VP of Admissions for AHBBS, President of InSITE, and a host of Stern Chats. She is specializing in Business Analytics, Luxury Marketing, and Sustainable Business and Innovation.

 

As an MBA2, or second year, many students are heavily involved on campus in various professional, affinity, and social clubs and organizations. Personally, I have chosen to divvy up my time amongst: (1) Stern Chats, Stern’s podcast, in which I’m a host, (2) InSITE, an unofficial club that pairs graduate students across NYC with semester-long, startup consulting projects, in which I’m a president, and (3) Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students (AHBBS), an affinity club for hispanic and black students at Stern, in which I’m a VP of Admissions and ally. 

All of these organizations have been important to me and my time at Stern. InSITE has been important professionally. Many of the organization’s alumni went onto jobs and careers that mirror my own interests and have served as a great support, sounding board, and network as I try to recruit for product management roles at startups this year. I’ve also made valuable connections with founders and VCs through our consulting work with startups that I hope will be helpful to me during my recruiting process in the spring. 

The most impactful experience, however, has undoubtedly been my involvement with and role on the board of AHBBS. I applied to Stern through the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, an organization that promotes the advancement of hispanic, black, and native students in business. In addition, I attended Stern’s annual Discover Stern Fall Diversity Weekend, which provides a preview of Stern’s culture and curriculum, and Stern Perspectives Day, which presents prospective students with an opportunity to do your admissions interview with an AHBBS alum. All of these experiences were incredibly important during my application process. They gave me a chance to get to know Stern’s student body, determine if their values aligned with my own, and get a feel for what the next two years may be like for me. Consistently, I found incredible community from AHBBS’ members. One student in particular went out of her way to help me with the admissions process, answer my questions, and quell my fears. Ultimately, I decided that this was the differentiating factor for me and I chose to attend Stern as a result.

Coming onto campus, I knew that I wanted to pay back all that was given to me by AHBBS. As a first year student, I applied to AVP roles with both AHBBS and numerous other clubs and, while I received interviews, was ultimately not chosen for the roles. I decided to move forward with my involvement nonetheless and volunteered at the AHBBS events from which I had benefited greatly and continued to be an active member of the community. As a second year, there was an opportunity to become a VP of Admissions for AHBBS and I eagerly accepted the role. I’ve now had the honor of helping to plan the very same events I enjoyed and valued so much. I’m also further involved in admissions as a Graduate Ambassador within Stern’s MBA Admissions office and I’m incredibly thankful that I have the opportunity to give back so directly to the organizations and events that helped me get to Stern. 

Coming into Stern and an MBA in general can be overwhelming and there is always a scramble for the multitude of opportunities. However, in my experience, the right opportunities come to you if you stay engaged and pursue the things you value. All of my roles on campus are incredibly important to me and have been critical to my time at Stern. I am now thankful for the lesson that, while it may initially seem like an opportunity hasn’t worked out in the way you imagined, time has the ability to change your perspective and even reality. 

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Course Spotlight: Stern Consulting Corps

Eric Bauer is an MBA2, who spent his summer internship at at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Eric holds leadership roles on the European Business Society, the Luxury and Retail Club and the Stern Student Government. He is specializing in Business Analytics, Finance, and Management.

 

When I started the process of choosing a business school to attend, location became a crucial part of the decision for me. Being that I had lived in Oklahoma for many years, I knew that if I was going to move away from home, I wanted to move somewhere that would provide me with the most professional opportunities and exposure to potential employers. Thus, NYU Stern became the obvious choice due to its unparalleled location.

Stern’s positioning in the heart of Manhattan has not only allowed me to network with countless potential employers, but it has also given me the option to round-out my curriculum with real world, hands on consulting experiences through the Stern Consulting Corps (SCC) and Stern Solutions courses/programs. Stern’s relationships with potential employers in the city, coupled with the fact that so many company headquarters are just a short subway ride away from campus, made these things possible. Since I had decided to make a career switch and recruit for a consulting role, the opportunities provided through these two experiential learning programs have become extremely vital parts of my course load and have been instrumental in my success with securing a full-time consulting offer.

 In the Spring semester of my first year at Stern, I took part in the Stern Consulting Corps program. As part of this 3-credit course, I had the opportunity to work with a luxury gym headquartered here in NYC to help strategize their expansion across Europe. The semester involved bi-monthly meetings with the client at their offices here in NYC and concluded with a presentation and hand off of our recommendations to senior executives and C-suite members of the company. During our weekly scheduled class time, we received feedback and pointers from our professors, one of which was a former consultant herself, which provided for a no pressure environment in which to ask for help, coaching, and guidance. The Stern Consulting Corps was a great way to gain consulting experience before heading into my summer internship, and I truly feel as though it gave me a leg up when I arrived on day one and was expected to hit the ground running.

The completion of my summer internship validated that consulting is what I want to do upon graduating, and so, after having accepted a full-time offer, I knew I wanted to keep working on real projects with real clients once classes started back up in the fall. This is what led me to enroll in Stern’s Fashion & Luxury Solutions course. With this experiential class, I am working with a Fortune 500 beauty products company to help craft a growth strategy for one of their prestige skincare brands. Similar to the Consulting Corps, we meet with the client at their headquarters and via conference calls as we craft our deliverables, and have our professor to bounce ideas off of and discuss uncertainties with during the weekly scheduled class time. This current project has proven to be a valuable learning experience and is helping me to continue to sharpen my capabilities as a consultant.

 While there are many classes to choose from here at Stern, for me, the ability to ‘learn by doing’ is such a great option and a real differentiating factor of the Stern program. In one short year, I’ve gone from having no consulting experience, to now having three projects under my belt, and I’m not sure this would have been as accessible of an option at many other schools. I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had here at Stern, and the experiential classes are just one of the many reasons why I’m glad I came to NYU to earn my MBA.

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Change: Celebrate It

Tiffaine Stephens is a current MBA2 who spent her summer internship at PepsiCo. Tiffaine serves as the Co-President of Stern Women in Business (SWiB). She is specializing in Marketing, Entertainment/Media/Technology, and Entrepreneurship.

 

 

 

This semester has been my favorite thus far! I am constantly thanking the Spring 2019 Tiffaine for choosing classes that genuinely spark my interest and passion. My favorite class this semester is “Branding + Innovation: Consulting Lab” taught by Fran Gormley. I thought I understood branding before this class, but I was wrong. Our class has the opportunity to consult for Spotify (how crazy is this!). The same company I longed for last year is the same company I now have access to. Fran’s teaching style is unique and supportive. She is a reminder that to be successful you have to own who you are. Every Wednesday at 6 pm, I feel like I’m getting two lessons: one on branding and one on how to be fearless in my entrepreneurial endeavors.

While Branding feels more like home to me, I’m taking one stretch course that has definitely pushed me outside of my comfort zone,  “Corporate Finance” with Anthony Marciano. Long term, I know I want to be an entrepreneur so taking Corp Fin was an intentional decision. I knew that I would not leave as a finance expert, but with enough information to be “dangerous.” This class highlights the power of collaboration at Stern. Before our midterm, which we were all worried about, we got together for a half day and worked through problem sets together, taught each other, and celebrated once we finished.

The class that has been the most eye-opening is “Sustainable Food Business” with Hans Taparia, which is cross-listed with Steinhardt’s Food Studies program. Taking a class with students outside of Stern is an interesting experience – we tend to get caught up with a maniacal focus on the bottom line, whereas my classmates think of this lastly. Instead, they prioritize the societal impact of a business, which has pushed me to be more critical of my career plan.

Outside of class, my role as Co-President of Stern Women in Business (SWIB) has been keeping me quite busy. Everyday there’s a new set of challenges that have trained me to be agile but thoughtful in the way that I approach problem solving. I’m constantly learning how to flex my leadership + management style. The co-president structure at Stern gives you an immediate accountability partner and it’s helpful when trying to balance school, extra-curricular activities and life outside of Stern. Although we have a few months left in our term, I’ve gotten the most satisfaction from the small, but meaningful changes we’ve made to change the way our community thinks about gender equity in higher education. 

Another leadership opportunity presented itself in the form of Co-VP of Marketing for a new special interest club on campus – CannaBusiness. I’ve been able to get back in touch with my creative and entrepreneurial side while learning about a growing industry that’s been stigmatized and riddled with injustice.

As the semester comes to a close, I’m getting ready to take it easy, connect with family and friends, and reflect on this semester and what I want the rest of the year to be like. At the start of January, I’ll be heading to DBi New Zealand with about 10 other Sternies for two weeks. Afterwards, I’ll be joining a group in Bali for a week to take advantage of the much needed time off!

So much has changed since the start of this program. I am proud of the personal growth that I’ve experienced. I am more self-aware, more solution-oriented, and more vulnerable than I’ve been in a while. Change can be made out to be this scary moment in your life, but Stern creates an atmosphere that encourages change. To describe my MBA experience, I would say “Change. CELEBRATE IT.” I’m looking forward to more celebrations, more growth, and more friendship in Spring 2020. Cheers!

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How Sternies “Pay It Forward”

Jeff Battipaglia is a current MBA2 who spent his summer internship working on the Strategy team at BNY Mellon. Jeff is a Co-President of Stern’s Military Veterans Club and VP of Community Services within Student Government. He is specializing in finance and strategy.

 

 

 

In the spring of 2017, I first stepped foot on NYU Stern’s Washington Square Park campus. My close friend’s cousin, Joe Deane (Stern ‘17), had been communicating with me for several months about the program and his career ambitions after graduation. I am pretty good friends with Joe, and so I was not in the least bit surprised to hear him speak highly of Stern and emphasize how much of a great learning (and fun) experience he was having while at school. At the time, I was transitioning out of the Marine Corps, and so Joe was quick to introduce me to a few military veteran friends of his on campus. My fortuitous connection to Joe, and subsequently  Ian Merry (‘17) and Kris Kesting (‘17), were major factors in my decision to attend business school here and join the collegial, supportive and community-focused student body at NYU Stern. 

When I arrived for my visit, I was immediately struck by how friendly classmates were to each other and to visitors as they shuffled about KMC during their busy days of classes and recruiting. I soon realized that this excitement about Stern exhibited by Joe, Ian and Kris was ubiquitous all over campus, and it resonated with me in terms of a school fit. Joe was extremely knowledgeable and helpful in explaining the recruiting process, particularly in the finance/banking arena, and its role in selecting an MBA program to attend. Ian and Kris provided great insight and personal lessons learned during their respective transitions out of the military and how the Military Veterans Club at Stern is unique compared to other schools’ veterans clubs. Their unsolicited friendship and enthusiasm for Stern was not lost on me, and after that visit, I knew that 44 W. 4th St. was where I wanted to be for the next two years. 

After matriculating in the summer of 2018, I knew that my responsibilities as a Sternie would extend beyond the classroom and career corporate presentations. I desired to be an ambassador for the school and an advocate for applicants, much like the gentlemen described above were to me. The notion of “paying it forward” was never explicitly mentioned to me, but rather became a sort of innate feeling once enrolled at Stern. Although much of my first year was focused on academics and internship/career opportunities, those prioritized efforts have afforded me time and resources during my second year to pursue activities that support Stern and the greater community. I currently serve as a co-president for the Military Veterans Club, and also as a Student Government vice president with the Community Service team. Additionally, I work in the admissions office as a “graduate ambassador,” connecting with prospective students and helping describe Stern, its mission, and the application process.

Attending NYU Stern has afforded me the opportunity to earn a world-class business school education, to make new life-long friendships, and to pursue my career ambitions with conviction and confidence. Like Joe, Ian and Kris, paying it forward to future Sternies is easy to me. Promoting and supporting this school is simple when one’s passion and purpose are aligned into the bigger picture of what Stern is all about. 

 

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Summer Internship Series: EY

Gage Kaefring is a rising MBA2 and is spending the summer with the Project Portfolio Management consulting team at EY (formerly Ernst & Young). At Stern, Gage serves as the co-president of OutClass, the LGBTQ student group on campus, and as the VP of Marketing for Stern Chats, the Stern podcast. He is specializing in Leadership, Strategy, and Analytics.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

The first thing I think about when I reflect back on my summer internship experience was just how quickly the time passed.  My internship as a consultant in the New York office at EY was initially full of the ups and downs one would expect from starting any new job. The conclusion however, would be a dramatic demonstration of the trials consultants are often forced to confront.

As part of their summer internship, EY includes an industry research component in which teams present to senior partners on the best strategy for EY to maintain and grow a specific client relationship. My team selected a media company from the Technology, Media, and Telecomm (TMT) space and got to work — researching the industry and building a solid presentation — on top of our required client work. The presentation would be given to a group of partners at an all-day event in Chicago at the conclusion of the internship.

When the time to present arrived, I was set to travel from my client in New Jersey to Chicago the day before, and would meet the rest of my team in-person for the first time to run through our presentation. The weather had other plans. Severe thunderstorms struck the New York area in the early afternoon and, at the urging of my team, I proactively switched my flight to depart at 6 AM the next morning, the same flight booked by one of my other team members. The two of us would still arrive with plenty of time to rehearse with the rest of the team that afternoon. It turned out to be the right move as the thunderstorms only grew worse and my original flight ended up being cancelled hours after I made the switch.

I awoke at 4 AM the next morning feeling confident in my maneuvering to secure a perfectly timed flight despite the inclement weather. This confidence was dashed around 4:50 AM when I received an email from the teammate traveling with me and another from the airline shortly after, informing me that this flight too had been cancelled with no specified reason. I arrived at the airport shortly after my coworker finished speaking with a gate agent. Apparently all flights out of the New York area airports had been cancelled until Sunday.

We were at a loss trying to determine how we were going to make the presentation. Thinking fast, I realized the only way was to book a flight from Philadelphia. There happened to be one that would put us in Chicago without any time to spare so, lacking options, we booked it. After a three hour Lyft ride and a hurried airport breakfast, we boarded and landed in Chicago a mere hour before we were scheduled to present. We hurried through O’Hare and secured another Lyft. Our team was frantically texting us both and preparing for the possibility that we wouldn’t make it in time.

We very nearly didn’t. It was a race against time from the airport to the event space EY had rented for the day. We arrived with seconds to spare and were ushered with our team on-stage. The only review we had done was on the airplane and in the Lyft. But standing on stage, in front of four, stern-faced partners, it all seemed to click. Our presentation flowed and each team member fielded the judges’ questions with poise.

At the end of our presentation we sat down, sharing congratulations at successfully getting through a presentation we were thrown into without any preparation. Much to the surprise of each and every member of our team, our presentation was recognized as one of the best-in-class. The whole experience served as a perfect parable for the entire consulting experience: a group of dedicated people battling fate and the elements to deliver for their clients.

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Summer Internship Series: Mars

Emily Barry is a rising MBA2 and just completed her summer internship on the brand management team at Mars. Emily is Co-President of Stern’s Graduate Marketing Association, VP of Communications for Stern Student Government, and VP of International Treks for the Arts, Culture, and Cuisine Club. She is specializing in marketing and strategy. 

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

It’s hard to believe how quickly the summer has flown by; I just wrapped up a great internship on the brand management team at Mars. Being a total career switcher (my previous role was in residential real estate sales here in NYC), I admit that I was somewhat apprehensive about my foray into marketing, but I’m happy to report that my time at Mars was an incredible learning experience from start to finish. 

I was very excited about the possibility of working at Mars ever since they first came to campus last fall; they have such an incredible portfolio of brands, and the tight-knit community really appealed to me. I had a great time getting to know several Mars associates throughout the recruitment process, and I was so excited to be invited to join the team for the summer. My internship began in early June with an email welcoming me to the Twix team; I remember being thrilled by the prospect of working on one of my favorite bars, and couldn’t wait to see what projects I’d be tackling over the next few months. We had a quick orientation, and then we were off!

My first project involved working with Mars’s advertising agency to redesign the Twix.com website; the site was a bit outdated and confusing, so the goal was the streamline the platform to ensure an easy and consistent user experience. I researched what best-in-class CPG websites look and function like, and briefed the agency on how Twix’s site should be revised. Over the next few weeks, the agency and I went back and forth on design drafts, eventually aligning with the broader Twix team on a site that should be up and running in the next few weeks.

My second project was a competitive analysis of Butterfinger’s recent reformulation and relaunch of their original bar. The filled bar team at Mars wanted to know why Butterfinger decided to relaunch the bar, what steps they took to execute the launch, and what the results were. To answer those questions, I analyzed Nielsen data on Butterfinger’s performance pre- and post-relaunch, and synthesized those learnings into a presentation for the filled bar team. 

My capstone strategic project, which took up the majority of the summer, was developing a growth strategy for Twix & Snickers future consumption products (the large bags of fun-size candy that you buy in-aisle, as opposed to the standard bars at the front of the store). I met with Mars associates, analyzed Nielsen data, and worked with various cross-functional partners (packaging, consumer insights, R&D, social media, etc.), to come up with a few key recommendations for growing FC sales, and presented my findings to the Mars marketing leadership team at the end of the summer. 

What stood out to me throughout the entire process was how engaged everyone was with the work I was doing; it was very clear to me that I was looking at real, substantive business issues as opposed to just doing busy work. The community of associates was so helpful, and incredibly generous with their time and insights. I am so thankful to have had such a great internship experience, and am excited to see how everything I’ve learned ties into my second year of school. To any MBA1s reading this who may have questions about Mars, brand management, or anything at all, please don’t hesitate to reach out — I look forward to meeting many of you in just a few weeks!

 

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Summer Internship Series: PepsiCo

 Tiffaine Stephens is a rising MBA2 and a summer intern at PepsiCo. Tiffaine serves as the Co-President of Stern Women in Business (SWiB). She is specializing in Marketing, Entertainment/Media/Technology, and Entrepreneurship.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

I’m writing this as I anxiously wait for the call that lets me know if I’m going to receive a full-time offer from PepsiCo. It’s funny how 10 weeks can feel like 10 days, but the week where I find out my post-MBA fate seems to be dragging by. I wrapped up my internship about a week ago, and I now understand the advice of every MBA2 last year: “Everything will be ok.”

At the beginning of the summer, I didn’t know what to expect from PepsiCo. Would I be forced to drink soda all day? Would I run into Cardi B as she exclaimed her joy about Pepsi being more than ok? What brand team would I be on? And most importantly, would I love it?

To be candid, you feel a lot of pressure during recruiting. You want to forego the anxiety of re-recruiting in your second year, and you want a job that you love more than the one you left right before taking on business school (because ROI is real). That pressure stayed with me throughout the first half of my internship, during which I was constantly asking, “Can I see myself working here?”

By the fifth week, I had a better handle on my team’s expectations and the story I wanted to tell in my final presentation. As far as community goes, the PepsiCo team worked hard to emphasize the importance of our intern class — consisting of both undergrad and MBA students –being close. We had a number of events, check-ins, and a special project we had to work on as a unit. We were able to share ideas with each other, help each other practice, vent, and finally celebrate once we all made it past the finish line. This community experience was in alignment with my time at Stern thus far.  From day one, you’ll be placed in team structures that help you grow personally and professionally. You’ll learn how to be open to new possibilities and perspectives, which will allow you to flex as a team player. 

In addition to new friends, I gained a new perspective on what it means to be a marketer. I started my recruitment process with the expectation that I would have a traditional Brand Manager role, but I landed on the Media team instead. My project for the summer was to develop a media strategy to reach and engage multicultural consumers. I was excited to tackle something meaningful to the organization and to my personal life, but I was also anxious about the breadth of the ask.

I had to tap into my creativity, past experiences, and even into the essence of our LAUNCH Challenge: behavioral observations. There were elements within Stern that helped prepare me for my project, including the following:

  1. Knowledge Management sessions hosted by professional clubs to help MBA1s prep for the recruitment season. The GMA + STA KM sessions were extremely beneficial when thinking about how to structure a strategic framework for an ambiguous ask. 
  2. Experiential Courses like Tech in the City, a class that places you in a group to tackle a consulting project for a tech start up in NYC. Through this project, I got better at testing hypotheses and developing a story that can be substantiated by quantitative and qualitative data. Which brings me to my favorite topic, data.
  3. Coming to business school, I knew that I wanted to improve my quant skills. Data Driven Decision Making was highly recommended, and though 6-9 pm was rough, it allowed me to grow comfortable with copious amounts of data to tell a story and uncover business opportunities.

My advice would be this: keep an open mind to what your internship will teach you, be intentional about your curriculum and extracurriculars (at Stern or outside of Stern) so that you can devise a plan when the project gets tough, and have fun! 10-12 weeks can go by so quickly, and you will be working hard. Don’t forget to celebrate the small wins when you can. Take advantage of the city that you’re living in, and find Sternies. We’re everywhere and always ready to help!

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Summer Internship Series: McKinsey & Company

Nnamdi Obukwelu is a rising MBA2 and a Summer Associate with McKinsey & Company. Nnamdi serves as the Co-President of Stern in Africa (SiA) and VP of Admissions for AHBBS. He is specializing in Strategy and Finance, and when he’s not eating pizza in the Leadership Lounge, you can find him at 404 Fitness eagerly waiting to use one of the squat racks.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

I write this post in the late hours of the night as I sit in our “team room” (Team Room: the room used by management consultants as a central hub for working, problem solving, etc.), my freshly brewed cup of coffee in hand and Uber Eats order en route. I’m quite reflective on nights like this, especially as I’m approaching the tail-end of my internship. As a result, opportunities to write about my journey are quite welcomed.

Let’s go back to the summer of 2017. At the time, I was an equity research analyst at a sell-side shop in Connecticut, where I covered the restaurants and consumer staples sectors. Overall, I was enjoying my career, but I felt that something was missing. As an equity research analyst, you’re always in the weeds trying to understand the key drivers of industries and how those factors will affect the companies within it. Once you understand that, you take a position (Long or Short) on a stock and build pitch books explaining your position. However, I felt a dearth of finality. Once you’ve pitched your idea, either you were right, or the stock moved against you. After that, you move on, in search for your next “big idea.” But I wanted more … I wanted to be able to have meaningful impact. Instead of working as a lone wolf, I wanted to be a thought partner, working with management teams to create value and forge a new, more profitable way forward. After much contemplation, I concluded that consulting would be a great way to achieve this, and business school a worthy mechanism through which to vet the possible consulting paths that lie ahead. 

When I started at NYU Stern last Fall as a career-switcher, I knew that I had to be focused in my efforts. Luckily, I entered school as a Consortium Fellow, and was fortunate enough to begin cultivating relationships with consultancies early on. When the time came, I went through the recruiting cycle and landed an internship offer with my top choice, McKinsey & Company. My experience this summer has totally exceeded my expectations, as I’ve had the opportunity to work with a Fortune 100 company as part of McKinsey’s RTS (Reset. Transform. Sustain.) practice. RTS is a special unit of McKinsey that delivers a proven approach for transformational change to clients seeking radical, rapid, and sustainable performance improvement. Over the course of the summer I led two work-streams, and in addition to having the opportunity to build standard consulting skills, I most enjoyed having the opportunity to put my “coach” hat on and work hand-in-hand with clients as we moved the company to a new steady state. Transformations can be an intricate endeavor, especially for large enterprises. I learned early on that though hard-skills are very important, the oft overlooked soft-skills are just as, if not more, important, especially for consultants at the post-MBA level who are tasked with managing client expectations while still delivering significant value. Despite the rigor and demands of this summer, I can honestly say that I have enjoyed my time here. Watching senior executives pitch decks that I spent countless hours working on and somehow building significant relationships with clients that I first met 2.5 months ago is exceptionally rewarding. The palpable nature of the work that I did made it all worth it.

For the MBA1s reading this, as you attack your first year of school, do so with an open mind and take advantage of all the opportunities presented. Leverage the MBA2s who worked in an industry you are looking to break into. The best part about NYU Stern experience is the people, so do your best to tap into that and make the most of this unique time in your life.

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Summer Internship Series: BNY Mellon

Jeff Battipaglia is a rising MBA2 and summer intern working on the Strategy team at BNY Mellon. Jeff is a Co-President of Stern’s Military Veterans Club and VP of Community Services within Student Government. He is specializing in finance and strategy.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

It is with great enthusiasm and humility that I throw in my proverbial “two cents” to the NYU Stern Summer Internship Series! As I share this post, it is hard for me to believe that my summer internship at BNY Mellon is already over halfway done. I find myself very fortunate to be a member of the inaugural Strategy MBA Summer Management Associate Program at the bank. In five short weeks, I have learned a great deal from my summer peers (hailing from HBS, Wharton, Booth and CBS) and the many extremely talented BNY Mellon professionals who call 240 Greenwich home away from home. Their mentorship and friendship have been immeasurable to me as I constantly strive to develop professionally and personally while being a valued contributor within my project team. I look forward to honing my skills and diving deeper into my summer assignment during the second half of the internship. 

When I reflect on the collegial and high-energy work environment I’ve experienced at BNY Mellon, I can’t help but draw many connections to the academic setting at Stern. Having spent the previous seven years in the Marine Corps, I was initially hesitant about being a career switcher and finding my place in a business school setting, let alone a summer job at America’s oldest bank. That said, Stern prides itself on academic rigor combined with emotional intelligence. Individuals from diverse backgrounds come together at Washington Square Park, build relationships, learn from world-class instructors (and each other) and graduate as humble professionals eager to continue their professional endeavors. Embracing this mindset has helped me tremendously over the past year, both in the classroom and throughout the recruiting process. 

Enough of the mushy stuff, though. Let’s talk about how fun of an experience business school has been! This past spring, I had the opportunity to go on a school sponsored spring break trip to Patagonia. We hiked on the Perito Moreno Glacier, toured around Fitz Roy (of the Patagonia clothing brand fame) and visited Penguin nesting grounds near the small mountain town of Ushuaia. Next year, I will be spending two weeks in Cape Town, South Africa, as part of Stern’s “Doing Business in” immersive, two-week academic program. A few days after I return, I’ll be on a flight out to Steamboat Springs, CO, to join my classmates on our annual Stern Adventure Club ski trip. Needless to say, my activities calendar in 2019-2020 will be very busy. These life experiences, coupled with the incredible education and new friendships you will make, are hallmarks of an NYU Stern business school experience. 

I feel extremely fortunate to have this unique MBA opportunity, and plan to take full advantage of it. Stern has rewarded me in many ways, and I am compelled to reciprocate however possible. Starting in the fall, I will be working in the admissions office as an MBA ambassador, talking with perspective candidates and giving tours of campus. With that in mind, I will hopefully meet many of you in the coming months! Cheers!

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Summer Internship Series: Anheuser-Busch

Sami Abdisubhan is a rising MBA2 and a Global MBA Summer Intern at Anheuser-Busch. Sami serves as VP of Marketing & Operations for Stern in Africa (SiA), VP of Training for Stern FC, and Co-President of the Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students (AHBBS). He is specializing in Marketing and Business Analytics.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

When starting my MBA journey years before putting down my NYU Stern deposit, I had made the decision to move away from my B2B sales and marketing career into what initially drew me into marketing, CPG marketing. Everyone I interacted with, admissions officers, peers, strangers on airplanes, knew brand management was my goal. So when I got the call sharing the news I had received an offer to intern at Anheuser-Busch in marketing, I was ecstatic. It was exactly what I had written my admissions essays about! A sense of incredible pride and relief passed through me: I accomplished what I set out to do.

Fast forwarding to the job, I’m now nearing the end of my internship at AB. My summer project has been to revamp how my brand, Estrella Jalisco, a Mexican import in the Premium beer category, utilizes programmatic advertising, both tactically in this summer’s marketing campaigns and strategically moving forward. I feel very fortunate to have enjoyed my work experience this summer from all perspectives, the work, the people, etc. However, there were isolated moments where the stresses of an MBA summer felt overwhelming.

A common saying or piece of commentary in the business school environment is that MBAs must feel a level of comfort with ambiguity and uncertainty and it makes sense. MBA graduates are their respective organizations’ next leaders and that level of strategic decision-making or navigation usually isn’t done with clear-cut choices. In some cases, mine included, the summer internship is a quick preview into that world. There were instances where I wasn’t sure how to proceed, whether it was because I didn’t have the necessary data or direction. And this wasn’t isolated to just my project work but the relationship management aspects of the internship as well.

How I’ve been able to overcome these challenges relates to my preparation before the internship. It’s very easy, ridiculously easy actually, to sign an internship offer and not want to think about the job until the last final exam or paper submission, especially with the social and adventurous life that is MBA life. As the Office of Career Development and the various professional clubs, like the Graduate Marketing Association, will highlight though, to succeed is to start thinking about the internship early. Both groups of organizations have multiple, well-planned sessions to ensure students plan for success in the internship and take the needed steps to set themselves up. Some of the clubs call those sessions Knowledge Management sessions and it’s highly recommended to attend. I made sure to go to as many of these as I could to put myself in the best position possible.

Additionally, the coffee chats don’t stop once that offer is secured. It makes sense to take a break but as the start date gets closer, it’s important to interact with those connections made during recruiting to now understand how to make the most out of the summer, professionally and personally. If the office is in New York, an in-person chat is especially great! Not only do the chats help with preparation but they also showcase excitement to the full-timers. As I’m in NYC, I was able to meet with those who were supportive in my recruiting process and I believe it was instrumental as I was able to get the guidance necessary while also creating mentors and internal advocates at AB who just wanted to see me win.

So while a lot of first year, especially fall semester, emphasizes “getting the offer”, it’s important to remember that even if it’s the dream company, internship work doesn’t end when one signs on the dotted line. It’s 100% an accomplishment that should be celebrated at length but the job isn’t done. Whether it’s to get an offer to return full-time or to show impact and success to another employer while recruiting as an MBA2, there’s more to accomplish. And speaking on behalf of my MBA2 classmates and myself, we are here to help!

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Summer Internship Series: Cause Strategy Partners & SIIF

Connie Meltzer is a rising MBA2 and a Graduate Fellow at Cause Strategy Partners. Connie serves as the Co-Chair of the Diversity Committee for Student Government and VP of Allies for the Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students (AHBBS). She is specializing in Leadership and Change Management and Strategy.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

I found out about the Social Impact Internship Fund (SIIF) fellowship through the Office of Student Engagement pretty early into the fall semester and knew it would be a good fit for me. SIIF helps fund MBAs who want to work at a social good organization (impact investing firms, solar energy companies, nonprofit organizations, and more) for their summer internship and beyond. Since I am interested in nonprofit consulting in the future, I ended up participating in traditional management consulting preparation, recruitment, and interviews, but didn’t land a summer internship at the firms I interviewed with. And to be honest, I couldn’t be happier.

I spent most of my career prior to Stern working for education nonprofit organizations, but I wanted an opportunity to still work for social good but not at a nonprofit. In the Spring, I started scouring Career Account, Stern’s career portal, for anything in the social good sector. After sifting through amazing opportunities that weren’t a good fit for me, I found the Cause Strategy Partners Graduate Internship.

This summer, the SIIF Fellowship has allowed me to work at the intersection of nonprofit organizations and the corporate world. Cause Strategy Partners (CSP) is a benefit corporation (B-Corp) that through its signature program, BoardLead, matches Fortune 500 employees to nonprofit organizations to serve on their boards and trains them in how to be an impactful board member. CSP is a small company with fewer than 10 full time employees but they deliver a lot of high-quality work. Since their founding in 2015, they have placed over 400+ professionals on nonprofit boards in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Seattle, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. And they have big plans – they are ramping up their signature program to 20+ cities in the next two years.

My three main projects for the summer are administering a program evaluation for a round of BoardLead in collaboration with another graduate fellow from NYU Wagner, designing and implementing an employee engagement and culture assessment for CSP, and consulting with two nonprofit clients around their board practices. I have been particularly proud of and challenged by my work on the employee engagement and culture assessment project.

One reason is that org culture and employee engagement are things I really care about in a workplace. Another is that I used a lot of takeaways, and even specific curriculum material, from my Leadership in Organizations course with Dolly Chugh. After a lot of research, I have sent out two surveys to the team to begin CSP’s employee engagement feedback practice and gain insight into how community members (current employees, former employees, and board members) understand the company culture. I was working as an “external” consultant for the company on this project, which I found both exciting and challenging. At Stern and in my other projects at CSP this summer, I’ve been able to ask for feedback and collaborate with other team members. With this project, since everyone I am working with was going to take this survey, I didn’t feel like I was able to collaborate as much; to maintain data integrity, I wanted to ensure everyone was seeing the questions for the first time when they took the survey. As I look to my future career opportunities, I definitely want to work in a collaborative environment and on a team where feedback is encouraged – as it is at CSP with my other projects!

Cause Strategy Partners has a history of including summer interns right into the heart of the family this summer is no exception. We eat lunch together in the park regularly, we have participated in bake-offs, and we attended a panel on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Boardroom at the Ford Foundation (pictured) with most of the team at the time. I’ve learned so much in the first half of my internship at CSP and I’m looking forward to the next four weeks.

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Summer Internship Series: PricewaterhouseCoopers

Eric Bauer is a rising MBA2 and a Summer Senior Associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Eric holds leadership roles on the European Business Society, the Luxury and Retail Club and the Stern Student Government. He is specializing in Business Analytics, Finance, and Management

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

It’s wild to think that a year ago I was sitting in my room in Oklahoma wondering what it might be like to live and work in the Big Apple, yet here I am doing just that. The first year of business school was filled with good times, great people, and memories that I’ll never forget, and it exceeded my expectations in every way! While there was lots of fun to be had, it didn’t come without a bit of hard work and an arduous semester of recruiting.

When I first arrived in New York last fall, I have to admit that I wasn’t completely certain where I wanted to end up for the summer and what exactly it was that I wanted to do. I knew that the retail industry intrigued me, but I wasn’t sure through which means I wanted to explore it. I’d thought about rotational development programs and in-house strategy roles, but it wasn’t until I more seriously considered consulting that I knew it was the path for me. After making my way through the many coffee chats, cases, and interviews of the recruiting cycle, I was very fortunate to have received multiple offers. I ultimately accepted a role as a Summer Senior Associate with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), specifically in their Consumer Markets/Retail vertical, and was beyond excited about the opportunity.

Four weeks ago, I started that internship as part of an engagement team staffed on a project for a Fortune 100 company. Our assignment was to develop a retail strategy for the client from the ground up, which was something new to me and completely out of my comfort zone. I began the project thinking I’d be handheld by my team and slowly allowed to find my footing, but, instead, they expected me to hit the ground running – a surprise that’s made for an incredibly challenging yet exciting few weeks! While I’d been told by many people throughout my first year at Stern that a summer consulting role will give you the opportunity to make a real impact and gain great exposure, I was not expecting it to be as much of a reality as it has been. I’d honestly taken that information with a grain of salt and assumed that, as an intern, I would play more of a supporting role than anything. However, now, a mere four weeks into my internship, I can say that everything that I was told is true, and the level at which I am expected and allowed to perform at has made for such a fulfilling and developmental experience. In these first few weeks on my assignment, I’ve already worked on so many key aspects of the strategy and have been entrusted by my manager to have complete control over my work. On top of that, my findings, analyses, and recommendations have been presented directly to top leaders of the company, which has been incredibly rewarding.

Beyond the day-to-day functions of the role, I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by hard working and talented colleagues, and I even have the great fortune of sharing the experience at PwC with 10 other Sternies. Having so many of my classmates at the same firm for the summer has served as a great internal support system, and, in my opinion, is a testament to one of the many unique advantages of NYU’s program, since so many of us get the privilege of staying in New York for the summer. The first month of my internship has been more than I’d hoped for, and I’m eager to see what the next six weeks have in store for me.

As I reflect on the first month of my internship, and the first year of business school as a whole, I’m remembering all of the uncertainties I’d had back in Oklahoma when I was deciding about making the move – the cost of the program, the professional direction I wanted to head, the decision to leave the career I’d been building, and so on. In this moment, however, speaking from the other side, I can say with complete certainty that I would do it all again. Taking a huge leap like this was scary, but I trusted the process and, so far, I’ve been able to make a reality out of what I’d only ever played out in my head. I live in the greatest city in the world, attend an amazing school, I’m surrounded by the most incredible classmates, and, from a professional standpoint, I’ve been catapulted to another level. I can’t imagine attending business school anywhere else or with any other people, and I feel as though coming to Stern has been one of the best decisions of my life. I look forward to year 2 and beyond and can’t wait to see where else this experience takes me!

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Summer Internship Series: Citi

Mahssa Mostajabi is a rising MBA2 and an intern on the US Consumer Digital team at Citi. Mahssa serves as the VP of Admissions for AHBBS, President of InSITE, and a host of Stern Chats. She is specializing in Business Analytics, Luxury Marketing, and Sustainable Business and Innovation.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

Upon starting at NYU last fall, I wasn’t entirely sure what path I’d take during recruiting or in which industry I’d end up. Prior to Stern, I worked in non-profits for a short time and then had a career in tech as a product manager for a few years. In my application, I wrote about wanting to marry those two fields – nonprofits and tech – by working in corporate social responsibility for a large tech company (think Google.org). And, upon getting to campus, I was somewhat swept up by the consulting rush like many of my classmates. I also had a totally unrelated interest in luxury retail. As such, there were endless possibilities. I could become a consultant, transition into social impact or the luxury space, stay in tech and product management, or some combination therein.

To manage these endless options, I took a path similar to many Sternies and tried a little bit of everything. I went through the casing bootcamp the Management Consulting Association puts on each fall. I attended knowledge management sessions hosted by the Luxury Retail club and the Stern Technology Association. I went on treks to Google and Flatiron Health. I became the AVP of Sourcing for InSITE Fellows, an organization that pairs graduate students across New York City with startup consulting projects. I joined 8 professional clubs on campus and I applied to 40+ summer internships. Needless to say, I was a little lost. But, unlike some of my peers who came to campus knowing the exact function or industry into which they wanted to transition, I came to campus knowing that I wanted to explore and try on a lot of different roles and industries to see which one I liked best.

Ultimately, I decided that I wanted to stay in tech and product management with a special focus on startups in the health, beauty, and wellness space. While I spent a lot of my year networking and making connections at these companies, I quickly realized that a summer internship would be difficult to land. Many of them don’t have traditional MBA internship programs and trying to get something ad hoc off the ground would require perfect timing and lots of luck. I still tried, but didn’t find a lot of success. In parallel, I applied to large tech and financial services companies, as I’d previously worked in FinTech. I had some more luck here and got some interviews. Through this process, I chose Citi’s Summer Management Associate program, in which MBAs are matched with a team within the company and, if they come back full-time, rotate onto two more teams before finding a VP role.

In my current internship at Citi, I work as a product manager within US Consumer Digital on our Digital Wallets team, which manages Citi’s tech and partnerships with ApplePay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and Paypal. The role allowed me to stay in tech and in product management with a large, reputable company, while rounding out my knowledge of payments and growing my expertise in FinTech and financial services. While I’m still not sure where I’d like to focus long-term, this role was strategic for me in that New York’s startup environment has a large FinTech base and, with my experience at multiple small and large financial services companies, I know I’ll be able to position myself well no matter what I choose or where I go within tech, Citi or otherwise.

My path may have been a somewhat undirected and perhaps unideal, but I really enjoyed it and would do it again! We all have different goals for our MBAs. I wanted to be confident that I’d found the career I wanted to be in long-term – product management in tech – and I now have that confidence wholeheartedly. I just had to try on a few other functions and industries before knowing for sure.

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Summer Internship Series: American Express

Anna Ward is a rising MBA2 and is a Digital Product Intern at American Express. Anna serves as the Co-President of Stern Women in business and her professional interests include entrepreneurship, technology management, and fintech.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

I’m two weeks into my internship at American Express, and it’s been quite a whirlwind so far! I’m a digital product intern on the Global Commercial Services team, and my project is focused on new applications of AI and machine learning.

Before business school I worked for a tiny company, so the large, corporate environment of American Express could not be more different from my previous experience. I was nervous about adjusting to the culture of such a large company, but so far, it’s been an absolute blast.

The first week on the job, my biggest challenge was figuring out all the acronyms that the team was using. Luckily, Amex has an internal “acropedia”, so after every meeting I look up any new acronyms I’ve heard (I’m averaging approximately 5 per meeting!)

The company prides itself a “relationship culture” and the best part of the internship so far is the people here. I had heard that Amex’s culture is very similar to that of Stern, and that’s proven to be very true. It helps that they have a large number of Stern alumni who work here, all of whom are going out of their way to welcome us and offer their help throughout the summer.

The friendly and supportive nature of the company is also realized in their “coffee chat culture.” One of my first assignments was to schedule time to grab a coffee or walk and talk with dozens of people, to learn more about their experience and work. These coffee chats are an integral part of everyone’s work at American Express, not just the interns. It’s how people stay up to date on other team’s projects, and how they explore the possible next steps in their careers at the company.

I’ve been surprised at how applicable the learnings from my first year at Stern have been so far. On my second day in the office I had a meeting with a VP and felt totally prepared to hold a conversation and ask them questions, thanks to my experience working directly with the leadership team of a startup last semester in my Tech in the City course. The research and presentation skills I developed during case competitions have primed me for my project, and my classroom participation readied me to speak up in team meetings.

I’m really looking forward to diving into the world of AI and machine learning over the next 8 weeks, and sharing all that I’ve learned with my team here at Amex and my Stern classmates in the fall!

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Life as an MBA

In late August, life is VERY good as a rising MBA2. I found myself on a beach, enjoying the sun and the company of my family. In addition, I had just received word that I secured a full-time offer from EY.  The best part? I still had a week and a half before I headed back to be a LAUNCH captain and welcome the incoming MBA1’s to Stern. I came back to school, excited to start my second year without the specter of recruiting hanging over me. This meant I would be able to spend a lot more time learning, hanging out with my friends, and getting involved in extracurriculars I could not as an MBA1. Then, something weird happened.

boat cruise
Block 6 LAUNCH Captains on the Boat Cruise

On the first day of LAUNCH, I got the chance to catch up with a number of my friends after not seeing them all summer. We had plenty to chat about, but the conversation naturally veered toward our summer internships. After talking to a number of them about their summers, I began to have a crisis of confidence. Did I really enjoy my summer that much? Was the work something I really wanted to do? Should I take advantage of the opportunity to re-recruit regardless? My gut was telling me to stop overthinking things, but my head LOVES to overthink things. So, as any aspiring consultant would, I began to gather information to test whether or not I really wanted to re-recruit. I spoke to even more of my classmates in detail about their summer experiences and even reached out to some of my summer co-workers and other connections who I trusted to give me good advice. I quickly realized that I was, in fact, overthinking things and that I had no actual desire to re-recruit. Despite the unnecessary stress I placed on myself, I am glad I went through that evaluation process as it caused me to re-examine what I hoped to gain from business school (beyond a career pivot) in the first place.

For me, business school was a chance to pivot careers. Yet it was also a chance for me to get involved with student clubs, push myself academically, and get involved with aspects of student life that I had neglected as an undergrad. During my first year, I had pushed myself so hard during the recruiting process that I lost sight of those goals. Thankfully, my post-internship crisis of confidence refocused me going into year two. I had already signed up to be a LAUNCH Captain, Career Mentor, and Graduate Assistant for admissions, so I was going to be dedicating more time to leadership roles during my second year. However, I was missing out on student club involvement. I had identified two clubs in particular, the student newspaper (The Opportunity) and the student podcast (Stern Chats), as those I wanted to join and contribute to during my time at Stern. I made it my mission to take on a bigger role in each, and am proud to say I have been 70% successful in that mission. I’ve written a number of articles for the Opportunity (yes this is a shameless plug to check them out) and worked to establish relationships with other clubs on campus to spread the word of their events, guest speakers, etc. Stern Chats, on the other hand, has been an uphill battle for me. I took on the responsibility to try and start a new line of content for us, essentially business 101 discussions with the experts at Stern. While we’ve taped a number of episodes now, it has been more of an uphill battle than I anticipated. However, it has also been very rewarding. I’ve gotten to learn about topics I was unfamiliar with, work with fellow MBA’s who I didn’t know very well, and gotten to meet more members of our incredible faculty.

At the end of the day, getting an MBA is an intense experience. It is all too easy to become singularly focused on getting the job of your dreams and miss out on the rest of the experience. Thankfully, I was able to realize this and re-adjust going into my second year. If I have one piece of advice for prospective students and incoming MBA’s it is this. Pursue your professional goals with 100% effort, but don’t let the pursuit consume you. Save some time for yourself, and the personal goals you set when you embarked on this journey.

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Top 5 NYU Stern MBA Admissions Questions Answered by a Graduate Ambassador

Stern campusAs a second-year student and Graduate Ambassador at NYU Stern, I often speak to prospective students about the school, the admissions process, and my experience as a student. Unsurprisingly, a large number of these conversations turn into a Q&A about the admissions process at Stern. Although the admissions website answers the majority of questions, applicants are frequently looking for “real” answers and the inside scoop on the admissions process.

Below are the Top 5 questions I get related to admissions:

Question 1: How important is the GMAT/GRE? How much is the GMAT/GRE weighed in my application?

Answer 1: The admissions process truly is holistic and the school does not weigh any components of the application. Your GMAT/GRE score is just one of many components that are evaluated when making admissions decision.

While thinking through what score you are aiming for, I would recommend taking a look at the Class Profile. There, you can find the 80% and 100% range for GMAT scores of the latest incoming class

Question 2: When is the best time to apply? Should I apply First Round to improve my chances?

Answer 2: Applications at NYU Stern are reviewed on an ongoing basis and the best time to apply is when you feel your application is the strongest.

If you are ready to apply by the first deadline, then you should. However, if you feel your application could be stronger in a later round (i.e. higher test scores, more polished essay, etc.) you should wait.

Historically, deadlines earlier in the cycle have not impacted an applicant’s opportunity for admission or scholarship.

Question 3: I don’t come from a “traditional” background, will I be at a disadvantage?

Answer 3: NYU Stern admits a class with a wide range of professional experiences because that is what makes the MBA experience so enriching. If you look at the Class Profile, you will notice that all industries and backgrounds are represented including education, military, and entertainment. Historically, only about 1/3 of the class comes from “traditional” finance or consulting backgrounds.

You may be interested to know that MBA recruiters also look for a diversity of professional experience in their hiring process. The important thing to focus on is why you feel an MBA is right for you based on your experience and future goals.

Question 4: How important are the essays and what is admissions looking for?

Answer 4: Both the Professional Aspirations and “Pick Six” essays are important components of your application. These essays let you tell your story to Admissions.

For the Professional Aspirations essay, I would focus on two key things: being clear and being genuine. Your essay should clearly and concisely answer the questions asked. Similarly, your essay should convey a genuine interest in NYU Stern and explain why NYU Stern is the right place to achieve your goals.

On the other hand, the “Pick Six” essay is your chance to showcase your personal and creative side. This essay / collage of pictures is your chance to showcase who you are beyond your resume and professional experience. There is no set format, so just follow the guidelines and have fun.

Question 5: In general, how do I stand out in my application?

Answer 5: The applicants who stand out are those who know themselves well, and are passionate about their goals and their fit with NYU Stern. As I mentioned previously, the admissions process is a holistic one that doesn’t favor one part of the application over another and the strongest applicants are often well-rounded.

Just like you would study and prepare for an exam or a big presentation at work, your application should be polished and well-reasoned. To stand out, make sure your application has an informed and intelligent answer to why you want to get a MBA and why NYU Stern is the right place for you.

I hope these questions and answers were helpful. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to me and the other Graduate Ambassadors for Stern’s MBA programs at mbaga@stern.nyu.edu.

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Summer Internship Series: Reckitt Benckiser

Sarang Bhawalkar is a rising MBA2 interning at Reckitt Benckiser.  Sarang is specializing in Marketing and Strategy and is the co-president of the Graduate Marketing Association, VP of Finance (Luxury and Retail Club), and VP of Social Events (OutClass).

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

I cannot believe my summer internship is over already. The past ten weeks have flown by so quickly! I am currently on vacation and writing this from the comfort of my family home in Mumbai, India. This past year at Stern has been a crazy ride capped by my internship and it all has been worth it. Prior to Stern, I used to be a research scientist in the building materials industry and worked in product development for six years. I have a PhD in Polymer Science and it often takes people by surprise when I mention it. I was very good at what I did, but I was interested in working in a more fast-paced industry and in a consumer-facing brand manager role which made me decide to go to business school.

Over the summer, I interned as an Assistant Brand Manager intern at Reckitt Benckiser and worked on a small personal care brand. My objective was to reposition the brand for the sports space and target serious and recreational athletes. I had to develop a go-to market strategy to relaunch the brand in 2019 and develop a three-year strategy to grow the brand through product innovation. Usually for bigger brands, interns get to work on one of three parts of the marketing strategy – Equity (Brand messaging and recognition), Activation (implementing brand interaction in the market) or Innovation (Product pipeline that serves to grow the brand). Since the brand I was working on was a much smaller brand, my project touched all three and gave me significant insight into different aspects of managing a brand. I also had to be very scrappy with research since we had a very small budget. I reached out to as many people as I could to do market research and conducted focus groups to understand the target consumer and their shopping habits. Doing all of this was very new to me, but I felt a certain excitement that I had never felt in any of my previous roles – a major indicator to me that this was something I was truly passionate about and it motivated me to do my job better. I had always heard about the hub and spoke model with brand managers being the center of the wheel with the different spokes representing the different functions, and this internship was no different. I had to lead several cross-functional meetings to get consensus on many key aspects of the brand such as distribution, P&L and claims. We also had limited R&D support, so I got to put on my old R&D hat on for developing an innovation strategy for the brand. Reckitt Benckiser has a very fast-paced and entrepreneurial culture, but I had the nicest manager who was very patient with me and helped me understand the business. Everyone that I spoke to always took the time to guide me and I never felt like I did not have the support that I needed. One of the coolest things I got to do was the change the packaging for the brand. I worked with a design agency and I had to give them a brief to come up with a design that would appeal to the new target consumer. After several iterations, we came up with a few design options that we tested on a consumer platform. This helped me make a recommendation for the new packaging. It will be very exciting to see a product on the shelf in 2019 that I helped design the packaging for.

interns on the Hudson
With other interns at a marketing offsite on a boat on the Hudson.

In my essay for Stern, I was very clear that I wanted to be a brand manager and I am grateful that I got a chance to try it out for the summer. I really enjoyed it and I look forward to that being my full-time job after I graduate in 2019. However, a lot of students in my class are not completely sure that their summer internship was their calling, and they will explore other options in the Fall – which is perfectly okay. The internship is a two-way interview – both you and your employer are looking for a fit. If it doesn’t work out, you both move on. It is a great way to explore a different career path and I am glad to have found my calling through it.

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Summer Internship Series: Colgate-Palmolive

Catherine Charles is a rising MBA2 interning at Colgate-Palmolive. Catherine is specializing in Marketing, Business Analytics, and Product Management. She is VP of Corporate Relations for the Graduate Marketing Association, VP of Alumni Relations for the Association of Hispanic & Black Business Students, and VP of Alumni Relations for SGOV.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

With classes starting in less than 3 weeks, recruiting is likely top of mind for most first-year MBAs. Part of the MBA experience is not only adjusting to life as a student, but also as a job seeker who is looking to pivot to a new industry, function, and/or geography. Below are three tips (other than updating your resume) to help you prepare for the recruiting season before you arrive on campus.

1. Make a list of the skills you would like to build during your career.

When you start school, you will be exposed to career paths that you didn’t know existed, and there will be a multitude of resources to learn even more about opportunities that interest you. Before your schedule is packed with attending corporate presentations and events, start reflecting on the capabilities you would like to develop over the course of your career and your areas of strength. Do you thrive in cross-functional roles or do you make the greatest impact as an individual contributor?  Would you like to eventually manage several large teams within a firm or be responsible for external relationships? Knowing the answers to these types of questions can help you choose which function(s) offer the training ground for the skills you would like to hone.

2. Read, Read, and check out Youtube!

Whether you already know your ideal internship or you are still figuring it out, read as much as you can. Find professional publications associated with the industries/functions that interest you and make it a habit to read those publications regularly. Google Alerts are also a great way to stay abreast of any trends that could be the subject of technical questions during an interview. In addition, many industries/functions have “must-read” books that can not only prepare you for interviews but give you the appropriate vocabulary to answer questions.

To supplement all of your reading efforts, search for Youtube videos that showcase interviews of the top professionals in your chosen field and spend some time on the career page of companies you are interested in. The interviews typically include the best practices of thought leaders and the Youtube career pages of companies help illustrate the types of candidates a firm is looking to hire.

3. Leverage your Network & Schedule Informational Interviews

There is no need to wait until you are on campus to start informational interviews. Leverage your network to reach out to individuals who are building the capabilities/skills you are interesting in developing. These initial informational interviews (also known as “Coffee Chats” in business school) before the semester starts will help you develop much more nuanced and insightful questions for the Coffee Chats you will have once you arrive on campus.

The three tips outlined above are suggestions to help you ease into an exciting, albeit busy, aspect of the MBA experience. They will also help you stay focused when the prestige or “cool” factor of certain firms or roles begin to dominate your recruiting strategy. I wish you the best of luck.

colleagues at internship
Pictured left to right: Summer 2018 NYU Stern GMDP (Global Marketing Development Program) Interns at Colgate-Palmolive (Catherine Charles, Kimberly Tai, Ayesha Mehra)
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Summer Internship Series: LOLI Beauty

Richa Deshpande is a rising MBA2 interning at LOLI Beauty.  Richa is specializing in Marketing, Luxury Marketing and Management and is VP of Admissions (Luxury Retail club), VP of Events (Stern Chats), VP of SIFF (SISA). 

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

This summer I was a marketing intern at a personal care brand called LOLI Beauty. LOLI Beauty is a direct to consumer, ecommerce led superfood organic approach to skincare. I was particularly attracted to LOLI Beauty given its tech focus and plans to win in the direct to consumer space.

Prior to Stern, I was a Management Consultant in Australia and whilst it was a great foundational start to my career, I wanted to transition into an industry (Beauty/Fashion) which was more personally relevant to me and a function which was more customer focused (Marketing).

Therefore, I knew coming into business school, my recruiting would be non-traditional. In addition, as an international student, finding fashion/beauty companies willing to sponsor was a little more difficult. Whilst not always easy, knowing what I know now, I have absolutely no regrets about my decision to come to Stern and pursue a Marketing role at a Fashion/Beauty company.

Here are three lessons I want to pass on to anyone thinking about pursuing a similar path.

It can be difficult not to take the path well-trodden, but totally worth it

I still remember what a classmate said to me as we tried to navigate the perils of Spring recruiting;  ‘We didn’t come to business school to do what everyone is doing, we came to pursue what we wanted to do’. Business school is such a great opportunity to pursue a different career path, it would be unfair to yourself to not pursue your dream. In the Spring it can feel like all your friends have their internships sorted, but remember you are not alone – there are still so many people in the same position as you. Lean on each other for support and guidance. I am so happy I stuck to my goals of what I wanted to recruit for. I know I wouldn’t have enjoyed my summer internship as much had I done what everyone else was doing.

loli beauty bar
Sternies out in full support at a beauty blending bar we hosted

Start-ups really need the structure and frameworks we are taught in business school

Start-ups almost always have more work than people to support the work. Therefore, the environments can often seem chaotic and disorganized. This is where all the frameworks we are taught in our MBA are really useful and really valued. This summer I have helped to develop the marketing plan (using 4Ps), develop the overall firm strategy (thanks Prof. Marciano) and have even deployed some of the people management frameworks from Leadership in Organizations. In developing these strategies, I have seen the value of what I have learnt in the classroom and it has been very exciting to bring it to workplace.

Start-ups are a great place to flex your skills

Although this summer I was hired as a Marketing intern responsible for building the data analytics capability, I have also had the opportunity to be a product manager, brand strategist, and project manager. I have learnt so much from wearing these multiple hats and this is only possible in a start-up. I now have a more well -rounded skillset and have a clearer idea of which types of roles I would enjoy.

In conclusion, I have really enjoyed my summer internship, so much so that I am considering staying on in the Fall. Don’t forget to enjoy this period in your life – such a rare opportunity you get to try something for three months!

Glossy forum
Was fortunate enough to attend the Glossy Forum – an all-day beauty conference featuring speakers from Allure magazine, Glossier, Supergoop, Glow Recipe, Beautycounter and Rodan + Fields
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Summer Internship Series: Ernst & Young

Anthony Russ is a rising MBA2 interning at Ernst & Young. Anthony is specializing in Business Analytics, Management of Technology & Operations, and Strategy.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

 

 

January 28th, 2018: two days after my final round interview with EY’s OTS practice.

The Philadelphia Eagles were 1 week away from winning the Super Bowl and on a bye, so there was nothing to distract me from my incessant worrying about how my interviews went. Before going to bed, I did one final check of my emails and . . . 1 unread email from EY. Could this be it? Is . . . could it be the culmination of recruiting season. YES! Although I had two more final round interviews scheduled for the following week, I knew that I was going to accept EY’s offer to join the OTS practice for the summer. The practice offered everything I was looking for in an internship – an entrepreneurially minded culture, the ability to learn the operations of a company inside and out, and experience with M&A. Needless to say, I was a happy man.

Fast forward to May 30th, day 1 of my summer. I was assigned to a Working Capital project for a global life sciences company. On one hand, I was happy to be staffed on a life sciences project. On the other, I was expecting an M&A project but instead was placed on a Working Capital project. While familiar with the concept of working capital, I knew very little about what a working capital project was for EY. After meeting my team and learning about our project, my trepidation turned into excitement. The project was focused on optimizing the clients’ Working Capital (I LOVE optimization work) and my team seemed like an ideal group to learn from due to their experience and personality. Thankfully my first impression was correct. My teammates have been more than willing to answer any questions I have had (and there were a lot), but most importantly, they have trusted me in front of the client once I proved I was capable. For a summer intern new to consulting, that was a huge confidence boost.

Anthony at summer internship outing
An after-work outing with EY colleagues.

So, what did I actually DO this summer? Great question. In ~10 weeks I: worked on a proposal to win our practice new work, assisted in the buildout of an accounts receivable assessment tool for our client, built a Working Capital benchmarking tool now being used practice-wide for business development efforts, built a supplier management tool being implemented globally with our client, and recommended an MBA recruiting strategy for OTS’s IT vertical. I also got VERY familiar with Excel, Alteryx, and Tableau – 3 practical skills that will no doubt be useful in the future. Ironically for a consulting internship, I have only made 10 slides in PowerPoint . . . but I promise they were good slides! I can honestly say that I never expected to be exposed to so much during my summer internship, nor expected that I would learn so much in such a short period of time.

I focused most of my recruiting energy in the fall on the pursuit of a consulting internship and was fortunate enough to land my top choice. I pursued consulting because I wanted a role that would consistently challenge me, a role that put me in a near-constant state of learning, and a role where I was a member of a team. My experience this summer provided all of those things. For those incoming MBA’s who may still be unsure of what roles they want to pursue, or whether consulting is right for them, I implore you to attend as many recruiting events this fall as you can and talk to as many people as you can. One of the biggest benefits of attending Stern is the network. Do not be shy, and utilize that network to connect with alumni working full-time in your industry of interest, with MBA 2’s who had great summer experiences in your industry of choice, and even MBA 2’s who may not have had great experiences during the summer. Each of those perspectives will be important to hear, and will help you decide what internship you want to pursue.

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Summer Internship Series: IBM

Adam Shapiro is a rising MBA2 interning at IBM. Adam is specializing in Strategy, Finance, and Entrepreneurship.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

 

As I first began considering an MBA, my professional goals and ambitions were very clear: I wanted to transition into the strategy consulting industry.  I wanted to pursue a career in consulting so that I could continue to work with clients to solve their most complex questions, issues, and problems.  Prior to beginning my MBA at Stern, I worked for Bloomberg in an Internal Strategy capacity.  During my five years there, I worked with financial clients ranging from CEOs to members of HR to manage and solve sophisticated and demanding problems firms face. In doing so, I came to value and embody certain qualities that I believe make the best business leaders: the ability to take initiative, to lead others successfully, to follow through on commitments, and to achieve objectives in a timely fashion. Equally important, I also gained an innate curiosity, a desire and need to learn, and an ability to ask thoughtful questions, listen to and respect others, and understand the complexity of challenges facing businesses. All of these qualities are personified by people working on consulting engagements. I believed that the consulting industry would advance my personal and career development by working with clients to create a lasting business impact, to craft actionable business plans, and to target opportunities for growth.

When I actually began my MBA a little over one year ago, I began recruiting for a summer internship in consulting as early as Stern’s Office of Career Development (OCD) allowed the firms to come to campus.  As I listened to corporate presentations and engaged with practitioners at the different firms, I began to have a better understanding of the differences amongst the firms and, if given the choice, the type of client engagements I wanted to work on during the summer.  The combination of my past work experience in Fintech at Bloomberg, countless conversations with current students, Stern alumni, and consultants, and classes I was taking allowed me to realize I actually wanted to work at a firm with a significant digital presence.

It is hard to believe, but I am, now, over halfway through my summer internship at IBM in the Digital Strategy and iX consulting group.  IBM DS appealed to me because of the group’s unique value proposition.  IBM combines traditional strategic analysis with creative ideation to uncover non-linear opportunities and direct opportunities for clients.  By designing progressive digital strategies through innovation and data analytics, creating future-shaping experience through design, and putting customer platforms to work, I have been able to learn important skills and add value on client engagements throughout the entire summer internship.  I could not have imagined a better summer experience as I have already been able to work on projects such as: reinventing the customer experience journey for a large travel and leisure company, infusing digital into multiple portfolio companies of a large private equity firm, and creating a roadmap for increased data utilization and monetization at a large asset management firm.

My time at IBM this summer has taught me a lot and I’m thrilled that I am exploring this career path.  If you’re considering making a change to enter consulting, from where I sit, Stern is a great place for you to make it happen.

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Summer Internship Series: Mastercard

Jasmine Reliford is a rising MBA2 interning at Mastercard this summer. She is a Consortium Fellow, serves on the Community Service Committee within Stern Student Government (SGov), and is the VP of Admissions for the Social Impact and Sustainability Association (SISA) and the VP of Corporate Relations for the Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students (AHBBS).

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

Once a Girl Scout, Always a Girl Scout

For as long as I can remember, I have been driven by the force to do “good”. This drive comes from my 12 years as a Girl Scout—there are stories my mom could tell you of kindergarten Jasmine boxing up her Christmas gifts and birthday presents to donate them to the children’s hospital or the homeless shelter (a tendency that I continue to this day). This innate drive to change the world around me is all consuming, yet has evolved over time. I have become more sophisticated and tactical in how I hope to enact change in the world.

It is estimated that it will cost up to $70 Trillion to achieve the Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) set by the UN.  The capital throughout the private and government sector far surpasses that of the social sector. A social impact person going to a top finance program always results in a “oh that’s interesting…” from those who do not understand the ethos of Stern or how businesses are evolving.

Learning How to Disrupt the Social Impact Business Models

In my Stern application, I spoke of the allocation of capital and how it effects mobility out of poverty, access to healthcare and education, and so many more other causes I am passionate about. The landscape of how players are engaging with the communities they operate in is changing; defining CSR initiatives such that they are integrated into bottom line results is top of mind for a lot of corporations. Balancing altruism and monetization could be viewed as opposing philosophies, but learning how to meld them into a cohesive strategy is why I chose Stern.

A social mindset is instilled in you the first week of LAUNCH—former investment bankers, consultants, and marketers rally to determine a sustainable business solution that solves a societal need. This push to think creatively towards not only business issues but world issues is the embodiment of Stern. The products and business models that are emerging are shifting the way businesses, governments and society all come together to uplift every facet of humanity. When I see innovations such as Rent the Runway and Lyft, I see disruptors forcing their industries to move towards sustainable fashion and how to provide gig workers a way to engage in commerce in a way never done before. Stern is a space where ideas come together to create the future world around us.

Doing Well by Doing Good

I chose Mastercard for my internship because of my background in payments, the Stern network throughout the firm, and, most importantly, because of their commitment to financial inclusion. They have dedicated resources and expertise on focusing on how to bring the poorest people around the world into the economy through payment systems, blockchain solutions, healthcare innovations, and startup capital. An EVP, and Stern Alum, once described the CEO as a “social justice warrior working in the private sector”. Between that description and a Mastercard campaign with Beyoncé, I was sold for my summer internship.

Few for-profit organizations have integrated social considerations in to their strategy so intricately. For Mastercard, doing well by doing good is more than a tagline, it is literally a way of life for small (or micro) merchants and entrepreneurs who historically had challenges accessing capital and engaging in commerce; you cannot capitalize on the internet of everything if the financial system does not include everyone.

Mastercard is among the leading firms to merge altruism within their business model. I am grateful I get to intern for a company that is continuing to innovate in a way that this former Girl Scout can get behind. The leadership of Mastercard believes doing well by doing good is the future of business—and it is.

Read More on What Mastercard Does in the Financial Inclusion Space

Mastercard & Financial Inclusion

Mastercard’s Center for Inclusive Growth

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Summer Internship Series: PricewaterhouseCoopers

Urboshi Pal is a rising MBA2 interning at PricewaterhouseCoopers. At Stern, Urboshi is specializing in Strategy and Leadership & Change Management. Outside of classes, she leads Stern Women in Business (SWIB) as one of the 2018-2019 Co-Presidents and is also a Graduate Ambassador on the MBA Admissions team.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

It’s Monday morning, and I’m finishing up my last few sips of coffee before heading out the door for the week. I tuck my heels into the front pocket of my suitcase and slip on my comfy flats for travel. With my Amtrak app pulled up on my phone in one hand and my Metrocard ready to go in the other, I take one quick look around the apartment before closing the door behind me. By now, I’ve got down the most efficient route to Penn Station from my apartment, so in a matter of 20 minutes, I’m walking onto the train and settling in for a quick ride to Trenton, NJ…welcome to the consulting commute!

This summer, I’ve been working as a Senior Associate Intern at PricewaterhouseCoopers (“PwC”) in their People & Organization Practice within Health Industries Advisory. PwC is a multinational professional services firm that offers its clients a broad range of assurance, tax, and advisory services. Within Advisory, there are five major industries: Consumer Markets, Industrial Products and Services, Technology, Media and Telecommunications, Financial Services, and Health Industries. Cutting across each industry are practices specializing in specific consulting capabilities, like People & Organization. Health Industries Advisory People & Organization, or HIA P&O for short, focuses on strategy, human capital and talent management, and change consulting projects for clients across the healthcare industry.

I’ve been traveling each week to our client’s offices outside of Philadelphia to work on the change management work stream of a large-scale technology transformation. As an MBA intern, I’m expected to own my work from Day 1, making for an especially engaging and productive experience. It’s been really interesting to see real-world applications of concepts and theories we’ve discussed in the classroom. In particular, I see lots of parallels in my client work to cases we’ve discussed in Leadership in Organizations with Nathan Pettit and Strategy with Sonia Marciano. I feel that I’m able to contribute a unique perspective to my team as a result and hopefully add value to the overall work stream during my short tenure on the project.

While it was certainly an adjustment as first, I’ve fallen into a comfortable routine with the Monday-Thursday travel. I’m typically at our client’s offices from 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM, and I stay at a nearby hotel during the week. We usually sneak in a team dinner or two and leave the other evenings open for working out, relaxing, or catching up on non-client work. I return to NYC on Thursday evening and spend my Fridays in PwC’s newly renovated offices by Bryant Park. After checking in with my client team to make sure we’re squared away on work for the week, I catch up with some of other NYC-based HIA P&O folks and listen in to our practice-wide knowledge sharing and development calls. There are 15 Sternies at PwC this summer, so it’s also been great to learn about the different projects everyone is working on over drinks or dinner at the end of the week.

Celebrating with the HIA P&O team at PwC’s Promotion Day . . .
Hanging out with a few of the PwC Sternies before hearing Tina Fey speak at Promotion Day! (L-R: Ross Parket ’19, James Maresco ’19, Tess Taylor ’19, Naqiya Hussain ’19, and me!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re interested in consulting as a post-MBA career, I’m sure you’ve already heard the standard recruiting advice: start doing cases early and frequently, reach out to lots of consultants at your target firms, attend every firm-sponsored event, etc. While all of that is definitely important in making sure you’re prepared to do your best at the interview, it doesn’t really help you make the most of the summer once you’re in. My advice is to use the recruiting process to find the firm that’s the best cultural fit and be true to yourself about what’s most important to you. Consulting is a challenging yet incredibly rewarding lifestyle. By finding people you feel comfortable with and values that resonate with you, you’ll position yourself to take advantage of all that a top consulting firm has to offer, and hopefully have some fun along the way!

It’s been wonderful getting to explore a new city for the summer – hello Philadelphia! View from our hotel during a team offsite event
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Crisis Simulation in the Leadership Development Program

“In the real world” is a phrase that you hear all too often as a student. Sure, you learn all of the theories and principles about Finance, or Marketing, or any other subject. But what does it actually look like in the real world?

This past semester, I had the opportunity to take many of the principles that are taught at Stern and apply it to a real world setting as part of the Leadership Development Program (LDP). One of the main reasons why I chose to pursue my MBA and specifically go to Stern was to have the opportunity to focus on learning principles of leadership which I will be able to apply to my future career. Naturally, I applied to be a part of LDP to make that a reality.

The first major programming for LDP was a crisis simulation, which put groups of students in a potential real-life scenario. In this scenario, we were given a real company, and each student would assume the role of a different executive. We were briefed with a developing crisis situation and placed in a “war room”. Over the course of the next 3 or 4 hours, the phone in the war room would ring and we would learn new information or be connected with new people, such as an ambassador to a foreign country, police chief, or news reporter. We were tasked to respond to everything coming in and communicate out our plan.

To some people, perhaps this exercise wouldn’t feel “real” enough, or they wouldn’t take it completely seriously. But in our war room, we were the company executives, and this was a real crisis that we were facing. Although our team didn’t win for the best overall response to the day’s action, it was still an incredible experience. The most important key to making this activity a success was the buy-in by everybody. This is why I have enjoyed my experience with LDP so far. Everyone in the program is committed to learning more about themselves and becoming a better leader.

One of the great things about Stern is that you don’t need to caveat what you learn by how it would be in the real world. The school gives you ample opportunity to know how everything does work in the real world. Whether it is the crisis simulation, experiential learning, guest speakers, or even the impressive resumes of our own professors, we are constantly exposed to learning about real applications of the many principles that are taught in the classroom. I know that these experiences will better prepare me to be a member of the Stern community, my internship this summer, and my career and life after Stern.

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Post by Farah Karim

While we all come to business school to hone our analytical or quantitative skills, build upon the experiences we had while working or switch careers, another reason we come back to school is to learn from others. At Stern, I have had the opportunity and pleasure of taking classes taught by the most well-known professors in their respective fields: Aswath Damodaran, Scott Galloway and Charlie Murphy. I’ve learned Corporate Finance, Brand Strategy and all about Financial Services. I have also learned what it means to be an adult, what it means to live life and what it means to succeed in the real world. As Sternies, we want to succeed in our personal and professional lives. We want to become CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. We want to be the next big leaders, following in the footsteps of the greatest.

But, how did they get there? I truly enjoyed attending every Charlie Murphy lecture last semester, especially because it taught me exactly what investment bankers do, something I did not understand before. My favorite Charlie Murphy lecture was our final class and the end to his last fall semester. Not only did we learn about the financial crisis and how the housing bubble burst, but we also learned Charlie Murphy’s top 10 life lessons. It was unforgettable, and my friend and I left the classroom still talking about how we can apply these life lessons in our careers.

I impart on you the wisdom that I have learned from Charlie Murphy:

  1. When you start work, differentiate yourself – “physical not digital”
  2. Have empathy
  3. Have humility
  4. Don’t have kids if all you care about is your career
  5. Live your life, not somebody else’s
  6. Take risks now
  7. Have a hobby
  8. When you start, work hard, but don’t take on more than you can
  9. Create your network
  10. Figure out how to spend more time with the CEO / people at that level

At Stern, you are constantly learning how to improve yourself personally and professionally. With exciting projects, exciting class topics and truly inspirational professors, the opportunities to grow yourself at Stern are endless. Stern really is an “education in possible.”

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Reflections on First Semester

Reflections on First Semester

I chose Stern partly for the obvious reasons. It is a top MBA program that is well-respected and has a robust alumni base in my industry of focus. More, my wife and I relished the opportunity to move to New York and have a new adventure after calling Boston home for 8 years. However, it was the people I met during my interview on campus that really sold me on attending Stern. I vividly remember walking into KMC through the Bobst entrance and being warmly greeted by the security guard. After he let me in and wished me luck, I ran into multiple Sternies on my way to the admissions office all of whom went out of their way to welcome me to Stern, give me advice and wish me luck. From that moment, I knew Stern was the place for me.

Fast forward to August. I am fresh back from my honeymoon and ready to dive into LAUNCH. The days leading up to LAUNCH were filled with anticipation, excitement and nervousness. I was excited to begin my MBA journey and to meet my classmates, yet nervous about how I would get along with everyone and how I would fit in. About 10 minutes on campus, those nerves were replaced by a feeling of comfort and belonging. The feeling I had was the same as I experienced during the day of my interview.

After LAUNCH, first semester is a blur. Instead of days filled with team building events, workshops, and happy hours I now had class, recruiting events…and happy hours. Moreover, recruiting begins in earnest. Particularly for those of us recruiting in the fall, first semester is daunting. The best part about it is everyone is going through a similar experience and that shared…misery?….is something that helps further solidify relationships. Before I knew it, the first semester was over and it was onto winter break.

Returning to campus at the end of January (January and interview season can be a post all on its own) is a special experience. The feeling I had right before classes started was similar to the feeling I had at LAUNCH, except the nervousness was replaced with excitement. Seeing your friends after a month, hearing about their travels and interviews and time off over a beer (or two) is GREAT. Also, second semester is less structured than the first so I had the opportunity to craft my own schedule, get involved with different activities and meet more people than the fall.

Hopefully I have been able to convey that I have truly loved every moment of my Stern experience… even the recruiting and finals. The academic programs are top notch, the faculty and staff are the best around, and you cannot beat the location. However, it is the students that truly separate Stern from its peers. My initial intuition served me well, and if I had to make the decision all over again it is safe to say I would make the same one again.

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Post from Shante Frazier

Over the winter break, I had the opportunity to explore three different countries: Colombia, Costa Rica, and Scotland. I went to Colombia for a wedding, Costa Rica for a Doing Business In (DBi) class, and Scotland for a Stern Signature project. Although packing for three different climates was a challenge (imagine boots, flip flops, sunglasses and thermals in one checked bag) I would not trade the experiences I gained from each trip for anything.  

My break began with me meeting up with classmates in Colombia. We flew to the country to celebrate the wedding of a classmate who I met during the Consortium’s orientation program. I always knew that the most valuable part of business school was the relationships you built but this trip solidified that fact. We spent a week laughing together, partying together, and crying tears of pure joy as we watched our friend marry his best friend. The trip was amazing and it made me realize how I lucky I was to find such a strong community Stern.

After leaving Colombia I flew to Costa Rica for a DBi class. The class, which focused on sustainable development, took place at the INCAE Business School. We had the opportunity to learn more about the rice and coffee industries through case studies and site visits. We also learned more about the tourism industry and the tough questions that come along with it. Overall, the trip was a great learning experience and a fun way to build new relationships with classmates outside of my social circle.

My last trip was to the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. I went there for a Stern Signature Project, which is a program that pairs students with companies or organizations to help solve a problem. The company my team was assigned to work with was the Carloway Mill, one of the last three mills that produces Harris Tweed. My team was able to explore the island to see where the inspiration for the designs came from while interviewing key stakeholders. The town we stayed in had a population of 500, so it was completely different from our NYC experience. It was nice to be able to immerse ourselves in the culture so that we could have a better understanding of the mindset of the weavers and producers. The knowledge we took away from the trip was much more than we could have ever gained from a case study. We left excited about the relationships we had built and the ideas we had generated.

My classmates and I returned to classes and the halls were full of students exchanging stories about their Winter travels. Although I feel like I accomplished a lot during my 30-day winter break, my journey pales in comparison to the journeys of my classmates. It’s so exciting to hear about the diverse experiences and to see all the exciting things that everyone is working on. It’s clear that no one was truly “breaking” this winter.  

 

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Summer Internship Series: Macquarie

EF_HeadshotEvan Foo is a rising MBA2 and interning at Macquarie this summer. He is specializing in Finance and Leadership & Change Management and is a member of the Asian Business Society, Graduate Finance Association, and the Stern Private Equity Club.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

Stern Transition
Growing up, I did not imagine I would one day be working in a bank. My journey has taken me from a budding entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, a venture capitalist for the Singapore government and a CEO of a wireless speaker business to becoming a student of finance at Stern and in Wall Street. Prior to Stern, I had developed a keen understanding of early stage business and finance, but wanted the complete picture of the corporate lifecycle, and resolved to learn firsthand Wall Street’s role in shaping global companies and markets.

With its reputed strength in finance and location in the heart of New York City, Stern provided the perfect opportunity to make this transition. Connecting these dots in my career led to my summer in investment banking with Macquarie being an ideal platform for continued development.

Choosing Macquarie
One of the first considerations when recruiting for investment banking is to understand the nuances of each firm, and where your fit lies. I was first attracted to Macquarie because of its unique merchant banking function, under the Principal Transactions Group (PTG). Macquarie not only provided transaction advice and debt financing, but could also use its balance sheet to make equity investments in companies. Macquarie thus offered the best of both worlds and slightly more. The stability and resources of a bulge bracket bank, the work experience of a boutique (through leaner deal teams) and the ability to forge unique relationships with clients and sponsors.

The second is to determine what you want from your summer experience. The leaner teams at Macquarie provided the hands-on experiences I was looking for. Being able to work directly with Managing Directors, build models and interact with clients were big draws for me. Having gotten along well with the bankers from the firm and demonstrated technical competency for the job, I was offered a summer associate role in the Financial Institutions Group (FIG). The managing director of the fintech team was from Stern, and I looked forward to working with him.

Macquarie Experience
Walking past the revolving doors for the first time, tales of endless summer work and play from predecessors set the foundation on which expectation was built. My peers comprised of former investment managers, bankers, models, and engineers, yet everyone started on a level playing field during the first week of training. Soon we would be caught up in the whirlwind of work, volunteering, baseball games, charity runs and summer outings to managing directors’ homes, all of which presented various aspects of life in the industry. Staffers (typically Vice Presidents in charge of assigning projects and managing work flow within a group) protected our time for such events that not only provided reprieve from work but also an opportunity to deepen relationships with colleagues outside the work environment. Playing soccer with colleagues before dipping into the pool on a hot summer day was a personal highlight. All in a day’s work.

Food menu from a summer party.
Food menu from a summer party.

The workspace was aptly called the bullpen, the arena where everyone sat, from analysts to managing directors. Observing first-hand how a managing director operates and manages clients daily was already a key learning point for me. My day-to-day responsibilities throughout the internship would evolve from due diligence and industry research to managing analysts, building financial models, and co-leading a cross-border buy-side deal. The buy-side transaction offered the deal experience I had so desired, as I was involved in a critical stage of the deal and worked directly with a managing director. Another project with the PTG team was a welcomed bonus and it provided additional exposure across groups.

Take-aways
Walking past the revolving doors for the last time, it was comforting to know my contributions were appreciated and recognized by my team. Our buy-side progressing to the final phase made all the hard work pay off. Make no mistake about it, investment banking is a demanding job, the people we work with and the contacts we can call on make all the difference. I am therefore very thankful for the support provided by the Stern banking community in my group, firm, cohort, and across Wall Street, that has helped define my recruiting process and summer experience. In the same way, I hope to pay it forward.

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Summer Internship Series: Colgate-Palmolive

FA_HeadshotFrancois Anderson is a rising MBA2 and interning at Colgate-Palmolive this summer. He is specializing in Marketing and Strategy and is a member of the Graduate Marketing Association and Stern Speaks.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

This summer, I was an intern at Colgate-Palmolive, a global household and consumer products company that is headquartered in New York City. The NYC location was one of my main attractions to the company. Having lived in NYC for the past 9 years, this city has become my home. Though I am open to idea of moving for job opportunities, I am not ready to leave NYC. Therefore, an internship in the city was important to me. Beyond the company’s location, it was also important for me to work at a global company since the world in which we live is becoming more and more globalized. I got to know Colgate-Palmolive through corporate presentations, company visits, and conversations with several employees at the company. I loved the company’s emphasis on teamwork and collaboration. Most important, throughout the entire recruiting process with the company, I was convinced that it was the right fit for me. Therefore, I relished the opportunity to work at Colgate-Palmolive for the summer.

This summer, I worked specifically in Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals North America (COP), a subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive whose mission is to drive active brand recommendations to grow consumer sales and drive sales for prescription and over-the-counter products, as well as in-office products. In this exciting mission for COP, I learned how to develop strategic plans that will help to drive the fluoride category and increase penetration in dental offices. I also learned how to put in place tactical initiatives that will help drive sales and prescription.

Francois & Michael

My main summer project was to ideate, develop, and implement the 5Ps strategy for PreviDent varnish in the US. Working with various cross-functional teams, I was tasked with developing a more comprehensive pricing scheme for our offerings and creating strategies for product innovation cross-category promotions to drive sales, specifically within pediatric offices. I also worked on developing new communication to be more appealing and relevant to pediatric patients. Finally, I created strategies to expand our distribution within and beyond dental offices.

I applied lessons from my MBA coursework to successfully execute my summer project. Classes that helped me prepare for my summer internship included Marketing, Strategy, Brand Strategy, and Marketing Planning and Strategy. Though this class list is not exhaustive, these classes helped me develop the critical and analytical skills and the overall confidence needed to be successful in my summer internship. They helped me frame issues and tasks within the context of the larger goals of the department and company, which helped to maintain a certain level of focus when developing strategies. Beyond coursework, GMA’s Mock Madness prepared me well, not only for the interview process, but also for the summer internship. Mock Madness is a week-long intensive interview prep series where students drill each other on interview questions and offer open and honest feedback on areas of improvement. The knowledge and skills I developed in Mock Madness enabled me to quickly understand what was required of me to be successful within the internship.

As I reflect upon the summer, I am happy to say that my internship experience was a successful one. My experience exceeded my expectations and I am happy to have interned at Colgate-Palmolive. I was also adequately prepared for the internship, thanks to my Stern coursework and GMA.

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Summer Internship Series: Mastercard

Mark Lomedico HeadshotMark Lomedico is a rising MBA2 and interning at Mastercard this summer. He is specializing in Management, Management of Technology & Operations, and Finance and is a member of the Military Veterans Club, Stern Women in Business, and the Management Consulting Association.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

I first met Dean Peter Henry at the Stern Military Veterans Summit for prospective students in the Fall of 2015. On a Saturday in October, the Dean spent his personal time answering our questions and describing Stern’s unique qualities. I vividly remember him discussing the notion that doing well and doing good were not mutually exclusive and that Stern empowers its students to create value in business and society after graduation. It was with those words in mind that I was able to develop a recruiting philosophy to help guide my journey during the Fall of 2016.

Sometime in November, I took stock of my recruiting strategy. I was interested in the consulting and technology industries and had my eye on a few rotational management programs. While I never felt unsure of my chosen recruiting tracks, I wanted to evaluate my options and decide what companies to focus on most. Remembering Dean Henry’s words helped me take stock of what I held to be important and consequently I concluded the following: I wanted to work at a company where I could do interesting work and have the opportunity to make a difference in society. After that revelation, Mastercard quickly became my top choice.

Given that 85% of all consumer transactions involve cash or check, Mastercard stands to experience incredible growth given its focus on digital payments and its vision of a world beyond cash. I saw the company as a place where I could learn about payments, be innovative, and work in a dynamic industry. Furthermore, Mastercard has a large focus on global financial inclusion. Initiatives such as 2Kuze, prepaid debit cards for refugees, and the many identity inclusion programs significantly improve many peoples’ lives around the world. Having served in the U.S. Army, I wondered whether my career after business school would have a higher purpose and serve a cause greater than myself. Mastercard’s executive leadership emphasizes and champions these financial inclusion programs and I am proud to intern for a company that focuses on generating revenue and improving the societies in which it operates.

Currently I am interning in an account management division that services customers (i.e., banks) that issue Mastercard cards. My project is to examine ways to make account management more efficient and improve the overall customer experience. This has afforded me the opportunity to learn much about Mastercard’s core products, its main revenue drivers, and customer needs. Far from busywork, my project was created out of an observed need for strategic analysis to be put towards a real problem. Empowered with executive buy-in, I know my efforts are valued and matter.

Outside of the office, I have been fortunate to contribute to Mastercard’s success on the soccer field. We face off against companies in the surrounding Westchester area and through soccer I have been able to meet many new Mastercard employees and learn about what they do.

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As we approach the end of the summer, I have my sights set on Mastercard’s full-time rotational management program for MBA graduates. Created by the CFO, the Management Associates Program exposes participants to different business units during three six-month rotations. As Mastercard has many global offices, one rotation is at an international office such as Dubai, London, or Singapore, to name a few locations. Mastercard is full of intelligent people and exciting opportunities to create business value and to assist financially excluded segments of society. I am grateful for Stern’s relationship with Mastercard and the opportunity I was afforded to intern at the firm. I look forward to the exciting opportunities ahead of me and am thankful that Dean Henry’s perspective on the possibilities after graduation guided my recruiting efforts.

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Summer Internship Series: QuintilesIMS

Daniel Villaveces headshot copyDaniel Villaveces is a rising MBA2 and interning at QuintilesIMS this summer. He is specializing in Entrepreneurship & Innovation and is a member of the Stern Healthcare Association, Stern Student Government, and the Management Consulting Association

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

People who’ve done their MBA often say it was a transformative experience for them and that they wish they could do it all over again. After having completed one year of school, and 70% of my summer internship, I have to say I wholeheartedly agree with them. I have learned more about myself in the last year or so than I have in any other year of my life. A large part of these lessons has come from applying to and doing my internship in consulting.

It all started with my dissatisfaction in my prior career in medicine. After I gathered the courage to switch careers, despite having a great opportunity in my old career, I was somewhat lost. I had devoted over 10 years of my life to learning and practicing medicine, and this was the first time I had even considered doing something else. After reaching out to my network, talking to others who had left medicine before me and reading way too many articles titled “7 things you should do before you switch careers,” I decided I wanted to be a management consultant. This path allowed me to have an impactful career while being exposed to and learning about different aspects of business, something that I felt a career in industry could not give me.

Better men than me have written about the process of getting an internship in consulting at Stern, so I will save you the details. I will only say that it is a long and arduous process that starts early in your first semester and ends well after first semester is long gone. (Pro tip: don’t come to school with the plan of figuring out what you want to do, start doing research about potential post-graduation careers, and how to get there, before you get to school). It is also a process that required me to be genuine and deliberate about my career choice, so it forced me to think long and hard about what matters most to me in life – and it is through that self-reflection that I ultimately learned the most valuable lessons.

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Even though the process was demanding (or perhaps because of it), it was extremely rewarding to see my efforts pay off when I was offered a position at QuintilesIMS doing healthcare consulting. The 7 weeks I have spent there have taught me many lessons. The first one is, as they say when you’re running a race, to trust your training. I have often amazed myself at how much I’ve learned in two semesters of business school, especially considering I had no prior business experience. The second is that you should see your internship as another huge learning experience. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know,” to ask questions and to meet as many people as you can. Ultimately, your internship is where you get to try out a career for 10 weeks, so you better make sure you put it to the test. After all the self-reflection you did prior to the MBA, you owe it to yourself.

I’d like to close by saying that there is obviously more to my MBA experience than I could fit into a blog post about my internship. If you want to know more about any of it (e.g. what is it like to be an international student? What are the best places to go running in the city? How to survive on 50c/day in NYC? What are the 7 things you should do before you switch careers?), please don’t hesitate to contact me this fall at mbaga@stern.nyu.edu. Until next time!

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Summer Internship Series: Accenture Consulting

TJ_Headshot croppedTJ Herrle is a rising MBA2 and interning at Accenture Consulting this summer. He is specializing in Strategy and Leadership & Change Management and is a member of the Management Consulting Association, and Stern Student Government

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

When I began considering an MBA, I didn’t know what management consulting even was. I came from a non-traditional professional background, with a few years of government work experience and several years working internationally at startups. But with the help of an entire ecosystem of people and resources at Stern, I’m excited to say that I’m halfway through a very successful summer internship at Accenture Consulting.

This brings me to the two big questions I want to tackle. First, back to my pre-MBA days: What even is management consulting? And secondly, how did I make that pivot to end up at Accenture this summer?

The way I see it, management consulting is all about helping clients uncover and address their most critical business needs. It always starts with a problem. Maybe a client is losing market share to a new competitor in the industry. Perhaps a firm is looking to replace an older technology system with a better product. Whatever the case may be, clients hire management consultants to help them think through the problem, structure an approach, and develop a solution to achieve meaningful, quantifiable results.

Now to bring the high-level into some day-to-day takeaways for incoming MBA students considering entering this industry. For starters, you have to love working with people. From client-side meetings to late-night project team work sessions, consulting is an incredibly interactive field. If you thrive in that type of fast-paced, collaborative environment like I do, consulting might be a great fit. Next, you should be comfortable digesting large amounts of information and developing organized, synthesized output, usually in the form of a spreadsheet or a slide. You have to prioritize the information, and learn to make decisions without having all of the data you may want. Lastly, from a practical standpoint, you have to be OK with what can at times be a demanding schedule. It’s not uncommon to be on-the-road every week during any given project, or to have to put in extra hours when a deadline is approaching. That said, those demands can be incredibly rewarding in terms of both personal and professional development.

Now for my second big question: How did I make the pivot and end up at Accenture? It was a mix of leveraging the many great people and resources at Stern, and putting in a lot of hard work. From a resources standpoint at Stern I think of three big buckets. One is the Office of Career Development (OCD). They provide a series of skills workshops through the IGNITE program, and they host companies on-campus for corporate presentations where you learn about a firm and network with consultants. An OCD-sponsored Accenture corporate presentation is where I first connected with the firm. The second bucket is the student-led Management Consulting Association (MCA). MCA partners with consulting firms to host additional networking opportunities and workshops, with events such as lunch-and-learns and a weekly casing boot camp. The third bucket is yourself and your peers. Stern provides a clear starting point for how to pursue management consulting, but you must combine them with your own efforts to position yourself for success. For me, that meant spending many-a-Saturday afternoons practicing consulting cases with friends, as well as working independently on specific skills I needed to improve. If you haven’t yet heard about the collaborative community at Stern, let me make sure it’s on your radar. I can’t say enough positive things about the availability, helpfulness, and support offered by my classmates along my own recruitment journey, and I imagine many others share that same sentiment.

It wasn’t all that long ago that I was wondering what management consulting even was, and now I’m halfway through my summer internship in that exact field. My time at Accenture has taught me a lot and I’m thrilled that I am exploring this path. If you’re considering making a change to enter management consulting, from where I sit, Stern is a great place for you to make it happen.

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Summer Internship Series: Discovering Healthcare Brand Management

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Erin Guthrie is a rising MBA2 and interning at Johnson & Johnson this summer. She is specializing in Marketing and Strategy and is a member of the Graduate Marketing Association and the Stern Healthcare Association.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

I always thought I wanted to work in pharmaceutical marketing. I wrote my admissions essay to NYU Stern about securing an internship at a major healthcare company. I was laser focused on one goal, and then fall recruiting began.

Prior to Stern, I was an account manager at an international public relations firm, handling pharmaceutical and medical device accounts. I loved everything about my job, especially when I had the opportunity to work across other agencies to develop a well-rounded marketing campaign for our clients. I discovered my passion for uncovering insights and the fun of building marketing strategies to bring products to life. I knew healthcare marketing was for me and so I pursued an MBA with the intention of going into pharmaceutical brand management.

When fall recruiting began, I was exposed to the wide range of career opportunities NYU Stern unlocks for you. Beyond traditional healthcare opportunities, I sat in corporate presentations for fragrance companies, food and beverage, luxury and consumer packaged goods. In particular, I met with the CPG teams at large healthcare companies and saw how they bring over-the-counter products to market with creativity and reach far beyond the possibilities available in pharma.

My healthcare background, aligned with my love of marketing and creative thinking led me to lean into CPG recruiting. I applied and interviewed with a number of consumer healthcare companies and eventually secured an internship with Johnson & Johnson, as part of the brand management team for LISTERINE.

LISTERINE Summer Associates at the Facebook offices for a capabilities tour.
LISTERINE Summer Associates at the Facebook offices for a capabilities tour.

At J&J, I have expanded my marketing capabilities beyond what I thought was possible. I have been tasked with real business problems and will be expected to deliver strategic solutions that will be implemented across the brand. In such a competitive landscape, you’re constantly pushed to think outside the box and explore new ways of doing things.

Additionally, Johnson & Johnson, like most CPG companies, has a structured internship program that incorporates training, mentorship and social events that work together to make your summer an enriching experience. The culture at J&J reminds me a lot of why I chose Stern: it is fiercely competitive and strives the be the best in the industry, but within the walls of the company, there is an overwhelming sense of support and collaboration to help everyone excel together.

I never thought my MBA experience would take me to building a digital strategy for mouthwash, but I am glad it did.

Fellow Summer Associates at an impromptu cookout in our apartment complex. All SAs live together in corporate housing.
Fellow Summer Associates at an impromptu cookout in our apartment complex. All SAs live together in corporate housing.
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Summer Internship Series: Loop Capital Markets

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Oyinkansola Ayobiojo is a rising MBA2 and interning at Loop Capital Markets this summer. She is specializing in Finance, Strategy, and Global Business.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

My first three weeks interning at Loop Capital Markets have been great. I have the unique opportunity to sit on the equity capital markets (ECM) desk, which is in between the sales and trading (S&T), and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) groups. I spend about half of my day on projects for ECM and the other half on projects for the healthcare M&A team. My typical day starts at 7:30am with a research call where I listen to the traders discuss the global markets and research analysts discuss their specific companies as well as their rationale behind new reports and/or buy and sell ratings. Listening in on these calls has been an amazing learning opportunity and helps me to better understand the conversations I overhear the sales teams having with investors throughout the day.

On the ECM desk, my responsibilities include creating client materials and case studies on recent equity offerings, updating market data, as well as drafting selling points for equity issues that are about to launch. My team also has weekly calls with coverage investment bankers and research analysts to better understand how we can all work together to win new business and specifically, how the ECM team can position itself to pitch a company on upcoming equity offerings. On the healthcare M&A team, we advise biotechnology companies. I have been assisting the team with live private placements and buy side engagements. Getting up to speed on the biotechnology industry with absolutely no science background has been a bit challenging. However, knowing that these companies are developing treatments for life-threatening diseases has been motivating because I know that helping raise capital will positively impact lives in the future.

One of things I enjoy the most about working at Loop is the culture and the people. My experience at Loop has been unlike the horror stories I have heard about investment banking in the past. The people are very friendly and willing to answer any questions that I have. I work closely with the head of ECM and that has been instrumental to helping me better understand the IPO process. There is no “face time” and unnecessary long nights. All the interns are encouraged to work hard, but smart, and to learn about all aspects of the business, which is something that I will be focused on doing over the next seven weeks. My plan is to shadow some traders and to learn more about the public finance arm of Loop. Additionally, Loop’s lunch room is always stocked with healthy and organic fruits and snacks, which has helped me to stay on track health-wise. I also really love the firm’s location—it is downtown, right on Wall Street and across from the Seaport District! It is such a beautiful location and I typically try to take a 15-minute break to walk by the water!

Overall, I am happy with my decision to join Loop this summer in their New York office. I have been able to explore New York more this summer and was fortunate to attend the Toigo Foundation Annual Gala, where I got to hear Michelle Obama speak! The Toigo Foundation helps MBA students of diverse backgrounds break into the finance industry and then works with them to accelerate and develop their careers. The Foundation raised almost $300,000 at the gala and I am so fortunate to be a Toigo Fellow, and was even more surprised to see my face in front of the stage at the gala! The gala has been one of the highlights of my summer so far and I look forward to more amazing experiences this summer.

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Summer Internship Series: From the Military to Management Consulting

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Wes Going is a rising MBA2 and interning at L.E.K. Consulting this summer. He is specializing in Finance and Strategy and is a member of the Management Consulting Association, Military Veterans Club, and the Stern Management & Strategy Club.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

In the past, I usually spent my summers on-board a destroyer overseas. This summer, I am working as a Summer Consultant in L.E.K. Consulting’s New York office. As I reflect on the past year, having left the Navy, completed my first year of business school and now working at my internship, it’s exciting to look back on the opportunities I’ve had while at Stern.

As someone applying to business school after spending my entire post-undergrad life in the military, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write for my admissions essay ‘life plan,’ much less what the different potential post-MBA career opportunities were. To research, I leveraged current and alumni networks, in particular the Vets Clubs, and was intrigued by strategy consulting. The opportunity to have high-level impact on businesses within ambiguous, dynamic, team-based environments sounded similar to the situations I faced in the Navy. I also didn’t, and still don’t, know ‘what I want to do when I grow up,’ so being able to postpone that decision while continuing to develop a broader business understanding across industries beyond business school was also appealing.

After starting school I needed to figure out what consulting really was, if I still wanted to pursue it, and ultimately how to land an internship. Having limited experience with consulting and the case interview, I leveraged four resources at Stern to get up to speed. The first was the coursework, which gave me a foundational understanding of business. In particular, this spring I experienced consulting hands-on through the Stern Consulting Corps, an experiential learning course, through which I worked on a five year growth strategy for a global luxury scotch brand. Secondly, I heavily participated in the activities of the Management Consulting Association (MCA). With the weekly Casing Bootcamps, weekly meetings with my MBA2 MCA mentor, and casing workshops taught by experienced consulting professionals, I gained confidence in my casing skills. Third, with the support of the Stern community, both current students and alumni, I practiced and tailored my casing skills over the first semester of school. Finally, the formal events set up by the Office of Career Development (OCD), from programs like IGNITE to the corporate events with consulting firms, I gained an understanding of the different types of consulting firms out there and which ones fit me best.

Leveraging these resources, I was offered an internship this summer with L.E.K. Consulting. As a Summer Consultant, I’ve enjoyed analyzing market features and growth strategies for a company in an industry in which I have limited experience. Daily, I find myself learning from, and challenged by, my team and the leaders at the firm to continue expanding my business understanding. My initial research of consulting has also proven to be true, both in terms of the opportunities to create real impact and in the length of some work days. Yet, I’ve also found work-life balance to be strongly emphasized, from spending a week in Cape Cod for internship orientation to having in-office massages on Fridays. Specifically at L.E.K., I’ve also enjoyed the opportunity to lead an associate on my own dedicated work stream, and my wife and I appreciate L.E.K.’s minimal travel structure, both of which are not common in consulting.

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As I look back on the past year, it’s crazy to think what getting an MBA has made possible. Leaving the military without an MBA, I wouldn’t have had the same opportunities in consulting, and probably wouldn’t have known such opportunities existed. Looking forward, I’m excited for what I’ll learn the rest of the summer and in my second year at Stern.

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Summer Internship Series: My Journey to American Express

image2Mansi S. Allison is a rising MBA2 and interning at American Express this summer. She is specializing in Finance and Strategy and is a member of Stern Women in Business.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship. 

The past year has brought about many firsts for me – starting business school and now beginning a 10-week summer internship with American Express. As a prospective student, I was always curious to learn about the summer between year one and year two. How do students secure internships? How do they know what they are interested in? What skills are required of MBA interns? I hope this post helps you to start thinking through some of these questions.

Prior to business school, I worked in strategy and operations consulting at Deloitte and later at an enterprise technology startup, where I led their Customer Success department. I knew that I wanted an MBA to round out my foundational business skills and pivot into corporate strategy or internal consulting. I was open to pursuing these roles in a variety of industries because the most important thing to me was the function. Accordingly, I cast a wide net in my initial search.

I found that the best way to explore different companies and careers was to meet with people, so I took a two-pronged approach. First, I made a list of people in my personal network who were currently employed by companies I was interested in. Second, I made sure to attend each on-campus event held by that company, whether it was a corporate presentation, coffee chat, or other event. By interacting with employees and asking thoughtful questions, I was able to learn a lot about each company’s priorities, initiatives, and plans for the future. Of course, I complemented all these meetings (“coffee chats,” as we call them in MBA lingo) with extensive solo research as well.

Preparing for MBA interviews was an intense and time-consuming—but ultimately rewarding—process. Stern’s winter break spans six weeks (from mid-December through the end of January), so I was lucky to have a big stretch of uninterrupted time to prepare for interviews without worrying about schoolwork. The biggest difference for me between interviewing for an MBA internship versus my previous jobs was the level of technical and company-specific knowledge you were expected to have in order to stand out. For example, how does the company make money? How is the industry currently being disrupted and how is the company responding to that? What key developments came out of the company’s latest earnings release?

After interviewing with a number of companies for strategy roles, I was thrilled to receive an offer from American Express to join their internal consulting team for a summer internship. As I write this, I’ve only been there a little over a week, but I am excited to apply the technical and theoretical skills I have learned in the classroom to problems in the real world. While it’s too soon to tell what challenges I will tackle this summer, I am confident that my first year at Stern has prepared me to have a fun and successful summer.

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A Sternspective on… Healthcare

This time I have with me my friend and fellow Graduate Ambassador Kyle Boutin, who is our resident Healthcare expert and Co-President of the Stern Healthcare Association (SHA).  Kyle and I got to know each other after teaming up with a handful of others to put together Preview Weekend for admitted students last Spring—and now we’re glad to be working together again as Graduate Ambassadors!  Kyle hails from outside Boston and was a research engineer for Reactive Innovations, a small chemical engineering research and development firm where he performed electrochemistry research for NASA, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Defense.  Kyle interned at Pfizer this past summer as a Procurement Associate in their Worldwide Medical and R&D division, and he will be returning there full-time after graduation.

Here’s what he had to say:

Thanks for joining me, Kyle!  As someone interested in healthcare, what was attractive to you about Stern?

It was two large factors.  First, I wanted to build a strong foundation in finance, and Stern obviously has a strong finance curriculum.  I came to school wanting to learn the right way to develop business, and to do that I think understanding how your decisions flow through your financial statements is critical.  Even though I was interested more in strategy and operations than in corporate finance, I felt that having these strong finance skills would give me an edge when recruiting at pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotech companies.

Second, when it comes to MBA recruiting, healthcare is a newer industry than consulting or investment banking.  Since the opportunities available to students in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries are not necessarily acquired through on-campus recruiting, I wanted to be in a city that had as many recruiting opportunities as possible.  For that, there’s no better place in the world than New York City because it’s a hotbed for corporate recruiters.  There’s a lot of companies that thrive here—Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Bayer, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, Stryker, Medtronic, Genentech, Amgen, and so on.  So you can find opportunities, on-campus and throughout the city, and I thought if I could have two bites at the apple, I would have a better shot at getting my dream job.

Susan Silbermann, President and General Manager of Pfizer Vaccines and a Stern alumna, addresses a packed room as the keynote speaker at Stern’s Healthcare Conference last October. (Photo credit: Stern Healthcare Association)
Susan Silbermann, President and General Manager of Pfizer Vaccines and a Stern alumna, addresses a packed room as the keynote speaker at Stern’s Healthcare Conference last October. (Photo credit: Stern Healthcare Association)

 

Can you elaborate on the sort of interactions that you and others at Stern have had with these companies?

MBA healthcare recruiting is pretty new, but I think the pharmaceutical companies are actually really involved, so we have a lot of them visiting us here on campus.  Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, the ones I named before, they’re all here and they all come to events.  It’s more structured for them.  As you go to more payer/provider, hospital administration, they post listings here, but hospitals still recruit MPHs and MPPs, so there’s competition there.  Private insurance companies are starting to become more popular because of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) regulations that have created competition for large public insurance companies, so they’re trying to infuse new talent, but they appear later on the recruiting timeline.  I say that medical device and biotech are a little between both in that you have some large cap companies that are able to compete with pharmaceutical companies, and then you have some smaller ones where you have to do a little bit more legwork because their ROI from recruiting on campus for maybe one position is just not worth it for them.  So they’ll post on a board, or they’ll go to recruiting events in the city.  And the Office of Career Development (OCD) is awesome in alerting you to these opportunities and keeping that information in their databases so that you can reach out to them, but you have to do the outreach so that you get on their radar.

Full disclosure: Kyle is also a Graduate Fellow for the Office of Career Development because he’s an all-star.  Care to comment on that, Kyle?

Only that it’s not true!  Everyone at Stern is as involved as I am.  It’s one on the things I love about Stern!

Spoken like a true Graduate Ambassador.  Back to healthcare, what was the recruiting process like for you?

I applied to 12 different firms—six on campus, six off.  I would say that’s a pretty common split for someone recruiting for healthcare outside of healthcare consulting.  If you’re doing consulting, you can do 100 percent on campus.  You can find plenty of good opportunities in strategy and operations, business development at Stern too.  Off campus, there are smaller companies that post on the job boards, smaller companies that reach out to the Stern Healthcare Association (SHA) that we post in our newsletter that require students to reach out.  If you’re looking for something at a smaller size healthcare company, we would probably have more people contacting SHA directly that we could direct your way.

How does the Stern Healthcare Association (SHA) play a role in students’ career development?

SHA can be a really good resource for students.  Something amazing about Stern is that we’re really collaborative and good about passing information and connections from MBA2s to MBA1s year over year.  I’m President of SHA, and one of my initiatives is for us to establish an alumni list, so we are tracking alumni from years back so we can get a better off-campus recruiting baseline. So if someone is interested in a position, we have several people to reach out to.

Another awesome thing we do is our healthcare conference.  Every year we have companies coming from all over to network at our conference.  Last year we were 175 people, and we’re going to break 200 this year, so we’re really increasing our presence in the industry through this platform.  We’re really putting ourselves at the forefront, and we’re really growing our membership.

The Technology, Big Data and Analytics Panel drew a large crowd and was just one of the event offerings at the conference, whose theme was “The Changing Face in Healthcare.” (Photo credit: Stern Healthcare Association)
The Technology, Big Data and Analytics Panel drew a large crowd and was just one of the event offerings at the conference, whose theme was “The Changing Face in Healthcare.” (Photo credit: Stern Healthcare Association)

Switching gears a little, what sort of classes are available for students interested in healthcare?

We’re actually making great headway in this.  We offer five electives in healthcare.  One that’s popular is Topics in Investments: Financial Analysis in Healthcare.  We’re also doing a new course this year called Healthcare Markets, which focuses on the economics of the healthcare industry, and I’m really excited about that one.  I’ve sat down with the professor of the course—he’s brilliant, and he’s done most of his research on pharmaceutical pricing and health insurance.  I think what he’s planning on doing is lecturing on the drivers in each industry in healthcare, because they’re vastly different, and he’ll also invite guest speakers to class.  There are two other courses called The Business of Health and Medical Care and Economic Transformation of Healthcare, which are industry overview courses, less in depth than Healthcare Markets, and then there’s a fifth course called Pharmaceutical Marketing (Innovation in Pharmaceutical/Bio Technology).  This one is more an “innovations in healthcare” course, but pharmaceutical marketing is so important to the topic because educating the public and raising awareness about innovation is essential to having the market accept the product and necessary for gaining market share.  Pharmaceutical marketing and innovation are highly linked.

Those are just Stern classes.  You’re also free to take 25 percent of your courses outside of Stern at other NYU schools.  For example, there are ACA policy courses you can take at the law school.  If you’re interested in payer/provider, the med school does a drug development class that some of our MD/MBAs have taken and said is interesting, and it’s more business-related than technical.  Lastly, Wagner [School of Public Service and Policy] has a very good healthcare program, and we partner with the Wagner healthcare network often.  Their dean is one of the chief architects of the ACA as well, and she set the curriculum for the healthcare management courses they offer. These courses focus more on hospital and payer/provider systems.

There you have it, from the resident expert on healthcare himself.  Thanks so much, Kyle!

Sternspective is a series of interviews with Sternies about the diverse paths they are taking in the classroom and beyond. Check out our previous posts about Stern Signature Projects and Marketing.

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Four Reasons to Go on a Trek During your First Year

For Spring Break, I had the opportunity to travel to South Africa for a trek. My experience was nothing short of amazing although I am still recovering almost two weeks later. We started the trek by flying into Johannesburg and then traveling to Kruger National Park the next day. There we spent the next two days traveling in open vehicles through the safari, getting up close to elephants, zebras, and a few rhinos. We ended the Trek by spending four days in Cape Town, one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Below are four reasons I think everyone should participate in a trek their first year.

Get to Know Your Classmates

Your first year, you probably won’t meet a lot of students outside of your assigned block. You spend the first semester taking classes, grabbing drinks, and working on group assignments (in that order) with people from your block. Treks are the perfect opportunity for you to mingle with people outside of your block. In addition to meeting other full time students, you also have the opportunity to mingle with Langone students. I met a lot of new people and we have already have a happy hour scheduled for our first mini reunion.allConvenience

Planning an international trip is stressful. It’s hard to figure out where to stay, what to do, and what to eat. Signing up for a trek is simple and convenient. After signing up for the trek through a lottery process, I only had to do two things to prepare for the trip: Make a vaccination appointment and pack my suitcase. meStep Outside Your Comfort Zone

Listen. I would never consider myself to be a “nature person”. There are people who plan vacations around hiking destinations and then there are people, like me, who plan their vacations around food and wine. The trek planners catered to both groups of people by making sure the agenda included activities that were a good mixture of adventure and recreation. As a result, I was automatically signed up for activities that I wouldn’t normally plan myself. For example, I never would have made time for a Safari if I planned the trip myself but it ended up being one of my favorite experiences.

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FOMO

Since a lot of students go on a trek during Spring Break, every conversation for the next two weeks will be about treks after your return. You don’t want to be the person sitting in the corner not able to contribute to the conversation because you decided to stay home and catch up on class assignments. You only get the Stern experience once. Take advantage of the many opportunities that will come your way. Besides, there’s always time to study on the flight.

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The Network that Never Sleeps

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As someone who is taking a non-traditional path with recruiting, a network is very important to me.  When I was deciding between schools and deciding on what I wanted to do after business school, part of the decision included looking at a school’s alumni.  Are these alumni at places I could see myself working at?  Are they career changers like myself?  Are they willing to take the time to speak with me as I search for my summer and full-time opportunities?  With Stern, the answer to these questions was always yes.

Despite the disparate nature being at a school that doesn’t have a strong sports team and with students living in different boros of New York City, Sternies still develop great relationships.  While in school, you develop relationships with your classmates (future alumni).  While taking experiential classes, alumni come back to mentor you on projects, speak to your classes and impart the knowledge they learned while they were at Stern, and even as they progress in their careers.  A LinkedIn message or an email also goes a long way with Stern alumni.  I have spoken to alumni at least once a week since I started at Stern.  The greatest thing about the network is the common bond – these people were in your shoes once.  They assure you that they were successful, they did fine, and at the end of the day, they have amazing jobs.  The alumni are here to help you, not hurt you, so it’s great to take advantage of such an important resource.

The Stern alumni not only speak with you, they connect you to others in their own personal network – Stern alumni from their year in business school or even contacts at the company you are interested in.  That means your Stern network is endless.  You have your class, the MBA2s, the incoming MBA1s and the additional Stern alumni.  That’s a lot of people.

Now, you may be thinking – sure, every school has alumni.

So, makes the Stern network so great and why are they so important?:

  • Stern alumni exist across a variety of industries, which comes with the vast number of specializations our school offers.  This is something that is unique to Stern.  The diversity of alumni experiences is evident (in the form of specializations or even the countries they work in).  I recently attended an event held by the Luxury and Retail Club featuring Madecasse, a chocolate company based out of New York, a product actually featured at Whole Foods – not something that I thought I would ever experience while at school.  How cool!
  • In addition to the diversity of Stern alumni, our classes are also taught by clinical professors who are experts in their field and who have other jobs in addition to teaching at Stern.  Some key clinical professors include Professor Thomai Serdari (Luxury Marketing) and Professor Scott Galloway (Brand Strategy).  These professors either own their own companies (in the case of Professor Galloway with L2, Inc.) or work with many companies on a day-to-day basis (in the case of Professor Serdari).  These professors are always willing to help.
  • Let’s not forget the additional alumni that full-time students tend to forget about.  NYU Stern also has the Langone program (our part-time program).  These part-time students are working whilst doing their MBA and work at companies that you could potentially work for.  This is an untapped network, and a very important one.
Being a student at Stern will expand your horizons and introduce you to people you never thought you would meet before.  This is the network that never sleeps!

 

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Introducing Fintech

Hi Guys!

Today, I want to talk to you guys about finance – specifically, Fintech.

As a humanities major, finance as an MBA student has always been a necessary evil. And yet, what I didn’t expect to find was that the disruption of financial technology proved endlessly fascinating to me. From introducing the concept of peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding, to the simple move to online and mobile banking, this was a space that is growing at tremendous speeds. Just between 2010 and 2015, investment in the industry increased tenfold, from less than $2 billion to nearly $20 billion.

Stern is probably most known for its financial prowess. We have some of the most lauded professors in the industry (Damodaran, Silber and Murphy to name a few), and our unique location in NYC places us only a couple subway stops from Wall Street. Therefore, it only made sense that administration took notice and understood the importance of this growing industry. This past school year, NYU Stern became the first top business school to offer a specialization in fintech.

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Dean Henry introducing Fintech to Stern

The value of a MBA degree in the fintech space has always been highly valued, as some of the biggest fintech giants such as SoFi, Commonbond, and Earnest were all co-founded by MBA graduates. However, until recently, MBA students were not provided to the academic and career support to keep up with the industry.  David Yermack, a finance professor as well as academic co-chair of the specialization believes that the key is to create a curriculum that “teach[es] what companies on the outside are hiring students to do.”

As part of the specialization, Stern has introduced eight new courses dedicated to fintech which ranges from understanding blockchains and digital currencies to personal finance and payments and risk management. (For specific courses, see here)

We also kicked off our first ever annual FinTech Conference last November. The conference included panels on marketplace investing vs. venture capital, beyond blockchain, and keynote speakers Ken Kroner (retired Senior Managing Director, BlackRock) and Dan Schulman (Stern MBA ’86 and current CEO, PayPal). You can find out more about the conference here.

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Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal and Stern alum speaking at the FinTech Conference with moderator Prof. Charlie Murphy

Furthermore, since the industry is dominated mostly by startups that are headquartered in NYC, we have also been able to organize multiple treks for company visits, as well as regularly source speakers from companies such as Venmo and Orchard Platform. Overall, the introduction of the specialization has signaled to companies that Stern students are not only interested and serious about this industry, but also possess the relevant skillset and knowledge.

As always, till next time!

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The [Recruiting] Road Less Taken

From the moment I began my MBA, I was told that as a student who was recruiting for the Luxury Retail industry, I would face a slightly different recruiting cycle and process than many of my peers. The schedule is a bit less structured and most companies in the industry typically recruit on an as-needed basis. That said, the exciting opportunities generally present themselves a bit later in the school year. While this can understandably be a cause of stress for some, I appreciated having the facts upfront. It helped me to determine early on that this was a career path I was committed to pursuing, even though it would certainly require me to be patient and a little more creative with my job-hunting strategy.

Since then, there has never been a time when I’ve doubted the decision to continue on the path I’ve chosen. While this is definitely due in part to countless late night personal pep talks, it can also be largely attributed to the support I’ve felt here at Stern. Though fewer companies in my industry of choice come to campus for the traditional corporate presentations and other such events, Stern’s Office of Career Development taps into its Luxury Retail alumni network throughout the year in an effort to continuously provide students with a gateway into their target companies. I’ve attended breakfast events, during which I’ve had the chance to connect with some of our alumni in more intimate settings and I’ve been to career panels with Luxury Retail professionals who have been happy to share their experiences and are more than willing to answer all our questions.

Another valuable resource I’ve personally leaned on is the Luxury & Retail Club. Club members tirelessly reach out to companies to organize various types of events through which students can gain exposure to companies of interest. Past events have included corporate headquarter visits and tours, lunch & learns, and cocktail hours. Many of these events have led to continued conversations with company employees that ultimately resulted in internships and job offers. The club ensures it is exposing students to a wide array of retailers of varying sizes, growth stages, business models, specializing in different products.

Aside from all these formal internal resources though, what has perhaps been most helpful has been my own peer network at Stern. Simply having conversations with friends about my interests has helped lead me to interesting opportunities I would otherwise not have been aware of. Friends have connected me with other friends or simply passed along job descriptions they come across that they think may be in my wheelhouse. While we are all of course told that our networks will probably be one of the most valuable things we take away from the MBA experience, I think I underestimated just how much I would come to rely on mine. My peers here have proven to be my great asset; they provide encouragement, advice, introductions, and go above and beyond to do so. It is because of all the people and resources that make up my tremendous Stern support system that I feel confident I will be successful in pursuing my career path, as “unstructured” as it may be.

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Experiential Learning in China

Back in January, I traveled with 35 of my classmates to Hong Kong for one of the handful of “Doing Business in…” (DBi) courses offered each semester.  With b-school lasting only a short two years, these one- or two-week courses are the most popular way for students to take advantage of Stern’s partnerships with international institutions and to expand their learning beyond the classroom and New York City.

Apart from a pre-departure meeting during the semester, the entire class takes place on location and consists of a balanced blend of classroom learning, corporate visits, and field trips to cultural sites.  For my DBi, Stern partnered with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), whose faculty, staff, and students welcomed us onto their campus with great hospitality.  In the classroom, we learned about current social issues in China and how they have been influenced by geography, history, culture, and politics.  We also examined the major opportunities and challenges that firms encounter, from the standpoints of both the foreign multinational companies, who tend to underestimate the costs of doing business in China, and the local Chinese companies, who are rising to compete against these corporate giants in the global market.

We were able to witness these successes and challenges in action at the companies we visited, which were chosen due to their relation to Hong Kong’s significant travel and tourism industry.  My personal favorite was a trip to the MTR, the private Hong Kong-based corporation that runs the highly efficient mass transit railway system in Hong Kong and—as we learned during our visit—in other parts of the world as well.  In addition to a quick tour of the control room at Kowloon Bay Station (where the MTR’s headquarters are located), we had the opportunity to hear directly from the Head of Operations, the Strategy and Planning Manager, and the Head of Town Planning about the MTR’s impressive operational achievements, profitable business models, and goals and aspirations moving forward and beyond Hong Kong.  The executives also discussed the difficulties they are encountering as they grow their operations, such as meeting customer demands, fighting market competition, and navigating the complications and regulatory webs of foreign places and their governments.

Some of these successes and challenges were echoed at the other companies too.  Uber invited us to their sleek new office, where we sat in their open kitchen and met with their regional head (who began at Uber as their first Hong Kong employee).  Over the course of 90 minutes, he excitedly shared with us the firm’s successes in Hong Kong, highlighting the uplifting impact Uber has had on the lives of their drivers and customers.  He also discussed the developments that have resulted from serving Hong Kong’s residents specifically—a service for the elderly called uberASSIST, as well as the city’s own UberEATS, whose incredible success in Hong Kong has inspired the firm to name each of its new meeting rooms after a food they deliver.  Their office mascot also proudly bears the logo:

We couldn’t help ourselves.
We couldn’t help ourselves.

In addition, a visit to Hong Kong’s flag carrier airline Cathay Pacific exposed us to the company’s approach to addressing shifts in consumer behaviors and fighting off increased competition in a highly regulated industry.  Moreover, on the tour of Cathay’s headquarters, led by the airline’s lovely flight managers, we had the opportunity to witness Cathay’s pre-flight crew procedures, sit in one of the pilot seats of a flight simulator, and lay back in the six pods that comprise the exclusive first class cabins of Cathay’s transoceanic planes (or in this case, a replica of one that is used for training).  Later in the week, a visit to Ocean Park granted us insights into how the beloved amusement park managed to leverage its local understanding of its customers to differentiate itself from Disneyland and fend off the foreign goliath’s arrival.  We were then set free into the park, where we observed various animals, raised our adrenaline on the array of rides, and took in aerial views of the park from the park’s signature cable cars, which also affords views of the South China Sea.

The future business leaders of tomorrow pose for a photo before running off to the panda exhibit.
The future business leaders of tomorrow pose for a photo before running off to the panda exhibit.

As if the corporate visits were not enlightening enough in themselves, so we could experience aspects of the local culture first-hand, Stern also arranged plenty of Cantonese-style meals and class trips to the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Po Lin Monastery (where the Big Buddha statue sits).  Additionally, we had time on the weekend to explore on our own, giving us the chance to create even more memories with one another.  For example, I’ll personally never forget that a group of us hiked up [the very steep] Victoria Peak one day to take in the breathtaking views we were promised only to encounter the whims of the weather and smog instead.

There’s a gorgeous view of Hong Kong behind us somewhere.
There’s a gorgeous view of Hong Kong behind us somewhere.

Indeed, in addition to the satisfaction of visiting Asia for the first time and getting to do something that I wrote about wanting to do in my admissions essay, I feel very fortunate to have been able to learn so much through these unique experiences and to be able to share them with such wonderful classmates.  Whether we were touring a corporate headquarters or searching the streets for pork buns, I don’t think any of it would have been as exciting and memorable if my fellow Sternies were not by my side.

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Studying Abroad Through Stern

Hi All!

After a 7-week winter break, it feels so good to be back in NYC, to be back at Stern finishing my final semester of business school (!!!?). I’ve spent the past couple of weeks getting back into the grind, and of course catching up with my amazing classmates, some who I haven’t seen in over half a year!

For those of you that don’t know, one of the many reasons I love Stern is just the incredible amount of opportunities it provides its students to work, study, and travel abroad. Whether it be through our short-term Stern Signature Projects (SSP) and Doing Business In…(DBi) programs, or our longer-term semester and half semester exchange programs, there are just a wealth of programs offered abroad. Every year, a good number of students decide to spend a full semester abroad, and here I’d like to introduce you to two of them.

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Exchange Buddies @ HKUST (photo from: Caspar Di Sun)

Kimberly (Kimi) Rodriguez and Caspar Di Sun are both second year MBA students with me who spent their last semester as an exchange student at London Business School (LBS) and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) respectively.

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Welcome to London! (photo from: Kimberly Rodriguez)

V: Hi Guys! It’s so nice to have both of you back at Stern! Did you enjoy your time abroad?
K: Yes of course! London was amazing. I mean I love New York, it will always be exciting, but there’s just a completely different feel about London. It’s slightly slower than hectic NYC for one, and it is a bit more international- LBS itself has a 92% international student body!
C: Being originally from China, there’s just no place like home. I also have plans to move back to Hong Kong post-graduation, so it was great to be there, learn the city and create a network while still at school.

V: Can I ask what in particular made you decide to study abroad? And why you chose where you did in particular?
C: I believe studying abroad enriches and enhances my overall MBA education. Hong Kong is a gateway to doing business in China and China is not just a buzzword in today’s globalized economy but also a true battlefield in today’s business competition. HKUST is a world-renowned education institute. Hong Kong is one of the busiest metropolitan cities in the world. Hence, it was not a hard decision when I factoring those reasons together.
K: I am an international student, and one of the main reasons I came to Stern was that I have family and friends in New York. However, I came knowing that I also wanted try going somewhere that would force me out of my comfort zone, where I would be living somewhere completely new and get to meet an entirely new set of people. Furthermore, I understand the importance of planting seeds in different countries, of expanding my network geographically.

V: What would you say was your favorite thing about being abroad?
K: The ease of traveling within Europe. (see more of Kimi’s adventures here!)
C: Terrific friends I made from the world MBA community.

V: Would you ever go back to London/Hong Kong to visit or live?
C: I’m definitely moving to Hong Kong after graduation. And since I will be living in there, I would like to be the “friendly ghost” in Hong Kong for any Sternies on the exchange program in Hong Kong and will try be as helpful as I can when you need.
K: No plans at the moment, but definitely would be up to go back and visit!

V: Words of advice?
K: If you plan on recruiting in New York full-time in your second year, make sure that you understand the risks and opportunity costs of spending 25% of your MBA in another country. Ultimately though, I believe it was more than worth it.

And that’s it! Hope everyone enjoyed having these two amazing friends of mine drop-in as much as I did. Till next time!

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The International Experience at Stern

I came to Stern exactly 14 months ago. Stern in many respects was a great next step for me – a chance to explore new careers, a chance to explore new subjects and learn about things I never imagined I would learn (aka Behavioral Finance). But most importantly, it was a chance to explore a completely different culture than mine.

I am from Delhi, India. I have never ventured far from home. My high school and undergrad school were 15 mins away from my home. Even my work was a manageable 40 minutes away so I never had a compulsion to move away. Coming to Stern, and by extension New York, was a giant next step in my life. It was the first time I have ever lived away from home. When I stepped off the plane and wandered around New York on my first day here, I was swept with two feelings – that of awe and a sweeping reservation about fitting in.

One fact that a cursory research will show you is that Stern has a very diverse student body. In fact, international students make up 30 – 37% of the class in any given year. Knowing that gave me assurance that I might be able to experience a new culture while still staying around people I am most familiar with.

In my first month here, I held a small dinner gathering for all the Indian students at my apartment. Fun fact: The smoke alarm went off seven times while I was cooking! NY apartments are not built for Indian cooking! Barring that mishap, that evening, I made new friends and started developing a sense of community here.

The most amazing thing about Stern is how every culture is embraced with open arms here. We had Passport Day in which students from 47 countries around the world participated! There was great joy, laughter and dance. A lot of people showed up and shared each other’s food and culture. It was just one of those many things that show Stern’s emphasis on diversity and inclusiveness.

Last semester, SABAS (South Asian Business Association of Stern) hosted a Diwali party. Over a 100 people attended that event, dancing, laughing, and sharing my culture. Last Diwali, I felt incredibly home sick and regretted missing out on all the festivities back home. This time around, as I was leaving the party at the end and walking towards the subway, I discovered a new feeling. A feeling of being right at home.

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Winter Break Travels

One of the greatest aspects of Stern is the opportunity to travel with classmates on weekends, over the summer and during school breaks. Over winter break I had the opportunity to travel to Steamboat Springs on the Stern Ski Trip and to Las Vegas as part of the Operations in Vegas class. The ski trip was a fun vacation with friends to lay fresh tracks, eat good food and explore all Steamboat has to offer, but Ops in Vegas was really a once in a lifetime experience.
Steamboat
(View from the gondola headed up the mountain in Steamboat)

I arrived in Las Vegas on Saturday one day before the class officially started with a few other MBA2s so that we could watch the first round of the NFL playoffs in a sportsbook and hike in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The class  kicked off on Sunday night with a nice welcome dinner and the warning that the next few days would be very intense. On Monday morning we had the opportunity to meet with a number of executives from Station Casinos including top executives in charge of the hotels, analytics, and marketing as well as the new COO of Ultimate Fighting Championship Lawrence Epstein. Most importantly, we had a lengthy conversation with Lorenzo Fertitta, a Stern alumni (1993) who recently sold the UFC to William Morris Endeavor, served as Commissioner on the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and also is the principal shareholder of Station Casinos with his brother Frank. To hear directly from Lorenzo about how he turned the UFC from a bankrupt company he purchased for $2 million into the massive media empire he just sold for $4.3 billion was an eye opening business lesson. Our day finished up with a cocktail party in one of the suites at Green Valley Ranch while Clemson stunned Alabama in the national championship game.
Red Rock Condensed
(Hiking Red Rock with fellow classmates Phil Bowman, Steve Seidel and Eric Goodman)

Tuesday continued with lectures including from the head of security for Station Casinos, and former Las Vegas Chief of Police, Bill Young at Green Valley Ranch before heading over to Light Nightclub at the Manadaly Bay hotel for a behind the scenes tour of what makes the club run. Our day finished with a bowling event in one of the private bowling rooms at Red Rock Casino.
Light Nightclub
(Massive video screen at Light welcoming us)

On Wednesday we went to downtown Las Vegas where we learned about the downtown revitalization project, got an inside look at Zappos, and toured the D Hotel. Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos from Zappos because they’re very secretive, but there were many pieces of amazing art downtown to try and draw more tourists to come off of the strip. Our night concluded with a trip to Light Nightclub to gather firsthand “research” and see Pusha T perform with Baauer.
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(Some of the awesome art downtown)

Thursday was the coolest day of the whole trip for me as we got to go behind the scenes at the Bellagio where we saw everything from the inside of the security room (no pictures allowed), to underneath the famous fountain, to the high-roller suites where the only way to get a room is to gamble millions of dollars in a weekend. We visited the employee level on the 2nd floor of the hotel where 8,000 employees visit every single day to get laundry, eat in the cafeterias, relax, go to the bank, and do so much more inside their mini-city. Our class saw how the Cirque du Soleil show O is performed as we went backstage, underneath the floor to the pool area, and finally to great seats in the audience to watch the performance.
Liquor Room

Friday focused on real estate as we saw Professor Chernoff’s commercial real estate development in Spanish Trails industrial park before heading back to the hotel for an afternoon lesson on poker from world-renowned poker professional Mike Sexton. For those who really love poker, it was truly a priceless experience to hear the keys to successful poker strategy from someone who has won millions of dollars and World Series of Poker titles. Our Friday finished with a goodbye dinner and drinks before everyone headed out.

In addition to the amazing speakers, behind the scenes look at some of Vegas’s most iconic landmarks, and company visits, we had a great time playing poker together, exploring everything Vegas has to offer and most importantly…. getting three credits closer to graduation!

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When You Choose NYU Stern, You’re Choosing New York

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While studying up on Put-Call Parity or networking away during recruiting season, we tend to forget the beauty that is around us and one of the key reasons most of us chose to come to NYU Stern.  The infamous Frank Sinatra lyrics say it all “I want to be a part of it, New York, New York.”

There is always something going on.  For those of you applying to NYU Stern from outside of New York, I am excited for you to experience the city I’ve called home for the past ten years.  Here are a few of my favorite things about New York:

  • Broadway Shows
    • As an NYU student, you have access to Ticket Central, which provides discounted tickets for many broadway and off-broadway shows.  In addition to Ticket Central, an additional resource for buying tickets for shows is TKTS located in Times Square or South Street Seaport.  TKTS provides tickets for day of shows, where you can line up for tickets at 2PM daily.
  • Restaurant Week
    • While on a student budget, it’s very important to take advantage of Restaurant Week in New York City.  It’s the greatest time of the year (actually happens twice a year now) both in the winter and in the summer when restaurants around the city provide fixed prices menus for lunch and dinner.  That means you get an appetizer, main course and dessert for $29 (lunch) or $42 (dinner).  As a foodie this is my favorite time of the year!
  • Sample Sales
    • I love shopping, and I love getting great deals.  Being in New York, you often here about the infamous sample sales – people rushing around grabbing what they can and getting deals you wouldn’t even imagine about.  It isn’t always extremely crowded, but there will be lines and it will be worth it.  Think about it this way – recently, I got an $800 Helmut Lang blazer for $25.  If you’re interested in sample sales, make sure to follow Clothing Line and 260 Fifth for upcoming sales in New York.
  • Holiday Markets
    • My favorite time of the year is right after Thanksgiving in New York.  The infamous Rockefeller Tree goes up and the Holiday Markets open up across Union Square, Lincoln Center and Bryant Park.  There are food stalls, little trinkets, ornaments and great gifts for the holidays.  A lot of small vendors set up shop and the atmosphere and holiday spirit is a sight to see.  Grab a hot chocolate or hot cider while you’re at it!
  • Just Taking a Stroll 
    • Walking around campus or walking around New York City, I recommend just taking a look around.  Look up at the buildings, look at what people are wearing, even look at what the dogs are wearing.  This is New York City. Each part of the city has it’s own charm, it’s own personality.

When you come to NYU Stern, remember that you’re not just choosing the school, you’re choosing an amazing place to live for the next two years.

“And if I can make it there, I’m gonna make it anywhere!  It’s up to you, New York, New York!”

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Benefits of Applying to NYU Through the Consortium

Consortium

Around this time last year, I was preparing essays for business school applications. I applied to three schools through the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management and ranked NYU Stern as my top choice. There are clear benefits to applying through the Consortium such as the possibility of a full tuition scholarship and lower applications fees, but there are also less obvious benefits. Applying through the Consortium allowed me to earn an internship early and build strong relationships with some of my classmates prior to arriving on campus and also allowed me to extend my network to business schools beyond Stern.                               

The Obvious Benefits

Applying through the Consortium was the perfect opportunity for me. As a black woman, I have always served as an advocate for increasing diversity. The Consortium has a mission to increase the number of Black, Hispanic, and Native Americans in business schools and subsequently corporate management. Anyone who supports this mission can apply to NYU Stern through the Consortium. As mentioned earlier, benefits include a lower application fee and a chance to earn a full tuition fellowship. Additionally, the essays are typically shorter for the application (which admittedly could be an advantage or disadvantage).

Early Access to Recruiters and Job Opportunities

It is a requirement for everyone who applies through the Consortium to attend the Orientation Program. This 6-day event features students from all of the Consortium schools and recruiters from the companies who partner with the Consortium. The agenda is jammed pack with speaker events, panel discussions, interviews and happy hours.

During the Orientation Program, I interviewed with 7 companies (I don’t recommend this. Focus on 3 or 4 companies) and eventually accepted an Offer with Amazon in Seattle, WA. Accepting an offer before seeing all of the available opportunities may seem daunting to some people but for me it was a huge relief. Juggling recruiting, classes, and clubs is not an easy task. Accepting an offer allowed me to allocate more time towards clubs and classwork.

On Campus Family

During the required Orientation Program, I was able to meet a few of my future classmates. We helped each other prepare for interviews by conducting mock interviews and doing company research together. Attending the Orientation Program together allowed us to build a close relationship with each other before arriving on campus.

Now that we are on campus, we still spend a lot of time together. For example, this year, one of the Consortium fellows held a barbecue at her home in Harlem and another fellow hosted a game night in Brooklyn. The week before Thanksgiving, we met up for a mini Thanksgiving dinner.

The best example of our comradery occurred after the killing of Terence Crutcher. We all came together to figure out what we could do in response to the death of another unarmed black man. A simple text message turned into a schoolwide event after we invited the entire Stern community to come together to show solidarity for black lives. It was amazing to see our classmates come out and support an issue that is so important to so many of us.

Extended Network

The Consortium allowed me to connect with students from other business schools who I otherwise may have never met. Attending the Orientation Program allowed me to not only build relationships with other Sternies, but also fellows from other schools. It’s good to know students from other schools when you go to recruiting or networking events. These events can be awkward if you don’t know anyone so seeing a familiar face is always nice. I also already know two other consortium fellows who will be interning with me this summer in Seattle, WA.

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Ciao Milan!

At the end of my spring semester as an MBA 1, I had the opportunity to travel to Milan, Italy with thirty other classmates. We were in the heart of the fashion capital of Europe for our one-week DBi course on Luxury Retail. I had been hearing about this DBi since I first applied to Stern, but the actual experience far exceeded all of my expectations.

The course was a mix of classroom lectures and experiential learning. I would say that the split was about 30/70, with the majority of our time spent visiting flagship retail stores, clothing factories, professional tailors, and other similar venues. You think you’ve shopped luxury before but 5th Avenue is nothing like Milan. In my opinion, comparing the two experiences could not have been more like day and night.

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The attention to detail and level of service at the Milan stores was unparalleled to anything I had ever previously encountered. Store employees strived to build a genuine long-term relationship with every customer that walked into the store; at Dolce & Gabbana, we were told this was because shoppers may stroll in and out on multiple occasions before committing to a purchase, and they wanted these customers to feel just as attended to as the regulars.

Aside from the experiential aspect of the DBi though, the lectures were equally as engaging. In spite of our long days walking around the city, each morning I was excited to hear what the professors at Bocconi University would be sharing with us that day. Their firsthand experiences in the industry, as well as their anecdotes about customer shopping habits, trends, and the economic status in Italy, kept us all hooked throughout our time in the classroom.

While the course itself was certainly fascinating and educational for me, I also really enjoyed the fact that I was traveling with so many classmates, many of whom I had not previously known prior to the trip. What’s interesting about the DBi is that since it’s an actual course, students lottery for it just as they do for all other courses at Stern. That said, it’s a great opportunity to meet both full-time and part-time students. I don’t have too many opportunities to interact with the latter so this was a unique situation in which we were able to get to know one another while exploring a new country together.

Whether you are an experienced jet setter or alternatively, just eager to get that first stamp on your passport, a DBi has something for everyone. In Milan in particular, I felt I received the perfect mix of academic, cultural, and social experiences that truly made it an enriching and unforgettable experience for me. Especially given my interest in the Luxury Retail industry, it has been by far my favorite course I’ve taken at Stern, and one I would highly recommend to other MBAs with similar professional interests.

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Consulting Resources at Stern

Hi Everyone!

 

It seems like just a few days ago that I was finishing up my summer internship at McKinsey and getting ready for classes to begin but here we are now almost done with the first semester… It is truly amazing how quickly time flies during business school.

McKinsey on a boat (small)
Myself and Stern classmates who also worked at the New York office of McKinsey on a sunset sailboat cruise around the Statue of Liberty after work one night.

Some of the most common questions I receive from prospective students considering Stern are about how to prepare for recruiting.  One of my favorite aspects of Stern is that everyone in the Stern community works incredibly hard to make sure you are prepared for interviews.  As someone heavily involved with the recruiting process for consulting, I thought it would be helpful to share a taste of what I am currently working on to give back to first year students.

 

In my official capacity as a career mentor with the Office of Career Development, I host many helpful events for students. Before school was really underway I worked with students during the IGNITE workshops to write, practice and perfect their 30 second elevator pitch to employers. I reviewed the resumes of 12 students who are recruiting for consulting, then met with them one-on-one to help them wordsmith their points to make the strongest skills stand out. Right now I am working with other MBA2’s to host sessions on recruiting topics like how to navigate the corporate presentations and what to do during informational interviews. Before interviews start in January I’ll work with another group of students one-on-one to do practice interviews so they will be completely ready when on-campus interviews begin.

 

As a board member of the Management Consulting Association, I co-lead MCA’s weekly casing bootcamp session with another MBA2 student Michelle. Bootcamp happens every Wednesday afternoon and we teach how to do the technical part of a consulting interview, the case, from start-to-finish. From the framework, to the conclusion, with all the brainstorming, charts, and math you will ever need in-between, the eight interactive weekly sessions will get anyone ready to crush their case interview. If the promise of succeeding in the interview isn’t enough, we also provide awesome snacks like empanadas, cookies, and cannolis, to get your brain moving.

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Students enjoying the last session of bootcamp with amazing Greek pastries.

 

Over 20 MBA2’s, including myself, help prepare first year students interested in consulting through MCA’s mentorship program. Every Tuesday morning I meet with five first years to help work through the topics from bootcamp in a smaller group setting as well as answer any questions about the recruiting process.  It is an opportunity for first years to get an honest perspective on tough questions like how to request an informational interview as well as a chance to get to know their classmates better. As the application deadline approaches I’ll review their cover letters, help fine tune resumes, and give one-on-one case coaching so they’ll be as prepared as possible for their interviews.

 

There are many more examples of peer-led preparation I work on including the two for one casing initiative, corporate case competitions, informal coffee chats, and much more. Stern is really an amazing community where everyone invests in the success of their peers; feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

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The Journey So Far

One year ago today, I was where you are.  I was writing essays, studying for the GMAT in my spare time and avoided every single person that I knew.  I get it – no social life, but it was time I wanted to focus on myself.  After 4 years of working, I always knew that I wanted to go back to business school and I was going to do whatever it took.  As the year went by, the stress levels only got higher as I received waitlist after waitlist, but I’ll tell you, my persistence and determination to come back to school helped me.  I received acceptances up until July, hearing from NYU Stern last.  Dropping everything to stay in New York was the best decision I could have made, and getting the acceptance letter with the digital confetti was probably one of the happiest moments of my life.  I didn’t have to say goodbye to the place I call home and was getting the opportunity to pursue a career in Luxury Marketing, something that Stern especially is known for and something I would have had to give up going somewhere else.

Starting at Stern at the end of August was truly a dream come true.  From LAUNCH to today, there have been countless occasions where I’ve stopped to think about how lucky I am to be here, and how truly proud I am to be a Sternie.  One of my personal goals coming to business school, in addition to pursuing a career in Luxury Marketing, was to break out of my shell and be able to command a room.  Granted, I’m a social person, but I’m not a loud person, and in a career going forward, I want my voice to be heard, literally.  As you know, Stern divides the class into sections of ~65 that you take all of your core classes with.  These people become your first network, and your closest friends over the next two years.  In the first few weeks of class, I was making a speech in front of these 65 new classmates, explaining to them why I wanted to be their “Block Leader.”  I was elected to represent Block 6, a great way to know everyone in my block and a chance for me to pursue my own personal goal.
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Photo credit: Farah Karim
Another reason why I came to NYU was for the various experiential opportunities that the program allows.  I applied to and was accepted to the Luxury Retail Immersion, a chance to work on a consulting project for a small boutique retailer.  The project started about a week ago and goes up until December (only a few weeks).  I’ve had one meeting so far, but it was definitely the “aha!” moment I was looking for in business school.  This hands on learning is one of the reasons why I chose to come back to business school, and it’s definitely great to have that opportunity to follow your passion.
I’m a firm believer that it all works out in the end.  Regardless of the stress that you are going through now, there’s no doubt that you will also have the opportunity to make your dreams come true. With NYU, the opportunities are endless.  With Stern, your network is endless.  No matter what you’re looking to do, there’s a person somewhere that is doing exactly that.  The network, the brand will help take you places, and I am grateful for this experience.
Until next time!
Photo credit: Farah Karim
Photo credit: Farah Karim
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The Stern Community

When I first made the decision to apply to business school, I considered several factors—reputation, location, faculty, and level of focus on my profession of choice. The quality of the student body was certainly a consideration, but a slightly lesser one, as I generally felt that no matter where I ended up going, I would meet like-minded driven individuals, form relationships, and grow to call them my good friends. Now just over a year into the NYU Stern MBA program, I realize this last factor has the greatest impact on one’s experience in business school, and feel I personally could not have made a better choice.

Beginning with the first day of the LAUNCH orientation program, I have continually been blown away by my peers. Each of them comes from such a fascinating and diverse background, both professionally and personally, and challenges me in a way I never thought possible. I find myself working to be more knowledgeable and educated on an array of topics, so as to contribute to our discussions and their experience in a valuable way.

Aside from their intellect though, my peers here are truly warm and generous individuals. Throughout the business school research process, I often heard at each program I visited, that its students regularly put others before themselves, and that they go to great lengths to help one another to be successful. Though at the time I assumed this was something quite generic all schools simply say, I have now had the opportunity to see this actually manifest itself here at Stern.

About a week into the start of my first semester, I was casually chatting with a new friend about plans for recruiting. Immediately upon expressing my interest, he stopped me to tell me he knew someone at a company I might want to learn more about and asked if I wanted him to make a connection. I was floored in that moment that someone I had met so recently was already so eager to help me.

More recently, I was working on a job application for my top choice company. I must have drafted my cover letter five separate times, but my nerves continued to get the best of me. I frantically texted another friend, who promptly calmed me down and instructed me to send my completed cover letter her way for a final once-over. This is something we all frequently do for one another of course, but to have a friend say she could drop everything she was doing on a couple hours notice meant so much in that moment of stress and panic.

These are just a few of the countless instances when I have felt supported by my friends in the Stern community. Being within the walls that make up NYU Stern has frequently pushed me outside of my comfort zone. However, I am finding that this is a place I now quite enjoy being, as I know I can count on the inspiring individuals I have met here to be right there with me.

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A Sternspective on… Stern Signature Projects

Last Spring, Sarada Anne, one of my best friends at Stern, had the opportunity to take part in what she lauds as her favorite class to date.  Sarada is originally from Hyderabad, India.  She received her degree in industrial engineering and has a background in consulting and real estate.  This summer she interned in investment banking at Barclays, and she will be returning there for full-time.

Sarada and four other Sternies participated in one of the Stern Signature Projects (SSP) that have a specific focus on urbanization.  SSPs are organized around specific interests like human rights and film distribution.  They cover diverse topics, and the projects themselves tend to vary semester-to-semester.

This urbanization SSP took Sarada and her team to Ethiopia to help the city of Hawassa plan for a more sustainable future.  Though the NYU Stern Urbanization Project has worked with Hawassa on a number of urbanization initiatives before, Sarada and her SSP team were tasked with formulating a conservation plan for the lake amid rapid urban expansion and industrialization.  They worked closely with Patrick Lamson-Hall, an urban planner and research scholar at the NYU Stern Urbanization Project.  The Urbanization Project itself was founded by Professor Paul Romer, who recently went on leave from Stern to take on the role of Chief Economist at the World Bank.

Here’s what Sarada had to say: 

What attracted you to this project?

So I come from a real estate background, which is why the urbanization project was very interesting to me, because I was a private real estate developer.  In India at least, the residential projects that people are doing are far outpacing the initiatives that the government is taking to plan for infrastructure.  So that was one of the things that attracted me to the project.  The problem was very interesting.  I also wanted to take a class that let me work on a real world initiative and was unlike any school experience I’ve had before.  The team was also fantastic.  I didn’t know who my team would be going in, but the other students who the Office of Student Engagement (OSE) brought together were the most highly functional team I’ve worked with.  We all had very diverse backgrounds and skills, but maybe because of that it was smooth from day one, and they really helped make the project enjoyable. 

What was your impression of the issue at hand?

The national government is trying to build up the city, as it’s one of the cities identified for their development plan.  So it’s a small city now, but they have big growth plans.  That’s basically the problem for the urbanization project.  They do believe urbanization is a good thing—urban density, population density, brings a lot of amenities and all that good stuff—but at the same time, there’s a lake in the middle of the city, and they’re setting up industries like textiles, which has already affected the lake.  So if there’s more industrialization, the lake could suffer.  So that was the project.  Hawassa has to grow, so how can we do that and save the lake?

How much of your project was new compared to what was already being done?

Patrick has already been working with Hawassa.  He’s been there.  He knows the city.  So with his help, we didn’t have a lot of issues.  But this was a new prompt.  In the past, the Urbanization Project worked with the city government on multiple projects.  This [SSP project] was going to be the new big pitch that we were going to give the mayor of the city.  So we did a lot of research, and most of it was done here [at Stern] since we only had a week there [in Hawassa].  We had a basic idea in mind.  We knew what the lake was, what the issues were, so a lot of the brainstorming, a lot of the research, and the solution generation happened here.  That was maybe 70% of it.  Then it evolved when we were actually there.  We talked to the government officials and continued to learn more about what they wanted.  Then Patrick really helped us out with designing the boulevards, the lanes, the road systems, things like that.  Ultimately we were able to create a modern urban infrastructure plan that also incorporated elements of conservation.

The SSP group with the Mayor of Hawassa
The SSP group with the Mayor of Hawassa

Your proposal was for “Adare Park,” a linear park around the circumference of the lake that provided “ample urban greenspace for the city” and was “complete with a wide boulevard to facilitate future urbanization,” as well as buffer zones to “prevent erosion and help the lake’s ecology recuperate.”  What was it like presenting this to the mayor?

I was a little nervous.  We actually presented it to him in his office.  He was really quiet and was taking notes, and he had a lot of questions for us, but at the end he was very receptive.  His attitude was, “Yes, we want to do something for the city.  This is very important to us.”  Mind you, this is a small city in a developing country, and sustainability is one of their main issues.  So this was a very mature way of thinking.  I think that’s one of the reasons why we were working with a city like Hawassa, because they’re more aware of their path going forward, and the mayor started talking about how he wanted to work with us to do that.  So there wasn’t even a question of “I don’t know, let me think about it,” because the conversation immediately went on about funds, how we’re going to raise them, if we can form a public-private partnership, how Stern can help.  I was very surprised because there’s the difference in position between public officials and students, but he was very, very nice.  I also credit the Urbanization Project with building up that relationship and trust.

What did you like best about this experience?

I’ve never felt as invested in a project or course as I did with this project.  We went to this place where the lake—it gives its name to the city.  People chill there, people gather by it, there’s a lively fish market on the shore and an airport being built on the other side [of the lake]—the whole city revolves around the lake, and you get to impact it in a positive way.  On a project like this, you feel more ownership.  You can see that something you’re doing can actually be nice for someone.  It sounds cliché, but because of this, all of us were really invested, especially the week that we were there.  It was also just a very different experience.  On one day we went up to the mountain in the city, where you can get a 360-degree view, and Patrick was showing us the roads that were being laid, and the roads were the result of what Patrick and his team have done in the past.

What other resources at Stern did you use to help you accomplish this project?

OSE really helped us out, and not only in terms of getting the project done.  We decided a week before [we left] that we were going to go there the week after.  The five of us then had to coordinate, and OSE just hustled through everything, and we got everything booked in less than a week, from deciding to go to actually going.  So I think that they really helped us out.  It wasn’t necessary for us to visit, but we knew we wanted to go at some point, and we didn’t know at what point.  Should we go at the end to present [our plan]?  We were having troubles initially because we couldn’t really get in touch with the city government officials.  They were in touch for work, but on a day-to-day basis it was more difficult to reach them, so we actually had the most interaction with them once we went there.  This was an issue, but Patrick knew the lay of the land, so we were still able to get things moving.  Anyway, we knew we had to go there before the project was over, so we really had to hustle and get it done, and OSE really helped us out there.

How do you think this experience influences what you do moving forward?

I have a takeaway for students, which is that they should try to be part of things that may not necessarily fall in line with their immediate career goals—I’m going into finance, so I would have never done this if I had thought about that.  It’s too early to tell what influence it’s had in my life, but it’s definitely changed the way I look at the world.  It’s the best course that I’ve had at Stern, and when I think about my MBA and look back at my top experience this is what I’ll think about.

The SSP group stops for a photo op on the way from Hawassa to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.
The SSP group stops for a photo op on the way from Hawassa to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.

Sternspective is a new series of interviews with Sternies about the diverse paths they are taking in the classroom and beyond.  Check out our previous post about marketing here.

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A Sternspective on… Marketing

It’s been a month since 13 of my fellow MBA2s and I started as MBA Admissions Graduate Ambassadors, and I must say that I’ve really been enjoying the experience of interacting with so many prospective students over e-mail, over the phone, and in person during our class visits, coffee chats, and tours.

As a Graduate Ambassador, I also have the privilege of fielding many of the questions and concerns applicants have while applying.  Because I’ve begun to notice some trends, here’s a new series of blog posts to help answer your questions.

This time I have with me Nevena Georgieva.  Nev and I met at LAUNCH, where we discovered that we were in the same block (Block 2!) and bonded over our liberal arts backgrounds.  Ever since then we’ve taken a handful of classes together, gone to many Beer Blasts together, and traveled as far as South Africa together.  Nev is originally from Bulgaria before she moved to the U.S. to get her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in English.  Prior to Stern, Nev was Associate Digital Marketing Manager at Penguin Random House here in New York, where she worked on digital advertising and promotional content for the books of many celebrated authors, including Margaret Atwood and Haruki Murakami.  She interned at Bayer in brand management over the summer and will be returning there full-time after graduation.  Here’s what she had to say:

Thanks for joining me, Nev!  Let’s jump right in.  What do you think makes Stern a great place for marketing?

For me, it was all the great companies that recruit on campus.  As someone who recruited for CPG marketing, I was able to take advantage of all the companies that came for corporate presentations and interviewed us right here on campus.  A lot of these companies are sponsors of the Graduate Marketing Association (GMA)—Bayer, Colgate, Dannon, AmEx, Mars, J&J, and RB—and there are other awesome companies that recruit here, such as Phillips, Verizon, Hasbro, Pfizer, and more.  A lot of them are also in the tri-state area, so if you want to stick around post-Stern, this is a great place to be.

Getting an early start—a summer morning at Bayer, where Nevena and a handful of other Sternies interned. (Photo credit: Nevena Georgieva)
Getting an early start—a summer morning at Bayer, where Nevena and a handful of other Sternies interned. (Photo credit: Nevena Georgieva)

Can you elaborate on the opportunities available for non-CPG marketing?

At Stern we have the advantage of being at the center of New York City, so you can really easily recruit on campus but also on your own time.  There have been classmates of mine who have landed internships at places like ESPN, Spotify, Salesforce, and Interbrand.  Usually those opportunities are available in the Spring, so they come after the CPG marketing recruiting season in the Fall.  Through LinkedIn and the Office of Career Development (OCD) you can also get in touch with alumni and learn more about non-CPG marketing and other opportunities in NYC that interest you.

How else does being at Stern and in NYC work to one’s advantage?

As I mentioned, a lot of the CPG companies that are our sponsors come to multiple events on campus, but they also often have “Days in the Life” that are held at the companies’ offices.  So students get the opportunity to have an immersive day at the company and meet with alumni and senior marketing executives, learn about what CPG marketing is like at the company, and gauge whether the company would be a great fit for them.  And so the proximity to these companies is a great advantage because students can easily fit that into their schedules, instead of flying to different companies around the country.  The people at Stern have also been a great resource.  First-year MBAs can take advantage of the GMA’s mentorship program, which pairs first-years with second-years who have been through the process, and over the winter break in January I participated in what we call Mock Madness, which is a week of marathon-like interview prep [between classmates] that I highly recommend.

On that note, what has been your personal experience with these opportunities?

Last year, my mentor was instrumental in helping me translate the work experience on my resume into terms that CPG marketers would best understand.  Bayer also had a Day in the Life, and that’s one of the ways I knew that I really wanted to work there.  I was able to see the offices.  I was able to learn about specific marketing campaigns, what it’s like to work with advertising agencies, and I had a really excellent experience that led me to my internship with them.  Their Day in the Life was also a really great representation of my internship, so I really think it’s important that students have the opportunity to engage with companies as much as possible and attend as many events as possible to really get a sense of what the best fit for them would be.

How about the marketing classes at Stern?  Any that stand out to you?

Of course.  We have one of the best marketing professors in the country, Professor [Scott] Galloway, and he has a class [Brand Strategy] in which, as a group, you create and present a brand strategy for an existing company.  It was a really interactive experience, and a lot of groups went above and beyond in his class to engage with the rest of us during their presentations.  Some groups brought in their company’s products like yogurt and beer, and a group came in dressed in Athleta clothing provided by the company.  Also, I would say that this class was really great preparation for what I experienced during my summer.  It really helped me build these important strategic and analytical skills, and taught me how to think like a marketer, so I recommend the class.  Professor Galloway is also a really incredible speaker, which you might be able to experience by visiting the class.

Professor Russell Winer’s Spring 2016 core marketing classes invite Eataly’s Co-owner and CFO to Stern for a visit. Clockwise from top left: 1) Chef Mario Batali holds a Q&A with Professor Winer. 2) Eataly CFO Adam Saper talks with students about running New York City’s most popular “living market.” 3) Mr. Batali and Professor Winer chat with students before class. 4) Mr. Batali draws a packed Stern class for a discussion on restaurants, the food business, and how Eataly found success. (Photo credit: Keith Riegert for the Stern Opportunity—read more about the visit here.)
Professor Russell Winer’s Spring 2016 core marketing classes invite Eataly’s Co-owner and CFO to Stern for a visit. Clockwise from top left: 1) Chef Mario Batali holds a Q&A with Professor Winer. 2) Eataly CFO Adam Saper talks with students about running New York City’s most popular “living market.” 3) Mr. Batali and Professor Winer chat with students before class. 4) Mr. Batali draws a packed Stern class for a discussion on restaurants, the food business, and how Eataly found success. (Photo credit: Keith Riegert for the Stern Opportunity)

And have you found other classes at Stern helpful to your interests?

Absolutely.  CPG marketing is not really your traditional marketing job.  It’s very much about general management, so I would really recommend for students who are interested in marketing to take a number of classes in different areas, including finance, strategy, and management.  I really recommend classes like Leadership in Organizations taught by Professor [Dolly] Chugh, Strategy by Professor [Sonia] Marciano, Corporate Finance by Professor [Aswath] Damodaran, and Managing Growing Companies by Professor [Glenn] Okun.  Being in CPG marketing is really about being the CEO of a brand.  As a brand manager, you make decisions about your brand every day—pricing, advertising, retail decisions—and so you need to be well-rounded in your knowledge.  Stern helps with that.

I want to remind our prospectives that you can actually visit some of these classes by signing up for them on our Visit Stern page.  Meanwhile, I hear you have a conference coming up.

Yes!  So actually the GMA Conference [on November 11] is one of the best events that a prospective student can attend to learn about marketing at Stern and in general.  This year, I’m the Co-VP of Conference, so I’m in charge of organizing it.  If prospective students would like to attend, they can reach out to our VP of Admissions Megan Sirras (gma@stern.nyu.edu) and attend the conference for free.  There will be two amazing keynotes, so students can hear from VP of Strategy at Squarespace Andrew Bartholomew, who will be conversing with one of our amazing professors here at Stern, Luke Williams, Executive Director of the W.R. Berkley Innovation Lab.  There’s also going to be a recruiting event for MBA1s, but running concurrently will be a “Beyond CPG Marketing” panel, where prospective students can learn about what the marketing function is like in industries outside of consumer packaged goods.  Prospective students can then participate in a networking lunch and talk to current students and alumni, so it’s a great networking opportunity for them.  In the afternoon, there will be multiple panels, where students can learn about topics like “The Rise of Visual Marketing” and “Digital Natives of Generation Z,” and there will be brand representation from companies such as GrubHub, Google, Uber, Facebook, POPSUGAR, Estee Lauder, and others.  This year we’re launching a new segment called “3×15,” where we really want to give attendees a sense of what it’s like to put together a marketing campaign, so we’ll have different case studies from different speakers: a Creative Director at Razorfish (a digital advertising agency), the founder of Baked by Melissa, and we’ll hear about multicultural marketing from Shabnam Rezeai, who’s the Co-Founder and President of Big Bad Boo Studios and Oznoz.com.  And then we’ll end with our afternoon keynote and networking reception where prospective students can continue to meet sponsors, alumni, and current students.

Thanks, Nev!  As a parting note, can you tell prospective students what to do if they wish to learn more about marketing at Stern?

I really encourage them to engage with the GMA in general.  So look for the GMA website, and you can contact Admissions VP Megan Sirras and schedule a phone call with her.  She can answer many of your questions about marketing at Stern and even connect you with other students who can talk to you about specific companies and their experiences at Stern.

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And We’re Back!

The sun is shining.  The air is hot.  The open area in front of Stern that is Gould Plaza is once again a concrete quad where hundreds of students cross paths daily, colliding at will—conversations shared, smiles exchanged, waves projected from afar.

Through the familiar swoosh-swoosh of the revolving doors is a hive buzzing with activity.  Students run to and from class, meetings, and meet-ups. The first-years are rushing to their core classes and club kick-offs, as they feel the pressure to dive in and take in as much as the school has to offer (which can certainly feel like too much at times!).  The second-years happily reconnect after three months of time apart, before breaking away themselves, away to their elective classes, away to lead the club meetings for the first-years, away to find full-time jobs.

As a second-year, things are a bit different, of course.  I miss the ex-MBA2s who I looked up to as mentors.  I miss taking classes with my block.  I miss my dual-degree classmates who are off fulfilling requirements at their other NYU schools this semester.

Yet I love having another 400 people to meet and talk to.  I love being able to offer my time and experiences to them.  Even within my year, while our disparate schedules sometimes mean that my usual friends and I see each other less, I love that it is allowing me to continue to meet people who I had not yet had the chance to meet before.

Of course, it is a lovely feeling to be able to return to school with rich relationships already in place.  Just this summer, I had the chance to meet and become closer with dozens of Sternies.  If you’ve read my earlier post about the Cannes Film Festival class, you would know that I spent a week running around the French Riviera with 25 of my classmates, only five of whom I would say I knew well before the trip.  Then right before school started, along with 20 Sternies (and seven Stern Partners), I attended the wedding of one of my best friends at Stern (despite having met him only a year ago!).  In this case, almost all of us knew each other well already because we recruited with each other and/or are in the same block, but I still came away from that weekend feeling that I had taken part in something special with my classmates, something that will connect us for life.

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Unofficial photo of the wedding of our dear friend Pranav and his amazing wife Jignya, whose gregariousness we joke makes her a better Sternie than he is (it’s true).

Indeed, every time I reflect on my network I’m amazed at how much it has grown, how quickly it continues to grow, and how strong and healthy it is.  I imagine that if one’s network were a wholly tangible thing, watching it grow would be like watching an oak tree grow from a sapling to maturity in two years.

And the growth continues.  So far, I’ve had the chance to interact with the MBA1s at LAUNCH (orientation), where I met about a fifth of the class at the Club Expo and another nine on their LAUNCH Day of Service.

MBA1s (and myself) volunteering at St. Peter’s Pantry for the NYC Food Bank, just one of the many options available to the first-years as part of the service portion of LAUNCH.
MBA1s (and myself) volunteering at St. Peter’s Pantry for the NYC Food Bank, just one of the many options available to the first-years as part of the service portion of LAUNCH.

Also, this past Saturday I had the chance to chat with even more first-years at our MBA1/MBA2 mixer.  While I was there, another MBA2 and I were especially delighted to run into the new MBA1 roommate of one of our dear friends, who was not present at the time.  We promptly sent said friend the following message:

To show our friend that her new MBA1 roommate (center) was being cooler than she.
To show our friend that her new MBA1 roommate (center) was being cooler than she.

 

And so we’re back!  A new year.  New connections.  New possibilities.

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Come Visit Us!

Over the course of last semester, I was fortunate enough to meet a handful of prospective students and take them out to lunch at a couple of our many neighborhood haunts.  In case you didn’t know, having lunch is just one of the easy ways you can interact with current students on your visit.  While you can also go on a tour, attend a class, and sign-up for coffee chats, the lunches are excellent due to their casual environments and small group sizes, which in my experience have always led to enjoyable conversation among everyone.

On my visit as a prospective student, I managed to participate in the tour, class, and coffee chat all in one afternoon (I probably could have squeezed in the lunch too but admittedly didn’t know its value at the time).  I found the experience as a whole incredibly informative and highly useful when writing my admissions essays, but in general, for any school, I also think that being in a given environment can offer some powerful insights—say, an inexplicable sense of belonging or, more simply, a personal feeling of fit—which can be helpful in guiding your choices later down the road (or before you put in the time and effort to apply!).

ATTENDING A CLASS

I remember my visit relatively clearly. Shortly after arriving at the admissions office, a few other prospective students and I were escorted to a class by an MBA1.  There are a number of classes that you can choose from based on your interests and schedule (and availability—don’t forget to sign up ahead of time online!).  Having never taken an economics class before and wishing to sample the core curriculum, I chose to attend a Firms & Markets class taught by the amiable and dedicated Professor Larry White.  For those with more exposure to the traditional topics (or not!), I would certainly recommend trying to get into a class that really piques your interest, as Stern’s breadth of courses is truly remarkable.  (Note that the schedule of available classes to visit will be available in the Fall!)

PARTICIPATING IN A COFFEE CHAT

After the class visit, a few MBA2 Graduate Ambassadors escorted us downstairs to the Sosnoff Lounge to grab cups of coffee and then out to the lobby where we could converse among the usual goings-on of MBA life.  This was perhaps my favorite part of my visit, as I loved being around the movement and sounds of students gathering together to work or chat, and I easily pictured myself in their place.  Meanwhile, the other prospectives and I had the opportunity to hear these MBA2s share their backstories and to ask them any questions we wanted.  In particular, I remember connecting with one student who had a nontraditional background like myself, and I found my sense of belonging vindicated as he continued to share with me the opportunities Stern had allowed someone with his background to find and take.

TAKING A TOUR

My visit concluded with a tour of the building.  This part continued to be informative, as two of the Graduate Ambassadors not only took us through the various study areas scattered throughout the building but also continued to answer our questions and chat with us about student life and the valuable learning experiences they were having.  For example, one spoke highly of her Stern Signature Project, an experiential course where she was able to work closely with her professor and a small group of classmates to tackle a real-world issue. The other highlighted his fall internship with NBC, which was made possible not only because he was attending school in New York but because a fellow Sternie who had interviewed for the position had no qualms about sharing the job lead with him as well.

In sum, if it’s possible for you to visit the school ahead of applying, I definitely recommend you do.  Interacting with current students is the best way to get a sense of the community you’re trying to enter, and you never know who you’re going to meet along the way—the Graduate Ambassador I connected with gave me a lot of inspiration for my essays that I might not have had otherwise, Professor White became my genuinely affable Firms & Markets professor when I arrived in the Fall, and the then-MBA1 who escorted me to that class ended up being an MBA2 who would give me incredible advice during the throes of the investment banking recruitment process.

So come down to 44 West 4th Street in the Fall, and see if Stern might be a great fit for you!

Our backyard—Washington Square Park, taken April 2016. (Photo credit: Amit Chaube)
Our backyard—Washington Square Park, taken April 2016. (Photo credit: Amit Chaube)
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The Journey So Far

I remember where I was two years ago—out in Los Angeles, still working, rather cheerless but resolved to make the changes in my life that I felt I needed to make.  By this point two years ago, I was slowly withdrawing from the industry that I had worked so hard and had been so fortunate to break into, and I registered on the official GMAT website on June 16, 2014.

It was not an easy decision for me to start quitting the things I was doing, and I spent the following year assuring myself that I was not giving up or selling out but pursuing things that were better suited for me.  I was not in the group of people who needed an MBA to continue forward in their job path; rather, I needed an MBA because I needed change (a sentiment that, I was relieved to discover later, was not uncommon among my peers).

July 2014—after spending a couple weeks on the East Coast having heart-to-hearts with family and friends, I returned to L.A. and got to work.  With my preference for structure, I signed up for GMAT prep classes, which I attended every Saturday morning that summer.  I also attended MBA fairs and school events, where I was able to meet admissions representatives and alumni and get a sense of the schools prior to making the larger commitments of visiting and applying.  Having started the application process in the summer, I did miss out on some diversity and field-specific pre-MBA opportunities, but I decided that I would not wait another year to apply, and I used my shortened timeframe as motivation for me to focus on achieving something that I knew was going to alter the course of my future.

I completed my GMAT course at the end of September.  Meanwhile, I finalized my list of target schools and visited them, taking advantage of diversity events if I could (for example, Stern hosts a terrific “Opening Doors for Women” breakfast every Fall).  Under this timeline that I had decided for myself at the start of the process, I took my GMAT as soon as I thought I would be ready (in my case, late October) so that I would have time to focus on my application essays and retake the exam if needed.  I applied to my list of schools in January, and after my interviews, I constantly had to remind myself that it was out of my hands until I got my first acceptance—I remember the wave of relief that washed over me when I received it, this letter that was my ticket to a new life.

July 2015—I had said my goodbyes to everyone I knew in L.A. and was driving across the country with my father.  With the move back to New York a reality, I remember feeling for the first time in a while that my future was as open as the road ahead of me.

July 2016—After a whirlwind year, I’m working at my internship and amused at the fact that my classmates were correct—I indeed have transferable skills, despite my constant half-joking that I would not given my creative past.  So far, I’m quite pleased with my internship at a media consulting agency, and along with that pleasure is my growing disbelief that I was lucky enough to land at a firm that really does seem to fit who I am and what I want to accomplish this summer.   Having spent the year wondering about how my non-traditional background would be perceived by employers (as I did when applying to b-schools), I never expected to find a firm that would simultaneously value my creative background and allow me to grow in the professional direction that I wanted. Yet it happened because a Stern alum at the firm thankfully saw potential in me, much like how Stern itself saw potential in me a year before.

I’m prone to reflection, so I often think about all of this and feel that it’s really quite bizarre how far I’ve come and how different my life is from then to now.  I’ve moved cities, met hundreds of new people, forged dozens of true friendships, and I no longer feel the ennui that I used to feel.  I’m so grateful for Stern, so grateful for my classmates, so grateful for the alums who got me my internship interviews—so grateful that they’ve all changed my life for the better.

On June 16, 2014, this was all just a dream, an imagination to serve as motivation for seeking change.  I never thought that two years later, in the process of earning my M.B.A., in this energetic city and at this wonderful school, I would actually live a life better than what I had hoped for.

With two of my best friends at Stern, taking joy in a photo a classmate sent us of his infant son (pictured here at 2-months-old).
With two of my best friends at Stern, taking joy in a photo a classmate sent us of his infant son (pictured here at 2-months-old).
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At the Cannes Film Festival

For those interested in the entertainment business, the classic question that emerges is, “New York or L.A.?”  As a native New Yorker who started her career in Los Angeles, I do think that the answer varies for every individual, as these cities and the schools within them each offer different opportunities and demand different sacrifices (as with any place or profession for the most part).

I admit that I have a personal bias towards New York, but when I was looking at which schools to apply to in both cities, I knew that nothing compared to what Stern offered–and what I’m experiencing now–in “The Commerce & Craft of Cinema: Cannes Film Festival” course.

The 2016 Cannes Film Festival class.
The 2016 Cannes Film Festival class.

It’s been nonstop for my classmates and me since arriving in Cannes last weekend (I actually had to write this post as I was waiting for screenings to start!).  Led by the amiable Professors Al Lieberman and Sam Craig, my 25 classmates and I comprise the lucky 13th class to go to the annual Cannes Film Festival, the most prestigious film festival in the world.  After receiving our official badges, we were free to take advantage of the festival however we felt best—binge-watching films, attending filmmaking panels, setting up meetings with producers and distributors.  Even while standing in line for things, some of my classmates have met filmmakers, film executives, and film patrons (including the co-founder and creative director of a beloved L.A. indie theater).

The premiere of “Un Certain Regard” film The Red Turtle, with revered producer Toshio Suzuki of famed Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli on stage.
The premiere of “Un Certain Regard” film The Red Turtle, with revered producer Toshio Suzuki of famed Japanese animation studio Studio Ghibli on stage.
The International Village with dozens of countries’ pavilions—good places to meet, regroup, eat, learn, and converse.
The International Village with dozens of countries’ pavilions—good places to meet, regroup, eat, learn, and converse.

The class concludes with a paper that challenges us to analyze one of the films in competition, specifically discussing how it compares to the other films in the festival, what the effect of the festival has been on the film’s distribution path, and where we think the film will go from this point forward.  Prior to this, during the semester, my class was assigned group papers and projects designed to ensure that we were up-to-date with the current independent film landscape, and we were treated to guest speakers from the industry nearly every class.  My personal favorite: the gracious Andrew Karpen, who happens to be a Stern alum, and who was co-CEO of Focus Features (Dallas Buyers Club, Atonement, Brokeback Mountain) before he started his own New York-based distribution company, Bleecker Street Media (Captain Fantastic, Eye in the Sky, Beasts of No Nation).  As a longtime fan of Focus Features, meeting Andrew was a career dream come true and something that seemed like a longshot before I arrived at Stern and before our first Cannes class meeting, when I was surprised with the news that he was one of the class’s perennial speakers.

On our way to group dinners with the professors in Le Suquet, the Old Town of Cannes.
On our way to group dinners with the professors in Le Suquet, the Old Town of Cannes.

For my classmates and me, who are either coming from the entertainment industry or hoping to enter it, this entire experience has been invaluable and truly one-of-a-kind.  With a one-essay application process that requires only a demonstrated interest in the industry, there are both full-time and part-time students in our class, as well as MBA/MFAs and JD/MBAs.  The result is a nice mix of people who have been a pleasure to get to know or know better.

And getting on the red carpet with friends definitely serves as great inspiration for future career goals, goals that with my fellow Sternies beside me I believe are very possible.

A quick selfie before being ushered into the premiere of "En Compétition" film Personal Shopper, starring Kristen Stewart. (Photo credit: Ria Tobaccowala)
A quick selfie before being ushered into the premiere of “En Compétition” film Personal Shopper, starring Kristen Stewart. (Photo credit: Ria Tobaccowala)
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Startups | Projects that were started in B-School

Hi everyone,

It has been a while since my last post. The semester is almost over and as I reflect on the last two years, I realize how much work we have put into it. Today I wanted to highlight 6 startups and projects that were started by my peers while in business school.

Lenore Champagne Beirne and Ronica Reddick met at Stern and they are both currently working on a project called the Little Bright Notebook. It is a project design tool for creators and innovators. They combined their experience in coaching, entrepreneurship, and creative work to build a notebook that helps you plan for your next big idea.

Little Bright

Leah Shisha and Isha Vij also met at Stern, and they decided to launch Caper: a company that plans and organizes bachelorette parties. They both realized that there was an opportunity to take the stress out of the planning and to create an amazing experience for the bride-to-be and her friends.

caperco3

Chris Shaw has decided to use his previous military experience to start an innovative leadership program, called CORE leader. His company offers different team building and leadership activities that can be tailored for your team.

Screen Shot 2016-04-21 at 3.12.53 PM

Sarah Manning started Colabas, an ecommerce store. She started it in her ‘Social Problem Based Entrepreneurship class’, where she got a chance to visit India and to conduct on the ground market research. Her company curates and sells socially conscious jewelry, accessories, and décor products handmade in India. Some of the proceeds are also donated to charitable organizations.

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Juan Sebastian Cadavid started Grou (sounds like Grow), a marketplace for farmers in Latin America. The marketplace aggregates products from multiple farmers in order to provide the quantities that large buyers need. At the same time, it allows smallholder farmers to identify opportunities to sell their crops at fair prices.

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Finally, Perryne Vyas Desai started TujaTravel, a travel service company. Her company helps individuals and groups organize their trips by helping them build their travel package. So far, Tuja Travel has organized trips in Tanzania, Costa Rica, Fiji, and Spain among others.

Tuja Travel

I hope you take a few minutes to check them out! I will be back soon with a personal post reflecting on these last 2 years.

Until next time,

Michaella

 

*Disclaimer: All the pictures on this post belong to the respective businesses.

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Top 5 Pieces of Advice From My Stern Experience

I had a wild realization this morning on my subway ride to school: I only have two full weeks of classes remaining here at NYU Stern. Wow…..

As I sit here beginning to type my latest, and probably last, blog post, I thought I would use this opportunity to reflect back on quite possibly the best two years of my life. Business school has been a whirlwind of a journey, filled with a mixed bag of intellectual exploration, professional development, career advancement, network building, and yes, even the occasional academic stress. My time at Stern has truly opened my eyes to so many different possibilities, and knowing everything I know about the school and the experience now, I undoubtedly would do it all over again!

Furthermore, now that I have gone through this process, below is my Top 5 words of wisdom to potential b-school students and Sternie-hopefuls:

  1. It’s ok to not be 100% clear on what exactly you want do with your life post-business school before you hit submit on your application or fork over your enrollment deposit. You will not be alone! However, come the first day of orientation (or even the summer before) the onus is on you to place some serious thought, due diligence, and effort into learning how to transfer your passion into a career opportunity. The resources are out there for you – current students, alumni, professors, industry professionals, career services – but it is up to you to leverage them in finding the perfect opportunity.
  2. Don’t discount the intangibles of this experience. Obviously, your top priority should be on securing an opportunity that advances your career, but building close friendships and a strong network along the way is equally important. As you explore different schools, try to imagine yourself fitting in with the particular culture of that school. You will be surprised by how much time you spend at school, and amongst your peers, so the fit truly has to be there.
  3. Location, location, location! Choose a school that gives you increased networking opportunities because of its specific location. There are a number of fantastic business schools out there, but because of their location, students are limited more to the employers who come to them, as opposed to students being able to go to the employers. Specifically at Stern, for example, it is so easy for a student to take a 10 min cab ride or subway for three stops to visit a connection at a New York office during a lunch break. However, students in more remote locations either have to pay considerable amounts of money consistently to travel for networking, or rely on the standard on-campus corporate presentation and interview routine.
  4. Challenge yourself in areas where you are weak. See my previous post about my hesitations with taking finance courses!
  5. Have fun! A lot of business school students refer to these two years as “fun-cation”, myself included! Yes, times will get stressful with recruiting; yes, you will have to pull a late (or all)-nighter every now and then; yes, you may even question your decision once or twice. But at the end of the day, this will hopefully be an opportunity to expand your network with awesome people, get some traveling in, and attend a happy hour or two with new lifelong friends!

Best of luck!

Jon

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Passport Day

Hi Everyone!

One of the main reasons that I decided to matriculate at Stern, and a factor that really sets Stern apart, is just how diverse our student body is and more importantly how we embrace that diversity.

But first, I should really start with a little background about myself.

I was born in Virginia (hence the name), but had left the country and moved abroad to Asia at a mere 6 months of age. My family moved frequently, and I as a result I spent 6 years of my childhood in China (where we are originally from), 11 in the Philippines, and the last one divided amongst several Central Asia countries, with a base in Uzbekistan.

Being a Third Cultural Kid, one of the main things that drew me to Stern was in fact how international our Full-Time MBA student population is, a fact that is evident both inside and out of the classroom. One particular event that really lets everyone celebrate their culture, background, and heritage is the annual Passport Day organized by the Stern Student Government (SGov). The event allows students to sign up to represent their country and showcase traditional cuisine, costumes, music and/or performances.

Countries Represented in the Full-Time MBA Program
Countries Represented in the Full-Time MBA Program

This year, 47 of the 63 countries had participated in Passport Day. We had amazing performances from a variety of countries, including dances from India, Azerbaijan, and Morocco. All the dances were choreographed and performed by students (here’s a performance of the India dance!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9EjAmZVUzE

Personally, a couple friends and I had decided to collaborate and do a combined South East Asia booth for the event. We represented three countries in the region, and had local delicacies from each, including Tea Leaf Salad from Burma/Myanmar, Lumpia from the Philippines, egg tarts from Singapore, and a combined mango coconut sticky rice dessert. The last in particular we all made as a group and was a huge hit!

The South East Asia's mango coconut sticky rice dessert!
The South East Asia’s mango coconut sticky rice dessert!

It was an impressive event and reminded me of why I chose to come to Stern, a place that is brimming with culture and collaboration and what amazing international people I get to have as my fellow classmates.

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Ally Week

Diversity is a difficult topic, whether it’s a matter of race, gender, or sexual preference.  Though organizations like Friendfactor have ranked Stern first in LGBTQ support out of all MBA programs, we know that there is still so much we can do to make sure that we are continuously building an inclusive community where everyone can feel safe learning and being who he/she/they are.

As a testament to that effort, this past week my hardworking classmates organized and hosted Stern’s second-ever Ally Week, which ran in conjunction with the sixth year of university-wide Ally Week programming and helped to spread awareness about diversity and allyship through the Stern community.  Though I’ve always believed in equal rights for all, even I had a bit of an awakening learning about the difficulties my classmates have endured in their lives and how they have still felt marginalized in their interactions with others.  As someone who tends to be a bit of a free agent when it comes to showing her support for things, the past week proved to me that there is a difference between believing in what is right and supporting what is right.  For me, I learned that it is not enough to be open-minded and kind, but rather that I must stand up for my peers and help them achieve the same quality of life that every human should be able to enjoy.

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“Trevor” director and NYU Tisch professor Peggy Rajski reads out loud and takes delight in the university’s definition of allyship.

The university defines allyship as “an active and consistent practice of unlearning and re-evaluating beliefs and actions, in which a person seeks to work in solidarity with a marginalized individual or group of people.”  Kicking off the week by asking the student body to “Pledge Your Allegiance,” the Stern Ally Week team put on a full week of programming:

On Monday, Google representatives joined us for lunch to host “Being Google-y: An Education in Allyship,” a presentation about the firm’s diversity and inclusion efforts, followed by an interactive workshop co-led by Stern MBA1s.  In an abbreviated version of the day-long discussions Google facilitates with its employees and outside organizations, we broke out into groups to brainstorm answers to questions such as what mindset allies have and how allyship manifests itself in actions.  Each group then presented their answers to the room and answered questions from the “Naysayers,” who were tasked with voicing difficult but common objections to allyship that marginalized people often face.  Personally, I was able to walk out of the workshop feeling more confident about how to recognize offenses against allyship and more determined to tactfully address them.

On Tuesday, the Asian Business Society (ABS), Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students (AHBBS), Jewish Students Association (JSA), OutClass, Stern Women in Business (SWIB), Military Veterans Club (MVC), and Stern in Africa (SIA) each hosted Lunch Circles, small lunches led by student club leaders and each featuring a different topic of discussion around various diversity issues.  In the evening, ABS co-presented with the Asian American Federation “From Yellow Peril to Islamophobia: How Asian Stereotypes Impact Our Lives Today,” a panel moderated by Arun Venugopal, reporter and host of WNYC’s Micropolis, and featuring Deepa Iyer, racial justice activist, lawyer, and author of We Too Sing America; Kermit Roosevelt, professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Allegiance; and Chris Kwok, civil rights activist and mediation supervisor at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  Focusing on the internment of Japanese-Americans in the 1940s, the panel related the prejudice and fear the Japanese-Americans faced then to what Muslim-Americans are facing today.  The panel also spoke about how the lack of attention to these issues, as well as the continued lack of knowledge about a group of people overall, can continue to propagate these prejudices until addressed.

"Trevor" director and NYU Tisch professor Peggy Rajski discusses the long-lasting impact of the film and how she managed to found a nonprofit. (Photo credit: Miles Styer)
“Trevor” director and NYU Tisch professor Peggy Rajski discusses the long-lasting impact of the film and how she managed to found a nonprofit. (Photo credit: Miles Styer)

On Wednesday, during lunch we gathered for a screening of Academy Award-winning short film “Trevor,” the story of a 13-year-old boy whose discovery of his sexuality leads him to contemplate suicide.  In the following Q&A, the film’s director (and NYU Tisch professor) Peggy Rajski explained why she decided to make the film, stating that as a straight female she still resonated with the alienation and mortification faced by the titular gay male protagonist (who first appeared in a one-man show created by the film’s writer James Lecense).  The success of the film alerted Peggy to the unaddressed needs of LGBTQ youth across the country, and consequently, in the three short months preceding the HBO premiere of her film, she and her producing partners set up the Trevor Lifeline, the nation’s first crisis intervention and suicide prevention hotline for young LGBTQ people.  The hotline has since evolved into The Trevor Project, a nonprofit offering numerous intervention and prevention services to young LGBTQ youth, and Peggy cites the importance of the nonprofit in letting kids know that “someone is there for me” so that they can “get through and choose life.”  Afterwards, Jason Daniel Fair of The Trevor Project’s New York office took the stage to reiterate Peggy’s point and highlight the importance of allyship, citing the fact that for many LGBTQ youth, getting in touch with people who can help them can be exceptionally hard when their community acts in a way that prevents them from doing so.

On Thursday, the Ally Week team organized an “Ask Anything” Forum where everyone in the room had a safe space to ask any questions they had to representatives designated by AHBBS, Outclass, and SWIB to represent the black, gay, and female communities.  While I had to sit this one out for a class, a friend told me afterwards that although the purpose of the session was to remove judgment from the conversation, she could not help but notice how inherently hurtful some of the questions were, even though she knew that the people asking them had no intent of upsetting their fellow classmates.

Having fun planting and enjoying the beautiful weather. (Photo credit: Jamie Farris)
Having fun planting and enjoying the beautiful weather. (Photo credit: Jamie Farris)

Ally Week wrapped up with its Days of Service.  On Friday, a group of us did some weeding and planting for the Riverside Conservancy Park on the Upper West Side, and on Saturday, a group of Sternies met up for the New York Cares Spring Day of Service, joining thousands of other volunteers to clean up the city’s public outdoor spaces.

Again, we know there is still so much we can do to support diversity and allyship, but I can promise you that we at Stern are dedicated to seeing this effort through.

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Facing My Fear of Finance

Hey everyone,

There are a number of MBA students across the country who feel uncomfortable or apprehensive about registering for certain academic subjects; typically, financial courses top that list. Needless to say, I was one of those students for the first 3/4 of my MBA journey. But then I had an epiphany of sorts, and decided to challenge myself in this daunting field. First, however, a bit of background.

I knew that finance was arguably my achilles heel when it came to subject matter comfortability. I had taken a couple of required finance courses in undergrad, and I admit that I was not the student receiving the highest accolades from my professors after each quiz or mid-term. So when I was considering applying to NYU Stern, the strength and popularity of its finance curriculum flat out scared me. Would I feel uncomfortable amongst the masses of future I-Bankers? Would I constantly be falling behind in said courses? I even told myself that I would only take the Foundations of Finance core course, which isn’t even required. But that would be it. I never saw myself working in a financial position or working on financial models, so why even bother to use course credits in a subject matter that would not be directly applicable to my future career endeavors?

And then my epiphany occurred sometime in late October or early November when we all had register for our last semester of classes. What was this epiphany? What was this blaring realization staring straight at me? It was that I had one more semester, one more shot, to make the most of an incredible and fortunate opportunity set before me. I had three and a half months before I graduated with an MBA – an MBA from a top school highly regarded for its finance program, nonetheless – and I had only taken ONE finance course! There was no way I could take pride in my degree and accomplishments without pushing myself to be at least a little more well-versed in this subject matter.

With that rude awakening, I put aside my fears and enrolled in two of our school’s most popular financial courses – Corporate Finance, taught by the legendary Aswath Damodaran, and Financial Services Industries, taught by former Head of Investment Banking at Credit Suisse Charles Murphy. I am halfway through the semester at this point, and I cannot believe I am saying this, but it so happens that these two classes have been some of my favorite while at Stern. Who would have thought?

This new-found interest is not to say that I am sitting in the center of the front row, and am making the highest scores on exams, or am now considering a major career change. But I can now comprehend with a better financial understanding top headlines in the Wall Street Journal; I now understand the relationships between Private Equity firms, Hedge Funds, and Investment Banks; I can now hold at least a basic conversation around financial events in networking scenarios. Above all else, it was naive of me to think that I wouldn’t touch finance at some point in my future career. It will happen, and I will now be prepared. I will at least be a little more knowledgable, and comfortable, when sitting at conference tables with finance managers.

So for those of you out there who are like me, and have apprehensions about a certain subject, whether its finance or not, I would highly recommend stepping outside your comfort zone and challenging yourself. You have an amazing opportunity within an MBA program, and it is what you make of it. For me, I want to graduate as a very well-rounded business leader, and in order to do that, I had to face my fears of that daunting subject that is finance.

Best of luck,
Jon

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Why I Chose Stern

The timing of this post is not a coincidence.  There is plenty of discussion happening in school regarding the U.S. News & World Report rankings—what happened; why it happened; what the administration, faculty, and students can all do to address the situation.  I did not intend at all to write a post about it, but the other day I was inspired by some of my professors, who have privately voiced to us the efforts they pledge to make to ensure that we the students do not suffer as the result of one slight but unfortunate oversight.

Honestly I did not expect my professors to get involved, and when I was applying to Stern I definitely did not even think about how important it might be to have professors that do care about a situation that might adversely affect their students.  So I feel very fortunate.

I can tell you what I did think about though when pulling the trigger on which school to attend, why I had (and have) no regrets about leaving behind my past life and why I turned down a considerable scholarship at another top MBA program to go to the school that I saw as the best fit for me and the best fit for my future:

I chose Stern because I saw unparalleled opportunities.

THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN WHAT I WANT:

One of my professors today pointed out that Stern weirdly doesn’t advertise the number and diversity of the courses you have access to as a Stern student—so here I am to fix that.  Stern has over 200 electives and over 20 specializations.  This semester alone, about 140 electives are being offered, among which are nine “Doing Business in…” (DBi) courses (one- or two-week experiential study abroad courses that you can read more about in my classmates’ blog posts).  Check out more details in the graphic below:

2016-03-25
As of March 2016

You first need to get through your Core Classes (two “required core” classes plus five out of an available seven “menu core” classes) within your first year.  As someone who had no business background but who wanted flexibility and choice when it came to what I was learning, I appreciated the concept of the menu core.  Meanwhile, if you do have some experience and want to jump ahead, I can say that many of my friends were able to test out of their remaining requirements and take all electives by their second semester.

Straight out of my own admissions essay, what I loved about Stern is that when I visited the school I got “the sense that Sternies coexist happily with one another because each has been given the capacity to pursue his/her own personalized goals.”

THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WHERE I WANT:

We all know that networking is key, and so I knew I had to pick a school that would allow me the most touchpoints with the companies I’m interested in, whether through official events and/or alumni.  Geographical area was also a factor, but it was a preference for me rather than a necessity (though you seriously can’t beat the location, as my classmate Alex will tell you in his blog post, “Downtown New York – Why It Matters”).  Upon arriving at Stern, as I did with my classes I decided to take advantage of the slew of possibilities before me and expand upon my initial target interests.  I participated in investment banking recruiting with over 100 of my classmates, and I must admit that the access I had to people at these firms is not for the faint-hearted (I also need to mention that IB recruiting is as extreme as it gets, and that it was my choice to take on as much as I did):

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Investment Banking Recruiting: a very extreme example.

Including the case competition (at the very top), that’s 16 touchpoints with 11 different firms in one week (admittedly my busiest of the semester).  If this is what you want, regardless of industry, I really don’t know many other schools where you could do this.  And I can’t even tell you how many different people I met at these events, although many were alumni eager to recruit their own.

Indeed, lest the outdated belief that we’re “just a finance school” still persists, Stern alumni are active across all industries.  As an admitted student at Preview Weekend (which I highly recommend you attend if you can), I was impressed by the accomplishments of our alums and the sheer number of them who came back to campus to share their positive Stern experiences with us.  Personally, I felt that the best indicator of the quality of a school is how willing students and alumni are to give back and help each other succeed—and I haven’t been proven wrong yet.

THE OPPORTUNITY TO CONNECT WITH GREAT PEOPLE:

On that thought, while meeting those alums at Preview Weekend reaffirmed for me that I had chosen the right school, the Sternies I’ve met since then have only continued to surprise me with their magnanimity.  After Preview, but before I moved back to New York from Los Angeles, a friend introduced me to an “MBA3” who had just graduated and was moving out to L.A.  Unsure of what awaited me in the Fall, I requested a coffee chat, and he was more than happy to meet with me.  He also introduced me to two MBA2s, who were out in L.A. to intern for the summer.  Seven months later, when I lost out on a summer internship opportunity I really wanted, I contacted him again for general advice, and he responded immediately.  His busy schedule required him to reschedule our phone call about seven times, but each time he apologized profusely to me, telling me that he didn’t want me to get the impression that helping out a fellow Sternie wasn’t important to him.  When we finally did have the phone call, he gave me the most helpful, relevant advice I had received in my job-search process, something I had hoped for but couldn’t have possibly expected to receive when I was making my decision to attend Stern.

That may be an above-and-beyond example, but it isn’t too far off from the kind of support I’ve received since being at Stern.  As I mentioned in my first blog post, “Block 2, I Love You,” my classmates have only helped me be better than I would have been without them.  They’ve encouraged me and helped me prepare for interviews, they’ve kept me posted about events and opportunities, they’ve stayed up studying with me the night before an exam in the Starbucks Lounge, pushing me to get through a practice exam even as I was so physically exhausted from recruiting that I was nodding off at the table as they spoke to me.

So there you have it.  Opportunities I knew I wanted but didn’t know how or when I would take advantage of them.  To that point, as much as you think you know what you want when you’re applying and choosing to go to business school, it’s impossible to know exactly what you’re going to get.  Sometimes it’s more, sometimes it’s less, but when you’re taking into account the slew of decision factors, know that making the “wrong” choice isn’t the end of the world, but making the right one, the best one, can introduce you to a world you never knew before.  When making your decision, ask yourself what really matters to you and your future, where you foresee yourself having the fewest or no regrets, and if possible, choose your best fit based on that.

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Camps Bay, Cape Town. A moment unimaginable—South Africa Spring Break Trek 2016. (Photo credit: Ria Tobaccowala)
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Who Run the Stern? (Girls)

It was a Thursday evening a few weeks ago when I was standing at Stern’s weekly Beer Blast with a few of my female blockmates, sipping a nice lager and eating sushi courtesy of the Japan Business Association.

We were discussing how well our block was doing in club president elections but in particular how the women in our block were doing. Our two block captains had just been elected to Executive Vice President of Student Government (SGov) and Co-President of Stern Women in Business (SWIB), respectively. Another Block 2 woman had also been elected President of the Entrepreneurs Exchange (EEX), and since then, three more of us have been elected President of the Entertainment, Media and Technology Association (EMTA), Graduate Marketing Association (GMA), and Speechmasters.

Of course, male or female, we all support each other regardless of gender and individual interests, but it’s impossible to ignore the success of these women and to not celebrate it. Especially in honor of Women’s History Month, here are some highlights on how all of my fellow female classmates are stepping up and shaping Stern for future classes (i.e. you!):

1) Employment/Recruiting: As companies put more effort into recruiting women, Stern women are jumping in, winning positions, and expanding Stern’s network across all industries and functions. Here’s a sampling of where current female students have interned, will be interning, or will be going/returning for their full-time offers:

02-01---Employment

2) Club Leadership: Stern’s 40+ clubs are each run by a board consisting of President/Co-Presidents, Vice Presidents (VPs), and Associate Vice Presidents (AVPs). You already have an idea of how my class is doing regarding female leadership for next year, but here’s some data on what the club leadership looks like this year:

02-02---Leadership

Among these positions is the board of SWIB, which boasts 32 female leaders in itself. Meanwhile, I didn’t count other leadership at Stern, such as Block Captains, Spring Break Trek Leaders, and students on various committees. (Also not counted in the above data are a few clubs that did not self-report their boards online.)

3) Culture/Events: To celebrate International Women’s Day on Tuesday March 8, SWIB hosted GIRLS WHO BOSS, Stern’s first Women’s Week. Events to support gender equality kicked off with a keynote address by Gloria Feldt, Co-Founder and President of the women’s leadership nonprofit Take The Lead and former CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Gloria discussed her nonprofit and how to promote gender parity in the workforce.

Janice_Gloria
Power Lunch with Gloria Feldt, Monday, March 7, 2016

This event was followed by “Toast to International Women’s Day” at one of Stern students’ usual haunts (Tuesday, 3/8), “Pizza, Beer, and Banter: A Free Form Discussion on Male Allyship at Stern (Wednesday, 3/9), and “Let’s Get in Formation: Dance Class with Stern Steps,” also at Stern (Thursday 3/10).

And all this follows SWIB’s successful conference last month, which featured a keynote address from Susan L. Jurevics (Stern MBA ’96), CEO of Pottermore (J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter expansion site), and panels featuring Stern alumnae who have gone on to become CEOs and SVPs across various industries.

4) Admissions: SWIB is also making a concerted effort to bring more women to Stern. Last Fall, SWIB played an integral role in the success of Opening Doors for Women, an event that Stern hosts for prospective female students. I had the pleasure of helping out at the event, where over a light breakfast I got to casually chat with a handful of diverse female prospectives and tune in to a panel of three Stern alumnae, who offered their wisdom on how their MBA programs at Stern (Full-time, Part-time, and Executive) have shaped them both professionally and personally.

As one can see, Stern women and our male allies are dedicated to working to make Stern an even more inclusive place for women than it already is, and it’s efforts like these that help foster the kind of environment that allows the entire class to succeed in school, in business, and beyond.

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A Week In the Life Of…

Friday company visit to Mars Chocolate
Friday company visit to Mars Chocolate

The question that I get asked most often since I started my MBA at Stern was “So what’s a typical day like?”

Sadly, (as cliché as it may sound) there is no typical day here. My schedule seems to fluctuate from hour to hour, each one jammed packed with academics, recruiting, interning, club events, social life and of course sleep. Therefore, in an attempt to give a more holistic view of what it’s actually like to be a full-time MBA student at Stern, we’ll go over what a “typical” week looks like.

Monday
My week starts off typically with lots of groaning, a full breakfast, and coffee. Then at 10:30am, I make it to my first class, Corporate Finance, taught by one of Stern’s best, Professor Damodaran (PS. A few of is lectures are recorded and online for free, so you should all check him out). Afterwards, I typically catch up with friends over lunch regarding the weekend before heading to my next class, which is taught by another superb professor, Dolly Chugh: Leadership In Organizations.

I have a short break from 4:30-6pm, where you can find me either at a group meeting or catching up on emails while eating dinner. From 6 to 9pm, I have my last class of the day, Entertainment Media Industries, which also happens to be the core requirement class for the EMT specialization here at Stern. Mondays are my busiest days, so I’m always happy to be back home and in my bed at the end of it.

Tuesday
I don’t actually have class until 1:30pm on Tuesdays (Foundations of Finance with the amazing Professor Silber), but one of the great perks of Stern is its location and the endless opportunities that NYC brings. I’m interning this semester at an indie film distribution company, so I actually head to work first thing in the morning, then straight to class.

Before my 6-9pm night class, I have a good 3 hour break where I can attend club events (which are often training or info sessions), go on coffee chats, go to the gym, and even cram homework.

Wednesday
I’m back in Corporate Finance at 10:30am on Wednesdays, and then straight to work after class, where I’ll be for the rest of the day.

Thursday
I love Thursdays because I have nothing scheduled until class at 1:30pm! You’ll still typically find me on campus around 10am latest though, where I’ll be attending various group meetings, club and recruiting events.

Thursdays are also amazing because they are Beer Blast days. Beer Blast, for those unfamiliar, is a four hour open bar (beer and wine only) hosted a different club every week from 6-10pm in Stern, and is open to all full and part time MBA students. After class gets out for me at 6pm, that’s where we usually end up. After the week of classes, recruiting, and meetings, beer blast is the best way to unwind, catch-up and get to know your classmates better over some food and drinks.

Friday
Stern doesn’t have any classes on Fridays in order to accommodate all the other activities that we have going on. If there isn’t a student club hosting a conference that week, then there will be some sort of trek, company visit, symposium, and/or coffee chat set up. It’s also a great time to catch up on work, school and sleep. Personally, if I’m not at some sort of student club event or a trek, then I’d be at work Fridays.

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Downtown New York – Why It Matters

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In the fall of 2014, on the cusp of applying to business school, I found myself frequently mulling over the many options of each institution I was considering. At the time, I was feeling quite settled in my downtown Manhattan life, yet frequently daydreamed about reliving my undergrad days at a small, rural college.

Simply put, I was torn between the competing ideas of “going back to the woods,” keeping my new urban lifestyle, or splitting the difference via a school in a small-to-medium sized city.

Adding to my decision discord was the fact that while I had a decent idea of what I wanted to do after my MBA, I still had curiosity about certain industries that I wanted to at least dip my toes into during my two years of school.

Ultimately, I decided that coming to NYU, which offered the same kind of intimate community I cherished in undergrad, as well as the power of being in downtown New York, provided me the best path to scratch my proverbial professional itches.

A semester and a half in, all I can say is that if anything, I underestimated just how impactful being in downtown New York is. I remember one week, about halfway through the fall, that illustrated this quite fully.

At the time, I was deep into the consulting recruiting track but still exploring marketing, technology, and entertainment and media. My schedule was as follows:

  • Monday
    • 12pm-1pm: Consulting firm lunch & learn
    • 6pm-8pm: Consulting firm on-campus presentation
  • Tuesday
    • 12pm-1pm: Consulting firm lunch & learn
    • 5pm-7pm: Film studio corporate presentation
  • Wednesday
    • 12pm-1:30pm: Informational interview with a top online retailer
    • 6pm-9pm: Dinner and drinks with a friend in the movie business
  • Thursday
    • 6pm-9pm: Graduate Marketing Association’s “So You Want to be a Marketer?” information session and panel
  • Friday
    • 10am-11am: Trek to a major news organization’s headquarters
    • 12pm-2pm: Informational conversations at a top tech firm’s New York headquarters
    • 3pm-5pm: Coffee chats with consultants from top-tier firms

Now you might be thinking, “well, every school arranges treks to visit these companies, so what makes your schedule so special?”

To this, I’ll answer in two different ways. First, the remarkable thing is that I was able to attend all these sessions as part of my normal, everyday routine – no flights across the country, no train rides up and down the coast. The furthest I traveled out of my way the whole week was about 15 minutes by subway.

Second, not only was all this easy for me, but easy for these companies as well. If you choose to come to NYU, I think you’ll be amazed at just how often the same firms that are making headlines in the Wall Street Journal are here at Stern, whether they are sending someone to be on a panel, recruit students, or drop into a class.

So why does this matter? By being in downtown New York I had unprecedented access to companies, their employees, Stern alumni, events not-specific to business school students, and so on. Within a week, I was able to conclusively rule out all but two industries through this constant exposure and subsequently focus on what I now know concretely I can be passionate about.

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Differentiating When It Matters Most

Hi Everyone! As you may or may not know, one of the great things about Stern is that all the clubs are student led and student run. As an MBA1, you have the opportunity to apply to AVP positions for a wide range of clubs and positions, which is amazing, as we can not only practice our leadership and managerial skills, but also have direct access to all the club’s resources! This year, I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of the AVPs of Conference for the Graduate Marketing Association (GMA). Our annual conference was held late last year on November 6th and was a huge success!

Since our conference is pretty early in the school year, planning actually starts earlier during the spring/summer. My amazing VPs (Hi Debbie & Aileen!) had already booked a venue, set a theme, and reached out to speakers by the time we AVPs came on board to sort out the details and kinks.

Our lovely conference brochures!
Our lovely conference brochures! (Photo Credit: Nevena Georgieva)

The conference theme this year was “Engaging Consumers: Differentiating When It Matters Most.” Our keynote speakers included the marvelous Carolyn Everson, VP of Global Marketing Solutions for Facebook, and the CEO & Co-Founder of Brooklyn Brewery, Steve Hindy. There were also panels focusing on digital branding, packaging, and 360 activation, with speakers ranging from Unilever to Google to Lancôme. Our afternoon sessions also featured a panel co-hosted by the Stern Women In Business group on campus, along with a MBA1 Mini Case event hosted by our sponsor companies.

It was definitely a lot to coordinate – we needed to secure speakers, market our event, create pamphlets…and all within a student org budget! My first assignment was to create an app for the event (go check it out! You can learn more about the conference and attendees here: https://attendify.com/app/k5m3i3) – which was definitely a new experience for me! There were times, especially closer to the conference, where I would put away my phone for half an hour only to come back with 35 new emails and 10 new action items. But in the end it was super worth it to see the conference go off without a hitch and to get positive feedback. Not to mention the preparation and event day were both excellent networking opportunities!

Goodie bags!!
Goodie bags!!

I had such a blast both planning and participating in this conference. If you’re ever in the neighborhood, the conference is open to public, so feel free to come by next year! Not to mention the GMA Conference is just one of many, many conferences and events held and run by students throughout the year, so there are tons of options to choose from.

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Block 2, I Love You

When you first start business school, you can’t necessarily comprehend the extent to which you will bond with your classmates and your blockmates in particular. It has now been five months since I first met this astonishingly diverse group of people, and I am reluctant to imagine what my life would have been like had Stern not brought us together in this one place at this one time.

Before school started, there were some self-organized gatherings. The air was warm, the days were still long, and the trees in nearby Washington Square Park were lush and green. Around the corner from Stern, 10 to 20 of us would meet up for Happy Hour and talk about what had become our pasts—where we grew up, where we last lived, what job we just quit (or still needed to quit).

I’m a born-and-raised New Yorker but was returning home from a three-year stint in Los Angeles, where I worked as a script reader, screenwriter, and director’s assistant. Many people had been living and working in the city in various occupations. Some grew up in the States, yet others were from places as far away as Taiwan and New Delhi—one had gotten off the plane just a day before, and his wife had yet to join him!

It wasn’t until LAUNCH when I met my block (Block 2!) in its entirety, all 67 of us. I was pleasantly surprised at how genuinely kind and down-to-earth everyone was (Stern definitely has the IQ+EQ thing down pat), but at that point, I still had no idea to what lengths we would go to befriend and support one another.

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On an average night.

Fast forward past midterms, during which my blockmates and I took over the Starbucks Lounge even more so than we usually do (see above) to study together. Fast forward past a brutal recruiting season, during which we’d check in on each other and post silly things in the group messenger app to keep morale up. Fast forward to “Blocksgiving,” when a random bunch of us (and a few partners) came together before the weekend was over, on the eve of dozens of summer internship application deadlines, to share a homemade meal with each other.

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At Stern no less.

Skip ahead to the last day of classes, when half of us celebrated by running down the street from Stern to our unofficial block watering hole and catching up with each other into the night. Then jump ahead one day, when we rallied together the next morning in a last-minute push to donate to Stern’s Toys for Tots Drive. I’m proud to say the effort was especially rewarding, for in addition to doing good, as the block with the highest participation we were awarded enough block points to clinch the Block Points Championship for the semester.

At this point I’m bragging, but how could I not? And don’t get me wrong—there are amazing people in the other five blocks too. But as I recall from Blocksgiving, sitting in a room at Stern with good company, laughing and trying not to choke on apple crumble and coconut cream pie, I thought to myself what I was thankful for, and my current situation came to mind.

I am thankful for Stern, for giving me the chance to challenge myself and to be among people who are brilliant in both heart and mind. I am thankful for my block for being the best block so thoughtful, supportive, fun, and hilarious, truly (I could go on about our beer receivables and sock puppies but I don’t think you’d get it, sorry!). And I am thankful for these moments, now memories, shared by the lot of us, a wonderful group that would have had little reason to ever come together had we not been given the opportunity that we have now.

And as we come back from break, we hope you had the:

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Insights into the Winter Break of an MBA2

Jon-NUS

Hey everyone,

It has been a while since I last posted, but it was for good reason…I was on my MBA2 winter break! The second-year winter break during business school is one of the best things ever. Really.

At Stern, like a number of b-schools, we get all of January off. A large majority of first-year students have to utilize this time for summer internship interviewing. Most MBA2s, on the other hand, take advantage of this “free month” to do a variety of things since most of us will probably never get this much time back. What is the most popular use of the time? Traveling!

I personally decided to travel to Southeast Asia (along with probably a third of our class). I started my journey by first enrolling in one of our Doing Business In… (DBi) programs for the first two weeks of January.  Our DBi programs are one (1.5 credits) or two-week (3 credits) study abroad immersion programs with partner schools that focus on teaching best practices for conducting business in a foreign country. I participated in the DBi Asia program, which was located in Singapore in partnership with the National University of Singapore. The course covered several interesting topics, including the value proposition paradigm as it relates to Asian markets, the many economical, political, and cultural roadblocks Western firms can expect to encounter if they try to expand to Indonesia, as well as group simulations that illustrated Asian negotiation customs. Outside of the classroom, our class had the opportunity to visit a number of Singaporean corporate sites, including the luxurious Marina Bay Sands, Singapore Airlines, and Yamato. We were also provided the opportunity to explore landmarks such as the Singapore Flyer and the famous Night Safari, as well as to get a taste for traditional Singaporean chili crab.

Stern students on DBi Singapore
Stern students on DBi Singapore

After my time in Singapore, I decided to continue my explorations to Bali, Phuket, Bangkok, Siem Reap, Myanmar, and Hanoi. It was one of the most culturally eye-opening experiences of my life, and it was fascinating to compare and contrast the different cultures throughout the region.

Jon-Cambodia

Those 5 weeks of combined study and fun were the ideal way for me to spend my winter break, and I am forever fortunate for the opportunity. I hope this gave you a little bit of insight into how you can take advantage of the ample personal time between semesters in your second year of study! As I’m back on campus now, I promise not to take so long to write another post!

Cheers,

Jon

Jon-Myanmar

 

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On Being Different

During perhaps the most insightful of his lectures this semester, Professor Scott Galloway highlighted the importance of finding the characteristics that make us unique, and using them to our advantage.

Rephrasing his words, once we have found the reasons that differentiate us, we must cultivate them, find our “niche” and build our own brand. Now that my first semester of graduate school is coming to an end, I believe I have found one of Stern’s main sources of uniqueness.

Having grown up in a foreign country, I spent my younger years trying to do exactly the opposite of what the Professor suggested. I anguished over adjusting to norms and customs different from mine, in an effort to be just like everyone else around me. But the more I tried to blend in, the more I stood out.

I eventually gave up and decided to embrace the traits that made me different, even though my behavior, my beliefs and even my appearance made me an easy target for bullying, to which I grew accustomed.

But I never expected to find a place where I felt that I belonged, without sacrificing my uniqueness. However from the first time I visited Stern, I noticed the positive and welcoming attitude of the entire community towards diversity.

The students I had the opportunity to meet on that first occasion made me realize that at NYU, things such as coming from diverse backgrounds or having a different ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation, are not seen as disadvantages. Rather they are welcomed and embraced.

My experiences here have reinforced that notion. Getting to know the amazingly talented people that make up my class and attending an array of extracurricular activities has shown me that one of Stern’s strongest traits is this openness to diversity and desire for inclusion.

The academics and student life at Stern are not just about learning to see the world from different perspectives, but about enriching everyone’s overall MBA experience.

First day of LAUNCH 2015.
From left: Candace Imani Munroe and Victoria Eloise Zunhiga.

 

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Just a semester in, and already seeing the world through a new lens…

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My alarm clock jolted me awake at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday, December 19th. Having completed the last exam of my first semester at Stern just a day earlier, I was feeling relieved to have a relaxing, if temporary, respite from the academic demands of business school. With tickets in hand to see a morning showing of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” I was ready to slip out of MBA mode and into the “home-for-the-holidays” state of mind.

A few minutes later, my friend Sam, who I was visiting up in Boston, poked his head into my room. “Hey man,” he said, “I’m heading to the gym before the movie – there’s some Special K cereal in the cupboard and K-Cups for the Keurig if you want anything – oh, and feel free to eat in the living room, Apple TV’s all hooked up.” He started to walk out the door then added, “also, I figure we can grab some Chipotle after Star Wars if you want.”

As Sam shut the door behind him, I sat there, surprised at the thoughts that came rushing into my head. While on the surface, our morning exchange might have seemed rather innocuous, for me, it was the first time I truly realized just how much Stern has changed my perceptions of the world. In the time it took Sam to utter a few quick sentences referencing everyday items and brands, my mind was making linkages back to all I had learned and experienced in one short semester.

Rather than just thinking about which flavor K-Cup I wanted to make, I was again pondering Green Mountain Coffee Roasters’ acquisition of Keurig, as I had been just a few days earlier in Strategy. Mention of Special K cereal took be back to another case study on big companies like Kellogg contracting out excess production capacity to make store-brand cereal products for retail stores. And of course Apple, a company that, as Professor Scott Galloway eloquently puts it, has “moved down the torso” from the consumer’s head, to the heart, and beyond, to maximize margins while transforming from a tech company into a luxury brand.

I always believed that undergrad was where you “learned how to think,” and grad school was where you gained a specific set of technical skills. But my early morning exchange with Sam was revealing that at Stern, your way of thinking and perceiving evolves as well, and there is no such thing as “slipping out of MBA mode.” Where I once saw brands, products, and prices as a consumer, I was now seeing the fruition of behind the scenes business processes – strategic decisions, supply and demand analyses, complex pricing models, and the like – as an MBA.

Of course, as a result of my first semester, I can comfortably put together a CFFO, build a game theory decision tree, and analyze a regression. But more importantly, I can now see the world in a whole new light, and think in a way that would have never been possible without my Stern experience.

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Explore. Expand. Experiment.

These three words were the theme for LAUNCH, Stern’s one-week orientation program for new full-time MBA students that happens every August. I was drawn to it, in part because I have been fond of alliterative phrases since middle school, but also because of what they represent. LAUNCH marked the beginning of a two-year period where I had permission to do all three of these. When else in life would I have the time, resources, and lack of constraints to explore, expand, and experiment like this?

Before Stern, I worked in the education sector, both at a university and a nonprofit. I enjoyed working with other educators, building youth programs, and contributing to teenagers’ personal development. But, like many of you, I knew that I wanted to build new skill sets that would take me even further in my career. I had spent a number of years watching other young people improve themselves through school, so returning to earn an MBA seemed like a great idea.

Stern’s message of educating for business and society resonated deeply with me, and I’m positive I found the right fit. Since coming to Stern, I have:

• Explored. Having built my perspective on social impact within the education sector, I was excited to learn more about other social sector careers. Through Stern’s Social Enterprise Association, I have learned from alumni and industry experts about impact investing, corporate social responsibility, nonprofit consulting, and many other areas I hadn’t previously explored. In just a few weeks, I will have the chance to explore doing business in another part of the globe as I embark on my first DBi to Singapore (stay tuned for more on that). I can’t wait!

• Expanded. We’ve all heard about the importance of networking to advance our careers. I knew business school might fast track this process, but I could not have anticipated just how my network would grow at Stern. I entered thinking I would gravitate towards peers with similar backgrounds. It only took a few weeks to form strong and genuine connections with peers pursuing finance, marketing, strategy, luxury retail, entrepreneurship, entertainment, and every other industry under the sun. Stern has expanded both the depth and breadth of my lifelong network.

• Experimented. With a two-year time out from the working world, I knew this was the perfect time to try new things. At Stern, I have tried out consulting through experiential learning courses like Strategy with a Social Purpose and Stern’s Board Fellows Program. I have performed an original song in front of audience of my peers and attended my first fashion show. I visited companies like Jet Blue and the Metropolitan Opera House, and spent a day interviewing waffle truck operators, as I learned operations in the real world through Ops in NYC.

Stern has been transformative for me, and I hope these snapshots have given you a sense of my time here thus far. With just six months until graduation, I look forward to sharing more details about the rest of my time exploring, expanding, and experimenting while I still can.

Until next time,
Jamie

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Allow Me to Introduce … Part 3

Hey readers! Have you heard of CORE Leader? Did you know a current Sternie amongst us is the CEO and founder of this company?

62% of the Stern student body come to school to work in finance, management consulting, or marketing (official Stern statistics here). The remaining 38% pursue non-traditional industries such as non-profit, entertainment, or technology. But there are the special and very talented few that become entrepreneurs during their time at Stern. I am lucky and honored to not only know one of them, but also to call him a dear friend: Chris Shaw.

Chris Shaw Core Leader

Chris is a current full-time MBA2 and a US Army veteran. During his time in the Army, he was stationed with the 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina (just like me!) and is now CEO and founder of his own company.

Evelyn: Hi Chris! Thanks for sharing your story. Can you tell the readers a little about yourself and what you did before Stern?
Chris: I am from Old Chatham, NY, a small town near Albany and went to Cornell University for undergrad. Before Stern, I flew Kiowa Warrior Armed Reconnaissance helicopters in the US Army for eight years. I deployed to Afghanistan twice, where I mostly flew at night, staring into two round, green TV screens one inch from my eyes (AKA night vision) for about 1,000 hours of my life.

E: Wow! You’ve had an amazing military career. When did you realize you had the “entrepreneur bug”?
C: I actually wanted to start my own company before even applying to Stern. In fact, I didn’t know exactly what my business would be, but I knew that the skills from an MBA degree would help me reach that goal.

E: Can you tell the readers a little about your company, CORE Leader?
C: CORE Leader is a team building business. However, unlike most businesses in this category, we do not do “trust falls” or scavenger hunts. Instead, we teach a battle-tested form of dynamic problem solving and reinforce it with a mobile, military-style challenge course. Think “Tough Mudder” meets “Escape the Room”.

E: What are some of your favorite parts about being a CEO, founder, and entrepreneur?
C: I like that I can set my own priorities and focus entirely on what is important to me. I enjoy not only coming up with features of the brand and the product experience, but also testing out new ideas without seeking approval. Finally, I like the feeling of making a sale and knowing that I just made my business more valuable and financially stable.

E: I can only imagine how tough an entrepreneur’s journey is at the beginning. How has Stern supported you as an entrepreneur?
C: Stern has been instrumental to CORE’s success. Besides the knowledge I’ve gained through their classes, the Berkeley Center awarded me a $10,000 fellowship grant to support my work this summer. I couldn’t have asked for better support from the school.

E: What classes at Stern best prepared you for CORE Leader success?
C: I used lessons from every class I took at Stern while starting CORE. A few examples really stand out though. A combination of Accounting and Corporate Finance allowed me to put numbers to the business plan. Brand Strategy helped me understand my personal brand and how I could turn it into a highly differentiated business. Social Problem Based Entrepreneurship walked me through the development of a business plan, which resulted in a solid foundation for the getting the company off the ground.

E: If you had advice for an entrepreneur pursuing an MBA, what would you tell them?
C: Getting an MBA will definitely make you a better entrepreneur, no matter how deep your prior subject matter expertise in your venture’s industry. Every class you take will give you tools to make smarter business decisions as a founder.

E: Okay, time for my favorite part. Evelyn’s Quickfire Attack: KMC elevator or stairs?
C: Oh man. I’m the worst and I can’t believe I’m admitting this, but… sometimes I take the elevator to the 2nd floor!

E: If you want to catch up with a friend: Sosnoff or 4th Floor Starbucks Lounge? (if neither – list where)
C: I like to hang out in the lobby after classes to catch up with people.

E: Finally, what does being an entrepreneur mean to you?
C: Taking on all the risk and reaping the potential reward (or enduring the failure) of a new business. It is a hard path. It can be uncertain and lonely. If it is your calling – if, as Prof. Galloway says “you feel like you just have to do it” in spite of the inevitably bleak risk-adjusted reward possibility – then commit to it and go at it, full force. If you hesitate at all, you will find it very hard to do what it takes to really succeed.

Thanks for sharing your journey with us, Chris! Learn more about CORE Leader here.

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Mid-Semester Check in…

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This is how I ponder

It suddenly hit me that it is almost the end of the semester!  I am spending the bulk of my time at Columbia University, where I took advantage of one of the different experiential programs that Stern offers. I am taking a course on the public education sector in the US from K-12; it is divided into a seminar and a consulting project. One of the interesting parts is that it takes a multidisciplinary approach where I am studying with other MBAs, MPAs, Law, and Education students from different schools. It has been fascinating to see the different perspectives that we bring to the table, and to realize once again that this reflects the complexity of the “working world’’. The course focuses on the changes that are needed in public education, and I have learned a lot about organizational change and organizational design – concepts that can be transferred to any other company that I work for once I graduate.

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Up on the hill – mornings on the Columbia U. campus

In other news, a couple of weeks ago I had to choose my spring courses and it was one of those moments where I realized that this was it!  There is so much that I still have to learn, and so little time to do it.  This is my 2nd business degree, but I am only starting to scratch the surface. Being at Stern, working on different projects, interning, studying with my peers has been such an intellectually stimulating challenge. It also hit me that this is the last time I get to see my friends who are studying abroad next semester, and that now is the time to really make time for them. I am so excited to graduate, to go out into the world and to chart a path for myself. Yet, I would like to stay in this bubble a little longer. In Kinyarwanda they say: “akaryoshe ntigahora mwitama” – it literally translates into “the sweet doesn’t remain in your cheek” meaning that you cannot hold onto great times forever. I now understand the mixed emotions that the class of 2015 felt last fall.

To end on a happier note though, as I had mentioned in a previous post last year, I will be taking full advantage of the January break. I am going on a DBI in Israel, and after that I am planning on visiting a couple of countries with some of my closest friends.  I cannot wait!

Until next time,

Michaella

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Hello, My Name is…

Hey everyone,

My name is Jon, and I am a second-year full-time MBA student here at NYU Stern, and I am excited to begin blogging for you! I look forward to sharing my experiences as you continue to determine which MBA journey you want to pursue, as well as continually giving you insight into what it’s like to be Sternie.

First, a brief introduction! I am originally from Jamaica, but was raised in Royal Palm Beach, Florida. I decided to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Go Heels!), where I studied marketing. After graduating from UNC, I worked at a leading consumer packaged goods company for five years in their sales division as part of a management rotational program. Although I gained invaluable experience over those years, I knew my true passion was to pursue the function I studied in college. I also knew that I wanted to pair this functional interest with my lifelong passion for sports – I grew up as a competitive soccer player, and am genuinely intrigued with the business of sports.

So this brought me to Stern! Why? For a couple of reasons:

  1. I mainly targeted b-schools that had programs which touched the sports & entertainment fields, and NYU Stern has one of the leading Entertainment MBA programs in the country. Seeing as how sports typically falls into the “entertainment bucket”, I believed this would be a great opportunity for me to take advantage of a curriculum that was tailored to my interests.
  2. I knew that in order to break into sports, I also had to be in a city that afforded me ample networking opportunities. New York City is the central hub for this industry (as for many other industries), and attending an MBA program in such a location would open many doors for me. I have already had the chance to set up coffee chats with industry professionals at major sports leagues (at their World HQ), as well as conduct a student consulting project for Whistle Sports Network.  Opportunities like these would not be possible at other leading business schools, simply because of their locations.
  3. I also wanted to attend a school where I saw myself fitting into the culture. I targeted schools with small to medium class sizes, and atmospheres that fostered collaboration rather than intense competitiveness. I wanted to immerse myself in a community where students were genuinely interested in learning about their classmates and their life stories, as opposed to only what careers they’re seeking. I visited Stern and interacted with alumni a number of times before applying, and each time this sort of culture transcended through all touch points.

Now I am in my second year, with only one more semester left to go….noooo!!!! That said, I am in a very fortunate position in that I have already accepted a full-time offer to begin working for PepsiCo as an Associate Marketing Manager. I interned with PepsiCo last summer as a MBA Marketing Intern on the Gatorade brand. It was an amazing opportunity to work at the intersection of brand and sport – thus addressing exactly why I came back to pursue an MBA in the first place. So far, things are falling into place perfectly.

I can’t wait to continue sharing my experiences with you as I wrap up my “senior year”! Until my next post, I hope everyone enjoys the Thanksgiving holiday next week!

Signing off,

Jon

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Allow Me to Introduce … Part 2

In honor of Veterans Day this November, I am proud to announce that the Military Veterans Club at Stern will be holding the first ever “NYU Stern Veterans Week” this year. We will have a variety of events for the Stern community such as an MBA veterans Q&A panel where Sternies can ask us about our military experiences, a bootcamp workout session, and a guest speaker event featuring a retired two-star general officer.

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It was an easy decision that my second coffee chat in this blog should be with a fellow MBA veteran here at Stern. To give a fresh perspective to the Stern experience, I sat down with Todd Gardner from Lexington, North Carolina, US Army veteran, and full-time MBA1 student. Todd is currently recruiting for finance after spending the past seven years with the 3rd Special Forces Group out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina (Airborne!).

Evelyn: Hi Todd! Can you tell the readers how you and I first met?
Todd: We initially met at Stern’s Veterans Summit Day for prospective students in 2014. It was a fantastic event!

E: As military vets, our backgrounds are usually quite different than some of our classmates’. What did you do before Stern?
T: Prior to coming to Stern, I was working in the Army as a Special Forces Engineer, also known as a Green Beret. Some highlights of my job were going on three deployments to Afghanistan, becoming the team expert on everything related to explosives, working with some of the most talented and driven individuals I’ve ever met, and frequently jumping out of airplanes and helicopters. Okay, I’m lying about that last one – I always mildly hated it. But other than that, it was truly a dream job.

E: Like many of the blog readers, you were probably considering a few different MBA programs when applying. When did you realize that Stern was the right choice for you?
T: I first visited Stern through the previously mentioned Veteran Summit Day, “A Day in the Life” at Stern organized by the current MBA veterans. The more that I interacted with everyone in the Stern community, the more I realized that Stern really believed in admitting well-rounded students. Stern checked all of the boxes for things I really valued in a business school experience.

E: I know you’re only into your first semester, but what is your favorite class at Stern so far?
T: Foundations of Finance, with Professor Silber, has been my most enjoyable (and probably toughest) class so far. It’s challenging, but interesting, and I think that he’s an outstanding and extremely engaging professor.

E: Now on to the really important questions … Where is your favorite place to grab lunch around Stern?
T: Coming from the South, I was extremely hesitant to move to NYC because of the depressing lack of Chick-fil-A’s in the city. As it turns out, the only one in the entire city is only two blocks away. So yeah, I guess that’s my favorite. (Editor’s note: As of Oct 3, the Chick-fil-A flagship in NYC opened in Midtown. See you in line, Todd!)

E: Complete this sentence “When I have 30 minutes free on campus I like to …”
T: You can usually find me in the school lobby, where it’s nice to run into friends and catch up for a bit between classes.

E: Quick fire question time! KMC elevator or stairs?
T: Stairs, but my cutoff is the 5th floor. If I’m going to the 6th floor or higher, I’m definitely riding the elevator.

E: If you want to catch up with a friend: Sosnoff or 4th Floor Starbucks Lounge? (if neither – list where)
T: Neither. Other people like grabbing coffee, I prefer to grab a beer. Luckily there are a few solid watering holes around Stern that have been great to catch up with friends as well as get some studying done.

E: With Veterans Day coming up, what does being a veteran at Stern mean to you?
T: It means two things to me. First, it’s being a part of a very tight-knit community that is extremely supportive and very diverse. The Stern veterans have such varied background and are some of the most well-rounded people I’ve met. It’s an honor to be a part of the Stern vets community. Second, many of my classmates had never personally known any military veterans, so it has been fun getting to share my military stories and experiences with them. 

Thanks for sharing your story, Todd! And Happy Veterans Day, everyone!

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One Month In – Reflecting On My Summer Internship Experience

It has almost been a month since the semester begun and I am definitely overdue for a post.  This semester has been quite busy. Once again, I somehow ended up doing much more than I intended  – I am working as a Graduate Fellow for the Office of Career Development (OCD), planning the spring break trip for Stern in Africa, and taking an education practicum at Columbia Law that’s worth 12 credits – I feel like all of these deserve their own posts (more to come)!! Of course I love being busy and being active but as I sit in front of this computer, 10pm on a Sunday night, after a weekend trying to catch up so that I can start the week fresh – I know that I definitely need to learn the definition of work/life balance.

Today though, I want to talk about my summer internship! image1I spent my summer in San Francisco working for a tech company.  I was on the sales team, and had an account management role. Funny enough, it took me a couple of visits to our client’s office in San Jose for me to realize that I was in the famous Silicon Valley! You should have seen the smile on my face!!

11162191_10153934936592785_2710319689963526991_n I spent a lot of time recruiting last year, as I was trying to figure out what I would enjoy doing the most. I am a very curious person, and can see myself doing very different things.  Before accepting this offer though, I was hesitating between this and a startup. The startup was in New York, and I would have had an operations role.  This was a great opportunity to do work where I would have immediately seen the impact that I was having. However, I chose to accept the San Francisco offer for two reasons:

  1. The exposure: I was part of a program that was recruiting for African countries – which is where I want to end up eventually. This was a great opportunity for me to be able to learn more about what the company was doing, and to network with people on the ground.
  2. The role: I had never done sales as a role on its own, and wanted to see how it would feel, since that is what most multinational firms recruit for in Africa.  I had a great team, and enjoyed my projects.  Even though I would be successful in sales, I now know that I really do enjoy operations, and that I prefer working with clients on their strategy, operational improvements, implementations models, and such…

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Finally, I had never been to California. Since I am not planning on spending my life in the US (so far), I took the opportunity and played tourist. My sister visited me from Toronto, and we went to Napa. I also visited the Big Sur, Monterey, and went to LA. I loved that I had the time to go to the gym, cook, and explore the city with friends. Overall I loved my summer experience: I learned a lot, had impact on my team, and discovered a new region. I left feeling refreshed and I cannot wait to see what this year has in store 🙂

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Allow Me to Introduce … Part 1

Hello everyone! September at NYU Stern means … navigating classes, corporate presentations, coffee chats, informational interviews all within the first few weeks of school. What is an MBA student to do during these exhausting and overwhelming times?

Everyone in business is familiar with the concept of a Board of Directors – a body of elected officials who oversee any major decisions of an organization. During my time at Stern, I’m a firm believer in the concept of nurturing a Personal Board of Directors – a group of friends that you can lean on during stressful times, share your excitement with when you get that first interview call-back, and someone to split that Lyft Line carpool fee with when going home after Beer Blast on Thursday nights.

I’d like to introduce everyone to Martin Lynch, a full-time MBA2 student at NYU Stern and one of my dear friends. Go grab a snack and join us in our coffee chat below!

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Above: A picture that perfectly captures my friendship with Martin

Evelyn: Hi Martin! So can you tell the readers how you and I first met?
Martin: We met on the first day of LAUNCH orientation last year. Gosh, it’s hard to picture a time when we didn’t know each other! I knew we had to be friends after seeing your masterpiece crayon drawings during one of the more creative team-building exercises on the second day of school.

E: You were such a great help during some of our group projects together last year. Can you tell me what has been your favorite class at Stern so far?
M: This is a toughie, but if I had to pick one, I’d go with Foundations of Finance with Professor William Silber. On the first day, I was so intimidated by the subject matter and some of his classroom policies. For example, if you’re one minute late, you won’t be allowed in! But by the end of the course, I was totally hypnotized by him, and, surprisingly, also by the theories of finance. He has the most expressive voice of any professor I’ve studied under and he is so dedicated to making sure his students are able to grasp even the most complex financial theories.

E: You’re always walking around the halls with a smile on your face. What’s been your favorite memory at Stern?
M: My favorite memory at Stern so far happened last year when I heard from the Stern administration that they would be installing eleven gender neutral restrooms in KMC. Rachel Hurnyak (Class of 2015) and I approached Neil Rader, NYU Stern Chief Operations Officer, and Janet Lyden, NYU Stern Associate Director, to see if installing one gender neutral bathroom was a possibility. Neil said, “If we’re going to do one, why don’t we do one on every floor?” The turnaround time on this project was remarkable. This experience reaffirmed all the reasons why I chose to come to Stern.

E: As a friend, I know better than to talk to you before you’ve had your coffee. Where is your favorite local coffee spot around Stern?
M: Box Kite Coffee on Avenue A and St. Marks Place. Coming straight from the mouth of a total coffee snob: the coffee there is just ridiculous…ridiculously good!

E: Complete this sentence “When I have 30 minutes free on campus I like to …”
M: Find my friends and shadow them! It’s very exciting how each individual at Stern has so many cool things going on. Whenever I have a free moment, I love to walk around campus and catch up with them. It usually ends up being 30 minutes of me saying, “Oh my gosh” “Whoa” “No way!”

E: Quickfire question time! Getting to class, do you take the school elevator or the stairs?
M: I will never understand how the elevators at KMC work, so I stick to the stairs. My glutes and quads are so thankful for the confusing elevators.

E: If you want to catch up with a friend: Sosnoff or 4th Floor Starbucks Lounge?
M: Neither! I love the alcove in the lobby. It is so much fun to catch up there and also squeeze in some high quality people watching.

E: If you need to study: Stern Quiet Room or Bobst Library?
M: Quiet room for sure. Bobst feels far too overwhelming!

E: Where did you intern this past summer? What did you like the most about it?
M: I interned at a food tech startup, Freshly. Prior to Stern, I had worked in larger-sized companies and it was so neat to be able to get exposure to a smaller, more entrepreneurial environment. Also, working at a food company meant a lot of food tastings! I’m now a budding food critic.

Hope everyone enjoyed meeting another fresh voice at Stern! Who will I pick next? What cool story will they have? Stay tuned for my next coffee chat series!

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That’s a Wrap! Reflections From My Summer Internship

Happy summer, everyone! Wow, I can’t believe that it has been a year since I moved to New York City to attend NYU Stern. For those of you who have been following my blog posts, you know exactly how much my life has changed since then.

I just wrapped up my summer internship with Showtime Networks a few weeks ago. The company launched their first direct-to-consumer mobile app this summer, which I got to help with. What an incredible moment!

Showtime

Many companies have established summer internship programs for MBA interns and Showtime was no different. We had organized events such as a weekly speaker series, networking breakfasts, and intern summer projects on top of our daily work loads.

For my summer internship project, part of my final recommendation included making revenue projections which were calculated using frameworks that I had learned in my Stern classes. Professor Damodaran from Corporate Finance would be so proud!

Overall, the summer internship is a great way for MBA students to confirm whether or not they can picture themselves at a particular new company or industry. For some, it justifies their career decision and solidifies what they want to do after graduation. For others, their summer internships may have fallen short of expectations.  But NYU Stern and the trusty Office of Career Development will help students recruit again in the fall.

Unfortunately, the entertainment industry does not extend full-time job offers immediately following a summer internship like some of the traditional industries, so I will have to re-recruit in the spring prior to graduation. However, Showtime asked me to return for a part-time internship this fall. I was honored and happy to accept. Wish me luck this fall semester – it will be a busy one!