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Build More Than Your Resume: Build Connections through Club Involvement!

Christy Kim is a MBA candidate at NYU Stern’s Andre Koo Tech MBA program, specializing in Business Analytics and Product Management. Prior to Stern, she worked at Deloitte Consulting, driving large-scale data and analytics transformations for clients across various industries. She additionally brings a background in product marketing, alliances, and tech sales and graduated from Duke University. At Stern, she serves as the VP Tech MBA – Business Analytics Club (BAC), VP Conferences & Flagship Events – Gaming & Esports Management Society (GEMS), AVP Events of Asian Business Society (ABS), and member – Stern Technology Association (STA).

You often hear that the greatest ROI of an MBA is the connections. There is no doubt that our fellow Tech MBA classmates are connections for life, but how do we assimilate into and build relationships with the greater Stern MBA community – especially when 2-year MBAs return in the fall? 

The short answer? Get involved in student clubs!

The long answer? Join a club, participate in opportunities to lead your peers, and grow your network while dialing into a business topic you’re passionate about.

Here is a quick ‘Stern MBA Clubs for Dummies’ on how to maximize your club experiences as a Tech MBA student:

PICK A CLUB. ANY CLUB.

As early as orientation, you will have the opportunity (i.e. virtual Club Expo) to explore the 40+ clubs at Stern and express initial interest for follow up/kickoff in the fall:

  1. Professional clubs (e.g. Stern Technology Association, Business Analytics Club) help you navigate industries and prepare for recruiting 
  2. Affinity, sports, & special interest clubs (e.g. Adventures Club, Asian Business Society) give you an opportunity to meet people with similar interests or explore new areas of interests
  3. Student Government (SGov) offers leadership opportunities to plan and execute school-wide events; for Tech MBAs, we have a dedicated role (SGov Tech MBA President – shoutout to Reggie Greathouse, our leader!) to serve as the liaison between 2-year MBA and Tech MBA students

With so many amazing club options, it was difficult to not join all! Maximizing involvement over quantity, I decided to join the following 4 clubs (if you have any questions regarding the clubs below, feel free to reach out):

  1. Business Analytics Club (BAC)
  2. Gaming & Esports Management Society (GEMS)
  3. Asian Business Society (ABS)
  4. Stern Technology Association (STA)

GET INVOLVED: BECOME A MEMBER, ALLY, OR EVEN A LEADER.

In the beginning of the fall semester, clubs will conduct kickoffs where students can learn about the club as well as the membership options (e.g. member, ally) and leadership opportunities across the clubs’ verticals (e.g. Marketing, Finance, Events, Academic). For each vertical, Tech MBAs can run for 2 types of leadership positions:

  1. VP Position: Intended for 2nd year MBAs – including us, the Focused MBAs! A number of clubs have reserved leadership roles just for Tech MBA students (e.g. I am currently VP Tech MBA for Business Analytics Club).
  2. AVP Position: Intended to prepare 1st-year MBA students for leadership roles as a VP or President; it is recommended that Tech MBAs serve in this role with another 1st-year MBA student to ensure club continuity and transition into a VP role for the subsequent year.

I found that being a board member has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my MBA journey. It provides the opportunity to intimately collaborate with the 2-year and part-time MBA students as well as the alumni network. Whether it’s spontaneously grabbing dinner together after a board meeting or a scheduled karaoke night, it is an excellent way to develop deeper relationships with those outside of our Tech MBA cohort! 

From brunches to dinners to board game night to comic cons… infinite fun with Stern BAC, ABS, and GEMS board members.

 

GONE CLUBBING: ATTEND (OR RUN) THE CLUB EVENTS!

In the fall and spring, club events will be in full swing. All events are made available on NYU Stern CampusGroups, which serves as a fantastic platform to learn about the different types of events (e.g. social, academic, alumni) that a club will be hosting or has previously hosted. As a board member, you also get the opportunity to drive the club events! Over this past fall semester, I’ve had a chance to:

  • Co-lead the ‘Paramount Games Case Competition’ with fellow Tech MBA classmate, Nick Imbriglia, for Gaming & Esports Management Society (GEMS)
  • Plan the ‘Board Dinner & Korean Pocha Night’ as well as ‘End of Semester Rooftop Happy Hour’ for Asian Business Society (ABS)
  • Participate as a panelist for ‘Analytics 101’ session (led by fellow Tech MBA classmate, Cody Ipapo) and attend the ‘H&M Office Trek’ for Business Analytics Club (BAC)
Case competitions, knowledge management sessions, company treks, and even NYC Koreatown outings… club events cover all!

CHANCE OF A LIFETIME

In our accelerated 1-year Tech MBA program, the greater ROI potential comes at the expense of time. As I reflect on all the incredible student-driven events from this past fall semester, there is only one thing that I wish I could have done better: having further optimized my time to participate in everything I wanted to do! I am grateful for Stern’s seamless process for Tech MBAs to integrate into the 2-year and part-time MBA community through clubs and organizations. The onus is up to us to take full advantage of the available opportunities in the provided time frame.

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The Tech MBA vs. the Two-Year MBA

Zoish Pithawala is a current Tech MBA student, specializing in Tech Product Management. Prior to Stern, Zoish worked as a Solutions Architect focused on startups interested in using cloud technologies. Post-MBA, she plans to move into a technical product management role specifically focused on data analytics. 

 

 

 

 

When you say MBA, most people typically think of a traditional two year program, however there is a rising popularity in more specialized, accelerated programs like the Tech MBA. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to what program makes more sense for you, but there are some key differences to keep in mind as you evaluate these options. 

Curriculum 

NYU Stern’s Andre Koo Tech MBA program is a one year (May – May), 52 credit program. The Two Year Full-time MBA program runs over the span of two years (September – May) and students earn 60 credits to graduate. Both programs have the same selection of courses for electives, but with the Two Year MBA, you have the opportunity to take more elective classes and experiential courses since you have more credits to earn and more time. The core curriculum in the Tech MBA includes classes like Foundations of Networks and Mobile Systems and DevOps and Software Engineering, which are not typically offered in the Full Time MBA program. Both programs give students the opportunity to select up to 3 specializations from a list of over 25 options. The Tech MBA curriculum is catered towards specializations like Entrepreneurship and Innovation or Technical Product Management, however students can specialize in any of the available options.

For me personally, I felt like the curriculum in the Tech MBA fit my needs perfectly. There’s a great balance between the technical classes with the business core classes to give a good overview of everything. There are also more than enough elective credits where I felt like I could branch out and try electives that were really interesting to me. Some of the classes I found to be really interesting as part of the curriculum were Leadership, Tech Solutions, and Tech Product Management.

Class Profile

NYU Stern has a diverse student population throughout all their programs, but there are some differences in the class profile between the Tech MBA and Two Year MBA. The biggest difference is the size of the class. The Tech MBA has a smaller cohort of around 50 students, whereas the Two Year Full-time MBA has a class size of around 330 students. Amongst these students, the Tech MBA tends to have a higher average for years of work experience, with a majority of students coming from a STEM background. In contrast, the majority of students in the Two Year MBA have a background in business and prior work experience in various industries.

I love having a smaller cohort because it gives me the opportunity to really connect with everyone in the program and get to know each other really well. I find it’s also really valuable to have classmates with similar interests and backgrounds so we can work on projects together and discuss recruiting strategies for similar roles.

Internships 

The Two Year MBA gives students the opportunity for a summer internship in between their first and second year. This can be very beneficial for students pivoting to a new industry or students looking to gain work experience. Many prospective students choose to do an MBA program to gain new skills, and summer internships provide them with the opportunity to apply what they have learned. For most students, a full-time job offer is the ultimate goal of the MBA program and a good summer internship can often lead to a return offer with the company. Since the Tech MBA is an accelerated program, there is no time for a summer internship, but the valuable experiential course offerings throughout the year can help students build work experience through company project partnerships.

Personally, I enjoyed the Tech Solutions experiential course that is part of the Tech MBA curriculum. This gave me an opportunity to work with a large tech company on a semester-long project. This project helped me develop skills that would be incredibly useful for my future career and acted as an internship for my resume. 

Return on Investment 

MBA programs can be quite expensive, so everyone wants to maximize their investment. When looking at the numbers, the Tech MBA program has a lower cost of tuition compared to the Two Year MBA . Another large part of the equation is the amount of time you spend in the MBA program in lieu of working and earning a salary. While you will have a summer internship to make up some of the cost, you will be out of the workforce for two years with the Two Year MBA, whereas you are only out of the workforce for one year with the Tech MBA. 

With the tech industry changing so rapidly, it was really important to me to only be out of the workforce for one year. I wanted to be able to jump back into the workforce without feeling like I missed out. This way I would be getting the value of an MBA program without having to pause my career for too long.

There are a variety of different factors that play into the decision to apply to a specific MBA program and, for me, these were some of the most important factors when deciding on the Tech MBA. The ROI of a one year accelerated program aligned perfectly with my career goals and I valued having a smaller cohort with a background that aligned with the Tech industry. In the end, both the Tech MBA and the Two Year MBA are amazing programs, so it really comes down to what makes the most sense for you!

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A Day in the Life of a Tech MBA

Bárbara Argeri is a current Tech MBA student, specializing in Tech Product Management. Prior to Stern, Bárbara worked as a Product Strategy Manager at Mercado Libre in Brazil. Post-MBA, she plans to work as a Tech Product Manager. At Stern, she is involved in several student associations such as Stern Technology Association, Stern Women in Business, and Latin American Business Association. During her free time, she enjoys strolling around New York searching for new places, and spending time with her friends.

When I was learning more about different MBA programs, the content I liked the most was about the day in the life of an MBA student, since they provided me with a real sense of what life would be like. Because of this, I didn’t think twice when I was given the opportunity to write this blog!

7:30am: I wake up early for my classes. Since I live on the Upper East Side, I take a while longer to get to campus. I prepare some coffee, get something to eat, and head to the Q subway station on 72nd street. It is a 20-minute ride and I try to keep up with some of my favorite podcasts along the way.

8:45am: I arrive at Union Square. Although I could transfer to the R or W to arrive near Stern, I prefer to leave at Union Square and walk for 10 minutes to campus since the weather is nice. I pass by Washington Square Park and have one of those funny moments when I realize “Oh my God! I live in New York now.” I arrive just in time for my “Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies” class.

11:50am: Cryptocurrencies class was great. We talked about the regulations of crypto markets and possible impacts for the future. We had a speaker from one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrencies exchange platforms. It’s incredible to hear the perspective of someone who’s so actively inserted in the business.

12:00pm: Recruiting time! We have a corporate presentation of one of the companies I am most interested in working with. Time to better understand their culture, ask questions, and network with their employees. It’s so helpful to get to meet the recruiters in person and build relationships with them. And that’s much easier when they’re a few subway stops away. This allows me to meet so many different companies – and also visit their offices some times.

01:00pm: Time to grab a snack before meeting with one of my project groups. For this project, we are working as consultants for a color- analytics startup, which is very disrupting. We are helping them develop the wireframes of an app they are planning to launch. The pages are almost ready to be submitted to user testing. We’re excited to be working closely with the client on something that they are actually launching soon! This course is also a great opportunity to strengthen my Product Management skills since that’s the career I want to pursue after graduation.

03:00pm: Time to work on some homework and readings. As we approach the end of the semester, we have quite a few papers due. I like to go to the “Grad Lounge” for that, since my classmates usually hang out there, and you also get to meet different people. This time, one of the students associations left candy to support students during finals week. That has definitely given us a mood boost!

05:00pm: Done with the duties. Time to grab a coffee and something to eat and meet up with some friends that are around campus to chat and relax for a bit. We are discussing what the plans for this weekend we’ll be. A pot luck dinner maybe!?

06:00pm: Last stretch of the day – “Data Science for Business” class. Today, we learned about language models that are developed to identify and filter possible spam emails. It’s so interesting to learn about the methodology and discuss possible variables and impacts. This class is great to help you understand data mining concepts and prepare you to speak with data scientists.

09:00pm: Class is over! Time to meet with my husband and grab something to eat around campus before heading home. What a long day. Nothing better than watching an episode of my favorite series and going to bed.

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Benefits of a Tech MBA in NYC

Aafiya Jamal is currently an MBA Candidate in the Tech MBA Program at the NYU Stern School of Business. She recently moved to New York City from Dallas, Texas. Prior to Stern, Aafiya worked in technology consulting and supported clients in the financial services space, from traditional, global banking institutions to FinTech companies. Outside of the classroom, Aafiya serves as one of the Cohort Leaders for the Tech MBA and is involved in the Stern Technology Association and Stern Women in Business. 

As you explore your business school options, you may find yourself wondering whether New York City is the right place for you – especially if you’re very interested in pursuing a career in technology and torn between Stern and options on the West Coast. Trust me, I’ve been in your exact shoes and can tell you what drew me to NYC:

Breadth of Professional Opportunities

  • New York City offers a broader range of professional opportunities, which holds especially true for tech. Companies in any industry or domain, from financial services to fashion, require technically fluent individuals; what differentiates New York City over the West Coast is the pure breath and scale of these opportunities. Given that a majority of firms are either based in or have a major presence in New York City, this lends itself to even more opportunities at your disposal – far more than the West Coast can offer. For example, I had the opportunity this semester to engage in a client project as part of the Tech Solutions course, where I partnered with Roku to build a solution to better leverage product analytics data to support the company’s ad-tech strategy. Roku sits at the intersection of media and entertainment and technology, while the project gave me exposure to the advertising and product management domains – an opportunity I would not have had without Stern. 
Stern not only offered us the opportunity to work alongside Roku this semester, but also spend time with our project sponsor, in-person, in the New York City office!

Overlap of Existing Network

  • There is no doubt that Stern’s brand is very strong; however, there is a certain degree of comfort associated with reaching out to a familiar professional connection rather than a pure cold call (which can feel transactional in nature). Prior to Stern, I worked in consulting, and New York City is where my prior employer is based. As a result, I have a number of professional mentors and connections within the city, which enables me to keep up with trends in the workforce and broader market. These existing relationships, coupled with my Stern MBA, open doors to additional professional connections and employment opportunities in technology. It is likely that you, too, have personal and professional connections in the city, and I highly recommend that you capitalize on this.

Culture of New York City

  • Finally, New York City is unlike any other place in the world. As cliché as this sounds, I have never been around such ambitious, gifted, and hard-working people – both at Stern, as well as in the broader city. Engaging in this kind of environment pushes me to hustle and expand outside of my comfort zone in a way that no other business school could have. New York is arguably the most exciting place to live, and I’ve tried to make the most of my time here, from exploring incredible and diverse cuisine, to picnicking in Central Park, to attending sports games to celebrating the holiday season – all with my cohort. While one year is certainly a decent amount of time to experience the city, I hope that your chapter here extends beyond the length of the program. 

    Despite the busy schedule of the summer semester, we always made time to picnic throughout various parks in New York City! Central Park is cliche, but certainly a personal favorite!
Celebrating Friendsgiving with the cohort was definitely one of the highlights of my holiday season.
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Preparing for a Rapidly Changing Industry

Eugenio Prati is an MBA Candidate in the Tech MBA Program. He moved to New York City from Ann Arbor, MI. Prior to Stern, Eugenio worked as a R&D Program Manager in the automotive industry. His team was responsible for leading new vehicle development from digital prototypes through to mass production. Outside the classroom, Eugenio is an avid runner and a member of the NYU Cycling Club.

Deciding to pursue an MBA can be a scary process. Initially I agonized over when it would be most strategic to quit my job to return to school. Later, I spent months drowning in MBA info sessions and marketing material desperately trying to understand the differences between schools and programs. I drove everyone around me crazy. One week I would tell them about the program I was most excited about and the following week I would tell them about a different program that was now atop my MBA list. The process was maddening, but once I chose NYU’s Tech MBA, I never looked back – and here’s why.

The world is changing and so should MBAs

Working in the automotive industry, the rise of EVs, autonomous vehicles, and car sharing, was a constant reminder of tech’s ability to drive change in any and every industry. From the pharmaceutical industry to financial services, the entire world is being shaped by technologies like cloud computing, machine learning, 5G, blockchain… The leaders of tomorrow will need to have more than business acumen. They will need to understand these technologies and their potential in order to make the strategic decisions their organizations expect from them. By combining tech and business fundamentals into a one year MBA, NYU Stern’s Tech MBA is tailor made for these changing times.

Best parts of the experience and curriculum

Our cohort is composed of people with and without tech experience from all over the world. The differing professional backgrounds provide insights into how to bridge the gap between those fluent in tech and those fluent in business/strategy. The international backgrounds provide insights into the differing levels of infrastructure, development, and tech adoption around the world. Combined, the eclectic group makes for invaluable debates and discussions. 

The experiential learning within the curriculum, Tech Immersion and Solutions, includes company visits on both the East and West Coasts, guest speakers from Google, Uber, Amazon, BCG, Skillshare, and others, as well as semester long group projects with companies such as Waze, Pfizer, KPMG, Roku, PayPal… This hands-on experience provides clarity on the direction Tech is headed in and the nature of MBA roles within it in ways that no lecture or Google search ever could. For example, while partnering with Pfizer, we got a first hand glimpse of how they think about digital innovation and the roadblocks they face when deploying innovations in a tightly regulated industry.

Finally, the curriculum pairs all the business fundamentals one expects from an MBA, with all the tech fundamentals one could want. Courses like Dealing with Data, Data Science for Business, and Foundations of Networks, gave us the SQL, Python, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript overview needed to collaborate with SW Engineers, Data Scientists, and Designers. Courses like Digital Currency and Blockchains are teaching us about the history of currency and the technology underpinning the future of finance. The list goes on…

Who would I recommend the Tech MBA to?

If you are excited about the future, fascinated by the technologies shaping the world around us, and hoping to make an impact, the Tech MBA is for you.

Be prepared to work. This is a one year program but it is a full MBA. Your summer will be intense, but if you grit your teeth you’ll get through it and you’ll be one step closer to having the skills you need to thrive in these changing times.

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Networking with Alums & Current Students

Steven is a current Tech MBA student, specializing in Financial Instruments & Markets and Management of Technology & Operations. He comes from a background in tech consulting at Deloitte where he was implementing financial software to complete full cycle digital transformations. He is involved on campus with many clubs including OutClass and Management Consulting Association.

At my last job, my coach told me when we first met, “Networking is part of work,” and this insight has always stuck with me. Networking is so important in all of our interactions because it open doors and leads to so many opportunities. I started my networking with Stern Alumni and current students about a year before I came to NYU. I wanted to get a feel of what the experience was going to be like, both from an education and social perspective, and to see where their MBA took them. These interactions led to so many lasting friendships and great professional relationships. 

At the end of the day, people like to help other people when you reach out. I would say don’t be afraid to ask others for a quick call or coffee chat, because you don’t know where this will lead. In part of my networking, pre-NYU, I learned about so many great opportunities that Stern had to offer such as specialized courses, clubs and recruiting. Now that I am at Stern, I have been able to broaden my network with so many clever aspirational classmates that have come from a wealth of industries. Having these friends with so much experience across different business backgrounds feels like I am being set up for success to easily and effectively execute professional dealings in the future as my career grows.

Through networking with current students and alumni, I realized that so many of us come to NYU without a clear understanding of what we want to do post MBA and how so many of us fluctuate with what will do professionally throughout our time at Stern. I was able to get insights into so many different industries and hear what others did through these connections. When I decided that I wanted to pivot careers from all of these chats, I was able to leverage my relationships with current classmates that came from the industry to help set me up with what I needed to do to be successful in this transition and actually get me ramped up for the career change. I was then able to lean on alumni to help connect me with leaders in the industry that would support me and be willing to take me under their wing. Ultimately, it has led for an easy transition into a new role. 

Overall, networking is important! You never know who can help you or who you can help one day. Be confident in reaching out to others because this will lead to so many lifelong friendships and professional relationships that will always be part of your network.

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Advantages of a One Year MBA

Carlos Rincon is a full-time MBA candidate in NYU Stern’s Andre Koo Tech MBA program. Before Stern, Carlos worked in management consulting at Bain in Colombia, Brazil, and Chile. Upon graduation, he plans to work in strategy at a tech company. 

 

 

 

 

Why an accelerated tech MBA program at Stern? 

For me, there were several elements for why an accelerated program focused on tech was the best decision. The two foremost are: (1) Having a clear vision that I want to focus my future career in tech and (2) being an international student, I was eager to gain experience in the New York City and US tech scene. Some of the advantages I see include: 

Tech is a fast-moving industry: To be ahead in tech, you need to be building permanently.

  • New opportunities generated by Internet penetration: This creates an environment where technology developers can create and change things anywhere at any time. This “coding offer increase” is a complete market shift from the past, where one of the main constraints to develop was to have more coders. 
  • The duration of the program not only means you will return to the market faster, but the program design allows you to be constantly updated on what the New York tech ecosystem is doing.

More interaction with the tech cohort: The tech cohort is not only small (just ~50 people) which allows deep bonding, but also has more experience and general interest in the current tech trends such as the metaverse, blockchain, decentralization, intelligent cities, crypto, etc.

  • The Tech MBA class profile also attracts people with more experience (6.2 years against 5.0 years of the regular MBA), leading to more knowledge on how to approach and leverage classes.
  • The experience of the class concentrates on tech trends that will address the future of the world, creating compelling environments in the classroom conversations on these topics.

Return On Investment: As an international student, I was very focused on the program’s ROI. Although there isn’t time for an internship, the recruiting season begins in the fall, when Tech MBA and second-year MBA students are ready to be back in the market upon graduation in May. 

  • This results in a great recruiting season with second-year MBA students returning to the workforce in only one year 

Entrepreneurial spirit: A significant group of students in our tech cohort have experience in startups or entrepreneurship, or are interested in pursuing this in the future. If you are interested in looking for co-founders, having exciting conversations, or understanding how startups work, you will find a group of people with experience in this field.

  • Joining the entrepreneurship groups is also a great way to acquire some experience and gain exposure to how the VC world works.

Things to keep in mind:

Networking

  • Not having a summer internship requires more focus on the type of industry you want to pursue during the recruiting season. Define the industries and companies you want and begin to build relationships to be updated on job offers and recommendations. Spend energy generating authentic relationships with the companies you target. 
  • My advice – leverage ALL of the Stern network. After defining the companies where you want to work, contact the Stern alums at that company doing relevant roles to the ones you target. The sense of community of Stern is such that most of the time, you will receive an answer and indeed some availability to have a coffee chat and understand better how the company works and if it indeed adjusts to what you want to do. (They have been incredibly helpful to me)

Summer is intense, but don’t stress out!

  • Don’t miss the opportunity to know more of your classmates and do fun things. The program is fast and busy, but putting in the extra time to explore the city with your cohort and get to know one another is beneficial both personally and professionally! 
    • Advice: If you need help with the summer classes, don’t hesitate to ask. One of your classmates will be familiar with the subject, and everybody is receptive to help. You are all in this together!
  • If you’re interested in pursuing consulting or banking, spend time refining your skills over the summer so that you are prepared when the club activities start in the Fall and full-time recruiting ramps up. Don’t miss any opportunity to travel with your cohort! 
  • Unfortunately, time goes rapidly, so understand when your breaks take place and organize all the trips you can with your cohort!
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Tips for Prospective Tech MBA Candidates

Carina is a full-time MBA candidate in NYU Stern’s Andre Koo Tech MBA program, specializing in Product Management and Strategy. Prior to Stern, Carina lived in Boca Raton, FL and has 6 years of experience in account management at a hospitality tech company. Upon graduation, she wants to utilize her passion for great UX and years of customer-facing experience within the technology space to pursue a product management role. 

Applying to business school can be daunting. There’s a lot to do between preparing for the GMAT/GRE, keeping track of the various application components, and juggling everyday life! You spend a lot of time in self-reflection: What are your goals? What have you accomplished professionally? What direction do you want your career to take? To help you kick off this journey, here are my top 10 tips for prospective candidates when applying to business school:  

 

  1.     Do Your Research

An MBA is an investment in your future self, it’s important that you take the time to do research about the program you are applying for to ensure that it’s the right fit for you. What electives interest you? What clubs would you be interested in joining? Does the program curriculum align with helping you achieve your post-MBA goals? 

Take your time to walk through the Stern Tech MBA website to read about the specific components of the program, watch videos and check out resources like this blog to read about student experiences.

When doing my own research, the Tech MBA program stood out to me because it provided exactly what I was looking for: a one-year program in a city, a strong tech-focused curriculum, and resources that would help me develop the skills to transition into product management. For me, the reading about the tech-focused curriculum with classes like Tech Product Management and Dealing with Data combined with several experiential learning opportunities helped solidify that the Tech MBA made the most sense for me.

  1.     Attend Admissions events

The Admissions team hosts a variety of events throughout the application season. One of my favorite events I attended was the mock application session. It helped me tremendously as I worked through the application and set a clear expectation as to what the AdCom was looking for! Another favorite was an event organized by the Stern Women In Business club – hearing the passion and excitement from the students about their time at Stern really helped solidify my decision to apply. Keep an eye out for Stern club-hosted events that align with your interests to get a feel for the student body at Stern.

Coffee Chats are another student-hosted event that provides you with the opportunity to hear about their experience and ask questions!

  1.     Reflect on Your Why

Research and attending events helps you craft your “why” behind why you’re applying to NYU. But it’s also important to know why you want an MBA, why Stern, and why, specifically, a focused one-year program. This will not only help you with your essays, but your interview as well!

  1.     Ask Questions

Based on your goals, your research and your why for business school – ask any dire questions you may have! Utilize Coffee Chats, Admissions events or even reach out to a current student. Clubs are also a great resource to learn more about the student experience. This all works towards helping you make an informed decision and crafting your message throughout your application.

I leveraged the Coffee Chats I attended to ask questions about students pursuing product management roles to see how they shaped their Stern experience. The students I talked to not only gave me ideas about clubs to join and electives to consider but also explained how specific required courses supported the building skills key to pursuing product management.

  1.     Be Authentically You

You’ll see throughout Stern admissions events and the websites the mention of “EQ” – how you represent your emotional intelligence is so important and the best way to demonstrate that is to authentically represent yourself. The best essays and answers are the ones that truly represent who you are as a person – your passions, your goals, your experience, your personality. This is seen throughout your application components, but nothing can duplicate the uniqueness you demonstrated in your Pick 6 essay! Take the time to brainstorm how you can best represent this throughout your application and do not stress about what you think the admissions team wants to see!

  1.     Your contribution to Stern

What clubs do you want to join and how do you see yourself getting involved? How can you leverage your previous experience and contribute to your class? The Stern community? What resources do you strive to utilize while at Stern? Community is such a large part of Stern, I can say with certainty that it is the greatest part of my experience so far. 

The summer semester of the Tech MBA dives into the business core and technology core classes, it is intense, but it was also a time where the Tech MBA community leaned on each other to succeed. There was always a fellow Sternie willing to spend extra time talking through a topic if that meant their knowledge could help you develop a better understanding – I saw this throughout the summer as we jumped from classes like Dealing with Data to Finance. Outside of class, we are always arranging social gatherings. Moving to New York and starting business school was certainly a transition, but this community has tremendously impacted my experience so far! 

  1.     How will you benefit from your time at Stern?

Beyond an MBA degree in hand, how will the Tech MBA at Stern help you achieve your goals? 

In the short time I have been at Stern, I’m already working toward goals I have set for myself: continue to build technical skills, explore areas of tech I’m unfamiliar with and prepare for recruiting for a product manager role. This summer, I continued developing SQL and Python skills during Dealing with Data, and I’m excited to take Data Visualization this fall to continue developing data-related skills. While the Fall semester has just started, the Stern Tech Association has already begun hosting helpful sessions like a knowledge management session about full-time recruiting for tech roles and highlighting job postings in their weekly newsletter. 

  1.     Organization is Key

Create a plan to ensure you have all required paperwork, letters of recommendation, essays and your application completed and submitted by or before the deadline you are aiming for! Choose a deadline and use that as your guide as you work to complete all application requirements. I personally found maintaining a Google Sheet and calendar alerts helped keep me on track! Make sure to ask your recommenders with plenty of time before the deadline so that they’re not rushed, and allow yourself plenty of time to write the best version of your essays.

  1.     Ask for a second set of eyes

As I finalized my essays, one of the most helpful things I did was ask friends I trusted to read through them. This helped me catch anything I may have missed, and they provided good insight as well! As you work through this process, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and a fresh perspective is so helpful! Whenever I got stuck, I found brainstorming with someone and talking it out helped as well. Lean on your community!

  1. Brag about yourself

This is your time to show everything that’s great about you! Show it off with pride and confidence. 

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What to Expect From Your Tech MBA Summer

One of the most unique parts of the Tech MBA is the summer semester – there are no other students on campus, you get to bond with your cohort, and start your journey as an MBA. If you’re wondering what a typical day in the life of a Tech MBA student in the summer looks like, it’s a very busy but exciting time! It’s also a great transition from working into school, since your schedule is more like a 9-5 working day. Here’s an example of what a typical day might look like:

  • 8am – 9am: Commute from Brooklyn to campus
  • 9am – 11:50am: Class 1: Economics
  • 11:50am – 12:30pm: Lunch in the park with friends
  • 12:30pm – 1:30pm: Catch up on reading in the student lounge
  • 1:30pm – 4:20pm: Class 2: Leadership
  • 4:20-6:00pm: Work on assignments
  • 6:00pm: Head home or grab dinner/drinks with Stern friends

Classes you will take: The summer is all about Core classes, and they’re in a special format to accommodate for taking everything over the summer. You’ll take Economics, Leadership, Accounting, Marketing, Communications, and many more courses, but in essence are taking most of the core curriculum that MBA1s take in their first year. The benefits of this are that professors distill down their content to the most important information, and you get a ‘greatest hits’ experience. The challenge can be time management because you need to make time for homework in the evenings and on the weekend. One great part is that everyone is in the same courses, so it’s easy to lean on each other for support.

How to take advantage of the summer in NYC: Since everyone is more or less on the same schedule, it means you’ll get to spend many of your days together during the week! It’s a great time to get outside in Washington Square Park to study or hang out, and check out all of the amazing lunch spots near campus. My personal favorite is Court Street Grocers. Our cohort did lots of fun summer activities, including a lobster boat cruise in Manhattan and outdoor rock climbing in Brooklyn.

What I wish I had done looking back: Time management can be difficult during the summer, because there are so many classes packed into a short period. The best way to manage for me was to block off certain nights or weekends where I would dedicate myself to getting work for the week done. I also used a program called Trello to make a board with tickets for every assignment that I could group by deadline or priority, which helped me make sure I knew what was coming up. Our cohort also made a #homework channel on Slack, and someone volunteered to post assignments each Monday. Like I said – lean on one another!

The summer is a really amazing time, and was my favorite part of the whole program! For those of you about to start the program, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

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Why I Chose the Andre Koo Tech MBA at NYU Stern

As a Graduate Ambassador at Stern, I speak to a ton of prospective students. Multiple times per week, I’m asked about my experience and why I chose to pursue NYU Stern’s Andre Koo Tech MBA program. Although there are many reasons someone might pursue an MBA at Stern, here is why I chose the Andre Koo Tech MBA program:

One year program: The Andre Koo Tech MBA program at Stern is a one year accelerated MBA program. Students begin their MBA journey in May, take classes for one full year and graduate the following May. While students do not participate in a summer internship like a traditional two-year MBA student, the Tech MBA curriculum is designed to give students ample experiential learning opportunities to apply the skills they learn in the classroom in a business setting.

The one year program attracts students who are focused on learning the material so that they can directly apply learnings to their work. I wanted to pursue an MBA degree, but was worried about being out of the workforce for two years because in the tech industry everything is constantly evolving. The Tech MBA program provided a path to earning an MBA degree in a timeframe that met my needs.

Opportunity to learn technical skills: Prior to Stern I worked as a product manager at New York Road Runners. While I had experience working with technical teams and engineers, I did not have a background in computer science or engineering. Technology is changing the way business gets done and having a basic understanding of technological concepts and tools will be key in any business role in the future. I was eager to come to Stern to learn technical skills so that I can work more effectively as a product manager. The Tech MBA curriculum does not require prior coding knowledge, rather it is designed for students who are open to learning technical skills in a meaningful way. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my Python and data science classes. While I do not intend to pivot into software engineering, I feel confident in my ability to understand technical complexities and communicate effectively with technical teammates.

Access to the Stern network and community: When evaluating business schools, I was looking for a strong network. I was drawn to the Tech MBA program at Stern because of the resources, alumni, and community that the school offers. As a focused MBA student, I have access to the same career center coaching, club resources, and alumni network as the two-year students. Part of business school is investing in relationships, and I felt confident that at Stern I would be able to thrive and meet intelligent, hard-working, passionate students and alumni.

Live in the greatest city in the world: I’ve lived in New York City for over five years and I’m still excited by the hustle and bustle and all New York has to offer. Each neighborhood is unique and there is always something new to explore. New York is a business powerhouse and as a student at NYU Stern you have so many opportunities to explore everything from the startup scene to the financial services industry.