Posted on

The Summer of a Lifetime as a 2024 Tech MBA

Author: Shirin is currently enrolled in the Tech MBA program, specializing in Business Analytics and Tech Product Management. Prior to Stern, she worked in the Digital and Social Media Industries in Product Management and Tech Marketing. At Stern, she’s a part of the Entertainment, Media and Sports Association as a VP, Stern Technology Association (STA), and a representative of Graduate Admissions. In her free time, Shirin can be found venturing out in the city on the lookout for the newest food trends. She loves to spend her time catching up with friends in coffee shops, walking through Central Park, and browsing Target.

Shirin Bansal headshot

As you may have read in previous student blogs, the summer around here as a Tech MBA is definitely intense. With back to back courses and being in school from 9-5, there were countless times I wanted to call it quits. However, I never did, thanks to my amazing cohort, whom I’m proud to call fifty of my best friends. 

Group phot of Stern Tech and FLUX cohort(s) together on a boat for orientation weekend!
Our Tech and FLUX cohort(s) together on a boat for orientation weekend!

Summer starts off with Orientation, where our Leadership Professor puts us through a rigorous exercise involving paint, mosaics, leadership, TikTok, etc. Right off the bat, we were mingling and getting to know one another. By the end of the exercise, I had already made two of my best friends in the cohort. Below is the super cool end product of our leadership exercise, a memory I’ll cherish for the rest of year!

Shirin Bansal's art piece
My cohort’s interpretation of this famous piece of art!

With the two cohorts – Tech MBA’s and Luxury & Retail MBA’s- spending summer together, we took advantage of everything Stern had to offer us. This included having the MBA lounge to ourselves, easy access throughout the Stern building, and, of course, experiencing New York City’s hot and humid summer days together. This meant enjoying cold beers after long days in class.  

Weekly happy hours were so much fun during the summer. We had nominated our cohort leads and our social leads to take on the “challenging” task of picking out a new bar around campus each week. Luckily, they lived up to the test and we had some great nights bonding and spending time together.

Group photo of Stern students at a happy hour
One of our favorite Stern sponsored Happy Hours of the summer!
Group phot of five Stern students at a Happy Hour at Tacombi
Happy Hour at Tacombi means unlimited margaritas and tacos!
Group photo of four Stern students at a happy hour at Houston Hall
Happy Hour at Houston Hall – one of our favorite spots to go to!

Along with our core business courses, NYC Immersion was a class we all took together. Every Wednesday, we’d be immersed in a different experience. From interviewing folks in Washington Square Park to venturing into Brooklyn to visit Smart Design HQ, we were always introduced to new ideas and experiences. One of my most memorable classes was a design seminar with a renowned Product Designer, who taught us how to use Figma to transform our product ideas into reality. Here’s a selfie of a few of us during a break that day! 

Group photo of Stern students in a classroom

Since we all worked to make this summer unforgettable, we somehow managed to get everyone out to the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania for what was hands down one of my favorite weekends. From Barbie vs. Oppenheimer themed Olympics to midnight jumps into the freezing lake, we all managed to come home refreshed! Special shoutout to the cooking and cleaning crew(s) and the group trip planning folks who made the trip possible!

Group photo of four Stern students. Three girls and one boy.

Group photo of Stern girls in barbie themed outfits
Us girls from the cohort in our Barbie themed outfits! The picture below is of the cooking crew who fed all fifty of us throughout the weekend!

As I look back and continue to reflect on the summer that I had, it was definitely a blur of back to back amazing memories. From concerts at the Brooklyn Mirage, to Pisco filled Peruvian lunches, I almost forget about the times I was cramming for our Econ and Finance finals in the Stern lounge. Though it was a busy semester, and I’m truly thankful for the calm that the Fall and Spring have brought, the time spent with new classmates during NYC’s summer is what truly makes NYU’s Tech MBA standout compared to the rest. I’m so grateful to have lived this experience, and I hope to continue making memories along the way! 

Group of Stern students at a volleyball game
We came out to support our Stern Volleyball crew this summer – this was from their last winning game!
Posted on

Embracing the MBA Decision Process

 

Mariana Ruiz Allende is a current Tech MBA student, specializing in Product Management, FinTech and Strategy. Prior to Stern, Mariana worked in the FinTech industry for more than 4 years in Mexico City. Post-MBA, she plans to continue her professional development as a Product Manager. At Stern, she is involved in the Stern Adventures Club, the Latin American Business Association and the Stern Softball team. She is currently working on a personal project that will use Machine learning Sentiment Analysis to provide help through a mental health approach.

Deciding where to go for your MBA is not an easy decision. In my case, the decision affected not only me, but also my husband. 

Before the pandemic started, I knew I wanted an MBA. However, being all settled in Mexico, with my husband and me each thriving in our professional careers, having my family and friends close, and traveling a lot, it seemed like there was no real need for me to go through the MBA application process, which we all know is a lot of work. Everything seemed so well planned in my life, and I was happy living it that way; why would I consider changing it? Unfortunately – or fortunately- I am very ambitious and really wanted to have the experience of an MBA. 

I talked to my husband about going for it, considering I wanted to have my experience abroad, and he was very supportive from the beginning. Honestly, we both knew it was a long shot to be accepted into a top school, but I knew I had to go for it. However, there were two considerations I needed to make this work. First, he would have to come with me, which was non-negotiable for me, and second, it would have to be in a place where he could continue to work, and as a barred lawyer, New York was the only option. 

So yes, in my decision, there were more variables to consider. Nevertheless, those variables quickly reduced the scope of my options, and fortunately, the narrowed option was the best city in the world. 

After narrowing it to New York, I researched all possible programs in the city, which were many more than I imagined; considering each School has multiple MBA programs, my options by then were between 6 and 10 different programs. To narrow this further, I reduced my scope to only 1 year programs – working in tech, I knew being out of the “being employed game” for a long time wouldn’t have worked for me, so this filter narrowed my options to 3. Although applying to three programs might seem like a good number, I soon fell in love with the tech-focused programs.  I really liked the syllabus each one had, and coming from another business school, adding the technical courses made a lot more sense to my profile. Although there were some other one-year programs in the city, the tech focus for me was the cherry on top, which narrowed my number to two.

I reached out to people from both business schools. I spoke with at least ten people to get a sense of what their experience was, what they would recommend during the process, and to verify I clicked with their culture. I was shocked to see people actually answered my messages on LinkedIn without even knowing me.

When applying to Stern, I immediately stumbled upon the first challenge, which was a “change” in the application style the school has compared to the rest. The application had a twist since it was basically a mini-essay and a photo collage. The saying “less is more” is very applicable in this case. Less was more work since you need to be yourself, show what you bring to the table, show you are different and delightful, and show you can embrace change, all in two or three short deliverables. 

My two cents to anyone in the application process are:

1) Talk to people from the school you are applying to. The insights you get with quick chats not only fuel your motivation but also help you show the qualities you share with the people you talk to. 

2) Review your essays after clearing your head for a few days. After having more than 30 drafts on one of my essays, I can assure you the Mariana that started the process was not the same once I finished it. Yes, my last essay was a killer one compared to the classic cliché one I started with. 

Lastly, embrace learning through this application and school selection process, be humble and not too harsh with yourself, and reach out to people to mentor you or cheer for you throughout this process. And in case you doubt yourself, I can tell you all the effort is worth it.