Mariana Kaplan Pereira, IESE MBA Class of 2019
Age: 28
Hometown: Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Pontifícia Universidade Católica RJ, Industrial Engineering
Pre-MBA Work Experience: 4.5 years, consumer goods
Why business school? Why now? I wanted to do an MBA for 3 main reasons: 1) Accelerate my career and be more prepared to become a manager; 2) Make a career change to a different sector or function; 3) Have an international experience and be exposed to different cultures. I think this was the right time because of my age and the position I held at my former company. I was about to become a manager, and if I didn’t leave at that time, the opportunity cost to leave and do an MBA would become too high for me.
Why IESE? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend? First, I knew I wanted to come to Europe, because of the class diversity, and to do a two-year program, to really be able to enjoy the MBA experience. This narrowed down my search to a couple of top schools in Europe, and what attracted me specifically to IESE were three factors: the Case-study method, the general management focus, and the school’s mission to form leaders who want to make a difference in the world.
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the Class of 2019? I worked for four years in finance in consumer goods, so I think I bring an interesting perspective to class discussions, combining my analytical skills with a knowledge of how this market works. Moreover, my background is in an emerging market, with very different characteristics to what my European colleagues are used to, and I try to always expose a different point of view to challenge some of their assumptions.
Fun fact that didn’t get included on your application? I am a foodie and I have an Instagram profile with my husband, where we share restaurant reviews. We were planning to make it international and post some restaurants in Barcelona, but unfortunately the MBA life is so busy right now that we’ll probably postpone this plan until the second year of the MBA.
Post-MBA career interests? I’d like to either make a shift to marketing in consumer goods or change industries and join a tech company. It would also be very rewarding to me to have a job where I can make a positive impact on people’s lives.
Advice to current prospective applicants:
–One thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process? Conduct thorough research on the schools you are thinking of applying to and reach out to alumni to understand more about the school’s culture to see if you fit in. In the end, it’s not only the school who chooses you, but also you who choose the right school for you. It needs to be a perfect match.
–One thing you would change or do differently? I would have visited the schools I was applying to. In the end, I was very lucky that I loved IESE even without having visited it before. But I have friends at other schools who didn’t visit and who now regret their decision of having chosen that particular school. Also, I got the chance to visit a school in the United States, and I completely ruled it out because I didn’t relate to the people or the culture.
–Part you would have skipped if you could—and what helped you get through it? To me, it was very difficult to make a personal reflection in order to write my essays. To think about my strengths, weaknesses, what I want to do for the rest of my life were things that didn’t come out easily to me. Fortunately, I had a coach helping me, which made the process less painful.
Greatest highlight so far at IESE? Definitely, the people. It’s funny how we are so diverse, coming from very different countries and backgrounds, but in the end there’s a common thread uniting us all. I have to say the Admissions team does a great job identifying who will be a great fit to IESE. Everyone is so smart but at the same time collaborative and humble. I really feel a sense of community among IESE’s students and see that I learn from them every day.
One thing about IESE that you didn’t expect before arriving? I didn’t expect the campus would be so nice and have this atmosphere where we feel that we are studying in a small university town. We normally expect that in big cities—such as New York, London, and Barcelona—the schools will have their campus in big, impersonal buildings, but at IESE it is different. The campus is located in a more distant and quiet neighborhood, far from tourists and the busy city center. The two sets of buildings, the dean’s house, and the beautiful garden together create the perfect environment for our studies and everyday life.
Thing you were most anxious about in your first year at IESE? The workload we have at IESE. We need to read three cases a day, and on top of that we have team projects, clubs’ events, social life… I honestly thought I wouldn’t be able to handle it. Of course you get stressed in the beginning, but then you learn that what the school is really trying to teach you is how to prioritize. Your working life will be full of different challenges and you’ll still have to balance it with your personal life, and I think the school prepares you pretty well for that.
Thing you are most excited about in your first year? I’m really looking forward to the Capstone project. We see so many cases in the first year, and this is our opportunity to be the protagonists of one by helping a real company to solve a real business problem that they are currently facing.
