Amrita Chatterjee, OSU Fisher’s MBA Class of 2024
Age: 26
Hometown: Konnagar (a small town in the state of West Bengal in India)
Undergraduate Institution and Major: B.Sc. in Computer Science from University of Calcutta, M.Sc. in Operations Research from University of Delhi
Pre-MBA Work Experience (years, industry): 3 years- Business Analytics; 1 year- Analytics and Technology Consulting
Why did you make the decision to attend business school? Why now?
I would like to answer this using a concept that I got to know recently in our Managerial Economics class (Thanks, Prof. Bailey!).
Going to business school should be equivalent to a wealth-creating transaction (Assets should move from lower to higher-valued uses and each party should benefit from the transaction). The reason I decided to attend business school at this point was to become cross-functional in my consulting approach. However, I also wanted to provide a diverse perspective to my class by bringing in 4 years of extensive experience in the analytics and technology consulting domain. This transaction seemed profitable to both the school and me, and was why I decided to go ahead with it.
Why did you choose OSU Fisher? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
Choosing OSU Fisher was the easiest part of my whole MBA application process. I believe MBA is all about three aspects – academics, networking and recruiting, and OSU excels in all of these. With an alumni base of 90K, it was extremely easy for me to navigate the pros and cons of attending Fisher College of Business and get complete transparency on the structure of the program to which I will be dedicated for the next 2 years.
The factors that influenced my decision the most were:
- Feedback on faculty
- Placement rate for international students
- Proximity to corporate hubs
- Scholarship offers
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the Class of 2024?
Apart from the extensive cross-domain consulting experience that I bring in from a Big 4 firm, I have closely worked with multiple ace US-based healthcare firms and have helped them strategize with the commercial segment of their operations. My forte is to evaluate multiple approaches to process conceptualization and implement my cohort’s diverse opinions into them. (In fact, this helped my core team in winning the first case competition at Fisher!)
Tell us a fun fact about yourself that didn’t get included on your application:
Back in India, I loved to explore the Himalayan region through treks and hikes. This interest of mine got catalyzed due to the work-from-home option during Covid. Hence, at the break of the dawn of the first long weekend in US, I went with my friends on a hike to the Hocking hills state park in Ohio.
Post-MBA career interests:
Strategy/Management Consulting across multiple domains; Process manager in the healthcare domain
Advice for Current Prospective Applicants:
–What is one thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process?
Networking – The perspectives that I received not only from people that were associated with schools I was interested in but also from the people that were associated with schools that didn’t make a cut in my list, gave me a holistic view into how the program is structured across diverse domains and helped me weigh their pros and cons accordingly.
–What is one thing you would change or do differently?
I started my application around November end and did not have enough time to be part of many information sessions and refine my essays accordingly. If I had to go through the application process again, I would start with preparations and extensive networking from Day 0. In addition to this, I would proactively attend all information sessions and visualize myself as a candidate for the business schools I am applying to. [Pro tip: Multiple schools provide an application fee waiver code at the end of these information sessions. So, it would be a win-win to attend them.
–What is one part you would have skipped if you could—and what helped you get through it?
Writing essays; Being in the consulting industry for 4 years, I was prone to expressing myself through PowerPoint presentations and projecting main points across bullets. Hence, writing essays became quite a task for me at the beginning.
I started with accumulating my strengths, weaknesses, achievements and losses in bullets to recognize the ones that would be most relevant to my career trajectory and what admissions committees would find valuable. Once I had a good view of what I wanted to present ahead, it was easier for me to transform those bullets into an essay.
What is your initial impression of the OSU Fisher students/culture/community?
With a current student base of 900 across 27 countries around the world, the Fisher culture is very diverse. As a cohort, we work very closely with each other in all classes and never hesitate to share our perspectives.
However, I would like to specially mention the 2-week pre-MBA events that were held before the dynamic start to the semester. These events really helped us in getting to know everyone outside of a formal classroom atmosphere and warm up to the expectations that the AdCom had from us. Breaking the streak of professional life and moving to academic life was the biggest transition for many of us and the pre-term events efficiently catalyzed this transition.
What is one thing you have learned about OSU Fisher that has surprised you?
The obsession with Football and the spite towards the Michigan Football team (the hatred is so fierce that they cross all ‘M’s across the campus during the game).
What is one thing you are most anxious about in your first year?
I am anxious to know whether I would be able to experience as many domains as I wished for before coming here. There is a lot on our plates, and I don’t know if I can catch all the sunsets within this short period of time. However, I have calmed myself saying that I need to prioritize the sunsets that are most important for achieving my goals. Additionally, I would like to give a shoutout to the Office of Career Management at Fisher for further helping me with this process.
What is one thing you are most excited about in your first year?
If there is one thing that stimulates my intellect is to work in a cross-functional team and on process designing and strategizing. The case competitions/challenges are the closest I will get to experiencing that atmosphere and I am most excited about being a part of the same.
