Brody Luker, Kelley MSM Class of 2025
Age: 22
Hometown: New Palestine, IN
Undergraduate Institution: Hanover College
Major: Business Management
Pre-MSM Work Experience: Internships: Kohl’s Inc: Store Management Intern, Everdry Waterproofing: Event Marketing Intern
Why did you make the decision to attend business school? Why now?
I chose to attend business school because I knew it would be an investment in myself and in my future career. I chose to attend now because I was getting ready to graduate undergrad and I honestly wasn’t sure what kind of career I wanted to build, and I knew that attending business school would allow me the opportunity to develop myself as a person and to discover what my passions are.
Why did you choose Indiana Kelley? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
I chose the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University because it is one of the best business schools in the nation plain and simple. A Kelley degree carries a certain weight with it that not a lot of degrees can claim to carry. I also chose IU because I grew up in Indiana, and have been a fan of Hoosier basketball from a young age. Knowing that Kelley was going to best prepare me for my future career, as well as provide a learning an excellent learning environment where life-long connections could be made were the two biggest factors in my decision making.
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the class?
I think my most valuable/differentiation contribution to the class is that my undergrad experience was nothing like the experience that most of my class had. Most of the students in my cohort were Kelley undergrads, while I attended a small D-III college with about 1,000 students. I think my education and time at Hanover provides me with different perspectives compared to my classmates, and I feel that those different perspectives are invaluable in creating a diverse learning environment.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself that didn’t get included on your application:
I love watching movies and learning about history.
Post-MSM career interests:
I am interested in pursuing a career in sales or human resources.
What is one thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process?
Absolutely do your research! I looked into a lot of different programs, attended informational sessions, asked questions, and was lucky enough to learn about the Inaugural MSM class at Kelley because I spent the time and effort to find out what program was the best fit for me. There are a lot of different programs at different schools, and they aren’t all going to be right for everyone, so putting in the effort to make connections and learn more about each one definitely gave me a leg up in the application process.
What is one thing you would change or do differently?
I would have learned more about the interview process before beforehand. I felt a little unprepared in my first round of interviews, but thankfully I was able to move on and better prepare myself for the following rounds by making connections with people who had already been through similar processes and getting their advice.
What is one part you would have skipped if you could—and what helped you get through it?
I would have skipped the summer prep work if I could just because nobody wants to be doing homework over the summer, especially while trying to balance a full-time job. But the prep work got me prepared for the courses to come and ended up being beneficial to my learning experience.
What is your initial impression of the Indiana Kelley students/culture/community?
At first, I was a little bit intimated by all the former Kelley students in the program because they all knew how everything worked, where everything was, etc. But that feeling quickly faded when I discovered how genuinely welcoming, friendly, and kind everyone was, from the advisors and professors to my fellow students. The cohort is incredibly tight knit. The same students that you work on group projects with are the same ones that you share a drink with after a long week of work. The community is truly one of a kind.
What is one thing you have learned about Indiana Kelley that has surprised you?
How invested the staff is in the lives and welfare of the students. I was concerned that with such a large number of students to worry about, I might be just another number in the system. I have found only the opposite of that notion to be true. All of the staff are wonderful. They want the best for their students, and go out of the way to make it happen.
