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Published: March 10, 2022
Real Humans of Disney: Stephanie Sorensen, Chicago Booth Evening MBA ’20, Senior Associate
From humble beginnings as the “Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio,” The Walt Disney Company (Disney) has grown into a multinational entertainment and media conglomerate. Disney has woven magic and wonder into global culture. Do you remember your favorite movie or cartoon character as a kid? Now, imagine, as an adult, what it would be like to work there. In this edition of Real Humans – Alumni, Stephanie Sorensen, Chicago Booth Evening MBA ’20, delves into her part-time business school experience and reflects on what helped her become a senior associate at Disney. Stephanie Sorensen, Chicago Booth MBA ’20, Read more
Published: March 9, 2022
Resiliency and Momentum Are the Themes of the 2021 Texas McCombs MBA Employment Report
The employment report for the MBA Class of 2021 at the Texas McCombs School of Business shows a successful post-pandemic year.  In 2020, 88% of graduates seeking employment received a job offer three months after graduation, and 85.6% had accepted. This year, those numbers jumped to 94.3% receiving offers and 93% accepting at the three-month post-graduation mark. The median salary for the class is $130,000, up from $125,000 last year. “Thanks to the support of our extensive employer and alumni network, our world-class faculty, industry experts, and our talented career consultants, we had Read more
Published: March 9, 2022
Real Humans of McKinsey & Company: Cortne Edmonds, NYU Stern MBA ’21, Associate
McKinsey & Company is the oldest and largest of the “Big Three” management consulting firms and they routinely recruit MBAs for associate positions and more. Within this enterprise of 30,000+ employees, what does it mean to “make your own McKinsey?” In this edition of Real Humans – Alumni, Cortne Edmonds, NYU Stern MBA ’21, explains this concept and much more about becoming an Associate at the leading consulting firm. Cortne Edmonds, NYU Stern MBA ’21, Associate at McKinsey & Company Age: 32 Employer & Title: McKinsey & Company, Associate Hometown: New Read more
Published: March 8, 2022
MBA Career Trends: Finance Industry Placements at Top Programs
For many years, MBA graduates have been drawn to careers in the finance industry due to high compensation and the chance to work on high profile deals at an investment bank or invest in the next billion dollar company at a venture capital or private equity firm. In this installment of Top MBA Program Career Placement Outcomes, we take a closer look at the finance industry placement across leading business schools. Key categories include sell-side investment banking jobs, buy-side jobs in investment management, private equity (PE) & venture capital (VC) as well as other finance industry Read more
Published: March 8, 2022
Real Humans of MBA Students: Stanford GSB Class of 2023
Get the inside scoop on MBA life at Stanford GSB in this edition of Real Humans: MBA Students. Out of 7,367 applicants, 426 new students matriculated at Stanford GSB in the fall of 2021. Forty-four percent are women and 47 percent are international, representing 63 countries. Forty-eight percent of U.S. students and permanent residents identify as students of color. A quarter of the class had studied engineering during their undergraduate years. Economics followed at 22 percent. Fifteen percent had majored in business & commerce and the same in social sciences. Another 14 percent earned degrees in Read more
Published: March 7, 2022
Why the MBA Case Method Should Surprise You
Sponsored Content As a former case study researcher and writer at HBS, where I co-authored about 35 cases, I spent a great deal of time working to develop cases that would achieve a lot of outcomes simultaneously. Ideally, the published case would capture a real-world business dilemma in a compelling narrative. It would bring the “characters” in the company to life. And it would challenge students to, independently and collectively, generate an optimal solution to a non-trivial business problem—while allowing diverse perspectives to sharpen and enrich the learning. Developing cases in this way provided many surprises to case researchers Read more
Published: March 7, 2022
How to Decide Between Federal and Private Student Loans
My name is Nikhil Agarwal. I graduated from Harvard Business School in 2020 and have helped thousands of students with more than $500 million of student loans over the last three years through Juno, an organization that negotiates the lowest rates for MBA student loans.  Read on to learn more and decide if federal, private, or a mix of federal and private student loans are the best fit for your MBA student loans.  The TL;DR Version Reasons to Select Federal Loans You are pursuing Read more
Published: March 7, 2022
Choosing Between Fixed and Variable Interest Rate Loans
My name is Nikhil Agarwal. I graduated from Harvard Business School in 2020 and have helped thousands of students with more than $500 million in student loans over the last three years through Juno, an organization that negotiates the lowest interest rates for MBA student loans.  When it comes to private student loans, you usually can choose between fixed interest rates and variable interest rates. Most people choose fixed interest rates and have a negative opinion of variable interest rates. Sometimes, that negative opinion is not justifiable. When Read more
Published: March 7, 2022
Optimal Strategies for MBA Student Loans
My name is Nikhil Agarwal. I graduated from Harvard Business School in 2020 and have helped thousands of students get the best deals on more than $500 million in student loans over the last three years through Juno, a startup that negotiates lower rates for MBA student loans.  When you’re choosing an MBA student loan, you can customize the following: The loan term (generally five to 20 years) The repayment plan (how much you want to pay while you’re in school) The type of Read more
Published: March 7, 2022
A Guide to MBA Student Loans
You’re excited. You just got into your top picks for business school and are deciding which one to attend. One thing you should keep in mind while you’re comparing is how much each school will cost. Here’s a guide to MBA student loans, from start to finish, brought to you by Juno, an organization that helps you navigate student loans for free. Step 1. Analysis What sort of financial aid package did you receive from each school? Do you want to appeal to get more aid? Read more
Published: March 7, 2022
Budgeting for Business School
My name is Nikhil Agarwal. I graduated from Harvard Business School (HBS) in 2020 and have helped thousands of students with more than $500 million in student loans over the last three years through Juno, an organization that negotiates the lowest rates for MBA student loans.  When it comes to attending business school, one of the best ways to minimize your cost is to learn how to budget and manage your money. Read below for considerations when budgeting for business school. Don’t Blindly Follow the Cost of Attendance Read more
Published: March 7, 2022
How Two HBS Students Changed The Student Loan Market
Juno’s Origin As my co-founder and I started at Harvard Business School, we decided the student loan market was absurd. We also knew that we could get lower rates if we negotiated as a large group of MBAs, as opposed to applying for loans by ourselves. So we formed a collective bargaining group and successfully managed to get a bank to offer loans with very low interest rates to us and our friends who were attending various MBA programs. Pretty much everyone who heard about the deal took advantage of it.  Read more
Published: March 7, 2022
Real Humans of Microsoft: Nathalia Borges, Duke Fuqua MBA ’21, Product Marketing Manager | Cloud Business
Satya Nadella, current CEO of Microsoft, is credited with turning the culture of Microsoft around, to a “growth mindset.” The tech giant’s mission statement is now, “empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.” This, among other features of the multinational corporation, drew Duke Fuqua MBA ’21, Nathalia Borges, to pursue her internship and post-MBA job there. In this edition of Real Humans – Alumni, Nathalia shares how the Team Fuqua b-school experience prepared her to become a product marketing manager at Microsoft, insights into her summer internship there and more. Nathalia Read more
Published: March 7, 2022
Episode 220: Taking a Serious Look at the Online MBA
Most of our regular listeners know our podcast tends to devote 99% of recorded time to traditional, full-time, in-person MBA offerings, but several factors have combined to merit some serious discussion of online offerings. Those factors are: Technology The caliber of institutions increasingly active in this space The pandemic’s ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ doctrine Special guest Dr. Carolyn Goerner joins host Graham Richmond to discuss the online MBA landscape. Dr. Goerner, the Aldi, Inc. Distinguished I-Core Clinical Professor at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business in Bloomington, Indiana, teaches in the #1 online MBA program Read more
Published: March 7, 2022
INSEAD’s Limitless Campaign Celebrates Alumnae for International Women’s Day
Today, March 8th, is International Women’s Day. Officially recognized by the United Nations in 1977, this annual celebration is an opportunity to educate the public and mobilize political will and resources toward addressing women’s issues worldwide. On International Women’s Day, we recognize women’s achievements, honor the growing women’s movement, and support women’s rights and equity in political and economic spheres. INSEAD’s Limitless campaign celebrates women whose strength and determination have driven them to innovate. For 2022, the campaign theme is #BreakTheBias, raising awareness and taking action for equality. These six INSEAD alumnae are leaders in Read more
Published: March 6, 2022
MBA Career Trends: Employment Outcomes at Top Programs
Since one of the benefits of going to business school is to help young professionals advance in their career, many MBA applicants (and current MBA students) are interested in seeing the employment outcomes for recent graduates. In response, business schools survey their MBA graduates and issue employment reports which highlight successful MBA job placement outcomes by region, industry and function. It is important to keep in mind that a lot of the information prominently displayed in the MBA employment reports is gathered from the subset of Read more
Published: March 6, 2022
Wire Taps 219—West African candidate and 700 GMAT, Test waiver for Round 3, Johnson Park Fellowship versus Columbia
In this episode of WireTaps, Graham and Alex discussed this week’s forthcoming release of admissions decisions for CMU / Tepper and INSEAD. Your hosts also highlighted our new content series: Top MBA Career Placement Outcomes. Two pieces published last week revealed interesting insights regarding regional placement within the U.S.. Graham and Alex then shifted gears to talk about two Real Humans Alumni pieces which focused on making the move from Northwestern / Kellogg to Google and from and Georgetown / McDonough to BCG. Graham also mentioned the recently published career report for USC / Read more
Published: March 3, 2022
Real Humans of Apple: Jon-Matt Hopkins, CBS ’20, New Product Launch Manager
How long have you waited in line for the new iPhone? How many Apple products are helping you run your life seamlessly? In this edition of Real Humans – Alumni, we hear from an MBA alum making sure these products reach you. Jon-Matt Hopkins, Columbia Business School MBA ’20, tells us about his business school experiences that helped him become a New Product Launch Manager at Apple. Jon-Matt Hopkins, CBS MBA ’20, New Product Launch Manager at Apple Age: 31 Hometown: Morristown, New Jersey Read more
Published: March 2, 2022
Real Humans of BCG: Steve Neumann, Georgetown McDonough MBA’ 2019, Project Leader
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)—one of the Big Three of the top consulting firms known as MBB—has offices in 50 countries, and therefore no shortage of opportunities to pursue a diverse and lively profession. In this Real Humans – Alumni, we meet Steve Neumann, Georgetown McDonough MBA ’19, who talks about setting his sights on joining BCG and how McDonough empowered him to do so. Steve Neumann, Georgetown McDonough MBA ’19, Project Leader at BCG Age: 30 Hometown: Newtown, Pennsylvania Undergraduate Institution and Major: Georgetown University — Marketing major Read more
Published: March 1, 2022
MBA Career Trends: U.S. Regional Employment Outcomes
In this edition of our Top MBA Program Career Placement Outcomes series, we take a closer look at trends regarding which U.S. regions dominated post-MBA employment for Class of 2021 MBA graduates. You can also review our first piece, which broke down schools by region and their regional placement. For our analysis, we used the statistics in the official employment reports from 27 full-time MBA programs* based in the United States. In particular, we focused on MBA graduates of these 27 MBA programs who are seeking employment, received Read more
Published: February 28, 2022
Real Humans of Google: Malvi Hemani, Kellogg MBA/MS ’21, Google Product Manager
In Real Humans – Alumni, recent MBA graduates discuss how business school prepared them for the next phase of their careers. In this edition, Malvi Hemani, Northwestern Kellogg MBA ’21, talks about landing the role of Google Product Manager at Google. Google was created in 1998 in Menlo Park, California, and it currently has nearly 150,000 employees and receives more than 125,000 internship applications every year. Read on for how Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management prepared Hemani for the exciting life of a Google Product Manager, her advice to current MBAs and more. Malvi Hemani, Read more
Published: February 27, 2022
Wire Taps 218—Corporate finance to CFO, Civil engineer to mobility, Anderson versus Ross and Stern.
In this edition of WireTaps, Alex and Graham discuss the release of MIT Sloan interview invites (more or less accurately predicting their arrival – despite recording the episode prior to the release!). Your hosts also talked a little more about the UPenn Wharton team-based interview and recommended a previous episode of the podcast for those prepping. Graham noted the release of the Real Humans MBA Alumni series, featuring grads from Chicago / Booth and HBS, working at Bain and Amazon, respectively; there was also discussion about the release of the Real Humans of Wharton (apparently a Read more
Published: February 27, 2022
MBA Career Trends: Regional Job Placements at Top U.S. Programs
In this edition of our Top MBA Program Career Placement Outcomes series, we review the data to see to what extent Class of 2021 graduates from leading full-time U.S. MBA programs accepted jobs in their school’s same region. For this analysis, we reviewed the employment reports from 27 full-time MBA programs* based in the U.S. This analysis is focused on graduates of full-time U.S.-based MBA programs who were seeking employment, received an offer, and accepted an offer within three months of graduation. Next, we looked at what region these MBA graduates Read more
Published: February 24, 2022
USC Marshall 2021 MBA Employment Report: MBAs Successfully Compete in an Evolving Job Market
See the USC Marshall MBA employment report for the Class of 2022 here. The University of Southern California Marshall School of Business 2021 MBA employment report reveals that more than 94% of its MBAs reported employment within three months of graduation. The median base salary remained unchanged from last year, coming in at $130,000. The average base salary for the Marshall MBA Class of 2021 is $130,976 and average signing bonuses landed at $29,473. A majority of careers were school-facilitated, with 63% reporting they received their job placement through a campus recruiting program, resume Read more
Published: February 24, 2022
Fridays from the Frontline: Finding Community and a Career Through Wharton’s Real Estate Program
In this edition of Fridays from the Frontline, gain in-depth firsthand insight into the Wharton MBA and its real estate program from current student, Nicolle Lee. Nicolle digs into how Wharton, its offerings, community and more have prepared her for a successful career in the field. Finding Community and a Career Through Wharton’s Real Estate Program By Nicolle Lee, Wharton MBA ’22 When I applied to Wharton nearly two years ago, I applied as a real estate major with the intention of pursuing a career in real estate investment banking. Professionally, I had over Read more

MBA Applywire

9
April 2, 2025 1:21pm ET
Applying: Columbia, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, Emory / Goizueta, Georgia Tech / Scheller, Michigan / Ross, Northwestern / Kellogg, U. Chicago Booth, UVA / Darden
Intake Year: 2025
Pre-MBA Career: Pharmaceutical Operations
Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Pharmaceutical Companies: Bain , BCG , McKinsey , Johnson & Johnson , Merck
GRE: 321
GPA: 3.7
Years of Work Experience: 15
Location: Mumbai
Post MBA Location: NYC
14
March 30, 2025 10:53am ET
Applying: Columbia, Duke / Fuqua, ESADE, IESE, INSEAD, London Business School, MIT Sloan, NYU Stern, Other, Penn State / Smeal, U. Chicago Booth, UCLA Anderson, UPenn / Wharton, Yale SOM
Intake Year: 2026
Pre-MBA Career: Banking and technology
Post-MBA Target Industry: Technology, Commercial Banking Companies: Other , Other
GMAT: 710
GPA: 3.1
Years of Work Experience: 7
Location: Brazil
Post MBA Location: Brazil
Notes:

I am a 29 yo black brazilian woman. I am civil engineer by the oldest civil engineer school of Brazil with full scholarship. I have been working with data since 2015 and now I am coordinator of a data team I the biggest Latin American Bank. Currently I am studying for toefl and improving my English. My main purposes joining a top tier mba are to improve my leadership skills and to learn with different people from different backgrounds (I am working in the same business since 2017).
13
March 30, 2025 10:29am ET
Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Columbia, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, INSEAD, Michigan / Ross, MIT Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, NYU Stern, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton, UVA / Darden, Yale SOM
Intake Year: 2026
Pre-MBA Career: Fintech, Morgan Stanley
Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology Companies: Accenture , Bain , BCG , McKinsey , PWC , Amazon , Apple , Facebook , Google , Microsoft
GRE: 322
GPA: 3.39
Years of Work Experience: 5
6
March 27, 2025 2:54am ET
Applying: Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton
Intake Year: 2025
Pre-MBA Career: DA/DS; Family Business
Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology, Family Business, Entrepreneurship
GRE: 330
GPA: 3.5
Years of Work Experience: 4
Location: Malden, MA
8
March 25, 2025 7:42am ET
Applying: Columbia, Harvard Business School, Michigan / Ross, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton, UVA / Darden, Yale SOM
Intake Year: 2026
Pre-MBA Career: Real estate acquisitions and development
Post-MBA Target Industry: Investment Banking
GMAT: 675
GPA: 3.1
Years of Work Experience: 4
Location: Mid-atlantic
Notes:

I am originally from the UK (now a permanent resident) and went to community college (3.6 gpa), then transferred to a top 25 undergrad and severe health issues due to a disability causing me to get a 3.1 gpa. I then stayed there and did a master’s in finance with a 3.8 gpa. I am very passionate about giving back, especially about the homelessness epidemic. Before college I spent a year in Switzerland volunteering at homeless shelters. During college I led a campus ministry with a focus on helping the unhoused. After my experience with my disability, I started a nonprofit that has consulted with several shelters and foodbanks to help those with similar health issues as myself. I also personally raised capital to purchase and preserve an affordable multifamily property. My career has been in real estate since I graduated, but I have job hopped. My first job was 5 months, then I moved to be closer to family. My next job was for 7 months, but I quit as they were taking actions to make housing unaffordable for first time buyers. My next job was in acquisitions but I was laid off with about half the company due to the rising interest rates that affected the industry. I have been at an impact real estate private equity firm for almost 2 years in an acquisitions, development, and asset management role with a promotion. All my roles have been for REITs or PE firms. My post-mba goal is banking to better learn capital markets and long term to start an affordable real estate investment firm, perhaps in London. I would love to be a wire tap candidate, fingers crossed.
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MBA LiveWire

April 4, 2025 3:39pm ET
Waitlisted at MIT Sloan
Round: Round 1
Received via portal April 4, 2025
Standardized Test: GMAT
GMAT: 721
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Note:

Waitlisted in R1 and again.
April 4, 2025 3:16pm ET
Accepted from Waitlist to Duke / Fuqua
Round: Round 3
Received via phone April 4, 2025
Standardized Test: Executive Assessment (EA)
GPA: 3.52
EA: 152
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Technology
Application Location: United States, New York
Note:

Got the call at 1pm EST!
April 4, 2025 3:15pm ET
Waitlisted at MIT Sloan
Round: Round 2
Received via portal April 4, 2025
Standardized Test: GRE
GPA: 3.97
GRE: 333
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Technology
Application Location: San Francisco
April 4, 2025 3:13pm ET
Rejected at MIT Sloan
Round: Round 2
Received via portal April 4, 2025
Standardized Test: GRE
GPA: 3.5
GRE: 328
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Technology
Application Location: China
Note:

Good luck guys!
April 4, 2025 3:11pm ET
Waitlisted at MIT Sloan
Round: Round 2
Received via portal April 4, 2025
Standardized Test: GRE
GPA: 3.777
GRE: 330
Program Type: Traditional Two-Year
Target Career: Consulting
Application Location: United States, New York
Note:

waitlisted in R1 as well and sent update. im gonna enroll at a diff school tho so I can start planning my summer!
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