Meet Ohio State’s MBA Class of 2017

Tyler Roumas

Tyler Roumas

Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business

Hometown: Scottsdale, Arizona

Education: Arizona State University, Bachelor of Science, Supply Chain Management and Marketing

Employment: Intel Corporation, Capital Capacity Manager

Recalling your own experience, what advice do you have for applicants who are preparing for either the GMAT or the GRE? Master your test-taking strategy early. Understanding how to work through and answer different question types is important, but I found it much more valuable learning the logic of the test. Becoming more efficient with time and understanding how the GMAT presents valuable information is important. Many questions become simple when you learn to think like the test.

Based on your own selection process, what advice do you have for applicants who are trying to draw up a list of target schools to which to apply? For me selecting a school had to do with specialization. I was fortunate enough going into business school to know that supply chain was my area of focus. From there, I looked at rankings and what companies and industries were recruiting from that school. My advice for applicants would be to work backwards. Understand the type of position you want in the future, see what focus enables that, and then see what companies are hiring from that school. Every university is happy to provide that information for perspective students if you just ask, and many times it is already published on their websites.

What advice do you have for applicants in actually applying to a school, writing essays, doing admission interviews, and getting recommenders to write letters on your behalf? Start early and get help. Organizing all of the information in the application process takes time and is harder than you think. Getting recommenders who have busy schedules to write letters is a tough balance of being polite while communicating a sense of urgency. Writing essays about yourself can be surprisingly difficult, and securing transcripts from your undergraduate degree is rarely a streamlined process. To be successful and efficient, you need to trust people, not be afraid to ask for help, and be well-organized with dates and requirements of each school.

For the interviews I recommend that you have a few stories to share about work experience and how you deal with conflict. However, the majority of the interview is about fit. By the time you make it to the interview, it is less about your credentials, (which earned you the interview) and more about whether your values align with the school’s. If the university is not teaching what you are trying to develop, then don’t force the issue. The interview is not just for the school’s benefit, but is equally beneficial to you as the perspective student.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? A new perspective, supply chain expertise, and social and professional support are what led me to complete my full-time MBA at Fisher. Coming from another strong supply chain management school, I wanted to get a new perspective and to attend a school that had a slightly different focus in operations and logistics. Fisher provided that along with great Gartner rankings and a nationally reputable name. To tie it all together, the college’s business career center has been extraordinary in providing resources and support to prepare me to pursue employment opportunities. Larger universities like Ohio State have the ability to provide more resources than smaller competitors, and Fisher accomplished all of this while investing the time to provide programs and events to maintain the small community feel.

What would you ultimately like to achieve before you graduate? I would like to earn an industry certification and give back to my field of study before I graduate. My goal is to receive my Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification to improve my efficiency and problem-solving skills. I would also like to encourage and mentor undergraduate students in my field of study. I will be a teaching assistant for an intro to operations and logistics management course.  Sometimes it takes others to encourage students to consider a new major, and I hope I can get bright young minds to share my excitement for supply chain.

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