Meet Georgetown McDonough’s MBA Class of 2019

Ugochinyere Okwu-Lawrence

Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: I’m a passionate individual who desires to make a meaningful impact on each life I touch.

Hometown: Wilmington, Delaware

Fun Fact About Yourself: I attended boarding school in Nigeria when I was 11.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Delaware, Psychology (minors in legal studies and business administration)

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation: 

Independence Blue Cross- Client Setup Analyst

Brandywine Women’s Health Associates- Marketing Coordinator

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest accomplishment would have to be spearheading the social media team at Brandywine Women’s Health Associates in an attempt to reach the younger demographic that the company was having difficulty appealing to. I was tasked with devising creative strategies to increase the amount of millennials that signed up for healthcare coverage in northern Delaware. It happened to be our toughest target market at the time. Because of heavy regulations there were a lot of restrictions placed on what and how we communicated our messages. We also had to gain approval from state representatives prior to releasing anything, which added another layer of difficulty. However, as a result of my work, I was able to aid in getting over 400 millennials covered within my first year, and BWHA gained recognition at the state level for this great success.

Looking back on your experience, what one piece of advice would you give to future business school applicants? If I could offer advice to future business school applicants, it would be to try different tools other than GMAT classes when studying. I found that listening to podcasts, watching video tutorials, listening to audiobooks and playing GMAT games online really helped me get down the material faster. In addition, throughout the process, reach out to current students at the schools that you are targeting because they are invaluable. Not only are they the best resources to use when it comes to getting information about the program, faculty, etc., they also are the best way for you to properly determine whether or not a school is the best fit for you. Business school is a huge investment of your time, money, and resources; you will need your peers for support along the way, so being around a group of people that you truly feel comfortable with will make the journey just a little bit easier.

What was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? The key factor that led me to choose McDonough was the people. Throughout the application I reached out to both students and faculty members to ensure that I was making the right decision for myself, and the responsiveness that I got from Georgetown was unmatched. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly people got back to me when I asked them for their time to learn more about the program, and how much of their time they actually gave me. A few of the students sent me links to certain clubs that they thought I might be interested in on campus, the best areas to live, and tips and tricks on how to navigate around DC, all without me even asking! Some even followed up with me after our initial phone calls just to ask how I was doing with the whole process, and it didn’t matter whether I was going to choose Georgetown or not.

Of all the schools that I was admitted into, Georgetown was the one that I felt truly had the collaborative community that most schools boast about, and this is something that was very important to me. The people here are brilliant and I’m so fortunate to be surrounded by people who have accomplished such amazing things during the course of their careers, but yet are so humble and willing to help each other out. There is no competition. Everyone genuinely wants to see the whole class achieve success, and that is really rare in the business school world, so choosing Georgetown was a bit of a no-brainer for me.

What would success look like to you after your first year of business school? Success to me would be maintaining a high GPA, having built strong relationships with the people in my class, and interning at a major financial services firm in their marketing division.