Meet Yale SOM's MBA Class Of 2019

Andrea Zurita

Yale School of Management

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: I am passionate, hard-working, determined, adventurous, and always thinking ahead to the next step

Hometown: Cartagena, Colombia

Fun Fact About Yourself:  My first ever hike was a 32KM long, 1KM high trek to Trolltunga in Norway, and most of it was spent trying (unsuccessfully) to not get caught up in a storm. The views were still well worth it!

Undergraduate School and Major: DePaul University, Finance major, with minors in Accounting and Economics

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation: J.P. Morgan Chase, Private Banking Analyst for Latin America

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far? Facilitating a $130MM transaction that required an unprecedented credit structure around a concentrated stock position in a Latin American company, with a turnaround of a couple of days for a deal that would normally take weeks. This involved a strong communication pipeline across geographies and functional areas. By leading the negotiations between the client, the buyer, our local office in the region and our credit executives in New York, we were able to generate an alternate solution that agreed with the needs of all stakeholders.

Looking back on your experience, what one piece of advice would you give to future business school applicants?  Really get to know the schools you are applying to. Each year becomes more competitive – I don’t think the differentiating factor will be your GPA or GMAT score no matter how high it is. Talk to alumni, current students (especially the leaders of on-campus organizations you’re interested in), visit the campus if possible, and read as much as you can about the program (MBA Mission and Poets&Quants school guides are great). This will allow you to determine if it is a good fit for you and if it is, that passion will come through in your essays and interviews.

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? What I love the most about Yale SOM is its holistic approach to business education, which ties back to its mission of educating leaders for business and society. The integrated curriculum gives you a clear perspective on how the different areas of business are interconnected, and helps you visualize the whole picture.

The high number of dual degree students and the fact that SOM students can take unlimited electives across Yale also speaks to SOM’s commitment to tying business concepts to other disciplines. It allows for those concepts to be put to the test in practical situations where they can add value to our communities. To me this is critical, because I believe we have responsibility over the influence that our actions can have beyond our direct area of focus.

What would success look like to you after your first year of business school? I would have formed life-long friendships with my classmates, and specially with my CGSM (Consortium for Graduate Study in Management) family, which I was fortunate enough to meet before the summer started. I would be heavily involved with AHLAS, our Latino and Hispanic club at SOM, as I have always enjoyed supporting this community. I would have taken a class at one of our Global Network for Advanced Management partner schools and, after completing an internship with one of the top companies in my desired field, I would be preparing to spend a semester abroad as part of our global studies requirement. Oh and of course, I would have met our real-life mascot, Handsome Dan, and explored all the libraries and reading rooms across Yale’s beautiful campus!

Meet Yale SOM’s MBA Class Of 2019

Andrea Zurita

Yale School of Management

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