Meet Yale SOM’s MBA Class Of 2019

Andrew Mulherkar 

Yale School of Management 

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: The product of the Northwest and New York: equally content in the forest and downtown

Hometown: Seattle, Washington

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’ve recently begun to meditate and went on my first 10-day silent retreat over the summer

Undergraduate School and Major: Tufts/New England Conservatory Dual Degree Program with majors in International Relations (environmental economics concentration) and Jazz Performance

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation: My primary employer was Greentech Media, an information services provider focused on the evolution of the global electricity sector. I began there in 2012 as a part-time marketing coordinator and finished in 2017 as a senior analyst within their market analysis arm, GTM Research. Concurrent with my part-time position, I performed and taught jazz saxophone in New York City. Before that, I worked for the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps program for several months after graduation.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Electric utilities are entering an era of change. While I was with GTM Research, I led the research and presentation of a consulting project for a large utility seeking to develop its new strategy around distributed energy. It was a daunting and demanding project, but it was ultimately gratifying to see a table of executives engage with our recommendations and return to us for a second round of work.

Looking back on your experience, what one piece of advice would you give to future business school applicants? Find someone willing to conduct a mock interview with you. This person doesn’t have to be an MBA admissions consultant – a current student, former student, friend or family member can all play the role. The most common interview questions are easy enough to find online, and even a single 30-minute practice interview will make the relative strength of your answers immediately apparent. After the session, hone your answers and continue to practice aloud.

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? While hoping that I don’t lose points for choosing the obvious answer, the key factor for me was Yale SOM’s number one objective beneath its mission: Be the business school that is most integrated with its home university. The abundance of ideas at Yale inspires me, and it’s exciting that SOM has prioritized engagement with its peer institutions on campus. In particular, SOM’s close relationship with the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies is vital, given my focus on clean energy and climate change.

What would success look like to you after your first year of business school? Success would comprise many elements, and I especially hope to arrive at the right amount of academic and extracurricular commitments necessary to stretch me professionally and personally without wearing me out. I’d also be eager to see a strong foundation of trust and collaboration with my fellow students, a high level of confidence across the variety of professional settings I find myself in, and new skills and frameworks that I can draw on at my summer internship.