Meet Washington Olin’s MBA Class of 2019

Candice Yi

Washington University in St. Louis (Olin)

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: I am adventurous, outgoing, and have a major case of wanderlust

Hometown: Chicago, IL

Fun Fact About Yourself: I have currently visited 22 countries outside of the US and have lived in 3 of them.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Illinois-Chicago, BA in Spanish

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:

Nancy M. Vizer P.C.:  Legal Assistant

Challenges Idiomas and Blue Ocean:  English Teacher

MLS Law Group:  Legal Assistant

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My greatest accomplishment to date has been moving to Brazil to teach English. This was important to me because I did so without any program or structure to aid my transition. I am proud that despite moving without any guarantee of a job or housing, I managed to create opportunities to live on my own abroad.

Looking back on your experience, what one piece of advice would you give to future business school applicants? Being a student with little full-time work experience, I knew that I needed to show my capabilities in other ways to admission staff. One way I did this was by excelling in the GRE. During the time that I studied, I made sure I had a set routine and prioritized my full-time job and GRE studying above all else. I kept a strict schedule for myself, watching over my diet, exercising daily, and ensuring at least two or three hours of studying a day. Furthermore, I took a full-length practice test every week, memorized vocab on my commute to and from work, and even practiced math problems during my lunch breaks. My hard work paid off in the end, earning me high test scores that helped boost my candidacy as a potential MBA student.

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 biggest factor in my decision to choose Olin was the community. I was drawn by the promise of a fostering environment that was more collaborative than competitive. I had a similar experience in high school, and I believe that working with others rather than against them helps one learn more and expand his or her thinking.

What would success look like to you after your first year of business school? To me, success would be having landed a summer internship in a top consulting firm in addition to seeing a change in my own thinking processes. I decided to attend business school to switch careers and learn how to view problems differently. Gaining a good internship in my area of

interest and seeing a change in how I tackle issues in both my work and personal life will be my first signs that business school is helping me to achieve my goals.

Related Stories In Our Meet The Class of 2019 Series: 

The Pioneering MBAs In The Class of 2019

Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business

Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business

Vanderbilt University’s Owen School of Management

London Business School

University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business

Notre Dame University Mendoza College of Business

UC-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business

New York University Stern School of Business

University of Texas-Austin McCombs School of Business

University of Michigan Ross School of Business

Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business

MIT Sloan School of Management

University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business

University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Columbia Business School

INSEAD

Yale School of Management

University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business

Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management

UCLA Anderson School of Management

HEC Paris     

Emory University’s Goizueta Business School

Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business

Harvard Business School

Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business

University of Washington’s Foster School of Business

University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management

University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flager Business School

Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business

IE Business School

Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business

Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management

Washington University’s Olin Business School

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