Miguel van Zeller

New York University, Stern School of Business

“From the small city of Porto to the center of the world.”

Hometown: Porto, Portugal

Fun Fact About Yourself: I have 53 stitches in my head from a company retreat in Spain.

Undergraduate School and Major: Universidade Catolica Portuguesa. Undergraduate in Business Administration and Master (MSc) in Finance

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Junior Associate at McKinsey & Company

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I was named the Best Financial Institutions Analyst of Portugal and Spain.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Highly motivated to conquer the world.

Aside from your classmates, 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? Finance excellence. After graduating in finance, I was always eager to learn from one of the biggest (if not the biggest) finance guru of our generation.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Stern Sports and Private Equity Club (one on the leisure side and the other on the professional).

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? Best timing in terms of career maturity (4 years experience) and it is the best timing to change career (I wanted to graduate before 30 years old – it is more of a psychological barrier than a reality).

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? It is difficult to find someone that did not receive at least the full amount spent during the MBA in wage in the first year of employment (before tax).

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Harvard and Stanford.

How did you determine your fit at various schools?  Location and career outlook.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? The moment I did the first student exchange (in 2011 at Warsaw School of Economics). After that experience, I was eager to live in several countries in the world and have a job that allowed me to travel around and get to know different cultures (something that travel during holidays cannot give you – a real cultural experience).

What do you plan to do after you graduate? For now I plan to return to McKinsey & Company.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Starting to run the family business – Port Wine production and commercialization.