Sudhanshu Khemka

Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: Hard working, resilient individual with a strong interest in finance and technology. Hobbies include teaching tennis and running.

Hometown: Assam, India

Fun Fact About Yourself: I have a twin brother, Shailendra Khemka, who is also attending Tuck with me. I am a certified tennis coach and taught tennis to kids every weekend for two years.

Undergraduate School and Major: National University of Singapore, Computer Science (Graduated with First Class Honors)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Deutsche Bank, Regional Product Manager – I was responsible for defining the product vision of the bank’s flagship cash management platform across the Asia-Pacific region

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Only member in Deutsche Bank’s “Client Access” team across the Asia-Pacific region to be awarded the “Recognition Award” in 2017 for exceptional contributions to the bank; key contributions include moving the bank’s APAC clients to the bank’s flagship cash management platform and enhancing the platform to ensure regulatory compliance across APAC.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? “Helpful” is the quality that best describes my new MBA classmates. Tuckies go out of their way to support each other. Before joining Tuck, whenever I needed information, I would Google for it first. Now, I just post the query to our class’ global WhatsApp – this speaks volumes about how helpful the community is.

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? The small class size. I highly value Tuck’s small class size because it allows me to build deep bonds with each of my classmates – a bigger cohort does not offer this opportunity. Being a strong believer in the adage “who you know is as important as what you know,” I was keen to attend a business school that offered a small class size to allow me to build ever-lasting relationships with my peers.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Tripod Hockey! Every alumni that I spoke with recommended the sport to me.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? After working at Deutsche Bank for five years, I felt the need to pursue an MBA to both hone my financial knowledge – I hold a Computer Science degree – and improve my leadership skills to take my career to the next level.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? For me, the opportunity cost to pursue an MBA was low when compared to the benefits I will get once I complete the degree. Moreover, since I am not married yet and have little family obligations, I decided now would be a good time to get an MBA.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Yale SOM and Kellogg

How did you determine your fit at various schools? For each school, I spoke to several alumni and attended informational events to learn about the school’s culture and evaluate fit. The factors I prioritized were:

• Class size – prefer small class size
• Rankings on popular websites, including P&Q
• Culture

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? In sophomore year of my undergraduate education, Microsoft flew me from Singapore to its headquarters in Redmond, Seattle for its summer internship program. This was a defining moment in my life because it enforced in me the belief that even the biggest corporations in the world could value my talent. Since then I have never looked back and always go for what I want.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? Finance or product management.

Where do you see yourself in five years? In five years, I see myself as a senior executive in a financial services or technology firm.