Taylor Barnard

Yale School of Management

“Health nut who is passionate about skiing and the intersection of business and government.”

Hometown: Stansbury Park, Utah

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’ve gone skiing in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

Undergraduate School and Major: Tufts University; double major in philosophy and political science

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Deloitte Consulting LLP, Senior Consultant

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Following my passion for politics and government and getting the opportunity to serve in the Obama White House and Treasury Department.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Friendly. So far everyone is very approachable, down-to-earth, and nice.

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? Yale’s mission is to educate leaders for business and society. I want a career that weaves between the public and private sectors. Yale seemed like the best fit.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? The ski club!

The Yale School of Management is regarded as a purpose-driven program. What is your mission? How will your MBA at Yale help you fulfill that mission? Ultimately, I would like to be a leader in the public sector and use skills and knowledge from both the public and private sectors to make government work more effectively for citizens – especially the most vulnerable. Yale SOM will help me bridge the gap between the two and explore the world through an interconnected lens.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? My post- MBA plans. I have a pretty good sense of what I want to do, but am also excited about the possibility of exploring industries and functions that I’ve never considered or experienced. It was certainly a challenge to strike a balance between having concrete goals and also indicating my genuine curiosity.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? At this point in my career, I’ve worked in the public sector and also as a consultant to public sector organizations. Now I would like to pivot to the private sector and gain a different set of skills and experiences. Going to business school will help me make that transition.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Kellogg, Sloan, and HBS.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I spoke with several current and former students at every school to which I applied. I started this process early in order to capture as many opinions as possible. I had standard things that I asked about for each program (student life/culture, alumni network, the success rate for industry/company placement). I also had questions tailored to each school. I separately conducted online research. However, visiting current students on campus was by far the best way to determine my fit. To determine culture and fit I would often ask students what they and most of their classmates were doing that weekend, what the main social events were, and how they spent their time throughout the week. When thinking about career opportunities, I used employment reports as a baseline and then reached out to students who seemed to have similar career interests. I asked about their recruiting experience and then how their summer internships ultimately went.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? In ten years I would love to be wrapping up a successful stint in the private sector and beginning a transition back to the public sector, perhaps through elected office at some level.