Erin Grady          

Arizona State University, W. P. Carey School of Business

“Education enthusiast, aspiring plant parent, avid shoe collector, proud Boston sports fan, ranch dressing expert.”

Hometown: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’ve lived all over the United States — Illinois, Iowa, Georgia, Kansas, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Michigan, Missouri, Arizona (and next summer I get to add Texas, thanks to my internship with Dell Technologies!)

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Missouri, M.Ed. in Learning, Teaching, & Curriculum, and B.S. in Education.

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Dysart Unified School District, High School English Teacher

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My big personal leadership accomplishment was leading a team of teachers from two grade levels to increase by 20% the number of students reading at proficient levels (while I was the most junior member of the team). However, one of the projects I’m most proud of took place in my third year of teaching when I launched an after-school coding club for middle school students and designed a computer science curriculum for all the K-8th graders in my school. It was incredibly rewarding to see students get excited about computer science and to show other teachers how technology could change the educational system for generations to come.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Collaborative! The community at W. P. Carey is full of bright, curious business leaders who are always willing to work with one another and support their classmates. It’s an environment in which the MBA students recognize how much more people can grow together than by themselves. In fact, every quarter our school celebrates what we call “Net Investors” — people who invest more in the W. P. Carey learning community than they expect to receive in return.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I chose W. P. Carey as a key part of my career plan to transition from teaching to business leadership. One aspect of W. P. Carey’s MBA programming that excites me the most is the Interdisciplinary Applied Learning Labs. These labs take place during the second year of the MBA program and they partner MBA students with other (non-business) master’s students across ASU’s campus. The team is then paired with a business to collaborate on action-learning projects that incorporate real-world experience. This is important to me because I want to gain additional experience working in business before I graduate, and it will also provide a great opportunity to grow my cross-functional leadership skills.

Arizona State is renowned for its innovation. How have you seen innovation in the philosophy, curriculum, or resources at W. P. Carey?  One of the best examples I’ve seen so far is the Town Hall. During the Town Hall, all the MBA students (in both graduating years) get together to evaluate and improve the program in a variety of areas, including career management, club engagement, and curriculum. Our suggestions are then turned into an action plan and implemented to improve the program for the following year. This process ensures constant change, improvement, and innovation. It’s an excellent way to make sure the program is constantly reviewed for its relevance both to the students and to the market.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? Since my career plan includes moving to a new functional role (business leader) and industry (technology), one of the more challenging questions for me was, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” It’s crucial for applicants to be able to connect the dots between their past experience and future goals in a clear, concise story. I wanted to make sure the interviewers saw my passion and drive, but at the same time I wasn’t sure exactly what future role I wanted in my career.

How did you determine which business schools best fit you? Like many prospective students, I began by researching program rankings and making a list of schools with top-ranked programs for the concentration areas in which I was interested. For example, Arizona State University is ranked #3 in the Best Supply Chain Management MBA Programs by U.S. News & World Report. While that helped me create an initial list, I was able to narrow the list by focusing on two things I valued: culture and collaboration. I called current students from each of the five schools that I applied to and spoke with them in-depth about their classes, curriculum, and classmates. I wanted to make sure that the school I chose would be a good fit for me for the next two years. Finally, I looked at statistics for graduates and did research to see where the MBA graduates from each school ended up working. It was important to me that the companies I was interested in had good connections with the school and were interested in hiring their students.