El Houssain El Marabti

New York University, Stern School of Business

“Entrepreneur and management consultant with a passion for making education more accessible.”

Hometown: Marrakech, Morocco

Fun Fact About Yourself: I love Japanese anime and manga.

Undergraduate School and Major: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at Carnegie Mellon University

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Associate Consultant at Bain & Company

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the school’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? The school’s focus on emotional intelligence and understanding of its importance to students once we go into the business world.

What makes you most excited about getting your MBA at NYU Stern? What makes you most nervous? I’m very excited about meeting all the great students at NYU Stern and world-renowned professors. With that said, I am a little nervous about doing all this remotely while I am outside of the US.

What club or activity excites you most at this school? I’m very excited about the Management Consulting Club. Having spent a significant amount of time in management consulting, I’m looking forward to being part of the club and helping out my fellow students aspiring to join the industry.

What word best describes the NYU Stern classmates you’ve met so far? Why? Humble. The students I have met so far come from all walks of life and are extremely humble and willing to help others based on their prior world class experiences.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Helping successfully integrate the operations of five companies was a great experience and enabled me to understand the intricacies of business operations.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? As I progress through my career and entrepreneurial activities, I thought this would be the perfect time to get back into academia to deep dive into specific areas of study. Additionally, I wanted to be part of a program that prioritizes leadership, which is important for me as I strive to hold more managerial roles post-MBA.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? I applied to Darden and CBS.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? Speaking with students from each MBA program turned out to be the best way for me to learn about each school. Personally, I had known that I wanted to be in New York, so all that was left was for me to understand the different schools’ cultures, different learning opportunities, and academic strengths that align with my aspirations. Stern ticked all the boxes for me.

What have you been doing to prepare yourself for business school? Given the unique nature of how the MBA will be taking place this year, and given that I’m an international student, I have just been staying up-to-date with how the courses will be delivered, and NYU’s new policies for the fall semester. The university has also given us access to introductory Math and Accounting online courses, which I’ve been working on.

What was your defining moment and how did it prepare you for business school? Starting my own business in the last year has been an interesting experience. Working on all aspects of a business provided me with hands-on experience of what it takes to set one up from scratch. However, the most important thing was that I realized my knowledge gaps. These will be the exact areas that I will focus on throughout my time in business school, and I think knowing exactly what I want out of an MBA will make it a very rewarding experience.

DON’T MISS: MEET NYU STERN’S MBA CLASS OF 2022