Mehmet Kaan Serdar

Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business

“Product of European, Middle Eastern, and American cultures. Ardent fan of history and sports. Tend to ask interesting questions.”

Hometown: Istanbul, Turkey

Fun Fact About Yourself: I lived on the Asian side of Istanbul and my high school was on the European side of the same city, so I had to cross continents twice daily.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Grainger School of Engineering, Bachelors of Science in Industrial Engineering and Minor in Business

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: American International Group (AIG), Cloud Engineer

Aside from your classmates and location, 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 connection to the tech companies was one of the highest priorities to me as these companies continue expanding their operations and build highly effective and creative teams with talent graduating from our program.

What excites you most about studying in Washington, DC? I am looking to engage in dialogue with classmates from a not only a diverse but also a global background. I have also visited the city before, the cosmopolitan lifestyle and the proximity to other large cities attracted me to pursue a graduate degree.

What quality best describes your MBA classmates and why? Cosmopolitan. A lot of schools promote diversity, but few schools exercise integrating students from different cultures successfully. My MBA classmates and I never had a mismatch of frequency when it came to collaborating in pre-school activities so far.

What club or activity excites you most at this school? Technology Club. I am looking to improve upon how I think creatively, and their focus on design-focused thinking could only help me understand how I can use real-life projects to obtain transferable skills later in my real life.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I had to take on an impromptu task to supervise a team of several summer interns to assign them to work streams, take on additional ad-hoc tasks, help them improve their communication skills, bring them to a social environment to become an effective team, and ultimately deliver on commitments made at the inception of the internship program. I was incredibly happy and proud when many of them accepted their full-time return offers.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I wanted a career transition from a technical engineering role into a consulting or a product manager role. I believe that after exposing myself to a plethora of opportunities at McDonough, I will have a better understanding of what career path aligns with my interests.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? MIT Sloan, Berkeley Haas, Duke Fuqua, Texas McCombs, Rice Jones, and Toronto Rotman

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? I was asked to talk about a non-resume item I had as a challenge and how I overcame it. I definitely had a group of potential responses in my head, but wanted to showcase a never-told personal challenge to provide a better picture on my background and character.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I am a big proponent of experiential learning and one aspect I looked for was opportunities that included real-life problem solving with diverse teams. In terms of culture and career, I tried to find as many interviews with alumni in my industries of interest such as technology and consulting. Third, as I am an international student, I looked at how career services catered to my special needs such as helping me find opportunities where I would have a work authorization.

What have you been doing to prepare yourself for business school? Academically, I am taking online courses in economics, finance, accounting and statistics. Professionally, I have been working with school advisors to refine my resume, research industries and functions, and improve my network. Personally, I have increased the amount of reading tech and business news as mastering effective reading is going to benefit me not only in my academic career but also in my future endeavors.

What was your defining moment and how did it prepare you for business school? That moment came when I found myself taking on more advanced responsibilities – such as being the conduit between my team and the external stakeholders. Having received extremely positive feedback on my management skills afterwards, I felt prepared for how to be successful at business school.

DON’T MISS: MEET GEORGETOWN McDONOUGH’S MBA CLASS OF 2022