Meet Yale SOM’s MBA Class Of 2023

P&Q: In recent years, there have been several areas that have gained increased prominence in business school programming, including STEM, analytics, artificial intelligence and digital disruption. How does your full-time MBA program integrate these concepts across its curriculum?

Bruce DelMonico, Assistant Dean for Admissions: “Our faculty is constantly tracking the business landscape to make sure the educational experience here at Yale SOM meets the needs of our students. Our integrated curriculum was developed very much with that mindset—what skills business leaders will need to be successful in the 21st century. And that approach informs ongoing adjustments to the curriculum as well. So, for example, our MBA is STEM-extension eligible through a STEM concentration, and the school had added classes in the past few years in the areas of data analytics and digital transformation.

But we also want to make sure the curriculum is evergreen and not just buffeted about by the short-term trends of the time. One way we do that is by plugging in to broader Yale and all that it has to offer—so that in addition to taking courses here at SOM, you can also take as many courses as you want, without limit, at the rest of the university. So, for example, if you want to learn more about AI, not only can you take relevant SOM courses, but you could take courses in the Computer Science department here at Yale. This extreme flexibility and customizability to me means that SOM is always able to meet the demands of the time because it allows students to connect to all that Yale has to offer.”

P&Q:  What have you learned during the pandemic and the shift to hybrid or remote learning and how will they impact the MBA experience going forward?

Bruce DelMonico, Assistant Dean for Admissions: “There are many lessons from the past 18 months that I’m sure will live beyond the pandemic. The faculty has learned a great deal about how to teach in a hybrid environment, how to engage students who are participating remotely, and how to manage discussions across platforms. And our amazing IT team has built bespoke interfaces to help with these classroom engagements. The faculty is currently taking stock of these aspects of the curriculum, as well as the curriculum more generally. Going forward, I am sure there will be come components from the pandemic that will endure, from bringing in a range of guest speakers from afar to fully remote offerings. It will be exciting to see the many ways in which the academic experience evolves!”

P&Q: Yale SOM takes a very interdisciplinary approach to business. One of the reasons is the MBA program’s connections to the larger university. Give us some examples of how Yale SOM taps into other schools at Yale. How does these relationships enhance the experience for MBAs?

Bruce DelMonico, Assistant Dean for Admissions: “We often say that when you come to Yale SOM, you come to Yale, and it’s very much true. Yale works hard to increase the permeability of the university, which translates to a heightened experience for all students. At SOM, what this means is that once you complete the core curriculum, you can take as many electives elsewhere at Yale as you wish. You could in fact take all of your electives outside of SOM, and they would count toward your graduation requirements. And because other schools similarly encourage cross-pollination across the university, in addition to experiencing classes outside of SOM, you will also have students from other parts of Yale in your SOM classes.

We also have a significant number of students pursuing a joint degree with another school at Yale, which further expands the perspectives represented in the classroom. And outside the classroom, there are events—like the annual Healthcare Conference, which is a collaboration among the Yale Schools of Management, Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing—that bring together students from across the university; as well as connective nodes, such as Tsai CITY for entrepreneurship and design thinking, through which students from across the University can congregate. There are also places that foster social connections across Yale, such as Gryphon’s Pub and the new Schwarzman Center. And, of course, once you graduate from SOM, you get access to the entire Yale alumni network, not just that of SOM, which exponentially expands your professional network. Each of these elements contributes to the connections across Yale and greatly influences the experience for SOM students.”

P&Q: What is your most popular course among MBAs? What makes it so unique and so attractive to MBAs?

Shannan Foley, SOM Registrar: Here are the most popular courses at SOM by enrollment:

Competitive Strategy. Professors: Fiona Scott Morton/Florian Ederer/Kevin Williams

International Experience. Professors: multiple instructors

Behavioral Economics. Professor: Shane Frederick

Corporate Finance. Professors: Heather Tookes/Kelly Shue

Advanced Business Analytics with Spreadsheets. Professor: Lesley Meng

P&Q: What are your two most popular MBA student clubs? What are the biggest events put on by these clubs? Why do these clubs resonate so deeply with your students?

Rebecca Udler, Managing Director, Academic Affairs and Student Life: “The two clubs at SOM with the highest membership are Consulting Club and Technology Club. In lieu of singular, large events, these clubs follow a rigorous curriculum aimed at helping students, particularly first-years, recruit in these professional fields. They meet weekly, offering small-group case prep, one-on-one interview prep, office hours, panel discussions, opportunities for alumni engagement, networking, and more.”

5 REASONS TO CONSIDER YALE SOM

1) Integrated Curriculum: “I was drawn to SOM’s emphasis on imparting a variety of perspectives. Most formally, this is in the form of an Integrated Core Curriculum in the first year that teaches about business organizations from the point of view of their stakeholders (e.g., customer, investor) vs. traditional business disciplines (e.g., finance, marketing). More generally, this variety of perspectives comes from interactions with a global and diverse peer group. As someone who has mostly worked in engineering roles, it is very important for me to get this exposure.”
Achal Shah (’23)

2) Global Perspective: “During the application process, I was immediately drawn to Yale SOM’s Global Study requirement. Having lived and worked in three very different countries—the U.S., Switzerland, and Malawi—I have seen first-hand the importance of having a global perspective when it comes to effectively delivering impact across borders and cultures. The explicit emphasis on international experience provided by the Global Study program highlighted Yale SOM’s international focus, which I really appreciated. And of course, I am excited to travel (COVID permitting)!”
Luke Demas (’23)

3) Voices: “This is a tough one, but on track with multidisciplinary leadership, I’m excited to get more involved in Voices, a platform where students can share their stories across a variety of different areas ranging from professional to personal. The stories shared during Voices at the end of my orientation week deeply resonated with me, and I can see the power of storytelling in advancing future leadership.”
Roshni Walia (’23)

“Voices. It’s a weekly tradition at SOM where two or three speakers (students and sometimes faculty and staff members) share their personal stories in an intimate gathering. We’ve only had a few such events so far, but each time I felt a strong connection to the speaker, and I’m looking forward to similarly getting to know the other members of the SOM community.”
Achal Shah (’21)

4) Global Social Entrepreneurship Course: “Putting aside my acute curiosity about trying out for the polo team (because when else in my life would I ever play polo?!), I am most excited about the Global Social Entrepreneurship class at SOM. My pulse quickens whenever there is an applied opportunity for learning, and this class offers the chance to learn from and collaborate with startups operating in another country. The global spirit of SOM is definitely something that I appreciate about the school—SOM even has a “Global Studies” requirement for graduating—as this global mindset introduces us to other marketplaces we could navigate, new needs we could meet, and different processes we could adopt.”
Morgan Yucel (’23)

5) Discovery Projects: There are so many opportunities at Yale SOM, such as the co-taught course Modeling Managerial Decisions or the Design & Innovation Club, but what excites me the most are Discovery Projects. They are an opportunity to work on a project with a major company for an entire semester. I’m looking forward to developing my market research capabilities by translating insights into strategic recommendations. Moreover, it serves as practice for future internship and full-time roles.
Malcolm Davis (’23)

ADVICE TO POTENTIAL APPLICANTS

1) “Yale SOM has a unique component to its admissions process: the behavioral assessment. The 25-minute online test requires candidates to review 120 pairs of statements and select the one from each pair that best matches their own behaviors. The tool is adaptive, which means that no two applicants receive the exact same questions. The good news for applicants is that there is no need (or way) to prepare for the assessment, which is built around a set of inter-and intrapersonal competencies associated with success in business school.

Our advice is to relax, there truly are no right or wrong answers. The neutral framework of the assessment helps keep the admissions team – and the candidates – honest. Yale SOM has embraced the idea that great leaders come from many molds, and the admissions team is empowered to build a class of students with diverse personal and professional traits. Remember that the results will be reviewed in the context of your full application. If your recommenders describe you as a detail-oriented systems thinker and you try to project yourself as a blue-sky visionary, it could leave an application reader wondering about the disconnect. Just be yourself, and the parts of your application will naturally line up.”
Zachary White, Fortuna Admissions

2) “By now, I’m sure you’ve heard “just be yourself” a million times. I’d urge you to also take some time—a lot more time than you’d think—to know yourself. Step away from the applications and do some self-reflection, journaling, or discussing with your friends. What drives you? What values or beliefs have shaped your actions up to this point, and what do you want to shape your actions in the future? If you’ve done a good job, this self-reflection will make writing your essays, and telling your story, much more streamlined and powerful, and make it so much easier to “just be yourself.”
Colin Custer (’23)

3) “I have been practicing yoga and meditation every day for more than five years, and this has helped me handle anxiety and brought an overwhelming sense of purpose in wanting to do more with my life. Meditation enabled me to handle the stressful application process and compartmentalize different programs so I could give my best to each of them. Additionally, in my SOM essay, I wrote about the change I noticed in myself before and after my journey with spirituality, and I personally felt this may have helped show more character and humility that resonates with a lot of the personalities we see at SOM.”
Adhi Murali (’23)

MBA Student	Hometown	Undergrad Alma Mater	Last Employer
Renato Carregha	Mexico City, Mexico	ITAM (Mexico City)	NAOS Blockchain
Colin Custer	Richmond, VA	University of Virginia	One Acre Fund
Malcolm Davis	Blue Bell, PA	University of Maryland	Walt Disney Company
Lykourgos (Luke) Demas	Valley Stream, NY	Harvard University	The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria
Erica DeMond	Osaka, Japan	Cornell University	Boston Consulting Group
Brandon Jones	Tallahassee, FL	United States Air Force Academy	United States Air Force
Sudiksha Krishnan	Cupertino, CA	Rhode Island School of Design	Lippincott
Caitlin Piccirillo-Stosser	Ossining, NY	University of Chicago	Home Depot Pro
Roshni Walia	Nairobi, Kenya	Sewanee: The University of the South	Maisha Meds
Edward Wang	Tsingtao, China	Tsingtao, China	China International Capital Corporation
Morgan Yucel	Boston, MA	Pomona College	ideas42
Achal Shah	Delhi, India	Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)	Amazon