Meet Indiana Kelley’s MBA Class Of 2023

A LOVE OF MARKETING

In Chicago’s famed Field Museum, Marisa Moran spearheaded the advertising campaign for the Jane Goodall exhibit that kicked off its re-opening from COVID — an 18-month process that required her to “re-define and re-scope” the entire marketing plan.

“Having to close our business during the pandemic meant losing teammates to layoffs and slashing our budgets,” she recalls. “We maintained our marketing relationships to hold market share, but it was an uphill battle. The perseverance of our team to keep up with the changes and finally have a moment where we could celebrate welcoming guests into the museum was important. I was able to drive ticket sales from early advertising and increase media exposure by working across departments to support the promotion of this show. At the museum, ticket sales mean more than job security, it means sharing science and a love for the natural world with every guest that walks through the door.”

It is a love that Moran plans to continue sharing…both at Kelley and beyond. “Working with the Field Museum, I was able to articulate an intellectual passionate brand. I love being immersed in these personalities and see them come to life in the market. It is electric. I want to continue to build my marketing career to make a bigger impact and help shape brands that are operating on a global scale. Kelley is a great fit to build my marketing expertise and get exposure to companies that are leaders in consumer marketing.”

BEING LUKE COMBS…JUST FOR ONE NIGHT

Want some good stories? Ask Sarah Kiley about being a competitive step dancer, one good enough to perform alongside Dropkick Murphys and the Boston Pops. Madelynn Kuerschner is involved in animal rescue, helping 150 dogs find “forever homes.” In college, Emmanuel Omoegbele watched YouTube haircut tutorials; he became his school’s “go-to-barber”…which helped fund his education. An asset advisor at ExxonMobil, Talgat Kopzhanov has lived in nine cities in eight years — including two transatlantic moves. Rekha Jagadish describes herself as a polyglot: someone who can “speak in five languages, write in three, but can think only in English.” And Josh Kuiper can say he got a taste of stardom…well, sort of.

“I once played an impromptu concert at a small bookstore/beer joint in North Carolina. There were about 30 patrons at the establishment, all of whom were upset about the planned entertainment being cancelled due to the singer catching a cold. I grabbed an old acoustic guitar I saw hanging on the wall and played a set of about 10 songs using a Dick’s Sporting Goods ScoreCard as a pick. I am not a particularly good guitar player or singer, but the patrons that night treated me like Luke Combs!”

A SPECTACULAR ADMISSIONS CYCLE

The Class of 2023 represents a return to normal. Applications rose from 728 to 1,173 during the late admissions cycle. Ultimately, the Kelley School accepted 31.3% of applications, as the class size skyrocketed from 92 to 157 full-time MBAs this fall.

The class is also more diverse, as the share of international students climbed from 32% to 43% over the past year. Contrary to public perception, Indiana is hardly a “Midwestern” school. The Heartland represents just 21% of the class, nearly equal to the West Coast’s 20% share. Students from the Northeast and the South make up 14% and 3% of the class respectively. The percentage of minorities also more than doubled from 10% to 25%, with women accounting for 32% of the class. At 30 years of age, the Class of 2023 is slightly more mature than a traditional full-time program, ranging in age from 23-43 and averaging 6.4 years of work experience.

The class also posted an average 679 GMAT, up 27 points over the previous year. Notably, 49% of the class scored a 700 or better on test. 16% of the class took the GRE, averaging a 315 in the process. The class’ 3.33 average undergraduate GPA was nearly identical to the previous year, though 37% entered with a 3.50 or better. In terms of undergraduate backgrounds, the class was pretty even distributed. 36% majored in Business-related field, following by STEM (32%) and Social Science and Humanities (24%). Another 8% fell outside these disciplines.

A DISTINCT APPROACH TO LEARNING

Here’s another reason not to dismiss Kelley as a Midwestern school: Just 41% of the Class of 2021 ultimately chose jobs there, despite 36% of the class hailing from the region. In contrast, 28% of the spring class found work out West, even though just 8% of the class grew up there. Overall, the class chalked up $120K bases on average, supplemented by $30K bonuses. The largest percentage of the class — 23% — was recruited into Technology, with Consulting (16%), Healthcare (14%), Consumer Packaged Goods (13%), and Financial Services also attracting sizable shares of the graduating class.

One of Kelley’s biggest advantages is its unique curriculum structure. That starts with Me, Inc., which kicks off the first year programming. Over two weeks, each student is paired with a professional coach and a second-year peer coach. During that time, students reflect on their goals, motivations, personal brand, and leadership style. In addition, they take workshops to prepare for recruiting season. As a result, they have honed their Linkedin profile, resume and cover letter, and sharpened their interviewing and networking skills before the fall crunch.

From there, first-years enter the Integrated Core, a 15 week tour-de-force where top faculty work in teams to teach concepts. Unlike traditional core programs, which separate courses by subject, the Integrated Core uses cases and projects to teach concepts more holistically. As a result, Kelley MBAs can experience the interconnections and tensions between concepts from finance, marketing, strategy, operations, economics, and management.

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE MBA PROGRAM CHAIR

What are some other unique wrinkles in the Kelley curriculum? What new developments are in the pipeline for the MBA program? This fall, P&Q reached out to Kyle Cattani, Kelley MBA program chair and SungKyunKwan professor and professor of operations and decision technologies. Here are his thoughts on what makes the Kelley experience so distinct.

P&Q: What are the two most exciting developments at your program and how will they enrich the MBA experience for current and future MBAs? 

KC: “One of the most exciting developments is our continuing enhancement of our MBA Academies, which serve as a bridge between students’ academic coursework and the career paths they wish to pursue. About 25 to 30 percent of our students are taking jobs at tech companies after graduation, and in response, we’re working toward creation of a Technology Academy. Students will be able to take part in this program as a complement to their main first-year Academy. The two Academy experiences taken together will prepare students very well for a career as a product manager, a financial analyst, an operations manager, or any number of other roles in the tech sector. Another exciting development is the diversity of our incoming Class of 2023. Students in the class are citizens of 26 different countries from all over the world. The opportunity to learn with classmates from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and North America will be extraordinary.”

P&Q: What are two biggest differentiating features of your MBA program? How do each of these enrich the learning of your MBA students?

KC: “Our MBA Academies are one of our biggest differentiators. Each first-year student takes part in an Academy: Business Marketing, Capital Markets, Consulting, Consumer Marketing, Strategic Finance or Supply Chain and Digital Enterprise. Through workshops, meetings and company presentations, and live team projects done for real client companies, students learn about different roles, companies, and industries in their chosen fields and are well-prepared for their summer internships and full-time jobs.

A second significant differentiator is our approach to professional development. Students begin their MBA experience with our immersive Me, Inc. program, through which they learn more about their own values, personality, skills and interests. This provides an important foundation for their career exploration that will follow. Our certified career coaches work closely with our students, helping students to leverage their strengths, grow in new directions, and create and execute successful job search strategies.”

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?

KC: “Kelley was one of the first programs to introduce a Business Analytics major and our course offerings in this area continue to grow and develop. Five of our seven majors are STEM-designated and each of those majors includes a substantial emphasis on analytics. The majority of our students double major and a significant portion of them combine Business Analytics with one of the more traditional majors, such as Marketing, Finance or Supply Chain.”

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?

KC: “We have learned that our faculty could easily pivot to teaching our MBA students remotely since they had so much experience teaching in our online program. Students now have a greater appreciation for the unique benefits of in-person and of online learning. We are expanding ways for our full-time students to take online classes from our popular Kelley Direct program; this will provide students with an even greater selection of course offerings and the opportunity to learn with a different group of classmates.”

Next Page: Profiles of 12 Kelley First-Year MBA Students