Experience The Tepper Community

Kneisha McClinton (she/her), MBA 2022, used her time at the Tepper School of Business to do all of the things. Take a leadership role in at least six organizations. Yes! Be part of Carnegie Mellon’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Roundtable? Certainly. Speak at the Coming Out Stories event? Absolutely. 

Kneisha started her MBA knowing she wanted to broaden her business and data analytic skills and explore career possibilities. An internship and one-on-one guidance from the Masters Career Center helped clarify her goals, and she’s now an investment banking associate at Credit Suisse. 

Along the way, Kneisha interviewed fellow students about their experiences at Tepper. Read the Q&A or watch the video below. Learn more about Kneisha in her Poets & Quants 2022 Best & Brightest profile. 

Kneisha and Diego Talk About Out&Allied and Moving to Pittsburgh

Kneisha: Diego and I had the pleasure of serving on the Out&Allied Board during our second year of our MBA experience. As president, Diego, what do you think that experience has added to your Tepper time?

Diego: Yeah, that’s a great question. Thanks, Kneisha. First of all, I fell in love with the club because of all the events, especially coming out stories. This was a perfect opportunity to give back to the club, to the community as well.

Kneisha: Great. This is your first time here in Pittsburgh, and you’ve traveled pretty far from Peru. How has your experiences been being an international student?

Diego: Yeah, Peru is far from here, many differences, place, the people, the weather, but even though there were a lot of differences from my home country, Tepper made you feel like home. It has been an amazing experience so far.

 

Michael Tells Kneisha About Professional Clubs, Recruiting, and the Alumni Network

Keisha: My friend Michael here had the pleasure of serving as operations and general management president for the last year. How do you think professional clubs and the Tepper community as a whole has helped you through the recruiting process?

Michael: Yeah. The professional clubs are really a key portion of my recruiting experience. There’s just so many resources at Tepper, between the Masters Career Center, your peers, and the Alumni Network that we can really get access to the tools and the resources needed to get to the next step.

Kneisha: That’s honestly an amazing point. A lot of times people think of the community as our classmates that we enter the classroom with every day. But one big aspect of that is the alumni that came before us. How do you feel that they’ve helped your experience here?

Michael: Yeah, the Alumni Network has been really great. It’s part of our tight-knit community that we have at Tepper. They’re always so welcoming and giving in terms of the advice, and also just giving anything that we need to get to the next level.

 

Liz and Kneisha Talk About Tepper Women in Business and Club Leadership

Kneisha: Liz and I are both members of Tepper’s Women in Business club. How do you feel like your experience at Tepper has been as a woman?

Liz: Honestly, phenomenal. Everybody here has just been so close-knit, so supportive. And it’s really not just the students. It’s also the faculty and staff really are here to help women excel.

Kneisha: The MBA experience, of course, happens inside and outside of the classroom, and clubs do an amazing job at enhancing that. How do you feel clubs have added to your time here at Tepper?

Liz: Not only being part of clubs, but also leading clubs has been incredibly rewarding and allowed me to really embody that entrepreneurial spirit at Tepper. For me, especially with autonomous racing, I’ve greatly appreciated being able to continue the legacy of Carnegie Mellon in the autonomous racing and autonomous vehicle terrain.

 

Kneisha and Parker Discuss Mentorship and the Small Class Size

Kneisha: Parker and I had the pleasure of serving on the Graduate Finance Association Board. And one thing that truly resonated with us was the importance of mentorship. Can you talk a little bit about mentorship and your time here at Tepper?

Parker: For sure. Mentorship is really an important part of business school. I know when we were first years going through recruiting, the second years went out of their way to mentor us. And seeing how impactful that was for us to get our jobs and our internships, I really wanted to get involved. So my second year, I decided to lead up the investment banking process for all the first years. And it was great for me to, not just give back to the community, but for all of the first years, a good chance to mentor them and hope that they will continue to do that in the future.

Kneisha: I totally agree. And one great thing about the Tepper community, of course, is our small class sizes. What do you think that that has meant for you?

Parker: Yeah, a small class size was extremely important. We all come from a ton of different backgrounds. And to pool all of us together with that main goal of, not just furthering us professionally, but also furthering us emotionally and socially was extremely important. So for all of us to work together and to really root for each other to get jobs, internships, and to take that next step in our careers was extremely important. And seeing how it all played out over our two years here has been really a fantastic and fulfilling experience.

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Get Connected!

Kneisha: My Tepper experience has been amazing, both inside and outside of the classroom. There are so many Tepper MBAs that would love to tell you more about our community. Check out our MBA Student Ambassador Program and get connected.