Meet Georgia Tech Scheller’s MBA Class Of 2024

Ranking. Location. Culture. Resources. Expertise. GMATs.

Those are just a few variables weighed by MBA applicants. In the end, many focus on the three P’s: Price, Placement, and Pay. Can I afford it? Will I get a job? Does the payoff exceed the pain? In other words, applicants want to know about the return – the biggest bang for the buck.

A STRONG INVESTMENT

When it comes to ROI – Return on Investment – the Scheller College of Business makes a strong case to prospective MBAs. In an evaluation of starting median base against two years of tuition, Scheller produced the highest ROI – a 1.62 return – for the Class of 2022. In real numbers, that is a $136,419 in starting base against $84,516 in tuition. That’s a quick turnaround compared to household names like Wharton (1.04) and MIT Sloan (.98) or local competitors like Vanderbilt Owen (1.02) and North Carolina Kenan-Flagler (.92).

Here’s the best part: 100% of the Class of 2022 at Scheller had accepted jobs within three months of graduation. Overall, the class averaged $161,428 in total pay, up nearly $16,000 from the previous year. On top of that, 92% of the class landed signing bonuses. Those are results befitting an MBA program whose career services team ranks 2nd in the world according to The Financial Times. Not only does the school get results, but they celebrate them too. Call it a sense of shared mission, where students relish the success of their classmates.

“Our Jones MBA Career Center hosts a Bell Ringing ceremony every semester to celebrate MBA students who have signed internship or full-time offers, explains Paroma Chakravarty, a 2023 P&Q Best & Brightest MBA who joined McKinsey after graduation. “They have a giant bell that they roll out to our atrium and bring donuts and coffee. Everyone who has signed that semester rings the bell while their classmates cheer them on. It is my favorite tradition as I get to publicly embarrass my normally very humble classmates by loudly cheering and celebrating all their successes.”

MORE THAN ENGINEERING

True, the ROI ranking has its limits. It doesn’t factor in room, board, and books (a lower-than-average $18,830 at Scheller). It also doesn’t factor in debt or scholarships – with neither being reported by graduate business schools anymore (though Scheller’s student debt ranked third-lowest among Top 25 programs in the last report for the Class of 2019). One reason for Scheller’s high returns stems from reputation. When business school deans and MBA directors were surveyed by U.S. News, they ranked the Scheller MBA among the ten-best programs in four specializations: Information Systems, Production and Operations, Supply Chain, and Business Analytics (where it ranked 3rd). That’s a well-rounded list for a program often overshadowed by the engineering excellence of the larger university. However, Scheller is hardly a school geared to engineers and techies. Instead, it features a diverse range of backgrounds notes Chakravarty.

“While I do have an engineering background, my classmates come from all sorts of industries. We have a variety of folks in our program including a former mountain climbing guide, an art gallery curator, financial advisors, Army officers, hospitality experts, and marketing nerds.”

In fact, one of Scheller’s marquee attractions is its soft skills programming geared towards leadership and communications, explains Victor C. Sabioni, a member of the Class of 2024. “We all know how essential these skills are to becoming a successful manager or leader, but I had never received formal education in these areas as an engineer. My Business Communications class has taught me how to confidently convey my ideas in a more compelling and engaging manner. I enjoy how the leadership classes at Scheller emphasize core skills like effective team leadership, conflict resolution, and how to align people and organizations towards achieving a common goal.”

REPLACING TIKTOK

In the Class of 2024, leadership is found across many industries and roles. During COVID-19, Ashley Lynn McCrea worked as an ICU nurse in between consulting roles at Booz Allen Hamilton and Deloitte. At Morgan Stanley, Ross Doelling managed portfolios for high income clients – think tens-of-millions of dollars – and became the primary contact for chief executives of multi-billion-dollar firms. Speaking of big returns, it wouldn’t be a stretch to describe Satchel Ziffer – an agtech consultant in his spare time – as a rainmaker.

“At Urban-Gro, I helped lead the vertical acquisition of a firm that grew the company’s revenues by almost 90% and has proven out to have significant waterfall revenue,” he tells P&Q. “When working at a smaller firm, you become a jack-of-all-trades – having the opportunity to strategize with the c-suite on the inorganic growth strategy, source the company, do significant due diligence, help structure the deal, and see it finally come to fruition was an amazing learning experience.”

Indeed, the class features platoon leaders like Peter John Oppenheim, who has served in the Middle East and visited over 50 nations. In contrast, Spenser Wipperfurth, a water engineer by trade, worked to prevent flooding and boost water quality in nations like Peru. When the Indian government banned TikTok, Tarique Ashraf’s client decided to capitalize on an opportunity in the video-sharing space.

“I was involved in the development and launch of this product feature that is currently being used by millions of users worldwide. We successfully created a short-form video feature and integrated it with an existing platform that has over 2 billion users worldwide.”

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

Ashraf isn’t alone in making an impact in the entertainment space. Remi Levinson has been a fixture in the Atlanta music scene for the past four years. “One of the first projects I worked on was for a recording artist named “Latto”, previously known as “Mulatto”, and that project went Gold two years into my career – and then Platinum shortly after. It was an honor and privilege to be a leader on the team that has worked with Latto, Saucy Santana, Gunna, Trinidad Cardona, Ann Marie, Baby Tate, and several other incredible Urban artists out of Atlanta.”

In fact, Levinson adds, his life has “revolved” around music. “My dad is a talented classical pianist, and I would sing Broadway and Disney next to him at the piano – and still do to this day. It is no wonder I ended up majoring in Music (Vocal Performance) during undergrad at Emory and working in the music industry.”

Other class members have been partnering with the larger university. As an energy fellow, Azell Francis helped Georgia Tech’s Strategic Energy Institute land a $2.3 million dollar grant – one designed to better plan energy generation and distribution across the Atlanta metro. She also landed a sustainability fellowship through Scheller, where she will advise a client on offsetting emissions. While earning a dual degree with Georgia Tech’s School of Aerospace Engineering, Victor C. Sabioni has been running two research projects with the Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory.

“It has been an incredibly challenging but rewarding journey, especially because the leadership and communication concepts I learn in business school are directly applicable to my engineering work and have made me a better researcher,” he tells P&Q.

FOND MEMORIES

And better people too. Looking back, the Class of 2024 has been busy. Remi Levinson joined several clubs – Business Analytics, Tech, Marking, and Operations – and became a research assistant at VentureLab, a startup incubator. At the same time, he joined Georgia Tech’s Chamber Choir. He even found time to live it up at football tailgates – even if the team disappointed on the field (again).

“My best memory as an MBA so far is the plethora of social events that our various committees and clubs have organized, Levinson adds. “It is hard to pick from the spirited Georgia Tech tailgates and football games, karaoke nights, Schellerween (our annual Halloween party), Scheller Sidesgiving (our annual Thanksgiving potluck), [or] Trunk-or-Treat (Philanthropy Halloween event for homeless women and children).”

Azell Francis would list the Fall Cultural Dinner as her first year highlight, with delicacies ranging from Caribbean fare to African American soul food. For Ross Doelling, the highlight was simply lounging in the Grad Commons, a space where students “can enjoy lunch with your classmates, work on group projects, or just hang out to decompress after a long day.” Make no mistake: there was plenty need to decompress, Doelling adds.

“The first semester at Georgia Tech is tough with nine classes and 15 hours,” he admits. “While I had taken core business classes before, that was more than 10 years ago, and I was starting from square one when it came to classes like Analytical Tools for Decisions and Managing Information Resources. The academic piece moves at a fast clip and that’s on top of networking for future jobs, social functions, and having a personal life. I’ve been proud of the way I have handled this first semester, having pushed myself to be comfortable being uncomfortable.”

A TECH HUB ON YOUR DOORSTEP

You won’t find a better place than Atlanta to settle in for two years. The region is home to 66 colleges and universities, adding a youthful vibe to a city with the third-largest concentration of Fortune 500 headquarters. Think Coca-Cola, Home Depot, UPS – 17 companies in all. That number swells to 31 firms when you bring in Fortune 1000 stalwarts like Equifax, Primerica, and Saia. However, Scheller’s real advantage sits right outside its doors in Midtown – literally. The school is surrounded by Tech Square, a research and tech hub that brings together elite researchers, innovators, students, entrepreneurs, and financiers across Atlanta. It includes Innovation Center for firms like Delta and Home Depot, not to mention operations centers for firms ranging from Siemens to Boeing to Stanley Black and Decker. Picture high tech labs and co-working space – over 750,000 square feet of it in the Coda Building alone Oh…and it wouldn’t be Atlanta without a Waffle House there too.

“Aside from academics, Scheller students are given access to a network with professionals in a plethora of industries within blocks of the school,” Satchel Ziffer observes. “Between Tech Square, which hosts Fortune 100 companies, six different venture capital funds, and an incubator, and the midtown area, which has all the major consulting firms, I’ve seen my schedule fill up by the constant events and coffee chats. I cannot express how thankful I am to have such a strong community of Scheller and Georgia Tech alumni willing to give me time any day of the week!”

Next Page: Q&A with Scheller leaders and profiles of Class of 2024 MBAs