Meet NYU Stern’s MBA Class Of 2026

Businesses love numbers. They reveal patterns. They point where to invest resources. They enable companies to measure, correlate, compare, and project. In a VUCA world, numbers provide a snapshot of where you are and what could be ahead. At best, they clear a path to make informed decisions. At worst, they provide cover when expectations go awry.

The language of business is numbers, as the cliché goes. And there are few business schools that teach that language better than New York University’s Stern School of Business. Just ask the business school deans and MBA directors surveyed by U.S. News, who ranked it as the 3rd-best Finance program in the United States this spring. When The Princeton Review polled recent alumni about Finance programming this summer, NYU Stern respondents gave their alma mater the highest marks of any school. That said, numbers are only part of the equation. When it comes to language, it is helpful to compare numbers to verbal communication. The spoken word, researchers have found, only conveys 10%-30% of a message: The rest is a mixture of tone and body language. In other words, facts are often eclipsed by delivery.

People may associate numbers with facts, but what they often remember is how someone makes them feel. That’s why NYU Stern emphasizes soft skills – problem-solving, teamwork, empathy, flexibility, conflict management, communication – to complement their faculty’s quantitative prowess. For Stern, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is a differentiator that enables students to build relationships, sell ideas, and grow professionally in a way that data alone can’t. In fact, EQ is the #1 quality that Stern weighs in admissions decisions, fostering a supportive community that values mutual respect as much as hard-nosed results.

THE EQ DIFFERENCE

For Scarlett Dockery, a Swiss investor who joined the Stern MBA this summer, this relationship-driven approach paired with quantitative excellence makes for an unbeatable combination. “[EQ} is a superpower in today’s world driven by quantitative decision frameworks and AI powered theses,” she tells P&Q. “Being able to strike the balance between quantitative analysis with highly personable communication and creative thought is an invaluable skill. To me, this is becoming more and more fundamental to stand out in today’s industry…Being able to not only understand, digest and analyze big data, but also translate it in comprehensive terms was a significant part of my role.”

The Class of 2026 views EQ in different ways. Dockery, for one, has used EQ tools to frame a position without “antagonizing [her] counterparts.” Bella Roussanov, a nonprofit professional, describes EQ as stepping into another party’s shoes and “making an effort to understand where others are coming from.” Youcef Bennour, an Expedia software engineer, views EQ as a way to “uplift” peers so they can be “their most authentic selves.” To do that, students need to be “self-aware” and “understand [their] impact on those around [them],” says Taylor Rooks. In fact, she has witnessed the balance of EQ and IQ as being one of the “essential qualities” to being an effective leader.

“During my tenure as an equity analyst at Rockefeller Capital, I had the privilege of working under a senior management team that prioritized respect and mutual support among colleagues,” explains Rooks, a Harvard graduate who already holds a Master’s of Management degree. The high EQ exhibited by my company’s leadership not only facilitated my professional development, but also contributed to the broader success of the team, particularly given the demanding nature of the asset management industry.”

A MIX OF BACKGROUNDS

You’ll find a strong mix of EQ and IQ across a range of industries and roles in the Stern MBA Class of 2026. Georgia native Justin Bose comes from U.S. Air Force. As an airfield operations flight commander, he led a 62-member squad in operating the MacDill Air Force base 24×7. Tanmay Chhaparia, who once had a snake coil around his neck in a forest, previously served as a director in a tax consulting firm. His classmate, Walsh Kang, is a former Deloitte consultant who possesses perfect pitch and could be described as a ‘one man band’ (He plays piano, viola, guitar, and bass). Scarlett Dockery led her firm’s equity research and portfolio strategy in blockchain. While numbers may be the language of business, sales is its lifeblood. Working in the latter, Whitney Ziesing played a critical part in one of the world’s premier companies.

“I managed Apple’s entire Mac sales forecast, across all global sales regions and channels. It was incredibly rewarding to be on the team when Apple launched its first MacBook with custom Apple silicon.”

Let’s just say Rena Ren got out of the gate fast. She started out as a pastry chef for an upscale Beverly Hills bakery and currently hosts a live stream at Revolve. In between, she made her name in fashion. “At 23-years-old, I became the product marketing manager, founded and oversaw inception and growth of the “Silk Maison” online apparel brand, directed marketing and design departments, and expanded from a team of one to a cross-functional team of 20.”

Thus far, Ren has lived in four countries, including China, Singapore, Japan, and the United States. It has given her a more cosmopolitan outlook, a trait she shares with classmates like Scarlett Dockery.

“I was born in London to Irish parents and grew up in Geneva, Switzerland where I was privileged to engage with a diverse international community, which has had a significant impact on my work ethic and outlook in life. In my professional experience, being situated in the overlap between traditional macro and the blockchain space has allowed me to build a unique perspective on how new technologies can be used to disrupt the traditional financial system.”

NEVER A DULL MOMENT IN NEW YORK

Dockery and Ren will right into New York City. After all, says Walsh Kang, “New York brings the world to a single city.” Picture a melting pot that is home to people from over 150 countries who speak over 800 languages. Over 10% of the Fortune 500 – 52 companies – are headquartered in New York City, including the likes of JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Verizon, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, AIG, and American Express. And the Big Apple isn’t just the epicenter of big companies. It also ranks as the #2 startup ecosystem in the world according to Startup Genome, attracting $21 billion dollars in early-stage investment from 2021-2023 and spinning out 126 unicorns over that same period.

The city is packed with iconic names: Wall Street (Finance), Broadway (Entertainment), Madison Avenue (Advertising), Fifth Avenue (Shopping), and Park Avenue (Wealth). For foodies, there is Katz’s, Tavern on the Green, Peter Luger, and (of course) Nathan’s and Junior’s. For museum lovers, there is the Met, MoMA, and the National 9/11 Memorial. And that doesn’t count touristy spots like the Empire State Building, Central Park, and the Bronx Zoo. For Bella Roussanov, who has called New York City home for the past five years, the best part is that there is always something new to do. And she has never been bored – not even for “a single second of it.”

“New York is exciting precisely because there is no way to narrow its appeal down to one thing: it has everything,” she adds. “As a New Yorker, I’m able to connect with people from all over the world on a daily basis; on a Saturday afternoon, I’m able to pick between running out to my bodega and exploring a neighborhood boroughs away from me. As a student, the variety of life and opportunity in New York will greatly enhance my learning experience. Stern’s location in New York means I’ll be able to connect with countless professionals in my target industry of management consulting and immerse myself in projects I’m passionate about through programs like the Board Fellows Program.”

A COMMUNITY THAT STICKS TOGETHER

The energy, the pace, the scale, the possibilities – it brings out the creative, the competitor, and the collaborator in MBAs. And the concentration of all this – usually within a cab ride or a few train stops – makes the world feel so accessible. Youcef Bennour plans to capitalize on these opportunities by holding coffee chats with faculty, alumni, and representatives from top finance firms. He also intends to complete in-semester internships, a strategy used by K.J. Brown, a 2024 grad and P&Q Best & Brightest MBA.

“Coming to Stern gave me the opportunity to complete a semester-long consulting project for Warner Bros. Discovery, compete in case competitions for Paramount, Adobe, WeWork, and other companies, as well as attend company treks to TikTok, NBC Universal, YouTube, and Sirius XM.”

While Stern MBAs may have the world at their fingertips in New York City, don’t think of Stern as a commuter school, Brown adds. In fact, the constant activity provides more opportunities for students to connect with each other.

“We do leverage the city as our campus, and we do have classmates that live all over and outside of the city: That is our superpower and part of what makes the NYU Stern community amazing. We have our central Stern building and Washington Square Park as our go-to meet-up spaces, and it is not uncommon to run into friends throughout the city. We take the opportunity to explore different neighborhoods and immerse ourselves into the city’s culture and we are the better for it. But, being involved at NYU Stern means that you will always have a “central” part of campus to come to and engage in the community – you get out of it what you put into it!”

Brown’s classmate, Nuria Boj, says her cohort engaged plenty during their two years at NYU Stern. “New York City has it all and it’s made the social component of business school very fun. My friends and I organize a standing happy hour on Thursdays to explore all of the wine bars in the city. We’ve also organized picnics in the park, explored the city’s rich dining scene, and have gone to live music concerts. An unexpected bonus for me: since I already lived here before business school so I have been blending friend groups and introducing Sternies to friends outside of the program – worlds colliding in the best possible way!”

SIZE GIVES MBAs AN ADVANTAGE

This combination of academics, location, and culture has proven to be highly successful. Look no further than recent rankings. Over the past year, the school climbed from 10th to 7th in U.S. News, while moving into the Top 10 in Fortune. Academically, the faculty is world-class, as the school placed 8th in the University of Texas at Dallas’ annual ranking of the quantity and impact of business school research. Not only did alumni surveyed by The Princeton Review rank NYU Stern as the top school for Finance, but also scored it as the 5th-best for Consulting. When U.S. News surveyed academics about the Stern MBA, it finished among the Top 10 in six disciplines: Real Estate, Finance, Business Analytics, International Business, Information Systems, and Marketing.

NYU Stern doesn’t just excel in the full-time MBA, either. This spring, the school’s Executive MBA program ranked 6th in the world according to U.S. News. At the same time, it is a Top 10 undergraduate business school according to Poets&Quants. In fact, scale acts as one of Stern’s biggest advantages. The school boasts over 6,000 students between its graduate and undergraduate programs. At the same time, Stern is home to 472 faculty members between the full-time and adjunct staff. That means MBA students can tap into expertise from every imaginable business field. Even more, NYU Stern’s NYC digs mean it can bring in adjuncts and guests from the world’s top companies. When it comes to size, let’s not forget that Stern’s alumni network numbers over 100,000 members. That means Sternies can find a helpful peer in nearly every region, industry, or role.

Make no mistake: employers notice the difference in Stern grads, be it their exposure to top academics and companies or its emphasis on EQ. In the Class of 2023, for example, Stern starting pay swelled to $196,176, 5th-best among American programs that year.

Next Page: Interview with Vice Dean Nate Pettit and Profiles of 9 MBA Students