Meet Washington Olin’s MBA Class Of 2026

MAKING AN IMPACT ON CAMPUS

In their personal lives, Jais K. Jose has visited 38 American states – and Chris-Ann Thomas has done the same in 32 countries. By the same token, Dorcas Ikojo Aborah is a study in contrasts.

“I am an adrenaline junkie, and I am looking forward to my first skydiving experience. I also love acting and I have been featured in at least 50 films and stage plays.”

As MBA students, the Class of 2026 has racked up some impressive achievements. Matthew Rush, for one, has resurrected the Olin Outdoors and the Olin Social and Exploration clubs. At the same time, Chris-Ann Thomas ranked among the top 20% of performers in all of her classes, despite holding down two part-jobs requiring 15-18 hours each. In the end, memories matter most. For Spencer Payne, those moments came when his core team did volunteer work at the McPherson Community Garden.

“We met off campus to work together and further a social cause, while doing something completely out of our comfort zones,” he tells P&Q. “As a golfer, the closest thing I’d done to gardening was repairing divots. Through it all, we had fun exercising our green thumbs, sharing laughs, and seeing our efforts pay off. The weather was great, and it was the perfect way for our core team to connect right at the start.”

THE (GLOBAL) EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME

What really brought the Class of 2026 together was the Global Experience. Last year, class members headed off To Washington, DC and Barcelona, Spain. At the former, they took courses on the basic in’s-and-out’s of global business to developed stronger cultural awareness. In Barcelona, first-years authored strategic plans for a St. Louis firm to break into the Spanish market by engaging with the marketplace on the ground. In the process, the class earned a better perspective of the culture by experiencing it and mastered local business mores by witnessing and practicing them.

“In D.C., I gained a deep understanding of how to analyze global issues, improve communication, and develop strategies that align with both public and private sector expectations,” explains Bheema Kunwar. “In Spain, I worked with my classmates on adapting a St. Louis food service business model to the Spanish market was an unforgettable experience. We explored local streets, markets, and business hubs; talked to locals to understand their preferences and expectations; and crafting a tailored business strategy was both challenging and rewarding.”

Coursework wasn’t the only time when the Class of 2026 stepped out of their comfort zones. One weekend, Sofia Mai took a flight to Paris to immerse herself in the food, fashion, and scenery. William Patrick Culliton would join classmates for 9 p.m. dinners that would go over two hours and be filled with laughter and memorable conversations. True to form, Barcelona road trips also made the list for the best times during the Global Experience.

“A few of us rented a car and drove around the Catalan countryside, visiting the mountaintop monastery of Montserrat and stopping at various wineries along the way,” reminisces Matthew Rush. “It was a truly unforgettable experience and gave me the opportunity to cement friendships with many of my classmates.”

A “PERSONALIZED LEARNING EXPERIENCE”

This sense of closeness was reinforced by the size of Olin’s MBA class. While the Olin undergraduate business program ranks among the world’s best – and the school employs over 170 faculty members – first-year MBAs number just 103 students, making it one of the most intimate two-year programs ranked among the Top 25 (25th in U.S. News and 21st by CEOWorld to be exact). This environment places students “front and center every day”, in the words of ’25 grad Arpit Arya. This “personalized learning experience” made all the difference when it came time for Bheema Kunwar to choose her school.

“The intimate class environment fosters meaningful connections with professors, peers, and alumni; it creates an ideal space for collaborative learning and in-depth discussions while offering opportunities to understand each other’s cultures and values.”

Dorcas Ikojo Aborah frames it a different way: “At Olin, I feel like my voice matters and everyone around me genuinely cares for my growth and success.”

A CLASS PROFILE

A banner year across the board! That’s how you could view the numbers behind the Class of 2026. For one, applications nearly doubled during the 2023-2024 admissions cycle. In response, the school boosted its class size from 83 to 103 students. That doesn’t mean it was easier to get an acceptance letter for a class seat, however. Just 18% of applicants received an offer, down from 28% the previous cycle, making Olin one of the most selective programs last year.

Another number that stood out in the class profile: 53% — the percentage of women in the first-year class. This was the first time that the school had achieved gender parity. 44% of the class also hails from oversea, comprising representatives from 27 countries. Underrepresented minorities make up a third of the class.

The class also made a major jump in GMAT scores, improving by 10 points to 706 with scores ranging from 550 to 780. Among students taking the GRE, averages hit 164 (Quant) and 163 (Verbal). The undergraduate GPA came in at 3.53. As undergraduates, 36% of the class majored in STEM-related fields, followed closely by Business and Economics (35%) and Humanities and Social Sciences (25%).

Professionally, the largest percentages of the class last worked in Healthcare and Financial Services (Both 15% shares). Tech and Manufacturing accounted for 12% and 9% of the class respectively. The remainder of the class includes representatives from Consulting, Consulting Products, Education, Public Sector, Media and Entertainment, and Real Estate. 6% of the class also possesses military experience.

A INTERVIEW WITH EVAN BOUFFIDES

One thing about the Olin MBA: it isn’t afraid to innovate – even overhaul – its programming. P&Q’s MBA Program of the Year in 2019 for its Global Immersion, the program has invested heavily in experiential learning, entrepreneurship, and digital disruption in recent years. Structurally, the program has rolled out a Flex MBA, giving students greater choice in learning in-person or virtually. Now, the school is implementing a Business of Health initiative, which includes a new Health, Leadership & Human Capital concentration, along with deeper partnerships with Washington University’s School of Medicine and School of Public Health for research, coursework, and career development.

“Health represents 20% of U.S. GDP and continues to grow, making it one of the most in-demand sectors,” explains Evan Bouffides, senior associate dean at the Olin Business School. “There is a clear market opportunity for innovative business leaders to address the gap between today’s health challenges and what current systems are able to deliver,” he says. “Not surprisingly, we’ve seen an uptick in students with healthcare backgrounds seeking an MBA. At Olin, 15% of this year’s MBA class has a background in health, making it the largest industry in the class along with financial services.”

Healthcare is just one component of a curriculum “makeover” that Olin has been rolling out according to Bouffides. Earlier this year, P&Q reached out to him to learn more about areas like Olin’s programming in soft skill development and global education, as well as its career services offerings. Here are Bouffides’ thoughts on what applicants, students, and alumni can expect in the coming year at Olin.

P&Q: What have been the two most important developments in your MBA program over the past year? What type of impact will they have on current and future MBAs?

Bouffides: “WashU Olin recently announced an update to its full-time MBA (FTMBA) curriculum to better meet the flexibility and personalization needs of today’s MBA students. The new curriculum reduces the core curriculum so that it still covers all the business fundamentals but now allows students to take more elective coursework in year one, starting in their second semester. WashU Olin students are able to chart their own path with over 60 percent of their total credits coming from elective coursework.

Additionally, WashU Olin expanded our specialization offerings to 12. The wide range of specializations include Consulting, Corporate Finance, Entrepreneurship, Marketing Analytics, Operations & Supply Chain Management, Brand & Product Management, Business Analytics, Financial Technology, Business of Health, Leadership & Human Capital Management, Private Capital & Strategic Ownership, and Wealth & Asset Management. Students are also able to pursue a STEM track with courses from Olin’s portfolio of STEM-designated electives. While not required, students can choose to pursue one, two, or more specializations.

Both developments provide current and future students significant opportunity to navigate their MBA experience in a way that suits their individual needs and interests. These changes will increase flexibility, provide more avenues for exploration, and further equip Olin students for long-term career success.”

P&Q: Every January, P&Q publishes a “10 Business Schools to Watch” feature that highlights how schools are raising the bar and enhancing the student experience through innovation or expansion in programming or resources. What is one innovation that sets your school apart from your peer programs and makes you a business school to watch? Why is it so groundbreaking?

Bouffides: “WashU Olin is intentional on our size, allowing us to know our students by their names and their stories. Olin’s size and distinct approach to flexibility and individualized education allows each MBA student to pursue an education that aligns with their passions and career aspirations. This means no two students graduate with the same educational experience, allowing the opportunity to build their education and time at Olin with the courses and extracurricular activities that will aid the MBA students on their career pursuit immediately at graduation and after.”

P&Q: What types of programs do you offer to sharpen your students’ soft skills? What areas do you emphasize and how do you instill these skills in your students?

Bouffides: “WashU Olin’s updated course on organizational behavior, taught by Assistant Professor Giselle Antoine, focuses on leadership and teamwork. The course provides an immersive experience where students are required to practice and develop skills. These include: empathetic listening, team brainwriting, group decision-making, fostering inclusion and belonging in diverse teams, collaborative problem-solving, information sharing, ethical decision-making, defining authentic leadership narratives, establishing and refining team norms, peer/team/self-evaluation through reflective practices, and leveraging cultural diversity on teams. This course has an innovative, community-based learning component that gets teams out into St. Louis to positively impact underserved communities and local organizations.”

P&Q: What types of programming – through classroom instruction, extracurriculars, and treks – does your school offer to expose students to country-specific and global business practices? What have students told you were the most educational and fun aspects of these activities?

Bouffides: “WashU Olin has multiple global experiences available for students, including courses with international travel components and semester abroad experiences. Each Olin MBA student will have the opportunity to develop an individualized educational experience that incorporates global experiences based on their personal preferences.”

P&Q: What are the most exciting new courses that your school is offering to MBAs this school year? What makes them so unique and valuable?

Bouffides: “With the addition of our Health specialization, WashU Olin has built out additional health electives including two new courses:

* Health Insurance in America: This course focuses on industry analysis of health insurance.  How do they operate, market, grow, measure success?  This is putting on the “hat” of a health insurance executive and imagining the world from their perspective.

* Drugs and Devices: Students experience how to take a biopharma or medical device concept from idea to market.

WashU Olin has also worked with our experiential learning offerings to include an emphasis on health including incorporating work with partners in the health industry.”

P&Q: Who are two new professors who’ve joined your faculty in the past year? What do they teach and how will they be difference-makers in your MBA program?

Bouffides: “Patrick Aguilar joined the WashU Olin faculty as Managing Director of Health in November 2024. In that role, he leads the development of research collaborations, educational programming, and industry partnerships relevant to the breadth of industries impacting the well-being of individuals and societies. Additionally, Patrick teaches several health-focused courses that include: Olin Grand Rounds: The Business and Practice of Medicine – One of the required courses for full-time MBAs that are pursuing the healthcare management concentration – Healthcare Management, Health Insurance in America and Drugs & Devices.”

Next Page: Profiles of 11 Members of the Class of 2026

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