Meet North Carolina Kenan-Flagler’s MBA Class Of 2027

Stunning scenery. Friendly people. Unique opportunities.

…and a top MBA program too.

That’s the appeal of Chapel Hill – home to the University of North Carolina and the Kenan-Flagler Business School. Picture the quintessential college town – the “Southern part of heaven” as it’s sometimes called. Imagine watching the Tar Heels knock off another ACC foe at Pantana Bob’s, before streaming out to Franklin Street to celebrate. You can sip coffee at Epilogue, down a Mookie at Al’s Burger Shack, or commiserate over Thumbs and Toes – beer-battered chicken bites – at TOPO. Your backdrop is classical Georgian architecture, nestled between the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west and Atlantic beaches to the east. When students aren’t sipping from the Old Well, you might find them jamming out at Cat’s Cradle, which has hosted acts as different as Nirvana and John Mayer over fifty-plus years.

THE CAROLINA WAY

First-year Carson Fletcher, a real estate analyst from Seattle, loves how Chapel Hill reminds him of the Pacific Northwest with its “trees, trails, and wildlife.” However, there is something more – “genuine friendless and down-to-earth culture” says Fletcher that makes the town so special. He isn’t alone. Bhumika Agarwal, a ’25 graduate and P&Q Best & Brightest MBA, observes that Chapel Hill mixes “small-town charm with big energy.”

“There’s a warmth and friendliness here that’s hard to describe,” adds Agarwal, “whether it’s chatting with a local business owner, bumping into professors at a coffee shop, or just walking around campus and seeing familiar faces. It’s a town where community matters.”

Chapel Hill is more than a place: it is a way of living. Some associate the lifestyle with the “Carolina Way.” Popularized by legendary Tar Heel basketball coach Dean Smith, this philosophy can be summed up as “Play hard, play smart, play together.” According to students and alumni, it underpins the Kenan-Flagler approach to business. Ashley Sperry, another Best & Brightest MBA from 2025, points to the program delivering the “perfect balance between collaboration and high performance.” She found that Kenan-Flagler “demand(ed) excellence, adaptability, and resilience” as students “lift(ed) one another up.” Or, in the words of first-year Ethan J. Hughes, the program is predicted on togetherness.

“Someone else’s success isn’t a threat; it’s a door opening for the rest of us,” explains Hughes, who grew up in Cary and holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from Harvard. “Many programs focus on prestige or competition while UNC Kenan-Flagler focuses on what matters most: the people. And long after graduation, it’s the strength of that community that will carry your career forward.”

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK: A SHORT DRIVE AWAY

This mindset has been reinforced right from the beginning of the program, adds Hughes. “The intentionally small class size means we truly get to know and work with everyone; it’s not just networking, it’s community-building by design. We’re grouped into “Legacies” that compete for the House Cup, which creates playful competition and drives us to push each other to grow together. That’s the Carolina Way: We work hard, play hard, and win together.”

Chapel Hill may be a place to get away from it all, but it isn’t too far from the action either. After all, Raleigh – the state capital – is just 50 minutes east on I-40. To the north, Washington DC is just four hours away. To the south, Charlotte is a two-hour jaunt. And Durham – home to rival Duke University – is 30 minutes north. Sandwiched between Raleigh and Chapel Hill is Research Triangle Park. Spanning 7,000 acres and employing 55,000 people, RTP is America’s largest innovation ecosystem, a concentration of nearly 400 cutting edge companies in areas ranging from biotech to banking. Think Cisco, IBM, GlaxoSmithKline Biogen, IBM, and IQVIA – not to mention startups and investors. With the park’s close proximity to Kenan-Flagler, MBAs enjoy unprecedented access to projects, internships, mentors, and partnerships – giving them a distinct head start in their chosen industries and roles.

“With its concentration of cutting-edge companies in technology, health and wellness, the Triangle offers an incredible ecosystem for innovation and career growth,” explains Alyssa Maita, a marketer looking to move into product management. “As someone passionate about making a meaningful impact in these industries, being immersed in this dynamic environment is both inspiring and strategic.”

A CLASS EMBRACING NEW LIVES

Many of Maita’s classmates also came to Chapel Hill looking to make a transition. Take Jeffery Obiagu, a CPA best known for holding Seton Hall’s blocked shots record in basketball. He hopes to move into investment banking after transitioning from being a senior associate in assurance at Ernst & Young to a senior associate in deals at EY-Parthenon.

“A major deciding factor for me is the ability to customize my courses [at Kenan-Flagler] to align with my post-MBA goals. I have some knowledge of M&A and deal executions from my six-month stint in working on buy-side deals at EY-Parthenon. However, I lack experience in sell-side and other necessary M&A and valuation knowledge to make this career switch. The Corporate Finance concentration at UNC Kenan-Flagler, which offers courses like Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Deal Structures, and Investment Banking, teaches the core skills in M&A and financial modeling to help me gain a better understanding of how finance works in the real world.”

Akosua Gyan Bandoh is accustomed to making career pivots. A chemical engineer by training, she once owned a haircare brand and later headed up career guidance for the Society of Petroleum Engineers. While she pursues her MBA, Gyan Bandoh is busy earning a Master’s in Environmental Management at Duke University. While she worked as a well integrity engineer before business school, she has also been exposed to one of Kenan-Flagler’s flagships: healthcare.

“One of my biggest accomplishments was my internship at Amgen, where I worked with the engineering and utilities team within a global healthcare/biotechnology environment,” Gyan Bandoh writes. “Coming from a traditional oil and gas background, I hadn’t fully realized how critical engineering and energy are to the healthcare sector. Through this role, I contributed to initiatives and projects that supported life-saving operations. The experience expanded my perspective as it showed me how transferable my skills are and ignited a deeper passion for applying engineering and energy innovation in industries that directly improve lives.”

FROM BANKING TO HEALTHCARE TO MILITARY

Speaking of transitions, Ramya Meenakshisundaram has already moved from professional sports to consulting. “My career highlight has been balancing my career in golf brand consulting at Creative Artists Agency and as a professional golfer playing a limited schedule. Competing while contributing to award‑winning marketing campaigns has allowed me to have an impact the sport on and off the course, elevating the visibility of both men’s and women’s golf.”

The Class of 2027 also boasts a wide range of experience worldwide. In Peru, Miluska Andrea Alvarado Alarcon worked in microfinancing, while Alfonso Duarte oversaw banking digital transformations. In real estate, Carson Fletcher helped close 50 deals, including a 30,000 square foot office lease. As a consultant, Daniella Kapural guided a healthcare tech startup from initial funding to its eventual acquisition. By the same token, Ethan J. Hughes’ team project in a Master’s program eventually led to Puerto Rico’s first energy cooperative.

“I helped design the technical solution and conducted the life cycle analysis to minimize unintended environmental impacts,” Hughes explains. “Knowing that something we built in a classroom helped spark real, lasting change on the ground is something I’ll always be proud of.”

Matthew Mundorf, a lieutenant serving in the U.S. Naval Reserve, notes that he has traveled over 200,000 nautical miles transferring fuel for the U.S. Navy. However, his biggest achievement happened ashore in Honolulu, where he was involved in averting an environmental disaster.

“This U.S. Navy-operated depot contained 2 million barrels of World War II era jet and diesel fuels, which had been buried underground for 80 years,” Mundorf explains. “In 2021, the fuel began leaking into local water supplies, contaminating drinking water for 93,000 Hawaiian residents. To address this crisis, my crew and I transported over 1.2 million barrels of fuel from the old, compromised tanks to a new facility in a 30-day period. The success of this task can be attributed to the teamwork shown by each member of my vessels crew during the complex operation.”

A CLASS PROFILE

Overall, the MBA Class of 2027 received 2206 applications, ultimately enrolling 206 students (not counting 46 deferrals). The average GMAT came to 710 – a 14-point jump in just the past two years – as scores ran from 660-750 in the mid-80% range. The class GPA inched up from 3.4 to 3.445 over the previous class, as its GRE average held steady at 319. As a whole, 30% of the class submitted GRE scores.

One major difference from the 2026 Class: the percentage of international students dropped from 43% to 35% with fall class. That said, the percentage of women again hit the 31% mark.

As undergraduates, 21% of the class majored in Engineering, followed by Business (16%), Economics (12%), and Social Sciences (10%). Taken together, business-related majors edged out their STEM counterparts by a 45%-to-40% margin. In terms of professional experience, Financial Services topped the list at 19% of the class. Healthcare (16%), Government and Military (14%), Technology (11%), and Professional Services (10%) also cracked double-digits, with Manufacturing (6%) and Real Estate (5%) also accounting for substantive shares of the class.

A REAL ESTATE HUB

Looking for school strengths? Start with scale and performance. In the Online MBA program, which enrolls over 300 students, Kenan-Flagler ranks as the 2nd-best MBA program according to U.S. News. At the same time, the undergraduate business program ranks among the Top 10 according to Poets&Quants. Taken together, Kenan-Flagler is home to over 3,000 business students, not counting roughly 46,000 living alumni across nearly 100 countries.

The larger University of North Carolina also ranks as the 4th-best public university according to U.S. News – not to mention #1 for being the Best Value as a whole. When the Princeton Review surveyed students and alumni earlier this year, Kenan-Flagler posted Top 10 marks for its Classroom Experience and Campus Environment – further reinforcement that the Carolina Way was alive-and-well at McColl. When U.S. News & World Report surveyed MBA administrators and faculty, Kenan-Flagler ranked among the best dozen schools in both Real Estate and Accounting.

Overall, the Kenan-Flagler MBA offers 13 concentrations, including a recently-launched Technology Innovation and Product Management concentration. Real Estate ranks among the best known strengths, accounting for roughly 10% of MBA classes historically. The program includes over a dozen courses ranging from construction basics to fund management to real estate law. That doesn’t include global immersions stretching from Brazil to Dubail and treks that include New York City, Miami, Dallas, and San Francisco. For Carson Fletcher, a marquee attraction was the Wood Center real estate curriculum.

“[It] is deeply grounded in real-world application and industry relevance. UNC Kenan-Flagler’s expansive and influential alumni network in real estate remains closely connected to the school, providing students with invaluable mentorship and career opportunities. The faculty, many of whom bring decades of professional experience, enrich the classroom with real-life insights that bring the material to life. Their industry backgrounds not only strengthen the academic experience but also open doors to a powerful network of colleagues and connections that help students secure internships and launch successful careers.”

FINANCE AND HEALTHCARE REMAIN STRENGTHS

Corporate Finance also remains popular among Kenan-Flagler MBAs. Matthew Mundorf cites the Finance Development program, a modular investment banking program run in partnership with Training the Street to prepare students for their summer internship. Such coursework is supplemented by a series of workshops covering everything from leveraged buyout modeling to advanced Excel skills. In December, students can take part in the Alpha Challenge, a pitch competition that also includes speed networking and coaching sessions. Despite all this, Daniella Kapural expects the program highlight to be the Applied Investment Management (AIM) course.

“Its reputation as a highly impactful, hands-on experience, allowing students to actively manage the $2 million Global Perspectives Fund, offers unparalleled practical skill development. This direct application of MBA-level finance concepts, combined with invaluable mentorship from alumni and industry leaders, makes it an ideal program to significantly advance my skills and career in investment management.”

Kapural plans to connect this investment experience with Healthcare, another Kenan-Flagler staple. Along with offering consulting projects and global immersions, the Healthcare concentration covers insurance fundamentals, analytics, drug development, and design and delivery.

Rebecca Tong, a ’25 grad who interned at Eli Lilly, considered the program to be invaluable to her growth. “The program’s strong focus on this sector offered me direct access to top-notch mentorship from healthcare professionals and an immersive learning environment tailored to my career goals in hospital operations and quality improvement. This specialized training has equipped me with the necessary tools and insights to lead with innovation and empathy in the healthcare industry, aligning perfectly with my commitment to lifelong learning and making a meaningful impact in healthcare.”

Tong’s classmate, Uriah Ford, was particularly impressed by the Healthcare Brand Plan course taught by Markus Saba, a professor and author who brings over a quarter century of executive leadership experience at Eli Lilly to the classroom from Eli Lilly.

“His class gave students the unique opportunity to step into the role of a manager within a pharmaceutical company and develop a brand plan for a real-world product. Brand representatives presented their products to us, and Professor Saba provided an in-depth breakdown of the brand planning process. His industry expertise and hands-on teaching approach made the learning experience incredibly engaging and practical, allowing me to deepen my understanding of pharmaceutical marketing in a real-world context.”

TURNING STUDENTS INTO STARS

However, Kenan-Flagler may be best known for its STAR program – or Student Teams Achieving Results. A semester-long consulting project, STAR pairs MBAs and undergraduate business majors in 6-7 member teams for a mix of corporate-style leadership programming and experiential learning opportunities. In the process, students are exposed to the best practices and newest ideas across a variety of industries. At the same time, they gain client-facing experience with top executives, with past partners ranging from Royal Caribbean to ESPN.

“I’ve always loved problem-solving, and STAR offers the rare chance to apply what we’re learning in class to real-world challenges with real clients,” explains Ethan J. Hughes. “It’s not just a case study; it’s an opportunity to create meaningful solutions and make a lasting impact in the community and region. That hands-on experience deepens our learning while reinforcing UNC Kenan-Flagler’s commitment to purposeful leadership and practical results.”

While Hughes believes STAR will be invaluable, he expects the MBA Blue Cup to be unforgettable. Each spring, Kenan-Flagler MBAs compete with their counterparts from Duke University’s Fuqua School. Picture teams competing for basketball, volleyball, and golf – not to mention trivia, spelling, and chess. Don’t worry about hard feelings. Reality is, the event is designed to build teamwork during practices and an espirit de corps with competing teams during the games…and afterwards.

“I’m not sure where I’ll contribute yet, but I’m happy to help the cause however I can,” adds Hughes. “After all, few things bring people together quite like beating Duke.”

Next Page: An Interview with the Associate Dean and Profiles of 11 First-Year MBAs

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