Meet Emory Goizueta’s MBA Class Of 2027

The core is ours. The rest is yours.

That’s how MBA faculty often view the curriculum. Finance, Economics, Statistics, Strategy, Operations, Leadership – they’re the foundation. They cover the vernacular, frameworks, and skills that bridge every industry and function. By design, they test every student’s ability to master their intricacies – the infinite interpretations of data and the maddening paradoxes of interpersonal communication.

When the core is over, MBAs can turn their attention to what brought them to business school: applying what they’ve learned to make an impact.

PREPARING TO MAKE AN IMPACT

At Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, IMPACT is the centerpiece of the second semester. Here, student teams partner with sponsoring clients to develop strategies that address their thorniest challenges. For the MBA Class of 2027, the Goizueta IMPACT project is the place where theory meets practice, where students truly learn by developing integrated solutions that pull from all of their core courses.

Jessica Essel is a first-year MBA who hopes to operate in strategic human capital transformation. For her, Goizueta Impact is a “proving ground” to close the gap between where she is and what she ultimately hopes to be. “[I] get to test the knowledge and experience I’m gaining. Right from the first semester with IMPACT core, I’ll have the opportunity to grow my voice, skillset, and confidence to help organizations truly transform.”

In many ways, the first semester core is geared towards preparing students for Goizueta IMPACT. In the fall, students complete the required Structured Problem-Solving course, which exposes students to methodologies for defining problems, managing teams, collecting data, formulating options, and making decisions. After being assigned their clients, teams, and faculty advisers, students work together on their IMPACT project – generally logging a collective 600 hours or more to complete their assignments. In the process, they learn to leverage their individual strengths, while crafting evidence-driven strategies. In turn, these recommendations are judged by corporate leaders during presentations at the Goizueta IMPACT Showcase.

REAL CLIENTS, REAL IMPACT

For first-years, IMPACT acts as a dress rehearsal for the summer internship, as they learn to navigate through organizational structures and cultures. All the while, the course prepares them to use a structure problem-solving methodology to identify potential obstacles, formulate alternatives, and gain buy-in from differing constituencies.

In other words, IMPACT lays the groundwork for MBAs to make the most of the electives that will ultimately guide their unique career paths. Better still, IMPACT exposes MBAs to networks and practices at leading companies like Coca-Cola, AT&T, Delta, Porsche, and Lowe’s – with the latter sponsoring projects for several years in a row. For Jessica Essel, IMPACT was the difference-maker that separated the Goizueta MBA from all of the others.

“Discovering [IMPACT] was the moment I said yes,” Essel tells P&Q. “I wasn’t only looking for academic rigor; I wanted a space where I’d be pushed to lead, analyze, and collaborate on real business problems. IMPACT offers exactly that. It’s not theory in a vacuum. It’s live, client-facing work with real consequences. It’s Goizueta’s unique approach to experiential learning.”

ARTISTS & PHILANTHROPISTS

Alas, the MBA Class of 2027 boasts plenty of spotlight-grabbing, high impact experience already – often in areas you might not expect from incoming business students. Take Yolanda Mariah Morgan, who studied Cinema at USC. She is currently writing a feature film for FOX. Before that, she produced storyboards for King of the Hill with Twentieth Century Fox Animation. In contrast, Brian Waldrep is a professional ballet dance who is seeking a new passion. Most recently, he served as the rehearsal director for the Alberta Ballet.

“I have had the honor of performing the title role in John Cranko’s Onegin with two ballet companies on two continents,” he tells P&Q. “Based on the novel by Alexander Pushkin, this dramatic three-act ballet is one of the most sought-after and coveted roles a male ballet dancer can perform.”

After studying Cultural Anthropology and International affairs at Northeastern University, Anna Moceyunas embraced the nonprofit space. In her last job, she worked as the senior program associate at the Philanthropic Initiative at The Boston Foundation, which supports initiatives spanning child well-being, climate change, education, and equity. Similarly, Jenna Shin earned her undergraduate degree in East Asian Studies at Yale before pivoting into the tech field at Fiserv.

“One of my proudest career accomplishments was helping transform a business unit operating at a loss into a multimillion-dollar revenue-generating business within just three years,” she tells P&Q. “I joined the team early in my career as their dedicated HR partner and had the privilege of supporting their growth from the ground up. Watching the team expand in size, capability, and impact while simultaneously evolving in my own role was an incredibly special experience and that team will always hold a special place in my heart.”

TWO EMMY AWARDS AT ESPN

Trevor Tucker grew up in rural West Virginia, where he raised sheep and cows to compete at the local county fair. Eventually, he earned a spot in the U.S. Naval Academy, where he earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Over his six years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Tucker climbed from being a Rifle Platoon Commander to a Warfighting Instructor.

The biggest moment in his career? “Leading 45 Marines through a seven-month deployment to the Baghdad Embassy Compound in 2021 was both incredibly challenging and deeply rewarding Watching young men operate confidently and independently through the guidance I provided filled me with a sense of pride and camaraderie that’s hard to match.”

How does Gavin Cote know his career has been a success? Over 13 years at ESPN, he earned two Emmy Awards as a producer – honors he credits to storytelling excellence grounded in “teamwork, communication, and creativity” (along with “passion” and “dedication”). Despite the accolades, it was the feature that Cote didn’t win an Emmy for that he calls his best work.

“I also received an Emmy nomination for my SC Featured profile of former UCF and NFL linebacker Shaquem Griffin. While it didn’t win, it remains one of my greatest career accomplishments. Telling the life story of someone as inspiring, humble, and charismatic as Shaquem was an honor I’ll always be grateful for.”

‘NEUROSCIENTIST TURNED INDIE POP ARTIST’

Varun Sheel can boil his mind-blowing journey down to five words: “Neuroscientist turned indie pop artist!” Before finding his calling, Sheel earned a B.A. in Psychology and Neuroscience before pairing it with an M.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology. After being laid off from a lab job as a senior associate scientist, Sheel took the road less traveled and returned to his love of music. For over twenty years, Sheel explains, he played guitar and sung, eventually putting music on the “backburner” to pursue science. With more time, he completed and recorded his songs before marketing them online. Eventually, he drew hundreds-of-thousands of streams, not to mention media coverage.

For Sheel, the best part of being an indie artist has been his ability to connect his love for music and metrics. “My ability to understand my metrics, run marketing campaigns, and make decisions off of the conclusions from tests or experiments I run with my tracks is a way of thinking that I had ingrained in me throughout my scientific training. As a result, I’m actually excited for both sides of each release. The creation and the analytical optimization. My greatest accomplishment so far is realizing I can do both, science and music, and for the first time in my life, I feel complete.”

The Class of 2027 also includes Akshansh Mehra, who already holds his master’s from Georgia Tech in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Before entering business school, he worked in Aptiv, where he partnered with top automotive manufacturers worldwide on automotive safety technology. After stints at Johnson & Johnson and Morgan Stanley, Ornella Adekoye founded a consulting firm that helped American small businesses access over $60-billion dollars in loans. As a brand manager for skincare conglomerate CUSKIN, Jeongwon Min rebranded and revamped a languishing product line.

“I led the market research and built strategy towards a new brand concept and positioning. I executed a campaign leveraging influencers and digital channels. As a result, within just 8 months, we successfully entered new regional markets and increased 30% of sales in existing markets.”

LOOKING AHEAD TO GRADUATION

At Spellman college, Jasia Barrett was so accomplished that she was accepted into medical school without taking the MCAT. Rather than pursuing medicine, she joined IBM before eventually rising to become a senior analyst at Accenture. Looking ahead two years, Barrett believes her MBA experience will be successful if she can realize her entrepreneurial dream: developing what she calls a “wearable beauty tech product that merges wellness, personalization, and sustainability.” More than being armed with a solution, Barrett hopes to make others’ lives better.

“My goal is to take the creativity, leadership, and vision I’ve refined through both my personal and professional pursuits, and translate that into a career where I’m shaping future-forward strategies, building inclusive consumer experiences, and influencing how people interact with beauty, wellness, and technology at scale. If I leave Goizueta having built something impactful, created space for others to thrive, and stepped confidently into the next chapter of my career, I’ll know I’ve truly made the most of my MBA experience.”

At the same time, Jessica Essel hopes to come away from Goizueta with a community that she can turn to for guidance throughout her career.

“Success looks like walking away with lifelong collaborators who challenge and inspire me. This is particularly true if they are peers who aren’t afraid to ask, “what if?” – and then go do something about it. Through Goizueta’s experiential learning, small-by-design culture, and human-centered leadership focus, I hope to expand my thinking, build capacity, and grow into a more agile, purposeful leader.”

A CLASS PROFILE

True to its intimate class philosophy, Emory Goizueta’s 2027 class features 128 students. After a spike in applications during the 2023-2024 admissions cycle, the past year reflected a flatness in the market. Applications rose from 1,571 to 1,581 in 2024-2025, with Goizueta again accepting just 32% of submissions. That’s not to say you won’t find a major difference between classes. Notably, the average GMAT increased from 705 to 723 over the previous year. In contrast, the average GRE dipped from 158 to 156, with 30% of applicants submitting a GRE score. Average GPA, however, held steady at 3.5, with the lowest average coming in at 2.67.

Another difference? In the Class of 2027, the percentage of women jumped from 32% to 38%. That was countered by the percentage of international students, which dropped from 45% to 36%. As a whole, there are 18 countries represented in the first-year full-time class, the same as the previous year. True to Goizueta’s history, the class is slightly more seasoned than rival schools, with the class averaging 6.3 years of work experience.

Academically, the largest segment of the class – 31% – earned business degrees. The Social Sciences hold a 20% share of the class, followed by the Humanities (13%) and Engineering (10%). Economics, Public Health, Computer Sciences, and Law also account for shares ranging from 2%-5%. As professionals, Financial Services make up 20% of the class. Consulting (16%), Government (13%), Technology (11%), Media and Entertainment (8%), Consumer Products (7%), and Nonprofits (5%) are also substantively represented in the class. Another 16% of the class possess military experience.

A ‘HIGH-TOUCH, HIGH-CARING COMMUNITY’

According to students and alumni alike, class size ranks among Goizueta’s biggest advantages. Tom Moak Jr., a 2025 grad, describes the full-time MBA program as an “intentionally high-touch, high-caring community.” Call it a best of both worlds scenario. For one, the program is flush with resources. MBAs can choose from 18 different concentrations, including Healthcare, Private Equity, Social Enterprise, and Technology Management. Along with that, they are assigned a personal coach and can participate in over 160 events a year. In Goizueta’s “small-by-design” structure, they can also develop deeper relationships with more people, shoulder more varied roles, and make a greater impact.

“This will afford students the opportunity to learn openly in group-settings,” observes Trevor Tucker.  “Over time, as relationships form, I will never be working beside a stranger. The blend of prior experience will further deepen the learning environment.”

Alexander Banoczi, a classmate of Moak, echoes his points about the classmates. “When I walk onto campus, conversations and greetings immediately start. I don’t just connect with my singular friend group; instead, I’m able to start myriad conversations everywhere I go. We all know each other’s goals, aspirations, and life stages – no discussion feels surface level. When expanded over a year, this environment builds connections and positive feelings that are difficult to quantify – ultimately, it catalyzes relationships that can stand the test of time.”

With a 5:1 student-to-faculty ratio, Banoczi adds that Goizueta MBAs can access their professors more easily than their counterparts at other programs. “I feel comfortable walking into one’s office and striking up a conversation. Since many of our faculty have previously worked in corporate executive positions, I can ask them candid questions and expect a response that includes firsthand learnings from their experiences. Intimate peer and professor relationships foster sustained connections as we mature in our careers; the learnings and conversations don’t stop when the diploma is received – they continue at every step in our career journey.”

Next Page: An Interview With Associate Dean Brian Mitchell and In-Depth Profiles of 12 Members of the Class of 2027.

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