Meet Carnegie Mellon Tepper’s MBA Class Of 2023

5 REASONS TO CHOOSE CARNEGIE MELLON TEPPER

1) Experiential Learning: “Among the many reasons I chose to attend Tepper, one that stands out is the breadth of opportunity to get hands-on experience that will benefit my future career. Much of this is woven into the coursework, with highly specific electives in your track or concentration eventually culminating in a capstone project. Beyond the classroom, the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship has a track record that speaks for itself, with many opportunities to get practical experience in growing a new venture.”
Jason Ferry (’23)

2) STEM Focus: “Tepper MBA’s STEM designation was definitely a large selling point that drew me to the program. Throughout my life, I’ve always been drawn to math and science and have enjoyed any part of my job involving hands-on experience with analytics, technology and data. In my post-MBA career, while I may not be directly writing code, building a predictive model, or completing an optimization exercise, I will likely often be put in a position where I have to explain the process and results of these exercises to others. My hope is that Tepper’s STEM MBA will give me the experience needed to understand and coherently explain more technical concepts to non-technical audiences.”
Nick Pugliaresi (’23)

“One of the key aspects that led me to choose Carnegie Mellon was the importance that the program put on technology’s role in driving business solutions. It is evident that technology will continue to change every industry and company function, so it was exciting to see that Tepper prioritized that understanding and made sure to incorporate tech at the center of every business discussion. This is a passion area for me, especially as companies look to rebound and innovate for the future.”
Alejandro Zamora(’23)

3) Accelerate Leadership Center: “I am particularly excited for the opportunity to build a relationship with the coaches from Tepper’s Accelerate Leadership Center. A major goal of mine at Tepper is to continue discovering and personalizing my ideal leadership style and to further develop my communication skills. ALC’s individualized coaching and leadership workshops are an incredible resource for developing these areas that I look forward to utilizing frequently.”
Jason Ferry (’23)

“The Accelerate Leadership Center (ALC) was a major reason why I chose to come to Tepper. The ALC has its office right inside the MBA Commons where students can access one-on-one leadership coaching and attend workshops and programs to achieve our leadership goals. It is such a unique part of the Tepper program that I did not see replicated anywhere else. My one-on-one sessions with the leadership coaches at ALC have been invaluable in my growth over the past two years. Also, ALC’s SHIFT program has been an incredible way to include art and empathy in my business school education that has deepened my connection with my classmates.”
Matt Griffin (’21)

4) Entrepreneurship: “The Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship! It’s been a dream of mine to either start a company one day or to be a part of a burgeoning start up with an exciting idea. My career thus far has been at a large firm, and I’m excited to pivot my focus towards learning the nuts-and-bolts of starting and running a successful early-stage venture. The Swartz Center has a great reputation for collaboration across the different schools at Carnegie Mellon, and I’m excited at the prospect of working alongside some of the brilliant engineers, designers, scientists and mathematicians also at the university.”
Nick Pugliaresi (’23)

“There’s a string of courses at Tepper that allows you to progressively flesh out your entrepreneurial ideas. It starts with Lean Entrepreneurship, grows through Innovation & Commercialization, and culminates with a semester-long capstone project. These classes were critical because they gave me the opportunity to test things out, collect data, and get the feedback I needed to take the next step with my startup. Entrepreneurship can’t be taught, but it can be learned. You learn by doing it, and the experiential nature of these classes was exactly the environment I needed to get my startup to a place where I was comfortable going all in once my program was complete.”
Mathew Polowitz (’21)

5) Memorable Traditions: “Tepper Reads is a book club program run by our Accelerate Leadership Center (ALC). Business school is usually oriented around creating strategies, creating financial models, and developing your leadership skills. Tepper Reads is a very welcome focus on human nature and human stories; after all, we create products and services for people. The ALC intentionally picks books that are meant to expose us to important narratives, particularly those that have been historically marginalized. In spring 2020, we read Exit West and had the opportunity to speak with author Mohsin Hamid. Fall 2020 brought Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys and my classmates and I discussed the history behind Whitehead’s heartrending story. This spring, we are reading The Vanishing Half and I am very excited to hear from Brit Bennett herself at the end of the semester!”
Priya Gupta (’21)

“Tepper has a long-standing tradition every Friday at 5pm called B**rs. It is an event based around community and signals the end of a work week. On Fridays, you can find most students hanging around campus working on group projects or attending corporate events. When 5 o’clock hits, all the floors are a ghost town and the entire MBA program is in the masters lounge enjoying food and drinks with classmates, faculty, alumni, and friends. I love this tradition because no matter how busy you think you are, everyone takes a pause and gets together and connects once a week.”
Melissa Bizzari (’21)

ADVICE TO PROSPECTIVE TEPPER APPLICANTS

“I would say the key factor is to demonstrate why you think your background makes you a strong fit for Tepper. Between its entrepreneurial spirit, analytical rigor, and small class size, Tepper offers a very unique and personal MBA experience, and you will want to demonstrate to admissions why you are a fit for the community on both a professional level (i.e. how does your background align with Tepper’s offerings and how will that lead you to your career goals) and on a personal level how you will fit into the community.”
Jason Ferry (’23)

“Looking back on my experience recruiting with CMU and other schools, I truly believe the most influential aspect was my engagement through the admissions process. Starting out, it can be rather daunting attending information sessions that all draw out the school’s deadlines and process, typical interview questions, and the all-important GMAT/GRE score.

Where I felt I learned the most information was in my 1-on-1 conversations with faculty and current students. Specifically at CMU, I made an effort to connect with students across various disciplines so that I could learn about their individual experiences, successes, and failures. Across all of my conversations, it was obvious that there were two overarching themes. First, each student outlined multiple experiences where they felt Tepper was an extremely collaborative environment. Second, there was this theme of “technology driving business decisions” woven into every conversation and story. Taking both of those themes, I made sure to incorporate them into all of my essays, documents, and interviews with the Tepper staff as it pertained to my personal life. I think there is an aspect of showing the admissions team that you are already like the students they have on campus that helps make the decision to admit students that much easier.”
Alejandro Zamora (’23)

“In my business school applications, I tried as best I could to tell my story in a genuine way. Before I jumped into the application process, I reflected about what kinds of work I like to do – improving processes, telling stories, and negotiating agreements. I reflected about what I feel my strengths are – leading teams, showing empathy, and analyzing data. In my applications, I told stories that showed how I will bring these strengths to the MBA program to benefit my classmates. I also shared how these strengths will help me succeed in an internship and after graduation.

In my application, I didn’t go after a role or an industry; I went after a mission. My long-term goal is to work in the field of AI and ethics. From that mission, I mapped out what I wanted to achieve in business school and the steps—academic and extracurricular—that would set me up for success. I’ll also give a quick plug for doing a dual degree. I’m pursuing an MBA and MSPPM (public policy). I am a firm believer that pursuing interdisciplinary study will naturally bring a unique and more holistic perspective to the MBA program.”
Frank Avino (’21)

MBA Student	Hometown	Undergrad Alma Mater	Last Employer
Parima Budsaratragoon	Bangkok, Thailand	Boston University	Accenture Solutions
Saswati Devi	Odisha, India	College of Engineering & Technology, Bhubaneswar	NVIDIA Graphics
James B. Evans	México City, México	Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM)	U.S. Bank
Jason Ferry	Boulder, CO	Northwestern University	Ankura Consulting
Charu Goyal	Bathinda, Punjab	Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology, GGSIPU, Delhi	Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
Jeremy Levine	Flemington, NJ	Franklin & Marshall College	Labcorp
Tanvi Parmar	South Brunswick, NJ	Case Western Reserve University	PNC Bank
Nick Pugliaresi	Washington, D.C.	Dartmouth College	Optum
José Vargas	Barranquilla, Colombia	Universidad de Los Andes	HUMAN Security
Tyler Weger	San Carlos, CA	Cal Poly San Luis Obispo	Goride Bicycles
Kendall Williams	Oakland, CA	North Carolina A&T State University	Collins Aerospace
Alejandro Zamora	Los Angeles, CA	Purdue University	Apex Systems