Megha Reddy Yeruva

Washington University in St Louis, Olin Business School

“One can have it all: I strive to manifest these words through passion and persistence.”

Hometown: Hyderabad, India

Fun Fact About Yourself: So I think I can dance! I am usually quite shy and had major stage fright for most part of my life, but when it came to a dance performance, I was completely different for those few minutes where I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of my presence on stage. Dance can do that to me!

Undergraduate School and Major: St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi ; Mathematics

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: EBSCO Information Services, Account Executive

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the school’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? While there were several factors like the small class size and strong alumni who really wanted to help, the differentiator for me was the school’s close involvement and guidance at every step of the way—even before being accepted into the program (e.g. I was assigned a coordinator during my application cycle who even remembered to wish me luck before my GRE exam, and that surprised me). There were many more such surprises later on, but it was in these little things where I felt that the school genuinely cares and pays attention to each of us. This aspect confirmed my decision to join WashU Olin.

What quality best describes your MBA classmates and why? Diversity – The school has made sure that our classmates and our core team mates are all from different backgrounds so that we get to learn different perspectives and work together. Right from the beginning of the semester, they have emphasized greatly on the best team-building practices and have brought us to work together in various activities. Through this, it’s amazing to learn about people who are completely different from me.

What club or activity excites you most at this school? – We are still applying to various clubs and the process is on-going, but the Olin’s St. Louis Impact Initiative (SLII) excites me the most as we get to provide consulting services to various entrepreneurs in the city. I think it’s going to be a great experience to go out there and solve some real problems.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Accomplishments can be both quantitative and qualitative, and I personally give more importance to the qualitative aspects of my professionalism. That being said, I consider my biggest achievements (in my four-year career) to be those moments where my managers and my team have constantly appreciated me for being a wonderful team player and a force that drove the team to working and achieving together in-spite of differences. This compliment meant a lot to me!

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? There is so much to the business world that I am unaware of — particularly the industries and functions out there that I never got to experience. And for someone like me who wants to become a versatile professional and a leader, I realized that I needed to step out, learn and explore as much as I can, hence MBA!

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? – The question about my long-term goals post MBA. It was difficult to be specific about something so far away.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I prioritized the school’s program/curriculum, class size, culture, and career opportunities. I definitely started my research from various sources on the web, including Poets & Quants. I attended a couple of MBA fairs in my home country, and I researched each school’s placement reports. But what helped me the most were my conversations with alumni from various schools of my interest. It really made a difference in my decision-making and gave me clarity about the culture of each school that I was considering.

What was your defining moment and how did it prepare you for business school? I had stage fright throughout my childhood. I could barely speak up in public and I carried this all the way until my undergraduate-graduation. However, ironically, I landed myself in a business development role where my main job was to speak, present, and convince a crowd of any size. During all this, my defining moment came in the summer of 2017 when I had to present and inspire a crowd of 150+ parents to enroll their children into a coding & app development camp. While I dreaded every moment until that talk – and prayed like never before – my presentation actually turned out to be the biggest hit of that year as we received nearly 100 enrollments and reached a point where we had to refuse some students due to lower seating capacity. That incident taught me a lot and showed me that I am capable of so much more than I thought. These new skills and confidence prepared me for a lot of situations thereafter, including business school.

DON’T MISS: MEET WASHINGTON OLIN’S MBA CLASS OF 2022