Questrom School of Business: Graduate Student Blog

Choose Your Own Adventure

January 27th, 2017

Dual Degrees, International Field Seminars, Cross-Registration, and More -First-Year MBA Student Shironda White Reflects on the Many Opportunities Questrom Has To Offer

“I couldn’t decide between Israel and Latin America,” Shironda White said of the International Field Seminar options. “So I’m going to both.” Shironda, a first-year MBA candidate, is gearing up for a fourth module (quarter) of jet setting around the world as part of her MBA experience. With the eventual goal of eradicating food deserts in the US, she chose the Israel Field Seminar for its focus on entrepreneurial ecosystems and the Latin America Field Seminar for its focus on supply chain sustainability and corporate social responsibility (with trips that include wine tasting and learning about agriculture and aquaculture).

Questrom’s MBA offerings are unique in that they provide students with opportunities for outside study, whether it’s across the campus or around the globe. Cross-registration and dual degree programs at other BU schools are common, as are the international field seminars in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and other regions.

"This is one of the reasons I chose Questrom" Shironda says of the options she has to choose from. "I wanted to study abroad, but not necessarily in just one place. I'm also interested in cross-registering at the Law School and the School of Public Health, and not every business school allows cross-registration. Questrom truly gives me the opportunity to chart my own path.”

Among Shironda's other plans for her MBA experience: An internship this summer with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She secured the internship through Questrom's partnership with Management Leadership for Tomorrow, a premiere MBA professional development and business school prep program. The Gates Foundation invites prospective students from a select number of schools and MLT fellows to apply for its internship program, so attending Questrom was instrumental in helping her secure the offer.

When asked what advice should would give to prospective students entering business schools, Shironda replies: “The best advice I ever received was from a consultant at Strategy& this summer. He said not to do the normal, standard stuff. Find out what really interests you, what you’re really passionate about, and if you don’t see an opportunity to do it, create one. For me that included not just international study and learning outside of the classroom about entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility, but also building strong relationships with students at other schools, taking a range of classes in law and public health, and hopefully working with a faculty member next year on research in corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurship. Questrom is both large enough and small enough to really find (or create) what works for you.”

Students of Questrom, MS-MBA Edition: Consulting at PwC

November 4th, 2016

Chelsea Dilley, MS-MBA ‘17, Finds Her Passion in Financial Services Consulting

Converting an internship to a full-time offer isn’t easy. But for Chelsea Dilley, MS-MBA ‘17, a summer at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a Senior Associate in their Advisory - Financial Services - Risk & Regulation division proved successful.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a consulting firm that regularly recruits at Questrom, is one of the world’s largest providers of Assurance, Tax, and Advisory services. Chelsea has a legal background representing large financial institutions in international white collar litigation, and found the transition to PwC’s financial services consulting a natural next step. During her time as an intern, Chelsea worked on site with an Atlanta-based client, focusing on an overhaul of their enterprise risk systems. Her role involved a lot of project management work, and she credits Questrom's focus on teaming with her success.

Recruiters at Questrom know that the emphasis on teaming is one of the MBA program's greatest strengths, and this was ultimately what really set Chelsea apart from her intern peers. Without having the same emphasis on teaming in their schools, working on team projects wasn't as easy a transition for them. Chelsea's managers were impressed with how well she could drop into a team and work collaboratively with anyone under tight deadlines and high client expectations.

When asked what she enjoyed most about her internship, Chelsea said it was the diversity of cases and projects, as well as its problem-solving nature. Not having a consulting background wasn't a challenge, as one might assume - in fact, it was actually common for PwC to have interns without backgrounds in consulting. They were looking to draw upon the skills and expertise of people with other industry experience.

The best advice Chelsea offered was to use the internship to continue to build your network. The company is evaluating you, but you are also evaluating the type of environment the company has and what it would be like to work there full-time. She suggests meeting new people and talking to them about their roles. That's a huge opportunity that interns often overlook because they're so focused on just doing the job. One of the things she really admired about PwC is that every year they have a Promotion Day where they celebrate everyone who was promoted within the year. During that time, they take the entire day off to celebrate, and for the 2016 Promotion Day they hosted Trevor Noah at Madison Square Garden as well as a performance painter. She really appreciated the way they celebrated employees' accomplishments.

Ultimately, Chelsea decided PwC was the perfect fit for her, and the firm agreed. She has just accepted a full-time offer and will start fall 2017.

Students of Questrom: PNP MBA Edition

October 21st, 2016

2nd-Year MBA Candidate Danielle Valle Gilchrist Helps Dunkin's Foundation Rebrand

During the summer of 2016, Second-Year Full-Time MBA Candidate Danielle Valle Gilchrist interned at The Dunkin' Donuts & Baskin Robbins Community Foundation, just as the foundation's mission and focus were changing and they were in the process of emerging a new brand. Joining the foundation during this important time presented an exciting challenge for Gilchrist, whose work during the summer helped facilitate this transition.

When asked about the foundation's new direction, Danielle responded, "the foundation now brings simple moments of joy to sick and hungry children." She explained that in addition to having a partnership with a national food organization, Dunkin' Brands also supports children's health. Her primary summer project was to benchmark children’s health partnerships with nonprofits and to make recommendations of which nonprofit organizations to partner with. She credits her first-year Strategy and Marketing classes for giving her the tools needed to succeed in this role.

Starting her internship on National Coffee Day, Danielle was one of four MBA interns to work in the foundation's Canton, MA headquarters during the summer. While her internship required a lot of research, that research at times included field trips. One day, the interns were taken on a tour of the Dunkin' Brands R&D lab, visiting the kitchen where new flavors of ice cream, coffee and donuts are developed and taste-testing as part of their work. They also learned how donuts are made.

When asked about her biggest challenge during the internship, Danielle stated it was learning the corporate model. As a Public and Nonprofit (PNP) MBA candidate, Danielle comes from a government background where everyone approaches problem from a similar mindset. Having an internship in a corporate setting where there are multiple stakeholders and priorities reminded her that sometimes, obtaining stakeholder buy-in can be challenging. She now has an increased level of admiration for people in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) field who are able to navigate the challenges.

Danielle planned her internship search early. She knew she wanted to work in Corporate Social Responsibility, and not only is this niche field difficult to enter, there also aren't many structured MBA internships in the public and nonprofit sectors in general. Leveraging her Questrom connections, she contacted alumni who are currently in the field and found out what they did for summer internships. She learned that Dunkin Brands had already hired Questrom students for this particular internship, so she connected with Questrom faculty who were able to make important introductions to Dunkin' Brands management.

What's next for Danielle? She plans to enter the field of Corporate Social Responsibility after graduation, and this internship, along with her pre-MBA experience, Questrom MBA, and faculty and alumni connections, will undoubtedly propel her to success.

Students of Questrom: MBA+MPH Edition

April 29th, 2016

Name: Sam Read, Master of Public Health (MPH), MBA '17

Background?

I was born in Washington, DC, grew up in Los Angeles, and went to high school in Bethesda, Maryland. I graduated with a BA in psychology from Bowdoin College in Maine, and then taught science to ESL students in Taiwan, before returning to the US to pursue a career in healthcare. I was a research coordinator at the UC San Francisco Cancer Center, and then a research associate at ICON (a contract research organization), monitoring operations at West Coast study sites for Phase III therapeutic oncology trials.

Why did you choose BU?

I was originally interested in just the MPH degree, but a professional mentor told me to consider dual MBA/MPH programs where I could build a solid business foundation, but also engage interests in health policy and epidemiology. BU immediately stood out, with top-10 nationally ranked Health Sector Management MBA and MPH programs. Going to school in Boston - a global biomedical hub - was also a big factor in my decision, and after I visited BU’s campus, I knew it was a place where I could challenge myself and succeed.

What are you involved in at BU?

This year I was a representative on the Questrom Health Sector Management Club, a student-run organization that coordinated networking events, guest speakers, and off-campus company “treks”. The second year students on the club were great mentors and incredibly supportive. Next year I look forward to being the club’s Vice President and building on this year’s success. I’m also the Director of Media for the 2016 Questrom Health & Life Sciences Conference, an annual event in October that will host over 350 students and professionals from across all sectors of the US healthcare industry.

What do you love about Questrom?

The academic community at Questrom is incredibly diverse, both culturally and professionally - from my classmates who are pursuing an MS in Information Systems or the Public/Non-Profit MBA, to the 76 countries that are represented by students in the program. Everybody here has a unique set of interests, but shares a common desire to be challenged and think critically. Our equally diverse faculty does an amazing job of challenging us to get out of our comfort zones are really learn from each other.

Favorite memory?

During our first-semester Marketing class, my team was researching the social media strategies of nationwide breakfast chain restaurants. The team consensus indicated that “field research” would be required - with lots of pancakes, syrup, and coffee! We found a booth in a local diner and got straight to “work.”

Questrom iTrek

April 13th, 2016

The Questrom iTrek is a student-led trek to Israel over spring break, focused on entrepreneurship and innovation. The group visited Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and a Bedouin encampment in the desert. During the trip, students learned about the history and political situation in the region through visits to the religious sites of Jerusalem, the Holocaust Museum, and the Peres Center for Peace. The trip also included visits to multi-national and Israeli companies to discuss what gives Israel its innovative edge.