Tag: co2020 (page 1 of 2)

Student Spotlight: Guilherme Junqueira, Full-Time MBA Class of 2020

Headshot for Guilherme Junqueira

Guilherme Junqueira, MBA Class of 2020

Our Full-Time Class of 2020 is composed of 284 impressive MBAs from all over the world.  Students from outside the U.S. are a valuable part of the Texas McCombs network, bringing their individual perspective and cultural background to Austin. 24% of our 2020 Full-Time MBAs are international students.

We recently caught up with MBA ’20 Guilherme Junqueira, a student originally from Sao Jose do Rio Preto, Brazil. His journey to Texas McCombs offers insight to future international students wanting to earn their MBA here.

Guilherme’s “Why McCombs?”

Guilherme lived in Sao Paulo for nine years where he attended university to study Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. Before coming to Austin for his MBA, Guilherme worked at Oxiteno as a Lead Product Management Analyst.  

When applying to graduate school, Guilherme researched different schools and their admission process online and attended events in Sao Paulo. He expanded his research after taking the GMAT by attending Texas McCombs MBA events, and speaking with current students and alumni via phone calls and emails.

“I wanted to join a top MBA program located in a small to mid-size city and with a small class; these were important factors because I wanted to develop close connections with my classmates in a more focused program environment. After submitting my applications, I came to the U.S. to visit five schools that I had applied to; this definitely was the best way to confirm that McCombs was the best fit for me.”

He attended business school events in Sao Paulo and multi-school events such as the MBA Tour. For him, events offered clarity to understand the similarities and differences of each program. After being admitted, he attended company-sponsored pre-MBA events in both Brazil and the United States. The A.T. Kearney Bootcamp helped confirm and narrow his career priorities post-MBA. He found that he enjoyed participating in national career fairs, such as Prospanica, in career treks and entrepreneurship events.

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By the Numbers: Executive MBA Class Profile

Texas McCombs had a very strong pool of applications when putting together the MBA Class of 2020, and the numbers certainly reflect that. Let’s take a look at the Executive MBA class that started this fall:

The Executive MBA program welcomed 59 top-caliber business professionals to the McCombs School of Business MBA network. These students are experienced in managing teams and decision-making, and many have their own businesses. These industry leaders will surely challenge and inspire one another to reach new heights in their careers over the next two years in Austin.

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First Look: MBA at Houston Class of 2020

New students from all of our MBA programs recently gathered in Austin to prepare for their classes, get to know each other, meet MBA faculty & staff, and have some fun. It was especially exciting to welcome our classes from Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston to their second home here on the UT Austin campus. These students experience the same top caliber curriculum, faculty, and network as our Working Professional students in Austin, but are able to attend classes close to home on campuses in Dallas and Houston.

We had a very strong pool of applications to pull from when putting together our Working Professional MBA classes this year, and the numbers certainly reflect that. Let’s take a look at our Houston class:

The MBA at Houston welcomed 84 awesome students to the program as new members of the Longhorn family. These students are no strangers to the fast-paced, hard-working town of Houston and they are all a true testament to the institution they will come to be challenged by over the next two years.MBA at Houston Class of 2020: 84 students; top industries include energy, healthcare, manufacturing, consulting, technology; students work at companies such as Chevron, Dow chemical, Haliburton, NRG, USAA, GE, Merk, and more

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First Look: MBA at Dallas/Fort Worth Class of 2020

New students from all of our MBA programs recently gathered in Austin to prepare for their classes, get to know each other, meet MBA faculty & staff, and have some fun. It was especially exciting to welcome our classes from Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston to their second home here on the UT Austin campus. These students experience the same top caliber curriculum, faculty, and network as our Working Professional students in Austin, but are able to attend classes close to home on campuses in Dallas and Houston.

We had a very strong pool of applications to pull from when putting together our Working Professional MBA classes this year, and the numbers certainly reflect that. First, let’s take a look at our DFW class:

The MBA at Dallas/Fort Worth welcomed its largest class ever, with 88 new students beginning their MBA journey with Texas McCombs. This is also the most international class the DFW program has ever had and the most diverse in terms of companies/organizations represented.

graphic showing DFW stats for class of 2020: Top Industries include tech, manufacturing, financial services, energy, and travel; top companies include City of Dallas, JP Morgan Chase, Verizon, PepsiCo, Lockheed Martin, Southwest Airlines, and more!

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Student Spotlight: Pallavi Nair, Full-Time MBA Class of 2020

We have the privilege of welcoming Forté Foundation members into our MBA program each fall. The Forté Foundation is a non-profit consortium of top companies and business schools, working to launch women into successful careers through access to education, opportunities, and a supportive network.  Texas McCombs has been a proud Forté partner since it was founded in 2001, and the MBA program participates in Forté events across the country every year.

We recently caught up with a new MBA and Forté Fellow who hadn’t always planned to pursue an MBA, but quickly realized how the Texas McCombs MBA program could help to reach her goals and foster her passion for advocating for women in business. Meet Pallavi Nair!

Class of 2020 MBA, Pallavi Nair

Hook ’em! Class of 2020 MBA, Pallavi Nair

Tell us about your background– the education, volunteer or work experience that led you to want to pursue your MBA?

My hometown is Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, and I have a chemical engineering background. I think what drew me most to engineering is the drive to fix problems and build solutions. After my undergraduate degree, I worked as a product development engineer at PepsiCo R&D, continuing to use this passion to drive new innovation for brands such as Doritos. At some point it became clear to me that while I loved engineering, I was also fascinated by the strategy behind how we innovated. What were the emerging market trends that were actually worth pursuing? How should we leverage the company’s global resources effectively while keeping our regional consumers in mind? I knew about unlocking new technologies, but how did we decide which technologies were worth unlocking? These questions made me realize that I would love to earn my MBA and spend time delving into these topics through hands-on learning experiences and interactions with not only great professors, but classmates who have experience in a variety of business-related fields. I want to keep creating solutions over the next two years and beyond, and can’t wait to start applying the knowledge I gain through my MBA to my problem-solving approach!

What was the application process like for you? Why did you choose Texas McCombs?

I think my application process was a little different than most. I did not decide until early fall that I was ready to apply to b-school; I was very happy at my current job and an MBA was not necessarily a checklist item to further my current career path. Instead, it was the realization of what truly interested me and what I hoped to learn that drove me to apply. I selected the programs I applied to very carefully, based mostly on reputation, location and program structure, and visited each of the campuses. What struck me the most about McCombs as compared to the other schools was the culture. It’s something people mention a lot, but experiencing it in person really makes a difference! I truly felt the McCombs “win-as-one” culture was very evident. The student body truly felt like a family, and the environment felt comfortable and inclusive without sacrificing motivation and a drive for success. I was also extremely humbled when I found out I had been selected as a Forté Fellow by McCombs in my offer of admittance. The desire to drive positive change for gender equality in the workplace was something I had brought up passionately in my application process, and I was very happy to know that the school saw me as a fit representative for Texas McCombs in this arena.

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