When Sean Pais entered the Hildebrand MBA program at Texas McCombs, he knew he wanted more than just classroom theory. Like many ambitious MBA students, he was looking for real-world experience that would test his skills and help him discover new career interests. What he found in McCombs+ Projects exceeded his expectations, leading him from his traditional background into an unexpected passion for marketing and entrepreneurship.
What Are McCombs+ Projects?
McCombs+ Projects represent one of the most distinctive aspects of the Texas McCombs MBA experience. These aren’t your typical academic exercises or simulated case studies. Instead, they’re micro-consulting engagements that last 8-10 weeks, where teams of four to six MBA students partner directly with real companies and organizations to tackle current business challenges.
The program spans an impressive range of industries and project types. Students might find themselves conducting competitive analysis for a tech startup, building financial models for a growing retailer, developing market expansion strategies for an established corporation, or creating go-to-market plans for innovative products. The breadth ensures that every student can find projects that align with their interests and career goals.
McCombs+ Projects Across Hildebrand MBA
Whether you’re pursuing a Full-Time, Working Professional or Executive MBA, McCombs+ Projects offer the same experience: 8-10 weeks working with real organizations on meaningful business challenges.
For Full-Time MBA students, +Projects complement summer internships.
For Working Professional & Executive MBA students, +Projects can substitute for traditional internships.
What makes these projects particularly valuable is their authenticity. Partner organizations don’t just hand over hypothetical problems; they share real data, provide ongoing guidance through designated representatives, and implement the students’ recommendations. It’s consulting experience with actual stakes and measurable impact.
Meet Two Student Consultants from Different Programs
Sean Pais, a Dallas MBA student from the Class of 2026, exemplifies the kind of growth McCombs+ Projects can catalyze. As a working professional student, this project served as an experiential learning opportunity in lieu of a traditional internship, allowing him to gain consulting experience while continuing his career. When he decided to participate, his motivations were clear but broad: apply his newly acquired MBA skills in a different context, test his critical thinking and communication abilities, and gain insights about what types of work truly energized him.
“I wanted to see if the activities I would be completing through a +Project would lead to self-discovery about what types of work and work settings I enjoy,” Pais explains. This self-reflection would prove more prescient than he initially realized.
Project Deep Dive: Transforming Rentsch Brewery’s Marketing Strategy
Sean’s team was matched with Rentsch Brewery, a small operation in Georgetown, Texas, that needed help increasing taproom sales. For students accustomed to working with large corporations, the brewery presented a refreshing change of pace. With a small staff and limited resources, Rentsch offered the team a chance to make meaningful impact on a business that was fundamentally different from their previous experiences.
The project scope centered on developing a comprehensive marketing plan specifically designed to drive more customers to the brewery’s taproom. But like many consulting engagements, the real challenge wasn’t just creating recommendations; it was more so navigating organizational dynamics and change management.
“Some of our marketing proposals included changes to who owned what parts of brewery workflows, which did not always land well with different members of the client team,” Sean recalls. This is where the project became a masterclass in consulting skills that no textbook can fully teach.
The team’s solution was both strategic and diplomatic. They increased communication frequency with the client and, crucially, brought data to support every recommendation. Rather than simply presenting ideas, they showed Rentsch’s team how to test proposals in low-risk, high-upside ways. This approach allowed the brewery to experiment with changes without committing to major operational overhauls.
Parallel Success: Strategy& Energy Innovation
While Sean was helping a local brewery optimize their marketing, across campus, Anita Chen from the Full-Time MBA Class of 2027 – who would also complete a summer internship as part of her program – was tackling a very different challenge with Strategy&. Her project focused on one of the most pressing issues in modern business: meeting the rapidly growing energy demands of AI-powered data centers.
“We worked on Strategy& on a highly topical problem: how do we meet the rapidly surging energy needs of AI and power-hungry data centers,” Chen explains. Her team’s scope included identifying ways that generative AI could improve energy operations and assist with grid interconnection capacity expansion.
For Anita, who saw the project as “a litmus test to see whether I’d enjoy consulting,” the experience was revelatory. The collaborative problem-solving approach and strategic thinking required confirmed her interest in the field. As she puts it: “turns out, I definitely do!”
Key Learnings and Skills Gained
Both students discovered that McCombs+ Projects teach lessons that extend far beyond technical skills. For Sean, the biggest learning centered on organizational dynamics: “When working with external clients in consulting engagements, it is often key to not just understand client goals for the project but the relationship dynamics of each of the decision makers within the client organization.”
This insight reflects a fundamental truth about consulting—success isn’t just about having the right answer, but about understanding how to implement change within complex human systems.
Anita faced her own leadership challenge as the internal project lead. Managing a team with “very diverse technical capabilities and different working personalities” taught her to encourage individual ownership while maintaining coordination through frequent communication. Her solution involved pairing team members strategically and holding regular alignment meetings.
The skills developed extend beyond project management. Both students highlighted unexpected areas of growth—Sean discovered passions for marketing and entrepreneurship he never knew he had, while Anita jokes that “what surprised me the most was how much my PowerPoint skills would improve” thanks to mentor guidance on consultant-level presentations.
Final Presentation and Impact
The culmination of any McCombs+ Project is the final presentation to client stakeholders. For Sean, this moment provided one of the most rewarding aspects of the entire experience. “In our last client presentation, hearing the owners of the brewery let us know how appreciative they were of us committing our free time to trying to help them and to have been acknowledged for bringing in data-backed proposals to help their operations was a very meaningful and rewarding moment.”
This recognition represents more than personal satisfaction—it validates the real value that well-prepared MBA students can bring to organizations of all sizes. The brewery owners didn’t just receive recommendations; they got actionable strategies backed by rigorous analysis and thoughtful implementation planning.
Similarly, Anita’s team at Strategy& was working on issues directly relevant to current industry trends, giving her “a strong grasp of the specific challenges and unique terminology used by consultants” while contributing to solutions for one of business’s most pressing infrastructure challenges.
The Broader McCombs+ Experience
McCombs+ Projects don’t exist in isolation. They’re part of a comprehensive experiential learning ecosystem that includes professional coaching, leadership seminars, and networking events. Students gain one-on-one access to expert coaches and attend workshops covering communication skills, valuation techniques, and entrepreneurial selling.
The program’s competitive selection process ensures high-quality partnerships. Both students and partner organizations have input in the matching process, leading to engagements that align interests and maximize learning potential.
For partner organizations, participation is free, requiring only a moderate time commitment (typically 1-2 hours per week) for project coordination and support. This structure creates a win-win dynamic where companies get valuable consulting work while students gain authentic professional experience.
Advice for Future Participants
Based on their experiences, both Sean and Anita offer practical advice for future McCombs+ participants. The key themes center on communication, adaptability, and openness to discovery.
Sean emphasizes the importance of understanding organizational dynamics early: “If we had done a better job of this earlier on, there is a chance that our proposals would have landed with better impact if we had worked through the change management process more effectively.”
Anita’s advice focuses on team leadership and collaboration. Her approach of encouraging ownership while maintaining coordination through frequent communication proved effective for managing diverse team capabilities.
Both students also highlight the networking benefits. As Sean notes, “The +Project was also a great way to network and build stronger relationships with my fellow McCombs MBAs.” For Anita, the alumni connections proved particularly valuable: “so many McCombs alumni at consulting firms have also completed the program.”
Conclusion
McCombs+ Projects represent experiential learning at its finest—real challenges, real clients, real impact. For Sean, the experience confirmed new career interests in marketing and entrepreneurship while developing consulting skills he never expected to need. For Anita, it validated her interest in consulting while building industry-specific knowledge and presentation capabilities.
These projects bridge the crucial gap between classroom theory and professional practice. They provide MBA students with the opportunity to test their skills, discover new interests, and build relationships that extend well beyond graduation.
For prospective MBA students considering Texas McCombs, the McCombs+ program demonstrates the school’s commitment to practical, career-oriented education. It’s not enough to learn business concepts in isolation—true business education happens when students apply those concepts to help real organizations solve real problems.
The program’s success lies in its authenticity. These aren’t simulations or role-playing exercises. They’re genuine consulting engagements where student recommendations shape business decisions and where the skills developed translate directly to post-graduation success.
Whether you’re drawn to small business challenges like Sean’s brewery project or large-scale strategic issues like Anita’s energy infrastructure work, McCombs+ Projects offer the hands-on experience that transforms good students into exceptional business leaders.
Ready to begin your MBA journey? Learn more about the Hildebrand MBA at Texas McCombs. For detailed information about application components and deadlines, check out our Application Process page.
