After working as a Technical Consultant for international clients at Accenture and leading welfare programs for tribal communities in India as a Program Manager in the State Secretariat, Twisha Phirke (Foster, ‘22) decided she wanted to round out her technical experience with business acumen and decided to pursue an MBA. After deciding on the University of Washington Foster School of Business, Twisha now serves as an MBA Admissions Student Ambassador and regularly speaks to prospective MBA applicants. During this interview, Twisha spoke about her journey to Foster, why she chose Foster, and her advice to prospective MBA applicants going through the MBA admissions journey.
MBASchooled: What did you do before business school, and why did you choose to apply?
I worked as a SAP Technical Consultant at Accenture for 3 years, for a client in the food-agribusiness sector. Post that, I worked with the State Secretariat of Maharashtra, India in a Program Manager role leading education and sustainable livelihood initiatives for the welfare of tribal communities.
Working in such diverse areas helped me identify my true passion of combining my technological proficiency to solve customer pain points and build market-relevant solutions. I understood the importance of having a holistic business view to build a successful strategy around these solutions, and decided to pursue my MBA to cover those knowledge gaps.
MBASchooled: When did you find out when you got admitted? How did you navigate your decision process if you were evaluating multiple schools? (You don’t need to mention the schools, just how you were able to ultimately decide on Foster)
I was a Round 2 admit. I received my admission confirmation in March 2020. I’d applied to only 3 schools, and had received admits from all 3. My decision process involved evaluating each school’s offerings against my future ambitions, course learnings, peer and alumni networks, and location.
MBASchooled: What were the most important questions you asked in order to help make your admissions decision?
- Career outcomes, especially for international students – companies, location, career growth, brand value of the school in that industry
- Academic and project involvement – case-based learning, applied learnings etc.
- Culture of the school
- School’s response to the pandemic and the shift to remote learning
MBASchooled: Who did you talk to that was most helpful in learning information to help you make a decision? What questions did you ask?
I spoke with current students at those schools and their alumni. A few questions I asked:
- Their learnings from MBA and how it has changed their perspective? How their choice of school has impacted that
- What was the best part of the culture at their school?
- Various offerings for applied learning, other than internships – and how that has changed in 2020.
- Faculty and career management involvement.
- How the location of the school has helped build and grow their network?
MBASchooled: What’s something you’ve learned about Foster this semester, that you didn’t know when you made your admissions decision last year?
I’d heard about Foster’s tight-knit community. Foster really does value each member’s opinion, and what has surprised me is the swiftness in which feedback is taken and acted upon!
MBASchooled: Now that you’ve been at Foster for a semester, what’s been your favorite experience, and why?
My favorite experience has undoubtedly been connecting with my peers and alumni! In this virtual environment, each one-on-one meet in-person felt special and more valuable. I think that reflected in the kind of connections that we wanted to make.
MBASchooled: Oftentimes, the word “culture” gets thrown around when talking about MBA programs. Can you characterize the culture at Foster?, and share an example of an experience that you think personifies this?
Foster’s culture is most described as “collaborative” – but what sets it apart is that it is “challenging yet collaborative”.
Being in a class of 110 highly ambitious and competitive folks, it is easy to feel intimidated. But each person is really handpicked in terms of their diverse skill sets, culture and inclusive behavior. This makes Foster a safe space to express ourselves and easy to connect with each one of them on a deeper level. And it is not just this batch of students that have this breadth and depth of understanding, I have experienced this candidness with alumni from 5 years ago as well as 20 years ago.
MBASchooled: Obviously, it’s a little more challenging to find out what a school or program is like as a result of COVID-19. What advice do you have, or what specific actions would you recommend admitted students take, to really get to know a school before selecting a school?
Ask the current students about how the program has changed, and adopt a growth mindset. Try and understand what has been their best experience so far – align if it fits with your learning methods or if you can adapt to it.
It is important to realize that the MBA program has evolved now, and having fixed expectations from it might not be realistic.
MBASchooled: As an MBA Ambassador, what are some of the most common questions that you get from prospective students? What are some questions you wish more prospective students would ask?
The most common questions from prospective students lie around career opportunities, club involvements and the culture at Foster. While these are important, I wish students concentrated more on what their expectation is out of this program and weigh that against the courses offered – ultimately you need to learn skills that make you ready for your next job! Another important question that I have surprisingly not been receiving, is my experience with remote MBA.
MBASchooled: What advice do you have for admitted students on how they can make the best decision?
As mundane as it sounds, really understand what you want to learn from this program in order to get to that next level professionally and personally. Analyse each school’s offerings, location, peer groups and understand if they offer the network and connection that will help you. And remember that this is going to be a life-changing experience, so be prepared with a growth mindset!
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