Dana Greene came to USC Marshall after working in the hotel asset management industry in order to pivot to a career within marketing. During her application process, Dana chose to focus on schools focused on career placement, networking and class size. In this interview, Dana spoke about her journey to business school and her advice to prospective MBA students.
MBASchooled: What did you do before business school, and why did you choose to apply?
Prior to business school I worked for Fulcrum Hospitality, a hotel asset management and investment firm located in Jersey City, NJ. I worked in both the asset management and acquisitions capacity to enhance the value of various hotels across the country and underwrite potential investments. While I enjoyed my time at Fulcrum and learned several valuable skills that will benefit me for the rest of my career, I decided to apply to business school to make a career transition with hopes of pivoting into a marketing role.
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 Marshall)
After applying to Marshall in one of the last rounds, I found out of my acceptance in June.
MBASchooled: What were the most important questions you asked in order to help make your admissions decision?
To better evaluate my admissions decision, I asked questions centered around career placement, networking opportunities, class-size, and culture. I reached out to several current second years, each interested in different industries post graduation, to better understand their experiences at Marshall. These conversations also gave me a glimpse at the supportive culture at Marshall, which was a major factor in my decision.
MBASchooled: Think back to the MBA application process. What’s something you know now, that you wish you knew then?
I wish I knew that the people you are talking to during the application process (admissions officers, ambassador, professors, current students, etc.) truly want to help you make the best decision for you. Take the time to reach out to current and former students and ask about their experience.
MBASchooled: What is something that admitted MBA students should know about Marshall?
The student body at Marshall is immensely supportive and collaborative. From school-work to interview prep and everything in between, the students at Marshall truly want to see their classmates succeed. It’s very special.
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?
I will caveat this by saying that I am hopeful that we will get in the physical classroom soon! But, given the uncertainty of life these days, to help prospective students get to know a school before making a final decision, I would recommend talking to students who have attended both online and on-campus classes to better understand what the transition was like and how professors have adapted. In this new Zoom world, I would also ask current students about how their professors have been able to keep them engaged and some of the positives they see from the online environment rather than only asking about the drawbacks.
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?
Most of the questions I am asked are about internship and full-time career placement such as “What companies recruit at Marshall?” and “What is the most popular industries for Marshall students to go into?”
While getting a better understanding for the answers to those questions is essential, I wish more students would ask about the culture of the student body at Marshall. At the end of the day its your classmates that you will spend hours with everyday in and out of the classroom, so it’s important that prospective students get a feel for the day-to-day life of the students. While getting your dream job out of business school is definitely one goal, hopefully you’ll make lifelong friends too!
MBASchooled: What advice do you have for admitted students on how they can make the best decision?
Everything happens for a reason. At the moment, it’s very easy to get stressed about the small things and get overwhelmed by every decision, I certainly did. But, if you trust your gut and think about the reason you want to make a change and go back to school the decision becomes much clearer. As I mentioned before, definitely reach out to current and former students as well.