Pursuing an MBA at Goizueta Business School

After working in the corporate talent acquisition space, Bryan Shepherd (Goizueta, ‘22) decided he wanted to broaden his experience to include strategy, finance, and operations, and decided to pursue an MBA. Bryan ended up at Emory University (Goizueta) after a lengthy decision process and prioritized choosing a highly collaborative and close knit community, along with a school with a focus in consulting. During this interview, Bryan spoke about his decision to get an MBA, why he chose Goizueta, and his advice to prospective MBA applicants.

MBASchooled: What did you do before business school, and why did you choose to come to business school?

Before business school, I led executive/corporate talent acquisition projects and organizational development consulting engagements. I had success in this work, but I wanted to work with the most complex challenges that businesses could face, as my work was often downstream from strategy development. I wanted to understand the links between strategy, finance, operations, and the overall business. 

MBASchooled: Why did you choose to attend Emory? 

I knew I wanted to focus on consulting at a school with a highly collaborative environment, as I expected to learn both from my professors and my cohort. Emory had incredible consulting outcomes, a community I could envision myself adding value to, and I could develop close relationships with both professors and the class. I knew I would have a spotlight on my development areas here. 

MBASchooled: What was your decision process like? (When did you find out, were you considering other schools, when did you make your final decision?) 

My decision process was quite long, but totally worth it. I applied and was admitted to Goizueta in round one. I applied to five different schools in round one (early October), and added two additional schools in round two, mostly all members of the Consortium of Graduate Study in Management. I was considering three similar schools by March, at which point funding decisions had come back. I collected my data early, and allowed my intuition to help me make the final decision. 

MBASchooled: What resources were most helpful to making your decision? Did you talk to any people that were especially helpful?

I was able to have clear priorities because I knew I wanted an MBA around 2015, when I finished my MS degree – the MBA difference was clear in the cyclical recruiting opportunities at top schools. My most helpful resources were conversations with high-performing current students; they helped me think critically about my priorities and goals and offered an ear that allowed me to feel confident in my decisions. The other resources that were very helpful were Angela Guido’s 7 deadly myths of MBA recruiting, campus recruiting events and diversity weekends, admitted student events, MBA fairs, and many conversations with alumni as well. 

MBASchooled: Did you attend any virtual admitted students events? If so, what were those like? Were they helpful?

I only attended the virtual admitted student event at Emory, Welcome Weekend. This was very helpful in understanding how to navigate challenges, get used to online learning, and who to go to when I did encounter small and large issues alike. 

MBASchooled: Oftentimes, the word “culture” gets thrown around when talking about MBA programs. Can you characterize the culture at Emory? Can you share an example of an experience that you think personifies what this means? 

I’m a big fan of culture, despite how it’s become a bit of a buzzword in recent years. This is the shared systems of values, practices, and beliefs of an organization. The culture at Goizueta is tight-knit and focused on rigor and growth. This is hard to explain but for example, I’ve often expected to have a me vs. them relationship with professors, stemming from formative experiences in grade school. 

At Goizueta, professors, program leads, students, and alumni look out for one another like a team – they want you to grow and they want you to reach your potential. I’ve worked with our admissions team in my first semester to help put on an incredible recruitment event focused on increasing the numbers of fellow underrepresented groups on campus – our team listened to student feedback in putting on the first virtual event, with great turnout. I also love that students have access to both administrators and faculty. The belief here is that if you are at Goizueta you deserve to be here, and they are going to push you to reach your highest potential. 

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? 

My advice is to build as many relationships as you can with both current students and other prospective students , especially when you share similar values. Those with similar goals/values can serve as a proxy for your assessments, and many current students will be willing to give an unbiased view, since we are looking for classmates that want to be at our institutions as well. 

Many of the CGSM fellows gave extremely candid feedback on my resume, essays, and mock interview performance, as they knew I had a similar interest in increasing the number of URM students entering business school and subsequently, business leadership. I would also recommend taking class visits after you’ve been admitted to target schools, as your questions will evolve – try to understand how they prepare you for recruiting and how they might be able to help you improve personal gaps. 

MBASchooled: What’s something you wish you knew more about before starting your MBA at Emory?

I was very prepared coming into our core semester, but I wish that I had taken Goizueta’s brand of “day one readiness,” more seriously. Goizueta gets you ready for success in recruiting and academics from day one, and I needed to have my mind ready to be challenged from the first interactions. 

MBASchooled: Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to recently admitted MBA students about how to make the best possible admissions decision?

• Do your research early – know what you want from your career and use that to form a target list of schools 
• Have a strong list of questions to asks each target school 
• Be clear on your goals – don’t get caught up purely in prestige or rank, especially if those things do not advance your career goals 
• An MBA from a top school is only as valuable as your willingness to engage with the community you’ll be joining 
• Think both about what you can get from a program and the potential value you might be able to add 
• Once you’ve compiled your research and are getting your questions answered through connections with admissions staff, current students, and alum – pay attention to your energy level. The data is nice, but you have to be able to see yourself thriving in a community. Don’t force a fit that isn’t there – listen to your intuition as well.