After working in the healthcare industry for several years, Sarah (Sam) Steele’s interest in business grew and she decided to pursue other career opportunities. Upon reflection, she decided to attend Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management in Nashville, Tennessee to shift her career within the healthcare industry. As an MBA student, Steele has had the opportunity to deepen her knowledge and join several student organizations. In the interview, Steele reflects on why she chose to attend Owen and shares a few key tips for MBA applicants.
MBASchooled: What did you do before business school, and why did you choose to apply to business school?
Prior to business school, I worked at Seattle Children’s Hospital as an Infectious Disease Clinical Research Coordinator. I worked in the hospital’s research institute for more than 3.5 years prior to joining the Class of 2022 at the Owen Graduate School of Management. A year into my role at the hospital, I was given a project to create a research study from the ground up. This experience exposed me to the business side of clinical trials, hospital administration, and research regulations. I was lucky enough to have a manager who was willing to answer my many questions, but I wanted to learn and understand the more technical side of business. I was also interested in further developing my leadership skills. My goal with an MBA was to pivot functions within the healthcare industry.
MBASchooled: What were the most important criteria to you when selecting MBA Programs to apply for?
Coming from a large undergraduate university, I wanted a small class size and collaborative environment for my MBA experience. In addition, I was looking to deepen my healthcare knowledge, so my third criterion was a strong healthcare program. Finally, I wanted to live in a city with good food, good people, and good music!
MBASchooled: Based on your own specific career aspirations, what programs, resources or experiences at Owen were most important to you?
In addition to the healthcare classes, I have really enjoyed the Turner Family Center for Social Venture (TFC). This interdisciplinary, student-led center has allowed me to work with graduate students across the Vanderbilt campus on a variety of social impact and environmental projects. Seattle Children’s Hospital is a nonprofit institution and post-MBA, I am looking to continue my career in the social impact space. My connection with the TFC has allowed me to explore social impact opportunities beyond the walls of my graduate program.
MBASchooled: Think back to the MBA application process. What’s something you know now, that you wish you knew then?
You can (and should) negotiate your scholarship by leveraging other offers received from comparable schools.
MBASchooled: Why did you choose to attend Owen?
I was able to interview in-person and was immediately captivated by the Owen community. During my interview day, everyone was so warm and welcoming. I spent the day immersed in student life, attending a business ethics class alongside current students, and asking them as many questions as I could about their program. Owen’s healthcare program is one of the strongest and being located in Nashville provides students a great opportunity to experience all aspects of the industry. I knew coming to business school that I wanted to stay in the healthcare industry.
However, finding a school that could provide me a strong business foundation and build on my healthcare background was harder than I thought. Many schools flaunt healthcare programs, but when you actually dig through course catalogs there are few healthcare courses available. Nashville is the healthcare industry capital, so if you ever wanted to work in healthcare, have great food, enjoy live music, and receive a top business education, Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management in Nashville, TN is the place for you! I knew Owen’s small class size, collaborative environment, location, and strong healthcare program was the perfect fit for me.
MBASchooled: What’s something you’ve learned about Owen this semester, that you didn’t know when you made your admissions decision last year?
In addition to being collaborative, my classmates are resilient and risk-takers because we started our program in the middle of a pandemic. We had no idea how orientation and the first few months of school would turn out, but we have all risen to every challenge that has come our way. There have been many twists and turns to our MBA experience. It has been amazing to see everyone help each other through this difficult time. Group projects and recruiting are a huge part of business school and being virtual certainly adds a new factor. However, everyone has been patient and willing to help one another, whether that is explaining the material, sharing job posts, or conducting mock interviews. The Owen students truly work together to be successful, and I am so grateful for my classmates.
MBASchooled: Now that you’ve been at Owen for a semester, what’s been your favorite experience, and why?
My favorite experience as an MBA student thus far has been seeking out new opportunities in order to continue to grow and learn outside of the classroom. For example, I joined the Turner Family Center’s Turner MBA Impact Investing Network & Training (MIINT) competition put on by Wharton and the Bridges Impact Foundation. The Vanderbilt interdisciplinary team consisted of five students. Our team was given the opportunity to dip our toes into the pool of impact investing and really gain hands-on education and experience in the field. Wharton provided online training modules that helped to guide our team’s learning from how to source a company to navigating the pitch and due-diligence process.
These training modules helped us understand how to analyze the impact companies may have on the community they are serving. With the help of the training modules and virtual workshops, our team sourced and contacted seed-stage founders to further understand their companies, discover their funding round, and gauge their interest in having our team pitch their social enterprise for the competition. Through sourcing and conducting the due diligence process, our team narrowed down our list and selected Purple Financial as the start-up to move forward with. Purple addresses the need for banking services within the disabled community, which is typically overlooked by traditional financial services. The MIINT competition was an amazing opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the social impact space and engage with fellow graduate students from around the world.
MBASchooled: Oftentimes, the word “culture” gets thrown around when talking about MBA programs. Can you characterize the culture at Owen?, and share an example of an experience that you think personifies this?
Outside of classes and clubs, Humans of Owen (HoO) has been one of my favorite opportunities here. HoO invites individuals from the Owen community to tell a personal story. These stories help to break down barriers by reminding us that we are all so similar and seeking connections. It is a great opportunity for stories to be shared and to learn about each other’s backgrounds. Here at Owen, we talk about personal scale. HoO wouldn’t be possible if our class sizes weren’t as small as they are. Telling a personal story in front of faculty and classmates can be difficult but talking about personal struggles can lead to deeper friendships. Humans of Owen is a glimpse into the culture and values I hope to share beyond my MBA.
MBASchooled: What advice do you have, for students who are considering applying or applying to MBA programs right now?
I participated in Forté’s MBALaunch program and found the programming very valuable because it helped to simplify the MBA application process. As a member, you gained access to webinars, trainings, consultants, and much, much more. In addition, I was able to connect with a group of women busy with work, but also applying to business school; we were able to commiserate together and support one another.
During the application process, we had a weekend writing retreat to edit each other’s essays. It was a great way to focus and really get to know the other women in the MBALaunch cohort. Beyond participating in Forté’s programming, I talked to as many current students as possible in order to really get a feel for each business school.
Contributor: Julia Kryzan