Kelley School of Business

Full-time MBA Program


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How Kelley Prepared Me: First-year to Internship

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Whitney Hamilton, MBA’20

This time last year, I was preparing to start a new chapter of my life at the Kelley School of Business. I had just quit my job in Chicago and celebrated at my going away party with friends and family. An entire year later, I look back with CORE behind me, new lifelong friends, and global experiences.

Now that I am 5 weeks into my summer internship, I get the chance to reflect on my first-year through a new lens: how it prepared me to succeed as an intern. I am thrilled to be spending my summer at Conagra as a Brand Intern. The top three things that helped me put my best foot forward during my internship are:

Professor Jonlee Andrews & Academy Projects
I was involved in the Consumer Marketing Academy (CMA) led by Jonlee Andrews. During 2nd semester we participated in an Academy Project where my classmates and I got the opportunity to work with top CPG companies (i.e. Nestle, E&J Gallo, P&G, and Scott’s) on real challenges that they are facing and deliver a recommendation. Between the practical Academy Project, and lessons from Jonlee on how to approach any project, I really got the chance to think outside the box and preview what to expect as a summer intern. My Academy Project experience really set the stage for me to succeed and I have even referred to my notes during my internship. (more…)

Year 1: My B-school Reflection

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Will Fetcenko, MBA’20 

My first year at Kelley went by in the blink of an eye. As I transition into my summer internship at 3M, I’ve had time to reflect on what made this year so incredible – I hope that this reflection can help those about to start their business school journey. If I could go back and remind myself to do just 3 things every day, this is what I’d tell myself.

  1. Use your support system (and be a part of others’). The first year at Kelley is a rollercoaster ride of classes, competitions, recruiting, and extracurriculars. Inevitably, there will be hurdles along the way. Whether you need help studying for a finance final, practicing for an interview, or just need someone to vent to, the Kelley community is there to help. Thankfully, whenever I seemed to lose my footing, I had an amazing group of friends, family, and classmates to lean on and help me get back on my feet (special shout-out to my awesome and supportive wife Kathleen, who is also the President of Kelley Partners’ Club). One of the things that makes Kelley so special is how everyone is always willing to help – so remember, when someone helps you through a challenging time, be sure to look out for ways to pay it forward.
  2. Step outside of your comfort zone. Kelley is the perfect place to build new skills and experiences. There are countless leadership opportunities, events to attend, and chances to travel to new places. Before coming to Kelley, I had never really traveled outside of the U.S. Now, thanks to GLOBASE, I have new international business experience and got to travel all the way to Indonesia for a consulting project! When I first signed up for GLOBASE, I was nervous about traveling all the way to the other side of the world. Looking back, I’m incredibly glad that I was able to travel with an awesome group of students and faculty. It made the trip much more enjoyable and provided a great set of “training wheels” for traveling internationally. If you take these 2 years to say “yes” to new experiences, it’ll be well worth it!
  3. Be yourself. There are so many impressive people at Kelley with different backgrounds and goals, and once things kick off, it’s tempting to start comparing yourself to them. There were times that I felt overwhelmed trying to keep up with others, but once I regrouped and focused on my own goals and progress, everything became much more comfortable. This is where it helps to have a trusted support group to encourage you in tough times and help identify your unique skills and characteristics that will help you stand out naturally. Though you can try to “fake it ‘til you make it” for a while, it’s better to just be yourself and use your time at Kelley to grow.

Hopefully, these tips can help keep you grounded through your first year at Kelley. I’m proud to be here and can’t wait to come back for my second year!

It Takes a Village

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By Casey Bufford, MBA ’20

This time last year, I was preparing for the Orientation Program as a Consortium Fellow. I was also wrapping up work and planning my move to Bloomington as an incoming MBA student. As excited as I was, I was also overwhelmed – I have a family, including a now 3-year old, to think about too. Fortunately, I had many family members and friends to help me make the move and begin my new phase in life as a student. It took a village to get us to Bloomington.

Reflecting on my first year at Kelley as an MBA mom, I recognize and appreciate the village that I have built within the Kelley community too. My village here includes: (more…)

An Internship Trial Run – My Academy Project

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By: Namrata Nesarikar, MBA’20

There’s nothing us millennials love more than a free trial. We want our 30 day free trial of Spotify Premium. We want our free trial class for Orange Theory, and we want our free trial of LinkedIn Premium. The First-Year Academy projects that Kelley MBAs work on during spring semester are the closest thing to a free trial run for our summer internship.

The Academy project is in the first or the second seven weeks of the spring semester, depending on which Academy you are in. In this project, you work with a real company on a real opportunity that they want to capitalize. It offers insight into what your summer internship will be like, and helps you understand specifics like what resources you would have to tap into, and what it would mean to work in a group. Most of all, it offers an environment where you can explore ideas, work through them, and still have a safety net of knowing it will have no significant detrimental impact on the company or the brand in case anything goes wrong.

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Becoming a Meeting Guru

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Natalie Shuntich, MBA ’20

Coming back from winter break I quickly discovered that there are a number of meetings in the Spring Semester. While folks here at Kelley are very collaborative and accommodating, I have found that one of the hardest things is coordinating schedules. If you did not become an Outlook Calendar wizard during Core, I can promise that you will be one by the end of March! Some folks are still recruiting. There are many clubs & activities to choose from every week. And, for those of us who are first-year students, we are now taking classes at different times throughout the day.

How am I budgeting my time? Between balancing my time between interviewing for an internship, meeting with my team for GLOBASE and my team for my Academy Practicum class, and participating in club events—my days are packed. Interviewing is a special kind of busy, and it requires a lot of practice and effort. I probably could write an entire blog devoted to just that, but I will keep it short and simple.

For those of you who are curious about GLOBASE and Academy projects, I can attest that GLOBASE China and the Consumer Marketing Academy (CMA) project are both a lot of work! They probably make up at least 50% of my calendar each week. However, I am very excited about delivering my group’s recommendations for our two clients. My GLOBASE China client is a small hotel in Yunnan, China. They are rated highly on TripAdvisor but are looking to drum up excitement and awareness with a new hotel launch. In contrast, My CMA project client is a large Consumer Packaged Goods Company who is looking to reinvigorate an old brand. As a career switcher, I strongly believe that these two projects are going to help me the most with completing my summer internship. I have learned where to go to find both quantitative and qualitative research. Based on my experience so far, I believe that having a firm grasp of the subject matter is one of the first steps in gaining your client’s trust and being able to find unique consumer insights. I have also learned how to deal with ambiguity and using both marketing and consulting frameworks. One of the most important things I have been learning is how to settle on a team recommendation and bring your client along during that journey.

Outside of job hunting and school, I am also taking the time to interact with my peers and have fun (even if that means putting time on my calendar for club events). I just participated in two events that were an absolute blast! As an active member of the Wine Club and a budding mixologist, I had to go to the “Create Your Own Cocktail Night.” I also got the opportunity to participate in a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration. During this celebration, I got to try some special Asian food items and learn how to play Mahjong, a Chinese game that I have been curious about for some time.

What I Wish I knew Before Starting Business School

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Antonia L. Collins, MBA’20

The decision to attend a full-time MBA program is a life-changing event. Many of us have been away from a formal academic environment (ex. Undergrad) for several years and had adjusted to life as a working adult. As we prepared to leave the working world to become students again, we did our due diligence and talked to current students, alumni, mentors, and sponsors about how to make the most of this experience and things to be mindful of once we arrived on campus. All of those conversations helped me to be ready for this Kelley journey, and I hope that my personal learnings and observations will be helpful to others.

  1. Plan to give yourself some time off before school starts. This was one thing that everybody told me when I was applying to school, but I seriously underestimated how much time I really needed. Many people recommend taking a vacation before school, but personally, I chose not to take any trips so I had time to spend with family and friends as well as time alone to relax. I only had two weeks off before school started—looking back—I wish I had given myself a month off. There isn’t a “one size fits all” answer to how you should spend the time so absolutely do whatever makes sense for you. If that means vacation, time alone, reading a book, visiting with family and friends or anything else—do that. Just make sure that you plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time to get all of those things done. Also, don’t forget to include the time you’ll need to move and get settled in your new place. Sufficient time to get these things done will allow you to begin business school relaxed, decompressed, and ready to take on the road ahead.
  2. Save. Save. Save. Again, this is another one of those things that everybody told me the year or so before I started school, but I wish I had taken more seriously. Most people do not work during business school and have to rely on savings and financial aid for these two years. For me, it has been a huge adjustment to live without a steady income and it would probably be a little easier if I had been more diligent with saving while I was working. Don’t get me wrong, I did save, but looking back, I wish I saved even more. Maybe not taken a few of the trips I took before school and put that money aside to use now. 😊 You’ll still want to enjoy nights out, social activities, and the occasional reward for all your hard work while you’re in school so even when you think you’re saving enough, save a little more—you’ll thank yourself later!
  3. Give yourself the time and space to adjust once school starts. This is one thing that I don’t remember talking about before arriving on campus, but I think is super important. Whether you are coming from across the world or 30 minutes away, going back to school is a big life change. Many people are leaving lifelong friends, significant others, family, and the comfort of a familiar environment to come to a place that is brand new. You’re also getting back into an academic environment where the pace of things can be quite different from what you’re accustomed to. Everyone adjusts differently to change, so be honest with yourself about how and at what speed you adjust. Give yourself permission to feel whatever emotions you’re feeling during this time. If you’re nervous, excited, anxious, or even lonely—that is 100% ok. I felt a mixture of all the above when I first came to Bloomington, and it took the support of my loved ones, encouragement from my new friends, and my own self-assurance to get through. Know that you are not alone on this journey and there are so many people and resources to make sure you are successful here. Also, I can confidently tell you that you will get through it, and everything will be ok!

After reflecting on my first semester of business school, these are the top three things that I wish I had known (or taken more seriously) before beginning my Kelley journey. This experience has been more rewarding than I could have ever imagined. The Kelley family is exactly that—a family. Having that support has been invaluable and business school would not be the same without it. I hope to continue having these amazing experiences, learning more and more and sharing my learnings to make the process a bit easier for others who are also beginning their journey!

 

5 Things I Love about Bloomington

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 Rachel Jones, MBA Candidate Class of 2020

I’ve been thinking a lot about love lately. We all have loves, significant others, family and pets. When I packed everything and moved to Bloomington in July, I knew I liked the city. I had come to visit for my interview and had spent a few days here during Kelley Experience Weekend. Now, one semester later, I am officially ready to say the L-word to Bloomington. I love this city and am so happy with my choice to move my life to Bloomington for the Kelley Full-Time MBA Program. In honor of Valentine’s day, here are 5 things I love about Kelley.

My Classmates
Everyone, especially my classmates, are all the nicest people. We have been here to support each other through Core, recruiting, and everything in between. While everyone here is extremely hard working, they also know when to let loose and have fun. Core, the first semester of business school, is a challenging time. We are busy with school work, recruiting and trying to get to know each other. Luckily, we get to work with the same team of 5 people throughout the semester. On Halloween, my core team decided that it would be fun to “dress up” as power rangers to bring a little laughter to the day. Little things like this, make me love the city of Bloomington. I don’t know if it’s something in the water, or just the great job Kelley does recruiting, but my classmates make Bloomington a better place.

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The Core: Separate Ways

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MBA Class of 2020 Red Cohort

 

By Rob Melick, MBA’20

The full-time MBA program at the  Kelley School of Business offers a unique learning experience called “The Core.” This 14-week intensive program is designed to give you an introduction to all the fundamental business concepts you’ll need to successfully navigate business school, your internship, and whatever career you choose after you leave Kelley. The Core is equal parts exciting, stressful, exhausting, and invigorating. Each incoming class is divided into three color-coordinated cohorts of around 60 students each and within that group of 60, you are placed on a smaller team of 4 or 5 people. You take all your classes with your cohort and do all your group projects with your smaller team.

As my time in “The Core” ends I am struck not only by the number of valuable business skills my classmates and I have picked up, but even more so by how close we have all become. The Core has certainly given us a great business toolkit to carry with us as we head into our second year at Kelley and into our future careers, but I’ll argue that the most valuable item this part of the program provides is the relationships.

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Strollering Around Business School

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Kenny Nicholas, MBA’19

When I started contemplating the idea of returning to school for an MBA and began to investigate different programs, I imagined how my life might look for those intense 22 months. As a father with three small kids I debated how my family and I would make it through the business school experience. After getting everyone on board with the idea of living the student lifestyle, we eventually found our way to Kelley. While this MBA journey has been a roller coaster ride, it has also been full of lessons in time management, teamwork, and communication. I have found there are three keys to successfully navigate the business school road with a family.

Set Priorities and Find the Perfect Balance I learned from experience in my career that if you don’t stand up for your priorities no one else will. I entered school determined to find the perfect balance and give priority to what mattered most at the moment. It was the same routine every time a new class started, being assigned to a group and synchronizing schedules to find a time when we could get together. In those meetings, I shared that I wanted to work around being home for dinner and my kids’ bedtime and that I leave one day a week for family time. Everyone respected these priorities, and I learned that one day to catch up and bond with my family made those long weeks a little shorter and kept me motivated to get through them.

Help your Family and Classmates Get to Know Each Other During Core, I spent more time with the four other members of my core team than I did with my wife and kids. When I introduced my team to my family it made all the difference. My family better understood our goals as we moved through projects. The friendship that came from these interactions made both sides more understanding when extra time was required for an emergency at home or for late nights at school. Inviting my family to be engaged in what I was doing in school helped them to feel included in the business school experience. (more…)

New Experiences, New Friendships and Great Adventure: A Kelley MBA

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Adeola Kamson, MBA’19

 

I wanted the two years I’d spend in business school to not only broaden my professional network but also broaden my friendships and personal connections. For some people, it can be daunting as an adult to make new friends, especially when you’re in an environment where you have the added pressures of academics and career planning. When you couple that with missing the comfort of friends and family back home, it can easily become more stressful. Despite those challenges, my time at Kelley has been filled with new experiences, new friendships, and great adventure. I want to share three things that have helped me during my time here at Kelley to live intentionally while pursuing my goal of making genuine friendships. (more…)

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