Andy Jin

University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School

“Overthinker who makes sure to leave no time to overthink.”

Fun fact about yourself: I thought turning on the light inside the car was illegal until I was 17.

Hometown: Potomac, Maryland

High School: Winston Churchill High School

Major: B.S. Business Administration and B.A. in Economics

Minor: Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College:

• UNC Undergraduate Consulting Club
  • President
• UNC Ascend Pan-Asian Business Club
  • Co-President
  • Executive Vice President
  • Director of Community Relations
• UNC Men’s Club Volleyball
  • Co-President and Player
• 180 Degrees Consulting, UNC-Chapel Hill
  • Director of External Relations
  • Senior Advisor
  • Project Lead
  • Consultant
• Parr Center for Ethics, UNC-Chapel Hill
  • Mentor
  • Fellow
• STAR (Student Teams Achieving Results)
  • Ambassador

Honors & Awards:

• Phi Beta Kappa
• Honors Carolina
• Dean’s List
• Curtis Cover Memorial Scholarship
• Medelin Scholarship

Where have you interned during your college career?

• Insight Sourcing Group, Summer Consulting Analyst, in Atlanta, Georgia
• TruLab, Business Development Intern, in Durham, North Carolina

Where will you be working after graduation? Bain & Company, Associate Consultant in Atlanta, Georgia

Who is your favorite business professor? Shimul Melwani has been one of my biggest supporters since talking her Organization Behavior class. Not only has she made strides to foster an incredible environment at UNC Kenan-Flagler as Associate Dean of the Undergraduate Business Program, but she continues to build bridges across campuses and the world with new collaborations and global programs. She’s widely known as one of the most approachable faculty despite her incredibly busy schedule juggling administration, teaching, and research. What sets Shimul apart is her unwavering commitment to student success. Whether brainstorming new electives or cultivating a supportive learning environment, her initiatives have enriched our community at UNC Kenan-Flagler with innovation and collaboration.

I would be remiss to not acknowledge the countless faculty and staff at UNC Kenan-Flagler who have supported me. I want to extend a thank you to the entirety of the Undergraduate Business Program faculty and staff and a special shout-out to career coach Joe Hayes who has recently moved to a new position at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

What is the biggest lesson you gained from studying business?

While we are encouraged to specialize early, in a field as multifaceted as business, it is incredibly useful to develop a diverse background and the ability to think through problems with an interdisciplinary approach, Fostering a breadth of knowledge allows us to draw connections between seemingly disparate ideas. Through studying business, I have cultivated a skillset that is both adaptable but also practical. Particularly with the emergence of narrow machine learning models, this generalist approach may prove to be even more applicable.

What has surprised you most about majoring in business? Studying business provides both a glimpse into the complexity of our world and a sociological lens for human development. Not only does business frame our understanding of major events, but it provides a basis to appreciate the intricacies of everyday things. Take something as simple as the paint on our buildings. There is a complex value chain that converts feedstock to resins which may be shipped across the world to be mixed with multiple solvents before being inspected and applied. I would have never thought about the innovation and processes that go into goods that we take for granted.

Looking back over your experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently in business school and why? Reflecting on my time at UNC Kenan-Flagler, I wish I had gotten involved with research and reached out to professors earlier. The school’s faculty are not only some of the best educators in the world, but also innovators in their respective fields. Their research contributes to the ever-evolving landscape of business and management, and they are always excited to share their insights with students. The professors I’ve learned from have provided valuable guidance in both my personal and professional journey during college. Now, I’m working on my Senior Honors Thesis, where I am investigating racial differences in facial trait inference and leadership preferences with Professor Shimul Melwani. I have found the process both challenging and also extremely rewarding.

Which academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of? Serving as the Undergraduate Consulting Club president has been one of the most the most rewarding and transformative experiences in my time at UNC. This past fall, my Undergraduate Consulting Club executive team and I hosted 11 firms and over 250 students for a Consulting Bootcamp. Earlier in the year, we took a group of 30 students to Charlotte and Atlanta on a FirmTrek to visit the companies in-person. Hearing from students about their exciting internships at firms they discovered on FirmTrek and interviews that resulted from Bootcamp was both incredibly rewarding and fulfilling.

Which classmate do you most admire? Yonas Kemal. It’s no surprise that he has already been mentioned last year by a former Poet&Quants Best and Brightest honoree Juan Luis Kruger. Every conversation I have with Yonas leaves me feeling inspired and ready to take on the world. He is incredibly eloquent and driven. The intentionality with which he spends his time allows him to be always fully present. When he’s not chopping it up with everyone he meets, he’s building partnerships in the community to host events like retrofitting a Marta station in Atlanta into a community hub with soccer fields and educational materials. I’m proud to be able to call Yonas a friend, and I hope someday you can too.

Who would you most want to thank for your success? While I wish I could thank every person in my corner, I ultimately want to thank my parents. Their support and sacrifices have been foundational to my success. From a young age, they instilled a strong work ethic and an emphasis on learning that I will forever cherish. While they may not always understand the complexities of business school, they cheer me on through all my wins and setbacks. Thank you for making me the person that I am today.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

1. Open a restaurant
2. Guest lecture and/or become a professor

What made (Student) such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2024?

“Andy is the epitome of what is means to be the “best and brightest” at UNC Kenan-Flagler. As a professor and associate dean of the Undergraduate Business Program, I have been lucky to have a front seat to Andy’s many, many contributions to our program and the school at large.

His profile speaks for itself: He is the president of professional, identity-based, and athletic clubs, and is a deeply committed ambassador of many curricular and co-curricular programs at the school.

What truly sets Andy apart is how he excels as both a deep thinker and a proactive doer. He has never met a problem that he can’t solve through the sheer might of his ability to process information, connect ideas, think through alternatives, and understand multiple perspectives –all while organizing events, spearheading initiatives or lending a helping hand. Whether he’s diving into the details of a project or inspiring others with his visionary ideas, Andy remains humble and grounded, always ready to support his peers and contribute to the greater good of our community.

As his professor and honors thesis advisors, I’ve marveled at his deep intellectual curiosity and his ability to delve into complex topics with precision and clarity. Working on an honors thesis is not for the faint-hearted and he his research is theoretically strong and methodologically rich, very rare for an undergraduate. He has approached every challenge with a no-excuses attitude, tackling obstacles head-on with determination and resolve. He is so well-read that I sometimes feel like I am talking to a faculty peer. Andy will leave an indelible mark on our campus community. His transformative leadership style, characterized by empathy, resilience and vision, has set a new standard for leadership at UNC Kenan-Flagler. He is truly the best of us.”

Shimul Melwani
Associate Dean of the Undergraduate Business Program and Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior

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