Meet the PQU Campus Correspondents

Here at Poets&Quants for Undergrads, we strive to bring you the very best coverage about all-things related to undergraduate business education. But we got to thinking, who better to tell the tales of B-school life than actual B-school students themselves?

SIX STUDENTS, SIX BUSINESS SCHOOLS, AND AN INSIDE LOOK

Meet the Poets&Quants for Undergrads Campus Correspondents of Spring 2018. Six students, six business schools, and a first-hand account of undergrad life at some of the most elite programs at the forefront of business education.

Our inaugural group of Campus Correspondents hail from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, the Washington University in St. Louis Olin Business School, New York University’s Stern School of Business, the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Some are just beginning their B-school journeys while others have withstood the tests of finance, strategy, economics, and other business courses as they pursue the coveted degree in business. They’ve trekked the globe to study business and the economies of various countries, stockpiled their resumes with internships, and are now bracing themselves for the real world of business that awaits them.

What they each have in common is a desire to share their B-school adventures with prospective B-schoolers looking to follow in their footsteps. Not only this, but to help soon-to-be college students get a real flavor for what majoring in business is really all about and the places, far and near, that it can take you.

AFTERNOON TEA WITH THE DEAN? IN LONDON? WHY NOT?

Take Indiana Kelley’s Tanner Snider, for instance. A summer internship with global consulting firm McKinsey has not only turned into a full-time offer before graduation, but a personal and professional network that now reaches Zurich, London, and other parts of Europe.

You’ll also meet Justine Murray, an international student who came to the U.S. from St. Catherine, Jamaica to study business at her top choice school: Wharton. In the past two years she’s interned with JP Morgan Chase and — six months prior to receiving her diploma — has already locked in a full-time gig. Come this May, she’ll move to New York City to serve in the firm’s investor services division.

Read on to find out which correspondent learned proper afternoon tea etiquette from their dean while studying abroad in London and which business school is said to not only reinforce a student’s love for business, but also provide the resources that students need to figure out what, within the vast world of business world, is best suited for them.

WHAT’S THE CULTURE REALLY LIKE AT WHARTON?

There’s more. After all, the name is Campus Correspondents, right? That means that in addition to letting us tag along on their personal journeys, they’ll take us inside each of their respective schools to show and tell what it’s really like to walk the halls of these world renowned institutions.

Think attending #1 business school Wharton is intimidating and overwhelming? Our Wharton correspondent says the culture is a collaborative one with a curriculum that’s meant to reinforce engagement amongst students and faculty alike. The same is said for Indiana’s Kelley School. If a cut-throat culture where you find yourself afraid to raise your hand for help is what you’re expecting, our correspondent says Kelley is not that place. While at Olin, our correspondent says the school is attractive because of its curriculum that keeps up with the ever-changing business world and students’ ability to be surrounded by a community of smart, accomplished people. All of this with a collaborative, Midwestern flare as the school is nestled in St. Louis, Missouri. 

It also means you, our readers, can pose and ask questions. Have a question about one of these business programs? Want the inside scoop from a current student? Just post a comment here or on that correspondent’s homepage.   

TO KICK THINGS OFF: A ROUNDUP OF TOP FAVORITE THINGS

Each week, you’ll hear from one or more of our student ambassadors. We’re leaving it up to them to decide which of their amazing experiences are too good not to share, but there will be some instances where we ask the students to weigh in on a given topic or thought. Topics will range from what sparked their interest in business to what career opportunities they intend to strive for. We’ll ask them to take us inside to meet their deans and popular professors at their schools and much, much more.

To help you get acquainted with these rockstar future business women and men, we kick things off with a round of introductions. From a roundup of 25 questions we posed to each, get to know them, find out what sparked their interests in business, and get a prelude of what’s to come as they share some of their favorite things about the business school they attend.

MEET THE PQU CAMPUS CORRESPONDENTS 

Alex Grieco, Stern School of Business

Justine Murray, The Wharton School

Tanner Snider, Kelley School of Business

Johanne Vincent, Ross School of Business

Michael Walker, Kenan-Flagler Business School

Marni Widen, Olin Business School

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