Some Written Student Testimonials
Marina Zavelevich, BBA '07
in speaking about the undergraduate advertising competition for Coca Cola that she competed in ( sponsored by the American Advertising Federation)...
"The competition was a priceless group project experience because it was the full focus of the class ....Working in a highly competitive fashion yet in a collaborative environment is an experience that is hard to replicate. We learned by doing aspect of marketing, business development, advertising, branding, and project management that proved to be directly relevant in the real world . The final material produced is an invaluable part to any interview! When I bring our Coke pitch with me I know I have their attention! I'm sure it was greatly responsible for the current job I now have...
Rory Christian, MBA '08:
“The structure of the project is exactly what Baruch had prepared us for. I believe case studies should be a fundamental part of the business school experience...for the value they play in reinforcing the scope of a student’s education. The majority of classes in Baruch include a group project component, but the group project is focused on one subject (accounting, investment, marketing, policy, etc.). Case studies such as the ELC’s are based on a looking at a business from multiple perspectives, not just through the lenses of a specific subject." For more details see Executive Leadership Council.
Dave Sedelnick, MBA '10
One of the most beneficial parts of my education that I wasn’t expecting was the different types of case competitions that are available. For example, I participated in the ACG Cup this year, which is a private equity M&A case competition. ... It’s been a fantastic experience in itself. Competitions like this build on everything you learned in an MBA curriculum. It was a lot of work; but you get a lot out of it and it has been something I really enjoyed.
Jessica Salvatore, MBA '10
“Being in the Microsoft Digital Marketing Challenge has certainly been one of the greatest experiences I had while pursuing my MBA at Baruch. It was hard to compete with so many students from all over US but the benefit and opportunity we had were a lot. The competition challenged my creativity, and enhanced not only my technical skills but my communication skills, team working skills, time management skills, writing skills and much more. These are the things I always dreamed to learn and be mine while pursuing my career path. The competition complemented the classroom learning experience and gave me a crucial inside perspective of the real business world. And last but not least we really had a lot of fun!”
Ryan O'Connor, MBA '09
---talks about his experiences at the Walmart Net Impact Competition which was an "elevator speech" competition:
Looking at the list of corporate sponsors at this year’s Net Impact conference, I was pretty blown away. Free fair trade coffee and t-shirts from Starbucks and GAP, all the Honest Tea you could handle and a career expo that hosted the likes of Accenture, KPMG, Intel, FedEx, Microsoft and Morgan Stanley. All of these companies came to eye the future leaders of the business world because of a single commonality- we knew sustainability. We understood the triple bottom line and that put our talents at a premium.
I came prepared. I had the value proposition set, the competitive landscape down, and the market research fully analyzed. The best part? It showed. I was forwarded on to the final round that consisted of five more minutes of the same rapid fire questioning. Finally, out of the initial 100 applicants, I was awarded a position in the top five. Not too shabby considering I was the only one representing a public institution and my performance outranked many others from top tier programs.
Business is not a question of what you know, but the practical application of what you can do. It’s a subtlety that all too often gets lost in translation. Put another way, if you graduate with a 4.0 but committed yourself to nothing else, you’re limiting your knowledge to academic exercises that are sterile at best. Business is messy. Deals are complicated and relationships drive success. Get out there and get involved. The dividends will come!
