Between June 12th and 25th, 2011, Gabriel Mendoza (BACC ’11) and Mohales Deis, a junior majoring in management and international business, got an up-close view of what an MBA curriculum at an Ivy League school looks like. As part of the highly selective Yale School of Management Pre-MBA Leadership Program, they immersed themselves in classes—sometimes for ten hours a day—worked within cross-disciplinary teams to prepare a presentation to local venture capitalists and professors, went to Goldman Sachs in New York City to meet with young professionals on the staff and much more.
FIU students gain new insights.
“I always had an interest in an MBA and now I am more interested,” said Mendoza, who learned about the opportunity at a meeting of the Student Leadership Group in the College of Business Administration at Florida International University (FIU) from fellow student Miguel Lugo (BBA ’10), a previous participant.
Currently studying for the CPA Exam, Mendoza will start FIU’s Master of Accounting (MACC) program in the fall, along with a job as an audit associate at Grant Thornton. Though all aspects of the two weeks had an impact, he found the personality tests to be very useful.
“I will always be working as part of a team and the tests helped me understand how to relate to different management styles,” he said.
“I liked the intensity,” said Deis, now interning at GE Industrial Solutions in Miami, who learned about the program in an email from Career Management Services. “I also appreciated that while the program dealt with diversity, it was handled in a subtle way that brought people with diverse backgrounds and college majors together to work on a complex assignment throughout the two weeks.”
The experience affirmed some of his ideas, while opening him to others.
“It solidified that I want to go to a leading management graduate program, but I am now thinking about getting a combined MBA-JD degree,” he said.
Both students excel in program’s major task.
Mendoza’s team placed first in the business development project and presentation, which required the creation of a business model for Audubon Street, New Haven’s art district, and Deis’s team placed second.
FIU engineering student Akeiro Lloyd also attended the program.
