Experiencing Different Cultures Through Your MBA Classmates

When looking at where you want to pursue your MBA management degree, it is important to look beyond just the business graduate school ranking. So much of your experiences from your two year MBA program come from your fellow classmates, so finding top ranked MBA colleges that have diverse classes in terms of gender, backgrounds, nationalities, and more can be just as important, and is definitely something taken into consideration by MBA admission teams. The Kelley School of Business definitely offers a diverse class profile, with ~30% international students, ~30% U.S. minorities, and ~30% women. I have personally felt the benefits of being part of a diverse class of students in a multitude of ways.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, as a first year MBA student at Kelley, you are placed into a team of 4-5, and as a general rule, at least one of your team members will be female and at least one will be an international student. I had an international student from South Korea, Tae Hyun, on my core team and had the pleasure of learning about Korean culture through my interactions with him. Tae Hyun even treated our team to lunch at a local Korean restaurant.

Outside of teams, there are also many other opportunities to explore other cultures. For example, the Asian MBA Association put on Korea Night last fall, where all Kelley MBA students and their partners and families could “travel to Korea” and get a taste for the cuisine, music, and culture. It’s great to be in the best marketing MBA program and deal with people of diverse cultures.