Class of 2012
Donna Wu

Reaching a New Level of Thinking

Chicago Booth faculty are good at what they do. They push you to think about things you previously hadn't. For example, I'm taking a class right now with Professor Marianne Bertrand, who will actually stop you mid-sentence if she sees that you're going down a road that doesn't make sense or isn't really getting to the point or isn't getting you to think about the right things.

The experience has been really eye opening. Anybody can regurgitate facts, but simply knowing that information doesn't get you to synthesize everything; it doesn't make you think about everything else in the context of what else is going on in the world at the time. When you synthesize all the information and form new thought, you actually reach a new level of insight—that's what the professors are pushing you to do.

Forming Life-Long Friendships through Random Walk

I went on a Random Walk to Egypt and it led to some of my strongest friendships. It's amazing how well you get to know people after being with them 24/7. In my first quarter, I took all of my classes and was in study groups with the same handful of people. I still call them some of my best friends here at Booth. I can't imagine not having gone on the Random Walk and getting to know these fabulous people while seeing such a great and exotic place as Egypt.

My experience with the Random Walk to Egypt was so great that I've decided to lead one to Brazil in the fall. It's a great opportunity for me to create the same experience I had with my trip leaders. I'm looking forward to really getting to know a group of fabulous incoming students and creating a "second family."

Preparing for the Future You Want to Have

Having come from a career in consulting, I knew what kind of education I wanted from a business school. I didn't want something that was so structured it would force me to take classes in areas where I am already strong. What I wanted was the flexibility to take the classes that would allow me to gain the skills that I really needed as opposed to just some set program that everybody else has to take. I know what I want out of my time, and I can prioritize that as I see fit. I don't need to follow some regimented schedule or program that somebody else has dictated for me. Booth has been a partner in my business school experience, and its flexibility has been nothing short of great.

Career Coaching

I established a great relationship with a particular career coach, and she helped me through a lot of what I needed to do for my job search. She helped me expand my search within corporate recruiting which I didn’t know how to start. She gave me a whole bunch of very actionable suggestions like go to this employee directory or that report and do a search on X, Y, or Z, which gave me a list of alumni to reach out to. Then she told me how to follow-up with them. I like that she didn’t just say, “reach out to these alumni” but gave very specific advice. I walked out of there knowing exactly what I needed to do and when I needed to do it. That kind of guidance really helped me be successful throughout my recruiting process.