A Successful Launch

During her senior year at Colorado College, where she also played on the volleyball team, Keeley Kandziora, MiM ’25, was looking for her next move. She wanted to come home to Chicago, study finance and accounting as a graduate student, and keep playing volleyball—she had an extra year of eligibility because her freshman year was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The problem: No school she found seemed to be the right fit. 

Amid Kandziora’s search, a friend sent an email about the MiM Program at Booth. It seemed perfect for her. 

Kandziora quickly applied and was the first student accepted into the new program. She also received an offer to play volleyball at UChicago. 

“It was a stars-aligning scenario,” Kandziora says. “Everything just worked out perfectly.”

In the program, Kandziora says she got exactly what she wanted: more finance classes and technical experience to help prepare her for her career. She also loved meeting people at Booth and was impressed by the robust calendar of social events that helped create a tight-knit community. 

This summer, Kandziora began a full-time position with New York–based J.P. Morgan—a job offer she received during her internship last year. As an analyst, she focuses on tailoring investment solutions for high net–worth clients. She is excited to be surrounded by the markets daily and aspires to one day become a portfolio manager. 

Kandziora encourages future MiM students to take classes outside their comfort zone and tap into the school’s robust alumni community.

“Attend as many networking events as possible and meet as many people as you can to take full advantage of your time at Booth,” she says. “I’m grateful I was able to connect with many executives in my field and expand my network in Chicago.” 

One of the reasons Andrew Pei, MiM ’25, chose the MiM Program was its flexibility. He enjoyed his undergraduate experience at the London School of Economics, but could only take economics and finance classes. At Booth, he saw that he could choose from a variety of business courses, which he knew would help him find a job in the US market. 

“The program definitely made me a more well-rounded candidate,” Pei says. 

Knowing that he wanted to go into consulting, Pei focused on learning about how coding could be applied in a business context. He took classes such as Data for Marketing and Revenue Management that helped him understand how data is used in business. Pei also focused on getting a foundational understanding of financial accounting, allowing him to develop deeper insights on financial statements. 

After graduating, Pei took his new well-rounded skillset to work as a consultant on the deals team at PwC’s New York office. His role includes analytics work for the accounting firm’s telecommunications, media, and technology verticals, looking to identify revenue growth opportunities. This, he says, is exactly the kind of job he was aiming for when he enrolled at Booth. 

Pei gets lots of LinkedIn messages asking him for advice about the MiM Program from students interested in applying. Two things he finds himself saying consistently: Enter the program knowing what classes you want to take, and prepare early for the recruiting process—the earlier the better. 

“Start learning about networking and resume building in August, before classes even start,” Pei says. “I was more prepared than some of my peers, which really helped me find a job after the program.” 

Although Arnaud Carboni, MiM ’25, comes from a mechanical engineering background, he knew that he wanted to pivot to finance and strategy. When Booth launched its MiM Program, it seemed to be the perfect fit for his career plans. 

“I had a chance to gain a world-class business education while being surrounded by people from diverse academic and cultural backgrounds,” Carboni says. “With the network—not only in the US, but also Europe and Asia—I understood that I could have friends across the globe.”

The classroom experience was Carboni’s favorite part of his time at Booth. He found the Consulting Lab particularly valuable, which gave him and his classmates the opportunity to help a major American airline optimize its procurement chain. This hands-on experience taught him some of the soft skills of consulting—such as leadership, communication, and team management—giving him greater confidence going into his new job.

After graduation, Carboni started as an associate portfolio manager at Hut 8, a Miami-based digital asset and computing company. There, he analyzes procurement strategies and builds financial models for new data centers across North America. It’s a perfect fit, Carboni says, as it marries his background in engineering with the skills he’s gained at Booth. 

The No. 1 piece of advice Carboni has for future students: Be proactive in the job search from the first day, as the market is very competitive. Network early, and build connections that can be leveraged over time. 

“Don’t be afraid to ask questions or reach out to other alumni,” Carboni says. “We want to build a good community, so you need to build relationships. I’m very happy to have met the people I did and look forward to motivating future students.”

The world-class academics drew Hannah Strater, MiM ’25, to the MiM Program. One experience stands out as a lifelong memory: As part of her Perspectives on Capitalism seminar, she attended a guest lecture by Richard H. Thaler, a Nobel laureate and the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics. He highlighted the practical applications of behavioral science in business, sharing insights from his international bestseller Nudge.

“I’m a first-generation college student, and it was an incredible honor and a privilege to hear from somebody who won a Nobel Prize,” Strater says. “I read Nudge many times and discussed Thaler’s work in both my undergrad and grad classes, so this felt like a full-circle moment.”

At Booth, Strater immersed herself in multiple disciplines and studied the functions of various industries. Like her classmate Carboni, she especially enjoyed her time in the Consulting Lab. She got to support a Big Four sports organization as it assessed relocating, attracting new fans, and optimizing ticket sales. 

She’s confident this experience will be useful in her new job as a strategy consulting analyst for Arthur D. Little. Strater entered the consulting firm’s Boston office as a generalist, working on all kinds of projects, including those involving healthcare and life sciences, telecommunications, and electronics, among others.

“I’m genuinely excited about the opportunity to learn across industries, work on complex problems, and create value for clients,” she says.

Students interested in Booth’s MiM Program should prepare themselves for a busy year, Strater says, but she suggests saying yes to everything and taking advantage of all the experience has to offer. 

“A lot of people told me, ‘It’s going to go by quickly,’ but I underestimated it,” she says. “Now I’m a little nostalgic that it’s over. The more you immerse yourself, the more you’ll become part of the community and benefit from the program.”

A modified version of this story appeared in the Fall 2025 print issue of Chicago Booth Magazine.