MBA Student Profile: Catherine Gleason, Tuck School of Business

Catherine Gleason talks to TopMBA.com about her decision to do an MBA at Tuck School of Business, and what her future career plans are. 

What were you doing before your MBA?

Operations at an investment bank      

What were your main reasons for deciding to attend business school?

- to obtain strong background in business principles
- career advancement
- to broaden my network      

What research did you undertake in selecting your school?

- talking to co-workers and friends
- reading b-school guides
- school websites
- local school receptions      

What were the main criteria in your selection?

- reputation
- size
- culture
- strength of Alumni Network      

Why did you decide to study either in your own country or overseas?

I think an MBA from a US school is the most widely recognized and respected.

Have you already been, or do you intend to become an entrepreneur?

I could see myself owning a business many years down the line, but I would not characterize myself as an "entrepreneur."     

How much do you expect to earn on graduation?

$100,000+      

What do you expect to do on graduation and where do you expect to be based?

I will be working in sales & trading at a US investment bank in New York City.      

Where do you see yourself in ten years time?

I am not sure exactly where I will be, but most likely I see myself downshifting to start a family and that will either come by moving to a more flexible job in finance or by leaving finance all together and starting my own business as a hobby.      

How easy or difficult do you expect it to be to achieve these objectives?

I think the transition will be difficult, but I think I have the tools and the network to make it a bit easier.      

Any other comments?

Attending Tuck has been an amazing experience for me.  Not only have I been exposed to so many accomplished people and gained so much practical business knowledge, but I have also made great friends and have had a great time doing it!

While I had heard of Tuck's close community before I came here, I had no idea just how strong it was - alumni, professors and administrators are extremely accessible, leaders in all business fields take the time to visit Tuck and speak with students in small groups, and people in the Tuck community genuinely think of each other as family.

Tuck has also been a great training ground for students to grow into the leaders of tomorrow by providing more leadership opportunities than I ever could have imagined and also by allowing students to actively participate in shaping the school and its programs.

I think my thoughts about Tuck are best exemplified by an event that happened to me last year:  Over winter break I became very sick and was forced to miss several days of school.  I was unable to communicate with the school's program office from my home in New York so I had my mother call to let them know what was going on.  When she phoned the school, she spoke with Sally Jaeger in the program office.  Not only did Sally know who I was, and what needed to be taken care of in my absence, she told my mother that she would check in with her daily to check on my progress - and Sally did!  Sally got in touch with each of my professors to explain why I was not in class and spoke with the Career Development Office to find out what needed to be done to secure my spot on interview lists (companies were beginning on-campus interviews at this time.)  Career Development knew exactly what companies and jobs I was interested in pursuing and made sure that I was included on those lists.  (What other school knows their students this well?!)

Upon returning to school, I encountered not only students and administrators that were anxious to do what they could to help, but I also encountered professors that were genuinely concerned for me even though I had never met them!  One professor was so concerned that I was pushing myself too hard that he met with the program office to make sure I was really OK.

Although being sick was a horrible experience, being at Tuck surrounded by so many caring people made the experience so much better.