Why I chose the W. P. Carey MBA

W. P. Carey MBA alum Matt Meads discusses the reasons he chose to attend Arizona State University, including top rankings, affordability, and smaller class sizes. 

I always knew I wanted to get a master’s — I just didn’t know when or how, or what I was going to do it in. My first job after my undergrad was with a Fortune 500 company in a three-year rotational manufacturing leadership development program. It was designed to put me on track to have a successful manufacturing engineer career.

However, I quickly realized — like many do once they get out into the workforce — it wasn’t what I expected and it left me longing for more. In my second year of the development program I was introduced to supply chain and it ignited something inside me that made me realize exactly what I wanted to get my master’s in. I became set on getting my MBA with an emphasis in supply chain management.

I still didn’t know how or where I was going to get my MBA. I started to research the best business schools that offered supply chain as an emphasis and ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business kept popping up wherever I looked. There were a few specifics about W. P. Carey’s MBA program that stuck out: Its incredibly hight ranking in supply chain, the affordability for out-of-state tuition, the smaller class size, and post-graduation employment rates between 90 and 95 percent.

I applied and was accepted, but still was looking at some other schools that had accepted me as well, when I was invited to Countdown. Countdown is an event for prospective students that have been accepted to the MBA program that helps them see if they’re a good fit for the school and vice versa. I had visited other campuses and done a few other similar activities, but nothing compared to Countdown. I was overwhelmed with how friendly and informative every staff member, professor, and current student was. I met other prospective students and talked to them about why they were considering the school. After that weekend, I knew I wanted to associate myself with an institution like the W. P. Carey School.

Now that I am here and have the first month or so behind me, I can honestly say it has lived up to the hype. So far the school has had four major companies come to campus for info sessions, a full day supply chain-specific career fairs and several professional and alumni panels. I have been assigned an executive coach to mentor me on career development, and Intel, Amazon, and Disney have already interviewed me for a summer internship.

It’s only been four weeks and I am confident that ASU and the W. P. Carey School were the right choices and will help me achieve my career goals.