After working in Deloitte’s Cyber Risk Advisory Group, Baldwin Luu (Rice, ’21) decided to enroll in Rice University’s MBA program. After packing up his things in San Francisco and moving to Houston, Luu began his first year in the MBA program at Rice. During this interview, Luu shared his journey to Rice, his guidance on how to prepare for business school and tips for navigating the virtual MBA Experience.
Rice University Jones Graduate School of Business Dean Peter Rodriguez likened restrictions on international students to intentional self-harm. “What is hard to communicate to those who aren’t familiar with the H-1B visa process, or OPT and the STEM extension, is just how competitive these programs are and what it means for the U.S. to be able to employ relatively small numbers of the best talent the world has to offer.”
After the oil bust that lasted roughly from 2014 to 2016, the energy industry regained only about one-third of the tens of thousands of jobs it slashed in that downturn. “The more challenging time is ahead, because some of the losses we’ve had are likely to last,” said Peter Rodriguez, an economist and dean of the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University. “The best-case scenario is a return to normal, but it’s unlikely.”
Overall, the market share held by the top players has increased in more than 75% of U.S. industries during the past two decades, according to a 2018 paper by Rice University Professor Gustavo Grullon and fellow researchers. That’s being blamed for a variety of economic ills.
Recent graduates Mike Narvaez and Heather Price have been named in Poets&Quants Best & Brightest Online MBAs in 2020. Narvaez observes that his MBA “sent a message to my supervisors that I was able and willing to do more.” Sure enough, his bosses made him the point person on a global RFP that would make him responsible for the company’s Americas portfolio.
The nation shed 22 million jobs between February and April, a scale of losses not seen since the Great Depression of nearly a century ago. “I think (a recovery) could be choppy,” said Peter Rodriguez, an economist and dean of the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University. “We have a long way to go to get out of this.”
I am most proud of being selected to participate in the Wright Fund, a student-led Equity Fund, at Rice Business. It is a highly competitive process that looks at your current grades and your mission statement. The Wright Fund, by far, had the most academically rigorous course load, but also the most fun and rewarding. It thoroughly prepares you for many different career paths including investment banking.
Students often dramatically underestimate how long they will spend looking for the next professional opportunity after graduation, says George Andrews, associate dean of degree programs at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business in Texas. Balancing a career search with a job, study and family obligations is a “Sisyphean task”, he adds.
Houston being one of the most spread-out cities in the U.S., it is naturally a real estate-friendly town, making Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business a logical destination for those interested in the industry. The school offers a real estate concentration focused around a required course (MGMT 659) that introduces a series of basic business concepts commonly used in the real estate industry and covers in detail the application of the discounted cash flow model to real estate decisions.
Peter Rodriguez, dean of Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business, said many of the jobs that have been lost in the hospitality sector aren’t likely to return for the foreseeable future, despite efforts in recent weeks to kick-start the statewide economy by allowing such businesses to begin opening back up. “I think the reduced activity we’ve seen (in terms of the willingness of consumers to dine out or travel) is going to continue,” Rodriguez said. “People aren’t going to feel completely the same until there is an all-clear with a vaccine.”
The coronavirus lockdown caused the cancellation of the Rice Business Plan Competition in March, but the fabled event that has student startups vying for big money has been reborn as a virtual contest. The event will be held online June 17-19, with two of the days open to the public.
Searching for ideas on how to make your child’s birthday party special while social distancing? You’re not alone! Insert POP: a virtual party planner founded by Rice MBA Mercede Barnes.
