Taylor Smith

Home Country: United States

Home State: TX

Undergraduate Institution: Prairie View A&M University

Undergraduate Degree and Major (and minor, if applicable): Chemical Engineering

Pre-MBA Industry: Energy

Pre-MBA Company: Baker Hughes

Pre-MBA Title: Inventory & Cost Out Leader

Desired industry post-MBA: Airline

Desired job function post-MBA: Strategy Specialist

Summer Internship Company: American Airlines

Summer Internship Position: Commercial Strategy Intern

Degree Concentrations: Entrepreneurship, Strategic Management

Student Organization Membership: The Consortium, Forte, Jones Christian Fellowship

What has been the most surprising part of your Rice MBA? Surprisingly, the university really embraces AI! Beginning with the CDO, they utilized many custom AI bots to help with recruiting preparation activities including resume writing, mock interviews, etc. Many classes also incorporate AI into the curriculum. Our first finance case required us to compare our answer to AI’s. This proved that AI isn’t always reliable and doesn’t always use the correct logic for complex problems. In strategy we used AI to find plot holes in one of our strategic plans so we can attempt to make it stronger or clearly express the tradeoffs by selecting one strategy over another. Meanwhile, our operations professor added an AI chat bot to help check our homework and/or provide hints when wrong. Lastly, there are several electives that teach you how to create your own AI bot and/or how to utilize AI more efficiently for a personalized experience to work smarter and maximize its many benefits.

What has been your favorite thing about your MBA experience? New Enterprises has been my favorite class thus far! It’s an immersive class that teaches you how to create a product that solves a real customer problem. At first, the class sounded a little daunting, but it has been really beneficial in learning how to create a successful business idea that people will actually purchase from. The professor incorporates and encourages the use of AI and allows us to hear and learn from real Rice businesses from our very own entrepreneurship Lilie Lab.

What do you love most about Houston? The food is my favorite part about Houston! Additionally, there is always something to do!

Houston has a variety of options from Tex Mex to Soul Food to Barbeque, on top of that… Houston is THE Brunch CAPITAL with unlimited brunch options that last until 2 PM.

As far as activities go, Houston has great night life as well as variety of interactive activities for those who like to try new things. From indoor golf to paint-n-sip to axe throwing, interactive game-shows, escape rooms, etc. there’s always something exciting going on as well as concerts and our very own Houston Rodeo in late February to March. Another special Houston event is Houston Restaurant Week (actually 2-4 weeks long from August-September) where Houston’s top restaurants offer three-course meal specials for a discount price.

What is one piece of advice you would share with a prospective? Be a storyteller throughout your application process – understand your amazing, unique, personal story that got you where you are today and paint that picture well so everyone can feel who you are in your essays, interviews, etc.