Why did you choose Rice Business?

I wanted to attend a school that was close to home and fostered a sense of community. It was important to me to feel as if I wasn't just another number or recruiting statistic. I wanted to enjoy my education and the people I would be spending so much time with, and Rice Business offered me that.

What are you most proud of from your time at Rice Business?

While I loved my professors and my peers, making a career switch is a clear highlight for me. I knew that pivoting from Education to Marketing would be a huge shift, and there was a lot of fear and uncertainty in that. While I was unable to participate in an internship to further solidify my career switch, I leveraged my network in the end, and thankfully, things worked out for the best.

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How has your Rice Business experience supported your entrepreneurial or career accomplishments?

In addition to making a career switch, I obtained a wealth of information on what it means to run a company. As the co-founder of MAW SUPPLY (a vintage clothing and accessories company), I entered into my MBA wanting to learn more about being a successful business owner.

While I have no desire to exit or go public, there is so much to learn from enterprises, case studies, and the number of investors and business owners that I've encountered throughout my time at Rice. Regardless of my desire to stay a small business, there is much to learn from big business. Rice allowed me to see the other side of the coin and reach my own conclusions.

Have you faced racial judgments in a professional setting? If so, what advice do you have for anyone experiencing something similar?

Microaggressions and sometimes less nuanced comments and actions can run amuck in even the most white collar of settings. For me, it's important to find companies and communities that foster an environment that stands up for those who feel voiceless and protects them from those who cause harm, whether intentional or unintentional. When encountered with racial judgements, some folks stick around and create the change they wish to see, others leave for greener pastures or choose to create it themselves elsewhere. I'm not sure which is the best answer, or if there even is one for that matter, but the choice is yours.

What suggestions do you have to work with allies within the workplace or at school?

Finding your community and your "safe space" is key. While this may be easier said than done, I find it important to surround yourself with people you can talk to and enjoy working with, and in some cases you may find allies that support you both personally and professionally.

Valentine’s Day consumer spending will look different this year, according to an expert from Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business.

“Lower consumer confidence and uncertainty about the overall economy will shape Valentine’s Day spending trends — not the other way around,” wrote Constance Porter, assistant clinical professor of marketing at the Jones School, for WalletHub.

Over the past couple of years, Americans who felt good about the economy and their personal finances fueled strong spending on Valentine’s Day gifts, according to data published by the National Retail Federation. But this year, Porter believes, the pandemic will dampen Valentine’s Day spending.

“Performative gifting,” acts of generosity intended to impress both the recipient and observers, will be harder due to lockdowns and travel and restaurant limitations, according to Porter.

Instead, she suggests more people will opt for alternative ways to celebrate at home — such as cooking a restaurant-style meal or taking online courses for at-home spa treatments. It’s the “physical labor of love” that will make these experiences special, Porter said.
 

“The entire effort feels more fulfilling because our special someone put forth an extra effort,” she wrote.

Indeed, she says even single people may be inclined to find a special way to celebrate the day at home. A National Retail Federation survey found that 35% of respondents age 18-25 said “treating yourself” when asked about their Valentine’s Day plans.

“Given the isolation for some folks during the pandemic, Valentine’s Day is the perfect opportunity to boost mental health and wellness with some budget-friendly self-love activity at home,” Porter wrote. “It is never a bad time to do something special for yourself, like cook a favorite meal or order your favorite flowers. Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse for self-indulgent behavior.”

Owl Have You Know

Season 1, Episode 12

Jonathan McAdams ’01 joins Christine Dobbyn to talk about his career journey and working in finance. Along the way, Jonathan describes his experience in high-net worth and hedge funds and comments on the stock market during the pandemic.

Subscribe to Owl Have You Know on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

Rice Graduates Excel on CPA Exam

With an average pass rate around 50%, the four-section CPA Exam is known to be a challenge. In 2019, though, 91% of Rice graduates who took sections of the CPA Exam passed on their first attempt. According to a report recently issued by the National Association of State Boards of Public Accountancy (NASBA), that gave Rice the second-highest pass rate among first-time test takers in the nation!

That 2019 performance was no fluke. In 2018, Rice also ranked second among all universities in the country.

What makes Rice’s CPA Exam rate even more impressive is that the majority of these Rice test-takers hadn’t majored in accounting or business as undergraduates. Instead, Rice Master of Accounting students hail from majors as diverse as economics, environmental science, French, kinesiology, piano performance, political science, psychology and sport management.

One Exam, Four Separate Sections

While the name “CPA Exam” implies an exam that you’d take in a single sitting, it’s actually comprised of four separate sections that are taken individually. Most test-takers schedule each section weeks apart from one another so they can devote the needed time studying for each section.

While test-takers can re-take any section that they fail, you must pass all four exam sections within an 18-month window to pass the CPA Exam. Obviously, the best-case scenario is to pass all four sections on the first attempt.

Rice MAcc graduates typically sit for all four exam sections during the four months after completing their degree. The 91% of Rice test-takers who passed all four sections on their first try in 2019 completed the entire exam before or shortly after they started their full-time job. That allowed them to fully focus on their new career without having to study for the CPA Exam after work and over weekends.

Elijah Watt Sells Winners

Rice graduates also have demonstrated their success on the CPA Exam with their record of winning the Elijah Watt Sells Award. For three consecutive years, one of our MAcc graduates has won this prestigious award by earning one the nation’s very highest scores on the exam. 

You can learn more about the Elijah Watt Sells Award and our previous winners here: Top CPA Exam Score Winner -- Third Year in a Row!

Are you interested in getting qualified to sit for the CPA Exam? Click here for more information about our admissions process. To find out whether the Rice MAcc is a good fit for you, reach out to us today!

Why did you choose Rice Business?

Rice Business is a family of people who are intentional about showing up with empathy and lending their expertise beyond the classroom to ensure that you have a meaningful MBA experience. It was evident from the moment I stepped on campus that this was a space where I could genuinely learn, connect and thrive. Our dean, Peter Rodriguez, would say we are a community striving to strike the perfect balance between IQ and EQ.

What are you most proud of from your time at Rice Business?

In a time when the world seems caught in the grips of racial divide, I am immensely proud that Rice Business has doubled down on its commitment to attract talented students of color. The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management is a non-profit that supports top business schools in building a pipeline of brilliant business leaders from underrepresented backgrounds. Rice Business has invested so intensively in this mission that the number of Consortium fellows has more than doubled over the last two years. As Rice-Consortium chapter president, I've had the honor of leading the school's largest cohort to date. I am inspired daily by our family of fellows, and I am assured that the future of business is in the hands of bright, capable, resilient leaders.

How has your Rice Business experience supported your entrepreneurial or career accomplishments?

Over the summer, I interned with Google in their Googler Experience, Transformation and Strategy space. On my very first day, I was given the green light to help tackle a complex and ambiguous problem that impacted several of the organization’s key stakeholders for years. I was assigned the most amazing team of managers and co-leads to work with at Google and each day they affirmed the value of the work I brought to the table; work that I was uniquely empowered to do because of my Rice education. The mix of strategy and entrepreneurship courses I took in my first year made navigating the ambiguity of a complex space feel natural. Post-graduation I’ll be joining that amazing team at Google full time. I’m elated that a passionate educator can earn an MBA and use the marriage of those skillsets to one day make an impact in tech. The Rice MBA experience has supported me in connecting the dots between my past and my future, and it’s played such an integral role in my personal and professional transformation.

Have you faced racial judgments in a professional setting? If so, what advice do you have for anyone experiencing something similar?

Of course! People always come to the table with pre-conceived notions of who you are and what you bring to the table. I used to feel pressured to prove to certain groups that I belonged in the spaces that I had access to. I’ve since learned that the proof is in the pudding. If you’re there, it’s because you deserve to be. Knowing that gives you the power to take up space without apology and demand decency from the people you interact with on a daily basis.

What suggestions do you have to work with allies within the workplace or at school?

Align with those who support your convictions but also reserve space for those who will respectfully expand your perspective. The key to allyship is advocacy. Cultivate a community that normalizes speaking up on behalf of one-another. The most challenging and rewarding thing about change, is that it can only be accomplished together.