New Maryland Smith graduates Jose DeJesus and Yenny Andrade Castillo are among Poets & Quants “Best and Brightest Online MBAs: Class of 2021.”
Criteria for this recognition include strong academic performance, critical and consistent contributions to the program, striking personal narratives, and innate potential, according to the news site devoted to the global coverage of business schools.
Both selectees credited their Maryland Smith experience for career gains.
Castillo has worked almost 10 years at the World Bank, advancing from an assistant position to associate portfolio officer in the Private Equity Funds at the WB’s International Finance Corporation. “I have learned academic concepts like corporate valuations that are especially practical in the field of portfolio investments at IFC,” she says. “I have gained vital soft skills in communications, leadership, and teamwork. This helped me gain a promotion from portfolio analyst to associate portfolio officer.”
DeJesus, a software architect for Crown Castle in Rochester, New York, says the knowledge he gained through Maryland Smith empowered him “to interface more effectively with managers and executives to solve complex business issues… Being able to decipher between software problems and people problems allows me to deliver enormous value to the business.”
A former U.S. Air Force cadet, DeJesus says he was seeking an online program “with some in-person interaction” with classmates. “For that reason, a synchronous program with a residency component was attractive,” he says. “Finally, I wanted to earn my MBA from a well-known, highly ranked, and respected institution that my GI Bill would cover. The Maryland Smith OMBA checked all the boxes.”
Castillo says recommendations from colleagues who are Maryland Smith OMBA grads helped steer her to the program. And she discovered the live sessions as especially rewarding – including “interactive breakout sessions in which we could speak freely and get to know one another in real time.” The sessions, she says, also “challenged students to be especially prepared to contribute to and engage in a deep analysis of a particular case. This was especially motivating for post-session study to reinforce and practice the learned concepts.”
Read more about the Maryland Smith Online MBA Program and Yenny Andrade Castillo and Jose DeJesus in the Poets & Quants ‘Best and Brightest’ profiles.
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About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.