Tag: Full-time MBA

Buoy, a consumer products brand that makes and markets hydration drops and was born in WashU Olin’s Hatchery business plan course, has closed a $2.5 million seed round that includes 50 angel investors—including Chris Paul, star point guard for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns.

“This wasn’t easy. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” said Daniel Schindler, CEO of Buoy, who began the business while he was an Olin student when it was called BetterTomorrow. Schindler announced the closing of the funding round in an email on May 2.

“We wouldn’t have gotten here without the help and support of so many people,” he said. Schindler, MBA 2019, thanked his older brother, Jordan Schindler, for guiding the company as a mentor in fundraising and networking. He also credited Craig Frischling and Kit McQuiston, the startup’s lead contacts at the New York Angel’s group, who Schindler said spent three months doing due diligence and connected his team with other investors on their behalf.

Buoy has developed a line of flavorless liquid supplements that can be added to any drink to foster hydration and overall health by helping people retain water.

In a 2022 company recap Schindler distributed in January, he said Buoy Energy Drops were available at all 936 CVS HealthHUB locations in new and improved retail packaging, and that the brand was available in about 3,500 CVS stores. Meanwhile, in 3,400 Walgreens stores, the company’s hydration drops and immunity drops became available in new retail packaging nationwide and on Walgreens.com.

For the calendar year, Buoy said it had $640,840 in revenue, with $251,000 from retail locations, $239,000 through Amazon, $81,000 in direct-to-consumer sales through its website and another $69,000 in business-to-business sales.

“Thank you to all our investors for your belief and support,” Schindler said in an email announcing the funding round. “What a journey it’s been, and we’ve only just begun.”

As a graduate student, you’re about to begin an exciting phase in your life by joining a new campus community. You’re opening yourself up to new student experiences, living in a different neighborhood, beginning your career, and seizing opportunities to learn and meet people who will be influential in your life.

There’s a lot to think about at this time, so to help you make sense of everything you’re learning, here’s your guide to some of the on-campus resources we have here at WashU.

Finding your way around

As you settle into campus life, you will want to find your own favorite places — your late-night haunts, your secret hideouts, your study spots. You’ll also need to find the set of locations on your schedule and create your on-campus routine.

WashU’s residential life webpage has a ton of helpful advice for you such as checklists to help you move, budgeting guidance, and information on utilities. As you get to know your way around, use Washington University campus resources to find your department and navigate St. Louis student activities.

Your student packet will come with a guide to St. Louis but you can also find useful information on the different neighborhoods around our campus at Explore St. Louis.

And to make the most of the city, you’ll want to check out local transportation and parking options, especially to make your first few days run smoothly. Whether you’re a driver or you’ll be mostly walking and using public transportation, you can check out Washington University in St. Louis Parking and Transportation Services, which will set you up with parking permits and metro passes. The campus also has a shuttle service, and you can find all the schedules, routes, and even real-time tracking of the shuttles.

What if you need help?

As you get to know the different on-campus resources available to you and adjust to this new experience, it may be helpful to know where to go if you need a helping hand or just a listening ear.

The Habif Health and Wellness Center is here for you, both in-person and through a student portal. The center’s staff can set you up with many kinds of help, from fulfilling vaccination requirements to figuring out student health insurance. All the services you might need can be located or accessed via the team here, including health services, mental health offerings, and reproductive health resources.

Thinking about your career

As you embark on a full-time MBA experience, thoughts about future goals and projects might be running through your head.

The first port of call for career interests or concerns is the Weston Career Center. Just make an appointment with one of the career advisors here and you can start making connections and learning skills that will help you achieve your career goals. Want to become a supremely prepared job candidate? Interested to learn how to gain experience in a particular industry? That’s what the career center is for.

If you want to get creative with your learning schedule and start trying out new skills and experiential learning, you’ll want to visit the Center for Experiential Learning (CEL). With a basis in business and nonprofit consulting, the CEL is a great matchmaker, pairing faculty mentors with students eager to apply what they’re learning in class in a practical format.

What should you do next?

As you await your first classes, there’s plenty you can do to get ready for campus life.

First, make sure you have all the health check-ins you need. Schedule any vaccinations you’re missing. You can find full vaccine information through the Wellness Center. And if you have any worries or concerns about mental health, make sure to browse Olin’s campus mental health resources.

Next, set yourself up with great housing so you can get excited about your campus experience. Whether you choose one of the on-campus options or an off-campus lease or sub-lease, we can help you find the right environment for you.

Lastly, keep checking your campus email as the semester gets closer. We’ll be sending you lots more on-campus resources as well as specific advice and opportunities related to the full-time MBA experience. Ask as many questions as you can — there is a whole team of people in our campus centers and organizations ready and looking forward to helping you have the best experience imaginable.

Forty-two judges joined WashU Olin’s entrepreneurship team in celebrating student innovation on April 18 as eight finalists made startup pitches resulting in a first-place tie for the Olin Cup—a first in recent memory.

Meanwhile, more than 90 other teams competed for a piece of a $15,000 prize pool in Olin’s BIG IdeaBounce competition with pitches based on business ideas generated in the Hatchery program. The Olin entrepreneurship program attracted 55 judges to participate in that competition.

In the Olin Cup competition, eight finalists pitched and two emerged on top: PaperTrail (a car enthusiast record platform) and Find It (a platform to restore lost items to their owners using decorative QR code stickers).

Camille Devaney, BSBA 2025; Ethan Weilheimer, BS/EN 2025; Justin Moreno, BSBA 2023; and Maggie Croghan, BSBA 2023, were the team behind Find It. Meanwhile, the other Olin Cup-winning team included Kuo Wang, BS/EN/Master of engineering; Christian Robinson, BSBA 2026; Drew Kassman, business minor 2025; Andrew Padousis, BSBA 2025; and Jimmy Lancaster, BSBA/EN 2025, the team behind PaperTrail.

The two teams shared custody of the large Olin Cup trophy.

Winners were also named for undergraduate and graduate school teams in Olin’s BIG IdeaBounce competition. These teams competed for a share of the $15,000 prize pool.

The undergraduate team winner was ACHORD, a platform matching students to music
teachers based on connection factors. The grad team winner was Say, Hi!, an online platform
that connects people experiencing mental distress to licensed social workers, psychologists and
counselors around the world. Both teams won $3,000.

Second-prize entries won $1,250, third-prize entries received $750 and 10 runners-up got $500.

Pictured at top: The Olin Cup winning teams—Find It, left, and PaperTrail, right—wrestle over the prize after tying in the competition on April 18.

While WashU Olin showed stronger job placement results in its Full-Time MBA program and tightened the selectivity among PMBA students year over year, both programs declined in the latest ranking of graduate business programs by US News & World Report.

Those declines came, in part, in the wake of significant changes in US News‘ methodology for both rankings. Olin’s Full-Time MBA fell from 29th to 37th, tying in that ranking with programs from Penn State and the University of California-Irvine. The PMBA dropped slightly, from 19th to 20th year over year.

In the case of the FTMBA, some of that decline came thanks to changes in the US News methodology, which reduced the weight of a survey-based quality assessment by peer schools and recruiters and increased the weight of employment rates, mean starting salaries and bonuses.

“Across many dimensions of this latest US News MBA ranking, Olin held steady or improved in the raw numbers. That’s good news,” said Gisele Marcus, professor of practice in diversity, equity and inclusion and Olin’s interim co-lead in the graduate programs office. “The overall results of this ranking can serve as another reference point as we gauge where the MBA marketplace is headed. We know what we have to do.”

For example, Olin increased employment rates, starting salaries and bonuses year over year. Still, the heavier weighting for those measures resulted in a decline in that dimension relative to other programs. Meanwhile, Olin’s quality assessment by recruiters and peers stayed steady year over year, but that dimension counted substantially lower in the overall ranking.

Meanwhile, Olin’s PMBA program was able to be more selective, choosing students with higher test scores, better grade-point averages and more work experience than the year before—dimensions, again, that counted for less under the new US News ranking methodology. Olin was also penalized because fewer students submitted graduate admission test scores than the methodology allowed.

Indeed, in its coverage, Poets & Quants referred to US News‘ 2023 ranking as “topsy-turvy,” noting that under the new methodology, b-school powerhouses Stanford and Wharton slipped down the rankings year over year, while Harvard stayed at fifth. The US News changes “caused plenty of wild swings up and down the ranking, particularly for smaller MBA programs with larger numbers of international students,” the site wrote.

John Beuerlein, MBA 1977, was named interim president at Drury University by its board of trustees last week following the resignation of Timothy Cloyd to address family health concerns.

In its announcement on March 23, the board said Beuerlein’s appointment was effective immediately, lauding him as “a distinguished financial analyst and philanthropist who has made significant contributions to the field of finance and education,” according to its statement. Washington University named Beuerlein a Distinguished Alumni in 2009.

‘The right choice’

“The board and I know that John is the right choice for this role,” said Rita Baron, chair of Drury University’s Board of Trustees, in the university’s statement. “We are confident that under his leadership, Drury will flourish and build momentum. As we head into the 150th anniversary of the institution, Drury remains a strong and stable place.”

The board praised Cloyd for his accomplishments in its statement before going on to further recognize its appointment of Beuerlein. Drury University is based in Springfield, Missouri. The following is excerpted from the Drury’s board’s statement.

Born in Rolla, Missouri, in 1953, Beuerlein and his family moved to Springfield a year later. He attended St. Agnes Catholic grade school before graduating from Subiaco Academy in Subiaco, Arkansas, in 1971. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Drury University in 1975 where he met his future wife, Crystal Layne Tinlin, who is also a Drury alum. The couple married the following year. That same year, Beuerlein joined the financial services firm of Edward Jones where he would spend the next 42 years of his career.

In 1977, Beuerlein earned his MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. In 1980 he was named a general partner at Edward Jones. He earned his Chartered Financial Analyst designation from the University of Virginia in 1981. He would later serve as a member of the Board of Governors of the St. Louis Society of Financial Analysts.

Beuerlein’s dedication to education and philanthropy is reflected in his many contributions to his alma mater, Drury University, where he has served as a trustee from 1991 to 2011, including four years serving on the investment committee and as Board Chair from 2006-2010. He was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Drury in 2013 and was inducted into Drury’s Breech Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2011, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award and was elected an Emeritus trustee. In 2016 he was elected one of three Life Trustees. Both Crystal and John received the Distinguished Spirit of Drury award in 2021.

Distinguished Alumni Award

Beuerlein’s commitment to education and philanthropy has extended beyond Drury. He has also served as a member of the Board of Trustees at Washington University in St Louis and as president of the Eliot Society. In 2009 he received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Washington University. He served as the National Chair of the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement from 2016 to 2023.

When asked about the opportunity to serve as interim president for Drury University Beuerlein said, “Fifty years ago the education we received from Drury set us up for a lifetime of success. To be able to serve the university in this way and to be a daily part of this spirit of community, so passionate about student success, is the honor of a lifetime! It’s a special bonus to be able to spend more time in my hometown closer to many friends and family members – it’s the icing on the cake for me! My job is to prepare our university for its next president.”

The Beuerleins reside in Clayton, Missouri, and continue to be active in numerous local and national nonprofit organizations. They have three children and four grandchildren.

Pictured above: John Beuerlein, photo courtesy of Drury University.

As a prospective student, you probably know that entry into an MBA program is a competitive endeavor. How many ways can you set yourself apart from the crowd? What do you need to apply for an MBA? What education, experience and skills can determine success in the MBA program?

What are Olin’s MBA application requirements?

A defining quality of Olin’s admissions process is its balance of objectivity and subjectivity. While there are checkboxes and must-haves, the committee also looks at applicants as human beings, and each one will require unique consideration; there is no surefire formula that committee members use to make their decisions.

Another point to remember is that class sizes at Olin are small. They are purposely designed that way to create an intimate cohort in which every student is important and can shape the experience of the course. To recruit this cohort, the admissions team thinks carefully about creating a diverse group with different backgrounds, skills and goals.

Aside from these more holistic measures, what key items are admissions officers looking for in your application? In no particular order:

• A resume: On the online application, you will need to upload your resume for review; this gives the committee some insight into your foundation in business knowledge and work experiences, as well as a sense of your career trajectory.
• An essay: Two essay prompts are presented in the online application, giving you an opportunity to expansively share your thoughts on your values, strengths and weaknesses. The essay is the time to give the committee a narrative, not to mention show your creativity and the impact you hope to have on those around you. Use this opportunity to tell your story so the committee can see the person you are—and hope to be.
• Standardized test scores: Depending on who you are and how you’re applying, test scores may be required. For instance, international applicants will need to show a TOEFL or IELTS score if English is not their first language or complete a waiver upon meeting the criteria. For Olin’s full-time MBA program, we recommend that applicants submit scores from a GMAT or GRE test, but test scores are not required. There are also some scenarios (depending on academic and/or professional background) in which an applicant may choose not to submit a score. Please connect with an MBA recruiter if you have any questions about whether or not you should submit a test score for consideration.
• An interview video: The admissions committee will invite you to submit a video as one of the MBA admission requirements. This video is one answer to the question of how to stand out in an MBA application and gives you the opportunity to present your own voice and personality. The interview video is a great space to articulate and expand upon your interest in Olin and how you imagine being successful here.
• Academic transcripts: Unofficial transcripts show the committee that you have completed enough foundational coursework to have earned a degree from a recognized US institution or a non-US institution that can be similarly verified.
• A professional recommendation: This recommender should be someone who knows you from a professional setting (whether a supervisor, manager, etc.)—someone who has been prepped on your decision to apply to Olin and can describe a little of why you would be a good fit for the MBA program.

How can Olin applicants make the most of their admission materials?

Meeting the MBA degree requirements is one thing; being able to stand out at admissions time is another. So how should you, a prospective student, prepare your application? You might also be wondering if there is anything extra you can do?

Perhaps the most important way to elevate your materials during the MBA application timeline is to focus on why an MBA program can help you achieve your goals and how Olin specifically can help you make the impact you’re aiming to make on the world. As an applicant, look to build your qualifications, use this time to deeply reflect on what you hope to get out of an MBA degree, and determine what factors are most important to the program you intend to pursue.

Another key way you can prepare is to do your research. Admissions officers can tell when you’ve done your homework about what the Olin MBA program involves. They also know when you have been proactive about engaging and doing your research with the Olin community to learn more.

One way to proactively prepare is to connect with the people at Olin. Our recruiters, current students, alumni and faculty are an approachable bunch and can provide valuable insight into the application process. What’s more, they know the MBA program better than anyone, and they can see whether an applicant has a good program fit and whether Olin would be a good home for the next stage of your life.

If you have questions about the application process or about our MBA programs, reach out to the admissions team at OlinGradAdmissions@wustl.edu or 314-935-7301.