MBA Alumni Profile: David Labowitz, Graziadio School of Business

Yes, the time I spent studying for the GMAT paid off handsomely, as I was awarded a fullscholarship to attend the Graziadio School. 

I will be attending Tsinghua University in Beijing, China during the fall semester, 2005.  Since being accepted into the program, I have spent a lot of time learning some Mandarin Chinese and reading books on China and the Southeast Asia area.  Before going to Beijing I will be traveling in Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.  I've never been on a trip like this before, and am really excited about the opportunity.

I also just met my mentor.  He is a tremendously successful entrepreneur and great guy.  He has been accessible, interested, and helpful.  I know I'm going to learn a lot from him.

During the last session, I served as a Graduate Assistant for Mike Kimel in his Advanced Statistical Tools class.  I reviewed the homework assignments and even had the opportunity to teach several sessions of VBA.  However, most of my time was spent on individual tutoring sessions.  It was great to be able to help my friends and make money at the same time!

I have had a lot of other opportunities to be involved in the school community.  I have sat on panels to review curriculum issues, reviewed admissions files for incoming students, and been a host at recruiting events.

All in all, I have found the opportunities to be involved at Graziadio limitless.       

There are two projects that stand out from my first year.  The first was a project I did in Entrepreneurial Startup Strategies class.  I was able to put together a presentation on an original business idea and present it to the class for feedback.  As an aspiring entrepreneur, this was a great opportunity to get some feedback from my peers and professor on my ideas.  Over the summer and fall, I plan to turn this presentation into a more formal business plan, and enter it in the Business Plan Competition next spring.

The second project was a regression project for Macro Economics class.  My partner and I attempted to determine an optimal federal tax rate.  Interestingly, the rates we came up with as optimal (in three different tax brackets) were almost identical to the actual rates used by the Bush administration in the year prior to the most recent election.  It was fascinating to see the real world applicability of the regression skills we learned in class.      

The best thing about Graziadio that has by far exceeded all expectations I had is the quality of the student body.  I have never been surrounded by a group of people that, collectively, are as intelligent, motivated, collaborative, and fun as my peers at Pepperdine.