Community
Find Your Place Here
The Maryland Smith community mirrors today's business world. Our students and faculty hail from diverse backgrounds. As a result, your MBA cohort will be teeming with different experiences and viewpoints. These unique perspectives will give you fresh insights and innovative solutions—and better prepare you to work with a diverse group of future colleagues.
Join our Collaborative Community
Your classmates aren’t your competition, they are your biggest fans. Smith students genuinely support each other in the classroom and on the job search. Fearless and fierce, they’re diverse, they know what they want out of their careers, and when they come together as a team, nothing can stand in their way.
“The Smith community introduced me to friends and classmates from more than 20 different countries. And the collaboration really goes beyond anything you’d expect. Sure, every school touts its collaborative community. But before our internship interviews, students would lead open refresher lectures on all sorts of topics—finance, presentation skills—just to make sure absolutely everyone was prepared to do their best.”
Vignesh Ilango
MBA ′20
Smith Full-Time MBA Student Profile Averages
“I was a marketing analyst for a fitness company, and after meeting with executives and other members of the C-Suite, I realized I needed to learn how business worked holistically. Any MBA provides that insight, but what brought me to Smith was the ability to pair that with an MS in marketing analytics. And that experience just made Smith the total package for me. It’s what’s prepared me to step into my new role at Dell.”
Bill Morton
MBA ′19
Smith’s student clubs offer the chance to focus on your personal interests while sharpening your leadership skills. Participating in the many opportunities for learning and achieving that exist everywhere at Smith will change your perspective, your focus – even your life. Take advantage of this vast internal network.
MBA Association
The MBA Association (MBAA) serves the full-time student body of Maryland Smith. The MBAA is the primary interface between the student body and the administration in order to enhance the Smith MBA experience.
Graduate Clubs
The MBA Association (MBAA) coordinates the 12 student-run groups below. Its focus is to build a sense of community by providing Smith MBA students opportunities to interact through social and career development activities held throughout the year. The MBAA relies on Smith MBA clubs as well as contact with professors and alumni to help students strengthen skills, define their career goals, and develop a solid network of professional peers.
“Everyone says, ‘You need to be uncomfortable in your MBA, and leave your comfort zone and embrace leadership opportunities.’ So I stepped in and ran for president of our Latin MBA Student Association. It gave me leadership experience and that helped me realize I really am skilled in this type of role. Now I’m going to Seattle to be a product manager for Microsoft, and I wouldn’t be ready without my experiences at Smith.”
Natalia Olmos
MBA ′19
Life in the Nation's Capital
When you pursue your MBA at Maryland Smith, you’ll find the nation’s capital is only a 15-minute Metro ride away. And while the museums, cherry blossoms, restaurant scene and recognition as a top city for young professionals speak for themselves, there are other aspects of the region that make it the perfect choice for an MBA.
With national championship titles in nearly every sport Maryland offers, the Terrapin teams are a hot ticket. Students get free tickets to sporting events like basketball, football and soccer.
Terp Sports
Check out the Clarice’s live musical, dance and theatrical performances, recitals and exhibits. See why the university’s art gallery has earned a national reputation for innovative exhibitions.
The Clarice
Finding off-campus housing for graduate students can be stressful, so contact Maryland’s Off-Campus Housing services for a quick and easy starting point.
Graduate, then Innovate in the D.C. Metro Region
The Washington, D.C., metro area has long been touted as a burgeoning tech hub, including companies like Northrop Grumman and Fisher BioServices. And with the impending arrival of Amazon’s HQ2, the job market will only continue to thrive across all facets of business. What better place to apply your finely honed leadership and analytical skills?
“From doing my undergrad in Washington, D.C., I knew that living in this area would be similar to living in New York City—but less congested and with a better work/life balance than I would get in most other places,” said Tida Jarjou, MBA ′20. “The culture, the museums and the pace were all in line with what I was looking for.”
Tida Jarjou
MBA ′20