#149 Wisconsin MBA Program & Admissions Interview with Betsy Kacizak and Brad Chandler - “"Focus Creates Advantage"

Betsy Kacizak, Director of MBA Admissions and Recruitment, and Brad Chandler, Director, Nicholas Center for Corporate Finance and Investment Banking at the Wisconsin School of Business of University Wisconsin-Madison, discuss what makes the Wisconsin MBA unique, the school's admissions process, career opportunities and more.

Program Highlights (10:45) | Admissions (29:56) | Scholarships (45:32) | Careers (49:08

About Our Guests

Betsy Kacizakis the Director of MBA Admissions and Recruitment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Betsy excels at walking you through the admissions process, including helping guide you toward the specialization that best fits your passions and career aspirations. She has expertise as a leader in the field of graduate admissions. She has worked for the Wisconsin School of Business for 11 years and worked for seven years at Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC).

Brad Chandleris the Director of the Nicholas Center for Corporate Finance and Investment Banking at the Wisconsin School of Business. At the Nicholas Center, Brad is responsible for both administering the Center's specialized programming focused on MBA and undergraduate students and teaching a number of its core courses. Prior to joining the Nicholas Center in 2017, Brad was a Managing Director in the Investment Banking Division at Morgan Stanley in New York City. While at Morgan Stanley, Brad advised corporate and private equity clients on mergers and acquisitions, shareholder activism and defense, leveraged buyouts, debt and equity financings, restructurings, and fund-level financings. Brad successfully executed over 55 transactions representing over $225 billion in transaction value. Representative transactions include advising Dow on its merger with DuPont, advising Axiall on its hostile defense against Westlake Corporation, advising Agrium on its proxy contest victory over JANA Partners, advising Dresser Rand on its sale to Siemens AG, the Trinseo and Sensata IPOs, and numerous financings for Bain Capital, Advent Capital Management, Clayton Dubilier & Rice, CF Industries, and Eastman Chemical.

What is unique about the Wisconsin MBA? What are its key advantages?

• The Wisconsin MBA asks applicants to select from 10 career specializations at the time they apply: Brand and Product Management, Marketing Research, Corporate Finance and Investment Banking, Applied Security Analysis, Real Estate and Risk Management and Insurance, Operations and Technology Management, Supply Chain Management, Strategic Management, Strategic Human Resource Management, and Arts Administration
• Wisconsin MBAs start taking courses and doing applied learning related to their specialization from very first semester
• Center Directors running Wisconsin's 10 specializations play a big role in admissions, curriculum design and career advising, as they connect students to alumni, recruiters and thought leaders in the space
• Wisconsin offers a tailored and customized approach to 80 students
• Wisconsin was one of 3 founding members of the Consortium in 1966

Episode summary, show notes and more at: http://touchmba.com/wisconsin-mba-program-admissions-interview-betsy-kacizak-brad-chandler