Seattle to Pittsburgh!
If you stumbled upon this blog post, welcome! My name is Eric Tinnell and I am currently a first-year, full-time MBA student at Tepper. I’m excited to share a bit about my journey as the school year progresses. In this first post, I’ll share a bit about my background, what led me to Tepper, and what I plan to do after Tepper.
I’m originally from a small town in Washington State called Ephrata. Sports were a pretty big driver in my life growing up and baseball helped me decide where to go to college. I finished my undergrad at Central Washington University, where I majored in finance, minored in economics, and was also a member of the baseball team (go Cats). After graduating from Central, I moved across the state to Seattle, where I started a wealth management practice. Seattle is amazing. If you haven’t been to Seattle, please consider it for your next vacation. I can share all of the best spots! After a few years working in wealth management, I realized I had learned a ton and met some amazing people, but I wasn’t completely satisfied with the work. A move needed to be made. The pursuit of an MBA ensued…
This takes me here. At Tepper. Posing for pictures outside of the Tepper building. Writing this blog. So… why Tepper? There are many reasons and I’ll boil it down to two:
- First, the people are amazing. Throughout the entire application process, every student I spoke with was incredibly helpful. Everyone was nice, collegial. This includes the admissions team. With a smaller cohort (our class has ~240 students), meaningful relationships are able to form with all of your classmates. A big part of any MBA program is the networking. Building a network with an entire class is powerful and will be powerful in the future. These positive interactions have persisted throughout my first few months at Tepper. My classmates are incredible people
- Second, Tepper has the resources for you to do whatever you want to do. Different business schools have different reputations (eg. School X is more of a finance school, School Y is more of a healthcare school, etc., etc.). There is usually some merit to those assumptions. But what I can say about Tepper is, regardless of what you’ve heard Tepper is “known for,” if you want to pursue anything, the probability is very high that you can find a professional club, a career counselor, an alumnus, and a resource to help. Do you want to do tech? Sweet. Tepper is one of the best. Finance? Awesome. Tepper has alum at dozens of institutions. Analytics? Wonderful. There is an analytics track. Healthcare? Fantastic. Tepper has a healthcare club. The list goes on. If you are committed to a career path OR if you want to explore a few paths, the Tepper School is incredible in both scenarios
As for me, post-Tepper I plan to pursue a career in investment banking. Tepper has a great history in finance, including Nobel Laureates, hedge fund managers (David Tepper is one of the most successful investors in history), investment bankers, and so many others. In the short few months that I’ve been at Tepper, the second-year students have also been instrumental in our preparation for careers in investment banking. Like I mentioned before, the resources for all disciplines are abundant and this has proven to be especially true for careers in finance.
Outside of the classroom, I love to explore. Over the past year, I’ve been fortunate to visit some amazing places in the US. Here are a few photos.
Angel’s Landing, Zion National Park, Utah. Woke up early to beat the crowds
Grand Canyon National Park, AZ. An amazing “opposite” hike. You start the hike by hiking DOWN and finish by hiking UP!
We were lucky enough to get permits to hike Half-Dome. This is the scariest picture I’ve ever posed for
- Investment Banking Internship: CHECK! - January 15, 2022
- Seattle to Pittsburgh! - October 13, 2021
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