Gayatri Kulkarni, a computer engineering student from Mumbai, India, worked in the technology side of JP Morgan in India when she found herself increasingly interested in finance. While studying for her CFA level I, she decided to make the switch from the technology sector to the finance industry. She knew the switch to banking and finance would require an MBA, “a degree that teaches both hard and soft skills,” Gayatri shared, and decided to start her business school search. “I knew that if I wanted to end up in the New York – the financial capital of the world – I needed to look at schools on the east coast. Darden stood out because of its smaller class size and situation in a small city. Coming from Mumbai, I wanted to be in a smaller location studying for my MBA. At smaller schools, everyone invests more in their new community and new friends when they are further away or more detached from their home communities. It can be a bubble sometimes, but it’s a nice bubble to be in when everyone is in the same situation – in a new place, making new friends and a new start.”
In her search for business schools, Gayatri was impressed by Darden’s focus on the case method and glad to see the variety of international opportunities offered by Darden. “What mattered to me in my business school search was having the option to study in or travel to another country. Darden offered various types of global experiences, like the Global Immersion Courses and Global Client Projects, and that was important to me.” Gayatri will be participating in the Global Topics Course to London in March led by finance professor Yiorgos Allayannis. “Besides my interest in the finance topic of the course – Global Capital Markets – I was excited about this particular opportunity as I have never been to London before, and I had heard so many students say, ‘You have to take one of Yiorgos’ classes – he’s such a great professor!’ I’m really looking forward to it and I plan to do some traveling around the UK before the course while I’m there.”
Coming to live in Charlottesville was Gayatri’s first time to step foot in the U.S. “I had travelled around Asia but never so far as the U.S. until I came to study at Darden,” she explained. “The transition was smooth, although there were some aspects of American culture that were a little difficult to adjust to. I knew several other Indian students at Darden before moving to Charlottesville, and I joined the Darden South Asia Society and other clubs at Darden to get involved.” Gayatri is a member of the Darden Finance Club and Darden Capital Management, of which she is a Monticello Fund portfolio manager. The Monticello Fund is one of five funds operated by Darden Capital Management funded by Darden endowment money. As a portfolio manager, Gayatri invests Darden endowment money into equity markets in international and/or emerging markets. This year, she also helped plan the Finance Club’s annual finance conference, themed Disruptive Forces in Finance, that included three separate panel discussions on disruptive forces in the finance industry and how the industry can best cope with future disruptions.
Over the summer, Gayatri interned at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York City with their leverage finance group, and will return to work in the same department after graduating from Darden in the spring. “I was surprised by how much I enjoyed my internship at BOA. There were technical aspects I liked a lot, but I really enjoyed the people with whom I worked. I love big cities and am super excited to go back!”
