Alaric Qin, M&T ’16
Hometown:
Los Angeles, CA
Engineering Major:
MS in Systems Engineering and BSE in Electrical Engineering
Wharton Concentration:
Management, Marketing-Operations Joint
ACTIVITIES AT PENN
Music Director of the Pennchants, an acappella group on campus that has been around for over 25 years
Executive Board Member of the SEPTA Advisory Council, a liaison group that represents the needs and concerns of college-aged youth in front of SEPTA
Various cultural groups and activities, including Chinese Student Association, Korean Student Association, and PAACH
WHY M&T
In a few words, people and opportunity. The people and community of M&T is so strong that I could not imagine being a student at Penn without the diverse members of the M&T community. They are a kind, intelligent, and capable bunch – and the M&T culture is open, with alums and older students always ready to help and advise younger mentees, M&T structurally also offers an incredible opportunity for students who want to achieve a great amount of breadth in their study. I feel that I particularly benefited from the opportunity to meet vastly different people in the different schools, all with incredibly diverse backgrounds, capabilities, and accomplishments. From a curricular standpoint, the way of thinking in business and engineering are fundamentally very different, and I found it highly beneficial to learn from each perspective.
WHY SUBMATRICULATE
Structurally, submatriculation offers an easy way to knock out an additional degree in just one year. Many classes taken in both Wharton and Engineering can count for various requirements in a submatriculated master’s degree. Staying an extra year in a university setting is valuable in many ways in that it presents further opportunities to sample personal and academic interests, to meet new friends and colleagues, and to simply gain an extra year of experience in study prior to whatever your next step in life might be. The aforementioned benefits were enough for me to make the decision to stay an extra year.
FAVORITE MASTER’S CLASS
Intro to Transportation Engineering (ESE 550) taught by Meg Ryerson
WHERE DID YOU INTERN BETWEEN YOUR FOURTH AND FIFTH YEARS AND WHAT WAS THE VALUE OF HAVING THAT EXTRA SUMMER?
I worked in Germany for Stuttgarter Strassenbahnen and learned an incredible amount about European transportation operations. The extra summer to intern gave me the chance to sample yet another field of work and gave me an extra year to figure out what I ultimately wanted to do post-grad.
SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES MADE POSSIBLE VIA THE MASTER’S PROGRAM
The chance to meet even more Penn and M&T students. In my fifth year, I made new friendships that I am glad to have and strengthened existing relationships with students, alums, and the faculty.
PLANS AFTER GRADUATION
Moving to San Francisco to work for McKinsey, a management consulting firm.