Senior Spotlight: An Interview with Biz Rasich ‘19
Biz Rasich is a
senior MTEC
major and a
member of
Lovett College.
investment banking, or a general business
career, it may actually be more useful to
use the ECON major’s flexibility to take
additional economics electives rather than
bulking up on multivariable calc and linear
algebra concepts you won’t necessarily
need.
You’re not an English major, but you’ve
taken English classes every semester.
How have those classes helped you in
your MTEC coursework and how do you
envision them helping in your career?
When did you know that you wanted
to major in Economics? How would
you advise younger students who are
contemplating majoring in ECON or
MTEC to explore the majors as they
relate to their educational and career
interests?
My dad is a Kellogg MBA and he instilled
good business fundamentals in me and
my siblings as soon as we could walk
and talk. If we wanted to exchange a $20
gift card for cash, we got a lecture on
liquidity. When our grandparents took us
on a spending spree at Christmastime,
the amount we got to spend was indexed
to inflation. By the time I got to college,
majoring in Economics wasn’t really a
question! The next choice was whether I
would major in ECON or MTEC. For me
personally, I felt so intellectually engaged
in ECON 200 (Microeconomics), learning
about the mathematical underpinnings of
the field, that I had already begun thinking
about graduate school in the future. I
decided that MTEC would give me the
best preparation for graduate work and for
conducting my own research. My biggest
piece of advice to students is to carefully
consider which major will further their
careers. MTEC is great preparation for
grad school and quantitative research
careers because of its emphasis on
mathematics and empirical work. However,
if you’re interested in going into consulting,
My passion for reading and writing has
become a major asset in my classes, my
internships, and my job search. I’ve found,
for example, that being able to structure
an argument in a proof actually has a lot
of similarities to how you might set up
an argument about oceanic symbolism in
Mrs. Dalloway. Recruiters have also been
excited to hear that I have a background in
English. When I interviewed for a Business
Development internship, I was stunned
that my interviewer started by saying, “I
see you’ve taken several English courses
and have published a few short stories.
Tell me more.” They knew I’d be able to
analyze spreadsheets but also communicate
clearly with coworkers, executives, and
potential buyers. In the end, being able to
communicate clearly is such a fundamental
aspect of what economists do. Whether
in the business world or academia, it’s
not enough to be brilliant at math and
econometrics—you have to be able to make
cogent arguments and explain why your
ideas matter.
Tell me a little bit about your research
project this year. How did your
coursework in the department prepare
you for this research?
This year, I’m finishing up a research
project that aims to predict the likelihood
of someone going bankrupt before they
actually file in court. Dr. Yinghua He’s
ECON 209 (Applied Econometrics)
class was fundamental in preparing me
to conduct my own research. It’s an
incredible course because it opens the door
to exploring your own questions about the
world. I didn’t have to wait for anyone
else to write a paper—I could finally write
my own! Throughout the semester, we
kept learning new tools to do research
and seeing the ways that math could
so elegantly make sense of data. I still
remember the day Dr. He taught us about
fixed effects because I went back to my
room and excitedly tried to explain it to my
roommates. When I started my bankruptcy
research, I actually came to Dr. He and
asked to borrow the textbook we used in
that class so I could refresh a few concepts!
What has been your thought process
about applying to graduate schools
now vs. working for some time before
applying?
My original plan was to apply for graduate
school the fall of my senior year (i.e., now),
so I prepared with extra math courses
and research classes as well as taking the
GRE the summer after sophomore year
when I would have the most time to study.
That plan was shaken a bit after I had a
difficult internship experience (it was an
all three meals eaten at your desk, never
seeing the sun type of job) and I discovered
that I needed a break before I took on the
heavy workload of graduate school. After
all, I don’t want to just survive my Ph.D.
program—I want to excel. With that in
mind, I view my gap year as a time to
explore the world and gear up for graduate
school. Wherever I end up, I’ll have
industry-specific knowledge to draw upon
in future work, and I’ll have the space and
time to generate new research questions.
I’m looking forward to what’s next!
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