Genna Hartung, Cornell Johnson MBA Class of 2020
Age: 27
Hometown: Plattsburgh, NY
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Cornell University, nutritional sciences/pre-med
Pre-MBA Work Experience: Three years in HR as a recruiter for Kaplan Test Prep (HR – Education) and two years as a semi-professional athlete with the NJNY Track Club. I taught Kaplan Test Prep part-time for one year and also worked as a personal trainer during that time period.
Why business school? Why now? I spent a number of years after college thinking that I was going to go to medical school once I was done running competitively. Due to a number of lucky opportunities and a great job, I discovered that my passion lies in marketing and business. I was struggling to make the career shift without business school due to my now less-relevant undergraduate degree and finally applied.
Why Johnson? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend? I went to Cornell University as an undergraduate and absolutely loved it. I loved it so much that I came back to Cornell a few years ago to be a volunteer assistant coach to the track and field and cross country teams. Additionally, I was able to spend a lot of time on the Johnson campus and meet with a number of current students. The more Sage Socials and classes I attended, and the more people I met, the more apparent it became that Johnson was a great fit for me.
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the Class of 2020? I come from an unusual background (professional runner, pre-med, coach, and running my own photography business, gennahartungphotography.com). In a way at Johnson, this makes me stick out, but in reality, everyone is bringing such a diverse set of backgrounds to the table that it’s actually the norm.
Fun fact that didn’t get included on your application? During my Johnson interview I pulled out a “Visit Ithaca” tourism booklet that was sitting in the waiting room. There is actually a photo of me running in the middle of it that I took when I was part of the Ithaca Chamber of Commerce’s “Ithaca is People” Instagram takeover.
Post-MBA career interests? I’m extremely interested in marketing and brand management—something I’ve done very informally for all the companies I’ve ever worked for, my own included. Given my athletic background, I would love to work with sports and outdoor retail companies, but I think managing any brand or product would be an incredible creative challenge.
Advice to current prospective applicants:
–One thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process? The most useful thing I did when I was looking to apply was reaching out to current students and alumni of the program. I reached out to personal connections I already had, but then did research on what some of the ambassadors or first years were involved in and reached out to a few with targeted questions. The current students and alumni were extremely helpful and friendly and really gave me a sense for the application process and the two-year program as a whole.
One thing you would change or do differently? I wish I had started looking at Johnson a little sooner. (Fun fact, I was a bit of a last minute applicant—I decided to finally apply in November and hadn’t taken the GMAT, and I had my application in by the January deadline.) Because of this, I missed out on a few networking and information gathering opportunities, such as Johnson Women in Business.
Part you would have skipped if you could—and what helped you get through it? I actually ended up retaking the GMAT after I applied to try to get my scores up closer to my practice test and goal scores. I learned the hard way that forcing a “quick GMAT” in during a really busy few months of your life will not necessarily boost your scores. However, I’m glad I gave it a shot and was grateful that I had put all the extra effort into my application otherwise.
What is your initial impression of Johnson’s students/culture/community? I am already so impressed with the inclusive and supportive Johnson community. I believe this is due to the true diversity that the school brings to the table, as well as the high emphasis on community culture and support. I believe this is due to the smaller class size, which allows us to become an even tighter-knit community than we would normally be.
One thing you have learned about Johnson that has surprised you? I was surprised by how quickly we dove right into being real business students. For example, within our pre-term session we already had classes (pass/fail and very interesting) and even a group case study with our core teams. I was a little shocked at first by how different this was from undergrad, but I appreciate it a lot now because it gave us a low-stakes look at what classes, tests, and case competitions would be like.
Thing you are most anxious about in your first year? As I write this, I’m avoiding studying for an accounting quiz. I think overall, coming from a very non-business background before Johnson, there is a steep learning curve for a lot of the core classes (including accounting), which can be a little intimidating.
Thing you are most excited about in your first year? Battle of the Brands. As a marketer and very competitive person, I love the concept of a team-based marketing competition. I recommend learning more about it at this link: https://johnson.campusgroups.com/marketing/case-competitions.
