In this edition of our Real Humans: Alumni series, we meet A.J. Roy, a recent MBA graduate from the Yale School of Management (SOM). The advice Roy received that convinced him to pursue graduate school came from a good friend, who told him it’s “where you go when you want to be the best version of yourself for the thing you care about.” For Roy, the joint MBA/MFA degree with the David Geffen School of Drama was the reason he only looked to Yale, as building deep arts leadership experience at a world-class drama school while studying in one of the top social impact MBA programs was an unparalleled opportunity. Read his story about joining BCG after graduate school here.
A.J. Roy, Yale SOM MBA/MFA ’24, Management Consultant at BCG
Age: 33
Hometown: Larkspur, CA
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Northwestern University, Theatre & Economics
Pre-MBA Work Experience: Board Relations Manager, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, 4 years, Performing Arts Industry
Post-MBA Work Experience: Consultant, Boston Consulting Group, 1.5 years, Management Consulting
Why did you choose to attend business school?
I’ve always wanted to lead an organization, and a good friend of mine described graduate school as “where you go when you want to be the best version of yourself for the thing you care about.” My conversations with mentors led me to believe that I could probably rise to leadership without business school, but that and MBA would (a) get me there faster and (b) better equip me to succeed once I got there. Having dedicated space to reflect on my career thus far, gain exposure to many industries, and ask questions about leadership & management in a structured environment was a major draw for me.
Why Yale SOM? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
Yale was the only program I applied to because of the joint MBA/MFA degree with the David Geffen School of Drama. For me, the opportunity to build deep arts leadership experience at a world-class drama school while studying in one of the top social impact MBA programs was unparalleled.
What about your MBA experience prepared you for your current career?
Strategy consulting asks you to digest scores of information about a company or market, distill it down to the most essential drivers, and use those drivers to form a view about improving performance. That is every day in business school: a different case study, framework, group of teammates, etc. You are building a muscle for grappling with an unfamiliar context and driving toward the right insights.
What was your internship during business school? How did that inform your post-MBA career choice?
I interned at BCG, where I now work full-time. The BCG internship was a 10-week crash course in strategy, client engagement, and structured thinking — every day was different and I never knew what to expect. I worked with a global media company on international expansion & content strategy, areas that were completely new to me. The pace of learning was energizing and I wanted to continue building my analytical toolkit with BCG in a full-time role.
Why did you choose your current company? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to work?
I chose BCG for similar reasons as others who go into strategy consulting: to gain structured problem-solving skills that can be applied to any industry or challenge, while learning from lateral thinkers with diverse backgrounds. Culturally, my “why BCG” is more personal. I got a lot of different reactions to my theatre background during the recruitment process. Some seemed to dismiss me fairly quickly, others would imply that it sounded “fun” but not a serious career path. BCGers would immediately start asking questions about the industry: how producing theatre works, what is the lifecycle of a Broadway musical, what it’s like working with artists and unions. That engagement and curiosity was a clear differentiator to me.
Advice to current MBA students:
–One thing you would absolutely do again as part of the job search?
Leverage the resources on campus and the guidance of second-years / recent alumni. Incredibly valuable!
–One thing you would change or do differently as part of the job search?
Honestly, it’s hard to know what to change since the process can be such a black box and frequently comes down to luck. I wish I had realized sooner that it’s not really about having a perfect resume — it’s much more important to have a compelling framing for why your past experiences have prepared you for the day-to-day of consulting. Given another opportunity, I would’ve developed that framing sooner and with more specificity.
–Were there any surprises regarding your current employer’s recruiting process?
The case interviews themselves were much more conversational / collaborative than I expected — more like working together to solve a problem than being prompted through exhibits and math
–What piece of advice do you wish you had been given during your MBA?
It’s the time to try whatever is interesting to you, even if it doesn’t connect to your background. Why not?
