Minahil Salam, Michigan Ross MBA Class of 2028
Age: 28
Hometown: Westport, Connecticut
Undergraduate Institution and Major: NYU, double major in Media, Culture & Communication and English Literature.
Pre-MBA Work Experience: Before Ross, I earned my Master’s in Social Work and worked as a therapist in private practice. Most recently, I worked as a Program Coordinator for the Columbia University Achievement Initiative, where I worked within a local high school in Harlem supporting students with dropout prevention, college access, and career readiness.
Why did you make the decision to attend business school? Why now?
Working in mental health is something deeply close to my heart, and being a therapist taught me an incredible amount about people: how they make decisions, what motivates them, and how larger systems shape individual experiences. Over time I became increasingly curious about what happens further upstream, like how organizations make decisions, allocate resources, build new products and services, and ultimately shape the experiences of the people they serve.
After conversations with trusted mentors, I realized I wanted to pair the perspective and skills I had developed through social work with a new set of business and analytical tools. Business school felt like an opportunity to take what I had learned working directly with people and apply it to complex problems at a much larger scale.
The timing also felt right. I had developed a strong foundation in my work and was ready to challenge myself in a completely new environment. Making a decision as significant as business school and moving away from my friends and family wasn’t something I took lightly, and I feel incredibly grateful that I was in a place in my life where I could take that leap.
Why did you choose Michigan Ross? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
Starting the application process, I was genuinely open to seeing where the right fit took me. I applied broadly, but ultimately resonated most with Michigan. Every Ross student and alum I spoke with seemed hardworking, kind, collaborative, and genuinely humble.
The school spirit also really stood out to me. Even before applying, I had noticed in New York that people wearing the Block M seemed to immediately recognize one another. My Ross interviewer, who was also based in New York, told me that she had unexpectedly found herself resonating most with Michigan when choosing a business school. Years later, she still flies back to Ann Arbor with her two kids for football games. That stuck with me. It showed me how a decision she made years ago had turned into a lifelong connection that she was now sharing with her family.
As I got to know Ross and Michigan more, I realized that sense of connection extended far beyond Ann Arbor. The passion people have for being part of Michigan is unmistakable, and I loved the idea of joining a community where you feel part of something greater than your individual experience. Go Blue!
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to your class?
Going from therapist to business school is certainly not the most traditional MBA path. I spent years sitting across from people and trying to understand how they think, what motivates them, and what might be underneath what they’re saying. That experience has shaped the way I listen, ask questions, and approach problems, and I think it gives me a different lens to bring into the classroom and my teams.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself that didn’t get included on your application:
I once met Wallace Shawn at a bookstore in New York, and he used my phone to call his wife to ask whether he should pick up a rotisserie chicken! I also love all things literary fiction, so if you end up choosing Ross, come find me and let’s talk books.
Post-MBA career interests:
I’m interested in opportunities that allow me to solve complex problems and work across different industries, with current interests spanning consulting, technology, healthcare, and strategy.
Advice for Current Prospective Applicants:
–What is one thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process?
For almost a year, my phone background said “trust the process,” from @wetheurban. It sounds small, but having a constant reminder that I would be okay regardless of the outcome was surprisingly important. The MBA application process can feel incredibly high-stakes, and it’s easy to become attached to one particular outcome.
The uncertainty was probably the hardest part for me. I wanted to skip ahead to the moment when I knew exactly where I would be the following year. Reminding myself to trust that the right path would emerge helped quiet some of that noise and made it easier to appreciate the process as it was happening.
–What is one thing you would change or do differently?
I would talk to even more students and alumni earlier in the process and find someone else applying that cycle to go through it with. I didn’t have close friends applying to MBA programs at the same time, and it wasn’t until interviews and admitted student events that I met people who had been in the same boat all year.
Talking to alumni was also when the differences in school cultures became much more tangible to me. Those conversations ultimately helped me narrow down my decision, and I think having more of them earlier would have helped me refine my school list from the beginning.
–What is one part you would have skipped if you could—and what helped you get through it?
If I could skip one part, it would probably be the feeling that there was always something else I should be doing. Applying to business school while working full time can be a tough lift, and it was easy for the application process to bleed into everything else.
I kept a running note on my phone divided into “work,” “life,” and “MBA apps.” Breaking everything into small tasks helped me stay organized and, more importantly, reminded me that I was making progress. Application season is temporary, and checking off those little steps helped make the process feel much more manageable.
What is your initial impression of the Michigan Ross students/culture/community?
Everything I heard from alumni about the Ross culture is already showing up in my experience here. People are social, kind, and genuinely willing to show up for one another. There’s also an incredible amount of school spirit. You feel very quickly that you’re part of something bigger than just your MBA class. Ross students come from wildly different professional and personal backgrounds, and I’ve loved how quickly those differences start to feel like part of one community.
What student organizations have you joined/are you hoping to join and why?
I’m involved with Consulting Club, Tech Club, Student Ambassadors and, for a slightly different kind of networking, Pickleball Club.
I was especially drawn to Student Ambassadors because of the experience I had talking with Ross students and alumni before choosing Michigan. The culture of the community came through in every conversation and helped tremendously in finding my home here, so I’d love to eventually provide that same experience for prospective students.
More broadly, I’ve loved the variety of organizations at Ross. There are so many ways to explore professional interests while also finding communities completely outside of recruiting and the classroom.
What is one thing you have learned about Michigan Ross that has surprised you?
I’ve been surprised by just how strongly the culture of supporting one another carries through once classes and recruiting actually begin. Even in areas where we are technically competing for the same opportunities, people are constantly sharing resources, practicing together, answering questions, and helping one another improve.
I heard about the collaborative culture before coming to Ross, but there’s a difference between hearing it during the application process and watching it play out when the stakes are real. And it definitely helps to have a great section – shoutout to Section 5!
What is one thing you are most excited about in your first year?
I’m especially excited for Multidisciplinary Action Projects (MAP) at the end of our first year. After spending most of the year building a new business toolkit alongside my classmates, we’ll get to take what we’ve learned and apply it to a real problem for an organization, potentially anywhere in the world. I’m excited to see how much our perspectives and skill sets evolve over the year and then put all of that into practice together.
