When Rebekah Koster took her first finance midterm in the MBA program, she felt like she had no idea what she was doing. The test scared her, so she decided to switch her track—not away from finance, but to it. “Part of who I am is choosing and going after really hard things,” says Koster, a second-year MBA student from Mesa, Arizona. “I love doing things that stretch me.”
Koster came into the MBA program with experience in marketing, so she started the program's marketing track, but she says that switching to finance has allowed her to learn something new. “The finance track is pushing what I have known and is pushing what I thought I could know,” Koster says.
Switching tracks wasn’t the first time that Koster needed to learn an unfamiliar aspect of business. In 2023 Koster accepted a field marketing manager role at Order Protection, a startup shipping insurance company, and within a few weeks, she was asked to take on the additional role of head of HR—an area she says she had “zero experience” in. “I was a little bit shocked,” she says, “but I was looking for learning and growth, so I was excited to take that on.”
While Koster enjoyed her time at Order Protection, she says she had known her whole life that she wanted to earn an MBA. This desire was solidified when Koster attended a devotional during her undergrad and was inspired by Ballard Center for Social Impact Director Eva Witesman’s message about women and education. “After hearing the devotional, I saw getting my MBA differently—not just as a career step, but as a way to become more like God,’” Koster says, “She reminded me that seeking knowledge is a divine pursuit.”
So, after prayerfully considering different universities, Koster decided to apply to and begin BYU Marriott’s MBA program. At the same time, she prepared to apply for internships with consulting firms, a process she describes as “nuts” with an initial test and multiple rounds of interviews, culminating with a final interview lasting several hours. “I don’t know how true the statistics are, but it’s claimed that the top firms only take 1 percent of all the applications they get,” Koster says. “It’s pretty intense.”
Koster landed interviews with her three target firms and accepted an internship offer with McKinsey & Company. As she interned this summer, she was excited to be an ambassador of BYU Marriott. “I’m looking forward to sharing what makes the MBA program at BYU Marriott unique and impactful,” Koster says. “I’ve come to fall in love with the program.”
An internship isn’t all that Koster says she’s gotten out of her time at BYU Marriott. She says there’s “support in any way you look” from faculty. This was needed when Koster decided to change her track and had to get signatures from several faculty members, who all encouraged her. And she continues to feel support from the professors in the classes she’s taking. “It feels less like a professor relationship and more like a mentor relationship, where the faculty are cheering me on,” she says.
Just as Koster has found mentor relationships with faculty, she has the opportunity to work with incoming MBA students in her role as the head consulting mentor in the MBA’s sherpa program. “It’s been really neat to see the impact I’m able to have by being trusted to speak with incoming students about consulting.”
Now, as Koster comes back to BYU Marriott for her last year of the MBA program, she’s excited to keep pushing forward. “I’m excited for the learning and growth this journey will bring,” Koster says. “I’m energized by challenges that push me beyond my limits."
