Sahiba Baveja, W’23, has a lot to look forward to after graduating from Wharton this May. A high-achieving senior who concentrated on both Finance and Healthcare Management during her time with the School, Sahiba is heading west to San Francisco, where she will join Morgan Stanley as an investment banking analyst.
Wharton Stories caught up with Sahiba and heard her reflections on four years, including the opportunities, experiences, and Penn traditions that shaped her Wharton experience.
Hello, Sahiba. In your opinion, what are the three best things about Wharton and Penn?
1) Philadelphia: Philly is so accessible whenever I want to explore, whether it’s visiting Clark’s Park Farmers Market in West Philly, or relaxing in Center City around Rittenhouse Square. As a senior, I’ve really enjoyed getting to visit different parts of Philly, and working out of some of the city’s beautiful and boutique coffee shops.
2) The extracurricular activities: Clubs prepare you for classes and jobs very well. I remember building out a DCF model my freshmen year before I even knew what it stood for (Discounted Cash Flow), and having those fundamentals as a first-year student really prepared me by the time I took FNCE 1000. They’re also a great way to build up soft skills like leadership and communication.
3) The mentorship opportunities: Mentorship comes in so many different forms at Penn, whether it’s adjusting to Penn through groups like PEER (a mentorship program for those in the AAPI community), professionally through different pre-professional clubs, or even just socially through lineages in different organizations. It’s been great to have mentors in so many different spaces, and in turn, serve as a mentor now that I’m a senior!
What is your favorite Wharton or Penn tradition?
I loved Hey Day this past April, and getting to see friends from freshman year and walk down Locust as a class was so much fun. It’s also a little sad because it’s the beginning of the end of college, but it was definitely special. Also, our Hey Day was so sunny and beautiful outside, which just added to the charm of the day.
What do you enjoy most about business school?
There’s always a real-world element to my classes, where you’re able to see where the lessons from class manifest in real-world applications. In OIDD 3210 (Intro to Management Science), I was able to utilize different case studies from Starbucks and ABC Networks to create a plan for vaccine distribution in December 2020. In FNCE 2500 (Financing of Innovation), I was able to speak to the CEO of a startup that my group was doing a valuation on, further connecting the way that my in-class projects translates into real-world opportunities!
What is something unexpected that you learned while at Wharton?
I really value structure and stability in my day-to-day routine, so I never expected to acclimate with the startup space much, and didn’t even know that it really existed at Penn. However, during COVID, I decided to intern with a medical devices startup, and really enjoyed being a part of a tight-knit community and get exposure to multiple aspects of a business. Since then, I’ve gotten involved in two other healthcare startups and have really come to appreciate the lessons you learn at such an early stage of a business. I’ve also ended up taking entrepreneurship courses and gotten involved with Venture Lab, which are two things I never saw myself doing.
Which achievement are you most proud of – academic, extracurricular, or personal?
I serve as President for the South Asia Society, one of the largest clubs on Penn’s campus. Being able to represent SAS on campus, and through huge events like our annual cultural show has been something I’m very proud of. Looking back on when I first got involved with SAS freshmen year, I never would have imagined that I would be president, and get to work with so many amazing people in the South Asian community.
—Meredith Stone
Posted: April 26, 2023
