Estela Goldstein

With almost 30 years of professional expertise in accounting and finance, including seven years at Cisco, it might seem odd for someone as experienced as Estela Goldstein to be seeking an MBA. But as someone who is always looking for the next challenge, Estela says the timing is just right.

“I was raised with the idea that education is an investment in your future,” she says. “I’m intellectually curious, and I always want to keep learning. So now I want to polish my leadership skills, and add a credential from a well-known and respected U.S. university to my resume.”

With an undergraduate degree from the National University of Cordoba in Argentina, Estela came to the United States seventeen years ago to launch her accounting career. After working at several companies where she took on increasing responsibility—all while raising three children—she found herself at Cisco, where she leads a team that handles complex clearing and suspense accounts.

After speaking with Liz Wagoner, admissions director for Questrom’s Online MBA (OMBA) program, Estela was sold on Boston University.

“Liz made the application process so smooth,” Estela says. “This proved to me that BU and Questrom had a lot of experience with international students. Everyone was so welcoming even before I attended my first class.”

Turns out the OMBA program is a perfect fit for Estela for many reasons. It allows her to keep working full time at Cisco in North Carolina. It’s affordable. And, to Estela, a seasoned accounting professional, the modular course format makes perfect sense.

“The format is what we see in real life,” she says. “You don’t just pass accounting, pass marketing, pass finance, and then forget them. In business, you need to know how marketing, accounting, and finance work all together, at once. They’re integrated.”

Another unexpected benefit for Estela is how quickly she’s applying new ideas from class to her current job. “The best part of the program is seeing how much I can apply to my day-to-day work,” she says. “The language they use in OMBA is the language I hear in my company—disruption, innovation, change—now I can better understand these concepts and think with this mindset.”

The OMBA program is giving Estela just what she needs to take her career to the next level, whatever she chooses to do. “I’ve loved the opportunity to meet people from all around the world and make so many professional connections,” she says. “And what I’m learning is giving me confidence to pursue more challenges in my company.”

“I’m intellectually curious, and I always want to keep learning. So now I want to polish my leadership skills, and add a credential from a well-known and respected university to my resume.”

– Estela Goldstein