Meet Kylie Cooper

Alumni spotlight

Kylie Cooper (‘23 MBA) had many fun and challenging experiences on her path to graduation.

Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Cooper loves her Minnesota roots but has been connected with Iowa State University long before college.

“I had visited Iowa State’s campus for soccer camps many times in high school, starting in eighth grade,” said Cooper. “My dream was to play soccer at Iowa State, but that dream changed when I had the opportunity to stay in Minnesota and play soccer at a college up north.”

While Cooper had initially committed to the school in Minnesota, her love for Iowa State’s campus and all it had to offer eventually reigned supreme. After decommitting from the school in Minnesota, she applied to Iowa State’s engineering program and was accepted soon after.

Cooper enjoyed the start of her undergraduate studies and knew she had made the right choice to attend Iowa State. However, aspirations would lead to her feeling compelled to find more.

“I knew I was missing a part of the story and that a piece of me was unfulfilled with only an engineering degree in my repertoire,” she said.

Cooper found the missing piece of her story with Ivy’s concurrent MBA program, which allows students to earn an MBA and bachelor’s degree in five years. After learning of the program through a fellow industrial engineering student, Cooper knew it was exactly what she had been looking for.

“During my junior year, after what seemed like ages since I had first learned about the program, I was ecstatic to take the GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test), submit my program application, and be accepted into the Ivy MBA. It was an exciting path and my first glimpse into the greatness here at Ivy.”

While this new journey is one that Cooper was delighted to embark on, she also knew that this change in atmosphere would come with the need for some difficult adaptation.

“If your goals don’t scare you, they’re not big enough. So, let’s all be scared together.”

— Kylie Cooper

“I came from my undergrad in the College of Engineering where I was so used to being a ‘smart woman in STEM’ who was an expert in all things hard’! But I quickly realized that business classes were no joke. I remember having to Google what a ‘case’ was in my first MBA class. I had to learn to be smart in a different way.”

A case competition is an academic event where teams of business students compete to solve a business challenge (a case) in a limited amount of time.

Experiencing a change in areas of study can often be difficult, but Cooper took the challenge head-on and decided to get more involved around Ivy. This involvement helped her learn about what business is really like.

“A memorable moment for me was when my team won an internal case competition in my BUSAD 592 class. I got the validation I had been yearning for from this unfamiliar school. Despite those initial roadblocks, I knew that that feeling of being scared meant this is where I was supposed to be.”

Cooper learned many valuable lessons throughout her time at Iowa State and was significantly helped by her practice of not letting opportunities go to waste. She made it a goal to never think of her aspirations as being too much and to always face challenges head-on, which has allowed her to find success not only at Ivy or Iowa State, but also in life.

“If your goals don’t scare you, they’re not big enough. So, let’s all be scared together,” she said.

To learn more about Cooper or to follow her professional journey, visit her LinkedIn page.

Learn more about Ivy’s MBA programs.

February 6, 2024