You won't find many MBA students who have already published an MBA textbook. But that was the case with Yuming Meng when he enrolled in Notre Dame's one-year MBA program in 1998.

Meng graduated from a management school in China and began teaching management in 1988, less than a decade after the Chinese government announced its intention to move to more of a market-based economy. While writing the textbook he discovered that the existing Chinese texts included many misconceptions about Western-style economics.

Later, after joining a state-owned enterprise, he was sent to the United States to develop the market. But he hardly knew how to communicate with Americans, let alone establish business contacts, he recalls. So he decided to pursue an MBA from a U.S. business school. While studying for the GMAT, he earned money washing dishes in Chinese restaurants.

"I got a 640," he remembers of his GMAT score, "not a high score but good for a 35-year-old man."

Meng says he chose Notre Dame because the business school offered a generous fellowship and because the college's values aligned with his beliefs. One of those is that "the purpose of running a business is not only to make money but to make more people have a good life."

After graduation Meng returned to China and entered a competition for a management position with Beijing's municipal government. Thousands of people registered for the merit-based examination to select 30 people for high government positions. Meng finished first and was appointed vice president of a government-owned investment company.

He subsequently proposed and oversaw the merger of two state-owned enterprises into Beijing Energy Investment Holding. Among other projects, the company built a gas-fired power plant for the Beijing Olympic Games that was regarded as the largest and most technologically advanced in the world.

To express his pride in his degree and gratitude to Notre Dame, Meng says he always prints "MBA, Notre Dame" on his business card. He says he hopes to return to the campus someday.

"In my mind it is forever my hometown."

Originally from India, Mohit Kapoor joined Alticor as an intern the summer between the two years of his MBA program. He did so well that he received an offer of full-time employment effective upon graduation.

Alticor is an $8 billion direct-selling company with operations in more than 80 countries and territories. Kapoor supports the global marketing division from a financial perspective, participating in Alticor's "idea-to-market" process. When the company is considering launching a product or service, his financial analysis helps determine if the move makes good economic sense.

"The Notre Dame curriculum was awesome," he says. "A lot of the concepts taught by the professors I am using in my day-to-day work. It's a very practical curriculum."

He says he heard about Notre Dame from a cousin of his who had attended the university. She said he would not only get a good education but find more of a community atmosphere.

As he found out, she was right.

"My peers and I formed a kind of big group, and we always hung out together, so we had people from lots of different cultures. And, of course, that included people from the United States. We had a very diverse, big group, and I'm still in contact with all of my classmates," he says.

"The professors, the whole administrative style, everybody was so welcoming, and I loved that. Even as an international student I didn't feel like I was from a different world, a different country. I felt very welcomed."

In 2008, Olga Starikova had a bachelor's degree in economics and a desire to work in marketing. So she went looking for an MBA program that was highly ranked, was strong in marketing, and attracted recruiters from companies looking to fill marketing jobs.

But that's not all.

She wanted a program that respected her beliefs that business "can and should be done ethically" and "marketing is not about consumer deception but merely a way to communicate to a consumer."

She eventually applied to Notre Dame and was invited to campus for an interview. She was considering two other MBA programs at the time.

"But I fell in love with the campus and the people and cancelled my trips to other schools."

She says she cannot imagine any other school where she and her 8-year-old daughter would have been more comfortable and happy.

"I was challenged academically, but I also had enough time and opportunities to participate in various projects outside of school," says the young woman, who is ethnically Russian, was born in Uzbekistan and worked for five years in Vancouver, Canada (and became a Canadian citizen) before coming to Notre Dame.

Notre Dame also led her to the career opportunity she desired.

In the summer between years of her program she secured an internship in the U.S. Creative Marketing Department of McDonald's. After graduation she joined the company full time as a marketing consultant. In this role she provides marketing support and execution of all national and local promotions at 119 corporate restaurants in the Chicago and Milwaukee area.