M.S. candidate · Walton College

FinanceDataBusiness

I've worked a lending desk at Arvest Bank, analyzed retail data for global consumer brands in Panama City, and built predictive models in R. Now I'm pursuing an M.S. in Business Applied Analytics at the University of Arkansas.

View projects Get in touch

almanzajbu@gmail.com LinkedIn ↗ English & Spanish

Portrait of Jose Almanza smiling, wearing a black polo shirt against a light gray background.
Fig. 01 — Jose AlmanzaFayetteville, AR
Arvest Bank $300K+

new lending volume in my first quarter

Loan-approval model 80.6%

prediction accuracy, tuned logistic regression

Currently

Fall 2026 · Fayetteville, Arkansas
  • Studying

    M.S. Business Applied Analytics

    Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas · expected Summer 2027

  • Working

    Graduate Assistant — Financial Advisor

    Office of Financial Affairs · reviewing student-organization budgets and funding requests

  • Representing

    Walton College Representative

    Graduate & Professional Student Government

  • Focused on

    Analytics for financial decisions

    Lending and credit evaluation, performance tracking, and risk

01 — Who I am

The story

I've been on both sides of the numbers: building the model, and sitting across the desk from the person it affects.

I came to analytics through marketing. My BBA at John Brown University was in Data Analytics and Marketing, and courses in market research, consumer insights, and predictive modeling showed me how the two fit together. From 2021 to 2025 I also played for the JBU men's soccer team, where I was part of the leadership group that set the program's standards and finished as the team's fourth-leading scorer.

The work came in stages. In Panama City I read POS and syndicated sales data for six global consumer brands. At DaySpring I analyzed SKU profitability with SQL and Power BI and led the Summer 2024 intern project. At Arvest Bank I moved to the other side of the desk: credit analysis, underwriting, and lending, including turning previously declined applications into funded loans.

Now I'm pursuing an M.S. in Business Applied Analytics at the Walton College of Business. I also review student-organization budgets for the University of Arkansas and represent Walton graduate students in student government. The common thread is to make the numbers clear enough that someone can act on them.

Based in
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Languages
English & Spanish
Toolkit
R · SQL · Python · Power BI · Excel
On the pitch
JBU Men's Soccer, 2021–2025
02 — How I think

From question to decision

Every project follows the same four steps. The examples come from my loan-approval study.

  1. Understand

    Define the business problem before touching the data.

    In practiceWhich factors actually decide whether a home loan gets approved?

  2. Analyze

    Find the patterns, and test them more than one way.

    In practiceLogistic regression vs. a classification tree on 480 complete applications.

  3. Translate

    Turn technical output into something a non-analyst can use.

    In practiceAn odds ratio of 44.23 becomes "credit history outweighs everything else."

  4. Act

    Use the analysis to support a better, more consistent decision.

    In practiceRecommend building the model into approvals: 80.6% accurate at a tuned cutoff.
03 — Career story

Experience

Four roles across market research, consumer products, banking, and university finance. Each one added a layer: reading data, building the analysis, then making decisions with real money.

2023 · Reading the data

6global CPG clients

  • Analyzed POS and syndicated sales data for six global CPG clients across modern and traditional channels.
  • Built dynamic Excel dashboards on pricing effectiveness, promotional lift, and customer segmentation by region and channel.
  • Led a category analysis for a $232.26B beverage company using data from modern and traditional retailers.
  • Excel
  • POS data
  • Dashboards
  • Pricing & promotion

2024 — 2025 · Building the analysis

LeadSummer 2024 intern project

  • Analyzed financial performance across SKUs, sales channels, customer segments, and regions with SQL, Excel, and Power BI.
  • Evaluated product profitability, inventory efficiency, and SKU-level productivity to give leadership financial insight.
  • Led the Summer 2024 Intern Project, managing a cross-functional team from research to data-backed recommendations.
  • SQL
  • Power BI
  • Excel
  • Profitability analysis

May 2025Graduated: BBA in Data Analytics & Marketing, John Brown University (GPA 3.46)

2025 — 2026 · Deciding with real money

$300K+Q1 lending volume

  • Top-performing banker since hire: $300K+ in new lending volume in the first quarter, on track for Million-Dollar Club production in year one.
  • Turned previously declined applications into approved, funded deals by reassessing borrower risk and structuring alternative financing within policy.
  • Analyzed income, cash flow, debt service, and credit history to assess creditworthiness and manage lending relationships end to end.
  • Credit analysis
  • Underwriting
  • Consumer lending
  • Risk assessment

2026 · Now

  • Support fiscal operations and funding allocation for Registered Student Organizations through the Associated Student Government.
  • Review organizational budgets against financial policies, procurement rules, and standing regulations.
  • Advise student organizations on pre-event financial planning and contribute to impartial, data-informed funding decisions.
  • Budget analysis
  • Financial policy
  • Advising

Sept 2026New role: Walton College Representative, Graduate & Professional Student Government

In progress

M.S. in Business Applied Analytics

Sam M. Walton College of Business — University of Arkansas

Fayetteville, AR · Expected Summer 2027

Completed May 2025

BBA, Data Analytics & Marketing

John Brown University

Siloam Springs, AR · GPA 3.46

Relevant coursework
  • Data Analytics
  • Business Modeling & Prediction Analysis
  • Quantitative Business Methods
  • Spreadsheet Analytics
  • Data Visualization
  • Statistics
  • Market Research
  • Consumer Insights Analytics
  • Financial Analytics
  • Financial & Managerial Accounting
Certifications
  • 2024
    Google Analytics CertificationGoogle
  • 2025
    Power BI Essential TrainingLinkedIn Learning
04 — Evidence, not adjectives

Skills, with receipts

Pick a skill to trace it: Skill → Experience → Project → Report. The number is how many places it shows up.

Analytics Modeling

Technology Tools

Finance Lending

Business Marketing & people

Evidence trace

Credit analysis

Experience
  • Arvest BankReassessed borrower risk to fund previously declined applications
Project
Report

3 pieces of evidence

05 — Selected work

Projects

Each project follows the same path: problem, approach, tools, result. Every chart below uses the project's actual output.

8 projects

80.6%prediction accuracy, tuned logistic model
  • Logistic, tuned80.6%
  • Logistic, default79.2%
  • Tree, tuned78.6%
  • Tree, default75.0%
Test-set accuracy by model
Finance · Predictive analytics2024

Optimizing Loan Approval Processes

What really decides a home-loan approval? A classification study for a fictional bank, built on 614 past applications.

  1. ProblemSlow, inconsistent approvals
  2. ApproachLogistic regression vs. classification tree
  3. ToolsR · rpart · caret
  4. ResultCredit history dominates (odds ratio 44.23)
View case study View report
85.6%of price variation explained
  • Linear$1,999
  • + Interactions$1,871
  • + Quadratic year$1,855
  • Regression tree$2,648
Prediction error (RMSE), lower is better
Analytics · Pricing2024

What Drives the Price of a Used Ford?

A pricing model for a fictional used-car dealer, built on 17,966 vehicle sales.

  1. ProblemPricing inventory accurately
  2. Approach4 models compared on RMSE & MAPE
  3. ToolsR · lm · rpart
  4. ResultRMSE $1,855 · MAPE 12.69%
View case study View report
1,259players profiled, MLS & Liga MX
  • Cluster 1380
  • Cluster 2365
  • Cluster 4351
  • Cluster 3115
  • Cluster 548
Players per cluster (5 profiles)
Analytics · Sports business2024

FIFA Player Dynamics: North America

What drives player wages and market value across MLS and Liga MX?

  1. ProblemWhat sets player value?
  2. ApproachClustering + regression
  3. ToolsR · ggplot2 · cluster
  4. ResultR² 0.64 on market value
View case study View report
110valid student survey responses
One dot = one valid response
Marketing research2023

Why Students Show Up: JBU Athletics

A survey study for JBU Athletics on what drives undergraduates to attend games.

  1. ProblemLow game attendance
  2. ApproachSurvey + 7 hypothesis tests
  3. ToolsMS Forms · Excel · RStudio
  4. ResultFood incentives rank highest (4.06/5)
View case study Report (DOCX)
Promise vs. realitybrand promise vs. student experience
Concept: where the two overlap
Marketing · Brand strategyJBU

JBU's Value Proposition

Does John Brown University deliver what its brand promises? Comparing the value proposition with student feedback.

  1. ProblemDoes the brand deliver?
  2. ApproachPromise vs. student feedback
  3. ToolsStudent research
  4. ResultStrong alignment found
View case study
25+children & families supported
One dot = one child and family
Community · VolunteeringAbility Tree

Ability Tree — the MVP Program

Helped create a recreational program where children with disabilities play alongside their classmates.

  1. ProblemKids left out of play
  2. ApproachHelped build the MVP program
  3. ToolsTeamwork · recreation
  4. Result25+ families supported
Read the story
$232.26Bbeverage company, category analysis
Professional · Dichter & Neira2023

Beverage category analysis

Led a category study for a global beverage client using data from modern and traditional retailers in Panama. This was client work, so there are no public files.

See the role
Team leadSummer 2024 Intern Project
Professional · DaySpring2024

Operational efficiency recommendations

Managed a cross-functional intern team from research and analysis to data-backed recommendations. This was internal work, so there are no public files.

See the role

Work & reports

6 real documents · view or download

  • PDFFirst page of the loan approval report
    Dec 202419 pages

    Optimizing Loan Approval Processes

    Classification paper: logistic regression and trees on 614 home-loan applications.

    ViewDownload
  • PDFFirst page of the Ford vehicle pricing report
    Dec 202424 pages

    Key Factors Influencing the Price of Ford Vehicles

    Regression and prediction report comparing four pricing models.

    ViewDownload
  • PDFFirst page of the FIFA North America player dynamics report
    Apr 202417 pages

    FIFA Player Dynamics Analysis: North America

    DAT-3113 final project on player profiles, wages, and market value.

    ViewDownload
  • DOCXCover page of the JBU Athletics marketing research report
    Dec 202326 pages

    Exploring Students' Views on JBU Athletics

    Marketing Research (MKT-4113) full report: survey design, 7 hypotheses, and recommendations.

    Download
  • PPTXTitle slide of the JBU Athletics research presentation
    Dec 20237 slides · 13 MB

    JBU Athletics: Research Presentation

    The slide deck presenting the survey findings to the client.

    Download
  • PDFJose Almanza's one-page resume
    20261 page

    Resume: Jose Emilio Almanza Carrizo

    Experience, education, certifications, and skills on one page.

    ViewDownload
06 — The Analytics Lab

My work, as data

Every chart here uses figures from my own reports and resume. Nothing is simulated.

6

Case studies with a public write-up

6

Downloadable documents

4

Professional roles, 2023–2026

17,966

Vehicle records in the largest dataset (Ford)

Model scoreboard

How well did each model perform?

  • Loan model F1 score87.0%
  • Ford price model R²85.6%
  • Loan model accuracy80.6%
  • FIFA value model R²63.9%

Different metrics, each from its own report. Scale 0–100%.

Ford pricing · model selection

Prediction error by model (RMSE)

  • 1 · Linear$1,999
  • 2 · + Interactions$1,871
  • 3 · + Quadratic year$1,855
  • 4 · Regression tree$2,648

Lower is better. Model 3 was selected (MAPE 12.69%). Case study →

Loan model · test set

Confusion matrix at tuned cutoff

Actual: rejectedActual: approved Predicted rejected22correct2missed Predicted approved26false approve94correct

116 of 144 test applications correct (80.6%). Sensitivity 97.9%.

Loan model · classification tree

What predicts approval?

  • Credit history36.6
  • Applicant income33.4
  • Loan amount27.0
  • Co-applicant income17.7

Variable importance scores from the full tree.

FIFA · k-means

Player profiles, MLS & Liga MX

  • Cluster 1380
  • Cluster 2365
  • Cluster 4351
  • Cluster 3115
  • Cluster 548

1,259 players across 5 clusters.

JBU Athletics · survey

What gets students to games? (agreement, 1–5)

  • Food incentives4.06
  • Knowledge of the sport3.69
  • Team performance (men)4.22
  • Team performance (women)3.69

Both gaps were statistically significant (p = 0.004 and p = 0.008).

JBU Athletics · sampling

From invitation to evidence

  • Survey emails sent1,124
  • Responses received112
  • Valid responses kept110
  • Required sample size105

About a 10% response rate, above the 105-response minimum.

Career timeline

Where my time has gone, 2021–2027

JBU Men's Soccer
Dichter & Neira
DaySpring Cards
BBA, JBU
Arvest Bank
U of A · Grad Asst.
GPSG Representative
M.S., Walton

RoleCurrentDegree milestone

Timeline: JBU Men's Soccer Aug 2021 to Dec 2025; Dichter & Neira May to Aug 2023; DaySpring May 2024 to May 2025; BBA completed May 2025; Arvest Bank Jun 2025 to Jul 2026; University of Arkansas Graduate Assistant since Aug 2026; GPSG representative since Sept 2026; M.S. expected Summer 2027.

07 — By the numbers

Track record

$300K+

New lending volume in first quarter

Arvest Bank
80.6%

Loan-approval model accuracy

Classification study
85.6%

Vehicle price variation explained

Ford pricing model
1,259

Players analyzed, MLS & Liga MX

FIFA player dynamics
110

Valid survey responses analyzed

JBU Athletics research
6

Global CPG clients analyzed

Dichter & Neira
25+

Children & families supported

Ability Tree
4th

Leading scorer on the team

JBU Men's Soccer
Sept 2026 — Present

Walton College Representative

Graduate & Professional Student Government

Representing Walton graduate and professional students in university-wide initiatives and in policy discussions about the graduate student experience.

Aug 2021 — Dec 2025

Student-athlete, leadership team

John Brown University Men's Soccer

Part of the leadership team that set the program's standards. Played in every game and finished as the team's fourth-leading scorer.

Volunteering

MVP Program

Ability Tree

Helped create a program where children with disabilities join recreational activities alongside their classmates.

Read the story
08 — Let's talk

Have a problem worth analyzing?

Recruiters, professors, and fellow analysts: I'm one click away, in English or Spanish.

Email

almanzajbu@gmail.com

LinkedIn

linkedin.com/in/jose-almanza-a97944234

Resume

One-page PDF
Save contact card Download resume All links (/links)