The Worst Things MBAs Say About Their Own Schools

Michigan Ross

“I think Ross needs to focus on enforcing higher academic standards on its MBA students. I found my courses challenging and usually (not always) the course load was adequate or challenging. However, at times, I did not feel grading standards were as stringent as they could be. Top recruiters never looked at students’ grades or seemed to care about MBA performance, which reinforced the situation. Ross and top MBA recruiters should both emphasize the importance of the academic experience and academic success. Many students will not prioritize academic success if recruiters do not and I think this dampens the MBA experience for students who are highly passionate about academics.”

“Grades don’t matter (Michigan has a non disclosure policy for grades, as do most schools) and they should so students have more of an incentive to come to and participate in class.”

“I think Michigan needs to drastically improve its Office of Career Development. Not sure how it is relative to other schools of its caliber, but students at Michigan often pursue non-traditional career paths and the office is not equipped to help them.”

“While the quality of the classes overall is very good, the quantity is a bit lacking. By the time I got to the end of my 2nd year, I just felt like there weren’t any more interesting classes left for me to take.”

 

MIT Sloan

“I think the career placement office could expand their efforts in non-traditional opportunities. Banking and Consulting firms, and other analytical industries recruit very heavily at MIT, but MIT Sloan students aren’t always tech-nerds. There are some amazing people interested in other fields. The career placement office doesn’t bring in as many firms from atypical industries.”

“There is a unique opportunity to break out of its traditional categories of what Sloan is traditionally known for. We need to have recruiters come to Sloan for things that are not traditionally associated with Sloan. An example: Apple presentation in the Fall at Sloan went like this: We love MIT Sloan. We’re here to hire Operations and Supply Chain folks. When asked if they could get into product design, recruiters replied: NO, just supply chain and operations. Marketing and other jobs at Apple were listed on job boards at other MBA programs.”

“Dramatically increase emphasis on communications and leadership. Improve the “table manners” broadly speaking general put togetherness of graduates of the program. Too much emphasis on hard quant which doesn’t matter, too little emphasis on polish in speaking, writing and communicating.”

“The coursework load is quite demanding, which leaves less time for networking and social events than some classmates would have liked.”

“I think the career department could do more to help students pursue careers with employers who are unable to come on campus for recruiting.”

New York University Stern School:

“I’d like to see better efforts made to get nontraditional recruiting integrated with on-campus recruiting. I know that entertainment/media tends to be just-in-time hiring, but developing stronger relationships with recruiters at those companies could help them be more inclined to reach out to Stern earlier in the recruiting process to find qualified candidates.”

“NYU Stern has amazing people who are doing amazing things in the world. However, we need people who will take a step back and give more credit to the university and network of people who have helped them along the way. I think NYU Stern’s biggest challenge is that its alumni are not as actively involved as alumni at other universities.“

“I think that the administration should continue to push towards ensuring that Stern becomes a part of the longer-term dialogue with alumni. The students will undoubtedly continue to connect with each other, but there are still opportunities for the school to remain in students’ minds after they graduate.”

“The facilities of the school are a bit dated and could use some renovations. The location in downtown Manhattan makes this difficult, but the improvements would greatly improve the school.”

INSEAD

“The administration should take MBA courses on how to run a business. INSEAD is run poorly. Students express frustration about the MBA office much more often than they should. When suggestions are made, the administration is defensive. As a result, they do not have any authority in the students’ eyes.”

“The career services could improve significantly. Most companies come to our school because of its reputation but career services could help students more on those companies where the school does not current contacts.”

“Career center needs to step up recruitment effort (e.g. hire ex-industry network that knows people to help place students) rather than relying on companies to come to them. Also most applicants to consulting jobs rely on fellow sponsored-students to give mock interviews…the school could have done more than just that.”

“The fact that the campus is 40+ min away from a major airport and a major city is a challenge…from interviews to bringing in speakers and probably hiring top faculty… I would suggest that the school evaluates moving the European campus into a city center.”

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