In order to increase critical thinking skills and give a breadth of management experience, students are taught from a core of management classes throughout the first year at the Marriott School and a fraction of the second year. All entering MBA students are required to enroll in the management core classes during the first year (two 15-week semesters) of study. The program follows a strict lockstep format wherein first-year students enter the program in the fall, then take all their classes together during the first year. Entering MBA students are divided into three cohorts of approximately 50-55 students each. Each section is then organized into smaller study teams of approximately five students.
The largest part of a student’s second year of schooling consists of specialized classes targeting each student’s chosen major: finance, marketing, supply management, or organizational behavior/human resource management. Students supplement their major classes with additional classes to help them obtain more general management experience or obtain a minor or certificate. Joint degree programs are also offered.
Rankings Analysis: The Marriott School of Management slipped four places in the 2012 Poets&Quants’ composite ranking to 36th from 32nd a year earlier. One significant reason was a lower-ranking from Bloomberg BusinessWeek which in 2012 placed the school 32nd best in the U.S., down five spots from a rank of 27 in 2010. The BusinessWeek ranking, which is largely based on student and corporate recruiter satisfaction, A look under the hood shows that the school lost five places in BW’s graduate opinion survey, ranking 36th instead of 31st, and losing two places in BW’s corporate recruiter survey, ranking 21st instead of 19th.
Marriott also slipped an inconsequential one place in U.S. News & World Report’s 2012 ranking, where it placed 34th instead of 33.
The school’s best ranking is from Forbes, which ranks MBA programs on the basis of return-on-investment. Marriott does very well indeed on this measure, ranking 15th in 2011 due to its very low tuition.
As a Class of 2012 graduate told BusinessWeek: “I don’t think the world realizes how good BYU is at business. They are excellent at it. The professors are spectacularly good and are there out of a unique dedication to the school and the vision. Also, the class size was so small (160 students) which means that professors know me. This is a bigger deal than it sounds because these professors are well connected and act as gate-keepers, advisors, counselors, and resources for research. It adds to the richness of the experience significantly in a way that would not be possible in a larger program. Also, the alumni network is tight. BYU alums are more dedicated than most and will go the extra mile to get you in. It’s a powerful network. It is hard to argue against BYU when these advantages are stacked up with the 1/4 tuition price.”
