Editor's Note: BusinessWeek collected graduate comments in 2000 during its ranking of full-time MBA programs. The next ranking is scheduled for fall, 2002.
The University of Washington is highly underrated. The quality of our student body far exceeded my expectations. The people in this program demonstrated a high level of teamwork. The diversity of students' backgrounds is incredible. Our school loses out by admitting only 165 students, but the quality of these students is as strong as any school in the United States. Rankings or no rankings, I would recommend the University of Washington to everyone. -- Operations
I am thrilled with my MBA experience at the University of Washington. The small class size, the outstanding professors, the exciting business environment in Seattle, and the quality of my classmates were fantastic. Despite the intense workload and the competitive pressures associated with business studies, my classmates were engaging, supportive, cooperative, and excited to volunteer and participate in activities beyond academics. Add in the fact that I got a great job, and I could not be more pleased with my last two years at the University of Washington. -- Finance
The University of Washington is currently undergoing some much-needed and drastic changes. Primarily due to the leadership of new Dean Yash Gupta, the school is raising more money and more public interest than it ever has. The school's newly-created e-business program will help better position the program as a leader in high tech and entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, the school often does not get ranked in national surveys highly enough because so many of the students join smaller companies and receive the bulk of their compensation in the form of equity and stock-options. At the time of graduation, a great number of my classmates had not accepted full-time positions, but weren't sweating it all because the job market is super-hot, and smaller companies don't want to fill their open job requirements unless you can start tomorrow. Also, because of our small class-size, many of the larger, traditional companies do not recruit on campus. However, in Seattle and San Francisco, where the majority of students go for work, the high-tech community knows the value of a UW MBA. The school has also done a great job of promoting diversity, competition, and teamwork, a reflection of the very aggressive, yet open-minded, Puget Sound business climate. Firms such as Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon.com, and Real Networks provide a great deal of support for the MBA program. Under Dean Gupta's leadership, this support should only broaden in the future. The quality of fellow students is the greatest strength of the UW MBA program. Not only are fellow students smart and experienced, but for the most part, UW MBA's just all get along really well. I was part of a group of students who started a gay and lesbian MBA group and the response to our organization was overwhelmingly supportive...nearly half of our class turned out for our end-of-the-year party. -- Marketing
The UW has a number of very high value-added, student-led, extracurricular activities which help specializing in a certain function or industry (e.g. marketing club, finance club, high-tech club, etc.). This is usually not recognized in surveys, although I think it is an immensely important aspect of the MBA experience. -- Anonymous
Washington is a great school if you are interested in high-technology. I worked with at least five Internet related companies through a variety of classes/projects etc. I am not talking about wanna-be start-ups in some Midwest city either. Seattle has the largest base of high tech talent outside of the Valley. Hands down. -- Marketing
Terrific school, terrific value. Major stumbling points in our ranking seem to be low starting salaries and poor quality facilities. For the former, low rankings and low starting salaries form a vicious cycle, so what can I say? As for the latter, we're working on it. Seattle is an absolutely amazing city to be in during this age of high tech, and I can't believe the contacts I have developed in the business community. -- Consulting
I returned to school for two reasons. The first was to learn to use many of the basic business tools that are critical for running a business (finance, marketing, IS, etc.). The second was to develop my analytical skills in a business setting and to take a step back and understand the "big picture." My two years at the University of Washington gave me that and more. While there was much I would change in the program itself, most of my classmates were some of the smartest people I'll ever work with. I learned more from them than I thought possible. One of the biggest traps with these types of evaluations is that we forget to see the forest for the trees. We parse out what we liked and didn't like and forget to focus on whether our careers will be better off for attending a program like this. My answer is an emphatic yes! The UW program has a long way to go before I consider it a superior program. Nevertheless, all the elements are there for this program to achieve greatness. Now, it will take the effort of a new dean, an excited faculty, motivated students, and interested alum to get it there. I'll be interested to see whether we can combine these elements in the right manner to achieve this greatness. -- Marketing
I believe the UW is under-rated, considering the quality and experience of the MBA faculty and staff of the business school. The school can improve upon its offerings in the area of technology and technology management. Considering the environment and type of companies in the Seattle area, the UW should be one of the top tech-oriented graduate business programs in the nation. It has top flight undergraduate business and computer science programs that should be leveraged at the MBA level. UW also has excellent return on investment. Tuition is extremely low considering the quality of the education, network, and corporations in the Seattle area. The area is pristine and possibly one of the best places to live in America. -- Finance
The entrepreneurship program at the UW is world class and growing and is being integrated across all colleges and schools. The new dean is pushing the school into additional technology and e-commerce areas, and has proven himself to be a successful fundraiser. Many students are launching new companies during and immediately after the program. -- Entrepreneurship
Seventy percent of the students here should be at BW Top 15-25 schools. But students are drawn to the Pacific [Northwest] surroundings. UW has the forefront of high-tech business at its front door. Haas and Stanford are the only others with better access to the New Economy. Other high points: 2 week study tours abroad; the younger, active lecturers and professors in Marketing, IS, and Management & Organization departments; and core professors are generally outstanding. Low points: power struggle between faculty and administration; lack of student diversity; inadequate career counseling; and a handful of finance professors who ignore the dynamics of real-world business and student demands. To date, the massive potential has been realized by students' and younger faculty members' efforts. This year, the business plan competition regularly made national press, the Finance Club launched a $500k fund, and management from all the famous Seattle dot-coms participated on a regular basis. The new dean needs to involve the business community and alumni more, while changing the program so faculty reports to the program office, not academic department heads. There is NO reason this can't be a Top 25 school in 5 years. It's time for UW's MBA to make itself known, first in Seattle, then nationwide. -- Anonymous
This rigorous, 5-day-a-week program required the following schedule to survive the first year: [Monday-Friday] (slightly different. on Wed. but same idea) 6:30-7:30 a.m. - study; 8:30-10:20 a.m. - class; 10:30 a.m.-1:20 p.m. - meet with a study group (and also eat lunch); 1:30-3:30 p.m. - class; 4:30-6:30 p.m. - eat/personal chores; 6:31-11 p.m. (or 12 a.m.) - study; weekend 9 a.m.-5 p.m. - study, group [meetings]. This was more quantitatively rigorous than many programs -- and it is the only 5-day-a-week program [that] I know of. (Most are 4.) -- Information Technology
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