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| University of Georgia Terry College of Business |
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1999 Profile Update School Profile School Statistics Graduates' Comments: The MBA program at the University of Georgia offers a tremendous value for one's money. Most students receive assistantships under which their tuition is waived and they receive a stipend. Considering how little, on average, each student pays for his education, the level of instruction provided is really good. Furthermore, most students are very bright and can add a tremendous amount to discussions in class.--No career path given I don't think that corporate recruiters around the country recognize the overall caliber of our student body. I feel that the main problem in the Georgia MBA program is its career services office. We only have two people working in this office, and I do not believe that they have any competitive advantage over the students in the job search process. This is probably a main reason that corporate recruiters do not actively recruit the students in this program. Our career services personnel does not have any capability of marketing the students to the big companies. When companies do come to interview, it is not guaranteed that every interested student will receive an interview. I have signed up for 40 interviews and have received two. I think that these companies come to campus only because they are aware this program is out there and it has an academically strong student body. --No career path given Having an undergraduate business degree, I was able to enroll in UGA's one-year program. This was a great deal financially, and I feel that the only opportunity I missed was a summer internship. However, this was never looked upon unfavorably by potential employers. UGA has an outstanding faculty. Though not publicized, the finance department has to be one of the best in the country. Teamwork and interpersonal skills are often emphasized, and there is huge capital commitment toward technological advancement. --No career path given My experience in Athens was only hampered by two items. The administration seemed to lack any long-term goals or planning. This was most likely due to the absence of a dean for the graduate school. The recent hiring of a new dean last spring should alleviate this problem. The graduate school also lacked a sufficient career services office. The current staff is unfamiliar with nationwide employment opportunities and hiring seasons, and unless the student desires to work in or around Atlanta, he/she is somewhat on their own. Lastly, UGA as a whole is a great educational and social experience. Athens is a wonderful small college town. --Consulting The only real flaw in the program lies in career services. Unfortunately, during the two years that I was in the program, we had an interim dean, which didn't really help us in improving relationships in the business community. I was frustrated with the school level of relationships with financial services firms. I don't really expect Georgia to compete for jobs on Wall Street, but I do expect the school to compete for jobs in the South. For instance, the school had no relationships with Interstate Johnson Lane, Robinson Humphrey, JC Bradford, or Morgan Keegan which are all top firms in the South. --No career path given I think this will change with the new dean this year who did well at establishing relationships with financial firms while he was at Rutgers. I'm just sorry he got here after I left. On a more positive note, I did get the job I wanted. It just took a little longer than I planned on. I have absolutely no debt to pay off. I had an assistantship both years and a scholarship the second year. The value of the assistantship over the two years was probably about $20,000 - $25,000 in stipends, and reduced tuition. Being an out-of-state student, it was great to have a quarterly tuition of about $230. Overall it was a positive experience. In addition to what I learned, the town of Athens is wonderful. --Finance Career Services is improving with the addition of a very competent assistant. She is quite an asset to the program. But we still have a long way to go, especially in getting summer internships. The administration is also extremely responsive to students' concerns and requests. For example, they implemented an MBA Reading Room to help students stay better informed. They stocked it with publications requested by students. It has been quite successful. Our entrepreneurship program and our real estate program are excellent. Both have won recent competitions. The diversity of our class and of the town itself make the University of Georgia MBA program a very worthwhile experience. --Marketing Since Sanford Hall's dedication, I've been consistently impressed with the utilization of technology in all the classes -- not just MIS. --Analyst The University of Georgia's MBA program is very personalized. The size of classes are around 40 and the teachers know you and seek to know about you. Dr. Grover and Marc Lipson both took interest in all the students. They assisted with my job search and gave advice and counsel when asked. Also, Professor Peter Shedd took a great interest in the students. These are only three teachers that I believe greatly impacted my experience. All of the professors' doors are always open. In addition, the class was close knit and only a few loners ever sought personal benefit over the team success. The year ended with the MBA follies where the students (a small group) performed for the faculty and other students a parody of our years at UGA. It was a fun way to celebrate and end the year! I would recommend the school to anyone. Also, Athens is a great city. The social scene is good.--Account Manager UGA's MBA program has a diamond in the rough with the entrepreneurship program -- it far surpassed all expectations in teaching me how to start a business. Dr. Charles Hofer, the Dept. Head, is utterly brilliant when it comes to strategy, and the National Competitions provide experiences one can find nowhere else -- particularly exciting experiences when you beat top 20 schools in business plan competitions, as we did consistently throughout the year at various national and international competitions. Dr. Rick Watson in MIS is an impeccable teacher, a veritable fountain of knowledge and wisdom in such a young industry. Dr. Dwight Lee in Business Economics is quite possibly the most charismatic educator I have ever met. Athens is a great town to live in, particularly if you're walking distance from downtown -- there are incredible music shows weekly for only a few bucks. Since half of all students get tuition paid for along with paid assistantships, it attracts some very talented students -- the overall caliber of my class was outstanding. Currently, the career placement office is the weak link in this otherwise high quality, top notch program. Fix that, and I don't think the UGA MBA program can be matched. --Marketing Through the efforts of the faculty, the MBA program at UGA is really on the cutting edge of some of the distributive learning technology. It was an incredible experience to work with the professors developing strategies for delivering course material online. Also, the extracurricular efforts to enhance the individual's leadership education was exceptional. --Information Technology The University of Georgia has excellent Entrepreneurship, Real Estate, and Risk Management programs. UGA could benefit from a more integrated (among disciplines) program. New dean, George Benson, should improve the program by integrating the curriculum better. --Finance As one of the few recent undergraduates, I feel that the one-year program was an outstanding opportunity for me. My best job offers before starting the program last year were approximately one half of the offer I accepted this year. It cannot be said too many times that the UGA MBA is by far the best value for the dollar. The quality of the University system, the Terry College of Business, the education itself (particularly Operations, MIS, and Entrepreneurship), and the city of Athens is second to none. My total cost for the one-year program was around $20,000 including tuition and books, rent in a downtown apartment, and above-average entertainment. --Operations For the money, I think that this program is one of the best graduate programs around. Personally, being able to earn my MBA degree in one year was something that I just could not pass up, and I think that the one-year MBA program makes UGA's program one of the most unique in the country. A relatively small class size enables each student to interact on a personal basis with nearly all of the faculty members, which greatly enhances the learning experience. Furthermore, with the addition of Sanford Hall and brand new computers in the MBA computer lab, UGA is clearly at the leading edge of technology. Finally, starting this summer, George Benson's presence as Dean of the Terry College of Business will provide a tremendous amount of stability to the program and to the Terry College itself. In short, I expect nothing but great things in the coming years from the University of Georgia's MBA program. --Human Resources The strength of the UGA MBA Program lies within the student body. My colleagues were exceptionally bright and contributed greatly to my overall experience. In addition, the atmosphere is very cooperative, and competition is found primarily with one's self as opposed to cutthroat competition with others. Much of management success is determined by leadership and interpersonal skills, and in these areas, I believe our class is superior. I would readily and confidently compete against Top 10 MBA Program grads in the market with most of my colleagues here at UGA.--No career path given In addition to the student body strength, the elective courses and the professors that teach them are exceptional. Our ethics and first-year marketing core classes were also well done. The Program's weakness in terms of teaching is found mostly in its difficulty to replace senior tenured professors (sometimes department heads) as MBA professors. As incredibly bright and industry respected as they may be, they do not have the level of ability in transferring their knowledge as one would expect at this level. --No career path given The placement of our graduating class is testimony to our collective ability to manage our own career searches and effectively interview on an individual level. The MBA career services office at UGA is a weak link; the network of companies is excessively Atlanta-based, and this is why we have historically not had a national ranking commensurate with the nationally competitive caliber of our students. The director hired last year does not look to have the established network nor the network expansion ability required to correct this trend, and needs to be addressed by the administration. Our class did a very good job in extending itself nationwide by accepting positions all over the country with leading companies (Microsoft - Seattle, Intel - Portland, Sacramento & Phoenix, Dell Computer - Austin, Lehman Brothers - New York). --No career path given This program now has a new dean (George Benson formerly of Rutgers University as of July 1), and I expect that many of my concerns will be addressed by him rather soon, as his stated vision of this program is one of national prominence, with an exceptional executive program and corporate partnerships nationwide, along with strong alumni ties and continuing education programs for MBA alumni. --Information Technology Back to Top 1999 Profile Update School Profile School Statistics |
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