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| University of Washington University of Washington Business School |
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1999 Profile Update School Profile School Statistics Graduates' Comments: My fellow classmates are outstanding -- they're intelligent, team-oriented, have fantastic work experience, are outgoing, and are friendly. In addition, core faculty are outstanding. They emphasized student development, and were caring and knowledgeable. The school administration could, however, benefit from better focus. It's headed in the right direction, though. --Consulting The biggest problem with the University of Washington is the shackles placed on the program by the State of Washington. Funding cannot be directly donated to the business school, so even when people want to help build the MBA program, they cannot be assured that their aid will go to the program. The business school dean is not worthy, and is being forced out much to the delight of anyone associated with the program. That being said, the small size of the program coupled with the quality of the professors makes the program very attractive. The tuition (especially for in-state students) is a steal. The ROI at UW's MBA Program is probably the No. 1 reason I attended. Seattle is a great place in many ways for most people. Unfortunately I have been spoiled by San Francisco's sun and blue skies, so the rain and grayness is a bummer for me personally. I should also add that Professor David Gautschi's work with the Marketing Forum (a lot of high-tech exposure) and Emer Dooley's Technology Series really tapped into the local base of technology and offered a lot of opportunity to meet NW leaders in high tech. --Marketing There is quite a bit of variability in the quality of instruction. Some of the professors are truly top-notch, while others are really bad. I found the best instructors to be people who were either not yet tenured or were not (by choice) in tenure track positions. At the moment, I would have to say the the main selling point for the UW is that tuition for residence is about 5K per year. --Human Resources In general, the faculty members are outstanding. There are a few exceptions, including those who create the direction of our information technology opportunities. I believe that the leaders of the Management Science department have "missed the boat" on what the critical education opportunities should be. Furthermore, I do not believe that the Human Resources department has enough qualified faculty members for the program to confidently state that it produces people who are as well prepared for an HR profession as someone who followed a finance track is for that profession. I believe that the current dean is not capable of leading this program to reach its full potential. This problem is being compounded by the lack of continuity in the MBA Program Director position over the past several years. Some of the circumstances that hinder leadership in those positions are the strange effects of Washington State laws. Finally, I believe that the majority of my peers are high-caliber individuals. Many of them, including myself, had opportunities to attend other higher-ranked MBA programs, but chose UW for reasons other than rank (such as location and lifestyle). I believe that had the team-oriented aspects of the MBA education been handled properly, I would have enjoyed them more. There is a problem with diversity -- the majority of students seem to be white males or Asian -- not much else. --No career path given UW has an excellent program. Our class was small in size (145 students) but diverse and interesting. I'm nearly tripling my salary, and I just can't say enough good things about the faculty, especially the finance faculty. The current Dean is very weak, but I believe he only has a year left on his contract, and I'm sure it won't be renewed. There are plenty of complainers in our class who feel that the placement office was sub-par, but I think the placement office did an excellent job with what it had to work with. Having a small class with diverse interests makes the job very difficult, so for those students whose interests fell outside the mainstream, the on-campus recruiting was understandably scarce. --Finance The University of Washington is an ideal location to get a business education, with a lot of intellectual capital to gain experience and knowledge from. Unfortunately the school doesn't leverage these resources well at all. Also, the University's failure to identify and reward outstanding young professors will result in many of these professors leaving and the quality of teaching to decline. The program is also in the process of trying to define their mission/course, which is leading to a lot of confusion and turnover. The administration fails to listen to its customers (the students), most of whom are going to school there to locate in the Northwest. Students are not being prepared with the necessary skills or cultivating relationships with businesses that they should be looking to attain careers with. The major point: Great teachers who go the extra yard for students, relatively poor administration, great fellow students, and a fantastic city in which to get an education. --Information Technology The professors are very knowledgeable and very accessible. They want to help you find jobs, and many, especially in the marketing department, have lots of "real world" contacts and experience. The students are generally very bright and hard working, but also get along well and have fun together. --Marketing The professors' teaching ability is definitely the program's biggest asset. Although recruiting has improved a great deal since I've been at the UW, the career services department still has a long way to go -- many attractive national companies do not schedule a UW visit. This stems from the fact that our program is small and very Northwest-oriented. --Consulting The facilities have seen tremendous improvement in the two years I've been at the UW. A new building, a new MBA lounge and a new library have had a tremendous impact on the program. --Consulting The UW MBA program has greatly improved its placement center. The new MBA director is responsive. The school is slowly embracing the concept that constant improvement requires constant change. I believe that in the next year or two, many improvements will be instituted as this pace of change accelerates. --Consulting UW MBA is making a strong relationship with local business right now. Fortunately this year, we had a conversation with Bill Gates, Microsoft, and Warren Buffett. These opportunities are UW MBA's advantage, because right now Seattle is very properous with many growing companies, such as Microsoft, Boeing, and many software companies. --Marketing The University of Washington's Program in Entrepreneurship & Innovation (PEI), and the faculty, courses, activities, and network associated with it, has long been overlooked. Over the past two years, the PEI has become a certificate program at the UW, held one of the largest business plan competitions in the nation, hired three additional faculty, and is currently looking for an endowed chair. --Marketing Job placement rate appears low, because graduates want to stay in the Pacific Northwest. If you really want a job, and are willing to relocate, you can have a job locked in well before graduation. Students come from across the country and around the world, intending to return home, but fall in love with Seattle and its quality of life. Graduates are willing to forgo tens of thousands of dollars in annual salary to stay in the area. Moreover, Seattle has a smaller market for MBAs and can't absorb that many at graduation. A lot of grads stay in the area, networking over the summer to land the right job. Seattle is a hotbed right now for entrepreneurial activity, especially in software, telecom, and biotech. There are more opportunities for interacting with local entrepreneurs than I could possibly take advantage of. The Program in Entrepreneurship & Innovation brought local business leaders onto campus in a number of events. --Entrepreneurship Back to Top 1999 Profile Update School Profile School Statistics |
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