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| University of Michigan University of Michigan Business School |
OVERALL 1998 RANK: 4 BW corporate rank: 5 BW graduate rank: 3 BW 1996 rank: 2 |
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1999 Profile Update School Profile School Statistics Graduates' Comments: While the workload itself wasn't too excessive, I truly felt that it was excessive during the on-campus interviewing season. During this time, class attendance drops of,f and teamwork cannot always be counted on or is of a lower quality. While in the core curriculum, I feel there is a good balance of teamwork because everyone is in the same section, with similar schedules, the amount of teamwork felt excessive at some points during the second year. It's a real challenge to schedule team meetings, because each person has to meet with five different teams for each class! --Unknown Through recruiting events, the school brought in practicing professionals and occasional guest speakers. However, I thought that student organizations, e.g., marketing club, consulting club, Michigan Business Women were more effective at bringing in practicing professionals than the administration. Although many of the larger Fortune 500, consulting companies come on campus, I think the career office does not actively seek other companies/opportunities. --Unknown I think information technology at Michigan lags behind other business schools. Students are encouraged, but not required, to own a computer (not even a laptop). Because the facilities are older, there's a lack of access to outlets/modems, so it's worthwhile bringing a laptop to school. --Unknown On the positive side, I met and got to know tons of people, from all over the world, with all sorts of backgrounds. Ann Arbor is a great town to spend two years. Where else could you go to get an MBA and experience two national champion teams, Hash Bash and the Naked Mile Run? --Marketing Michigan is an excellent school. Its greatest shortcoming is the perceived diminishment in stature due to its public status. This fallacy is immediately dismantled as students enter the program and come to see the top caliber talent among peers, faculty, and administration. Still, the public nature of the surrounding university does offer its advantages -- from the unparalleled fun and glory of national championship-caliber athletics to the resources of a leading 40,000-student university with world-class disciplines. --Unknown The administration rightly prides itself on responsiveness to student needs and the well-known focus placed on the faculty to receive positive appraisals both as researchers and teachers. The combination results in classrooms that balance the practical application of business skills with their theoretical foundations. As an investment banker, arguably one of Michigan's weaker traditional recruiting platforms, I have been impressed at the quality of firms coming to campus during my two years as an MBA. I assume this is a product of the quality of students being produced by the program. For example, I obtained my summer internship with a leading M&A investment bank through an off-campus recruiting effort and was only the second Michigan MBA to be hired by the firm. The company was so pleased by the quality of the product of the two Michigan MBAs that the next recruiting season Michigan was added to the company's preferred schools list which was previously limited to Harvard, Wharton, and Chicago. The company appeared on campus this year with a full-force recruiting effort and hired a number of additional Michigan MBAs. --Investment Banker There are so many international opportunities available here -- study abroad, Global Projects course, African Business Development Corps, international MAP, the William Davidson Institute, etc. The Multidisciplinary Project was like an internship. We got to work in teams of people to help a business solve a problem. This allowed us to test our new skills before actually accepting a full-time or summer position. The students are extremely intelligent, but teamwork is truly emphasized. There are no cutthroats here. --Consulting I came to school with a nonbusiness background. The core course material was great in getting me up to speed in a variety of business areas. Michigan's MAP program was a valuable experience -- teaching as much about client maintenance as specific coursework. The quality of the students -- particularly in the diversity of the class and the strength of the European and Latin American students -- was a major plus. The number and quality of recruiters on campus was very high, though it was difficult to pick a summer internship strategy after only four months in school. My full-time job search benefitted from the close ties Michigan has to the big six consulting firms -- particularly D&T and PW. --Consulting I was positively surprised over the quality of the school in terms of teaching and in terms of job opportunities after graduation. For a European person, it was amazing to see how far companies were willing to go to get the employees they wanted. For example I had various offers for summer internships between my first and second year. At the end I split my summer between McKinsey & Co. and Goldman, Sachs and Co. Companies had nothing against this, which shows their commitment to trying to get what they want. I would not have been able to get the kind of jobs I did without the Michigan experience. --Executive Michigan is outstanding in terms of teamwork and application of class principles. It has great diversity, and I learned alot from other students. Office of Career Development is great but is not putting enough effort towards international students' job search. The school needs a stronger alumni network. It also needs a semester-long integrated business class (from finance to marketing). --Entrepeneurship Upon entering, I was pleasantly surprised at the helpfulness and friendliness exhibited by my classmates. The personal experiences of the international students combined with American students rounded out my academic experience. These contacts will last a lifetime! If Michigan had one weakness, I would say it is the Office of Career Development and its efforts concerning international students. Michigan has almost 25% international students in the student body. This is a large representation of people, yet the career service office seems ill-equipped to help international students find employment. U.S. employers are largely unwilling to pursue international students, but I do feel the Michigan Business School could improve in its efforts. However, as an international student, I was able to find my dream job at my top choice employer. I had to go outside the traditional tools offered to U.S. students, but I managed to achieve my objectives anyway. --Management Associate Michigan doesn't just talk the international game. An International Business class callled 'The Transitional Economies of Eastern Europe', is taught at a German business school which overlooks the Rhine River. The three-week class is taught at the beginning of the summer. The Office of Career Development at Michigan gets you ready to rock your interviews from day one. There are tons of workshops, seminars, and counseling opportuniites, during which the staff works to make you marketable. One of the things that impressed me most about Michigan is the strength of corporate relationships. I worked for Procter & Gamble this summer, and will be working there full-time in brand management -- [Chief Executive] John Pepper has been here three times in a year and a half! --Marketing If you want an international work experience, come to Michigan. Even if you're from a foreign country and want an experience in another country, come to Michigan. Whether it's International MAP (which I did in Israel and Holland), the Global Projects Course, the William Davidson Institute (transitional economies), or Africa Core, there are so many ways to work abroad. In the spring/summer term, Michigan has approximately 190 people out of the country on various "hands-on" projects, working with real companies, solving real problems. I haven't seen this in any other school in this magnitude, diversity, or emphasis. --Consulting The aspect of business school from which I gained the most was the International Exchange Program. I was able to spend my last semester on exchange at the London Business School. This gave me a cahnce to live and travel in another country and gain the experience of a truly international classroom setting. --Marketing Michigan offers unparalleled international opportunity during the school year and in the summer. As a first year as part of the core courses, some students with relevant background can do their MAP assignment in a foreign setting for 5-7 weeks. This means client work on a global basis. During the summer, Michigan offers the William Davidson Institute Fellowships and Africorp Fellowships as full summer interns. --Unknown Another aspect of the Michigan experience is the constant attention to "the real world". Many of the course are based on providing tangible results to a real client. This has a twofold benefit: Michigan gains valuable resources from the client both financially and educationally. Corporations get enormous value from taking a Michigan MBA out for a spin. This may seem like the same old song, but for every student on every project, it's a new experience. --Consulting The Office of Career Development was extremely aggressive in attracting top companies to our school and establishing off campus recruiting events such as the Wall Street and West Coast recruiting forums. One of the educational highlights was the Multidisciplinary Action Program (MAP) class. This was a full-time seven-week class (consulting project) with five other students. MAP occurred during the last seven weeks of my first year and allowed me to apply all the skills that I had just acquired during the previous eight months. --Finance The faculty at the University of Michigan take the goal of developing well-rounded business professionals very seriously. For example, based on student request, the finance faculty "volunteered" (without pay) to make available an additional Valuation Course. This desire to impact the student body, and thus the companies for which we will eventually work, is indicative of the commitment level of the Michigan faculty. Dean White's efforts to do "what works" is right on target. --Marketing University of Michigan is an excellent program. The university's efforts to integrate international topics into the curriculum is outstanding. The workload at times was a little excessive. However, I had a tremendous learning experience here. I entered the program knowing very little about business. I am definitely leaving a "Master" of business. My complaint is that I wish there had been a few more finance electives. The "Bargaining & Influencing Behavior" class, an elective, should be a required course. It does a better job at teaching effective team skills than Orientation ever will. --Finance The area that impressed me the most about the Michigan Business School was the administration's support of student-run and initiated events. Those of us who were presidents of clubs on campus had the opportunity to meet with Dean White every month to talk about the school and new ideas. There are two examples that show this dedication to the students. Michigan students initiated a Wall Street Forum, for those focused on investment banking, sales & trading, and M&A, and a West Coast Forum, for those interested in hi-tech careers. The last couple of years we have made great strides in increasing our presence in these industries and placed many of our 1998 classmates with firms in these areas. These forums were ideas generated and organized by students with the financial help coming from the Dean's Office. Student empowerment is not just a phrase at UMBS, but a term that is embraced by both the student body and administration. My growth was due in large part to the interaction with my peers on group projects. While some people may condemn UMBS for emphasizing teamwork, the fact is that in the business world today you need to work effectively in teams in order to succeed. --Marketing The administration is top notch. Dean White is incredibly accessible and very interested in student opinon. In fact, Michigan runs largely on the input and sweat equity of students. This year, students initiated and executed the MBA games -- a track and field competition that involved everyone in the school, including students from all backgrounds, their spouses/significant others, children, and even family pets. In addition, students initiated and executed the MBA food drive, which raised more than $25,000 for charity. Global Citinzenship clubs are extremely active. None of the "special interest" clubs are exclusive. Rather, we all welcome participation of others. --Unknown In addition to student participation, Michigan offers excellent core teaching. The strategic marketing class is by far the best class I took at Michigan. In this class, we had lectures and case study discussion along with a simulation called Brandmaps. This simulation was outstanding, as it forced teams to consider operations, finance, and strategy in addition to sales and marketing. Our professor, Tom Kinnear, is an incredible professor. Rarely have I seen or heard of a professor who is as accessible, friendly and academically demanding as Professor Kinnear. In the future, I hope that Michigan will use technology more innovatively in the curriculum. --Consulting The faculty and administration did a truly excellent job in supplying me with a world-class education. My peer group represented the entire world, and I thought that the learning experience was greatly enhanced by this. Most importantly, the B-school community supported and welcomed the significant others and spouses. I arrived at school engaged and was married the following summer. During these past two years I felt that my spouse was an integral part of the school through her association with the S.O.S. Club (significant others and spouses club). For myself and other students with relationships, the support from the faculty and other students made the business school experience awesome for both the student and significant other. --Marketing Michigan really is about functioning in today's business world in teams. This concept is brought home in experiences ranging from Professor Lovejoy's Integrated Product Development course, where creative expression is stimulated by multi-discipline stimulated "group-think", to the richness of sharing a Saturday at Michigan stadium on a fall afternoon with 107,000 classmates and alumni. Plus, where else can you experience both the reward of an MBA and national championships in football and hockey all at the same time? Michigan brings together the attributes of academic excellence, teamwork, excitement and fun like no other school. --Consulting I appreciated the relative racial harmony at the school vs. my previous undergrad experiences of much stronger polarization. For example, when the HBSA (Hispanic Business Students Association) throws a party, everyone attends, not just Latinos and Latinas. The sports here were excellent (we won two championships in football and hockey), and the networking that developed will benefit all of us throughout our careers. --Consulting After going through Michigan's MBA program, all skepticism I may have had about the number two ranking were laid to rest. It is an outstanding program with the faculty and staff committed to providing superior education and support to the students. The MAP program is an outstanding way to prepare Michigan MBAs for the hot consulting and job market. While the student body is extremely diverse, more needs to be done to integrate the various groups that socialize within their own cliques. --Consulting I worked with MBAs from other top B-schools, and I felt that I had an edge, because I had the tools to address real business problems. I believe Michigan is a great all around school, particularly in Marketing, Finance and General Management. I feel that it is a very strategy oriented school, and know that the skill I have learned will help me to become a great manager for any company - or my own. --Finance My biggest concern is the overwhelming number of MBA's entering consulting instead of industry. I'm also a little afraid that the MBA is being made into a specialist degree in marketing, finance, etc. I believe that business needs less specialists and more well-rounded general managers, and I think the emerging trend of CEOs and executives chosen from outside a given firms industry supports this belief. --Operations Back to Top 1999 Profile Update School Profile School Statistics |
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