Tepper School of Business

Tepper is uniquely positioned to prepare managers for the information age. Data is king nowadays, and Tepper helps MBA graduates build tangible, useful skills that will help them excel in the corporate world. Furthermore, Tepper is not a fluffy program. When you enroll here, you are seeking a challenge that will help set the stage for the rest of your professional career.

Pittsburgh can be isolating, so it would help if there was better outreach to larger markets. We have satellite campuses in New York and Silicon Valley, but the bulk of the students in Pittsburgh rarely get to leverage anything gained by having those locations. I wanted to work in Chicago, but our penetration here is extremely low. To illustrate the point, only about 7 of us actually ended up in Chicago and 5 of those were by happenstance because their consulting firms happened to assign them here. This is despite the dozens and dozens of my classmates who wanted to work here, but couldn't get the interviews/connections. I only ended up here because I decided to return to my previous employer, who just happened to be headquartered here in Chicago. Similar stories exist for other highly desirable locations like Los Angeles and San Francisco.

I found the "full service" approach that Tepper offers particularly enticing. The mini semester system offers incredible curriculum customization and lack of cohorts allows you to truly get to know and work with as many different classmates as possible. The quantitative rigor of the program, along with the technical background of a large portion of the student body prepares us both analytically and socially for the business world.

Because so many engineers attend Tepper, those with liberal arts backgrounds have to sprint to get up to speed. Luckily the atmosphere at Tepper is extremely collaborative and classmates have been happy to hold impromptu recitations on a whiteboard, but it still doesn't stop many non-quant students from feeling overwhelmed in Mini 1. Now if only they would hurry up with fundraising so we could have our own whiteboards rather than sneaking into the undergrads' study rooms... facilities are in need of updating.

Tepper is unique in many ways that many other conventional business schools, but still manages to compete with the top b-schools. Tepper has a strong focus on analytics, is a tight-knit school, small class size, excellent professors who really care about your learning. They want you to be able to solve problems not just 5 years after graduation, but 20 years later too.

While the theoretical and analytical focus is the core of Tepper, making sure we also get the big picture and enough practical skills would enhance the program. Currently clubs fill that void, but it would be great if this could be more integrated into class instruction.

Tepper's close knit community is, I believe, unparalleled. In two years, I was able to form deep personal relationships with at least 90% of my class. The small size of Tepper not only made my MBA experience more enjoyable but also allowed me to gain a solid foundation of professional relationships that I can utilize as I take the next step in my career.

Tepper has traditionally been a quantitatively challenging program, which in turn tends to make students without quantitative/analytical backgrounds wary of attending Tepper. Encouraging students who may not have this type of quantitative know-how to attend would bring even greater diversity into the program.

Tepper got me for three main reasons. 1. Small class size which makes the alumni, class and community networks stronger than other programs. 2. Tepper's quantitative focus cannot be matched by another school. 3. Tepper's the city of Pittsburgh is ideal for me as it is a city that provides everything a grad student could want but provides it at a cost that a grad student can afford, in contrast to a New York City cost of living.

Our facilities aren't as impressive as other business programs that I've visited. This could impact other top quality candidates from accepting. Tepper is currently working on a new building, and I hope it happens soon.

Tepper's program is highly quantitative and analytical while stressing the importance of leadership and interpersonal skills. The classes are rigorous and the workload high, but you leave feeling extremely prepared and well equipped to succeed in your job. The community is small, tight-knit, collegial, and extremely supportive. I know almost every person in my class and can ask for academic or recruiting help from anyone. The student body is very diverse, which enriches the learning experience.

The facilities at Tepper are lacking. To take the next step, the school needs to focus on making a new building a reality.

Tepper takes diversity to a new level. The student body is so diverse that you truly learn how to work with all types of people and how to bring different ideas together. Also, the analytical approach of the program teaches us how to backup ideas with facts and how to read between the lines and see what other can't.

As a woman, I would have liked to see more women recruited into the program

I think the people coming out of Tepper are better at working as a team, more analytical, and more ethical than students coming out of other programs. The school discourages unhealthy competition and fosters a strong community environment. Tepper stresses the importance of a strong analytical base, regardless of focus. Ethics are a strong concern as well. The proximity to Carnegie Mellon and the strong environment of innovation and entrepreneurship are unique factors as well.