Kelley School of Business

The people and the culture stood out to me as Kelley's competitive advantage. When I visited IU, the consulting academy was preparing for interviews with a top management consulting firm the next day. I knew that it was a competitive process to be recruited by a consulting firm. However, these students were grading each other's resume. They were giving each other practice consulting interviews and case questions. They were improving the caliber of the Kelley MBA candidate by lifting each other up, as opposed to plotting against each other. This culture amazed me to the point that I knew that I found my home.

There is lot of emphasis on team work, as much important as it is, sometimes you learn better when you do things individually. I have recommended that some set of assignments be individual rather team work.

Kelley’s size provides an excellent balance between individualized attention and a sufficient number of candidates to attract recruiters to campus. The size makes it convenient for students to speak with administrators or professors and receive a quick and meaningful response to any concerns or new ideas. This responsiveness fostered an environment where students truly shaped their experience, not just with academic pursuits, but also with the overall programming choices.

Some students were not able to contribute as much as others. Stronger academic candidates would improve the classroom experience.

Kelley is extremely flexible. It allows for individualized experiences for all students, and it is clear how very invested the professors and staff are in our education. They get to know us, which has really impressed me. I had a finance class with only 6 people in it - it was a fantastic way to get to know the professor and gain an understanding that would have been very difficult to gain in any other circumstance. I have been so thankful for this program for nurturing me as well as challenging me. And in this economy, having a graduate career coach who was invested in my job search was truly invaluable. I could call her or set up a meeting anytime, and she was always so ready to help. That was a significant benefit.

Recruitment of certain groups was clearly made a higher priority than others. By better balancing how much attention was paid to other groups I feel we would have had a better diversity of experiences.

The various academies help you focus on your personal career goals. You network with other classmates interested in the same field and get more exposure to companies through this program. Also globase allows students to complete consulting projects for companies or entrepreneurs abroad and then meet them face-to-face in the country.

I would say that one thing that could be done to make the program stronger would be to find a way to bring more companies on campus for recruiting. Graduate Career Services is incredibly supportive in the off campus search, however it would be beneficial to have more companies come on campus.

The marketing program is great, but the finance program is a hidden gem. Kelley brought in some new strong faculty, continued to develop the finance Academies, and recently promoted finance professor Scott Smart to MBA Associate Dean.

All professors should be comfortable with calling out students that bring erroneous views to case discussions. Sometimes the professors are too "nice" in trying to present a student's opinion in a way that makes sense to the entire class, even when it never will.

I think the faculty's responsiveness to student feedback was extremely quick. Also, the faculty's willingness to speak with you about anything and meet with you individually at the drop of a hat.

While great, the school can always improve on (1) recruiting more talented students, especially those interested in studying finance; and (ii) continue to improve the quality and quantity of companies that consider our school a "core" recruiting school.

Kelley's balanced approach at business education makes it unique. The integration of career services, administration, and curriculum gives Kelley MBA's a well-rounded competence that is more practical and valuable in industry.

Create a larger class size. I think recruiters and students are happy with what's in place. I think the program is hurt because it's isolated geographically and the class size is smaller than some of the higher ranked programs.

I feel that, at Kelley, everyone is on the same team and thus entirely supportive of one another. Even a student who interviewed for the same job as a colleague, but the colleague got the offer, will cheer his colleague, and the colleague will turn around and offer support to him in finding a different job. All students are truly invested in one another's success.